Mario Wiki:Manual of Style

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Overview

The MoS makes it easier for readers to read our articles.

The Mario Wiki has a Manual of Style (MoS) that editors can follow. You can use this as an editing guide when creating and editing articles. When creating an article, it is expected that the article is informative, collective and organized.

Infoboxes

Infoboxes should always be above the article's introduction.

Article titles

Article titles show the readers what the subject is about. It helps the reader search for specific articles. Articles may have official names, conjectures or common words. It is required that the article title is referred by the official names. For subjects with alternative names, please use either the most recent name of the most frequent name used. Abbreviations are not allowed.

Writing style

Grammar

Grammar is important when writing an article and must always be written in proper English.

• Write the article in third-person view. Writing in first-person view shows that the article is opinionated.
• Place a full stop (.) at the end of the sentence.
• Do not use contraction such as don't and you'll. Instead, extend the contractions like do not and you will.
• Capitalize proper nouns and words at the start of the sentence.
• Use past tense when the event already happened, such as history.
  • Incorrect: Mario rescues Princess Peach from Bowser.
  • Correct: Mario rescued Princess Peach from Bowser
• Write the article in a neutral point of view.
  • Incorrect: A marvelous plumber named Mario lived in a cool home in Brooklyn.
  • Correct: Mario is a plumber who lives in his home in Brooklyn.
• Avoid overusing adverbs and fillers.
  • Incorrect: Bowser usually kidnaps Princess Peach.
  • Correct: Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach.

Formatting

• When starting the article based upon the subject, the name of the article must be marked in bold.
  • Example: The Mega Mushroom is an item that debuted in Mario Party 4.
• Video games and other media must have italics. The media may be linked regardless of italics.
  • Example 1: ''Super Mario Sunshine'' to Super Mario Sunshine.
  • Example 2: ''[[Mario Sports Superstars]]'' to Mario Sports Superstars.
• If the game or person's full name has already been mentioned several times. It is acceptable to shorten the title or name since it saves space. Abbreviation is not allowed on articles.
  • Example 1: Shigeru Miyamoto is the creator of Mario. Miyamoto is the video game designer and producer of Nintendo.
  • Example 2
    • Incorrect: Mario reappeared in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In SSBU, Mario is classified as fighter #1.
    • Correct: Mario reappeared in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In Ultimate, Mario is classified as fighter #1.

Over-linking

Do not over-link a page. It is okay for the same thing to be linked at least twice on the same page usually if there is one link in an infobox and another on the same page. However, do not link the same thing a bunch of times on the same page.

Major articles

Note that for articles of major recurring subjects in Mario-related media (e.g. Hammer Bro), we want to cover the mainline appearances on the base article (the Super Mario series) and create subpages to reduce load times while giving as brief of a description of the role in individual games and series as possible through the use of bullet lists. To do so, we make each of the Super Mario platforming titles a subsection of ==Main appearances== and create ==Other appearances== with its own sub-sections. Make sure to put the bullet list in chronological order based on game and series. For example, if Mario Party 2 is the first appearance of a subject in the Mario Party series and Mario Kart DS for Mario Kart series, the former has to be listed first because Mario Party 2 released before Mario Kart DS.

The two sub-pages we want to create are the /Spinoff appearances for all spinoffs within the Mario franchise (e.g. Hammer Bro/Spinoff appearances) and /Other appearances for appearances in spinoff franchises like Yoshi, partner franchises like Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda, appearances in crossover series like Super Smash Bros. series, and miscellaneous guest appearances, like in Minecraft (e.g. Hammer Bro/Other appearances).

It is recommended to create standalone articles (with parentheses as an identifier) for a subject's grouped appearances in other media. For example, the Mario article has Mario (DiC Cartoons) for his appearances in the DIC Entertainment-produced cartoons and Mario (Illumination) for his appearances in films produced by Illumination.

Keep in mind that the structure for appearances laid out by this wiki's Manual of Style sub-pages still apply otherwise.

Add any of the following sub-sections that apply:

Spinoff game appearances

Summarize the subject's role in spinoff video games of the Mario franchise and provide a bullet list summary of the roles below. Taking the Hammer Bro article as an example, here's how we would describe a game and a series for example, as well as games within a series:

For a game:

*[[/Spinoff appearances#Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars|''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'']] as enemies.

For a series:

*[[/Spinoff appearances#Mario Party series|''Mario Party'' series]] as non-playable characters.

For a game within a series, we use two asterisks (**) because it should be grouped with the appropriate series. For example:

**''[[/Spinoff appearances#Mario Party|Mario Party]]'' as part of the minigame [[Hammer Drop]].

If the base roles are similar enough, we can list the games of the same line as the series. For example:

**[[/Spinoff appearances#Mario Baseball series|''Mario Baseball'' series]] as playable characters in ''[[Mario Superstar Baseball]]'' and ''[[Mario Super Sluggers]]''.

Spinoff media appearances

Summarize their appearances in Mario media outside of video games, such as television shows, and provide the usual bullet list summary. Take Hammer Bro, for example:

*[[Hammer Bro (DiC Cartoons)|DiC Entertainment cartoons]] as enemies serving [[King Koopa (DiC Cartoons)|King Koopa]], including ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!]]'' and ''[[The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3]]''.
*''[[/Spinoff appearances#The Super Mario Bros. Movie|The Super Mario Bros. Movie]]'' as part of Bowser's forces.

Non-Mario appearances

This one has sub-sections of its own, meaning they must be listed with four equal signs (====) instead of three (===) like "Spinoff game appearances" and "Spinoff media appearances". First, begin with a summary of the subject's appearances in spinoff franchises, partnered franchises, crossover series, and other guest appearances.

Then, add any of the following sub-sections that apply:

Partnered franchises

Take a look at the Thwomp article, for example:

*''[[/Other appearances#Yoshi's Cookie|Yoshi's Cookie]]'' as a boss.
*[[/Other appearances#The Legend of Zelda franchise|''The Legend of Zelda'' franchise]] with unique variants in some of the 2D mainline titles.
**[[/Other appearances#The Legend of Zelda franchise|''The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures'']] as enemies.
*[[/Other appearances#Donkey Kong (Game Boy)|''Donkey Kong'' for Game Boy]] and the [[/Other appearances#Mario vs. Donkey Kong series|''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' series]] as enemies.
*[[/Other appearances#WarioWare: Get It Together!|''WarioWare: Get It Together!'']] in a [[microgame]].

Keep in mind the bullet list not only lists the partner franchises Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda, but also the direct spinoffs of the Mario franchise: Yoshi and Wario. And the two asterisks (**) are used for games within a franchise as necessary, usually if the subject has two or more appearances within a franchise.

Crossover games

Make a bullet list of crossover appearances, using the same formatting as the "Partnered franchises" section:

*[[/Other appearances#Super Smash Bros. series|''Super Smash Bros.'' series]] as an [[Assist Trophy]] character, starting in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''.
**''[[/Other appearances#Super Smash Bros. Brawl|Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' as enemies in [[Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary]] and ''[[/Other appearances#Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U|Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'' as enemies in [[Smash Run]].
*''[[/Other appearances#Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix|Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix]]'' as bosses.
*[[/Other appearances#Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020|''Mario & Sonic'' series]] in a few [[2D Event]]s of ''[[Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020]]''.

Notice the bullet list consists of entire series, like the Super Smash Bros. series, as well as standalone crossover titles like Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix.

Guest appearances

Provide a bullet list of any other crossover appearances, like in other Nintendo franchises (excluding The Legend of Zelda, which is under "partnered franchises" for its numerous connections to the Mario franchise) and third-party media:

For example, since Thwomp appears in Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a furniture item, we'd list:

*[[/Other appearances#Animal Crossing: New Horizons|''Animal Crossing: New Horizons'']] as a furniture item.

See also

• Category:Manual of Style