Editing Help:Editing Guidelines

This page will serve as a basic guide for creating and editing articles. Aside from special cases, the instructions in this article must be followed. It is highly recommended that you keep this guide in mind if you wish to contribute.

== Manual of Style ==
=== Creating pages ===
* As a general rule, if a page title does not appear on [[Special:WantedPages|this list]], it probably doesn't need to be created at all.
* In the unlikely event that a page is needed for an item not found in the above list, use your best judgment. If you are unsure, feel free to contact a staff member via one's talk page.

=== Editing pages ===
* As this wiki is primarily for an English-speaking audience and is focused on a band from the United States, please make all edits in American English in order to avoid potential misconceptions.
* When adding information to a page, cite the source. See [[Help:Citing|this page]] for an in-depth guide on how to do so.
* Do not over-complicate the wording on any given page. Use only the words needed to convey the necessary information.
* Do not add speculation or ambiguous information to the main body of articles. If the information is necessary, it should be added to the '''Trivia''' section of the page, with the proper citations.
* Talk pages are for conversations regarding article maintenance and correctness ''only''.

=== Editing Talk pages ===
* To contribute to an article's Talk page, click on the '''Discussions''' tab at the top of the article.
* For new message subjects, always create a header. This can be done via the toolbar or by using the following wikitext:
** <nowiki>== (Header name) ==</nowiki>
* For replies to an existing subject, no header is required as long as you reply under the correct section.
* Always sign your Talk page edits. This can be done by simply typing four tildes (<code><nowiki>~~~~</nowiki></code>) at the end of your message.

=== Text formatting ===
* Capitalize proper nouns, including names, locations, and titles where applicable.
* The umlaut (Ö, ö) is never to be omitted from a word or phrase that originally contained it. To type an Ö, use <code>Alt+0214</code>. To type an ö, use <code>Alt+0246</code>.
* The first mention of a song, album, person, or otherwise notable concept that has a page on the wiki should link to that page. This applies to the main body of a page's text ''and'' the page's infobox independently of one another. For example, if [[Sandy Pearlman]] is mentioned in both the infobox and the page's main body, both of the instances where his name first appears are to be links to that page. Any subsequent appearances should ''not'' be links.
* Song titles, when appearing in the main body of an article, should be posted "in quotation marks." This does not apply to song titles inside of infobox or navbox templates.
* Album titles should always be typed in ''italics''. This can be done via the toolbar or by adding two apostrophes (') before and after the desired text. For example, typing <code><nowiki>''Fire of Unknown Origin''</nowiki></code> in the source editor returns the text ''Fire of Unknown Origin''.
* The first mention of the page's subject (usually the first word or phrase in an article's text) should always be typed in '''bold'''. This can be done via the toolbar or by adding three apostrophes (') before and after the desired text. For example, typing <code><nowiki>'''Albert Bouchard'''</nowiki></code> returns the text '''Albert Bouchard'''.
** For albums, both rules apply and they must be typed using '''''bold italics'''''. This can be done via the toolbar or by adding five apostrophes (') before and after the desired text. For example, typing <code><nowiki>'''''Extraterrestrial Live'''''</nowiki></code> returns the text '''''Extraterrestrial Live'''''.

=== Lyric formatting ===
Lyrics are given their own special rules to follow. When adding lyrics, maintain consistency by adhering to the following:
* Spoken dialogue, e.g. "''My cosmic soul, it goes on for eternity''", is to be rendered in ''italics''. This also applies to phrases uttered outside of the established song structure, e.g. "''Wait! There's more!''"
* Backup vocals, e.g. "''(Starlight, starbright)''", are to be rendered in ''(parentheses and italics)''. 
* The above does not apply to instances of non-verbal vocalization, e.g. "ooh" or "ahh." These are not necessary to note.
[[Category:Guidelines]]