Style Guide

Introduction
Thank you for checking out the style guide! It's important to keep this wiki consistent in quality and format for the sake of the users.

Naming Conventions
All pages must be capitalized according to book title rules. The one deviation from that rule is hyphens; words that are connected to another word by a hyphen are not capitalized (for example: juice-box would be capitalized to Juice-box). There can be no contractions or shortened words in the title of any (non-category) page. Use this tool if you want to know for certain how to capitalize your title.

"Definitions and Usage"
This section should contain all meanings of the term and how it is used by the community of people who fall under it.

"History"
This section should contain when and by whom the term was created as well as any discourse or changes it may have endured since then.

"Related Terms"
This section should contain a handful of related or similar terms, but this section is optional. It is not necessary to list all related terms. If the subject of the page falls under a naming system or system of labels, mention that in this section.

"Flags"
If the term has any flags, they should go here. Flags should be embedded the same way on all pages. If there is only one flag, embed it like this: If you cannot find the flag creator's social media or Wikipedia page, list their full name (if you can't find their full name, say "by unknown"). If there are multiple flags for this term, embed them like this: The same rules for crediting the flag creator apply as with the single-flag example. Also in this section, you should explain the meaning behind the colors and symbols of the flags you list. If you cannot find the meanings, say "meanings unknown". If you cannot find the meanings, but have a strong suspicion of what they might be, say "meanings unknown, but it is likely that (what you think the meanings are) because of (reasons)". If the flag is a derivative of another flag, inspired by another flag, or has other connotations besides the creator's meanings, mention that. This section should be used to list flags for the term as well as provide their history. If a term has too many flags to rationally fit on a page, make a category for that term's flags and link to that on the term's page. See flag categories for more information.

Yourself
Always remember to credit yourself on pages which you make a major contribution on! What you consider major is up to you, but generally changing one or two words should not warrant a credit. Author credits go at the very top of each page, and follow this format: Contributions by: Author name, Author name, etc. As a contributor, you can decide what link you want to put in your credit. You can link to your page on this wiki, one of your social medias, or anywhere you please. Always add your name to the back of the list of contributions. Tampering with existing author contributions is strictly prohibited. If someone has put their name on a page without contributing to it, talk to a sysop. Do not delete or revise contributions yourself!

Flag Creators
See "flags" for the crediting rules. Flag credits should ideally go in the caption when embedded, in the file's page content, as well as in the name of the file's page. This is because the name of files cannot include a link to the creator, and the flag may not always be embedded in the page (for example: if it is only found in a flag category), so the page content should always include the link.

Term Creators
Crediting the creator of a term is similar to crediting the creator of a flag. It should follow this format (but not strictly, as with other credits, feel free to alter this as needed): This term was created/coined by [link-to-the-creator's-social-media-or-Wikipedia-page name of creator] ("on "). The creator credits should be in the "Definitions and Usage" section.

Links
See the MediaWiki page on links for more general help.

Citation
When mentioning a specific event/piece of media/anytime a source is needed, it is necessary to provide proof if possible. Note that proof means a primary source, secondhand accounts should not be used as a citation. For clearer criteria on when to cite, consult the Wikipedia guidelines. We do ask, though, that unlike on Wikipedia, you cite something every time it appears on a page, since pages are typically short. The way one typically cites on this wiki is by putting a link over the thing you are citing like this: This term was [link-to-the-creation-of-the-term.com created in a post] on xyz date.

Linking to People
Whenever you mention a person or social media account, you should link to their account. If they don't have a social media, link to their Wikipedia page. If you cannot find either of these, don't worry, just don't include any link. Most likely the reason you'd want to link to a person is to credit them. Regardless of why you are crediting someone, follow the guidelines under "term creators".

Naming Conventions
File names should follow this format: Name-of-identity-(if there is one represented by the file) Flag/Graph/Symbol/Infographic/etc. by username/full name.ext If you do not know the creator of the file's social media or full name, say "by unknown". File names should follow book title capitalization rules, but do not capitalize a username if that is not how it is listed on the creator's social media. So, for example, if I was uploading a .png of the bisexual flag by Michael Page, I would call it "Bisexual Flag by Michael Page.png". If I was uploading a picture of a party hat (for whatever reason) that I did not know the creator of, I would call it "Party Hat by unknown.ext".

Description/Summary
When uploading a file, there is a section called "summary", which will act as the contents of the page when it is uploaded. Do not be confused by the different font, it works just the same as creating any other page. You can also edit the file's page after it is uploaded. The file description should pretty much be what you would write if you were explaining the history and usage of this file on another page. See "flags" for more information (note that what is in "flags" can apply to other files).

Naming Conventions
There are only a handful of rules when it comes to naming categories. Like any other page, every separate word in the title must be capitalized according to book title rules, and there can be no contractions or shortened words (with exception to -in-nature categories since the precedent has already been set before writing this page). All category names must be singular rather than plural.

When is a Category a System?
Note: It has been decided that this term is too confusing to continue using, so please refrain from putting "system" in the name of any pages you create. This term is a bit loose, but generally "system" refers to a group of labels that follow the same naming conventions, the same theme, or were created to be counterparts to one another.

Should Systems be Capitalized?
Some authors capitalize system names, and some don't. Really it's up to you. Please refrain from editing pages to change system names from upper to lower case or vice versa, since that adds no information to the page. For consistency, please try to make system names always upper case or always lower case across a single page.

Flag Categories
A flag category groups together flags for one identity or term. Flag categories should not be listed as a gender, orientation, presentation, etc., even if the identity the flags represent is one of those. The name of a flag category should follow this format: "(Identity or term here) Flag".

"-related" Categories
A "-related" category is a category that groups identities that are related to some concept, for example water. "-related" categories must not be exclusive to one type of identity like gender or orientation, and must group together no more than two specific ideas. To make a "-related" category, there needs to be at least 10 pages on the wiki that would fall under it. "-related" categories with less than 10 terms under them after 3 days from creation will be deleted (with the exception of categories made before this page was added).

System Categories
Note: It has been decided that this term is too confusing to continue using, so please refrain from putting "system" in the name of any pages you create. A system category groups together labels or terms that have good reason to be together. This reason is typically that the terms were created to be counterparts to one another, or that they were made with each other in mind.

What if two terms have the same definition?
The general rule of thumb is that if the two terms do not have the same origin (as in: do not have the same creator, the same original idea, etc.) make a separate page for each. If at least one or two sentences in the "Definitions and Usage" section would be different, then make a separate page. If they are part of different naming groups (as in: one is part of the juvelic system, for example, and the other is not) then make separate pages.