Editing GoArch:Naming conventions

{{policy|GA:NAME}}

This page is a list of guidelines on how to name pages.

An article's name should be as ''precise'' and ''simple'' as possible. In general, the name should be the most complete, commonly used name for the subject. In the case of multiple names, it is expected that {{goarch|redirect}} pages be created for the alternate names.

The primary purpose of these policies is to simplify the process of choosing a name for a new article. When writing an article on any subject, the names, words, and phrases that you think should be linked to further information should be <nowiki>[[bracketed]]</nowiki>, so that they form links to new articles.

Remember that like most of our rules, these conventions are not absolute. However, if there is a doubt about how a page should be named, it's best to follow the convention first.

== General conventions ==
* '''Links are case-sensitive.''' <nowiki>[[D'ni holidays]]</nowiki> and <nowiki>[[D'ni Holidays]]</nowiki> link to different pages, an additional reason to make sure you are using the preferred capitalization.
** '''Exception:''' The first letter of a link may be lowercase—<nowiki>[[Barnacle moss]]</nowiki> and <nowiki>[[barnacle moss]]</nowiki> link to the same page. Complicated constructs using pipe links are unnecessary in this case.
* '''Lowercase second and subsequent words.''' Unless the title of the article is a proper noun, all words except the first should be lowercase, not capitalized (i.e. [[w:Letter case#Headings and publication titles|sentence case]]). For example, use <nowiki>[[Tahvo timer]], not [[Tahvo Timer]]</nowiki>.
* '''Use singular nouns.''' Because the wiki engine will allow you to append suffixes after a link, it's best to use the singular form of all words, unless the subject is generally always in the plural form. For example, use <nowiki>[[D'ni numerals]] and [[Age]], but use [[Age]]s instead of [[Ages]]</nowiki>.
* '''Use the most encyclopedic name.''' Generally, the most encyclopedic name for an article is the most complete and commonly used name.
** '''Use redirects.''' Use redirects for any other names or commonly used shorter names for the subject. For example, [[Watcher's Sanctuary]] redirects to [[Watcher's Pub]], and [[Jalak Dador]] redirects to [[Jalak]].
* '''Be precise.''' Ambiguously-named articles will likely create confusion for readers. '''See also:''' [[GoArch:Disambiguation|Disambiguation]].
* '''Use spelled-out phrases, not acronyms.''' Well-known acronyms can be used as redirects for easy linking, like [[DRC]] or [[OTS]].
* '''Don't create subpages.''' Although the wiki engine accepts the slash ("/") character in article titles, refrain from using it to suggest a hierarchy of articles. A name like <nowiki>[[D'ni/language]]</nowiki> would be an example to avoid. 
** '''Note:''' this applies mostly to the main namespace. Other namespaces, like [[Reference:Main Page|Reference]] and [[Dictionary:Main Page|Dictionary]], have their own conventions.
* '''Avoid special characters.''' There are a number of characters that are not accepted by the [[w:MediaWiki|MediaWiki]] engine in article titles. The following characters should not be used:
:: " # $ * + < > = @ [ ] \ ^ ` { } | ~

== Specific conventions ==
* '''Game and book titles.''' Games that have the same title as the subject they are about should have "(game)" at the end of their title (for example, [[Myst (game)]]). Books and games should both have their full name written out (e.g. [[Myst: The Book of Ti'ana]]). Titles should match capitalization in production sources when possible.
* '''Languages.''' Languages often share their names with the culture or species that it is native to. In these cases, suffix the language name with "(language)" (e.g. [[D'ni (language)]], [[Rivenese (language)]]). If a language's name is not shared with any other culture, species, et cetera, do not use a "(language)" suffix in the article name as it would be unnecessary.
* '''Species names.''' Always use the name of an alien species in singular form (e.g. "bahro", not "bahros"). For examples like [[D'ni]] for which there are several definitions, use a [[GoArch:Disambiguation|disambiguation]] page.
** Names of species should always be lower-case ("bahro", not "Bahro"), whilst names of races and cultures are capitalized ("Pento", not "pento").
* '''Age names.''' In all cases, use the most common version of an Age's proper name, (e.g. [[Terahnee]] instead of [[Devokan]], and [[Riven]] instead of "Age 5" or "The Fifth Age").
* '''Lists.''' Use the plural form of the subject. (Example: <nowiki>[[Relto pages]] or [[List of bahro stones]]</nowiki>)
* '''The <nowiki>{{DISPLAYTITLE}}</nowiki> [[w:Help:Magic words|magic word]].''' This can be used to format a page title, but should '''never''' be used to display the title as something different than the actual title of the article.

If you have another specific issue that should be added to this list, please bring it up on the [[GoArch talk:Naming conventions|talk page]].

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[[Category:Archive policies|Naming conventions]]