To find the rules of the wiki, click here.
The manual of style is a guide that outlines standards of clean, consistent formatting for articles on the Tower Battles Wiki. This article describes formatting and guidelines that should be followed for most, if not all situations. It may also provide useful information and advice on article formatting, templates, and editing.
These guidelines may never be perfect for every situation. Please try your best to keep to the advice outlined in this article so that other editors may use your edits as an example when creating and editing articles on this wiki. This manual assumes that the editor is using source editor. For further questions, contact an active wiki staff member.
Formatting
Article Titles
- All article titles should be correctly written as it is directly displayed in the game without stylistic corrections (e.g. Hallowboomer, not Hallow Boomer).
- Articles without official names should be written in title case. All coordinating conjunctions and minor words should remain in lowercase (e.g. Apples and Butter, not Apples and butter or Apples And Butter).
Lead Section
- The lead section is an introductory section of the article, before the first subheading. The lead section should not be explicitly entitled
== Introduction ==
or any equivalent header. - The lead section should be capable of standing alone as a concise overview of the article. Lead sections can range from a single sentence to a paragraph and be written in a clear and accessible style to encourage the reader to read the rest of the article.
- If possible, make the title the subject of the first sentence of the article (e.g. The Enforcer is a short-ranged, single targeting melee tower that can be purchased for
800 and has a placement price of $350.)
Section Headings
- All section headings should remain title cased. All coordinating conjunctions and minor words should remain in lowercase.
- Whenever possible, always keep the title short and simple. Avoid using redundancy and unnecessary words, repeating the article title, or giving identical headings to different sections (e.g. Upgrades, not The Upgrades of the Commander).
Structure
Structure is a key element to editing because it shows what information is presented to the reader and keeps the article organized. Structure also shows how articles are written and what goes where. Always remember that a well structured article can be a high-quality article.
Wikitext formatting should also be organized.
Incorrect:
{{NoticeTemplate}}{{Template|parameter=value|parameter= string <br/> string2}}Introductory text... ==Heading== ===Sub-heading=== *Bullet **Sub-bullet |
Correct:
{{NoticeTemplate}} {{Template |parameter = value |parameter2 = string<br>string2 }} Introductory text... == Heading == === Sub-heading === * Bullet ** Sub-bullet |
Layout
- Lead Section - The article should start with an (ideally short and concise) introduction text, explaining basic information about the article topic. The lead section should not have a header.
- Overview - Overview sections contain summaries of the article topic using paragraphs. It can be used to describe the subject's statistics, functionality, and many more.
- Upgrades - Towers will specifically have upgrade boxes that detail the upgrades of a tower. This does not apply to any other articles.
- Abilities - If applicable, ability sections contain information on abilities from certain towers and enemies, what those abilities are, and the effects they produce.
- Statistics Table - Namesake, statistics table sections will feature a table with generally complete statistics of towers and units.
- Damage per Second is measured by Damage ÷ Firerate and assumes one target is hit, receiving full damage. This formula may vary between few towers.
- Total price ratio is measured by Total Cost ÷ Income.
- Skins - Skins sections include tables with descriptions of the tower's and skin's appearance each level.
- Strategy - Strategy sections will direct the reader to a category linked to community guides detailing ways on how to effectively use or counter that respective subject.
- Trivia - If applicable, trivia sections contain a bullet pointed list of interesting facts related to the article subject.
- Gallery - If applicable, galleries houses a collection of images or inline images that detract from readability related to the article's topic.
- Update History - Update history sections include a bullet pointed list on previous patches and changes made to the content.
Writing
Content
- Because this wiki is about Tower Battles, only in-universe material mentioned in the game is accepted.
- The information you publish in the article must be relevant to the game. As an example, do not write a detailed history of the railgun in the Railgunner article, as it does not share any relation and purpose in Tower Battles.
- Always present factual information. Never insert information based on your own personal experiences, biased, and subjective statements (e.g. This tower is the worst/best!, etc.). Let the reader draw to their own conclusion.
Perspective
- All articles should be written from a third-person point of view.
- The player should simply be addressed as "the player" or "player(s)." Words such as "you" should be avoided.
- Write in a formal, passive, and objective tone, and keep everything in a neutral perspective. Any form of opinion or bias should not be expressed in the article itself.
- Regular enemies that appear in both Survival and Versus mode in the game, including Wave 0000000, should be referred to as "zombie" or "zombies". Enemies from events or other special occurances should be collectively referred to as “enemy” or “enemies”.
- When addressing a tower or enemy by gender, use neutral pronouns (they/them).
Font Styles
- Titles of all game series, brand names, books, movies, and other forms of media should be written in italics.
- Boldfacing should only be done when the article title/topic is mentioned for the first time. Avoid other uses of boldfacing in the first sentence; any other mention of the topic should be in normal text.
- If a text requires to draw attention to the reader, underline the key phrase. Avoid underlining entire sentences.
Grammar
- Because Tower Battles Wiki is an online encyclopedia, a formal writing style is used. For this reason, casual undertones and slangs should be avoided. For example, do not use "ofc" in place of "of course", "abt" in place of "about", etc.
- Terminal punctuations should be placed outside quotation marks, unless it is part of a name or quote (e.g. The Commander's name is "Flynn Davis"., not The Commander's name is "Flynn Davis.").
- Whenever a name with a terminal punctuation ends a sentence (e.g. Commando?), do not repeat or add another terminal punctuation.
- The usage of contractions, such as "they're", "didn't", and "could've" are generally avoided. Use full forms like "they are", "did not", and "could have" instead.
- This is not to be confused with possessive apostrophes (e.g. the player's, tower's, etc.).
- Be sure to familiarize yourself with the usage of possessive apostrophes. A common mistake is the usage between "its" and "it's." "Its" is a correct possessive form and "it's" is a contraction of "it is."
- This is not to be confused with possessive apostrophes (e.g. the player's, tower's, etc.).
- Do not shorten names or create nicknames for any existing content in the game. Write out the entire name as it is displayed in the game (e.g. do not shorten "Golden Commando" as "GC").
- While subjects should be correctly written as displayed in the game, exceptions may apply when they are written in plural form (e.g. Mercenaries, Speedies, and Marksmen, not Mercenarys, Speedys, and Marksmans).
- Intervals of time for towers and units should be referred as "firerate", "swingrate", and "spawn duration".
- "Based on" or "based upon" is favored over "based off of".
Language
- Because Tower Battles was released in American English, this wiki will also use standard American English as the preferred variation in the English orthography (e.g. color, theater, defense, and catalog instead of colour, theatre, defence, and catalogue).
- If you are confused about the differences between American and British English, refer to this guide.
Date Format
- In common writing, dates should be written in a "(the) Day (of) Month Year" format (e.g. the 19th of August 2017).
- For other uses, all dates should be in a longhand Year-Month-Day (YMD) format and should not be written with ordinal numbers (e.g. 2017 August 19, not August 19, 2017 or 19 August 2017).
Numbers
- In common writing, all numbers below 10 must be written out in text format (e.g. one, two, three, ..., nine, 10).
- When writing numbers above 999, add a comma after every three digits from the right (e.g. 125,000, not 125000).
- When numbers are used to address currencies, dates, and other statistical information, it must be written in digit as opposed to text format (e.g.
{{Robux|5}}
Not{{Robux|five}}
). - Because Tower Battles Wiki measures using units of time rather than rounds per minute, all comparisons of numbers should be mathematically correct (e.g. The Mercenary's firerate decreases from 0.217s to 0.166s, not The Mercenary's firerate increases from 0.217s to 0.166s).
Punctuation
- A serial comma should always be used to separate a second-to-last entry on a list from the final entry (e.g. Normal, Speedy, and Slow, not Normal, Speedy and Slow). A space must always succeed after every comma.
- Terminal punctuations should always be placed inside quotation marks (e.g. “This is an example”. Not “This is an example.”).
- Brackets and parentheses must also require a correct terminal punctuation placement if it is located at the end of a sentence.
- For example, (Lorem ipsum.) and Lorem ipsum (dolor).; not (Lorem ipsum). and Lorem ipsum (dolor.).
- Avoid comma splices. Independent clauses should be separated by a semicolon or a period, not with a comma (e.g. Stevenson's romances are entertaining; they are full of exciting adventures, not Stevenson's romances are entertaining, they are full of exciting adventures.).
- Words with an -s at the end should not end with an additional "s" after the apostrophe (e.g. The Barracks' Soldiers, not The Barracks's Soldiers).
Trivia
- Generally, all trivia should be short, clear, and concise. If the sentences are lengthy, consider summarizing it briefly.
- All trivia should be relevant and share direct relation to the content in the game.
- Examples:
- Acceptable:
According to the Statue Commander's inscription, the Commander's real name is Flynn Davis.
This piece of trivia is not only about the Commander itself, but expounds on one piece of information available about the Commander. It is interesting, but has no place in the rest of page and as such is placed in the trivia section. - Unacceptable:
In reality, railguns are massive developmental weapons that are able to launch large metal projectiles at six times the speed of sound using an electromagnetic rail. They are being developed as a weapon to be mounted on ships to destroy enemies or to be used to counter missile strikes.
While this information about railguns might be amusing, this trivia is not meaningful to Railgunner in the game as this closely reflects to railguns in real life rather than the tower itself.
- Acceptable:
- Examples:
- All trivia must be truthful, factual, and should not be based on assumptions. If you are presenting trivia that is obscure and questionable, be sure to appropriately cite it.
- Adding interesting and little known trivia are strongly encouraged. Unfortunately, the word "interesting" is subjective and its definition may differ among many readers. In general, noteworthy trivia that can spark a similar reaction to "Wow, I didn't know that!" can be considered "interesting" whereas something that is inevitably discovered by simply playing the game can be considered "uninteresting".
- Examples:
- Acceptable:
The Tank Crew Patrol is based on the Captain and Steve from Tankmen, an animated series published on Newgrounds.
This trivia can be of great interest to readers who are not familiar with Tankmen as it gives a simple reason as to where this Patrol skin design takes inspiration from. - Unacceptable:
The Veteran Marksman wields an M1903 Springfield, an American bolt-action rifle used during World War I and World War II.
It is rather obvious that the Veteran Marksman wields this rifle, as such, noting this might not be particularly interesting or surprising. This is merely a simple observation.
- Acceptable:
- Examples:
- Information that is already covered throughout the article does not require to be repeated again in the trivia section as this merely restates what is already mentioned.
- In the same way, bugs and changes should not be added onto trivia sections if they are already mentioned in the bug and/or change history sections, unless there is a special given reason.
- Trivia should not state how a characteristic of a subject relates to the characteristics of others. Often, these additions come in the form of "Only X of Y have this feature...", "X is the first...", "X has the highest/lowest...", etc.
- Unacceptable examples:
Petrified is the only stationary enemy in the game.
The Plasma Trooper is the second tower capable of detecting camouflaged enemies at level 1, the first being Phaser and the third being Huntsman.
At maximum charge, the level 5 Phaser deals the highest damage per second among all towers in the game.
It is not necessary to list and rank every subject that share a similar or identical characteristic as their information are visible throughout the wiki. These additions are nothing more than counting.
- Unacceptable examples:
- Because Tower Battles is a game, keep in mind that some aspects will never achieve realism, as it can get in the way of gameplay and thus ruin the experience.
- The community's perception of the article topic (e.g. popularity, nicknames, community fads, etc.) should be avoided. However, exceptions may apply if the community's response had directly influenced changes to the game. Additionally, trivia should not be about a community or standalone games and other media featuring the subject unless they are used as a point of reference.
Editing
Wikitext
- Source editor is the preferred editor for this wiki, as other editors may not allow the author to input wikitext or HTML. If you are unfamiliar with wikitext, refer to this guide.
- Visual editor is generally avoided as it may cause problems with the article's formatting or potentially break templates.
- Internal links should only be added if it is necessary. If another article is already linked in a section, that same article does not need to be re-linked in that section again, unless it directs to a different, specific section.
Creating an Article
Before creating a new article, always consider the following:
- Does this article already exist?
- If yes, do not create a new article and edit the existing article instead.
- Does this article intend to act as a user-guide?
- If yes, do not create the article. Instead, post it on a personal user blog post or create a thread on the discussions.
- Does this article intend to ask a question?
- If yes, do not create an article. Instead, ask the question in the discussions or the comment section.
- Was this content previously added in the game and removed at some point?
- If yes, you may need to show evidence that such content existed. If a staff member approves, you may create the article.
- Unable to find evidence? If so, you are advised not to create the article for the time-being. You may create a "mock-up" article via user blog posts.
- If yes, you may need to show evidence that such content existed. If a staff member approves, you may create the article.
- Does this article contain new content that has been confirmed to be added?
- If yes, you may create the article. Be sure to properly cite evidence along with it.
Before creating a new article, be sure to ask a staff member for approval. If they approve, you may then create the article.
Quotations
- Quotes are dialogues that are written and shown in the game. Quotes must be directly written word-for-word as the original transcript states. No grammatical or stylistic corrections should be made.
- If a grammatical error is found, it may be denoted with "[sic]." To make a quote, add
{{Quote|Dialogue|Attribution}}
.
- If a grammatical error is found, it may be denoted with "[sic]." To make a quote, add
Article Disambiguation
- Many articles may share a same or similar title name or subject (e.g. Commando can be confused with Commander). In order to resolve potential conflicts, the lead section should provide a link to other articles which may share a similar search term. All text should be italicized.
- When there are three or more entries that share a similar search term, a disambiguation article should be created and list each entry in an alphabetical order. As an example, the term "Commando" may refer to a tower, a tower with a similar name, an enemy, and so on; therefore, Commando (disambiguation) should be created.
Citation
- Most, if not all content on this wiki should be verifiable, factual, and justified. No evidence? Cannot be said.
- Citation on common knowledge for those playing the game is not expected (e.g. The Huntsman is a tower.), but more questionable information mentioned by the developers or official sources for instance is better sourced. Do not insert false and untruthful statements.
Media
Images
- Images play a key role in the articles. An image itself can speak where words may fail and add a nice touch to the article; however, misplaced and poor quality images can detract attention from an article.
- When uploading or choosing images, keep in mind the placement, size, quality, and the appropriateness of the image to the section.
- There are several file extensions that can be uploaded on Tower Battles Wiki. The common extensions are .JPG and .PNG file formats. .PNG formats are generally preferable due to their resolution and no loss in quality.
- Images should be adjusted by using "[X]px," which displays large images as smaller images. Images should generally be right aligned to enhance readability by allowing a smooth flow of text down the left margin.
- For example,
[[File:ExampleImage.png|right|300px]]
adjusts the image size to 300px and aligns it on the right in the article.
- For example,
- Be sure the file name is appropriate to its content. Avoid uploading duplicate files.
Copyright
- All files must properly abide by fair-use laws; otherwise, the file will be deleted.
- Copyright images on Tower Battles Wiki fall under the auspices of the fair use doctrine of the United States Fair use law. They are used for informational/educational purposes, meant to identify the subject of an article and to illustrate something directly relevant to the text in its immediate vicinity.
- Modifying the copyright owners' original work (e.g. changing colors, inserting watermarks, etc.) is considered to be an infringement, thus the image will be deleted. Images can only be edited for aesthetic purposes only, although changes must be disputed under the same license.
- The use of copyrighted images should be avoided as much as possible. When uploading a copyrighted image, be sure to add the appropriate licensing. Failure to do so can result in the image being deleted on copyright grounds.