Minecraft Wiki talk:Style guide

Future in history sections
Following up my previous topic, what about future changes in history sections? Does it make sense to add tweets of upcoming features before they get added, or would it be better to not state them incase it never gets added? – KnightMiner  · talk 21:17, 22 January 2015 (UTC)


 * . We shouldn't state future changes (like 1.9 things) in the history section. – LauraFi -  talk  21:31, 22 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I don't even really like tweets being in there at all, should just be version history. –Majr ᐸ Talk Contribs 02:54, 13 March 2015 (UTC)


 * I agree and disagree with that. On one hand, tweets and other relevant links are not part of its history, just because the idea was made public then does not mean it was any more than an idea. On the other hand, it is interesting to read how long went between the initial idea and the final change, and it moves the information from Mentioned features, rather than deleting it (overall though, it tends to just state features that were not added, rather than actual history of the item, so I would be fine with removing them). – KnightMiner  · (t) 22:27, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

Rewrite proposal
Following up and, I have proposed a rewrite to this page over at MCT:Community portal, which would include moving various rules to this page, and splitting out the article layout sections to allow more article layouts to be discussed. Please direct comments there. – KnightMiner  · talk 00:31, 10 February 2015 (UTC)

Following up
Following up that previous topic, there are four things I want to propose here.

First off, the style guide lacks information on formatting specific article titles, other than a few brief points in "Article titles and section headings". Also, the current style guide contractdicts standard policy when it comes to titles, and I doubt there will be agreement of making articles like "Stone Bricks" become "Stone bricks". A solution would be the addition of a new section called "Article titles", which is mostly general practice. If implemented, the section "Article titles and section headings" would become simply "Section headings"

Secondly, since the style guide now supports more article layouts, I would like to re-propose the versions style guide into the new system. You can read the proposed guide at User:KnightMiner/Workbench/Style guide/Versions

Third is something I noticed a lack of while rewriting the guide, which is guidelines relating to images for articles. Too many people think they need to upload all the screenshots they take because they relate to the article, when the image is really not needed. A few points I can think of are as follows, though I would advise more points to be added.
 * Articles should only have one image showcasing an individual attribute of the articles content. For example, a zombie wearing armor.
 * Do not add images whose sole purpose is showcasing a bug, instead report the issue on the bug tracker.
 * Images showcasing usage of specific features for decoration should be avoided.
 * Images should showcase the most up to date version of Minecraft available for the content.
 * Images that are outdated are subject to be removed.

Finally, we need to specifically state that language translations are unofficial, so they are not relevant trivia.

– KnightMiner  · (t) 17:38, 4 March 2015 (UTC)


 * So, yeah... I shall race to get Russian style guide up-to-date with English one as it becomes approved. :D
 * Offtop aside, . — NickTheRed37 t ⁄ c (f.k.a. Naista2002) 18:07, 4 March 2015 (UTC)
 * One more image point I thought of, based on the gallery on Villager:
 * Images should showcase an attribute of the articles topic.
 * Images should not show unintended strange or humorous behavior, such as mobs "sitting" on stairs.
 * The second point and maybe the third point from above could also become sub-points of this point.
 * – KnightMiner  · (t) 16:57, 7 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Also . Sorry for latency, it was due to Oversight policy/ru. —  NickTheRed37 t/c (f.k.a. Naista2002) 18:21, 7 March 2015 (UTC)


 * . –Majr ᐸ Talk Contribs 02:57, 13 March 2015 (UTC)


 * The changes proposed here have been implemented, as it has been just about a week since last revision to the proposal. – KnightMiner  · (t) 04:28, 14 March 2015 (UTC)

Article templates at the beginning
Isn’t the infobox→dablink→msgbox order looking weird? I think that infobox→msgbox→dablink is better (compare Zombie Pigman and Horse). —  NickTheRed37 t/c (f.k.a. Naista2002) 13:45, 9 March 2015 (UTC)


 * The reason I proposed that order was because I thought of dablinks as a subtitle to the title, rather than a header title to the content, thus that order made sense.
 * That being said though, I do agree it looks a little better on Horse, as keeping the text together seems to look better, although I generally do not like the look of combinations of dablinks and message boxes anyways – KnightMiner  · (t) 16:47, 9 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks. LauraFi, JEC6789? —  NickTheRed37 t/c (f.k.a. Naista2002) 17:10, 9 March 2015 (UTC)

Minigame notability
Currently, minigames are considered notable if Mojang has claimed to play them (see MCW:Style guide). The problem with that is there are many minigames Mojang has played, and some of them would be hard to cover in an article. For instance:
 * Marc was in the original video of SethBling's "Blocks vs. Zombies",[] as well as frequently plays new minigames for realms, all of which tend to require many command block implemented mechanics.
 * Both Grum and Dinnerbone have on several occasions joined MindCrack for their Ultra Hardcore deathmatch.[][]
 * Several mojang employees have been on several minigame servers. Dinnerbone has for example played both "Juice" and Survival Games on PlayMindcrack.

Basically I am proposing only allowing minigames which do not require plugins or excessive command blocks, leaving games such as Spleef or Ultra Hardcore, both of which require few to no commands for setup. It may also be relevant to only allow those minigames within tutorial articles, though minigames hardly seem like tutorial content directly (setting up maybe, playing strategies as well, but not general description). – KnightMiner  · (t) 17:37, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Redirects
Currently, redirects get created and deleted with no stated reason as to what belongs. I would like to propose the following section to be added either as a subsection of notability, or its own section/subpage (admittedly a little small for a sub page, though the wiki rules are not too big either.)

Redirects are exempt from the normal notability, but must redirect to an article that fits the notability guidelines. If a redirect leads to another wiki, it must use soft redirect.
 * 1) Alternate spelling of the title, such as "Armour" for "Armor".
 * 2) Incorrect spelling, typos, and irregular formatting are not allowed.
 * 3) Alternate or shortened name, provided the name is common usage, such as "Log" for "Wood". Previous in game names are also allowed.
 * 4) This includes first names or handles for Mojang employees, such as or "Nathan" or "Dinnerbone" for "Nathan Adams".
 * 5) This also includes names from alternate English language packs, with the exception of the joke language "Pirate Speak".
 * 6) Previous article title, including if the article was moved to another wiki
 * 7) An exception is if the previous title was not commonly used
 * 8) Alternate capitalization or form, including changing the title to plural case
 * 9) A part of a merged or multi-topic article, such as a potion or a mentioned feature.
 * 10) The parent version for pre-releases which became a pre-release for another version, such as "1.7" for "1.7.2", due to "1.7-pre" being a pre-release for "1.7.2".

Redirects in the user namespace may lead anywhere, except to an article that does not exist or another redirect.

– KnightMiner  · (t) 23:24, 23 March 2015 (UTC)


 * . – LauraFi -  talk  23:29, 23 March 2015 (UTC)


 * . Sounds good. &mdash;munin &middot; Grid_Book_and_Quill.png Grid_Stone_Pickaxe.png &middot; 00:03, 24 March 2015 (UTC)


 * . —「 JEC  6789  」talk • contribs 00:21, 24 March 2015 (UTC)
 * — NickTheRed37 t/c (f.k.a. Naista2002) 06:24, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

Notelists
First off, I'd like to add a section to the article layouts right above references called "Notes". The idea is to use that section to replace some of the HTML notes that may be relevant to the reader, rather than just the editor (for example, the reader might be interested in the formula used to calculate numbers, or for points where the scope is survival, so a command trick is left out).

Secondly, to go along with the first one, I would like to use consistent note groups for in section notes and global article notes, to avoid conflict, especially when a template uses either type. For those groups, we have two choices:


 * 1) My preferred method is using custom label, similarly to Wikipedia. I think in section notes could use "lower-alpha",[a][b][c][d] while global could use "upper-roman"[I][II][III][IV] or "upper-alpha"[A][B][C][D]
 * 2) * The actual group names can be set to anything (this is done using pages in the MediaWiki namespace, such as MediaWiki:Cite link label group-note for the group "note"), as the labels are attached to a group name, and the list style in the notelist is controlled by the template (with a bit of css), so I would simply go with "note" and "global"
 * 3) * Zombie pigmen spawn on the lowest level of nether portals<sup style="color:#0645ad">[A]
 * 4) Slightly less preferred is using specific note names, in which case common ones tend to be "note", "fn", and "n", although applicable might be be "n" for sectional and "gn" for global.
 * 5) A third option would be mixing the two, using only the "lower-alpha" group and letting global use something like "n", or vice-versa. This option might also be relevant considering how few articles use both lists.

– KnightMiner  · (t) 19:58, 27 March 2015 (UTC)


 * I like option 1, using upper-alpha not upper-roman (or any roman). But I'd like to have actual proposed text for what will go in the style guide before agreeing. &mdash;munin &middot; Grid_Book_and_Quill.png Grid_Stone_Pickaxe.png &middot; 20:50, 27 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Well, there would not be a whole lot to state, but here are the specific texts to add. Note that the specific group names can change.
 * Here is the section for the layout pages:

 Notes 

This section contains only global. If there are no notes, this section may be skipped.
 * While for the main style guide.

 Notes 

Articles should use  notes to contain information that is relevant to the reader, but does not fit well within the article content. If the information is only relevant to the editor, HTML notes should be used instead. Examples of relevant notes include the formula used to obtain a number state in an article, or behavioral differences when elements that are required in Survival are removed.

Notes should also be used for exceptions in the case of information stated in tables.

To keep names consistent, avoid conflict between groups, and apply the custom labels, notes within sections should use the group "note", while notes within article content should use the group "global".
 * – KnightMiner  · (t) 21:42, 27 March 2015 (UTC)