From: cleggp@aix.rpi.edu (Paul Jason Clegg)
Subject: Writer's Guide for Galactic Guide Entries
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 23:09:52 GMT

                    Writing Guide for Entries
                       For Publication in
           The HitchHiker's Guide to the Known Galaxy

	Entries in the HHGTTKG have a very specific format to allow for
easy parsing by third-party readers.  Although we will accept entries that
do not conform with the following standard (standard as of 3-19-92), we
(the editors of the Guide) ask that potential field researchers and towel
owners try to put their entries in as close to true form as possible, making
it a lot easier on our editors.

Sample Format:

%t Title
%n identification number
%s summary
%a author
%d date (in yyyymmdd format)
%x xrefs (unlimited number)
%i index (unlimited number)
%e Entry beginning
This is a sample entry.
%e Entry end.

%t Title:  Should not wrap around an 80-column screen, if possible.  This
           is the subject title of the entry.  Names should be put in
           last, first middle fashion.

%n ID Number:  This string is composed of three main parts: editor ID, reality
           index, and message ID.  The editor ID is the number up until the
           reality index, and the message ID is the number after that.  Every
           editor will have a unique ID number.  The reality index is a single
           character, either R (for Real articles) or U (for Unreal articles).
           The message ID number is in hexidecimal, and may contain chars A-F.
           For example, the 19th real article editor 4 makes will have the id
           number of 4R13.

%s Summary:  Should not wrap around an 80-column screen, if possible.  This
           is just a short one-liner about the entry, without going into
           too much detail.

%a Author:  Your name, in straight first-middle-last fashion.  In parenthesis,
           add your email address after your name, so that people can figure
           out who to talk to if they have questions (more likely, it'll be
           for the editors and such to get back to you).

%d Date:  The date you wrote the article.  The fashion is yyyymmdd, so
           December 25, 1991 would be written 19911225.  Single-digit
           numbers should be filled out with zeros.  July 4, 1991 would
           be 19910704, NOT 199174!

%x XRefs:  Cross references.  Your entry can contain any number of logical
           cross references.  Each should be on a separate line starting
           with the %x marker.  These lines should contain the names of
           ACTUAL ENTRY TITLES.

%i Indexes:  These are names by which the Title might also be known by.
           Your entry may contain any number of these, so long as each is
           on a separate line marked by the %i marker.  For entries on 
           people, indexes that should definitely be included are their
           full names in first-middle-last format, their first-last names,
           their last-first names, and so on.  This also includes permutations
           of the title, such as RPI, Rensselaer Polytechnic, and Rensselaer
           Polytechnic Inst, would all be %i's for Rensselaer Polytechnic
           Institute.  Don't be afraid to go a bit overboard, just so long as
           every index used is obviously appropriate.

%e Entry Markers:  These indicate the beginning and ends of the entries.
           These markers should occupy a single line by themselves.  Every-
           thing after the first %e is the entry, and the entry is ended by
           another %e on a separate line.

ENTRY FORMATTING:

	For readability, space considerations, and technical reasons, the
editors of the Guide ask that your entries be written in a specific format.

Tabulation:  The beginning of every paragraph should NOT start with a tab.

Paragraph spacing:  There should be an extra blank line between paragraphs,
        but NOT after the final paragraph, which should be followed by the %e.

Lists:  If, for some reason, you find a list necessary for your entry, it
        should be spaced in from the left 10 characters, and begin with a
        number, followed by a ) .  Thus, the 3rd entry in a list would begin:

          3) This is the third part of a list.

        If, for some reason, your list goes to 1000, do NOT add commas in the
        number.  Also, there should be a blank line just before the first
        list entry, and just after the last entry, as seen in the example
        above.

Underlining:  Things that should be underlined (like book names) should be
        preceded by an underscore "_" and then ended with an underscore "_",
        but there should NOT be underscores between words.  Thus, the name
        of The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy would be written as _The
        HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy_, and NOT _The_Hitch.. etc...

Hyphenation:  Words should NOT be hyphenated at the end of a line.  If it
        doesn't fit, just move the whole thing to the next line.
 
Final Notes:
     This is version 0.10 Beta of the format.  There may still be a few things
to be altered in the near future, but the items mentioned here are pretty
definite.

...Paul