Manual of Style

Welcome to the Superpower Wiki Manual of Style. This page should not be confused for the site rules (which you should read here), but understood as a guide to help you create and edit site content. However, many of the rules exist to maintain a minimum quality line and this page is all about raising the quality line. The guidance here may expand on some rules, and Content Moderators may enforce elements of these guidelines to resolve quality problems on pages across the wiki.
==Power, Trait, or Archetype==
All pages on this site are either a power, a trait, or an archetype. It is important to distinguish between these and create your page accordingly. Pages should be drafted according to the appropriate template:
*Superpower Template
*Archetype Template
*Trait Template
===Superpowers===
Superpowers are what this site is about. Superpowers are powers and abilities that range from the very pinnacle of theoretical human capability up through the unimaginable might of gods. Powers allow a user to do something; to achieve some sort of effect. All superpowers must meet minimum requirements for a superpower. Power pages should focus on what effects the power enables the user to achieve. If the mechanism of the power is simple/straight-forward, then a power page may describe how the effect is achieved.
=== Traits ===
Traits are a very broad concept. They describe a single aspect of a superpower or archetype pertaining to anything related to characteristics, enhancements/modification, source/origin, usage, limitations, etc. Traits seem to have more confusion surrounding them. They still pertain to powers, but these are things that in some way affect the power they are attached to. You can think of these as adjectives or modifiers that change something about the power. A great example of a Trait is Trait:Affinity. Affinity is when a power gets better based on some kind of criteria - presence of a substance, belief, emotion, etc. Affinity is always attached to a power - e.g. a character might get stronger, but not smarter, in the presence of a certain material because the Affinity Trait might be linked to only some of their powers. 
Traits can also be power sources. For example, Trait:Father Inheritance is for powers that are inherited from the fathers side of the family. We could also have something like 'Trait:Divine' which would be for powers which have a divine origin, since technically any power could be granted by a divine being. Certain power sources may have their own implicit limitations or advantages - e.g. Divine powers might be especially hard to counter using non-Divine means, and in some settings might take explicit precedence over other power sources.
Traits don't (or shouldn't) have Known Users, they instead have an Associated Powers section. This serves as a combination of Known Users and Application, since it's a list of powers and the users that have that power with that trait. A lot of Traits currently fail to follow this part of the Style Guide, which does need to be rectified. Currently a lot of these pages just have Known User lists, which is often unhelpful because a given user might not have a clear relationship to a given trait. Instead you could write something like the following Associated Power for Trait:Aversion:
* Peak Human Strength/Supernatural
** Superman: Superman loses all of his Strength (and other powers!) when exposed to Kryptonite
Additionally, Traits are not supposed to be traits of people. They are traits of powers. So something like Trait:Unique Hair Coloration isn't valid because that has nothing to do with a specific power but is instead a trait of a person, which is not what this namespace is for.
=== Archetypes ===
Archetypes are an aggregate of powers and traits, and they may incorporate elements of back-story and social roles, relationships, and responsibilities. This is still a wiki about superpowers, and so these pages must still relate to superpowers. A great example is Archetype:Super Soldier. Super soldiers are pretty common in fiction, and they have a cluster of powers that they tend to have. There's some deviations from this, for example some Super Soldiers might have psychic powers or more or less strength than Enhanced Strength, but the kit is generally greatly improved strength/stamina/physical toughness/etc.
Note that archetypes still pertain to powers. These are not archetypes of a certain kind of person but instead of a set of powers. For example, a 'Class Clown' isn't an archetype because that's just a personality type that don't really have powers attached. You can think of Archetypes as also being called 'Power Sets' - if it would make sense to call it a 'power set' then it might be an Archetype.
==Universal Power Tiering==
This wiki has a lot of awesome powers, and some of these powers merit different pages for varying levels of capability. A little structure is necessary to keep them these powers organized, unique, and meaningful. The UPT addresses that. This structure also mitigates against duelling superlatives with authors of Ultimate X, Supreme X, and Cosmic X competing to declare their preferred page the greater of the lot. The UPT levels are:
*Peak Human is the first, and it refers to feats that are possible in real life, though still extraordinary.
**A good example is the athleticism of Mr. Terrific/Michael Holt (DC Comics). It's very impressive, but definitely possible for humans.
**In cases where a power represents technology, Peak-Human simply means that the technology exists in the modern day, but is cutting-edge and typically difficult to access. An example of Peak-Human Technology would be a fully self-driving car, a VTOL, or a powered exoskeleton.
**Synonyms for Peak Human include Amazing, Exceptional, and Extraordinary
*Enhanced Tier is the second tier. Enhanced powers represent powers that are above the ability of a human, but are still more-or-less physically possible.
**A lot of the Physiology pages are likely to end up here. Basically all of the generic Animal Physiology pages - a character who is a hybrid of a human and a tiger is not possible to produce in real life, but nothing that physiology grants them is physically impossible or too over the top.
**If a power is related to technology, it's a similar deal here - It includes technologies that theoretically work in real life/obey the laws of physics, but that we don't have any known ability to create or have problems we haven't yet engineered around. As a rule of thumb, if you could likely see it become a real thing in the next 60-80 years, it goes here. Examples would be flying cars, man-portable (and effective) gauss/energy weapons, and genetically mixing together a human-tiger hybrid. This also includes human-like general AI.
**Synonyms for Enhanced include Super, Superhuman, and Augmented.
*The Supernatural tier is where most of our powers likely land.
**Anything that is superhuman AND physically impossible goes here.
***That's all Magic powers, most of the Manipulation powers, etc.
**As far as technology goes, this is for truly SciFi tech. Force fields, Faster-Than-Light technology, and Matter Transporters fit in this tier.
*The final tier, the Absolute Tier, is the domain of gods and truly over-powered cosmic entities.
**We already have something of a category for these, the Almighty Powers.
**As far as tech goes, this is stuff that's truly miraculous. Tech on this level is to the point where it's not recognizably technology - hard light systems, intergalactic travel, and pocket universes go here.
**Synonyms for absolute include all superlative adjectives including Greatest, Supreme, and Ultimate
UPT levels apply to all powers, though it is acknowledged that some powers do not span the full spectrum of the UPT. Illustrating this is that inherently supernatural powers do not have either a peak human or an enhanced level, but they may have an absolute level.
===UPT Variations===
The following variations to UPT are accepted:
*Transcendent Powers - The power level of gods, transcendent powers are a higher tier of supernatural but less than absolute. This tier is used instead of the Absolute Powers tier for archtypes, physiologies, or other powers for which the absolute level does not make sense.
==Known Users and Example Characters==
Known Users are required for all powers, and example characters are required for all archetypes. Pages must have known users or example characters meeting the minimum user requirement for powers. All pages should strive to exceed the minimum number of users/characters. To facilitate further exploring of the power by site visitors, all listed users/characters should be wiki-linked to their character page in their verse specific fandom. Eg:
*Batman/Bruce Wayne (DC Comics)
*Various Characters (Marvel Comics)
**Deadpool/Wade Winston Wilson
**Wolverine/Logan
*The Prince (Prince of Persia: Sands of Time)
Note that user lists should be sorted alphabetically by verse/series. The term “Various Characters” should never appear by itself but it may be used to introduce a list of characters from the same verse.
==Quotes==
Pages may display one or two quotes at the top of the article. A quote should be a statement made by one character, and it should concisely encapsulate what the article is about. Quotes should be self-explanotory - in other words, quotes should not require that readers know the characters, be familiar with the franchise, or understand the context in which a statement was made.
The quotes section at the start of a page should be kept short. If quotes are very long or there are more than three quotes, then a section for additional quotes should be made at the bottom of the page. This ensures the opening quotes do not become clutter that impedes a reader from actually getting to page content.
Dialoge between two or more characters does not constitute a quote.
==Categorization==
All pages must be placed into accurate categories. Categories don't exist for their own glory nor as badges of glory for pages added to the category. Categories exist to group powers by some common factor and to assist in finding things. Categories follow a data tree structure. Pages and categories should only appear once on any given path within the data tree. This means that nothing should be found in two categories that are ancestor/descendant to each other, and especially not when it is a direct parent/child connection.
*All main space powers must be placed directly into :Category:Powers and into at least one descendant of :Category:Powers by type.
*No categories should be placed into :Category:Powers but instead power categories should be placed into :Category:Powers by type (categorizing by power source or function), :Category:Powers by theme (categorizing by other themes such as fictional genera or geographic origin), or categories which are children/descendant of these.
*All main space traits must be placed into :Category:Traits or one of its descendants.
*All main space archetypes must be placed into :Category:Archetypes or one of its descendants.
*All Fanon powers must be placed into :Category:Fanon or one of its descendants.
*User space pages must not be categorized into main space categories, but they may be placed into fanon categories or into user-space categories.
With the exception of :Category:Powers, there should be no category that can be so broadly interpreted as to be capable of including all powers. Categories of thousands or tens of thousands of pages are useless to assist in navigation of this site.
==Understanding Spaces (Main, Fanon, User, etc)==
This site contains several unique spaces that are identified by the prefix at the front of a page name. There are restrictions on what pages can be created, what quality levels must be achieved, and what other spaces can (or cannot) can be linked.
===Main Space===
Main space pages are identified by having no prefix and they may contain only powers. Main space pages must meet all site rules for quality. Main space pages may be linked from any page anywhere on this site but main space may not link to Fanon or user space pages.
====Trait Space====
Trait space pages are identified by having the prefix "Trait:" and they may contain only traits. Trait space is an extension of main space, so trait space pages may be linked from any page anywhere on this site but trait space may not link to Fanon or user space pages.
====Archetype Space====
Archetype space pages are identified by having the prefix "Archetype:" and they may contain only archetype. Archetype space is an extension of main space, so Archetype space pages may be linked from any page anywhere on this site but trait space may not link to Fanon or user space pages.
===Fanon===
Fanon space pages are identified by the prefix "Fanon:". Fanon pages are for powers, traits, and archetypes that do not meet the minimum user requirements of this site. Fanon may even contain original creation powers, traits, and archetypes with zero users in published fiction. Aside from this exception, Fanon pages must otherwise meet the same requirements of main space. Fanon is not a drafting space, and incomplete pages are liable to be deleted just as would happen with main space pages. Fanon pages may be linked from Userspace pages and from other Fanon pages but Fanon pages may not be linked from Main Space, Trait Space, or Archetype Space. While Fanon pages cannot contain links to user space, Fanon can be linked to from user space.
===User Space===
User space pages are identified by the prefix "User:" immediately followed by a user name. A user page is only permitted to be edited by the user and anyone authorized by that user. User space may link to anywhere on the site, but only other user spaces may link to user space. The user page (or any sub-pages) may be used for almost anything the user wants including to share information about the user them self, to host user created character pages, to serve as sandbox for page creation, to preserve alternate versions of main space or fanon pages, to maintain lists of favourite pages, to build image libraries, etc. User space pages must not be placed into categories intended for main space or any of its extensions. User Space sub-pages containing powers, traits or archetypes may be placed into :Category:Fanon to indicate the page is open to community collaboration and editing. User Space sub-pages containing powers, traits or archetypes may also be placed into :Category:Page Needs Work (or other site maintenance categories) to indicate that it is a draft and that community collaboration and editing is desired to bring the page to a state suitable for main space, trait space, or archetype space.
====Blog Space====
Blog space pages are identified by the prefix "User_blog:" immediately followed by a user name. A user blog can only be edited by the user. Blog space pages have the same restrictions on linking to/from as exist for user space pages, but categorization restrictions are tighter as blog space pages cannot be placed into the fanon or site maintenance categories that would invite collaborative editing. Blog space may contain all the same things as might be found in user space. It is particularly popular for creating pages that you want to maintain exclusive editorial control over - nobody else can edit these even if you invite them to do so.
==General list of Do & Do-not==
*Do invest effort in main narratives. This is the "Capabilities" section of powers, the "Properties" section of archetypes, and the "Effects" section of Traits. This is the section to set your page apart from other pages; to make it interesting and distinct. If the main narrative only warrants a single sentence identifying that the user can do what the page title implies, then it is questionable that the power actually deserves to exist as a page.
*Do focus on describing a power's effects, especially when where a power's mechanics are derived from esoteric sources that cannot be described by known science of the real world.
*Avoid inventing words and do use English language words according to their dictionary definitions. Lots of people visit this site from all over the world. If you use local slang or imaginary words that you invented, then site visitors may have a hard time understanding the wiki.
*Avoid creating physiology specific archetypes. Archetypes should not specify a single physiology except in such cases where the intersection of the physiology and archetype result in characters that are substantially distinct from the base archetype. This is particularly true in the case of creating human specific archetypes when the base archetype is based on a human role. It would be illegitimate to create the archetypes Human Hero, Human Police Officer, Human Mage, or Human Scientist when the base archetypes (Hero, Police Officer, Mage, and Scientist) are based on human roles. There will be a handful of physiology specific archetypes, but these should only exist where the physiology adds something fundamentally different to the archetype. Aesthetic differences do not merit a new archetype.
*Do not use in-group nonsense-speak that may sound cool but communicates nothing. Some superpowers are quite complex and abstract, and it's okay if we cannot or don't know how to describe something. But in these instances, it is better to say nothing that to write vacuous nonsense. Pages are more impact-full when every sentence conveys meaning. To better understand, have a read of this article.
*Do not use compound superlatives when naming a power, and avoid using compound adjectives. Powers should not be based on compound power level adjectives (ie. "Transcendent Superior X" or "Absolute Supernatural X") especially in the case of compound superlatives (ie. "Absulute Ultimate Supreme X").
*Do create pages that are based on what something is; Avoid creating pages that are based on what something is not. Pages (powers, traits, and archetypes) should describe something for what it is. But attempting to group all things that are not [X] generally does not lead to a good, engaging page. Avoid creating pages around things such as "non-human" or "non-bipedal" as these are too broad and encompassing to be interesting (or in the case of powers, to broad to actually describe an effect). Instead, write pages for "alien" or "quadrupedal" as these are more focused and can be meaningfully developed.
==References==
*Universal Power Tiering
*Explaining Archetypes and Traits
*The state of physiology pages
==Return to Info Page==