Manual of Style

This **Manual of Style** is the guideline by which *Beyond Contact* articles should be written. Please consult the Manual of Style before making significant edits. These guidelines are not set in stone, but they should generally be followed in order to maintain consistency across pages, unless there is a good reason to make an exception.

## Titles

Article titles, or page titles, should use correct capitalization of proper nouns, and should not contain abbreviations. For monsters, a primary source (in-game name, interview, etc.) should be used to name pages. If primary sources are unavailable, secondary sources are acceptable.

An example of an article title using improper capitalization:

Bull crog
An example of an article title using proper capitalization:

Bull Crog
## Images

Images must be official artwork or from screenshots of the game. **Fan art is not preferred**. Images must pertain to the pages that they are added to.

## Linking

There should be only one link to the same article per paragraph. If the term appears constantly in a lengthy article it may be feasible to have a link every few paragraphs

## Spelling

Pages on the wiki should use American English unless the in-game name is British English. For instance, "colour" should be "color", "behaviour" should be "behavior", "centre" should be "center", and so on.

## Numbers

* Spell out numbers if it is below 10 (zero to nine) and is mentioned as a single number in the context. Use numeric (Arabic) notation otherwise.
* Where large numbers are mentioned, every three digits should be separated with a comma, such as 1,234,567,890. Spaces are not required.
* Periods should be used as decimal separator, such as 0.5 etc.

## Perspective

Articles in the main namespace should always be written in the third-person perspective and without terms referential to the reader ("you", "your", etc.). The exception to this is tutorial pages, where in most cases "you" is the most appropriate pronoun to use when referring to the player. Try not to use abbreviations of words either. For instance, sentences like "You'll find Boars in Meadows." should be written as "The player will find Boars in Meadows."

## Adding Trivia

The following guidelines should be observed when adding real life trivia to an article:

* Citation should be added to show legitimate factual backup to the theory.
* The information should be relevant to the content of the article.
* The article and the real life "thing" must share more than a common name; however, having a name in common is a major part of connecting the two things.

## Plural vs. Singular

An entity (a person or monster) in *Beyond Contact* that is unique is referred to as a single object. Whenever more of one such entity exists, the page should be written with plurality in mind.

## Common Mistakes

### Redundant Words or Sentences

Please be precise and get straight to the point when editing. Refrain from adding totally redundant parts like "in Beyond Contact" or "available to players" at the end of a sentence. Also, if it is obvious that XY is an item, you do not need to point out "XY is an item". However, writing "XY is an item obtained by smelting A in B" (or similar to this) is ok.

### Authoritative Statements

"Recommended", "Advised" and other authoritative statements should only be used when the editor is prepared to cite **who** recommends or advises the reader to take certain actions. The cited source must be credible. If no such source exists, avoid using these words and rephrase the sentence.

### Drawing Attention

"Note that", "Note the" and other similar phrases are used to draw the reader's attention to certain information, but as this wikia is strictly an information source that does not tell people what to do (**except tutorial pages**), such phrases are considered superfluous. On the other hand, conveying relevant information in as few words as possible is a desirable trait.