Mapp and Lucia:Manual of Style

The **Mapp and Lucia Wiki** has a Manual of Style that all articles are highly suggested to follow. This article represent our official policy and act as guide to ensure that all articles are uniform with certain encyclopedic standards. You might be interested to read Mapp and Lucia:Parent Info.

## Layout Guide

The pages are all structured in a similar way and with simplicity, so that it is easy to upgrade them.

### Infobox

Each page contains one infobox depending on the type (character, location, episode, and so on). This box will contain synthetic and immediate notions and contents, filling the proper entries.

### Introduction and Quote

A brief intro will be affixed as the first item on the page, usually describing briefly the content of the page.

Eg. *Elizabeth Mapp is one of the co-star of Mapp and Lucia.*

Where possible this intro will be prefixed with a quote of that character or relating in any way to the page.

### Overview

A general review or summary of a subject. As for the main characters this is provided by the official website of the BBC, so it is better to use official descriptions. Sources should always be quoted.

### Story

Text about a character or a place through all the episodes. Is advisable to maintain an objective tone and do not enter biased opinions.

### Gallery

A selection of promotional images and screenshots, possibly of good or high quality.

### Notes

Annotations and trivia on the topic of the page. These will be written in a bullet list.

### References

Credits to the authors of pieces of text entered using a specific redirectional link.

## Language

Mapp and Lucia Wiki is an English site, therefore this has to be the exclusive language of articles and pages, except for the foreignisms used on the show (eg. Lucia speaking Italian). A correct and clear grammar is recommended.

### Grammar

* One is a character or an actor in (not on) a fiction series or episode. An actor appears on (not in) a news or talk show if they're not playing a role.
* The series or episode is broadcast (not broadcasted or aired) on a network. Digital streams or downloads are similarly "streamed", "distributed", or as a blanket term "broadcast".

### Capitalization

* Each word of a proper noun, including any honorifics, is capitalized. (Major Benji Flint)
* The first letter in a sentence is capitalized.
* Unless one of the first two rules is true, common nouns are rarely capitalized.

### Punctuation

* Period, or full stop, should be used at the end of a declarative sentence. Periods after honorifics are increasingly optional in modern usage. There is some contention about this.
* Commas set apart list items, equal adjectives, and portions of dates and geographical names (by order of magnitude); They also separate clauses, some adverbs, parenthetical phrases, vocatives, and inline quotes.

### Terms

e.g. (or eg.)
Abbreviation of Latin *exemplī grātiā* ("for example").
i.e. (or ie.)
Abbreviation of Latin *id est* ("that is"); in other words; that is to say.
Comments and other non-English contributions are not discouraged. Using a translator to see what others have written is free. Where there are a lot of fans in a non-English, they should also be encouraged to start a sister community on Wikia. Contact an admin to discuss interlinking or starting a non-English Mapp and Lucia community.

## Perspective

Except in sections like Notes and Trivia, both episode and character pages should be written as if within the show's universe as actual events rather than something that was viewed on television or other media. Character pages should be concerned only with events specific to that character. Episode pages should be story driven, reserving expositional or trivial details regarding a character to their own article.

### Neutral Point of View

Editing from a neutral point of view means representing fairly, proportionately, and as far as possible without bias, all significant views that have been published by reliable sources. In objective articles (Episode Pages, Character Pages, and Production Pages), efforts should be made to maintain that the content is as neutral as possible. Not everyone enjoys or appreciates the series in the same way as the editor.

* **Avoid stating opinions as facts.** "Cadman is an attractive man." is an opinion. "Cadman has many admirers." is a fact.
* **Avoid stating seriously contested assertions as facts.** "Irene is a successful artist." is an assertion. That she is an artist is a fact.
* **Avoid presenting uncontested assertions as mere opinion.** "Lucia and Irene are secret lovers" lends undue doubt to something we know to have happened.
* **Prefer non-judgmental language.** "Miss Mapp is nasty" is a judgement by moral standards that are not shared by the entire readership.