Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia:Manual of Style/Characters Format

This article covers any basic guidelines that should be followed when creating or editing pages pertaining to characters, in order to create a consistent look across all articles.

## Tabs

**Tabs** should only be used if an article has any subpages. Tabs should be placed on top of the infobox, so that they are displayed above the page. The tabs should be listed as such:

* Main Article
* Behind the Scenes
* Merchandise
* Gallery

## Infoboxes

**Infoboxes** are used for containing any basic information about a character, including (but not limited to): debut appearances, voice actors, affiliations, technical details, etc. There are two infoboxes that should be used for characters: Infobox Character Vehicle and Infobox Character Human. Infobox Character Vehicle should be used for non-human characters, such as locomotives, rolling stock, non-rail vehicles, etc., while Infobox Character Human should be used for human characters **only**.

## Quote

The **Quote** template displays a phrase on the page. The quote in particular should relate to the character, and should be said by either the character themselves or another person/character. The quote template should be added directly below the infobox, so that it is displayed beside it on the page. To insert a template, add the following:

```
{{Quote|The actual phrase|The person or character who said the quote|The source link}}

```

## Biography

The **Biography** section covers the character's history. Only significant or other well-known events should be mentioned in biographies; minor or insignificant events should not be added and will be removed. There are also different headers used for the biographies, depending on which medium the character is from from. Obviously if a character has not appeared in either the *Railway Series* or *Thomas & Friends*, then those sections should be omitted.

### *The Railway Series*

This section is used for characters who have appeared in the *Railway Series*. The content in this section should only contain material considered canon to the *Railway Series*, such as stories from the main books. Books such as *The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways* and *Sodor: Reading Between the Lines* should also be referenced.

### *Thomas & Friends*

This section is used for characters who have appeared in *Thomas & Friends*. The content in this section should only contain material considered canon to the television show, such as episodes, films, etc.

### *Magazines/Annuals*

This section is used exclusively for characters who have only made appearances in the magazine or annual stories. If the character in question is a magazine character, title this section as "**Magazines**". If they are an annual-only character, title this section as "**Annuals**".

## Personality

The **Personality** section covers any defining personality traits relating to the character. It is important to cover all the key traits and details the character has expressed, but it is also important not to overflow the description with too many unnecessary facts. It is also advised not to copy/paste descriptions from the official website; instead, write up your own descriptions.

## Technical Details

### Basis

The **Basis** section covers any details about the real-life vehicle/locomotive the character is based on. It includes a short description of the locomotive, what type of jobs it did and whether or not any have been preserved. Any modifications the character has received that make them stand out from their basis (such as whether or not they were re-gauged) should also be listed in this description. A gallery for any photographs of the character's basis should be added below the description, with no more than two or three images.

**NOTE:** For characters who are real-life locomotives (Wilbert, City of Truro, etc.), title this section as "**Real-life History**". Descriptions of real-life engines should be short and simple, and should be no longer than four paragraphs at the very least.

## Physical Appearance

The **Physical Appearance** section is usually reserved for human characters only. It covers key details about their physical appearance, such as their hair, eye colour, attire, etc.

## Appearances

The **Appearances** section covers any appearances the character has made in the *Thomas* franchise. This includes appearances in the *Railway Series*, television series, any other books/video-games, etc. If the appearances section is long enough, place it in a Scroll box. The different forms of media should also be split into different tabbers, such as the following:

**The Railway Series** - this tabber covers any appearances the character has made in the *Railway Series*, such as books from the main series, reference books such as *The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways*, etc. **NOTE:** Annuals and mini-books (such as those written by Christopher Awdry) should not be added to this section, though books like *Thomas's Christmas Party* can.

**Thomas & Friends** - this section covers any appearances the character has made in

**Other Media** - this section covers any appearances the character has made in other forms of media, such as video-games, books, magazine and annual stories, etc.

**Thomas Creator Collective** - this section covers appearances the character has made in the *Thomas Creator Collective*.

Below is an example of how the tabbers should look:

* The Railway Series
* Thomas & Friends
* Other Media
* Thomas Creator Collective

* This is a test

- This is a test

- This is a test

- This is a test

## Trivia

The **Trivia** section contains a bullet list featuring unique facts about the character that do not belong in any of the other sections.

## Merchandise

The **Merchandise** section covers any merchandise lines that the character has been released in. Wikitables are used to list the names of the product(s), what year they were released and/or discontinued, any additional notes as well as the image itself. The images in the tables should always be scaled to 115px so that they are not too big. Tables should also be separated for each merchandise line in order to keep things tidy. Below is an example:

**Wood**

If there is more than one table in the merchandise section, place all of them between the Collapse 1 and Collapse 2 templates. If a character is available in more than five merchandise lines and has over fifteen images, create a merchandise subpage.

## Gallery

**Galleries** contain any images relating to the character. This includes *Railway Series* illustrations, stills from *Thomas & Friends*, promotional images, etc. If a character gallery has more than fifteen images, then a separate gallery page should be created. To do this, create a page titled as "**Pagename/Gallery**". **NOTE:** This rule does not apply to infobox images, basis photographs or merchandise images used in wikitables.

## References

The **References** section includes a list of links . To add a list of references, insert "**{{Reflist}}**" on the page. To add a reference link to a certain line of text, insert the following at the end of the sentence: "**<ref>Insert link here</ref>**"

## Navboxes

**Navboxes** (**navigation boxes**) are templates that contain links that the page is featured in. They should always be added at the bottom of the page. Below is a list of navboxes that should be used on character pages:

**Railways**

* Template:North Western Railway
* Template:Skarloey Railway
* Template:Arlesdale Railway
* Template:Culdee Fell Railway
* Template:Mid Sodor Railway
* Template:Sodor & Mainland Railway
* Template:Other Sudrian railways
* Template:The Mainland
* Template:Bluebell Railway
* Template:Talyllyn Railway
* Template:Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway

**Branch Lines**

* Template:Ffarquhar Branch Line
* Template:Brendam Branch Line
* Template:Peel Godred Branch Line
* Template:Kirk Ronan Branch Line
* Template:Norramby Branch Line
* Template:Stepney's Branch Line

**Other**

* Template:Sodor China Clay Company
* Template:Sodor Search and Rescue Centre
* Template:Ulfstead Castle
* Template:National Railway Museum
* Template:Steam Team

## Categories

**Categories** are used to group pages with similar themes. It is important to add all the necessary categories to a character page, so that it is easier to navigate the wiki.

In addition, there is also a certain way the categories should be organized, in order to give a uniform look across all pages:

* Character categories (Category:The Railway Series characters, Category:Television Series-only characters, Category:Female characters, etc.)
* Railway/branch line/location categories (Category:North Western Railway, Category:Thomas' Branch Line, Category:Sodor China Clay Company, etc.)
* Vehicle type/human categories (Category:Steam locomotives, Category:Non-rail vehicles, Category:Humans, etc.)
* Wheel arrangement categories (Category:0-6-0, Category:0-4-0, etc.)