Manual of Style

## Content

* All content must be related to *South Park*. For example, Family Guy has been referenced several times throughout the show. It is okay to add content about those references but not okay to add content about Family Guy's episode plots, character details, etc.
* In general, content should be written in a style appropriate for an encyclopedia. Descriptions should be clear and precise; speculations or uncertain facts should be avoided.
* All content must be objective. Use Discussions to discuss your opinions. For example, it would not be okay to add "I think Craig is a really cool character and he is the most popular character ever!" to Craig Tucker's page.
* Use the edit summary as you submit your edit. It lets others know what changed in the article, even if it's just a minor change. This makes it easy for users to back track a page's history.
* Do not plagiarize content from Wikipedia or any other sources. Write it in your own words. The goal is to write the key ideas in your own words so that you don't plagiarize. This improves your overall credibility.
* Do not be overly specific when writing, only as specific as necessary.
* Use full sentences where possible.
* If you are new to wikis, you may want to read the tutorial on FANDOM Help.
* To learn the basics of editing a wiki, go to the page editing guide.

## Writing conventions

### Article Title Precedence

Often on *South Park* there will be the need to create articles for different subjects, all with the same title. When we do so, one of the articles will get a plain title, and the others will have an addition to them. The following list is an order of precedence for how these are decided.

* Episode
	+ Example: Professor Chaos
	+ Episode articles should NEVER have anything in their title besides the name of the episode.
* Character
	+ Example: Professor Chaos (character)
	+ Characters take precedence over other types of articles, but not over episodes.
	+ Characters with the same name as an episode should have **(character)** appended to the title.
	+ Characters with the same name as another character should have **("Episode Title")** appended to the title.
* Every other page
	+ Example: South Park (Location).

If you're ever have doubt with how to title a page, please ask an admin.

### Language

* American English is preferred, as it is the spelling and grammar that *South Park* uses.
* Colloquialisms, slang, l33t speak and other informal styles are not acceptable.
* Users can use short hand on non-content namespaces only
* The following words should be avoided: **Interestingly, Surprisingly, Coincidentally**. These can be overused, so similar words should be used alongside explaining why the subject matter is interesting, for example.
* Furthermore, using "(subject) is a direct reference to.." is redundant. "Direct" is already implied from the subject matter being referred to in an episode, game etc. It is suitable to use “(subject) is a subtle reference to…” but this should not be overused, as references can be often subtle.

### Linking

* Do not overlink. Generally, a page should be linked to, from a given article only once, on its first occurrence. Links may be repeated if the first link is far up the page or if the manner the word is used in makes it necessary.
	+ The exception to this would be episode titles, which should always be linked to each time they occur, regardless of how often they occur.
* If a link is not to this wiki put the URL like this: `[http://southparkstudios.com South Park Studios]`. It will look like this: South Park Studios.
* If the link is to a page in this wiki, use `[[Eric Cartman]]` link. It will look like this: Eric Cartman.
	+ **Pipe-linking**: Links may appear as different words than the name of the page that they link to. For example, if you write only "Butters" and want to link his page, you'll do it this way `[[Butters Stotch|Butters]]`. You can write anything you want after "|" as it will always link to the page that comes before it.
	+ **Extra link text**: Everything written after "]]" will expand the link. For example, if you want to link the plural of a page, instead of writing `[[E-Scooter|E-Scooters]]`, you can write `[[E-Scooter]]s`.
* To link to other wikis, you should use `[[w:c:wiki name:article name| intended name]]`.
	+ For example, `[[w:c:community:Interwiki map|Interwiki map]]` will produce Interwiki map.
* If you need to link to Wikipedia you should do so in the form of a reference.
	+ Wikipedia links should only be used on Trivia pages or Trivia sections of the other articles. They should not be used anywhere else.

### Attribution

* Do not add any attributions (like "written by XYZ") or dates ("written on 14/02/09") to articles. An accurate record of all contributions to an article is available via its "History" page.

## Formatting

### Bold

* Bold the article name the first time it appears in the article itself. Any alternative names should also be bolded at their first occurrence.
* Avoid using bold formatting for general emphasis.

### Italics

* "South Park" should be italicized, but only if it's referring to the show and not the location.
* Italics should be used for the titles of books, movies, shows, and games (along with their downloadable contents).

### Emphasis

* Do not use ALL CAPS.
* Avoid bolding words for general emphasis.
* Avoid using double emphasis (e.g. combining bold and italics).
* Use emphasis sparingly and only when necessary.

### Underlining

* Underlining article content should be used sparingly and only in special cases.

### Character Names

* Do not use Fanon names, if the character has no name, please send a message to an administrator and it will be discussed.
* For characters without a name, it is customary to choose a name the describes the character, such as: Boy with Orange Shirt, Boy with Blond Hair and Blue Shirt, and Boy with Red Shirt and Blue Pants.

### Episode and Song Titles

* Episode and song titles should be put in quotations only.
	+ This rule also applies for episodes from other TV shows.
* Punctuation, such as commas, should be outside of the closing quote.
	+ **Good Example**: Craig appeared in "Tweek x Craig", where he fixed his bike.
	+ **Bad Example**: Craig appeared in "Tweek x Craig," where he fixed his bike.

## Categories

Categories are used for both organizational and navigational purposes. When adding categories, make sure that the category belongs in the article. Also always check the description for each category before adding it.

* Always pay attention when adding a category, categories need to be written and capitalized properly in order for them to work.
* Please consult with an administrator prior to creating new categories. While categories are great for organization, the also present unintended side-effects.
* Episode specific categories don't belong in character articles and vice versa.
* Do not make-up unneeded categories, they will be removed from the article and deleted.
* Do not recreate or restore categories/category pages deleted by administrators.

### Characters

* If an article is about multiple characters (groups, couples, etc), only add categories that apply to all members. For example, do not add the Overweight Characters category to The Boys page only because Cartman belongs in that category or add Male characters and Female characters categories to a couple's page.
* Please respect the canon when adding categories. Do not make up things. For example, do not add the "4th Graders" to a character's page based on ideas like: "they look like a 4th grader" or "they have the appropriate height of a 4th grader".
* Characters' ages, birthdays, and dates of birth must be backed up by a valid and credible source. There are no exceptions to this rule and this should be considered a zero-tolerance offense. If you don't have a valid source, then you do not know the information, regardless of how 'sure' you may think you are. If you are unable to format a citation, contact an administrator for assistance.

### One-off/Minor categories

One-off characters, One-off Locations, Minor characters, and Minor Locations categories should only be added based on their appearance on the show.

For example, if a location appears in only one episode, but also makes appearances in *South Park* video games (ex: *South Park: The Stick of Truth*), the page will have the "One-off Locations" category and **not** "Minor Locations". However, if a location appears only in video games, then it will be categorized under Video Game Exclusive locations without the "one-off" or "minor" categories. The same thing applies to characters.

### Alter Egos

* Alter egos pages should be treated as separate characters. Please categorize the pages according to what the characters want to be with their alter egos. A perfect example is Butters' alter ego Marjorine, which has the "Female characters" category.
	+ According to Wikipedia: An alter ego means an alternative self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality.

## Files

### Images

* Images should be named appropriately, relating to the image's contents. Images will be renamed or removed if the name contains random numbers or letters such as "711\_image-15.jpg" or "Screenshot 2019-12-05 at 6.00.08 PM.png". Names should relate to the image's contents or purpose such as "Casa Bonita location.png" or "Park-county-courthouse-judge.png".
* All files you upload should be used somewhere on the wiki. Admins often do cleanups around the wiki, so unused files might end up being removed.
* Do **not** upload multiple images in a short amount of time without the approval of an administrator first.
* Other versions of the character (alter egos, other costumes) should only be added to the infobox if a transparent image exists.
* Do not upload duplicate images. Check the episode galleries to see if your image has been already uploaded. If you upload a better version of an image please contact a content moderator/administrator to delete the old image.

### Videos

* Videos should only be uploaded from the official South Park Studios channel or other official channels. (HBO Max, Comedy Central, etc)
* If you find a video that doesn't work or it's no longer available, contact an administrator as fast as possible.

## Disambiguation Pages

Disambiguation pages are pages that are meant for a list of pages with similar titles. For example, the disambiguation page Cash For Gold (disambiguation) links to Cash For Gold, "Cash For Gold (Locations)", and Cash For Gold Sign Holders. By using this new template, we've linked all these articles back to Cash For Gold (disambiguation) for easier navigation and the ability to find other related articles. To use this new template, do the following:

* First, verify that the page is linked from a disambiguation page.
* Second, take note of the full page name of the disambiguation page.
* Third, add the template below to the top of the page you wish to link back to the disambiguation page:
	+ **{{LinkDisambig|DISAMBIGUATION PAGE TITLE HERE}}**
* Only create a disambiguation page if there are three or more articles with the similar titles.

Example: Entering in **{{LinkDisambig|Disambiguation Pages}}** produces:
Template:LinkDisambig

* Do not use this template on the disambiguation page itself or on a page that is not linked from a disambiguation page.
* If there is a template on a page, such as the Character Template, Episode Template, or Location Template, add the LinkDisambig template below it.

## Main Article Linking

Some times it may become necessary to add a short paragraph about something that already has an article. To do so, do the following:

* First, take note of the page you are linking to.
* Second, add the template below to the top of the section or paragraph you wish to link back to an article:
	+ **{{main|PAGE TITLE HERE}}**

Example: Entering in **{{main|Disambiguation Pages}}** produces:
Template:Main

* Note: Use this template in the correct spot. It is always best to add it either above the paragraph or just below the section header.
	+ Example: See usage on Raisins Girls.
* Note: Use sparingly. Do not add this template to every singe subsection. If you are in doubt, ask an administrator, we would be glad to help you.

## Templates

* It is recommended to consult an administrator before creating a new template. They are usually created in order to display material that needs to be shown on multiple pages at the same time. Therefore, there is no point in creating a template for personal use.

## Boosting

Boosting is the process of making either useless or malicious edits just to heighten the count of edits they have made. Some things may appear to be boosting, but is not always so. For example, edit wars between a normal user and a vandal, who is trying to vandalize a page, and the user who is quickly undoing his edits.

* Do not edit the same article five times or more in a short amount of time. (ex: 1 hour or less)
	+ Check multiple times if your edits are right and make use of the "Preview" feature.
	+ An exception to this rule can be made when adding a lot of content to the page. (ex: writing the entire plot, script, etc)
* Do not boost for the achievement badges. Badges are meant as a guideline and are in no way to be considered as status symbols. Use them for yourself and feel proud of yourself, do not use them to impress others.
* Additionally, valid contributions with the aim of garnering an achievement are allowed. Contributors should exercise great caution in ensuring that these additions are pragmatic, useful, and accurate. Such instances will be investigated and reviewed by an administrator.
* Users should not create categories to boost their edit count. An example of this would be creating the category: "Episodes with Kyle Broflovski" and "Episodes With Kyle Broflovski" in the same article page.

## References

* Always cite your reference when adding factual information in an article from a source other than the show, movie, or game.
* The preferred format of citing your reference is:

```
<ref>{{cite web |url= |title= |publisher=}}</ref>
```

## Talkpages

* Talkpages are meant for discussion on how to improve the article. If you want to discuss about the show, use Discussions or the Discord server.
* Always sign your post using ~~~~.
* Use headers to title your post.

## Redirects and Renaming Articles

Please do not create useless redirects or rename articles without at least discussing it in the talkpage.