Manual of style

The **Manual of Style** for the Ktarn Fleet Command wiki contains guidelines and editing helps for creating and editing pages on the wiki. This is to help maintain a uniform look to all pages.

Some helpful pages include:

* The glossary of terms, abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms used on this site and in *Star Trek* works.
* A starship class template page for creating new pages about starship classes.

## Titles

### Creating

The title of a page is created when you name the page, so be mindful of what you want the official title of the page to be when you create it. Although, if things change, you can rename the page and a redirect will automatically be created under the old title.

#### Starships

Titles for starship pages should be the name of the vessel, preceded by the name prefix (if applicable). This means that titles for Starfleet vessels pages will all start with USS followed by the name of the ship. A dash and letter can then be included if desired.

The registry number, i.e. (NCC-1701) should *not* be included in the title. At this time, there are not enough starships with the same name to warrant the inclusion of a registry number in the title.

#### Characters

The title of character pages should be the name of the character. Generally it should be the common name and not the full name, i.e. James T. Kirk and not James Tiberius Kirk. But final determination on this point is up to the character creator.

For characters from cultures where the surname/family name comes first, e.g. Bajorans, then the author can decide whether the page title will be surname - given name or given name - surname. However, a note must be placed at the top of the page clarifying the name and both should be included in the first line of the page, see Eden Jaro for an example.

### Display title

To change the display title of a page, such as when italicizing the ship name, you should place {{DISPLAYTITLE:title to display}} in the Source Editor view of the page. For example, if I created a page for the USS *Template* and wanted to have its name italicized in the title, I would place {{DISPLAYTITLE:USS ‘’Template’’}} somewhere on the page (it is recommended that you place it at the end of the page). This will change the page title from USS Template to USS *Template*.

### Sorting

Adding Categories to a page allows it to be grouped with like pages. When you look at a category, the pages in the list will be organized alphabetically by the first word of the title. To remedy this with starship pages, which would all end up under U for USS or R for RRW, etc., you should add the sort tag to the page so it sorts in Categories how you want it to.

In the Source Editor view, add {{DEFAULTSORT:sort term}} somewhere on the page (it is recommended that you place it at the end of the page). For example, if you want the RRW *Example* to be sorted by the ship name and not name prefix, insert {{DEFAULTSORT:Example}} at the end of the page.

## Pages

When creating a page for a character, starship, etc., you need to first include an infobox (see below), then an introductory paragraph. The title of the page should always be called out in the first sentence and should be bolded. For example, if creating a page for the character John Doe, the page should begin: "**John Doe** was a male Human..." The intro paragraph should be relatively short and to the point. Save the explanations of the characters service in Starfleet or how the starship was pivotal in a battle for the biography and service history sections.

On that note, pages have different required sections depending on the subject. Characters have a biography section, followed by chronology and the appendices. You may also want to include sections on personality and relationships. These should go after the biography, but before chronology.

Starships have a service history section first, then a technical information section, with an axiliary craft subsection (if applicable). That is followed by a crew section with a senior staff sub section (again, if applicable). Next should be a gallery (optional), and the appendices.

### Chronology

On character pages, a chronology is used to give a timeline overview of the character's life. Dates should include the year at the least, but can include more specifics using a year month day format (e.g. 2410 January 7).

Go into the "Source editor" to create the format for the chronology. Under the Chronology heading, enter a ; followed by the year, then on the next line a : followed by the information. For example:

2409
Appointed commanding officer of the USS *Example*
### Appendices

Every page should have an appendices section at the bottom. This consists of Connections, Sources consulted, and Footnotes. Under "Connections" should be included the navboxes that apply to the page's subject, i.e. if writing a page on a Starfleet officer then the navbox for Starfleet and the Federation should be included. (See the navbox section below for information on inserting these).

The "Sources consulted" section is used to document, and link where possible, websites, books, and other material that were used to compile information for the page. A complete list of those works used on this wiki can be found here.

Under "Footnotes" you need to include a reference list, found under the insert drop-down menu at the top of the editor. This will auto-populate as you insert references on the page.

### Dates

This wiki uses the Star Trek Stardate Calculator created by Andreas Schmidt to calculate stardates when no canon stardate is provided. For Klingon dates, we use the calendar by Atavachron. Dates entered according to the Gregorian calendar should be entered day-month-year, e.g. 2 December 2405.

## Infoboxes

Numerous infoboxes have been created to provide common information on pages. These can be selected from the "Insert" drop-down menu. The wiki system offers some templates, but this wiki only uses:

* Military units - for organizations as broad as Starfleet or much smaller like the Zodiac Carrier Group
* Planet - used for planets
* Sidebar battle - used for incidents of combat
* Sidebar class - used for starship classes
* Sidebar facility - used for facilities like starbases
* Sidebar person - used for individuals
* Sidebar starship - used for specific starships
* Sidebar story - used for fictional stories
* Species - used for alien species
* State - used for governments

These will always appear in the top right corner of the page.

## Navboxes

These are used towards the bottom of pages under the "Connections" heading. First, the mouse cursor needs to be placed where you want the Navbox to appear. Then go to the "Insert" drop-down menu, and select "Templates." You can search in the pop-up for a specific template to insert.

You can also bypass the menu by placing the mouse cursor where you want to insert the Navbox and typing a double **{**. This will open the template search pop-up. If you know the template name, you can also include it by typing {{template name}} while in the Source Editor. For example, typing **{{UFP}}** will make the Navbox for the United Federation of Planets appear.

## Linking

Pages in wikis are most helpful when you link them together. To link to another page in the wiki (whether it has been created or not) you can highlight the text you wish to link and then click on the link option at the top of the page. If the page already exists, it should appear as an option when you click in the text box of the pop-up. Click done and the text will be linked. If the page does not yet exist, then simply hit done and the link will appear red until the page is created.

You can also link to items by typing a double **[** which will open the link pop-up. Enter the name of the page you want to insert a link to and it should appear in the drop-down. Select the desired page and hit done. This will drop the full page title into the text. You can then edit it as needed.

To link to pages outside this wiki, highlight the text to be linked and click on the link icon in the top menu. Enter the URL into the text box of the link pop-up. Click done and the text will now be linked.

### Starships

Some coding has been added to allow for quick-linking of starships. When on the page where you wish to enter the full name of a vessel, such as USS *Template*, type a double **{** and search for **USS** for Starfleet ships, **RRW** for Romulan Republican Force starships, **IRW** for Romulan Star Empire starships, **IKS** for Klingon Defense Force starships, and **AFS** for Khitomer Alliance starships. This will open a pop-up with multiple fields. Enter the vessel's name in field 1. A links will then be created in the article to that ship with the name italicized, e.g. USS *Gheryzan*.

At this time this will not work for starships that use hyphens, i.e. USS *Galar*-A, as it will also italicize the dash and letter. Those must be linked by using the double **[** process and then highlighting the name of the ship and italicizing it using the menu at the top of the page.

If you want to insert a link to the class of the vessel, then type the double **{** and search for **Class**. In field 1, you will need to enter the name of the class. The link will then automatically be created to the page for the class, i.e. *New Orleans*-class.

## Categories

To group like pages together and assist in navigation, categories should be added to every page. After you create the page, go to the category area at the bottom of the page and click "add category." Categories include a character's species, a starship's class or assignment, etc. Begin typing a category to see suggestions of categories already in use.