MinibuildsWiki:StyleManual

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This is Minibuilds Wiki's **Style Manual**, sometimes known as **The Book** or **Manual of Style**. All articles should conform to the standards listed below.

* Proposals for minor additions/alterations to the Style Manual can be made here.
* An archive of former votes/discussions about proposals that were added to the Style Manual can be found here.

## General

* All articles should contain correct spelling, punctuation, capital letters and language structure.
	+ Articles should use British English for their spelling. Differences between UK and US spelling can be seen here.
	+ All references to a date should be in order of day - month - year, for example: *1 December 2014*.
	+ LEGO, DUPLO, BIONICLE and QUATRO should all be spelled with capitals.
* Articles should be written from a neutral point of view (that is, objective). Pointing out features of the topic of the article (eg a set) is encouraged, but using sentences such as "this set is one of the best sets in its theme because..." is not.
* A subject should be linked once upon its first appearance in the article's infobox, once upon its first mention in the article's lead section, once upon its first mention in the article's main body, and throughout the minifigure gallery (if applicable).
* Any images placed throughout the article should be of a suitable size, captioned appropriately, and "fit in" well with the rest of the article (for example, placing a single large image at the very bottom of an article which hasn't been resized with the caption "an hq pic of the set" would not be acceptable).
* If anything requires indenting in an infobox, {{si}} should be used.
* You should not add rumours to a page. All information added must be confirmed fact.

## One-Part Minibuild Articles

### General requirements

* A set header template
* A set infobox
* At least one image of the set must be included, where there is one available
	+ If a box image and an image of the set out of the box are both available, the box image should go in the infobox. If there is no box image available, the other image may be used in the infobox.
	+ If there are no minifigures present in the set, the field should be left blank and not contain text such as "none", "zero" or "0".
	+ Prices should be filled out using Template:Price, and at a minimum, the following four prices should be filled out (where the price is known in that currency):
		- United States Dollar (US $) (US in template)
		- German Euro (€) (DE in template)
		- British Pound (£) (UK in template)
		- Australian Dollars (AU $) (AU in template)
		- Since Template:Price is relatively new, existing articles not using the template should have the price field formatted as: US $xxx.xx / €xxx.xx / £xxx.xx / AU $xxx.xx
* Main information describing the set
* A quote of the description of the set from LEGO's website, where there was/is one available, using Template:QuoteLEGO.com.
* A minifigure gallery template, where minifigures are included in the set
* A "Sources" section (if required)
* Categories for theme, item number and year released, see the Category Guidelines
* If a set has been released multiple times, and under a different number and/or name, a separate article should be created for each release

### Recommended Order of sections and section headings

1. **Lead section (no heading):** Short paragraph that describes the basic information of the set, like: release year, theme, rough overview of the content and information about the sets release. It's common practice on most wikis that such a lead section does not have a section heading.
2. **Description or Details:** Detailed description of the set's content and functions.
3. **Background:** Text that describes the background/context of the featured model in its respective fictional universe (keep it short and simple). This should be written in the past tense.
4. **Notes:** Additional information about rare pieces (pieces that appear in just one or two sets), pieces that make their first or last appearance in this set or other peculiarities.
5. **LEGO.com Description** (since the citation box looks like a "roadblock" it shouldn't come after the actual description because it's too obtrusive, instead it should be positioned at the end of the running text of an article)
6. **Minifigures Included:** With Template:MinifigureGallery filled out correctly underneath. If there is a large empty space between the heading and this template, Template:Clear should be used directly above this heading.
7. **Gallery:** Any other pictures of the set.
8. **See Also:** Links to related articles on Brickipedia, e.g. sets with a similar subject, appearance etc. or articles that describe a related subject with a broader scope or present an overview of related sets. (Not links to the parent theme or a simple list of sets of the same theme)
9. **Sources/References:** reftags from the articles.
10. **External Links:** At the end of the article.
11. **Navbox:** Respective theme navigation box.

## Minifig Articles

### General requirements

* A minifigure infobox
	+ Video game appearances, accessories, years and variants should appear in the infobox only when the minifigure has not been released in a physical form
* A description
* At least one image of the figure, where there is one available
	+ The infobox image of a minifigure must be a photograph of the physical figure. An image of a computer-generated representation of the minifigure may be used only when no photographs exist.
* A minifigure gallery template, where there is more than one variant of the minifigure
	+ The minifigure's image should be that of its exact variant- if there is no image available of this variant, then the field should be left blank.
* An "appearances" section
	+ If the minifigure appears in both physical and video game form, have an == Appearances == heading and list physical appearances, then underneath have a === Video Game Appearances === heading and list video game appearances here.
* An appropriate category for the minifigure
* A minifigure template (where applicable)

### Recommended Order of sections and section headings

1. Lead Section (no heading): Short paragraph that describes the basic information of the minifig like release year, universe etc. It's common practice on most wikis that such a lead section does not have a section heading.
2. **Description:** Detailed description of the minifig, explaining the headgear/hair, the torso, the legs, any bodywear etc.
3. **Background:** Text that describes the background of the minifigure/character in its respective fictional universe (keep it short and simple). This should be written in the past tense.
4. **Notes:** Any important notes or trivia about the minifig, in universe, or in reality.
5. **Appearances:** Section with the sets in which the minifigure has appeared.
6. **Accessories:** Section containing {{MinifigureGallery}}, and listing all the separate variations of a minifigure.
7. **LEGO.com Description:** Description taken from LEGO.com of the minifigure. (this section can be replaced with any other official description of the minifigure)
8. **Gallery:** Section with extra images of the minifigure. If a minifigure has back printing or a double sided head, the alternate views of the minifigure are to be included in this section.
9. **Navigational Templates (no heading):** Any appropriate navigational templates, such as {{SWfigs}}.

## Theme/Subtheme Articles

Theme/Subtheme articles should contain:

* A theme infobox
* A description
* A relevant image or logo of the theme
* A list of sets in the theme
* Appropriate categories

## Part Articles

Part articles should be named by their official LEGO Design ID, not their Element ID.

Part articles should contain:

* A part infobox
	+ The "Colours" field should be filled out using Template:Colourbox appropriately
* A description
* A part gallery
* A complete list of appearances
* Appropriate categories

Articles should not be created on parts and/or accessories, that have **only** appeared in video games or movies.

#### Recommended Order of sections and section headings

1. **Lead Section** (no heading): Short paragraph that describes basic information about the part, including its official LEGO title.
2. **Description**: stating the size, shape and (optionally) printing design.
3. If it applies, **Background**. Some parts have story relevance in their respective themes. In themes with stories as big and complex as BIONICLE however, keep it no more than a paragraph long.
4. **Gallery** - This should be filled out using Template:PartGallery, with the *img* fields containing an image of the part and the *txt* fields containing the official LEGO name of the colour the part is shown in above. Images of parts taken from LEGO.com (this includes Brickset), should be named as their Element ID; for example 4142544.jpg is Part 2905 in Dark Grey.
5. **Appearances**: a list of which sets the part has appeared in. Use colour subheadings beginning with a semicolon for the best formatting.
6. **Notes**: This section should contain notable other pieces of information about the part, for example Element IDs and oddities.
7. **External Links**: The last section, which should only contain {{External info/Part|<Design ID>}} and a bullet-pointed link to its Bricklink page underneath it.

## Inventory Articles

Inventories can either be on sets or minifigures.

* The Template:Up
* The Inventory. (Using Template:((InventoryTemplate:)) and Template:((ISTemplate:)))
* The Template:Inventory Details
* Inventories should only contain headings if the subject has more than one variations (ie. A minifigure with more than one variation.)

#### Recommended Order of sections and section headings

1. **This will happen/has happened in <year>**: Events happened in that year.
2. **Themes introduced or discontinued in <year>**: List of themes that were introduced or discontinued in that year.
3. **Sets introduced in <year>**: List of the sets released in that year.

## Naming conventions

### LEGO Sets

**Titles of set articles usually consist of the set's reference number followed by its official name.** (e.g. 6552 Rocky River Retreat)

* The names used at Brickipedia are the ones from the American releases. If a set was not not released in the US, the UK name has to be used.

* If a set was released under several different numbers, each set warrants a separate article.

* If a set was released with the same number but under different names, the chronologically first name has to be used in the title.

* If a set does not have an official name or the name is unknown, the generally accepted conjectural name of the set may be used, as it can be found on most databases like Lugnet, Brickset, or Peeron. In this case, please place Template:((Conjecture|setTemplate:)) at the top of the article.

### LEGO Parts

**Titles of articles about parts follow the form "Part <Design ID number>".** (e.g. Part 60470)

The Design ID is the number that specifies a part's shape (and is mostly imprinted on its bottom side), while the Element ID also specifies its color (and is found on current LEGO building instructions). The numbers used by Peeron are Design IDs. Element IDs should not be used.

### LEGO Minifigures

For minifigures from a licensed theme, minifigures should be given the name that they are given on any official LEGO website, box or other official LEGO material, unless the name clearly contradicts the name of the character is meant to represent (for example, Shadow Stormtrooper minifigures are given the name "Shadowtrooper" by LEGO, however Shadowtroopers in the Star Wars Universe are distinctly different). If a licensed minifigure has officially been given more than one name by LEGO, then the more correct "in-universe" name should be used.