Marvel Database:Manual of Style

The following guidelines detail the standardized approach for the edition of articles within the Marvel Database that any editor, new or old, should take into account when contributing to the site so its articles are consistent in quality, language and tone. Please take into account that a continued violation of these guidelines is considered ablockable offense.

This manual will not provide an instructive for the use of basic Wiki markup, please visitHelp:Wiki markup for that.

Grammar and Syntax

The Marvel Database is first and foremost an encyclopedia. As such, all articles have to be written in an articulate manner, showcasing an appropriate level of proficiency in English. If you have issues with grammar (for instance, if English is not your first language), please try to double-check your edits, consult many of the spell checkers available online, or ask for help.

All text should flow smoothly, making the article easy to read and comprehend. Line breaks are necessary not only to separate ideas, but also to give the reader an opportunity to take a break from the stream of words and process the information. Avoid writing both overly long paragraphs which suffocate the reader, or extremely short paragraphs which obstruct the flow by forcing the reader to make constant stops.

It should also be noted while the Marvel Database favors no national variety of English over any other, it covers content which was created in America, with an American audience in mind.

Vocabulary and Tone

In order to provide visitors a better reading experience, please favor the use of plain English. Write in a way that is clear and easy to understand, avoiding overly complex vocabulary, ambiguity, literary clichés and idioms. It is also mandatory to use a dispassionate and neutral, or semi-formal, tone. Don't use evaluative vocabulary; that is to say, words that convey an opinion or personal judgment, and imply how the reader should react to a certain piece of information. No character or actions should be exalted or condemned to an excessive degree. Only report data objectively without bias such that the reader can make an impartial decision of their own based on the facts presented.

It should also be avoided to make assumptions about the reader's knowledge. The main purpose of this site is to provide information to people that don't possess it. Any piece of information should be accompanied by the bare minimum of contextual details to help the understanding of the text.

Narrative Perspectives

Save for a few exceptions to be noted, all pieces of text within the Marvel Database need to be written using anin-universe perspective. This means that should assume the role of an omniscient spectator within the world in which the fictional characters live, i.e. you should pretend that the fictional characters you are writing about are real. Only write about the contents of the published material, and not the material itself; the titles of comics, movies, etc. should not be referred to. Additionally, refrain from using points of view that are not in third person.

The Notes and Trivia sections represent the exception to the in-universe rule. These sections are available to add any information about fictional subjects in which is necessary to treat them as such, behind-the-scenes and making-of material, technical aspects of a publication, etc.

Verb Tenses

All content within the History section of an article must be written using past tense. Present tense is only allowed in the Powers and Abilities, Paraphernalia, Properties, Notes and Trivia sections, and the synopses for published material.

Concision and Detail

Editors are encouraged to relay information succinctly in articles. Information should be presented in varying lengths based on its overall importance to the subject covered by the page. For instance, when it comes to the History section in character articles, extremely minor events in their biographies are better suited for passing mentions, while major events should be covered with more emphasis.

The amount of concision present in an article should also be proportional to its scope. For example, an article for a character with over fifty years of published history shouldn't relay the events of a single comic issue with a step-by-step level of detail. However, the page covering that single comic can afford the minutiae due to its narrower scope. A page covering a story arc will fall somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, since it covers more content than a single comic issue but far less than a character article.

Make sure that the level of detail corresponds to the scope of the article, and aim for consistency within a page by matching the detail of new additions to the style of information already present.

Citing Sources

Citing the sources used for edits is one of the most important pillars that ensure the Marvel Database is a reliable source of content. As such, all pieces of text that are added to articles must be properly referenced. Using references also allows readers to be directed towards the material where the information comes from, and members of the wiki's staff to peer review other user's edits.

For more information on how to cite sources, please seeCiting Sources.

Layout

Articles in the wiki should be visually interesting and not mere walls of text. Implement subheadings every few paragraphs to establish breaks and allow easy access from the Table of Contents. Introduce images roughly every other paragraph when applicable (which for any visual media is default).

Links

• Any internal article should be linked in another page in its first mention within each section.
• Due to the nature of the Marvel Database'sNaming Conventions, most article titles display information which is not necessary to show in a link, such as the numeric designation of a character's reality. Because of this, use piped links. Piped links should also be used to provide a link text which displays a character's better known alias or the diminutive form of their name.
  • e.g.[[Peter Parker (Earth-616)|Peter Parker]] instead of[[Peter Parker (Earth-616)]].
  • e.g.[[Gwendolyne Stacy (Earth-616)|Gwen Stacy]] instead of[[Gwendolyne Stacy (Earth-616)]].
  • e.g.[[Ant-Man (film)|''Ant-Man'']] or{{sl|Ant-Man (film)}} instead of[[Ant-Man (film)]].
• Avoid linking to a character's disambiguation page instead of a specific article.
  • e.g.[[Wade Wilson (Earth-616)|Deadpool]] instead of[[Deadpool]].
• Keep piped links as transparent as possible, and avoid forcing the reader to hover over a link to see its content.
  • e.g.Thor went to see his father [[Odin Borson (Earth-616)|Odin]] instead ofThor went to see [[Odin Borson (Earth-616)|his father]].
• Link to comics using theC template to automatically italicize the series' title and add a number sign (#) before the issue number.
  • e.g.{{cl|Incredible Hulk Vol 1 181}} will display the link asIncredible Hulk #181.
• To link to other wikis, use the following format:{{wc|XXXX|article name|link text}}, being "XXXX" the adress of the wiki you want to link to
  • e.g.:{{wc|starwars|Luke Skywalker}} forLuke Skywalker onWookieepedia or{{wc|dc|Kal-El (New Earth)|Superman}} forSuperman on theDC Database.
• To link to Wikipedia, either use{{wp|article name|link text}},{{wp|article name}} or{{wp|aricle name|link text}}, as a format.

Images

It's extremely important to properly categorize the images that are uploaded to the Marvel Database. Because of this, it's mandatory to follow the rules established inImage Policy.

Other Dos and Don'ts

• Make an Effort: While it's not expected that users contribute with every piece of information that is within their reach, please do try to contribute with as much as you can, and avoid doing the barest of minimums. If you create a new article, please use the proper template and add relevant information like history text. If you update an article's infobox, complement that contribution by adding new information in other parts of the article that warrant it, such as the history text, notes, or trivia sections. Missing pieces of information that could've been added with ease will hinder the reading experience of an article for any reader. While it's part of the nature of a wiki that another user can add more information later on, don't regard that possibility as a certainty. Low-effort edits are absolutely discouraged. Simply because there is a low bar set for what makes a contribution acceptable, don't do the bare minimum just to scrape by.
• Be Thorough: Update pages on their entirety when you want to reflect a certain change made to the subject of an article. For instance, if a character dies, do not simply add the character's appearance of death to the infobox in their article; it's mandatory that the addition is supported by the information available in the History section.
• Wait for Releases: Do not add or alter the content of an article based on material yet to be released.
• Don't Rely on Second-Hand Data: Avoid second-hand data. In order to ensure the reliability of the information added to the site, it's important that an editor has personally read or watched the material about which they're adding information. In other words, if you haven't personally read certain media, try not to add information about it.
• Use Headers: Divide the History text of an article into different sections with their own subheadlines when it's helpful, but don't overdo it.
• Mesh Your Edits Well: When updating the History section of an article, be sure to take into account what is already present in the page to ensure that the necessary context to understand your addition is present. If not, add it as part of your edit.
• Don't do "IOU"s: Avoid adding any indicative that there is content to be added in an article. Referenced ellipsis (simply adding three periods followed by a citation, indicating that the ellipsis is meant to be replaced by actual content to be referenced by the citation) or "To be added" labels are discouraged. If you make use of this kind of editing method, at the very least format it so it's a hidden text that can only be seen by editors (to make a piece of text hidden, simply write it between<!-- and-->).
• Don't use AI: Do not make use of large language model or generative AIs to write article content. AIs are unreliable tools that can produce subpar results and their use will never adequately replicate the critical eye and first-hand approach required for encyclopedic research.