M:Manual of style

The manual of style is a comprehensive style guide for articles of the Stuyclopedia. Please be aware of its guidelines and suggestions, because it will likely come in handy in the future. You may even consider this a guide to help you at any point in creating, writing, and editing articles. If the manual of style does not answer your question, you can ask it at the help desk, or check Wikipedia's Manual of Style. Every rule in Wikipedia's manual applies here too, unless a rule that follows contradicts it; thus, our manual of style overrides Wikipedia's.

Creating an article
To create an article, first check if it's significant enough to be an article. If it is, decide on the title and search it in the searchbox in the left toolbar. Scan the list of search results to see if something similar already exists, or if there is a related article that would be better to add to. Otherwise, click "create this page" in "There is no page titled '[TITLE]'. You can create this page" [emphasis added].

General structure
An article begins with a brief introduction that presents the topic and key points of the article. The subject of the very first sentence should include the title of the article (with appropriate capitalization as if the title were regular words in the sentence) in bold. The title of the article should be referred to in bold only in the first sentence. If the title goes by other names, then note and bold that in the first sentence. For example, "Stuyvesant High School" is also well known as "Stuy," so the subject can read "Stuyvesant High School, commonly referred to as Stuy".

Also, if pronunciation of the title is ambiguous ("Avigdor," for example), refer to Wikipedia's IPA for English guide to determine how to write the pronunciation. Then, in the first sentence of your article after the ambiguous name, click the "IPA" button in the edit toolbar. Then just copy and paste the needed characters from the Wikipedia IPA guide. Note that stressed syllables are preceded by ˈ (secondary stress is not worth the difficulty of noting). So for Avigdor, it should look like "(pronounced /əˈvɪɡdɜr/)". This way we get to learn the IPA!

The article is then divided into sections, listed in an automatic table of contents that follows the introduction. The sections should have enough substance (not necessarily length) to deserve existence.

Titles and headings
The first word of every title (for an article) and heading (for a section) should be capitalized. Other words that would normally be capitalized (such as "Stuyvesant," "English," "SING!") should also be capitalized. Note that the names of specific courses are capitalized (for example, Introduction to Computer Science), while names of general classes (such as science) are not. All else should be in lower case.

Sections are created with equal signs. For example, standard first-level headings are created with ==HEADING 1==. Subsections are created with an extra parentheses on each side: ===HEADING 2=== and ====HEADING 3==== and so forth. Do not use a single equal sign ( =HEADING 0= ), because those are used for the article titles.

Sections that are too small to warrant true section headings can be created using semicolons and colons. For example, ;Small heading 1
 * Small section content 1


 * Small heading 2
 * Small section content 2

will look like
 * Small heading 1
 * Small section content 1


 * Small heading 2
 * Small section content 2

Links under headings
It is sometimes helpful to make references under headings to larger articles. For example, in the Introduction to Computer Science article, a section on Mr. Platek can refer to his article under the heading. This can be done in three ways: Respectively, these display as (best for connecting a section that is a summary of an article to the article itself) (best for connecting a section to a related article) (best for connecting a section to another article or site—note that further does not automatically linkify "ARTICLE TITLE"). If you wish to refer to multiple articles, separate them with |'s.

For more information on linking, see Wikilinks and External links.

Writing style
Writing should be straightforward, clear, and succinct. Always use shorter words to longer ones, specific words to vague ones, and denser words to lengthy phrases. Similarly, avoid long and convoluted sentences; an abrupt sentence is at least preferable to confusion. Use the active voice when you can. Avoid qualifiers, such as "really," "quite," "a little," as much as possible. Don't overuse some useful qualifiers such as "generally" (which can be sometimes be replaced by "usually" or "often" or just omitted) and "somewhat," which will lessen their meaning. Remember that you are writing an encyclopedia: clarity is critical, but dryness and wordiness can lose your readers interest.

Any size paragraphs are fine, but a series of short paragraphs is not preferred. Try to string pieces of information into logical paragraphs.

Also, avoid abbreviations such as "i.e.," "e.g.," "etc.," and so forth.

Names
Always use "Stuyvesant" in articles, never "Stuy." "Stuyvesant High School" is also acceptable, but "High School" is usually understood without mentioning.


 * Teachers and faculty
 * On the first instance of their name in an article, refer to them by their full name preceded by their preferred title ("Dr. Paul Fitzgerald" or "Mr. Gary Rubinstein"). If a female teacher or faculty member doesn't assertively prefer "Mrs." or "Miss," or you aren't sure, use "Ms."  If they have a special position at Stuyvesant, note them as such (for example, "Mr. Stanley Teitel, Principal," "Ms. Maryann Ferrara, Assistant Principal Mathematics," or "Ms. Randi Damesek, Assistant Principal Organization").  For all other instances of their name in the article, refer to them only by their title and last name ("Dr. Fitzgerald"), unless it is at some point ambiguous.  In captions, always use their full name, but not their position.


 * Students
 * On the first instance, use their full name and abbreviated year of graduation, even if they haven't yet graduated (for example, "John Smith ('11)"). For the rest of the article except for captions and ambiguous portions, use only their last name.  If they had a special position such as SU President, it is not worth noting after their name, since it will probably be noted in that paragraph anyway.

Also:
 * The annual performance SING! is written "SING!," regardless of the punctuation around it. For example, "All grades compete in SING!."
 * Write "5-Tech" and "10-Tech," not "5Tech" or "10tech" or anything else.
 * Use "Tribeca," not "TriBeCa."
 * Write "AP" as a prefix for Advanced Placement classes. To avoid confusion, write out "Assistant Principal."

Numbers, time, and dates

 * Numbers
 * Here are the more important rules when in comes to numbers (but for the full set, see Wikipedia's rules):
 * In general, write one-digit numbers as words, and the rest as numbers. Try to avoid starting sentences with numbers; if you do, write it as a word unless it's really long.  This applies for both cardinal and ordinal numbers.  But numbers in infoboxes and tables should always be in number form.  Floors of the building, however, should always be written out (even the "tenth floor"), overriding any of the previous rules.
 * For long numbers, use commas (for example, 123,456,789). If the number is better suited by an approximation (as numbers often are when the quantity is not precisely constant), you can write the number with the zeroes (123,000,000 or 123,456,000), write out "million" or "billion" and so forth (123 million), or use scientific notation if it's a scientific quantity (1.23 × 108).


 * Time
 * Write time in the 12-hour format followed by lower-case "am" or "pm" (for example, 3:00 pm). For noon and midnight, however, write "noon" and "midnight" as opposed to "12:00 am" or "12:00 pm".


 * Dates
 * For dates, write them out in full, unless the year is previously stated or the event is recurring: "October 26, 2009" or "November 11 is Veteran's Day". Do not write the day of the week unless it is useful or significant; for example, if you are giving a chronology of events that spans across a weekend, noting the days of the week would help explain why nothing happened on Saturday and Sunday.

Emphasis and italics
If you wish to emphasize a word or phrase, preferably do so by using emphatic words or rearranging the sentence so that the word to be emphasized are at the end. But if that hinders the sentence, use italics, not use caps, bold, underline, or anything else. If you want to point out a part of a quote, italicize that part and append "[citation added]". For example, "'The math department is improving' [emphasis added].") Italics does not extend to punctuation, however, unless the punctuation is also being emphasized ("How do you know that?" or "I can't believe it's not butter!").

Italics are also used for the titles of works of literature and art, such as books, newspapers, paintings, films (feature-length), television series, and musical albums. The titles of articles (excluding Stuyclopedia or Wikipedia articles, which are simply capitalized and linked), chapters, songs, television episodes, short films, and other short works are not italicized, but are enclosed in double quotation marks.

See Wikipedia's rules for more information.

Separating clauses
Obviously, just follow the rules of grammar. But there are two techniques of style worth noting:

When separating independent clauses, you can use a period to separate them into sentences, a comma with a conjunction, or a semicolon: Each has a different use. The first makes no connection between the two clauses. The second specifically connects the two depending on the conjunction. The third also connects the clauses, yet it's also briefer and more forcible than the second.
 * Stuyvesant High School is located in Manhattan. Fortunately for students, there are many subway lines nearby.
 * Stuyvesant High School is located in Manhattan, and fortunately for students, there are many subway lines nearby.
 * Stuyvesant High School is located in Manhattan; fortunately for students, there are many subway lines nearby.

For parenthetical statements, use the punctuation that fits best. Commas could get confusing in abundance, parentheses might de-emphasize the clause more than desired, and dashes might be too formal. Note that if you wish to use dashes, use em dashes (achieved by ). For example, "The English department&mdash;headed by Eric Grossman&mdash;has many choices for replacing core classes."

Elements of language
Always follow American conventions of the English language. Some other elements of the language are noted here:

Contractions
Contractions are quickly understood because they are so often used in colloquial language. Indeed, avoiding contractions can often make your writing sound pretentious or awkward. Contractions are therefore acceptable in the Stuyclopedia, although some teachers' and graders of AP exams may prefer that you avoid them. But avoid ambiguous or uncommon contractions, such as "there'd."

First- and second-person points of view
All articles should be in the third-person point of view, except for guides (like what you're reading), which can be in second-person. First-person is too personal for encyclopedic writing. Second-person is too colloquial; "you" is better replaced by "one" (for example, "If one is deeply interested in physics, Nanotechnology and Modern Physics is an enjoyable 10-tech"), or even better, the whole thing can be avoided with the passive voice ("For those deeply interested in physics, Nanotechnology and Modern Physics is an enjoyable 10-tech").

Serial comma
Always use the serial comma. The serial comma is the the comma that precedes the conjunction in a series of items. For example, the comma after "cheese" is the serial comma: "I bought eggs, cheese, and milk." Some believe that the serial comma should be omitted, or that it's optional. Omitting the serial comma, however, maybe be ambiguous. For example, "James would like to thank his parents, Mary and God" may suggest that his parents are Mary and God. Thus, always use the serial comma here.

Gender-neutrality
Always use gender-neutral nouns, such as "humanity" instead of "mankind," and "chairperson" or "chair" instead of "chairman." As for pronouns, you can use generic "they" when your antecedent is general and indeterminate in gender. For example, "A student can't help their selection of teachers." Generic they is usually considered incorrect. It can be avoided by using "he or she" or by pluralizing the noun: "A student can't help his or her selection of teachers" or "The students can't help their selections of teachers." Given the wordiness of former, the latter is preferred, although it's not always applicable. Therefore, generic "they" can be used here when it's unambiguous. For example, "The security officers were waiting outside the bathroom. When a student exits, they will be checked for drugs," is confusing (who will be checked, the officers or the student?). However, "In Freshmen Composition, a student strengthens their handle on the English language," is fine.

Wikilinks
Wikilinks are a characteristic and extremely helpful feature of wikis. There are two primary ways to use them:
 * If what you want to write is also the title of the article you want to link to, simply precede it by " " and follow it by "  ".  For example, " " will be displayed as "In Introduction to Computer Science, Mr. Platek teaches Python".  Note that there is a button in the edit toolbar for such links.
 * On the other hand, it is often useful to link words or phrases to articles whose titles aren't those words, follow the article title by a "|" and then the words you wish to linkify: " " will be displayed as "In Introduction to Computer Science, Mr. Platek teaches Python". Remember that the article title goes first.

If you want to link to a section or subsection of an article, follow the article title by "#" and then the name of the section or subsection. For example, " " displays as "See the manual of style for the Stuyclopedia's rule on serial commas" and links directly to the Disputed rules subsection.

You can also link to Wikipedia by preceding the article title by "Wikipedia:". For example, " " produces "math".

When to link
Use a wikilink when it is relevant and helpful. Just link the first instance of the words or phrase, unless
 * a later occurrence of an item is a long way from the first,
 * the first link was in an infobox or a navbox, or some similar meta-content,
 * in tables, in which each row should be able to stand on its own,
 * a link to a significant related topic occurs embedded in the text of an article it may be useful to have a duplicate link in a "see also" section to make it easier to find.

Be judicious about what and how to linkify. For example, in the article on supply and demand  :
 * almost certainly link " microeconomic theory " and "  general equilibrium  ", as these are technical terms that many readers are unlikely to understand at first sight;
 * consider linking " price  " and " goods  " only if these common words have technical dimensions that are specifically relevant to the topic.
 * do not link to the "United States", because that is an article on a very broad topic with no direct connection to supply and demand.
 * definitely do not link "potato", because it is a common term with no particular relationship to the article on supply and demand, beyond its arbitrary use as an example of traded goods in that article.
 * make sure that the links are directed to the correct articles: in this example, you should link good (economics) , not  good  .  Many common dictionary words link to disambiguation pages.

External wikilinks
In the "External links" section, it is often helpful to link to an article on the same or a similar topic at Wikipedia. To do so, write " ;" this will produce, "". If you want different text to link to that article, write " ; this will produce, "".

Redirects
Redirect pages help users get to the page they want. For example, if you want to read the page on AP Physics B, you might search "Physics B". Since the AP Physics B article is called "AP Physics B", not just "Physics B", you will be directed to a page of search results. Although it often returns good search results, this isn't exactly user-friendly. It would be better if "Physics B" redirected him straight to the AP Physics B article. To do this, create the article titled "Physics B". The content of the article would be " ". This code can be easily accessed with the "#R" button in the edit toolbar. Also, if you want to redirect to a specific section of an article, use " ".

Lists
Lists are handy. They can be bulleted or numbered. To make a list, begin each item of the list with " " for bullets, " " for numbers. Thus, produces
 * one
 * two
 * two point one
 * three

Also, produces
 * 1) one
 * 2) two
 * 3) two point one
 * 4) three

Infoboxes
Infoboxes provide a quick way to get small facts, such as the pre-requisites for a certain class or a teacher's email address. See the infobox to the right for an example.Every article about a class, teacher, or club/pub should have an infobox. Infoboxes are placed at the very top of an article, before the introductory paragraph. To get the proper infobox, click the appropriate button in the edit toolbar (they are letters in boxes; for example, the class infobox is a C in a box). Note that not every cell must be filled out for an infobox; for example, if a class has no pre- or co-reqs, then just leave that cell blank. For example, the AP Lunch infobox to the right is achieved by the following code: