Forum:Formatting Discussion

We've had some discussion on Discord about standardizing some source-view and other formatting on the wiki. There's been quite a few edits just for formatting lately, so this is to reach consensus on some of these issues and maybe clean up everything quickly with a bot.

Here are the main points so far, and I attempted to copy over everyone's position. If I missed yours or misrepresented you or if you've changed your mind, please reply or update.

Format points of discussion:


 * Spaces in infobox before the equal sign, notably having the space after the longest term:
 * Ky: I prefer them lining up with spaces, but other than that, I don't care how many as long as it's neat.
 * Munch: has already been editing for this and has now updated the templates so that there's a space between each word and the equal sign so they all line up.
 * Ever: "Lining up the equal signs has always been for the aesthetic, right? I don't care, so if Ky likes it and most pages have it, let's stick with it, but I don't think it's worth the extra edit if that's the only change a page needs"
 * Night: "I don't mind anything of the spaces before the equal signs"
 * Consensus - I think this has been resolved with Munch updating the templates so it has the extra space. We just need to standardize the extra space across pages.


 * Space in the infobox after the equal sign:
 * Ky: I am in favor of the space.
 * Ever: "I also prefer the space after the equal sign, since it needs to be there when the field is filled"
 * Night: "I don't have a preference to the blank spaces that come after but I've just been removing them"
 * Munch: "Leaving the spaces when the parameter hasn't been filled is fine, but I don't think we need a bot to add them."
 * Consensus - Keep the space.


 * Spaces in headers around the header term, i.e. ==Header== (without spaces) or == Header == (with spaces).
 * Ky: I'm in favor of the space, I think it looks neater.
 * Munch: "I disagree with the spaces, but I don't bother removing them." / "I don't care what's chosen for headers; either or is fine."
 * Ever: "I don't like them, so I vote to remove them"
 * Night: "I would rather there not be spaces for headers since that isn't used frequently over not having them as far as I've seen."
 * Consensus - Remove the spaces, e.g. ==Header== (not == Header ==).


 * Renaming gallery section headers:
 * Ky: I'm in favor of headers being "Image gallery". The sub pages are called "Image Gallery" so I would think the image gallery section on the page should have the same name instead of just being "Gallery".
 * Ever: "I'm fine with the "Image Gallery" naming, especially as it differentiates from video gallery" / "I'd be fine with that if that's a task you want to assign your bot"
 * Munch: "I'm okay with how Ky and Ever would like it to be."
 * Night: "I think "Image gallery" doesn't need the g capitalized, but the same also goes for other similar titles (like Chapter Guide). Also, I think having "Image" in the title is a bit redundant as a gallery is just meant to be pictures, and most wikis use this format. If there are videos for it, they're listed as "Videos" and I haven't really known any that state "Video gallery"."


 * Renaming Image Gallery subpages:
 * Ky: I am in favor of renaming "Image Gallery" subpages to "Image gallery" since it is not a proper noun.
 * Ever: "[I] am of the opinion that all nouns in a page title should be capitalized"
 * Munch: "I've no qualms with "Image gallery"."
 * Night: "I think "Image gallery" doesn't need the g capitalized"


 * Space after the asterisks in bulleted lists:
 * Ever: "I'm in favor of them"
 * Ky: I'm also in favor of them
 * Night: "I would rather there not be spaces for headers since that isn't used frequently over not having them as far as I've seen. The same can really be said for spaces on bulleted lists, though that can be interchangable and is just accepted here so that can stay."
 * Consensus - I think we've been using them, so that seems all good? Just need to standardize across pages.


 * Cardinal vs ordinal numbers for dates, e.g. December 12 (cardinal) or December 12th (ordinal).
 * Ever: "I prefer cardinal numbers" / "In the text, I'm fine with a free-for-all based on what sounds and looks neater"
 * Munch: "I don't mind either way." / "Could probably remain a free-for-all in text though."
 * Ky: "For infoboxes cardinal sounds good, and in text free for all depending on context sounds good"
 * Night: "I don't mind much on it. I think if we go with cardinal, it makes sense to also use it in texts."
 * Consensus - Cardinal for infoboxes, and free-for-all in text.


 * Edits just for formatting:
 * Ky: I vote a strong no. If it doesn't impact the display page, I strongly prefer that a page not be edited just for source formatting. It's aggravating to keep checking new edits and see it's only for source formatting.
 * Ever: "I'm also getting annoyed by how often I see that a page I've just edited was edited a moment later, and the only thing done was a space or two was removed from the infobox."
 * Night: "The last point I don't really get quite that much for editing just for formatting. There isn't a whole lot of activity to check on, so it doesn't take quite that much time to look at the edit."

If there's consensus for any of the above, I can make most of them quickly with the bot, so the ongoing format updating won't be needed. Whatever's decided on, I'd just like to get the updates out of the way.

P.S. Welcome to the maiden voyage of the Death Note Wiki forum.

&mdash; KylaraE (talk) 04:17, December 14, 2018 (UTC)
 * Only two things I haven't commented on - spaces after equal signs in infobox and the renaming of gallery section headers. Leaving the spaces when the parameter hasn't been filled is fine, but I don't think we need a bot to add them. Doesn't change the way the article looks in or out of source mode. About gallery headers; I'm okay with how Ky and Ever would like it to be. Munchvtec (talk) 06:04, December 14, 2018 (UTC)


 * Ky did well at gathering my thoughts on everything. All I have to say is that when we were discussing changing "Image Gallery" to "Image gallery," I thought it was for gallery headers on main pages, not the titles of subpages. I said I'd be fine with making those changes a task for the bot because I don't want to check several dozen page edits to see that the only change was one letter made lowercase. I'm fine with lowercase nouns in headers but am of the opinion that all nouns in a page title should be capitalized. At the same time, most subpages were made by Ky, and she should name her projects how she likes. This doesn't change the consensus, but I do want to state my opinion. These formatting standards look good to me; thanks for putting them all together. Ever Ending (talk) 14:15, December 14, 2018 (UTC)


 * I don't mind anything of the spaces before the equal signs, and I don't have a preference to the blank spaces that come after but I've just been removing them. I would rather there not be spaces for headers since that isn't used frequently over not having them as far as I've seen. The same can really be said for spaces on bulleted lists, though that can be interchangable and is just accepted here so that can stay.


 * As for the thing about galleries, I think "Image gallery" doesn't need the g capitalized, but the same also goes for other similar titles (like Chapter Guide). Also, I think having "Image" in the title is a bit redundant as a gallery is just meant to be pictures, and most wikis use this format. If there are videos for it, they're listed as "Videos" and I haven't really known any that state "Video gallery".


 * For dates, I think you meant consensus is cardinal for infoboxes since that was voted on twice, and I don't mind much on it. I think if we go with cardinal, it makes sense to also use it in texts. (Not sure of instances where ordinal has been used though.)


 * The last point I don't really get quite that much for editing just for formatting. There isn't a whole lot of activity to check on, so it doesn't take quite that much time to look at the edit. If we're agreeing to change on the above, then there will be some edits done just to change the format to make all pages the same.


 * --NightFalcon9004 (talk) 17:06, December 14, 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks, everyone, I think I got all the positions in there now? Sorry about the mistake, Ever. Night, I was a bit confused if you're talking about headers or subpages re: Image G/gallery, so I did my best. Also, I'm generally in favor of lowercase for things that are not proper nouns including things like "Chapter Guide" (so I'd prefer "Chapter guide" instead), for both headers and pages/subpages.


 * Everyone, please edit your position directly in the top post if it's different from what I have up there now.


 * &mdash; KylaraE (talk) 04:44, December 15, 2018 (UTC)