LGBTA+ Wiki:Style Guide

This document provides guidelines for the style and presentation of articles on the LGBTA+ Wiki. Before you start writing an article read the article guidelines to make sure the page is relevant and allowed on this wiki.

You are responsible for making sure your page meets the standards listed here and in the article guidelines. If there are major sections that are wrong or missing, or the page is incomprehensible then it will be deleted.

Title and Name Used
The following are the rules for the titles of articles:
 * Do not put alternate terms or spellings in the title. (As in, the title is "polysexual", not "polysexual/polisexual".) Just choose one.
 * For sexual and romantic orientations the title should always be the adjective form of the word. (As in, the title is "asexual", not "asexuality", or "biromantic", not "biromanticism".)
 * For non-monogamous identities the title should be the adjective form of the word (The title is "polyamorous", not "polyamory"). However, if the article is about a concept, not an identity, then the adjective form of the word should not be used. (The title is Hierarchical Polyamory, not Hierarchical Polyamorous.)
 * For page titles with multiple words all words should be capitalized. This includes words after dashes (eg: Non-Binary).
 * Only capitalize separate words. Do not capitalize parts of a compound word. (eg: Do not put CatGender.)
 * Do not use an en-dash or em-dash in the title of an article. Use a hyphen in all cases that a dash is needed.

When there are alternate names or spellings for a term that can be used interchangeably, the title of the article and the name used in the article should be the most common name. If there are multiple names that are roughly equal in popularity then the title should be the name that was coined first.

Article Sections and Headings
Headings should be used to separate information in the article. The guidelines for headings are as follows:
 * Use Miraheze's "heading" option in the editor. Use Miraheze's "sub-heading 1" (and so on) for headings within headings. Do not create headings in any other way.
 * Do bold, italicize, underline, or add additional formatting to headings in any way.
 * Do not add a "definition" heading at the top of the page. This is unnecessary.

The following are common headings used, and what should be included in these sections:

History

 * History sections should include who coined the term, when they did so, and on what site, as well as any other interesting information about the origins of the term. Sources are required for this section. When writing a history section for an existing page do not assume the user who created the page on this wiki created the term.
 * Articles should not include speculation on the origin of a term unless explaining a term's ambiguous/uncertain origins with resources provided for any claims/speculations made.
 * If a history section is short it may be combined with the flag section, titled "History and Flag" or "History and Flags".
 * A history section must contain more information than "the history of this term is unknown". At the very least give an approximate time frame or the first known example of its use.
 * For pages created before October 2021 (before coining terms via creation of articles was officially prohibited), if the source of an identity is the page itself, this must be included in the history section (ie: "this term was coined through this page, and has no outside resources.") and the "Pages With No External Sources" category should be added.

Flags
Include a pride flag if one exists.
 * Do not link to a flag - the image must appear on the page. The main image should appear at the top of the page. If there are many flags/images, a gallery section may be created (above the resource section) for alternate flags and images.
 * Do not add flags that are specifically for sub-groups in the article (eg: do not add a transgender lesbian flag on the lesbian page, any flags on that page should primarily be for lesbians, not for specific sub-groups of lesbians). This includes flags for LGBT+ sub-groups based on ethnicity, nationality, religion, politic affiliation, or ideologies. Any flags or alternate flags added to a page must represent the entire group that the article is about, or at the least an extremely large and significant part of the group (see: butch lesbian flag on the butch page). Some exceptions to this rule exist in specific special cases.
 * All images must be captioned; captions should be written in full sentences and the first word must be capitalized.

Flags (Written Section)

 * Resources are required for this section.
 * A written flag section should include who designed the flag, when, and color meanings if any exist. This information should not be in the image's caption. Do not include precise geometric descriptions of the flag. Describing the layout of the flag should only be done when said layout is relevant to the meaning.
 * If you must distinguish between two flags do so using the creator's names, the primary colors used, the number of stripes, and/or other identifiable characteristics of the flag. Never make references to a flag's placement on the page (eg: "the flag at the top of the page").
 * Do not create a flag section is there is no image in the article, or just to say "there is no flag".
 * If you reference a flag in the text you must include an image of the flag.
 * When writing a flag section for a page, do not assume that no flag exists just because one doesn't appear on the page and do not assume that the one who uploaded a flag to the wiki is the creator of that flag.

Flags (Alternate Text)

 * An alternate text description is optional, but is recommended to increase the accessibility of our wiki to individuals who use screen readers.
 * If you wish to add an alternate text description of a flag do so as concisely as possible. Do not go into exact detailed/geometric descriptions of flags unless the flag has particularly unusual shapes that cannot be described any other way.
 * When listing stripes colors the colors should always be listed top to bottom on horizontal flags and left to right on vertical flags. Do not use excessively fancy color words unless necessary.

Etymology
Etymology sections are optional. Only include this information if the etymology of the term is known and is interesting. Do not point out things that are exceptionally obvious. (eg: Do not point out that "cat-" in catgender means it's related to cats, and "-gender" means it's a gender).

Coiner Boundaries
Coiner boundaries sections are optional. Do not create a coiner boundaries section just to say "the coiner's boundaries are unknown".
 * A coiner may state on a page whether or not they consent to alternate flags and alternate names being added to the page for their term(s). This should still be written in formal, third person American English (i.e, "The coiner of [term] does not consent to alternate flags being added to this page."). Ideally, an external resource should be provided for this, rather than the statement just being written on the page.
 * If a page does not contain a coiner boundaries section, it should never be assumed that a coiner consents to their term being edited/alternate names being created for it. Alternate flags are, however, generally allowed to be added unless a coiner does not want them to be.
 * Coiners reserve the right to have alternate names and flags, etc, removed from a page, even if they previously stated that they consented to them being added.
 * For any additions to a page that a coiner did not make themselves, it should be made clear who made them and when, and that they were not made by the coiner, even if a coiner consents to additions being made.

Resources
All articles should have acceptable references confirming the information within them, and pages created as of November 10th 2021 are required to have a properly-referenced history section.
 * Acceptable resources: a, preferably archived, link to the original coining of the term/flag (Tumblr post, anonymous Tumblr ask, Twitter post, discussions post, etc); a screenshot of a term/flag being coined/created (only in circumstances where direct links cannot be provided, eg: terms coined via Discord).
 * Unacceptable resources: the article creation itself (terms cannot be coined via the creation of articles on the LGBTA wiki).
 * Sometimes acceptable resources: links to articles about a term from another wiki/posts talking about a term, where it is unclear if the term was actually coined via said posts/articles, may be acceptable for the purposes of archiving information about a term if this is the only/first place the term is referenced - in which case, it should be stated that the coiner of the term is unknown, and the page should be added to the "Needs Resource Verification" or "Partially Unverified Resources" category, and given the Unsourced or Partially Unverified template accordingly (ask a staff member if you are unsure).

Text Formatting

 * All articles must be written in formal American English.
 * The title of the article must be the first word in the article (or as close as possible). Any alternate terms/spellings, and abbreviations must be placed directly after it (eg: "[Title], also known as [alternate term], [definition].").
 * The first sentence must be a definition of the term. Do not directly copy/paste a definition from somewhere else without ensuring it meets our criteria for formatting. The definition cannot be written as a quote.
 * Bold text must only be used for the first mention of the term in the title of the article and the first mention of any alternate term/alternate spellings, abbreviations, and subsets.
 * Italics must only be used for words in languages other than English and titles of books, movies, games, and other media.
 * Do not: type any words in all caps or in non-standard type registers, replace letters in words with numbers, symbols, or slashes, or do any other things that would prevent a text to speech program from being able to read the text unless it is part of a term's name or in a direct quote.
 * Do not add unnecessarily large spaces between paragraphs - one press of the enter key is enough.

Links

 * Add links to the first instance of a different topic mentioned in the article.
 * If possible, avoid placing two links directly next to each other such that they look like one link.
 * Use interwiki links when possible if linking outside the wiki.
 * See a list of available interwiki sites here, including 'wikipedia', 'plural' and 'alterhuman'.

Spelling and Grammar
Spelling and grammatical errors are highly undesirable.


 * American English spelling should be used, except for in direct quotes.
 * Remember that names of genders and sexualities are not proper nouns, and therefore should not be capitalized.
 * Do not use informal language/stylization (eg: exclamation points, slang words or casual shortenings of words); do not shorten the words masculine and feminine to "masc" and "fem"; do not use "&" in place of "and".
 * Double quotes ("...") are preferable in most cases. Single quotes ('...') should be used for inner quotes (quotes inside quotes).
 * The months in all dates should be spelled out. Do not use month abbreviations. Do not use numbers for months. Dates should always be stated as month, day, year (eg: November 26th, 2020). Do not use abbreviations.

Point of View and Pronouns
Present articles objectively. All articles should be written in a formal, third person, present tense.
 * Never write in the first person (except in direct quotes); avoid the pronouns "I", "we" and "our".
 * Never write in the second person (except in direct quotes); avoid the pronoun "you".
 * Use the pronouns "one" and "they" when talking about a hypothetical individual - do not use "he or she" or "s/he" (or anything similar), or neopronouns. When talking about a single hypothetical person, the use of the singular "themself" is acceptable.
 * Even if the gender of a hypothetical person is established "they/them" pronouns should still be used. Other pronouns should only be used if the pronouns used are directly relevant to the topic of the article (see he/him lesbian).

Language Use

 * Do not use jargon/overly complex terminology unless doing so is necessary. Articles should be as comprehensible and concise as possible.
 * When mentioning someone's username do NOT include "@", "u/", or any other things that some websites use to specify users.
 * For numbers twelve and less, they should be spelled out (with the exception of dates). Numbers 13 or greater should be written with numerals.
 * Use the term "individual" and "individuals", rather than "person" and "people"; the terms "folk" and "folks" are also acceptable.
 * The word non-binary should be spelled with a dash (the exception is when the word is part of a larger word such as deminonbinary). Do not say "NB" or "enby" - say "non-binary". do not say "enbys", "NBs", or "non-binarys" - say "non-binary individuals".
 * Do not say "transmen"/"transwomen" or "trans-men"/"trans-women" - say "trans men"/"trans women". The same applies when talking about cis men/women.
 * Use Latino or Latine rather than Latinx to refer generally to Latine individuals.
 * When talking about identities, especially genders, avoid using doubtful language such as "they believe they are...".
 * Don't misgender anyone when talking about them in the history section. If in doubt use the individual's name or use they/them pronouns.

Swear Words and Sensitive Content

 * Swear words in articles are only allowed if they are part of an identity's name (see: genderf*ck), in which case they should be censored with an asterisk on the vowels. Swear words are also allowed if they are part of someone's username, in which case they can appear uncensored.
 * Words that are vulgar strictly because they are LGBT+ slurs can appear uncensored, though they should be used sparingly when not being used as a reclaimed identity.
 * Terms related to sex (both the biological concept and the act of sex) are not swear words, so long as the words used are suitable for a medical setting (no slang terms) they may be used.
 * If necessary, you may include the template at the top of the page to warning for potentially upsetting content on a page.

Exclusionist Coiners

 * The only instance where an article should state anything to the effect of: "[Coiner] is a [group] exclusionist.[citation]" is if this information is directly relevent to a term, for example if the term was actively coined with the intention of excluding individuals who may otherwise identitfy with it.

Categories
The following are the rules regarding categories:
 * Articles must have a reason to be in a category. If you are uncertain, read the category page in question - most have an explanation of what falls into that category. If you still are unsure ask a staff member about it.
 * No categories for individual identities. For example, "demigirl" is not a category and never will be. Categories are for large umbrella terms or general topics.
 * Do not add multiple, redundant categories. Only add categories that exist, and only add categories that the article falls into.
 * "Non-binary" (or any variation) and "Diamoric" (or any variation), are not categories and never will be categories.
 * Making categories and mass categorizing of articles will primarily be handled by administrators. Do not attempt to create major new categories or re-categorize a large amount of articles without admin approval.

Do Not Include
These are things that should never be put in an article:
 * Do not mention the "possible pronouns" or "recommended pronouns" for a gender.
 * Do not include an "also see" section. If other terms are relevant or related they should be mentioned in the body of the article.
 * Do not make WIP (work in progress) pages or WIP sections. They will be deleted/removed accordingly.
 * Do not add "notes from the creator".
 * For genders, do not mention groups that the gender is "mainly (but not exclusively) used by [insert group]" or similar (eg: "the majority of people who identify as bigender are AFAB"). Do not mention anything similar to this unless the identity is explicitly intended for or is exclusive to a given group.
 * Do not talk about how a term is new or is not well known - this is unnecessary.
 * Do not address the reader in any way; articles should be written purely as an accumulation of knowledge with no intended reader. Similarly, do not talk to other users within an article or ask other users to do things within the article (do not say "idk how to add images can someone else do it" or "if someone else wants to make the flag please do that", etc).
 * Do not talk about how people can identify however they want. This does not have to be said. Do not beg the reader to do something (eg: do not say "please respect people's identities").