Changes

{{policy}}This is the official OrthodoxWiki '''Style GuideManual'''. Refer to it when writing new articlesor editing existing ones. It is currently officially in '''tentativein effect''' and therefore but still under development. Articles and links should conform to the following standards. The purpose of this '''Style Manual''' is to maintain consistency throughout '''OrthodoxWiki'''.

== Bishops Introduction=====Basic This '''Style===When creating articles about [[:Category:Bishops|bishops]], name Manual''' constitutes the article with the following official style: protocols for '''Firstname I (Surname) of SeeOrthodoxWiki'''. When editing articles or creating new ones, so if there is this document should be used as a bishop named Moses Jones who reference point and guidelines for all content. It is the fifth bishop named Moses of the Patriarchate of Springfield, the name of the article would bestrongly recommended that you [{{SERVER}}{{localurl:{{NAMESPACE}}: {{PAGENAME}}|action=watch}} '''Moses V (Jones) of Springfieldadd it to your watchlist'''. In cases where no surname is known, it is of course omitted, which will especially be the case with ancient bishops, e.g., [[John I of Antioch]]. Additionally, most sees will not usually have need of the ordinal (e.g., I, II, or III), so if that you can track whenever it's updated and incorporate the bishop is of a more minor see (as most are)changes into your editing, the ordinal would be omitted. It's typically used only to refer helping to keep the primate of an autocephalous church, e.g., [[Alexei II (Ridiger) of Moscow]]whole site in conformity.

The Style Manual is "enforced" primarily by the users of the site but also by the administrators. Enforcement comes in the form of composing articles according to the manual the first time they're created and also by continual editing to conform to the Style Manual. That means that '''we rely on ''you'' to help us keep things in order by using the Style Manual.''' '''Note:''' All the following rules about articles and their names '''also apply to internal links''', because clicking on an as-yet-to-be-written article linked in an existing article will give the new article that name by default. Thus, when making links to articles, those links must conform to the naming practices defined here. ===Sainted bishops=Tone==Exceptions would be saints who Though there are certainly exceptions, the atmosphere being developed for most '''OrthodoxWiki''' articles is generally known by other names'''encyclopedic''', i.e., the style of writing one would expect from an encyclopedia. That doesn't mean that articles have to conform to academic writing characteristic of secular scholarship, but it does mean that a certain level of professionalism and consistency is desired.  At the same time, our approach is '''hagiographical'''—that is, attempting to write with reverence and humility regarding the awesome subjects which we're addressing. For instanceAs such, instead try to develop your writing here in that manner. We're trying accurately and humbly to convey the truth of having the Orthodox Christian faith in an article named easy-to-use, thorough and readable resource, an accessible compendium of Orthodox Christianity. Always keep that in mind when contributing. ==Importing Articles from Wikipedia==See: '''John I [[OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual (ChrysostomImporting) of Constantinople]]''' ==Copyrighted Material==Copyrighted material may be incorporated into '''OrthodoxWiki''''', we simply only if you have the copyright holder's permission''. Remember that just because you found something on the web doesn't mean that it isn't copyrighted. In fact, most things are copyrighted by default. If the copyright holder is willing to release his material under one of the open licenses common to Wikis (such as the [[John ChrysostomWikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License|Gnu Free Documentation Licence]]or the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons License]), then including it as a regular, editable article is no problem. If, however, the creator doesn't want his creation edited mercilessly (as is the norm for '''OrthodoxWiki'''), then a copyright note should be included at the bottom of the material, looking something like this: '''Copyright © 2005 by John Johnson. Or instead of All Rights Reserved.''' Once you've done that, ask an [[Special:Listadmins|administrator]] to '''protect'Cyril I of Alexandria''it for you so that it can't be edited.  By default, we have all newly submitted content on '''OrthodoxWiki'''is released under a dual GNU Free Documentation license and [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ Creative Commons License]. ===Image Permissions===Please be sure to use to appropriate [Cyril of Alexandria[OrthodoxWiki:Templates|template]] to credit images taken with permission from other websites. See [[Help:Image licenses]] for detals. Special notes apply to the following:* [[Help:Image_licenses#OCA.org]] - an important note on using images from [http://OCA.org OCA.org]* [[Help:Image_licenses#Holy_Transfiguration_Monastery]]- using icons from Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Boscobel, WI USA) ==Types of Articles==What kind of articles is '''OrthodoxWiki''' looking for? Ostensibly, anything directly to do with the Orthodox Christian faith and life is appropriate. Some ambiguity In addition, however, articles especially on historical subjects and persons related to Church life are also appropriate. So, while there are articles on saints and bishops, there are also articles on emperors and heretics. Therefore, while creating articles and making links within them, consider what might be generally appropriate for '''OrthodoxWiki'''.  For examples, browse around existing articles, click on the links already within them, and if you have information on subjects already being linked to, feel free to contribute to existing articles or create new ones. And, as always, don't worry about breaking '''OrthodoxWiki''' or messing things up, because your work will exist become part of the community effort and thereby be honed and improved, ever bringing us closer to achieving our goal of being a nearly endless compendium of information access and exchange regarding Orthodox Christianity. ===Articles not appropriate for recently glorified bishopsOrthodoxWiki===Obviously, anything which has no direct connection to the Orthodox faith is not appropriate. Further, some things which are characteristic of Wikipedia articles but don't make sense on '''OrthodoxWiki''' also should be left out, including the following: year articles (e.g., '''1054'''), places whose significance goes far beyond its exclusively religious meaning (e.g., '''Constantinople'''), or major historical personages who had nothing directly to do with the Orthodox Church (e.g., '''Ronald Reagan'''). Certainly, all of these items may have something to do with the Orthodox Church, but their connections can be noted in articles about the events related in other articles which more directly bear on the Orthodox faith. ===Controversial Subjects and Original Research===Articles on controversial topics are welcome on OrthodoxWiki as long as they cite reputable, third-party publications (e.g., historians, news articles, etc.). Original research and unsourced articles are generally permitted for non-controversial material. ==Neutrality and the OrthodoxWiki Bias==See: '''[[Raphael OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual (Point of View)]]''' ==Technical Terminology==A number of Brooklyntechnical and theological terms in Orthodoxy differ according to the languages of the cultures in which they're used. Thus, the preference for '''OrthodoxWiki''' will be to use Greek terms where no standard English word is predominant among Anglophonic Orthodox writers. The main issue is with article names, so use '''[[epigonation]]''' rather than instead of '''palitsa'''Raphael (Hawaweeny) , or use '''[[exorasson]]''' instead of Brooklyn'''riassa''' or '''jibbee'''. Where appropriate, because make note of other languages' terminology in the body of the article. The reason for preferring Greek terms is that Greek is the former predominant "source language" for our Church's culture and terminology and is currently thus universal. [[Western Rite]] articles will likewise probably prefer Latin, though given the longer history of the Western Rite in England, there is already a more commonly used formdeveloped native English vocabulary for Western Rite liturgical and theological terms. ==Standard English Usage and Spelling==Use standard English spelling and usage for article names and in the bodies of articles. Thus, use ''icon'' instead of ''ikon''. What constitutes standard spelling will vary according to what variety of English (e.g., British, American, Canadian, Australian, etc.) a contributor uses, but try to make articles consistent throughout (e.g., every instance of ''center'' in an article should be spelled '''either''' ''centre'' or ''center'', not both).

Additionally, use Use the form of the names of people and places most commonly used by English form of the name of the bishop-speaking Orthodox Christians. So, instead of '''Vartholomaios I (Archontonis) of Constantinople''', use '''[[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople]]'''. Some ambiguity will of course exist here, especially with names that are not commonly used in English-speaking countries. Biblical names should conform to the varieties most common in English-language Bibles; for instance, use '''[[Elijah]]''' instead of '''Elias''' and '''[[Joshua]]''' for the prophet instead of '''Jesus'''. Some places will be exceptional, such as '''[[Hagia Sophia (Constantinople)|Hagia Sophia]]''', which is the most common way of referring to that ancient church, rather than '''St. Sophia''' or '''Holy Wisdom'''. Thus, the rule is to use the form most commonly used in English, not necessarily an Anglicized or translated form. ==Church Calendar==See: '''[[OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual (Church Calendar)]]''' == Churches ==See: '''[[OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual (Churches)]]''' ==Monasteries, Parishes, and Theological Schools==Because there are so many communities with the same names, articles about monasteries, parishes, and theological schools should be named in the following fashion: '''Name of Community (Location)'''. For example, '''[[St. Tikhon's Orthodox Monastery (South Canaan, Pennsylvania)]]''', '''[[Hagia Sophia (Constantinople)]]''', '''[[Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, Massachusetts)]]''', or '''[[St. Paul's Monastery (Athos)]]'''. In article titles for places, use '''St.''' (i.e., a capital ''S'', followed by a lower-case ''t'', followed by a period) rather than '''Saint''', '''St''', or '''S.'''. For plurals, use '''Ss.''' (i.e., a capital ''S'', followed by a lower-case ''s'', followed by a period). ==Books of the Bible==Articles and links to books of the Bible should conform to the '''links''' in the canonical lists found at [[Holy Scripture]]&mdash;note that the names shown there do not always match the '''links''' to which they lead! For instance, you might see '''[[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah]]''', which takes you to [[Book of Nehemiah]], not to [[Nehemiah]] (which is an article about the prophet by that name). Articles about Biblical books should be included in [[:Category:Scripture]] and [[:Category:Texts]]. ==People== See: '''[[OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual (People)]]''' ==List articles==With the exception of [[:Category:Links|Links]] articles, articles that consist of a list of something (e.g., [[List of Patriarchs]], [[List of autocephalous and autonomous Churches]]) should be named '''List of [subject]'''. ==Western Rite==For most topics regarding the [[Western Rite]] where there are also Byzantine Rite equivalents, add a section to the single article for the Western Rite distinctives. For instance, instead of having a separate article on Western Rite vestments, to [[vestments]] one would add a section titled "Western Rite" or the like. For topics extensive enough to require a separate article for the Western Rite which might otherwise have the same name as a Byzantine Rite article, put "Western Rite" in parentheses, e.g., '''[[Vespers (Western Rite)]]'''. ==Language Mechanics==The following refer to the various mechanics of writing for '''OrthodoxWiki''' articles. ===Capitalization===The following items should be capitalized in OrthodoxWiki articles (some may seem obvious, but usage on these actually does vary):* ''God'' and ''Trinity''* ''Church'' when referencing the Church catholic or a proper name; not when used as a generic reference for a local church**Capitalized examples: ''the Orthodox Church'', ''the Church of Bulgaria'', ''the Albanian Orthodox Church'', ''the Church of the Nativity''**Uncapitalized examples: ''the Russian church'', ''the Orthodox churches'', ''the church building''* ''Tradition'' should be capitalized when referring to the mainstream beliefs and practices held by Orthodox churches to be binding on Orthodox Christians (i.e., "Big ''T''" tradition); it is not capitalized when referring to local traditions which are not binding in character (i.e., "little ''T''" tradition)* ''Scripture'' should be capitalized when referring to the Bible, though not when referring to the scriptures of other religions* ''Orthodox''* ''Christian''* ''East[ern]'' and ''West[ern]'' when referring to them as geo-cultural divisions (e.g., "the Church in East" or "Western theology"), but not as merely geographical references (e.g., "the western provinces" or "the apostles moved east")* Titles: ''Lord'', ''Lady'', ''Theotokos'', ''Christ''. * Titles with names: ''Saint'' John, ''Apostle'' Peter, ''Bishop'' Basil, etc., '''but not''' ''saint'', ''apostle'', ''bishop'', etc., as regular nouns* Proper names: ''Father'', ''Son'', ''Holy Spirit'', ''Jesus'', ''James'', ''John'', ''St. Paul's Church'', ''Dormition Monastery'', ''Church of Romania'', etc.* Feast days: ''Pascha'', ''Annunciation'', ''Theophany'', ''Transfiguration'', etc. ('''Note''': Within texts for a particular feast, it is not the title which is being referenced, but the event, so capitalization is unnecessary: "Your birth..." or "Thy nativity...," '''not''' "Your Birth..." or "Thy Nativity...")* O (as in ''O Lord'', or ''O Lady Theotokos''), i.e., the vocative Other terms (including personal pronouns for God) leave uncapitalized, so use ''him'' in the middle of a sentence referring to God, not ''Him''. === Italics ===Use the <code><nowiki>''</nowiki></code> (italic) markup. Example: :<code><nowiki>''This is italic.''</nowiki></code> which produces :''This is italic.'' ===Quotations===Quotations should be enclosed between quotation marks (e.g., "quotation"), or, if long enough, with indentation (produced by putting a colon (:) at the beginning of a line). Quotations should not be italicized unless they conform to the rules below for titles and words as words. ====Titles====''Italics'' should be used for titles of the following: * books* films* long poems* musical albums* newspapers* periodicals (journals and magazines)* plays* TV series* works of visual art Italics are generally used for titles of longer works. Titles of shorter works, such as the following, should be enclosed in quotation marks (""): * articles, essays, or papers * chapters of a longer work * episodes of a television series* short poems* short stories * songs There are a few cases in which the title should be neither italicized nor placed in quotation marks: * the Bible* legal documents (examples: the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence) ====Words as Words====Use italics when writing about words as words or when referring to letters. For example: *The term ''panning'' is derived from ''panorama'', a word originally coined in 1787. *The letter ''E'' is the most common letter in English. ===Dates===Links to dates within articles should include the full name of the month followed by the Arabic numeral of the day. Use '''[[January 1]]''' not '''Jan. 1''' or '''1 January'''. This standardization is to assure that the [[Church Calendar]] page works correctly. Years should be left unlinked, because at this point we aren't including articles dedicated to particular years. ==Wiki Mechanics==

Also be sure to include Many articles may fit into multiple categories. Therefore, when listing the category entries at the bottom of the article, list the bishop in categories on separate lines. For instance, a category list for St. [[Raphael of Brooklyn]] might look like this: :<b><nowiki>[[Category:American Saints]]</nowiki></b>:<b><nowiki>[[Category:Bishops]], and if he </nowiki></b>:<b><nowiki>[[Category:Missionaries]]</nowiki></b>:<b><nowiki>[[Category:Saints]]</nowiki></b> ===Stubs===A '''stub''' is the bishop of an important article or section which needs additional material in order to be complete. If you create or seean article or section which needs more information in order to be complete, please include the <nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> tag in the appropriate place in the body of the article. Also try to avoid creating empty articles that consist only of a stub notice unless you intend to expand them soon.  When you include him the <nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> tag, this message will be seen in the category article:{{stub}} ==Miscellaneous style considerations==Generally speaking, the best way to learn '''OrthodoxWiki''''s style is to look at existing, well-developed articles. Here follows a list of various conventions that seeare in place: *Begin articles with the '''subject in bold print''' as part of an introductory paragraph about the subject. The introductory paragraph should give a brief summary of the content of the article. *When creating '''wiki-links''' within an article, it's bishopsonly necessary to link a given term once in the introductory section or when the term is first introduced in the article. In longer articles, it is acceptable to link a given term again at the beginning of later major sections.*When using a title of a person for the first time, spell it out completely (e.g., '''Metropolitan'''), but abbreviate it afterward (e.g., '''Metr.'''). *Try to vary the manner in which persons are referred to&mdash;it is not necessary to include '''St.''' in front of a saint's name in each instance nor the title and surname of a bishop each time you name him.*List '''See also''' (for internal links on related articles) and '''External link[s]''' sections as the last items in an article. ==See also==*'''[[Help:CategoryHow to write a great article|How to write a great article]]'''*'''[[Help:Editing]]'''*'''[[Help:Contents]]''' ==External links==* [[w:Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Wikipedia:Patriarchs Manual of ConstantinopleStyle]]includes many useful bits regarding style for encyclopedia writing for a wiki. * [http://www.bartleby.com/141/ The Elements of Style], by William Strunk, Jr., is the classic manual on English usage.