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OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual

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This is the official OrthodoxWiki '''Style Manual'''. Refer to it when writing new articles or editing existing ones. It is officially in '''in effect''' 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'''.
==Importing Articles from Wikipedia==
It is permitted (and even encouraged) to import relevant articles from [[WikipediaSee:Main Page|Wikipedia]]. However, when doing so, keep a few things in mind. First, all material from Wikipedia is not necessarily public domain. Most of it is probably released in several different forms of limited license, usually entailing that the material may be freely distributed so long as no monetary profit is made from it. The key thing is to look closely at the notes on the article. '''This especially applies to images being imported.''' It is also important to '''strip out irrelevant links'''. Leave only links that are relevant to '''OrthodoxWiki'''. Things to strip out include year links (even for an historically oriented church like ours, there's probably not going to be enough of historic significance in the Church going on in a single year to warrant a whole article about it), city names, and so on. Place name links should be left in only if, for instance, they are the name of a place which is almost exclusively of religious significance (e.g., '''[[Iona]]'''). We don't need an article for '''Constantinople''', however, mainly because anything specifically religiously relevant to the city is likely to be covered in other articles. Things to leave in that might not otherwise be obviousOrthodoxWiki: leave in dates (e.g., '''[[November 13]]'''), historic persons who have had an impact on the Church (even if not members, e.g., '''[[Arius]]''' or '''[[Julian the Apostate]]'''), events along those same lines Style Manual (e.g., the '''[[Fall of Constantinople]]'''Importing), and so on. Also be sure to do searches on '''OrthodoxWiki''' to examine existing articles so that internal links might be made in a consistent way -- for instance, use '''[[First Ecumenical Council]]''' (the established '''OrthodoxWiki''' way) instead of '''First Council of Nicaea''' (the established Wikipedia way). Additionally, "Orthodoxize" the articles. Things which to secular scholars might appear to be biased might simply be a statement of truth for the Orthodox (e.g., "The Orthodox Church is the sole Church founded by Jesus Christ"). That doesn't mean that anything negative about the Church's members should be glossed over, but be sure to keep in mind that '''OrthodoxWiki''' is an ''Orthodox Christian'' website, and so things here are written and edited from that point of view.
==Copyrighted Material==
Once you've done that, ask an [[Special:Listadmins|administrator]] to '''protect''' it for you so that it can't be edited.
By default, 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].
By default, everything on '''===Image Permissions===Please be sure to use to appropriate [[OrthodoxWiki''' is under :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://creativecommonsOCA.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2OCA.0/ Creative Commons Licenseorg]* [[Help:Image_licenses#Holy_Transfiguration_Monastery]].- using icons from Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Boscobel, WI USA)
==Types of Articles==
===Articles not appropriate for OrthodoxWiki===
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==
'''OrthodoxWiki''' purposes to present the Orthodox Christian viewpoint throughout the site. Articles on '''OrthodoxWiki''' will be, so far as is reasonably possible, worded from a '''neutral point of view''' (NPOV). That is, disputes between Orthodox Christian groups will be characterized and described rather than entered into. Continue reading for further clarification. (Also see [[WikipediaSee:NPOV]] for Wikipedia's version of the NPOV policy, which is essentially compatible with '''OrthodoxWiki''' policy.) Further, for administrative purposes, '''OrthodoxWiki''' is governed by what is called the '''''Mainstream Chalcedonian Bias''''' (MCB). By ''Chalcedonian'' we refer to those churches of the [[Orthodox Church]] who hold to the decrees of the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council]] at Chalcedon (A.D. 451). By ''Mainstream'' we refer to those "official" churches comprised of the fourteen or fifteen [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] and four [[autonomy|autonomous]] churches generally recognized as the "mainstream" of the [[Orthodox Church]] -- for those of us in North America, this will be all [[SCOBA]] jurisdictions and those with whom they're in communion. ===What the Bias Means===The main places that the bias will apply will be in terms of naming. Naming is of course important, and the names by which we call things indicate what we believe about them. As is evident to anyone who knows anything of [[Church History]], names are a potentially inflammatory topic. What might be termed ''namespace'' will be given priority in terms of the MCB. So, for instance, an article called '''[[Church of Alexandria]]''' will refer to the Chalcedonian body by that name, whereas one called '''[[Church of Alexandria (Coptic)]]''' will refer to the non-Chalcedonian body by that name. It applies similarly with regard to parallel hierarchies along other disputational lines, so the official chuch in Greece will have its article named '''[[Church of Greece]]''' and not '''Church of Greece (State Church)''' (which is how some groups might refer to it). Additionally, the MCB is in effect in terms of the content in articles, so articles on MC churches will not include content indicating in direct factual terms that they are heretics, schismatics, etc.  Further, articles on [[:Category:Non-Orthodox|Non-Orthodox Christian]] religious groups, while necessarily including some general description of those groups, should have as their primary content the relationship and history of that group in relation to the [[Orthodox Church]]. For the encyclopedic purposes of '''OrthodoxWiki''', Non-Chalcedonian and non-Mainstream churches which identify themselves as Orthodox and are not "self-starters" (i.e., taking the name ''Orthodox'' to themselves without any historic origin in the Orthodox Church) will be considered to be Orthodox in terms of categorization and article content—that is, they do not have to be included in [[:Category:Non-Orthodox]] or focus their article content primarily on their relationship to the Mainstream Chalcedonian churches (though of course that should be covered). ===What the Bias Does Not Mean===The MCB does '''not''' mean that non-mainstream or non-Chalcedonian persons or groups are unwelcome to write or edit articles on '''OrthodoxWiki'''. It also does not mean that such groups or their members will be the subject of polemic in encyclopedic articles, though some non-encyclopedic articles may include polemic from any point of view ''if it is appropriately labelled regarding its own biases''. So, instead of saying "the Church of Greece has fallen into heresy, schism and is entirely uncanonical," we might say, "the Church of Greece is regarded as heretical, schismatic and uncanonical by Group X." The best thing on '''OrthodoxWiki''' we can do with regard to any dispute, no matter what side we're on, is to ''characterize'' the dispute in the terms of the major disputants, rather than entering into that dispute and bringing the conflict here. That is, so far as we can, we try to word our articles from a neutral point of view Style Manual (NPOV). The MCB is not a judgment on any group or persons. It's simply a protocol for the '''OrthodoxWiki''' project. ===Why Have the Bias?===It's for administrative reasons as much as anything else. '''OrthodoxWiki''' is owned and operated by a priest Point of the [[Orthodox Church in America]], a mainstream Chalcedonian church. Also, if we think carefully, we realize that there must be some sort of bias regarding the issues outlined above, or else we'd have the potential for perpetual renaming and revision wars, all in one massive conflict. '''OrthodoxWiki''' is, after all, editable by anyone with an Internet connection. Additionally, the administration feels that the bias is warranted along what might be termed "definitional usage" lines -- that is, the rest of the world, when looking for information about Orthodoxy, tends to think definitionally in MCB terms. That is, it would probably look for an article on the [[Church of Russia]] (i.e., the Moscow PatriarchateView) rather than one on the so-called [[Suzdalites]] when searching for "Russian Orthodoxy." Thus, the MCB helps prevent confusion. Of course, the MCB cannot prevent all confusion or conflict, but we hope that it will help. Where extra attention needs to be paid, extra care will be taken when the time comes. We ask you that, while we are certainly trying to be ''Orthodox'', we take special care also to be ''Christian''.
==Technical Terminology==
== Churches ==
===Autocephalous and Autonomous Churches===Refer to [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] and [[autonomy|autonomous]] churches by this form when creating new articles and linksSee: '''Church of Place'''. Referring with the adjectival form of the place (e.g., '''Smogarian Orthodox Church''') is not only essentially incorrect but furthers the ethnic stereotyping of the Church. Thus, instead of '''Smogarian Orthodox Church''', you would use '''Church of Smogaria'''. The only current exception to this rule is the '''[[Orthodox Church in America]]''', whose autocephaly is still in debate. To call it the '''Church of America''' would be to lend it a status not currently agreed upon (nor really even claimed by the OCA itself). ===Non-Chalcedonian, Roman Catholic, and other Churches===Many Non-Chalcedonian and Roman Catholic churches have parallel sees to those among Chalcedonian Orthodox, so distinction needs to be made. Refer to these parallel sees with this convention: '''Church of Place (Common Identifier)'''. So, the Coptic church centered in Egypt would be '''[[Church of Alexandria (Coptic)]]''', or the Syrian Catholic Church would be the '''[[Church of Antioch (Catholic)]]'''.  For non-Latin Rite churches within the [[Roman Catholic Church]], using ''Roman'' in the name could be misleading for two reasons:*Such churches typically do not refer to themselves as ''Roman'', often stressing that fact very strenuously.*Such a designation may also mislead readers into thinking that such churches are Latin Rite, which they usually are not. The fact that these churches are subject to the Vatican would be noted in the relevant articles. In other places, there are no parallel sees, so one would simply use the '''Church of Place''' convention, e.g., the '''[[Church of Armenia]]'''. ===Non-Mainstream Churches===Such churches will generally be referred to by whatever official name they call themselves, e.g., the '''[[Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church]]''' (a.k.a. the "Suzdalites") rather than as the '''Church of Russia'''. If they claim a title identical with that of one of the mainstream Chalcedonian churches, an appropriate modifier would be included in parentheses, e.g., '''Church of Alexandria (Smogarian)'''. ===Dioceses, Archdioceses, Metropolises, etc.===Articles on component parts of autocephalous and autonomous churches should be named by their official self-naming convention. Examples: '''[[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America]]''', '''[[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]]''', '''[[Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia]]'''. The exception is for parallel dioceses between overlapping jurisdictionsOrthodoxWiki: they are named according to their "short" name along with the appropriate modifier in parentheses. Examples: '''[[Diocese of the South (OCA)]]''', '''[[Diocese of the West Style Manual (Antiochian)]]'''. ===Extinct Churches===When writing articles on great churches that no longer exist, exist only as minor or titular sees, or whose modern successors appear to be in permanent [[heresy]] or [[schism]], use the '''Church of Place''' convention and be sure to include the article in [[:Category:Church History]]. Examples include the '''[[Church of Carthage]]''', the '''[[Church of Rome]]''' (as distinct from the modern day [[Roman Catholic Church]]), and the '''[[Church of Persia]]''' (as distinct from the [[Assyrian Church of the East]], i.e., the [[Nestorianism|Nestorian]]s).  There is some potential ambiguity here, especially regarding the [[Oriental Orthodox]], but let's keep them as an exception, mainly due to their closeness with the Chalcedonian Orthodox and the ongoing talks regarding reunification. ==="Denominations"===Orthodox bodies should be referred to as ''jurisdictions'' or ''churches'' rather than ''denominations'' insofar as they may have diverse administrative structures but share a common faith. The Orthodox Church itself should not be referrred to as a denomination (as if one among many equally legitimate Christian bodies), but as "the Church."  In general, the term ''denomination'' should be avoided when possible. In common usage, the term implies an [[ecclesiology|ecclesiological]] relativism that is incompatible with Orthodox faith. Other Christian organizations can be referenced by their proper name or with general references such as ''groups'', ''organizations'', ''communions'', etc. ===Categories===All articles on Orthodox church bodies should be included in [[:Category:Jurisdictions]], and all articles on non-Orthodox church bodies should go in [[:Category:Non-Orthodox]]. For the encyclopedic purposes of '''OrthodoxWiki''', the [[Oriental Orthodox]] churches are categorized as Orthodox.
==Monasteries, Parishes, and Theological Schools==
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 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.
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 catholicor 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
:''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====
===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==
===Categories===
Many articles may fit into multiple categories. Therefore, when listing the category entries at the bottom of the article, list the categories on separate lines and in alphabetical order according to the first word in the category name. For instance, a category list for St. [[Raphael of Brooklyn]] might look like this:
:<b><nowiki>[[Category:American Saints]]</nowiki></b>
:<b><nowiki>[[Category:Missionaries]]</nowiki></b>
:<b><nowiki>[[Category:Saints]]</nowiki></b>
 
There is a simple logic to this approach - since the listing of categories in the wiki is linear, figuring out the order based on a hierarchical sorting system for a given entry might be difficult. For instance, let's say an article is about someone who is a bishop, saint, church father, hymnographer, missionary, and an American saint. Which goes first? Not all bishops are saints, so bishop couldn't be a sub-category for saint. Not all missionaries are bishops or saints. Not all church fathers are bishops, and so on.
 
The hierarchy is preserved in the category system itself (i.e., when you click on the category name and see sub-categories), so it's already being represented in the most useful sorting way. Therefore, in order to preserve some uniform kind of sorting for categories in the articles, an alphabetical approach seems to be the easiest and most non-problematic to implement.
===Stubs===
When you include the <nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> tag, this message will be seen in the 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 are 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 only 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:How to write a great article|How to write a great article]]'''
*'''[[Help:Editing]]'''
*'''[[Help:Contents]]'''
==External links==
* [[w:Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Wikipedia:Manual of Style]] 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.
* [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]] 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.
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[[Category:Style Manual]]
[[Category:Help]]
 
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