Horror Film Wiki:Manual of Style

This is the official Manual of Style for the Horror Film Wiki. This manual outlines the standards set for editing on this wiki. Please follow the guidelines set below. If you have any questions or want to suggest a change, please contact one of our admins.

Basic Editing Tips
This is a list of the most basic rules we follow when editing on this wiki. This list will grow and change over time, so please contact an admin if you have any questions or if you want something to be added to the lsit. 
 * Active links appear in red; while this is usually the color for a broken link on other wikis, it was decided to make this change because it fits the overall theme of the wiki itself. Broken links appear in orange. Here are examples of both link types:

Icons
All of the articles on this wiki feature icons at the top of their respective pages. This list will help you identify some of the generic status icons that you will come across.

Articles
When editing or creating an article, please follow the style set by the wiki. This includes adding the series icon (if it has one), an infobox, general information, videos, and external links. All of this is explained in detail below.

When you want to create an article, first check to make sure the article doesn't already exist somewhere on the wiki. If you think the article exists already but can't find it, contact an admin for assistance. If you decide that you do need to create the article, please follow the guidelines set by the type of article. The three types of articles are films, characters, and cast members.

Creating a film article

 * Naming your Article

When you name your article, you may need to be specific, besides that the film should always include the year it was made.


 * Writing your Article

When writing a film article, make sure you follow this list of basic requirements for the article to have:
 * Film infobox, for this use Template:Infobox Film.
 * Basic film information . For example:




 * Plot section (start with a general plot and then expand over time to develop a decent and detailed summary) Do not include cast names in the plot summary.
 * List of deaths (make this one collapsable so people who haven't seen the film yet don't see spoilers. The right way for the list can be found on this page.
 * Cast section (list every actor/actress that appeared in the film. An example of the template can be found on this article.
 * Production section (details early work for the film, add the subheading for ratings here with the appropriate information)
 * Release section (details theatrical release information and home video release information)
 * Reception section (box office gross, critic reviews, award nominations and wins)
 * Videos section (include (for example) trailers and tv spots)
 * External Links section (use templates for the IMDb link, AllMovie link, Wikipedia link, as shown below)
 * Add the article to the appropriate categories. DO NOT CREATE YOUR OWN CATEGORIES JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T LIKE HOW ONE IS WORDED. Categories are meant to be uniform and organized. For more information on the appropriate categories to add, please see the main section here.

Creating a character article
The best way to correctly create an article, is to follow an example. For an example of a character article that correctly follows this wiki's guidelines please see Sidney Prescott.


 * Naming your article

When naming an article about a character, you need to include that characters full name. For example, if you were writing an article about Laurie Strode, then you wouldn't want to name it just Laurie because their is more than one Laurie in the entire horror genre. If your article is about a character from a remake of a horror film then you should add "(remake timeline)" to the end of the article name. An example would be Annie Brackett (remake timeline).


 * Writing your article

When writing a character article, make sure you follow this list of basic requirements for the article to have:
 * Character infobox, for this use Template:Infobox Film Character.
 * Basic character information. For example:




 * Biography section (start with a characters early life then continue by film until their death)
 * Casting section (talk about the casting process for the character, i.e. who was the first choice, did anyone reject the role, etc.)
 * Trivia section (list any random facts about the character that don't appear elsewhere in the article)
 * Add the article to the appropriate categories. DO NOT CREATE YOUR OWN CATEGORIES JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T LIKE HOW ONE IS WORDED. Categories are meant to be uniform and organized. For more information on the appropriate categories to add, please see the main section here.

Creating a cast article
The best way to correctly create an article, is to follow an example. For an example of a cast article that follows this wiki's guidelines please see Wes Craven.


 * Naming your article

When naming your article, you need to be specific. However, only include the full name that usually appears in the credits reel of a film. For example, we have an article entitled George A. Romero on this wiki. Romero's full name is George Andrew Romero, but in the credits of his many films, he is listed as George A. Romero. Take matters like this into consideration when naming a cast article.

In the unlikely event that two people share the exact same names, you should put their most well-known film in parentheses next to their name. When determining what film would be best to put, you may want to contact an admin who can help make the final decision.


 * Writing your article

When writing a cast article, make sure you follow this list of basic requirements for the article to have:
 * Infobox Actor: (Fill out the appropriate fields, use the Age template in the Age window)
 * Basic Description: For example:




 * Biography Section: (Describe their early life, such as where they grew up and went to school, and what got them into the acting career)
 * Career Section: (Describe their career in great detail. Describe what films they've acted in, their motivations, and experiences. This is the section where you should mention any non horror-related projects they've been involved with)
 * Horror Filmography Section: (Create a table for their horror filmography. Include 3/4 columns for year, film, role, (and notes). You may have to separate the tables by job type. Such as acting, directing, etc. For a good example, see here)
 * External Links Section: (Add links to their IMDb page, official website, as shown below)

Photos & Videos
Images and videos are an important part of any wiki, and ensuring that they are organized and uniform can help make the editing experience much easier.

Basic Steps for Uploading an Image

 * 1) Click the upload button either in the Edit section for an article or in the bottom right corner while viewing an article.
 * 2) Select your image for your computer.
 * 3) For organizational purposes, rename the image to a short relevant title. For example, if you upload an image of a film poster for a movie entitled "Psychotic Killer 5" then you should name the image "Psychotic Killer 5 Poster.jpg" and leave it at that. This helps keep clutter down and allows people to find the image when searching for ones related to the film.
 * 4) After you've uploaded the image, you need to add the file page to the appropriate categories. For some examples of appropriate categories set up by our admins, look below. When creating new ones, the name should follow that of the film series. For an example, see Category:Images of Scream. This category contains all images related to the series organized in subcategories that are separated by film. Subcategories for this example include Category:Images of Scream (1996), Category:Images of Scream 2, and two other subcategories for Scream 3 and Scream 4.

Categories
Category organization is one of the largest problems on our wiki. PLEASE follow these guidelines to help us maintain order here on the wiki. Category types needed can be organized by article type:

Film Categories
For each film article, include each of the following categories:
 * Films of the (1960s, 1970s, 2010s, etc.) (put the decade that the release date falls under)
 * (year) films (Put the exact release year of the film)
 * Sequels, Prequels, 3-D films, Black-and-white films (only put if applicable)
 * Films based on horror novels/television series/true stories/video games (only put if applicable)
 * Genre Categories

Please only add ONE of the following main-genre categories and ONE of the following sub-genre categories. You can click on the categories below to learn more about them.

Special Thanks to user Horroronscreen for helping to develop this category system. DO NOT add any other category types other than the ones listed here without the approval of an admin. Also, DO NOT create new categories without first checking that what you are looking for doesn't already exist under a different name. If you have any issues with the categories, or you would like to request an additional type, please message one of our admins.

Character Categories

 * The following categories come with the infobox, so you don't have to add them seperately:
 * (gender) characters, (deceased/alive) characters, victims


 * For each character article, include each of the following categories:
 * (name of film) characters (For a popular series, there will probably already be a series category for all of characters)
 * Villains/Heroes (Pick one or the other)
 * Killers
 * Victims of (killer)
 * Vampires/Werewolves/Monsters etc.
 * (year) births
 * (year) deaths