The Library Style Guide

Style Notes

• Create new articles in English. This does not mean that we believe the content should only be available in English. We would like the content to be available in as many languages as possible. However, so that we can verify the accuracy of a new article, it first needs to be written in English.
• Use US English.
• Write text that is not overly complex, and likely to be understandable by second-language English speakers.
• Wikilink to other articles generously.
• Be bold. As long as the content is accurate, don't be afraid of poor English or not understanding all the markup conventions - someone else will usually come along to correct these.
• Use title case for page titles (capitalizing each significant word, such as Server System Variables, not Server system variables). Do not capitalize short function words such as to, the, and and.
• Capitalize only the first word of section headings (e.g., Style notes, not Style Notes)
• All articles should have an excerpt, ideally one that slightly expands on the article title. The excerpt is what appears beneath the article title when listed on a category page.
• Excerpts should fit in their entirety on the category page listing (and not be cut off by ...).
• Excerpts should not end in a full-stop.
• Embed code samples in the appropriate macro, such as the code macro or the sql macro.
• When providing sample SQL, leave out the prompt (to allow for easier cutting and pasting), and leave out the final result summary (e.g. 1 row in set) unless it is necessary to highlight behavior. So, use

SELECT 5*3;
+-----+
| 5*3 |
+-----+
|  15 |
+-----+

instead of

mysql [localhost] {msandbox} (test) > SELECT 5*3;
+-----+
| 5*3 |
+-----+
|  15 |
+-----+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

• See Editing Help for help with formatting.