Naming Conventions

[edit] Absolutely verboten

Please do not use punctuation in names. For example:

• A period (.) will result in a screwed up name - a page named "foo" is distinct from "foo." when it is created, but not when it is deleted! That means that that if you create a page named "foo.", you can delete the content of the page, but the page name stays around and messes up the database.
• A question mark (?) is a valid character in a URL. Since page names are used in URLs, the web server chokes trying to parse the URL if you are accessing a page with a ? in its name.

Do not use dashes and spaces together in a name. For example, "foo-bar" is a valid name, but "foo -bar", "foo- bar" and "foo - bar" are not.

[edit] Proper Page Name Format

Names should be short but descriptive. For example "Kayak building" is generally better than "How you make your own sea kayaks".

Create linkable names by using one or more words, separated by spaces. The name should be enclosed in two square brackets as: [[three word name]]. If someone has defined that name it will automatically be linked and appear in blue, otherwise it will appear in red. You can click on a red link to bring up the edit page and create the page. Note that when MediaWiki creates the page, the first letter of the first word will automatically be capitalized. When creating a link, both lower and upper case versions of the first word are equivalent. The rest of the name is case sensitive.

Use lower case letters for every word where appropriate - exceptions include:

• Names of persons - Obviously, we normally capitalize the first letter of each name.
  • Exceptions - where the person disdains the use of capitals in their name - e. e. cummings or k. d. lang.
• Location and place names - Capitalize as the name is usually spelled.
• Titles of books - Use the capitalization as used on the book cover.
• Acronyms - should be all caps.
  • Exceptions - some acronyms, such as scuba, have become words over time. There is no need to use all caps for those cases.

Try to keep page names general so they can encompass most of the material related to that name.

Following a consistent naming convention makes it more likely that these links will lead to the right place.

[edit] Double check the spelling of page names

It's easier to get them right up front than correct them later.

[edit] Use Singular Nouns

The name should be in the singular. It is easy to add an "s" to a singular link name to make it plural when used in the middle of a sentence, but a tad more cumbersome to make it singular when the name is plural.

[edit] Use common names of persons

As to names of persons, there are two schools of thought: use the most commonly used name, or use the person's full name. They are most likely to be found if their common name is used. Examples of common names that should be used instead of formal names are: "Bill Clinton" (not William), "Mozart", "Bach", "Goethe". Middle names should be avoided unless they are the most common form of a name. Names with initials should have spaces after each period as in normal English text, for example, "H. G. Wells".

[edit] Use simple titles

Remember that a link is the title of the page it links to. Titles should be as simple as possible without being too general. For example, the page about jazz should simply be called "Jazz", not "Jazz music", because "jazz" does not refer to anything other than music, and the simpler title makes linking easier. Adding the word "music" is redundant. On the other hand, country music should be on a page called "Country music" because the word "country" has other referents besides the musical genre.

[edit] But not too simple

"Blade" sounds like a good name for a page about kayak paddle blades. However, "blade" could also refer to knife blade in the context of kayaking rescue knives or kayak making tools. Use "Paddle blade" or "knife blade" instead.

[edit] Prefer full names to acronyms

If it is a very well known acronym (e.g. radar, scuba) then the spelled out name is superflous. Otherwise, use the full name for the page and create a redirect page for the acronym (i.e. create a page with the acronym as a name and make the content "#REDIRECT [[Full name]]"). If someone uses the acronym, the redirect will automatically take a reader to the full name page.

[edit] Be precise when necessary

Avoid ambiguously-named pages.

[edit] Disambiguation

Since some words have more than one meaning, using that word for one page will prevent its use for another. For example, roll has several meanings, some specific to kayaks and boats. In order to redirect someone searching information on "roll", the page named "Roll" is a disambiguation page. Links to other pages (e.g. Eskimo roll) and a brief description of that meaning of "roll" is added. At the bottom of a disambiguation page, the {{disambig}} template is inserted.

If all meanings are quite short, just provide a single page with separate descriptions of the term. Each definition should be distinguished with either:

• A definition list
• In separate sections with headings.

[edit] Use English words

Name your pages in English please. If you are talking about a person, country, town, movie or book use the most used English version of the name for the article. For information, you can add an alias for the name in the original language.

[edit] Only use numbers for years