Guidelines to writing articles

Here are a few tips to writing articles on the X-COM Wiki:

• Remember to log on to your account before posting or editing new articles so that your contributions can be credited to you.

• Use capital letters when needed.

• Use ellipses (...) as a last resort and only if it cannot be avoided.

• Make wikilinks to the names of aliens, equipment, etc. Don't repeat wikilinks: turn the initial reference into a wikilink, but leave the remaining references "plain".

• If you link to existing articles, but the links appear red (page does not exist), check to see if you are using the same spelling and capitalization.

• Use section headings to divide your articles into manageable segments.

• Categorize articles.

• Always try to double-check your spelling, punctuation and grammar before submitting new articles or any major edits. This helps reduce future editing work.

• If your article contains too many links to the same articles, consider revising it and using a See Also... section at the end of the article.

• Don't fret too much when deciding between American and British spelling variations of the same English words. It does not matter.

• If you are unsure about creating any new articles, or are having second thoughts about the content, discuss it with other article writers before proceeding. Do this through whatever channels that are available to you. The "discussion" (or "talk") pages of articles is a good place for this; Talk:Main Page is where site-wide editing issues are discussed. Users' individual Talk pages are also a good place to conduct editing discussions.

• Try not to write as if you were in a chat room or text messaging. Write out your words and use complete sentences.

• Avoid emoticons.

• Remember, these are only tips and guidelines. If it is necessary to break any for your article, do so.

See Also

• Community Portal