Glitch City Wiki:Manual of style

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This article does not relate to this wiki (Glitch City Wiki), but to Glitch City Laboratories. It is kept here for archival purposes.

This policy describes the preferred conventions of writing at Glitch City Laboratories.

Introduction

The introduction should serve to briefly define the term or glitch being discussed in the article. In wikis, generally the subject is named in boldface in the introduction (ex. "The Ditto Trick is..."). Do not dive immediately into technical details.

Third person point of view

Articles must not use second ("you") or first person ("I" or "me") point of view. The player of the game, who is assumed to be performing the glitch, is either referred to as "the player" or not at all. Phrases such as "you must use a Pokémon with a Special of 21 to get a Mew" might be reworded as "Using a Pokémon with a Special stat of 21 results in a Mew."

Neutral point of view

This means that text should attempt portray the subject neutrally, without a positive or negative light. This doesn't mean that we can't talk about the negative effects of something like Super Glitch, but it does mean we cannot bring our own biases and opinions into the wiki.

Internal links, outbound links and articles on other wikis

Internal links

Pokémon glitch terms should be linked to using internal link syntax. The syntax is something like this:

[[Ditto Trick]]

The result looks like: Ditto Trick

Links to GlitchDex entries should be generated using the {{gdex}} link template. The following

{{gdex|RB:255}}

generates this link: RB:255

Links to Bulbapedia

General Pokémon terms do not have articles on Glitch City Laboratories. Use the following syntax to link to the corresponding article on Bulbapedia, the Pokémon encyclopedia:

[[bp:Generation I|]]

This comes out looking like: Generation I. Do not forget the pipe at the end; if you do, the resulting link has the "bp:" prefix attached to it.

If possible, refrain from linking to any of Bulbapedia's glitch-related articles. The {{bulbapedia}} template can be placed on any page that has an equivalent page on that wiki. It generates a box that looks like this:

Bulbapedia also has an article about Manual of style.

Another template, {{bulbapedia2}}, is used when the article over there has a different title than the one over here. The syntax is

{{bulbapedia2|Some article}}

Links to Wikipedia

Some terms are not Pokémon-specific but might need more explanation. We can link to the Wikipedia article on that term. The syntax is as follows:

[[wikipedia:wiki|]]

Again, remember the pipe at the end.

For the rare occasion when an article on GCL overlaps with one on Wikipedia, there's a {{wikipedia}} template that is used in a similar manner to the {{bulbapedia}} template.

Outbound links

URL links ("external links") utilize a different syntax:

[http://example.com/ example]

and have a different look: example

These can be used to link to other relevant pages; i.e. forum threads or pages on other websites that are relevant to the glitch or term being discussed. Note that forums and external websites are usually not considered "reliable sources" with regards to glitches (i.e. "X is/isn't true because Serebii said it is" will not fly). However, please note that, contrary to popular belief, we do not have an animus against http://www.trsrockin.com and outbound links to pages on that site are allowed.

Also avoid linking to your own personal website unless actually relevant.

General link usage guidelines

Links should only be used when necessary. It is not necessary to link to each word in a sentence, nor is it necessary to link a term more than once.

Spelling and grammar

On the forums, it is strongly suggested that you use good grammar, but let's face it - they're forums, so who really cares?

Here, it is required that you do. Please observe that the correct letters are capitalized, that the correct punctuation is used, and that the correct word is used.

Pokémon is always spelled with the 'é', as is anything else beginning with the "Poké" prefix. The plural of Pokémon is Pokémon, and the plural of any species name is the same as the singular. To make things simple, we apply the same convention to glitch Pokémon (i.e. the plural of MissingNo is MissingNo).

There is no commonly accepted way to spell MissingNo's name. MissingNo., MissingNO., and Missingno. are all accepted, with or without the dot ("Missing Number" and "Ketsuban" are not). However, please don't edit a page simply to change it to your preferred spelling.

There is also no consensus on whether or not the word "glitch" is capitalized when used to describe glitch Pokémon.

Terminology and Nomenclature

Here at Glitch City Laboratories, we prefer the use of certain terminology. That's not to say that other terms are wrong; it's just our preference. Here are some examples:

  • The Ditto Trick is always the "Ditto Trick", not the "Extended Mew Trick". The term "Mew Trick" is reserved for the trick that actually summons Mew.
  • The Old Man Trick is never called "the MissingNo Trick" or the "Rare Candy cheat".
  • As an aside, methods of exploiting loopholes within a game's code are always referred to as "tricks." Some older material used terms like "Ditto Glitch" but that sort of wording is considered out of style now.
  • Some terms are peculiar to GCL, like family (which should be used instead of "dex number" when talking about Generation I glitch Pokémon).
  • Don't use the term Gameshark to refer to all cheating devices. We prefer the more politically correct cheating device, or the even more politically correct game-altering device.
  • Not all Pokémon Zero are referred to as MissingNo. It is generally considered a cardinal sin on GCL to refer to some other Pokémon Zero as "MissingNo," a name reserved for the Pokémon Zero of Generation I.
  • Use identifier instead of "hex" to refer to the ID number (which is, indeed, often written in hexadecimal).
  • For Generation I glitch Pokémon that do not have proper names (MissingNo is the sole exception here), use the GlitchDex designation (of the form RB:xxx). See the section on the {{gdex}} link template above for how to link to GlitchDex articles. Avoid using nicknames like "Chisai-u" or "Glitcherino" if possible. However, it is permissible to put the "common name" after the designation in parentheses; i.e. RB:197 ("PkMn").
  • For Generation II glitch Pokémon, either the GlitchDex designation (i.e. GS:000)) or something of the form "????? (000)" is sufficient.
  • No naming convention has been established for Generation III decamarks.