Mystery Inc.: Style Guide

Welcome to the style guide for this wiki! Here you'll find all the information you need to create and edit articles to the standards of the Mystery Inc. archives.

Grammar

 * Always use the active voice over the passive, unless the sentence is significantly better using the passive voice.
 * For example, "Velma opened the door," not "the door was opened by Velma." Most passive voice sentences will sound awkward to native English speakers anyway, so a rule of thumb is, if it sounds right, it's probably okay.
 * Make sure to double-check your work for any common grammatical errors, such as confusing "your" and "you're" or "its" and "it's."
 * The use of contractions is preferred over the uncontracted versions, so long as they are natural and make the sentence flow better.
 * Uncontracted versions may be used to add emphasis.
 * We are aware that this is contrary to most wikis, but here we want everything to sound as natural as possible.
 * Second-person pronouns ("you") may be used, especially when writing an article directed towards readers (like this one).
 * Use "was" to introduce and describe deceased characters or destroyed objects only. For undead, unknown, imprisoned, released, and alive characters or objects in existence, use "is" to introduce and describe them.

Spelling

 * For English articles, American English is preferred over British English.
 * However, there is no need to edit an article simply to "fix" British spelling to American. Either is fine.

Punctuation

 * Oxford commas are to be used.
 * Instead of "milk, eggs and bread," you would write "milk, eggs, and bread."
 * Multiple punctuation marks are to be used only when absolutely necessary.
 * For example, if a comma must come after "Mystery Inc."
 * However, multiple exclamation points or ellipses (except in quotes) are never acceptable.
 * When mentioning a character, make sure to use any necessary identifiers.
 * For example, writing just "Daphne Blake" is incorrect. Writing "Daphne Blake (SDWAY)" or "Daphne Blake (Original Scoobyverse)" is preferred, except when the incarnation or universe is already implied by other contents of the article and it would be clumsy and redundant to mention the incarnation again.
 * Never put a space before a comma, semicolon, or colon.
 * The use of number signs (#) is acceptable for comic books, but not for episode numbers.
 * Forward slashes are acceptable, but note that, on this wiki, they denote "or."
 * Saying "pink pantyhose/stockings" means "pink pantyhose (or stockings)."

Style

 * The use of bolded text is restricted to the title of the article within the first sentence.
 * Italics may be used only when they add necessary emphasis ("Velma opened the door, not Daphne') or when using a foreign term, such as "neé" and "e.g."
 * Episodes should be listed in this format: "Series or movie: Season.Episode number (within that season): Episode title" when in references.
 * For example, "SDMI: 1.2: "The Creeping Creatures" refers to episode two of season one of "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated," which is titled "The Creeping Creatures."
 * Media should be italicized ("Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" or "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island"), except in references.

Mark-up

 * Try to add as many categories as possible that fit the article, but do not add categories just to add them.
 * The category "Child Criminals" does not include those categorized as teenagers.
 * Any human between, roughly, the age of 13 and 19 may be categorized as a teenager. If age is not known, the development of secondary sexual characteristics may be used (deeper voice or facial hair in males and breasts in females).
 * Only use references when you think they contribute meaningful, necessary, or potentially helpful information.
 * Do not, for example, add a reference for a character's name or hair color.

Miscellaneous

 * When using measurements, the imperial system is preferred over the metric system; listing both measurements is ideal.
 * Time should be listed in month/day/year or mm/dd/yy format.
 * Use commas for numbers over four digits (1,000 or 3,789,123).
 * Fractions should be written out: 1/5 should be one-fifth.
 * Time should be written in the 12-hour clock format ("1:30 p.m." not "13:30").
 * Numbers equal to or less than ten should be written out.
 * Only write information once. Do not describe the character in the opening paragraph: that is for the "Appearance" or "Personality" sections.
 * For example, do not describe Daphne as "red-headed" or Velma as "intelligent" in the opening. Those are for the appropriate sections.