Editing BattleTechWiki:Manual of Style

{{Merge|BattleTechWiki:BattleTech Style Guide}}
{{MoS guideline|BTW:MOS}}
This '''Manual of Style''' ('''MoS''' or '''MOS''') is the style manual details stylistic elements that all editors should incorporate to help present a uniform style for all '''Sarna.net BattleTechWiki''' articles. This primary page is supported by further detail pages, which are cross-referenced here and listed under {{cl|Manual of Style}}. If any contradiction arises, this page has precedence. Editors should write articles using straightforward, succinct, easily understood language and structure articles with consistent, reader-friendly layouts and formatting.

As a general rule of thumb, Sarna BTW seeks to emulate the established style used in official BattleTech products, though there are some Sarna.net BTW-specific exceptions as outlined below. The default style is that of [[w:The Chicago Manual of Style|The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS)]]. The BattleTech style departs from the CMOS in certain cases, and on the Sarna.net BattleTechWiki both are trumped by certain rules which are specific to this wiki.

==Publisher's BattleTech Style==
[[Catalyst Game Labs]], the current BattleTech producer, maintains a "Writer's Bible" document which includes a Style Guide section; previously, their Style Guide existed as a separate document. Neither of these documents is cleared for public release and those who have access to them are under a [[w:Non-disclosure agreement|non-disclosure agreement (NDA)]] which prohibits them from sharing the document. Consequently, Sarna BTW cannot directly adopt the actual BattleTech style guide. However, the following digest has been created with CGL's permission to be perused by the Sarna BTW:

===Capitalization===
Some words are always capitalized in BattleTech while others are not; while the list may seem counterintuitive at times, the general rule is that BattleTech-specific concepts are highlighted in this way:
*BattleMech, OmniMech, ProtoMech, OmniVehicle, OmniFighter, DropShip, JumpShip, WarShip, DropShuttle
*Clan tactical units: Point, Star, Binary, Nova, Trinary, Supernova, Cluster, Galaxy
*Inner Sphere, Clans, Periphery (when referring to the respective society/region)
*Trial of [...] (when referring to a formalized trial under Clan rules)
* Top-tier titles: Archon, Archon-Prince, Captain-General, Chancellor, Coordinator, Exarch, First Lord, First Prince, Magestrix, Minister-General, Primus, Protector, Warden-General, Warlord (when referring to the Draconis Combine title)
*names of military commands/units
*Gauss

By contrast, the following words or groups of words are not capitalized despite their frequent use and possibly special meaning in BattleTech:
*vehicles (tank, hovertank), infantry, battle armor, battlesuit, powered armor, aerofighter, aerospace fighter, small craft
*Weight classes: ultralight, light, medium, heavy, assault, colossal, superheavy
*Ranks other than those mentioned above, except when used as part of a name
*Experience ratings: green, regular, veteran, elite (they are only capitalized as nouns in game rules)
*Clan castes: warrior, scientist, merchant, technician, laborer
*''touman''

====CamelCase====
Note that BattleTech frequently makes use of "odd" capitalization in a fashion many have come to call ''CamelCase'', where words have capital letters in the middle, usually composite words where each composite element begins with a capital letter (e.g. BattleTech, BattleMech, MechWarrior, DropShip, ilClan). Others are abbrevations (e.g. IrTech). While this is the accepted and correct spelling in BattleTech, there is no comprehensive list of such words; there does not seem to be an established correct spelling for LosTech/Lostech/lostech, for example.

====Military Operations====
For a time, military operations were written in all-capital letters in BattleTech publications. This practice has been discontinued, and there is no mention of it in the latest official Style Guide. Sarna.net BTW has opted to maintain the all-capital spelling for consistency across the wiki.

==Acronyms and abbreviations==
When writing an article, write out the full name and only use abbreviations in subsequent mentions. When editing an article, be careful to ensure that at least the first mention is written out. For example, any reference to House Davion's preeminent university should first be "New Avalon Institute of Science," while only subsequent mentions should be abbreviated as "NAIS." This means that no page should ever have an abbreviated and linked word/phrase, unless that is the sole name for it (e.g. [[ROM]]).

Sarna BTW has the functionality to use the template {{tl|Abbr}} that can be used to write an abbreviation (including an acronym or initialism) with its meaning. That creates a tooltip indicating the meaning of the term. Usage of the template in place of the full name is reserved for infoboxes or other tables.

==Article titles==
Article titles should be in the form of a singular noun, such as [[BattleMech]]. 
Abbreviations/Acronyms should be used in a page name if the subject is known primarily by its abbreviation and that abbreviation is primarily associated with the subject.

==Boldface==
Most commonly, the article's subject is stated as early as possible in the first sentence, and placed in boldface:

<blockquote>'''Nueva Castile''' is a small proto-state residing within the Deep Periphery.</blockquote>

Only the first occurrence of this word or term is placed in boldface. Additionally, if the subject of the article is often (or previously) known with an additional name (and has a redirect pointing to the article), it is common for that alternate name to appear in boldface in its first occurrence:
 
<blockquote>The '''binary laser cannon''', was a laser weapon previously considered ineffectual, but began to be reconsidered following the re-introduction of double heat sinks. The binary laser cannon is also known informally as the '''Blazer'''.</blockquote>

==Capitalization==
* Standard grammatical rules should be followed with regards to capitalization. Should emphasis be needed, it should be given in the form of italics or boldface, not all caps. 
: Correct - BattleMechs are ''not'' robots.
: Incorrect - BattleMechs are NOT robots.
:* Proper nouns (per standard grammatical rules) are capitalized; a few terms in BattleTech have become rather "common" yet remain proper names and are capitalized accordingly. Other terms are presented as mixed proper/common nouns and have mixed capitalization preferred when presented on Sarna. The following (living) list provides the preferred capitalization format for select terms:
::* [https://discord.com/channels/845495550803705886/992054758753972234/993632542571901058 Gauss rifle] 
::* Beagle active probe
::* Angel ECM suite

* In infobox lists of weapons, the numeral begins the sentence: "1x medium laser" should be used rather than "1x Medium laser".

* The families ruling the five [[Successor States]] should be referred to with capitals, i.e. House Davion, House Kurita, House Liao, House Marik, and House Steiner.

* Clan commands are always capitalized, such as with Point, Star, Nova, Trinary, Supernova, Cluster, and Galaxy; ''touman'' is not capitalized unless at the start of a sentence or table cell.
** Clans do not have an "officer" or "enlisted" corps. They have trueborn and freeborn, and every rank is a regimented form of their "Warrior Corps". These include Point Commander, Star Commander, Star Captain, Star Colonel, and Khan, which are capitalized.

* Clan subordinate and supreme roles often use camel case: saFactor, ovKhan, ilClan.

* Clan Trials are always capitalized: Trial of Possession, Trial of Annihilation. Words derived from these Trials are also capitalized: Clan Widowmaker was Absorbed, the Smoke Jaguars were Annihilated, the Nova Cats were Abjured.

* "Clan" should be capitalized whenever referring to the descendants of Kerensky. Clan Jade Falcon. "I am a Clan warrior." The Northwind Highlanders also use the term "clan"—in a different context—and should be capitalized only when used with a proper name: Clan McDougal. Yakuza clans are not capitalized excepted when used as part of a full name: the Nogachi Clan.

* Military commands are also capitalized:
: Correct - Twenty-first Galedon Regulars, Ninety-seventh Adder Sentinels, Seventh Deneb Light Cavalry
: Incorrect - Fifth sword of light, 8th orloff grenadiers

* The word "century" is not capitalized.
: ''Ex: The 20th century, the 31st century

''For the stylistic use of capitalization of certain BattleTech names, see the [[BattleTechWiki:BattleTech Style Guide#BattleTech-specific names|BattleTech Style Guide]].

===Noble titles and military ranks===
Common noble titles follow the same general capitalization rules as ordinary military ranks.

* When preceding a name, always capitalize.
:: ''Duke Sandoval, Count Anton Vitios, Lady Terens Amaris, Colonel McCarron, Captain Alanna Damu''

* Ranks and titles, when not preceding a name, are not capitalized.<ref name=LDRA>[[:File:Italicized ranks.png| Per Line Developer Ray Arrastia, 02Aug2022]] (screencap)</ref> 
:: ''She was a major with two lieutenants and a sergeant in her lance.''
:: ''Following the battle, he was promoted to commodore and given command of the fleet.''
:: ''All the admirals and generals became quiet as General Kerensky prepared to speak.''
:: ''The baron of the region was known to employ the militia for his own personal whims.''

* It is permissible to capitalize in cases where the title or rank is being used in place of a person's name.
:: ''The Duchess ordered the regiment to garrison her estate.''
:: ''The investigator discovered that the Lord himself was behind his predecessor's death.''
:: ''Orders came in from the General to commence firing at the break of dawn.''

* Non-English ranks, with the exception of those used by the Federated Suns or Lyrans, are always italicized and capitalized.<ref name=LDRA/>

==English language==
There are many different countries that speak and write in English, leading to different spellings of some words. Since BattleTech is created by an American company, it is most appropriate to write articles using American spelling and grammar. Editors who are familiar with other methods of spelling are not mandated to write articles in "American" English since they are unfamiliar with it, but the article should be converted to American style by those that do.

==Italics==
{{details|Policy:Italics}}
Italics have several uses.
# Sparingly for emphasis.
# To indicate specific BattleMech, OmniMech, aerospace fighter, DropShip, WarShip, and JumpShip designs, such as ''Dire Wolf'', ''Avalon'', and ''Shilone''. Italics should also be used for specific names of vehicles of all types, such as ''Kerensky's Blues'' and ''Prometheus''.
# Non-English words, except those of Federated Suns or Lyran ranks.<ref>[[:File:Italicized ranks.png| Per Line Developer Ray Arrastia, 02Aug2022]] (screencap)</ref>
# Titles of books.

Ensure that, when italicizing a linked word or phrase, the wiki markup for the italics go outside the brackets for a link. For example, ''[[Emperor]]'' is <nowiki>''[[Emperor]]''</nowiki>.

==Numbers==
* Write out any number under 11. 
: ''Ex: Three, Seven, Nine, 13, 15, 23''
* Use commas to aid in understanding every three spaces.
: ''Ex: 2,983,802,928''
* Use decimal points to indicate numbers smaller than one, not commas. 
: ''Ex: 394.09''

''For the use of numbers in military commands, see the [[Policy:BattleTech_Style_Guide#Military_Commands|Military Commands]] section.''

==Punctuation==
===And/or===
The term ''and/or'' is usually awkward. In general, where it is important to mark an inclusive ''or'', use ''x or y, or both'', rather than ''x and/or y''. For an exclusive ''or'', use ''either x or y'', and optionally add ''but not both'', if it is necessary to stress the exclusivity. 

Where more than two possibilities are presented, from which a combination is to be selected, it is even less desirable to use ''and/or''. With two possibilities, at least the intention is clear; but with more than two it may not be<!-- (see ''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage'', 2004, p. 38)-->. Instead of ''x, y, and/or z'', use an appropriate alternative, such as ''one or more of x, y, and z''; ''some or all of x, y, and z''.

Sometimes ''or'' is ambiguous in another way: "Wild dogs, or dingoes, inhabit this stretch of land". Are wild dogs and dingoes the same or different? For one case write: "wild dogs (dingoes) inhabit ..." (dingoes ''are'' wild dogs); for the other case write: "either wild dogs or dingoes inhabit ..." (I don't know which).

===Apostrophes===
Apostrophes have two main uses in English: contractions and possessives. Contractions ending in -s and possessives are easy to confuse with each other and with plural. It's not a recent development.

====Contractions====
A contraction is two words joined to make another. Unlike compound words, contractions usually have sound changes and lose some letters.
* Will not → won't
* Is not → isn't
* It is, it has → it's
* Can not → can't (Cannot is also acceptable but isnot and willnot aren't)
* Am not, is not, has not, have not... → ain't (Yes, it's a word but it's not acceptable in formal language to many people. Kind of silly to get upset about it, really.)

====Possessives====
Possessives show ownership - ''Bob's battle armor belongs to Bob''.
* If there's just one owner, add -'s.
** If the word already ends with -s, it's permissible to just add an apostrophe. Whether it's proper to add -'s depends on the authority; a reasonable rule of thumb is to use whichever sounds more natural.
** For words that end in a silent -s (''e.g.'' corps) add -'s.
* If there's more than one owner and the word ends in -s, add an apostrophe; '''never''' insert an apostrophe before the -s that's already there.
** For plurals that don't end in -s, add -'s. ''e.g.'' Children → children's, aircraft → aircraft's, deer → deer's. (Yes, the plural of anything ending with -craft is properly just like the singular, though this is shifting.)
* Statements of quantity take an apostrophe if "worth of" is stated or implied: two years' wages, an hour's work.
* Possessive pronouns (his, hers, yours, theirs, etc.) '''never''' take an apostrophe.
* If you're not sure whether to use -'s or -s', it's often easier to use other words. ''e.g.'' Whether a Clan action is spoken of metaphorically ("the Wolf woke up") or as a group of people ("the Falcons were arrogant") can be confusing. "The Falcons attack" (kreegah!) sounds exactly the same as "the Falcon's attack" (the act of one of them slapped a wolf) and "the Falcons' attack" (the act of a group of Falcons amusing themselves at civilians' expense); writing "the Falcon attack", using an adjective that avoids the need for apostrophes, is a lot less mental work.

====Incorrect usage====
Apostrophes are sometimes misused, especially for words already ending with -s, symbols, and numbers.
* Abbreviations. This was allowable at one time but is now archaic.
* Plurals. Whether word, name, symbol or number, -'s to form a plural is incorrect.
** The Joneses, not The Jones's or The Jones'.
** <nowiki>#</nowiki>s, not <nowiki>#'</nowiki>s.
** 3080s, not 3080's.

===Colons===
A '''colon''' informs the reader that what comes after it proves, explains, or modifies what has come before, or is a list alluded to before. More specifically, the colon is an introduction that warns the reader to be prepared for a closely related construction that is about to follow: this following segment may be the elements of a set illustrating the statement, or the logical consequence or effect of a fact stated before, or another closely related modifying sentence, or a direct speech in combination with quotation marks.

Colons (<code>:</code>) should not have spaces before them:
:{|style="background:transparent"
|-valign=top
|''Correct'':               ||He attempted it in two years: 2845 and 2847
|-valign=top
|''Incorrect'':&nbsp; &nbsp;||He attempted it in two years : 2845 and 2847
|}

Colons should have complete sentences before them:
:{|style="background:transparent"
|-valign=top
|''Correct'':               ||He attempted it in two years: 2845 and 2847
|-valign=top
|''Incorrect'':&nbsp; &nbsp;||The years he attempted it included: 2845 and 2847
|}

===Dashes===
Two kinds of dash are used. 

====En dashes====
En dashes (–) have four distinct roles.
#To indicate '''disjunction'''. In this role there are two main applications.
#*To convey the sense of ''to'' or ''through'', particularly in ranges (''pp. 211–19'', ''64–75%'', ''the 1939–45 war'', ''May–November'') and where movement is involved (''Dublin–Belfast route''). The word ''to'', rather than an en dash, is used when a number range involves a negative value or might be misconstrued as a subtraction (''&minus;3 to 1'', not ''&minus;3–1''), or when the nearby wording demands it (''he served from 1939 to 1941'', not ''he served from 1939–1941'').
#*As a substitute for some uses of ''and'', ''to'' or ''versus'' for marking a relationship involving independent elements in certain compound expressions (''Canada–US border'', ''blood–brain barrier'', ''time–altitude graph'', ''4–3 win in the opening game'', ''male–female ratio'', ''3–2 majority verdict'', ''Michelson–Morley experiment'', ''diode–transistor logic''; but a hyphen is used in ''Mon-Khmer languages'', which marks no specific relationship, and in ''Sino-Japanese trade'', in which ''Sino-'', being a prefix, lacks lexical independence.
#**''Spacing:'' All disjunctive en dashes are unspaced, except when there is a space within either or both of the items (''the New York – Sydney flight''; ''the New Zealand – South Africa grand final''; ''July 3, 1888 – August 18, 1940'', but ''July–August 1940'').
#For '''negative signs and subtraction operators''', as an alternative to the usually slightly shorter minus sign, ''&minus;'' (input with &amp;minus;). Negative signs (''–8&nbsp;°C'') are unspaced; subtraction signs (''42&nbsp;–&nbsp;4&nbsp;=&nbsp;38'') are spaced.  The en dash was the traditional typographic symbol for this operator, but now that Unicode defines a character for this specific use, the minus is preferred.  In contexts such as computer code, where the text is intended to be copied and executed or evaluated, the ordinary hyphen works better and is preferred.
#In '''lists''', to separate distinct information within points—particularly track titles and durations, and musicians and their instruments, in articles on music albums. In this role, en dashes are always spaced.
#As a '''stylistic alternative to em dashes''' ([[#Em dashes|see below]]).

Hyphens are often wrongly used for disjunction; this is especially common in sports scores.

====Em dashes====
Em dashes (—) indicate interruption. They are used in two roles.
#'''Parenthesis''' (''Wikipedia—one of the most popular web sites—has the information you need''). Here, a pair of em dashes is a more arresting way of interpolating a phrase or clause than a pair of commas, and is less of an interruption than brackets. A pair of em dashes is particularly useful where there are already many commas; em dashes can make such a sentence easier to read, and sometimes they can remove ambiguity. 
#'''A sharp break''' in the flow of a sentence—sharper than is provided by a colon or a semicolon.

Em dashes should not be spaced.

Because em dashes are visually striking, take care not to overuse them. A rule of thumb is to avoid more than two in a single paragraph, unless the paragraph is unusually long or the use of more than two em dashes would be logically cohesive. Rarely are there more than two em dashes in a single sentence, since their roles are then usually unclear.

;Spaced en dashes as an alternative to em dashes
Spaced en dashes – such as here – can be used instead of unspaced em dashes in all of the ways discussed above. Spaced en dashes are used by several major publishers, to the complete exclusion of em dashes; style manuals more often prefer unspaced em dashes. One style should be used consistently in an article.

====Other dashes====
These are avoided on Sarna, notably the double-hyphen (--).

===Diacritics===
Diacritics, also called ''diacritical marks'' and ''accents'', are modifiers added to letters to indicate a change in sound, indicate stress or tone, sometimes even create new letters. American English often omits these markers even when writing foreign languages but it is allowable to use them.
* Always use diacritics if they are part of a canon spelling: ''Warrior: Coupé'', JàrnFòlk, ''Araña'' MilitiaMech, Escorpión Imperio. Sometimes canon spellings ignore modern rules: Reneé Mazner rather than Renée, Chasseurs á Cheval rather than Chasseurs à Cheval.
* For some reason, CGL products sometimes switch grave (‘) and acute (’) accents inconsistently: Josè Estevez rather than José, Chasseurs à Cheval rather than Chasseurs á Cheval. Sometimes this is canon, sometimes an editing error specific to a product or even a single page.

===Hyphens===
Hyphens (-) indicate conjunction. There are three main uses. 
# To distinguish between '''homographs''' (''re-dress'' = dress again, but ''redress'' = remedy or set right).
# To link certain '''prefixes''' with their main word (''non-linear'', ''sub-section'', ''super-achiever''): 
#: There is a clear trend, not yet complete, to  join both elements in all varieties of English (''subsection''), particularly in North America (''nonlinear''). British English tends to hyphenate when the letters brought into contact are the same (''nonlinear'', ''subabdominal'', but ''non-negotiable'', ''sub-basement'') or are vowels (''intra-atomic'', ''pre-existing'', ''pre-industrial'', ''semi-intensive'', ''co-opt''), or where a word is uncommon (''co-proposed'', ''re-target'') or may be misread (''sub-era'', not ''subera''). North American English reflects the same factors, but tends strongly to close up without a hyphen when possible. Consult a good dictionary, and see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:ENGVAR WP:ENGVAR].
#* Conversely, there is a recent trend to incorrectly insert a hyphen into long-established compound words (''e.g.'' over-night rather than overnight, out-come rather than outcome, re-appeared rather than reappeared); spellcheckers often won't catch this error if both parts are normally words in their own right.
# To link related terms in '''compound adjectives and adverbs''':
#* A hyphen can help with ease of reading (''face-to-face discussion'', ''hard-boiled egg''); a hyphen is particularly useful in long [[nominal group (language)|nominal groups]] where non-experts are part of the readership, such as describes the userbase of Sarna.
#* A hyphen can help to disambiguate (''little-used car'', not a reference to the size of a used car).
#* Many compound adjectives that are hyphenated when used attributively (before the noun they qualify—''a light-blue handbag''), are not hyphenated when used predicatively (after the noun—''the handbag was light blue''). Where there would be a loss of clarity, the hyphen may be used in the predicative case (''hand-fed turkeys'', ''the turkeys were hand-fed'').
#* A hyphen is not used after an ''-ly'' adverb (''wholly owned subsidiary'') unless part of a larger compound (''a slowly-but-surely strategy'').
#* A hyphen is normally used when the adverb ''well'' precedes a participle used attributively (''a well-meaning gesture''; but normally ''a very well managed firm'', since ''well'' itself is modified); and even predicatively, if ''well'' is necessary to, or alters, the sense of the adjective rather than simply intensifying it (''the gesture was well-meaning'', ''the child was well-behaved'', but ''the floor was well polished'').
#* A ''hanging hyphen'' is used when two compound adjectives are separated (''two- and three-digit numbers'', ''a ten-car or -truck convoy''). 
#* Values and units used as compound adjectives are hyphenated only where the unit is given as a whole word. Where hyphens are not used, values and units are always separated by a non-breaking space (<nowiki>&amp;nbsp;</nowiki>).
:::{|style="background:transparent"
|-valign=top
|''Incorrect'':             ||9-mm gap
|-valign=top
|''Correct'':               ||9&nbsp;mm gap (entered as ''9&amp;nbsp;mm gap'')
|-valign=top
|''Incorrect'':&nbsp; &nbsp;||9&nbsp;millimeter gap
|-valign=top
|''Correct'':               ||9-millimeter gap
|-valign=top
|''Correct'':               ||12-hour shift
|-valign=top
|''Correct'':               ||12&nbsp;h shift
|}

A hyphen is never followed or preceded by a space, except when hanging or when used to display parts of words independently, such as the prefix ''sub-'' and the suffix ''-less''.

A hyphen is used only to mark conjunction—not to mark disjunction (for which en dashes are correct: see below).

Hyphenation involves many subtleties that cannot be covered here; the rules and examples presented above illustrate the broad principles that inform current usage.

=== Parentheses and brackets ===
* A bracketed phrase is enclosed by the punctuation of a sentence (as shown here). However, where one or more sentences are wholly inside brackets, their punctuation comes inside the brackets (see further details [[#Sentences_and_brackets|below]]). These rules apply to both round "(&nbsp;)" brackets, often called parentheses, and square "[&nbsp;]" brackets. There should not be a space next to a bracket on its inner side. An opening bracket should be preceded by a space, except in unusual cases; for example, when it is preceded by:
- An opening quotation mark:
::He rose to address the meeting: "(Ahem)&nbsp;... Ladies and gentlemen, welcome!"
- Another opening bracket:
::Only the official party ([Archon] William Steiner and his family) received a salute by the bugles.
- A portion of a word:
::We journeyed on the Inter[continental].

There should be a space after a closing bracket, except where another punctuation mark (other than an apostrophe or a hyphen) follows, and in unusual cases similar to those listed for opening brackets.

If sets of brackets must be nested, use the contrasting type (normally, square brackets appear within round brackets [like this]). Often, it is better to revise the sentence to reduce clutter, using commas, semicolons, colons or dashes instead.

Avoid adjacent sets of brackets—either put the parenthetic phrases in one set separated by commas, or rewrite the sentence. For example:
:{|style="background:transparent"
|-valign=top
|''Incorrect'':&nbsp; &nbsp;||Nikifor Grigoriev (c. 1885–1919) (also known as Matviy Hryhoriyiv) was a Ukrainian insurgent leader.
|-valign=top
|''Correct'':               ||Nikifor Grigoriev (c. 1885–1919), also known as Matviy Hryhoriyiv, was a Ukrainian insurgent leader.
|-valign=top
|''Correct'':               ||Nikifor Grigoriev (c. 1885–1919) was a Ukrainian insurgent leader. He was also known as Matviy Hryhoriyiv.
|}

Square brackets are used to indicate editorial replacements and insertions of text. They serve three main purposes:
*To clarify. ("She attended [secondary] school"—where this was the intended meaning, but the type of school was unstated in the original sentence.)
*To reduce the size of a quotation. If a source says "X contains Y, and under certain circumstances, X may contain Z as well", it is acceptable to reduce this to "X contains Y [and sometimes] Z",  without ellipsis. When an ellipsis (...; see [[#Ellipses|below]]) ''is'' used to indicate material removed from a direct quotation, it should not normally be bracketed. 
*To make the grammar work: "She said that '[she] would not allow this'&nbsp;"—where her original statement was "I would not allow this." (Generally, though, it is better to begin the quotation after the problematic word: "She said that she 'would not allow this.'&nbsp;")

The use of square-bracketed wording should never alter the intended meaning of a quotation.

====Sentences and brackets====
* If any sentence includes material that is enclosed in square or round brackets, it still must end—with a period, or a question or exclamation mark—''after'' those brackets (a rule that applies in all English, whether British or U.S.). The preceding sentence is itself an example. This principle applies no matter what punctuation is used within the brackets.

* Normally, if the words of a sentence begin within brackets, the sentence must also end within those brackets. (This sentence is an example.) There is an exception for matter that is added or modified editorially at the beginning of a sentence for clarity, usually in square brackets: "&nbsp;'[Chancellor Tormax Liao] already told the general staff that,' he objected."

* A sentence that occurs within brackets in the course of another sentence does not have its first word capitalized just because it starts a sentence. The enclosed sentence may have a question mark or exclamation mark added, but not a period: "Alexander then departed (who would have believed it?) from the Inner Sphere"; "Justin demanded that she fly (he knew she hated flying) to the sub-continent." These constructions are usually best avoided, for readability.

===Question marks and exclamation marks===
* Question and exclamation marks are never preceded by a space in normal prose.
* The exclamation mark is used with restraint: it is an expression of surprise or emotion that is generally unsuited to a scholarly or encyclopedic register.
* Clusters of question marks, exclamation marks, or a combination of them are highly informal and inappropriate in Sarna articles.

===Plus signs===
Plus signs should be used for mathematical operations; don't use them to form lists. Stone Lions + Jaguars + Ghost Bears, oh my that looks awful.

===Quotation marks===
The term ''quotation(s)'' in the material below also includes other uses of quotation marks such as those for titles of essays, book chapters and sections, and similar texts; un-attributable aphorisms; "scare-quoted" passages and constructed examples.

; Double or single'''
:Quotations are enclosed within "double quotes".  Quotations within quotations are enclosed within 'single quotes' (though this will make it more difficult to be found via the search function; see "Other matters" below).
; Inside or outside
:Punctuation marks are placed inside the quotation marks only if the sense of the punctuation is part of the quotation; this system is referred to as ''logical quotation''.
::{|style="background:transparent"
|rowspan=2 valign=top|''Correct'': || Arthur said that the situation is "deplorable".
|-
|
:(When a sentence fragment is quoted, the period is outside.)
|-
|rowspan=2 valign=top|''Correct'': || Arthur said, "The situation is deplorable."
|-
|
:(The period is part of the quoted text.)
|-
|rowspan=2 valign=top|''Correct'': || Martha asked, "Are you coming?"
|-
|
:(When quoting a question, the question mark belongs inside because the quoted text itself was a question.)
|-
|rowspan=2 valign=top|''Correct'': || Did Martha say, "Come with me"?
|-
|
:(The very quote is being questioned, so here, the question mark is correctly outside; the period in the original quote is omitted.)
|}

:''Note'': Some other style manuals endorse always placing ending periods and commas before, rather than after, a closing quotation mark; this system is referred to as ''typesetters' quotation'' because many typographers favor it for aesthetic reasons. BattleTechWiki uses logical quotation because, as an encyclopedia, it requires high standards of accuracy in the use of source material, and because logical quotation is less prone to misquotation, ambiguity, and the introduction of coding and other errors.

; Article openings
:When the title of an article appearing in the lead paragraph requires quotation marks (for example, the title of a song or poem), the quotation marks should not be in boldface, as they are not part of the title:
::{|style="background:transparent"
|''Correct'': || "'''Jabberwocky'''" is a nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll.
|}

; Other matters
* A quotation is not italicized simply because it is a quotation.
* If an entire sentence is quoted in such a way that it becomes a grammatical part of the larger sentence, the first letter loses its capitalization ("It turned out to be true that 'a penny saved is a penny earned'.").
* If a word or phrase appears in an article in single quotes, such as 'abcd', the search function will find that word or phrase only if the search string is also within single quotes. This difficulty does not arise for double quotes, and this is one of the reasons the latter are recommended.

===Serial commas===
There is no consensus on whether to use the serial comma (also known as the ''Oxford comma'' or ''Harvard comma''), except where including or omitting such comma clarifies the meaning. A serial comma is a comma used immediately before a conjunction in a list of three or more items: the phrase ''ham, chips, and eggs'' contains a serial comma, while the variant ''ham, chips and eggs'' omits it. 

Sometimes omitting the comma can lead to an ambiguous sentence, as in this example: 
''The sergeant thanked her parents, Elizabeth Jordan Liao and Maximilian Liao'', which may be a list of either four or two people.  

Including the comma can also cause ambiguity, as in: 
''The sergeant thanked her mother, Elizabeth Jordan Liao, and Maximilian Liao'', which may be a list of either two or three people.

In such cases of ambiguity, there are three ways to clarify:
* Use or omit the serial comma to avoid ambiguity.
* Recast the sentence.
* Format the list, e.g. with paragraph breaks and numbered paragraphs.

===Slashes===
Avoid joining two words by a [[slash (punctuation)|slash]] (''/'', also known as a forward slash), as it suggests that the two are related, but does not specify how. It is often also unclear how the construct would be read aloud. Consider replacing a slash with an explanation, or adding one in a footnote.  Where possible, reword more fully to avoid uncertainties.

An example: ''The parent/instructor must be present at all times.'' Must both be present? (Then write ''the parent and the instructor''.) Must at least one be present? (Then write ''the parent or the instructor''.) Are they the same person? (Use a hyphen: ''the parent-instructor''.) 

In circumstances involving a distinction or disjunction, the en dash is usually preferable to the slash, e.g., ''the novel–novella distinction''.

An unspaced slash may be used:
* to show pronunciations ("''ribald'' is pronounced /ˈ'''rıb'''·əld/")
* to separate the numerator and denominator in a fraction (''7/8'')
* to indicate regular defined yearly periods that do not coincide with calendar years
* where slashes are used in a phrase outside of Sarna, and using a different construction would be inaccurate, unfamiliar or ambiguous

A spaced slash may be used:
* to separate run-in lines of poetry or song (''To be or not to be: that is the question:&nbsp;/ Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer&nbsp;/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune'')
* to separate any construction that can be separated with an unspaced slash when readability would be enhanced by doing so, most often when the items being separated are complex, such as involving a number of abbreviations, numbers; compare ''the NY&nbsp;31 east&nbsp;/ NY&nbsp;370 exit'' with ''the NY&nbsp;31 east/NY&nbsp;370 exit''.

Spaced slashes should be coded with a leading non-breaking space and a trailing normal space, e.g., <code>x&amp;nbsp;/ y</code> (which renders as ''x&nbsp;/ y''), to prevent line breaks introducing readability problems.

The backslash character, ''\'', is never used in place of a slash. 

In general prose, prefer ''÷'' to ''/'' when representing mathematical division.

===Spaces after the end of a sentence===
There are no guidelines on whether to use one space or two ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sentence_spacing#French_and_English_spacing French spacing]) after the end of a sentence, but the issue is not important, because the difference is only visible in the monospace edit boxes; it is ignored by browsers when displaying the article.

==Tables==
Tables are perfect for organizing any information that is best presented in a row-and-column format. 

Often a list is best left as a list. Before you format a list in table form, consider whether the information will be more clearly conveyed by virtue of having rows and columns. If so, then a table is probably a good choice. If there is no obvious benefit to having rows and columns, then a table is probably not the best choice.

Tables should not be used simply for layout, either. If the information you are editing is not tabular in nature, it probably does not belong in a table: Try not to use tables for putting a caption under a photograph, arranging a group of links, or other strictly visual features. It makes the article harder to edit. Also, when compared with tables, wikimarkup is more flexible, easier to use, and less esoteric when used for desktop publishing, page elements, and page orientation and positioning.

==Quotations==
{{See also|Policy:Quotations}}
{{Shortcut|MOS:QUOTE|MOS:QUOTATIONS}}

Brief quotations of copyrighted text may be used to illustrate a point, establish context, or attribute a point of view or idea. While quotations are an indispensable part of BTW, try not to overuse them. Using too many quotes is incompatible with an encyclopedic writing style and may be a [[BattleTechWiki:Copyrights|copyright infringement]]. It is generally recommended that content be written in Wikipedia editors' own words. Consider paraphrasing quotations into plain and concise text when appropriate (while being aware that close paraphrasing can still violate copyright).

===Original wording===
{{Shortcut|MOS:PMC|MOS:SIC|MOS:TYPOFIX}}

Quotations must be [[Policy:Verifiability|verifiably]] attributed, and the wording of the quoted text should be faithfully reproduced. This is referred to as the {{strong|principle of minimal change}}. Where there is good reason to change the wording, bracket the changed text; for example, {{!xt|"Ocyrhoe told him his fate"}} might be quoted as {{xt|"Ocyrhoe told [her father] his fate"}}. If there is a significant error in the original, follow it with {{tlx|sic}} (producing {{xt|{{sic}}}}) to show that the error was not made by BTW. However, insignificant spelling and typographic errors should simply be silently corrected (for example, correct {{!xt|basicly}} to {{xt|basically}}).

Use [[#Ellipses|ellipses]] to indicate omissions from quoted text. Legitimate omissions include extraneous, irrelevant, or parenthetical words, and unintelligible speech ({{!xt|umm}} and {{!xt|hmm}}), but do not omit text where doing so would remove important context or alter the meaning of the text. Vulgarities and obscenities should be shown exactly as they appear in the quoted source; editors should put offensive material in articles ({{!xt|G-d d--m it!}}), but if the text being quoted ''itself'' does so, copy the text verbatim and use {{tlx|sic}} to indicate that the text is quoted as shown in the source.

In direct quotations, retain dialectal and archaic spellings, including capitalization (but not archaic glyphs and ligatures, as detailed below).

===<span class="anchor" id="Quotation point of view"></span>Point of view===
{{Shortcut|MOS:QUOTEPOV}}
{{See also|Policy:Neutral point of view|}}

Quotation should be used, with attribution, to present emotive opinions that cannot be expressed in BattleTechWiki's own voice, but never to present cultural norms as simply opinional:

* Acceptable: {{xt|Siskel and Ebert called the film "unforgettable".}}
* Unacceptable: {{!xt|The site is considered "sacred" by the religion's scriptures.}}

Concise opinions that are not overly emotive can often be reported with attribution instead of direct quotation. Use of quotation marks around simple descriptive terms can imply something doubtful regarding the material being quoted; sarcasm or weasel words such as ''supposedly'' or ''so-called'', might be inferred.

* Permissible: {{xt|Siskel and Ebert called the film interesting.}}
* Unnecessary and may imply doubt: {{!xt|Siskel and Ebert called the film "interesting".}}
* Should be quoted: {{xt|Siskel and Ebert called the film "interesting but heart-wrenching".}}

===Typographic conformity===
{{Shortcut|MOS:CONFORM}}

A quotation is not a [[wikt:facsimile|facsimile]] and, in most cases, it is not a requirement that the original formatting be preserved. Formatting and other purely typographical elements of quoted text. "Quoted text" for typographic conformity and many other purposes includes titles of works, names of organizations, and other strings that are, in essence, quoted. This has no effect on searching for the works we have cited, since all major search engines disregard punctuation marks. These should be adapted to BTW's conventions without comment, provided that doing so will not change or obscure meaning or intent of the text. These are alterations which make no difference when the text is read aloud, for example:

* Normalize dashes and hyphens: see {{Section link||Dashes}}. Use the style chosen for the article: unspaced [[w:em dash|em dash]] or spaced [[w:em dash|em dash]].
* Convert apostrophes and quotation marks to Wikipedia's style:
** These should be straight, not curly or slanted. See {{section link||Quotation marks}}.
** When quoting a quotation that itself contains a quotation, alternate between using double and single quotes for each quotation. See {{section link||For a quotation within a quotation}} for details.
* When quoting text from non-English languages, the outer punctuation should follow [[BattleTechWiki:Manual of Style#Quotation marks|the Manual of Style for English quote marks]]. If there are nested quotations, follow the rules for correct punctuation in that language. If there are multiple styles for a language, the one used by the Wikipedia for that language is preferred unless the punctuation itself is under discussion.
*:{{xt|The cynical response "L'auteur aurait dû demander: « à quoi sert-il d'écrire ceci ? » mais ne l'a pas fait" was all he wrote.}}
* Remove spaces before punctuation such as periods and colons.
* Generally preserve bold and italics {{cross reference|(see {{section link||Italics}})}}, but most other styling should be altered. {{!xt|{{Underline|Underlining}}}}, {{!xt|spac&nbsp;ing}} within words, {{!xt|1=co<span style="color:Goldenrod;">lor</span>s}}, {{!xt|ALL CAPS}}, {{Smallcaps|{{!xt|small caps}}}}, etc. should generally be normalized to plain text. If it {{em|clearly}} indicates emphasis, use italic {{em|emphasis}} ({{tlx|em}}) or, in an already-italic passage, boldface (with {{tlx|strong}}). For titles of books, articles, poems, and so forth, use italics or quotation marks following [[Policy:Article Naming|the guidance for titles]]. Italics can also be added to mark up
* Expand an abbreviation (not already used in the content before the quotation) as a square-bracketed change, or explain it using {{tlx|abbr}}.
* Normalize archaic glyphs and ligatures in English that are unnecessary to the meaning. Examples include ''[[wikt:æ|æ]]''→''ae'', ''[[wikt:œ|œ]]''→''oe'', ''[[wikt:Long s|ſ]]''→''s'', and ''[[wikt:Thorn (letter)#Abbreviations|þ<sup>e</sup>]]''→''the''. {{crossref|(See also [[wikt:Ampersand|Ampersand]].)}}

However, national varieties should not be changed, as these may involve changes in vocabulary. For example, a quotation from a British source should retain British spelling, even in an article that otherwise uses American spelling. {{crossref|(See {{section link||Consistency within articles}}.)}} Numbers also usually should not be reformatted.

Direct quotation should not be used to preserve the formatting preferred by an external publisher (especially when the material would otherwise be unchanged), as this tends to have the effect of [[w:Scare quotes|scare-quoting]]:
* {{em|Acceptable}}: {{xt|The animal is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.}}
* {{em|Unacceptable}}: {{!xt|The animal is listed as "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.}}

Italics can be used to mark a particular usage as a [[w:term of art|term of art]] (a case of "[[Policy:Editing|words as words]]"), especially when it is unfamiliar or should not be reworded by a non-expert:
* {{em|Permissible}}: {{xt|The animal is listed as ''critically endangered'' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.}}

When quoting a complete sentence, it is usually recommended to keep the first word capitalized. However, if the quoted passage has been integrated into the surrounding sentence (for example, with an introduction such as "{{var|X}} said that"), the original capital letter may be lower-cased.
* {{xt|LaVesque's report stated: "The equipment was selected for its low price. This is the primary reason for criticism of the program."}}
* {{xt|LaVesque's report said that "the equipment was selected for its low price".}}
* {{xt|The program was criticized primarily because "the equipment was selected for its low price", according to LaVesque.}}

It is not normally necessary to explicitly note changes in capitalization. However, for more precision, the altered letter may be put inside square brackets: {{nobr|"The" → "[t]he".}}
* {{xt|The program was criticized primarily because {{nobr|"[t]he}} equipment was selected for its low price", according to LaVesque.}}

===Attribution===
The reader must be able to determine the source of any quotation, at the very least via a footnote. The source must be named {{em|in article text}} if the quotation is an opinion {{Crossreference|(see {{Section link|Policy:Neutral point of view|Attributing and substantiating biased statements}})}}. When attributing a quotation, avoid [[Policy:Neutral point of view|characterizing it in a biased manner]].

===Quotations within quotations===
See {{section link||For a quotation within a quotation}}.

===Linking===
{{Shortcut|MOS:LINKQUOTE|MOS:LWQ}}

Be conservative when linking within quotations: link only to targets that correspond to the meaning clearly intended by the quote's author. Where possible, link from text outside of the quotation instead – either before it or soon after. (If quoting [[w:hypertext|hypertext]], add an editorial note, {{xt|[link in original]}} or {{xt|[link added]}}, as appropriate, to avoid ambiguity as to whether the link was made by the original author.)

===<span class="anchor" id="Block quotations"></span><span class="anchor" id="Block quotes"></span>Block quotations===
{{Shortcut|MOS:BQ|MOS:BLOCKQUOTE}}

Format a long quote (more than about forty words or a few hundred characters, or consisting of more than one paragraph, regardless of length) as a [[w:block quotation|block quotation]], indented on both sides. Block quotations should be enclosed in {{tlx|blockquote}}.

Do not enclose block quotations in quotation marks (and especially avoid large, decorative quotation marks; those provided by the {{tlx|cquote}} template have been disabled in mainspace). Block quotations using a colored background are also discouraged.

Use {{tnull|blockquote}} and so on only for actual quotations; [[#Indentation|indentation for other purposes]] is done differently.

It is conventional to precede a block quotation with an introductory sentence (or sentence fragment) and append the source citation to that line. Alternatively, the {{tnull|blockquote}} template provides parameters for attribution and citation which will appear below the quotation. {{Crossref|(For use of dashes with attributions, see {{section link||Other uses (em dash only)}}.)}} This below-quotation attribution style is intended for famous quotations and is unusual in articles because it may strike an inappropriate tone. A quotation with no cited source should be flagged with {{tlx|quote without source}}, or deleted.

Line breaks and indentation inside a {{tnull|blockquote}} or {{tag|blockquote|o}} are generally ignored; use {{xtag|poem}} or {{tlx|poem quote}} for poetry, lyrics, and similar material:

<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">
{{blockquote|<poem>
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
            Meant in croaking "Nevermore."
</poem>}}
</syntaxhighlight>
This gives:
{{xt|{{blockquote|<poem>
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
            Meant in croaking "Nevermore."
</poem>}}}}

Or quote such material inline, with line breaks indicated by <code><nowiki>{{nbsp}}/</nowiki></code>, and paragraph or stanza breaks by <code><nowiki>{{nbsp}}//</nowiki></code>.

===<span class="anchor" id="Pull quotes"></span><span class="anchor" id="Pull quotes"></span>Pull quotations===
{{Shortcut|MOS:PQ|MOS:PULLQUOTE}}

[[w:Pull quote|Pull quote]]s do not belong in articles. These are the news and magazine style of "pulling" material already in the article to reuse it in attention-grabbing decorative quotations. This unencyclopedic approach is a form of [[Policy:Editing|editorializing]], produces [[BattleTechWiki:The perfect article|out-of-context]] and [[Policy:Neutral point of view|undue emphasis]], and may [[Policy:Verifiability|lead the reader to conclusions]] not supported in the material.

==References==
<references/>