Template:MoS guideline/sandbox

This guideline is a part of the English Wikipedia's Manual of Style. Use common sense in applying it; it will have occasional exceptions. Please ensure that any edits to this page reflect consensus.

This is the template sandbox page for Template:MoS guideline (diff).
See also the companion subpage for test cases.

Template documentation[view] [edit] [history] [purge]

Template usage notes

This template should only be used on pages belonging to the Manual of Style.

For style guides that are not part of the MoS, use {{Subcat guideline}} instead.
For advice that is not a Wikipedia guideline, use the {{Essay}} or one of its variants, instead.
Please do not apply this template to any page without first advertising your proposal to other editors via a request for comments, as described below.

{{MoS guideline}} is used on guideline pages (or sections thereof) that are formally part of the Wikipedia Wikipedia:Manual of Style. For style guides that do not belong to the MoS, use the {{Subcat guideline}} instead. For wikiprojects' topical style advice pages, use {{Wikiproject style advice}}.

This template does not auto-categorize. Manually add the appropriately subcategory of Category:Wikipedia Manual of Style, with an alphabetical sorting key, e.g.: [[Category:Wikipedia Manual of Style (sports)|Underwater wrestling]]

If your wikiproject's style-advice page has not been accepted as a site-wide guideline in a WP:PROPOSAL at Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals), WP:Village pump (policy), or Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style, then do not use this template. Wikiproject advices pages are essays, not guidelines, and are not part of the Manual of Style.

Usage

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This template should only be used on pages that have received a general consensus as belonging to the Manual of Style.

If you're writing a new guideline, or substantially revising one, please remember to give the community significant time to consider your proposal. See WP:PROPOSAL for the current best practice on advertising proposals. For a short introduction on how to go from a proposal to a style guideline, see Category:Wikipedia proposals and How to contribute to Wikipedia guidance.

To use, place the template at the top of the page and fill in the optional parameters:

{{MoS guideline|section= |SHORTCUT1 |...|SHORTCUT5}}

Parameters

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The template supports up to five numbered or unnamed parameters that specify shortcut links for the style guideline page ([[...]] markup does not need to be added, it can just be something like MOS:FOO).

The parameter |section=y can be used to change "This guideline" to read "This guideline section". This is only used when an MoS guideline is a section in a larger combined guideline, as at WP:Stand-alone lists which also contains a naming conventions guideline; it is not to be used for each section in an all-MOS page.

Examples

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Code with one or more parameters for shortcut links:

{{MoS guideline|WP:MOS|WP:STYLE}}

New or greatly modified guidelines require community approval

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Main page: Wikipedia:How to contribute to Wikipedia guidance

If you or a wikiproject have drafted a new guideline or substantially revised one, the Wikipedia community must have significant time to consider the proposal and arrive at a consensus about it. See the WP:PROPOSAL policy for the current best practices on neutrally soliciting input on a proposal from as wide a selection of the community as is practical.

For style guidelines, this is usually done with a request for comment (RfC) at the proposal's talk page, and advertised at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style (WT:MOS) and Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals) (WP:VPPRO), or the RfC may be hosted directly at WT:MOS or WP:VPPRO. Give notice at the talk pages of other relevant parts of Wikipedia, such as those of closely related existing policies and guidelines, as well as wikiprojects likely to have a stake in the outcome. If the proposal is not highly topical and may affect the encyclopedia as a whole, or may be controversial, using WP:Centralized discussion may also be advised.

For more suggestions and background on how to go from a proposal to a Wikipedia guideline, see Category:Wikipedia proposals and Wikipedia:How to contribute to Wikipedia guidance.