All parameter names must be lowercase. In text, dates given as [[2008-01-01]] will display as 2008-01-01. In citations, leave off the brackets for the same effect.
Entry (replace nnn with ID number): [[Geographic Names Information System]] ID No. [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:nnn nnn]
The lead should adequately summarize the content of the article. There should not be anything in the lead not mentioned in the rest of the article. (GA criteria)
Wikilinks should only be made if they are relevant to the context. Common words do not need wikilinking.
Dates should only be linked if they are relevant to the context. The linking of dates for the purpose of autoformatting is now deprecated.
Links within quotations should be avoided.
Logical quotation should be used, i.e. final punctuation belongs inside the quote marks only if the punctuation is part of the quote.
External links only belong in the external links section.
It is recommended not to specify the size of images, so that the size can be what readers specify in their user preferences.
Text should not be sandwiched between two level images. (GA criteria)
Left-aligned images should not be placed at the start of subsections.
Fair-use images need a fair use rationale. (GA criteria)
Images need succinct captions. (GA criteria)
An image caption should only end with a period if it forms a complete sentence. (GA criteria)
Statements that are likely to be challenged and statistics need inline citations. (GA criteria)
Book references need the author, publishing date and page number. (GA criteria)
Book references preferably should include the publisher and ISBN.
Web references need the author, publisher, publishing date and access date. (GA criteria)
Web references preferably should include the language (if not English) and format (if not HTTP).
References should be consistently formatted, eg. consistent author naming, abbreviations for "page number", etc.
Blogs and personal websites are not reliable sources, unless written by the subject of the article or by an expert on the subject. (GA criteria)
Dead web references should not be removed until they can be replaced.
Inline citations belong immediately after punctuation marks. (GA criteria)
"Further info" links belong at the top of sections. (GA criteria)
Portal links belong in the "See also" section. (GA criteria)
Wikicommons and Wikinews links belong in the external links section. (GA criteria)
Lists should only be included if they can't be made into prose or their own article. Listy prose should be avoided. (GA criteria)
Rather than hyphens, en dashes should be used for ranges, eg. 5–10 years, and unspaced em dashes or spaced en dashes should be used for punctuation, eg. The building—now disused—was built in 1820. Their codes are "–" and "—".
Page ranges in the footnotes, and sports scores should use en dashes rather than hyphens.
" " (non-breaking space) should be typed between numbers and abbreviated units, and other numerical/non-numerical components, e.g., "10 kg", "Boeing 747"
Imperial measurements should be accompanied by the metric equivalent in brackets, and vice versa. A conversion template can be used, eg. {{convert|5|mi|km|0}}.
Whole numbers under 10 should be spelled out as words, except when in lists, tables or infoboxes.
Sentences should not start with a numeral. The sentence should be recast or the number should be spelled out.
Only the first word in a section heading needs a capital letter (except in proper nouns).
Short sections and paragraphs are discouraged. (GA criteria)
Ampersands should not be used within prose, except when part of a name, eg., Marks & Spencer.
"Last few years" has ambiguous meaning; "past few years" is preferable in some contexts.
"Within" has a different meaning to "in". "Within" should only be used when emphasising that something is inside something, eg. "the town is in the county", "the town is within the county boundaries".
Compound adjectives should be hyphenated to reduce ambiguity, e,g., "light-blue car".
Hyphens aren't used after -ly adverbs as the meaning isn't ambiguous, e,g., "brightly coloured car".
"Century" doesn't need a capital, e.g., "15th century" rather than "15th Century"
"While" should only be used when emphasising that two events occur at the same time, or when emphasising contrast. It shouldn't be used as an additive link.
Using "with" as an additive link leads to wordy and awkward prose, e.g. "the town has ten councillors, with one being the district mayor" → "the town has ten councillors; one is the district mayor"
Beginning a sentence with "there", when "there" doesn't stand for anything, leads to wordy prose, e.g. There are ten houses in the village → Ten houses are in the village. The same applies to "it".
The words "current", "recent" & "to date" should be avoided as they become outdated. (GA criteria)
Avoid using "not" unnecessarily, eg. "songs previously not heard" → "songs previously unheard"
Contractions shouldn't be used, such as "can’t", "he's" or "they're".
Avoid weasel words, such as "it is believed that", "is widely regarded as", "some have claimed". (GA criteria)
Avoid peacock terms, such as "beautiful", "famous", "popular", "well-known", "significant", "important" and "obvious". (GA criteria)
Avoid vague words, such as "various", "many", "several", "long", "a number of", "just", "very" and "almost".
Avoid using overly formal words or wordy phrases, such as "utilise", "whilst", "upon", "commence", "the majority of", "whereas", "generate", "due to the fact that" and "prior to".
Avoid phrases with redundant words, such as "is located in", "the two are both", "they brought along", "they have plans to", "they were all part of", "the last ones to form", "both the towns", "outside of the town", "all of the towns", "received some donations", "still exists today", "it also includes others", "many different towns", "near to the town", "available records show", "to help limit the chance", "christian church", "in order to", "first began", "joined together", "future plans" and "in the year 2007".
This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (January 2012)