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Fallout Wiki

Writing conventions

General

  • Fallout Wiki uses all of the same writing conventions found in the Wikipedia:Manual of Style. However, where there is a conflict between the manual of style and local guidelines, the latter supersedes the former.
  • In general, content should be written in a style appropriate for an encyclopedia. Descriptions should be clear and precise; speculations or uncertain facts should be avoided.
  • Do not be overly specific when writing, only as specific as necessary.
  • Use full sentences where possible.
  • Users must register for an account before contributing to the Fallout wiki. (Per Registered user requirement - 11/20/2021)

Language

  • American English is preferred at this wiki as it is the spelling most Fallout games use.
  • Colloquialisms, slang, l33t speak and other informal styles are not acceptable.
  • Game-specific words should always use the in-game spelling, even in cases when it is incorrect. This does not include capitalization which should always follow the rules in the relevant section below.

Perspective

Contributions should only use third-person and use appropriate terms to maintain accuracy and clarity.

Recommended terms:

  • Player when referring to player activities in the game, such as taking actions in quests, selecting dialogue, or attacking non-player characters.
Example: "The player can choose to spare Pretty Boy Lloyd or drop a live mine on his head."
  • Player character or the name of the player character when referring to the actual player character, such as when discussing customization, the character system, or similar. The name can be used when referring to them as a character in a story, such as when discussing storyline events.
Examples: "The player character's appearance cannot be customized in Fallout or Fallout 2 beyond choosing their sex."
"Mr House takes an interest in the Courier after they reach New Vegas after being shot in the head."

Elements that are quoted, such as bug messages, quotes, developer commentary, and transcripts, are naturally exempt and use original spelling and perspective.

Tense

  • Articles should generally be written in present tense.
  • The only exception is articles relating to events which took place before any of the Fallout games, i.e. before 2161; these may be written in past tense.

Capitalizing

  • Article page names and links should not be overcapitalized, regardless of whether they relate to in-game subjects or not, and regardless of in-game spelling.
    Incorrect: Fallout 2 is part of the Fallout Series of games.
    Incorrect: The Fallout World exists in an alternate timeline.
    Correct: Fallout 2 is part of the Fallout series of games.
    Correct: The Fallout world exists in an alternate timeline.
  • Proper names, such as Pancor Jackhammer, Ranger Sequoia, or Stealth Boy should be capitalized. But common words or descriptive names, like combat shotgun, hunting revolver, or stimpak should not. This also includes names where part of the names constitutes a proper name, like Gannon family Tesla armor.
    Incorrect: A Stimpak is a type of hand-held medication used for healing the body.
    Incorrect: The Gannon Family Tesla Armor is a piece of armor in Fallout: New Vegas.
    Correct: The RobCo Stealth Boy 3001 is a personal stealth device worn on one's wrist.
    Correct: The Gannon family Tesla armor is a piece of armor in Fallout: New Vegas.
  • Generic character names should not be capitalized, unless it can be misinterpreted and its meaning unclear, like Gunner (a member of a specific mercenary faction) and gunner (might be a gunman or something else).
    Incorrect: A Raider killed a Super Mutant with an Assault Rifle.
    Incorrect: A team of gunners was spotted near that area.
    Correct: A raider killed a super mutant with an assault rifle.
    Correct: A team of Gunners was spotted near that area.
  • Species names should not be capitalized. In the same way as cat or dog would not be capitalized, deathclaw and ghoul are also not capitalized.
    Incorrect: The Deathclaws were originally created before the Great War.
    Incorrect: As with normal Ghouls, Feral Ghouls are extremely resistant to radiation.
    Correct: The deathclaws were originally created before the Great War.
    Correct: As with normal ghouls, feral ghouls are extremely resistant to radiation.
  • Names of statistics, perks, traits, skills etc. (e.g. Charisma, Medicine, Fast Shot) should be capitalized when referring specifically to game mechanics. The same words, however, should not be capitalized in other uses.
    Incorrect: Joe is an Intelligent or Charismatic character.
    Correct: The Lone Wanderer will need high Intelligence or Charisma to convince Joe.
  • If it's not clear whether a name is a proper name or a common one, naming should be discussed and decided on a case-by-case basis.
  • Infobox titles, section headers and labels should be capitalized.

Linking

Do not overlink. Generally, a page should be linked from a given article only once, on its first occurrence. Links may be repeated if the first link is far up the page or if the manner the word is used in makes it necessary (e.g. in summary lists).

Attribution

Do not add any attributions (like "written by XYZ") or dates ("written on 14/02/09") to articles. An accurate record of all contributions to an article is available via its "History" page.

Verifiability

Verifiability means other users can check if the information presented comes from a reliable source. All material added or existing on Nukapedia must be verifiable. The content must be determined by previously published information rather than the beliefs or experiences of editors. Even if an editor is sure something is true, it must be verifiable before it can be added. When adding sources, a neutral point of view must be maintained and only present what the sources say. All quotations must include an inline citation that directly supports the claim. Any material that lacks sources will be removed.

You may see several templates alerting editors to articles requiring the addition of verifiable, accurate, and relevant references, or to remove speculation and/or characteristics not supported by sources. The overarching goal is not to remove information outright, but a focus on:

  • rewording claims so that they align with references (claim must align exactly with the content of the reference, no extrapolating or embellishing).
  • ensure each new claim is referenced appropriately with a verifiable source (another editor must be able to check the source text to confirm).
  • checking that all references are relevant to the claim and formatted correctly based on the source type (the reference must be supporting the claim directly in a succinct way and must be labeled appropriately if it is from a non-canon source).

Correct instead of remove

Fix problems if possible, but preserve appropriate content and information. As long as the underlying information, if not the manner in which it has been added, is solid, it should be retained and corrected rather than being outright removed. Consider rewriting the edit to improve the quality or cleaning up formatting to meet Nukapedia standards. If the error cannot be corrected when found, rather than lose valuable information, flag the section for correction, so that it can be attended to and neither the information nor the incorrect formatting go unaddressed.

Instead of removing content from an article:

  • Rephrasing or correcting grammar to improve.
  • Fixing errors formatting or style.
  • Merging or moving the content to a more relevant existing article, should it not already be represented, or splitting the content to an entirely new article.
  • Doing a quick search for sources and add the citation.
  • Requesting a citation by adding the {{citation needed}} tag.
  • Adding appropriate cleanup tags where necessary, if unable to correct the error when it is discovered.
  • Correcting any accompanying inaccuracies, while keeping the rest of the content intact.

If unsure about the content of the information, it may also be necessary to make mention of the concerns or rationales behind tags in the edit summary or article talk page, so that it is clear what specifically needs to be sourced or what other issues should be addressed in order to improve the page. Vandalism should be removed at face value.

Formatting

General

  • If you are new to wikis, you may want to read the help pages.
  • To learn the basics of editing a wiki, go to the page editing guide.

Bold

  • Bold the article name the first time it appears in the article itself. Any alternative names should also be bolded at their first occurrence.
  • Keywords for which readers are likely to be scanning may be in bold for emphasis, but this should be used sparingly.
  • Avoid using bold formatting for general emphasis.

Italics

  • Italics should be used for the titles of books and games.
  • Italics can be used for general emphasis, but should be used sparingly.

Emphasis

  • Avoid using all caps.
  • Avoid using quotation marks for emphasis.
  • Avoid bolding words for general emphasis.
  • Avoid using double emphasis (e.g. combining bold and italics).
  • Use emphasis sparingly and only when necessary.

Tables

  • Fallout Wiki has a custom CSS class for tables called by the "va-table" variable. It should be used for all visible tables in articles.

See also



Policy vote forum overview
GuidelineEditing guideline
Amendment 1Article title capitalization · Vote · 25 June 2010 · 9-6
Amendment 2Proper noun phrases · Vote · 13 November 2010 · 5-3-1
Amendment 3Third person view · Discussion · Vote · 20 April 2013 · 11-0-0
Amendment 4Category redundancy · Discussion · Vote · 26 June 2015 · 12-1
Amendment 5Referring to the player · Vote · 5 April 2021 · 24-8-2
Amendment 6Infobox capitalization · Vote · 18 June 2021 · 8-0
Amendment 7Fix don't revert · Vote · 8 October 2021 · 24-0-0
Amendment 8Registered user requirement · Discussion · Vote · 22 November 2021 · 24-12-5
Related topicsContent policy · Content organization guideline · User conduct guideline
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