Bhamwiki talk:Style
Numbered street names
Do we make an exception when the street name starts a sentence? I was taught to spell out numbers when they start a sentence, but I imagine that varies depending on the style guide used, which is what this page is as far as BhamWiki goes. --Lkseitz 06:50, 17 November 2006 (PST)
- I don't think it's necessary. You're welcome to do so as long as the link works when it's a link. --Dystopos 06:59, 17 November 2006 (PST)
- For example: [[16th Street Baptist Church|Sixteenth Street Baptist Church]] makes: Sixteenth Street Baptist Church -- Rob 15:00, 17 November 2006 (PST)
- precisely --Dystopos 17:41, 17 November 2006 (PST)
Birth year
The rounding of years from an age given in a newspaper story is why I typically specify "circa" (c.) with the presumed year of birth in such cases. This still conveys the information, but makes it clear it's not 100% certain. --Lkseitz 10:48, 2 May 2008 (PDT)
Links
Perhaps we need a section on links? Here's Wikipedia's linking guide. --Lkseitz 10:07, 29 October 2009 (PDT)
Internet or internet?
- I was taught to capitalize the word "Internet". Argument can be found here. Apparently Dystopos and I disagree as he edited my Cullman Liquidators article. I've been changing them in other articles to be capitalized. Discussion? Ruling? --Wheresdib 18:02, 29 December 2009 (PST)
- I was unaware of the capitalization convention. To my mind it is silly to capitalize "internet", but I cannot dispute that the convention exists and has currency. I will make no extra effort to eradicate the capital, but I won't promise to employ it myself. --Dystopos 19:54, 29 December 2009 (PST)
- Grammar Girl agrees that "Internet" should typically be capitalized. I learned it that way once upon a time, but the argument about "the sky", in particular, is bothering me now. --Lkseitz 20:25, 29 December 2009 (PST)
- The AP Style Guide switched from "Web site" to "website" in 2010 and from "e-mail" to "email" in 2011, but THE "Web" and THE "Internet" remain capitalized. Except on bhamwiki. --Dystopos 18:23, 5 April 2011 (PDT)
Alabama natives
Do we have or can we make an official ruling for what name to use for residents of Alabama? Alabamians, Alabamans, or something else? If anyone cares, in its Alabama article, Wikipedia currently uses the former twice and the latter once. --Lkseitz 11:27, 19 October 2010 (PDT)
- Alabamians. The official site for the state of Alabama (www.alabama.gov) uses "Alabamians" several dozen times and "Alabamans" none. I think that's about as official as it will ever get. --Wheresdib 16:05, 15 January 2011 (PST)
Single space between sentences
- Explained in Slate. --Dystopos 08:30, 14 January 2011 (PST)
- I'll try to skip the long diatribe on some of the things wrong with that article (but will link to this rebuttal). Staying strictly on how this relates to Bhamwiki, it really doesn't matter. By default, HTML converts any number of spaces to a single space. As far as I know, MediaWiki has no code in it that changes this behavior, although some style sheets might be able to manipulate sentence spacing. Just to prove my point, as I typed this I started with one space between sentences and then added another space between each subsequent sentence, which you can see if you check the source. As you can see in the rendered page, it made no difference. I learned two spaces at the end of a sentence and, until recently, it was still required for the Unix text editor I use a lot in order to easily move the cursor from one sentence to the next when editing. So I'm sorry if my double spaces annoy you, but it's simply force of habit now. Also, since editing a page shows up in a proportional font, I find the double space makes it easier to read while I'm writing. --Lkseitz 11:22, 14 January 2011 (PST)
- It only annoys me to the extent that I find myself deleting them sometimes. I certainly bear no ill will or personal grudges. --Dystopos 11:26, 14 January 2011 (PST)
- I have been known to add them, but only where I am editing quite a bit. I certainly don't go out of my way to do so, because as I said, it doesn't matter on the rendered page. I also bear no ill will or personal grudges, no matter how long I manage to go on about the subject. --Lkseitz 12:05, 14 January 2011 (PST)
- I was taught to use two spaces after a period. I've never noticed otherwise on here, but I know there's no way to undo 40 years of training for me, so feel free to remove the extra space in articles I write or edit. --Wheresdib 12:36, 15 January 2011 (PST)
- I have been known to add them, but only where I am editing quite a bit. I certainly don't go out of my way to do so, because as I said, it doesn't matter on the rendered page. I also bear no ill will or personal grudges, no matter how long I manage to go on about the subject. --Lkseitz 12:05, 14 January 2011 (PST)
- It only annoys me to the extent that I find myself deleting them sometimes. I certainly bear no ill will or personal grudges. --Dystopos 11:26, 14 January 2011 (PST)
- I'll try to skip the long diatribe on some of the things wrong with that article (but will link to this rebuttal). Staying strictly on how this relates to Bhamwiki, it really doesn't matter. By default, HTML converts any number of spaces to a single space. As far as I know, MediaWiki has no code in it that changes this behavior, although some style sheets might be able to manipulate sentence spacing. Just to prove my point, as I typed this I started with one space between sentences and then added another space between each subsequent sentence, which you can see if you check the source. As you can see in the rendered page, it made no difference. I learned two spaces at the end of a sentence and, until recently, it was still required for the Unix text editor I use a lot in order to easily move the cursor from one sentence to the next when editing. So I'm sorry if my double spaces annoy you, but it's simply force of habit now. Also, since editing a page shows up in a proportional font, I find the double space makes it easier to read while I'm writing. --Lkseitz 11:22, 14 January 2011 (PST)
Image sizes
You realize, of course, that apparent image size will vary depending on the resolution the user has set their monitor at. And how they have their browser sized. --Lkseitz 12:04, 6 April 2011 (PDT)