User:Anonymax/Style

These style guidelines are generally accepted by the CWCki community, and are used as a reference to help keep the CWCki consistent.

First of all...

 * This is a wiki about Chris, and things which orbit him.
 * This wiki documents Chris's encounters with other people, some of whom are genuine - others are trolls.
 * This wiki is not a place to plan, endorse or execute an attempt to troll Chris (see CWCki:NOTAFORUM).
 * This wiki is not a repository for all your Chris-related artwork (try deviantArt or /cwc/).
 * This wiki is not a place to discuss your thoughts, theories or random questions about Chris (see CWCki:NOTAFORUM).

Article names
Almost everything should follow:
 * Wikipedia's naming conventions
 * Wikipedia's disambiguation page

Video articles
The long-standing convention is to make the article title for a video the same as Chris named it on YouTube. So if the video is named 100_2357.MOV, that should be the article title. There are occasions where this policy does not apply:
 * When Chris uploads two videos of the same or very similar name which are unrelated - it is usually wise to choose a different article title.
 * When Chris gives a video a very long name - see Cleveland Show Voice Rant for an example.
 * When Chris uploads several related videos within a short space of time - usually on the same day:
 * The article title should either borrow its name from part of the video titles (The MovingFoward videos) or
 * Be named appropriately to cover the main subject of the videos (Cwcsicle).

Article content
Below are breakdowns of the two most common article types you find on the CWCki. Before you read on - bear these two points in mind: For clarity - speculation includes any form of prediction about what Chris (or someone else) might do next, why he is doing something, or guessing the significance of something that we have absolutely no evidence about at the time of writing.
 * Overly sarcastic comments, pure speculation, over-exaggeration and pure bullshit are not welcome on the CWCki. Adding such material to articles will result in warnings, and persistent offenders will be banned.
 * The use of memes, reaction images, and generally things that would be more suited to ED or a message board of some kind, are not welcome - and are subject to the same removal-warn-ban procedure described above.

Articles about people
Where possible, there should be some basic information included in articles about people, trolls or otherwise: It is of the upmost importance that we focus on Chris and information we find out about him and his direct family. Until we get confirmation that someone "new" in Chris's life is a troll, refrain from posting personal information on to the CWCki. If they are genuinely not a troll, then we should not be trying to "dox" them here.
 * Their (real) name, aliases and nicknames.
 * Their early life (if known, and if they are a family member).
 * Their first dealings with Chris (how they first came in to contact, or when Chris first mentions them).
 * Significant aspects of their dealings with Chris since (sagas, video mentions, events/meetings)
 * The end of their dealings with Chris (unless ongoing)

If somebody clearly IS a troll, but Chris does not know it yet - please refrain from using the CWCki to "out" the person as a troll until it is clear that Chris's dealings with them have reached an end point. You're meant to be smarter than Chris, and we know he reads the CWCki. Don't start spoiling things by adding "the obvious" to articles before a saga has even begun.

Articles about videos

 * Article name should nearly always be the same as the name Chris gave it on YouTube.
 * Opening paragraph or two should:
 * State the date the video was created/uploaded/leaked
 * State who made the video
 * Give a brief summary of what happens in the video
 * Mention any significant or unusual things, such as significant changes to Chris's appearance.

If in doubt, simply copy the wikimarkup of another Chris video article and be sure to edit each section.
 * The first section should be the video, using the infobox/video template and all associated icons.
 * Below the video, a sub-section should be created for the transcription (add the transcription template if no transcription has been written yet)
 * Optional See also section - to link to related articles
 * Add any navigational templates that relate to a series the video is a part of (e.g. Troll Videos, Calling Out)
 * Always add the succession template to the bottom of video articles - making sure you link to the previous video Chris made, and the next one he made if available. If the video is the most recent, simply put the word Current for the next parameter.

Categories
Link all appropriate categories at the bottom of an article. For example, at the bottom of any article about a family member of Chris's.


 * Note that many templates add categories to articles automatically, and you may therefore not need to add certain categories manually.
 * Categories should always be at the very bottom of an article - after all other Wikimarkup, templates, references.
 * Each category should be placed on its own line.

Capitalisation
Just a reminder that proper nouns (including names of people, places and even Sonichu) should always be capitalised.


 * The first word of every sentence should begin with a capital letter, unless the sentence starts with the name of something intentionally spelt with an initial lowercase letter.
 * Section headings should not be fully capitalised. Only the first word and subsequent proper nouns should be capitalised.

When it comes to dates, be a Eurofag
This: dd Month Year

Example: today is 27 August 2024.

Not this: Month dd, year

Example: today is August 27, 2024.

Likewise, avoid numerical dating (August/27/2024 or 27/August/2024) because that confuses the hell out of people depending if you're a Eurofag or Americunt.

While Americanized spellings are the standard, it's still a good idea to use Eurofag dating to avoid confusion.

Furthermore, it's easier to link to.

For instance, if you went with Eurofag dating, to link to a month, all it would be is:

 dd Month Year 

whereas an Americunt dating would be:

 Month dd Year 

When it comes to spelling, be an Americunt
Chris is American as are a majority of trolls. As a result, Americanized English is the standard for CWCki. So no unnecessary vowels (unnecessary us, os, etc.), it's a "truck" and not a "lorry," it's an "elevator" and not a "lift," etc.

However, on a similar note, please be considerate of our Eurofag brethren. Some Eurofags are not totally familiar with American TV shows, food chains, etc. which Chris frequently references so it is helpful to add a mild explanatory note for these (such as comparing Chris's beloved Golden Corral to British Pub Restaurant chain Beefeaters). For instance, if a game title has a different title in Europe, by all means mention this (such as how Animal Crossing: City Folk was known as Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City in Europe).

Chris
When referring to Chris in articles, you should always use Chris as opposed to "Chris-chan" or other variations.
 * Christopher should only be used when writing about Chris's name change. His current, full legal name is Christine Weston Chandler.
 * His legal name is Christine, but do not use it as it confuses people. Only Use Chris to maintain uniformity.
 * For pronouns, use he/him though he is legally a woman this is to maintain uniformity throughout the CWCki.
 * Of course, if you're referring to Chris-Chan Sonichu (one of Chris's alter egos), then Chris-Chan is fine.

Possessive (Chris's vs Chris')
Long-standing CWCki convention means that we use Chris's as opposed to the (grammatically correct) Chris'. Yes we understand it may seem like a stupid rule, but that's part of following the Chris saga.

Barbara "Barb" Chandler
When referring to Chris's mother, we usually use the nickname Barb.
 * Her birth name is Barbara Anne Weston
 * Referring to her as "Barbara" is tedious - both to editors and readers of articles where her name appears repeatedly, such as in transcripts.
 * She has also been referred to by followers as "Snorlax", but refrain from using it unless absolutely appropriate.

Bob Chandler
When referring to Chris's late father, we usually use Bob.
 * His full name is Robert Franklin Chandler Jr.
 * He is also known as The Internet Lumberjack following an infamous audio recording. Unless relevant to the article, its use should be limited.
 * Since his death in September 2011, care should be taken to ensure articles that mention him do so in the past tense where necessary.

More to add

Section headings
The wikimarkup for creating a section heading is simple: == Section name ==. Markup: === Example sub-heading ===
 * The first heading within an article should always start with two ='s either side of the heading text (that is, be a level 2 heading).
 * Adding an extra = to each end of the heading text will create a sub-heading:

Example sub-heading
Markup: ==== Example sub-sub-heading ====

Heading text
Some guidelines for writing good section headings - with examples taken from the Chris article.

Capitalisation
As with article names, section headings should only have the initial word capitalised, along with any names.
 * Life as a Tomgirl as opposed to Life As A Tomgirl or Life as a tomgirl. Tomgirl is a name, and is therefore capitalised.

Simplicity
Your aim with the heading is to describe the text within that section in the simplest possible way. Here are two examples:
 * Aliases as opposed to something like The many aliases of Christian Weston Chandler.
 * Early life as opposed to something like His early life or Chris's younger years.

Spacing
There are four spacing issues to consider:
 * To make section headings easier to read for editors, place a space either side of the section header text:
 * == Example heading == rather than ==Example heading==
 * The heading should be on its own line - with the article body text starting on the line below. There is no need to leave an extra blank line after the section heading.
 * When creating a new section heading, leaving a blank line after the previous section text can help editors.
 * If the previous section made use of images, but the section text was fairly short - this can cause the image to overflow onto the section below it. To prevent this from happening, you can use the clear template - placing it at the end of the particularly short section.

Templates
Templates are used to insert content into articles without having to use a bunch of, what is usually, long and complex wikimarkup. The various templates we have on the CWCki can be found on the main article linked above. Using a template is simple - just place the name of the template between curly brackets e.g.    will insert the Honest template, which appears as

Parameters
Some templates are more dynamic, and have additional parameters. These parameters can either be to customise a template's text or style, or to insert additional text into the template. Parameters are separated by vertical pipes | and are added before the closing curly brackets.
 * Read a template's usage notes to learn more about what parameters, if any, the template has and how to use them
 * There are named and unnamed parameters:
 * Named parameter example:   (this named parameter prevents the template from adding a category to the article)


 * Unnamed parameter example:   (this unnamed parameter simply changes the text shown in the protip box)

Substitution
When you substitute a template, saving the page causes the wikimarkup from the template's page to be inserted into the article. Substitution is useful for templates such as the welcome template, because substituting leaves behind all the body text from that template on a user's talk page - which helps them to see how wikimarkup works, rather than simply seeing.
 * Substituting a template is as simple as adding subst: after the opening curly brackets but before the template name e.g.  .
 * When the page is saved, the wikimarkup from the template will be inserted into the page you just saved.
 * Only certain templates are suitable for substitution. The vast majority are not suitable. Check the usage notes for each template before deciding whether to substitute it or not.