Wikipedia:WikiProject Punk music/Manual of style

The following is a detailed guide to punk rock-related articles. For the general style guide, please see Wikipedia:Manual of Style.

The following style guide coveres everything related to punk rock, including artists, albums, general lists, general rules, templates, and infoboxes. Generally, this applies to all editors, though it is mainly used as a tool to get all members of the Punk music WikiProject together on one concrete style packet.

Please quote this style guide based on the section (e.g. 1.1.7 to apply to section 1, subsection 1, number 7).

Finally, many concepts will be repeated in multiple sections. This is not an error; many rules and guidelines apply to many sections.

General rules

For other information on some of the items in this section, please see Wikipedia:Wikify.

Tenses

When writing an article, always make sure to use the proper tense. If you are writing about events that happened in the past, use the past tense. For events happening now, use the present tense. If discussing future events, use the future tense. This seems obvious, but frequently editors make the mistake of writing about past events in the present tense. For example:

• Incorrect: It is 1976. The Ramones are playing regularly at CBGB and are set to release their first album
• Correct: In 1976 the Ramones were playing regularly at CBGB and were set to release their first album.

Similarly, editors often make the mistake of referring to future events in the present tense:

• Incorrect: Green Day's upcoming album includes twelve tracks and is in stores January 12, 2012.
• Correct: Green Day's upcoming album will include twelve tracks and will be in stores January 12, 2012.

Again, this seems simple, but it is surprising how often mistakes of tense are made.

Notability

Main page: Wikipedia:Notability (music)

1. Always consider notability (importance to a general audience) when editing not only punk rock-related articles, but Wikipedia in general. Wikipedia is a general interest encyclopedia, not an in-depth guide to everything related to punk rock. For detailed information on notability, please see the general notability guideline and Wikipedia:Notability (music).
2. For more information on notability and tolerance within Wikipedia, please see Wikipedia:Fancruft and Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not.
3. Artists, albums, and other topics that do not merit their own article (or any chance of expansion with ENCYCLOPEDIC material) should be merged into their respective lists. However, avoid creating list articles of trivial material with little or no encyclopedic value. Ramones discography or List of record labels, for example, are valid lists, while "List of musicians with mohawks" would not be.
4. Likewise, if a topic has enough encyclopedic information (including references to reliable secondary sources) to merit multiple sections and five or more paragraphs, it is generally safe to give it its own article.
5. All notable artists, albums, songs, films, etc. may be given their own articles. However, not every band member, bootleg release, song, or tour deserves its own article. Again, please see Wikipedia:Notability (music) for specific guidance.
6. Avoid creating separate articles about future albums or other releases until there is enough verifiable information to support such an article. If there is no information yet available, or only simple information like a title and a release date, do not create a separate article. See WP:HAMMER for more information.
7. There are fine lines between splitting and merging and notability, so there will always be disputes. Please be civil and make sure your argument covers all Wikipedia and Manual of Style rules.

Italics vs. quote marks

1. Always italicize the titles of albums, books, films, etc. Examples include: American Idiot, The Decline of Western Civilization, and Get in the Van.
2. Always place song titles in "double quotes". Examples include: "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Welcome to Paradise", and "Gotta Get Away".
3. The names of people and groups, such as Joe Strummer and NOFX, should not be italicized except for emphasis.
4. Italics may also be used for emphasis.

Bolding

1. The first mention of the article or list entry's subject should always be bolded. (If the term is also the title of a work, its first mention should be bolded and italicized, or "bolded and in double quotes" for songs; subsequent mentions should be italicized or "in double quotes" as noted above.)
2. In rare cases, minor topics may feature bold headings in lieu of subheaders.

Abbreviations

1. Generally, all abbreviations and shorthand writing should be avoided, unless the abbreviation or shorthand is part of the official title of a work. For example, type Versus God rather than Vs. God, but type Live @ the Key Club rather than Live at the Key Club and Agony & Irony rather than Agony and Irony.
2. When addressing a band, album, etc., do not abbreviate unless the abbreviation is part of the official name or title. For example, type The Mighty Mighty Bosstones rather than The Bosstones and No Use for a Name rather than NUFAN, but type T.S.O.L. rather than True Sounds of Liberty and AFI rather than A Fire Inside.

Wikilinking

1. A wikilink should only be used at the first mention, unless it is a template.
2. In a list, major names, titles, and terms may be wikilinked multiple times if necessary.
3. Do not wikilink words unless they are not extremely common (e.g. do not wikilink music or song, but do wikilink bass guitar).

Categories

Main page: Wikipedia:WikiProject Punk music/Article categorization

1. Category:Punk rock features numerous sub-categories, which should be studied in order to ensure proper categorization.
2. Do not categorize things twice unless it applies.
3. If a new category is to be created, it must feature at least five (5) entries that are not covered in existing sub-categories.

Naming

Article naming

1. Refer to Wikipedia:Naming conventions for detailed information.
2. If possible, make the title the subject of the first sentence of the article (as opposed to putting it in the predicate). In any case, the title should appear as early as possible in the article — preferably in the first sentence.
3. The first time the title is mentioned in the article, bold it. Do not put links in the title.
4. Most article titles should be singular (unless they are lists or merged topics).
5. Generally, one should avoid overuse of parenthesis in article titles, except in cases where there is disambiguation. Even in that case, it may be better off to just add description to the title.
   • For example, you want to make an article about the Face to Face compilation album Shoot the Moon, but there is already an article entitled Shoot the Moon. Instead of disambiguating the album article as "Shoot the Moon (album)", one might simply use the album's full title, Shoot the Moon: The Essential Collection, as the article title.
6. In cases where there are several article topics with the same name, such as a song that has been performed by several artists, a disambiguation page, merge, or a general article may be appropriate.
7. Except in titles of works or in official names, avoid the definite ("the") and indefinite ("a"/"an") articles at the beginning of a page name.
8. All bands, albums, books, films, etc. should be named using their full titles, including any series title. For example: Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness rather than From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness.
9. Some titles use a colon or other separator between the series title and the subtitle, in which case the article title should also use this same punctuation. For example, Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise. In other cases a separating punctuation may not actually appear in the title due to the way it is stylized for a cover, but is implied by standard English punctuation and should therefore be used in the article title. For example, Shoot the Moon: The Essential Collection and Sweatin' to the Oldies: The Vandals Live. In some cases the syntax of the title does not imply any punctuation, in which case none should be used in the article title. For example, Live 4/30/96 rather than Live: 4/30/96. There are fine lines on the use of implied punctuation, so there will always be disputes. Please be civil and make sure your argument covers all Wikipedia and Manual of Style rules. The common-sense guideline should be to punctuate titles as though you were writing and speaking them out in a sentence.
10. Some titles use the artist's name as part of the title, in which case the article title should also include the artist's name. For example: Crime as Forgiven By Against Me! rather than Crime as Forgiven By or Crime, and When in Rome Do as the Vandals rather than When in Rome Do As or When in Rome.

List naming

1. Refer to Wikipedia:Naming conventions for detailed information.
2. All list article titles must begin with "list of..." to distinguish that they are a list. Discography articles are an exception: they should be titled "[Artist] discography".
3. A list's title/name should match the content of the article. For example, if an article is about Sex Pistols tours, the title would be List of Sex Pistols tours.
4. Most lists are not completely singular (e.g. List of Black Flag tours).

Infobox

All articles should begin with an infobox that provides a concise summary of basic information on the article's topic. Below are the infoboxes most commonly used by WikiProject Punk music. Remember to read the instructions and syntax for each infobox and to fill in all relevant fields:

• Template:Infobox Music genre — For articles about genres.
• Template:Infobox Musical artist — For articles about musical artists. Contains special syntax for bands, groups, and individual performers.
• Template:Infobox Album — For articles about albums. Contains special syntax for different types of albums such as compilations, EPs, and split releases.
• Template:Infobox Single — For articles about singles and songs.
• Template:Infobox Book — For articles about books.
• Template:Infobox Film — For articles about films.
• Template:Infobox music DVD — For articles about music DVDs that do not qualify as "films" (for example, music video collections). (deprecated)
• Template:Infobox music venue — For articles about concert venues.
• Template:Infobox music festival — For articles about festivals.
• Template:Infobox concert tour — For articles about concert tours.

Introductions

Article introductions

1. All articles must have a one to three paragraph lead section that introduces the topic in a succinct manner.
2. If possible, make the title the subject of the first sentence of the article (as opposed to putting it in the predicate). In any case, the title should appear as early as possible in the article — preferably in the first sentence.
3. As displayed above, the first mention of the article topic must be bolded. (It should also be italicized if it is the title of a work.)
4. Articles may not begin with a lead-off quote. This is considered unencyclopedic and may create point of view arguments over what quotation to add. Wikipedia has a sister project, Wikiquote, specifically for quotations.

List introductions

1. A list should begin much in the same way as the article, except that the article subject is not bolded. Instead, lists often begin with "The following are (list's topic)".
2. List entries (the multiple topics that make up a list) should be bolded upon first mention.

Specific article type guidelines

There are several more specific Manuals of Style that have been developed by other WikiProjects. These pertain to specific types of articles:

• Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians/Style — For articles about musicians, including bands, groups, and individual musicians.
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums#Style — For articles about albums.
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Songs#Style — For articles about singles and songs.
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Books#Article structure — For articles about books.
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Films/Style guidelines — For articles about films.

Images and other media

1. Articles should contain images and other media such as sound samples to illustrate their subjects to the reader.
2. Whenever possible, free media should be used in place of non-free media. Non-free media may not be used if a free alternative is available or could reasonably be created.
3. Non-free media must meet Wikipedia's non-free content criteria. See also Wikipedia:Non-free content, which is a supplementary guideline to the criteria.
4. All media must be tagged with an appropriate license tag on the media's page indicating the copyright status of the media.
5. Non-free media must have a separate fair use rationale for each article in which it appears.
6. Wikipedia's image use policy states that in articles about albums, singles, and films, an image of the item's cover art in the article's infobox qualifies as fair use if the article contains critical commentary of the album, single, or film.
7. Wikipedia's music sample guidleines state the samples being used under fair use (which included most music samples) should generally not be longer than 30 seconds or 10% of the length of the original song, whichever is shorter. They also must be of reduced quality from the original. See the guidelines for more specifics.

Specific article types

List articles

There are several list articles which are part of the project, such as discography articles and lists of bands. Unfortunately these are sometimes viewed as "dumping grounds" for information that is deemed inappropriate for "regular" articles: extensive trivial details, original research, unverified information, etc. However, list articles can be just as useful and encyclopedic as other types of articles, and should be viewed not as a potential mess but rather as an opportunity to provide fine content beyond the scope of what other article types cover.

As other articles should strive for the goal of becoming featured articles, so too should list articles strive for the goal of one day becoming featured lists. To this end, when working on list articles, try whenever possible to help the article meet the featured list criteria. List articles should aim to be useful, comprehensive, factually accurate, stable, uncontroversial, and well-constructed. Project members are encouraged to help improve the list articles, and to give them the same level of consideration as other article types.