Gravity Falls Wiki:Article Guidelines

Welcome to the Gravity Falls Wiki's Article Guidelines.

Please refer to the Gravity Falls Wiki Guidelines for more information.

Introduction
This page will answer many of your questions pertaining to articles on this wikia. If you can not find your answer, please ask an administrator.

What is an article
An article should be a page, officially named, with a topic falling under one of these categories:
 * A character from Gravity Falls, such as Dipper Pines
 * A voice actor from Gravity Falls, such as Kristen Schaal
 * An episode of Gravity Falls, such as "Tourist Trapped"
 * A place in Gravity Falls, such as The Mystery Shack
 * An event in Gravity Falls, such as Pioneer Day
 * A significant thing from Gravity Falls

What should an article have?
This depends on the page. Some things are meant for some pages.

For characters
Each character gets an article, as long as they are important enough. What defines important enough are shown in the three standards below.
 * Every character that visually appears on the show is allowed to have a page, except for characters that only appear in a group and don't perform any unique individual actions.
 * For the above group characters, a character page about the group should be created instead. (Example: Manotaurs)
 * Unseen characters should only have their own page if they are specifically named and play a role in an episode's plot.
 * We have some lists of characters, objects, creatures, and animals since individually they do not merit their own pages.

Each page of a character should have the following sections:
 * the Infobox with relevant information about the character (see character infobox template for instructions)
 * An introduction section giving a brief explanation of the character.
 * Next, in order, History, Personality, and Appearance sections to further describe their characteristics,
 * Next, if the character appears in more than one episode, a Sightings section should be used to list the episodes they appear in (use the Appear template),
 * Next, a Quotes section if appropriate. See the section below that describes how to add quotations.
 * Next, a Trivia section.
 * A Gallery section should be added for any page that has an associated gallery. In this section, imply put.
 * A References section should be included if any references are used. In this section, imply put.
 * At the bottom of the page, include a characters navigation template.

Example of a good character page: Wendy Corduroy.

For creatures
Note: creatures are not characters or animals. Creatures refers to supernatural or paranormal entities in Gravity Falls. The same guidelines for characters apply. Use creature template for infobox on creature pages. Include the creatures navigation template at the bottom of the article.

Example of a good creature page: Chutzpar.

For locations
Each major location gets an article. Depending on the information, sublocations may be given their own page or assimilated onto the main location page.

A location article should include:
 * A place template for the infobox.
 * The Appearance section, detailing what the place is like or what is found there,
 * The History section, detailing where the location was featured and what effect it had on the plot,
 * You may want to put in behind the scenes Trivia as well, if possible.
 * A Gallery section should be added for any page that has an associated gallery. In this section, imply put.
 * A References section should be included if any references are used. In this section, imply put.
 * A places navigational template at the bottom of the page.

Example of a good location page: Lake Gravity Falls.

For events
Each major even gets an article. An event article should include:
 * An infobox using the Event template.
 * A History section describing when and where the event occurs.
 * A Trivia section when appropriate.
 * A Gallery section should be added for any page that has an associated gallery. In this section, imply put.
 * A References section should be included if any references are used. In this section, imply put.
 * An events navigational template at the bottom of the page.

Example of a good event article: Pioneer Day.

For episodes
Each episode gets an article. It is best not to create too in-depth articles about episodes not released yet (unless information, with references, is provided about said un-aired episode), as the information can change drastically. Each episode page should have: During the ending credits of this episode, there is a cryptogram that reads "CRYPTOGRAM_HERE" Once decoded, it reads "MESSAGE_HERE."
 * An infobox using the Episode template.
 * An introductory paragraph (or sentence). This should include the title and episode number.
 * A Overview section, giving a very short description of the episode. These should be direct quotes from Disney press releases. Avoid editing these sections.
 * A Synopsis section. This should house a full recap of the story of the episode.
 * A Credits section, for all the staff, crew, and characters with their voice actors in said episode. They should all link to their respective pages.
 * Optionally, a Production notes section, starting with the following links: See also: List of allusions and List of goofs. ''
 * This section can include the following subsections: Character revelations, Transcript, Songs featured, Trivia, Series continuity, and Cryptogram.
 * Note, for the cryptogram section, please use the following format:
 * For the transcript section, simply put.
 * A Gallery section should be added for any page that has an associated gallery. In this section, imply put.
 * A References section should be included if any references are used. In this section, simply put.
 * An episodes navigational template should be included last.
 * Any episode page that is not aired should use the spoiler template. Also, for the infobox, please use this image.

Example of a good episode page: "Summerween."

Special note: Trivia
Please avoid the following:
 * "Counting" trivia (e.g., "This is the fifteenth time Mabel is seen with a sweater.").
 * Trivia that is likely to change in the future (e.g., "This episode contains the most scenes with Waddles to date.").
 * Uninteresting stuff (e.g., "Stan eats cereal.").
 * Referring to special playtimes (e.g., "If you look at 5:12, you can see Pacifica in the background."). Because not everyone has the same version of a particular video, these times are often unhelpful.
 * Tangential relations (e.g., "This is just like the time Phineas ate rocks and Ferb said nothing.").
 * Opinions
 * Speculation

Role playing pages
All role playing pages belong on the role playing wiki.

Article titles
The article title must be the subject's official name, e.g. "Dipper Pines" instead of "Main Character." The article title should be official but also concise. For example, even though "Gideon Charles Gleeful" is the character's full name, his article should be titled "Gideon Gleeful" because it is the most commonly-used, accurate version of his name.

When an official name is not available, one that fits the subject's description should be used, e.g. "Pacifica's friends." Articles with descriptive titles should have the category Category:Article with conjectural titles added to it.

Relationships
Please do not create relationship pages. Instead, create a section in a character's article describing relationships. For example, Dipper's page should have a section describing his relationship with all of the other main characters.

Appearances
Please include an appearance section in an article and not in a character box.

Linking
When linking please link the first appearance (excluding the infobox) of a thing that has a separate article. Do this in a main article and in a template. Using this guideline, one thing should never be linked on a page more than twice. Some tricky situations occur when using possessives. Please use this format: Dipper|Dipper's

instead of just

Dipper's When linking to Wikipedia, please use this format:  Fiji mermaid 

instead of

 Fiji mermaid 

External references
Please use reliable external sources such as Disney or staff pages. Avoid using unreliable, editable sources such as IMDB. To reference an external page, use the following format: Note that the name allows you to reuse the same reference later in the article. If you want to reuse it, use the following format:

Internal references
If you wish to cite a specific episode, you can use the cite episode template. To use this template, use the following format with the episode number. For example: would cite episode 05 in season 1 (in other words, "The Inconveniencing.")

Stubs
Do not add Category:Article stubs directly to an article. Instead use the Stub template by adding to the top of the article, after any infobox template. Articles should only be marked as a stub if the article is incomplete and is missing some basic information. For example, even though the article about the Gummy Koalas does not have many sections, it should not be marked a stub because there is nothing else worthwhile to say about it.

When adding a quotation
Use the Template:Quote for one-liners. Quotes should be either memorable or illustrative of the character's personality. It's best to write the quotations in a "Quote" section. Please limit the number of quotes per page to five.

Use of quote marks
Please use "American style" quotes instead of "British style". In other words, punctuation should be included inside the quotes. Example: Mabel said, "I'm just irresistible." instead of "I'm just irresistible".

Episode titles should have quotes around them. Example: "Tourist Trapped" instead of Tourist Trapped.

Use of commas
Please use "Oxford commas" when appropriate. Example: "Wendy has dated Russ Durham, Eli Hall, and Stony Hall" instead of "Wendy has dated Russ Durham, Eli Hall and Stony Hall."

Confused on when to use commas between adjectives?
 * Does the sentence make sense if the adjectives are written in reverse order?
 * Does the sentence make sense if the adjectives are written with and between them?

If you answer yes to these questions, then the adjectives are coordinate and should be separated by a comma. Here are some examples of coordinate and non-coordinate adjectives:
 * He was a difficult, stubborn child. (coordinate)
 * They lived in a white frame house. (non-coordinate)
 * She often wore a gray wool shawl. (non-coordinate)
 * Your cousin has an easy, happy smile. (coordinate)

The 1) relentless, 2) powerful 3) summer sun beat down on them. (1-2 are coordinate; 2-3 are non-coordinate.)

The 1) relentless, 2) powerful, 3) oppressive sun beat down on them. (Both 1-2 and 2-3 are coordinate.)

Capital letters
Capitalization of article titles and section headers should include the first letter of the first word being a capital letter, but it should otherwise follow the normal English rules of capitalization. For example, a section title should be "External links" instead of "External Links."

Spelling
For the purpose of maintaining consistency, and because the subject of this wiki originates from the United States, words on this wiki should conform to the spelling used in U.S. English. This applies only to main namespace pages, not talk or user pages. Although no user should be harassed or punished for using other regional spellings of words, editors are encouraged to conform text in articles to U.S. spelling. If you come across a word spelled the way it is in another country (for example if you see "color" spelled as "colour"), just change it to the U.S. English spelling and be done with it.

Verb tense
Works of fiction are generally considered to "come alive" for their audience. They exist in a kind of perpetual present tense, regardless of when the fictional action is supposed to take place relative to "now". Thus, generally you should write about fiction using the present tense, not the past tense.

Examples:
 * Homer presents, Achilles rages, Andromache laments, Priam pleads.
 * "Darth Vader is a fictional character from Star Wars."
 * "Holden Caulfield has a certain disdain for what he sees as 'phony'."
 * "Heathcliff, who is taken in by the wealthy Earnshaw family as a child, falls in love with their daughter, Catherine."
 * "Friends is an American sitcom that was aired on NBC."

Gender-neutral language
''Read this article from Wikipedia for more on gender-neutral language use. Below are excerpts from that article.''

Gender-neutral language avoids constructions that might be interpreted by some readers as an unnecessary reinforcement of traditional stereotypes. Gender-neutral language does not inherently convey a particular viewpoint, political agenda or ideal. Examples of non-neutral language that can often be easily avoided are:


 * A masculine or feminine pronoun to refer to a generic or hypothetical person
 * Man to stand for both genders in general, either as a separate item (man's greatest discoveries), a prefix (mankind, manmade), or a suffix (businessman, fireman)
 * Uncommon gender-marked terms (conductress, career woman, male nurse, aviatrix), with the possible implication that the participation of the subject's gender is uncommon, unexpected or somehow inappropriate
 * Non-parallel expressions (man and wife rather than husband and wife). Another example of lack of parallelism would be the use, in the same article, of first names for women and last names for men, unless the people involved have a documented preference in this regard.

There are a number of ways of avoiding the use of generic masculine and feminine pronouns; the following are examples.


 * Pluralising (not "A player starts by taking up his position", but "Players start by taking up their positions"), although this can be problematic where the text needs to emphasize individuals, or where it creates a need to switch regularly between singular and plural.
 * Using he or she ("Each politician is responsible for his or her constituency"), although this can be ungainly if repeated within a short space.
 * Otherwise rewording (not "A pilot must keep his spacepod under control at all times; if he loses control, he must hit 'new game' immediately", but "A pilot must keep the spacepod under control at all times; if that control is lost, the pilot must hit 'new game' immediately").

There is no Wikipedia consensus either for or against the singular they ("Each politician is responsible for their constituency"). Although it is widely used in informal writing and speech, its grammatical validity is disputed. This wiki allows the use of the "singular they".

Some methods of avoiding generic masculine pronouns, such as the use of the pronouns "one" or (especially) "you", are seen as unencyclopedic and are thus discouraged in Wikipedia articles.

General tips
For tips on improving article writing and general quality guidelines, please read this article from Wikipedia.

Article do's and do not's
Do Do not
 * Write in paragraphs
 * Use punctuation
 * Link
 * Add sources
 * Add categories
 * Fix grammar
 * Use templates
 * Forget capitalization
 * Add lists of attributes
 * Leave blank articles
 * Vandalize articles
 * Add speculative information
 * Add both appearance and personality in info boxes

Article talk pages
Please keep the topic of article talk page discussions about improving the article itself. Do not post personal opinions that would otherwise be better suited for a blog, fanfiction, etc.