gww>Yoshida Keiji at 05:56, 20 July 2012

2012-07-20T05:56:12Z

New page

{{Formatting guideline}}
'''Abbreviations of other article names''' are a common practice, especially when the correct article name is long, contains numerous special characters, or is otherwise cumbersome to type out; or for abbreviations commonly used in-game. The most frequent abbreviations are two- to four-letter acronyms, such as [[SS]], [[MoR]] and [[FomF]]. Because these abbreviations frequently overlap, it is sometimes necessary to create a [[Template:Disambig|disambiguation page]] instead of a [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Redirect redirect]. This article covers the policy for such disambiguation pages. Note that this policy includes all categories of abbreviations, even if they are not [[W:acronym|acronyms]].
==Disambiguation==
The [[Template:Disambig|disambiguation template]] should be applied at the top of the page.
==Abbreviations covered==
Generally, an abbreviation should only be listed if it is unique enough and in common enough use that it is highly unlikely to require further explanation.
As it stands, the most common applications of abbreviations consist of a '''skill''', an '''outpost''', an '''item''' or '''other popular gaming terminology which is frequently used in the game'''; examples: [[WoW|Weapon of Warding (WoW)]], [[ToA|Temple of the Ages (ToA)]], [[VS|Voltaic Spear (VS)]], [[Nick|Nicholas (Nick)]], and [[Screenshot|Screenshot]] [[SS|(SS)]]. This current practice leads to the frequent need of disambiguation pages which often offer a best guess scenario and sometimes overlook more obscure references. The last example illustrates such a case of these disambiguation pages in its "SS" link.
==Recommended courses of action==
* Encouraging users to take the time to fully write out used terminology with its first use such as Temple of the Ages followed by introducing its following abbreviated uses in parentheses such as (TotA or ToA) in the span of a given page.
*Alternately, allowing other users to make clarification edits in order to cut down on unnecessary confusion and the need for disambiguation pages except for those made necessary by common naming of in-game separate entities (Area:Outpost, Area:Explorable area, Area:Mission, and similarly encountered scenarios made common by the nature of the game rather than by popular usage).
* Such action should not be warranted when the user is already taking the time to hyperlink to the page that would already explain their desired meaning, when the abbreviation is used in the space of the page(s) of its definition, or when other nearby references provide reasonable evidence of an abbreviation's meaning.
==Order==
When they are found necessary, disambiguation articles should be listed by '''type''', then '''alphabetically,''' offering enough information to help narrow the scope of the referenced abbreviation based on the available context it was used in. In the skills type, they should additionally be sorted by '''profession or title''' before alphabetical ordering is applied. The order for skills is as follows:
*{{W}} Warrior
*{{R}} Ranger
*{{Mo}} Monk
*{{N}} Necromancer
*{{Me}} Mesmer
*{{E}} Elementalist
*{{A}} Assassin
*{{Rt}} Ritualist
*{{P}} Paragon
*{{D}} Dervish
*[[Allegiance]] skills
*[[Sunspear title|Sunspear]] skills
*[[Asura title|Asuran]] skills
*[[Delver|Deldrimor]] skills
*[[Norn title|Norn]] skills
*[[Agent|Ebon Vanguard]] skills
The order for types is as follows:
*Skills
*NPCs
*Locations
*Items
*Other

Guild Wars Wiki:Formatting/Abbreviations - Revision history

gww>Yoshida Keiji at 05:56, 20 July 2012