Changes

''This is a draft Titles of a policy being worked on by the articles in Willipedia are chosen to serve two crucial goals which are sometimes at odds. #Titles [[Willipedia board:Policies#Article_Titles_are_a_Promise_._._.|create expectations]], and therefore a title ought to accurately reflect the content that follows it. It has no effect until approved #But, on Willipedia, titles are the names that articles are called by board consensus.''If titles are not succinct, they will never be linked to, and will fall into obscurity.

'''General philsophyFor an example,''':Use consider the most general old article, "How To Procrastinate." This was the first title you can about your subjectit had, when you feel and it did a Williamsian can write something meaningul about good job of creating the general title (ieexpectation of a list of suggestions, even if you can't)::example: you want to write about which is indeed what the awesome beec in the forest garden for tree climbingarticle was. start/edit "Tree climbing"::example: you want to write But suppose that someone who doesn't know about cheap places this article is writing a related article; his prose is much more likely to ski. start/edit "skiing" contain (and start a section in it on going cheaply. hope you or someone else will write the preface on generally skiing at williams::example: you want so more likely to write about great spots link to hang hammocks on campus. "Hammocking" is ) the most general title, but is there something meaningful to write on word "hammockingprocrastination" besids where to do it? This is arguable. Start/edit or "hammockingprocrastinating" with a section on places, or start/edit "hammock spotsthan the full phrase "how to procrastinate. Someone can always create "hammocking" and link to/move your content laterThus the article is currently called [[procrastinating]].

'''Singular vs. Plural nouns''':[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions#Prefer_singular_nouns wiki link]:willi rule The set of thumb: when the main focus naming conventions below arises from this need for a minimal set of an article will be rules for editors to learn so we know how to define or give the history of the subjectbest name our new articles, use a singular noun (broomball, Mountain Day). when listing and explaining instances of the subject -- especially when ''defining'' what the title means would be silly for willipedia -- use a plural how to link to existing content (Pranks, Classesor future content)as we write body text.

Use '''-ing Verbs'''==General guideline==:[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions#Use_gerund_of_verbs wiki link]:for activitiesIf you want to write an article on something rather specific, common practices, and the likemake sure that it is accessible from related, try to use the most basic but most unique gerund verb applicablemore general topics. Instead You can do this in one of "Great places to ski" use "Skiing" and, after talking generally a little about skiing at williams, have a section on "places" if you wish.two ways::When what would otherwise be a section gets large and detailed/complex enough * Link to be its own your specific article from the more general article (Skiing cheaply) use * Include the shortest descriptive title you can (Skiing cheaply vs. Ways you can ski cheaply) and content of your would-be sure to link to this article in a (perhaps empty) section of the main more general article.

Often this means you'''sentence-style capitalization''':[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions#Lowercase_second_and_subsequent_words wiki link]:even though ll need to create a perfunctory article or introduction for the title of somethingmore general topic, like an encyclopedia article, typically has all words campitalized, Willipedia is different. capitalize your title as though you were writing a sentence::the first word in but the title benefit is capitalized (that people who search for the program general topic will force this)::all other words are lowercase, unless they are proper nounsalso be able to find your article.

'''names of students and alumsIllustrative examples:'''

''Problem:'use full name of a place ' You want to be unambiguouswrite about how awesome the beech in the [[Forest Garden]] is for [[tree-climbing]]. :''A good start:':ex: Dodd Dining Hall' Even though you just want to write about that one tree, Hopkins Hallstart/edit the article "Tree climbing, Mark Hopkins House (notice all these words " and place what you write in these are capitalized, as they are all proper names):if a section of it. If you're feeling very helpfulwant to do a really good job, create go the extra mile to start a disambig page at preface on the name that forks general title to many related pageshelp other editors get an idea of where they can work from. ie, "Dodd"

:''In the future:'' Even without a preface, it's a very good bet that others will expand on this subject, with more trees and perhaps a guide to history and technique of the pasttime. ''Problem:'' You want to give advice on procrastinating on a thesis. You're thinking "How to procrastinate on a thesis" might be a good title.:''A good start:'' Think about your topic in the general sense. You are talking about two things: the practice of [[procrastinating]] and the topic "[[thesis]]." Start/edit an article with either name, and include what you want to write in a well-named section, even if it is a lonely section at first.  :''In the future:'' Others are likely to have something to say about "Procrastinating" or "Thesis". The articles are likely to cross-link. Over time, what you started will evolve into a rich article. ==Tools== Willipedia depends on things being where people expect them to be. The MediaWiki software contains a few key tools that make this easy to do, and you can help Willipedia out a lot by learning them. ===Redirects=== A redirect page is a page whose only function is to send anyone visiting that page to a page by a different name. Redirects are incredibly important, and everyone should learn how to make one. Using a redirect, a link to [[Bethans]] will go to [[Elizabethans]]. The former is a common colloquial form likely to crop up in articles, but the latter is the only reasonable title for the article. To prevent editors from accidentally writing two pages about the same thing, redirects are crucial. '''Making a redirect.''' Let's say we want to make "WUFO" point to "Williams Ultimate Frisbee Organization". Start a new page having the name that you want to become a redirect -- in this case, [[WUFO]]. Make its content<center> <nowiki>#redirect [[REDIRECT_TARGET]]</nowiki></center>where <nowiki>[[REDIRECT_TARGET]]</nowiki> is the name of the article you want to go to -- in this case, "[[Williams Ultimate Frisbee Organization]]". '''Make redirects often.''' Any time you think of a term that people often use to name something else, and that term only names that one thing, make the page a redirect. WUFO can only refer to the frisbee club, so it's a great redirect. Furthermore, any time you were deciding between a few choices for a new article title (class or classes? skiing or alpine skiing?) it's usually a great idea to make the title you didn't use a redirect to the one you did use. Sometimes, though, a word has more than one meaning. "Hopkins," unfortunately, is both the administrative hall and the dormitory. The page [[Hopkins]], then, needs to be a [[#Disambiguation pages|disambiguation page]]. ===Disambiguation pages=== A disambiguation page is a page whose sole function is to provide access to the two or more meanings that one word or phrase has, such as [[Spencer]] and [[Weston]]. The page content can be anything that helps readers find their way to the right place, so long as the page has a link to every reasonable interpretation. It also should begin with the code <nowiki>{{disambig}}</nowiki>. This tags the page as a disambiguation page. ===Renaming (moving) a page=== To rename a page so that its title conforms to these guidelines, move it using the "Move this page" link at the bottom of the screen. When you move a page, the program automatically creates a [[#Redirects|redirect]] at the old location that points to the new location. It is not a big deal, but it is good form, when you move a page, to fix all the links in Willipedia that pointed to the old name. If you move a young page, this is often a short job, and a nice thing to do. If you move an old page, it can have dozens of links to it, making this job very annoying. No one will fault you for not wanting to go and do all that work yourself, but consider leaving a message for the [[Willipedia board]] letting us know we ought to look into it. ==Conventions== Effort is wasted when someone starts an article "Prank" when it really could have been added to (or already was in) "[[Pranks]]". Using naming conventions lets us use content to its fullest extent, and build on what's there already. Much of the below is adapted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions Wikipedia's naming conventions]. ===Singular vs. Plural nouns vs. Gerunds=== <div style="float:top"><font size="-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions#Prefer_singular_nouns ''Wikipedia origin'']</font></div> '''Use a singular noun''' for articles that:* Explain or define a subject, e.g. [[crusty]]* Give the history of a subject, e.g. [[Mountain Day]] '''Use a plural noun''' for articles that:* Provide a topical survey, e.g. [[restaurants]] '''Use a gerund (-ing word)''' for articles that:* Explain how to do something, e.g. [[configuring an email client]]* List ''techniques'' for achieving particular goal, e.g. [[procrastinating]], [[skiing cheaply]] Often you'll want to redirect from the other possible article names. For example, "beer" and "beers" should probably go to the same article, but make the appropriate choice for the primary article ([[beers]]). See [[#Redirects|Redirects]] for more information. ===Sentence-style capitalization===<div style="float:top"><font size="-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions#Lowercase_second_and_subsequent_words ''Wikipedia origin'']</font></div> Even though the title of something, like an encyclopedia article, typically has all words capitalized, Willipedia is different. Capitalize article and section titles as though you were writing a sentence: the first word is capitalized, and all other words are lowercase unless they are proper nouns. ===Naming students and alums=== Even though it is convention in most Williams publications to include the class year whenever a student or alum is named, on Willipedia, the class year should usually not be part of the title of a page on a person (''ie'', "Joe Freshman" is preferred to "Joe Freshman '09"). This is for ease of linking: in this system, an editor who wishes to link to a person need only know his/her name. If class years were in titles, one would need to know name ''and'' graduation year to link. You can still, of course, include the class year in your prose, e.g. "<nowiki>[[Joe Freshman]]</nowiki> '09". ===Use full names to be unambiguous===<div style="float:top"><font size="-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions#Be_precise_when_necessary''Wikipedia origin'']</font></div>Another common issue for Willipedia is that we have a lot of things named after people (namely, [[:Category:Building|buildings]]). This creates a need to resolve ambiguity about whether "Hopkins" is an article about [[Hopkins Hall]], [[Mark Hopkins House]], or [[Mark Hopkins]] the person. The solution in most cases is to use the full name of something, even if it is rare in common parlance. So while it is typical to say, "I'm eating at Mission," the article on this would have to be "[[Mission Dining Hall]]". Notice that all words in this title are capitalized, as it is the proper name of the place. If you're feeling very helpful, create a [[#Disambiguation pages|disambiguation page]] at the common name that forks to many related pages. The [[Spencer]] and [[Dodd]] pages are examples of these.