Europa Universalis 3 Wiki:Style

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This style guide provides guidance on how to make quality contributions to the wikis within the Paradox Wikis. If these guidelines seem too difficult to follow (non-native speakers, etc.) -- don't let them stop you from contributing! It is more important that the wikis have contributions than having everything "done right", and once content is in the wikis, other contributors can participate by putting it into a better style.

Article organization

  1. Naming articles:
    1. Do not capitalize any words in the article name, except for words that are capitalized grammatically. Capitalize the first letter of the first word (wiki should do this automatically)
    2. Use full names for any articles you create. Create a redirect page for any abbreviations and alternate spellings
    3. Unless a significant part of the article's or the section's content is a list, the name of the article/section should be singular. This way the article can be linked while appearing either singular ([[article]]) or plural ([[article]]s), without needing to setup redirects.
  2. Header names: The same rules that apply to naming articles apply to headers
  3. Article size: Generally, articles should be big enough that they comprehensively cover a single subject.
  4. Templates: Templates are created to help better organize content on the Wiki. See the Category:Templates full list of available templates.
  5. Categories: Always group articles into categories. If you are unsure which category fits best, start a discussion on the talk page of the article.
  6. Versioning:
    1. Use the versioning templates to indicate for which game version an article or section was written. See Project:Versioning for further information.
    2. All articles operate on the premise of all DLC active along with the most up to date patch.

Writing style

  1. Write objectively, not in the first person.
    • Correct: England can focus on its economy to become a major power.
    • Incorrect: I always build a lot of merchants.
  2. Use a third person narrative when possible. Country strategy guides are exempt from this rule, but it is still preferred.
    • Correct: The player can build temples in order to increase their base tax.
    • Incorrect: You can build temples in order to increase your base tax.
  3. Use a semi-formal register.
    • Correct: It's recommended for ... to attack their neighbour in order to obtain more base tax and manpower.
    • Incorrect: ... should obviously attack their neighbour to get tax and manpower.
  4. Paradox games allow for limitless possibilities.
    • Correct: The Ottomans have multiple options for engaging in Eastern Europe. One strategy is to...
    • Incorrect: The best way for the Ottomans to engage in Eastern Europe is to start with Hungary...
  5. Write in general, abstract terms.
    • Correct: Cavalry are excellent at destroying enemy armies...
    • Incorrect: Build exactly 4 Cavalry, use them to attack this province, etc...
  6. Capitalization should only be used for the first letter in a sentence, and proper nouns. The name of game mechanics do not count as proper nouns.
  7. Please use gender neutral language such as they instead of he or her
  8. The wiki views both US and UK English as acceptable languages and there is no need to correct between the two, however consistency through a page is appreciated
  9. If you need to refer to a date, use only an unambiguous format.
    • Correct: 12 November 1444; November 12, 1444; 1444-11-12
    • Incorrect: 11-12-1444; 12-11-1444

Wiki formatting

  1. Wikis work due to the use of internal links to other pages, the first instance of any other page should be linked with square brackets [[like this]]
  2. Do not emphasize text with underline or CAPITALS, use italics instead, in addition avoid excessive use of bold
  3. Write so that everyone can participate: do not personalize articles by signing them or naming game concepts after yourself.
  4. The use of links in Section names should be avoided, please use the main template instead.
  5. Do not use html code where wiki code exists to perform the same action, this includes plainlists, paragraphs and line breaks
  6. Avoid using the tier 1 title wherever possible
  7. Indent bullet points using multiple asterisks (**) instead of the colon followed by an asterisk (:*).

Forum links

It is preferred that links to the Paradox forums be inserted as if they were wiki links rather than regular links. They should be formatted as follows:

[[forum:ID HERE]]

The ID is taken from the URL to the thread; it is the number after the period towards the end of the URL. The bold part of the following URL is the thread ID: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/new-forum-feedback-not-for-questions.847200/

To link a specific post, simply include the post identifier after the final slash if it is on the first page. Example: [[forum:847200/#post-19092146]].

Otherwise, use [[forumpost:ID HERE]], where the ID in this case would be "19092146".

Duplication of information

Duplication of information on the wiki is frowned upon and should be avoided where possible as it leads to increased maintenance overhead and display of outdated information even though it has been updated on other locations.

If a piece of info seems relevant to another article there are several ways to include it without outright copying it:

  1. Creation of a sub-header with the use of the {{Main}} template immediately under it. Follow it with a concise summary of the target link.
  2. Create transclusion sections on the target page and then transclude it to the desired article. For example:

Add this to the transclusion target:

<section begin=NAME/>
... CONTENT ...
<section end=NAME/>

Add this to the article which will include the transclusion:

{{#lst:Target|NAME}}
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