This document defines the editorial and technical standards for all contributors to the TLS Universe Wiki.
1. Editorial Tone and Voice #
- Neutrality: Write in a neutral, factual, and clinical tone. Avoid dramatic, cinematic, or emotional language.
- Perspective: Write from the perspective of a serious historical reference document.
- Clarity: Use simple, modern English. Explain complex concepts with clean definitions rather than metaphors.
- Active Voice: Prefer active voice for clarity, though passive voice is acceptable for historical distancing.
2. Terminology and Roman Flavor #
- Latin Terms: Use Roman terminology naturally (e.g., villa, forum, equites).
- Italics: Always italicize Latin terms (e.g., mos maiorum, paterfamilias).
- No Slang: Avoid modern slang, corporate jargon ("leverage", "optimize"), and fanfiction adjectives ("epic", "legendary").
3. Formatting Standards #
- Sentences: Keep sentences short and direct.
- Paragraphs: 2–4 sentences per paragraph maximum.
- Headings: Use Markdown headings (##, ###) consistently.
- Lists: Use bulleted lists for dense factual enumerations.
- Bolding: Bold only key identifiers (names, titles, factions) upon their first mention.
- Punctuation: Do not use em dashes or rhetorical questions.
4. Citation Requirements #
- Footnote-per-claim: Every nontrivial factual claim must have a footnote pointing to a TLS archive item.
- Format: Use
[^ArchiveID:Loc]in prose and define at the bottom of the page. - Example:
[^TLS-1870-044:p12]: The Foundry Accord, p. 12.
5. Media Rules #
- Mandatory Images: Every page must have at least one image in the frontmatter.
- Metadata: Every image MUST include
alt,license,credit, andcaption. - Generation: If no archival image exists, use tools to generate symbolic icons, diagrams, or maps.
6. Prohibited Content #
- No long dialogue blocks.
- No "this is cool because..." commentary.
- No modern moral judgments.
- No second-person address ("you can see").
- No invented facts to fill gaps; state "Unknown" or "Unconfirmed" instead.