Help:Introduction to the Manual of Style/1
The MoS
A vast resource
Article sections
Making articles readable
Images and refs
Enriching the text
Linking
Tying the encyclopedia together
Consistency
Final little things to think about
Summary
Review of what you've learned
The Manual of Style (MoS) is an in-depth guide that provides standards on how to format Wikipedia articles. Following these guidelines helps keep the encyclopedia clear, consistent and stable. The simplest way to do this is just to find a well written article and copy its formatting. However, if you want more information on any formatting the MoS probably has a recommendation (you can search its contents here).
Remember, the MoS is only a guideline, you don't need to have the whole thing memorised! It's there to assist you setting out content when you aren't sure how to best display information and to stop protracted arguments about this if another editor disagrees. Content is more important than formatting, and other editors can assist you if you're unsure (similarly, assume good faith when other help format your writing).
Links
Linking through hyperlinks is an important feature of Wikipedia. Internal links (or 'wikilinks') bind the project together into an interconnected whole. Links provide instant pathways to locations within the project that are likely to increase our readers' understanding of the topic at hand. You can read more about how to add them here.
For how many internal links to include in an article, you want to ask yourself, "Would a reader of this subject be interested in that other article? Does it help explain concept that is only briefly described in this article?". Typically, the first instance of an important word should be linked to the relevant article on that topic.
External links (to other websites other than Wikipedia) can be added in the 'External links' section along with a short description. These should only be included if highly relevant or provides more detail than the article has space for. Websites used as references to the article's content should in stead be put in the 'References' section.
- See also
An exercise for building your linking skills
Introduction to linking