Help:Introduction to the Manual of Style/3
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
Images should support the body of an article without overwhelming it, and references should be provided for information that is controversial or likely to be challenged.
Images
Images help readers to understand an article. Add or replace images only if they are better than the existing ones or further support the text of the article. When creating and uploading an image, it should be of sufficiently high resolution and in an appropriate file format.
Images should be spread evenly through an article, be relevant to the sections in which the images are displayed, and include an explanatory caption. Images are shown as small thumbnails and aligned to the right of the article by default, to maintain the visual coherence of the page. If necessary, other formats are possible, e.g. left-aligned, galleries, and panoramas.
Avoid stacking too many images in a short section: they can overflow into the next section and reduce readability (standard layout is aimed at a 1024 × 768 screen resolution).
- See also
Citing
- Don't overuse quotations from sources; articles should generally paraphrase and summarise what sources say about a topic.
- Use reliable sources of information, and cite them where appropriate (see below).
- Use the article's existing reference style, with a reference list at bottom of the article.
Sources should be cited when adding material that is controversial or likely to be challenged, when quoting someone, when adding material to the biography of a living person, and when uploading an image. Reference tags are generally retrospective in their application, so if the text the follows a tag is also sourced from the same item, ensure this is clear by relocating the tag, duplicating it, or rewording. While you should try to format citations correctly, the important thing is to include enough information for a reader to identify the source; others can improve the formatting if needed.
Just as with images, there's a default referencing style, but sometimes an alternative format is used (e.g. Parenthetical referencing in some history articles). When adding new references, use the same style that is already used in the article, or seek consensus on the talk page before changing it. Inline references that you insert into the article will automatically be added to the "References" section at the end of the article (which should be placed below the "See also" section and above the "External links" section if either or both are present).
- See also