FamilySearch Wiki:Naming Conventions: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:31, 20 September 2014

	This page documents a guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that contributors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense and the occasional exception.
Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

This page offers best practices in naming articles, categories, images, files, and templates on FamilySearch Wiki.

Place names in article titles[edit | edit source]

Use ascending order of jurisdictions in naming a place[edit | edit source]

When adding place names to article titles, add jurisdictions in ascending order (smallest to largest).

Correct: Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland
Incorrect: Maryland, Montgomery County, Rockville
Example: Cemetery Records of Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland
Exceptions: Articles about FamilySearch Historical Record Collections

Avoid abbreviations, acronyms, and postal codes[edit | edit source]

Do not use abbreviations in naming a place.

Correct: Montgomery County, Maryland
Incorrect: Montgomery Co., MD
Example: Cemetery Records of Montgomery County, Maryland

Use the word "County" in identifying counties[edit | edit source]

Use the word "County" in identifying a county in an article title.

Correct: Montgomery County, Maryland
Incorrect: Montgomery, Maryland
Example: Cemetery Records of Montgomery County, Maryland

County names in Ireland[edit | edit source]

In Ireland the word "County" nearly always comes before rather than after the county name

Correct: County Clare
Incorrect: Clare County
Exceptions: King's County and Queen's County

County names in England, Scotland and Wales[edit | edit source]

For counties in England, Scotland and Wales, do not add the word "County" when naming articles. There is one exception: County Durham.

Do not use all uppercase letters[edit | edit source]

Use initial caps on each word in a title except when this conflicts with place naming standards or grammar rules.

Correct: Census Records of the United States
Incorrect: CENSUS RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES

Omit name of the article author from titles (or articles, for that matter)[edit | edit source]

This is a wiki. Content becomes stronger as the community adds to it. The name of an author in a title does two bad things:

It tells other authors "This is my turf. Don't edit this because it's mine."
It credits the original author with all changes made by other users. Since many users will tend to improve an article far outside its original scope, the crediting of the original author with all revisions doesn't make sense.

Special rules for templates[edit | edit source]

Spaces in the name are allowed, e.g. {{train topics}}. The first character (only) is not case-sensitive, so {{cleanup}} and {{Cleanup}}are the same template, but {{cfd}}and {{cfD}}are not.

The template name in general should be short. Many on Wikipedia are abbreviations.

Special rules for namespaces[edit | edit source]

Only a system admin can create a namespace. Namespaces should be created only after much discussion. The name should be a single word.

@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 ==== County names in England, Scotland and Wales  ====
-For counties in [[England]], [[Scotland]] and [[Wales]] do not add the word "County" when naming articles. There is one exception [[County Durham]].
+For counties in [[England]], [[Scotland]] and [[Wales]], do not add the word "County" when naming articles. There is one exception: [[County Durham]].
 === Do not use all uppercase letters  ===