IMFDB talk:Style Guide

Work In Progress This article is still under construction. It may contain factual errors. See IMFDB talk:Style Guide for current discussions. Content is subject to change.

Work Area

General

• The titles of film, games, and television programs should be in italics. Individual television episodes should be in quotes. (Battlestar Galactica, "Exodus (Part II)")

• Periods are not necessary as space fillers in tables.

• Initialisms do not need periods. (For example, "LAPD" not "L.A.P.D.", "SWAT" not "S.W.A.T.")

• [[Category:_____ Produced/Filmed]] or [[Category:_____ Produced]] categories should refer to the countries that produced the film/show, not filming location. (For example, Battlestar Galactica is not considered a Canadian production just because it was shot in Vancouver.) American productions do not need to be noted.

Media titles

• All media titles must have cover art or a poster. All cover art or posters must be at least 300 pixels wide, preferably portrait, in English if possible.

• Infoboxes are optional. If used, please use the appropriate template.

• If infoboxes are not used, thumbnails of the cover art or poster is to be right justified and set to 300 pixels. ([[Image:<Poster>.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''<Title>'' (<year>)]])

• Level 2 headings should be the default setting for weapons. (for example, == Colt Detective Special == ). Level 1 headings should be used when differentiating different types of weapons, Level 3 for variation of the same weapon.

• Thumbnails of "full-screen" (4x3 ratio) screencaps should be set at 500 pixels, everything else should be 600 pixels, with justification set to none.

• Actors holding weapons should be identified and hyperlinked (if possible) at least once on a media page. ("James Bond (Roger Moore) uses a ...", "Militant #2 (Darrel Heath) uses a ...")

• Identified weapons should be hyperlinked at least once on the page. ("A Browning M2HB is seen mounted...")

• An image of any identified weapon must be present, unless one is not available. Weapon images must be set to at least 300 pixels, with justification set to none.

• Hyperlinks do not belong in the headings or subheadings.

• Spoilers should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Identifying any actor using any weapon takes precedence, however. If absolutely necessary, please use {{Spoiler}} at the top of the page.

Actor pages

• An image of the actor should be on every actor page. This image should show the actor's face clearly, and it is preferred that he or she be holding a gun.

• Thumbnails of actor images should be right justified and set to between 400 and 500 pixels.

• If the actor is deceased, please indicate so on the page. (For example, "Ernest Borgnine (1917-2012) uses a ..." Please also add [[Category: Deceased Actor]] to the bottom of the page.

• Film and television credits should be separated. Each should use a Level 2 heading. ( == Film == )

• Voice credits, either in animated film, television, or in video games, are not to be included.

• If a television credit is a guest role, the episode name and date (year) should be included. That information should be readily available on the internet.

• For television credits, the episode name goes with the notes, not the show title.

• It it preferred that film and television credits should be in table form.

Screencaps

• Black bars should be cropped from all screenshots.

• Not-Safe-For-Work images should be altered with the appropriate censor bars or pixelization. (American standards for NSFW apply, so no nudity or excessive gore.)

• Aside from the aforementioned black bars, screencaps should not be cropped. If a part of the image needs to be emphasized, please highlight that particular section with circles, arrows, or numbers.

• Closed captions and subtitles in the screencaps should be avoided if at all possible.

• Screencaps should be left in their native aspect ratios.

• Watermarked images should be avoided, especially if it proves intellectual property theft. (Theft of intellectual property is morally and legally wrong.)

• Only JPEGs are allowed.

• Screencaps should be uniquely named. Overly generic names should be avoided, (for example, Bond_PPK.jpg} as well as overly technical names (for example, vlcsnap-2012-11-21-16h05m37s240.jpg.) Aim for something simple, unique, and yet still descriptive. (for example "Skyfall_HK416_01.jpg" or "H50_S2E11_M4.jpg".)