Help:Manual of Style

The Manual of Style (often abbreviated as MoS or MOS) is a style manual for all Heroes of the Storm Wiki articles.

The Manual of Style documents Heroes of the Storm Wiki's house style. Its goal is to make using Heroes of the Storm Wiki easier and more intuitive by promoting clarity and cohesion, while helping editors write articles with consistent and precise language, layout, and formatting. Plain English works best; avoid ambiguity, jargon, and vague or unnecessarily complex wording. Style and formatting should be consistent within an article.

Questions and suggestions should be discussed on this |talk page. For any styling question not answered by this guide, refer to the Wikipedia Manual of Style for reference.

Article titles
An article title should be a recognizable name or description of the topic that is natural, sufficiently precise, concise, and consistent with the titles of related articles. In the case of content that appears in game, the most common title should be used for the article.


 * Hero pages should use the name of the hero that appears under most circumstances within the game itself. They should not use common abbreviations, slang, or information that is generated by the community unless it matches the in-game usage; e.g., Brightwing, not Faerie Dragon.
 * Capitalize the title's initial letter (except in rare cases, such as eBay), but otherwise follow sentence case, not title case; e.g., Hero skins, not Hero Skins. This does not apply where title case would be expected were the title to occur in ordinary prose; e.g., StormPunk Kael'thas, not Stormpunk Kael'thas.
 * Titles should avoid superfluous language such as "properly", "how to", or "all of".
 * To italicize a title, add at the top of the article. The use of italics should conform to Italics (see below).
 * Do not use A, An, or The as the first word (Loading screen, not The loading screen), unless it is an inseparable part of a name (The Butcher) or it is part of the title of a work.

Examples of good article titles
 * Stats
 * Kerrigan
 * The Butcher
 * Mercenary camp
 * List of previous free rotations

Examples of bad article titles
 * How to jungle correctly
 * JUNGLE CAMPS
 * List of Damage Types

Sections
An article should begin with an introductory lead section, which should not contain section headings. The remainder of the article may be divided into sections, each with a section heading (see below) that can be nested in a hierarchy. If there are at least four section headings in the article, a navigable table of contents is generated automatically and displayed between the lead and the first heading.

If the topic of a section is also covered in more detail in a dedicated article, show this by inserting main directly under the section heading.

Optional appendix and footer sections containing the following lists may appear after the body of the article in the following order:


 * books or other works created by the subject of the article (under a section heading "Works", "Publications", "Discography", etc. as appropriate);
 * internal links to related English Heroes of the Storm Wiki articles (section heading "See also");
 * notes and references (section heading "Notes" or "References", or a separate section for each).
 * relevant books, articles, or other publications that have not been used as sources (section heading "Further reading");
 * relevant websites that have not been used as sources and do not appear in the earlier appendices (added as part of "Further reading" or in a separate section headed "External links");
 * internal links organized into navigational boxes (sometimes placed at the top in the form of sidebars);
 * categories.

Other article elements include disambiguation hatnotes (normally placed at the very top of the article) and infoboxes (usually placed before the lead section).

Introduction
All articles should begin with an introduction that acts as lead information, as well as containing any relevant infoboxes or general templates that apply to the whole article. The introduction should stand alone as a summary of the article and should encourage further reading into the article for more information. In the introduction, the subject of the article should be mentioned at the first natural point in the first sentence, and should be in boldface. For example,


 * The jungle is an area of the map that exists between lanes and contains more dangerous creeps that provide additional gold and experience to heroes, as well as providing more minions in lane when defeated.

The introduction should generally also contain one or more links to other articles. It should be one to four paragraphs in length, and should contain fluid sentences that provide an overview of the entire article.

Section headings
Equal signs are used to mark the enclosed text as a section heading:  for a primary section;   for the next level (a subsection); and so on to the lowest-level subsection, with. (The highest heading level technically possible is ; but do not use it in articles, because it is reserved for the automatically generated top-level heading at the top of the page containing the title of the whole article.) Spaces between the equal signs and the heading text are optional, and will not affect the way the heading is displayed. The heading must be typed on a separate line. Include one blank line above the heading, and optionally one blank line below it, for readability in the edit window (but not two or more consecutive blank lines, which will add unnecessary visible white space in the rendered page).

The provisions in Article titles (above) generally apply to section headings as well (for example, headings are in sentence case, not title case). The following points apply specifically to section headings:


 * Headings should not refer redundantly to the subject of the article, or to higher-level headings, unless doing so is shorter or clearer. (Early life is preferable to His early life when his refers to the subject of the article; headings can be assumed to be about the subject unless otherwise indicated.)
 * Headings should normally not contain links, especially where only part of a heading is linked.
 * Section and subsection headings should preferably be unique within a page; otherwise section links may lead to the wrong place, and automatic edit summaries can be ambiguous.
 * Citations should not be placed within or on the same line as section and subsection headings.
 * Headings should not contain images; this includes flag icons.
 * Headings should not contain questions.
 * Avoid starting headings with numbers (other than years), because this can be confusing for readers with the "Auto-number headings" preference selected.

Italics
Italic type (text like this, marked up with pairs of apostrophes as ) should be used for the following types of names and titles, or abbreviations thereof:

General examples

 * Audio albums (musical or spoken-word)
 * Books, multi-volume works (e.g. encyclopedias), booklets and short stories.
 * Computer and video games (but not other software)
 * Comic books, comic strips, graphic novels and manga
 * Films (including short films and trailers) and documentaries
 * Paintings, sculptures and other works of visual art with a title rather than a name.
 * Periodicals (newspapers, journals, magazines)

Specific Heroes of the Storm Wiki examples

 * Books, multi-volume works (e.g. encyclopedias), booklets and short stories.
 * Computer and video games:
 * Diablo, ', Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft, Warcraft, '.
 * Comic books, comic strips, graphic novels and manga
 * Films (including short films and trailers) and documentaries
 * , Heroes of the Storm - Anub'arak trailer.
 * Films (including short films and trailers) and documentaries
 * , Heroes of the Storm - Anub'arak trailer.

Actual medium of publication or presentation is not a factor; a video feature only released on video tape, disc or the Internet is considered a "film" for these purposes, and likewise an e-book is a book, a webcomic is a comic strip, a music album only available from the artist on a limited-edition USB drive is a real album, a TV series only available via streaming services is still a series, etc.

Website titles may or may not be italicized depending on the type of site and what kind of content it features. Online magazines, newspapers, and news sites with original content should generally be italicized (MMO-Champion.com or HeroesNexus). Online encyclopedias and dictionaries should also be italicized (Scholarpedia or Merriam-Webster Online). Other types of websites should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

General examples
Italics are generally used only for titles of longer works. Titles of shorter works should be enclosed in double quotation marks ("text like this"). It particularly applies to works that exist as a smaller part of a larger work. Examples of titles which are quoted but not italicized:


 * Articles, essays, papers, or conference presentation notes (stand-alone or in a collected larger work): "The Dos and Don'ts of Dating Online" is an article by Phil "Dr. Phil" McGraw on his advice site.
 * Chapters of a longer work (they may be labeled alternatively, e.g. sections, parts, or "books" within an actual book, etc.)
 * Entries in a reference work (dictionary, encyclopedia, etc.)
 * Exhibits (specific) within a larger exhibition
 * Leaflets, flyers, circulars, brochures, postcards, instruction sheets, and other ephemeral publications
 * Sections within a periodical, including features, departments, columns (non-syndicated), titled cartoons (not syndicated comic strips)
 * Segments of a game, play, film, television show, etc., including named acts, skits, scenes, and the like
 * Story lines that span multiple issues of a periodical
 * Speeches, lectures, and conference presentations (only if given a specific title)

Specific Heroes of the Storm Wiki examples

 * Segments of a game, play, film, television show, etc., including named acts, skits, scenes, and the like
 * Battleground names: "Garden of Terror"
 * Speeches, lectures, and conference presentations (only if given a specific title)
 * 's lecture "Heroes of the Storm - Sound of the Nexus".

General writing style
Writing should be in the future tense and remain in a third person perspective. Writing does not need to remain neutral or unbiased, but should be as general as possible to avoid disputes. For example, the sentence, "I used Kerrigan's abilities to farm multiple lanes quickly," is better written as, "Kerrigan can use her abilities to farm lanes quickly." When in doubt, consider that the writing on the Heroes of the Storm Wiki should act as if the game hasn't been played yet. It should be objective and refer to things that could happen in a game, rather than what has happened.

Emphasis and formatting should be used in articles if necessary. Italics are recommended for emphasizing words, phrases, or sentences, while linking to another article should be used for referring to additional reading. Make frequent use of links when possible, but only link to a particular subject once per article. For example, if Tassadar appears multiple times in an article, he should only be linked the first time he appears. Use boldface sparingly, and usually reserve it for content and table headers, as well as definitions and to emphasize the article title in the lead sentence. If additional emphasis is required bold italics can be used. Italics and quotation marks are also used for other media. For example, the titles of other games should appear italicized.

Do not use

 * ALL CAPS
 * Slang or unprofessional abbreviations unless relevant
 * "bot lane", "mia", "r u ok?"
 * "Mia is an abbreviation for missing in action" would be a relevant use
 * Emoticons and smiley faces
 * Excessive punctuation
 * Sentences beginning with lowercase letters
 * using her q is very effective.
 * Sentences beginning with lowercase letters
 * using her q is very effective.

Paraphrasing other sources
In general, sources should not be paraphrased or copied from directly. To avoid this, it's recommended that at least two references be used on a particular topic, such that the writer must combine information uniquely from them. If information must be directly copied or paraphrased from a source, use a blockquote (start a new line with a colon ) to convey that the information is not original. In addition to a reference citation, a direct citation should be included inline in these cases.

Do not use direct quotations for biography or history sections!! This is unprofessional. Do not copy biographies from other sites. Please paraphrase character histories in order to shorten their length.

Overlinking and underlinking
There is no objective number of links that is suitable for an article. However, articles should not possess too many or too few links. Too few links can make the information appear specific and can make the article a dead end, whereas too many can cause links to blend together and distract the reader. Follow these general rules when providing links:


 * No more than 10% of an article should be links, but each section in an article should contain at least one link.
 * Two links should never be immediately adjacent to each other, as it makes them appear to be the same link, e.g. Ranged heroes.
 * Generally a single term should only be linked once in an article, when it first appears. However, if a term is brought up multiple times in an article, it may be appropriate to link it again as a user that skips to a later subsection may have missed the earlier link. Use your discretion when relinking terms.
 * If most terms that would provide links have already been recently linked, a section may not necessarily need a link.

Lists, tables, and groups of specific information such as abilities may each contain links. These generally do not abide by the same rules.

Specific wording
Some specific cases may break the rules of styling, and some terms may need to follow consistent usage throughout the wiki. Some terms may have multiple variations that are all used in game. This section covers the specific usage of various terms.

Capitalization
Official game name:
 * Heroes of the Storm
 * HotS - the abbreviation of Heroes of the Storm
 * Heroes of the Storm Wiki - follows the same capitalization, with "Wiki" also being capitalized
 * StarCraft
 * Hero and battleground names are always capitalized:
 * Sarah Kerrigan
 * Sky Temple
 * Titles are capitalized appropriately. Articles in titles are not capitalized, nor are prepositions shorter than 4 letters, unless they are an official in-game name:
 * Uther the Lightbringer
 * The Butcher
 * The Lost Vikings
 * Abilities of heroes and units:
 * Bloodlust
 * Psi Storm
 * Holy Light
 * Names of summoned units and specific creeps:
 * Knights
 * Boss
 * Key location names:
 * Keep
 * Core

Almost all other things are not capitalized.


 * Generic terms are not capitalized:
 * heroes
 * items
 * creeps
 * Attributes and properties:
 * health
 * damage
 * mana
 * Ability terminology:
 * cooldown
 * active
 * range
 * Status effects
 * stun
 * slow

Terminology

 * Heroes have "abilities", "talents" and "traits".
 * Heroes raise in levels.
 * A hero's level 10 skill is a "heroic skill"
 * Statistics and stats refer to the numerical attributes of heroes.
 * Bonuses refer to the numerical attributes of items (e.g. +5 damage is a bonus, 500 gold is a cost).
 * Heroes, minions and mercenaries have health.
 * A hero has multiple "skins".
 * Heroes can ride "mounts".
 * Skins and mounts have multiple "color variations".