Wikicpa:Guide to writing better articles
From Wikicpa
This is a guideline, not a policy; it is simply a collection of advice on how to write an effective article.
- This guideline does not cover markup used in WikiCPA articles. See How to edit pages.
- For information on how to cite sources, see Wikipedia.org's article page on this topic.
So relax, this article contains no rules. Remember: If rules and guidance make you nervous and depressed, and not desirous of participating in the wiki, then ignore them and go about your business. If you stay with us, we'll look at layout, writing style, how to make an article relevant to a reader and making an article clear and precise. We also offer some general guidance on a few miscellaneous issues at the end.
Contents |
Layout
The layout of an article is important. Good articles start with some introductory material and then present their information using a clear structure. They are then followed by standard appendices such as references and related articles.
Structure of the article
Introductory material
Good articles start with a brief lead section introducing the topic. We discuss lead sections in greater detail below. As the lead section comes above the first header, it is very rarely useful to put ==Introduction== . A common title for the first section of a longer article after the introductory paragraph is "Overview", although more specific section titles are generally to be preferred.
Paragraphs
Similarly, paragraphs should be relatively short to reduce eyestrain, but not too short. Group similar items and sentences together to improve readability. A long paragraph can normally be split up into two or more separate paragraphs with similar themes, as long as the second paragraph gets an introductory sentence to keep the reader on-track, even one as brief as "Other examples abound." Conversely, a one-sentence paragraph is like a cannon-shot during the performance: it attracts so much attention that it had better be good. An entire article that consists of one-sentence paragraphs can normally be consolidated by theme into a few paragraphs.
Headings
Headings help clarify articles and compose the table of contents.
While one may prefer bullet points within a section instead of using sub-headings, bold fonts should not be used. Good HTML practice dictates that headers are marked up as headers. Whether extensive subtopics should be kept on one page or moved to individual pages is a matter of personal judgment. Subheadings should generally be in alphabetical order, especially if they list countries.
Standard appendices
Certain optional sections go at the bottom of the article. Common appendix sections (in the preferred order) are:
- See also (or Related topics) - A bulleted list of interwiki links and a short explanation of each if it is not already obvious.
- Notes - If footnotes are used in the article, this section should be added.
- References - If any sources are cited in the article, they should be listed here (sources may also be listed in the "Notes," "Further reading," and "External links" sections depending on their context).
- Further reading (or Bibliography) - This is for references that are not specifically cited in the article. Alternatively, a complete list of all references, cited or not, can be included here.
- External links - While internal wiki links are preferred over external links, this section is for listing sites that do not apply to any of the appendices already mentioned.
Think of the reader
WikiCPA may have international reader. The people who read it have different backgrounds, education and worldview from you. Try to make your article accessible to as many of them as possible. The reader is probably reading the article to learn. It's quite possible the reader knows nothing at all about the subject: the article needs to explain it to them. If any jargon is used, a brief explanation should be given in the article itself.
