Content polices and style guide
From Lomwiki, the micronation encyclopaedia
Please adhere to the following policies when contributing to Lomwiki. Content that does not adhere to these policies may be modified or deleted:
Contents |
Neutral tone
All article content should be written in the third person, in a neutral tone. Subjective commentary should be avoided.
For example:
✘ The Kingdom of Mybedroom, which I, King Michael the Mighty founded, is the best micronation in America. We burst onto the micronational stage in a blaze of glory in 2008 and have never looked back.
✔ The Kingdom of Mybedroom is a micronation located in the United States. It was founded in 2008 by Michael Smith (King Michael the Mighty), a resident of St Paul, Minnesota.
Verifiability
Article content must generally be verifiable in reliable external sources. This particularly applies to controversial content, or content whose veracity may be questionable. In order to ensure verifiability, articles should cite their sources.
Citing sources
In order to ensure the credibility and reliability of Lomwiki as a reference source, primary or secondary published sources which verify statements or assertions made in articles should be properly cited within the body of all articles, wherever possible.
A primary published source is a source written by or controlled by the subject of the article. In the case of a micronation, an official website, blog or social networking profile owned, published or managed by members of that micronation are all primary sources.
Primary sources generally lack objectivity, and should therefore be used sparingly, to verify uncontroversial content. They are most useful in verifying statements concerning a micronation's self-description and other basic facts.
A secondary published source is a source which is independent of the article subject. An article about a micronation written by an freelance journalist and published in a major national broadsheet newspaper is a secondary source.
It is important to remember that not all secondary sources are equal. Major high-circulation national broadsheet daily newspapers such as The New York Times, The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The South China Morning Post or the Times of India are fact-checked, and are therefore more reliable and noteworthy as secondary sources than tabloid newspapers or low-circulation regional or local newspapers.
In order to cite a source - which can be a (i) website, (ii) magazine, (iii) newspaper or (iv) book) - the following code should be inserted within the body of the article, directly after the statement it is intended to support. Once the article has been saved this code will automatically create a series of numbered superscript links in the body of the article, and link each one to its corresponding detailed citation on a list generated below the References heading at the bottom of the article:
When citing a website or other online source, live links to both the index page and the specific cited webpage of that website must be provided. The date on which the page/s were accessed by the article author must also be noted.
Individual statements can be supported by multiple cited sources. As a general rule, controversial statements should be supported by multiple cited sources.
Citations should be added to articles lacking them as soon as possible. Controversial or dubious uncited content may be removed from Lomwiki at any time, by any editor. Properly cited content may not be removed from Lomwiki.
This is an example of a well-cited article.
No original research
Lomwiki is not the place to publish or promote original research theories. However, if such a theory or its author gains public notoriety, an objective article about that theory may be justifiable irrespective of the validity of the theory itself.
One example of this is Wikipedia's article about the Flat earth theory. The theory itself is universally discredited, and very few people now believe it to be true - but it is nonetheless sufficiently historically noteworthy and generally well-known to warrant an article. In the micronational context the most obvious parallel is Cesidio Tallini's "Fifth World" theory.
No in-universe content
Lomwiki is intended to become the world's most reliable, credible micronational encyclopedia. As such, all articles must be written from a real-world perspective. That means that no "in-universe" content may be included; the real names of people discussed in articles must be used, and their real circumstances described (where appropriate). For example:
✘ The Kingdom of Mybedroom was founded in 2009 by King Johan IV, when his troops conquered the capital city of Bedroomia and raised his standard from its highest tower.
✔ The Kingdom of Mybedroom is a micronation founded in 2009 by Johan Schmidt (born 1960), a resident of Nichtsburg, Germany. Its territory includes the bedroom and study of the Schmidt family residence, where he lives with his wife and two children. The former is referred to on the Mybedroom website as the "capital city of Bedroomia". Photographs on the website show the flag of Mybedroom suspended above Schmidt's bed.
The only exception to the Lomwiki "real name" requirement is in the case of individuals who are employed in a profession (such as the military) where public association with micronations might be deemed potentially problematic - in which case this should be mentioned within the context of the article.
Micronation article conventions
As a general rule, most micronations can be more than adequately documented by one article. A few major micronations may justify detailed coverage of various aspects of their activities, functions, symbols or world view in multiple articles.
Article naming:
Articles about micronations should use as their title the full long-form name of the article subject.
✘ Kerguelon
✔ Kingdom of Kerguelon
✘ Babylonia
✔ High and Mighty Commonwealth Kingdom of Babylonia
Vexillological articles:
Articles about the flags of individual micronations should only be created where documentary or photographic evidence exists to prove that one or more sewn or silkscreen-printed cloth copies of the flag in question exist (or once existed) in the real world.
Articles about people:
Articles about people should use the legal Personal Name + Family Name of the article subject as the name of the article.
✘ Emperor John of the Empire of New Kazakia
✔ John Joseph Thurston
✔ John Thurston
Pseudonyms, assumed names, assumed titles and styles, courtesy titles, genuine noble titles/honours, academic/religious titles/qualifications and prenominals/postnominals must not be used in the article name.
✘ The Honourable Lady Mary Westerly KGB NRMA
✔ Mary Westerly
✘ Sir Frank Marcos
✔ Frank Marcos
If they are relevant, the individual's titles etc may be described within the body of the article - however they must not be used to indicate implied deference to the article subject him/herself.
✘ As the order's honoured Supreme Knight Commander and Protector of the Temple, Sir Frank conducts ceremonial investitures for new members on a monthly basis.
✔ Marcos conducts ceremonial investitures for new members of the order on a monthly basis. He is introduced as "Sir Frank Marcos, Supreme Knight Commander and Protector of the Temple" at these events.
Uploading images
Images should be uploaded in PNG (Portable Network Graphics) format only.
