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Article names should not be pluralized, unless they use the plural whenever they are referred to plural (such as [[Knuckle (Weapon Type)|Knuckles]]), or the article is based on a gameplay term that is plural (such as [[Extra Missions]]). List articles, however, must be plural, and have the "List of" prefix.
 
Article names should not be pluralized, unless they use the plural whenever they are referred to plural (such as [[Knuckle (Weapon Type)|Knuckles]]), or the article is based on a gameplay term that is plural (such as [[Extra Missions]]). List articles, however, must be plural, and have the "List of" prefix.
   
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Article names use [[wiktionary:sentence case|sentence case]], rather than [[wikitionary:title case|title case]]. This is because article pages are not titles, but entries to an encyclopedia.
Article names use [[wiktionary:title case|title case]], whereby all words have their first-letter capitalized bar articles, conjunctions, and prepositions. The only time this rule is overruled is when the name is directly based on a gameplay term, in which scenario the gameplay term is used as written (such as [[8 eye]]).
 
   
 
The name of the article should be the name given in the North American version of the most recent version of the particular release. English European release name should be used if no North American version exists. If it does not officially appear outside of Japan, and there is no English name featured in any Japanese media, then a fan-translation of [[Project:Fandom|apt notability]] can be used, however few fan-translations are recognized.
 
The name of the article should be the name given in the North American version of the most recent version of the particular release. English European release name should be used if no North American version exists. If it does not officially appear outside of Japan, and there is no English name featured in any Japanese media, then a fan-translation of [[Project:Fandom|apt notability]] can be used, however few fan-translations are recognized.

Revision as of 17:32, 26 November 2015

The Naming Policy is the policy used when deciding the name for articles. It covers the naming scheme for articles, files, categories, and templates.

Articles

Articles should be named according to the official name used by Square Enix. The primary source for this is usually the game, film, novel, audio drama, or book. In all cases, the main release takes precedence. If a related media gives more information about the name, such as a surname or middle name for a character, then these can be added to the title since they do not directly contradict the original name but elaborate on it. If a sequel to a game changes a name, it may be the better name for the article (such as Aerith Gainsborough).

Article names should not be pluralized, unless they use the plural whenever they are referred to plural (such as Knuckles), or the article is based on a gameplay term that is plural (such as Extra Missions). List articles, however, must be plural, and have the "List of" prefix.

Article names use sentence case, rather than title case. This is because article pages are not titles, but entries to an encyclopedia.

The name of the article should be the name given in the North American version of the most recent version of the particular release. English European release name should be used if no North American version exists. If it does not officially appear outside of Japan, and there is no English name featured in any Japanese media, then a fan-translation of apt notability can be used, however few fan-translations are recognized.

If the release was only available in Japan and the wiki does not consider any fan-translation aptly notable, then the wiki has to find a suitable translation. In most scenarios, a literal translation is used. In cases such as Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, the names used are done to closely match the translation and localization of Final Fantasy VII and other Final Fantasy games. Examples are Guard Hound (Before Crisis) (to match Final Fantasy VII) and Adamantoise (Before Crisis) (to match more recent translations of the same enemy in other games).

The most recent version must be different from a previous version to be considered the most recent. For example, the PC release of Final Fantasy VII takes precedence over the PSN port, as the PSN port is a direct port of the PlayStation version, released before the PC version. The Advance version of Final Fantasy VI takes precedence over the Wii port (released as Final Fantasy III) since the Wii port is a direct port of the SNES release.

If there are multiple articles that require the same name, tags are used. A tag goes at the end of the page name in parentheses. If a feature uses a tag, the tagless page name should be either a disambig which features an entry for the tagged page, a parent page which features an entry for the tagged page, or a redirect to another parent page which features a link to the tagged page.

Another feature with the same name does not necessarily need its own article to incur the use of tags. If a feature appears in another release, but does not meet the requirements for the article (and thus would be a redirect), then the feature which does deserve a page will be tagged and appear on a disambig at the tagless name alongside the feature which only originally deserved a redirect. For example, Tezcatlipoca (Final Fantasy XIII-2) is an enemy (and thus deserves a page), but Tezcatlipoca is a weapon in Final Fantasy Type-0, and therefore deserves a redirect to its entry on the game's weapon page. Therefore these both appear on the Tezcatlipoca disambig.

There are only a few scenarios where a disambig is not required at the main name, which can be seen below. For further help on choosing the correct tag, see Help:Tags and Disambiguation Pages.

Releases

In all scenarios, articles about releases do not use tags. Their name is based on the official name. The name of some game articles may be as simple as looking at what name is used on the side of the case. Other releases such as the main series games are also simple to identify a name for since their names are straightforward ("Final Fantasy" followed by the appropriate Roman numeral).

In examples where there is no clear name given on the side of the case, nor the front, the best article name must be found elsewhere. The logo may not be so straightforward. Some releases may use a colon (such as Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children) and others may use dashes (such as Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-), while others may use no separator at all (such as Final Fantasy Mystic Quest). It is generally advised to avoid using colons in article names, as Final Fantasy logos do not use them, and there were many moves on the part of the Wiki to a colonless name after being confirmed that there are no colons used in text. However, a colon should be included if it appears in the release's manual, its official website, or a Square Enix website and/or blog (for example their North American website).

Recurring Features

An article about a recurring feature of the Final Fantasy series requires two criteria to be the name of the article, being recurring and being recent. If there are no recurring names for a feature despite appearing in multiple releases, then the most recent one is always used, as long as it is an official English translation.

If there is a more recent translation which has been used once, while there has been a name used twice or more previously, then the recurring name takes priority. However, if the same feature appears again with the same name as the previous most recent name then the page can be moved. This does not always apply for releases in the same sub-series since, for example, Ivalice releases may use a naming system not shared by most other releases in the series.

Lists

All list articles start with the prefix "List of". This is then followed by a pluralized word of the subject matter. If the list only regards one specific release then after "List of" should be the full release name. The full release name is recognized as the article name for the specific release.

Recognized list article suffix standards include Characters, Locations, Jobs, Abilities, Enemy Abilities, Items, Armor, Weapons, and Accessories. If a list does not fall into one of these categories, the relevant name used in the release should suffice (such as List of Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy Player Icons). In the situation where a release gives a specific name for one of the above, such as accessories being "Relics" in Final Fantasy VI, then the article does not need to be treated as a list, but instead as a gameplay term featuring a list, and therefore the article can be named Relic (Final Fantasy VI). This does not include cases where the gameplay term does have a page, but the list is too long for its article, in which case the list name should use a relevant name in the release (such as List of Final Fantasy VIII Triple Triad Cards, when Triple Triad (Final Fantasy VIII) exists, but does not contain the list on that page).

A list of Locations article is only necessary if the release's planet does not have an official name. If the release's planet does have an official name, then the relevant List of Locations title should still redirect, for example "List of Final Fantasy VII Locations" redirects to Gaia (Final Fantasy VII).

Characters

If characters are given additional romanized middle names and surnames in Japanese media while an English name does not appear in any English-language media, then these can be treated as official names for the character.

If a character is more commonly referred to by an alias, then the name of their article should reflect this (such as Red XIII).

If a character has a title such as "Mr.", it should not be included in the article title. Titles may be included in the title if it is to avoid using a tag on the page (such as Professor Hojo).

If a character is not given a surname but is married to a character with a surname, the child of someone with a surname, or the parent of someone with a surname, this does not necessarily mean it is their surname. A surname should only be used in the article name if the character has officially being given that surname.

In the case of characters with appearances outside of their original subseries with enough content to justify a page (per Article Creation Policy), the article name depends on whether the character is a recurring series character (with a recurring character page) or specific to a particular subseries and setting. In the case of the former, the page for a character in a specific subseries will be tagged (such as Gilgamesh (Final Fantasy V)). In the latter's case, the page will be a subpage of the base character's page (such as Tifa Lockhart/Dissidia).

Locations

The names of locations are seen in different ways in different releases, and therefore different rules apply. The location should be named based on what it is named on the World Map. If a name isn't given on the World Map then the article should be named what the location is named when the location is entered. If the name of the location is not given in either of these circumstances, then it is likely the location will be named in the menu, and this name should then be used.

The rules of retcon apply, and if a location is given a different name in a release released later in the same media as the original, then the name should be changed (such as Shinra Headquarters).

Enemies

Enemy articles count as a gameplay feature. Due to this, article names should match the name of the enemy in-game exactly. This overrides the title case rule, and the tags given must be for the specific release. If an enemy appears in two situations with the same name, then these share an article. Final bosses also have their own individual articles, and if other enemies appear with the same name as the final boss, then they do not share a page. The tag in this situation would be "Boss" and "Final Boss", assuming that the boss in question has a respective character article (such as Kefka (Boss) and Kefka (Final Boss).

If a character also appears as a boss, then the boss information has its own page and is named by the enemy's name. In most scenarios, the name of the enemy should redirect to the character's article due to it being a legitimate name which refers to the character, and the enemy article should be "[Enemy name] (Boss)" (for example "Scarlet Hair" redirects to Amarant Coral and the boss page is named Scarlet Hair (Boss)).

Glitches

Since the names of glitches are all fan-coined, naming glitches works on a case-by-case basis. The name should include the word "Glitch" or "Bug" as a suffix, and the article name should encompass all that is involved, either by the feature involved in the glitch (such as Vincent Mug Glitch), or the effect of the glitch (such as Empty Party Glitch).

Other Features

All terms and features used in individual releases or sub-series should be based on how they are referred to in game scripts and texts, or in an information center. When it comes to these terms, the title case rule applies and all words bar prepositions should have their first-letter capitalized. A "The" is rarely added to the start of a term, with only a few exceptions to this rule. They are also rarely ever pluralized.

Unnamed Features

Naming an unnamed feature's article is a little more difficult, and done on more of a case-by-case basis. In most cases, the name the feature is most commonly referred to by players is the best name for the article, such as Level Grinding. If there is no common name, then a name given that describes the feature should be given, such as Invisible Woman of Cornelia. The {{nameless}} template must be added to the top of these pages.

Files

The naming scheme of files is less strict than other parts of the wiki, however there are still a number of rules and guidelines the filename should meet. It is important that the filename is a descriptive name that makes sense. A string of random numbers is an example of an un-descriptive filename and should be avoided. The filename should also be expanded for identification. For example, an image of Cloud's appearance in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- should be called something along the lines of "Cloud-DoCVII.jpg".

The kind of thing that should be included in the filename is what the file contains, in what release it appears (usually an abbreviation is used) and what medium or situation is the file involved in (mainly for images).

For files of enemy sprites and models, the enemy's name and the game it is in should be included, as well as the version if the game the enemy has appeared in has had two different graphic styles (only the first version using that graphic style if a graphic style is used twice, such as many PSP and iOS releases). An artwork of that enemy would have a similar filename, but it would contain the word "artwork".

For a character, including the release would be less necessary unless someone or something else appeared with the same name, however including the medium and scenario would be more necessary. For example, a screenshot from the FMV where Quistis shoots the X-ATM092 in Final Fantasy VIII could be named "File:Quistis-fmv-machinegun".

With audio files only the name of the track and its source should be included in the filename, due to the existence of several versions and arrangements for tracks in the series and recurring track names.

Categories

The category structure does not follow a strict naming policy, however each category is clearly and concisely named. In most cases it is easy to identify why a category is a sub-category of another category due to their relation of names. For example, Category:Utility Templates is a subcategory of Category:Templates since it is further division of templates, and Category:Final Fantasy IV Items is a subcategory of Category:Final Fantasy IV since it further divides Final Fantasy IV articles.

Categories for specific releases use the release's full name. The full name is identical to the name used in the release's article. Every division of the category thereon has the full release's name with a descriptive and pluralized suffix, such as "Items" or "Enemies".

If there are different versions of a release which use different graphic styles, then the abbreviation of the version of the release appears in the category name directly after the release's name. For example, Category:Final Fantasy V GBA Enemy Images. If two versions of a release share the same graphic-style it is not necessary to include both versions in the release and just the first version with the graphic-style is enough. The versions are not written out in full but instead follow some rules.

Images and articles are kept in separate categories. Therefore most subcategories of the main release will have a further subcategory for relevant images. All image categories require the suffix "Images". For a specific type of images such as images of enemies, "Images" remains the suffix and what groups the images comes before images in singular, for example, "Enemy Images".

Templates

There are a number of different types of templates. These can be divided mostly into three categories, utility templates, navboxes, and infoboxes.

Utility Templates

The naming of utility templates is the most relaxed of template types. Due to the use and purpose of utility templates for small formatting jobs, their template names are usually short, such as {{A}}, {{tl}}, and {{IPA}}. While the names are short, their names should at least represent their purpose, even if the template name is only the initials of the term that describes its function.

Navboxes

Navboxes are the templates that go at the bottom of articles that are full of links to related information. Template names are usually simple, and match the word in the header, such as Template:Armor.

For the main release navigations, the Codename of the release name is always used. For "sidenavboxes", navboxes which are found at the side of pages rather than at the bottom, if it is a sub-navigation of a release then the template name still starts with the Codename but also with a relevant word added to the end, usually matching the word in the header (such as Template:FFU Episodes). The suffix is plural.

Infoboxes

The naming scheme for infoboxes does not deviate from the rules for navboxes much, however there are a number of standard suffixes. Universal infoboxes usually start with the "Infobox" prefix (such as Template:Infobox CVG). Like navboxes, infoboxes also use the codename when defining the release.

For templates designed for specific releases the structure of the name is usually "Template:[release abbreviation] [purpose]". So a template for enemies in Final Fantasy VIII is Template:FFVIII Enemy. The standards mentioned are the suffixes.

Most releases have their own enemy and character templates. Infobox templates for enemy articles always end in "Enemy", and infobox templates for character always end in "Character". The suffix should be singular.

When creating an infobox for another means, always remember to start with either "Infobox" for something spanning the series, or the release's abbreviation for a specific release, and follow it with a sensible, and relevant name, such as Battle Piece.

Other Templates

Other templates that do not pertain to mainspace but instead to your own personal use in user pages or walkthrough pages should be created in their respective namespaces instead of template space. Pages can be transcluded regardless of their namespace, however their namespace needs to be specified, and the full pagename included.

Template:Policies and Guidelines