Wikipedia's own Manual of Style

[Berkeley Brett]

I hope you are all well & in good spirits.

I just discovered Wikipedia's own "Manual of Style":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style

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Wikipedia:Manual of Style

The Manual of Style (often abbreviated MoS or MOS) is a style guide for all Wikipedia articles. This is its main page, covering certain topics (such as punctuation) in full and presenting the key points of others. Subpages, linked via this page's menu and listed at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Contents, provide detailed guidance on particular topics or subject areas.

The Manual of Style documents Wikipedia's house style. It helps editors write articles with consistent, clear, and precise language, layout, and formatting. The goal is to make Wikipedia easier and more intuitive to use. Consistency in language, style, and formatting promotes clarity and cohesion. Writing should be clear and concise. Plain English works best; avoid ambiguity, jargon, and vague or unnecessarily complex wording.

Style and formatting choices should be consistent within an article, though not necessarily throughout Wikipedia as a whole. Where more than one style is acceptable, editors should not change an article from one of those styles to another without a substantial reason. Revert-warring over optional styles is unacceptable.[1] If discussion cannot determine which style to use in an article, defer to the style used by the first major contributor.

Discuss style issues on the MoS talk page. Some of the past discussions that led to decisions on aspects of style guidance are recorded at the MoS register. In case of discrepancy, this page has precedence over its subpages and the Simplified Manual of Style [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Simplified_Manual_of_Style ].... [much more follows]

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Wikipedia has become so ubiquitous on the web that this article might be worth a glance. I've made many edits to Wikipedia articles over the years (anyone can, and happily, most of mine have stuck), but only now have I discovered this reference.

Incidentally, for those in the U.S. who may have a bit of time this weekend, Wikipedia is having its annual picnic (the "Wiknic") at various locations around the country:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiknic

There's about a 27% chance that I will stop by the San Francisco Bay Area Wiknic at Lake Merritt in Oakland (right near a BART station):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/San_Francisco/Wiknic/2013

I find it regrettable that these events are only in the U.S. There are plenty of excellent Wikipedia contributors all around the world, and there are provisions for "Start[ing] an event for your city" (see the main Wiknic article), so I hope people from other countries will schedule local Wiknics soon.

As always, any feedback you may have is most welcome....

--
Brett (in Berkeley, California, USA)
http://www.ForeverFunds.org/
My plan for saving the world!
(Micro-trusts & Micro-Endowments that survive you)