Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style (headings)

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Contents 1 Why use second level headings??? 2 Questions in headings 3 Using title case in this title 4 Too strong 5 Link vs Links 6 Using "The" in section headers 7 Trivia sections 8 Capitalization

[edit] Why use second level headings???

I noted in the manual of style that it states you begin with "==" as the first level of headings. Why is this done instead of starting with "=" which is the top level? It seems redundant to me that we even have this first level if the manual of style directs us all to start at the second level. Enigmatical 23:05, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

The article title is at h1 or "=". Thus the first heading starts at h2, "==". Dysprosia 11:45, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Then why does "=" map to h1 instead of h2? It basically means that we will never use "=" EVER and thus it seems a complete waste, causing an additional 2 characters per heading for absolutely no reason. Enigmatical 22:27, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

It is still used, just not for mainspace articles. I don't have a link to an example, but I have seen it used in the Talk pages of some templates, where the Talk page is divided into "=Usage=" and "=Discussion=", so that when a person clicks on the "+" to start a new discussion section, it gets put under the super-section "=Discussion=". It also of course is bigger, which someone might want for some purpose; there are undoubtedly uses that aren't thought of in this discussion here which may be used now or in the future. It might, for example, diminish errors to have sections require two characters "==" rather than one "=" for accidents. —Centrx→talk • 23:14, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Questions in headings

Do we discourage headings that ask a question? I'd thought we did, but I can't find anyhting in the MOS about it. If not, perhaps we should. Sections headed by questions are often used to argue a point. -Will Beback 00:13, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Using title case in this title

Using sentance case in titles looks ugly, however I don't think I can influence that. But what makes you write the title "Manual of Style" in title case then?

Using title case (= capitalizing almost every word) in headings merely because it is a heading looks ugly, destroys valuable information about names (proper nouns) that might occur as part of headings, and is not common practice among many English publishers. Therefore, Wikipedia does not do it. However, "Manual of Style" is a proper noun here, the name of a document called "Manual of Style" (like the name of a movie or book), and therefore correctly capitalized in a sentence case heading. This has nothing to do with the use of title case as an additional form of emphasis for section headings (which are generally not proper nouns). Capitalizing a phrase because it is the name of an entity is ok. Capitalizing something because it is a heading of an article or section is not ok. For example "Recurring themes in discussions on the Manual of Style" is correct use of sentence case, involving the correctly capitalized proper noun "Manual of Style". Markus Kuhn 18:42, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Too strong

This manual says:

Capitalize the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns in headings, but leave the rest lower case.

Everybody knows I'm one of the most active enforcers of this doctrine. But I think that like a number of other things in Wikipedia's style manuals, it's too strong. It should say something to the general effect of

In headings, capitalize the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns or other words for which there is specific reason to capitalize, but leave the rest lower case.

The style manuals say "only" too often. Michael Hardy 19:57, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

Can you give some examples for other reasons? Abbreviations come to mind. Anything else? If people find that the current phrasing is not easy enough to understand, we could also add a sentence that clarifies what we really want: "In other words, use the same rules for capitalization in headings that you would apply in normal sentences." Markus Kuhn 21:03, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Link vs Links

What is the current school of thought about replacing External links with External link when only one link is present? --After Midnight ⁰⁰⁰¹ 01:20, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

• Pointless, IMO. There's nothing wrong with it. older ≠ wiser 01:44, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

• Keep as "links" per (1) so-called Eventualism or the like; and/or (2) it only takes making one link into two to mean the section's title should use "links" regardless of how many more links are added thereafter. Regards, David Kernow (talk) 23:57, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Using "The" in section headers

This page proscribes starting section headers with "the" in all cases. Why? I agree that when a section is about a general topic, its header should not begin with the, but, for instance, when writing a battle article, I don't want to write a section about "battle", I want to write a section about "the battle" in question. Any objections to changing this? --Robth^Talk 03:30, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes. Give me an example where you require it. I've worked on a number of battle pages, and I've never seen a need for it. —Viriditas | Talk 06:17, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Okay, Battle of Arginusae, which I just finished working on, currently contains a section called "the battle" and one called "the relief force", both of which sound much more natural when talking about a specific battle and a specific relief force than the generalized form. We have the definite article for a reason; it allows us to be specific in this way, and sometimes it's appropriate to be specific in this fashion in section headings. --Robth^Talk 06:50, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the link. The best advice I can give you is to take a look at other articles, like WWII, Battle of the Bulge, etc. That should give you some ideas. —Viriditas | Talk 10:02, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Actually, Battle of the Bulge is a great example of why this is a silly requirement. Note the subsection entitled "allies prevail"; that's silly. "The allies" of WWII are never referred to without the definite article, and there's no reason that we should break with that standard usage just to meet some arbitrary requirement we've imposed on ourselves. --Robth^Talk 17:49, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

I gave you two links, but I suggest reviewing many more. The WWII link uses headers appropriately (IMO) whereas the BotB does not. —Viriditas | Talk 20:58, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

This seems like a baseless, artificial requirement -- at least as regards the definite article. We have Featured articles that violate this proscription. Belton House, Matthew Brettingham, Buckingham Palace, Cathedral of Magdeburg, Dürer's Rhinoceros, IG Farben Building, Action potential, Antarctic krill and so on. Note that I checked only a few of these to see if the headings included "The" as of FA status. older ≠ wiser 22:04, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

It's not baseless. There are a number of related guidelines that have been around for some time, like Strunk's Elements of Style. —Viriditas | Talk 22:14, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Are you saying this guidance is from Strunk? Where exactly? The only reference I can see that is close is for Titles in the section A Few Matters of Form, where it says "Omit A or The from titles when you place the possessive before them", which is not really applicable to the dubious guideline under discussion. Are there any common style guides that recommend this? In any case, if it does not reflect Wikipedia practice as represented by our Featured Articles, it should not be a guideline in the MOS. older ≠ wiser 22:34, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

The writer of the guideline may have been influenced by Strunk, both by the title convention you quote, as well as by others, such as omitting needless words, etc. MLA, APA and other research guidelines expand it. I'm genuinely curious: how does using a or the in section titles inform or help the reader? It appears to be needless. I've also noticed that many published, scholarly books avoid the use of articles in chapter/section headings. For example, I'm using a book by Myron A. Marty for an article I'm working on at the moment. Marty's book is an historical analysis of the sixties in the U.S. The book contains 33 subsections, of which only two use the, and as far as I can tell, he uses them for emphasis. Less serious books on the same subject, do use the articles on a consistent basis. In most instances, a, an, and the should not be used in headings. Describing the topic without the use of these articles is effective, and as far as I can see, encyclopedic. —Viriditas | Talk 23:37, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

The point is that there are certain subjects that can only be correctly referred to using the definite article. "The allies" above is a good example. Scholarly books do not use "the" when it is unnecessary, but they do use it when it is (looking at G.E.M. De Ste. Croix's "The origins of the Peloponnesian War", perhaps the definitive scholarly work on that subject, I would say that about one quarter to one half of the section headers begin with "the"). A section about "allies" is not the same as a section about "the allies"; a section about "Megarian decrees" is not the same as one about "The Megarian decrees". Simplicity is preferable when it can be achieved without obscuring meaning, but should not be sought at the expense of clarity. We shouldn't draw an arbitrary line that restricts our ability to communicate effectively in subject headers. --Robth^Talk 06:59, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

Again, I have no idea who wrote that particular guideline or why, but I think it works. I found a few informal rules of grammar in The St. Martin's Guide to Writing that might apply to headings: "Use no article before a plural count noun when it does not refer to a specific entity...Use no article before a noncount noun when the reference is general." Strangely enough, it appears both of these rules describe most headings. I don't know if I hit gold or if I'm digging a deeper hole.  :) —Viriditas | Talk 08:57, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

But sometimews we do refer to a specific entity, and sometimes the reference is not general. I don't think the guideline "works"; I just think we've for some reason accepted it and written unnecessarily weird headings as a result; there are certainly style guidelines that sort of relate to this question, but I don't know that anyone-even Strunk and White, who went way down the road of laying down hard and fast guidelines even in iffy cases--goes so far as to prohibit "the" in headers. We can certainly advise against it when it would be unncecessary verbiage, but sometimes it's necessary. --Robth^Talk 12:17, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

I agree with some of your points, but I feel more research is necessary. Just so we are all on the same page, additional information about this subject may be found under keywords: determiner deletion. —Viriditas | Talk 21:44, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

I'm not entirely sure more research is necessary. I see no evidence that even one stylesheet gives a similar prohibition, and there is evidence that scholarly publications do not follow it--certainly not strictly, and many not at all. Somebody, at some point, wrote this into the MoS; that simple action shouldn't create so much inertia that we're afraid to change it for good reason. --Robth^Talk 23:47, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

I've concluded my research. I think it was necessary to find out why the guideline exists, and I believe I've done just that, although it should be obvious to anyone who works in the media. The proscription is a generally accepted guideline used by journalists to construct headlines, and exceptions are allowed for clarity. [1] This guideline can only help Wikipedia, not hurt it, but I would like to see it modified to address any outstanding concerns. —Viriditas | Talk 00:09, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes, journalists do this; newspapers and other media have to fit as much information as possible into as small a space as possible in headlines; we do not have the same space constraints that they do. Omitting "the" when redundant or unnecessary is good, but that would be best dealt with by a guideline that said "do not use redundant or unnecessary words in headlines". If we are to use this, we should have a good explanation of why this guideline would be beneficial to Wikipedia editors, not journalists. So: what exactly does Wikipedia gain from using this guideline, as opposed to just saying "don't use unnecessary or redundant words in headers"? --Robth^Talk 01:05, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia has space constraints; article size limitations require long articles to be split into sections, subsections, and eventually new articles on subtopics (see WP:SS). So we impose size constraints for the sake of the poor reader. Indefinite articles are unnecessary in most headings for the same reason; the reader expects to be informed with a clear, simple, and direct heading; determiners can even be misused to mislead the reader. The benefits of the guideline outweigh the risks. —Viriditas | Talk 03:32, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes, we have space constraints, but unlike newspapers, we do not need to squeeze the most attention-grabbing phrase possible into the smallest possible headline; please explain how not starting headers with "the" helps us deal with our space constraints. I agree that indefinite articles are almost always unncecessary, and indefinite articles are often unnecessary, but this is not always the case; what does this guideline give us that a proscription on using unnecessary words would not. How exactly can determiners be used to mislead the reader? Please give an example. --Robth^Talk 05:20, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Indefinite and definite articles are unnecessary in headings, but exceptions for clarity should be allowed. Headings should use concise terms that summarize the topic. Wikipedia:Naming conventions (definite and indefinite articles at beginning of name) should be synchronized with this guideline, as these names are often used in headings. The New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage quotes Roy H. Copperud on the misleading use of the definite article the: "Careless use of the may confer a distinction that is either inaccurate, unintended, or both. Referring to John Jones as "the vice-president of the Smith Corporation" implies that the corporation has only one vice-president. "Laurence Olivier, the actor" is acceptable...referring to...Hazel Gooch...of Broken Bottle, Iowa, as "the [rather than an] actress" leaves the reader...rattled...his ignorance of Miss Gooch is nothing to be ashamed of." —Viriditas | Talk 22:17, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

• I realiz/se I avoid prefixing "The" much/most if not nearly all the time, probably because it's redundant much/most if not all nearly all the time... Regards, David Kernow (talk) 00:01, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia sections

I come across many WP articles with sections headed "Trivia". Most often, the section includes references to the article's subject in literature or popular culture. Occasionally, the section is used for miscellaneous interesting facts that for some reason are not included other sections. In my opinion, a "Trivia" section is not encyclopedic. Usually, I either change the title to something more descriptive and appropriate or, less often, eliminate the section altogether and work its contents into other sections of the article. I think it would be helpful to have a guideline on this. What do others think? Finell (Talk) 07:59, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Trivia and Wikipedia:Avoid trivia sections in articles. —Centrx→talk • 07:10, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

• If nothing else, I rename the section "Miscellany" unless the contents do seem more trivial (inconsequential, frivolous, petty or the like) than disconnected/isolated "factoids". When they're the latter, they usually seem fit to convert into bullet points. I agree that a "Trivia" section is not encyclopedic. Regards, David Kernow (talk) 07:30, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Capitalization

I believe that in an encyclopedia especially, proper American grammer should be used. As everyone should know, a Title is always capitalized. Therefore, I believe every single title on every single page should have proper grammer, not the current wikipedia grammer.--Golich17 20:47, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Grammar and style are not the same thing. What you are talking about is Wikipedia style—there is no such thing as Wikipedia grammar. —Doug Bell ^{talk•contrib} 20:52, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I believe, as an international collaborative project, Wikipedia should carefully avoid those American typographic aberrations that feel particularly cruel, unusual and impractical to the rest of the English-reading world. The top two are the so-called "title case" (capitalization of most words in headings) and the habit of moving punctuation inside quotation marks where the punctuation is not part of the quotation. Both habits simply destroy valuable information, have no practical advantage, and have never been an element of English grammar. Markus Kuhn 23:25, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

They aren't necessarily proper grammar in America either. —Centrx→talk • 10:28, 16 December 2006 (UTC)