YumeWiki:Style Guide/Spelling and Typography

Yume Wiki Style Guide

 Spelling and Typography • Grammar and Usage • Tone • Links • Titles and Article Organization • Location Pages • Media • Outdated or Unused Content • Miscellaneous

This section of the Style Guide concerns spelling and typography. This page provides guidance on the use of spelling variations, capitalization, punctuation, spacing, and special formatting rules regarding numbers and romanization.

In order to maintain minimum quality standards, articles published on Yume Wiki should represent a good grasp of standard forms of English, including spelling, grammar, and punctuation. We do not want to have articles that are filled with spelling errors, strange grammatical constructions, stray punctuation, indecipherable content, etc. Articles should look professional.

Variations in Standard English

It is up to your discretion whether to use American, British, or other English spelling, grammatical, or mechanical conventions. This guideline includes mechanical variations such as the Oxford comma. Do not edit articles to exchange one variety of English for another, or to add or remove Oxford commas.

Keep spelling, grammatical, and mechanical conventions consistent across an article. For example, do not mix British and American spellings within the same article.

Where possible, use vocabulary common to all varieties of English over regional vocabulary. For example, use "200,000" over "two lakh" (Indian English). Similarly, use "sprinkles" over "jimmies" (New England and Mid-Atlantic English).

If there are multiple possible acceptable ways to spell a word, use the most common spelling in your dialect. For example, while "coöperate" is technically a valid spelling, it is archaic and is almost obsolete. Use "cooperate" instead. Similarly, prefer "jail" over the somewhat antiquated "gaol".

Avoid slang, unless related to general gaming, RPG Maker, or Yume Nikki Fangames.

Capitalization

The

Do not capitalize "the" midsentence, unless it is at the beginning of the title of a work. For example, write "Minnatsuki can enter the Nexus.", not "Minnatsuki can enter The Nexus."

Emphasis

Do not use capitalization for emphasis. This includes the use of all-caps and initial capitalization. For example, do not write, "Effects CANNOT be used here."

Titles and Proper Names

By default, for titles and proper names, use the Modern Language Association's (MLA) rules for title case, reproduced here:

• Capitalize the first word of any title and of any subheading/subtitle.
• Capitalize all major words (nouns, verbs including phrasal verbs such as "play with", adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns) in the title/heading, including the second part of hyphenated major words (for example, Self-Report, not Self-report).
• Lowercase the second word after a hyphenated prefix (for example, Mid-, Anti-, Super-, etc.) in compound modifiers (for example, Mid-year, Anti-hero, etc.).
• Do not capitalize articles, prepositions (regardless of length), and coordinating conjunctions.
• Do not capitalize "to" in infinitives (for example, I Want to Play Guitar).

Effect Names

For effect names, capitalize the name of the effect, but not the word effect. For example, "Wolf effect".

If the name of the effect contains the word "and", do not capitalize "and". For example, "Hat and Scarf effect".

Location Names

For location names, capitalize the name of the location in the same manner it is capitalized in the lead paragraph of its respective article. For example, capitalize RED DREAD DEATH in exactly this manner in all content pages referring to it.

Ligatures

If the word is from a language (such as French) where the use of ligatures (such as æ or œ) is standard, use ligatures. Otherwise, do not use ligatures. For example, write "aether", not "æther".

Abbreviations

Avoid using abbreviations wherever possible, unless the abbreviation is part of a proper name. For example, FC Fields. Common abbreviations such as "DNA", "CPU", "PDF", etc. are exceptions to this rule.

If an uncommon abbreviation must be used, introduce it by writing out the entire expression followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. For example, "The RPG Maker 2003 run time package (RTP)". Do not capitalize each word of the initialism.

Do not use periods or any other punctuation in between the letters of initialisms. Do not use apostrophes to form plurals. For example, write "NPCs", not "N.P.C.'s" or "NPC's".

Do not use abbreviations for Latin phrases, such as "i.e.", "e.g.", "viz.", and so on, unless they are used in the title of a work. For example, write out "versus" for "vs.", and "for example" for "e.g.".

The exception is "etc.", short for et cetera, which may be used at the end of non-exhaustive lists. Do not spell this as "ect.".

Ampersands (&) and Octothorpes (#)

Do not use ampersands (&) or octothorpes (#) unless they are part of a proper name or quoted text.

Instead, use "and" for ampersands.

Similarly, instead of writing "#4", write "number four".

Italics and Other Emphasis

Emphasis

When emphasizing text, use italics. Do not use bold, underline, or all-caps to emphasize. However, if the emphasis occurs in quoted text, retain the original emphasis.

Do not italicize punctuation surrounding emphasized text.

Frequency

Avoid the overuse of italics, because the effect diminishes over time.

Avoid italicizing large blocks of text, because this makes the text difficult to read.

Foreign Words

If the foreign word is in a Latin script, italicize the foreign word the first time it appears. Otherwise, do not italicize the word. For example, write "The torii are located along the road." However, do not write, "The kanji are 鳥居." Instead, write "The kanji are 鳥居."

Titles

When referring to the title of a work, italicize the name of the title, even if the text is written in non-Latin characters. For example, "Minnatsuki is the protagonist of Collective Unconscious."

Certain work names, like song titles or the names of short stories are enclosed within quotation marks instead. For example, "This area is a reference to "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", by J.D. Salinger."

Quotations

Formatting

Direct quotes of in-game text or official statements do not need to follow most of the style considerations in this guide. Quotations should follow the principle of minimal change; the text should be reproduced as closely to the original wording as possible.

If quoting an entire sentence, capitalize the first word of the quote, unless that quote has been integrated into the surrounding sentence.

Do not change the spellings of quoted text, even if it is not in the same dialect as the rest of the article. For example, do not change the British spellings of a quote, even if the rest of the article is in American English. Similarly, do not reformat numbers.

The only exception is if an English-language quote uses archaic characters no longer used in English (such as ð, þ, æ, œ, ſ, or ȝ). Change those spellings to their modern equivalents (th, th, ae, oe, s, and g/gh/y, respectively).

In cases where changing the wording of the quote would improve the clarity of the sentence, put the wording change in square brackets. For example, "The developer of the game stated that, '[The protagonist] is 150cm tall.'" is an appropriate way to quote "She is 150cm tall."

If a quote has a noticeable factual or spelling error, add [sic] after the error to indicate that the error is present in the original text. For example, "To change the game's mode, select 'Opshon' [sic]."

If text is omitted from a quotation, indicate this using ellipses (...). Do not omit text if doing so would change the meaning of the quote or omit important context.

If the quoted text contains obscenities or profanity, do not censor it using asterisks, hyphens, or other special characters. Reproduce the text as it is written.

Preserve bold and italics in the original text. There is usually no need to also reproduce other stylistic features of the quoted text (underline, color, etc.); however, unusual styles for emphasis in the original text may be reproduced using italics (for example, you may convert an underlined word to an italicized one if the word is underlined for emphasis).

If a quote is long (more than 40 words, roughly), format the quote as a blockquote using the Quote template.

Attribution

When quoting, ensure the reader can determine the source of the quote.

Punctuation

Spacing

Place a single space before the beginning of a new sentence, items in a list separated by commas, and after colons and semicolons.

For example, write "There are hats in different colors. The colors available are: red, green, blue, and yellow.", not "There are hats in different colors.The colors available are:red,green,blue,and yellow."

Do not place any spaces before any punctuation marks.

For example, write "The colors available are: red, green, blue, and yellow.", not "The colors available are : red , green , blue , and yellow ."

Apostrophes

Use straight apostrophes ('). Do not use curly apostrophes (’), backticks (`), or accent marks (´) as apostrophes.

If a foreign word or proper noun contains an apostrophe-like mark such as the ʻokina (ʻ), use the appropriate symbol and not an apostrophe.

Quotation Marks

Use straight quotation marks (").

Do not use:

• curly quotation marks (“” or ‘’)
• low-high quotation marks („ “)
• guillemets (« »)
• square quotes (「」or 『』)
• backticks (``)
• accent marks (´)
• or two apostrophes ('')

When quoting, prefer double quotes (") over single quotes (') to introduce a quote. Quotations within quotations should use single quotes (').

Terminal Punctuation

Avoid the use of exclamation points (!) and question marks (?) unless they are part of a proper noun or a quotation.

Do not use ellipses, unless they are part of a quotation, or to indicate that text has been omitted from a quotation.

Do not use inverted exclamation points or question marks.

Commas

Commas have several uses in English which are too numerous to list exhaustively. Two common issues are included here.

Comma Splices

Do not separate two independent clauses (that is, clauses able to stand alone as complete sentences) with commas. This is known as a comma splice. Although they are common in casual writing, they are not acceptable practice in formal English and should therefore be avoided on the Yume Wiki.

For example, do not write "Yume Nikki has 24 effects to collect, the player must collect them all to reach the credits." Instead, write "Yume Nikki has 24 effects to collect; the player must collect them all to reach the credits." or "Yume Nikki has 24 effects to collect. The player must collect them all to reach the credits."

The "Oxford" Comma

When listing items, you may choose to include or not include the comma before "and". This comma is known as the "Oxford" comma.

For example, "x, y and z" omits the Oxford comma, while "x, y, and z" includes it. Either style is acceptable in most situations, so long as the same style is used consistently throughout the article.

However, if not including the Oxford comma makes the sentence ambiguous, err on the side of caution and include it, or rewrite the sentence to be less ambiguous. For example, "I photographed my parents, the turtle and the lizard." can be construed as stating that the speaker's parents are a pair of reptiles rather than a list of three items they photographed. In this case, the Oxford comma would make this sentence less ambiguous: "I photographed my parents, the turtle, and the lizard."

Be cautious of any ambiguity that appears in lists, however. "I photographed my parents, the turtles, and the lizard.", despite using the Oxford comma, still seems to imply that the speaker's parents are a pair of turtles. In cases like this, rewrite the sentence to be less ambiguous: "I photographed the lizard, the turtles, and my parents."

Colons and Semicolons

Colons

A colon introduces something that explains or demonstrates the statement before the colon, or indicates the beginning of a list that has just been introduced. Colons can also be used to introduce direct quotations.

Colons usually appear after a clause that can function as a complete sentence. Sentences should contain no more than a single colon (except when colons are part of a numerical construction, such as a ratio or a timestamp). Place a single space after a colon. If what follows a colon is a complete sentence, capitalize the first letter of that sentence.

Semicolons

Semicolons are used to separate two independent clauses that are related in content. In other words, the clauses that are on either side of the semicolon must be able to stand on their own as their own sentences.

Sentences can contain multiple semicolons, although in practice it is often best to reformulate sentences that have become unwieldy into separate sentences.

Semicolons can also be used to separate list items that contain commas within them, such as in a list of locations or dates. For example, "New York, New York; Oakland, California; Austin, Texas".

Brackets and Parentheses

Avoid having sets of parentheses or square brackets right next to each other. For example, don't write "(ゆめ２っき)(Yume Ni-kki)"; instead, write "(ゆめ２っき, Yume Ni-kki).

If a sentence ends with closing parentheses or square brackets, it must end in a period outside the brackets, regardless of whether there is punctuation inside of the parentheses. For example, "(x, y, z, etc.)."

Ask yourself if the information is really parenthetical to the sentence, or if it can stand alone as its own sentence. If it is not, rewrite.

Numbers

By default, write out numbers from 0-20 as words. For example, "6" should usually be written as "six".

Write out numbers greater than 20 as numerals. For example, "one hundred and twenty-three" should always be written as "123". If a number greater than six digits can be expressed in two words, it is acceptable to write the number as words. For example, "three trillion" is an acceptable way to write 3,000,000,000,000. You may mix numerals and words for this purpose. For example, "22 billion" is an acceptable way of writing 22,000,000,000.

For numbers with five or more digits, use a comma every three digits from the right. For example, write "2,313,879", not "2313879" or "23,13,879". Numbers with four digits may be written with or without a comma. For example, "one thousand" may be written as "1,000" or "1000".

Always write numbers with decimal places as numerals. For example, write "4.5", not "four point five", "four and a half", or "four and five tenths".

Ordinal Numbers

Follow the default guidance for writing out numbers for ordinal numbers as well. For example, write out "sixteenth", not "16th", but use "42nd" and "56 millionth", not "forty-second" or "fifty-six millionth".

Probability

Probabilities may be expressed as either fractions or as percentages. We recommend including both.

Fractions

Write all fractions as numerals. For example, write "1/3", "1/818", "2/15", "1/1000", etc. If the denominator is five or more digits, remember to include commas. For example, write "1/888,888".

Percentages

Write all percentages as numerals. Use the percent sign (%) when indicating percentages, rather than writing out "percent" or "per cent". Do not put a space before the percent sign. For example, write "23%", not "twenty-three percent", "23 percent", or "23 %".

Dates and Time

Time of Day

Prefer writing times of day as numbers.

Depending on context, the 12-hour or 24-hour format may be used. Use the format consistently within an article.

12-hour formatted times are written without leading zeros and have the "am" or "pm" suffix after a space. For example, "2:30 pm", "9:43 am", etc.

24-hour formatted times are always four digits and have no suffix. Midnight at the start of a day is written as "00:00", midnight at the end of a day is written as "24:00". For example, "08:35", "14:55", "00:20", etc.

Dates

Dates in an article can be written in either day-month format (for example, "26 June 2004") or month-day format (for example, "June 26, 2004"). The same format should be used consistently across the article. Do not abbreviate months.

Unless in a table or other context where space needs to be saved, do not write out dates in purely numerical format. If a date needs to be written numerically in a table, use YYYY-MM-DD format. For example, write "2024-6-8", not "8-6-2024" or "6-8-2024".

Units of Measurement

Numbers before units of measurement should always be written as numerals. For example, "32 miles", "800px", "500kg", etc.

Units may be abbreviated or spelled out. If the unit is rare or likely to be unfamiliar to readers, write out the first instance of the unit, with its abbreviation in parentheses. For example, "3 kilopascals (kPa)".

When writing out units as full words, write out every word. For example "grams per square meter", not "grams/meter²".

When writing ranges of units, only use the unit name or abbreviation once. For example, write "250-500px", not "250px-500px".

Currencies

Write all numbers measuring units of currency as numerals. For example, write "10 luna", not "ten luna".

For currencies with real-world symbols, use the corresponding symbols. For example, write "$1", not "one dollar". Do not put a space between the symbol and the numeral. Ensure the symbol and the numeral are in the correct order (for example, the dollar sign ($) goes before the numeral).

For games that use kanji as currency symbols in the English release, write the kanji after the numeral. For example, write "100夢", not "100 yume".

For games that use special symbols that do not have Unicode support, write out the name of the currency after the numeral. For example, the symbol for the luna currency in Collective Unconscious should be written out as "luna".

Do not capitalize the names of units of currency.

When writing ranges of currency, only use the currency name or symbol once. For example, write "100-200夢", not "100夢-200夢".

Version Numbers

Refer to versions using their version numbers, letters, and patch numbers. Write version and patch numbers as numerals.

By default, write out the word "version" in full, followed by the version numbers and letters as they appear in-game (usually on the title screen). If necessary, include a leading zero before any decimal points. Do not omit leading decimal points or trailing zeroes. For example, write "version 0.125a patch 2".

If a game-specific wiki consistently uses a different format for version numbering, stay consistent with that wiki's format, and do not change all its pages to the format outlined here.

Romanization and Translation

Where foreign text appears, provide a romanization (if applicable) and translation. If you lack the required language skills, contact an editor who has them for assistance.

If the Japanese text appears in the body of an article, enclose the romanization and translation in parentheses, separating them with a comma. Place translations after the romanization. For example, "ゆめにっき (Yume Nikki, Dream Diary)".

If a romanization appears in the body of an article, enclose the original Japanese text and translation in parentheses, separating them with a comma. Place translations after the original text. For example, "Yume Nikki (ゆめにっき, Dream Diary)".

Romanization

Standard

When providing a romanization, use the Revised Hepburn standard.

Notable features of the Revised Hepburn standard:

• Long vowels are usually indicated by a macron over the lengthened vowel. For example, お弁当 is romanized as obentō. Note that いい is still usually romanized as ii and えい is romanized as ei. Vowels followed by a lengthening marker (ー) always have a macron over them.
• Repeating vowels across morpheme boundaries are left separate. For example, 邪悪 is romanized as jaaku.
• Consonants that change sound before i or u are written phonetically. For example, ふ is romanized as fu, not hu. Similarly, じゃ is romanized as ja, not zya.
• Long consonants are doubled. Note that っち is romanized as tchi, not cchi.
• Moraic n (ん) is always written as n; it does not change to m before b, p, or m. For example, romanize 先輩 as senpai, not sempai.
• Before (and only before) vowels and や、ゆ、よ, an apostrophe is written after moraic n. For example, 千円 romanizes as sen'en, and 案内 romanizes as annai.

Do not omit macrons where prescribed by the standard. For example, romanize 教室 as "Kyōshitsu", not "Kyoshitsu", "Kyoushitsu" or "Kyositu".

For further details about the standard, see the linked Wikipedia article above.

Capitalization

If a phrase contains katakana, do not romanize the katakana in all caps. For example, romanize タイル通路 as "Tairu Tsūro", not "TAIRU Tsūro".

When providing a romanization for a proper name, capitalize each word, unless that word is a suffix or a particle. Italicize the romanization. For example, romanize "仮面族の世界" as "Kamen-zoku no Sekai".

Loanwords and Romāji

If the phrase contains a word in romāji, transcribe it exactly as it is written. For example, romanize ＦＣ世界 as "FC Sekai", not "Efu Shī Sekai", and 真っ白umi as "Masshiro umi", not "Masshiro Umi".

If a phrase contains a foreign loanword in katakana, transcribe it fully. For example, romanize ブロックの世界 as "Burokku no Sekai", not "Block no Sekai".

There is one exception to this. If the phrase is a title or other important proper name, you may romanize the loanword as its translation. For this exception, map locations are not considered important proper names. For example, ユメ‐グラフィティ may be romanized as "Yume Graffiti" rather than "Yume Gurafiti", because it is the title of a game.

Translation

When providing a translation, ensure it is accurate.

Do not use machine translation (such as Google Translate or DeepL) or large language models (such as ChatGPT or DeepSeek) to make translations for you, because they are prone to error and routinely fail to understand context.

If you do not know the target language, please leave the translation work to someone who does.

Be careful when creating page titles based on translations. Do not create a page title or rename a page based on a translation unless you are absolutely sure it is correct.

Lists

Lists can be used for groups of related items. Each item in a list should be relatively brief and no more than a few sentences. If list items are becoming bulky or unwieldy to read (for example, each list item is a large paragraph), consider not using the list format. Do not use the list format if the items are easily readable in paragraph form.

Do not use lists as a form of discussion on articles, using replies as sub-bullets (as you might see on, for example, TVTropes). The Yume Wiki is not a forum.

If a list item is a complete sentence (or multiple complete sentences), capitalize each sentence and place periods at their ends.

Ordered/Numbered Lists

Ordered lists should be used when the order of the items in the list is important (for example, the steps to solve a puzzle, the order in which in-game events occur, etc.) or the items in the list need to be referred to by an identifying number. Use Arabic numerals (1., 2., 3., etc.) when numbering list items (rather than using letters or Roman numerals). Number subordinate items using lowercase letters (a., b., c., etc.).

Unordered/Bullet Lists

Unordered lists should be used when the order of the items in the list does not matter (for example, a list of effects that cause an NPC reaction, trivia items, etc.). Indent subordinate items. Avoid having more than one level of subordinate item, because the list becomes hard to read.