Help:Terminology
From Fan History Wiki
| Policy This article defines official Fan History policy. |
A goal of Fan History is to create a comprehensive directory of terms used in fandom. In doing this, there are a number of issues that wiki contributors and users should be aware of in regards to these pages.
The article
The article should contain the name of the term, using the capitalization that the article creator believes is the most common usage for capitalization. (The first letter will always be capitalized as that is how the wiki software is set up.)
The article should initially follow, in some form, the terminology template. This is to make the article formatting consistent. As the article grows, the form can begin to follow fandom specific templates such as the television fandom template. To see an article that has undergone such a transition, see slash.
Be careful when using this template. Sometimes, some terms should use other templates beside this one. This is frequently the case ship related articles.
Historical definitions
Historical definitions are included on terminology pages for two reasons. First, they help track the etymology of a term, to see how the usage changes over time and from community to community. Second, it should help the wiki by preventing idealogical entrenchment in regards to some terms by holding different definitions as equally valid. As fandom is huge and definitions change from community and Fan History covers a large part of fandom, this is especially important.
As this section gets bigger, it can be moved to a separate article with the moved contents being summarized in the article.
History
The history section is different from the historical definitions section in that involves the history of the community using the term, or involved in the community that the term describes. Dates do not need to be notable. The more dates added, the better.
As this section gets bigger, it can be moved to a separate article with the moved contents being summarized in the article.
Examples
In creating an article, people are encouraged to create list of examples that demonstrate what the term means. These examples help visitors by giving concrete examples where people can learn the definition by context. (This section can also be a great tool for promoting various fanworks.) If the term is used in multiple fandoms, works should be labeled by fandom.
As this section gets bigger, it can be moved to a separate article with the moved contents being summarized in the article.
Categories
Terms should be included in fandom specific terminology categories if the fandom is mentioned elsewhere in the article. If the fandom is not mentioned in the article, it should not be included in that fandom's specific terminology category. Fandoms can be mentioned in the historical definitions section, in the history section and in the examples section.
If a terminology page does not mention a fandom, it should be included in Category:Terminology or a specific subcategory such as Category:Cliches, Category:Fan Fiction terminology, Category:Fanon , Category:Fanzine terminology , and Category:Japanese terminology.
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