Help:Editing

Objective

The purpose of defining how pages on the wiki should be written, is to help maintain consistency by having a set guideline, and to enable easier translations of the site into other languages. Since this page is easily accessible below the edit box, it (currently) contains more details of style than actual edit instruction.

Typographic Conventions

The PC-BSD Handbook uses the following typographic conventions:

bold text: represents a command written at the command line. In usage examples, the font is changed with any command output displayed in unbolded text.

italic text: used to represent device names or file name paths.

bold italic text: used to emphasize an important point.

Language usage and word choice

To facilitate future translations avoid the following:

Contractions

in place of don't, can't or won't use do not, cannot, or will not.

Avoid brand names

use web search instead of Google search

Special Characters

Traversal of menus/windows

use an arrow (➜) as in the example:

PC-BSD control panel ➜ System manager ➜ System packages tab

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Reference

Punctuation apostrophe ( ’ ' ) brackets ( [ ], ( ), { }, ⟨ ⟩ ) colon ( : ) comma ( , ) dash ( ‒, –, —, ― ) ellipsis ( …, ..., . . . ) exclamation mark ( ! ) full stop/period ( . ) guillemets ( « » ) hyphen ( ‐ ) hyphen-minus ( - ) question mark ( ? ) quotation marks ( ‘ ’, “ ”, ' ', " " ) semicolon ( ; ) slash/stroke ( / ) solidus ( ⁄ )

Word dividers space ( ) ( ) ( ) (␠) (␢) (␣) interpunct ( · ) General typography ampersand ( & ) at sign ( @ ) asterisk ( * ) backslash ( \ ) bullet ( • ) caret ( ^ ) dagger ( †, ‡ ) degree ( ° ) ditto mark ( 〃 ) inverted exclamation mark ( ¡ ) inverted question mark ( ¿ ) number sign/pound/hash/octothorpe ( # )

numero sign ( № ) obelus ( ÷ ) ordinal indicator ( º, ª ) percent etc. ( %, ‰, ‱ ) pilcrow ( ¶ ) prime ( ′, ″, ‴ ) section sign ( § ) tilde ( ~ ) underscore/understrike ( _ ) vertical/broken bar, pipe ( ¦, | ) Intellectual property copyright symbol ( © ) registered trademark ( ® ) sound recording copyright ( ℗ ) service mark ( ℠ ) trademark ( ™ )

Dingbats

0

1

2

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A

B

C

D

E

F

U+270x

✁

✂

✃

✄

✅

✆

✇

✈

✉

✊

✋

✌

✍

✎

✏

U+271x

✐

✑

✒

✓

✔

✕

✖

✗

✘

✙

✚

✛

✜

✝

✞

✟

U+272x

✠

✡

✢

✣

✤

✥

✦

✧

✨

✩

✪

✫

✬

✭

✮

✯

U+273x

✰

✱

✲

✳

✴

✵

✶

✷

✸

✹

✺

✻

✼

✽

✾

✿

U+274x

❀

❁

❂

❃

❄

❅

❆

❇

❈

❉

❊

❋

❌

❍

❎

❏

U+275x

❐

❑

❒

❓

❔

❕

❖

❗

❘

❙

❚

❛

❜

❝

❞

❟

U+276x

❠

❡

❢

❣

❤

❥

❦

❧

❨

❩

❪

❫

❬

❭

❮

❯

U+277x

❰

❱

❲

❳

❴

❵

❶

❷

❸

❹

❺

❻

❼

❽

❾

❿

U+278x

➀

➁

➂

➃

➄

➅

➆

➇

➈

➉

➊

➋

➌

➍

➎

➏

U+279x

➐

➑

➒

➓

➔

➕

➖

➗

➘

➙

➚

➛

➜

➝

➞

➟

U+27Ax

➠

➡

➢

➣

➤

➥

➦

➧

➨

➩

➪

➫

➬

➭

➮

➯

U+27Bx

➰

➱

➲

➳

➴

➵

➶

➷

➸

➹

➺

➻

➼

➽

➾

➿

Notes 1. As of Unicode version 6.1

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• unicode DB
• wikipedia:Arrow (symbol)
• wikipedia:Letterlike Symbols
• wikipedia:dingbat
• Technical Writing rules FAQ - related to highly technical assembly/maintenance manuals but we can take note of a few useful points from the FAQ.
• E Prime - would likely reduce the challenge to translations.
• wikipedia:E-Prime#Discouraged_forms_and_rationale_for_typical_replacements

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Wikimedia: Help:Editing

Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style