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Spelling
I know that this is frequently an area of debate on Wikipedia (where I would agree that it was a bad idea), but I'm willing to risk bringing it up here: would it be a good idea for us to standard(ise/ize) on American spelling? I know that there are people out there who would rather use British spellings, but, in reading Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Manual of Style, I have noticed that, in the section titled National varieties of English, it gives the example of an article concerning Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and states that such an article should be written using British spelling and style. It seems to me that, following that rule, any Star Wars article on Wikipedia would use American spelling and style, and that Wookieepedia should therefore standardize on American spelling. Thoughts? (By the way, in the event that anyone should attack me as an ignorant and arrogant American who cares nothing about others' culture(s), please know that I spent many of my formative years (the ones where I was learning to read and write) in Southeast Asia, where the predominant form of English is British English&mdash;as a result, I often prefer British spellings myself, so I'm not entirely biased towards the U.S. in this matter; I simply think that uniformity is good. I'm sure that no one on this wiki would resort to personal attacks, though, right? (-:) Uh, all of that aside, any thoughts? -- Aidje 00:07, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Not to be US-centric or anything, but if Star Wars originated in the United States, then the Wiki should follow the American format. -- Riffsyphon1024 00:10, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * One could make the argument (as Robert Brown did) that looking at the scripts and production designs, the word "lightsaber" is spelled using the British form, "sabre", rather than the American "saber", and as such should be the way it is spelled in all cases. However, I think the best way to go, at least in this regard, is the most common spelling in official materials, and since probably 99% of the Star Wars novels, reference books, video games, etc. are all made using American English, then it is probably best to standardize on that. In my own writings (off Wookieepedia) I'll still spell it "lightsabre", if only b/c I think it looks better, and in the end, that's the only reason words are spelled the way they are, it looks better that way.--Eion 00:44, 3 May 2005 (UTC)

This issue will be decided by consensus, so if they are more people happy with the US spelling, the way it looks in 99% of merchandise, then that is how we go. -- Riffsyphon1024 00:48, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm certainly not US-centric (having lived my entire life in Canada), but I agree that US English should be the standard. However, Commonwealth/British/Canadian spellings for article titles, like lightsabre, should definitely be kept as redirects. Silly Dan 00:38, 3 May 2005 (UTC)


 * There is some post-structral debate over the reason words are spelled the way they are. But I agree.  US spellings all around.  --Kosure 00:50, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Wow. No flames! Cool. And everyone (so far) seems to agree, as well. I certainly feel better about bringing this up now that I see people's responses. I was afraid I might offend someone. -- Aidje 01:07, 3 May 2005 (UTC)


 * I must disagree. Proper names or items that are named in canon sources should be spelled properly. For example, lightsaber is spelled that way in all canon sources, and we should reflect that here. If an author uses an alternative English spelling method consistently in an article, any Wookipedians who edit or add to the article should respect it. If an author writes uses the spelling "armour" in a phrase, such as "Han Solo's shot bounced off Darth Vader's armour", and he is consistent throughout an article, it is acceptable. If an author uses the spelling for, say, a unit name, as in "The Rebel Alliance feared the 3rd Imperial Heavy Armour" -- it would be correctable via canon sources. If we take a hard and fast rule about the use of American English spelling, we may scare off or alienate potential participants, which would be unwise at this stage. In the end, we can make a decision on the final editing stance (perhaps having both US and UK versions of articles), but for now, it should be left alone. We have greater concerns to focus on. --SparqMan 01:48, 3 May 2005 (UTC)


 * I agree with SpargMan. It's just tiresome to have to revise my typing style just to Americanise words that really have no bearing on the article as a whole, and I suppose being 'corrected' for using your own language may not make some contributors happy. -Fade 15:19, 3 May 2005 (UTC)

Dating Systems
I noticed that it seems like the standard for dates here use the Battle of Yavin system, with that battle as a zero years. Would it be possible to use the Great Resynchronization system instead? I prefer it greatly to the BBY/ABY system; it just seems more 'realistic' from an in-universe perspective; that, plus it's used by both the modern Holonet News and the old Galaxy News Net breifs in the Star Wars Adventure Journal. I realize that almost everyone is more familiar with the BBY/ABY system, but that could be rectified by linking each year mentioned to an article about it (much like Wikipedia does) which not only has a list of the events that year, but also the corresponding date using the BBY/ABY system. I realize that many might not agree with me, and that it will take a bit of work to convert everything, but I think it's the best way to go. It's also more neutral, considering that the BBY/ABY system would only be favored by the Rebels and the other one was in use much longer. Gladius 06:42, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * While you have valid reasons, it's a lot of work, and for that reason alone I don't think it ends up as a net good result. It's hard enough getting people to work on articles, without the learning curve of a new calendar. This would cause a lot of people a lot of grief. It would be similar to requiring all Wikipedia articles about the Aztec to use only their calendar system.--Eion 06:49, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Its possible that it could be implimented in articles detailed those years defined by BBY/ABY, but hardly anyone would enjoy trying to learn a new dating system based on the Holonet's. -- Riffsyphon1024 06:44, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Besides, the average fan can grasp BBY immediately, but may never have heard of the Galaxy NewsNet or Holonet News systems. Silly Dan 11:31, 3 May 2005 (UTC)

Refering to named Ships
For the Manual of Style, we should establish how we would like to refer to named ships in regards to the use of the article "the" before a name. For example:
 * "At the Battle of Endor, the Executor was the flagship of the Imperial Navy."
 * or
 * "At the Battle of Endor, Executor was the flagship of the Imperial Navy."

Is this a mere matter of choice in style, or does it demand a decision? --SparqMan 06:42, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Matter of choice I think. Maybe personal preference, just like our discussion on American/British English. -- Riffsyphon1024 06:45, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Standard navel practice use "the" before a class name, as in "The Executor Class Star Dreadnaught" but not in the ship's name, as in "HIMS Executor"--Eion 06:49, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Actually, naval communications uses the when the full name is used (as well as a class name), as in "the U.S.S. Nimitz", but would say, "We will dispatch Nimitz as soon as possible." --SparqMan 14:46, 3 May 2005 (UTC)


 * I'm glad this has been added to the Manual of Style, but I have one question: must HIMS be used every time a given (Imperial) ship is mentioned by name, or is it okay on subsequent mentionings to omit the prefix? -- Aidje 13:02, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * HIMS is canon? --SparqMan 14:46, 3 May 2005 (UTC)

In/Out of Universe Perspectives
Didn't see any other discussion on this. Should a policy on whether an article is written from an in or out of unvierse perpective be put in place? Personally, I'd like to see any articles on characters and such written from a totally IU POV, without any references to OOU stuff at all except for a Appearances or Behind the Scenes header at the bottom-- and even that should have a notation like I put in my Soontir Fel article. It just makes this whole wiki more realistic, especially if we format all the articles like they are on the regular Wikipedia. I noticed that a bunch of articles say in the middle of it what books a character appears in, or that they're from the star wars universe or whatever. To me it just detracts from the sense of realism.

I do think that articles about any OOU stuff, like books or merchandise, should obviously be written from an OOU perspective and perhaps noted be noted as such.

What do y'all think? -- Gladius 06:48, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I have merged your OOU article to the Manual of Style. -- Riffsyphon1024 06:52, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Gee I wish I had wings too. Seems needlessly complex and draconian. You need Suspension of Disbelief when viewing this kind of material, or else you have to accept that giant yellow letters zoom throughout space, all heroic actions are accompanied by orchestral music, and giant wipes whisk characters from scene to scene.--Eion 06:52, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Addendum, A clear IU/OU boundary is perhaps a mark of a great article, but even a fuzzy one drastically improves the "believability" of an article. Though I doubt anything from this wiki could be C&Ped direct into a novel as an "in universe" writing, it's nice to try.--Eion 06:57, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Would it be helpful to create a template tag for articles that require IU/OOU cleaning? Or should the tag include it, now that it has been merged into the Manual of Style? --SparqMan 07:01, 3 May 2005 (UTC)