Style Guide 2015
In keeping with our descriptive and collective mission, entries can be added and edited by any Northwestern user with a NeD account. To maintain uniformity and clarity of information, we ask that every entry follow both the NeD Style Guide and the NeD Entry Layout. As an Editorial Board, we reserve the right to reformat or remove any such entries that do not comply to these standards. These style guides and entry layout forms were adapted from the foundational success of documents of the same name at Wiktionary.com, a dictionary with a similar online format, but a particular international focus. We are indebted to their example of a crowd sourced online dictionary. Questions and concerns should be directed to nudictionary@mmlc.northwestern.edu. Enjoy NeD!
The Basic Entry
Instructions and templates for Wikimarkup format for entries can be found on the Entry Layout for NeD.
Part of Speech
This is usually the first information directly after the headword. This header most often shows the part of speech, but is not restricted to “parts of speech” in the traditional sense. Many other descriptors like “Proper noun”, “Idiom”, “Abbreviation”, “Symbol”, “Prefix”, etc.
Pronunciation/Alternate Forms and Pronunciation
For words with only one form, the section title will simply be “Pronunciation”. Each entry should include a respelled version (following the WildWords Respelling Guide), placed in brackets, and should be followed by an audio file. For words with alternate or multiple forms (e.g. Weinberg vs. Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences), these will be included under the section title “Alternate Forms and Pronunciations”, with each form put in a numbered list. The respelling of each alternate form will be placed in brackets following the term, and there should be an audio sample following each form.
NeD uses a custom MediaWiki SoundCloud widget to play sound clips, which means the easiest method of uploading sound samples is to save the sound clip on the SoundCloud website and then display an audio file on the NeD page. WikiMarkup code for audio files can be found on the NeD Entry Layout page.
Usage
Each entry should include a description of the speech community that uses it and in what contexts it is used. For example, this may include whether it is used by the greater Northwestern community or a specific organization, if it is used in formal or informal contexts, or if it is used in spoken word or written text. If the entry is used by the greater Northwestern community, the sentence “This term is used by the Northwestern community at large” would suffice.
Definitions
The descriptions are the most fundamental piece of an encyclopedic dictionary. They should be concise but thorough, consisting of around four sentences. The goal is to provide readers with the necessary cultural information and context to be able to understand and use the word, without excess information or trivia. The description may consist of sentence fragments and complete sentences, with a preference for complete sentences.
Numbering
An entry with a single description should not have a numeral. If the entry has multiple descriptions, then they should be added one after another in a numeric list. When the entry has multiple descriptions, they should be ordered from the most common usage to the least.
Words in Definitions
The use of technical and obscure words in definitions should be kept to an absolute minimum. When it is necessary or useful to use less common words, these should always have a succinct explanation on the page. It can also be helpful to link to a corresponding NeD or Wiktionary page.
Patterns
The key information should be placed as close to the beginning of the definition as grammar and elegance permit. Formatting the entry in this way will assist casual users in quickly locating the information they need.
Verbs: Definitions of verbs should begin with "to".
- To walk briskly.
Nouns: Definitions of nouns should begin with a definite or indefinite article. Usually an uncountable sense will take a definite article (the), while a countable sense will usually take an indefinite article (a/an.
- A domesticated species of canine animal, commonly kept as a house pet.
- the invisible gaseous substance surrounding the earth, a mixture mainly of oxygen and nitrogen.
Adjectives: The more concise construction, the better:
- Having a yellow color.
Example sentences
Generally, every definition should be accompanied by a quotation illustrating the definition. If no quotation can be found, it is strongly encouraged to create an example sentence. Example sentences should:
- be grammatically complete sentences, beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period, question mark, or exclamation point.
- be placed immediately after the applicable numbered definition, and before any quotations associated with that specific definition.
- be italicized, with the defined term boldfaced.
- be as brief as possible while still clarifying the sense of the term. (In rare cases, examples consisting of two brief sentences may work best.)
- be indented using the “#:” command placed at the start of the line.
- not contain wikilinks (the words should be easy enough to understand without additional lookup)
Optional Headings
Etymologies
An etymology of each NeD word is encouraged if any information on the history and coinage of the word is available.
Context labels
Entries should include some way to tell us which part of the NU community makes use of this word. Context labels on NeD include students, faculty, staff, region of campus (e.g. North, South, Residential Colleges or Communities), student groups (e.g. Sororities, Fraternities, Clubs). Context labels can also include appropriate usage arenas, such as informal or formal.
Related Terms
Entries that include related NeD terms should list the wikilink to the NeD page for that page. This heading is meant for words that are either already entered in NeD or could be entered in the future.
External Links
Any other websites that are connected to the word should be linked under the heading External Links, below the related terms.
References
References are are required when the information is sourced from another website, magazine, or other source. If no outside source was consulted, then it is not necessary.
General considerations
In general, NeD favors a minimalistic approach. Entries should not be more complex than necessary. Content should not be added unless it adds value for some identifiable group of users. Avoiding unnecessary clutter and complication aids in the portability of our data, and helps to ensure that our entries will be usable to as wide a community of users as possible. For the same reasons, it is expected that entries will maintain as high a level of consistency as is possible to do while still respecting the complexity of the lexicon.
Varieties of English
English spelling and usage varies widely from one dialect to another. NeD does not privilege one variety over another. However, it is expected that an entry should be internally consistent and that entries should not be edited for the sole purpose of changing from one English dialect to another.
Punctuation
Quotation marks
NeD favors the use of double quotation marks (" " or “ ”) rather than single ones (' ' or ‘ ’). Single quotes are normally used only when one quotation is enclosed within another. NeD usage places any terminal punctuation outside of the quotation marks, unless it is actually part of the quote.
Commas
Include the serial (or Oxford) comma, the final comma before the last element in a list Eg. ... red, white, and blue.
Interwiki Links
Related words with their own NeD pages used in the description of an entry should be wikilinked through bracket notation. An example can be found on the Entry Layout page.
Right hand side
Most content elements should be in the main (center) section of the page. Accepted items that may appear on the right-hand side:
- Images
- Video Examples
- Usage Polls
When possible the width of right-hand side elements should be uniform so as to provide a "virtual" right-hand side column. Example wikimarkup can be found on the Entry Layout page.
