GuildWiki talk:Style and formatting/Disambiguation

"If there are any longstanding GuildWiki traditions/procedures that remain undocumented, please write up an article and link it appropriately." (-- Policy) Well, this is certainly a longstanding procedure, so I've written it up. I'm proposing it as a S&F guideline, not as policy, but we don't have a template. &mdash;Dr Ishmael 19:43, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

add notes about avoiding linking to disabig pages when possible. (if talking about pvp go to the pvp skill page. if talking abuot cratfing materials go to tanned hide square not hide (skill)). Also, what about disambigs for abbreviations? Um... Depending on setting, SF will mean either Searing Flames or Shadow Form. SoC is usually Song of Conc but we use it for Sig of Capture which is usually called cap sig... SoR is Shield of Regen or Song of Resto and theres a good chance sig of removal will come into play. But some things are weird. We have AR pointing to Armor rating and its usually used for Aggressive Refrain. I would change the redirect to point to aggressive but would that cause confusion? And things like SS change over time (in ha it used to be sandstorm, then steady stance, and then spiteful) while in pve its almost always spiteful. Do we have a way of working things that deal with setting and stuff? Can I make it so that if its a skill used in PvP more it goes to the PvP version that the PvE version? (I look stuff up for PvP way more often and I usually use the abbrevs to search). &mdash;♥ Jedi ♥ Rogue ♥ 19:57, 29 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Redirects are good in cases where there is no ambiguity about what the abbreviation will mean, like OoP or THK. In cases where there is ambiguity, though, it seems like we usually have a disambig page.  AR the redirect was created long before there was an Aggressive Refrain, but because we do have AR the skill now, it should be changed to a disambig.  Seems to me like it would be good practice to always use a disambig if there's more than one meaning to an abbreviation.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 20:52, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

Complete restructuring
I wrote a [moved to main article --Dr Ishmael], but ought to cover much the same ground as this one. I wanted to make it more simple to read and understand, and worded it more like a S&F guide and less like a policy. &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by m.mendel (contribs) 09:17, 30 July 2008.


 * Heh, much better than mine. The only complaint I have is that there's too many boxes and stuff and not enough explanation.  I can take care of that, though.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 20:09, 31 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Hope I didn't take it too far down the road back to a policy, but there was a bit of information that I felt needed to be added back in. Feel free to re-refine it to make it more "S&F"-ish again.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 21:31, 31 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Thank you, I'd been waiting for a reaction from you. I like your additions, but I felt that introducing the "primary topic" term just for that is a bit much at the start of the article, so I rephrased that a bit. I set off the list of common qualifiers again; if you want it to be an equal part (at equal size) of that section, it needs to be considerably shortened; or it could be in an appendix (i.e. in its own section at the end of the page) - it's just not important when you first read the guideline, and the layout should reflect that. The two policy-like prescriptions have been set off with red boxes to underline that these are really important and we're going to enforce these. I broadened the second one a bit to cover not just primary articles, because any kind of qualified article ought to have (and usually already has) a disambiguation if it has "sister articles". Maybe we ought to allow glossary on disambig pages? Glossary is often just a paragraph or two, and if you put it at the bottom of the dismbig, it wouldn't need its own page. Thoughts? &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by m.mendel (contribs) 18:42, 31 July 2008.


 * You forgot to sign again, mendel. :P Anyway, I like most of your edits.  I still don't like having the Tihark Orchard redirect as part of that one example, though - I don't think it fits there.  Simply mentioning a redirect may be enough to confuse some people, too.
 * I've got an idea on what to do with the "common qualifiers", give me a moment and I'll put it in. &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 01:18, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

Suffixes in current use
{|class=aligntop 211: mission 176: Nightfall 176: location 160: Factions 142: Prophecies 90: Eye of the North 79: PvP 68: Core 46: unique 37: explorable 26: Luxon 25: Boss 24: effect 23: Kurzick 22: Mission 21: Attack 20: species 20: Quest 20: Pre-Searing 20: Location 19: NPC 18: Tomb Ruins 18: monster 17: Species 16: Explorable 15: Warrior 15: unique item 14: Ranger 13: Tested 12: Wintersday 2006 11: Skill 11: Necromancer 10: Monster 10: Mesmer 10: Elementalist 10: Ascalon 9: weapon 9: special event 9: Item 9: Dungeon 9: 2007 9: 2 8: Unique Item 8: premade build 8: Monk 8: Crystal Desert 7: Wintersday 7: skill type 7: Shing Jea Island 7: quest 7: Post-Searing 7: Bonus Mission Pack 7: art 7: 2006 6: Unique 6: Salvage Item 6: Monster Skill 6: Merchant 6: Jade Sea 6: focus 6: Dervish 6: Canthan New Year 6: building 5: Unique item 5: snow fighting skill 5: Shiverpeaks 5: Kaineng City 5: Focus 5: action 5: 2008 5: 4: Wintersday 2005 4: Warrior Boss 4: wand 4: Tyrian 4: Tournament Map 4: region 4: ranger 4: Mission 2 4: Kryta 4: Istan 4: Disguise 4: Canthan New Year 2007 4: blessing 4: Arena 4: A Gate Too Far 3: Wand 3: Turai Ossa 3: Title 3: Sunspear 3: Staff 3: Spell 3: Southern Shiverpeaks 3: Smothering Tendrils 3: Smiting Prayers requiring 3: Smiting Prayers enhancing 3: skill 3: Sabardeyn Variant 3: Ritualist 3: Ring of Fire Islands 3: premade 3: Practice Target 3: Practice Ally 3: pet 3: outpost 3: not perfect 3: monster skill 3: Maguuma Jungle 3: Local Quarter 3: hex 3: Guild 3: Foreign Quarter 3: Focus Item 3: Dragon Festival 3: discount 3: Depths of Tyria 3: Communing 3: Charr Homelands 3: Brawling 3: Axe 3: 3
 * style="white-space:pre;"|
 * style="white-space:pre;"|
 * style="white-space:pre;"|

2 each
Zhu Hanuku yellow notice World world Wintersday 2007 Wind and Water weaponsmith Weapon Water Magic Warrior boss warrior UW unit Tutorial town title The Desolation terminology sword Strength strategy staff Smiting Prayers shield services Services scrimmage Remains of Sahlahja Mission Recruit Training Ravenheart Gloom rating PvE Protection Prayers requiring Protection Prayers enhancing professions Pre Searing Pre-searing pre-order item Post-searing POI Paragon Outpost Necromancer Boss moster Monk Boss minion Mesmer Boss male Luxon quest Lightbringer level 6 level 23 level 20 level 1 LAFT Labyrinth joke Insect Illusion Magic enhancing Healing Prayers requiring Healing Prayers enhancing Hammer hammer Guild Wars 2 guild hall guild Great House Gray golem Ghost Reconnaissance G.O.L.E.M. ful FoW Fast Casting Far Shiverpeaks event environmental feature Energy Storage Elonian Elementalist Boss Dragon Festival 2006 Done Dirt Cheap Domination Magic requiring Domination Magic Djinn Divine Favor requiring Divine Favor enhancing Discount Destroyer of Hordes Dagger Mastery CS Costume Brawl continent Collector collector Collectable Drop character type Channeling Magic Champion's Dawn Cape campaigns bundle Building build Blood Magic Balthazar Axe Mastery axe Assassin Ascalon Pre-Searing Animal ambient alliance Air Magic 15k

1 each
WIP white Water Magic requiring Water Magic enhancing Vabbi Tyria Trouble in the Woods Trader Tomb of the Primeval Kings The Kodash Bazaar Test Terrible temporary Tarnished Coast Tactics tabular form Swordsmanship Spear Mastery Spawning Power requiring Spawning Power enhancing Spawning Power Soul Reaping requiring Soul Reaping enhancing Soul Reaping Sorrow's Furnace Slang Skip Tutorial Skill type Site Shiverpeak Ship Scythe Mastery Sandbox ritualist Restoration Magic requiring Restoration Magic enhancing Restoration Magic Remains of Sahlahja red Realm of Torment PvP reward Protection Prayers Prophecies - Pre-Searing Prophecies - Post-Searing party Party Order old Northern Shiverpeaks Nightmare nightfall necromancer mybuild Mr.IP Motivation MK missions Missions May Material Trader Marksmanship Making my first build level 10 Lacking Kurzick quest Kourna Japan item Inspiration Magic requiring Inspiration Magic enhancing Inspiration Magic Illusion Magic requiring Illusion Magic Healing Prayers Hammer Mastery Hall of Heroes Haiju Lagoon GWEN Grey Grenth Gates of Kryta Gate of Pain Fort Aspenwood Fire Magic requiring Fire Magic enhancing Fire Magic Fast Casting requiring Fast Casting enhancing Explorable Area Expert Ranger es EotN Entity entity Energy Storage requiring Energy Storage enhancing Echovald Forest Ebony Citadel Earth Magic requiring Earth Magic enhancing Earth Magic Dwayna Dragon Festival 2008 Dragon Festival 2007 Dragon design dragon Domination Magic enhancing Divine Favor disambiguation Death Magic requiring Death Magic enhancing Death Magic Curses requiring Curses enhancing Curses course Continent condition Communing requiring Communing enhancing Common Command Char Chantry of Secrets Channeling Magic requiring Channeling Magic enhancing Ch2 C3 C2 C1 by Type Blood Magic requiring Blood Magic enhancing arena archive 2 archive 1 Ambient Alternative Alliance Battle Air Magic requiring Air Magic enhancing Action 1
 * }

listing
i suggest listing the most probable meaning first rather than alphabetizing. also it would be helpful maybe to say what settings will be certain things (SF in HA is usually Searing Flames and in ToA its gonna be Shadow Form) &mdash;♥ Jedi ♥ Rogue ♥ 20:59, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I also like listing skills with the skill icon. &mdash;♥ Jedi ♥ Rogue ♥ 21:16, 31 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Agreed on both points. Don't really care about the skill icons, but they could be helpful &rarr; When looking up a skill and you think to know the profession in question (such as SF when talking about an Ele) you'll see the skill color, and thus find what you need faster. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]]-- (s)talkpage  21:24, 31 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Tell me what you think of CC or AP. Most disambigs are short enough, only 2 or 3 links, that it seems inefficient to split up the list like that, so I'm trying to include the context in the link's description.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 01:37, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh, and about ordering: if I knew that one meaning was the most common one, I would say so, and then say "it can also refer to:" and then alphabetize the rest - for an example, see AoE. The problem is that I'm not terribly familiar with the community's current usage of most of these terms, so I alphabetized the list.  Feel free to correct my ordering.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 02:58, 1 August 2008 (UTC)


 * On CC: Consume Corpse is more often used in PvE. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]]-- (s)talkpage  03:01, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Well fix it then. :P &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 04:11, 1 August 2008 (UTC)