MHWiki:Manual of Style

The Manual of Style contains the general formatting for the different categories of pages in use at the moment, and lists down the basic structure of an article in that category.

Mice

The Mouse pages are as laid out below. This can also be used as the basic structure in creating a new Mouse page. Note that the sections should always be laid out in the order in which they are shown below, which is in the order of importance that most players will consider the information.

Manual of Style Mouse Group: Mouse Statistics Points: Gold: Location & Attraction Info Required Power Types: Other Requirements: Cheese: Charm: Locations: Loot: Links Larry's Loot Lexicon: MouseHunt Info Page Image: Mouse ID#: Editor's descriptions of the mouse. Does not have its own section header since it is the first set of text on the page. Differs from the in-game description. Normally contains the following: The locations in which it is encountered. For example, Grey mice can be found in all locations in the Gnawnia Region. Where loot can be found, and if specified by the developers, how frequently it is found. For example, Black Widows are known to always drop SUPER|brie+., or Vampire Mice are known to uncommonly drop Greater Radioactive Blue Cheese Curd Potions in the Mousoleum. If the Mouse does not drop any loot, it should contain a simple 1 liner such as: Grey Mice are not known to drop any loot. Preferred Cheese This section should always be included, clearly stating if a mouse has any preferences. A sample writeup would be, While the Student of the Cheese Claw can be attracted by standard cheese, it has a distinct preference for SUPER|brie+ and Maki. Thus clearly explaining that while there is a bait preference, standard cheese can be used. This is information that is not covered by the infobox. Hunting Strategy This section is optional, since not all mice need a strategy. An example would be, In order to catch a Burglar Mouse with Plankrun's Pages, they should hunt in the Bazaar with their strongest trap using Brie cheese, disregarding the Power Type since it is a Physical Type mouse. This section differs from the preferred cheese section, and should be considered for inclusion if there is a bait preference. History and Trivia This section is optional, since not all mice have any associated history or trivia. This is consolidated into one section since they typically mean the same thing in MouseHunt. Some examples of trivia would be something like, The Burglar Mouse was -really- named after a particularly nasty forum scammer. Another example, The Birthday Mouse was introduced to commemorate MouseHunt's first anniversary on 7 March 2009. These 2 are both part of MouseHunt, and the Mice's history, as well as trivia about it. Images This section is optional. If a mouse has more than 1 image, such as the Dwarf, this section should be included, along with the list of the different images the mouse has taken over time. Categorization and Table of contents Lastly comes proper categorization. This does not have a section on its own. The infobox automatically includes the Gameplay and Mice categories. However, the mice should also be further categorized into their respective sub-categories, such as [[Category:Gnawnia Mice]] for Grey Mice. The only text that needs to be added is "[[Category:Gnawnia Mice]]". Replace the region accordingly. The table of contents should also be hidden by using the __NOTOC__ tag. This is to prevent the page from looking odd by having a TOC on the left and an infobox on the right.

Locations

The various locations are as laid out below. This can also be used as the basic structure in creating a new Location page. Note that the sections should always be laid out in the order in which they are shown below, which is in the order of importance that most players will consider the information.

Article starts with the in-game description for the location in italics. Description and Requirements This section should always be included. It contains these basic elements: Description of the region in which this location lies, such as Burroughs or Gnawnia. States the requirements for entering this location, mainly rank and map or key needed. For example, The Harbour is accessible only to hunters of rank Apprentice or higher. Additional notes on the location, such as whether gold can be stolen here. For example, Hunters will be relieved to learn that mice are unable to steal gold, cheese, or points in the Town of Digby. Shops This section should always be included. It should have either a list of the shops, or state that there aren't any. For example, There are no shops available in the Mountain. The nearest available shops in the region are in the Town of Gnawnia and the Harbour. An introductory line that can be used for shops: The following shops can be found in the Town of Gnawnia: followed by the list of shops sorted in alphabetical order. Location Mice This section should always be included. It basically contains a table of all the mice that can be found here, as well as information on the amount of gold, points, power type, and loot. Rare mice should be highlighted in the table. A rough gauge of rarity would be if a mouse is not encountered at least once every 100 hunts. Bait preference (or dislike) should be covered in the Hunting Strategy section below, and not in this table. A sample table is shown below. Notice that Black Widow mice are shaded. The table is properly formatted and should be used. Full links to the loot, even if repetitive, should always be included. In certain situations, such as the Pinnacle Chamber with only 2 mice, neither should be considered rare. Hapless can easily be encountered using standard cheese, while the Master can easily be encountered using Rumble. Mouse Max Points Min Gold Power Type Loot Bionic 300 551 Physical Brie Alchemy Potion Black Widow 480 11 Physical SUPER|brie+ cheese Highlighted mice are those rarely encountered in the location. Hunting Strategy This section should always be included, and bait preference must be written up. If there are no hunting strategies available (unlikely due to game design), it should state so. Hunting strategy covers a broad scope, and can be something like: Monster mice can only be encountered in the Laboratory if the hunter uses Radioactive Blue cheese as bait. Bait Preference This section should always be included as a subsection under Hunting Strategy. It covers the nuances of cheese usage in the location. For example: For hunters who prefer to hunt at a regular pace, using standard cheese such as Brie or Swiss is more than adequate in the Laboratory. However, hunters who wish to encounter the elusive Monster will have to use Radioactive Blue cheese instead. Using Radioactive Blue, they will still encounter the other breeds of mice, but the odds of facing a Monster goes up. Hunters are advised to be prepared with their strongest traps in this case, due to the immense strength of the Monster. History and Trivia This section is optional. Self descriptive. This section can be used to hold information on the previous visits of Ronza's for example. It can also contain information like, The Abominable Snow Mouse could be found in this location for a brief period of time around Christmas 2008. Categorization & Navbox Finally, the navbox needs to be updated and added to the bottom of the page using "{{location}}". The navbox template will automatically insert the Gameplay and Locations categories, so the only text that needs to be added is {{location}}.

Weapons

The Weapon pages are as laid out below. This can also be used as the basic structure in creating a new Weapon page. Note that the sections should always be laid out in the order in which they are shown below, which is in the order of importance that most players will consider the information.

Manual of Style Power Type: ?? Weapon Statistics Weapon Info Power: Rank requirement: ?? Power Bonus: % Cost: Attraction Bonus: % Limited Edition: ?? Luck: Crafted: ?? Cheese Effect: Smashable: ?? Larry's Loot Lexicon: ?? Image: ?? Article starts with a brief editor's description of the trap. Typical entries can be something like, The 500 Pound Spiked Crusher is one of the first few weapons readily available to a hunter., or The High Tension Spring is one of original weapons that came with first version of MouseHunt. It is also one of the two weapons that new players can choose from. Further information on the locations the trap is usually used in can also be included. For example, The Sinister Portal is most often used by hunters in the Mousoleum. Purchasing Info This section must always be included. There are a few possibilities in this section: Trap can be bought in shops. In which case, the locations where the trap can be bought and the refund value should be included. For example, The High Tension Spring can be purchased from the Town of Gnawnia for 600 gold. It refunds for 108 gold at the same location. Trap is limited edition and can no longer be bought. In this case, the location or item from which it could be found should be included. The purchase cost and refund value should also be included, if any. Trap can only be crafted and not purchased. In this case, it should be clearly stated that the trap can only be crafted, and that crafted weapons can never be refunded. The formula will follow in a subsection using 3 === rather than 2. Section shown below, with a sample formula from the ACRONYM. The ordering of ingredients should first be ascending order on quantity, followed by alphabetized A to Z for items of the same quantity. Formula Formula: A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Description Qty Cost Mysterious Blueprints 1 632,700 Obelisk Parts 1 316,350 Onyx Stone 1 Loot Magic Essence 3 Crafting Scrap Metal 12 Loot Total 949,050+ Any additional notes about the crafting formula should come here, such as, The total cost of crafting only includes direct vendor costs. Variable costs in acquiring the ingredients are not included, such as the cost of SUPER|brie+ to get Magic Essence. Trap Effectiveness This section should always be included. Even when clear information is not available on its effectiveness for new power types, it should be stated. As new traps get tons of page views, this encourages players to contribute to the information by checking it up. A sample writeup for this section would be, The Digby Drillbot, being a Physical Type weapon, is known to be of normal effectiveness against Physical mice, but performs less effectively against all other mice types. A simple understanding of Effectiveness is needed for this section. Related Traps This section is optional. It should be included when there's a good substitute for the weapon, such as Ambrosial/Sinister, DeathBot/Forcefield, Tacky Glue/High Tension and so on. Ideally, a brief comparison of the traps should also be made, such as, Ambrosial Portal - The Ambrosial Portal has a fresher cheese effect and better attraction bonus but lower power bonus. Hunter's Hammer This section is optional. It should be included when the weapon is available for smashing, such as Obelisk of Slumber and recently, the Mouse DeathBot. History and Trivia This section is optional. Some of the information it can contain is, The Snow Barrage was only available for sale in Ronza's for a brief period in December 2008. Combined Trap Statistics This section should always be included, and must be at the bottom of the page due to it's size. It is basically a table of the Weapon values when combined with the respective base. It should be in alphabetical order on the base names and contain the following headers: Base, Power, Power Bonus, Attraction Bonus, Luck, Cheese Effect. A sample from the Swiss Army Mouse Trap is shown below. The standard writeup (less italics) for this section is: Shown in the table below are the statistics when combined with the respective [[Base]]s. Click on the sorting box beside a particular attribute to do a quick comparison. Base Power Power Bonus Attraction Bonus Luck Cheese Effect Birthday Cake Base 1,554 13% 7% 10 0No Effect Dehydration Base 1,454 2% 7% 14 4Insanely Fresh Explosive Base 1,605 7% 7% 10 -9Stale Polar Base 1,568 12% 2% 14 4Insanely Fresh Stone Base 1,512 12% 2% 10 1Fresh Wooden Base 1,260 2% 2% 10 2Very Fresh Wooden Base with Target 1,301 2% 22% 10 0No Effect Categorization and Table of contents Lastly comes proper categorization. This does not have a section on its own. The infobox automatically includes the Gameplay and Weapons categories. Thus no further categorization is needed. The table of contents should also be hidden by using the __NOTOC__ tag. This is to prevent the page from looking odd by having a TOC on the left and an infobox on the right.

Bases

The Base pages are as laid out below. This can also be used as the basic structure in creating a new Base page. Note that the sections should always be laid out in the order in which they are shown below, which is in the order of importance that most players will consider the information.

Manual of Style Base Statistics Base Info Power: Rank requirement: ?? Power Bonus: % Cost: Attraction Bonus: % Limited Edition: ?? Luck: Crafted: ?? Cheese Effect: Smashable: ?? Larry's Loot Lexicon: ?? Image: ?? Article starts with a brief editor's description of the trap. Common topics such as, The Wooden Base is the first base available for hunters. Purchasing Info This section must always be included. There are a few possibilities in this section: Base can be bought in shops. In which case, the locations where the base can be bought and the refund value should be included. For example, The Wooden Base with Target can be purchased from the Town of Gnawnia for 1,225 gold. It refunds for 221 gold at the same location. Base is limited edition and can no longer be bought. In this case, the location or item from which it could be found should be included. The purchase cost and refund value should also be included, if any. Base can only be crafted and not purchased. In this case, it should be clearly stated that the base can only be crafted, and that crafted bases can never be refunded. The formula will follow in a subsection using 3 === rather than 2. Section shown below, with a sample formula from the Dehydration Base. The ordering of ingredients should first be ascending order on quantity, followed by alphabetized A to Z for items with the same qty. Formula Formula: Dehydration Base Description Qty Cost Dehydration Base Blueprints 1 22,330 Splintered Wood 4 150 / Loot Salt 213 2 – 10 Total 23,356 – 25,060 Any additional notes about the formula should come here. For example, The Dehydration base can only be crafted by a Journeyman and above. Additionally, it can only be safely crafted by a Master and above. History and Trivia This section is optional. Some of the information it can contain is, The Dehydration Base was introduced 4 December 2008. Combined Trap Statistics This section should always be included, and must be at the bottom of the page due to it's size. It is basically a table of the Base values when combined with the respective weapons, and should be organized in alphabetical order on the weapon name. A sample from the Stone Base table is shown below. The standard writeup (less italics) for this section is: Shown in the table below are the statistics when combined with the respective [[Weapon]]s. Click on the sorting box beside a particular attribute to do a quick comparison. Weapon Power Power Type Power Bonus Attraction Bonus Luck Cheese Effect Tacky Glue Trap 242 Physical 10% 40% 2 0No Effect High Tension Spring 253 Physical 15% 20% 2 1Fresh Mouse Mary O'Nette 446 Physical 10% 6% 5 2Very Fresh 500 Pound Spiked Crusher 480 Physical 20% 0% 1 1Fresh Mouse Trebuchet 840 Physical 12% 4% 1 3Extremely Fresh Mouse Rocketine 928 Physical 16% 0% 0 -9Stale Categorization and Table of contents Lastly comes proper categorization. This does not have a section on its own. The infobox automatically includes the Gameplay and Bases categories. Thus no further categorization is needed. The table of contents should also be hidden by using the __NOTOC__ tag. This is to prevent the page from looking odd by having a TOC on the left and an infobox on the right.

General Formatting

The general formatting section provides basic guidelines for the following aspects of the MH Wiki:

Dates

The dates in MH Wiki should be in the following format:

• 5 March 2009

This is to keep in line with the format used by the Developers.

In-Game Spelling

In general, all in-game text quoted on the wiki is an exact copy, spelling mistakes included, if any. Editors should avoid correcting any spelling or grammar mistakes, such as when posting in the MHWiki:Current events page. (sic) must also be avoided as it is condescending and makes the Developers look bad. Some exceptions to this is when it involves a critical element of gameplay, such as the description of Attraction Bonus as Accuracy Bonus. If you spot any mistakes, inform the Developers on the Tech Support forums.

Linking

How many links is too many?

In general, linking to another page should be done once per article. Exceptions are when each section is self contained, such as in the Location Quick Reference, or the Mouse pages, such as the Monster Mouse page, where links already in the infobox are repeated in the main write up. The main idea is to provide accessible links without overdoing it.

What to look out for when linking

When linking articles, make sure to link to the actual name as much as possible, rather than linking to a centralized article. For example, when linking to Combat cheese, which currently resides in the centralized article Crafted cheese, you would use the link [[Combat]]. Avoid using the link [[Crafted cheese|Combat]]. This is to prevent broken links if the section name is changed. In this way, only the redirect in [[Combat]] needs to be updated.

Mouse page links

When linking to a mouse page, it is acceptable to use either the short or long name depending on your needs. For example, you can link to either [[Bat]] or [[Bat Mouse]], since Bat is a redirect to Bat Mouse. There is no need to use [[Bat Mouse|Bat]], which adds unnecessary bulk to the page.

Linking other pages/external websites

Always provide a link description in order to aid ease of navigation. For example, linking to the Cheese Effect page from the Stale Cheese article, it can be written as:

• Cheese Effect – Information on how cheese goes stale.

As can be seen from the example, it explains the link in a quick summary. This is much more informative than just tossing in a link itself. Additionally, please use the en-dash '–' rather than the standard minus '-' sign for consistency in the wiki.

Lists

In general, when there's a long list of items in a table or sub-category, the list should be alphabetized from A to Z. If it's mixed format with numbers, that should come before the alphabets. Using some of the weapons for example:

• 500 Pound Spiked Crusher
• Ambrosial Portal
• High Tension Spring
• Mouse Mary O'Nette

The exception to this is when the article intends to preserve the natural order. For example, the natural order of locations in Gnawnia would be:

• Town of Gnawnia
• Meadow
• Harbour
• Mountain

Numbers

Large numbers should always have a comma ',' at the thousands and millions mark and so on, for example:

• 250
• 6,000
• 1,200,000