This page is considered an official policy on the Barney Wiki.
It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that everyone should follow.
The Manual of Style is the style manual for all Barney Wiki articles. It describes the guidelines that should be followed so articles stay consistent throughout.
Layout
All articles should be written in an out-of-universe view. This means that articles should be tailored to and understandable to viewers who aren’t familiar with the Barney franchise.
- Example (using the article “Barney Through the Years”)
- Unacceptable – The blue dog was first used in 1988.
- Acceptable - "Dubbed as the "blue dog" costume and internally as B-001,"
The following style detailed is the general style used for home video articles; however, not all sections are covered on each page, so please do not apply every section written below if the article's information doesn't cover those. Headers on page should be in the order of "Synopsis", "Characters", "Songs", "Production", "Music and Soundtrack", "Adaptation", "Marketing", "Release", "Gallery", "Awards and nominations" "Trivia", "References". Some of these can be interchangeable and or fit into another section. Example: "(Insert video name) was filmed on (insert date)." would normally go in the "Production" section, but while it's only one sentence, it would go in "Trivia". If there are two sentences to follow that example, then the "Production" section would be necessary.
The following style detailed is the general style used for album articles; however, not all sections are covered on each page, so please do not apply every section written below if the article's information doesn't cover those. Headers on page should be in the order of "Background", "Release", "Critical reception", "Track listing", "Personnel", "Gallery", "Charts", "Release history", "Trivia", "Videos", "See also", "References".
Rules
Layout
- Home video titles should be in italics.
- Song titles should be in quotes.
- For gallery layout rules, see this wiki's photo policies.
Trivia
- For Trivia don’t add facts that can be found on other pages.
- Ex. You add this fact on Barney's Big Surprise -
- "The video aired on PBS in 1998, being the fourth of only eleven Barney Home Videos to be televised on that network. The first being Barney in Concert (aired during the Barney & Friends Family Marathon) and the others being Barney Live! In New York City, Barney Safety, Barney's Night Before Christmas, Barney's Christmas Star, Barney's Best Manners: Your Invitation to Fun!, Let's Go to the Farm, Dino-Mite Birthday, Barney's Jungle Friends, and Big World Adventure.
- This entire information is more useful for the article “PBS” as broadcasts are listed there, and it’s quite a long trivia fact for this article. These home videos have nothing to do with said article it's on.
- Ex. You add this fact on Barney's Big Surprise -
- Do not add false information, speculation and or fan-created facts to a page.
- A fan-created fact would be "This is the end of the Barney and Friends' Second Era (July 8, 1997 - August 27, 2002)." As much as they're fun to go by, eras are not official and were created by fans of the franchise.
Creation
- When creating an article, please do research. It's encouraged to cite sources when creating and adding to an article. Of course not everything will be cited, but information found on public websites (such as newspaper articles) are encouraged to be cited. This is to show readers that this site can be a trusted source of information.
- For SEO purposes do not create articles less than fifty words. Articles such as those will be deleted.
- Do not create a page and then leave it blank. If a page is left blank for a twenty-four hours, it will be removed, citing that the page is irrelevant if no information is on it by the creator. You can be a big help by researching more about the topic!
- Generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) should not be used to create nor alter text on the wiki.
Writing Style
With the exception of copying product and synopsis descriptions, articles should remain unbiased and free of excessive details or flowery language that can make them difficult to read by viewers who are not familiar with the Barney franchise.
- Example (hypothetical section on "Alternate Barney Costumes")
- Unacceptable - This incredible, creative 1993 costume was pivotal to Barney as a whole and displayed unique traits such as its dynamic hue; cool, right?
- Acceptable - The 1993 costume is significant for its lighter shade of purple.