User:ClemRutter/Cotton/doc

This is a project guideline for the structure of Wikipedia articles about UK Textile Mills. Discuss it at WikiProject Mills.

The order of sections is optional, although it is strongly recommended that articles conform to the basic structure of a lead followed by history, decline (where applicable), today/restoration (where applicable), route, as those sections contain much of the basic information about any waterway. Beyond that, editors are advised to come to a consensus that works best for the waterway in question. References are required for every article.

While this is just a guideline, it does provide a basic framework for a UK Textile Mills, as well as useful tips to help in bringing an article up to good article or featured article status. Some articles have achieved GA status and adhere loosely to these guidelines.

Please ensure that all changes to this page are discussed on the talk page and reflect consensus.

Article structure example for a U.K. textile mill
-- NOTE: "Infobox" and "Lead" are not headings in their own right, and should not be included on articles as such. The order of sections is also optional, and sections may be moved around to a different order based on the needs of their mill. Editors are strongly encouraged, however, to at least begin with the lead, followed by history, decline (where applicable), today/restoration (where applicable), route. References are a requirement of any article. Further, alternative headings are listed under the "Optional headings" section below. Section titles should generally not start with the word "The" (see WP:HEAD). --

Infobox
Infobox Mill building is the standardised infobox for UK textile mills. This is a complex template, that is closely linked to the three templates TMbegin, TMtr, TMend and Infobox Mill building, that produce a formatted list. {t|TMtr}} carries the information for a single item in the list i.e. a single mill. It is written so the parameters from a TMtr template can be cut and pasted directly into the Infobox Mill building template. This means that when sufficient information has been accumulated on the list page, a new article can be directly floated. The additional named parameters needed for Infobox Mill building}} can be added to a TMtr having no formatting effect, For parameters see: Template:Infobox mill building.

Lead
Lead (see also WP:LEAD): Include the following
 * Millname is cotton mill in location_town. It was built in year for owner by architect.
 * Type of mill, the type of engine, the manufacture of equipment
 * Connecting waterways, railways
 * Notable unique characteristics and characteristics commonly associated with it.
 * Lead section must not exceed four paragraphs.
 * Geographic map

Location
Location: You may wish to include the following

History
History: You may wish to include the following


 * Who built the mill?
 * Why was the mill built
 * Child labour
 * Describe the product.
 * Extensions.
 * Changes to the engine (McNaughting)(ropes)(Electric drive)
 * Change from mule to ring
 * Avoid using headings that arrange the history of a mill according to century or decade.
 * Closure
 * Refinancing

Dos and Don'ts

 * Per WP:TRIVIA, do not use a "trivia", "miscellaneous" or "other facts" section.
 * Per WP:LIST, avoid using lists wherever possible (such as for "locks"), consider using tables, diagrams or prose.
 * Per WP:DATE and WP:CONTEXT, do not link standalone years. Only link full dates or dates with a day and a month. The same applies to dates in the footnotes. Only link to dates if it is likely to deepen readers' understanding of a topic.
 * Per WP:EL and WP:SPAM, be reluctant to add external links unless they are essential, and always restrict them to the External Links section, or preferably to within an appropriately tagged reference.

Grammar and layout checklist

 * The lead needs to adequately summarize the content of the article.
 * There should not be anything in the lead not mentioned in the rest of the article.
 * Only make wikilinks that are relevant to the context. Common words do not need wikilinking.
 * A word only needs to be wikilinked once within each section.
 * It is not recommended to specify the size of images. The sizes should be what readers have specified in their user preferences.
 * Text should not be sandwiched between two adjacent images.
 * All fair-use images need a fair use rationale.
 * Image captions should not end with a full-stop if the caption does not form a complete sentence.
 * Book references need the author, publisher, publishing date and page number.
 * Web references need the author, publisher, publishing date, access date, language (if not English) and format (if a PDF file).
 * Blogs and personal websites are not reliable sources.
 * Inline citations belong immediately after punctuation marks.
 * Each "notable resident" needs a reference.
 * Portal links belong in the "see also" section.
 * "Further info" links belong at the top of sections.
 * Include lists only if they cannot be made into prose or their own article.
 * Lists within prose should be avoided.
 * Unspaced en dashes are used for ranges. Unspaced em dashes or spaced en dashes are used for punctuation. The same applies to dashes in the footnotes. See WP:MOS.
 * " " (non-breaking space) should be typed between numbers and units.
 * Imperial measurements should be accompanied by the metric equivalent in brackets, and vice versa. If possible, use a conversion template, eg. 5 mi.
 * Whole numbers under ten should be spelled out as words, except when in lists, tables or infoboxes.
 * Sentences should not start with a numeral. Either recast the sentence or spell the number out.
 * Usually, only the first word in a section heading needs a capital letter.
 * Short sections and paragraphs are discouraged.
 * The words "current", "recent" & "to date" should be avoided as they become outdated.
 * Ampersands should not be used, except when in a name, eg., Marks & Spencer.
 * Southeast is one word (and may or may not be hyphenated). This does not apply when it is the name of an area, eg. South East England.
 * In longer sentences, a comma may be needed before "and", "due to", "such as", "including", "as", "because" or "but".
 * "Past few years" has a different meaning to "last few years".
 * "Within" has a different meaning to "in".
 * Full-stops are needed after each initials in someone's name.
 * Hyphens should not be placed after words ending in ly, eg. widely-used phrase (except if the ly word could also describe the noun, eg. friendly-looking man)
 * Do not use contractions, such as "can't" and "they're".
 * "While" should only be used when emphasising that two events occur at the same time, or when emphasising contrast. It should not be used as an additive link.
 * Using "with" as an additive link can lead to wordy and awkward prose, eg. the town has ten councillors, with one being the district mayor → the town has ten councillors; one is the district mayor
 * Beginning a sentence with "there", when it does not stand for anything, leads to wordy prose, eg. There are ten houses in the village → The village has ten houses. The same applies to "it".
 * Avoid weasel words, such as "it is believed that", "is widely regarded as", "some have claimed".
 * Avoid peacock terms, such as "beautiful", "famous", "popular", "well-known", "significant", "important" and "obvious".
 * Avoid informal or words, such as "carry out" and "pub".
 * Avoid overly-formal or archaic words, such as "circa", "utilise", "whilst", "upon", "commence" and "prior".
 * Avoid wordy terms, such as "the majority of" and "a number of".
 * Avoid vague words, such as "various", "many", "several", "long" and "almost"
 * Avoid phrases with redundant words, such as "is located in", "the two are both", "they brought along", "they have plans to", "they were all part of", "the last ones to form", "both the towns", "outside of the town", "all of the towns", "received some donations", "still exists today", "it also includes others", "many different towns", "available records show" and "in the year 2007".