User:RecycledPixels/sandbox/articleprep

A checklist of some not-so-obvious potential mistakes that have been pointed out in some of the articles that I have worked on by reviewers. Arranged as a list of things to check, since it's annoying to make the same mistakes over and over again.

Images

 * Make sure all images have alt tags

Dates

 * Change to be consistent m-d-y or d-m-y including references. Use Use mdy dates with a date parameter near the top of the article, above the infobox to automatically manage reference dates without having to change them manually (if using American-style dates).  MOS:DATEUNIFY
 * Comma after the use of a date that includes the year if using American style, unless other punctuation obviates it. MOS:DATEFORMAT
 * Do not use ordinals as dates. MOS:ORDINAL
 * Use nbsp in dates consisting of only a month and year, between the month and year. MOS:NBSP

Links

 * WP:REPEATLINK: Only link the first time that a term has been used in the body of the article.  Ok to link again even if it was linked in the lead section.

Places

 * Comma after the name of a place that contains multiple levels of subordinate divisions (e.g. city, state, country). A comma separates each element and follows the last element unless followed by terminal punctuation or a closing parenthesis.  MOS:GEOCOMMA
 * Washington, D.C., not Washington DC

Names

 * Italics in the name of an aircraft
 * Italics in the name of a print publication
 * After the first use in the body of a long name, state an abbreviation in parentheses and only use the abbreviation after that. Example: Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), then use CAB every time afterwards.   In the lead section, only provide the abbreviation if it is used multiple times in the lead section.

Numbers

 * Don't start a sentence with a number. MOS:NUMNOTES
 * Integers from zero to nine are spelled out in words. MOS:NUMERAL
 * Generally spell out ordinals first through ninth for single digits. MOS:ORDINAL
 * Integers greater than nine that can be expressed in one or two words can be expressed in numerals or words. MOS:NUMERAL
 * When written as words, numbers from 21 to 99 are hyphenated. MOS:NUMERAL
 * Be consistent with words vs. numerals within a sentence. MOS:NUMNOTES
 * Use nbsp between a numeral and a million, billion, etc.
 * In tables and infoboxes, quantities are expressed in figures. MOS:NUMNOTES
 * Use the word percent, not the % symbol except in scientific/technical articles or tables/infoboxes. MOS:PERCENT
 * Hyphens in adjectives with numbers:
 * Hyphens join words that work together as a unit to describe something that follows them in the sentence, eg an easy-to-read report. This is called a compound adjective (or compound modifier). Where the description follows the noun, you won’t need the hyphens: the report was easy to read. The same rules apply when numbers are part of the description, and whether the numbers are cardinal (one, two, three …) or ordinal (first, second, third …).
 * It’s a three-and-a-half-page report.
 * The report is three-and-a-half pages.
 * There are too many pages in the report – I stopped reading after two and a half.
 * They are our second-biggest client.
 * This client is our second biggest.


 * Use two-letter suffixes, such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on, not 2d, 3d, etc, and do not superscript the two-letter suffixes. MOS:ORDINAL
 * Spelled-out fractions are hyphenated: seven-eighths. MOS:FRAC
 * When the numerator and the denominator of fractions can each be spelled out with one word, a fraction is usually spelled out, unless there is a unit of measure after it. MOS:FRAC

Time

 * use p.m., or pm consistently, do not mix. Use nbsp between the time and the "pm", "p.m.", "am", or "a.m.".  MOS:TIME.
 * When using 12-hour clock times, hours should not have a leading zero, i.e. 8:59, not 08:59. MOS:TIME
 * Where several times that are all a.m. or all p.m. appear in close proximity, then a.m. or p.m. need be only given once if there is no risk of confusion. MOS:TIME
 * Use times appropriate to the time zone where the event took place. Include a link to the time zone in the first occurrence.  MOS:TIMEZONE.