Category:User essays on style

This is a maintenance category, used for maintenance of the Wikipedia project. It is not part of the encyclopedia and contains non-article pages, or groups articles by status rather than subject. Do not include this category in content categories.

This category contains Wikipedians' user essays on style (in the content, not fashion, sense). These may include: views related to Wikipedia:Manual of Style (MoS), editorial suggestions on style matters not covered by WP:MoS, editing exercises, advice on handling problem words and phrases, and other pages that address article style, and which are maintained within the user namespace. Sometimes user drafts of WikiProject advice pages are also found in the present category.

Please do not insert material from your user style essay into Wikipedia's MoS. If you think something in it is missing or should be changed, please post a proposals at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style. Random changes to Wikipedia's official style guideline can be disruptive, because what it says potentially affects all of our millions of articles. We encourage people to write style essays on new topics not covered by MoS, but general group efforts work best. What works worst is a "style warrior" rant pushing some viewpoint about a bit of style trivia or inciting others to edit disruptively. User essays that are polemic in nature and consist of advocacy against the site-wide policies and guidelines at WP:Manual of Style, WP:Article titles, and/or the topical naming conventions may be deleted at WP:Miscellany for deletion.

If you've developed a draft you believe would work as a formal Wikipedia style or naming guideline, see WP:PROPOSALS for a short introduction on how to go from proposal to guideline. Typically, style proposals are proposed at WT:MOS, and naming convention proposals at WT:AT, though either can be proposed at WP:VPP, and major style/naming proposals should be advertised there, and at WP:CENT. A common fault in these proposals is the commingling of style, naming, and content material in the same document. Most often, topically specific advice belongs in, and works fine as, an advice essay at a wikiproject devoted to that topic. These pages should not contradict site-wide policies and guidelines.

If you have any questions, please post a message at WT:Manual of Style.