This is an instruction manual that addresses the conventions adopted by Bulbapedia in writing, titles, articles, and linking. Please read it before you contribute to the Bulbapedia project. Note, however, that this document is not updated frequently; survey prevailing conventions as well as reading these guidelines.

This manual attempts to address all issues of style in an objective manner, though there are inevitably cases where issues of style are subjective. If there are any unresolved disputes over what best adheres to the style of Bulbapedia, please contact the editorial board.

Basic wikicode

Besides writing articles in the Bulbapedia on factual, useful information, contributers are expected to use decent spelling and grammar and a basic level of wikicode. Some of the most commonly used aspects of wikicode are listed below. Should you forget, above the text editors for articles are a row of button with many common wikicode attributes.

Text formatting: To make text bold, put three apostrophes on either side of it, such as '''Bulbapedia'''. This will result in Bulbapedia. However, bold text is mostly used to define the name of the subject matter at the start of an article or for any notes which need a very large amount of emphasis. For a normal emphasis, it is common style to put text in italics, which is done with two apostrophes instead of three, such as ''Bulbapedia''. This will result in Bulbapedia.
Links: Whenever something else is referenced in an article which has its own article on the Bulbapedia, be sure to link to it. This is done by putting two brackets on either side of a word. For example, [[Pokémon]] will result in Pokémon. However, sometimes there's no way to use the exact name of an article in a sentence without the sentence being awkardly worded. In that instance, to have different text display than the article's name, put a vertical line between the article's name and the text you would like to display. For example, [[Pokémon|Pocket Monsters]] will result in Pocket Monsters, which you may notice links to the Pokémon article.
- Short links: There are several quick links which are not only useful, but common style. Quick links are a type of style, which is used with curled brackets. For example, when linking to a Pokémon article, typing {{p|Pikachu}} would result in Pikachu, which you may notice links to the article Pikachu (Pokémon). For more links, please see the Disambiguation section under Naming further in the manual.
- Wikipedia links: When something is referenced outside of the Pokémon world, it is often useful to link to the Wikipedia article on the subject. When linking to a Wikipedia subject, simply put a "wp:" before the article's name. However, be careful that this doesn't show up in the link text itself, and be sure to check to see if you're linking to an existing Wikipedia article. As an example, to link to the Wikipedia article on Pokémon, typing [[wp:Pokémon|Pokémon]] would result in Pokémon.
- External links: Other links can be done with using a single bracket. In this instance, a vertical line is not necessary to divide the name from the link. However, the full address is needed to link to a page. For example, to link to the Bulbagarden forums, typing [http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/index.php Bulbagarden Forums] would result in Bulbagarden Forums. External links are primarily used to cite references and to link to any related websites.
Bulbasaur
Images: Images are added in a manner similar to Links. To add in an image, link to the image's name, but add in "Image:" before the name. For example, [[Image:Pokébuck sign.gif]] will add in a commonly used image, File:Pokébuck sign.gif. Formatting attributes can be added to an image as well, divided with vertical lines. For example, [[Image:001Bulbasaur.png|thumb|100px|Bulbasaur]] will add the image to the right. All images are uploaded to Bulbagarden Archives.
Categories: Categories are also added in a manner similar to Links. To categorize an article, link to the category's name, but add in "Category:" before the name. For example, [[Category:Pokémon world]] would add this article to Category:Pokémon world. To link to a category and not add the article to the category, add in an extra colon before the name, like [[:Category:Pokémon world]]. All articles should be categorized. The only page which should appear on the list of uncategorized pages should be the main page of Bulbapedia.
Headlines: Articles are divided by levels of headlines, much like a large outline. These are indicated by equals signs on either side of the headline text. There are four levels of headlines, with one equals sign being the first and highest level, which would look like =Headline text=, and four equals signs being the fourth and lowest level, which would look like ====Headline text====. First and second level headlines are underlined. Text size decreases with lower level headlines.
Lists: There are two major ways to do lists.
- Bulleted lists: To create a bulleted list, put an asterisk before each item. For example:

* Bulbasaur
* Charmander
* Squirtle
* Pikachu

Will become:

Bulbasaur
Charmander
Squirtle
Pikachu
- Definition lists: To create a list with definitions, put a semicolon before each item, and a colon before the details on each item. For example:

; Bulbasaur
: Grass-type
; Charmander
: Fire-type
; Squirtle
: Water-type
; Pikachu
: Electric-type

Will become:

Bulbasaur: Grass-type
Charmander: Fire-type
Squirtle: Water-type
Pikachu: Electric-type

A colon will indent the start of any other line as well, and multiple colons can be used for multiple indents. However, indents should only be used for data formating, and should not be used to start paragraphs within an article.

Tables: Tables are started and ended with a curled bracket and a vertical line. Rows can be divided with a vertical line and a dash, and sections within rows can be divided with vertical lines. Title headings can be indicated with exclamation points rather than vertical lines. For example:

{|
! Name
! Type
|-
| Bulbasaur
| Grass
|-
| Charmander
| Fire
|-
| Squirtle
| Water
|-
| Pikachu
| Electric
|}

Will become:

Name	Type
Bulbasaur	Grass
Charmander	Fire
Squirtle	Water
Pikachu	Electric

Formatting attributes can also be added to the table. The first row attributes apply to the whole table. Attributes on the lines with vertical lines and dashes apply to the row. Attributes for just one cell can be put before the content, divided with another vertical line. For example:

{| style="border: 1px solid #999; border-collapse: collapse;"
|- style="background: #ccc;"
! Name
! Type
|- style="background: #cfc;"
| Bulbasaur
| align="right" | Grass
|- style="background: #fcc;"
| Charmander
| align="right" | Fire
|- style="background: #ccf;"
| Squirtle
| align="right" | Water
|- style="background: #ffc;"
| Pikachu
| align="right" | Electric
|}

Will become:

Name	Type
Bulbasaur	Grass
Charmander	Fire
Squirtle	Water
Pikachu	Electric

Article titles

The conventions for titles dictate that all proper nouns are capitalized, as are all locations, and names unless specifically not capitalized. Titles are not written like book titles with most words capitalized; note the title of this page as Manual of style, not Manual of Style.

Uniformity in the titling of pages is much appreciated in that it makes for a much more professional appearance with regards to the public perception of Bulbapedia. Any page title that includes a name should not be stored in a biographical format; i.e., "Gary Oak", not "Oak, Gary" as the page title for Ash's rival. In cases where only a first name (Bill) exists, or where a character is known by a title, such as Professor Oak) more than their proper name, those should be used as the sole title of the page. In the case of Professor Oak, redirects from "Prof. Oak" and "Samuel Oak" may be used.

In most cases, titles referring to a specific group should be kept singular, such as item rather than items. However, some exceptions are allowed when the group name is plural, such as Eevee brothers rather than Eevee brother.

Also, only link to an article once within a given portion of text; if you say "Ash" more than once in a paragraph, only link it the first time. Instances further apart may be linked to more than once, it is up to you how far apart to place repeated links. For consistency, if most elements of a list are links, then link to an article as many times as needed in that list.

Japanese titles should be romanized in titles, but see the following sections for details.

The é and other special characters

The e-acute (é) is always used in a title where appropriate; pages are titled "Pokémon", not "Pokemon." When the é is used in a title, for instance in Pokémon or Pokédex, please create a redirect from the title that doesn't have the accented é. Pokedex redirects to Pokédex, for instance; this allows for people who don't know how to add the special characters the same access as the rest of us. The same would apply for any other special characters that may occur in a title.

With regards to romanized Japanese titles, omit macrons and apostrophes in the title (but create redirects from the accurate romanization if you so desire).

Technical limitations include mandatory capitalization of the first letter of titles and the identical treatment of space, + and _ as spaces. Use {{Wrongtitle}} to make a note of any wrong titles due to technical limitations. Also note that formerly & was not an acceptable character, but now it is acceptable to use one ampersand in a title - multiple ampersands in a row will cause problems. Special care must be taken with ?, though usually things will work as expected.

Naming conventions

Naming conventions in Bulbapedia have been determined to go by English names of characters unless a character does not currently have an English name. Redirects from Japanese names should be created in order to alleviate confusion. For instance, the page Satoshi redirects to "Ash Ketchum".

Formerly, the style was to name articles based on whichever name a character was most "well known by". However, this created debate as to who judges which name is most commonly known, and thus created unnecessary conflict given how rarely a character is known to the English-speaking fanbase more commonly by anything but their English name. Hence, the style has since been abandoned.

An article titled with a Pokémon name with a very well known instance in any form of canon should have a disambiguation page. Therefore, the article Meowth will not redirect to Meowth (Pokémon), in case someone is instead looking for information on the character Meowth (Team Rocket). Further disambiguation titles are listed further below.

Names of people

All modern persons should have their name given in Western order. Since the definition of "modern" may vary from culture to culture, for the Japanese, all names from the Taishō period onwards should be given in Western order. Names from the Meiji restoration may be given in Western or Eastern order -- use prevailing convention on a person-by-person basis. Names prior to the Meiji restoration should be given in Eastern order.

When a person has a specific preference for the way their name is rendered, or where convention differs, use that instead. For example, use Hiromoto SIN-Ichi, Ikue Ohtani, and Rica Matsumoto, instead of Shin'ichi Hiromoto, Ikue Ōtani, and Rika Matsumoto.

Disambiguation

The bracketed terms used to disambiguate articles with titles that would otherwise be the same should be a single short word and lowercase, except when proper nouns are involved. The following are commonly used:

Pokémon

An article for a general species of Pokémon, for example, Bulbasaur (Pokémon). Short link: {{p}}

move

An article for a move, for example, Tackle (move). Short link: {{m}}

ability

An article for an ability, for example, Pressure (ability). Short link: {{a}}

type

An article for an elemental type, for example, Normal (type). Short link: {{t}} {{type2}}

game

An article for a game, or a character from a game, for example, Silver (game).

anime

An article for an anime, or a character from an anime, for example, Mewtwo (anime)

Special

An article for Pokémon Special characters, for example, Silver (Special).

PiPiPi

An article for Pokémon PiPiPi Adventure characters, for example, Pikachu (PiPiPi).

TCG

An article for a product, set, or other aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, for example, Base Set (TCG). Short link: {{c}} {{TCG}}

Specific cards within the TCG are identified using the TCG ID format, for example, Alakazam (Base Set 1). Short link: {{TCG ID}}

TFG

An article for a product, set, or other aspect of the Pokémon Trading Figure Game, for example, Next Quest (TFG). Short link: {{TFG}}

Specific figures within the TFG are identified using the TFG ID format, for example, Charizard (Next Quest 1). Short link: {{TFG ID}}

Opening line

The full name of the subject of an article should appear within the first few words of the article itself. Alternate and popular names may be described later. The name should be given in its original form if it differs from its Anglicized form. Note that a name need not be romanized more than once. Song, episode and movie titles should be translated, not romanized. Also note that names in alternate languages should not be included in the opening line, but rather further in the article, preferably in a In other languages section near the bottom with only Related articles and External links following after. Some examples follow:

Archaic: Liam Pomfret, better known as Archaic, is the current head of Bulbagarden.
Hirokazu Tanaka: Hirokazu Tanaka (Japanese: 田中宏和 but usually credited in hiragana only) is most well known as the composer of much the theme music used in the Pokémon anime, but he is also the president of Creatures, Inc.
Hiromoto SIN-Ichi: Hiromoto SIN-Ichi (Japanese: ヒロモト森一 Hiromoto Shin'ichi) is a manga artist, born on January 4, 1966.
Professor Oak: Professor Samuel Oak (Japanese: オーキド・ユキナリ博士 Dr. Yukinari Ōkido, Ookido and Orchid are also seen) is a Pokémon Professor and has a home and research lab located in Pallet Town.
Bulbasaur: Bulbasaur (Japanese: フシギダネ Fushigidane) is a Grass/Poison-type Pokémon.
Aim to Be a Pokémon Master: めざせポケモンマスター (Mezase Pokémon Masutā exact, Mezase Pokémon Master is common; English: Aim to Be a Pokémon Master) was the first opening theme song of the Pokémon anime series, ...

Japanese

Romanization

Primarily, if a trademarked romanization is available, that is the proper romanization to use. For example, Fushigisou, Teppouo insetad of Fushigisō and Teppōo.

However, if a trademarked romanzation is not available, please follow the Hepburn romanization scheme and use Ā Ē Ī Ō Ū ā ē ī ō ū for long vowels. Please correct any incorrectly marked long vowels (circumflexes, tildes, doubling, ou and not marking long vowels at all are all not acceptable).

I-macron (Ī ī) and e-macron (Ē ē) is to be used when romanizing Japanese words of foreign origin, hence kōhī for コーヒー but Iizuka for いいづか. A hint to look out for is whether or not a bō (ー) is used to lengthen it.
O-macron (Ō ō) is to be used for both おう (as in しんいちろう Shin'ichirō) and おお (as in おおづか Ōzuka)
E-macron (Ē ē) is rarely used, except with the interjection ええ and some foreign loanwords.
- Please take note that verbs such as 思う omou and 呪う norou do not have long vowels.
  - However, subjunctive forms such as 思おう omoō and 呪おう noroō do have long vowels.
zu is to be used for both ず and づ; ji is to be used for both じ and ぢ.
With ん, there is some free choice whether to use n or m when followed by labial consonants p, b, f and m. Follow popular or established convention on a word-by-word basis, hence, Namba for ナンバ but Hanba for はんば.
To simplify matters, always romanize ポケモン as Pokémon, when ポケ is an abbreviated form of Pokémon, romanize it as Poké.

Romanizations and translations should be italicized.

Nouns, capitalization, and specific terminology

The word Pokémon is always capitalized, as well as the names of Pokémon species. So are nouns starting with "Poké", such as Pokéblock, PokéGear and Poké Flute. Note, however, that there is no one common trend for spelling of words beginning with "Poké" - they can be written as a compound word, with the second part of the word capitalized or uncapitalized, or as two words with the second word capitalized. Also note that this does not apply to nouns starting with "Pokémon", in which case only Pokémon is capitalized, such as with Pokémon trainer.
Items and all words in them are always capitalized; they are considered proper nouns for the purposes of Bulbapedia. "Leftovers", "Escape Rope", or "Water Stone" are all correct as written; a page would not be titled "Water stone".
Locations should also be capitalized in a manner consistent with English grammar; Ruins of Alph has the A in Alph always capitalized.
Specific terminology is different; leveling up has a lowercase L, as would "starter Pokémon" have a lowercase "s" (but, of course, a capital P in Pokémon.)
Specific element types are called "Water-type" and "Rock-type" when used as nouns and their subject pages are Water (type) and Rock (type), respectively. Squirtle is a "Water type" is not correct; Squirtle is a Water-type is.

Remember that consistency with these conventions is very important, and your cooperation is appreciated.

Regarding specific topics

Topics such as the anime should link to the page "Pokémon anime"; topics for the game should either link to that game's generation or its specific page. Topics about the Manga should link to Pokémon manga, and so on; linking to just "anime" or "games" or "manga" is incorrect. Please take note of the already-existing pages regarding a topic and be sure to try and link to them; it makes for less fixing of broken, bad, and misdirected links. The staff of Bulbapedia is trying to keep options open to expand beyond a Pokémon context and into a more general encyclopedia topic; using the specific titles for Pokémon topics instead of making them overly vague helps in organization.

Style of writing; editing, bias, and opinion

Please remember that Bulbapedia is designed to be an encyclopedia, and as such should contain the best possible level of literary style. Check for spelling and grammatical errors before entering a page; if you notice factual or spelling errors on a page other than the ones you have created, feel free to correct the problems. This is, after all, an open project. Another thing to remember is that slanted articles, towards or against a point of view, look sloppy and should be avoided. Try to take any possible bias out of your articles, even if it's difficult to write about Ash's Pikachu with a straight, honest, objective style. Injecting one's opinion ties in closely with bias; ensure that your feelings or opinions about a character do not come out solely, making it appear as if the article is editorializing. Saying "the fans hate Ash" is opinionated and unwanted in the Bulbapedia project; saying "numerous fans have a strong dislike of Ash due to his tendency to show weakness and ineptitude" is perfectly acceptable, because it's a fact.

Image preferences

For further details, please see the Archives manual of style

Images are often a helpful visual addition to the content of articles. However, in some cases, it is questionable what images are best used for articles.

If there is official artwork, such as the Sugimori stock artwork or video game sprites, this is always the preferred image.
If there is no official artwork, such as screenshots from episodes or manga, ones created by the contributing user are preferred over images taken from other sources. There will inevitably be disputes about which user-created image is best, as there is no exact policy on such; however, the image should generally be the highest quality and most informative image.
Animated images should be avoided proportionately with how large and distracting the animation is. Small uses, such as a blinking dot on a world map to indicate location, are non-obtrusive and acceptable.
Overwriting existing images is acceptable, since Bulbapedia favors the image with the higher quality, not the greater seniority. However, please avoid disputes by discussing the change with the user who uploaded the former image before uploading the new image.

Formating preferences

For backgrounds and templates, obtrusively bright colors should be avoided. Generally, Bulbapedia style favors pastels, particularly green, blue, or gray, depending on the content.
When listing a TM or HM as an item, write them as [[TM##]] ({{m|move}}); for example, Flannery gives winners TM50 (Overheat). Alternatively, use the {{TM}} or {{HM}} templates, written as {{HM|08|Dive}} for HM08 (Dive).
When writing episode names, write them as ''[[Episode code|Episode name]]''; for example, the fifth episode is Showdown in Pewter City.

Episode numbering

The Bulbapedia rules of episode article titling dictate that the order in which the episode aired in Japan is its title. Episodes prior to the Advanced Generation are titled EP001, EP002, and so on, with the numbering system being that of, again, Japanese-aired episodes. Note that Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out are not considered episodes.

Episodes of Advanced Generation are titled AG001, AG002, and so on. Note that AG101 is Vanity Affair - the skipped episode is AG101 (unaired). Consequently, to resynchronize with popular counting, the flashback episode is counted as AG120.

Episodes of Diamond & Pearl are titled DP001, DP002, and so on.

Side story episodes are titled H001, H002, and so on, in the order they were aired in Japan on the Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station, a.k.a. Shūkan Pokémon Hōsōkyoku.

Titles as aired in English should redirect to the page of the respective episode page, i.e. the page The Battle for the Badge would redirect to EP063. Special episodes and movie articles will be titled using their English title, with redirects going from their translated Japanese title. If no English title is available, the best possible translation should be used.

Lists of Pokémon in episode articles

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Pokémon belonging to main characters should appear at the top of the list, in the order Ash-Misty-May-Dawn-Brock-Tracey-Jessie-James, in the order they were obtained/revealed. Ash's Pikachu, Meowth (Team Rocket), Misty's Togepi, Jessie's Wobbuffet, James's Chimecho, and James's Mime Jr. should precede all others.

Other character's Pokémon should also be grouped together in the order they were obtained/revealed. Semi-regular characters' Pokémon (characters which recur in more than one episode, excluding two-part episodes) should precede guest characters' Pokémon. Wild Pokémon should appear in National Dex order.

Each character's Pokémon should be listed separately:

Pikachu (Ash's)
Pikachu (Ritchie's, nicknamed Sparky)

When a Pokémon debuts - consider the television series, their openings and endings, and the movies to be separate continuities in this case:

Pikachu (Ash's, new; debut)
Pidgey (debut)

When a Pokémon is obtained:

Bulbasaur (Ash's, new)

When a Pokémon evolves:

Caterpie (Ash's, evolves)
Metapod (Ash's, newly evolved)

When a Pokémon leaves:

Butterfree (Ash's, leaves)

When a Pokémon returns:

Charizard (Ash's, returns)

Reference list:

Lists of Pokémon in other articles

Unless there is a specific reason to order them otherwise, lists of Pokémon should be sorted according to their National Dex number.

We at Bulbapedia are here to create, provide, and upkeep an enormous database filled with Pokémon information. Your help is appreciated more than you know; contributions extend beyond just Bulbapedia to the entire online Pokémon Community.

Bulbapedia:Manual of style

Contents

Basic wikicode

Article titles

The é and other special characters

Naming conventions

Names of people

Disambiguation

Opening line

Japanese

Romanization

Nouns, capitalization, and specific terminology

Regarding specific topics

Style of writing; editing, bias, and opinion

Image preferences

Formating preferences

Episode numbering

Lists of Pokémon in episode articles

Lists of Pokémon in other articles

Navigation menu

Page actions

Page actions

Personal tools

Navigation

Search

Bulbagarden

Tools