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User:Fuhghettaboutit/Wikipedia:Title stylization

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This guideline sets out considerations applicable to a choice of article title that is stylized in a manner that is non-standard in normal English writing conventions, often by departing from customary capitalization, punctuation and formatting. This page is intended as a supplement to Wikipedia:Article titles, which should be consulted for the applicable considerations upon which choices of article title are based (e.g., whether a title is the common name), but which does not delve deeply into the stylization of those choices. For general matters regarding title format, see Wikipedia:Article titles#Article title format.

For most potential titles, stylization will be obvious and uncontroversial and this guideline will simply not come into play. Unconventional styling of a word or phrase being considered as an article title (usually, but not always a proper noun or noun phrase) is sometimes seen in the names of business entities and other organizations, their products, slogans and catchphrases; in brand/market/trade names; trademarked/service marked names; in the names of films, books, magazines and other media vehicles, and in the names, stage names or other pseudonyms of individuals/groups/acts in the entertainment industry.

General stylization guideline

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  1. When deciding how to format a stylized title, editors should choose among styles already in use by reliable sources (not invent new ones) and then choose the style that most closely resembles standard English, regardless of the preference of the proponent, including whether they consider the non-standard formatting "official", be they the trademark owner, business owner, person, artist, group, promoter, etc. of that styling, unless:
    A significant majority of reliable English-language sources follow the unconventional styling (hereafter, the "Reliable Sources Exception").
  2. However, stylization by the substitution of symbols in place of Roman alphabet characters, unless they are pronounced, should only be used if virtually all reliable sources do so.
  3. Additionally, if the unconventionally stylized title can be used to avoid a disambiguated title, these standards should be relaxed.

Exceptions

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As with all policies and guidelines, Use common sense in applying it; it will have occasional exceptions. In this regard, the seeming common denominator of discussions resulting in a decision that departs from these rules of thumb is where retaining the non-standard stylization serves some specific semantic purpose. For example, though the album title HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I has unconventional capitalization, and would not survive under a hidebound reading of these standards, as announced above and applied below, an exception was made as the capitalization of "HIS" was seen in the specific context as conveying a dual and intentional meaning that would be lost – that the album is a "History" as well as "His story".

Listed below are specific examples to see how these general standards are applied to frequently occurring non-standard title formats.

All capital or all lowercase letters

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This section does not apply to acronyms, which, if one should be the title at all, should be in all capital letters, excepting where they are no longer typically treated as an acronym but were originally ("Laser", "Scuba"), or are themselves subject to a reliable sources exception.

For non-acronyms, unless the title is pronounced by each letter despite not being an acronym ("ATI Technologies", EVGA Corporation), or unless the Reliable Sources Exception applies, follow standard English text formatting and capitalization rules and do not capitalize (or lowercase) all letters.

But:
  • CH2M Hill (not: Ch2m Hill; the letters are pronounced)
  • k.d. lang (not: K.D. Lang; the Reliable Sources Exception applies)
  • xkcd (not: XKCD; even though each letter is pronounced, the Reliable Sources Exception applies)
  • No example of an all caps Reliable Sources Exception has been identified

Initial lowercase letters, capitalization mixes and camel case

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Unless the Reliable Sources Exception applies, follow standard English text formatting and capitalization rules, except for camel case. Camel Case (e.g. PlayStation) is considered a judgment call as it may provide a semantic function, and may be used where it reflects general usage and makes the title more readable. In the case of an initial lowercase letter, the two exceptions shown below not only meet the Reliable Sources Exception but the initial letter is pronounced separately, indicating the basis it was set off by capitalization variation, and probably why reliable sources have followed suit.

But:
  • eBay (Not: Ebay or EBay; the Reliable Sources Exception applies)
  • iPod (Not: Ipod or IPod; the Reliable Sources Exception applies)
  • Note that in both rare exceptions above, technical limitations of the software requires that the actual title be at EBay and IPod, but the titles are displayed at the initial lowercase titles, using the template {{lowercase title}}.

Symbols (that are not pronounced), non-functional punctuation and substitutions

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Unless the Reliable Sources Exception applies, avoid using special characters that are not pronounced, are included purely for decoration, or simply substitute for English words (e.g., ♥ used for "love") or for normal punctuation. Non-Roman alphabet characters should be avoided unless virtually all reliable sources include the character(s). Most exceptions that have been drawn, even where reliable sources do not constitute a majority, involve either exclamation points (which it has been argued, serve a semantic purpose), and where a number is substituted for a part of the word that is pronounced, i.e., an "8" for "ate".

But:

See also

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