This is a humorous essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors and is made to be humorous. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. This essay isn't meant to be taken seriously. |
This page in a nutshell: Capitalization is a must in Wikipedia. However, misuse of it is also bad. You need a balance of both. |
So, let's say that you're working on the article of a lifetime (or something like that), and you want to make it perfect. The least you can do to make it meet your quota is to give it proper capitalization so it doesn't look like absolute garbage. However, misuse (or lack of use) will not do.
lack of capitalization
now, i get it, most people get that one can't be bothered to move their finger to the shift button (or caps lock, if you aren't someone that only has a shift key) to make the first letter in their sentence more notable, but if you don't do that, well, then this paragraph is a result of your laziness. as you can see, it makes the whole thing look like you were searching something, or you were just not bothered to simply move your finger to the shift/caps lock button, or maybe this is just a sentence that is way too long for you to do that. the solution for this is simple: just press the shift button or the caps lock button. it's simple and you only need to do it once (unless it's for the shift key).
TOO MUCH CAPITALIZATION
IF YOU USE THIS IN YOUR ARTICLE, EITHER YOU ARE TRULY DEVOTED TO GIVING YOUR CAPS LOCK BUTTON A SAY IN WHAT YOU TYPE, YOU GIVE WAY, WAY TOO MUCH LOVE TO YOUR SHIFT KEY, OR EITHER BUTTON BROKE. EITHER WAY, TWO THINGS WILL HAPPEN:
- PEOPLE WILL NOTICE THIS MISUSE, AND THEY WILL ASK.
- IF YOU USED IT IN TALK PAGES, IT WILL BE VIEWED AS SHOUTING, AND CAN POTENTIALLY LEAD TO YOUR TALK PAGE PRIVILEGES BEING REVOKED.
IF HAVING YOUR TALKING PRIVILEGES REVOKED ISN'T YOUR STYLE, WE'D SUGGEST EITHER FIXING YOUR CAPS LOCK BUTTON, GETTING A NEW KEYBOARD, FIXING THE SHIFT KEY OR STAGING A REVOLUTION ON THE PESKY KEY. IT'LL WORK, OK? OR, YOU KNOW, NOT USING THOSE BUTTONS SO MUCH.
Other Examples of Poor Capitalization, and other minor formatting stuff
While these are bad things to do if you are making an article, there can be, and will be, other misappropriations of this rule, some just doing with text style. (But, is it really style if it looks poor?)
Italics and Bold
The inappropriate usage of italics and bold can do things to you. Bold will make you sound stern and unfriendly, and could be viewed as shouting. Italics make you look like a liar, or an overemphasizer. The worst one of all is a combination of both. If you use such a thing, you need to be kept away from society at all costs.
A mIx Of CaPs AnD nO cAps
iF yOu ArE oNe Of ThOsE pEoPlE wHo TyPe LiKe tHiS, StOp It> PlEaSe; iF yOu CaN'T, ThEn YoU pRoBaBlY dOn"t BeLoNg In WiKiPeDiA, nOr nUpEdIa. In FaCt< yOu ShOuLdN"t Be EdItInG oN aNy WiKi_eSqUe WeBsItEs>
Unnecessary Capitalization
Now, To Be Fair, This Would Be Considered Using Too Much Capitalization, However, Unlike Doing It Too Much, You're Just Doing It On Words That Aren't Sentence-Beginners, or Names... Or Pronouns... Or Places... You Get The Idea.
Ywhay? Ywhay ouldway ouyay evenyay useyay isthay? Iyay an'tcay evenyay eadray isthay! [1]
U s e o f S p a c e s
T h e u s e o f s p a c e s i s f i n e , b u t a s s o o n a s y o u s t a r t p u t t i n g s p a c e s I N y o u r w o r d s . . . J u s t . . . d o n ' t . Y o u ' r e b e t t e r o f f j u s t n o t p u t t i n g s p a c e s i n y o u r s e n t e n c e s i f y o u d o t h i s .
Subscripts and superscripts
Using either is perhaps one of worst ways to write an article. Unless you are trying to use exponents, or are doing... whatever subscripts are for, there is no reason to use either of them. It's also a well known fact that when you use both subscripts and superscripts on one text, the article takes a screenshot.
Block Quotes
All this does is give the text space from everything else. Unless you are quoting something, most likely a text, there is no need to do this unless you are trying to practice social distancing for your poor, meek letters.
Weird... box thing
I won't dwell on this for too long, as I'm not sure what this is called. Just know, it's only good if you are writing a section about a code that the subject uses, or needs.
No Punctuation
Why would you even do this It makes it look like one whole complete sentence If you do this then learn How To Use Punctuation Seriously
Painfully tiny
This way of making an article, while funny at first, gets pretty annoying when you have to read it. Of course, if you want to, you can go smaller... and smaller... and smaller... and smaller... and smaller... And great, now not even a bacterium can read this![2]
የተለያዩ የላቲን-ያልሆኑ ቋንቋዎች
ይህ በጥሬው የእንግሊዝኛው ዊኪፔዲያ ነው! አንድ ሰው ይህን እንዴት ሊሽረው ይችላል! ነገር ግን በቁም ነገር፣ የሆነ ነገር በተለየ ቋንቋ መጻፍ ከፈለጉ፣ በቋንቋው በሚዛመደው ዊኪ ውስጥ ያድርጉት። ምናልባት የአማርኛ ዊኪ ሳይሆን አይቀርም። የለም።[3]
Mathematical formulas
Using this is fairly impractical, as it actually doesn't turn this all into math, but rather gives the text a special font. Please don't do this. Please.
References
UseOfCamelCase
IfYouDon'tUseSpacesAndRatherUseCamelCase,That'sGoingToBeAProblem.ItWillBeConfusingToReaders,EspeciallyIfYouUseAcronyms. IfYouDoUseAcronyms,YouMightAsWellUseJustSpaces,OrDashes.
A l L
It should be noted that this is way outdated, as it only has violations of Italics and Bold and A mIx Of CaPs AnD nO cAps (the original ones). If you want to try to incorporate the most recent additions to the "Other Examples of Poor Capitalization, and other general wording stuff", go ahead. Just one word of advice: good luck. |
I f Y o U d O t H i S d R e A d E d M e T h O d O f T y P I n G , Y o U d E s E r V e T o B e S e N t E n C e D , P u N I n T e N d E d. I t " s S i M p L e N o T t O d O t H i S , A n D i T ' S f R e E .
Extreme examples of formatting
While this essay's main purpose was to showcase possible mess ups in formatting, some of these sections were too... delibrate. No one would accidentally do these, so they are here as a sort of you-get-the-gist-y thing.
Grunts
Uh? Ugh! Mugh. Ouh! Ugh uh.
The following section could trigger seizures. You have been warned. |
Helicopter text
h ̸̢̳̻̱̝̮͑͐̀̊̕W̴͍̭͙͕͛̀̐̕͠ơ̸̖̪͉͋̽̓̾ẅ̶̧̯̝͎̟̲́̄͊̈́̈́,̶̟̻̖̭̳̭̟͋ ̷̢̛̫͉̳̳̞͈̈́̂͌̍̈͝ḩ̸͚̠̗̓̃̆̇̈́̔͝a̵̱̟͓̺̋ͅh̷͓̪̯̣̀̀a̴̡̢̦̝̞̖̽,̴͕͈͓̤̪̳̱͋̀̚ ̵̬͂͐̅̄̚͝I̸̧̛̛̪͉̱͔͙̦͊́̒̊͠ ̶̢̤̲͖̠̩͗̔̈́̓̀̚̕ͅg̵͈̞̪̈́ͅẹ̸͔̫̓̇̆͑̏̅̈ț̷̠̱̹͛̇͠ ̸̞̟̓̄̀̎̿̏t̷̘̼͇͌̄ḫ̶̣̬̟͈̐̉̔̾͌̈́̀e̵̛̩̯̔̊͑͆͝ ̸̟̖͍͖̭͕̬̅̋̂̀̀̀͝j̶̧̹̻̬̈ö̵͖͇̲͙͚̑̑̔̄͜͠k̷̝̍͂̈͒͌̆ẹ̴͕̼̣̼̹̲̈́͌̉̎͑͆͝.̴̧͔̖͓͚̀̈ ̶̞͎̼̳͈͐̍̍͗̓F̵̙̼̟̣̅͊̾̄̕ǔ̷̩̘̬̾̈́͊̊͘͜n̷̡̹̖̼͓̭͑̇̅̕͜n̴̗̗̬͙̝͂̉̅͂̑͒ȳ̶̡͇̹̟̹̮̪̃̓̊ ̵̡̬̫̅̌̃͛ͅL̶̪͓̆̍͑̄̆̈́͝ǒ̶̧̮͂̏͘͝v̵̢̦͈̾͜ͅé̵͉͎̻̦̩̰̫͝c̵̡̭̥͍̯̠̈́͗̆͆̍r̷̬̺̲̹̫͌̊̊̑̕͜a̷͇̾͌͛f̷̛̱͐ͅṭ̶̥͓̤͕͔̒ ̶̨͇͉̬̮̍̉͂͝t̵̨̠̳̬̝̍̆̾̒e̸̯͛̽̀̓̈̃̄x̶͙͂̓͒̂̐̚͜͠t̴̟̜͈̻͎͈̏̌̀̆̚̕͝.̷̧̝̩̠̑̓̀̓̓͒ ̶̤͈̹̱̬̲͐͆̔̀͌Ị̴͒̃͝f̸̡͍̰̙̂̿̍̾̈́̈́͝ ̷͖̖̪̘̱̤͍̐̔̈́͝͠y̸͉̗͒́̈́̿̎͝o̵̫̰̟͇̬͒̒̔͌͗̚ù̵̢̨͈͕̻̰̱̔̉͊́̋ ̷̼͋́d̸̤̘̺̳͈̖̲̒̏̀̃̍͐͘o̶̡̩͖͕͎͇̍͂̓ ̵̻͕̖͖̇̆͒͋͝ṫ̵͚̰̲͓̿͜ȟ̶͈͍̙͍͇̊̐̊̎i̷̤͉͉̔s̸͔̥̦͈͆̔̾̽͆͠͝ͅ.̶̧͔̤̺̮͓͐̒.̷̨̭̒̀̎̆̿̚͝.̵̻̻̼̻̃ ̴̨̮̩̀̆͒t̶̲̬̼̓̈́h̶̠̲̠͙͂̅͝ẻ̴͔̲͈n̴̢̨̲̘̠̘̒ ̷͙͚̙̼͋ẗ̴̡́͆ḩ̴̳̼̦̃̎̌͝͠͝ĕ̸̢̤̣̜͉͍̄̿͜r̶̡̜̞̃ȩ̷̰̓͌́͛̃̚ ̸̭̞̿̅̋̾̽̑̓͜ͅḭ̶̧̧̦̻͒̆s̴͑̈́̊͜ ̷̢̞̥̹͈͋̑n̶̗̞̗̯̤̻̂͌̒̀o̸͈̤̒t̷̢̛̹͚̳̪̖́h̶̦̭̀̍í̶̛̥̪̄̅͝n̴̨̢͕̋̾͒̍̐̌g̸͕͒̚ ̶͚̆̆̊w̵͒̋͜e̵̪̠̊̈́̄͐͑̚ ̸̫̬̮͖̮̎́͘͝c̴̥͔̪͙̓ͅą̴̟̜͉͚͇̃ņ̵̭̘̘͎̈́͑̎͠͝ ̴͕̺̝͌͠d̵̛̙̖̳͈̬̔̓̔̓́o̵̗͓͘͝ ̶͕̮͉̗̗̇̀̌̂̓̕͘͜f̴̖̝̖͕̞̊̀͠o̸̤͂̎̍̈́ŕ̷̦̏̕ ̵̢̳͙͍̞̾̆̏̒y̸͇͉̳̪̝̌͛̒̐͆o̵͕̗͈͔̎͂͋̀̍͛̕ǘ̴̢͓̰͚̞̀̈.̷̻͎̻͍͓̅̚͝ [6]
Pls, dn't vn thnk bt t. Vr. n fct, why wld y s t?
Slashes
So/great,/now/your/article/looks/like/this.
What/is/this?
/dev/sda0?
Seriously,/don't/do/this./This/looks/like/a/UNIX/filesystem.
Backslashes
Ok,\I\give\up.\This\looks\like\MS-DOS\already.
C:\Windows\system32.\This\is\why\you\don't\do\this.\It\looks\ridiculous.
.-- .... -.-- / - .... . / .... . .-.. .-.. / .-- --- ..- .-.. -.. / -.-- --- ..- / .-- .- -. - / - --- / ..- ... . / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . / ..-. --- .-. / .- -. / .- .-. - .. -.-. .-.. . ..--.. / - .... .. ... / .. ... / ..-. .- .. .-. .-.. -.-- / ..-. .- .-. -....- ..-. . - -.-. .... . -.. --..-- / -... ..- - / ... . .-. .. --- ..- ... .-.. -.-- .-.-.- / -.-- --- ..- .----. -.. / -. . . -.. / - --- / -... . / .- / -. . .-. -.. / - --- / -... . / ..- ... .. -. --. / -- --- .-. ... . .-.-.- .-.-.- .-.-.- / .- - / .- .-.. .-.. --..-- / .-. . .- .-.. .-.. -.-- .-.-.- [7]
sdrawkcab
.resrever ...txet a htiw desrever saw txet elohw siht ,tsihcosam a ton m'I esuaceb ,esruoc fO .looc ...eb ot gniyrt morf ehcadaeh a teg osla lliw uoy tub ,"depyt" uoy tahw daer ot gniyrt morf ekorts a teg sredaer lliw ylno toN .od nac uoy gniht tsrow eht ylbissop si sdrawkcab txet gnikaM [8]
D0n'7. Ju57, d0n'7. P1e45e.
Summary
The god-awful capitalization, spacing, formatting, and sizing that you saw were all done to convey one, hopefully simple message: Don't play with your keyboard. Ever. Unless it's a musical one, in which case, you are fine.
However, because your lazy head failed to read through this, your article was nominated for cleanup, perhaps along with a a deletion, speedy or otherwise! If you have done this multiple times, on a sensitive topic, or if you did this on purpose, you will, most likely, be blocked, maybe along with the loss of talking and emailing privileges. Anyhow, it was on a topic already on Wikipedia. Oh well... I guess you can reconsider what you've done, and maybe next time, you can learn from this foolish mistake. Well done, boss.
See Also
- Wikipedia:Capitalization - The actual article for those who hate comedy, or thought that this was a serious article about capitalization.
- Wikipedia:Nobody cares about your garage band - While it's mostly about notability, in particular for musical acts, it still has some good points in this article's subject matter.
Notes (mostly translations)
- ^ Translation: Why? Why would you even use this? I can't even read this!
- ^ Translation: This way of making an article, while funny at first, gets pretty annoying when you have to read it. Of course, if you want to, you can go smaller... and smaller... and smaller... and smaller... and smaller... And great, now not even a bacterium can read this!
- ^ Translation: This is literally the English Wikipedia! How can someone screw this up! But seriously, if you want to write something in a different language, do it in the language's corrosponding [sic] wiki. Probably not the Amharic wiki, though. It doesn't exist.
- ^ What is even the point of writing an ENTIRE article in one single, tiny, reference? I thought you were writing an article!
- ^ It's even worse if you figure out how to make the stupid references take forever to appear! Why is that even a feature? I need an explanation, seriously... Why?
- ^ Translation: Wow, haha, I get the joke. Funny Lovecraft text. If you do this... then there is nothing we can do for you.
- ^ Translation: Why the hell would you want to use Morse code for an article? This is fairly far-fetched, but seriously. You'd need to be a nerd to be using Morse... at all, really.
- ^ Translation: Making text backwards is possibly the worst thing you can do. Not only will readers get a stroke from trying to read what you "typed", but you will also get a headache from trying to be... cool. Of course, because I'm not a masochist, this whole text was reversed with a text... reverser.