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Guidelines

A boilerplate is full page model that can be copied when creating new articles or used as a reference when editing existing ones. The purpose of a boilerplate is to define a consistent layout and style for an article on a given subject.

Astute wiki editors may wonder why we use boilerplates instead of templates, since it is also the purpose of templates to provide consistency across pages. While this is true, a page made entirely out of one monolithic template or many large templates quickly becomes too difficult to maintain and imposes too many restrictions. In addition, newer editors find pages made out of templates harder to edit and understand. A boilerplate indicates how an article should be set out while still allowing editors sufficient journalistic license to deviate from the framework when required.

How to use boilerplates[]

Start a new page and copy the contents of a boilerplate to the page that you wish to edit. Choose edit this page or view source from the boilerplate page menu to copy all the markup, instead of the just the rendered text. Now remove the boilerplate category, usually located at the bottom of the page, to ensure that it is not forgotten at the end.

Any content in the boilerplate that does not come under one of the following special cases should be kept in the final article.

Notices[]

Throughout the boilerplate may be notices to provide information or instructions on how to edit the page or a particular section. These are shown using the {{notice}} template. Follow the instructions and then remove the notice from the article. There should be no notices left in the article when you are finished.

Variables[]

Variables are denoted by words_joined_with_an_underscore and ending with a question mark (?). Replace each variable with the correct information for the page that you are working on. There should be no question marks left in the article when you are finished: search for them!

Alternations[]

Sometimes there will be a choice of content to insert into an article. Each alternation is demarcated with a bold pseudo-heading and a right-facing arrow (). Pick the most suitable alternation and remove the others, including all alternation headings. There will usually be a notice accompanying an alternation to give you additional information on which one to choose.

List of boilerplates[]

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