Our '''Manual of style''' is a collection of rules of thumb and guidelines for giving Wikitravel a consistent look and feel. Most of these rules have exceptions, but to put together a good reference work collaboratively, it's best to follow the rules unless they're quite inappropriate for a particular situation.
The Manual is broken up into different pages so that this one doesn't get overloaded with extraneous text. It makes it easier to find and update individual rules or concepts if they're on their own pages. Finally, it's easier for smarty-pantses to link to the particular rule being broken from talk pages for articles.
If all this stuff makes your head swim, and you don't want to bother with it, by all means plunge forward and just start sharing your knowledge. Other Wikitravellers will come through and bring your contributions more in line with the style guide.
If you have a question about the specifics of the Manual, or want to see it changed/amended/clarified, use the talk page for the section in question. A list of issues currently being discussed can be found here.
Structural style
This section of the Manual is for rules about the structure of '''Wikitravel as a whole'''.
Main Page guidelines - how to add links to the Main Page
What is an article? - how and when to start new articles
Other ways of seeing travel - approaching travel from different angles
Geographical hierarchy - how we divide up the world
Article naming conventions - how to name an article
Disambiguation pages - when to make them and how to use them
Bodies of water - how lakes, rivers, seas and oceans fit into Wikitravel
Categories - using the MediaWiki categories feature
Using Mediawiki templates - using the MediaWiki Template: transclusion feature
Mediawiki template index - a list of available Mediawiki templates
Formatting style
These rules are about '''laying out individual articles'''. That is, they describe how we take raw information and put it in a format that's easily usable by travelers.
'''Article layout''':
Article templates - consistent articles. Standard sections and formatting.
Where you can stick it - finding a place to share your knowledge
Information for gay and lesbian travellers - where to put GLBT info in a destination article
'''Formatting content''':
Section headers - formatting guidelines for the section headers
Avoid HTML - avoiding HTML formatting
Information boxes - when, how and when not to use information boxes
Geocoding - adding latitude and longitude to destination articles
'''Links''':
External links - how and when to link to other Web sites
Inter-language links - linking to other language versions
Internal links - linking to other articles in Wikitravel
'''Listings''':
Accommodation listings - for the '''Sleep''' section of articles
Activity listings - things to '''Do'''
Attraction listings - things to '''See'''
Bar listings - for the '''Drink''' section of articles
Restaurant listings - for the '''Eat''' section of articles
One-liner listings - for '''Regions''', '''Districts''', '''Cities''', and '''Get out''' sections, and in other sections as appropriate
Writing style
This set of rules describes how to write '''words, sentences, and paragraphs'''.
Tone - the right tone for your prose
Don't tout - describe, don't push
Spelling - what spelling rules to use
Abbreviations - when to abbreviate words
Neutrality of medium - referring to the medium the article is in
First person pronouns - avoid using "I", "we", and their ilk
Second person pronouns - using "you" and friends is okay
Words to avoid - some words and phrases to avoid in articles
Foreign words - using non-English words and names in articles
Romanization - for languages that do not use the Latin alphabet
Don't overlink - when to make links in article text
Use boldface to call out important topics - using boldface for theme words
Use italics for emphasis - putting stress on certain words and phrases
Links to Wikipedia - how to make links to Wikipedia articles
Links to Open Directory - how to make twin-pages links to Open Directory topics
Avoid negative reviews - don't bother listing places not worth going to
Measurements - formatting lengths, weights, temperatures, etc.
Currency - proper method of displaying currency
Time and date formats
Phone numbers - including and formatting phone numbers
Trademarks - using trademarks
See also
Help - for technical help with Wiki syntax
Community policies - for Wikitravel's collaboration policies
Wikitravel:Namespace index - all the "meta" articles in the Wikitravel: namespace
Using talk pages