The Solar System Wiki:Article Guidelines

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This page is about Article Guidelines for the Solar System Wiki including style, templates and page naming.

Pages Not to Create

Fan fiction is prohibited. Any fan fiction will be archived and the original page removed. To explicitly prohibit fan fiction (most likely in list pages) use Template:Prohibit.
Pages that violate the wiki rules or Fandom's ToS. These pages should be deleted immediately without archiving. Page creator should be reprimanded for violation of wiki and/or Fandom rules.

The following topics should not have pages

People (including astronomers)
Social topics (including space agencies or organizations of the like)
Places, structures or geographic features on Earth and objects in its orbit.
Certain spacecraft and all crewed space missions (mainly ones not directly linked to planetary science or heliophysics)
Launch vehicles, rocketry or components related to them
Terms pertaining to math, physics (including heliophysics), geology, chemistry, celestial mechanics or astrodynamics (such as prograde or retrograde) topics
General science topics (including pages purely on outer space)

Links that allow the creation of such pages will be removed on sight. Pages that have topics that are one of the above will be archived and deleted immediately.

Pages One Can Create

Planets, moons, dwarf planets, minor planets, comets, object groupings and regions in the solar system
Hypothesis, hypothetical bodies and topics of the like that pertain to the solar system or some part of it
Planetary science missions and uncrewed spacecraft (such as New Horizons)
Geological surface features (including ring systems), planetary weather phenomena (including atmospheres and aurorae), and meteor showers

Note that these criteria do not necessarily apply to all list pages.

Creating a Page

Before creating a page, make sure there are no pages covering the same topic or any pages that discuss the topic. This is to avoid page duplicates. If you find a page that talks about said topic, expand that page instead. If there are no related pages, proceed on.
All pages should have references. See citation methods
Make sure the article is named properly. See naming conventions below.
Make sure your page is properly formatted.
Add an infobox if deemed necessary.
Add the proper templates such as navigation, navboxes or headers.
Add the proper categories to your page.
Publish the page.

Naming Articles

Article naming is very important and editors should use correct nomenclature when naming an article. Article names are to be changed if deemed necessary. If an object's common name is used more than its provisional, IAU or temporary designation, then the article can be named after said object's common name.

Planets

For antiquity, planets have been named by their common name. As such, their are no other designations needed and planet articles can be named after said planet's common name.

Moons and Rings

Moon articles should be named by their common name. If there is no common name then its provisional or temporary designation. Rings naming should follow each planet's ring naming nomenclature. Their common names should be their article name.

For example:

Asteroids and Minor Planets

Asteroids articles are to be named after their Provisional Designation, IAU name, temporary designation or unnumbered designation.

For example:

Comets

Comet articles are to be named after their Provisional Designation or common name. Prefixes are explained as follows:

P/ is used for periodic comets with orbital periods less than 200 years.
C/ is used for non-periodic comets with orbital periods over 200 years.
X/ is used for comets with no accurate orbit or without sufficient data to calculate such orbit.
D/ is used for comets that have been lost, destroyed or broken up.
A/ is used for comets that have been changed to minor planet status.
I/ is used for interstellar comets (an any general interstellar object).

For example:

Geologic Features

Geologic feature articles are named after their IAU designated name with the type of feature stated after.

For example:

Hypothetical/Hypothesis

Hypothetical object or region articles are named after their common name. Same with hypothesis.

For example:

Manual of Style

Templates

When using templates, such as infoboxes, you must be careful. When using these in source doing freehand, you may forget to add the braces at the end. Remember, that you must use the two brackets (i.e {{}}) at both the beginning and the end of the template's name. Below is an example of an infobox with proper formatting.

Infobox

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The basic template that suits pages not categorized by other templates, such as the Sun or the Asteroid belt.

{{Infobox
|Row 1 title =
|Row 1 info =
|Row 2 title =
|Row 2 info =
|Row 3 title =
|Row 3 info =
|Row 4 title =
|Row 4 info =
|Row 5 title =
|Row 5 info =
|Row 6 title =
|Row 6 info =
|Row 7 title =
|Row 7 info =
|Row 8 title =
|Row 8 info =
|Row 9 title =
|Row 9 info =
|Row 10 title =
|Row 10 info =
}}

Planet

This template is suited for pages that deal with planets. The syntax for the template is listed below:

{{Planet
|name =
|satellite =
|discover =
|date =
|atmosphere =
|distance =
|diameter =
|orbit =
|position =
|features =
|albedo =
|aphelion =
|perihelion =
|mass =
|tilt =
|escape =
}}

Use this template at the end of each "planet" article.

{{ListPlanets}}

Satellite Template

When dealing with pages that involve natural satellites, use the template listed in the syntax below.

{{Satellite
|name =
|origin =
|discover =
|place =
|date =
|color =
|tilt =
|mass =
|apogee =
|perigee =
|apoapsis =
|periapsis =
|alternate =
|geography =
}}

Use this template at the end of satellite articles:

{{ListSatellites}}

Crater Template

This is the crater template for pages that deal with craters on either moons or planets. The syntax for the template is listed below:

{{Crater
|origin =
|eponym =
|discover =
|diameter =
|colongitude =
|neighbor =
|depth =
|coordinates =
}}

Comet Template

This is the template the deals with pages about comets in our Solar System. The syntax for the template is listed below:

{{Comet
|location =
|discover =
|date =
|place =
|aphelion =
|perihelion =
|inclination =
|mass =
|diameter =
}}

Placeholder Images

Placeholder images are used in place of a image if one is not found, being found or being replaced. Currently 7 choices of placeholder images that are acceptable across pages. Note: always use placeholder images for hypothetical bodies.

Unnecessary Article Creation

If any articles are created yet they are unfit to be part of the wiki, then they will be deleted as soon as possible and the creator will be given a strike on their user page. See more here.

References/Citations

References and citations are highly recommended when making an article on this wiki. By typing <ref> into the visual or source editor, a window to add a citation will appear. Unlike other sites, the wiki only requires the site link, book name or source name in general. An entry time, page number, page name, section number and author are also recommended. Note: site links do not have to be functional, though the link itself still needs to be listed or copyable.

Citation numbers should be placed after their corresponding text near the ending punctuation like^[1]. Or like.^[2] The citation numbers like ^[3] are generally recommended but are not required for certain technical reasons.

The following reference/citation styles are permitted:

Bulleted list with subtopics pertaining to each reference.
Numbered list with numbers corresponding to citation numbers.
Default reference ordering system.

The source will appear in the reference box near the bottom of the page. If the sources are mainly books, add the "Bibliography" header. If they are mostly sites make the header "References".

Examples

Do's and Don'ts

Do's

Use correct punctuation
Use correct spelling
Link to articles (optional)
Use templates and infoboxes if necessary (optional)
Use correct grammar
Add sources regularly (optional)
Use unbiased language and sources

Don'ts

Use incorrect punctuation
Use incorrect spelling, inaccurate naming
Use incorrect grammar or formatting
Leave articles blank
Use unneeded information or filler
Add personal opinions or subjective content

For an example of what not to do when making a article, refer to this.

Article Discussions

Discussion pages are not to be used for immoderate language. If any immoderate language, which includes cursing, vocabulary used to describe sexual, drug, violence, or graphic references. This also includes insulting users. If this is found by any user, the user must delete the comment and/or report it to an administrator. Or, if it is an administrator, they have the right to remove words, delete the comment or the entire discussion.

Blog Posts

Blog posts are not to be created if the insulting of users are included or involved. The naming of blog posts must not include inappropriate language or immoderate verb usage.