NTM Wiki Style Guide

While we appreciate edits and contributions to wiki pages, there are a few rules and standards we have for edits. This page gives a comprehensive list of each of the standards we hold wiki pages to. Failure to abide by the rules/standards set here may result in the removal of editor permissions.

Rules

Generative AI

The use of generative AI for pages is completely disallowed. Usage of AI for pages (HTML, Markdown, JS, CSS, etc.) will lead to a revocation of editor permissions. No exceptions.

Profanity

While profanity is not disallowed, it is generally frowned upon to be used in wiki pages. There are a few exceptions to this however, including quotes and in-game tooltips. Pages using profanity in a circumstance other than these will likely be refactored to use more 'proper' language.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism of other articles is strictly prohibited. Plagiarism counts as using content from outside of the public domain (or similar) or otherwise copyrighted work without permission from the author. Even if the content is in the public domain, it's good practice to give attribution to the author. This can result in the offender's editor privileges being revoked and the page being reworked. This rule applies to text and images. For the NTM Wiki copyright details, see this page.

Pages

Naming Pages

The standard for naming pages on this wiki is to have the name of the item/fluid/topic as the page name. This includes capitalizing the first letter of each word. For example, Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor would be a correct page name for the inertial confinement fusion reactor, while any other variation would be incorrect.

Some variations such as ICF are allowed, though they should redirect to the main page.

Redirects

Page redirects should be used in cases where the name of a machine, mechanic, item, or fluid is commonly known by another name. Common examples include:

Inertial confinement fusion reactor is commonly known as the ICF
Ore acidizer is commonly known as the crystallizer
All Pages/All redirects to Special:AllPages

Pages should not redirect to somewhere that isn't relevant to the redirect page's title. A common way to name a redirect is to have a shortening of the full title or a commonly known name as the title, following the same guidelines as mentioned in Naming Pages.

Redirects are incredibly powerful for both editors and users. They should be used whenever needed. Useless redirects/redirects to deprecated machines can be removed without consequence.

Inline Links

An inline link is defined as any text that has a link in the middle of text. For example: steam redirects to the steam page. These can be renamed using a vertical bar (|) to achieve this. Inline links can link to a section in a page using the headers and a hash symbol (#), to allow for this.

Inline links should be used when a material, item, or mechanic is mentioned in a page. Links should only be placed once per occurrance, prioritizing the first appearance. For example, if a page had multiple references to the hydrogen peroxide page, then only the first occurrence would be linked, while the rest would be left as normal text.

The current standard is sentence case for links. A few examples of how this may be used in a page can be seen below. Names or proper nouns should be capitalized as needed using title case. A word being a link should not affect its capitalization; if the word would normally be uncapitalized, it should be uncapitalized in the link.

Hydrogen peroxide...
The player can use water...
The bobblehead for The Bobcat...

Page Writing

Writing pages is likely the most work-intensive part of wiki editing, and there are a lot of standards due to this.

Reader

The reader should not be brought into the text. In guide-type articles this is fine (and encouraged to make guides easier to understand), however in informative articles, it hinders the quality of the text. Bringing the reader into the text is done when you mention the reader directly using 'you' or other pronouns, so this should be avoided. These can be often replaced with 'entity' or removed entirely.

If it is necessary that the player be specifically mentioned, then the term 'the player' should be used. For example, sentences that must mention the player, such as "This mob only targets the player.", are allowed.

Some examples are listed below of incorrect/correct text.

"This fluid will hurt you." --> "This fluid damages entities."
"You can make this using an assembly machine." --> "This can be made using an assembly machine."
"If you go near this source..." --> "If an entity is near this source..."
"To craft this item, we are going to need..." --> "To craft this item, the following materials are required..."

Spelling and Grammar

Proper spelling and grammar should be used at all times. This includes proper capitalization and punctuation. Try not to let sentences run on, instead keep them concise while still properly delivering the information. The goal should not be to fit all the information into one sentence, but instead to be concise and clear about the information being presented. Try not to be offended if another editor looks through a page you (or someone else) has made and corrects any mistakes.

Formality

Pages should always be as formal as possible, with the rare exception of some guide pages or the jokes category, as it may not always be possible/needed to maintain formality (as seen here).

Templates

There are templates for use on wiki pages. These are special tags that you can place on wiki pages to automatically create a section, without needing to recode it every time. Some useful ones include:

{{Under construction}} - Creates an "Under Construction" header.
{{Revision needed}} - Creates a "Revision Needed" header.
{{Fluid}} - Creates a fluid box that can be populated with information.
{{Material}} - Creates a material box that can be populated with information.
{{Tooltip}} - Creates an item tooltip that can be filled with information.
{{Fluid Tooltip}} - Creates a fluid tooltip that can be filled with information.

More information on how to use templates can be found on the template's documentation pages, as well as on MediaWiki's manual.

Files

Naming Files

Files (primarily images) should be named according to what they show. Most screenshotting programs will name image files hard to read names symbolizing the date, though this is not convenient for wiki usage. For example, a file showing the exploded zirnox should be named Zirnox_Exploded.png or some derivation. In the case of this example, the true name is under Zirnox_Exploded_New.png, as the original file was uploaded in an incorrect resolution. As long as the file can be found when needed, any reasonable derivation of the name is permitted.

Machines/Items

Renders exist of most machines/items in slots, though there will come times where there is a missing item/slot/machine. You can ask another user to make upload one for you on the discord, or you can create one yourself. Most times, asking another editor for directions is sufficient. Taking in-game screenshots of items/machines/blocks is mostly phased out in favor of direct rendering.

Amendments

This section describes various changes or "amendments" to the style guide based off of editor comments and administrator decisions.

Fluid/Liquid/Gas Writing

As of May 8th (2025), 23:16Z, it is decided that when referring to a liquid or a gas, the terms "liquid" or "fluid" should be used when referring to a liquid, and "gas" should be used when referring to a gaseous substance.

Incorrect:
- "Liquid fluid" when referring to a liquid.
- "Gaseous fluid" when referring to a gas.
Correct:
- "Liquid"/"Fluid" when referring to a liquid/fluid.
- "Gas" when referring to a gaseous substance.