Help:BiographyStyle
From Eliafamily
Biographies are one of the main kinds of pages on the site. They should be written in third person (even if they are autobiographies) because any one can contribute. They can contain whatever content you want.
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How To Start A New Biography
With the exception of new births, all of the Elia members are listed on the appropriate lineage. If you wish to start a new biography for someone already listed on one of the lineage, the best way to do so (assuming you have already logged in) is to go to the lineage in question and click on the name of the person who's biography you will create. This will take you immediately to an editing page where you can begin your writing.
If the person is not yet listed on a lineage, you can easily add their name to the lineage page first. Be aware of a couple of things before you do so. First, check out the lineage style guide. When you are then ready to add the new name to the lineage, add the person's name as a link. For example, if the person's name was Harry Elia, you would add the link as:
[[Harry Elia]]
Remember, however, that how you type the person's name on the lineage become the name of the page for the biography, and the page name will also be displayed in large type at the top of the biography. The style for such pages is first name followed by a space followed by last name (no middle names or maiden names are used in page titles). But you should consider, for example, whether to use Harry Elia or Harold Elia.
Page names must also be unique. Thus, if Harry Elia is the son of Harry Elia, you cannot simply add another Harry Elia to the lineage. You must use either Harry Elia Jr. or Harry Elia II. Harry Elia could be added to the lineage like this:
[[Harry Elia II|Harry Elia]]
The text after the pipe (|) will be what shows up on the page, but when clicked the reader will be directed to a page titled Harry Elia II. It is on this page that you can then enter the biography for Harry Elia II.
How To Edit A Biography
If you merely want to add to a pre-existing biography, or edit its text, just go to the biography page that you want to edit. This is usually easiest to do by finding the right lineage page, but you can also click on the person's name wherever you find it to be directed to the biography. If you only need to add to or amend a small setion, use the edit link next to the section title of the section you need to edit. If you need to make multiple edits, use the edit link at the very top of the page (the tab in between discussion and watch).
Biography Template
In order to maintain a consistent style across the website, it is desirable to have all of the biographies written in a similar style. If you are creating a new biography, a helpful way to proceed is to copy the text below and fill in the blanks as described on this style guide:
== //person's full name// ==
{{FamilyTree|
name=//person's name//|
photo=//photo file name or 'none on file'//|
dob=[[//birth month//|//birth month and date//]], [[//birth year//]]|
lineage=[[//name of lineage//]]|
parent=[[//parent - list one who is Elia descendant//]]|
siblings=[[//eldest sibling - this should be page name of biography//]]
//delete this if one sibling or add '<br> followed by additional siblings
in double brackets [[]] as first sibling; replace with 'none' (no brackets
around none - 'none' not '[[none]]' if no siblings.//|
children=[[//eldest child see notes above for siblings//]]|}}
//Enter biography here. Feel free to use subheadings like ===Early Life=== and
===Adulthood=== if desired; 3 equals signs are code for subheading//
== //spouse's full name; delete section if no spouse// ==
//see notes above for spouse's biography//
== Synopsis of Dates ==
//birth dates, anniversaries, and dates of death go here in format
'First Name's Brithday:' and "Wedding Anniversary:'//
//dates in the following format://
//First Name's Birthday:// [[//Month|Month Date//]], [[//Year/]]<br>
//Note: end every line with <br> to make each date appear on a new line//
== External Links ==
//Place a list of links here - can be links to personal web sites,
business web sites, hobby web sites, photo galleries, etc. -
anthing interesting. Links should be listed as follows:
[http://www.websiteurl.org //Title of site//] - //extended description//<br>
[[Category:Biography|//Last Name, First Name//]]
This may seem complicated, but don't worry - it is all cut and paste and fill in the blanks. The sections of the biography template are explained below.
The First Heading: The Person's Name
The first line of the biography template is the person's name. Unlike the page title, which is in the form First Name Last Name, this heading should included middle and maiden names.
The Info Sidebar
Every biography has a little sidebar in the upper-right corner that usually also has a photo. It is generated using a Template called the FamilyTree template. A full description is given on the template page itself. If you cut and paste the Biography Template above, the info sidebar is produced in the very first few lines; everything between the squiggly brackets following {{FamilyTree| and }} at the very end.
Change any text inside the double diagonal lines // with the appropriate information. Refer to a description of the FamilyTree template for more information.
The Biography
Replace //Enter biography here...// with as much information as you like! Biographies should be more than just a listing of important dates, residences, and occupations. Especially desirable are memories, anectdotes, etc. Try and bring people to life.
Please feel free to subdivide the biographies into subsections. Subsection titles are coded like this:
===Subsection===
For example, in this help file, "The Biography" is a subsection of "Biography Template". Not only do subsections make reading easier, they also provide links in the page's table of contents and provide edit buttons for easy editing. Make use of subheadings in any section of a biography.
The Spouse
The next section of the biography is a bio of the spouse. Spouses are placed on the same page as the Elia member. The style of the spouse bio is the same as that for the Elia.
Synopsis of Dates
Please place a list of birth dates, death dates, and wedding anniversaries for easy reference. Dates should be of the form listed in the template above, in the sequence birth, wedding, death. Dates should conform to the style for dates, namely providing the Month, Date as a link to the month page (see template above), and a link to the year page. Lines should end with the code 'br' in brackets to force a line break.
External Links
Place a list of interesting links relevant to the person in the biography at the end.
Biography Category
In order to make the biography show up in our list of all biographies, place the following line at the end of the bio:
[[Category:Biography|Last, First]]
Where 'Last' and 'First' are replaced with the last name and first name of the Elia.
