User:Knife/Policy

With the multitude of subjects and popularity of the Mario series, it can sometimes be difficult to find the right way to name an article. Generally, the best source for naming will come from the game itself, but when subjects are not named within the actual game or the subject doesn't appear in video games at all, you may need to turn to secondary sources for an official name.

Naming an Article
There are several steps to follow when naming an article:


 * The Super Mario Wiki is an English language wiki, so the name of an article should correspond to the first official international English name of the subject. For example, the name "Mario Strikers Charged Football" was established before "Mario Strikers Charged." Therefore, the title "Mario Strikers Charged Football" is used for the game's article. Some English names have changed over time though, and in these cases the common modern name can be used. For example, Princess Peach's first English name was "Princess Toadstool". However, she is commonly called "Princess Peach" in recent games, so the article's title is "Princess Peach".
 * If there is no official English name, then the first official name of the subject in any language is used. For example, the giant bird boss from Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins is named "Radonkel" on the wiki. The boss is unnamed in English, but has an official name in German, and since that is the only official name currently known, the title "Radonkel" is used for the article.
 * If there is no official name in any language, then a conjectural title is developed if the subject is notable enough for an article. For example, the unnamed mole people from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars have been given the conjectural name "Mole folk", as they are a notable species that appear throughout the game.
 * When naming an article, do not use game abbreviations. (e.g. use Yoshi (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door) as opposed to Yoshi (PM:TTYD)).

English and Non-English Sources
English regions on MarioWiki are defined as regions where the games are officially released in the English language. This commonly includes the American, European, and Australian regions. European sources usually means the United Kingdom, but can include other countries where games are officially released in the English language. English sources generally have priority over non-English sources.

Non-English sources on MarioWiki are defined as regions where games are not officially released in the English language. This can include any region where Nintendo officially releases their products.

Acceptable Sources for Naming
This is a list of acceptable sources when it comes to naming an article. If a source is not present, keep moving down the list until you have found the right way to name the article. This list is in order by priority:


 * 1) First international English name – In most cases, this means the first use of the name in an English language game. If there is a conflict of whether to use the American source, European source, or Australian source for naming, the region which had the game released first will be the preferred source. This includes both in-game and instruction booklet sources.
 * 2) Name from a Nintendo Player's Guide – A name from a Nintendo Player's Guide (also commonly known as a Nintendo Power guidebook) is an acceptable alternative. For games released after 2007, this source can no longer be used since this source is currently discontinued. Super Paper Mario is the last game in the Mario series to be covered by Nintendo Power.
 * 3) Name from a Prima Games Strategy Guide – A name from a Prima Games Strategy Guide is also an acceptable alternative assuming that it is a guide from 2007 or later. This is because Nintendo Power has officially partnered with Prima Games in that year after their discontinuation.
 * 4) First international name from a non-English region – This includes the first use of the name in a non-English language game. If there is a conflict of which source to use, the region where the game was released first will have priority. In almost all cases, this means the Japanese region. This includes both in-game and instruction booklet sources.
 * 5) Name used in officially licensed media – A name from any officially Nintendo licensed media source. This most likely includes non-video game sources like cartoons, movies, and comics.
 * 6) Development name – Any name used during the development of a video game or other Nintendo licensed media source. This type of name usually comes from beta elements or debugging.

Conjectural Names
Any name from a source not covered above is considered unofficial and conjectural. Generally, conjecturally named subjects don't have articles because they are either not noteworthy enough to have an article or don't have much information to cover. However, subjects that are detailed and noteworthy enough to have articles still have to adhere to certain guidelines.

Conjectural names are usually decided upon by the users of MarioWiki or commonly used names by the Mario community. When deciding on a name, the name must be simple yet accurate. For example, the article Bat has a simple yet accurate title. A name like is not acceptable because it is not simple and has an inaccurate description.

Name Changes
In certain cases, names may be changed because the old name is replaced with a new commonly used name. A popular example of this is how was changed to Blooper. In these cases, the newer name will replace the older one with certain exceptions. Exceptions include naming errors, translation errors, and use of aliases/nicknames. For example, if the Prima strategy guide incorrectly names Swoopers as Bats, Swooper will still be the article name. It is up to the users to find and determine what the naming errors, translation errors, and use of aliases/nicknames are.

Capitalization
The words in the title must be capitalized the same way they are from the source, unless it is a proper noun. Proper nouns are capitalized no matter how it is in the source. The Wiki software makes it so that the first letter of the title is capitalized regardless. Exceptions to the proper noun rule can be made if there is some special reason why the proper noun is uncapitalized. Also, words that aren't proper nouns in conjectural titles should not be capitalized (like Pauline's items).