UnNews talk:Style

I just stumbled onto this for the first time today... I somewhat disagree with the "don't be biased" and "don't offend celebrities/politicians" suggestions. Many of my own (and others') articles are quite biased politically and are nevertheless humorous. Likewise, I often deride Bush (although I haven't explicitly called him a monkey yet... maybe next time). What do others think? --Composure1 20:37, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

It seems that many of the articles are biased in one way or another...it's hard to write about current events without being biased. I think that as long as it has a clever concept rather than just being a stupid political rant, it's okay. --THE 00:42, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Titles

Is it generally accepted that titles should be lower-cased (except for proper names, of course), or what? -- Lenoxus 19:59, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Yeah pretty much. --Hotadmin4u69 ^[TALK] 23:06, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Cool, thanks. -- Lenoxus 18:00, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Protest

I disagree with the formatting rules. I've remained silent on this issue, since how other people write their articles is none of my business, but when you make it into actual requirements, I have no choice but to stand up to tyranny. I could be nitpicky, but I'll just cut to the bone. Why should names and organizations be in boldface? I think much of the time it's ugly to look at, especialy when in link bold. I've come to tolerate the rule about putting quotes in italic, since it was the norm when I arrived in 2007, but note that an article without it isn't necessarily lacking in quality. At the bare minimum, we're at least supposed to mimick Wikinews, which, checking their archives, does not use any of these formatting rules. -- Kip > Talk • Works • • 14:43, Apr. 3, 2010

Worth discussing. The only reason I put it in the Style Guide is that I observed it being the typical style--and observed the Chief putting articles in that style during his "tidying up" pass and thought that writing it down would save him some work. Am not attached to it, but do think it is relatively painless and valuable (in developing the illusion of a legitimate news source) if everyone does it the same way. The style of Wikinews does not dictate the style of UnNews. Hold your thought, please, until the Chief returns. Spıke Ѧ 21:21 3-Apr-10

Kip, if you had any issues you could have voiced them in the various discussions we had already ya know? Having said that I am in the opinion that these guidelines, as with any other guidelines on Uncyclopedia, are open to interpretations and should not be followed strictly for the sake of following guidelines. If an article is good enough as it is, a specific style shouldn't be forced on it. My two cents. ~ 22:01, April 3, 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps that should be indicated in the Style guide then, though I personally do not like the bolding format that Kip is talking about and would prefer if it was not the formatting mentioned in the style guide. --Hotadmin4u69 ^[TALK] 02:32 Apr 4 2010

OK, I've softened the wording to move it from "absolute rules" into "recommended formatting". ~ 19:52, April 4, 2010 (UTC)

As above, "Hold your thought, please, until the Chief returns." (Also UnNews:Newsroom sec. 15, where I note I'm assembling issues to present when Zim returns.) EMC has already complained about the length of the Style Guide; it can be shortened considerably by simply deleting rules if I only need to follow them if I feel like it. I personally don't like quotations in italics either, something I see on no other "news" site; but in both cases I know that Zim will post-edit any story I submit and cast it this way. It would be better to wait and get Zim's buy-in, plus any history he has for why we do it his way. Spıke Ѧ 20:21 4-Apr-10

Spike, I would assume that as a Bureaucrat I have some weight around here. Maybe I am mistaken. I'll have a chat with Zim whenever he is back from the break he took. ~ 20:32, April 4, 2010 (UTC)

As Mordillo implies, guides and policies are indeed ignorable, provided an admin doesn't come along and do something about it. The nature of Un-everything precludes hierarchies and rules, for the most part. The humorous intent of the site requires civil workarounds, with "authority" being loosely wielded.

I've "ruled" UnNews only because no one has stopped my despotic ways. In the same way, all writers and editors here eventually find that if a piece has survived unmolested for long time, chances are the piece is good. Those little quirks I've adopted, like italicizing quotes and boldening some proper nouns, are meant to be a way of demonstrating that this is not your fathers news, and taking a poke at sensationalistic news rags with their yelling at your face style. The main reason I've edited others articles to match my weird ways is to have some consistency among UnNews articles in style, and to throw my weight around.

I love the style guide, and see no need for changes, but at the same time, I won't bludgeon people with it. The greatest thing about it is that reading it can help a writer explore their craft more deeply. Rev. Zim (Talk) Get saved! 16:55, April 7, 2010 (UTC)

Inspiring words, Chief, on uniformity, and on liberty. In other words, you are straddling the fricking fence! I suspect that what all this means is that uniformity on issues such as italicizing quotations and boldfacing the names of institutions will continue to be the case, and that, for authors who do not like it, you will post-edit articles on your own time, and no one will revert you. Sigh! it would have been nicer to reach a decision. (My personal distress at taking a document to consensus and then having the real debate occur two weeks later with a completely different cast of characters, has been played out before and I never get anywhere.) Spıke Ѧ 02:05 8-Apr-10

A related point, of no urgency at all: the Chief goes crazy with links. He sometimes links things like the and 30. I understand that he's doing this to take hypertext news services to extremes as a joke; it has never interfered with a joke I was trying to tell and I've never felt inclined to revert him. But others might, and I didn't include this little affectation in the Style Guide. Spıke Ѧ 13:49 8-Apr-10

Wow, this thing exploded since I've been gone. Well, not exploded. More like it fizzed up a little bit like when you gently shake a coke bottle. Or something. Anyway, I apologize for not mentioning this is one of the other discussion, as I didn't know those discussions existed. It seems UnNews has become somewhat chaotic lately. Regardless, I'm still against the current style rules, or recomendations, or whatever. They're unnecessry and render an article, in my opinion, ugly, including the brand spanking new one about linking the location. I believe there should be minimum style guidlines, with just the basics (title header, templates, date header, source section guildlines, etc.) for consistancy and for the sake of the nooblets. -- Kip > Talk • Works • • 08:10, Apr. 16, 2010

Shit That Pisses Me Off (STPMO) articles

Is there any way you can add below Editorial and UnColumn the style guidelines for the new type of UnNews ed. I created -- Category:Shit That Pisses Me Off, especially if the idea takes off? Thank you. PF4Eva, the King of Imagination talk Contributions 21:58, October 13, 2010 (UTC)

It's your baby, you define the style--such as in the intro to the Category. I'll mention this category alongside Summit of Spin in Section 2.4. Details about each genre are beyond the scope of the UnNews-wide Style Guide; there has been one complaint that it's already too long. Spıke Ѧ 22:06 13-Oct-10

Ultimatum

If this article ever reaches a size of 10,000 bytes or larger, I will revert it back to the "last known good" revision, presently defined as this one. – Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize • writings • SU&W) 23:04 Apr 29, 2011

Seconded. We don't need something as long as a black man's penis telling us how to write. MegaPleb • Dexter111344 • Complain here 23:07, April 29, 2011 (UTC)