Xenharmonic Wiki:Conventions
A few conventions have evolved in this wiki that would be good to keep consistent with.
(please feel free to add conventions in use here, and please provide reasons for it! Thanks!)
Wanted pages
Please do not blindly create pages that appear in the Special:WantedPages list. Most of them are not actually wanted.
That list is an automatically generated list based on how many other wiki pages point to a page, but it cannot tell the difference between links written by a human, and links that occur as part of a functionality template. Most of them are “false alarms”, in other words.
Here is an example of some list items on “wanted pages” that are actually legitimate, and do warrant page creation:
- Euzenius (3 links)
- James Plamondon (3 links)
- Joseph Ruhf (3 links)
- LIRP-3 (3 links)
- List model (3 links)
Here is an example of some list items that are machine-generated noise and should be ignored:
- 4L 4s (3/1-equivalent) (5 links)
- 4L 6s (3/1-equivalent) (5 links)
- 50th-octave temperaments (5 links)
- 51/20 (5 links)
- 512/405 (5 links)
- 517edo (5 links)
- 520edo (5 links)
Of course, you can still create one of those machine-wanted pages if you actually do have something to say about it, but do not create a blank page with nothing but info boxes, as this only creates more work for editors without adding new information for readers.
An easier and more rewarding alternative to browsing “wanted pages” is to instead check out the pages Xenharmonic Wiki:Things to do and Wikifuture, which list tasks that really do need to be done.
Also check out Category:Stubs and Category:Todo:expand. These are short pages that need to be expanded by writing more content on them. Please help us lengthen them with more content.
Decimal numbers
Use the English convention with decimal point. (Exception: quotes or entire articles in another language)
| Correct | Avoid (example) |
|---|---|
| 701.995 |
Logarithmic interval measures
For normal tables, we decided to stick to cent values with a fixed precision, mostly 2 or 3 in the fractional part. 3 is helpful when serving as a canonical reference point for people to compare their own calculations with. Its main purpose is to give an idea of interval sizes and relation to known intervals in the 12edo system of western music. Alternative interval size measures are acceptable if they better reflect the idea behind an interval system, scale etc. but "competing" columns with logarithmic sizes in the same table should usually be avoided.
Links
Links - both wiki-internal and external ones - should have meaningful text; something like "here" is not very useful for understanding and orientation, often the page title is a good starting point.
- For more info see Help: Here-links
Internal links should be as precise as possible. So, for example, if you follow a link that promises a definition of a term you don't know, it's not helpful if it brings you to an article full of new information and the expected definition hidden in a massive amount of text. (there is still a lot to be done in this area)
Original research
Original research is allowed on the Xenharmonic Wiki. There are a number of conventions in place to help readers distinguish between established ideas or terms and emergent ones.
Below, standard framework means the set of established ideas, and standard terminology means the set of established terms.
- By default, a page in the main namespace should be written using only the standard framework and terminology.
- Whenever possible, references should be provided to support the established ideas and terms, and people who developed ideas and/or coined terms should be credited accordingly.
- A page in the main namespace may contain original research if it is presented using the standard framework and terminology as much as possible; e.g. Generator sequence.
- If multiple conflicting terms coexist for a given concept, the most widespread term should be given priority; e.g. Superparticular ratio (over "epimoric ratio" or "delta-1 ratio"), but Delta-N ratio (over "superpartient ratio" and "epimeric ratio").
- A page presenting established ideas that contains a few idiosyncratic terms (i.e. terms used only by a single person or a small group) should have any idiosyncratic term marked as such using Template: Idiosyncratic; e.g. Musical cells.
- It is especially important to give proper credit to people who coined idiosyncratic terms, because that helps readers understand that a term is not widely used.
- A page presenting established or original ideas that uses a nonstandard framework or terminology should be placed as a subpage in the user namespace, under the editor's user page; e.g. User:Moremajorthanmajor/8L 3s (perfect twelfth equivalent).
- Alternatively, it maybe be placed as a subpage in the main namespace, under the topic's main page; e.g. 22edo/Eliora's approach. This option is mainly useful for pages with more than one main contributor.
- A page presenting original ideas in a non-neutral way (e.g. an essay, presenting its author's own argument on a given topic) should be placed as a subpage in the user namespace, under the author's user page; e.g. User:FloraC/There is not a third side of the river.
- Exceptions may be made for pages like guides written with a wide target audience, for which the main namespace offers the best visibility; e.g. D&D's guide.
- A page that contains established or original ideas which are less likely to find practical applications in xenharmonic music should be marked as a novelty topic using Template: Novelty; e.g. 1/0.
- Pages about the musical application of established mathematical concepts may be marked as novelties if their relevance to xenharmonic music is too tenuous.
- Topics which are not sufficiently related to xenharmonic music may be moved to the user namespace or deleted.
What is considered "established" may change over time and should be discussed between editors as needed. In particular, ideas built on established ideas may be considered established even if they are not as widely known as the ideas they are built on; e.g. SN scale.
In addition, editors should keep in mind that other editors are more likely to edit pages in the main namespace than ones in the user namespace. In short, if you don't want other users interfering too much with your work, stay in the user namespace; and if you don't want other users interfering at all with your work, publish outside the wiki and provide a link to it on an appropriate wiki page.
Naming articles
Naming concepts/objects
We have outlined a generic rule for naming temperaments and commas. See: Temperament naming #Temperament and comma naming conventions.