Manual of Style:Headings and subheadings

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This page documents the Manual of Style guidelines of the GTA Wiki.

It concerns standards that all users should follow.

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This page documents the Official GTA Wiki Manual of Style on heading and subheadings.

Formatting

There are six levels of headings. Headings are formatted using ==Heading==, where the number of equals signs represents the heading level (i.e. two being a second level heading, or h2).

Wikitext	Result	HTML equivalent	Notes
`=Heading=`	Heading	`<h1>Heading</h1>`	Not generally used on pages. Automatically used as the page title upon creation.
`==Heading==`	Heading	`<h2>Heading</h2>`	Used for main page sections. Includes an underline.
`===Heading===`	Heading	`<h3>Heading</h3>`	First "sub heading" level. Used to further establish context. Typically used to distinguish context per game.
`====Heading====`	Heading	`<h4>Heading</h4>`	Second "sub heading" level.
`=====Heading=====`	Heading	`<h5>Heading</h5>`	Not recommended for use.
`======Heading======`	Heading	`<h6>Heading</h6>`	Not recommended for use.

Stacking different levels of headings causes them to be correctly cascaded in the table of contents. For example, "2.1.3." would be the third sub heading of the first sub heading of the second heading.

Naming conventions

See also: Naming conventions

The choice of name for a heading depends on the page and is usually defined in the specific article layout. Generic fallback names include:

Description
Influence
Gallery
Oversights
References (where References are gathered)
Navigation (where Navigation boxes are placed)

Like article titles, headings and sub headings must follow Title Case:

Always capitalize the first and last words of the heading.
Always capitalize proper nouns (such as names of places, people, entities, etc).
Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor), and prepositions of four letters or fewer (e.g., in, on, at, by, with).

Performance overview

Performance Overview

Order

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As with names, the order in which headings and sub headings are placed in an article will depend on the specific article layout. Generally speaking, the order should be as follows:

Main content sections (Description, Design, Performance, etc)
Real world influences and comparisons (Influences)
Table data and other non-body text formats (Specifications, Modifications, etc)
Galleries (Gallery, Videos, etc)
References
Navigation

Headings

Pages use second level headings for main page sections. These generally separate content based on their purpose, such as "Description", "Objectives" and "Gallery".

Refer to the specific article style for guidance on what heading sections and naming conventions should be used on a page.
Headings should not contain links.

Sub headings

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Sub headings refers to any heading under and including level 3. These are regarded "sub headings" as they generally apply further context to a main page section. Sub headings must only follow headings (level 2) and should never be placed in a page independently from other sections.

On most content articles, these are generally "Grand Theft Auto" game or Universe titles. The choice of sub heading should reflect the context and whether the amount of content belonging to that section warrants one. Where possible, sub headings should group consecutive game releases, or focus on a specific Universe, based on whether content's depiction is largely consistent (such as vehicle or building designs).

Third level "Grand Theft Auto" sub headings should not be abbreviated (for example, "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas", not "GTA SA").
Third level "Grand Theft Auto" sub headings should only be used when it is necessary to distinguish content between different games. If the content appears in a single game, such a distinction is not needed.
Repeating "Grand Theft Auto" numerous times in a heading is not necessary (i.e. "Grand Theft Auto V - Online", not "Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online").
Sub headings should not contain links.
Including "Episodes from Liberty City" alongside "Grand Theft Auto IV" in sub headings is not necessary, since EFLC is already implied, unless the article explicitly states the content is not available in EFLC.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online

Grand Theft Auto V and Online

Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City

Grand Theft Auto IV

Fake headings

In situations where the number of headings on an article is excessive and results in an excessively large, cumbersome table of contents, it may be necessary to use fake headings.

Fake headings function like ordinary formatted headings, but are not displayed in the table of contents. All 6 heading levels can be "faked" and are achieved using templates named after the heading level: {{H1}}, {{H2}}, {{H3}}, {{H4}}, {{H5}} and {{H6}}.

It is generally advised to use these sparingly and in worst-case scenarios, as it makes navigating the page harder for readers; before considering using them, consider whether the page could be split up to make it shorter and easier to break down, or whether a table of contents is necessary.

Fake headings do not provide an [edit] button for users to edit specific sections of a page.

Linking to headings and sub headings

It is possible to produce a link which will navigate the user to a specific heading on another page when clicked. This is done with the number sign (#). For example, [[Adder#Performance]] will link to the "Performance" section of the Adder article. This works for all heading levels.

If a page contains multiple headings or sub headings of the same name, a number can be appended to the link to offset it. For example, [[Pistol#Grand_Theft_Auto_IV_2]] will link to the second header titled "Grand Theft Auto IV" on the Pistol article.

Linking to headings with multiple words or unique characters may require some additional formatting. For example, underscores (_) must be used in place of spaces (such as "#Performance_Overview"). Most special characters, such as : ; ! ? will be automatically corrected in the browser's URL when the link is clicked and do not require manual intervention.

Description lists

A popular anti-pattern of creating a sub heading is the use of a semicolon (;) to produce bold text (i.e. ;Enhanced version), typically followed by a body or list of text. This usage renders invalid HTML5 and creates issues with screen readers and should be avoided. Consider using a level 3 or 4 heading instead.

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