Help:Naming conventions
WikiPaintball naming conventions establish consistent article titles for paintball teams, tournaments, players, organisations, equipment, fields and other subjects.
Articles should use clear, accurate and recognisable names supported by reliable sources.
General principles
- Use the official or most commonly documented name.
- Preserve original spelling, capitalisation and branding.
- Use British English except in official names.
- Avoid unnecessary words and abbreviations.
- Check for existing articles before creating new ones.
- Use consistent titles for related articles.
- Do not invent names, dates or historical relationships.
Naming formats
Tournaments and events
Individual tournaments use:
- YEAR Event Name
Examples:
For multiple events within one year, include the round, event number or location where necessary.
Tournament series and leagues use their established names without a year.
Examples:
A season spanning multiple years may include both years in its title.
Paintball teams
The standard format for competitive teams is:
- Team Name (Country paintball team)
Examples of the format:
- Team Insane (New Zealand paintball team)
- Black Reign (Australia paintball team)
Use the team's documented country of association, not the nationality of individual players.
Where multiple unrelated teams share a name within the same country, use a more specific location:
- Team Name (City paintball team)
- Team Name (Region paintball team)
Preserve geographic names that form part of an established team name, such as San Diego Dynasty.
A documented team name change should normally be covered in one article, with redirects from former names. Do not combine unrelated teams or assume continuity from shared players.
National teams
Use:
- Country national paintball team
Example:
Specify men's, women's, junior or other squads when separate articles are required.
People
Use the person's established full name.
Examples:
Add a description only when necessary to distinguish people with identical names:
- Name (paintball player)
Manufacturers and organisations
Use the established company, brand or organisation name.
Examples:
Use geographic qualifiers when necessary. Common abbreviations should redirect to the main article.
Equipment
Use the established product name, normally including the manufacturer or brand.
Examples:
Separate models or generations may have their own articles when sufficient information exists.
Paintball fields
Use the established field or venue name.
Add a location when necessary to distinguish businesses with identical names.
Format:
- Field Name
- Field Name (City)
General subjects
Use short, descriptive titles, normally in the singular.
Examples:
Historical overview articles may use titles such as History of paintball in New Zealand.
Disambiguation and redirects
When multiple unrelated subjects share a name, create a at the unqualified title.
For example, Black Reign distinguishes unrelated teams using that name.
Only include documented subjects. Never assume that similarly named teams are connected.
Redirects may be created for:
- Previous names where continuity is verified.
- Common abbreviations and nicknames.
- Alternative spellings.
- Former article titles.
Ambiguous names should lead to disambiguation pages rather than one unrelated subject.
See Help:Redirects.
Renaming articles
Existing articles should be brought into line with these conventions as they are reviewed.
Before renaming:
- Check the correct name and existing articles.
- Use MediaWiki's Move function to preserve edit history.
- Retain useful redirects.
- Check internal links, disambiguation pages and categories.
Do not create duplicate articles simply to change a title.
Categories
Use existing WikiPaintball category names wherever possible.
Article titles and category names need not follow identical formats.
For example, a country-qualified team article belongs in its appropriate national team category.
Avoid duplicate or unnecessarily specific categories.
Exceptions
Documented official names take priority where strict application of a format would be inaccurate or confusing.
The aim is consistent naming without sacrificing historical accuracy.