Changes: Tardis:Disambiguation term

Revision as of 09:01, 16 October 2018

Disambiguation

Disambiguating other realities → Disambiguating story titles → Disambiguating in-universe counterparts → Disambiguation term

Yanno those words in parentheses after some titles? It's important that we're all using the same words to describe the same thing. A (TV story) must be a (TV story) and not a (television story).

Shortcut:

T:DAB TERM
T:DCC

A disambiguation term or dab term is the bit of a page title which is in parentheses. In the page title Castrovalva (TV story), the dab term is (TV story). For the benefit of your fellow editors and readers, it's important that these terms be consistently applied. It also greatly helps in the writing of templates that have to handle story titles, as well as robotic maintenance of the wiki, if the same dab terms are used to describe the same types of things.

The chart below summarises the dab terms which we use across the site.

Do use	When you want to title	Don't use
(TV story)	televised narratives of any length^[1]	(episode), (television story), (television)^[2]
(audio story)	any sort of audio narrative, regardless of length	(audio), (audio release), (radio play)
(novel)	because there are no hard-and-fast definitions distinguishing between a children's book, novella and a novel, the dab term `(novel)` is to be used for any narrative work of prose fiction presented as a single, cover-to-cover story. The length of this fiction is not a factor in disambiguating it with `(novel)`. Examples: K9 and the Time Trap (novel), Blood and Hope (novel), History 101 (novel).^[3]	any term which uses the book series along with the word novel, like (EDA novel), (NSA novel) or the like — except when there is more than one novel series to use the title.^[4]
(book) (film)	in-universe discussion about books and films within the DWU; this matches the in-universe category, books and films	Very rarely used, as most in-universe books, like A Christmas Carol have precedence, and therefore don't require disambiguation. For example, if both the book and movie Casino Royale were discussed in the DWU, you'd have Casino Royale (book) and Casino Royale (film).
(comic story)	any story that uses sequential art, of any length up to, and including the original graphic novel^[5]	(comic), (comic strip)
(graphic novel)	any sort of collected edition of sequential art, or sequential art which was originally published without the use of staples, or, if bound with staples, at a length over 47 pages. For the sake of consistency, we shall adopt the British definition of graphic novel for the main titles of pages.^[6]
(omnibus)	when you want to title a page discussing an omnibus. The most likely use of this is with IDW products. IDW omnibuses are collections of IDW trade paperbacks/graphic novels, which themselves collect IDW comic stories.	(omnibus edition), (IDW omnibus), (Pinnacle omnibus)
(short story)	out-of-universe articles about DWU short stories
(documentary)	any sort of video documentary
(home video)	any VHS or DVD releases of fictional narratives, regardless of production company	(video), (TV story), (DVD story), (VHS story), (BBV video), (RP video), etc.
(CON episode)	Doctor Who Confidential episodes	(Doctor Who Confidential episode)
(species)	in-universe species	(race) should be avoided, as it has dual meanings
↑ The exception here are episodes of Doctor Who featuring William Hartnell that share the same names as serials. So, An Unearthly Child (episode) is acceptable as a way to distinguish the first episode of DW from the first serial'. ↑ If two different television series have stories of the same name, then disambiguate by using the prefix from Tardis:List of prefixes. For instance, if there were an SJA story named Inferno, then it would be Inferno (SJA TV story) and the DW story would have to move to Inferno (DW TV story). If two episodes of the same television series have the same name, then disambiguate by the year of initial broadcast. As of 2012, neither has really happened, though there have been some close calls with respect to William Hartnell episodes. Still, if The Daleks were now known by its original production title of The Mutants, then it would be The Mutants (1963 TV story) and the Jon Pertwee story would be The Mutants (1972 TV story) ↑ If a thing is marketed as a 2-in-1 novel, flipbook, or the like, the constituent stories are themselves dabbed `(novel)` ↑ The obvious exception to the rule is something like Twilight of the Gods which should use the disambig (MA novel) to distinguish it from the Bernice Summerfield novel of the same name, which should use (BNA novel). The "novel" might seem superfluous, but it helps readers unfamiliar with these rather obscure corners of the DWU to immediately recognize they're novels. Any use of one of our wiki's prefixes should be followed by a word that will help any user to know instantly which medium the work is in. ↑ What's meant by the original graphic novel? A comic story that was originally printed on its own and bears no reprints. So it's The Only Good Dalek (comic story), but The Iron Legion (graphic novel). ↑ The term "graphic novel" has tremendous variability, especially as between American and British use. As a purely arbitrary matter, all things which might be considered trade paperbacks or collected editions shall be disambiguated "(graphic novel)". Yes, technically, we should be using the American "trade paperback" to disambig IDW output, but simplicity wins over accuracy in this case. We need everything disambiguated the same way.

[1] The exception here are episodes of Doctor Who featuring William Hartnell that share the same names as serials. So, An Unearthly Child (episode) is acceptable as a way to distinguish the first episode of DW from the first serial'.

[2] If two different television series have stories of the same name, then disambiguate by using the prefix from Tardis:List of prefixes. For instance, if there were an SJA story named Inferno, then it would be Inferno (SJA TV story) and the DW story would have to move to Inferno (DW TV story). If two episodes of the same television series have the same name, then disambiguate by the year of initial broadcast. As of 2012, neither has really happened, though there have been some close calls with respect to William Hartnell episodes. Still, if The Daleks were now known by its original production title of The Mutants, then it would be The Mutants (1963 TV story) and the Jon Pertwee story would be The Mutants (1972 TV story)

[3] If a thing is marketed as a 2-in-1 novel, flipbook, or the like, the constituent stories are themselves dabbed (novel)

[4] The obvious exception to the rule is something like Twilight of the Gods which should use the disambig (MA novel) to distinguish it from the Bernice Summerfield novel of the same name, which should use (BNA novel). The "novel" might seem superfluous, but it helps readers unfamiliar with these rather obscure corners of the DWU to immediately recognize they're novels. Any use of one of our wiki's prefixes should be followed by a word that will help any user to know instantly which medium the work is in.

[5] What's meant by the original graphic novel? A comic story that was originally printed on its own and bears no reprints. So it's The Only Good Dalek (comic story), but The Iron Legion (graphic novel).

[6] The term "graphic novel" has tremendous variability, especially as between American and British use. As a purely arbitrary matter, all things which might be considered trade paperbacks or collected editions shall be disambiguated "(graphic novel)". Yes, technically, we should be using the American "trade paperback" to disambig IDW output, but simplicity wins over accuracy in this case. We need everything disambiguated the same way.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

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+{{mosnav|p=Disambiguation|c=Disambiguation}}
-{{lock}}{{sc|T:DAB TERM|T:DCC}}
+{{moss|Yanno those words in parentheses after some titles? It's important that we're all using the same words to describe the same thing.  A (TV story) must be a (TV story) and not a (television story).}}
-{{you may|Tardis:Disambiguation policy|n1=our policy on disambiguation}}
+{{sc|T:DAB TERM|T:DCC}}
 A '''disambiguation term''' or '''dab term''' is the bit of a page title which is in parentheses.  In the page title [[Castrovalva (TV story)]], the dab term is (TV story).  For the benefit of your fellow editors and readers, it's important that these terms be consistently applied.  It also greatly helps in the writing of templates that have to handle story titles, as well as robotic maintenance of the wiki, if the same dab terms are used to describe the same types of things.
 The chart below summarises the dab terms which we use across the site.
 {|  class="wikitable"
 !''Do'' use
@@ Line 9: / Line 10: @@
 !''Don't'' use
 |-valign=center style=
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;" |(TV story)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;" |(TV story)
 |style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| televised narratives of any length<ref>The exception here are episodes of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' featuring [[William Hartnell]] that share the same names as [[serial]]s.  So, [[An Unearthly Child (episode)]] is acceptable as a way to distinguish the first ''episode'' of DW from the first ''serial'.</ref>
-|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (episode), (television story), (television)<ref>If two different television series have stories of the same name, then disambiguate by using the prefix from [[Tardis:List of prefixes]].  For instance, if there were an SJA story named ''Inferno'', then it would be [[Inferno (SJA TV story)]] and the DW story would have to move to Inferno (DW TV story).    If two episodes of the ''same'' television series have the same name, then disambiguate by the year of initial broadcast. As of 2012, neither has really happened, though there have been some close calls with respect to [[William Hartnell]] episodes.  Still, if ''[[The Daleks]]'' were now known by its original production title of ''The Mutants'', then it would be The Mutants (1963 TV story) and the Jon Pertwee story would be [[The Mutants (1972 TV story)]]</ref>
+|style="background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (episode), (television story), (television)<ref>If two different television series have stories of the same name, then disambiguate by using the prefix from [[Tardis:List of prefixes]].  For instance, if there were an SJA story named ''Inferno'', then it would be Inferno (SJA TV story) and the DW story would have to move to Inferno (DW TV story).    If two episodes of the ''same'' television series have the same name, then disambiguate by the year of initial broadcast. As of 2012, neither has really happened, though there have been some close calls with respect to [[William Hartnell]] episodes.  Still, if ''[[The Daleks]]'' were now known by its original production title of ''The Mutants'', then it would be The Mutants (1963 TV story) and the Jon Pertwee story would be The Mutants (1972 TV story)</ref>
 |-valign=center style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (audio story)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (audio story)
-|style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| any sort of audio release, be it narrative, documentary or music
+|style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| any sort of audio narrative, regardless of length
-|style="background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (audio), (audio release)
+| style="background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;" | (audio), (audio release), (radio play)
 |-valign=center
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (novel)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (novel)
+|style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| because there are no hard-and-fast definitions distinguishing between a children's book, novella and a novel, the dab term <code>(novel)</code> is to be used for any narrative work of prose fiction presented as a single, cover-to-cover story. The ''length'' of this fiction is not a factor in disambiguating it with <code>(novel)</code>. Examples: [[K9 and the Time Trap (novel)]], [[Blood and Hope (novel)]], [[History 101 (novel)]].<ref>If a thing is marketed as a 2-in-1 novel, flipbook, or the like, the constituent stories are themselves dabbed <code>(novel)</code></ref>
-|style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| out-of-universe discussion about a DWU novel; e.g. [[Hope (novel)]]
-|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| any term which uses the book ''series'' along with the word novel, like (EDA novel), (NSA novel) or the like — except when there is more than one novel series to use the title.<ref>The obvious exception to the rule is something like [[Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)|''Twilight of the Gods'']] which ''should'' use the disambig (MA novel) to distinguish it from the Bernice Summerfield novel of the same name, which should use (BNA novel).  The "novel" might seem superfluous, but it helps readers unfamiliar with these rather obscure corners of the DWU to immediately recognize they're novels.  ''Any'' use of one of our wiki's prefixes should be followed by a word that will help any user to know instantly which medium the work is in.</ref>
+|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| any term which uses the book ''series'' along with the word novel, like (EDA novel), (NSA novel) or the like — except when there is more than one novel series to use the title.<ref>The obvious exception to the rule is something like [[Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)|''Twilight of the Gods'']] which ''should'' use the disambig (MA novel) to distinguish it from the Bernice Summerfield novel of the same name, which should use (BNA novel).  The "novel" might seem superfluous, but it helps readers unfamiliar with these rather obscure corners of the DWU to immediately recognize they're novels.  ''Any'' use of one of our wiki's prefixes should be followed by a word that will help any user to know instantly which medium the work is in.</ref>
 |-valign=center
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (book)<br>(film)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (book)<br>(film)
 |style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| '''in-universe''' discussion about books and films ''within'' the DWU; this matches the in-universe category, [[:category:books|books]] and [[:category:films|films]]
-|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| Very rarely used, as most in-universe books, like ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'' have precedence, and therefore don't require disambiguation.  For example, if both the book and movie ''Casino Royale'' were discussed in the DWU, you'd have '''Casino Royale (book)''' and '''Casino Royale (film)'''.
+|style="background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| Very rarely used, as most in-universe books, like ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'' have precedence, and therefore don't require disambiguation.  For example, if both the book and movie ''Casino Royale'' were discussed in the DWU, you'd have '''Casino Royale (book)''' and '''Casino Royale (film)'''.
 |-valign=center
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (comic story)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (comic story)
 |style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| any story that uses sequential art, of any length up to, '''and including''' the ''original'' graphic novel<ref>What's meant by the ''original'' graphic novel?  A comic story that was ''originally'' printed on its own and bears no reprints.  So it's [[The Only Good Dalek (comic story)]], but [[The Iron Legion (graphic novel)]].</ref>
-|style="background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (comic), (comic strip)
+| style="background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;" | (comic), (comic strip)
 |-valign=center
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (graphic novel)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (graphic novel)
 |style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| any sort of collected edition of sequential art, or sequential art which was ''originally'' published without the use of staples, or, if bound with staples, at a length over 47 pages. For the sake of consistency, we shall adopt the British definition of graphic novel for the main titles of pages.<ref>The term "graphic novel" has tremendous variability, especially as between American and British use.  As a purely arbitrary matter, all things which might be considered trade paperbacks or collected editions shall be disambiguated "(graphic novel)".  Yes, technically, we should be using the American "trade paperback" to disambig IDW output, but simplicity wins over accuracy in this case.  We need everything disambiguated the same way. </ref>
-|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"|
+|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"|
 |-valign=center
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (omnibus)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (omnibus)
 |style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| when you want to title a page discussing an [[omnibus]].  The most likely use of this is with IDW products.  IDW omnibuses are collections of IDW trade paperbacks/graphic novels, which themselves collect IDW comic stories.
-|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (omnibus edition), (IDW omnibus), (Pinnacle omnibus)
+|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (omnibus edition), (IDW omnibus), (Pinnacle omnibus)
 |-valign=center
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (short story)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (short story)
 |style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| out-of-universe articles about DWU short stories
-|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"|
+|style="background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"|
 |-valign=center
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (documentary)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (documentary)
 |style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"|  any sort of ''video'' documentary
-|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"|
+|style="background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"|
 |-valign=center
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (home video)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (home video)
 |style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| ''any'' [[VHS]] or [[DVD]] releases of ''fictional'' narratives, regardless of production company
-|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (video), (TV story), (DVD story), (VHS story), (BBV video), (RP video), etc.
+|style="background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (video), (TV story), (DVD story), (VHS story), (BBV video), (RP video), etc.
 |-valign=center
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (CON episode)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (CON episode)
 |style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'' episodes
-|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (Doctor Who Confidential episode)
+|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (Doctor Who Confidential episode)
 |-valign=center
-|style="background-color:#a3feba;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (species)
+|style="background-color:#a3feba;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (species)
 |style="border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| in-universe species
-|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (race) should be avoided, as it has dual meanings
+|style="Background-color:#ffc8c8;color:#000;border-bottom:1px solid #b0b0b0;"| (race) should be avoided, as it has dual meanings
 |-colspan="3"
 |colspan="3"|{{reflist|2}}