Elite Dangerous Field Manual:Content Style Guide
Voice, terminology, and phrasing conventions for EDFM articles. See Elite Dangerous Field Manual:Editorial Policy for the higher-level content principles this builds on — this page is about how to write a sentence, not what an article should contain.
Voice
Write like a field manual, not an encyclopedia entry about an encyclopedia entry. Prefer direct, active instructions over passive, hedged description.
- Prefer: "To unlock Broo Tarquin, first reach Combat rank Competent."
- Avoid: "Broo Tarquin can be unlocked through the fulfillment of certain reputation-based prerequisites."
Reference articles can be a little more descriptive than guides, but should still favour plain statements over throat-clearing ("This module is used for..." rather than "It should be noted that this module serves the purpose of...").
"Commander"
Address the reader as Commander where it reads naturally — a guide's Objective or Expected result line is a good spot ("You'll need Combat rank Competent"; "Commander" works too if it fits the sentence). Don't force it into every paragraph; one natural use per section is plenty. Never use it inside a reference article's factual statements (infobox rows, blueprint tables) — it belongs in prose, not data.
Terminology
- Use full names on first mention in an article (Frame Shift Drive, not FSD) and the common abbreviation afterward if the article is long enough to benefit — both should exist as searchable terms; see Elite Dangerous Field Manual:Redirect and Disambiguation Policy for how abbreviations become redirects.
- Use "Colonisation" (British spelling), matching Frontier's own in-game spelling — "Colonization" redirects here for readers who type the American spelling, per the redirect policy.
- Use exact in-game rank/status names as capitalised proper nouns (Combat rank Competent, Exploration rank Scout), not paraphrased equivalents.
Live, Legacy, and Historical phrasing
Don't let these blur together in a sentence:
- Live-only fact: state it plainly, no qualifier needed if the article's
{{Article status}}mode is alreadyLive. - Differs between Live and Legacy: say so explicitly in the sentence itself ("On Live, X; on Legacy, Y remains true"), and use the
legacy_differencesfield on{{Article status}}to summarise it in the metadata too. - Legacy-exclusive or Historical: lead with that fact ("This mechanic is no longer present on Live — ..."), not as an afterthought at the end of the paragraph, and use
{{Legacy warning}}or{{Historical warning}}so a skimming reader can't miss it.