Star Trek Expanded Universe:Naming conventions

Here on Star Trek Expanded Universe, we prefer simple naming conventions--the simpler, the better.

For new articles, use the name of the person, place or thing as the title of the article.

To create a new article, type the name in the search box and press "Enter". Names should be as simple and precise as possible--something everyone would recognize. If the article already exists, you will be taken to that article's page, or you will see the closest match in a list of search results. If the article doesn't exist yet, it will appear redlinked at the top of the results page, or you will see a message asking if you wish to create the article.

Avoid uses of the word "the" or "a" at the beginning of an article. Only proper nouns should be capitalized in every word of the title. For example:
 * Jean-Luc Picard
 * Dominion War
 * Battle of Betazed
 * Battle of the Omarion Nebula

Do not capitalize if not using proper nouns. Use lowercase in all subsequent words (second word and thereafter), unless the title is a proper noun (name of a person or place).
 * warp drive
 * Canopus plague
 * Constitution class
 * heavy cruiser

Note, articles will automatically be named with the first letter as a capital. It is not necessary for you to do this, unless using the word at the beginning of a sentence in another article.

Do not use special characters in the name of an article, unless somehow particularly relevant -- e.g., ', ", #, *, _, =, @, !, etc. Only if the title happen to be the name of a special article--say, a fictitious book or fan film episode title--should special characters be used. Avoid underscores ( _ ) in any case, as these are not necessary. Also do not use slashes (/, \). These create subpages (which generally do not qualify as "articles").

Certain events, if major, may be capitalized (Earth-Romulan War), but please keep the title as concise and short as possible. Avoid fancy wording:
 * Battle of the Bassen Rift (acceptable)
 * The Incident Between the Romulans and the Federation in 2379 (not acceptable)

Use singular nouns. Do not pluralize.
 * human
 * Klingon
 * Ferengi

Not:
 * Vulcans
 * Gorns
 * Ferengis

(Note: There may be variations on this guideline, depending on the situation.)

Spell out words. Don't abbreviate or use acronyms. Abbreviations are only acceptable in cases of widely recognized terms: FASA, RPG, etc.

When creating new ship articles:
 * USS Enterprise (proper)

Not:
 * U.S.S. Enterprise (improper)

If it's necessary to add a ship registry to the title (only in order to disambiguate--never as a first rule), enclose it in parentheses (not [ ]).
 * USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Not:
 * USS Enterprise, NCC-1701
 * USS Enterprise [NCC-1701]
 * USS Enterprise NCC-1701

If there happen to be two or more articles using the same title, they will be distinguished (disambiguated) by disambiguation pages. If your article must share this title, add an extension in the form of (extension), including the parentheses.
 * Vulcan (species)
 * Vulcan (planet)

And, last but not least: Always remember to check your spelling... on everything!