Wikipedia:Manual of Style (diagrams and maps)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The following is a proposed Wikipedia policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption (which is not determined by counting votes). References or links to this page should not describe it as "policy". |
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This page in a nutshell: When creating diagrams or maps for use on Wikipedia, it is recommended that they assume a generic style and be saved in SVG format. |
The following are [draft] Wikipedia guidelines for the use of diagrams and maps in articles.
Diagrams (including charts) and maps are valuable additions to Wikipedia pages when they fulfil these criteria:
- They give an explicit presentation that is directly relevant to the subject of the article(s) in which they appear[clarify]
- They are fully consistent with, and support, the surrounding text[clarify]
- Their style and density of information are chosen to appeal to a general reader[clarify]
Other qualities such as being entertaining, "eye-candy", startling or artistically rendered do not compensate for lacks in the above criteria.
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[edit] Standards
Such images must adhere to Wikipedia:Image use policy, like any other. In particular, do not violate copyright by using all or a portions of a diagram or map published in another source. Instead create a new one, presenting the information germane to the Wikipedia article(s) the image is intended for.
For diagrams of chemical structures, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Chemistry/Structure drawing for guidance. [There are probably others that could be pointed to here.]
For maps, where possible use the blank map images available at Wikipedia:Blank maps when producing new maps. See also the WikiMedia Commons Project Mapmaking Standards and its talk page.
[edit] File formats and uploading
It is preferable that diagrams and maps be saved in the SVG file format. This is an open standard for vector image files. If saving the image as a raster graphic, the PNG file format is generally preferred, though JPEG is acceptable. Very simple animations can be saved in the GIF file format. Other formats are strongly deprecated.
Upload your finished image to WikiMedia Commons, giving the image an appropriate, descripive filename that can be understood at a glance. Categorize it appropriately (it may be helpful to look at the pages of other, similar diagram or map images in Commons to see how they are categorized).
[edit] Presentation
When possible, use tables rather than diagrams to present simple tabluar data, and use mathematical markup to produce formulas.
Diagrams and maps should be presented inline in the article when readable at the presented size by a person with close to normal (natural or corrected) vision at 1024x768 monitor resolution, and otherwise linked to with text and an explanation of what the diagram is, e.g. "The dates were established by dendrochronology. See diagram of tree-ring data collected. These dates indicate..."
Avoid making a diagram or map so dense that it presents a readability or comprehensibilty problem. On the other hand, diagrams should avoid the inclusion of big areas of empty, non-informative space inside the image.
Maps should present necessary geographic details, not every possible detail. The level of detail on a map should be selected so as to make the map useful to experts familiar with the subject, and also to users who are not at all familiar with it. Some information that an expert may not deem necessary might be necessary to others, for example, those with a geographical knowledge of Europe may not need to have neighbouring countries marked on a map of France, although this feature could be useful to those unfamiliar with the continent.
Avoid blank space in the image around its main content to give the illusion of a margin around the image. Wikipedia's image displaying code already handles spacing of images in relation to text and other images. A thin black border may be desirable as an element of the image itself, however, especially if the image is predominantly white or near-white.
[edit] Fonts
If you are creating an SVG image, it is recommended that you use web-safe fonts for your titles and labels. These fonts include Verdana, Arial, Trebuchet MS, Courier New, and Times New Roman. Verdana is recommended, regardless of image format, because this is the default font used by Wikipedia, and is what the vast majority of readers expect, although Arial is close enough. A font such as Times New Roman can be used for effect, such as distinguishing between two types of overlapping data. See "Labels" below for font style issues.
[edit] Labels
Diagrams and maps should not include the image title (e.g. "Map of Azerbaijan", "Timeline of Events", etc.) in the image itself. The title is given in the article with the image caption feature and in the image filename, so having the title inside the image is redundant.
In general, labels of items within the diagram or map should use headline style, in which most words are capitalized. To quote the Chicago Manual of Style, 14th Edition:[clarify]
In regular title capitalization, also known as headline style, the first and last words and all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions (if, because, as, that, etc.) are capitalized. Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), and prepositions, regardless of length, are lowercased unless they are the first or last word of the title...
In maps, bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, and oceans should be labeled in italics. [More recommendations are needed. Should capital cities be bold? Regions in Small Caps? What about use of letter and word spacing? Serif font? Etc.]
[edit] Colors
When considering what colors to use in diagrams and maps, try to use colors that are subtle and pleasant rather than bold and garish. Also, try to avoid using colors in a way that would cause difficulty for those with color blindness (try viewing your image in greyscale to see if neighboring or overlapping colors could be indistinguishable to some).
[edit] Colors in maps
The following colors are recommended (though not mandatory) for use in creating basic maps. The Hex and RGB values are merely examples and do not need to be matched exactly.[clarify]
| Color | Hex | RGB | Sample | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | #000000 | 0, 0, 0 | Primary label color | |
| Brown | #A08070 | 160, 128, 112 | Political borders (country, state, and province borders) | |
| Light brown | #D0C0A0 | 208, 192, 160 | Secondary political borders | |
| Light yellow | #FFFFD0 | 255, 255, 208 | Primary territory of interest | |
| Tan | #F7D3AA | 247, 211, 170 | Other territories | |
| Light blue | #9FC6EE | 159, 198, 238 | Bodies of water (oceans or lakes) | |
| Blue | #394FD2 | 57, 79, 210 | Shores and rivers; also labels for bodies of water | |
| Red | #B00000 | 176, 0, 0 | Points of interest (cities, especially) | |
| Red-orange | #F07568 | 240, 117, 104 | Alternative color for points of interest (larger areas) | |
| Medium red | #E0584E | 224, 88, 78 | Border color for areas highlighted in Red-orange | |
| Light green | #9BCB65 | 155, 203, 101 | Parks or natural preservation areas |
