Style/Titles/Subtitles: Difference between revisions

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{{Status|This is an [[Official Style Guideline|official style guideline]].}}
=Style for separate parts of a release title=
Use a colon (:) to separate multi-line parts of a [[Release Title|release title]]. If there is an alternative dividing punctuation mark such as the question mark (?) or exclamation point (!), use that mark instead of the colon.


==Examples==
'''Use a colon (:) to separate multi-line parts of a [[Release Title|ReleaseTitle]].'''

'''If there is an alternative dividing punctuation mark such as the question mark (?) or exclamation point [[Image:Idea.png]],''' '''use that mark instead of the colon.'''
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">This is an [[Official Style Guideline|OfficialStyleGuideline]].
</ul>

==Example==


Take an example from Etta James:
Take an example from Etta James:
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">''Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions''
* ''Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions''
</ul>


Or from Faith No More:
Or from Faith No More:
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">''Who Cares a Lot? Greatest Hits''
* ''Who Cares a Lot? Greatest Hits''
</ul>


Or from Spock's Beard:
Or from Spock's Beard:
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">''Don't Try This @ Home Either! From the Vaults, Series 3''
* ''Don't Try This @ Home Either! From the Vaults, Series 3''
</ul>


==Rationale==
==Rationale==
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The covers of CDs and LPs are generally full color printed squares. This allows designers to use text color, position and size to indicate what is a title or subtitle. Converting that to a single line of text for display on your iPod or in [[WinAmp]] requires adding something to separate or differentiate the different parts of the title. Various people have come up with different solutions to this e.g. put the subtitle in brackets, square brackets, after a comma, a dash etc. Eventually the [[MusicBrainz]] database will be able to support sub-titles as a field in their own right and this will allow the user to choose how to display them (even giving them the option to ignore them completely) but until then we needed an agreed format to standardise on.
The covers of CDs and LPs are generally full color printed squares. This allows designers to use text color, position and size to indicate what is a title or subtitle. Converting that to a single line of text for display on your iPod or in [[WinAmp]] requires adding something to separate or differentiate the different parts of the title. Various people have come up with different solutions to this e.g. put the subtitle in brackets, square brackets, after a comma, a dash etc. Eventually the [[MusicBrainz]] database will be able to support sub-titles as a field in their own right and this will allow the user to choose how to display them (even giving them the option to ignore them completely) but until then we needed an agreed format to standardise on.


Note

==Discussion==

It is acceptable to use the colon to separate extra sub-titles, i.e.:

Bug Swamp: The Complete Bug Hits: 1987-1990 (fictional title). --[[User:TarragonAllen|TarragonAllen]]

Here we are using colon as a separator, which is different from its grammatical meaning "A: B" means B is a development of A. I don't think it is a good idea to stick the colon to "A" in this example. What do you think ? [http://wikimania2006.wikimedia.org/wiki/Colon:_Space_after_not_before http://wikimania2006.wikimedia.org/wiki/Colon:_Space_after_not_before]

Also in other languages (I know in french), colons must be preceeded by nonbreak space or space. Do the style apply in these languages too? -- [[User:jesus2099|jesus2099]] 17:51, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">Well, we don't do that kind of equal separation. The subtitle B is a property of the release A, or something. We don't do a separation like in "Sweden : Greece". To me, a space before the colon would indicate that both titles are somewhat equal. This is not the case, it's a SUBtitle. That's my german view ;-) -- [[Jonny JD|JonnyJD]] 18:54, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
</ul>

----


Please note this is only a guideline for use on [[Release Title|ReleaseTitle]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s and not for general use on all titles. Additionally, it only applies to multi-line titles. --[[User:TarragonAllen|TarragonAllen]]

So what guideline applies to [[Track Title|TrackTitle]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s? IIRC works and parts of works (like movements in symphonies) can be separated by colons according to the [[Classical Style Guide|ClassicalStyleGuide]]. So it seems to me that the guideline ''separate [[Subtitle|SubTitle]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s by a colon (:)'' is somewhat of a [[General Syle Principle|GeneralSylePrinciple]]. I would prefer to say that applying this principle to [[Track Title|TrackTitle]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s is a bit more tricky, and that people should look at the [[Classical Style Guide|ClassicalStyleGuide]] for this. --[[User:DonRedman|DonRedman]]

----

Authors: Original by [[User:NeilCafferkey|NeilCafferkey]] (based on IRC and mailing list discussion), re-written for the wiki by [[User:TarragonAllen|TarragonAllen]] with help from [[User:DonRedman|DonRedman]], and an example contributed by derGraph.
[[Category:To Be Reviewed]] [[Category:Style]] [[Category:Official Style]]
[[Category:To Be Reviewed]] [[Category:Style]] [[Category:Official Style]]

Revision as of 16:06, 15 March 2009

Status: This is an official style guideline.

Use a colon (:) to separate multi-line parts of a release title. If there is an alternative dividing punctuation mark such as the question mark (?) or exclamation point (!), use that mark instead of the colon.

Examples

Take an example from Etta James:

  • Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions

Or from Faith No More:

  • Who Cares a Lot? Greatest Hits

Or from Spock's Beard:

  • Don't Try This @ Home Either! From the Vaults, Series 3

Rationale

The covers of CDs and LPs are generally full color printed squares. This allows designers to use text color, position and size to indicate what is a title or subtitle. Converting that to a single line of text for display on your iPod or in WinAmp requires adding something to separate or differentiate the different parts of the title. Various people have come up with different solutions to this e.g. put the subtitle in brackets, square brackets, after a comma, a dash etc. Eventually the MusicBrainz database will be able to support sub-titles as a field in their own right and this will allow the user to choose how to display them (even giving them the option to ignore them completely) but until then we needed an agreed format to standardise on.