SpongeBob Wiki:Naming

It has been requested that this article be rewritten and expanded to add information on shared titles and identifiers.

With the multitude of subjects and popularity of the SpongeBob SquarePants series, it can sometimes be difficult to find the right way to name an article. Generally, the best source for naming will come from the game itself, but when subjects are not named within the actual game or the subject doesn't appear in video games at all, you may need to turn to secondary sources for an official name.

Naming an article

There are several steps to follow when naming an article:

• If ever the name for a subject is different between American English and British English, the former should always take precedence, as SpongeBob SquarePants is an American franchise.
• If a subject's name has changed over time, the most recent name should be used for the article title. This especially applies to secondary characters in Bikini Bottom, who are inconsistently named throughout their appearances. This rule does not apply to naming errors, translation errors, and use of aliases/nicknames.
• If there is no official name in any language, then a conjectural title is developed if the subject is notable enough for an article.
• When naming an article, do not use abbreviations.

Acceptable sources for naming

This is a list of acceptable sources when it comes to naming an article. If a source is not present, keep moving down the list until you have found the right way to name the article, and only create a conjectural title as a last resort.

1. Name provided in an episode – SpongeBob is first and foremost a television show, so names from the show itself take the highest priority.
2. Name provided in-game or in its instruction booklet – Ideally, the subject is named in the game itself, but whatever instruction material is enclosed with the game is also considered a primary naming source. If there is inconsistency between the manual and the game itself regarding a name, the game's version takes precedence.
3. Name used in publications – A name from any officially licensed publications, including books, magazines, and comics.
4. Development name – Any name used during the production of SpongeBob SquarePants-related media, including from officially licensed media sources. The names can usually be on storyboards, although developer interviews or development documents are another way of finding them.

Please also note that general and lengthy descriptions of a subject that are clearly not intended as the subject's name are not suitable sources for the article's title. For example, while straightforward titles like "giant sponge" are fine, if the object is described as a "large sponge with spikes" or "the sponge with spikes on it", that should not be the name of the article.

Conjectural names

Any name from a source not covered above is considered unofficial and conjectural. Generally, conjecturally named subjects don't have articles because they are either not noteworthy enough to have an article or don't have much information to cover. However, subjects that are detailed and noteworthy enough to have articles still have to adhere to certain guidelines.

Conjectural names are usually decided upon by the users of the SpongeBob Wiki or commonly used names by the community. When deciding on a name, the name must be simple yet accurate. For example, a name like Squirrel would be a simple yet accurate title. However, a name like Dark Evil Squirrel is not acceptable because it is not simple and has an inaccurate description. The conjectural name must be kept professional.

Capitalization

The words in the title must be capitalized the same way they are from the source, unless it is a proper noun. Proper nouns are capitalized no matter how it is in the source. The wiki software makes it so that the first letter of the title is capitalized regardless. Exceptions to the proper noun rule can be made if there is some special reason why the proper noun is uncapitalized. Also, words that aren't proper nouns in conjectural titles should not be capitalized (like SpongeBob's house).

Italics

Italics are used in main and gallery namespace page titles in the same way that they are used in text. This includes cases where parentheses are used in the article title. Adding italics can be accomplished using the {{italic title}} template. To italicize the full title (such as for games), use:

{{italic title}}

For partial italics, use the desired title as a parameter:

{{italic title|List of ''SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom'' staff}}

Either line of code should be placed at the very top of the page without any blank or empty lines following it. It's not necessary to make this change to talk pages.

Technical restrictions

It is entirely possible for subjects to have titles that are restricted due to MediaWiki software limitations. For this reason, if an article has a title which is technically restricted (e.g. the # symbol is restricted from titles), then the article should be located at another title that closely matches the correct title as much as possible, and {{DISPLAYTITLE}} be used to correct title headers.