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 | This is a WikiProject advice page. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more WikiProjects on Wikipedia or its process, as pertaining to topics within the WikiProject(s) area of interest. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. |
 | This page in a nutshell: This page gives guidance regarding the style, structure, and referencing of articles in the scope of WikiProject Figure skating, including the use of figure skating-specific templates and data tables. |
| Manual of Style (MoS) |
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The WikiProject Figure Skating style guide applies to articles within the scope of WikiProject Figure Skating. It represents the consensus view of editors interested in maintaining Wikipedia's articles about figure skating. As the recommendations strike a balance between differing views, some may appear less than perfect. Nonetheless, please respect them, and feel free to discuss the style advice on this talk page.
Figure skating is a complicated sport, with intricate rules and a long history. As Wikipedia editors, it is our responsibility to make the sport accessible (as per WP:TECHNICAL and MOS:JARGON) even to the "uninitiated figure skating fan", i.e. those who only watch it every four years during the Winter Olympics. At the same time, we need to clearly describe the complexities of the sport, including its scoring system, elements, history, etc., without sacrificing comprehensiveness and good sources. Remember that we are not writing for skaters, coaches, choreographers, judges, officials, family members, or skating nerds, but for a general audience.
Many of the style requirements in Wikipedia's manual of style (MOS) apply to figure skating articles; the guidelines here are what needs to be emphasized. Wikipedia guidelines regarding biographies and biographies of living persons, for articles about individual figure skaters, must also be followed.
General guidelines
Figure skating terminology and linking
Figure skating is a complex sport and performing art with a long list of technical terms and competition rules. It is subject to continuous changes regarding performed elements, judging criteria, and scoring systems, which require a high degree of sensitivity and accuracy in wording. However, figure skating is also a sport that casual readers may only watch every four years at the Winter Olympics, not being familiar with its rules and terms.
This sub-page gives an overview of the most important terms and wikilinks to the respective articles. It lists the terms with their correct spelling, abbreviation, and formatting style as well as concise definitions and distinctions from each other, providing guidance in how to make figure skating articles accessible to the widest possible general audience.
Try to use technical terms sparingly and write in descriptive style, following MOS:TECHNICAL, MOS:JARGON, and WP:AUDIENCE.Example: Though the wording "a backward counter triple Axel" is technically correct, it may sound very cryptic to most readers, making it difficult to understand the full sentence. The following methods can help to make the term more accessible:
- Describe the element as "a triple Axel jump entered by a counter turn" or "a triple Axel jump performed with a difficult counter turn entry". Even if the reader doesn't know what an Axel or counter is, the phrasing "jump entered by a (difficult) turn" helps to visually imagine what the element looks like.
- Omit technical flourish like "backward" that further complicates the reading and understanding, unless it is essential for the context.
- Ideally, single parts of a compound term are previously introduced in the prose and linked to the respective articles like Axel jump and counter turn. It provides easy access for readers to precise definitions of the single terms. In rare cases, explanatory footnotes can also be used to break down difficult technical terms.
Lead section and article structure
Figure skating articles should follow the guidelines for article structure as per MOS:LEAD and WP:SECTIONS. Some differences do exist for figure skating articles.
- Lead size: As a general rule of thumb, the lead can be divided into two or three paragraphs, counting ca. 250 to 400 words in readable prose size. In the case of vital biographies or large-scope articles with multiple sub-pages, the lead can be extended to four paragraphs and ca. 600 words, but it must be of reasonable length compared to the content and size of the full article. For reference: the lead section of the featured article about Michael Jackson counts 540 words (as of April 2024).
- Referencing the lead: The lead section itself should only contain inline citations for information that are either likely to be challenged (like "X is considered one of the greatest skaters in history") or that do not appear in the rest of the article, which is generally discouraged. The recommendation is to mention every aspect from the lead in the article body as well, where it is sufficiently cited by reliable sources.
- General structure of the article body: There is no universal recipe for the structure of figure skating articles, but this page provides suggestions for the following common article types: skater biographies, competitions, technical elements, skating statistics, and ice shows. For articles that do not fit any of these categories, the following basic structure can be used as orientation:
- Terminology (if applicable): It provides a concise definition and explanation of the topic, making it more accessible for casual readers.
- Background (if needed): It puts the article's topic into a more global context, making it more accessible as well.
- History: This section is a chronological summary of all notable events related to the topic.
- Topic-specific sections
- Meaning or impact (if applicable): This section points out the topic's meaning for the sport of figure skating or beyond.
- Statistical lists
- Appendices and footers: See also – Notes and references – Further reading – External links.
- Referencing the article body: Every information in the article body must be cited by reliable sources, ideally reliable secondary sources like history books, scientific journals, reputable magazines, and newspaper articles. This goes especially for non-statistical information. For a list of reliable sources specific for figure skating, see sources.
Tables and templates
Tables in figure skating articles and lists follow the general Wikipedia manual of style as per MOS:TABLE. That includes:
- Legend (placed above the table in list form with asterisks): Explanations for header titles (especially figure skating-related abbreviations), the selection of data and annotations (e.g. "Table only lists scores achieved before the 2018–19 season")
- Caption: Summary of the data in the table and sorting key (e.g. "Total number of medals in men's singles by nation")
- Accessibility: Make sure that the table is accessible for screenreaders and other devices for people with disabilities as per WP:ACCESSIBILITY. That means:
- Define row and column headers with intelligible header titles and use scope-parameters!
- Avoid multi-column headers in the middle of tables (e.g. season-headers in "Detailed results" tables): split tables in multiple smaller tables and group them in a div-block (see example below).
- Use colors only for visual support, not to add information (e.g. in medal tables or in detailed results) and use them sparely!
- Sorting: This is a very powerful tool and should be fully utilized whenever useful as per WP:SORT. This goes especially for record, result and medal tables such as highest scores lists.
- Make sure to avoid multiple entries within a cell, which causes serious problems with the sorting tool (like placement and score in the detailed results or medal count with different partners). Use different columns/rows or add a footnote instead.
- Here is an overview of the most common sorting keys in figure skating:
- All chronological tables must be sorted from oldest date at the top to latest date at the bottom of the table (not reverted!)
- For dates use the style "Month DD, YYYY" (e.g. February 21, 2018). If the dates are used as row-headers, add "data-sort-type=date" in the header of the date column.
- For seasons use the link style "XXXX–YY figure skating season|XXXX–YY season". If "XXXX–YY season" is too wide, use the short form "XX–YY". Do NOT use variations with a slash like "XX/YY".
- For periods of a specific achievement use the style "XXXX–YYYY". Split only in two separate columns like "From"/ "To", if there are significant changes in the sorting, otherwise it's not necessary and just blows up the table in width.
- To sort skaters by family name, use the template {{sortname|first|last}}.
Example: {{sortname|Gabriella|Papadakis}} displays as Gabriella Papadakis and sorts by Papadakis. - If the Wikipedia page name of the skater has additions in brackets like "(figure skater)", use {{sortname|first|last|dab=figure skater}}. For more complex cases, see Template:Sortname.
Example: {{sortname|Javier|Fernández|dab=figure skater}} displays as Javier Fernández and sorts by Fernández. - For skaters from countries, where the family name is listed first (like China), you can use the usual internal link like Sui Wenjing, which sorts by the family name Sui.
- In sorting tables split the pairs or ice dance couples and place them in separate columns ("female partner" and "male partner").
- For coutries use the template with the country's abbreviation like {{AUS}} for Australia, which displays as
Australia, or the short form {{flag|AUS}}, which displays as AUS. - For cities or events use either the link to the city/ event only or more advanced in combination with the country flag:
|data-sort-value=Saitama| {{flagicon|JPN}} Saitama (city)|Saitama, which displays as
Saitama and sorts by the city (analog for events).
- Size:
- Horizonal: Columns often get annoyingly wide if the title of the header is a longer word like "References" or "Short program". In this case you can use abbreviations like SP and put the full term with a link in the legend. For header titles like "References" that don't need further explanations you can use the abbreviation template {{abbr|Ref.|References}}, which displays as Ref. and shows the full word via mouseover.
- Vertical: If the table gets too large, consider a split into smaller tables (e.g. separation in senior and junior/ novice programs).
- Sourcing: All data in a table must be sourced, except basic mathematical calculations and operations like total number of medals, participations or age etc.
For calculating the exact age of a skater of the form "Y years, M months and D days", you can use this age-calculator.- Global sources for the entire table are generally preferred over sources for single rows or cells and are placed after the table caption.
- If a table needs multiple global sources of the same type, you can group them to one reference like 1 (as shown in the example below).
- Local sources for rows or cell entries can be either reference links or direct weblinks (like competition result pages of the ISU). The latter is particularly suitable for "Detailed results" tables to avoid a blow-up of the article's reference section.
Figure skater biographiesedit
These articles must adhere to Wikipedia's policies about biographies (see MOS:BIO), with special sensitivity regarding living persons (see WP:BLP).Biography lead and structureedit
The lead section is a concise summary of the article body, following the style guidelines of MOS:LEAD for biographies.
- First sentence: It mentions the skater's full name in boldface, date of birth and death in parentheses, and the occupation as a figure skater. It must be clear from the wording if the skater is still active as a competitor or professional or has retired from skating altogether. If the skater is active as a professional, do NOT use the term "retired" at all and do not write "former competitive skater" without clarifying the status as an active professional.
- Second sentence: It is recommended to mention the discipline(s) the skater has competed in (like men's singles), main partner(s) in pairs or ice dance, and the period of competing (from 20XX to 20XX).
- First paragraph: It contains a compilation of the skater's most important medals and titles (with the years in parentheses), especially gold medals won at major international events (Olympics, Worlds, Europeans/ Four Continents, and the Grand Prix Final) and national championships.
- Other content: The lead can also include the number of set world record scores as well as other notable achievements and contributions in figure skating, essential information about public life, and the most important awards and accolades if applicable.
Article structure
(prose sections highlighted in grey, list sections in purple)
See also: Record and achievement tables.
See also: Program tables.
See also: Competitive highlights tables.
See also: Detailed results tables.
Appendices and footers (See also – Notes and references – Further reading – External links)
Biography tables and templatesedit
Records and achievementsedit
Please use the following templates for world record lists:
World record list
 |
|---|
{{smalldiv|
*SP – Short program (figure skating)|Short program
*FS – Free skating
*Incumbent List of highest scores in figure skating#Record holders|world records highlighted in '''''bold and italic'''''
}}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Chronological list of world records by competition segment<ref name="sample"/>
!scope=col|No.
!scope=col|Date
!scope=col|Score
!scope=col|{{abbr|Seg.|Segment}}
!scope=col|Event
!scope=col|Place
|-
!scope=row|1
| || || ||{{flagicon|}}
|-
!scope=row| 2
| || || ||{{flagicon|}}
|}
|
Example 1: from Yuzuru Hanyu § World record scores
- SP – Short program
- FS – Free skating
- The table only lists Hanyu's world records under the current +5/-5 GOE judging system.
| No. | Date | Score | Seg. | Event | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 3, 2018 | 106.69 | SP | 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki |  Helsinki
|
| 2 | Nov 4, 2018 | 190.43 | FS | ||
| 3 | Nov 4, 2018 | 297.12 | Total | ||
| 4 | Nov 16, 2018 | 110.53 | SP | 2018 Rostelecom Cup |  Moscow
|
| 5 | Mar 23, 2019 | 206.10 | FS | 2019 World Championships |  Saitama
|
| 6 | Mar 23, 2019 | 300.97 | Total | ||
| 7 | Feb 7, 2020 | 111.82 | SP | 2020 Four Continents Championships |  Seoul
|
Example 2: see Career achievements of Yuzuru Hanyu § Other notable achievements (not displayed here)
A similar table format should be used for lists of highest scores.
Programsedit
Please use the following templates for program lists: {{Figure skating program list}} and {{FS program}}
The following additional information if known and sourced, should be added to the list:
- The program title (as submitted by the skater)
- The composer(s) and/ or performer(s) of the used music tracks
- The choreographer(s) of the program
- All music tracks that are used in the program cut
Sourcing: For competition programs, add a reference in the season column with |refx=, using the skater's ISU bios. For past seasons, try the Wayback Machine. In case of gala or ice show programs, use reliable secondary sources like online newspaper articles or the official page of the show (some have the planned programs listed), and place the reference directly after the program title.
Formatting: With the templates above, you no longer have to bother with formatting. However, a set of general rules should be followed: The program title should be of normal font size, all other information added as a bulleted list in small font size using the {{smalldiv}} template. The track list should be collapsed with the {{show}} template to keep the table at reasonable size. It is enough to include the detailed results once for the program debut. For all reuses, list the program title only (see example table below). For better structure of the table, Olympic seasons and programs can be highlighted as demonstrated in the example below.
Do NOT use the horizontal rule (----) to separate programs within a cell, as it confuses screenreaders and limits the accessibility of the table. Work with the rowspan-parameter instead.
Example 1: fictive table generated for demo only
- ^show Program only performed in an ice show in that season
- Program details mentioned at first occurrence
- Olympic seasons highlighted in blue
- Programs performed at the Winter Olympics highlighted in bold
| Season | Short program | Free skate program | Exhibition program |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 |
|
Tracks used
|
— |
2021–22
|
Piano Concerto No. 5 | "Winter"
|
Moulin Rouge! |
|
