CZ:Definitions
What are definitions in the Citizendium?
The Citizendium uses definitions in two different places. The first, discussed in Article Mechanics, are in articles, typically stated in the first sentence. The second, which we discuss here, are created using templates of the form {{Def Term}}. Let us refer to the second sort of definitions as "definition templates."
Definition templates provide a brief (no more than 30 word) account of the meaning of a concept, or a pithy description of a particular topic.
Purpose
Template definitions are used primarily on Related Articles pages; the latter consist of lists of term-definition pairs. When exploring the Citizendium's article offerings on Related Articles pages, we believe end users will find it useful to have definitions, especially of unfamiliar terms.
Format standards
The reason that templates are used for definitions is that, in that case, the same term-definition pairs can be used over and over again on different Related Articles pages.
It is easy to locate a template for a given term, if it exists. If an article is titled Topic, then you may find the template at Template:Def Topic.
Format of the definition itself
Only a few remarks are necessary about the format of the definition. In the following, suppose just for the sake of illustration that "knowledge" is defined as "Justified, true belief."
- Limit your definition to 30 words. Ten words or fewer is adequate in many cases.
- Do not repeat the term defined. So, do not write "Knowledge is justified, true belief." Write: "Justified, true belief."
- Begin the definition with a capital letter, and end with a period. So, do not write "justified, true belief" (lower case "j" and without a period).
- If you must use two sentences, divide them by a semicolon, not a period.
How to display a definition
You may easily display the contents of a definition template, by the way, by following this pattern. Typing
{{Def Philosophy}}
produces
Simply put in, for "Philosophy" in the above, the exact name of the article whose definition you want to display. It is important that you use an upper case letter for the first letter of the article. So {{Def philosophy}} (lower case "p") will not work.
Guidelines for creation
Definitions should be created in the context of Related Articles pages; see our guidelines for creating such pages to get started.
When you are ready actually to craft a definition… FINISH