Manual of Style

From CNYRadio.com Station Wiki

The Manual of Style is the definitive document on proper formatting for pages within this CNYRadio.com Station Wiki. While the basic station page template should be self-explanatory, this document is available for official rulings if you need additional help or clarification. We'll go section-by-section through a typical page.

Don't Worry About Mistakes!

Well, not entirely. Avoid factual mistakes. Don't put rumors or "myth" into station histories or take guesses on things like tower wattage. Either find the correct answer, or just skip that item entirely.

When we say "don't worry about mistakes," we mean formatting, syntax, that kind of thing. If you can't get a link to work, or if you somehow delete an entire section of a page, that's OK. Just let us know and we'll clean it up. Seriously. No problem! We can just "rollback" to a previous version of the page.

Watch Out for WXXX

Many pages (for now) have references to "WXXX" throughout them. That's because we created a fake station called WXXX to be used as a template for the rest. Anytime you see WXXX while editing, change it to the station's real call letters. This is case-sensitive! In most cases, call letters are in caps, but there are one or two places they should be lowercase.

Infobox

When you hit the "edit" link for a Station Page, the very first section is the code for the "Infobox" which appears at the top-right corner of the page. Each line feeds a different row of the infobox table. Do NOT change the keywords that appear to the left of the (=) equal signs. The infoboxes are "trained" to look for exact keywords. If you change the keywords, the data will not appear in the infobox. Only change the data to the RIGHT of the equal sign.

name

Just change the call letters from WXXX-XM to the appropriate calls (ie. WYYY-FM or WIBX-AM). If it's a two-band simulcast on the same call letters, you can put it in as WSEN-AM/FM, for example.

logo

By default, the value for this one is: http://www.cnyradio.com/images/wxxx-t.jpg Once again, just change wxxx to the appropriate call letters. If we have a logo for this station already in place, it will automatically display when you save your changes. If we do not have a logo for this station, you will just see the URL displayed. Again, just let us know and we'll try to find the logo. (Send one along, if you like.)

branding

This should be whatever "nickname" the station most commonly uses to identify itself. For example, for WNTQ it's "93Q." For WQNY it's "Q-Country 103.7." In some cases, stations just refer to themselves by call letters (ie. WRVO, WMCR). If that's the case, then just put the call letters.

slogan

Use the station's primary on-air slogan or catchphrase. Examples include "The Best and Most Country" for Froggy 97 (WFRY) and Big Frog 104 (WFRG).

format

Use the format from the Station List for the market. Most users should refrain from detailed format descriptions like "Rhythmic CHR." Those should be left for station staff to specify, if they so choose to log in and make the edit.

market

On brand new pages, you'll notice the market line appears four times; one for each market. We did this because we want each market to appear as a link to the rest of the stations in that market. Rather than explain how to make the link, we figured it's easier to just delete the three which do not apply.

city

Not to be confused with market, the "city" you see in the edit window appears as "City of License" when viewing the finished product. This is the actual FCC-defined City of License for the station. COLs are listed on our Station Lists.

airdate

The year the frequency first signed on, ever. Not the current format or call letters. If you don't know and can't find it, just leave "19??" there.

frequency

By default, this is listed as: FM: ###.# MHz<br>AM: #### kHz This allows you to put in frequencies for an FM/AM simulcast. If you need only ONE frequency, delete the one you don't need AND the <br> tag in between them.

class, erp, haat

All statistical stuff having to do with the station's license and towers. It's all listed on the FCC website and several other websites. Use your favorite source to find these items.

owner

Insert the name of the station owner between the square brackets. This will make the owner's name a link to their owner page. We'll eventually have pages for each owner, with a list of their stations (in the CNYRadio.com markets). If the link appears in red, that means we haven't created the page yet, or you may have misspelled it.

callmean

This appears on the finished page as "Call Letters Meaning." If a station's call letters have a special significance to the station (as most do), you can briefly explain it here. For example, for WMCR, you might say "Madison County Radio." Some stations just have random call letters. In such cases, you can leave the "???" alone. Please use bold to emphasize the call letters within the meanings. If the current letters have a meaning which isn't apparently obvious (ie. the initials of the founding owner from 60 years ago) you can provide a brief explanation.

website

You'll notice the default format is this:
[http://www.????.com ????.com]
Should be self explanatory -- just fill in the station's website URL. Remember, the first one needs the http:// in front of it (for the link itself), and the second one (which appears on the page) should not have it.

request, office

Phone numbers for the request line and the main business office line. In the case of news/talk stations, the request number should usually be the newsroom line. Just be sure to specify this as we did with WRVO. (We considered using the studio call-in line, but most news/talkers carry lots of syndicated programs, so just one call-in line doesn't really work.)

uspsaddy

This is the station's mailing address. The <br> commands separate the lines of the address. If you don't need two address lines, then delete "Address Line 2" as well as the <br> command right after it.

After the uspsaddy, there's a line with two close-curly-brackets ( }} ). These signal the end of the Infobox. Leave them alone.

History

When possible, the history section should begin with the station's very first sign-on ever. It should then work its way through format flips or other significant changes that took place (ownership, notable alumni, etc.), leading up to station's present-day format.

Anytime you reference another active station with a page in the Wiki, please create a link to that station's page, by putting double square brackets around the call letters, like this: [[WXXX]]. Links are only needed on the first reference to a station -- you need not (and should not) create a link every single time the same call letters are mentioned.

If you are using information found on other websites, please provide inline links to those websites, as a form of citation. Again, you only need to provide a link the first time you mention a certain source. You can cite/credit a source later on, but subsequent references do not need links. If the information is coming from a non-internet source, please verbally attribute the source (ie. "According to 1998 R&R Yearbook...").

Optionally, you can also provide a station's history in a "timeline" format. Use the bulleted (unordered) list format. Timelines are a handy way to get a history started, especially when a writer has key facts, but not enough details to turn it into a full "narrative." As more items are added, a future writer may feel free to convert the timeline into a narrative.

Programming Schedule

This section lists all the personalities or programs on the station's program schedule. It's divided into three sections: weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays. In the rare event the schedule is the same on Saturdays and Sundays, they can be merged into one section called "Weekends."

Each line begins with the show/jock start time, followed by a space, a colon (:) and the show or jock's name.
- Times should include the minutes (ie. "7pm" is not right, should be "7:00pm")
- Exception: If a show begins at 12:00, write it as "12mid" or "12noon"
  - If a shift/show begins any other time in the 12:00 hour (like 12:30), use "12:30am" or "12:30pm"
Show/jock end times are not used, as it is assumed the show or jock runs until the next one on the list begins.
If there is a weekday exception (ie. WRVO's midnight hour on weekdays) list the shows on the same line, but specify which days each airs.

Weekends/Overnights on Music Stations

Weekend and overnight shifts which do not have a permanent host should be listed as "regular programming" or "jockless automation." Names should be listed only if the same person does the same shift on a regular basis. Doesn't matter if they are live or voicetracked; the only criteria is consistency.

College Stations

Many student-run college stations have complex schedules (for example, 12 two-hour shifts or 24 one-hour shifts per day, with different jocks every day of the week, changing every semester). Because it would be difficult to keep such schedules maintained here, you can simply provide a link to the schedule page on the station's website, if one exists.

Alternatively, you can provide a schedule that only lists the station's long-running, regularly-scheduled shows (like the "Z Morning Zoo" on WJPZ) and then "regular programming" for the remainder of the hours.

Special Programming

Following the bottom of the bulleted-list schedule, notes may be made as to any "special programming" which disrupts the normal schedule on a regular basis. For example, if a station carries live coverage of sporting events, that could be noted here. If the team(s) have their game schedule posted online, you could provide a link to that page. Any such notes should be reviewed annually, in case of any team/radio affiliation changes.

OPTIONAL: Linking names/titles

You may make a personality name or a show title appear as an external link to their own website. Link only to "official" websites only -- like the person's or show's own website, or their page on the station's website. Do NOT link to personal profiles on sites like Facebook, Myspace, or such.

Arbitron Ratings

Maintaining our own lists and rankings of ratings would be very labor-intensive. And, there are already several other websites that do it already, so we'll just link to one of them -- specifically, stationratings.com. When a new page is created from the WXXX template, it has links to stationratings.com's pages for all four markets we cover. Just delete the three links which do not apply, leaving the link to the ratings for this station's market.

Translators / Simulcasts

If there are translators or simulcasts, they should be displayed in a bulleted list, in this format:

Freqency / Calls / City of License.
Example: 88.1 FM / W201AA / Quahog

This list should include ALL stations that simulcast the same programming, even if they are in other markets. At the very least, simulcasts within the four CNYRadio.com markets should be included. Simulcasts in other markets are optional.

Note that stations within CNYRadio.com territory which ARE simulcasts of some other station (ie. WRUN simulcasts programming from WAMC/Albany) should not list other simulcast partners here. Only the originating station should list the simulcasts. Eventually, all simulcast station pages will "redirect" back to the parent station's page. (However, in cases where the parent station is outside of CNY, such as WRUN, the local station will still have its own page.)

Ownership and Sister Stations

Owner

The station's owner should be filled in between the square brackets next to "Owner:" just like the Infobox. (Yes, this is a rare case of redundancy.) This will make the owner's name a link to their owner page. We'll eventually have pages for each owner, with a list of their stations (in the CNYRadio.com markets). If the link appears in red, that means we haven't created the page yet, or you may have misspelled it.

Sister Stations

Time for another bulleted list! This should include all stations owned by the same owner 'in the same market. For example, do not list WUMX as a sister of WTKW... although both are owned by Galaxy Communications, they are not in the same market. The bulleted list of sister stations should be in this format:

Frequency / [[Calls]] / City of License.
Example: 88.1 FM / WXXX / Quahog

If there are no sister stations, then just leave the default "None" listing intact.

CNYRadio.com News Coverage

This links to a list of every CNYRadio.com news article which mentions the specific station (just as if you had typed the call letters into the main site's search box). Again, just replace both instances of WXXX with the real call letters.

Selected Links

This section consists of at least two links:

Query the station's record on the FCC Database.
- The WXXX template includes one FM query link and one AM query link. You can tell which is which by just looking at the two links carefully. Delete the one you do NOT need. Then fill in the call letters.
  - Exception 1: - If there is an AM/FM simulcast (like WSEN) keep BOTH links and put in the call letters for both.
  - Exception 2: - If this is the "parent" station of any full-power simulcast stations (like WRVO), you should have links for the simulcasting stations as well. (If someone goes to a "child" station, they will be redirected to the "parent" station's page.) Just copy the original line, paste in as many extra copies as needed, and change the call letters.
A link to the legal ID audio repository, tophour.com. Again, replace any instance of WXXX with the actual call letters. Bear in mind, not all stations have legal ID audio at tophour.com -- so the link may turn up a blank page. That's OK though, because they could add an ID in the future.