WT Manual of Style Tips

The Wikitravel (WT) Manual of Style was full of articles and tips on how best to shape a topic article, but here are 3 that stood out to me as especially pertinent and/or helpful:

1. Bodies of Water - this subject of this article isn't something that most people would think about until they actually need to start writing about a body of water, which makes sense. When someone does need to write about a body of water, this page makes it clear that said body is to be discussed under the page for the city or town that it's in. If the water is an attraction, it can be part of a See or Do itinerary, or can influence the path of an itinerary in a location near the body of water. The article isn't especially long, but it does give the basic ideas of where information about bodies of water goes and some direction about what to do with it.
2. Tone - this article was much longer, and had a lot of points that should be common sense for informed/informative and objective writing. Some of the more significant points were to avoid personal pronouns (I, we, our, my), although "you" and "your" are fine; being fair doesn't have to mean being long-winded and boring or formal; be concise; avoid cliches; and careful generalizations and humor are alright, but should be carefully considered and worded so that the intention isn't lost on, or misinterpreted by, the audience. This can be a lot to consider when writing, but allows for quality information and presentation in the article.
3. Words to Avoid - another fairly short article, but makes some good points and emphasizes the connotations of partiality in certain words and how they can be misinterpreted by the readers. Tips include avoiding empty, flowery language ("premiere, luxurious"); vagueness ("unique, severe penalties, recommended, affordable") and words that have different cultural meanings ("entree, tourist"). Again, this is a lot to remember for contributers, but it really aids the effectiveness of the language being used in the articles and contributes to the quality of writing.