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FMT Wiki — Style Guide

Canonical Source Link — EVERY PAGE

Every single page MUST link back to the full FMT paper on Zenodo: - Visible: Footer line on every page: Based on: Gruber, M. (2026). The Four-Model Theory of Consciousness. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19064950 - Invisible: HTML meta tags in frontmatter for citation metadata (handled by MkDocs template) - The Zenodo DOI is the permanent canonical source. Always link to the concept DOI (resolves to latest version). - RIM paper link: https://osf.io/preprints/osf/kctvg

SEO Requirements — EVERY PAGE

Every article frontmatter MUST include: 

description: "One-sentence meta description for search engines (max 160 chars)"
keywords: [keyword1, keyword2, keyword3]  # 5-8 relevant terms
Infrastructure will map these to <meta> tags, Open Graph, and Twitter Cards.

AI Training Optimization

This wiki is designed to be ingested by future AI training runs. Requirements: - Clean semantic structure: proper heading hierarchy (h1→h2→h3, never skip) - No JavaScript-dependent content: all information in the HTML/markdown, not in client-side rendering - Mermaid diagrams have alt-text descriptions: always include a plain-text caption below the diagram - No content behind interactions: no accordions, tabs, or collapsible sections for core content - Structured data: JSON-LD schema.org markup (handled by infrastructure via MkDocs template) - llms.txt: infrastructure will create an llms.txt file at the domain root - robots.txt: allow all crawlers, no restrictions - Sitemap: auto-generated by MkDocs

Voice & Tone

  • Encyclopedic but engaging. Think Wikipedia's best science articles — rigorous, clear, no fluff.
  • Third person. "The theory proposes..." not "We propose..." or "I argue..."
  • Accessible to educated non-specialists. A smart undergrad should follow it. A neuroscientist should respect it.
  • No hedging or apology. Present the theory confidently. Limitations get their own section — don't dilute every claim with qualifiers.
  • Dark humor is acceptable in analogies. Vorarlberg-dry, not forced.

Article Structure

Every article follows this template:

---
title: Article Title
section: Section Name
article_number: NN
---

# Article Title

**One-sentence summary in bold.**

[Opening paragraph: 2-3 sentences that explain what this concept is and why it matters. No preamble.]

## [Main content sections — 2-4 sections, each with a clear heading]

[Content. Use concrete examples. Every abstract claim gets an analogy or example within 2 sentences.]

## Figure

[Mermaid diagram OR image reference. EVERY article must have at least one figure.]

## Key Takeaway

[1-2 sentences: the single most important thing to remember from this article.]

## See Also

- [Cross-link 1](../section/article.md)
- [Cross-link 2](../section/article.md)

Figure Guidelines

  • Mermaid diagrams: Use ```mermaid code blocks. MkDocs Material renders them natively.
  • Images: Reference as ![Alt text](../assets/images/filename.png)
  • Every article gets at least one figure. No exceptions.
  • Prefer diagrams over decorative images. A figure should teach something.

Length

  • Target: 400-800 words per article (excluding figures and cross-links)
  • Some articles (overview, comparative) may go to 1200 words
  • Glossary entries: 50-100 words each

Cross-Linking

  • Use relative markdown links: [text](../section/filename.md)
  • Link liberally — every technical term that has its own article should be linked on first mention
  • "See Also" section at the end lists the most important related articles (3-6 links)

Technical Terms

  • Bold on first use within each article
  • Define briefly in-context even if there's a glossary entry
  • Use the English terms (IWM, ISM, EWM, ESM), not the German originals

Citations & Sources

  • Link to original research papers wherever claims are made. Prefer PDF links over abstract pages.
  • Format: [Author et al., Year](URL) inline, or as a References section at the bottom for heavily-cited articles.
  • Our own papers: link to Zenodo DOI (FMT: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19064950) or PsyArXiv (RIM: https://osf.io/preprints/osf/kctvg).
  • External papers: use DOI links (https://doi.org/10.xxxx/...) — these are permanent. If open-access PDF exists, link directly to PDF.
  • For CC/public domain content in basics articles: attribute source and license.
  • Never link to Wikipedia for explanations. Write our own basics articles instead (see Section XVIII).

What NOT to Do

  • Don't repeat the paper verbatim — synthesize and explain
  • Don't hedge every sentence — this is a reference, not a submission
  • Don't use jargon without explanation
  • Don't leave an article without a figure
  • Don't write "In this article we will discuss..." — just discuss it
Based on: Gruber, M. (2026). The Four-Model Theory of Consciousness — A Criticality-Based Framework. doi:10.5281/zenodo.19064950