This article helps our Volunteer Squad keep the database clean and consistent! It pertains to members who have Creator access and above. If you're interested in getting involved, read more about joining the Squad here. We'd love to have you aboard!
The English language should generally be used in Subject names on hobbyDB. However, in some cases it may be appropriate for Subjects to have names in other languages.
There isn't a universal rule that would cover all cases, but we do have some guidelines to help you use Editorial Judgement to decide. And, if in doubt, you can always ask for input from the Squad in our Facebook group!
Subjects with both official English and Non-English Names
If an official English name exists, the preference is to use that. The non-English name should be added to the Subject as an Alternative Spelling. For example, the "Beck's Brewery" Subject has the German name "Brauerei Beck" as an Alternative Spelling, but a Subject for the German film Der Untergang might use the original German title to make it easier to identify while the English title, Downfall, would be added to Alternative Spellings.
If a brand uses different names in different regions, generally use its English name and add the others to Alternative Spellings. The Lay's brand is known as Chipsy in Egypt, Sabritas in Mexico, Tapuchips in Israel, and Walker's in the UK. All those names can be added to Alternative Spellings to allow the Lay's Subject to appear when someone searches one of those international names.
Subjects for locations such as cities and countries should generally use their English names, with the native language name listed in the description and Alternative Spellings.
Latin Characters with Accent Marks (Diacritics)
It's best to replace non-English keyboard characters with the basic character. For example, use "Marklin" as the Subject Name instead of "Märklin". Add "Märklin" with the "ä" character to Alternative Spellings as in all of these examples.
Another example is the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, which is spelled "København", with the "ø" character, in Danish. Both "København" and "Kobenhavn" (with the standard "o") should be added to Alternative Spellings while Copenhagen is used for the Subject Name.
Non-Latin Characters
Non-Latin characters should not be in used Subject names. For example, Instead of "トミカ" (Tomica's Japanese spelling) simply use "Tomica". This applies to names in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and other languages that use different character sets. If you have the ability, please add the original spelling to the Description and Alternative Spellings fields.