Dreams Wikia:General Rules

Rules & Guidelines
*Note: This page contains general wiki rules, which are explained in more detail in policies. If looking on this page doesn't answer your question, take a look at the relevant policy instead.*
These general rules are here to stop the wiki spinning out of control. They aren't supposed to scare you off!

General1. This wiki is intended to be focused on all Dreams titles, but the priority of focus, (and therefore any lists or article content) should appear in this order; *Dreams*.
2. Anything that violates the **Dreams EULA**, any **non-disclosure agreements** or any other related **terms and conditions** is not allowed, no matter what.
3. Also, do not spam, flame, harass or otherwise personally insult other users. It's not nice!

Editing
 **Please DO ...**
1. Post accurate information (to the best of your ability).
2. Check that the information you want to add is not duplicating on what is already on the wiki. If in doubt, use the search feature.
3. Discuss any large edits on the talk page. If nobody responds, continue with your edit.
4. Read warning notices in edit tabs. Important pages, such as templates, should be edited with care.
5. Undo your actions if you make a mistake. You can do this from the Recent changes page.
6. Follow any formatting policies that apply to your page. If in doubt, follow the same formatting as other similar pages.
7. Check that your links point to valid pages. If they don't, they will appear as red instead of blue.
8. Preview your post before saving it, to check everyhting looks right.
9. Add an edit summary to every edit you make, so that other users know what you have done.

 **Please DON'T ...**
1. Post superfluous or speculative information on main article pages. That kind of content should be contained on a subject's discussion page.
2. Copy information from another source without permission and/or without crediting and referencing the original source. Articles (or portions thereof) that have been identified as having been copying from another source will be deleted.
3. Spam-edit, or, in other words, deliberately disrupt a page. Whether an edit is deemed as spam-editing is at the discretion of a sysop. All edits can be undone by anyone, so spam-editing is pointless.
4. Start edit wars. These happen when one user edits a page, another user changes it, and the first user undoes the changes, and so on. Edit wars are very disruptive and clog up pages' edit history. Discuss the edit in the page's associated talk page instead.
5. Add profanity, or any inappropriate content to the wiki. Imp doesn't like rude things, after all.
6. Use smileys, slang, abbreviations or codes in articles. You can still use these in talk pages, however.
7. Remove message boxes from articles until the issue has been resolved.

Pages
 **Please DO ...**
1. Write pages about Dreams, nothing else. This wiki is about Dreams, after all.
2. Name articles appropriately, including correct spelling! Moving articles to a new name is a pain in the bum, and can be avoided if you spell the name correctly in the first place.
3. Write in an article if you've just created it. Empty or irrelevant articles will likely be deleted. If you can't think of a lot to write, put the {{stub}} message box at the top of the page to help other people find the article and add to it.

 **Please DON'T ...**
1. Create articles describing other games or game systems.
2. Create articles about a specific user, creator, community level or object, clan, faction or other things like that.
3. Credit users or other players for a particular piece of information, discovery, or content.
4. Use unnecessary redirects.

Talk pages
 **Please DO ...**
1. Sign off any posts you make with your signature by using **~~~~** so everyone knows who's saying what. (Adding the {{unsigned|Username|datestamp}} to unsigned posts helps too.)
2. Organise your posts into topics by using headings (like ==this==) and by indenting them with a colon at the start of the line.
3. Resolve conflicts calmly. There's no point arguing, you know.

 **Please DON'T ...**
1. Make any personal attacks for any reason. Discuss the topic or issue, not the author.
2. Edit out someone else's post. That's mean, and stops everyone getting a voice.
3. Make the same point over and over. Make your point once, and make it snappy.

Files
 **Please DO ...**
1. Ensure you have all the necessary rights to publish the file on the wiki.
2. Summarise your file and add the correct licensing descriptor. *Note: If a licensing descriptor is not added, the file will likely be deleted, as images from Dreams are not supposed to be released into the public domain.*
3. Check, if you are uploading anything from the Dreams Fansite Kit, that the image has not already been uploaded by looking in Category:Dreams Fansite Kit. You MUST select the fansite kit licence when you upload a file from the fansite kit.
4. Name any images of specific Dreams objects exactly after the object itself, with correct capitalisation. Many templates on DreamsWiki make use of filenames to automatically place images in articles, and naming your images like this will help.
5. Use appropriate file sizes. Large images take up lots of space!

 **Please DON'T ...**
1. Host your file on the wiki unless you plan to use it somewhere. We aren't a hosting service! There are plenty of other places to host your files if you want to upload them for another purpose.
2. Upload duplicate files (or at least try not to). Look through the files already on the wiki to check that the file you're uploading is not already uploaded.

Message Walls1. Message Walls are the Talk system we use to contact each other on the wiki. See Help:Message Wall for more information.
2. **Please DON'T ...** make message wall posts lengthy.
3. Discussions like these belong to chat.
4. **Please DON'T ...** leave insulting messages on users' walls.
5. If you have a dispute or another discussion, please keep it appropriate and civil.

Other* Users should not create new posts on their *own* Message wall unless necessary (e.g. announcing inactivity, testing templates, signatures or bugs)
* Examples of unnecessary posts include:
* Talking to yourself for no important reason (e.g. "hello how you doing")
* Posting spam (e.g. advertising websites, posting gibberish)
* Users should not remove replies from others, unless they are deemed as spam.

Blocking1. Blocks are punishments given for violating policies which prevent the user from further editing. See Help:Block for more information.
2. It's highly appropriate for an administrator to warn a user who may have broken the rules instead of quickly blocking them.
3. If a user has vandalized a page, it'd be best to warn first, unless it's been repeated.
4. This excludes spam.
5. It's recommended to keep the block lengths for policy violations at minimum.
6. This excludes spam, vandalism and sock-puppetry.
7. Users who may have violated a policy their first time should always be given a second chance.
8. Administrators should always include a relevant block reason in the logs when blocking a user.
9. Never include insulting or spiteful comments in the block reason, unless quoting from the blocked user.

Other* It's recommended for administrators to investigate the contributions of the user in question so an appropriate block length can be settled.
* Keep in mind that administrators may rule out different lengths in blocks depending on how they think is appropriate.
* Comments are a special feature where a user can post comments on pages. See Help:Comments for more information.
* Users are allowed to post up to three (3) comments a day unless deemed necessary, such as in the case of new information.
* Keep the topic relevant and avoid causing disruption.
	+ Note that an administrator can and most likely will delete your comments if they find them irrelevant or unnecessary.
* Posting links to streams, buffers, or downloads of any of the episodes is a violation of the Wikia Terms of Use, and is a serious offense.
	+ Such posts will be immediately deleted, and proper action will be taken against the offender.
	+ Examples of streams: YouTube, DailyMotion, Veoh
	+ Examples of downloads: PirateBay, MediaFire, BitTorrent
* Role playing is not allowed under any circumstances on this wiki, including on chat. Role-playing is pretending to be a character, whether from the show or one that was made up.
* Do not spam.
	+ **Spam** is unwanted or unnecessary messages, like advertisements, long comments, nonsense, repeatedly posting the same message three or more times in a row, etc.
* Avoid necroposting.
	+ **Necroposting** is posting in a forum discussion that has gone a long time without new posts (i.e., a *dead* discussion; hence the name, *necroposting*).
	+ Once a discussion has gone about a month without new posts, do not post on it again, unless there is a legitimate reason for doing so.
	+ An example of a legitimate reason would be an important discovery related to the discussion's topic.
	+ In most cases, though, it would be safer to either start a new discussion, or say nothing.
	+ A necropost may be deleted without warning, and the offender given a warning at the discretion of the administrator.

Comments1. Comments are a special feature where a user can post comments on pages. See Help:Comments for more information.
2. Users are allowed to post up to three (3) comments a day unless deemed necessary, such as in the case of new information.
3. Keep the topic relevant and avoid causing disruption.
4. Note that an administrator can and most likely will delete your comments if they find them irrelevant or unnecessary.
5. Posting links to streams, buffers, or downloads of any of the episodes is a violation of the Wikia Terms of Use, and is a serious offense.
6. Such posts will be immediately deleted, and proper action will be taken against the offender.
7. Examples of streams: YouTube, DailyMotion, Veoh
8. Role playing is not allowed under any circumstances on this wiki, including on chat. Role-playing is pretending to be a character, whether from the show or one that was made up.
9. **Please DON'T ...** spam.
10. **Spam** is unwanted or unnecessary messages, like advertisements, long comments, nonsense, repeatedly posting the same message three or more times in a row, etc.
11. Avoid necroposting.
12. **Necroposting** is posting in a forum discussion that has gone a long time without new posts (i.e., a *dead* discussion; hence the name, *necroposting*).
13. Once a discussion has gone about a month without new posts, do not post on it again, unless there is a legitimate reason for doing so.
14. An example of a legitimate reason would be an important discovery related to the discussion's topic.
15. In most cases, though, it would be safer to either start a new discussion, or say nothing.
16. A necropost may be deleted without warning, and the offender given a warning at the discretion of the administrator.

Other* **Please DON'T ...** incite drama. This includes:
	+ Grief slinging (e.g., "I'm miserable, so you should be miserable too!")
	+ Inferiority complex (e.g., "I am useless!")

Blog posts1. Blogs are a special feature where users can create a page for certain announcements or updates. See Help:Blog for more information.
2. Nearly the same rules apply from the comments section.
3. Blogs should have a reason for existing.
4. A blog with little to no content is likely to be labeled as spam and subsequently deleted.
5. Blogs centered entirely around fan fiction are restricted. (e.g. episode ideas, fan stories)
6. Such blogs can and will be deleted with or without notice.

Other* If you discover a blog that is considered a violation to our policies (e.g. spam blog, blank blog), please tag it for deletion by adding `{{delete}}` in the comments.