BFBFDI:Rules

This article contains the **rules** of this encyclopedia, outlining policies for it to operate efficiently.

## General info

Info in this section may be help ful to anyone seeking to ensure the rules are followed.

* BFBFDI:Crew - that page lists the crew members who enforce the rules.
* BFBFDI:Glossary - that page contains the definitions of specific words, much like a dictionary.
* BFBFDI:Report user - if someone violates the rules, report them here.

## Key

The following is a key to the format of the BFBFDI Encyclopedia's rules.

* Article - each rule is broken down into articles, which are designated by Roman numerals.
* Section - each article is broken down into sections for organization. These are designated by a number.
* Clause -a section might be divided into clauses for even more organization.

## Rules of the Book from BFDI Encyclopedia

### Article I: Name

The name of the wiki shall be *the Book from BFDI Encyclopedia* ("BFBFDI").

### Article II: Statement of Purpose

The goal of the Book from BFDI Encyclopedia is to create a place for everything about Book from BFDI and to make this the most accurate database.

### Article III: Content

* A. General

* 1. Don't speculate anything unless you have a source. If you don't have one, add {{Citation needed}}
* 2. Refer to everything in the third person, unless it's in quotes.

* B. Article relevance

* 1. Don't create articles that aren't relevant to *Book from BFDI*. If you want to do that, go on Wikipedia.

* a. A person, place, or anything is relevant to *Book from BFDI* if it has appeared in an episode, or was confirmed by the creators.
* b. People, places, or things that are relevant but not sufficiently relevant enough for their own articles may be included in a list or some other related article.
* c. Linking to non-existent articles about people, places, or things that aren't relevant will be treated the same way.

* 3. Definitive content includes all content that is defined as having relevance to merit their own articles. This includes, but is not limited to:

* a. All episodes, their respective transcripts and galleries.
* b. Anything that could be considered merchandise.
* c. All major and minor characters that contain a sufficient amount of information.
* d. Common objects with a sufficient amount of information.

* 4. Definitive content which is not relevant to have their own articles includes but is not limited to:

* a. Any implied content that does not have a sufficient amount of information. That can be included here: List of implied content.

* C. Crossover content. All crossover characters, locations, and objects that are not native to *Book from BFDI* do not merit their own articles. Instead, they belong on a list.
* D. Fanon. Fan-made content is not allowed, unless it is discussed in chat, forum, or blog.
* E. False/unsourced information. Do not intentionally insert false information.
* F. Content from other websites

* 1. Content from Wikipedia is allowed to be copied to BFBFDI. See Licensing at Community Central.
* 2. Publishing content (including reverting) from other websites to BFBFDI without the author's permission is prohibited.
* 3. If required, all copied content must be tagged.

### Article IV: Sources

* A. Acceptable sources

* 1. The creators themselves, as they're active.

* B. Unacceptable sources - every other source that is not the one listed above. They include, but are not limited to:

* 1. Any online database for movies and television, including but not limited to Metacritic, IMDb, etc.
* 2. Any blog or social media that is purely speculation or fanon.
* 3. Wikipedia due to the nature of its content creation; instead, seek out the sources referenced by Wikipedia and ensure it falls under an acceptable source.
* 4. Any website that contains sources from the places that are allowed, but speculate on any information about dates or names.

* C. Unspecified sources

* 1. Any source not mentioned in this article should be discussed by the community to determine if it is acceptable or not.

### Article V: User conduct

* A. User interaction

* 1. Do not personally attack other users. This includes, but is not limited to threatening the wiki and/or user(s), name-calling (including, but not limited to idiot, jerk, stupid, retard, etc.), derogatory statements, and use of profanity directed toward other users.
* 2. Do not discriminate other users based on their religion, political affiliation, sexual preference, or anything else. It is strongly recommended that users do not discuss these topics as these may cause distress.
* 3. Do not use profanity. "Damn" and "hell" are acceptable, but only if used in context and not directed toward other users. Censoring of words (such as "f\*\*\*) even when used as an expletive, is prohibited.
* 4. Do not add or link to content that is inappropriate for younger readers and contributors.
* 5. Do not pose as an administrator if you are not one.

* B. Vandalism. Do not vandalize the wiki. This includes, but is not limited to: spam, nonsense edits, removing good quality content, and blanking pages.
* C. Multiple Accounts. Using multiple accounts is strictly prohibited unless it is the bot account of an administrator or an approved bot account of a non-administrator. If a user has multiple accounts, they must choose one to use and the others must be blocked.

### Article VI: Communication

* A. General

* 1. BFBFDI is a community of multiple different users, and so the use of good communication is necessary to maintain a civil and productive editing and social environment.
* 2. If an administrator requests a response from a user regarding an issue, that user must respond to them. If the user makes more than twenty (20) edits and twenty-four (24) hours have passed since the time of the administrator's message without the user responding, this will be considered ignoring and the user may be warned and/or blocked, depending on the nature of the issue.
* 3. Do not discuss another wiki's issues on this wiki.

* B. Discussion areas

* 1. The Discord server

* a. The primary purpose of the Discord server is for discussing about *Book from BFDI*, and having fun (as long as you don't break the rules) in the appropriate channels.

* 2. User Pages. You do not own your user page, it is given to you to help people know you better. The administration reserves the right to remove any content they feel is inappropriate.
* 3. User Walls. Do not forbid anyone from leaving you a message on your message wall.

* C. Reporting rule violations. Any violation of the rules may be reported to the BFBFDI:Report user page.

### Article VII: Signatures

* A. All user signatures must clearly identify the username of the user. For example, User:ExampleGuy011 could sign ~~off~~ as "ExaGuy011."
* B. All links in user signatures must clearly identify their targets.
* C. Images in signatures are permitted, as long as they do not exceed 40 pixels.
* D. All user signatures must not exceed the height of a line of text (unless they are an image), disturb the layout of the page, or be excessively long.
* E. Content of signatures must be clearly visible with regard to color schemes.
* F. Signatures that contain an elaborate amount of code must use a signature template. Users unfamiliar with this can seek assistance from another user.
* G. Administrators reserve the right to adjust signatures to comply with this article.

### Article VIII: Discord Chat

* A. General. All the BFBFDI policies also apply to the Discord server.

* 1. Do not abuse communication tools. This includes blank messages, gibberish, and spreading words or sentences out into multiple messages. Other abuse of communication tools can result in a kick or ban at the discretion of the banning moderator or Discord administrator.
* 2. English is the preferred language in the chatroom. Please use other languages in the international channels.
* 3. Trolling is prohibited. Anyone who disturbs the chat environment and does not provide anything useful to the conversation may be considered trolling. Any trolling in the BFBFDI Discord server will result in a kick. Administrators can block trolling users infinitely from BFBFDI at their discretion if they feel the user does not provide any positive engagement to the community.

* 4. Profanity. Profanity is forbidden. This includes use as an acronym or censored. "Damn" and "hell" are allowed if they are used in context and not against another user. Any use of profanity after a user is issued a warning will immediately result in a kick from the Discord server.
* 5. Be respectful towards all users, their views, and their opinions. Do not discriminate against or harass anyone. Doing so can result in a kick or ban by the discretion of the moderator.
* 6. Posing as a user of a higher position than you is forbidden.
* 7. Posting anything inappropriate or links to inappropriate sites is forbidden. This includes linking to content not suitable for children under the age of 13, notably sexual content. The chatroom is to remain clean.
* 8. Asking users for personal information (age, phone numbers, addresses, ASL (age/sex/location), religious beliefs, etc.) is forbidden.
* 9. If you are going to exchange social networking information (Discord, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.), do it in a private message.
* 10. Drama, arguing, and having heated debates is forbidden. Friendly, civil debates are allowed.
* 11. Refrain from saying things that are not useful to the conversation and continue to interrupt those having a conversation. If more than one person is doing this, those people must take the conversation elsewhere.

* B. Discord server. The policies in this section apply to the Discord server.

* 1. Specific rules

* a. Chat invasions (inviting a large group to chat, normally to troll and/or spam) are forbidden.
* b. All moderator orders must be obeyed unless said otherwise by an administrator or someone of higher power.
* c. Conforming to disruption is forbidden. Conforming to disruption qualifies as feeding the trolls, continuing to discuss the trolls after they've been banned, participating in heated arguments, and engaging in unfriendly banter with other users.
* d. Role-playing is forbidden in the main chat. Please conduct all role-plays in the special "role play" channel.

* 2. Underage users. It is against Fandom policy for a person under the age of 13 to use Fandom. Any user who is underage or claims to be underage will not be blocked or banned since all underage users will be dealt with by Fandom Staff, not by BFBFDI's Administration.
* 3. Moderators

* a. All administrators and bureaucrats are chat moderators. A selected few chatters are appointed chat moderator because they are active in chat and trusted to keep the peace.
* b. Abuse of chat moderator powers is forbidden. Any abuse of them will result in immediate termination.
* c. Chat moderators have no jurisdiction over what happens in a private message. If someone bothers you, ignore them. There is no definite way to prove what is in a private message.
* d. There is a hierarchy in the chatroom in regards to final decisions. Chat moderators are outranked by administrators, and administrators are outranked by bureaucrats.

* 1. Adding users. Any user is allowed to add other users to the chat. However, users can only be added if they are: *(combining with title of section)*

* a. A current member of ESB. Users who have retired from ESB, left Fandom altogether, or are inactive (with the exception of chat moderators, discussion moderators, administrators, and bureaucrats) are not allowed into the Discord/Skype chat.
* b. The user is not blocked from ESB or Fandom (meaning they are not globally blocked from the network). Users who are unable to edit on the wiki or even enter the chat room are not to be allowed into the Discord/Skype chat rooms.

* 2. Kicking policy

* a. Unlike the Fandom chatroom, when a user is kicked from the Discord server, they cannot come back in until another user adds them back.
* b. Kicked users can be added back immediately unless they misbehave again and are kicked once more.
* c. If a user has received a third kick from an administrator, they will not be allowed back into the Discord for twenty-four (24) hours. If the user is added back but continues to misbehave, then they will be kicked from the Discord for seven (7) days. Any users who continues to misbehave even after those kicks will receive longer kicks from the Discord depending on the severity of their actions.
* d. Do not add back any user who is kicked from the Discord until after their ban expires. Any user attempting to add users back before their ban expires will receive a kick themselves unless otherwise stated.
* e. Make sure to listen to the Discord administrators. Any user who ignores warnings will be temporarily kicked from the Discord.
* f. Discord usernames cannot contain profanity, references to profanity, or refer to sexual content.

* D. Reporting. If you see anything in the chatroom that is a violation of any policies, please report it, either at the report form (BFBFDI:Report user) or sending a message to an administrator or bureaucrat (see here: BFBFDI:Crew). You can also report to administrators on Discord. See a list for Discord here.

### Article IX: Roles

* A. Certain users are given more abilities, known as user rights, in order for the wiki to be run more effectively.
* B. Additional user roles shall be bureaucrats, administrators, assistants, discussion moderators, chat moderators, and rollbacks. Other roles may be granted to certain users, including, but not limited to bots, social media managers, and Discord administrators.
* C. Duties of roles

* 1. When a user is promoted, they have more privileges than the average user. They are expected to use these powers with good judgment and follow all the rules.
* 2. Administrators are privileged with the power to block other users and are expected to have good judgment when it comes to using this tool.
* 3. Administrators are the only ones allowed to inform a user that they have been blocked or banned.

* D. Terms of roles

* 1. All promoted users may keep their position as long as they want, unless they resign, retire, quit or are demoted per the article on demotions.

### Article X: Blocking

* A. General

* 1. If a user is violating any rule, administrators must resolve the problem and politely notify the user of their wrongdoing by giving one (1) warning on their message wall.
* 2. If a user breaks two (2) different rules, that counts as one (1) warning for each rule. A user that breaks the same rule twice merits a block.
* 3. If a warned user continues to break the same rule within twenty-four (24) hours without acknowledging the warning, the administrator should try to contact that user again.
* 4. If the warned user continues to break the same rule for twenty-four (24) hours after the administrator tried to contact them again, the user will be blocked for a maximum of fourteen (14) days.
* 5. Any user who continues to violate the rule for which they were blocked within seven (7) days after their initial block ends will receive further penalties, depending on the rule(s) violated and the severity of the offense at the discretion of the administration.

* B. Exceptions

* 1. Any user who commits offenses that are very serious to the point in which they harm the wiki or threaten a user may be blocked immediately for any given amount of time at the discretion of the blocking administrator.
* 2. Any user who spams, vandalizes, harasses, or threatens a user or the wiki as a whole as their first contribution or interaction may be blocked immediately without warning. If they continue to violate such rules after their block, they shall be given an infinite block.
* 3. Users that misuse spelling and/or grammar, unintentionally use improper formatting, and/or make an accidental edit shall not be blocked.

* C. Blocking the user

* 1. When an administrator blocks a user, they must use the {{Blocked}}​ template on their message wall to notify that they have been blocked. This allows the blocked user to know that they have been blocked and the reason, so that they can be linked to the policies to better understand our rules, as well as learn how to appeal a block.
* 2. Administrators must leave the user's message wall open in order for the blocked user to make an appeal case.
* 3. If a blocked user abuses their wall privileges by spamming, threatening, or harassing other users, before making an appeal case, they have forfeited their chance to make an appeal for the duration of the block and can have their wall privileges removed until the end of their block.
* 4. A bureaucrat may unblock the user if they deem it an unfair block. If any other bureaucrat is in disagreement, the bureaucrat disputing the block must start a block review.

* D. Block disputes

* 1. A block dispute occurs when an administrator's action in blocking a user is challenged.
* 2. Any user may appeal their block or another user's block they deem unfair to have the block or ban removed.
* 3. All blocking disputes should be handled between the conflicting parties. If the conflicting parties resolve the dispute, the dispute is over.
* 4.If neither party agrees to a compromise, any user opposing the block must start a block review and follow the procedures.

* F. Block review. A blocked user may request their block be reviewed by the entire administration.

* 1. The blocked user must first message a BFBFDI administrator on Community Central.
* 2. The administration will conduct an internal review of the block and decide whether or not it shall be overturned.
* 3. A majority vote of the administration is required to overturn the block.
* 4. The record of the result of the vote must be recorded in a table at BFBFDI:Block reviews, with the numbered tally of the vote and a link to the blocked user's request for a review, along with the name of the recording administrator.
* 5. If the block is not overturned, the blocked user cannot request another block review for two (2) months. Any subsequent block review requests may be conducted two (2) months succeeding the end date of the last valid review.

* F. Blocking administrators. Blocking another administrator is strictly prohibited. All administrators are supposed to resolve disputes with each other through discussion and not blocking.

* 1. Any administrator who blocks another administrator will be suspended from all roles (administrator, assistant, rollback, chat moderator, discussion moderator) and an emergency user rights review shall be created.
* 2. Any exception to the rules, including an appeal from the suspended administrator, will be implemented by a vote of a majority of bureaucrats.

### Article XI: Content dispute

* A. General. Not everyone will agree on how things should be done on the wiki. However, in order to have consistency and organization within the wiki, it is important to establish policies and formatting guidelines for everyone to follow in which the community agrees upon. As this is a collaborative environment, it is important to resolve disputes by using communication to address the problem instead of ignoring the problem. This article outlines the procedures in the event of an edit war and/or an issue relating to content dispute.
* B. Procedures

* 1. Edit war. When an edit war occurs, all parties must stop editing the page and take the problem to an informal discussion and explain their reasons for their edits. Once they have explained their reasons, they must follow the procedures below to resolve the dispute.
* 2. Procedures

* a. If an established policy and/or guideline can resolve the dispute, that policy and/or guideline must be followed.
* b. If there is disagreement in regards to the policy and/or guideline, discussion is allowed, but the reverts must be halted so that the disputed content on the page is left alone until the dispute is resolved.
* c. If the dispute is still not resolved, an uninvolved administrator must step in to mediate the discussion.
* d. If the dispute involves one (1) or more administrators, a bureaucrat uninvolved in the edit war must intervene.
* e. If all bureaucrats are involved in the edit war, an official discussion is required.
* f. In the event that no such policy and/or guideline exists to establish a resolution policy-wise, the dispute may require further discussion that will ultimately be decided in an official discussion to establish a policy and/or guideline.

* 3. Conclusion

* a. Once the dispute is resolved, the decision is final. Any edit made by the losing party in the dispute that blatantly ignores the decision is subject to a maximum three (3) day block.
* b. If any user is in disagreement over the decision, they are free to make a proposal to change the guidelines/policies/rules/etc.

* C. 3 Revert Rule

* 1. General. An editor must not perform more than three reverts on a single page—whether involving the same or different material—within a 24-hour period. An edit or a series of consecutive edits that undoes other editors' actions—whether in whole or in part—counts as a revert. Any appearance of gaming the system by reverting a fourth time just outside the 24-hour slot is likely to be treated as an edit-warring violation.
* 2. Exceptions

* a. Reverting your own actions ("self-reverting").
* b. Reverting edits to pages in your own user space, so long as you are respecting the user page rules.
* c. Reverting actions performed by banned users, and sockpuppets of banned and blocked users.
* d. Reverting obvious vandalism—edits that any well-intentioned user would agree constitute vandalism, such as page blanking and adding offensive language.

* 3. After 3 reverts

* a. During an edit war, when a page is reverted after three (3) times by the same user, the editing must stop and be reported to an administrator.
* b. If an administrator is involved in the edit war, the following procedures must be followed.

* i. The page must be protected by any administrator and no further reverts made in regards to the disputed content.
* ii. An uninvolved bureaucrat must intervene to mediate the dispute.
* iii. All succeeding procedures are outlined in section C2 of this article.

* c. If the edit war continues after a user has made 3 reverts, the following must be followed.

* i. Dispute between non-administrators

* 1. At this point, the page should have been protected by an administrator and the edit war should have stopped.

* ii. Dispute between non-administrators and administrators in which the administrators are in agreement.

* 1. At this point, the page should have been protected by an administrator and the edit war should have stopped.

* iii. Dispute between non-administrators and administrators in which the administrators are in disagreement.

* 1. It is expected that the dispute between administrators be resolved by discussion and that the edit war does not continue.
* 2. Any such violation of this requires an informal discussion to the matter or an official discussion if the matter is serious.

* iv. Dispute between only administrators in which the administrators are in disagreement.

* 1. It is expected that the dispute between administrators be resolved by discussion and that the edit war does not continue.
* 2. Any such violation of this requires an informal discussion to the matter or an official discussion if the matter is serious.

### Article XII: Advertising and affiliation

* A. Advertising

* 1. Fandom wikis may be advertised only in the forums or discussions and in only one forum or discussions post.
* 2. Advertising non-Fandom wikis is not allowed. Discussion of such websites is however allowed.
* 3. Any violation of these policies will result in a deletion of anything relating to that website and a warning to the user who violated them.