Editing Guidelines

**This policy refers to the editing and creation of articles, blog posts, and user pages on the wiki. This does not apply to discussions, comments, or anywhere else on the wiki. To see our general policies, click here.**

### Regarding Page Creation

* Spam pages are not allowed. Spam pages include:

1. Creating an article and leaving WIP (or a variant) as its only content.
2. Creating an article which is “waiting until [group name] disbands”.
3. Creating an article that has a blank layout with no informational content.
4. Inactive groups (disbanded or dead).
5. Pages under 500 bytes.

* Use blogposts or user subpages/sandboxes to store these pages until they’re ready to become mainspace pages.
* Pages that have their primary focus/theme revolve around death, mental illness, violence, religion or a commonly disliked/touchy subject are not allowed.
* Any pages that stray away from the original focus of the wiki (i.e. irrelevant or jokey/”just-for-fun” pages) are not allowed as articles. They are allowed as blogposts or user pages, though.
* Please do not keep or recreate pages for the comments.
* A user may only have 5 active mainspace articles in their name. User subpages/blogposts/guides don't count.
* Articles cannot be titled in all caps, even if it is for aesthetic purposes.
* Letter accents (à, ñ, é, etc.) are not allowed in page titles unless it is to identify the username of somebody (i.e. a disambiguation page)
* When making a mainspace article, you are not allowed to create a sandbox for it. All sandboxes must be user subpages.
* Pages that are entirely made up of a template or images are not allowed as they would count as spam for being below 500 bytes.

### Regarding Page Editing and Content

* **Absolutely no vandalism.**
	+ Vandalism, as directly defined by the dictionary, "is the deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property".
* Be thoughtful when editing another user's page. It is not recommended you do unless it is removing vandalism, correcting categories, or fixing minor mistakes such as grammar. Otherwise, being reported for vandalism is a possibility.
* If someone vandalizes your page, don't vandalize it back or you are both in the wrong. Simply report it to a staff member.
* No extreme/graphic violence in pages. Keep blood/gore to the lowest possible limit.
* Do not spam-edit to earn badges. This is called badge farming and is prohibited.
	+ This would be adding a couple bytes in an excessive amount of edits in a short period of time, such as to farm badges or get your page on the recent wiki activity frequently.
* Use grammar to the best of your ability.
* If Soundcloud URL tags are being used, do not have them set on "autoplay". This goes for anything and everything on the wiki, userpages, articles, blogposts etc.
* SoundCloud widgets can have swearing and other crude language in them as long as you post a language warning near the widget.
* Please do not use the display title template to code or have symbols in article titles.
* Mainspace articles are only allowed to have 5 subpages linking back to them.
* Improper or abandoned subpages will be deleted.
* Pages that don't have categories after five days of creation will be deleted.
* Pages that revolve around countries too directly will be deleted . This is due to common stereotypes and political insensitivity.
* Plagiarism, the act of taking someone else's ideas, work, characters, etc., is not allowed; this would be stealing a formatting without permission, someone's writing, blatantly using a character concept from someone else, or any other incident where a concept is being used without consent.
* Pages that go over a month without being edited will be deleted.
* You may not obstruct the functionality of the wiki and its purposes. According to FANDOM TOU..
"You agree not to:
Intentionally block, remove, or otherwise obstruct the proper functioning and view of advertisements, and/or user interface and functionality;"
	+ This would be blocking your message wall from users being able to use it, modifying the comments on your page, or any other action that obstructs the original intention of the wiki's functions.

File:DogPaw-150x150.gif
### Regarding Coding

* If you make a page or format specifically for a group that is being actively used by said group, you cannot demand they take the page down, although credit can be requested. This rule also applies to a person/group after you've given them permission to use a format, regardless of whether or not it was made for specifically their page. The exception to this rule is any art made for the group, which can be requested to be taken down at any time. If you'd like a group to stop using your format or writing, wait until the group is inactive or discontinued and then revoke the rights to use it. On the contrary to this, however, we **do** allow coders to revoke rights from a person if one or more of the following scenarios apply...
	+ The person/group has re-distributed the layout without your consent.
	+ The person/group will not give you credit for the layout upon request.
	+ Any other Terms of Use (TOU) of the layout are violated.
* Coding should be kept to a minimum. Sometimes having too much coding on an article can lag users.
	+ This includes borders; too many borders can still cause lag. The border limit is 4 borders maximum. These borders must equal less than 25 pixels. This doesn't include box shadows.
* A page cannot be entirely made up of a collapsible of any type.
* Backgrounds or pictures as backgrounds on articles are allowed as long as they don’t violate the following visual conditions:

1. The background does not feature overly bright/harsh or distracting colors.
2. The background does not block or make it difficult to read the actual content of the page.
3. The background does not feature excessive CSS animations that may make it overly distracting, for example, the abuse of the lavalamp class.

The background may span as little or as much of the page as you’d like (including covering it entirely) as long as these conditions are abided by.

### Regarding Sensitive Content & Criticism

* Blog posts, pages, user pages, etc. are not allowed to contain unrequested criticism for any content on the wiki (pages, groups, characters) or users, regardless of whether it is constructive or not.
	+ This includes criticism of "wiki trends".
* Content on the wiki should not contain potentially "triggering" or discomforting material. This includes mentions of suicide/suicidal thoughts, self-harm, alcohol or drug abuse, and anything else that can be seen as uncomfortable for users.
	+ If you find yourself considering harmful actions, please consider reaching out to a trusted adult offline or a professional, or express these thoughts privately.
	+ Remember that posting these thoughts publicly allows anyone to read them, and there's no guarantee everyone will respond positively, so it's not the best choice.

### Regarding Templates

* When marking something for Deletion, use the Deletion Template. If you do not know how to use it, ask either an administrator or content moderator.
* Although you are allowed to create templates freely for your personal use, please do not create a template with the intention of wiki-wide use without permission from a staff member.
* The current templates used on articles are: Delete, Stub, and Critique.

**STUB**

This article is a stub, meaning it is incomplete or lacks content. Please help us expand it, or it will be categorized for deletion.

This article is a stub, meaning it is incomplete or lacks content. Please help us expand it, or it will be categorized for deletion.The STUB template should be used on incomplete or extremely short articles to mark that they need to be expanded upon, and so that staff members can easily find abandoned, unfinished pages when they become inactive. Please keep in mind your page being marked as a STUB does not mean it will be deleted, only that it is unfinished. When your page is finished, you can remove the stub.

It will be reviewed by the staff and decided whether it is or isn't going to be deleted. If you disagree with its deletion, please remove the {{delete}} template and the Candidates for Deletion category.
Remember to view the page history before deleting.
artwork made by Velocityy

The deletion template should be used on pages that should not be on the wiki for one reason or another. When using it, please make sure to clarify a reason. Some valid reasons would be: author request, the group or character is inactive, the page has been a STUB too long, etc.

**The creator of Editing Guidelines wishes for constructive criticism from the community.**
This page has been marked for other users' critiques, and is a work in progress and/or being renovated.
Remember to take the creator's feelings into consideration when commenting. Rude and/or offensive comments will be deleted, and risk a ban on your account.
The critique template marks pages looking for constructive criticism from the community. If a page has this template, you are encouraged to express your recommendations in its comments, it’d likely be heavily appreciated! Remember that the Critique template is meant to be uniform, so please do not “design” one to match your page better.

File:DogPaw-150x150.gif
### Regarding Categories

* You are not allowed to create new categories. Please contact a staff member first.
* When adding categories, make sure to use the exact capitalization and spelling of that category, otherwise, it will create a new invalid one. (For example: Open To Criticism =/= Open to Criticism, Open to criticism, or Open-To-Criticism)
* If you’re unsure on which categories belong on your page (and the list of categories below don’t help you), feel free to ask a staff member.
* Do not add categories to blog posts unless they are the listed approved categories that you may add this will be shown before.
* Groups **can** have multiple platform categories as long as they operate on said platforms.
* Groups may only have **one** realmed category.

Allowed categories on blog posts are: Art, F2U Formats, Blog posts, Open To Criticism, and Candidates for Deletion. These are the ONLY categories allowed on Blog posts, anything else isn't.

* Please do not categorize pages incorrectly.
* Only articles should have categories. Please do not categorize your user pages or blog posts (excluding the automatic “blog post” and the listed categories that are allowed.)

--------### Other Policies

See here for our other policies:

* GCSE Biology and Chemistry Wiki:Policy
* GCSE Biology and Chemistry Wiki: Chat Policy