Durmstrang Institute Roleplay Wiki:Policies

NOTE: To edit this list, go here.

## Breakdown

Welcome to the home page for the policies of Durmstrang Institute Roleplay Wiki. Everything you need from character guidelines to species to images will be located and linked here, so, please, feel free to browse! If you have any questions, our wonderful staff can be found here. We're always ready for questions!

## Chat

Chat is a live-action, real-time chat room that users can communicate through. Sometimes it can be a bit... troublesome, but it's usually always working. There's usually at least one admin team member or trusted user around on chat in case of trouble. HOWEVER, chat rules are taken very seriously. Using chat is a privilege, so keep that in mind.

The in-depth explanation and rules can be found here.

## User Levels

User levels are a way for the admin team to keep track of who's new and old on the wiki. It runs through four levels, which means that a user must be active for a month to get Level Four. Once Level Four is reached, that is the end of leveling up, and the only further levels are those of the administrative team. Those levels must be earned through hard work and then being voted on by their peers.

The in-depth explanation and rules can be found here.

## Roleplay

Now in general, role play can be a lot of fun, but sometimes people may take things a little far, feeling like that because this is a fictional world that has been created, the real world rules of etiquette don't apply anymore. This, however, is far from the case, there is a wide range of ages that participate here, and because of this, we try to maintain a pg-13 atmosphere so all users feel welcome and comfortable role playing here. Aside from general rules of etiquette, we also have to have rules in place to keep things fair to all users involved, this involves having policies in place to ensure fair play by avoiding things like meta-gaming, god modding and being generally OP with roleplay and characters.
The in-depth explanation and rules can be found here.

## Characters

Characters are an essential part of roleplaying. They are the very base of everything that happens. But when there are such important things, there must be regulations. On this wiki, as we try to maintain fairness for all users, we have all characters go through a claiming approval process to ensure that they all adhere to our rules and standards. Apart from the individual roleplays that take place here, we work to also run the wiki like one big joint event going on at all times. This, of course, means that characters must remain balanced, fair and on topic.

The in-depth explanation and rules can be found here.

## Blocking

Blocking is the means by which an administrator prevents a user account from editing here on the Durmstrang Institute Roleplay Wiki. Blocks are preventive rather than punitive measures used to prevent damage by dealing with vandalism and enforcing Durmstrang Institute Roleplay policies. Block durations may vary, depending on the severity and longevity of policies broken. Sufficient written warnings should always be given before resorting to a block unless the severity of the rule breaks demands coarser action. Over time, depending on the severity of warnings, a user's slate may be considered wiped clean, but only if they go at least 6 months with no further rule breaks.

The in-depth explanation and rules can be found here.

## Inactivity

Obviously we encourage all our users to remain active, but life doesn't always allow for people to be as active as they would like, it is even more paramount for users in positions of power such as chat-mods, rollbacks, Admins and Crats, as they help lead the wiki. The most important rule of thumb is, when in doubt, either mark your user page and/or let someone from the Admin team know that you will potentially be less active. However, if you are unable to give notice, it is a simple task to un-archive pages or restore deleted pages.

The in-depth explanation and rules can be found here.

## Images and Models

In the process of making characters, most users like to find pictures from somewhere around the internet to represent their character. Because doing so is very popular, it is necessary to have a few ground rules for the use of pictures. One important basic rule to always keep in mind is copyright, there are lots of free use and fair use images out there, but if you find images that have blatant copyright and watermarks over the image, you shouldn't use the image.

The in-depth explanation and rules can be found here.

## Voting

When discussions or debates take place, often the outcome might be holding a vote. Votes take place for a variety of reasons. When a vote is taking place, users will vote for one of the options. If the user chooses, he/she can give a reason why he/she votes for one. Some voting will be open to users level four and up, some only for rollbacks or higher. However, all users are entitled to adding their opinions under comments, even if they can't vote. Just because the vote may not count, doesn't mean your opinion shouldn't be heard or taken into consideration.

The in-depth explanation and rules can be found here.

## Blogs

Blogs are a popular feature on many wiki's. Sometimes though, blogs can get out of hand. In general some level of common sense should be used with blogs, they should be appropriate, polite, on topic, they should have a point to them, and so forth. Some good reasons to create a blog might be to talk about a major event in your life like a birthday, or to announce a roleplay idea you'd like help with, or to announce having to go inactive. Bad reasons to make blogs would be things like asking for help with something (we have a Help forum for questions), just to say hi, roleplaying, or worse trying to do a roleplay that has nothing to do with our wiki, such as Pokemon.

The in-depth explanation and rules can be found here.

## Signatures

Always remember to sign messages you leave on talk pages using four tildes. This lets readers know who said what and makes discussions easier to follow. Signatures are also used for voting on things and in debates and various other things around the wiki, because of this it is important that they are properly coded and remain tasteful and appropriate. It would be better to have a boring signature, than to have one that is coded so poorly that it breaks the coding of everything around where it is used.

The in-depth explanation and rules can be found here.

## Affiliations

Affiliations is a way that Durmstrang Institute Roleplay Wiki can ally with other RP wikis. We have set rules that applying wikis have to pass in order to affiliate with us on here. Look on the affiliation page for further instructions.

The in-depth explanation and rules can be found here.