Difference between revisions of "The re-PSUPedia:Policy"

Revision as of 12:42, 22 October 2006

SysOps

• SysOps are the moderators and admins of PSUPedia. They have certain powers over and above that of normal users, including being able to block users and protect pages (meaning only a SysOp can edit it). SysOps do not have any higher say over the content in pages, everyone has an equal say in content decisions. In general, however, PSUPedia runs on the principal of self-moderation - users should pick up on bad behavior and alter it themselves, along with maybe a message to the SysOps if more authority is needed.
  • The current staff members on PSUPedia are Ahzi, Tycho, Mewn, Asim, and Nisshoku.
• SysOps are appointed when needed, and we appoint users who have proven their worth to us, either within or outside of PSUPedia. Don't ask to become one, it's probably the worst way to go about it.

Starting new articles

• When starting a new article, try to use a short and to-the-point title, as if it was to be an entry in a real encyclopedia. Titles such as "Rappy", "Sabers", "Sleeping Warriors" etc. are good.
• Don't make a new page to add one sentence, or to say it needs work. It's actually counter-productive, as the page will be poor and it will no longer have a red link or be on the wanted articles pages, meaning it might be overlooked.
  • If you want to say something about a subject but don't have enough information to make an article worthwhile. Go to the non-existant article's talk page and shoot the breeze there.

Article pages and Talk pages

• Article pages are for mostly objective information. PSUPedia's purpose is to inform, not indoctrinate - but bias will probably show up naturally. If you must give an opinion, at least attempt to back it up with hard facts. No-one ultimately cares if you think "HUMANS SUCK!!!!!!".
• Opinions, questions, debate over information given in articles and general discussion are best suited to Talk pages. Make sure discussion is relevant to the article though - it's not a place for general chat.
  • When making a comment on a talk page, please sign the comment by using either 3 tildes (~) or 4 tildes. Using 3 tildes will sign the comment with your username and signature if you have one. Using 4 will also add the date and time of the comment. It also helps not using bullets in talk pages, instead, type a colon, write your message, and use tildes to end the message (:et cetera~~~~).
• Articles should be written with good grammar, and spelling and all that, or at least as well as you can manage. No AOL-speak, no abbreviations (ppl, wtf, lol, whatever) or anything like that. No slang terms if possible, unless they are relevant. If you simply cannot write well, at the end of an article use the Clean-up template - this will leave a message on the page itself and also put the article in the Articles requiring cleaning up category.
  • This is nowhere near as important on talk pages, but do make sure people can actually understand you.

Userpages

• These are provided so that people can give a little information about themselves.
  • Do not edit somebody else's userpage unless you have a very good reason (examples: the page contains personal attacks, links to illegal or unsuitable content such as cheat sites, excessive swearing, inflammatory comments).
  • Advertisements of Guilds/Teams and other fansites are allowed on userpages, but nowhere else, although you may add another site as an external link in an article if it contains relevant information.
• User talk pages are for messaging other users. These are not private messages, however, and everyone can see them!
  • If someone edits your user talk page you should receive a notification upon accessing the site.
  • If you wish to contact a user privately, email them or contact them by some other means. PSUPedia does not have a Private Message function.
  • Common sense rules apply, don't leave threatening or flame messages, don't vandalise the page etc.

Vandalism, flaming, and personal attacks

• Just not allowed. Don't do it, you will be warned and/or banned at the discretion of the staff.
• There is a difference between constructive editing and vandalism. Be aware that anything you submit is open to change and that any change is not necessarily vandalism.
• As stated above, don't edit userpages that aren't your own without a good reason. If unsure contact a SysOp. Changing a userpage without a good reason is considered vandalism and will be treated as such.
• Don't leave personal attacks or flamebait, and don't troll, in User talk pages, or anywhere else on the wiki. Always be civil in your dealings with other users.

Plagiarism

• We condemn both plagiarism from this site and plagiarised materials posted on the site.
• Posting information from other sites without express permission is not allowed. If you really must let people know about the information, provide a link. There are exceptions however:
  • Common knowledge (e.g. "Parum is one of three planets in the Gurhal Star System", or "Sabers hit one target with a normal attack") never has to be attributed - this is information that is so widely known that no-one could possibly claim plagiarism over anyone else using it.
  • Information taken from the official site in the form of announcements and information is usually acceptable.
  • Information localized and adapted from Japanese sources is usually acceptable. This is because:
    • PSUPedia targets a different audience from the Japanese sites - we are targeting a mostly English-speaking ("American" spelling is preferred) audience with little or no knowledge of Japanese. For them, reading up on Japanese webpages is not an option, and they rely on information localized by those who can.
    • There is an element of individual work and effort in the process of localizing information from Japanese sources. It is not a straight copy-and-paste operation, or just lifting information. Work must be done in order to make the information presentable to English-speakers.
• PSUPedia is a free information exchange and we make information submitted to the site public, however:
  • If you are an individual wishing to use some of our information, we do ask that you either ask us first or credit us somehow (even a footnote creditting us is acceptable).
  • If you are wishing to use this information on another site we ask that you ask us first.
  • Provided you do this we will rarely refuse - as we do believe in making the general community more knowledgable and support any efforts to make that happen. Still, passing off information from here as your own (whether intentionally or not), is disrespectful to the people who have worked on the PSUPedia articles.
• If you do wish to credit someone on this site, use a Talk page. Don't credit people in articles, for stylistic reasons.

Discussion of policies

These rules are not necessarily set in stone. You can discuss them on the talk page for this article.