Outward Wiki:Policies

The Outward wiki policy (this page and all policies included in this policy) is based heavily on Wikipedia policy, Wowpedia Policies and the YPPedia Policies and guidelines.

This policy contains all processes and rules for creating, editing and managing articles on Outward Wiki and the treatment of others users. The policy distinguishes itself from the guidelines which describe the etiquette and practice of management and presentation of the wiki to make it more consistent and streamlined. This policy consists of this main policy page and the sub policies which can be found on their own pages linked below.

Violating this policy has consequences, like a page being edited to conform to this policy, a page being deleted, or - for the worst offense - a user becoming banned or blocked.

Treatment of users who engage in destruction of content, harassment, or misuse of content (spam) is also governed by policy.

The following policies have been developed over time; mostly as consensus works between Outward Wiki administrators and users. A few are decreed by administrators.

Key Policies
The following policies are key to productive editing:


 * 1) Anything that is against the Outward TOS and/or guidelines is not allowed on the wiki, no matter what.
 * 2) Outward Wiki is an encyclopedia. Outward Wiki is not a forum, nor is it a soapbox for discussing information (excepting the talk pages and the Wiki Forum). It is not a free webspace provider. It is also not a place for advertising.
 * 3) Avoid bias. Articles should be written from a neutral point of view, representing differing views on a subject factually and objectively.
 * 4) Don't infringe copyrights. Outward Wiki is a free encyclopedia licensed under the terms as displayed in the Outward Wiki Copyrights. Submitting work which infringes copyrights threatens our objective to build a truly free encyclopedia that anyone can redistribute, and could lead to legal problems.
 * 5) Respect other contributors. Outward Wiki contributors come from many different countries and cultures and have widely different views. Treating others with respect is key to collaborating effectively in building an encyclopedia. For reference, see the Editors' Code of Conduct, Wikipedia etiquette, Wikipedia:Civility, Dispute resolution.
 * 6) Use third person. Just like the articles you would find in an encyclopedia, the articles here should be written in the third person (he, she, they) rather than first person (I, we). The only exception is for quoted material (e.g., quoting official statements made by Nine Dots Studio).

Temporary bans for inappropriate behavior
When necessary, Outward Wiki administrators of the wiki may temporarily ban a user from making edits following several acts of inappropriate and hostile behavior. The behaviors and punishments are as follows:
 * Scribbling - The user leaves random junk on numerous pages, but doesn't delete existing text, nor add anything offensive. A warning will be issued after each of the first two incidents. After a third incident, the user will be banned for a week. If the user continues the Scribbling, more weeks will be added to a maximum of three weeks banishment. If the users persists in scribbling, the user will be banned permanently.
 * Copyright infringement - The user uploads text or images from another source and claims authorship. A warning will be issued after each of the first two incidents. After a third incident, the user will be banned for a week. If the user continues doing so, he or she risks permanent banishment.
 * Vandalism - The user erases large sections of existing content for no valid reason, or adds offensive text to existing entries. The user will receive one warning. A second offense will result in a one month ban. If the vandalism uses particularly offensive language, even on the first offense, a warning will be given at the same time as a one month ban. Successive offenses will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

More policies & in-depth information
Policy status and phases
 * The policy governing policies – how to create new ones, how to change existing ones, and how to recall bad ones.

Article policies
The category policy
 * How to categorize pages, and how to name and categorize new categories.

The copyright policy
 * Copyright enforcement and fair use restrictions.

The deletion policy
 * How to nominate pages for deletion and when they are eligible for actual termination.

The do-not-post policy
 * Specific items and topics we do not allow on Outward Wiki.

The editing policy
 * How to make changes to existing pages – what you actually dare doing without asking everyone first and what you really should ask about first.

The external links policy
 * What sort of external links are allowed and where to put them.

Fan fiction articles policy
 * Where to put fan fiction and how to handle it.

The images policy
 * What sort of images are allowed and how to use them.

The item articles policy
 * How to format item pages.

The lore policy
 * Appropriate sources of lore on the wiki and how to cite them.

The article naming policy
 * How to name articles so that people more easily can guess what to type to get to a particular type of page.

The neutral-point-of-view policy
 * Articleson Outward Wiki should approach their subject objectively.

The personal article and Player character article policies
 * Naming and formatting for personal articles and player character pages.

The stub policy
 * How to tag pages as stubs and when pages should be tagged as stubs.

Community management policies
The three revert rule
 * To avoid edit wars, Outward Wiki contributors are not allowed to revert someone else's changes too often.

The user naming policy
 * Types of user names which are disallowed on Outward Wiki.

The vandalism policy
 * What Outward Wiki considers vandalism and what we do to vandals. (Not what we would like to do to vandals, though.)

The voting policy
 * Votes completed according to this policy are considered enforceable on Wowpedia.