Birdopolis:Policies

Policies are standards all users are expected to adhere to while editing Birdopolis Wiki. If you disagree with any policy, feel free to discuss changes on the policy's discussion page, or on the discussion page of this page if the policy does not have a separate page. All policy pages can be found at Category:Policies.

Style Guides are sets of best practices. Editors should attempt to follow the style guides, though they are best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply.

Community Policies

 *  Copyrights – Except where otherwise specified, the text on the Birdopolis Wiki is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0
 * Ownership – Users do not own the pages and files they edit.
 * Protection Policy – Pages should remain fully editable unless there is considerable cause to warrant protection.
 * Protect Site – Administrators have the option of enabling a site-wide semi- or sysop-only protection as circumstances warrant.
 * Appropriateness – If an edit doesn't look to be encyclopaedic or a player guide, or is harmful to the community, it may not belong on the wiki.
 * Editors Have Equal Status – An editor's status, popularity, or in-game experience does not affect how they are treated and how their opinion is "weighed" in a discussion.
 * Use Common Sense – Common sense takes precedence over any policy. Be reasonable.

Content Policies

 * Images and Media Usage - Usage policies for images, animations, audio, and video.
 * Granularity – Anything notable, excluding players, may have its own article.
 * Neutral Point of View – All Birdopolis Wiki articles should be written from a neutral point of view.
 * Nonexistent Item/Feature Policy – You are allowed to make an article for an item or feature that does not exist in Birdopolis. However, there must be some valid proof from Birdopolis or its developer, Nuukster, that indicates the item or feature will be created in the future. The article must clearly indicate that the item or feature does not currently exist.
 * No Articles about Players – Don't make an article about a player.
 * Redirects – A redirect is a page created specifically to take a searcher straight to another article than the term the searched on. They can be used in a variety of situations to help the users of this wiki. One common use is to redirect searchers to an article when they enter a common alternative name of the article.
 * Spoiler Policy – Due to the encyclopaedic nature of Birdopolis Wiki, it contains information that may spoil some story lines in the game. There are no spoiler warnings anywhere in the wiki, so viewers should read at their own risk.
 * Trivia Policy – Be aware of what you put into an article's trivia section. Information must be proven and unsuitable for other parts of the article. Trivia is not speculation; speculation should go on your user page or, if warranted, on the discussion page of an article.

User Policies

 * Assume Good Faith – Unless there is conclusive evidence to the contrary, always assume that an editor's actions were an attempt to improve the wiki. Assume that when an editor makes an edit, it was to help the wiki, not to vandalize it. Since anyone can edit, we must assume that most people who work on the wiki are trying to help it, not hurt it. If you are positive someone made a nonconstructive edit, then feel free to correct it. When disagreeing with people, remember that they are probably thinking they are helping the wiki. Consider using talk pages to explain yourself and give others opportunity to do the same. This can avoid problems and prevent them from escalating.
 * When you see an unregistered user make an edit that you think may not be up to standards or is a stub, don't criticize them on it or delete what they put. You must assume that the edits were made in good faith. Think about what the editor's intentions were before judging them. Misspelled words or bad grammar are not to be considered vandalism; many editors are accustomed to using short terms common on Internet chat pages and areas of a similar nature. The good faith rule means that we do not assume they were trying to vandalize or create bad pages on purpose, but instead, they were attempting to contribute to the wiki and should be commended for the effort.
 * Be patient with newcomers. They may not know how to edit a wiki or what's supposed to be added as content.
 * Actions inconsistent with good faith include constant vandalism and lying. If you have spotted obvious vandalism by any user, this rule does not apply. Vandalism can be reported immediately or you can the page yourself.
 * Don't Delete Discussions – Don't delete previous discussions. These include user talk pages.
 * Don't Edit Others' Userpages – Under normal circumstances, don't edit someone else's userpage.
 * Don't Encourage trolls]] – Do not encourage trolls under any circumstances. It rarely solved the problem and often just worsens the situation.
 * Proxy Policy - Proxies are acceptable if they are used to protect a user's privacy. Proxies used for vandalism may be blocked indefinitely.
 * User Block Policy – Blocking is how administrators protect Birdopolis by preventing a suspect user account or IP address from editing the wiki. Blocked users and IP addresses can read all the articles, but cannot edit any pages other than their own talk page. Blocked users are also prevented from moving pages or uploading files.
 * User Treatment Policy – Be nice and don't try to cause unnecessary strife.

Style Guides
Style guides have the simple purpose of making Birdopolis Wiki easy to read by establishing common formats. Although one format is often as good as another, when everyone does things the same way, the articles will be easier to read and use, along with being easier to write and edit. Reading the style guides is important to ensure that each user's edits will be consistent with those of other users.
 *  General Style Guide – This style guide is used for editing articles.