South Park Archives:Rules and Policies

Rules are being reorganized at the moment and new rules will be deployed today.
 * Chat room rules: Here

Becoming a User

 * Unregistered contributors who want to become registered users just have to create an account.
 * User names have to be appropriate. So absolutely no flaming, cussing, or revealing of personal information in a user name. You will be banned.

Content

 * All content must be related to South Park.
 * All content needs to be objective. Opinions and "my favorite"-style passages should not be added to articles. However, feel free to use the Talk pages for sharing opinions and ideas.
 * Use edit summaries as often as possible. They are there to explain your changes, and will help with keeping everybody on the same page and prevent conflicts with other editors.
 * No vandalism. This includes blanking articles or sections, replacing content with nonsense or intentionally adding inaccurate information to articles.
 * No copying from wikipedia. This is not wikipedia so we don't want wikipedia's content. However facts are facts and the info might still be the same.
 * Do not create an article saying you like South Park, you like where this wiki is going, or that you hate someone. User Pages and Talk Pages are for that. However if you say you hate someone you will be putting yourself at risk to be blocked or banned as a vandal.

User Conduct

 * Be polite when interacting with other users. We are all here to work together.
 * Do not start edit wars. Be ready to discuss your changes with others. If you disagree with another editor, discuss the issue either on user or article talk pages. Repeatedly reverting each other's changes ("edit warring") is bound to aggravate the conflict instead of solving it. If you cannot reach a consensus, ask another user to mediate.
 * Absolutely no flaming. Clear insults of other users will not be tolerated.

Achievement Boosting
Achievement Boosting is forbidden on this wiki. Administrators are to use their personal discretion to issue either a warning or a block.

What Is Boosting?
Boosting is the process of making either useless or malicious edits just to heighten the count of edits they have made. It includes the following.


 * Making malicious edits and quickly undoing them. No harm is done to the page, but this is still boosting. The user could have spent this time actually correcting articles, information or otherwise.
 * Adding useless pictures to multiple pages.
 * Removing an image off a page, then saving the page, then adding it back.
 * Making multiple blogs corresponding to the amount of blogs you need to "write" to get an achievement.
 * Writing nonsensical comments on multiple blogs.
 * Creating nonfunctional or irrelevant categories or misusing established categories.

What is not Boosting?
Some things may appear to be boosting, but is not always so. For instance:


 * Edit wars between a normal user and a vandal, who is trying to vandalize a page, and the user who is quickly undoing his edits. If the user is simply signing out and in again to vandalize/undo, we can tell by the IP address.

Additionally, valid contributions with the aim of garnering an achievement is allowed. Contributors should exercise great caution in ensuring that these additions are pragmatic, useful and accurate. Such instances will be investigated and reviewed by an administrator.

Categories
Categories are used for both organizational and navigational purposes. When adding categories, make sure that the category belongs in the article. Also always check the description for each category before adding it.
 * Always pay attention when adding a category, categories need to be written and capitalized properly in order for them to work.
 * Categories don't work like "tags" do on other sites.

Over-categorization
Please do not add too many categories to a single article.

Here's a couple of helpful tips to prevent over-categorization.


 * If an article is in the Celebrities category then it doesn't belong in the Minor characters category, same goes for Background Characters, etc. This rule, however, does not apply to characters who were formerly background characters, but have been "promoted" to minor character status. This rule also does not apply to characters who were formerly minor characters, but have since been "relegated" to background character status.
 * Episode specific categories don't belong in character articles and vice versa.
 * Do not make-up unneeded categories, they will be removed from the article and deleted.
 * If an article is in the "Houses" category, then don't add it to the "Locations" category, because "Houses" is a sub-category of the "Locations" category. Same goes with all other categories and sub-categories.

Talk and Forum pages

 * Article talk pages are only for discussions on how to improve the article.
 * If you want to say something like "Stan is my favorite character" you should post it on a forum.
 * Remember to sign your comments, you should add four tildes ( ~ ) to the end of all of your comments on talk and forum pages, otherwise other people will not know it was you who made the edit. Although you don't need 4 tildes, 3 will work just fine . Four leaves you signature and the time at which you posted it, while three just leaves your signature.
 * Do not edit other people's comments: Editing or removing other peoples remarks in the forum, on discussion pages, or their personal user page is considered bad behavior. Post your own thoughts on the talk pages, and leave others to their own.
 * Users can clear out their talk pages or can create an archive for talk pages discussions.

Signatures
or be like Neocarleen's> Neocarleen  •  Talk. Note: If you choose to copy Neocarleen's you have to make it your own.
 * Users can customize their signatures anyway they want. They can be plain, or be a different color, or be multi-colored,

User Pages

 * Do not edit others' user pages: Pages in the "User" namespace are generally considered to be the property of the user they belong to. You can put whatever you like on your user pages (as long as you do not violate common rules of decency or insult other users) and nobody else is allowed to edit without your permission. In turn, you may not edit other users user pages without their permission either.
 * Users have the right to pretty much put whatever they want on their user page so long as it's in the bound of reason. Users can also create links to pages beyond their user page (ie. If a user wants a sandbox they would put User:Name/Sandbox or a gallery User:Name/Gallery.

Rule Reminders
Sometimes rules are forgotten by users, so, typically, Rule Reminders are issued before an infraction point is given. Reminders are typically given out on a 3-strike basis; 2 reminders and then an infraction point. Reminders will not add any infraction points but it is highly recommended to heed them. Rule reminders are typically issued for minor offenses.

Infraction Points
Infraction points are given out for breaking the rules and are issued at the fancy of an administrator. The amount of infraction points issued will vary on the severity of the incident. Infraction points will also be issued for repeat offenders. Multiple infraction points may be issued at once, based on the severity of the crime. Blocks will be issued based on the number of infraction points. Infraction points get reset every 6 months (January first and July first).

Block Thresholds

 * 1 Point: Infraction Template will be placed on the users page.
 * 2 Points: 1 day block.
 * 3 Points: 3 day block.
 * 4 Points: 1 week block.
 * 5 Points: 1 month block.
 * 6 Points: Permanent Block. Blocked Template added to the users page.

I got an infraction point?! What do I do!?
If you feel you have received this infraction point in error, contact an administrator.

Can I remove the infraction template from my user page?
No you may not. Doing so will result in another infraction point.

Can I make another account to reset the infraction points?
No you may not. Doing so will result in 5 infraction points for both accounts.

Help! The administrator did not give me a rule reminder!
It is at the discretion of the administrator to issue a rule reminder. They may be bypassed entirely based on the situation.

Becoming An Administrator
Becoming an admin is not an easy task. One must have completed the following requirements:
 * A User must have 1,000 or more edits.
 * A User must be relatively active.
 * A User cannot have ever been blocked.


 * For you to become an administrator, someone with bureaucrat access must make you one. The minimum requirements for becoming an administrator are 1000 edits in the article, category or template namespace (i.e. talk page, blog and forum contributions do not count) as well as a continued activity of at least 3 months on this wiki.


 * If you meet these requirements and want to become an admin, you need to start a forum thread, titled "Adminship request - [your username]", where members of the South Park community will be able to discuss whether or not you should be made an admin. In the thread, say why you think you should be made one. The final decision will be up to the bureaucrat(s) after the community has its say.


 * Please note that administratorship is not a reward for good contributions nor a promotion to have more authority than other users. Simply put, an admin is a user who is being trusted with access to certain technical features to aid in maintenance. Not everybody who meets the requirements will automatically become an administrator; admins are appointed on a per-need basis.

Rules for administrators

 * If an administrator is involved in an editing dispute, he or she should not use admin abilities or status to solve it. Ask another user or admin to mediate.
 * Administrators are allowed to undo each other's administrative actions. However, it is expected that the one who reverts an action explains the reason for the revert. In addition, if the admin whose action was undone disagrees with the revert, he or she should contact the reverter and discuss instead of simply reverting the revert. If consensus cannot be reached, a third admin should be asked to mediate.
 * Admins should ask other admins to mediate if they feel a user should be blocked or banned for any reason except bad user names (ie. users that have flaming or personal information in their name).

General

 * In general, content should be written in a style appropriate for an encyclopedia. Descriptions should be clear and precise; speculations or uncertain facts should be avoided.
 * Do not be overly specific when writing, only as specific as necessary.
 * Use full sentences where possible.

Language

 * American English is preferred at this wiki as it is the spelling and grammar that South Park uses.
 * Colloquialisms, slang, l33t speak and other informal styles are not acceptable.
 * Users can use short hand on Talk Pages, Forums and Blogs only.

Linking

 * Do not overlink. Generally, a page should be linked to, from a given article only once, on its first occurrence. Links may be repeated if the first link is far up the page or if the manner the word is used in makes it necessary (e.g. in summary lists). The exception to this would be episode titles which should always be linked to each time they occur. If the episode title appears twice in a paragraph or structure, then only the first instance in that paragraph or structure should be linked.
 * If a link is not to this wiki put the URL like this: South Park Studios . It will look like this: South Park Studios. Notice it is lighter than internal links. If the link is to a page in this wiki just use pagename link. It will look like this: Cartman. Notice it is darker than external links.
 * To link to other wikis, you should use intended name  . (ex. Interwiki map will produce Interwiki map)
 * If you need to link to Wikipedia you should use intended name , for example South Park gives South Park.

Attribution

 * Do not add any attributions (like "written by XYZ") or dates ("written on 14/02/09") to articles. An accurate record of all contributions to an article is available via its "History" page.

General

 * If you are new to wikis, you may want to read the tutorial on Wikia Help.
 * To learn the basics of editing a wiki, go to the page editing guide.

Bold

 * Bold the article name the first time it appears in the article itself. Any alternative names should also be bolded at their *first occurrence.
 * Avoid using bold formatting for general emphasis.

Italics

 * "South Park" should be italicized, but only if it's referring to the show and not the location.
 * Italics should be used for the titles of books.
 * Italics can be used for general emphasis, but should be used sparingly.

Emphasis

 * Do not use ALL CAPS.
 * Avoid bolding words for general emphasis.
 * Avoid using double emphasis (e.g. combining bold and italics).
 * Use emphasis sparingly and only when necessary.

Underlining

 * Underlining article content should be used sparingly and only in special cases.

Character Names

 * Do not use Fanon names, if the character has no name, please send a message to an administrator and it will be discussed.

Episode and Song Titles

 * Episode and song titles should be put in quotations only.
 * Punctuation, such as commas, should be outside of the closing quote.

Book, Movie, and Album Titles

 * Book and movie titles should be italicized and put in quotations

Disambiguation Pages
Disambiguation pages are pages that are meant for a list of pages with similar titles. For example, the disambiguation page Pip links to both Pip Pirrup and Pip (episode). By using this new template, we've made linked both of those pages back to Pip for easier navigation and the ability to find other related articles. To use this new template, do the following:
 * First, verify that the page is linked from a disambiguation page.
 * Second, take note of the full page name of the disambiguation page.
 * Third, add the template below to the top of the page you wish to link back to the disambiguation page:

Example: Entering in  produces:


 * Note: Do not use this template on the disambiguation page itself or on a page that is not linked from a disambiguation page.
 * Note: If there is a template on a page, such as the Character Template, Episode Template, or Location Template, add the LinkDisambig template below it.

Main Article Linking
Some times it may become necessary to add a short paragraph about something that already has an article. To do so, do the following:
 * First, take note of the page you are linking to.
 * Second, add the template below to the top of the section or paragraph you wish to link back to an article:

Example: Entering in  produces:


 * Note: Use this template in the correct spot. It is always best to add it either above the paragraph or just below the section header.
 * Example: See usage on List of Raisins Employees.
 * Note: Use sparingly. Do not add this template to every singe subsection. If you are in doubt, ask an administrator, we would be glad to help you.