Homework Wiki:Policy

There are very few policies which apply across all Wikia. These can be found on the Central Wikia at Wikia:Category:Policy.

The rest of this wiki's policy has been carefully chosen and written by this wiki's community. Please read over these policies to ensure that your time editing here will be as pleasent as possible.

Featured Articles
Featured content represents the best articles that our wiki has to offer. These are the articles that have proven to be superior in every aspect, including amount of content, grammatical correctness, visual aid, and overall good flow. A small bronze star in the top right corner of a page indicates that the content is featured. The only users that are permitted or allowed to change or add the Featured Article on the Main Page are the trusted administrators of this wiki. If you think an article deserves this status, nominate with Template:Nominated or place it on Homework Wiki:Featured Article Nominations.

Discussion
Discussion is an important part of. It is used to discuss any improvements to the page. Discussion should be used before making major changes to articles.

There are conventions in any discussion, article discussion or not:
 * Signing - Users must sign their comments with four tildes (~)
 * Use of approriate language - Users must not abuse other users, or attempt to silence their views.
 * New heading for new topic - Users should make a new heading for each new discussion topic.

also has a policy on discussing major changes. When the consensus of a major discussion is not clear, there should be a vote (open to all users) on whether there should be a change and/or what should be changed. Policy regarding voting:
 * Once a vote opens, note this on Homework Wiki:Voting to remind users that there are ongoing votes.
 * Voting will run for two weeks. If voting is inconclusive (i.e. a draw) after two weeks, the two options with the most votes will stay. Users who voted for other options will recast their votes for one of the two options.
 * If no votes are cast for a consecutive three days, the voting procedure will end prematurely and the option with the most votes will be chosen.

Users who see an unsigned comment may use Template:Unsigned to establish the identity of the poster of that particular comment. This does not however mean that you will not be rebuked for not signing posts.

Never delete talk page posts. Exceptions to this rule include: The Speedy Deletions Talk Page and posts containing extremely bad language, as stated at Homework Wiki:Policy/Offensive Language. Discussion pages that are too long (that is, they have many sections/seperate discussions and/or they are over 32-60kb) should be archived, since older browsers cannot edit these longer pages properly.

General concerns/suggestions should be posted on Homework Wiki talk:Community Portal.

Images
Images may be uploaded by any registered user.

For most articles, the profile image (first image on the page) should be 300px, but images after this should be no larger than 250px. There are exceptions, but exceptions are only given for certain reasons, and usually after discussion.

Do not upload images that will not be used on a page. Such images will be deleted as soon as possible, usually after two days of being unused.

Images must be categorized once they are uploaded.

Images should have proper sourcing and licensing. Any questions regarding sourcing or licensing can be discussed on the image's talk page.

Videos
There are some policies regarding videos.
 * No television episodes may be posted, as doing so is a breach of copyright law.
 * However, appropriate trailers and advertisements may be posted.
 * No videos that may be viewed as inappropriate or offensive may be added.
 * Only videos that are constructive and help the wiki's purpose may be uploaded. All others will be deleted.

Categories and Categorization
Every article and file must be categorized to allow for a more organized and more navigable wiki.

Blocking
There are, unfortunately, times when Administrators are forced to block users from editing. Administrators will block:


 * Anon. vandals (inserting abuse, blanking pages etc.):
 * 1st offence = warning
 * 2nd offence = 1 week block
 * 3rd offence = 3 months block
 * Futher offence? = 1 year block
 * Registered vandals:
 * 1st offence = warning
 * 2nd offence = 2 week block
 * 3rd offence = 1 year block
 * Further offence? = infinite block
 * Problem users (personal attacks, disruption, disregarding policy):
 * Offence = warning
 * 5 warnings = 2 week block
 * 2 blocks = 3 month block
 * Further offence? = infinite block
 * Sockpuppets (See the Sockpuppetry Policy for more info):
 * 1st offence = variable, either long or infinite

Welcoming Users/User Guidelines
All new users are welcomed by the Wikia welcoming tool, User:Wikia. However, if the new user is a vandal, you should also add Template:VadalWarning to their talk page.

Users must not work on only their user pages. Users should not make their user page a fan board. Users should attempt to improve this wiki through editing articles and discussing changes.

As a rule, users should avoid making multiple edits where one edit would have sufficed. This is for two reasons:
 * A large number of edits to a page in a certain period of time puts a strain on servers.
 * To increase the accuracy of the edit count. The edit count is there to have an idea of who has been more active. Making multiple edits to a page where one would have sufficed decreases the accuracy of the edit count, because it is then difficult to tell who has contributed more in real terms.

A few edits to a page in a short period of time is acceptable (e.g. minor edits relating to grammar and spelling errors), but any more than this is a questionable action and will be noted on the offending user's talk page.

Rollback
Rollback, the easier and faster method of undoing edits, is granted automatically to all Sysops and Bureaucrats. It may also be granted to trusted Autoconfirmed users to make undoing vandalism and edits by problem users easier. A list of Autoconfirmed users with rollback powers can be seen here. It can be applied for on Homework Wiki:Requests for Rollback.

Requesting Adminship
Adminship is requested on on Homework Wiki:Requests for Adminship. Any Autoconfirmed user may request adminship when the page is open; however, applications are subject to removal by the active Bureaucrat at any time. Homework Wiki administrators are chosen by the the community and must be approved by the active Bureaucrat. The Bureaucrat may ask for advice from other administrators; however, the final decision is the Bureaucrat's.

Unless traffic increases on Homework Wiki by a significant amount, the wiki will not have more than three administrators at any one time.

Code of Conduct
Admins are reliable contributors who have been entrusted with the means to maintain the overall quality of the site. With this in mind:
 * Admins have no right to authority over the content and policies of the wiki. The admins' authority is as large as the community would like it to be.
 * Admins do however have authority over behavioural problems such as vandalism or intimidation, hence the ability to block and delete.
 * Admins do not own the site. They cannot shut out the opinions of others.
 * Abuse of administrator privileges may result in a removal of user rights after a forum discussion

Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy can only be granted by another Bureaucrat. currently has only one active bureaucrat.

Move/Merge
There are several scenarios in which a page should be moved:
 * The title has conventional errors such as spelling, capitalization etc.
 * The title is not factually correct

For moves that do not fall under this list, discussion is required on the article's talk page.

Pages may be merged, however, discussion is always required.

Speedy Deletion
Articles that are not permitted under the article creation policy will be deleted as soon as possible by the administration. Articles of such a nature should have Template:Delete placed at the top of the page.

Normal Deletion
There may be times when a page (this may or may not be an article) has significant content, but may not belong on this wiki. Such pages should have Template:VfD placed at the top of the page, and a discussion started (with a link to the article in question) on Homework Wiki:Votes for Deletion.