Difference between revisions of "Sandbox/Userspace Protocol"

Pages in the Userspace and (Guild) pages of the Spiral Knights Wiki are considered to be free format within The Spiral Knights Terms of Service.

It is generally unacceptable and extremely taboo to edit (Guild) pages, or pages in the userspace that are not associated with your user account. A user's page is their own design, and it is assumed that each edit they make is of their volition and intentional.

Edits to the pages and subpages of (Guild)s and the userspace are justified if:

1) The user page is clearly a spam bot. Simply replace all content with {{delete}}-spam.

2) Content of the user page interferes with the wiki as a whole, a.k.a the "wiki project." This includes:

2.1) File usage - updating file names so old, out of date, or poorly named files that are used officially in the mainspace can be deleted. Deletion is necessary so the file is no longer a confusing and/or a low quality duplicate.

2.2) If the user is using a template in a way that disrupts category organization or mainspace linking.

2.3) If the user page is clearly a user page, but not in the userspace. Move content to the editor's user page and discuss the issue on their talk page. Place {{delete}}-user pages belong only in the userspace on the appropriate page.

2.4) If the page is a guild page with an incorrect title. Lowercase (guild) or lack of (Guild) must be rectified. Move the page to "GUILDNAME (Guild)," as per format outlined in Help:Creating a guild page. This is separate from the userspace.

3) The user has made a duplicate account and/or participated in Sock Puppetry. Resolve any conflicts by merging and moving content, placing delete tags where appropriate, and discussing the issue(s) on the user's talk page. These issues could be quite serious and might require admin attention.

4) The user has given permission for edits not covered by this protocol. Proof of permission must be provided by the user on the user's talk page, along with a list of pages the user gives permission to edit (or simply "all"). To help with the issue(s), the user should outline their desires clearly along with consent. The user should close the permissive window when the desired outcome is reached with a reply on their talk page.

• A post on the forums, peripheral permission through "friends of the user" and so on, screenshots of in-game messages, and any other potential sources are not sufficient proof (though requests should be noted and participants should be referred to this necessary proof of permission step in this protocol). This is because it is difficult to confirm the user is indeed granting permission, when alternate accounts can be abused and names can be changed in-game as well as on the forums. On the wiki users maintain one account per person (see section 3).
• It is generally preferable to teach the user how to do what they want, as editor time is volunteer and very valuable and in general the userspace should not be edited, as emphasized by this protocol. This way, the user will likely be able to solve their own issues, so editors will not have to concern themselves with the userspace more than needed. Provide advice politely by writing clear edit summaries as well as linking to any template documentation, format tricks, or section(s) of the Style Guide on the user's talk page.

5) The page is a user's talk page. Talk pages are used to communicate with each other. Please do not remove content from talk pages (even your own) unless it is spam, a personal attack, not related to the wiki (casual chat), or the content is being archived. If content is removed, it can be viewed in the talk page history, as well as restored from there.

If edits have been made to the userspace that do not fall under these exceptions, and/or are clearly malevolent edits, then the page should be restored to a previous version via history with the following in the edit summary:
Undo unjustified edit(s)/sabotage by user:"USERNAME." See "Userspace Protocol" in the Style Guide for details.

Before editing in relation to any of the above exceptions, make sure the user is not actively working on their page to avoid an edit conflict. A safe bet is to see if the user has not edited the page in the last 3 days. This is usually not an issue, as users come and go and pages are usually left alone for years and require maintenance for the above reasons as the game (and therefore the wiki) updates with significant changes.

It is best to avoid disrupting the "look" of the user's page, out of respect for the individual. Instead of deleting or removing the issue, update it as best you can with the most current terminology, mainspace file, etc., and/or make a User-Specific Template so the page appears to be unaffected. Switches can be added to certain templates to fix category issues. Sometimes conflict is too great, so removal of the issue is the only solution.

Before saving changes, remember to clearly and briefly summarize your edit clearly in the summary box. Always refer to the appropriate exception(s) in this policy - frequently this suffices as the edit summary, unless you wish to be ultra polite and specific.

General citation for the above rules:

Ownership of content - User pages are part of the wiki and are subject to changes that need to be made.

Wikipedia policy for talk page content management

Wikipedia's Policy for user pages, with specific emphasis on:

• Images that would bring the project into disrepute (section)
• MediaWiki's policy for editing the pages of others - specifically, "...a user cannot avoid administrator attention or appropriate project notices and communications by merely demanding their talk page is not posted to."