(Redirected from Scratch Wiki:Terms of Service)
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- "S:GUIDELINES" redirects here. For the community guidelines, see Guidelines.
When editing articles and participating in discussions, all users should follow these guidelines at all times.
What the Scratch Wiki is not
A forum
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Articles do not work like forum topics; if you make an article saying "I will help you, just comment on my profile!" or something similar, it will be deleted.
Talk pages are not to be treated as forum pages, either. Please only keep discussion related to the well-being of an article on its talk page.
Exception: | This guideline does not apply to user talk pages as they are related to the user rather than any article. |
A blog
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Articles are not blog pages; do not show your events or chat on articles. Use correct spelling, punctuation, and follow the Style Guide.
Talk pages are only about that page. Do not play tricks, pranks, fools, or acts of drama. Pay attention to what you are writing and use the "show preview" button to make sure that you did not make any mistakes. Make sure that readers will understand your point.
Exception: | User talk pages are an exception as they are related to a user instead of an article. |
An advertising hub
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This section in a nutshell: With a few exceptions, never create pages about users or user-generated content. |
- "S:USER" redirects here. For the rules about userspace, see S:USERSPACE. For the guide to user pages, see S:USERPAGE. For users on Scratch, see Scratcher. For users on the Wiki, see Scratch Wiki:Users.
Almost all articles about users and user-generated content will be deleted. The wiki is not the place for advertisements or biographies; these pages may end up being targets for vandalism (e.g. "this user was mean!"). For more information and the exceptions, see the page creation policies.
If a username is mentioned (e.g. the creator of a Scratch Modification) do not make a link to that user's Scratch profile or Wiki user page.
Wikipedia
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Although Wikipedia is a template to our wiki and some of our rules may be based on theirs, do not cite Wikipedia or any of its sister projects for any rules or to justify actions. You may propose a rule that is also used on Wikipedia, but you may not propose a rule merely because it is used on Wikipedia. Additionally, you may not warn another user for breaking a rule that only exists on Wikipedia.
Yours
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All content on this wiki belongs to every user. Do not sign your username in articles to say that you were the one who edited the page. Your content may be potentially modified or deleted completely. If you do not want this to happen, do not contribute your content here.
Exception: | Userspace rules state that content put on your userpage or one of its subpages does belong to you, although they can be edited by other users under limited circumstances. |
What the Scratch Wiki is
A professional encyclopedia for all things Scratch
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Treat all articles on the wiki as encyclopedia entries. Please:
- Use proper spelling, grammar, capitalization and phrasing.
- Capitalize "Scratch" and "Scratcher" when they are used as proper nouns.
- Articles should be complete and accurate, but also concise and easy to read.
- Never use first person ("I", "we", "us") and avoid second person ("you", "your") as much as possible, unless the entire article is a tutorial, in which case it should still be used sparingly. Sound professional; these are not blogs or forum posts.
- Use correct Scratch vocabulary and avoid jargon/colloquial language.
- Address all readers as opposed to just specific groups. If possible, make the article easy to understand at any age.
- Write from a neutral point of view.
- Only write articles that meet the criteria in Scratch Wiki:New Page Policies.
- Only include material that would be considered notable (i.e. a significant amount of users would know about it).
A wiki about Scratch run by Scratchers
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We are a wiki about Scratch run by Scratchers. Keep all content related to Scratch, and follow the Community Guidelines.
A collaborative effort
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This is perhaps the most important of all. Editing on the Scratch Wiki is a privilege; if you repeatedly refuse to cooperate with other users, you may end up getting blocked from editing. Please:
- Be nice to others, always. This should go without saying.
- If somebody does something wrong, especially a newer user, do not get angry; just revert their edit and leave a calm message on their talk page. Do not use caps lock or a condescending tone.
- If you have done something wrong and you get warned, do not worry. Nobody is perfect.
- Leave an edit summary, or explanation of what you changed and why, whenever you can. This is done in the text box that says "Summary:" below the editing box. Edit summaries make it easier to track edits without having to look at the actual diff, or comparison between two edits.
- Do not edit war. This is a dispute between two parties on what should be on a page. This results in each party reverting the other's edit, back and forth, repeatedly. In general, we use the Bold, Revert, Discuss (BRD) rule to prevent this: One user makes a bold edit. Any other user then has the right to revert the first user's edit. Instead of reverting it back, which would most likely lead to an edit war, the first user brings it up on the talk page to discuss and clarify why they were reverted. Edit warring will usually result in a page being temporarily protected.
Please note that if you revert something without providing a reason, it will be reverted and this is not edit warring.
- Except for in the case of blatant vandalism, assume good faith. This means that when any user edits a page, even in the userspace, assume they are trying to help, not hurt.
- Do not discuss bans or any other topics that may cause unnecessary drama.
- Please make sure your edits are constructive. Do not make edits that add unnecessary content, remove important content, or interfere with the organization/operation of the Wiki.
- Never vandalize. Repeated attempts to break apart the wiki through meaninglessly changing pages in unacceptable ways will most likely end up in a block.
- If you witness a user vandalizing, please undo their edits right away and message an active bureaucrat, admin or Experienced Wikian. A list of active users in those user groups can be found here.