User blog:DEmersonJMFM/NEW Proposed Site Policy

One of the reasons I accepted the role of Admin was to help strengthen site policy for the good of the wiki. As another Admin for another wiki, I knew since I first viewed the rules here that there were many problems despite the benefit of it being short. Why a new policy? What's wrong with what we currently have?

Kickin' It's current policy has many flaws, these include:
 * Too generic. Most of what is present is common courtesy such as no cursing or harassing.
 * Repetitious. Four rules deal with not giving personal information and four are stated in Wikia's Terms of Use (which you agree to follow before you create an account).
 * Too broad. For example, blocking policy is very open and can vary greatly Admin to Admin. As a result, enforcement of rules currently being broken doesn't happen.
 * Missing Areas. Their are no guidelines on promoting/demoting users, uploading & using images, page protection, vandalism, and fan fiction.

So, to hopefully solve this problem I propose a new policy. I highly encourage community discussion and participation here, from new editors up to the current Admins. Below you will find the current policy in black text. Any changes or additions will be made in red. Deletions will be crossed out. Comments will be made in green. Some additions will be determined primarily by polls. I plan to have this discussion open for a period of one full month (1/4/14 to 2/4/14). Please be civil in all discussions and feel free to talk about any part of the proposed policy.

While the Kickin' It Wiki was created to share our opinions and knowledge of Kickin' It, we do have a few rules about what you can do. policies that all users, including sysops, are responsible for reading and following while using the site. There are no exceptions for those who fail to read site policy!

Rules Unacceptable Editing
All unacceptable edits will be deleted along with whatever else is included with them.
 * Violations of Wikia's Terms of Service - You are responsible for reading and understanding this document before creating an account. (This covers #1, 4, 5, & 8 below.)
 * Posting Sensitive Personal Information - Including, but not limited to, your or someone else's passwords, addresses, phone numbers, and emails. (This covers #1, 2, 7, 9, & 10 below.)
 * Profanity - Includes ANY inappropriate language. (This covers #3, 4, & 9 below.)
 * Vandalism - Includes any edit that seeks to degrade an article. (This partially covers #6 below.)

A wiki's primary focus is to present factual information (unless founded otherwise such as fanon wikis). This being said, the Kickin' It wiki currently has some fanon articles in the Main namespace and is not a fanon wiki. Seeing as the wiki was founded for canon information, these ideally shouldn't be here. Should the Kickin' It wiki list Fan Fiction (articles in the Main namespace, created by a fan, not supported by the series, excludes all shipping pages) as an unacceptable edit? Fanon could only be posted as a user blog. Yes. No. Indifferent. Article comments are meant to allow discussion of the topic of the page itself. This being said, discussions stray from the topics of the pages, unnecessarily increasing the length of these sections. These comments are best for the forum feature. Should the Admin of the wiki enable the forum feature for everyday discussions and questions and make off-topic discussions an unacceptable edit in article comments? (Rule #6 already prohibits off-topic discussions in article comments.) Yes. No. Indifferent.


 * 1) NEVER give out your password or any personal information here or anywhere on the Web. No one from this website will ever ask you for it (except when you're logging on, of course).
 * 2) NEVER give out your home address, hometown, IM name, other website usernames or telephone number here or anywhere on the Web. Any posts with this info will be deleted immediately.
 * 3) NO cursing'. Swearing, cussing, using dirty words...whatever you call it, don't do it here. And don't try to fake us out by using symbols or spelling the words wrong, either. Our moderators have been in the biz for a while now, and they've seen it all. Any posts or with inappropriate language will be deleted immediately, along with anything interesting you might have written.
 * 4) NO harassing. Be nice, people. Any posts including personal attacks or threatening, violent, sexual or downright mean comments...including using the word "duh" or calling somebody stupid...will be deleted immediately. So will any posts or including negative images of anyone's race, religion, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. No joke.
 * 5) NO breaking the law—or encouraging other people to. Any posts that promote illegal activities will be deleted.
 * 6) STAY on topic. If you're on the "Sarah" article, post about Sarah. If you're on the "Benny" article, post about Benny. Posting about off-topic stuff wastes space and time.
 * 7) DON'T include links or email addresses in your post. Wikia doesn't link out to other sites we don't review first, and we can't post anyone's email address. Posts including links or email addresses will be deleted.
 * 8) BE yourself. When you're posting on a message board, don't pretend you're someone else. You wouldn't want someone pretending to be YOU, would you? Exactly.
 * 9) NEVER use your full name. If you create an account, don't include both your first and last names, and don't use any foul language or bad words.
 * 10) Remember to ALWAYS check with your parents before you post any info online.

Uploading Pictures
We welcome pictures, but they need to meet these guidelines. Please read this and the next section carefully before uploading any pictures to the wiki.

Types of Images


 * Personal Pictures - Any pictures of you and/or family members can only be used for your Avatar. If they are uploaded and used anywhere else (including blogs) or not at all, they will be subject to deletion. Linking to a personal pic in a blog is an acceptable alternative. Please remember that this wiki is not Facebook, Instagram, etc.
 * Irrelevant Pictures - Any pictures that do not deal with the franchise can be used for your Avatar and on your user page or in a blog only, though you're encouraged to link to the picture in a blog instead of uploading it. Personal advertisement also falls into this category.
 * Inappropriate Pictures - Any picture that promotes and/or demonstrates violence, child endangerment, drugs, or illegal behavior is not allowed and will be deleted regardless of where the picture is on the wiki.

<font COLOR="#04B404">The above section seeks to keep the wiki on track with the subject at hand. A wiki account isn't the same as a social media account. Unrelated images can unnecessarily fill the wiki's site gallery.

Use of Images

All, or nearly all, images on the wiki are copyrighted. They must be used correctly to be more likely to fall under fair use and avoid stepping on the rights of copyright owners. Bottom line, restrain from adding images just because they are not on the wiki.

<font COLOR="#04B404">The above image limitations are very important to getting the wiki are correct track in terms of image licensing. In order to reach proper licensing/copyright requirements, these guidelines on the use of images cannot be relaxed, but can be further strengthened if desired.
 * Any images uploaded on the wiki must be used. If they are not used or are poor quality, they will be deleted.
 * Near duplicates, images of the same scene in an episode with the characters positioned a little differently, are highly discouraged and will be deleted.
 * Avoid very large galleries. Episode galleries have absolutely no reason to be longer than 15 images. Large galleries rarely are able to be used legally under copyright law. Actor galleries are included. Remember, the wiki is not so much about the actors, but the series.

Should images with watermarks be deleted if uploaded? Yes. No. Indifferent.

Warning/Blocking Rules <font COLOR="#FF0000">Warnings & Blocking
Every time you constantly break one of these rules, you get a warning. Three warnings and you get a ban. The time period of a ban can go from a few hours to permanently, depending on what you did. Also, if your ban is up and you still are breaking the rules we will expand the ban and soon you may even be permanently banned. <font COLOR="#FF0000"> Consequences for Policy Breakers


 * First Offense: A warning is given informing them to stop their behavior.
 * Second Offense: The user is automatically blocked for three days.
 * Third Offense: The block on the user is extended to two weeks.
 * Fourth Offense: The block on the user is extended to two months.
 * Fifth Offense: The block on the user is extended to six months.
 * Sixth Offense: The block on the user becomes permanent.

Notice: An Admin can lengthen (or shorten) a block depending on the damage created, though the above are encouraged blocking lengths. If the user tries to return with a new account and are caught, their "alter-ego" or "sock-puppet" account will be blocked for one year unless they were blocked permanently.

See Chat Policies for guidelines while on chat.

*Please note that you can still get banned even if you aren't logged into an account. We can still block your IP address. <font COLOR="#04B404">(You cannot edit by IP on this wiki anymore.)

<font COLOR="#FF0000">Promoting/Demoting Users
<font COLOR="#04B404">The following section will be written with the results of the following polls.

<font COLOR="#04B404">An Admin is a trusted user given extra tools to edit the wiki further than a user without Admin rights can, though are not typically considered "in charge." Considering the purpose of an Admin, should Admin lose their extra tools when they become inactive long-term (6+ months) and become regular editors? Yes, after a community discussion. Yes, without any discussion. No. Indifferent. If an Admin that has lost their tools because of being inactive long-term decides to become active again, should they regain their tools? Yes, after a community discussion. Yes, without any discussion. No. Indifferent. <font COLOR="#04B404">Admin and Bureaucrats seek to improve the wiki and work for the community. Considering the above, how should Admin be selected for promotion in the future? Other Admin should select them. Community discussion, such as a poll or forum post, should select them. Bureaucrats should select them when they believe the wiki needs more. Considering the above, how should Bureaucrats be selected for promotion in the future? Other Bureaucrats should select them. Community discussion, such as a poll or forum post, should select them. Admin should select them when they believe the wiki needs more. <font COLOR="#FF0000">

User and Page Protection
As a result of an update to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, all potential editors and commenters must create an account in order to contribute since all anonymous (IP) editing has been disabled on this wiki. All account users must be 13 or older as specified in Wikia's Terms of Service. Should new episodes be protected from editing until after they air? Yes. No. Indifferent.

Contact
If you have questions/problems with any of these guidelines, ask an Admin.

Though the above proposed policy looks long, it should still be short once the old policy, comments, and polls are removed. This new policy contains the old in condensed form and solves issues not discussed previously. I urge you to participate actively in this discussion as this policy could stick around on the wiki for some time if approved. Vote in every poll and add comments below.