Sandbox Rules Rewrite

Summary:

Drawing my line in the sand

Sandbox Rules Rewrite

torcsandantlers 27 Jul 2022 01:40

MAINSITE MIRROR

The "rules" of the Sandbox frequently cause confusion about how to enforce them - mostly because they aren't really rules, just suggestions. The only one that is clearly a rule, "Do NOT create a sandbox title or URL with an SCP number." has not been enforced and doesn't seem to be a source of any actual confusion.

I propose a general rewrite of the Sandbox Rules from the current to the text below. The most notable change is that the rewrite does away with any sandbox specific rules and makes it explicit that mainsite rules apply on the sandbox. The additional text regarding creating tabs and linking to guides would be left as-is.

REWRITE

Welcome to the SCP Wiki Sandbox! You can use pages on this site to practice formatting, store works in progress, or simply have a place to put drafts so you can show others and get feedback before posting to the main site.

• Anyone can create and edit their pages here. Please note that you must JOIN THE SITE to create new pages.
• All mainsite rules apply to the sandbox. They can be found here.
• Staff reserve the right to remove material that violates our site rules and guidelines. If mainsite rules are broken on the sandbox, disciplinary action may be taken.
• The SCP Wiki Sandbox is routinely monitored by staff. If you find something that violates site rules, please notify a member of the Sandbox Cleaning team.
• You can make as many sandbox pages as you'd like.
• We recommend that you title your sandbox page(s) with your username, or something else unique. It's easier if people can tell who the sandbox belongs to by reading the title.
• Sandbox pages are automatically edit-locked. Default sandbox pages can only be edited by their creator. If you would like to collaborate with other writers, please read the information on co-authoring below.
• Rating modules are disabled on the sandbox. While the module will appear if the code is present, no one can vote on them.
• Sandboxes can be created to allow co-authored works. For information on how to share sandboxes for co-authored works refer to this page on co-authoring. If you need further assistance setting up a co-authored page please contact a member of site staff.
• Happy writing! :)

Additionally, it appears that some themes/pages may direct to this page: http://scp-sandbox-3.wikidot.com/start which is not the actual homepage of the sandbox. As part of this rewrite, that page would be blanked and set to redirect to the actual homepage.

Last edited on 28 Jul 2022 01:46 by aismallard Show more

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

Prime Girl 27 Jul 2022 02:30

Full support from me.

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

ManyMeats 27 Jul 2022 03:21

While this is good, I would like to see something (not hard rule) requesting people be courteous about image and file sized somewhere. I dont care about number of pages but we'll have a bad time if everyone is attaching 2.5 meg pictures.

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

Jerden 27 Jul 2022 07:17

I feel like it would be reasonable to ask people to not create new pages for every draft, and to avoid uploading large files and images unless it really is necessary. Otherwise, generally in favor of these changes.

Also, by all means link the essay as well, but I feel like you shouldn't have to read through a whole essay on coauthoring just to find out that it's a simple category change.

• Sandboxes can be created to allow co-authored works. For co-authored works, you can create a new sandbox with collab: at the start of the page name in the URL, or you can rename an existing sandbox (listed under +Options at the bottom of the page). This will permit people other than the page creator to edit it. For more information, refer to this page on co-authoring. If you need further assistance setting up a co-authored page, please contact a member of site staff.

Last edited on 27 Jul 2022 07:18 by Jerden Show more

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

GremlinGroup 27 Jul 2022 07:39

What's the purpose of requiring people to not make new pages for new drafts?

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

Jerden 27 Jul 2022 22:18

Honestly don't know, I assumed there was a reason.

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

Ethagon 27 Jul 2022 14:12

I still personally think no SCP titles is a rule we should keep (and ideally also start enforcing). It happened to me a few times while using the official sandbox that a crosslink that would normally link to a mainline SCP linked to another sandbox instead, which confused critters who read my article. A benefit some unofficial sandboxes have that we can't as easily due to the SCP-URL usage is that dead link pages have a link to the corresponding scpwiki URL.

Otherwise, I like this.

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

aismallard 27 Jul 2022 23:16

I agree with Jerden that the entire guide for mentioning collaboration is a bit excessive. Instead I would say that they need to create pages in collab: and then link the guide for further reading.

Similarly, I don't think it makes sense to separate the "edit lock" and "co-author" lines, since they are related. The co-author bullet should follow immediately after the other, and the rating module one is miscellaneous and could be put anywhere in the list.

Regarding the limit of pages, I think we should encourage people to name their pages after themselves, and to not name things "SCP-9172" or whatever. However I don't think we should enforce single pages, since (1) tabs are very annoying and unintuitive, especially if you're new to Wikidot / the site, and (2) the number of pages we're allowed to have is unlimited. Site Storage exclusively affects file uploads, something we should communicate in the rules since this is not obvious.

The "we recommend" line shouldn't be on its own bullet, but merged on the same line.

Finally, I feel like numbering makes more sense here since it's a list of rules.

In all, here is a mockup of my suggested changes:

+ show block

Welcome to the SCP Wiki Sandbox! You can use pages on this site to practice formatting, store works in progress, or simply have a place to put drafts so you can show others and get feedback before posting to the main site.

1. Anyone can create and edit their pages here. Please note that you must JOIN THE SITE to create new pages.
2. All mainsite rules apply to the sandbox. They can be found here.
3. Staff reserve the right to remove material that violates our site rules and guidelines. If mainsite rules are broken on the sandbox, disciplinary action may be taken.
4. The SCP Wiki Sandbox is routinely monitored by staff. If you find something that violates site rules, please notify a member of the Sandbox Cleaning team.
5. Rating modules are disabled on the sandbox. While the module will still appear if the wikitext is present, you cannot cast votes.
6. You can make as many sandbox pages as you'd like. We strongly recommend that you title your sandbox page(s) with your username, or something else unique. It's easier if people can tell who the sandbox belongs to by reading the title, please avoid titles like "SCP-XXXX" or "The Monster".
7. Be reasonable with file uploads. While the sandbox allows uploading files to assist with the drafting process, do not upload excessively large or excessively many files.
8. Sandbox pages are automatically edit-locked. Regular sandbox pages can only be edited by their creator.
9. Sandboxes can be created to allow co-authored works. If you'd like to collaborate with other authors, create the page with "collab" at the start, for instance collab:site-19-raid. For further reading on co-authoring refer to Zyn's Co-Authoring Tips. If you need further assistance please contact a member of site staff.

Happy writing! :)

Last edited on 28 Jul 2022 01:51 by aismallard Show more

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

(account deleted) 28 Jul 2022 00:12

Seconding this, especially the name rule and file uploads

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

GremlinGroup 28 Jul 2022 01:01

I'm in full agreement here

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

torcsandantlers 01 Aug 2022 12:22

I'm okay with all of those changes. I'll toss this version up for a second discussion when I'm back around the 15th.

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

aismallard 01 Aug 2022 13:05

For your convenience, here's the source:

+ show block

> **Welcome to the SCP Wiki Sandbox!** You can use pages on this site to practice formatting, store works in progress, or simply have a place to put drafts so you can show others and get feedback before posting to the main site.
> 
> # **Anyone can create and edit their pages here.** Please note that you must [[[system:join|JOIN THE SITE]]] to create new pages.
> # **All mainsite rules apply to the sandbox.** They can be found [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/site-rules here].
> # **Staff reserve the right to remove material that violates our site rules and guidelines.** If mainsite rules are broken on the sandbox, disciplinary action may be taken.
> # **The SCP Wiki Sandbox is routinely monitored by staff.** If you find something that violates site rules, please notify a member of the [http://05command.wikidot.com/maintenance-and-ancillary-staff-team-main Sandbox Cleaning] team.
> # **Rating modules are disabled on the sandbox.** While the module will still appear if the wikitext is present, you cannot cast votes.
> # **You can make as many sandbox pages as you'd like.** We strongly recommend that you title your sandbox page(s) with your username, or something else unique. It's easier if people can tell who the sandbox belongs to by reading the title, please avoid titles like "SCP-XXXX" or "The Monster".
> # **Be reasonable with file uploads.** While the sandbox allows uploading files to assist with the drafting process, do not upload excessively large or excessively many files.
> # **Sandbox pages are automatically edit-locked.** Regular sandbox pages can only be edited by their creator.
> # **Sandboxes can be created to allow co-authored works.** If you'd like to collaborate with other authors, create the page with "collab" at the start, for instance {{collab:site-19-raid}}. For further reading on co-authoring refer to [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/zyns-co-authoring-tips Zyn's Co-Authoring Tips]. If you need further assistance please contact a member of [http://05command.wikidot.com/staff-list site staff].
> 
> Happy writing! :)

Re: Sandbox Rules Rewrite

Jerden 02 Aug 2022 18:04

Always nice to be told I'm right, I'm also in favour of these rules.