Discussion thread here.
This is the voting thread for deciding whether to update the Site Rules page with a version that's been reached after a couple weeks of whacking it with a hammer discussion and tweaking. If the vote passes, the contents of the Site Rules pages would be completely replaced with the text under the collapsible below.
This vote is open only to mods and admins. As this is a rules change, passage requires support of at least 60% of active mods and admins. I count 9 active admins and 13 active mods, which means 14 Yes votes would be necessary for passage. Reserve mods and admins may vote; they would be added to the "active" count and the passage threshold would be adjusted accordingly.
Question: Shall the contents of the Site Rules page be replaced in toto with the contents of the below collapsible?
Site Rules
We expect you to behave in a reasonably civil, mature, and non-disruptive way on the SCP wiki.
This page lists all major SCP wiki rules, and how warnings and bans work. Follow the spirit of the rules, not just the exact letter.
These actions will never result in banning:
- Writing an article no one likes.
- Voting on any article based solely on your own opinion of its quality or merits.
- Respectful disagreement with users or staff decisions.
These actions can result in an immediate permanent ban:
- Vandalism.
- Blatant and obvious trolling.
- Sockpuppetry.
- Harassment of site members (see the Anti-Harassment Policy).
- Other severe misconduct.
How To Behave
- Rule Zero: Don't be a dick: Every other rule follows from this.
- Arguments: You may dispute the actions and opinions of anyone, including staff, as long as you do it in a calm, mature, and civil way.
- Comments: You can comment anywhere on the site, as long as you are respectful to other users. All comments must follow the Criticism Policy. Do not troll or make personal attacks.
- Voting: You may vote on any article on the site for any reason you like, as long as your reasoning is based solely on the content of the article.
- Upvoting your own article: You can upvote or even downvote your article as you like.
- Brigading: Calling for group downvoting (or group upvoting) of an article is strictly against the rules. A brigade replaces voting on quality with voting as part of a bandwagon. Being part of a downvote brigade may also lead to a ban.
- Note: Not every call to check out an article by someone who dislikes it is brigading. Context and intent will determine whether or not an incident is considered brigading. Rule of thumb: Don't try to push a group of people to vote the same as you.
- Forum Activity: Don't make contentless or excessively short posts (spam), don't bump threads for attention, and don't post on threads more than a few months old if you're not contributing substantially to the conversation.
- Avoid double posting. Edit your previous posts using the "edit" function under the "options" tab to the lower right of every comment.
- Every image posted to forum or discussion threads must be collapsed (check the "Formatting" tab of this guide for the code for collapsibles).
- Do not make forum game threads without mod approval.
- Posting Articles: Do not post a large number of low-quality articles. When staff tell you to slow down or stop posting, listen.
- Plagiarism: You may not attempt to pass off another user's article as your own work. Doing so will result in the work being summarily deleted.
- Borrowing from other works is generally fine, so long as there is not a blatant or malicious attempt to deceive the reader into believing that the work is your own. For example, consider the numerous adaptations of Sherlock Holmes: Elementary, Sherlock, The Great Mouse Detective, etc. Your works should be original in style and technique. Contact staff if you're not certain if something is plagiarism.'
- Quotes: Some quotes are fine, even if they lack attribution, so long as there is no malicious intent. Leaving references or 'Easter eggs' for careful readers to get some connection is acceptable.
- Using images: Images included in your article must follow the rules of our Image Use Policy. You must include the source of your images on the discussion page, and this source must comply with our site policy and license. If you have any questions, contact the Licensing Team.
- Editing:
- Responding to edits of your articles: You may alter the text of your own articles at will. However, please do not remove technical changes to your article, such as an added rating module or a corrected page name.
- Editing others' articles: You may correct grammar, spelling, or formatting errors on other peoples' articles. Please put a summary of changes in the 'description of changes' box. Any further edits require permission from the original author or Rewrite team.
- Collaborative logs: You are free to add content to open collaborative logs. These pages are tagged as "collaboration". Content may be removed by the page owner or Rewrite Team. Please do not fix unauthorized or bad edits — contact the original owner or the Rewrite Team about additions that you feel are inappropriate or low-quality.
- Updating tags: Don't add or change tags unless you know what you're doing. If you have any questions, please contact a member of the Technical Team. Do not remove Staff Process tags from any article (in-rewrite, in-deletion, _cc, or _image).
Interacting With Staff
- Moderative Posts: If you see a "Staff Post", "Mod Post", or "Admin Post", do not reply except in the following circumstances:
- Call for Rewrite: Only reply if you want to volunteer to rewrite the page, or to discuss the rewriting of the page.
- Deletion Vote: Only reply if you want to ask to rewrite the page, or to request a stay of deletion.
- Open - Anyone may respond to this post.
- Staff Requests: If a staff member asks you to change your behavior, whether by Private Message, Staff post, or other means, you are expected to do so.
- Ended Discussions: Do not try to continue a conversation that has been given a Stop Order.
- Staff Decisions/Appealing: If you disagree with a Staff decision, you may appeal to a different staff member. The decision of the other staff member is the final decision on the issue.
If you feel a user has violated any of the rules on this page, please contact a staff member.
Other things that can get you in trouble
- Behavior that is indistinguishable from trolling: When it comes to trolling, staff take an "if it looks like a duck" approach. The end result is the same and we don't want that kind of behavior here.
- Raiding another site: Do not use the wiki or related platforms to organize disruption of the normal operation of another site. If someone else is doing this, don't take part in it.
- Stirring up shit: This means "a pattern of constantly toeing the line of unacceptable behavior". Negative patterns of behavior that are established and determined to be a detriment to the site or community are never tolerated for long.
The Disciplinary Process
The normal steps of punishment are as follows:
- Warning
- Membership Revocation
- Short Ban (usually week-long to month-long)
- Long Ban (month-long to year-long)
- Permanent Ban
If a staff member warns you about your behavior, and you do not follow the instructions they give you, you will be revoked or banned.
Additional violations equal longer bans. Especially severe violations may result in skipping to more severe punishments, including being permanently banned immediately.
Appeals take place in the Site17 chatroom.
After your ban has been served, you will have to reapply for site membership. If you want to rejoin the community, you must follow the same process as all new members.
All rules are subject to interpretation by staff. Everything on this page is subject to change after review by Staff.
Voting template, for your copy-pasting convenience:
||~ Yes ||~ No ||
|| X || X ||
Voting will be open for one week, or until the proposal gets a super-duper-majority of support (75%, and should totally be a real parliamentary term).
