NPOWiki:Policies

This is a living draft of policies that apply to the wiki as a whole. Please post suggestions on the talk page or in Discord. Note that it is better to have greater coverage than to have perfect content.

Definitions

"Article" refers to a page in the main namespace (aka mainspace) - the primary information content of the wiki.
"Page" refers to any page on the wiki in any namespace.
A "namespace" is a type of page, usually indicated in the URL with a prefix (e.g. "User:"). There is no prefix for the main namespace.
"Subpage" refers to a page that is a child of another page, denoted by one or more / in the page name. Using a / that does not denote a subpage can be tricky with MediaWiki.
"Redlink" refers to a link to a page that does not exist (typically displayed in a red font color).

Content

Do not create "stub" pages with very little content.

Articles should only include facts and avoid speculation and opinionated statements. Any statements that are not easily verifiable can be cited using <ref></ref> tags, accompanied by a References section at the bottom of the page (see #References).

Any text or code that is heavily copied or used around the wiki can be made a template for consistency and easier editing. Styling that is widely used or complex should be added to the site CSS.

If you copy content from another wiki or website, you must link to the page in question in the "External Links" section, even if said content becomes heavily modified. (This also aids readers in finding related information that may not be covered on this wiki.) Similarly, files should be traced to their origin and author as far as possible; if taken from another website, the page where it was found (not the direct file link) should be included in the file info template. For templates, the External Links section should be in the documentation. In other words, if the content you are adding was not created and/or written by you, you must include attribution. Specifying the origin of the content in the edit summary is also highly encouraged, especially for templates.

General

All pages should be in English by default. Any formal spelling convention can be used, so long as it is consistent within the page. For example, if a player is from the UK, it may make sense to use British English on that page.

Page names should consist of standard, natural phrases rather than using subpages or parenthetical classifications, whenever possible and practical (typically shortcut templates will have an abbreviated name). However, game-specific group pages use parentheses in contrast to player pages (e.g. "Lord of Darkness in Cyber Nations" vs. "New Pacific Order (Cyber Nations)"). In general, all page names (articles, files, and categories) should use sentence case, only capitalizing the first word and any proper nouns, and abbreviations should be spelled out.

Avoid having multiple headings on a page with the same text, as this makes it harder to link to them. If you frequently need to link to a specific section on a page, it may be better to use a redirect (see #Redirects).

Page names (primarily categories) should eliminate any unnecessary redundancy. For example, this is the NPO Wiki, so in general, categories don't need to be named "NPO Wiki pages", just "Pages". Contrarily, not all files are NPO files, so these can often contain "New Pacific Order".

Efforts should be made to preserve legitimate page history whenever it might be affected. For example, if a page needs to renamed, the rename feature should be used rather than creating a new page at the correct title. (See also reuploading files.)

Formatting

All quotes and apostrophes should be standard "straight quotes". If you need to use a symbol that can't be typed on a keyboard (e.g. an em dash), other than accented alphabetical characters, use the HTML character encoding (e.g. —).

When a multi-line template is used, such as an infobox, the closing }} should be on its own line, with no empty lines surrounding it, and there should be one parameter per line.

Headings should have exactly one empty line above them and no empty lines below them, and no spaces surrounding the = signs. Headings should not contain links.

Categories should be placed at the end of a page on a new line, optionally preceded by a blank line. Place one category per line. Note that category order determines the order they will appear on the page.

If any navboxes are present, they should be just above the categories, separated from the preceding page content by a blank line.

Redirects

Redirects should only exist for articles and shortcuts to templates, etc. They may be used for any alternate names or titles (e.g. Pierconium redirects to Ivan Moldavi in NationStates).

Linking to redirects is not a "bad thing" and can help with tracking certain things on the wiki. Additionally, redirects are very useful for commonly linked-to headings in case those headings are changed later, which will break existing section links.

Articles

The "lead section" of an article, the first section before any headings, should be a maximum of one paragraph giving an overview of the subject. The first mention of the page title, and any alternate spellings/nicknames/etc, should be in bold. These bolded phrases should not contain links.

Any particular page, and redirects to it, should preferably only be linked a maximum of once in each section on a page. Very long sections should be split into subsections (and very long paragraphs should be split into multiple paragraphs).

Sensible use of redlinks is encouraged. This helps editors see what pages are highly linked to and create them as necessary.

Spelling and formatting of names of games, players, groups, etc. should follow what is used by the entity itself. For example, "Cyber Nations" and "NationStates".

Note: the wiki uses the abbreviation "PW" for Politics & War internally for ease of typing and consistency with other games. The ampersand may also be spelled out "and" when necessary (as in the game's URL). Other abbreviations may also be valid to use.

Notability

As this is the NPO Wiki, any pages created should be related to the NPO. Additionally, game-specific pages should only be created for middle managers and above (e.g. department heads). Otherwise, the information can be included on the person's primary page.

Naming

The names used for pages about people should follow this priority:

NPO forum name
Formal names
Nation names, account names, informal names

This makes it easier to match people to forum accounts and link their different pages together.

Pages about groups (e.g. alliances) should have the related game name in parentheses at the end of the page name, when applicable.

References

References should be placed immediately after the punctuation for the sentence or phrase to which they most closely apply, followed by a space before the next word. References should be used for any statements that may be controversial or confusing. If the same reference is used multiple times on a page, use the "name" feature.

References should only contain external links, or reference to other published material, and related metadata. To reference a forum post, use {{forumlink}}.

Any page using references should have a "References" section as the last one on the page, containing the <references /> tag. If the page no longer has any references, this section can be removed.

Infoboxes

Any page notices should be placed immediately after the infobox in the page code, so that they appear above the rest of the page content but do not push down the infobox.

Officeholder infobox

Only list offices that merit separate branch articles (low gov and high gov, more or less).
List offices in reverse chronological order (i.e. most recent positions at the top).

Disambiguation

Disambiguation pages are used to direct readers to the appropriate page when a search term might refer to several possible targets. If the title would conflict with an existing or potential article or redirect, add "(disambiguation)" at the end. All disambig pages should be structured as follows:

Page title may refer to:

Bulleted list with each line containing a non-piped link to a different non-redirect
Lines can contain an additional short description if it is not obvious from the page name

{{disambiguation}}

Files

Files must be given a descriptive (though not verbose), accurate name in proper English. The {{file info}} template which appears in the upload form should be filled out as completely as possible - the "summary" field becomes the code of the file page. Files which you do not have permission to share should not be uploaded. The maximum allowable resolution should be used (up to 1920x1080). Vector files (e.g. SVG) are preferred when available; if the SVG was recreated from another format and not all details were preserved, the original is preferred. Otherwise, avoid lossy/compressed formats such as jpeg when possible.

When a file needs to be replaced, it is highly preferable to upload a new version of the file instead of an entirely new file. To do this, go to the file's page (usually any appearance of a file is also a link to its file page) and click "Upload a new version of this file" below the file history. However, this will not be possible if the file has a different type.

File extensions should always be lowercase. ".jpg" is preferred over ".jpeg". To change the file name before uploading, simply change the "destination filename" field.

Guidelines for specific types of files:

Flags for groups such as alliances should follow this format: File:(full group name) flag (variant descriptor if any).(extension). For example: "New Pacific Order flag.png", "New Pacific Order flag imperial.png", "New Pacific Order flag Cyber Nations.png" (the latter won't actually exist because the same flag is shared across several games).

Templates

Every template page should use {{documentation}} along with a /doc subpage (using {{documentation subpage}}) to display information about its purpose and usage. Template categories should be placed on the /doc page using includeonly.

Modules

Lua module pages should follow the same guidelines as templates. The documentation template is automatically placed on the module page.

User pages

Usernames should preferably match your name on the NPO forums, but could also match a name used in any relevant game. Try not to use joke names or a name that could be associated with someone else. This is to make it easier to identify who is who and minimize disruption and confusion in logs.

Anything that does not belong in the main content namespace, template space, etc. can be placed in the user namespace to be worked on. You can find your own user page here and may create any number of subpages. However, these pages must be related to the wiki and remain subject to its guidelines. Users are encouraged to personalize their user page and use it to introduce themselves.

Talk pages

Your talk page can be found here. Any user may leave a message there. Every page on the wiki also has an associated talk page, which is where discussion about the content specific to that page should be discussed. For multi-page or wiki-wide issues, please use NPOWiki:Forum.

Messages on talk pages should be organized under headings giving a brief description of what is being discussed. When you follow the "new section" link on a talk page, you can put the topic in the edit summary field and it will automatically be made a heading. To reply to a message, precede your message with a colon : to indent it. (Multiple colons can be used to continue a thread of direct replies.)

Talk page messages must be signed by typing four tildes (if a user neglects to sign, anyone can place {{unsigned}} with the username, date, and time, which can be found in the page history). Messages may only be removed from a talk page if they are vandalism, contain sensitive personal information, or are being moved to a designated archive page. If a message is posted in the wrong location, it can also be moved in that case, unless the message created the page, in which case the page can be renamed. You should never edit other users' messages, except to fix broken links or formatting, in which case the displayed content should remain the same.

Editing

Please make good use of the "Show preview" and "Show changes" buttons below the editing area. This allows you to see if the page looks as you intended. Do not make multiple quick edits in a short time.

Use the edit summary field to briefly describe the changes you have made to make it easier for editors to review the page history and recent changes. Edit summaries are public and always visible, so the behavior guidelines also apply to them. Use of the "minor edit" flag is up to individual decision.

If an edit you made is undone or partially changed, and you feel it should not have been, refrain from changing it back (unless the change breaks the guidelines). Instead, discuss the change with the user who made it or on the page's talk page. "Edit warring" is not allowed, and an administrator's decision on a dispute is final. Disputes and discussions involving multiple users or pages should be decided based on consensus after the discussion has concluded (allowing time for additional messages).

Edits should not be made using automated software except by authorized bot users.

Behavior

Be sure to assume good faith from editors and not bite the newcomers. Be respectful and polite to other users and their work.

Hate speech, harassment, "doxing", and other intimidating behavior will not be tolerated. "Sockpuppetry" (using multiple accounts), especially to evade a block, is not allowed and those accounts will receive an instant permanent ban.

Administration

Enforcement and interpretation of the wiki's rules is at the discretion of the administrators. The punishment for rule infraction is described below. Breaking of clearly distinct rules will follow the schedule independently. For severe behavior, steps after the first may be skipped one at a time and not consecutively. For minor issues, especially in good faith edits, undoing the edit with a descriptive edit summary can precede the "first offense". All offenses and punitive actions taken must be detailed on the offending user's talk page.

First offense: talk page warning.
Second offense: one day block.
Third offense: seven day block.
Fourth offense: one month block.
Fifth offense: one year block.
Sixth offense: permanent block.

Administrators are not superior to regular users. However, non-administrators should not undertake tasks reserved for administrators, such as issuing warnings. Please notify an administrator if you notice an infraction that has not been addressed.