Test-Scratch-Wiki:Guidelines

When editing articles and participating in discussions, all users should follow these guidelines at all times.

A forum
Articles do not work like forum topics; if you make an article saying "I will help new Scratchers, 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.

An advertising hub
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!"). The exceptions to this rule are:


 * Topics that have been considered important/notable enough in Scratch's history by a majority of wiki editors that they deserve an article. (ex. Kaj, Removed Pac-Man Project, etc.)
 * Articles about important roles in the community designated by the Scratch Team (ex. Community Moderator, Curator, etc.)
 * Projects may be linked to as examples to get the point of an article across more effectively, such as on Pen Projects. They must, however, be relevant to the topic and work adequately well.
 * Trends that are notably popular; the trends must be practiced by many Scratchers. One example of this is the Toki trend started by Maki-Tak a few years ago.
 * Specific instances of this trend may also be used in the same way as example projects. For example, the Collaboration page has examples of several notable collaborations started on Scratch.

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
Although Wikipedia is a template to our wiki and some of our rules may be based on theirs, do not cite Wikipedia or any of its sister projects for any rules or to justify actions.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 warn another user for breaking a rule that only exists on Wikipedia.

Yours
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. Expect your content to be potentially modified or deleted completely. If you do not want this to happen, do not contribute your content here.

A professional encyclopedia for all things Scratch
Treat all articles on the wiki as encyclopedia entries. Please:


 * Use proper grammar and good phrasing.
 * Articles should be complete and accurate, but also concise and easy to read.
 * Never use first person ("I", "we", "let's") and use second person ("you", "your") sparingly. Sound professional; these are not blog 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 Test-Scratch-Wiki:New Page Policies
 * Only include material that would be considered notable (i.e. the majority of users would know about it)

A sub-domain of Scratch
We are a wiki about Scratch and we are located on an MIT domain. Keep all content related to Scratch, and follow the Community Guidelines. Please do not discuss your ban or any other drama-raising topic.

A collaborative effort
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 banned from editing. Please:

Please note that if you revert something without providing a reason, it will be reverted and this is not edit warring.
 * 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 he was reverted. Edit warring will usually result in a page being temporarily protected.
 * 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.
 * Never vandalize. Repeated attempts to break apart the wiki through meaninglessly changing pages in unacceptable ways will most likely end up in a ban.
 * If you witness a user vandalizing, please undo their edits right away and message an active admin or Experienced Wikian. The most active admins on the Scratch Wiki are jvvg, ErnieParke and KrIsMa. The most active Experienced Wikians are St19_galla and Hamish752.