ESB:Policy

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There are very few policies which apply across all Wikia. These can be found on the Central Wikia at Wikia:Category:Policy.

The policies specific to Encyclopedia SpongeBobia are found below. These rules must be obeyed. If you have a problem with any of the rules, please bring it up on the talk page. Thank you.

The Rules

I. General policies

• A. Definitions

• 1. User - any member of the wiki's community including contributors, administrators, and bureaucrats.
• 2. Vandalism - any change in content that is intended to be negative.
• 3. Fanon - any SpongeBob SquarePants in-universe or merchandise-related content not officially released by Viacom via a press conference or the Nickelodeon TV channel, and information that can be derived from that.

• B. User conduct

• 1. Do not attack other users personally. This includes threats and name calling.
• 2. Do not discriminate other users, whether it is religion, political affiliation, sexual preference, or anything else. It is strongly recommended that users do not mention their religion, political affiliation, sexual preference or anything else that could cause tension. A minor biography is all that is necessary, however the administration will never stop you from adding more to your user page, unless any problem arises from comments made.
• 3. Do not use profanity. You can say "damn" as it was used in the movie, possibly "hell" if in the context. This also means no use of the words such as "f***", even when used as an expletive.

• a. Any use of profanity in general will result in consequences.
• b. Any use of profanity directly toward other users will result in a more severe consequence.

• 4. Do not add or link to content that is inappropriate for younger readers/contributors (someone that is under 8 years old.)

• C. Vandalism

• 1. Do not vandalize anything on the wiki.

• a. Spam
• b. Nonsense edits
• c. Removal of good quality content
• d. Blanking of pages

• 2. Any user who continues to revert or change articles to a previously lower quality version will be blocked per the blocking policy.

• D. Fanon

• 1. Fanon is not allowed on the wiki.
• 2. All fan-made content is to be placed at the SpongeBob Fanon Wiki, which was specifically created for such content.
• 3. Do not insert information that is not true.
• 4. Do not intentionally insert false dates and/or ages on any article without a source.
• 5. Any user who violates #4 after an administrator requests a source be provided will result in an infinite block.

• E. Content

• 1. This is an encyclopedia and providing accurate information is the top priority.
• 2. Do not speculate anything. Facts are facts and nothing else matters. Only add if you know it is true. Users are allowed to add paragraphs explaining possibilities on certain topics, but this must worded to let readers know that there is not a definitive fact.
• 3. Do not create links to articles that do not exist and are not relevant to SpongeBob SquarePants. This is not Wikipedia.
• 4. Do not create articles that have nothing to do with SpongeBob SquarePants.
• 5. All guidelines must be follow in regards to article formatting, content, and layout. (See here)
• 6. Do not use the words "We, I, you, etc." This creates confusion between users and the articles. Refer to everything in the third person.

• F. Forums

• 1. When using the forums make sure that the topic presented has something relevant to the topic of the Wiki and SpongeBob SquarePants. Any off topic discussion may result in the closing or removal of the thread, along with any necessary warnings or blockings.

• G. User Pages/Walls

• 1. You do not own your userspace, it is given to you to help people know you better. The administration reserves the right to remove any content they feel is inappropriate.
• 2. Do not forbid anyone from leaving you a message on your message wall.

• H. Administrators

• 1. Do not directly ask for the sysop, bureaucrat, rollbacker, or any other similar tool directly. Use the request form here and make sure you qualify.
• 2. Do not pose as an administrator if you are not. Administrators are the only ones allowed to inform a user that they have been blocked or banned.

• I. Multiple Accounts

• 1. Each user is only allowed one account, unless you have a good reason that can be approved by the administration. In that event, all users must identify themselves as the owner of the accounts on the user pages.
• 2. Only administrators may have a bot account. This account must be flagged after a discussion.

• J. Communication

• 1. When two or more editors continually revert changes to an article back and forth, this is an edit war. Both parties, when they realize the war is going on, must stop and take the problem to discussion. If the situation cannot be resolved, an administrator may have to step in.
• 2. If an administrator requests a response from a user regarding an issue, that user must acknowledge and respond to them. If the user makes more than twenty edits after the time of the administrator's message, this will be considered ignoring and consequences will follow.
• 3. Extended conversations regarding topics unrelated to this wiki or SpongeBob SquarePants in general are not allowed on this wiki. Such conversations will be removed.
• 4. Do not discuss another wiki's issues on this wiki, it is not the right place for them.

• K. Personal stuff

• 1. For your own safety, you are not obliged to reveal your personal information.

II. Episode transcripts

This chapter outlines episode transcript policies.

• A. Definitions

• 1. SpongeBob SquarePants fansite - any website that contains SpongeBob SquarePants-related information.
• 2. Sandbox - a page for testing.

• B. Policies

• 1. All episode transcript articles, present and future, will be protected by the administration.
• 2. Only administrators will be allowed to change the content of the episode transcripts.
• 3. Contributors outside the administration will have to use the review process to submit and/or make changes to the episode transcripts.
• 4. All users may use sandboxes to work on transcripts.
• 5. From the date of the passage of these policies, all future transcripts, in part or in full, that are copied from another SpongeBob SquarePants fansite, is strictly prohibited.
• 6. Any attempts by any member of the administration to return (including reverting) episode transcript(s) that contain copied material from another SpongeBob SquarePants fansite is strictly prohibited.
• 7. Any administrator that violates clauses #5 and #6 (see above) will have their powers suspended for thirty (30) days, pending discussion for permanent removal.

• C. Review Process

• 1. From the date of the passage of these policies, all episode transcripts must go through a review process before publication.
• 2. A transcript submission page will be set up for users to submit transcripts (and suggest corrections) to be published here at the wiki.
• 3. Administrators may submit changes to the transcript articles without the submission process, as long as they do not violate the policies outlined in section B (see above).

III. Discussions

This chapter outlines how we handle discussions.

• A. Definitions

• 1. Consensus – when 75% or more of the participants of a discussion are in favor of the proposal after seven (7) days or more of discussion.

• B. General

• 1. All major issues must be resolved from with discussions in the format outlined in this chapter.
• 2. Discussions outside of the regular discussion thread (such as message walls) are not valid places to make decisions and/or policy changes. They can be used to bring up important issues that can be put up for official discussion, as long as they follow the rules.

• C. Participants

• 1. Discussions are completely open to all contributors, except if it involves certain contributors (see clause 2).
• 2. Any discussion that involves certain contributors, they are excluded from voicing their support or opposition, as they are bias and their opinion is obvious. They are, however, allowed to comment, ask, and answer questions.
• 3. The person who begins the discussion must make note of those excluded from participating in the decision process (see clause 2).

• D. Opening discussions

• 1. Only bureaucrats are permitted to open discussions.
• 2. Anyone who is not a bureaucrat can draft a proposal, and must receive an endorsement from at least one (1) bureaucrat before the discussion is open. As soon as they receive an endorsement, they or the endorsing bureaucrat can create the discussion.
• 3. If a non-bureaucrat creates a bureaucrat-endorsed discussion, they must link to the endorsement to show the discussion is valid.
• 4. After the discussion is created, the endorser must make note of their endorsement on that discussion page for clarification, if the proposal was created by a non-bureaucrat.

• E. Discussions

• 1. The discussions must last at least seven (7) days from the date of the creation of the discussion.

• F. Closing discussions

• 1. At the end of the seven-day period, in order for a proposal to pass, there must be at least a three-fourths (75%) majority on one side.
• 2. If there is not a 75% or more majority in favor of the proposal, the discussion continues until it reaches the fourteen (14) day mark. At the point if there is no consensus, the discussion will be closed.
• 3. In the event that a discussion is closed and an agreement is not reached, another discussion must be created that takes into account compromises discussed in the closed discussion.
• 4. Any bureaucrat or administrator can close the discussion, as long as the above policies are followed.

• G. Post-discussion

• 1. When a proposal passes, the decision is final.
• 2. Unless otherwise stated, the policy change takes effect immediately.

• H. Exceptions

• 1. If a discussion requires more input, or contains a series of discussions, the discussion may be open for a longer period of time and close a different way.
• 2. In the case of non-controversial discussions, a proposal may end after 3 days of discussion if:

• a. At least 3 administrators support the proposal.
• b. The discussion has 7 supports and no opposition.
• c. The discussion has 10 supports and no opposition if the discussion was promoted outside of the community corner.

IV. Administration

This section was revised on June 2, 2014.

• A. Definitions

• 1. Administrator - any user of the wiki with sysop privileges.
• 2. Bureaucrat - any administrator of the wiki with bureaucratic privileges.
• 3. Active Administrator - any administrator of the wiki that has made contributions within the three (3) months preceding the present date.
• 4. Inactive Administrator - any administrator of the wiki that has not made contributions within the three (3) month preceding the present date, but within nine (9) months preceding the present date.
• 5. Suspension - the temporary removal of an administrator's privileges.

• B. Adminship Requirements

In order for a contributor to qualify for the administration, they must meet the following.

• 1. User must have at least 750 edits of which at least 400 of these are main namespace edits.
• 2. User must have been active for at least 60 days from the date of their earliest edit prior to making the request.
• 3. User must be able to demonstrate that they are willing to help and show good judgment.
• 4. User must have a reason that is at least five sentences long, demonstrates their understanding of the position, and uses proper spelling and grammar.

• C. Bureaucrat Requirements

In order for a contributor to qualify for bureaucrat, they must meet the following.

• 1. User must be a current member of the administration who has been an administrator for at least two (2) years.
• 2. User must have at least 2,000 edits, of which at least 1,000 are main namespace edits.
• 3. User must demonstrate that all their edits are positive, and further the goal of improving the wiki.
• 4. User must demonstrate use of proper spelling and grammar.
• 5. User must demonstrate good reasons for any questionable edits.
• 6. User must have full support of all other active bureaucrats.
• 7. User must have support from a majority of active administrators.
• 8. Any administrator requesting promotion to bureaucrat that does not meet the criteria outlined in clause 1, above, may be waived if the request is supported by all other active bureaucrats and the requestor has been an active administrator for at least one (1) year.

• D. Application Process

• A user seeking to be an administrator or bureaucrat must follow these procedures:

• 1. They must follow the requirements, or their application will be deleted by an administrator.
• 2. They must create a request page using the form, and provide a reason that follows the above criteria.
• 3. Applicants shall not use any images to advertise "support" for them, so as to discourage unqualified users who seek the support of others who do not consider their qualifications.
• 4. Applicants shall not force other users to support them. Applicants are allowed to notify other users of such discussion, without imposing an agenda (such as using images to advertise for support, as in clause 3, above).

• E. Decision Process

• 1. Any contributor can participate in the nomination discussion, as long as they meet the following criteria:

• a. Participants must have at least one hundred (100) main namespace edits.
• b. Participants must have been an active contributor for at least one (1) month.
• c. Participants must leave a comment along with their support, oppose, or neutral, otherwise their opinion doesn't count in the final decision.
• d. All administrators within the SpongeBobia network are allowed to participate in the discussions.

• 2. The applicant is promoted under the following circumstances:

• a. They have at least three quarters (75%) support.
• c. If more than half (50%) of active administrators do not support the user's application, the request is unsuccessful and may be closed.

• 3. Only bureaucrats can close the discussion, as they have the ability to promote those that are successful in their application.
• 4. If a user makes an administrator request but fails to be promoted, they must wait at least thirty (30) days before making another request, unless their request is endorsed by all active administrators.

• F. Administrator Duties

• 1. When a user is promoted to the administration, they have more privileges than the average user. They are expected to use these powers with good judgment and follow all the rules.
• 2. In the event that an administrator is not following the rules and/or are abusing their powers, a bureaucrat must inform them of their wrongdoing, in case of any misinterpretations.
• 3. If after #2 above, the administrator does not stand down or admit to wrongdoing and thus the bureaucrat fails to resolve the issue, they may demote the administrator for a suspension of one (1) week.
• 4. After the suspension (clause 3, above), the said bureaucrat must then create a discussion for the community to discuss the situation, and decide whether or not the user should be demoted permanently, temporarily, or reinstated.
• 5. Any administrator who is demoted after their adminship is terminated, obtains "former administrator" status.

• G. Demoting Administrators

• 1. All administrators keep their administrative powers as long as they want, with the exceptions outlined in this section.
• 2. A bureaucrat may temporarily demote an administrator if they break a rule (see section E).
• 3. If an administrator resigns or quits, they must notify a bureaucrat so their powers can be removed. The bureaucrat, when demoting them, must refer to the thread in which they quit or resign to show they were responding to that resignation or quitting.
• 4. If an administrator is inactive for at least three (3) months, they are given "inactive" status and their administrative powers are removed.
• 5. If an inactive administrator returns after their period of inactivity, their administrative powers may be returned. However, this is limited, per clause 6, below.
• 6. If an administrator is inactive for at least nine (9) months, they obtain "former administrator" status.

• H. Returning administrators

• 1. If a former administrator wishes to return, they must request to be an administrator once again.
• 2. If a user resigns or quits, they have up to one (1) week from the date and time of their announcement revoke their resignation or quitting. After that seven (7) day period, if they wish to return to the administration, they must make another administration request.

V. Blocking policy

• A. Definitions

• 1. Block - a temporary suspension of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.
• 2. Ban - a permanent removal of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.

• B. General

• 1. Administrators are privileged with the power to block other users and are expected to have good judgment when it comes to using this power.
• 2. Administrators must follow the established blocking policy. Any exceptions require a community discussion.
• 3. Any administrator who fails to follow the blocking procedures after one (1) warning from a bureaucrat will be suspended for seven (7) days.
• 4. After the administrator's 7-day suspension, their administrative powers shall be returned. If the administrator continues to violate the blocking procedures after one (1) warning from a bureaucrat, they will be given a 14-day suspension, pending discussion on the administrator's user rights.

• C. Procedures

• 1. Administrators that find a user violating any of the policies must revert any changes and must politely notify the user of their wrongdoing by giving one (1) warning on their message wall.
• 2. If a user breaks two (2) different rules, that counts as one (1) warning for each rule. A user must break the same rule two (2) times before being blocked.
• 3. If a warned user continues to edit within twenty-four (24) hours without acknowledging the warning, the administrator should try to contact that user again.
• 4. If the warned user continues to edit for twenty-four (24) hours after the administrator have tried to contact them again, the user will be blocked for a maximum of fourteen (14) days.
• 5. Any user who continues to violate the rule for which they were blocked within seven (7) days after their initial block ends will receive further penalties, depending on the severity of the offense. The blocks will follow this format:

• a. 3rd offense: 1-month block
• b. 4th offense: 3-month block
• c. 5th offense: 6-month block
• d. 6th offense: 1-year block
• e. 7th offense: infinite block

• 6. The preceding clauses (1 through 5, above) are the blocking policy and must be followed, except for the clauses outlined in section D, "Exceptions," below.

• D. Exceptions

• 1. Any user who makes any contributions that are very serious to the point in which they harm the wiki or threaten a user, they may be infinitely blocked immediately, pending a block review (see section D, clause 4, below).
• 2. The administrator who infinitely blocks a user due to section D, clause 3, above, must create a block review to determine that the block is legitimate. Three administrators must endorse the block before it is legal. These two clauses are in place for emergencies in which a user may do seriously harm on the wiki.
• 3. Any user who spams and/or vandalizes as their first edit will automatically be blocked for a maximum of fourteen (14) days. If they continue to spam and/or vandalize after their block, they shall be given an infinite block.
• 4. This clause outlines items that are not block-worthy, and such are deemed "unfair."

• a. Anyone who misspells a word or misuses grammar shall not be blocked.
• b. Anyone who begins a page without proper formatting shall not be blocked.
• c. Anyone who makes an accidental edit shall not be blocked.

• E. Appealing a block

• 1. Any user who is blocked or banned may appeal to have the block or ban removed if they deem it unfair.
• 2. The appeal will be in the form of a discussion that will follow the discussion policies and last seven (7) days.
• 3. In this case, it is required to allow the user to edit their talk page/message wall no matter what the issue is.
• 4. If the blocked user handles the block without verbally/personally attacking the blocking administrator or violating any other user conduct rules, they will be allowed to make an appeal on their talk page/message wall.
• 5. If the blocked user violates any user conduct rules, the will be blocked from using their talk page/message wall and the opportunity to appeal a block.
• 6. If the appeal fails, the block will not be reverted.
• 7. If a banned user fails an appeal, they must wait six (6) months before creating another appeal.

VI. Page names

• A. Definitions

• 1. Page title - the title of the article that appears at the top of the page and the URL
• 2. Page header - individual headers within the article are designated by equals signs (i.e. ===Header===)

• B. Policy

• 1. All page titles and headers may only use capitals if:

• a. The beginning word in the title and/or header
• b. Proper nouns in the title and/or header

• 2. The only exception is that only a word directly after a colon (:) or slash (/) may or may not use capital letters.

Examples:

Correct	Incorrect
Bikini Bottom	bikini bottom
Galley Grub	Galley grub
SpongeBob SquarePants:Discussions/Page titles and headers	SpongeBob SquarePants:Discussions/Page Titles and Headers
List of food and drinks	List of Foods and Drinks
Plankton's cousins	Plankton's Cousins
List of instances in which the fourth wall is broken	List of Instances in Which the Fourth Wall is Broken
==External links==	==External Links==
==See also==	==See Also==

VII. User of the Month

• A. User of the Month

• 1. This is awarded to one user each month, who will be featured on the homepage, and contain a link to a page that highlights why they received the award and the work they have done.
• 2. Procedures

• a. These clauses outline the process of the User of the Month award.
• b. Eligibility

• i. A user must have contributed for at least one (1) month in order to qualify.
• ii. A user must have made at least one hundred (100) edits in order to qualify.
• iii. Anyone cannot nominate any other user except themselves.
• iv. Anyone who requests that another user nominate them will be disqualified for six (6) months.
• v. Anyone who complains that they have not been nominated will be disqualified for six (6) months.

• c. Nomination process

• i. The nominator will create a nomination page and list reasons why the person should be nominated.
• ii. Everyone except the user who is nominated can contribute to the discussion and show their support or oppose for the nomination.
• iii. Nomination discussions expire after (3) months. After this, a user can be renominated.
• iv. On the last day of each month the next month's User of the Month will be determined based on the following formula: (Number of Supports)-(Number of Opposed)=Nomination Rating. The current user with the highest nomination rating at the time will be awarded "User of the Month" for the following month.

• 3. Any contributor can participate in the nomination discussion, as long as they meet the following criteria:

• a. Participants must have at least one hundred (100) main namespace edits.
• b. Participants must have been an active contributor for at least one (1) month.
• c. Participants must leave a comment along with their support, oppose, or neutral, otherwise their opinion doesn't count in the final decision.
• d. All administrators within the SpongeBobia network are allowed to participate in the discussions.

VIII. Article of the Month

• A. Article of the Month

• 1. This section outlines the process by which an article become featured on the home page for each month.
• 2. Procedures

• a. These clauses outline the process of the Article of the Month award.
• b. Eligibility

• i. The article must follow all relevant guidelines.
• ii. The article must be free of spelling/grammar issues.
• iii. The article must be at least 3,000 bytes (see history to find the size).
• iv. The article must be free of any editing controversy.
• v. The article must be of the highest quality.
• vi. The article must contain at least one image.

• c. Nomination process

• i. The nominator will create a nomination page and list reasons why the article is good enough to be featured.
• ii. Everyone can contribute to the discussion and show their support or oppose for the nomination.
• iii. Nomination discussions expire after (3) months. After this, an article can be renominated.
• iv. On the last day of each month the next month's Article of the Month will be determined based on the following formula: (Number of Supports)-(Number of Opposed)=Nomination Rating. The current article with the highest nomination rating at the time will become the "Article of the Month" for the following month.