Changes: 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.

Index

The following is an index to the policies of Encyclopedia SpongeBobia. These are broken into different categories:

I. Policies - the rules of the wiki and how different aspects function.
II. Guidelines - the Manual of Style for the wiki in regards to content formatting, templates, etc.
III. Glossary - a guide to the meaning of certain terms.

Key

The following is a key to the format of ESB policy.

Article - each policy is broken down into articles, which categorize a particular policy category and are designated by Roman numerals (I, II, III, etc.)
Section - each article is broken down into sections for organizational purposes. These are designated by capital letters (A, B, C, etc.)
Clause - a section may be divided into a clauses for further organizatonal purposes. These are disignated by numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.)
Subclauses - clauses may be divided further (a, b, c, etc. and i, ii, iii, etc.)

The Rules

I. Definitions

A. Introduction

1. The definitions in this section apply to the entire policy page.

B. Definitions

1. Administrator - any user of the wiki with sysop privileges.
2. Article - a piece of writing included with others in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication. (revised May 11, 2015)
3. Ban - a permanent removal of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.
4. Block - a temporary suspension of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.
5. Bureaucrat - any administrator of the wiki with bureaucratic privileges.
6. Compilation - a thing, especially a book, record, or broadcast program, that is put together by assembling previously separate items. (revised May 11, 2015)
7. Consensus – when 70% or more of the participants of a discussion are in favor of the proposal after seven (7) days or more of discussion. (revised April 28, 2015)
8. Content dispute - any disagreement in regards to content on the wiki.
9. Edit war - a dispute in which two or more editors revert changes to an article back and forth between opposing revisions.
10. 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.
11. List - a number of connected items or names written or printed consecutively, typically one below the other. (revised May 11, 2015)
12. Page header - individual headers within the article are designated by equals signs (i.e. ===Header===)
13. Page title - the title of the article that appears at the top of the page and the URL
14. Partial revert - reversing only part of a prior edit, while retaining other parts of it.
15. Resign - the voluntary act of giving up a promoted position. (revised November 18, 2015)
16. Retire - the voluntary act of giving up a promoted position and ceasing activity on the wiki. (revised November 18, 2015)
17. Revert - reversing a prior edit, which typically results in the article being restored to a version that existed sometime previously.
18. Sandbox - a page for testing.
19. SpongeBob SquarePants fansite - any website that contains SpongeBob SquarePants-related information.
20. Suspension - the temporary removal of a promoted user's privileges. (revised November 18, 2015)
21. Termination - the forced removal of a promoted user from a particular position. (revised November 18, 2015)
22. User - any member of the wiki's community including contributors, administrators, and bureaucrats.
23. Vandalism - any change in content that is intended to be negative.

C. User activity (revised November 18, 2015)

1. Active User - any user in which one or more of the following applies:

a. Any user that has made over one hundred (100) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
b. Any user that is actively involved in any of the ESB official discussions as well as any of the ESB official chatrooms, including ESB Chat and Skype (SpongeBobia Chatroom, ESB Administrators, ESB Bureaucrats, etc.). By actively involved, meaning participating in conversations on a regular basis.

2. Semi-Active User - any user in which both of the following applies:

a. Any user that has made between one (1) and ninety-nine (99) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
b. Any user that is occasionally involved in ESB official discussions as well as any of the ESB official chatrooms, including ESB Chat and Skype (SpongeBobia Chatroom, ESB Administrators, ESB Bureaucrats, etc.). By occasionally involved, meaning participating in conversations on a not-so-much regular basis.

3. Inactive User - any user in which both of the following applies:

a. Any user that has made less than (99) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
b. Any user that is rarely involved in ESB official discussions as well as any of the ESB official chatrooms, including ESB Chat and Skype (SpongeBobia Chatroom, ESB Administrators, ESB Bureaucrats, etc.). By rarely involved, meaning participating in conversations every once in a while.

II. General policies

A. User conduct (revised December 1, 2014)

1. Do not attack other users personally.

a. Do not make threats toward the wiki or any user.
b. Do not call any user any name directly or in reference to said user that are deemed derogatory. This includes, but is not limited to: idiot, jerk, stupid, retard, etc.
c. Accusing or assuming a user have a certain condition, especially in a discriminatory way.

2. Do not discriminate other users based on their 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 first 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.)
5. Do not correct other people's use of grammar on discussion pages, message walls, or the forums unless it is in regards to grammar use in an article.
6. Any issue that anyone may have with a user may be reported to the report user page.

B. Vandalism (revised April 23, 2014)

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.

C. Forums (revised April 23, 2014)

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.

D. User Pages/Walls (revised April 23, 2014)

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.

E. Administrators (revised April 23, 2014)

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.

F. Multiple Accounts (revised April 23, 2014)

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.

G. Communication (revised April 23, 2014)

1. 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.
2. Extended conversations regarding topics unrelated to this wiki or SpongeBob SquarePants in general are not allowed on this wiki. Such conversations will be removed.
3. Do not discuss another wiki's issues on this wiki, it is not the right place for them.

H. Personal stuff (revised April 23, 2014)

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

I. Content from other sites (revised April 14, 2015)

1. Content from Wikipedia is allowed to be copied to Encyclopedia SpongeBobia. See Licensing at Community Central.
2. Copying of any content from another website without the permission of its authors is prohibited.
3. Any attempts by any user or administrator to return (including reverting) content that contain copied material from another website is prohibited.
4. Any violation of this section will be dealt with in accordance with the blocking policy.
5. If required, all copied content must be tagged.

J. Necroposting (revised May 13, 2015)

1. Do not reply to forums threads, messages on other user's walls, or blog posts that haven't been replied to in three months or more without an administrator's permission.

III. Content

A. General (revised May 21, 2015)

1. This is an encyclopedia and providing complete, accurate, and quality information is of utmost importance.
2. Do not speculate anything unless it is an implication. If this is the case, then add {{Citation Needed}}
3. All guidelines must be follow in regards to article formatting, content, and layout. (See here)
4. Do not use the words "We, I, you, etc." This creates confusion between users and the articles. Refer to everything in the third person.

B. Article relevance (revised May 21, 2015)

1. Do not create articles that have nothing to do with SpongeBob SquarePants.
2. Do not create articles that are not relevant to SpongeBob SquarePants. This is not Wikipedia.

a. A person, place, or thing is relevant to SpongeBob SquarePants if it has appeared in episodes, shorts, films, games, merchandise, and the like.
b. People, places, or things that are relevant but not sufficiently relevant enough for their own articles may be included in a list or some other related article.
c. Linking to non-existent articles about people, places, or things that aren't relevant will be treated the same way.

3. Definitive content includes all content that is defined as having relevance to merit their own articles. This includes, but is not limited to:

a. All episodes and their respective transcripts, galleries, and credit lists.
b. All films and their respective transcripts, galleries, and credit lists.
c. All shorts and their respective transcripts, galleries, and credit lists (if the information is available).
d. All games, including console video games, PC games, and online games.
e. All books that are considered merchandise.
f. All members of the cast and crew that have worked on the show and/or have provided their voice to portray character(s).
g. All seven main characters and their respective galleries and appearance lists

i. Those designated as main characters are SpongeBob, Squidward, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Sandy, Gary, and Plankton

h. All major and minor characters that contain a sufficient amount of information.
i. All home video releases, including VHS, DVD, blu-Ray.
j. Common objects with a sufficient amount of information (i.e. Krabby Patty)

4. Definitive content which is not relevant to have their own articles includes but is not limited to:

a. Some very minor characters/characters with little information, such as only a single line or two.
b. Certain objects, especially those with little information, such as only a single line or two.
c. Insignificant products that do not have a sufficient amount of information.
d. Any implied content that does not have a sufficient amount of information. That can be included here: List of implied content.

C. Crossover content (revised May 21, 2015)

1. SpongeBob SquarePants often crossovers with other entities, especially other Nicktoons shows. For this, it is necessary to include policies to the regard.
2. All crossover characters that are not native to the SpongeBob SquarePants universe do not merit their own articles. Instead, they belong on a list.

D. Fanon

1. Fanon is not allowed at Encyclopedia SpongeBobia, unless it is discussed in chat, forum, or blog. Do not create articles on fan-made content.
2. All fan-made content is to be placed at the Fanonia SpongeBobia, which was specifically created for such content.

E. False/unsourced information

1. Do not insert false information. Continuing to do so after being told to stop is considered vandalism.
2. Do not intentionally insert false dates and/or ages on any article without a source.
3. Any user who violates clause 2, above, after an administrator requests a source be provided will result in a block.

IV. Administration

A. Adminship Requirements (revised October 13, 2014)

1. There are no requirements prior to making a request to be an administrator.

B. Bureaucrat Requirements (revised August 10, 2014)

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.

C. Administrator Duties (revised October 26, 2015)

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.

V. Promotion policy

A. General (revised July 24, 2015)

1. Anyone seeking to be an administrator, bureaucrat, or chat moderator must make the request by filling out a form so the community can discuss the request.

a. Requests for chat moderator are here: ESB:Requests for chat moderator
b. Requests for administrator are here: ESB:Requests for adminship
c. Requests for bureaucrat are here: ESB:Requests for bureaucrat

2. Anyone who makes an administrator, bureaucrat, or chat moderator request in which they leave the "reason" for applying blank, must fill in the reason within twenty-four (24) hours of the creation of their request or else the request will automatically be closed as unsuccessful.
3. Any request for bureaucrat that does not follow the requirements as listed will be automatically closed as unsuccessful.

B. Application process (revised July 24, 2015)

1. Anyone making any request for administrator, bureaucrat, or chat moderator must follow these procedures.
2. They must create a request page using the form, ensuring they fill out the reason and follow the proper requirements.
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).

C. Voting (revised July 24, 2015)

1. All users are welcome to participate in promotion discussions.
2. Any user who participates in such a discussion and is subsequently blocked, their vote will not count if they are still blocked at the point in which the request is closed.

D. Length of request (revised July 24, 2015)

1. Administrator, bureaucrat, and chat moderator requests are to last no shorter than seven (7) days from the time the applicant makes the request.
2. Early closing

a. If an applicant has the support of at least 90% of participating administrators, they may be promoted after three (3) days.
b. If more than half (50%) of active administrators do not support the user's application, the request is unsuccessful and may be closed.

E. Closing requests (revised July 24, 2015)

1. Any applicant that has 70% support of all votes shall be promoted after the seven (7) days.
2. Only bureaucrats can close administrator requests, as they have the ability to promote those that are successful in their application.
3. If a user makes a bureaucrat, administrator, or chat moderator request but fails to be promoted, they must wait at least seven (7) days before making another request, unless their request is endorsed by all active administrators.

F. Non-request roles (revised July 24, 2015)

1. In addition to administrators and bureaucrats, there are other non-administrative postition at Encyclopedia SpongeBobia.
2. Assistants, rollbacks, and thread moderators do not require a formal request. Instead, they must contact an administrator or bureaucrat directly.
3. Assistants are appointed when a majority of bureaucrats (50% or more) support the promotion of a user to this position.
4. Rollbacks and thread moderators are appointed at the discretion of the administration.

G. Demotion process (revised November 18, 2015)

1. General

a. All promoted users may keep their position as long as they want, with the exceptions outlined in this section.

2. Retirement and resignation

a. Any user who wishes to no longer hold a promoted position and thus retires or resigns can demote themselves. They may notify a bureaucrat to have their powers removed as well.
b. If a bureaucrat resigns or retires and fails to remove their powers, a discussion is required for Wikia Staff to demote them.
c. If a user retires or resigns from any position, they cannot receive their rights back immediately. They must make the appropriate request for whatever position to return to that position.
d. All promoted users who say they are going to resign or retire must have their rights removed immediately (or pending reasoning/discussion). They must reapply for the rights if they want to resume their position once/if they return.

3. Termination due to inactivity

a. General

i. A promoted user may be terminated from their position due to inactivity.

b. Process for bureaucrats and administrators

i. If a bureaucrat or administrator reaches "inactive user" status per the definition (see definitions), they must be notified of their status and asked whether or not they wish to continue on in their position and be given a chance to resign. They shall be given one (1) week to respond.
ii. If there is a dispute regarding whether or not the bureaucrat or administrator has reached "inactive user" status, a majority of bureaucrats must decide whether or not inactive status has been achieved. If the user in question is a bureaucrat, they are not counted in the vote for a majority.
iii. If the bureaucrat or administrator refuses to resign from their position, they are then given a chance to write up a statement or defense while the other administrators discuss the situation and whether or not to hold a demotion discussion.
iv. If the bureaucrat or administrator does not resign but multiple users find it problematic that they are holding the position, the matter must be brought to any bureaucrat.
v. If a bureaucrat agrees that the bureaucrat or administrator's refusal to resign is problematic, they may bring the matter to a demotion discussion between the entire administration. If the promoted user in question wrote up a statement or defense, it must be posted when the demotion discussion is initiated. If the promoted user fails to write up a statement or defense before that, they may still do so after the demotion discussion has begun.
vi. In order to terminate a bureaucrat or administrator, a majority of bureaucrats and more than 70% of administrators must support the termination in order for it to be valid. The discussion must last no less than seven (7) days. The promoted user in question does not have a vote or is counted in the percentage for the decision but may make comments.
vii. If the termination is successful, the terminated user cannot be repromoted unless they go through a successful request process.
viii. If the termination is unsuccessful, another demotion discussion cannot take place until one (1) month after the close of the preceding demotion discussion.

c. Process for assistants

i. If an assistant becomes an inactive user, they may be terminated from their position by a majority vote of all bureaucrats.

d. Process for rollbacks, chat moderators, and thread moderators

i. Termination of promoted users in these positions may be done so at the discretion of the administration, as long as they have achieved inactive status.

e. If an active user goes on an extended vacation or leave of absence with intentions of returning, they obtain "wikibreak" status that is valid for three (3) months in which they can hold their position.

4. Termination due to violation of policies

a. Petitioning or creation of an endorsed discussion by any non-administrator to have another user demoted from any position is prohibited and will result in the deletion of that petition or discussion.
b. Non-administrators who feel that a promoted user should be demoted for any reason can user the report user form and/or notify an administrator, who can bring it up with other administrators for a less public discussion.
c. Violation of rules by promoted users

i. In the event that a promoted user is not following the rules and/or are abusing their powers, a bureaucrat must inform them of their wrongdoing, in case of any misinterpretations.
ii. If after an above, the promoted user does not stand down or admit to wrongdoing and thus the bureaucrat fails to resolve the issue, they may demote the promoted user for a suspension of one (1) week.
iii. After the suspension (clause b, above), the said bureaucrat must then create a discussion for the community to discuss the situation, and decide whether or not the promoted user should be demoted permanently, temporarily, or reinstated.
iv. Any administrator who is demoted after their adminship is terminated, obtains "former administrator" status.

VI. Blocking policy

A. General (revised September 19, 2015)

1. Administrators are privileged with the power to block other users and are expected to have good judgment when it comes to using this tool.

B. Procedures (revised September 19, 2015)

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 break the same rule 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 break the same rule 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 rule(s) violated and the severity of the offense.
6. The preceding clauses (1 through 5, above) are the blocking policy and must be followed, except for the clauses outlined in section C, "Exceptions," below.

C. Exceptions (revised September 19, 2015)

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 blocked immediately for any given amount of time at the discretion of the blocking administrator.
2. Any user who spams, vandalizes, harasses, or threatens as their first edit may automatically be blocked without warning. If they continue to spam and/or vandalize after their block, they shall be given an infinite block. They reserve the right to appeal a block, per the "appealing a block" section below.
3. 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.

D. Blocking the user (revised September 19, 2015)

1. When an administrator blocks a user, they must use the {{Blocked}} template on their message wall to notify that they have been blocked. This gives the blocked user a chance to find out they have been blocked and they can be easily linked to the policies as well as read the instructions to appeal a block.
2. Administrators must leave the user's message wall open in order for the blocked user to make an appeal case.
3. If a blocked user abuses their wall privileges by spamming, threatening, or harassing other users, before making an appeal case, they have forfeited their chance to make an appeal and can have their wall priveleges removed until the end of their block.
4. If a user makes an appeal case, it must be posted to ESB:Block reviews and discussed there.

E. Appealing a block (revised September 19, 2015)

1. Any user who is blocked or banned may appeal to have the block or ban removed if they deem it unfair. If any bureaucrat deems it unfair, they may unblock the user.
2. The appeal will be in the form of a discussion that will follow the discussion policies and last seven (7) days, except for the following:

a. Users will only support or oppose the original block; neutral votes will not count.
b. A block review requires 70% opposing the block to overturn the block.
c. For blocks less than seven (7) days, the appeal discussion will last half the amount of time of the block.

3. The appeal discussion will be posted to ESB:Block reviews.
4. If the appeal fails, the block will not be reverted.
5. If a banned user fails an appeal, they must wait six (6) months before creating another appeal.

F. Block disputes (revised September 19, 2015)

1. A block dispute occurs when any other user not including the blocked user oppose the administrator's actions in blocking a user.
2. All blocking disputes should be handled between the conflicting parties. If the conflicting parties resolve the dispute, the dispute is over.
3. If neither party agrees to a compromise, the user opposing the block must post to the ESB:Block reviews and follow the procedures.
4. A block must be overturned or changed if it receives 70% support.
5. Any blocking dispute involving an administrator may be considered an abuse of power and should be dealt with in the following manner.

a. If the blocking administrator is in the wrong following a block review, a majority (more than 50%) of all uninvolved bureaucrats must decide how to deal with the administrator.
b. If it is decided by the bureaucrats that the administrator needs a suspension from their adminship, the suspension shall last no longer than seven (7) days.
c. If the administrator recieves a second suspension for misuse of the the blocking tool within six (6) months, a discussion shall be created to decided if they should keep their status as an administrator.

G. Blocking administrators (revised October 3, 2015)

1. Blocking another administrator is strictly prohibited, as administrators are expected to follow all the rules.
2. All administrators are supposed to resolve disputes with each other through discussion and not blocking.
3. Any administrator who blocks another administrator will be suspended from all roles (administrator, assistant, rollback, chat moderator, thread moderator) for thirty (30) days without warning.
4. After the thirty (30) day suspension, a majority of bureaucrats must support whether or not that administrator can continue as administrator or demoted to assistant.
5. Any exception to the rules, including an appeal from the suspended administrator, will be implemented by a vote of a majority of bureaucrats.

VII. Advertising and affiliation

A. Advertising (revised June 20, 2014)

1. Advertising other wikis at Wikia is okay, as long as the following policies are followed:

a. Do not send messages to specific individuals through their message wall to visit a certain wiki.
b. The forums are the only place one can advertise another wiki at Wikia.
c. Do not create more than one forum topic in advertising a website, unless any previous forum topics have been deleted.

2. Advertising other websites that are not on Wikia requires administrative approval.

a. If you want to advertise a non-Wikia website, you must first send a request to an administrator and such request will be discussed at the next meeting.

3. Any violation of these policies will result in a deletion of anything relating to that website and a warning.

B. Affiliation (revised June 20, 2014)

1. An affiliation page will be set up to list our affiliates. If you want to affiliate with us, send a message to an administrator and such will be discussed at the next meeting.
2. If you affiliate with any site in the SpongeBobia network, you must link to us from your website, otherwise you will be removed from our affiliates page.

VIII. Signatures

This is what 30 pixels looks like.

A. General (revised September 17, 2014)

1. All signatures must contain a person's username or something that lets people know who the user is.
2. All signatures linking to their message wall and/or contributions must indicate what the page is.
3. All signatures must not exceed the height of a line of text, unless they are an image that follows #4, below.
4. All signatures must not disturb the layout or text of the page in any way.
5. Administrators reserve the right to adjust signatures according to the guidelines.

B. Images (revised September 17, 2014)

1. Users are permitted to have images in their signatures, or as their signature, so long as the height does not exceed 30 pixels. This includes animated signatures, but some may stop animating below a certain pixel size. Images over 30 pixels cause the spacing between two lines of text to be disproportionate, and animated signatures can result in longer load times for discussion pages. As a general guideline, however, please do not use images or font sizes that will interfere with the lines of text.

C. Used space (revised September 17, 2014)

1. As said in the section above, signatures may not be more than 30 pixels high. This includes big font sizes, but also the length of a signature. A signature may not be so long that when viewed in the Wikia skin with the toolbar aside it, it is wider than one line. Also, signatures may not take up more than one line (any enters in the signature's code should be removed, as when it is used in an indented list (replies to others) it will break up the signature when there are enters in the code). The <noinclude> tag may be put around enters to make the code look cleaner, or  may be put around codes to prevent them from having such effects.

D. Usernames (revised September 17, 2014)

1. Names used in signatures must be consistent with the Wikia username. In order to prevent confusion, users should not use alternate names when signing edits. Names should at least be recognizable (e.g. User:RandomUser305 signing off as "RU305"), but not differ too greatly as to mistake the signature for a different user.

E. Fraud (revised September 17, 2014)

1. Any links on a signature that do not operate in the way they appear are forbidden as they can cause confusion among users. This includes links that log users out.
2. A user's signature that has the text colored in any way that will cause confusion among users is not allowed.

F. Signature template requirement (revised August 19, 2015)

1. Any user invovled in discussions that may have an elaborate signature which involves a lot of code is required to have a signature template to make it cleaner and also prevent problems with code change.
2. If a user is signing with such a signature, they should be notified and anyone can help them create their own signature template.

IX. Chat

A. General (revised July 21, 2014)

1. All ESB policies apply in the chat room.
2. No spamming. This includes blank messages and typing gibberish.
3. No trolling. Such violation results in an immediate ban.
4. No profanity (except for the words "damn" and "hell," which are allowed if they are used in context and not against another user)
5. Be respectful toward all users, their views, and their opinions. Do not discriminate or harrass anyone.
6. Do not pose as a chat moderator or administrator if you are not.
7. Do not post anything inappropriate or links to inappropriate sites. This includes links content not suitable for children under the age of 13. The chatroom is to remain clean.
8. Do not ask users for personal information. (age, phone numbers, addresses, ASL (age/sex/location), etc.)
9. If you are going to exchange social networking information, do it in a private message (such as Skype, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.).
10. Do not argue or get into a heated debate. Friendly, civil debates are allowed.

B. Underage users (revised July 21, 2014)

1. It is against Wikia policy for a person under the age of 13 to use Wikia. It is against ESB policy for persons under the age of 13 to reveal their age.
2. Any users who is underaged or claims to be underaged will not be blocked or banned.
3. All underaged users will be dealt with by Wikia Staff, not by ESB staff.

C. Moderators (revised July 21, 2014)

1. All administrators and bureaucrats are chat moderators. A selected few chatters are granted chat moderator status because they are active in chat and trusted to keep the peace.
2. Do not kick or ban users for no reason.
3. Any abuse of chat moderator powers will result in immediate demotion. Any continued abuse may result in a block.
4. Chat moderators have no jurisdiction over what happens in a private message. If someone bothers you, ignore them. There is no definite way to prove what is in a private message.
5. There is a hierarchy in the chatroom. Chat Moderators are outranked by Administrators, and Admistrators are outranked by Bureaucrats. Therefore, if a user is breaking a rule in chat, the users highest in command will deal with them. If they are unresponsive, the responsibility goes down the chain of hierarchy.

D. Reporting (revised July 21, 2014)

1. If you see anything in the chatroom that is a violation of any policies, please report it.
2. You can report it to the following places:

a. Chat report - list your report here.
b. Private message an administrator or bureaucrat. You can find a list here: ESB:Administration.

X. Content dispute

A. General (revised January 27, 2015)

1. This article will outline the proper procedures in the event of an edit war and/or relating to content dispute.

B. Dispute

1. General

a. Not everyone will agree on how things should be done on the wiki. However, in order to have consistency and organization within the wiki, it is important to establish policies and formatting guidelines for everyone to follow in which the community agrees upon.
b. As this is a collaborative environment, it is important to resolve disputes by using communication to address the problem instead of ignoring the problem.

C. Procedures

1. Edit war

a. When an edit war occurs, all parties must stop editing the article and take the problem to an informal discussion on one of the editor's message walls or in a forum post and explain their reasons for their edits.
b. Once they have explained their reasons, they must follow the procedures below to resolve the dispute.

2. Procedures

a. If an established policy and/or guideline can resolve the dispute, that policy and/or guideline must be followed.
b. If there is disagreement in regards to the policy and/or guideline, discussion is allowed, but the reverts must be halted so that the disputed content on the article is left alone until the dispute is resolved.
c. If the dispute is not resolved in clause 2b, above, an uninvolved administrator must step in to mediate the discussion.
d. If the dispute involves one (1) or more administrators, a bureaucrat uninvolved in the edit war must intervene.
e. If all bureaucrats are involved in the edit war, an official discussion is required.
f. In the event that no such policy and/or guideline exists to establish a resolution policy-wise, the dispute may require further discussion that will ultimately be decided in an official discussion to establish a policy and/or guideline.

3. Conclusion

a. Once the dispute is resolved, the decision is final. Any edit made by the losing party in the dispute that blatantly ignores the decision is subject to a maximum three (3) day block.
b. If any user is in disagreement over the decision, they are free to make a petition to change the guidelines/policies/rules/etc.

D. 3 Revert Clause

1. General

a. An editor must not perform more than three reverts on a single page—whether involving the same or different material—within a 24-hour period. An edit or a series of consecutive edits that undoes other editors' actions—whether in whole or in part—counts as a revert. Any appearance of gaming the system by reverting a fourth time just outside the 24-hour slot is likely to be treated as an edit-warring violation.

2. Exceptions

a. Reverting your own actions ("self-reverting").
b. Reverting edits to pages in your own user space, so long as you are respecting the user page guidelines.
c. Reverting actions performed by banned users, and sockpuppets of banned and blocked users.
d. Reverting obvious vandalism—edits that any well-intentioned user would agree constitute vandalism, such as page blanking and adding offensive language.
e. Removal of clear copyright violations and any illegal content.

3. After 3 reverts

a. During an edit war, when a page is reverted after three (3) times by the same user, the editing must stop and be reported to an administrator.
b. If an administrator is involved in the edit war, the following procedures must be followed:

i. The article must be protected by any administrator and no further reverts made in regards to the disputed content.
ii. An uninvolved bureaucrat must intervene to mediate the dispute.
iii. All succeeding procedures are outlined in the "dispute" section C2 of this article.

c. If the edit war continues after a user has made 3 reverts, the following must be followed:

i. Dispute between non-administrators

1. At this point, the page should have been protected by an administrator and the edit war should have stopped.

ii. Dispute between non-administrators and administrators in which the administrators are in agreement.

1. At this point, the page should have been protected by an administrator and the edit war should have stopped.

iii. Dispute between non-administrators and administrators in which the administrators are in disagreement.

1. It is expected that the dispute between administrators be resolved by discussion and that the edit war does not continue.
2. Any such violation of this requires an informal discussion to the matter or an official discussion if the matter is serious.

iv. Dispute between only administrators in which the administrators are in disagreement.

1. It is expected that the dispute between administrators be resolved by discussion and that the edit war does not continue.
2. Any such violation of this requires an informal discussion to the matter or an official discussion if the matter is serious.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Structure}}
+{{Shortcut|[[ESB:P]]}}
 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.
+{{Policy-index}}
-==Index==
-The following is an index to the policies of Encyclopedia SpongeBobia. These are broken into different categories:
-*I. '''Policies and procedures''' - the rules of the wiki and how different aspects function
-*II. '''[[ESB:Guidelines|Guidelines]]''' - the Manual of Style for the wiki in regards to content formatting, templates, etc.
 ==Key==
@@ Line 22: / Line 20: @@
 :*1. The definitions in this section apply to the entire policy page.
 *B. Definitions
-:*1. Active Administrator - any administrator of the wiki that has made contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
+:*1. Administrator - any user of the wiki with sysop privileges.
+:*2. Article - a piece of writing included with others in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication. {{Policy-revised|Defining lists, compilations and articles|May 11, 2015}}
-:*2. Administrator - any user of the wiki with sysop privileges.
 :*3. Ban - a permanent removal of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.
 :*4. Block - a temporary suspension of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.
 :*5. Bureaucrat - any administrator of the wiki with bureaucratic privileges.
+:*6. Compilation - a thing, especially a book, record, or broadcast program, that is put together by assembling previously separate items. {{Policy-revised|Defining lists, compilations and articles|May 11, 2015}}
-:*6. 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.
+:*7. Consensus – when 70% or more of the participants of a discussion are in favor of the proposal after seven (7) days or more of discussion. {{Policy-revised|Lowering consensus percentage|April 28, 2015}}
-:*7. Content dispute - any disagreement in regards to content on the wiki.
+:*8. Content dispute - any disagreement in regards to content on the wiki.
-:*8. Edit war - a dispute in which two or more editors revert changes to an article back and forth between opposing revisions.
+:*9. Edit war - a dispute in which two or more editors revert changes to an article back and forth between opposing revisions.
-:*9. 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.
+:*10. 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.
-:*10. Inactive Administrator - any administrator of the wiki that has not made contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date, but within three (3) months preceding the present date.
+:*11. List -  a number of connected items or names written or printed consecutively, typically one below the other. {{Policy-revised|Defining lists, compilations and articles|May 11, 2015}}
-:*11. Page header - individual headers within the article are designated by equals signs (i.e. <nowiki>===Header===</nowiki>)
-:*12. Page title - the title of the article that appears at the top of the page and the URL
+:*12. Page header - individual headers within the article are designated by equals signs (i.e. <nowiki>===Header===</nowiki>)
-:*13. Partial revert - reversing only part of a prior edit, while retaining other parts of it.
+:*13. Page title - the title of the article that appears at the top of the page and the URL
-:*14. Revert - reversing a prior edit, which typically results in the article being restored to a version that existed sometime previously.
+:*14. Partial revert - reversing only part of a prior edit, while retaining other parts of it.
+:*15. Resign - the voluntary act of giving up a promoted position. {{Policy-revised|Demotion and Activity/voting|November 18, 2015}}
-:*15. Sandbox - a page for testing.
+:*16. Retire - the voluntary act of giving up a promoted position and ceasing activity on the wiki. {{Policy-revised|Demotion and Activity/voting|November 18, 2015}}
-:*16. SpongeBob SquarePants fansite - any website that contains SpongeBob SquarePants-related information.
+:*17. Revert - reversing a prior edit, which typically results in the article being restored to a version that existed sometime previously.
-:*17. Suspension - the temporary removal of an administrator's privileges.
+:*18. Sandbox - a page for testing.
-:*18. User - any member of the wiki's community including contributors, administrators, and bureaucrats.
+:*19. SpongeBob SquarePants fansite - any website that contains SpongeBob SquarePants-related information.
-:*19. Vandalism - any change in content that is intended to be negative.
+:*20. Suspension - the temporary removal of a promoted user's privileges. {{Policy-revised|Demotion and Activity/voting|November 18, 2015}}
+:*21. Termination - the forced removal of a promoted user from a particular position. {{Policy-revised|Demotion and Activity/voting|November 18, 2015}}
+:*22. User - any member of the wiki's community including contributors, administrators, and bureaucrats.
+:*23. Vandalism - any change in content that is intended to be negative.
+*C. User activity {{Policy-revised|Demotion and Activity/voting|November 18, 2015}}
+:*1. '''Active User''' - any user in which one or more of the following applies:
+::*a. Any user that has made over one hundred (100) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
+::*b. Any user that is actively involved in any of the ESB official discussions as well as any of the ESB official chatrooms, including ESB Chat and Skype (SpongeBobia Chatroom, ESB Administrators, ESB Bureaucrats, etc.). By actively involved, meaning participating in conversations on a regular basis.
+:*2. '''Semi-Active User''' - any user in which both of the following applies:
+::*a. Any user that has made between one (1) and ninety-nine (99) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
+::*b. Any user that is occasionally involved in ESB official discussions as well as any of the ESB official chatrooms, including ESB Chat and Skype (SpongeBobia Chatroom, ESB Administrators, ESB Bureaucrats, etc.). By occasionally involved, meaning participating in conversations on a not-so-much regular basis.
+:*3. '''Inactive User''' - any user in which both of the following applies:
+::*a. Any user that has made less than (99) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
+::*b. Any user that is rarely involved in ESB official discussions as well as any of the ESB official chatrooms, including ESB Chat and Skype (SpongeBobia Chatroom, ESB Administrators, ESB Bureaucrats, etc.). By rarely involved, meaning participating in conversations every once in a while.
 ===II. General policies===
@@ Line 48: / Line 60: @@
 ::*b. Do not call any user any name directly or in reference to said user that are deemed derogatory. This includes, but is not limited to: idiot, jerk, stupid, retard, etc.
 ::*c. Accusing or assuming a user have a certain condition, especially in a discriminatory way.
 :*2. Do not discriminate other users based on their 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.
+:*3. Do not use profanity. You can say "damn" as it was used in the first 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.)
 :*5. Do not correct other people's use of grammar on discussion pages, message walls, or the forums unless it is in regards to grammar use in an article.
@@ Line 64: / Line 78: @@
 :*2. Any user who continues to revert or change articles to a previously lower quality version will be blocked per the blocking policy.
-*C. Fanon {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
+*C. Forums {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
-:*1. Fanon is not allowed on the wiki.
-:*2. All fan-made content is to be placed at the [[w:c:spongebobfanon|Fanonia SpongeBobia]], 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.
-*D. Content {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
-:*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. ([[ESB:Guidelines|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.
-*E. Forums {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
 :*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.
-*F. User Pages/Walls {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
+*D. User Pages/Walls {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
 :*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.
-*G. Administrators {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
+*E. Administrators {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
 :*1. Do not directly ask for the sysop, bureaucrat, rollbacker, or any other similar tool directly. Use the [[SBSP:RfA|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.
-*H. Multiple Accounts {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
+*F. Multiple Accounts {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
 :*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.
-*I. Communication {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
+*G. Communication {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
 :*1. 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.
 :*2. Extended conversations regarding topics unrelated to this wiki or SpongeBob SquarePants in general are not allowed on this wiki. Such conversations will be removed.
 :*3. Do not discuss another wiki's issues on this wiki, it is not the right place for them.
-*J. Personal stuff {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
+*H. Personal stuff {{Policy-revised|General policies|April 23, 2014}}
 :*1. For your own safety, you are not obliged to reveal your personal information.
+*I. Content from other sites {{Policy-revised|Copying from other websites|April 14, 2015}}
-===III. Episode transcripts===
+:*1. Content from Wikipedia is allowed to be copied to Encyclopedia SpongeBobia. See [http://community.wikia.com/wiki/Help:Licensing Licensing] at Community Central.
-*A. General {{Policy-revised|Episode transcript policy|January 26, 2014}}
+:*2. Copying of any content from another website without the permission of its authors is prohibited.
-:*1. All episode transcript articles, present and future, will be protected by the administration.
+:*3. Any attempts by any user or administrator to return (including reverting) content that contain copied material from another website is prohibited.
-:*2. Only administrators will be allowed to change the content of the episode transcripts.
+:*4. Any violation of this section will be dealt with in accordance with the blocking policy.
-:*3. Contributors outside the administration will have to use the review process to submit and/or make changes to the episode transcripts.
+:*5. If required, all copied content must be tagged.
-:*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.
-*B. Review Process {{Policy-revised|Episode transcript policy|January 26, 2014}}
-:*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).
+*J. Necroposting {{Policy-revised|Necroposting rules|May 13, 2015}}
-===IV. Discussions===
+:*1. Do not reply to forums threads, messages on other user's walls, or blog posts that haven't been replied to in three months or more without an administrator's permission.
-*A. General {{Policy-revised|Discussion policies (revision 2)|December 3, 2014}}
-:*1. All major issues must be resolved from with [[ESB:Discussions|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.
+===III. Content===
-*B. Participants {{Policy-revised|Discussion policies (revision 2)|December 3, 2014}}
+*A. General {{Policy-revised|Content policy|May 21, 2015}}
-:*1. Discussions are completely open to all contributors, except if it involves certain contributors (see clause 2).
+:*1. This is an encyclopedia and providing complete, accurate, and quality information is of utmost importance.
-:*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.
+:*2. Do not speculate anything unless it is an implication. If this is the case, then add <nowiki>{{Citation Needed}}</nowiki>
-:*3. The person who begins the discussion must make note of those excluded from participating in the decision process (see clause 2).
+:*3. All guidelines must be follow in regards to article formatting, content, and layout. ([[ESB:Guidelines|See here]])
+:*4. Do not use the words "We, I, you, etc." This creates confusion between users and the articles. Refer to everything in the third person.
-*C. Opening discussions {{Policy-revised|Discussion policies (revision 2)|December 3, 2014}}
+*B. Article relevance {{Policy-revised|Content policy|May 21, 2015}}
-:*1. Only bureaucrats are permitted to open discussions.
+:*1. Do not create articles that have nothing to do with SpongeBob SquarePants.
-:*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.
+:*2. Do not create articles that are not relevant to SpongeBob SquarePants. This is not Wikipedia.
-:*3. If a non-bureaucrat creates a bureaucrat-endorsed discussion, they must link to the endorsement to show the discussion is valid.
+::*a. A person, place, or thing is relevant to SpongeBob SquarePants if it has appeared in episodes, shorts, films, games, merchandise, and the like.
-:*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.
+::*b. People, places, or things that are relevant but not sufficiently relevant enough for their own articles may be included in a list or some other related article.
+::*c. Linking to non-existent articles about people, places, or things that aren't relevant will be treated the same way.
-*D. Format {{Policy-revised|Discussion policies (revision 3)|December 27, 2014}}
+:*3. Definitive content includes all content that is defined as having relevance to merit their own articles. This includes, but is not limited to:
-:*1. The format of discussions will be in two phases.
+::*a. All episodes and their respective transcripts, galleries, and credit lists.
-::*a. Phase 1: Initial voting phase
+::*b. All films and their respective transcripts, galleries, and credit lists.
-:::*i. An issue, situation, and/or policy change will be brought up by a bureaucrat.
+::*c. All shorts and their respective transcripts, galleries, and credit lists (if the information is available).
-:::*ii. All users will be given a chance to voice their opinion on the issue, situation, and/or policy change.
+::*d. All games, including console video games, PC games, and online games.
-:::*iii. After one (1) week of discussion, the discussion phase will be closed.
+::*e. All books that are considered merchandise.
-:::*iv. All users are permitted to vote, but these votes are unofficial. The only officially counted votes occur in the voting phase (see subsection b, below) with the exception of clause v, below.
+::*f. All members of the cast and crew that have worked on the show and/or have provided their voice to portray character(s).
-:::*v. If there is no disagreement in the discussion, there is no need for a voting phase, and the votes from phase 1 can be tallied.
+::*g. All seven main characters and their respective galleries and appearance lists
-:::*vi. However, if 50% or more of participants of the initial vote agree there is something wrong with the proposal, the discussion must enter the discussion phase.
+:::*i. Those designated as main characters are SpongeBob, Squidward, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Sandy, Gary, and Plankton
-::*b. Phase 2: Discussion phase
+::*h. All major and minor characters that contain a sufficient amount of information.
-:::*i. Since an agreement was not reached in phase 1, a discussion must be open for at least one (1) week to gather input from participants.
+::*i. All home video releases, including VHS, DVD, blu-Ray.
-:::*ii. There will not be a vote held during this phase.'''
+::*j. Common objects with a sufficient amount of information (i.e. Krabby Patty)
-::*c. Phase 3: Second voting phase
+:*4. Definitive content which is not relevant to have their own articles includes but is not limited to:
-:::*i. The bureaucrat closing the discussion phase will list all options collected from the discussion in a new voting phase section.
+::*a. Some very minor characters/characters with little information, such as only a single line or two.
-:::*ii. All users will be given a chance to vote on each option.
+::*b. Certain objects, especially those with little information, such as only a single line or two.
-:::*iii. After one (1) week of voting, the voting phase will be closed. Exceptions are outlined in section H.
+::*c. Insignificant products that do not have a sufficient amount of information.
-:*2. '''Variations'''
+::*d. Any implied content that does not have a sufficient amount of information. That can be included here: [[List of implied content]].
-::*a. '''If a discussion requests suggestions for a particular topic and any suggestion is presented, the discussion will enter a second discussion in order to incorporate any new suggestion(s).'''**
+*C. Crossover content {{Policy-revised|Content policy|May 21, 2015}}
+:*1. SpongeBob SquarePants often crossovers with other entities, especially other Nicktoons shows. For this, it is necessary to include policies to the regard.
-*E. Opening discussions {{Policy-revised|Discussion policies (revision 2)|December 3, 2014}}
+:*2. All crossover characters that are not native to the SpongeBob SquarePants universe do not merit their own articles. Instead, they belong on a list.
-:*1. Only bureaucrats are permitted to open discussions.
+*D. Fanon
-:*2. Anyone who is not a bureaucrat can draft a discussion, 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.
+:*1. Fanon is not allowed at Encyclopedia SpongeBobia, unless it is discussed in chat, forum, or blog. Do not create articles on fan-made content.
-:*3. If a non-bureaucrat creates a bureaucrat-endorsed discussion, they must link to the endorsement to show the discussion is valid.
+:*2. All fan-made content is to be placed at the [[w:c:spongebobfanon|Fanonia SpongeBobia]], which was specifically created for such content.
-:*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. False/unsourced information
+:*1. Do not insert false information. Continuing to do so after being told to stop is considered vandalism.
-*F. Closing discussions {{Policy-revised|Discussion policies (revision 2)|December 3, 2014}}
+:*2. Do not intentionally insert false dates and/or ages on any article without a source.
-:*1. At the end of the voting phase, in order for a proposal or option to pass, there must be at least a three-fourths (75%) majority.
+:*3. Any user who violates clause 2, above, after an administrator requests a source be provided will result in a block.
-:*2. If there is not a 75% or more majority in favor of the proposal or option, the discussion is concluded to have "no consensus" and 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 {{Policy-revised|Discussion policies (revision 2)|December 3, 2014}}
-:*1. When a proposal passes, the decision is final.
-:*2. Unless otherwise stated, the policy change takes effect immediately.
-*H. Exceptions {{Policy-revised|Discussion policies (revision 2)|December 3, 2014}}
-:*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 four (4) administrators support the proposal.
-::*b. The discussion has ten (10) supports and no opposition.
-===V. Administration===
+===IV. Administration===
 *A. Adminship Requirements {{Policy-revised|Remove administrator requirements|October 13, 2014}}
 :*1. There are no requirements prior to making a request to be an administrator.
@@ Line 188: / Line 166: @@
 :*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.
-*C. Application Process {{Policy-revised|Administrator policies (August 2014)|August 10, 2014}}
+*C. Administrator Duties {{Policy-revised|Promotion policies/2|October 26, 2015}}
-:*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).
-*D. Decision Process {{Policy-revised|Administrator policies (August 2014)|August 10, 2014}}
-::*1. Length of request
-:::*a. Administrator and bureaucrat requests are to last no shorter than seven (7) days from the time the applicant makes the request.
-:::*b. If an applicant has the support of at least 90% of participating administrators, they may be promoted after three (3) days.
-::*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 seven (7) days before making another request, unless their request is endorsed by all active administrators. {{Policy-revised|Time between admin requests (part 2)|September 28, 2014}}
-*E. Administrator Duties {{Policy-revised|Administrator policies (August 2014)|August 10, 2014}}
 :*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.
+===V. Promotion policy===
-*F. Retirement, resignation, and inactivity {{Policy-revised|Administrator policies (September 2014)|September 14, 2014}}
+*A. General {{Policy-revised|Promotion policy|July 24, 2015}}
+:*1. Anyone seeking to be an administrator, bureaucrat, or chat moderator must make the request by filling out a form so the community can discuss the request.
+::*a. Requests for chat moderator are here: [[ESB:Requests for chat moderator]]
+::*b. Requests for administrator are here: [[ESB:Requests for adminship]]
+::*c. Requests for bureaucrat are here: [[ESB:Requests for bureaucrat]]
+:*2. Anyone who makes an administrator, bureaucrat, or chat moderator request in which they leave the "reason" for applying blank, must fill in the reason within twenty-four (24) hours of the creation of their request or else the request will automatically be closed as unsuccessful.
+:*3. Any request for bureaucrat that does not follow the requirements as listed will be automatically closed as unsuccessful.
+*B. Application process {{Policy-revised|Promotion policy|July 24, 2015}}
+:*1. Anyone making any request for administrator, bureaucrat, or chat moderator must follow these procedures.
+:*2. They must create a request page using the form, ensuring they fill out the reason and follow the proper requirements.
+:*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).
+*C. Voting {{Policy-revised|Promotion policy|July 24, 2015}}
+:*1. All users are welcome to participate in promotion discussions.
+:*2. Any user who participates in such a discussion and is subsequently blocked, their vote will not count if they are still blocked at the point in which the request is closed.
+*D. Length of request {{Policy-revised|Promotion policy|July 24, 2015}}
+:*1. Administrator, bureaucrat, and chat moderator requests are to last no shorter than seven (7) days from the time the applicant makes the request.
+:*2. Early closing
+::*a. If an applicant has the support of at least 90% of participating administrators, they may be promoted after three (3) days.
+::*b. If more than half (50%) of active administrators do not support the user's application, the request is unsuccessful and may be closed.
+*E. Closing requests {{Policy-revised|Promotion policy|July 24, 2015}}
+:*1. Any applicant that has 70% support of all votes shall be promoted after the seven (7) days.
+:*2. Only bureaucrats can close administrator requests, as they have the ability to promote those that are successful in their application.
+:*3. If a user makes a bureaucrat, administrator, or chat moderator request but fails to be promoted, they must wait at least seven (7) days before making another request, unless their request is endorsed by all active administrators.
+*F. Non-request roles {{Policy-revised|Promotion policy|July 24, 2015}}
+:*1. In addition to administrators and bureaucrats, there are other non-administrative postition at Encyclopedia SpongeBobia.
+:*2. Assistants, rollbacks, and thread moderators do not require a formal request. Instead, they must contact an administrator or bureaucrat directly.
+:*3. Assistants are appointed when a majority of bureaucrats (50% or more) support the promotion of a user to this position.
+:*4. Rollbacks and thread moderators are appointed at the discretion of the administration.
+*G. Demotion process {{Policy-revised|Demotion and Activity/voting|November 18, 2015}}
 :*1. General
-::*a. All administrators keep their administrative powers as long as they want, with the exceptions outlined in this section.
+::*a. All promoted users may keep their position as long as they want, with the exceptions outlined in this section.
-::*b. A bureaucrat may temporarily demote an administrator if they break a rule (see section E).
 :*2. Retirement and resignation
-::*a. Any user who wishes to no longer have their administrative powers and thus retires or resigns can demote themselves. They may notify a bureaucrat to have their powers removed as well.
+::*a. Any user who wishes to no longer hold a promoted position and thus retires or resigns can demote themselves. They may notify a bureaucrat to have their powers removed as well.
-::*b. If they are a bureaucrat and have not removed their powers but have announced their retirement, resignation, or quitting, a discussion must be created.
+::*b. If a bureaucrat resigns or retires and fails to remove their powers, a discussion is required for Wikia Staff to demote them.
-::*c. If a user retires or resigns, they cannot receive their rights back immediately. They must make the appropriate request for whatever position.
+::*c. If a user retires or resigns from any position, they cannot receive their rights back immediately. They must make the appropriate request for whatever position to return to that position.
-::*d. All administrators and chat moderators who say they are going to retire have their rights removed immediately (or pending reasoning/discussion). They must reapply for the rights if they want to resume their position once/if they return.
+::*d. All promoted users who say they are going to resign or retire must have their rights removed immediately (or pending reasoning/discussion). They must reapply for the rights if they want to resume their position once/if they return.
+:*3. Termination due to inactivity
-:*3. Inactivity
+::*a. General
-::*a. If an administrator is inactive for at least one (1) month, they are given "inactive" status and their administrative powers are removed, with the exception outlined in clause 3e, below.
+:::*i. A promoted user may be terminated from their position due to inactivity.
-::*b. If an inactive administrator returns after their period of inactivity, their administrative powers may be returned. However, this is limited, per clause 3c, below.
+::*b. Process for bureaucrats and administrators
-::*c. If an inactive administrator returns after a period of inactivity and wishes to return to the administration, they must consult the demoting bureaucrat. If the demoting bureaucrat does not agree to their repromotion, they must reapply for administrator status.
-::*d. If an administrator is inactive for at least three (3) months, they obtain "former administrator" status. If they wish to return to the administration, they must request to be an administrator once again.
+:::*i. If a bureaucrat or administrator reaches "inactive user" status per the definition (see definitions), they must be notified of their status and asked whether or not they wish to continue on in their position and be given a chance to resign. They shall be given one (1) week to respond.
+:::*ii. If there is a dispute regarding whether or not the bureaucrat or administrator has reached "inactive user" status, a majority of bureaucrats must decide whether or not inactive status has been achieved. If the user in question is a bureaucrat, they are not counted in the vote for a majority.
-::*e. If an active administrator goes on an extended vacation or leave of absence with intentions of returning, they obtain "wikibreak" status and clauses 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d, do no apply to them unless the extended vacation or leave of absence is one (1) year.
+:::*iii. If the bureaucrat or administrator refuses to resign from their position, they are then given a chance to write up a statement or defense while the other administrators discuss the situation and whether or not to hold a demotion discussion.
+:::*iv. If the bureaucrat or administrator does not resign but multiple users find it problematic that they are holding the position, the matter must be brought to any bureaucrat.
+:::*v. If a bureaucrat agrees that the bureaucrat or administrator's refusal to resign is problematic, they may bring the matter to a demotion discussion between the entire administration. If the promoted user in question wrote up a statement or defense, it must be posted when the demotion discussion is initiated. If the promoted user fails to write up a statement or defense before that, they may still do so after the demotion discussion has begun.
+:::*vi. In order to terminate a bureaucrat or administrator, a majority of bureaucrats and more than 70% of administrators must support the termination in order for it to be valid. The discussion must last no less than seven (7) days. The promoted user in question does not have a vote or is counted in the percentage for the decision but may make comments.
+:::*vii. If the termination is successful, the terminated user cannot be repromoted unless they go through a successful request process.
+:::*viii. If the termination is unsuccessful, another demotion discussion cannot take place until one (1) month after the close of the preceding demotion discussion.
+::*c. Process for assistants
+:::*i. If an assistant becomes an inactive user, they may be terminated from their position by a majority vote of all bureaucrats.
+::*d. Process for rollbacks, chat moderators, and thread moderators
+:::*i. Termination of promoted users in these positions may be done so at the discretion of the administration, as long as they have achieved inactive status.
+::*e. If an active user goes on an extended vacation or leave of absence with intentions of returning, they obtain "wikibreak" status that is valid for three (3) months in which they can hold their position.
+:*4. Termination due to violation of policies
+::*a. Petitioning or creation of an endorsed discussion by any non-administrator to have another user demoted from any position is prohibited and will result in the deletion of that petition or discussion.
+::*b. Non-administrators who feel that a promoted user should be demoted for any reason can user the [[ESB:Report user|report user form]] and/or notify an administrator, who can bring it up with other administrators for a less public discussion.
+::*c. Violation of rules by promoted users
+:::*i. In the event that a promoted user is not following the rules and/or are abusing their powers, a bureaucrat must inform them of their wrongdoing, in case of any misinterpretations.
+:::*ii. If after an above, the promoted user does not stand down or admit to wrongdoing and thus the bureaucrat fails to resolve the issue, they may demote the promoted user for a suspension of one (1) week.
+:::*iii. After the suspension (clause b, above), the said bureaucrat must then create a discussion for the community to discuss the situation, and decide whether or not the promoted user should be demoted permanently, temporarily, or reinstated.
+:::*iv. Any administrator who is demoted after their adminship is terminated, obtains "former administrator" status.
-===VI. Non-administrative roles===
+===VI. Blocking policy===
+*A. General {{Policy-revised|Blocking policy/4|September 19, 2015}}
-*A. 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 tool.
-:*1. In addition to administrators and bureaucrats, there are other non-administrative postitions at Encyclopedia SpongeBobia.
-*B. Assistant {{Policy-revised|Assistant User Group|February 13, 2015}}
-:*1. An assistant serves as an in-between users and administrators for purposes such as editing protected pages, among other things. An assistant cannot block or delete.
-:*2. No application process exists and a user is appointed assistant at the discretion of the bureaucrats per clause 3, below.
-:*3. A majority of bureaucrats (50% or more) must support the promotion of a user to this position.
-*C. Rollback
-:*1. A rollback can quickly rollback the edits of the last user who edited a particular page.
-:*2. No application process exists and a user is appointed rollback at the discretion of the administration.
-*D. Moderator
-:*1. No application process exists and a user is appointed moderator at the discretion of the administration.
-*E. Chat moderator
-:*1. A user requesting to be a chat moderator must fill out an application and a discussion will follow.
-===VII. Blocking policy===
+*B. Procedures {{Policy-revised|Blocking policy/4|September 19, 2015}}
-*A. General {{Policy-revised|Blocking policies (revision 2)|May 4, 2014}}
-:*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.
-*B. Procedures {{Policy-revised|Blocking policies (revision 2)|May 4, 2014}}
 :*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.
+:*3. If a warned user continues to break the same rule 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.
+:*4. If the warned user continues to break the same rule 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:
+:*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 rule(s) violated and the severity of the offense.
+:*6. The preceding clauses (1 through 5, above) are the blocking policy and must be followed, except for the clauses outlined in section C, "Exceptions," below.
-::*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.
-*C. Exceptions {{Policy-revised|Blocking policies (revision 2)|May 4, 2014}}
+*C. Exceptions {{Policy-revised|Blocking policy/4|September 19, 2015}}
-:*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).
+:*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 blocked immediately for any given amount of time at the discretion of the blocking administrator.
+:*2. Any user who spams, vandalizes, harasses, or threatens as their first edit may automatically be blocked without warning. If they continue to spam and/or vandalize after their block, they shall be given an infinite block. They reserve the right to appeal a block, per the "appealing a block" section 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. This clause outlines items that are not block-worthy, and such are deemed "unfair."
-:*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.
-*D. Appealing a block {{Policy-revised|Blocking policies (revision 2)|May 4, 2014}}
+*D. Blocking the user {{Policy-revised|Blocking policy/4|September 19, 2015}}
+:*1. When an administrator blocks a user, they must use the <nowiki>{{Blocked}}</nowiki> template on their message wall to notify that they have been blocked. This gives the blocked user a chance to find out they have been blocked and they can be easily linked to the policies as well as read the instructions to appeal 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.
+:*2. Administrators must leave the user's message wall open in order for the blocked user to make an appeal case.
+:*3. If a blocked user abuses their wall privileges by spamming, threatening, or harassing other users, before making an appeal case, they have forfeited their chance to make an appeal and can have their wall priveleges removed until the end of their block.
-:*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 a user makes an appeal case, it must be posted to [[ESB:Block reviews]] and discussed there.
-:*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.
+*E. Appealing a block {{Policy-revised|Blocking policy/4|September 19, 2015}}
-===VIII. User of the Month===
+:*1. Any user who is blocked or banned may appeal to have the block or ban removed if they deem it unfair. If any bureaucrat deems it unfair, they may unblock the user.
-*A. User of the Month {{Policy-revised|User of the Month|June 1, 2014}}
+:*2. The appeal will be in the form of a discussion that will follow the discussion policies and last seven (7) days, except for the following:
-:*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.
+::*a. Users will only support or oppose the original block; neutral votes will not count.
-:*2. Procedures
-::*a. These clauses outline the process of the User of the Month award.
+::*b. A block review requires 70% opposing the block to overturn the block.
+::*c. For blocks less than seven (7) days, the appeal discussion will last half the amount of time of the block.
-::*b. Eligibility
+:*3. The appeal discussion will be posted to [[ESB:Block reviews]].
-:::*i. A user must have contributed for at least one (1) month in order to qualify.
+:*4. If the appeal fails, the block will not be reverted.
-:::*ii. A user must have made at least one hundred (100) edits in order to qualify.
+:*5. If a banned user fails an appeal, they must wait six (6) months before creating another appeal.
-:::*iii. Anyone can 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.
+*F. Block disputes {{Policy-revised|Blocking policy/4|September 19, 2015}}
-::*c. Nomination process
+:*1. A block dispute occurs when any other user not including the blocked user oppose the administrator's actions in blocking a user.
-:::*i. The nominator will create a nomination page and list reasons why the person should be nominated.
+:*2. All blocking disputes should be handled between the conflicting parties. If the conflicting parties resolve the dispute, the dispute is over.
-:::*ii. Everyone except the user who is nominated can contribute to the discussion and show their support or oppose for the nomination.
+:*3. If neither party agrees to a compromise, the user opposing the block must post to the [[ESB:Block reviews]] and follow the procedures.
-:::*iii. Nomination discussions expire after (3) months. After this, a user can be renominated.
+:*4. A block must be overturned or changed if it receives 70% support.
-:::*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.
+:*5. Any blocking dispute involving an administrator may be considered an abuse of power and should be dealt with in the following manner.
+::*a. If the blocking administrator is in the wrong following a block review, a majority (more than 50%) of all uninvolved bureaucrats must decide how to deal with the administrator.
+::*b. If it is decided by the bureaucrats that the administrator needs a suspension from their adminship, the suspension shall last no longer than seven (7) days.
+::*c. If the administrator recieves a second suspension for misuse of the the blocking tool within six (6) months, a discussion shall be created to decided if they should keep their status as an administrator.
+*G. Blocking administrators {{Policy-revised|Blocking policy/5|October 3, 2015}}
-:*3. Any contributor can participate in the nomination discussion''', as long as they meet the following criteria:'''
+:*1. Blocking another administrator is strictly prohibited, as administrators are expected to follow all the rules.
-::*a. Participants must have at least one hundred (100) main namespace edits.
+:*2. All administrators are supposed to resolve disputes with each other through discussion and not blocking.
-::*b. Participants must have been an active contributor for at least one (1) month.
+:*3. Any administrator who blocks another administrator will be suspended from all roles (administrator, assistant, rollback, chat moderator, thread moderator) for thirty (30) days without warning.
-::*c. Participants must leave a comment along with their support, oppose, or neutral, otherwise their opinion doesn't count in the final decision.
+:*4. After the thirty (30) day suspension, a majority of bureaucrats must support whether or not that administrator can continue as administrator or demoted to assistant.
-::*d. All administrators within the SpongeBobia network are allowed to participate in the discussions.
+:*5. Any exception to the rules, including an appeal from the suspended administrator, will be implemented by a vote of a majority of bureaucrats.
-===IX. Article of the Month===
+===VII. Advertising and affiliation===
-*A. Article of the Month {{Policy-revised|Article of the Month|June 2, 2014}}
-:*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.
-===X. Advertising and affliation===
 *A. Advertising {{Policy-revised|Advertising other websites|June 20, 2014}}
 :*1. Advertising other wikis at Wikia is okay, as long as the following policies are followed:
@@ Line 329: / Line 292: @@
 ::*b. The forums are the only place one can advertise another wiki at Wikia.
 ::*c. Do not create more than one forum topic in advertising a website, unless any previous forum topics have been deleted.
 :*2. Advertising other websites that are not on Wikia requires administrative approval.
 ::*a. If you want to advertise a non-Wikia website, you must first send a request to an administrator and such request will be discussed at the next meeting.
 :*3. Any violation of these policies will result in a deletion of anything relating to that website and a warning.
 *B. Affiliation {{Policy-revised|Advertising other websites|June 20, 2014}}
@@ Line 336: / Line 301: @@
 :*2. If you affiliate with any site in the SpongeBobia network, you must link to us from your website, otherwise you will be removed from our affiliates page.
-===XI. Signatures===
+===VIII. Signatures===
 [[File:I_love_you_patrick_star_by_thunderbulletmlp-d6cclg7.png|30px|thumb|This is what 30 pixels looks like.]]
 *A. General {{Policy-revised|Signature policy (revision 2)|September 17, 2014}}
@@ Line 353: / Line 318: @@
 :*1. Any links on a signature that do not operate in the way they appear are forbidden as they can cause confusion among users. This includes links that log users out.
 :*2. A user's signature that has the text colored in any way that will cause confusion among users is not allowed.
+*F. Signature template requirement {{Policy-revised|Signature template|August 19, 2015}}
+:*1. Any user invovled in discussions that may have an elaborate signature which involves a lot of code is required to have a signature template to make it cleaner and also prevent problems with code change.
+:*2. If a user is signing with such a signature, they should be notified and anyone can help them create their own signature template.
-===XII. Meetings===
+===IX. Chat===
-*A. General {{Policy-revised|Meetings every two weeks|September 7, 2014}}
-:*1. Every two weeks, the SpongeBobia network community is to hold meetings to discuss many different aspects of the wiki, including projects, tasks, design, ideas, issues, and others.
-:*2. Meetings will be held at 4 p.m. eastern time in the SpongeBobia chat room.
-:*3. All community members are invited to attend the meetings.
-:*4. Anyone who is disruptive to the flow of the meeting may be asked to leave or kicked. If they are persistant in disrupting the meeting, they will be banned for 2 hours (or until the meeting ends).
-:*5. If a meeting is cancelled, the meeting will be held the following week, and continue in the "every two weeks" meeting schedule.
-*B. Procedures {{Policy-revised|Meetings|July 21, 2014}}
-:*1. Each week, an agenda of topics will be gathered for the meeting, which will serve as the order in which the topics are discussed, with more important topics first.
-:*2. Each item will be discussed before moving on to the next one.
-:*3. Ideas for each item will be collected and a summary will be presented at the end.
-===XIII. Chat===
 *A. General {{Policy-revised|Chat policy|July 21, 2014}}
 :*1. All [[ESB:Policy|ESB policies]] apply in the chat room.
@@ Line 394: / Line 350: @@
 ::*b. Private message an administrator or bureaucrat. You can find a list here: [[ESB:Administration]].
-===XIV. Tasks===
+===X. Content dispute===
-*A. General
-:*1. A task is a specific item that needs to be completed on the wiki.
-:*2. Tasks are not like badges, because while badges are awarded based on edits, tasks awards are given based on article quality/completion.
-:*3. Tasks function like quests, in which all users have the opportunity to win these specific awards on a leader board and attain certain titles.
-*B. Task procedures
-:*1. All users are allowed to create tasks.
-:*2. All tasks will be created using a form similar to RFA, RFB, UOTM, and AOTM. These are called "task pages" and will be used to describe the tasks and help determine the winner (or winners) of the task once complete.
-:*3. All open tasks will be listed on one page to show users which tasks they may work on.
-:*4. Once a task is complete, a bureaucrat will close the task and update the leaderboard with the correct number of points. Note that the term "finishing" or "finish" is used loosely as such may not be complete in the future, or require minor adjustments.
-:*5. All tasks and points are to be listed here: [[ESB:Tasks]]
-:*6. Points are not awarded to the above items if they were not specifically put up as a task. Example: If a user finishes a transcript without that being a task, the points do not count.
-:*7. The person who creates the task cannot be awarded for completing the task.
-:*8. When a task does not have a predetermined amount for a point value, such must be discussed and passed before it applies.
-===XV. Quote contests===
-*A. General {{Policy-revised|Quotes contests|September 7, 2014}}
-:*1. Quotes will be allowed to return to the episode articles through this contest only.
-:*2. The community will decide which quotes are notable enough for inclusion in that section.
-*B. Process {{Policy-revised|Quotes contests|September 7, 2014}}
-:*1. At the start of each contest, each episode will have a "quotes nomination" page.
-:*2. Everyone can submit quotes to the contest, and support or oppose whether or not they believe the quote is notable for inclusion.
-:*3. Every two (2) weeks, quotes nomination pages for 20 episodes will be set up.
-:*4. Everyone will have one (1) month to participate in the discussion.
-:*5. At the end of the discussion period, the quotes that have 90% support or more will be deemed "notable quotes."
-:*6. The "winning" quotes will be placed in a protected template. (example: <nowiki>{{Quotes/Help Wanted}}</nowiki>)
-*C. Additional details {{Policy-revised|Quotes contests|September 7, 2014}}
-:*1. At one time only 40 episodes will be discussed (starting two weeks after the beginning of the contest) to keep the list shorter. This will result in the contest lasting about 10 months.
-:*2. At the end of the cycle, the contest will begin again, and continue forever.
-:*3. All new episodes must wait for the cycle to arrive before they are in the contest. This allows time for people to figure out what quotes are notable.
-:*4. A contest page will be set up for easy access to all current contests.
-===XVI. Content dispute===
 *A. General {{Policy-revised|Content dispute|January 27, 2015}}
 :*1. This article will outline the proper procedures in the event of an edit war and/or relating to content dispute.
@@ Line 437: / Line 361: @@
 ::*a. When an edit war occurs, all parties must stop editing the article and take the problem to an informal discussion on one of the editor's message walls or in a forum post and explain their reasons for their edits.
 ::*b. Once they have explained their reasons, they must follow the procedures below to resolve the dispute.
 :*2. Procedures
 ::*a. If an established policy and/or guideline can resolve the dispute, that policy and/or guideline must be followed.
@@ Line 444: / Line 369: @@
 ::*e. If all bureaucrats are involved in the edit war, an official discussion is required.
 ::*f. In the event that no such policy and/or guideline exists to establish a resolution policy-wise, the dispute may require further discussion that will ultimately be decided in an official discussion to establish a policy and/or guideline.
 :*3. Conclusion
 ::*a. Once the dispute is resolved, the decision is final. Any edit made by the losing party in the dispute that blatantly ignores the decision is subject to a maximum three (3) day block.
@@ Line 450: / Line 376: @@
 :*1. General
 ::*a. An editor must not perform more than three reverts on a single page—whether involving the same or different material—within a 24-hour period. An edit or a series of consecutive edits that undoes other editors' actions—whether in whole or in part—counts as a revert. Any appearance of gaming the system by reverting a fourth time just outside the 24-hour slot is likely to be treated as an edit-warring violation.
 :*2. Exceptions
 ::*a. Reverting your own actions ("self-reverting").
@@ Line 456: / Line 383: @@
 ::*d. Reverting obvious vandalism—edits that any well-intentioned user would agree constitute vandalism, such as page blanking and adding offensive language.
 ::*e. Removal of clear copyright violations and any illegal content.
 :*3. After 3 reverts
 ::*a. During an edit war, when a page is reverted after three (3) times by the same user, the editing must stop and be reported to an administrator.
@@ Line 462: / Line 390: @@
 :::*ii. An uninvolved bureaucrat must intervene to mediate the dispute.
 :::*iii. All succeeding procedures are outlined in the "dispute" section C2 of this article.
 ::*c. If the edit war continues after a user has made 3 reverts, the following must be followed:
 :::*i. Dispute between non-administrators
 ::::*1. At this point, the page should have been protected by an administrator and the edit war should have stopped.
 :::*ii. Dispute between non-administrators and administrators in which the administrators are in agreement.
 ::::*1. At this point, the page should have been protected by an administrator and the edit war should have stopped.
 :::*iii. Dispute between non-administrators and administrators in which the administrators are in disagreement.
 ::::*1. It is expected that the dispute between administrators be resolved by discussion and that the edit war does not continue.
 ::::*2. Any such violation of this requires an informal discussion to the matter or an official discussion if the matter is serious.
 :::*iv. Dispute between only administrators in which the administrators are in disagreement.
 ::::*1. It is expected that the dispute between administrators be resolved by discussion and that the edit war does not continue.
 ::::*2. Any such violation of this requires an informal discussion to the matter or an official discussion if the matter is serious.
-===XVII. Requests for deletion process===
-*A. General
-:*1. This is an optional process; administrators can delete anything they believe is necessary
-:*2. Anyone can nominate an article the feel should be deleted.
-*B. Process
-:*1. Fill out a form to create a deletion discussion.
-:*2. Once the discussion is created, the nominator must explain why they feel the article should be deleted.
-:*3. A discussion will occur, centered on that particular article, template, category, etc.
-:*4. Neutral votes do not count in the final tally for concensus (75%)
 [[Category:Policy|*]]