ESB:Policy

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There are very few policies which apply across all FANDOM. These can be found on Community Central linked here.

The policies specific to Encyclopedia SpongeBobia are found below. These rules must be obeyed at all times.

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 clauses for further organizational purposes. These are designated 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. Assistant - any user of the wiki with the assistant right. (revised January 19, 2017)
4. Ban - a permanent removal of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.
5. Block - a temporary suspension of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.
6. Bureaucrat - any administrator of the wiki with bureaucratic privileges.
7. Chat - a form of communication between users of FANDOM, including, but not limited to: ESB Chat, Skype, and IRC. (revised January 19, 2017)
8. Chat ban - a temporary or infinite removal of the user right to access the chatroom. (revised January 19, 2017)
9. Chat flooding - posting many messages in a row. (revised August 10, 2017)
10. Chat invasion - inviting a large group to chat, normally to troll and/or spam. (revised August 10, 2017)
11. Chat moderator - a user that has the ability to kick and ban other users from the chat. (revised February 19, 2017)
12. Compilation - a thing, especially a book, record, or broadcast program, that is put together by assembling previously separate items. (revised May 11, 2015)
13. 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)
14. Content dispute - any disagreement in regards to content on the wiki.
15. Demotion - a removal of a user from a user right, either through user rights review, resignation, or removal by a user of higher power. (revised May 20, 2017)
16. Discussion moderator - a user with the ability to manage threads and the forum and to moderate the chat. (revised February 19, 2017)
17. Doorspamming - coming in and out of chat repeatedly. (revised August 10, 2017)
18. Drama - an exciting, emotional, or unexpected series of events or set of circumstances. (revised August 10, 2017)
19. Edit war - a dispute in which two or more editors revert changes to an article between opposing revisions. (revised May 20, 2017)
20. Editing role - a role that has to do with the editing aspect of the wiki, including rollbacks, administrators, and assistants. (revised February 19, 2017)
21. 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.
22. Gallery - a collection of image/video files on an article. (revised January 19, 2017)
23. Impersonator - a user who pretends to be someone who they are not. (revised May 20, 2017)
24. List - a number of connected items or names written or printed consecutively, typically one below the other. (revised May 11, 2015)
25. Main namespace - informational content of the wiki. (revised August 10, 2017)
26. Namespace - group of pages with similar purposes. (revised August 10, 2017)
27. Necroposting - replying to a forum thread, message, or blog post that has not been replied to in at least three (3) months. (revised August 10, 2017)
28. Page header - the top of the page, which features the name of the page. (revised May 20, 2017)
28. Page title - the title of the article that appears in the page header and the URL. (revised May 20, 2017)
29. Partial revert - reversing only part of a prior edit, while retaining other parts of it.
30. Profanity - obscene language. (revised August 10, 2017)
31. Proposal - a typed plan or suggestion put forward for others to discuss and vote on. (revised August 10, 2017)
32. Resign - the voluntary act of giving up a promoted position. (revised November 18, 2015)
33. Retire - the voluntary act of giving up a promoted position and ceasing activity on the wiki. (revised November 18, 2015)
34. Revert - reversing a prior edit, which typically results in the article being restored to a version that existed sometime previously.
35. Rollback - any user that has the user right to quickly remove several edits on a user that are continuous on a single article. (revised January 19, 2017)
36. Sandbox - a page for testing.
37. Social role - a role that has to do with the social aspect of the wiki, including chat moderators and discussion moderators. (revised February 19, 2017)
38. Sockmaster - a user who creates sockpuppets. (revised February 5, 2017)
39. Sockpuppet - an alternate account used for deceiving purposes or to evade admin scrutiny. (revised February 5, 2017)
40. Sockpuppetry - the act of making multiple accounts for deceiving purposes or to evade admin scrutiny. (revised February 5, 2017)
41. Spam - a form of purposeful advertising. (revised January 19, 2017)
42. SpongeBob SquarePants fansite - any website that contains SpongeBob SquarePants-related information.
43. Suspension - the temporary removal of a promoted user's privileges. (revised November 18, 2015)
44. Termination - the forced removal of a promoted user from a particular position. (revised November 18, 2015)
45. Transcript - an article composed of a written version of an episode, short, special, movie, ride, or video game cutscenes. (revised May 20, 2017)
46. Trolling - a deliberate, provocative, online posting that is intended to cause an angry response. (revised May 20, 2017)
47. User - any member of the wiki's community. (revised May 20, 2017)
48. Vandalism - any change in content that is intended to be negative.

C. User activity (revised March 14, 2017)

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

a. Any user who has made at least one hundred (100) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
b. Any user who is actively involved in any of the ESB official discussions as well as ESB Chat (not including Skype). By actively involved, meaning participating in conversations on a regular basis.

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

a. Any user who has made between fifty (50) and ninety-nine (99) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
b. Any user who is occasionally involved in ESB official discussions as well as ESB Chat (not including Skype). 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 who has made fewer than fifty (50) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
b. Any user who is rarely involved in ESB official discussions as well as ESB Chat (not including Skype). By rarely involved, meaning participating in conversations every once in a while.

4. Wikibreak - any promoted user taking an extended vacation or leave of absence lasting longer than two (2) weeks.

a. Wikibreaks have a maximum of three (3) months. At that time, if the promoted user fails to return, a bureaucrat must discuss their wikibreak status with them to determine if they are going to return or if a user rights review is in order.
b. If a promoted user makes more than five (5) edits within the first twenty-four hours of declaring a wikibreak, their wikibreak is rendered invalid.
c. After the first twenty-four (24) hours of a wikibreak, if the promoted user makes more than five (5) edits, their wikibreak is rendered invalid.
d. Any promoted user on wikibreak who becomes actively involved in any of the ESB official discussions as well as ESB Chat (not including Skype) will have their wikibreak rendered as invalid. By actively involved, meaning participating in conversations on a regular basis.
e. After three (3) invalid wikibreaks during a six (6) month period, a bureaucrat must initiate the user rights review process for that promoted user.
f. After three (3) valid wikibreaks during a one (1) year period, a bureaucrat must initiate the user rights review process for that promoted user.

II. User conduct

A. User interaction (revised July 21, 2016)

1. Do not attack other users personally. This includes but is not limited to: threatening the wiki and/or user(s), name calling (including, but not limited to idiot, jerk, stupid, retard, etc.), and derogatory statements.
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 discuss these things as these may cause distress.
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 spelling and/or grammar on discussion pages, message walls, or the forums unless it is in regards to spelling and/or grammar use in an article.

B. Vandalism (revised July 21, 2016)

1. Do not vandalize anything on the wiki. This includes, but is not limited to: spam, nonsense edits, removal of good quality content, and the unnecessary 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. Multiple Accounts (revised March 8, 2017)

1. Each user is only allowed one account, unless you have a good reason that can be approved by the administration by a 70% consensus. In that event, all users must identify themselves as the owner of the accounts on the user pages. Any other accounts that are not a user's primary account with the exception of flagged bot accounts run by administrators will be blocked.
2. Only administrators may have a bot account. This account must be flagged after a discussion. Any exception to this rule requires a discussion.

D. Administrators (revised July 21, 2016)

1. Do not directly ask for the sysop, bureaucrat, 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.

E. Personal stuff (revised July 21, 2016)

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

III. Communication

A. General (revised July 21, 2016)

1. Encyclopedia SpongeBobia is a community of multiple different users, and so the use of good communication is necessary to maintain a civil and productive editing environment.
2. Off topic discussions are allowed on the wiki and must be kept on the off topic forum. The administration reserves the right to remove off topic discussions they deem unnecessary.
3. 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 (20) edits after the time of the administrator's message, this will be considered ignoring and consequences will follow.
4. Do not discuss another wiki's issues on this wiki.
5. Do not necropost. Do not reply to forums threads, messages on other user's walls, or blog posts that haven't been replied to in three (3) months or more without an administrator's permission.

B. Discussion areas (revised April 29, 2017)

1. Forums

a. When using the forums make sure that the topic presented has something relevant to the topic of the wiki and SpongeBob SquarePants.
b. Any off topic discussion may result in the closing or removal of the thread, along with any necessary warnings or blockings.
c. No type of forum game may have more than five (5) games going at once. This is to avoid cluttering of threads.

2. User Pages/Walls

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

C. Issues

1. Any issue that anyone may have with a user may be reported to the report user page.

IV. 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. The only exception to this is if those words are used in quotes.

B. Article relevance (revised May 21, 2015)

1. 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, and their respective galleries and transcripts.
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 March 28, 2017)

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, locations, and objects 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.

F. Content from other sites (revised July 21, 2016)

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. If required, all copied content must be tagged.

V. Sources

A. Acceptable sources

1. Nickelodeon: Any source that is an official Nickelodeon Source, excluding Nick.com's TV guide due to their listings often being false or inaccurate. Including interviews and blogs made by or performed on Nickelodeon staff, its Twitter, Facebook, Vine, and Tumblr.
2. SpongeBob: Any source from a staff member of SpongeBob SquarePants or Its Facebook page, including any Twitter account of a staff member of SpongeBob and the Facebook page.
3. TV schedule: Electronic Program Guide (EPG). Zap2it's TV schedule (not to be confused with episode guide) and The Futon Critic listings are also acceptable.
4. The social media accounts for the people who are making video games, comics, DVDs/Blu-ray Discs, rides, and books and organizing events.
5. Trusted news sources that are acceptable by a vote of the Encyclopedia SpongeBobia community.

B. Unacceptable sources - every other source that is not the ones listed above. They include, but are not limited to:

1. Any online database for movies and television, including but not limited to Metacritic, IMDb, TV.com, etc.
2. Any blog or social media that is purely speculation or fanon.
3. Wikipedia due to the nature of it's content creation; instead, seek out the sources referenced by Wikipedia and ensure it falls under an acceptable source.
4. Any website that contains sources from the places that are allowed, but speculate on any information about dates or names.

C. Unspecified sources

1. Any source not mentioned in this guideline should be discussed by the community to determine if it is acceptable or not.

VI. Promotion policy

A. Promotions (revised June 24, 2017)

1. General

a. Promotions at ESB fall into two categories: request roles and non-request roles.

i. Request roles require a promotion request for the following positions: bureaucrat, administrator, assistant, discussion moderator, and chat moderator.
ii. Non-request roles do not require a promotion request for the rollback position.

a. Anyone seeking promotion to rollback may contact an administrator, as rollbacks are promoted at the discretion of any administrator.

b. When a user is promoted, they have more privileges than the average user. They are expected to use these powers with good judgment and follow all the rules.

2. Anyone seeking to be an administrator, bureaucrat, assistant, discussion moderator, 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 discussion moderator are here: ESB:Requests for discussion moderator
c. Requests for assistant are here: ESB:Requests for assistant
d. Requests for administrator are here: ESB:Requests for adminship
e. Requests for bureaucrat are here: ESB:Requests for bureaucrat

3. Application process

a. Anyone making any promotion request must follow these procedures.
b. They must create a request page using the associated form, ensuring they answer the questions and follow the proper requirements. There are no right or wrong answers, the questions are there to help the community make a decision.
c. The questions for all requests are as follows:

i. Why do you believe you are qualified to be promoted to this position?
ii. Have you had experience with this position before?
iii. What are your best contributions to Encyclopedia SpongeBobia and why?
iv. How do you plan to use your rights if your request is successful?"
v. Have you been in a situation in which you needed the user rights for this position at that moment but were unable to act?
vi. Is there anything else you want to add?

d. 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.
e. 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).
f. Nominating another user for any position requiring a request form is prohibited unless the nominating user is an administrator or bureaucrat. All other nominations will be closed as invalid.
g. Administrator and bureaucrat requests can be posted on the forum to seek more input, and they can also be highlighted.

4. Voting

a. All users are welcome to participate in promotion discussions, as long as one (1) week has passed since their first edit.
b. 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.
c. Any requestee or nominee editing or removing votes from such a discussion will have their entire request or nomination invalidated and they are prohibited from making such a request for any position for thirty (30) days.

5. Length of request

a. Promotion requests are to last no shorter than seven (7) days from the time the applicant makes the request.
b. Some promotion requests may end early if one of the following criteria is met.

i. If an applicant has the support of at least 90% of participating administrators, they may be promoted after three (3) days.
ii. If more than half (50%) of active administrators do not support the user's application, the request is unsuccessful and may be closed.
iii. If a promotion request has 0% support from administrators after three (3) days, it may be closed early as unsuccessful.

6. Closing requests

a. Any applicant that has 70% support of all votes shall be promoted after the seven (7) days.
b. Only bureaucrats can close administrator requests, as they have the ability to promote those that are successful in their application.
c. If a user makes a promotion request but fails to be promoted, they must wait at least seven (7) days before making another request. Any bureaucrat can waive this rule by supporting the request.

7. Invalid requests

a. Anyone who makes a promotion request in which they leave any of the questions blank, must answer the questions within two (2) hours of the creation of their request or else the request will automatically be closed as invalid.
b. Anyone who makes a promotion request and does not meet the listed requirements, the request must be closed as invalid unless otherwise stated.
c. Any user that receives a valid block while having a pending promotion request, the request will automatically be closed as invalid. The user will be prohibited from making any request for thirty (30) days, starting the time their block ends. Any bureaucrat can waive this rule by supporting the request.

B. Requirements (revised August 10, 2017)

1. General requirements

a. General requirements apply to promotion requests and those involved in the decision process determine whether or not the user meets the requirements per the success or failure of the request.
b. The user must demonstrate that all their contributions are positive, and further the goal of improving the wiki.
c. The user must demonstrate use of proper spelling and grammar.
d. The user must demonstrate that they can hold the position with maturity.
e. Any exceptions to these requirements may be waived by a unanimous vote of all bureaucrats.

2. Requirements for all positions

a. At least one (1) month must have passed since the user's first edit.
b. The user must have at least one hundred (100) edits.
c. The user must have a clean block record for at least three (3) months, not counting invalid blocks.
d. The user must have support from a majority of all administrators.
e. The user must have support from a majority of all bureaucrats. If the request fails to do so, it requires 75% support of administrators who are not bureaucrats for the request to pass unless otherwise stated.

3. Discussion moderator requirements

a. The user must be a current chat moderator for at least two (2) months.
b. The user must have at least two hundred (200) edits, of which at least one hundred (100) are board thread edits.

4. Assistant requirements

a. At least three (3) months must have passed since the user's first edit.
b. The user must have at least five hundred (500) edits, of which at least two hundred and fifty (250) are main namespace edits.

5. Administrator requirements

a. The user must be a current assistant for at least two (2) months.
b. The user must have at least 2,000 edits, of which at least 1,000 are main namespace edits.
c. The user must have a clean block record for at least five (5) months, not counting invalid blocks.

6. Bureaucrat requirements

a. The user must be a current administrator for at least one (1) year.
b. The user must have at least 4,000 edits, of which at least 2,000 are main namespace edits.
c. The user must have a clean block record for at least one (1) year, not counting invalid blocks.
d. The user must demonstrate good reasons for any questionable edits.
e. The user must have full support of all other bureaucrats.

C. Repromotions (revised August 10, 2017)

1. This section covers policies in regards to users who may request promotion following resignation or retirement.
2. Any user that retires, resigns, or quits and returns and wishes to be repromoted must follow the same procedures and requirements as if they were a user who had never been promoted before.
3. If a retired or resigned user returns to ESB, they cannot be promoted to rollback or chat moderator until one (1) month following the announcement of their return or decision not to retire or resign.
4. If a retired or resigned user returns to ESB, they cannot be promoted to discussion moderator, assistant, administrator, or bureaucrat until two (2) months following the announcement of their return or decision not to retire or resign.
5. Any requirement of the repromotion policy can be waived at the majority vote of all bureaucrats. This can be overruled by a majority vote of all administrators (sysop only).

VII. Demotion policy

A. General (revised July 31, 2016)

1. All promoted users may keep their position as long as they want, with the exceptions outlined in this section.
2. Non-administrators who feel that a promoted user should be demoted for any reason can user the report user form and/or notify a bureaucrat, who can bring it up with other bureaucrats for a less public discussion.

B. Retirement and resignation (revised August 14, 2017)

1. 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.
2. If a bureaucrat resigns or retires and fails to remove their powers, FANDOM Staff will be contacted to demote them.

C. Termination (revised August 14, 2017)

1. A user may be terminated for various reasons, including, but not limited to: inactivity, violating the rules, abuse of rights, and/or disruptive behavior.
2. The process for termination is different depending on the user's position in the wiki.

a. Termination of a rollback must be done so by a majority vote of all administrators.
b. Termination of a chat moderator, discussion moderator, or an assistant must be done so by a majority vote of all bureaucrats. The rest of the administration (sysop only) may overrule the decision by a majority vote.
c. Termination of an administrator or bureaucrat must be done so through a User Rights Review discussion.
d. For rollback, chat moderators, discussion moderators, and assistants, a User Rights Review discussion can be created, but is optional.

D. User Rights Review (revised January 22, 2017)

1. General

a. A User Rights Review is a discussion for the community to review a promoted user's status, and whether or not that user should be blocked, suspended, demoted, etc.
b. Creating a User Rights Review discussion by any non-administrator to have another user demoted from any position is prohibited and will result in the deletion of that discussion.

2. Process (all of this was moved from below)

a. If a user feels that an administrator should be demoted for any reason, whether it is lack of activity, violation of policies, or behavior, they must contact a bureaucrat to make a request.
b. The bureaucrats will discuss whether or not the administrator in question should have a review discussion to let the community decide if that user should be demoted.
c. A majority of bureaucrats (more than 50%) must support a review discussion in order for it to be created in the first place. If it is determined that a majority of bureaucrats do not support such a discussion taking place, the request is dropped.
d. Once a majority of bureaucrats (more than 50%) support the creation of a review discussion, they must notify the administrator in question to give them the following choices:

i. Resign from the position. The bureaucrats can then decide if that user should remain as an assistant or not if the user in question chooses to resign.
ii. Write up a paragraph defending their keeping the position so that it can be presented before the demotion discussion begins. Once their defense has been submitted, the review discussion can be started immediately.
iii. If the user does neither of these, the review discussion will be posted three (3) days after the user in question is notified.

e. Once the review discussion is posted, it will be in the following format.

i. The bureaucrat will list all the bureaucrats who supported the creation of the discussion to show validation of the discussion.
ii. Each user will have the opportunity to voice their opinion on the matter, summing up on what should be done, whether it is a complete demotion, demotion to another position, suspension, block, and/or combination.
iii. After seven (7) days of discussion, the first stage will close. All listed options will be put up for a vote.

f. In order to terminate or suspend a bureaucrat or administrator, a majority of participating administrators (50% or more) and 70% of all participants must support the termination or suspension in order for it to be valid, not counting neutrals. 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.
g. If the termination is successful, the terminated user cannot be repromoted unless they go through a successful request process.
h. If the termination is unsuccessful, another demotion discussion cannot take place until one (1) month after the close of the preceding demotion discussion.

E. Administration reviews (revised January 29, 2017)

1. Every six (6) months, all bureaucrats, administrators, assistants, discussion moderators, and chat moderators will be put through a review process so the community can assess their status to ensure the most qualified people remain in their positions.
2. Administration reviews will occur twice per year:

a. February 10
b. August 10

3. During each review, all bureaucrats, administrators, assistants, discussion moderators, and chat moderators will be included in the discussion. The community will decide whether they should remain in their position or be demoted.
4. If a user was promoted within one (1) week prior to the creation of the review, they will be exempt from the review.
5. Each review period will last two (2) weeks. After two weeks, those users with a majority of all participants and participating administrators (more than 50%) supporting the removal of their position (excluding neutrals) will be subject to demotion.
6. Bureaucrats will discuss in private to determine the final verdict.

F. Suspension (revised July 31, 2016)

1. 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.
2. If 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.
3. After the suspension (clause b, above), the said bureaucrat must then create User Rights Review discussion.
4. Any administrator who is demoted after their adminship is terminated, obtains "former administrator" status.

G. Exceptions (revised February 3, 2017)

1. When a promoted user becomes inactive, they shall be warned. If they do not edit within three (3) days after the warning, they will be demoted immediately at the discretion of a bureaucrat, unless otherwise stated.
2. If a promoted user goes on an extended vacation or leave of absence with intentions of returning, they may declare "wikibreak" status. See the article on definitions for wikibreak policies.

VIII. 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 privileges 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 May 28, 2017)

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.
6. If a block review receives unanimous opposition (having neutrals do not count as unanimous oppose) and a majority of administrators do not support unblocking the user after three (3) days, then the block review will be marked as closed.

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 receives 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, discussion 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.

IX. Advertising and affiliation

A. Advertising (revised October 2, 2016)

1. Advertising other wikis at FANDOM 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 FANDOM.
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, such as making blog posts or comments promoting a website is not allowed.

a. Talking about websites, or sending links to websites is allowed (if not promoting the aforementioned website).

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.

X. 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 FANDOM 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 involved 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.

XI. Chat

A. General (revised May 20, 2017)

1. All policies in this general section apply to all ESB-related chat rooms: ESB chatroom on FANDOM and Skype chat rooms including "SpongeBobia Chatroom," "ESB Chat Moderators," "ESB Administrators," and "ESB Bureaucrats."
2. All ESB policies and FANDOM policies apply in the ESB Chatroom and all ESB Skype chat rooms including "SpongeBobia Chatroom," "ESB Chat Moderators," "ESB Administrators," and "ESB Bureaucrats."
3. Abusing communication tools is forbidden. This includes blank messages, gibberish, and other examples listed here.

a. Do not make words by spreading them out into multiple messages.
b. Writing anything else that is abusing communication tools can result in a kick or ban by the discretion of the banning moderator or administrator in a Skype chat room.

4. English is the preferred language in the chatroom. It is recommended to not use other languages. Using other languages to spam, troll, or to swear is not allowed.
5. Trolling is forbidden.

a. If anyone is disturbing the chat room environment and not providing anything useful to the conversation which may be considered trolling, chat moderators and administrators can ban the user from chat immediately. In Skype, users continuing to troll will receive a kick. Administrators can block them infinitely from ESB at their discretion if they feel the user does not provide any positive engagement to the community.
b. Anyone trolling in the ESB chat room will result in an immediate ban. The administration may infinitely block the user from ESB.

6. Profanity

a. Profanity, including use as an acronym or censored, except for the words "damn" and "hell," which are allowed if they are used in context and not against another user, is forbidden.
b. Any use of profanity (except hell and damn) after a user is issued a warning will immediately result in a temporary ban from chat.

7. Be respectful toward all users, their views, and their opinions. Do not discriminate against or harass anyone. Doing so can result in a kick or ban by the discretion of the moderator.
8. Posing as a user of a higher position than you is forbidden.
9. Posting anything inappropriate or links to inappropriate sites is forbidden. This includes linking to content not suitable for children under the age of 13, notably sexual content. The chatroom is to remain clean.
10. Asking users for personal information (age, phone numbers, addresses, ASL (age/sex/location), religious beliefs, etc.) is forbidden.
11. If you are going to exchange social networking information (Skype, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.), do it in a private message.
12. Arguing or getting into a heated debate is forbidden. Friendly, civil debates are allowed.
13. Creating drama is forbidden.
14. Refrain from saying things that are not useful to the conversation and continue to interrupt those having a conversation. If more than one person is doing this, those people must take the conversation somewhere else.

B. ESB Chat room (ESB:Chat) (revised August 10, 2017)

1. The policies in this section apply to the ESB Chatroom on FANDOM.
2. Specific rules

a. Doorspamming (coming in and out of chat) is forbidden. It is understandable if you have a bad connection, but note you may be kicked to stop the flooding. Anyone doing this on purpose shall be temporarily banned.
b. Chat invasions (inviting a large group to chat, normally to troll and/or spam) are forbidden.
c. ChatTags are also enabled on ESB's chatroom. You may have fun with them, but you may not misuse them. i.e., using colors for every message you send.
d. All moderator orders must be obeyed unless said otherwise by an administrator or someone of higher power.
e. Abusing the chatbot (username: SpongeBobiaChatBot) is forbidden. It is okay to have a little fun with the chatbot sometimes, but if it gets excessive, a chat moderator can kick or ban you at their discretion.

3. Underage users

a. It is against FANDOM policy for a person under the age of 13 to use FANDOM. It is against ESB policy for persons under the age of 13 to reveal their age.
b. Any user who is underage or claims to be underage will not be blocked or banned.
c. All underage users will be dealt with by FANDOM Staff, not by ESB staff.

4. Moderators

a. All discussion moderators, 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.
b. Kicking or banning users for no reason is forbidden.
c. Any abuse of chat moderator powers will result in immediate demotion. Any continued abuse may result in a block.
d. 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.
e. There is a hierarchy in the chatroom. Chat moderators are outranked by discussion moderators, discussion moderators are outranked by administrators, and administrators 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.

C. Skype chat rooms (revised August 10, 2017)

1. The policies in this section apply to the ESB chat rooms on Skype.
2. Adding users

a. Any user is allowed to add other users to the chat. However, users can only be added if they are:

i. A current member of ESB. Users who have retired from ESB, left FANDOM altogether, or are inactive (with the exception of chat moderators, discussion moderators, administrators, and bureaucrats) are not allowed into the Skype chat.
ii. The user is not blocked from ESB or FANDOM (meaning they are not globally blocked from the network). Users who are unable to edit on the wiki or even enter the chat room are not to be allowed into the Skype chat rooms.

3. Kicking policy

a. Kicking users from the Skype is much different from being kicked in the regular FANDOM chatroom. When a user is kicked from the ESB Skype, they cannot come back in until another user adds them back.
b. Users who are kicked can then be immediately added back unless they misbehave again and are kicked once more.
c. If a user has received a third kick from an administrator, they will not be allowed back into the Skype for twenty-four (24) hours. If the user is added back but continues to misbehave, then they will be kicked from the Skype for seven (7) days. Any users who continues to misbehave even after those kicks will receive longer kicks from the Skype depending on the severity of their actions.
d. Do not add back any user who is kicked from the Skype until after their ban expires.

i. Any user attempting to add users back before their ban expires will receive a kick themselves unless otherwise stated.

e. Make sure to listen to the Skype administrators. Any user who ignores warnings will be temporarily kicked from the Skype.
f. Skype usernames cannot contain profanity, references to profanity, or refer to sexual content.

D. Reporting (revised December 18, 2016)

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. Report user - list your report here.
b. Send a message to an administrator or bureaucrat. You can find a list here: ESB:Administration. You can also report to administrators on Skype. See a list here.

XII. 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.