Sonic News Network:Policy

This page contains the policies and guidelines by which users of Sonic News Network are expected to abide.

Sonic News Network generally follows the Community Guidelines. These are very broad guidelines, and include:
 * Jump right in! Don't be scared to start editing, just hit the button and go!
 * Practice open-mindedness and assume good faith
 * Be nice
 * If you need help, just ask! (Our admins will be happy to help you.)
 * Don't feed the trolls
 * No personal attacks
 * Have fun!

In addition to these, Sonic News Network has established some specific guidelines, which are set out below.

Style
The general rule regarding page style and layout is: go with whatever works and looks good. However, some styles, set out at Sonic News Network:Style, have been used effectively on the wiki and are a good place to start.

Using copied material
Because of the specific licenses held by Wikipedia and Wikia, it is acceptable to use information from Wikipedia or other Wikia wikis on Sonic News Network. However, any material that is taken from these websites must be accompanied by a link to the source page.

In addition, if any pages are completely copied from either Wikipedia or Mobius Encyclopaedia (the Archie Sonic Wiki), these pages must be tagged at the top with Template:enWP or Template:enME respectively. Such tags may only be removed once the page in question has been edited sufficiently that the majority of its text was created by Sonic News Network users. Even once the tags have been removed, links to the original pages should be retained indefinitely.

It is not acceptable to plagiarise content from other websites or wikis.

Fan-made information

 * Fan-made information is tolerated, but must be confined to pages in userspace. Other pages will be deleted. When making an article for your fanfiction, fancharacter, or any other fanon article, you should place it within your own user page, or in a subpage of your user page. You can create a subpage by creating a page as normal at User:Username/CharacterName. For example, if User:Supermorff created a character named "Gordon the Gopher", it would be included at User:Supermorff/Gordon the Gopher.


 * Please only create fan pages in your own userspace (to signify your ownership of the page) or in a forum (to signify that it is open for editing by the community). Do not create fan pages in somebody else's userspace. Any fan pages found in the userspace of a non-existent user will be immediately deleted.


 * Fan character pages must not have any canon categories, which includes Category:Characters or any of its subcategories (such as Category:Hedgehogs). You may instead categorise your fanon articles in Category:Userspace, or its subcategories.


 * You may post fanart that you have created, but it must not appear in any canon or mainspace article. In particular, do not add fanart of your favourite character on that character's page. It will be swiftly removed. You may include fanart in userspace or in the forums, but also be aware that fanart not in use on any pages is likely to be deleted.


 * Fan pictures must be categorised in Category:Fanart and no other categories.


 * You may not link to your fan articles from mainspace pages, including redirects. If you wish to link to your fan article from another user page you should pipe-link as follows: Gordon the Gopher, which appears as: Gordon the Gopher.

Non-Sonic pages
This is primarily a Sonic wiki, but we permit a small number of non-Sonic characters to have pages. Such characters must have appeared as a playable character in at least two games in which Sonic was a main character. This includes crossover games, but excludes games in which Sonic merely made cameo appearances.

In general, no non-Sonic images (except as necessary to illustrate pages as permitted in the paragraph above). Such images are not relevant to this wiki and may be deleted on sight. There are a few exceptions, but ask an admin about that.

Rumors and references
Sonic News Network is for official information from the Sonic series. Rumors are discouraged, and may be reverted. This may include unconfirmed details about upcoming games and products, which should not be added unless there is reliable evidence to support the claim.

If somebody has removed information you have added because they believe it is a rumour or otherwise incorrect, try to add a reference to back it up - copy and paste the url of the website where you read the information, for example. This allows other users to check the facts the same way you did. If the information is still removed, it may be because the source of the information is not reliable, in which case you should try to find another source.

You can add the reference in any way you like and other users will format it properly, but the best way is to use ref tags. To add a ref tag to an article, simply type. If you need help with this, see Help:Citing sources or ask an administrator.