SmashWiki:Talk pages

This page documents an official SmashWiki policy, a widely accepted standard that all users should follow. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. If in doubt, consider discussing changes on the talk page.

This policy details what talk pages and user talk pages are, and how they are to be used.

Talk pages

Every article on the SmashWiki has a corresponding talk page, and are linked by the "discussion" tab. Talk pages are pages used to discuss matters pertaining to the content of the corresponding article, such as asking about the verification of some information in the article, or if a section marked for cleanup should have the cleanup tag removed.

For example, this post on the talk page of the Falco (SSBB) article would be an ideal use of the talk page:

<font="Courier New">==Chain throw list==
I noticed this article has a list on how well Falco can chain throw every character. Could someone verify if the information is factual? ~~~~

Talk pages however, are not to be used to discuss your opinion of the subject of the article. SmashWiki does not care if you think Ganondorf is a great character that people shouldn't think is bad, or that edge hogging should be banned because it's cheap. Telling SmashWiki your opinion does nothing to improve the article, and just wastes space on the talk page. Save these kinds of posts for the forums.

The following is an example of an unacceptable post on the talk page of the aforementioned Falco SSBB article:

<font="Courier New">==Falco is overrated!!!==
Falco is so cheap! All he can do is shoot lasers and chain grab people. He should not be rated so high on the tier list!!!

Talk pages are also not to be used to ask for help/advice about something relating to the subject of the article. SmashWiki is not a help site for Smash Bros, and questions asking for advice on talk pages do not help improve the article. Such questions should be asked in the forums.

The following post on the talk page of the Falco SSBB article is an example of an unacceptable use of a talk page:

<font="Courier New">==Tips for Falco==
Hi, I recently started playing Falco in Brawl. Can anyone give me some tips on how to play him? Thanks!! ~~~~

And of course, keep all discussion on talk pages relevant to the content of the corresponding article.

User talk pages

User talk pages are talk pages that are used to contact users on the SmashWiki. It should be noted however, that a SmashWiki account is not an e-mail account, Facebook page, or in any way primarily a social networking utility. As such, extended conversations that are not associated with the wiki should not be held on user talk pages. The primary use of a talk page is as a way to contact a users about their contributions to the wiki.

For example:

<font="Courier New">==Double Jump==

I see you added some information about how characters perform double jumps, particularly about the invisible platform that appears under a character. Do you have a source or a picture to verify this? ~~~~

I do not presently have that information, but to get it, blah blah, blah blah blah blah. ~~~~

(and so on)

Also, it should be noted that it is usually advisable to answer a person below their post on the page that the conversation begins on. This allows conversations to be followed easier and more organised. As such, after you write on someone's talk page, be sure to check back regularly, add the page to your watchlist, or watch the recent changes to see a response.

Beyond conversations about edits to the wiki, minor outside conversations are perfectly acceptable. However, do not extend these into being chat rooms, message boards, and/or e-mail accounts. All edits show up on recent changes, and continuous messaging floods the changes and makes it difficult to spot other edits. If you feel that you would like to continue a conversation with someone, find a way to communicate with them outside the wiki or on the IRC. For example:

<font="Courier New">==Brawl?==

Hey, you seem like a pretty good player; do you want to play sometime? ~~~~

Sure, e-mail me at its-a-me@mushroomkingdom.ntd. ~~~~

In a nutshell, user talk pages are a vital part of the wiki, but users are to follow these guidelines when using them:

1. They are primarily for questions/comments about edits to SmashWiki.
2. Do not split a conversation across multiple pages if possible.
3. When conversations begin to leave the relevance of SmashWiki, take them elsewhere.
4. Images and videos should be linked to, not embedded.

Posting on talk pages

The following are guidelines that must be followed when posting on all talk pages, as well as forums:

• After every post, sign your comment with four tildes, like this ~~~~. For more information about signatures, read SmashWiki:Sign your comments.
• Each individual discussion should start with a == level 2 header ==; whenever a new subject is brought up, a new section should be started (unless it is a direct continuation of an existing topic). Using the "new section" tab to make an edit will do this automatically - note that this is not possible if the page does not yet exist, so it must be added manually.
• New discussions must be placed at the bottom of a page.
• When replying directly to a specific comment, indent your comment appropriately by placing colons (:) at the beginning of the comment. For how much colons to use, use +1 colons the comment you're replying to did. This allows talk pages to flow more smoothly and be easier to follow, as well as letting others know who you are replying to. If the indentation starts becoming too much, reset the indent with the reset indent template.
• Do not place images uploaded to the wiki, videos, or pictures linked from other sites, on talk pages. These are never necessary for using talk pages in their appropriate means. They can be handled through a simple link (either internal or external).
• Keep your post legible, and nondisruptive to the page. Do not use coding to make the text of your post larger or to be of another color. Do not use ALL CAPS in your posts. And do not use excessive punctuation marks at the end of your posts. These do not help make your point any clearer, and just disrupt the talk page, as well as annoy other users.
• Never post in a talk page archive. If you have something new to add to an archived discussion, start a new discussion about it on the talk page.
• Similar to the above, do not directly reply to an old comment, and even if the discussion isn't archived, do not comment on old discussions that have been resolved, unless you have something new to add. As a general rule, if the last comment in a discussion is over a month old, and the discussion appears to have been resolved, do not post a comment in it.
• Some talk pages and forums have specific posting rules, such as Requests for adminship, and the Smash Arena. When posting on these pages, abide to their posting rules.
• All talk page posts must adhere to SmashWiki's policies, such as SmashWiki:No personal attacks.

Editing and removing comments

Editing and removing your comments

For the most part, editing talk page comments after they been posted is discouraged and typically not allowed. There are some exceptions when it comes to editing your comments however:

• Fixing spelling and grammar errors in your post.
• Adding a signature if you forgot to sign. However, this must be done immediately, and before another user adds the unsigned template to your unsigned comment. Removing an unsigned template and adding your signature in its place will not be allowed.
• Moving your comment and its replies to a more appropriate place.
• Adding information you intended, but forgot to add to your initial post, though it is recommended you add this information in a second post. If you are to add missing information to your original post however, do so immediately, and before another user responds to your comment.

When it comes to removing your talk page comments, you are to never delete them. The only possible exception to this is when you post something you think is not needed (such as if you're asking a question that you noticed has been already answered on the talk page), and remove it immediately before another user responds to it.

However, if you made a statement or said anything you wish to retract, you may add strike tags <s></s> to the offending portion of the comment to signify this.

Editing and removing other users' comments

Under usual circumstances, you are never to edit another user's comment. The only exceptions to this are:

• Adding an unsigned template to an unsigned comment.
• Moving the comment to a more appropriate place.
• Cleaning up formatting for readability; for example, closing an unclosed tag that is affecting subsequent comments, scaling down large images, removing the leading space character (which encloses text in a dashed box and prevents text wrapping), or modifying the indentation.

Likewise, removing another user's comment is typically never allowed. The only exceptions to this are:

• Removing clear vandalism and spam posts.
• Removal of links to sites containing malicious scripts or patently offensive material.
• Removal of email addresses and other personal information used without the user's consent. (These revisions should also be deleted- please leave a note on the admin noticeboard.)
• Removal for archiving purposes (see following section).
• Removal to move the post to a more appropriate talk page. When moving comments to another talk page, mark the move using the {{moved}} template in both the source and destination pages.
• Removing userpage like content from an ip's talk page, or in the case of administrators, deleting a talk page that is deemed to not be needed (such as the talk page of a deleted article, or the talk page of a vandal/spam account). In the case of userpage like content on a user's talk page, it should instead be moved to their userpage.

If part of a post is removed, a replacement note detailing what was removed should be inserted (such as <link to shock site removed>). However, if a comment was removed in its entirety due to the above exceptions, there is no need to insert a replacement note, unless the removed comment had received a reply, in which case replacement notes such as <spam removed> or <vandalism removed> should be inserted.

Archiving

An archive is essentially an old talk page. Archiving is used to clean up an excessively long talk page, and provide easily accessible references for past discussions. Archives can be added to any talk page on SmashWiki. This guideline will explain how to archive and offer some tips on what to avoid.

When to archive?

As a rule of thumb, 32kb or more is when you should archive, but this is not a formal standard. However, if you are to let your user talk page go well beyond this, you may be warned by a sysop to archive, where failure to adhere may result in punishment.

How do I archive a talk page?

See Help:Archiving.

Archiving guidelines

• Archive a talk page by sections. Avoid archiving a section only partially, since it will break continuity.
• Archive only inactive discussions. Consider moving relevant sections out of an archive should a topic get discussed again; avoid discussions on archives.
• Empty remnants of sections moved to other talk pages do not need to be archived if they are irrelevant.
• Personal attacks can be immediately archived if there is no ongoing discussion about them occurring on the page.
• After archiving, add a visible link on the original talk page to the newly created archive.
• Explain that you're archiving in the edit summary.
• An archived talk page is still a talk page. All relevant policies and guidelines still apply.
• Users should generally not archive talk pages in the user spaces of others without permission.