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This page is considered an official policy on the Aerican Empire Wiki. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that everyone should follow. Except for minor edits, please make use of the discussion page to propose changes to this policy. |
This page, much like Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not and Wikia:What Wikia is not, attempts to define what is and is not proper use of this wiki. Hopefully, this will serve to help new users understand what we are trying to do here.
The Wiki does not belong to anyone
First and foremost, the Aerican Empire Wiki does not belong to anyone, insofar that anyone can edit, add, or revise the Wiki. However, it should be noted that:
- The site itself, and the Wikia trademarks, are owned by Wikia, Inc..
- The copyright of a particular edit is owned by the person who made that edit, but is released under the GFDL.
- The wikis are owned by the communities. No one user owns any wiki. Founders are those who requested a wiki be created, but ownership of that wiki resides with the community as a whole, not only with the founder. Similarly, no bureaucrat or administrator may claim proprietorship over the wiki, though administrators may set official Aerican Empire Wiki policy.
We are not Wikipedia
On Wikipedia, it is common for small, trivial articles to be deleted as being trivial or unnecessary. Here, such articles are allowed. Any article that discusses the Aerican Empire has a place here. Some of our rules, policies, and article standards differ greatly from those of Wikipedia. As we exist to deliver information on Aerica, and most editors will be Aerican citizens, edits do not generally need to be sourced (but should be under some circumstances, see Aerican Empire Wiki:Attribution) and can often be slightly biased, subject to community concensus and Aerican Empire Wiki:Neutral Point of View.
We are not silly
While we do deal with the Aerican Empire, which prides itself on its silliness (or 'sillyness', as it were), the Aerican Empire Wiki is not silly. There is a very good reason for this: this wiki exists to inform members of the Aerican community as well as non-Aericans about Aerica, its government, and its culture. As such, this wiki is an encyclopedia. Should silliness be present on this wiki, it may confuse readers or lead them to believe false information. To prevent this, 'sillyness does not live here' (go to http://aericanempire.com for that).
We are not a forum
The Aerican Empire Wiki is not the place to post ideas, hold debates, or have conversations with the Aerican Community. The Aerican Empire Wiki maintains a location for people to hold some discussions and get to know other users at the Community Portal and a location to discuss wiki-related issues at the Village Pump. For other, more normal discussion, we recommend you join the Aerican Imperial Mailing List.
We are not illiterate
All articles are expected to have no significant spelling, grammar, or syntax errors, and are expected to be formatted in a way that lends itself to easy reading (see Wikipedia:Layout).
We are not a free host or webpage provider
While registered users can create their own user page, this page is not a place for unlimited free storage of files. In other words, your user page should only contain information relevant to your work on this wiki. If you wish to put up a weblog or advertise your business, neither your user page nor any other Aerican Empire Wiki page is the proper place to do so.
We are not a battleground
When discussing articles with other users, it is important to be civil and respectful. Do not use personal attacks. When editing articles, if you find yourself in an editing dispute, it is usually better to start a discussion on the talk page or to contact an administrator to ask for mediation than it is to repeatedly revert another person's edit.