Forum:Rules of conduct

Preface
As part of updating the Community Portal, I have located the pages that relate to how we conduct ourselves on this wiki. They are as follows:


 * 1) Simplified ruleset -- general guidelines on how to behave here.
 * 2) Vandalism policy -- what to do when a bad edit is made, especially when it is clear that it's vandalism.
 * 3) Wikia Entertainment's Terms of use -- which everyone had to agree to when they signed up for an account, especially the User Conduct section.

The purpose of this forum is to discuss what is and is not acceptable behavior on this wiki, and to establish consequences for unacceptable behavior. If everyone could be counted on to play nice with others, this discussion wouldn't be necessary. But some people won't, so it is.

Most of the items discussed will be for negative behavior, but we should also list positive behaviors that we want to encourage. When discussing negative items, provide a reason why it is not acceptable and a recommendation of what consequence will be.

Remember to sign your name with  ~  on each item. The items here will be used to update the pages and help build a policy for this wiki. If discussions become too lenthy, they may be moved to individual Discussion pages so that they can be discussed as long as needed.
 * — RRabbit42 07:11, September 14, 2009 (UTC)

Simplified ruleset
Many of the points will be updated with the discussions here. More information on what constitutes good and bad edits are outlined in the Editing section of the FAQ. Specific items of the Simplified ruleset should be discussed here.


 * Item 3: "Ignore all rules". Since this can be interpreted as official license to make as many bad edits as someone wants, it should be clarified. Wikipedia has several pages devoted to this subject. The two that apply most are: What "Ignore all rules" means and Understanding "Ignore all rules". A link to these two pages can resolve this issue and will note our formal adoption of the information on those pages as applying here. — RRabbit42 07:11, September 14, 2009 (UTC)


 * Discuss other items of the Simplified ruleset here or on its Discussion page.

Vandalism
This page discusses how to respond to vandalism. More importantly, it points out that not all poor edits are vandalism.


 * Improvements to this page should be discussed here or on its Discussion page.

Encouraging good behavior
Since this wiki is read by people all over the world, we want to encourage people to make a positive contribution when they visit. This section should be used to discuss both what kinds of good behaviors we want to see and ways to show our appreciation for them.


 * Accomplishment patches can be awarded when a user makes a noteworthy effort to improve the wiki. — RRabbit42 07:11, September 14, 2009 (UTC)


 * Other ways to encourage good edits should be listed here.

Discouraging bad behavior
As mentioned, people sometimes decide they are just not going to play nice with others and will try to ruin things for everyone else. This section should be used to discuss what kind of behavior is not acceptable and what the consequences should be for engaging in that behavior.


 * Profanity. Phineas and Ferb is a cartoon broadcast by Disney and watched by very young children. Since profanity is not said by any of the characters on the show (as opposed to a show like South Park where the characters use it a lot), profanity is not allowed in any page on this wiki. In general, the people that have used profanity in the past use it as part of an attack on other members of this wiki. This constitutes harassment, which is prohibited under the Wikia Entertainment Terms of use. As such, any profanity should result in an automatic block for two weeks. Repeat offenders should receive longer blocks.
 * The automatic two-week block has been my rule of thumb for those who use profanity here. The next occurrence earns a one-month block. After that, it goes from 3 months to either 6 months or a year, depending on severity. Administrators such as myself will have to activate the block. — RRabbit42 07:11, September 14, 2009 (UTC)


 * Harassment, personal attacks and intimidating behavior are also against the Terms of use and should be reported to an administrator. In the case where an administrator is involved, if they determine that they cannot handle the situation in an objective and impartial manner, they should request another administrator to become the arbitrator. First offenses should receive at least a 3 day block, but may be longer depending on the severity of the attack.
 * Care should be take to separate a difference in opinion from a personal attack. — RRabbit42 07:11, September 14, 2009 (UTC)