This Blog post is mainly for new and/or younger users of this Wiki but in truth everything I say cane be used for any Wiki. Also please see Eduardloei's Blog Post: Proposal For This Wiki.
Firstly let us understand some ground rules for making edits. As a Wiki community we are striving for a sense of Professionalism in our work and that of our peers. To achieve this I will put down some simple guidelines to follow to achieve this.
This list of things to remember is
- Standards
- Grammar
- Avoid Redundancy
- Be Informative
- Communication
Standards[]
As a Wiki community there are unspoken standards that we automatically expect from each other, sometimes they are not on the same level causing disagreements but this may expected since we each are different and come from different age groups and walks of life. However there is one thing we should each agree on since this is not a Fanon Wiki...
The first and perhaps most important thing is accuracy: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD FALSE INFORMATION BE PUT ON THE WIKI! It is understandable if the perpetrator was unaware that the information was false but that is why it is important to check our sources. The Japanese Wikipedia articles about Ultraman and Tsuburya Prod. announcements are treated as the highest voices of authority concerning the accuracy of information, actual information given during the shows rank along side these sources as well. However the Japanese articles on the internet require translation programs from browsers which are not always perfect and may require human skills of deduction to properly translate the information causing several errors. This is understandable as I myself have been victim to such mistakes which I later went and rectified. Please remember this when taking information from there as the grammar is different from English and the words may be translated based on pronunciation of the Japanese kanji and not the actually English translation. If the information given does not seem correct when translated English and you cannot deduce the correct term then it is best to seek another source less you place faulted information.
Vandalism will not be tolerated on this wiki, despite what age group a User may fall under a certain level of maturity is expected of them. False information is one thing but vandalism is utter and complete disrespect to the work put in by the Users of this Wiki and the anonymous Wiki Contributors who contribute worthwhile edits to the pages.
For other standards see Eduardloei's Blog Post: Proposal For This Wiki. It has more tips and standards that we have decided upon as rules of conduct.
Grammar[]
Another thing to remember is grammar, improper grammar is the difference between professionalism and amateur work. Granted not everyone here is writer but it should be remembered that that when editing any type of page their is a Source button on the top right that shows the code for the page and underlines grammatical mistakes with a red line. However certain words such as "Teleport" are not in the Wiki's dictionary, along with almost every character name, so caution should be taken when correcting mistakes as these are still actual English words.
Another thing to remember is that as an informative medium all articles especially the history sections are to be written in the past tense or past continous tense. Also sentences are all suppose to end with full stops, their should be no exclamation marks because that shows the writter's emotions and opinions bleeding into the piece. There should also be no cases of the question mark in articles, (blog posts and chats are obviously exempt from this) as all theories are stated as such using the same grammar as the rest of the article.
Remember these tips when next you edit a page.
Avoid Redundancy []
Just as important as grammatical errors is redundancy. Redundancy is basically doing or saying the same thing and over, often in less precise or understandable fashions. This is not just limited to text but also Photos and galleries. For a better explanation of Photo redundancy please see my own Blog Post: Redundant Pictures.
Redundancy can also occur across different pages, for example an Ultra and his Host could have the exact same History sections word for word. This is a waste of space and time, when one page only requires a certain amount of information, given the nature of Ultras and Ultra Hosts only one page should have such a detailed Biography, while the other should be more informative, usually the Human host but there are exceptions.
Be Informative[]
As a Wiki community, our goal is to give unbiased accurate information retaining to the subject, in our case the Ultra Series and related franchises. For this we must make sure that the information presented must be factual, the purest form of accurate information is information untouched by the writers own opinion.
For example it is a common fan debate over which Ultra is stronger Ultraman Tiga or Ultraman Dyna. Both ultras are similar, with their type changes and the fact they share a universe. While Tiga is undoubtedly seen as the leader of the Heisei trio (Tiga, Dyna and Gaia) and holds a spot similar to the original Ultraman when compared to the Heisei Ultras, his superiority over the others is obvious and well known to be because he was the first Heisei Ultra, who that restarted the franchise in. In the past Dyna's page stated that his forms were superior to that of Tiga's however it is now shown that their forms, while similar, are radically different, giving each their own advantages and weaknesses the other does not have. It should also be noted that if Dyna seems more powerful it is because his series was geared towards a younger audience and the choreography was designed to make him look powerful while Tiga's more mature tone warranted fights that made us, the audience, worry for the well being of the hero while still believing he was a superhuman force.
In the end stating the Dyna was superior to Tiga, or vice versa, without stating the reasons made the article biased. The information may or may not have been true but with out hard concrete examples and evidence (battles do not count) such as a declaration from Tsuburya Productions the statements detracted from the Wiki's sense of professionalism due to the fact that they were completely biased.
In short all information posted should be be accurate and unbiased.
Photos[]
When posting photos please remember that they are to used as informative devices, showing what characters look like and/or illustrating their abilities/techniques. When posting profile pictures a full body image is preferred, the image that shows the most of the character is to be given higher priority. Also white or similar backgrounds are preferred. In some cases a less informative image may be used such as in Ultraman Cosmos but these images were decided upon by the Community for the sake aesthetic appeal.
When dealing with Technique photos a similar rule applies the more informative image is the better one. For example Mebius' Mebius Shot, an image showing the longer beam from the side is better than an image of Mebius' front firing the beam. The side angle better illustrates the technique which is the point of the image. If someone replaces an image you have posted for one that is more to standard and/or more informative you should not be upset. However if the image in question can be argued to be no better than the previous one then you decide to change it back, in the end the photo can be placed in the gallery section of a page for display.
Communication[]
My final bit of advice in communication, the entire collection of signed in Users is called a Wiki Community for a reason. As a community we are bound to have or disagreements, for that reason do we have talk pages, comment sections etc. When one wishes to speak to another User they can simply chat with them, do understand that the message may not be returned immediately as the community exists over the internet in different time zones. When talking please remember to be polite and respectful of the opinions of the others. If you have a problem with another user it is recommended you talk it out with that person until you two can find common ground to agree on or you two can come to a mutual understanding. Should that fail it is advised you go to the administrator or another user close to that level of authority. Also if there is information you are not sure about, a page you wonder if you should put on or major changes to the wiki it is best to start a blog post asking for public opinion on the matter and save yourself the possiblity of trouble down the road.
That's everything I have to say and I hope new and younger Users learn something that helps them in the future