Editing BZFlagWiki:Content Policy

This page describes the acceptable content policy for articles in this wiki.

== Overview ==
The BZFlag wiki is provided as shared informational resource for the player community. Its intended content is factual information regarding the BZFlag game and its community. To do this it must maintain a level of impartiality when dealing with that content. Below is a set of guidelines for users posting articles here.

== Subjects ==
All articles on the BZFlag Wiki MUST have a direct bearing on the game itself. Articles that are not directly related to the game will be removed from the wiki.

=== Acceptable Subjects ===
The following are acceptable subjects for BZFlag Wiki Articles.
* Documentation of BZFlag Software.
* Documentation of BZFlag terms and concepts.
* Documentation of tasks specific to the direct use of the BZFlag source code, or software.
* Collaborative development projects directly related to BZFlag.
* Guides and help for playing the game or using BZFlag-related tools.
* Factual historical references to BZFlag, software, source code, and developers.
* General Information about specific maps, and links to there location.
* General Information about specific servers, and links to there administration and websites.
* General Information about server networks, and links to there administration and websites.

=== Unacceptable Subjects ===
The following subjects should not be addressed in wiki articles.
* Server specific rules and policies.
* Advertisements for specific servers, users, or maps.

== Article Contents ==
The contents of articles must be presented in an impartial and factual manner. Wiki articles should be considered descriptive of their subjects, and at all times informational. If a statement can not be backed up with facts, it does not belong in the article. If the fact has no bearing on the subject matter in a descriptive way, it does not belong in the article. Some articles will have more or less factual content following these rules. The further away a subject is from the core game, the less information is applicable to the wiki. The page describing the command line options of the BZFS server will have significantly more applicable information then an article on a network of servers will. 

If the article does not deal directly with the BZFlag software or development process, and needs to reference information that is available on other websites, then the article should simply link to them. This includes items such as server rules, and other information that is elsewhere.

Articles should not be written to promote or hinder any one specific server, network, group, or person. No statements should be based on opinion unless the article is designed specifically for promoting a collaborative workflow.  In all cases statements should be presented with civility.

Articles do not "belong" to any one author. The nature of a wiki is for community created and edited content. Recognize that articles can be changed by anyone and no individual controls any specific article; therefore, any writing you contribute can be mercilessly edited and redistributed at will by the community. If the author of an articles wishes to post information that is not to be changed by other users (such as server rules), it should not be part of the wiki article. This information should be linked to via an external web-link.

== Writing Style ==
As previously stated articles should be written to be descriptive. Personal words like "you", "me", "your", etc.. should not be used, as the wiki is not a conversation. If part of the article is a description of steps of action, then they should simply be described as the action taken, not the actions of the specific user.  The various talk namespaces are of course exempt from this rule.

== Content Disputes ==
As the wiki is user edited, conflicts and edits in the contents or articles can and will occur. When an article is changed, the previous author should read the changes and attempt to understand them before taking any action. Users changing articles should leave descriptive comments with the change indicating why they changed the article. Be civil. If a previous author disputes the changes, they should attempt to work out an amicable solution on the talk page of the article. Stay cool when the editing gets hot; find consensus. The revert function should not be used in haste; it is primarily intended to assist with article vandalism, or when a change blatantly disregards this policy. Users that are unable to work out acceptable content for an article should contact the Project Administrators and be prepared to explain the issue and how the desired content will follow this policy.

==Page History==
Please [[BZFlagWiki:Be_bold|'''Be Bold''']] when editing, moving and creating articles. This is how a wiki grows and do not worry about messing up. All prior versions of articles are kept, so there is no way that you can accidentally damage the BZFlag Wiki or irretrievably destroy content. But remember — whatever you write here will be preserved for posterity.

[[Category:BZFlagWiki Policy]]