Site Policy and Formatting Editing

This blog consists of discussion between council members about the future of Site Policy and formatting. The community is welcome to read and add opinions in the comment section if you wish. Council members, please add your comments below each section in the blog and include your signature.

Site Policy

Alvin and the Chipmunks Wiki (or just "Munkapedia") has policies that all users, including sysops, need are responsible to for reading and following while using the site. There are no exceptions for those who fail to read site policy! Following policy ensures a smooth road down to success on the Chipmunks Wiki, though violations of policy can will result in warnings and further consequences.

Changes/Comments to the above section: 

Creating Articles

As of now, Chipmunks Wiki Munkapedia allows canon articles, as they both contribute nicely to this the wiki, though they need to be in a certain formatting correctly formatted.

• Canon Articles - A canon article consists of material that is considered “official” in a fan base. They need a source (that doesn't have to be written down like an episode or film) to support there the information contained within them. They need to be on notable topics and can't be quick details, such as "Alvin's Nose." They also must have a relevant category that contains other related articles. related to it, such as Category:Humans, labeled on the bottom of the page.
• Fanon Articles - Please note that fan fiction articles are no longer allowed on Munkapedia however they are allowed on the fan fiction sister site of Munkapedia at the following link:

http://alvinfanon.wikia.com/wiki/Special:WikiActivity (Moved below)

• Cited Articles - If an article is about a new topic like a new film or contains a controversial claim, cited sources must be included within the article’s reference section.

Unacceptable Articles and Editing

Like all wikis, Munkapedia does not allow:

• Spam - such as "ALVIN IS GAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY" or "Theodore's fat!" Any edit or post that seeks to advertise an irrelevant product or scam users.
• Vandalism - such as "HELLLOOOOOOOOO HONEY BUNSSSSSSS!!!!!!!"
• Profanity - such as “F**k you!”, “S**t”, or “Whore”
• Unrelated articles - Articles unrelated with no relevance to the wiki, such as "Simon Cowell" or "Harry Potter"
• Fan fiction (Fanon Articles) - Fan fiction is no longer allowed on Munkapedia, Please only create fanfiction articles on the fanon site as linked above. however, these types of articles are allowed on our sister site, Chipmunk Fanon Wiki.

For additional help on how to be a beneficial editor, read these Editing Tips.

Changes/Comments to the above section:

Uploading Pictures

We welcome pictures, but they need to meet these guidelines. Please read this and the next section carefully before uploading any pictures to the wiki.

Types of Images

• Personal Pictures - Any pictures of you and/or family members can only be used for your Avatar. If they are uploaded and used anywhere else (including blogs) or not at all, they will be subject to deletion. Linking to a personal pic in a blog is an acceptable alternative. Please remember that this wiki is not Facebook.
• Irrelevant Pictures - Any pictures that do not deal with the franchise can be used for your Avatar and on your user page or in a blog only, though you're encouraged to link to the picture in a blog instead of uploading it. Personal advertisment also falls into this category. 
• Inappropriate Pictures - Any picture that promotes and/or demonstrates violence, child endangerment, drugs, or illegal behavior is not allowed and will be deleted regardless of where the picture is on the wiki.
• Official Images -  Any picture that displays the original artwork used in the official production of the series or film. These kinds of images are the only type of image allowed for representing the characters on the main pages and are the preferred type of image anytime the characters are referenced. Official images can include those that have had the background of the image removed but the character art itself is unchanged.

Image Quality - Please do not upload any picture with poor quality. Pictures of your television and full screen shots of pictures online are highly discouraged. These images don't add much for the viewer and will be deleted.

Fan Art 

Any image that is created or modified by a fan falls under our loose definition of "fan art." Since Munkapedia does not allow fanfiction, fan art must be closely reviewed. Unlike text fanfiction, which is allowed on blogs, images that are considered to be fanfiction will be deleted regardless of where they are on the wiki. Those images that are allowed can only be posted on a user page or blog. Any picture not on one of these types of pages or placed on a main page will be deleted.

What Fan Art falls directly as fanfiction?

• Recolored Official Images - Any image consisting of official artwork that was modified to have different colors. Examples include, but are not limited to, changing the color of Alvin's hoodie from red to green or giving Simon purple eyes and long yellow hair. These are not art and are unacceptable, period.
• Unconfirmed Images - Any image that has not be confirmed to be official artwork. An example could include a picture of a "new" character from an unconfirmed film. This wiki does not spend or endorse rumors.
• Unofficial Images - Any image representing an event or action that does not take place in one of the series or films. Pictures with content added to them are also included in this definition. 
• Modified Official Images - Any official image that has been modified in any other way not listed in the "Modified Official Images" section below.

What Fan Art doesn't specifically fall under fanfiction?

• ​Hand-Drawn Images - Any hand drawn official character or scene that is recognizable. Not to be offensive but badly drawn artwork is not acceptable and can be deleted.
• Modified Official Images - Any official image that has had text added to it and/or the light intensity of the background modified. Any color or content changes are not acceptable. These types of images aren't encouraged but are allowed to a limited extent. 

Changes/Comments to the above section:

We need to address whether or not fan pics fall into fanfiction as well as creating a definition if it doesn't. We also need to address recolored and other edited official artwork and whether they should be allowed in the site gallery. DEmersonJMFM (talk) 03:58, February 23, 2013 (UTC)

I have just added my thoughts on uploading pictures. Your Admin: DEmersonJMFM (Talk) 02:40, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

Council of Chipmunks Policy

The Council of Chipmunks makes all the decisions for Munkapedia involving including, but not limited to, blocking problem users, making new policies, removing unworthy council members, granting users sysop tools, and adding council members, etc. Any user who has contributed to the wiki nicely may be voted to the council, which gives them Rollback rights automatically. Nobody All members in the council has more power than the other, as all members are have equal power. New editors are to be told of their opportunities of at joining the council and must be directed on the right path by the council members to maintain success. (Use this template {{Template:Council Opportunities}})

(New Paragraph) All members must be active (logging-in at least one time per week and editing at least one time every two weeks) and can not cannot come log-in only once a month. (emphasis added) A discussion can be started by any member and is open for two weeks after the date a motion is proposed. If a council member does not vote in time, there their vote will not count. A proposal needs at least two supporting votes or the majority, whichever is larger, in order to go into effect. A proxy can be chosen to replace an absent member's vote in the event of a tie.

No council member has more power than a new editor; they have just been entrusted to make decisions. Council members are encouraged though to promote beneficial editing from new editors. Most new editors will likely become council members anyway, however, as there is only one major requirement. All users are also allowed to vote for Featured Articles, voice there their opinions, and many other things. If a council member ever tries to stop any user from voicing their opinions, they will lose their position automatically and without voting.

Changes/Comments to the above section:

The third sentence in the second paragraph makes no sence and it is not complete. I believe this should be removed. DEmersonJMFM (talk) 03:58, February 23, 2013 (UTC)

User Rights

New Users

New users of Munkapedia will be welcomed immediately and accepted into Munkapedia warmly. No council member is to ever berate them on their status or silence them, no matter what tools certain members they have. Due to Munkapedia having five council members, the process of taking new users into the Council category will be as follows.

• A council member who is not up for demotion will nominate a user they find worthy of the position.
• The Council will discuss whether or not to accept the user, and if they disagree, they must provide a sensible reason or their objection will be considered null and void. Also, a straight "Yes" or "No (because)" must be given. not A "Maybe" or an "I don't care" is not acceptable.
• If the majority of the active council agrees, the user will become a member. If they choose to accept the responsibilities of the position, they will be taken out of the "new user" category and accepted as a major Chipmunk editor.
• If the user abuses their position and/or is blocked for spam or vandalism, they will lose their position without discussion and permanently.
• A member can also be demoted if they become inactive or are voted out of the council by majority vote for a reasonable reason.

Changes/Comments to the above section:

We currently have six members in the council and the policy says there will be five. There should be an odd number no matter the number. Thoughts? DEmersonJMFM (talk) 03:58, February 23, 2013 (UTC)

Council Members

Rollback

If a user is accepted into the council, they will automatically be given Rollback, or though it could be the other way around. Rollback is an extra tool that allows one to quicker quickly revert of bad edits or vandalism by having a "rollback" link next to the "undo" link in an article's history section. This certainly tool is not a form of power, it is just but an additional benefit intertwined with you’re the position as a council member, the real honor. If a user abuses this tool, they will lose it and, by vote of the council, could lose their role in the council as well.

Administrators

Administrators, usually simply called "Admins," are simply the senior users of Munkapedia. They have been given special tools, such as the ability to delete pages, that allow them to clean up the wiki a bit more than the average user, making them somewhat of the janitors to of the wiki.

(New Paragraph) When an admin goes inactive and their tools are being wasted, a Council member that can be trusted with the tools may receive them.(Moved below) Admins have no power, and they are equivalent to the Council of Chipmunks. However, when the council is at a major disagreement, the Admins do finally become more than just users with extra tools. The council is to be temporarily disbanded and the Admins will decide on the matter on the admin talk page. When the decision has been decided, the Admins will once again be considered as normal users.

(New Paragraph) When an Admin goes inactive for more than six months and their tools are being wasted, they will lose their rights and position on the council. If a council member that can be trusted with the tools at that time, they may receive them. If an Admin abuse their rights, they will lose them.

Bureaucrats

Bureaucrats, usually simply called "Crats," are, like Admins, also considered regular council members all the time, and they only seem to be more than regular when an important decision that the council disagrees on must be reached. In addition to the tools of an Admin, Crats are only giving one extra tool, and its it’s have the ability to grant user rights. The Crat does not decide whether to give a user rights, the council makes this decision. something the council members decide, not the crat.

(New Paragraph) The role of a Crat is only given to the most trusted users of the community, usually Admins. When a Crat goes inactive for more than six months and their tools are being wasted, the council will vote on whether or not they should retain their rights. If they abuse their right, they will lose their tools. Currently, the crats are HaloFan500 and SJ4evr, Marchbaby, and DEmersonJMFM.

Changes/Comments to the above section:

Blocking Policy

Sadly, not every user is a good user, and if you can't change a bad guy, the second best thing to do is get him out of your and other's lives. This is what blocking is for. Blocking is when spammers, vandals, and problem users and IPs, along with alter ego accounts of vandals and problem these users and IPs, lose their ability to edit Munkapedia for a certain amount of time. Only users with certain tools can block users, and it is though it’s not fun at all to block users anyway in the first place. Only Admins can block spammers and vandals without a vote from the council.

Spammers

Spam (not to be confused with vandalism) consists of any edit or post that seeks to advertise an irrelevant and/or inappropriate product or scam users through unwanted advertising or linking specifically to another website with the purpose of subjecting users to such. There a ZERO TOLERANCE for spam and is to be dealt with swiftly and severely. Extensive spamming is to be reported to the VSTF.

Consequences for Users & IPs

• First Offense: The user is automatically blocked permanently.

If the user tries to return with a new account and are caught, their "alter-ego" account will be blocked permanently as well.

Changes/Comments to the above section:

Vandals

Users - Vandal is the term for someone who tampers negatively with pages, such as removing content and adding inappropriate (vulgar, gibberish, etc) content. Each vandal account will be given one warning, and if they vandalize again, it will be an automatic one week block. If they return and do it again, the block will extend to one year. If they try to return as a new account and they are caught, they and their "alter-ego" account will face infinite blocking.

Consequences for Users

• First Offense: A warning is given informing them to stop their behavior.
• Second Offense: The user is automatically blocked for one week.
• Third Offense: The block on the user is extended to three months.
• Fourth Offense: The block on the user is extended to six months.
• Fifth Offense: The block on the user becomes permanent.

A block can be longer depending on the damage created. If the user tries to return with a new account and are caught, both they and their "alter-ego" account will be blocked for one year unless they were blocked permanently. IPs - An IP vandal is given two warnings before being blocked, and is then given the same procedures as a regular user, though they should almost never be blocked infinitely.

Consequences for IPs

• First Offense: A warning is given informing them to stop their behavior.
• Second Offense: The IP is automatically blocked for two days.
• Third Offense: The block on the IP is extended to one week.
• Fourth Offense: The block on the IP is extended to three months.
• Fifth Offense: The block on the IP is extended to six months.
• Additional Offenses: The IP is blocked for an additional six months.

A block can be longer depending on the damage created. An IP account should almost never be blocked permanently.

Changes/Comments to the above section:

Problem Users

Problem users are user accounts who say they are editing constructively, when in reality they are just being troublesome and annoying. A user can be seen as a problem user if they are copying-and-pasting pages from Wikipedia or other sites to create new articles or if they are constantly adding false or irrelevant information to articles.

Consequences for Problem Users

The Council of Chipmunks will discuss the blocking of problem users, and, if blocked, they will stay blocked for a year. If they return as an alter-ego and they are discovered (most of the time they are), they and their "alter-ego" will be blocked forever.

• First Offense: A warning is given informing them to stop their behavior.
• Second Offense: If the Council of Chipmunks decides to block the problem user, they will be blocked for six months.
• Third Offense: The block on the user is extended to one year.
• Fourth Offense: The block on the user becomes permanent.

A block can be longer depending on the damage created. If the user tries to return with a new account and are caught, both they and their "alter-ego" account will be blocked for one year unless they were blocked permanently.

Changes/Comments to the above section:

Sockpuppets

Sockpuppets, or "alter-ego" accounts, are user accounts made by the same person who has already created an account that has either been blocked as a result of being deemed a spammer, vandal, or problem user. If a sockpuppet admits who they are the minute they are accused of being one, they may not be blocked infinitely receive an additional block as policy states, or they will be given a second chance and not be blocked at all, depending on the damage they've caused. Suspected sockpuppets will be closely monitored by the Council of Chipmunks and while extremely suspect suspicious and obvious sockpuppets may be blocked instantly. A former vandal needs to work twice as hard to get into the Council.

Chat

This Wiki has a chat feature that allows multiple users to communicate between each other instantly. Those users who abuse this feature by using profanity or by being disrespectful can be blocked from using it. Chat Moderators do not have to get a vote from council to block a user from chat.

Consequences for Users

• First Offense: A warning is given informing them to stop their behavior.
• Second Offense: The user is automatically blocked for one week.
• Third Offense: The block on the user is extended to three months.
• Fourth Offense: The block on the user becomes permanent.

Changes/Comments to the above section:

Forum

Munkapedia’s forum, The Chipmunks and Chipettes, is an affiliated third party site that replaced our old forum. If you decide to register to become a member of this forum, you will be subjected to their rules and blocking policies.

Miscellaneous

The only other ways a user that edits here can be blocked is either for vandalizing another wiki, in which they would be blocked half the time they are on the other wiki. Users with unacceptable user names, such as "Shit" will be blocked infinitely, though if they return as sockpuppets, they will almost always get a second chance.

Protection Policy

Since this wiki is small and very liberal, very few pages will be protected by Admins. Only almost perfect images, templates, and the admin talk page and pages will be fully protected to sysop level. Character and couple pages are protected against moves to sysop level. Pages with a high amount of vandalism and pages that IPs are not aloud allowed to edit on (The Council of Chipmunks page and talk page) or those that are currently involved in an editing war can be protected, usually temporary. Users with sysop tools can protect should not protect their user pages to sysop level if they want, though it is advised they do not unless it has been hard-hit by vandalism. Some high traffic pages are protected to prevent edits by IPs and can only be edited by users that have an account. Most pages can be edited by anyone.

Changes/Comments to the above section:

I think the first sentence about users being blocked as a result of being blocked on other Wiki's should be removed. DEmersonJMFM (talk) 03:58, February 23, 2013 (UTC)

New Additions

Please include any sections you would like me to add below.

Additions:

Formatting

This formatting is directed at overall site and some article pages.

Background Theme

If you haven't noticed, the background site pic was changed at the request of a couple editors who informed me that the cartoon art was incorrect. I looked into the matter and made the changes accordingly. 

I wanted to ask whether or not I should go one step further and add the 80s and CGI Chipettes below the Chipmunks.

Comments:

Character Pages

The same couple editors brought to my attention the Character pages. Last year, there was a vote to determine which type of photo to include on the character pages. I believe we should adopt a different policy for these pages. I was informed that Munkapedia is not as cartoon friendly as it could be and as a result, fans of the cartoons do not feel welcome. Though I'm not a huge cartoon fan, I have to agree. The cartoons are just as important as the CGI versions.

I propose that the profile pictures be changed. Not to an individual version, but to a combination. Viewers of the site need to realize that both versions are just as important to each other. I have an example to the right here. 

Formatting of the character pages also needs to change. The content on these pages leans too much to CGI and shadows the cartoons. I recommend this formatting as follows:

Intro Info

• Biography
  • ​80s Series
  • CGI
• Appearance
  • ​80s Series
  • CGI
• Trivia
• See Also

References

These concerns over formatting can be found in more detail on the Improvements blog.

Comments:

Welcome Messages

I know how to change the welcome messages for the site. Please let me know if you would like to see anything specific in them.

Comments: