User:Evkl/Talk page policy

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Revision as of 13:23, 13 May 2021 by Evkl (talk | contribs) (Small refreshes throughout; took away some casual language; made some minor substantive changes for review)
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273Seedot.png This is an official Bulbapedia policy. In a nutshell:
Talk pages are not forums for open discussion. They are to be used to discuss improvements to articles, templates and policies, or for direct communication with another user.

The Bulbapedia talk page policy explains how to use talk pages appropriately on Bulbapedia. You should follow these guidelines when editing a talk page or user talk page.

What is a talk page?

Click the discussion tab to go to the talk page.

A talk page is a built-in part of the MediaWiki software that runs Bulbapedia. Every namespace has its own talkspace; every article has a talk page attached to it. Every user has their own personal user talk page where you can leave them a message.

To get to an article's talk page, click the "discussion" tab at the top of the page. The talk page for this policy page can be found at User talk:Evkl/Talk page policy.

How should a talk page be used?

Generally, talk pages are for discussing how to improve an article. Talk pages can be used to:

  • Discuss errors or disputes of fact
  • Suggest new trivia
  • Question reliability of information
  • Ask another user on their user talk page for help, or help them

Editing in sections

Talk pages have their discussion topics ordered chronologically into sections. When you start a new topic, create it manually at the bottom of the page, or use the (+) button to do this automatically. This keeps talk pages in chronological order. Please title your section appropriately so others can see at a glance what you are talking about.

When you reply to a section started by someone else, indent your comments (using : for one indent; :: for two indents; etc) to distinguish them from the previous comments. New comments in a section must always go at the bottom of the section, regardless of where the comment being replied to is in the discussion, and be an additional level indented from the previous comment. This helps keep comments in order and prevents confusion as to what had been discussed prior to specific comments.

Signing comments

All comments left on talk pages must have a signature left afterwards. Unlike on most forums and message boards, this is not done automatically by the software. To leave a signature, either type ~~~~ or click button_sig.png (above the editing pane) when you have finished your contribution to the discussion.

Signing comments is required so that readers can identify who is saying what, and when they are saying it. If a recent comment has been left unsigned, then any editor may amend it with the {{unsigned}} template. If you forget to sign when you save the page, then you must add the unsigned template; otherwise the time stamps in the discussion will be wrong.

Talk page etiquette

  • Do not edit another user's discussion — even if it's full of spelling errors.
  • Removing comments is prohibited
    • Administrators may remove spam, content that would be better suited to the Bulbagarden forums, or a reply to a finished conversation older than six months
  • Do not reply to a conversation where the last update is more than six months old, unless an old conversation is still relevant and there is a good reason to revisit it
  • Do not leave overly long or confusing messages; organize your thoughts clearly for the benefit of other editors.
  • Keep the conversation in one place; this presents a clear narrative to others and allows the page history to be used to check the history of the discussion. This also allows additional users to know where to join in the conversation
  • Always abide by the code of conduct

When a talk page gets very long, it will be archived by a staff member or, in the case of a user talk page, the user.

What are inappropriate uses of a talk page?

Talk pages are not water coolers or places for general discussion. The Bulbagarden Forums should be used for all general discussion of Pokémon or community-related topics. For instance, on Bulbapedia talk pages, it is not acceptable to:

  • Post predictions or commentary related to a game or anime episode
  • Comment on the subject of the article (e.g. "I like Ash because he has a hat")
  • Leave abusive messages to a user on their user talk page
  • Use your own user talk page as a substitute for a user page (see Bulbapedia:Userspace policy#Circumventing the userspace policy)
  • Leave non-substantive or off-topic posts (e.g. "ok, thanks!")
  • Spam the same or similar messages across multiple pages
  • Have lengthy discussions not related to Bulbapedia. For this, use the Bulbagarden Forums' Private Message or Visitor Message functions.

If you post a comment on a talk page that is unacceptable for any of the above reasons, it may be removed by any other user. If you remove an unacceptable comment from a talk page, please state what is wrong with it in your edit summary.

If a user repeatedly leaves inappropriate messages on a talk page then they should be warned by a staff member and may be blocked.

My user talk page

Use the "page move" function to archive your talk page to a suitable location.

This page is your user talk page. Even so, you still need to abide by the rules of the talk page policy on this page.

Don't remove comments, including your initial welcome message. This is for historical purposes and so Bulbapedia staff don't give repeated warnings about the same thing. When your page gets long enough, you may archive it by moving it to a new location.

Archiving user talk pages

Instead of deleting any and all information on talk pages, you should archive your talk page by moving it to a new location. By simply copying and pasting the text, or by moving small sections at a time, it breaks the time line of the edit history.

An ideal location to move your talk page to is User:Username/Archive Number. So, if User:Example wanted to make his first archive, he would move his talk page to "User talk:Example/Archive 1". His second archive would be at "User talk:Example/Archive 2", and so on. Simple variations on this naming style are allowed, for example: "User talk:Example/First archive"; please avoid overly complex or obscure descriptions.

When you have finished creating your archive, remember to remove the redirect that will now be found on your talk page so that new discussions can take place. For ease of access, be sure to link to all of your archived talk pages on your new talk page.

Other user's talk pages

Like you, every user that registers has their own talk page, and like any other talk page, users still must abide by the rules of the talk page policy. However, there are a few specific rules users will need to follow when on another users talk page.

  • Users are allowed to have minor specific rules that fit their benefits, as long as they comply with this talk page policy
  • Staff are allowed to respond on other staff members' talk pages if the requested staff member is not available
    • Likewise, if the staff members share authority over a specific area, they are encouraged to respond to talk page messages on each other's talk page
  • If a discussion on a user's talk page starts to break the talk page policy, or the code of conduct, a staff member may intervene

See also