Wongery:Talk page guidelines

While the Central Wongery mainspace is closed to editing except by the Grandmaster Wongers, the talk pages can be edited by any registered user. However, this isn't to say that users should just post whatever they want there. The following "dos" and "don'ts" set forth some guidelines as to what should and shouldn't be posted on the Wongery's talk pages.

Yes, there are more "don't"s than "do"s. The Wongery discussion pages should be used sparingly; they aren't intended to become a forum for general discussions. (That's what the lounge is for.) Before you post on a discussion page, please consider carefully and make sure your post is in accordance with these guidelines. Repeated violation of the "don't"s may result in temporary or permanent bans from posting.

Please note that the "don'ts" here are not necessarily an exhaustive list of objectionable behavior on Wongery discussion pages. The Wongery is a private webpage, and the Grandmaster Wongers reserve the right to end discussions or ban users for any reason, with or without publicly explaining the reasons for the ban. This doesn't mean we intend to ban users wantonly or frivolously—we hope never to have to ban anyone at all—; we just want to make it clear that just because you technically followed the letter of the guidelines on this page it doesn't mean we can't ban you if you do something we consider sufficiently objectionable.

(At some point, we hope to be in a position to recruit more people to act as moderators; this is not a job the Grandmaster Wongers particularly enjoy. At the moment, though, it's just us, so we're stuck moderating...)

• Do post to ask a question about something you think is unclear in the article, or to make a suggestion for something you would like the Wongery to expand on in the future. (That doesn't mean your question will necessarily be answered, or your suggestion followed—we have a lot on our plate, and we may want to leave some things intentionally vague—, but we'll try to take it into account.)
• Do post to point out typos or grammatical errors. (Only if you're sure they really are errors, however; please don't post about non-errors such as ending a sentence in a preposition or splitting infinitives. See the grammar guidelines on the Public Wongery for more information on this.)
• Do post, also, to correct mistakes in articles that deal with mathematics, biology, and other real-world subjects. Try to link to some published source that backs you up, though, so we don't just have to take your word for it.
  • Don't, however, try to use the Wongery discussion pages as a forum to promote fringe scientific or pseudoscientific theories. You may object to some of what is presented in the Wongery as real-world science, but unless you can show us that the mainstream scientific community agrees with you, that's not our problem. (Anyway, as we say in the general disclaimer, the Wongery is not necessarily intended as a reliable source for real-world information, which makes it a particularly pointless place to have such a discussion.)
• Don't post irrelevant spam on the discussion pages, especially linkspam. In fact, don't even post relevant spam or linkspam. No matter how much you think it relates to the article, the Wongery discussion pages are not the place to promote any site, product, or service.
• Do post to point out a significant use of a particular concept or entity that you think should be mentioned in the "In Fiction" section to an article.
  • Don't use this as an excuse to promote your own work, though. If you go on at length in a discussion page about your own creation, even if it's related in some way to the article's topic, and especially if you post a link to some commercial site related to your creation, we will regard that as spam. We don't like spam.
  • Don't complain if the item you pointed out doesn't get added to the "in fiction" section of the article, even if it's not your own creation. The "in fiction" sections of Wongery articles are not meant as exhaustive lists of every time the corresponding concepts have come up, and there are fictional examples of some of the Wongery's topics that we are aware of but chose not to mention. If we don't add a particular example that you point out, therefore, there may be a reason for it. We will not feel obligated to explain that reason, and are not likely to be well disposed toward someone who demands that we do so.
• Do read the rest of the discussion page before posting, to make sure you're not repeating something that's already been discussed.
• Do remain civil in your comments. Comments belittling or insulting other posters are not appropriate. (Though we admit we may be more likely to tolerate such comments directed at posters that annoy us. We'll try to apply the standard consistently to everyone, but, hey, we're human.)
• Don't post on the Wongery just to say how much you like or dislike a page. As much as we may be flattered by comments like "I really like this monster" or "I'm going to use this in my campaign!", we'd really rather the discussion page not turn into just a compilation of fluff like that. This particular "don't" isn't cause for banning (unless you really overdo it and start posting empty comments on a huge number of pages, and keep doing so even after a warning), but it's still something to be avoided.
• Don't post on the Wongery discussion pages just to say you find a page offensive or inappropriate, or why. The general disclaimer is there for a reason. There may be material here that some may find offensive, but you should have known what you were getting into.
• Don't claim that you can say whatever you want on the Wongery discussion pages because of "free speech". The Wongery is a privately funded and operated webpage. You may be legally free to write what you want, but we're not required to allow you to publish it on our site. We have every right to monitor, delete, or censor comments if we feel it appropriate, and to block users who persist in making such inappropriate comments.
• Don't try to continue a discussion after a Grandmaster Wonger has made it clear he considers the subject closed. Even if you're absolutely sure you're right and we're wrong. The Grandmasters have other things to do than get into prolonged debates. (Seriously, for the most part the Grandmaster Wongers do not enjoy arguments; attempts to draw them into one aremore likely to get you banned than to actually result in an extended exchange.)
  • Don't protest that a subject can't be closed because you haven't gone against any of these guidelines. The Grandmasters reserve the right to declare discussions closed for any reason, not limited to those outlined here. Mostly, they may just not be interested in arguing.
  • Don't try to reopen a closed discussion you weren't originally involved in, either. Posting something like "I know you already went over this with So-And-So a few months ago, but there are some points he didn't bring up that I feel are important" will not lead to a reconsideration of the matter, nor will it improve the Grandmaster Wongers' disposition toward you.
• Don't delete another user's comments (or your own, for that matter, if someone's replied to them). The Grandmasters reserve the right to delete comments they find inappropriate, but other users shouldn't. (Obvious linkspam is an exception here. You can feel free to go ahead and delete that.)
• Don't assume if the Grandmasters don't reply to your comment that they're ignoring you, or, conversely, that they must not have anything to say because they agree with you. It may simply be that there are more comments than they can keep up with, and they may not have time to reply to every one. (This may not turn out to be an issue... at this point, we're just starting this out; we have no real idea what the volume of comments is going to be.)
• Do sign your comments. You can do this by writing four tildes ("~~~~") after them.
• Don't cite Wikipedia guidelines to back up your position. The Wongery is not Wikipedia. Its guidelines do not necessarily apply here.