UESPWiki:Etiquette

The UESPWiki is a collaborative effort which can only be successful if all members of the community ensure that they treat all other members with respect and civility. No community member should ever feel that they are personally unwelcome on the site. Although disagreements will inevitably occur, those discussions should maintain a constructive atmosphere where all contributors' opinions are welcome.

This page gives some general guidelines regarding etiquette and acceptable site conduct. All members of the UESPWiki community are expected to follow these basic guidelines to the best of their ability.

General

• Be patient and courteous. Remember, other editors have lives outside the wiki too, and not everyone speaks English as their first language. We all come from different backgrounds, so try to consider the other person's point of view before jumping to conclusions. Even when someone has been discourteous to you, it doesn't help anything to be rude in return.

• Always Assume Good Faith. If you don't understand what someone else was trying to do, assume they were doing it with the intention of improving the article. Be careful not to mistakenly label an inexperienced user's efforts as vandalism, as this can be very offensive to someone who was just trying to help.

• You don't have to be everybody's best friend, but it's important to be polite. If you can't say something nice, say it in a nice way.

• Remember, not everyone knows the site as well as you do. Encourage others to do their own research, but be patient with their questions and edits, even when the answer seems obvious to you. After all, the site exists to help Elder Scrolls players.

• When there is a disagreement over an edit, take it to a talk page. Not everybody knows about Recent Changes or article histories, so edit summaries are not a sufficient means of discussion. It's okay to let an edit you disagree with stand long enough to resolve the debate.

• We're all human, unless we're bots, and even bots aren't perfect. It's okay to make mistakes, but try to learn from them.

• Every member of this site is important to the success of the UESP, regardless of their edit count, user rights, or time spent here. Each user has the same right to give advice, ask questions, and edit pages as anyone else on the wiki.

• Although we encourage users to register an account with UESPWiki, many do not. Unregistered users are to be treated with the same respect as any other user on the site. There have been several very helpful and productive users who choose not to register, and it is entirely their right to make that choice. The only exception to this rule is in elections and votes, when only the votes of registered users will be counted.

When Conflict Arises

• Personal attacks are grounds for an immediate block, if the incident is serious enough. Some people are more easily offended than others, but it's always better to avoid saying something that could be hurtful to someone else. Personal attacks include everything from the obvious vandalism and name-calling to ill-intentioned sarcasm. If you can't decide whether something you're about to say counts as a personal attack, it's better not to say it.

• Who's right and who's wrong is less important than treating others with respect. "But he/she was wrong!" is not an excuse for treating someone poorly.

• In conflicts or heated debates, keep your cool and slow down. Your input will be considered even if you don't reply right away, and taking a time out is a good way to avoid saying something you might regret later.

• Stay on task. It's easy to get distracted when a debate takes a turn for the worse. When the discussion starts to turn into an argument, try to steer things back to the original conversation. Focusing on how to improve the site is a good way to defuse an unproductive argument.

• If a debate gets personal, don't be afraid to ask someone for help. Other users can often provide a neutral point of view to help turn a bad situation into a productive conversation.

• In rare cases, it may be necessary to implement an Interaction Ban.

• If you have a serious issue with or a concern about any user, contact an administrator. All UESPWiki administrators can be reached by email in addition to their talk pages.

Discord

• In addition to the guidelines posted at UESPWiki:Discord, all UESPWiki behavioral policies apply to the Discord server. It is not okay to harass other users on Discord, even in a private discussion. If you feel you have been a victim of abusive behavior, contact a ranked member.

See Also

• Policies and Guidelines
• Policies and Guidelines Category