GuildWiki:Don't Be Stupid

Warwick's take:
Apparently, we promote stupidity, allowing idiots to reign supreme by getting around policies in ways so that they think they've gotten around them, and apparently we don't ban. I don't work that way. So, basically, I have a 3 strike system. If you are idiotic or just generally stupid 3 times in one week, I will ban you. First a day, then 3, then a week, then a month, then infinite.


 * What counts as being stupid?
 * Taking policies to the letter rather than the spirit. For instance, if you add a stupid note, somone reverts it without comment, and then you rerevert.
 * Uploading images with generic names repeatedly/after warnings, ie "gw043". We have to clear it up eventually, and it's extremely annoying.
 * Adding stupid notes to pages in general. If, for instance, you add "Devhammer works very well with mending".

Shouting Matches
A shouting match is when a small, disagreeing group of people (often only two) reply to each other in quick suggestion.

Shouting matches make talk pages explode, they are hard to read and sap other editor's energies off better tasks, and they make the wiki look bad. ''In other words, they're an explosion of stupidity. ''

How to get off one?

Please don't post at all when you find yourself doing a quick reply on the same topic for the second time.
 * Back off.
 * Let the matter rest for an hour or longer.

Then consider and re-evaluate: Assume the following: that even though the person you are discussing with may not have understood your point then and there, others have (and you'll be repetitive to them), and the people you want to argue with might be able to understand later and be more ready to when you haven't been insisting too hard. (And you'll look less stupid if it's been you who was wrong.)
 * Is what I am writing really new?
 * Is it really expressing my views better than before?

This is a wiki. It is not you and the other person. If you wait, others will have a chance to butt in and support you. Or they may be able to explain things to you in a way that the other person couldn't.
 * Give others time to participate.

Everything can be undone later. The one thing we can't undo is a huge shouting match that has exploded on the page. Descriptions, article changes, administrative actions can all be undone if we become convinced that they weren't good. We can afford the time to consider. Things are not as urgent as they feel.
 * There is nothing urgent on the wiki.

We're working together, not against each other.
 * If you feel you have to win an argument, you're doing it wrong.

Use the "Email this user" link in the sidebar of their userpage, if possible (leave a note on their talkpage for them to check their mail). Maybe you can use chat. Choose a person you trust to act as moderator and make your point to them (off-wiki) and ask them to pass it on. (The moderator should restate the point and not just copy/paste blindly, so that the discussion can focus on content; in effect, his role is to filter the emotions.)
 * If all else fails, contact your "opponent" off-wiki.
 * Use a moderator.

As a matter of policy, we warn people engaged in a shouting match:
 * You're in a shouting match with . Please back off and stop replying for a while.

If they don't back off, we block for an hour (block reason: Shouting Match and link to the page); if the shouting match continues, step up the ban length by an hour each time. When the user has gotten into a shouting match before, start off with the last ban length used then (because obviously that is the cooldown period that works for this user).