HRFWiki:Fanstuff Guidelines
From Funny Wiki
Before you read this, please read our standards. A lot of it applies here, so look over it twice. Look over it until you memorize it. However, there are a few rules that you should follow here to make things more enjoyable by everyone.
Reporting Rule Breaking Fanstuff
See some fanstuff that breaks the rules? Want to help fix it? Then report it using the templates found on this page!
1: General
These rules generally apply to all fanstuff.
1.1
- Any article here is written for the public. Anyone can edit whatever they want, unless it is protected by an administrator. However, please try to improve, not do work for other people. If a user reverts your alteration to his or her fanstuff, please respect that. Please don't get overprotective over your work or add a "Do not edit this page" notice to it.
1.2
- Do not use any words/themes/etc. that would not be on the official Homestar Runner website. Any minor cases of this will get a warning, but extreme cases will be blocked. Censored or abbreviated profanity is not allowed.
1.3
- When transcribing stories or emails, please follow the transcription standards. This includes CAPITALIZING AND BOLDING the speaker's name and using {italic and curly brackets} for non-spoken actions and scenarios.
1.4
- Use good grammar and spelling. Make sure your stuff is readable. Slight errors can be tolerated, but horribly written text needs to be rewritten correctly. If you don't know how to spell a word, Dictionary.com is a good place to find out.
1.5
- For fanstuff that uses multiple pages, you need to use subpages. This includes but is not limited to email shows, multi-chaptered fan fictions and hyperfiction. If you do not know how to use subpages, the paragraph below will teach you.
Say, for example, you have a fanstuff called Homestar Runner Fan Fiction, and you have different pages for every different chapter, then each chapter page must be a subpage of it - so Chapter 5 should be called something like Homestar Runner Fan Fiction/Chapter 5, and not called Chapter 5.
1.6
- With the exception of Awards, all fanstuff must heavily feature characters, places and/or scenarios of the Homestar Runner website.
1.7
- When using H*R characters with official set personalities, you need to make them act in character. Only rare exceptions are allowed and only when it makes sense with the plot of the story.
1.8
- Do not copy large amounts of text off of the knowledge base or any other non-original source, including transcripts of toons. Do not copy off of other people's fanstuff without their permission. Do not duplicate your fanstuff on multiple pages. All of these are plagiarism.
1.9
- You are not allowed to sell any Homestar Runner fanstuff to make money, even if it is your own. Unless you get a license directly from The Brothers Chaps themselves, profiting in any way from their work is illegal.
1.10
- Do not use the terms "admin", "administrator", "sysop", "reservist", "bureaucrat", "proprietor", or "developer" in your fanstuff when not referring to users with those titles. These terms are reserved for official use only.
1.11
- If other users can add on to your fanstuff, you should not explicitly state any rule for it that is already mentioned in the Fanstuff Guidelines. Likewise, you should not allow other users to break the Fanstuff Guidelines.
2: Email Shows
These rules apply to all types of email shows: Other Character Email, Fake Character Email and Wiki User Email.
2.1
- (repealed)
2.2
- All emails must be at least 20 lines long, not counting blank spaces, summary, easter eggs, fun facts or the email the character receives. (Note that emails created before June 1st, 2006 adhered to a smaller 10-line limit.)
2.3
- (repealed)
2.4
- Don't add an email show to the list of emails unless you plan to use it.
2.5
- If you have not yet owned an email show, you must try out first. Any email shows created without an owner tryout will be deleted on sight.
2.6
- (repealed)
2.7
- (repealed)
3: Signatures
A signature, or sig, is the writing that you sign after talk page comments by using three or four tildes (~~~ or ~~~~). When you press the "save page" button, the tildes are converted to your sig. To set your sig, log in, go to Preferences, and put what you want for your sig in the "Your nickname" box. However, it must follow the below rules. If you use a template for your sig, then the template must follow the below rules too.
3.1
- Your sig cannot be longer than either YOUR USERNAME + 6 NORMAL-SIZED CHARACTERS or YOUR USERNAME + 12 SMALL CHARACTERS. This is normal sized text. This is small text. You can mix it, and have normal sized and small characters, but remember that 2 small characters equal 1 normal sized character.
3.2
- Your sig cannot contain characters larger than text this size. All big text must be shrunken.
3.3
- It's recommended that you use a template for your sig, to make it easy for you to change your sig. However, the template must be a subpage of your userpage, for example, User:YOUR USERNAME/sig. If that's where your sig is located, then using {{User:YOUR USERNAME/sig}} will make your sig appear. Do not use Template:YOUR USERNAME's sig.
- If you've been using something like "Template:YOUR USERNAME's sig" for your sig template for a long time, it is alright to keep the page (to prevent instances of the old template from not working). Just ensure that in the future, you use "User:YOUR USERNAME/sig", and whenever you see your old template, that you replace it.
3.4
- If your sig contains code that takes up more space than one whole line in an edit box, you need to either get rid of some of the code, or make it into a template. (For information on how to do the latter, see the above rule.)
3.5
- If you choose to have an image in your sig, it must be no more than 15 pixels tall. To have your image automatically resize, make it like this:
[[Image:IMAGENAME.art|15px]]. This will not work on images that are much taller than wide. Images whose width is 10 pixels or less count as one normal-sized character. Anything wider counts as two normal-sized characters. Images that stretch lines extra high or low must be resized to not do so.
3.6
- Your signature should include your username or something similar to it. You are allowed to abbreviate, make minor alterations to, and add additional words and symbols next to your name, but it must be easy to tell it's still you.
3.7
- Bright colors such as the default yellow and white text isn't allowed in signatures. If you wish to use similar colors, goldenrod and gray are possible alternatives.
4: Userpages
These rules apply specifically to userpages and userpage subpages (in other words, anything in the User: namespace).
4.1
- All user subpages must be related to either the user, the wiki community, or Homestar Runner in some way. Unrelated content or fanstuff, such as random drawings or wiki user sprite comics, are not allowed, even if they are related to the user or the wiki community: these types of fanstuff are best suited to the Wiki User Wiki.
4.2
- No "hate", "dislike", "on notice" lists about users or anything related are allowed. Lists listing "liked" users and such are okay.
5: Reviews
These rules apply to those using the "review" tab to give advice on other's fanstuff.
5.1
- You can reply to others' reviews, but please do not review your own fanstuff.
5.2
- Review as yourself, not as a fake or Homestar Runner character. While you can be funny in your review, please be sure to make it clear and informative as well.
5.3
- Be polite when reviewing someone else's fanstuff. Giving a negative review is okay as long as it isn't overly rude and mean. Try to help the user by stating exactly what was done wrong and how it can be made better.
