Tom the Cat Wiki:Rules

The following is a list of rules and guidelines which users are expected to abide by while editing on the Tom the Cat Wiki. Ignorance of the rules isn’t considered an acceptable excuse. Repeated failure to abide by the rules will result in warnings or possibly blocks.

User behavior

 * Anything that is against FANDOM’s Terms of Use is not allowed, no matter what.
 * Be polite when interacting with others.
 * Discrimination against other users for their race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or other such attributes will not be tolerated. We are all here to work together.
 * Do not edit others' user page(s) without the user’s permission. The only exception is if a staff member is editing to remove content that violates these rules.
 * Do not start edit wars. It is better to discuss your changes with others.
 * Do not vandalize or spam.
 * For your own safety, you are not obligated to post your personal information.
 * If an administrator points out that certain behavior is undesired, the user being targeted must heed the advice, regardless of whether it was explicitly disallowed in the rules.

Content

 * Because the Tom the Cat franchise was made by an animation studio founded in the United States, American English spellings are preferred. British spellings and terminology mentioned in a work should stay as-is.
 * This wiki's official language is English. No other languages are permitted to be used in articles.
 * Please try to write as formally as possible and use correct English grammar and spelling.
 * All content must be official.
 * Please write in third person. Do not write in first person; i.e., "I think..."
 * All content must be objective. Please try to keep articles as unbiased as possible, regardless of your opinions on the subject. Do not insert opinions, such as "This is the best cartoon ever!" or "I hate this character!" into articles.
 * Do not create pages that have no relevance to Tom the Cat.
 * Do not remove content from a page without explaining why in the edit summary.
 * Do not apply the tag to an article without explaining why, either on the template itself or in the edit summary.
 * Do not plagiarize content from any website. Write it in your own words.
 * Please add sources for information that is likely to be questioned, such as release dates, production information, and interviews.

Images

 * All images on articles must be official. No fan art or major edits (i.e., color swaps, memes) will be permitted.
 * "Fan art" is defined as any unofficial art featuring Tom the Cat characters, contents or settings.
 * Images should be of the highest quality possible. That means no photos taken off a computer or television screen, no upscaled low-resolution images, no cropped YouTube thumbnails, no YouTube video bars, etc.
 * No NSFW, gory, or pornographic images will be permitted. They will be deleted and the user blocked.

Talk pages

 * Users are expected to sign their comments with four tildes ( ~ ). This places their signature on the page.

Article comments

 * Article comments are only for comments. Discussions such as “Change this to italic” are not permitted and will be removed. If you want to discuss how to improve the article, go to the talk page.

User message walls

 * The only content you are allowed to remove from your message wall is:
 * Conversations unrelated to the wiki (i.e, "How was the baseball game last night?", "Did you watch the latest episode of The Simpsons last night?" "Are you going to get the newest Pokémon game?")
 * Blatant spam, vandalism, or trolling


 * The staff reserve the right to remove any content from your user page that they feel is inappropriate.
 * Do not remove warnings from staff. Doing so will be punished with a one-week block. During that time, the ability to use your message wall will be revoked. Any further offenses will result in the block being doubled. After the third such instance (which will usually result in a month-long block), the staff can use their discretion to determine if the block should be permanent.
 * Any user can appeal their block on their talk page. If a user is blocked from editing their talk page on the Tom the Cat Wiki and they do not feel that the block was deserved, they are welcome to go the blocking staff member’s message wall on Community Central and discuss it there.

Blocking (admins only)
Blocks are issued by administrators used to prevent users from editing the Tom the Cat Wiki, and should only be used to prevent further disruption. Blocks may be used for:
 * Vandalism
 * False information
 * Generally unconstructive edits
 * Trolling
 * Spamming
 * Repeated failure to heed reminders or warnings
 * Removing warnings from a staff member

Generally, if a user appears to be making edits in good faith but is going about it incorrectly, a reminder should be posted on their talk page reminding them of wiki procedures. If the disruptive edits continue, a warning should be issued. If the disruptive edits still continue, the user is eligible to be blocked.

The following factors should be used to determine whether a user should be blocked:
 * How long the user has been on the wiki (users who have been here for a short time will be given more leniency, but users who have been here a while should know better. Also, users whose first edits are disruptive are often vandals.)
 * The user's contributions on other wikis. Chances are if a user is vandalizing one wiki, they're a vandal on every other wiki they've edited on.
 * Whether the user has been blocked on any other FANDOM wikis, and the reasons why
 * Whether the user is replying back to any messages they have received
 * The nature of the edits. If a user's first edits are replacing an entire page with swear words or blanking five pages without explanation, chances are they're a vandal and have no interest in contributing constructively to the wiki.

Except in cases of unambiguous error (i.e., a user was mistaken for a vandal), blocks should not be lifted without approval from the rest of active staff.

If a user is engaging in obvious vandalism, spam, trolling on another wiki and the user proceeds to repeat their shtick on the Tom the Cat Wiki, the staff reserve the right to block the user indefinitely immediately.

Unless a user is posting unconstructive material on their talk page or removing warnings issued by staff, do not prevent a blocked user from editing their talk page.