Basic summary of this guideline: Assume good faith, stay on topic, and make sure your posts are on the correct board. Keep your posts legible, and title threads appropriately. Respect other users' opinions even if you disagree with them. Forum moderators are users who have several additional abilities for use in the forums. Users with this right are responsible for maintenance and moderation on the forums, though they do not have the ability to restrict users from accessing the forums. Users may be nominated for this right at Terraria Wiki:Rights Nominations#Forum Moderators |
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This page details a Terraria Wiki guideline. Unlike a These forums guidelines present a default standard of conduct that all users who utilize the forums should practice. Administrators and forum moderators (clearly identified by their respective tags) will enforce these guidelines at their discretion.
General guidelines[]
- Assume good faith — As with the rest of the wiki, it should be assumed that users are not looking to actively disrupt the forums unless proven otherwise.
- That said, it's suggested that forum moderators utilize polite verbal warnings before resorting to any disciplinary action and only use their extra rights in the case of users who continue being disruptive in light of the warning.
- Avoid double posting — Double posting is when a user posts two responses to a thread, one right after the other, rather than editing in the content of the second post into the first one. This tends to cause threads to become cluttered, which should be avoided. Posting two of the same kind of thread is also discouraged.
- Avoid necro'ing dead threads — "Necro'ing" a thread is responding to a thread that has not been responded to for a few months. This is not advised because there is usually little to no need to bring a thread back that's months old, so please refrain from doing so.
- Do a quick search first — Users are encouraged to do a brief search on the wiki, forums or discussions before starting a new thread in order to avoid repeating threads that contain a common topic. A user should not rely on asking others about everything found in the game.
- Avoid spamming — Excessive usage of emoji, caps, stretched words/numbers, posting random gibberish, starting every word in a sentence with a capital letter, and adding unnecessary gaps in between sentences have a tendency to inconvenience and annoy other users, so please refrain from doing so.
- Creating threads that serve no purpose other than to make a personal statement instead of asking a query or encouraging a discussion should also be avoided.
- Posting good quality threads done in a quick succession will qualify as spam, please be considerate of other user's threads that are being buried by your own.
- Keep it relatively clean — As a general rule, conversation should not get too much more explicit than the innuendos found in Terraria itself.
- Inappropriate language — Using profanity is strongly discouraged, especially when used against another forum member and action will be taken at the discretion of the moderators/admins present at the time.
- Proper image use — Images used to show context for a topic should be clear and properly cropped. Please refrain from posting large images that could unnecessarily fill up the entire thread.
- Keep thread titles concise — The title field should briefly describe what a thread is about. Thread titles should not include a fully detailed description of an issue a user is having, as that is what the content field is for.
- Add a thread body for context — Threads should contain text in the content field elaborating on the subject matter presented in the title, regardless if there is an image provided.
- Leave moderation to the forum moderators — It is fine to let other users know about maintenance issues regarding threads they have created, as that gives an opportunity for an issue to be fixed without moderator intervention. Additionally, it is almost always acceptable to make other users aware of these forum guidelines. However, moderation issues (such as threads devolving into heated arguments) should be left to the forum moderators.
- Note that English is the main language here — Speaking in another language is not prohibited but should be avoided, please keep in mind that this is the English Terraria Wiki where most users only understand English.
- Respect the opinions of other users — By definition, an opinion is "a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge." Respect of the opinions of other users in discussions and debates is very important, and this guideline should be followed very carefully.
- It is important to note that everyone is allowed to have their own opinion. Attempting to dismiss someone else's opinion as invalid or irrelevant will most likely result in a warning from a forum moderator.
- Recognize that opinions are by their very nature subjective, and thus avoid presenting them as objective fact.
- On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that disagreement with one's opinion is not necessarily disrespecting said opinion. This guideline is not a trump card which can be used to end a debate in any given user's favor.
- Stay on topic — Please do not stray away from the topic of the thread. Doing so will potentially result in a warning from forum moderators to stay on topic. If a forum moderator sees that a thread is badly derailed, they may choose to close it.
- Use common sense — There are lots of things which should just not be done in public internet locations. Specifically, posting links to pornography, shock sites, or screamers is a swift way to get indefinitely blocked.
- Do not toe the line — Trying to "push your luck" to see how much you can get away with is a bad idea. If you do so repeatedly, forum moderators will be less likely to assume good faith in future incidents.
A block from the Wiki of an appropriate length may be given if any of the above rules are not followed.
Board purposes[]
Administrator's Noticeboard[]
This board is for posting anything relating specifically to the wiki. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Asking questions about the wiki
- Contacting the Terraria Wiki administration team as a whole
- Opening discussions regarding proposed site changes
- Reporting spam or vandalism
General Discussion[]
This board is for general conversations about Terraria the game. The only Terraria-related discussions which do not belong on this board are those which fit better on other boards.
Game Help[]
This board is where users should go for Terraria-related help. Types of threads which fit on this board include:
- Asking and answering questions relating to in-game events or entities
- Requesting technical support
Multiplayer Matchmaking[]
- This board is for finding other people to play with. It is strongly recommended that users specify which platform and version of Terraria they are using.
- Giving away or requesting in-game items should be done here as well.
Fan Ideas[]
This board is for users to post their game suggestions. Wiki-related suggestions go on the Administrator's Noticeboard.
- This thread is not for asking ideas on what to build or what items to use in the game.
Terraria Art Corner[]
This board is for posting Terraria art. In-game builds, like houses and pixel art go here, as well as photo-edited images of Terraria content.
- Please note that users are allowed to post art that they did not make themselves but claiming ownership of any piece of art that was made by a different user is prohibited.
Off Topic[]
This board is for non-Terraria content which does not fit on the other boards. However, certain content (in particular that which violates Wikia's Terms of Use (eg. advertisement spam, illegal content, abusive content/hate speech, etc.)) will still be removed from this board.
Forum moderators[]
| Shortcut: TW:FORUMMOD |
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Forum moderators are active forum users who have been deemed responsible enough to be trusted with the following additional abilities:
- Closing, reopening, removing, and restoring threads
- Editing replies by other users
- Removing and restoring replies
- Highlighting and un-highlighting threads
- Moving threads between boards
- Managing boards (editing names, descriptions, and order)
Rollbackers also have the ability to edit other users messages. As a result, users in this group are able to assist in moderation duties which make use of this ability.
Administrators have all of the above tools in addition to the ability to restrict users from using the forums by way of (blocks/an abuse filter blacklist). As a result, admins are the ones who enforce moderator action against users whose violations of these guidelines are particularly severe.
Responsibilities[]
The following sections illustrate how forum moderators are expected to use the above tools and what they are expected to use them for.
Maintenance[]
These routine tasks don't usually need any discussion or fanfare to be performed. Many of these tasks can also be performed by the originator of a particular reply or thread.
- Closing necro'd threads, preferably with an explanatory final post/closing reason
- Merging double posts
- Moving misplaced threads to the correct boards
- The moderator carrying this duty out should make a note in the forum that it was moved.
- Shortening excessively long titles
- This may also include moving the text of a title to the content area.
- Editing a message body for context, if one is missing or improperly made.
Moderation[]
In addition to the following issues which specifically always require moderator action, maintenance issues from the above section which are caused multiple times by the same user may be escalated to moderation issues at the discretion of the administrators and forum moderators. This can include consequences of such issues, including warnings and even blocks.
Minor issues[]
The moderator carrying out these tasks should also usually (but not necessarily always) give minor warnings to the users who caused them to be necessary in the first place.
- Removal of spam comments
- The user who posted the spam should be warned against posting in such a manner in the future.
- Mediation of forum-related user disputes
- Warning users who post disrespectfully
- Said users should be notified of the posts in question and pointed to these guidelines.
Serious issues[]
The user carrying out these tasks should also give severe warnings or blocks to the users who caused them to be necessary in the first place. Depending on the context, these tasks may need admin assistance to be fully carried out.
- Removal of offensive/vulgar content
- Depending on the severity of the content, the post should be edited and the offensive content removed, the offensive post should be removed, or the post containing the offensive content should be deleted.
- Also depending on the severity of the content, the user who posted the content should be strongly cautioned against continuing such behavior or blocked outright.
Who are the forum moderators?[]
In addition to all admins, the following users are forum moderators on this wiki. Users in this group are also always listed at Special:Listusers/threadmoderator.
Becoming a forum moderator[]
Any user can be nominated for this role by any other user at Terraria Wiki:Rights Nominations#Forum Moderators, though no user will ever be given this right without their consent and an administrator's approval. Users considered for this role should have a history of good contributions to the forums and should be generally trusted by the wiki's community.