The BIONICLE Wiki:Site Rules

These are the rules of Bioniclepedia. You are expected to have read them before beginning to edit. Following them will not be hard; this is just to warn you what will happen if these rules are violated.

Rating System
On Bioniclepedia we use a Rating System, where you must copy a template onto your userpage. An administrator will give or take points given on your behavior; you start at 0 and can go up to 10 or down to -10. Punishments will often involve rating subtractions, and seldom blocking. Gaining points is much more difficult, but also much more rewarding: once a month an administrator will increase the rating of users who have contributed a lot to the wiki. The more points you have, the more respected and trusted you will be in the community.

As a side note, only admins can change ratings. Do not try to change ratings or give yourself more than 0 points when copying your rating template to your page.

Rules and Punishments
Below are things that are not tolerated on Bioniclepedia, and what the consequences are for going against these rules.

Vandalism
Vandalism (using offensive language or being hostile in general, replacing or renaming pages, removing or rewriting pages with false information, etc.) is obviously prohibited on Bioniclepedia. Minor vandalism, such as adding false information (it will be easy to tell if you are just misinformed, and if so you will not be punished), will result in a warning, and if necessary, point reduction. Major vandalism will result in at least a 2-point reduction, and perhaps blocking if necessary.

Spoiler Policy
NOTE: Bioniclepedia is currently readjusting its spoiler policy; these guidelines are subject to change in the near future.

Whenever new story material is released, there is a certain period of time in which you cannot submit spoilers without spoiler tags (used like this: ), and in the case of books and movies, there is a ban period in which no spoilers may be posted at all. Penalty for failing to use spoiler tags is a 1-point reduction for each offense. Penalty for posting book/movie spoilers before the end of the ban period will result in a 2-point reduction for each offense. Below are the guidelines for when spoilers are okay to submit:

In the case of comics and serials, spoilers may be posted as soon as the comic arrives or the serial chapter is posted, but the spoiler tags must be used until the next comic or serial chapter. In the case of the last chapter in the serial, spoilers are allowed without a tag after one week.

As for books and movies, spoilers may not be posted at all until two weeks after the release date given by LEGO. This means that if the book or movie is available a month before its official release date, you must wait a month and two weeks before you can post spoilers. After the two-week ban period is up, spoiler tags must be used until the next book comes out, or until the next comic that advances the story further than the book comes out. (For example, if a book comes out in January, and the next book isn't released till July, but part of the July book's story is released in an April comic, spoiler tags are no longer needed for the January book.)

On the other hand, leaked names and images are never allowed at all. Submitting leaked information to this site will result in an immediate loss of 5 points at the least.

Images
You may only upload images that have to do with Bionicle to this website. Personal images, such as pictures of MOCs or something not related to Bionicle at all, are not allowed. However, as long as they are appropriate, these images can be allowed given that they have a Personal Image Stamp. Without a Personal Image Stamp, an image will be deleted 72 hours after the user is warned that it needs one. Also, if a personal image is not linked to on any pages, it will be deleted anyway.

Tense
All articles on Bioniclepedia except those about "real things" (Bionicle books, movies, etc.) should be written in past tense ("The Toa were heroes", not "The Toa are heroes"), from the point of view that the Bionicle storyline happened a long time ago. Disobeying the tense policy, unless done so intentionally, will not result in a punishment, only a warning.

Fan Fiction, False Info, and Theories
Fan fiction is not allowed on Bioniclepedia--the Custom Bionicle Wiki is where fan fiction belongs. Punishment for submitting fan fiction is a warning, and for repeated offenses could result in minor point reductions.

False information, when added inadvertantly, will bring no punishments; however when it was obviously done as vandalism, the consequences will be the same as if you did vandalize.

And theories, popular or not, are not permitted either. If something is widely believed, it may be worth a mention in the trivia section, but it should never be stated as truth unless Greg or another official source said it.