The Elder Scrolls Wiki:What TESWiki is not

This page, much like Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not and What Wikia is not, attempts to define what is and is not proper use of this wiki. Hopefully, this will serve to help new users understand what we are trying to do here.

TESWiki does not belong to anyone
The following points come from Ownership, which is an official policy of Wikia and also encompasses TESWiki:
 * The site itself, and the Wikia trademarks, are owned by Wikia, Inc.. The Elder Scrolls, and its trademarks, are owned by Bethesda Softworks.
 * The copyright of a particular edit is owned by the person who made that edit.
 * The wikis are owned by the communities. No one user owns any wiki. Founders are those who requested a wiki be created, but ownership of that wiki resides with the community as a whole, not only with the founder. Similarly, no bureaucrat or administrator may claim proprietorship over the wiki.

TESWiki is not Wikipedia
On Wikipedia, it is common for small, trivial articles like Jagar Tharn or Ria Silmane to be deleted as trivial fancruft. Here, such articles are allowed. Any article that discusses a canonical character, place, or item in The Elder Scrolls universe has a place here.

Also, some of our rules, policies and article standards differ greatly from those of Wikipedia; please see Category:Policies on TESWiki, Layout Guide and Manual of Style for more details.

TESWiki is not the official site
This means two things. First off, the information here is not official or definitive. Articles may be incomplete, inaccurate, or not up to date with the current state of the Star Wars canon. This means that the casual browser should not accept our articles as the final word. Though we will strive, as much as possible, to be the most accurate and complete online source for The Elder Scrolls information, we will not be as authoritative as the original sources.

Secondly, almost all webpages on this site refer to properties and stories which are the property of Bethesda Softworks and its licensees. We try to stay on the side of "fair use." Copying entire blocks of text from any ElderScrolls.com website, Bethesda-licensed publication, or other copyrighted source is not allowed on this wiki.

TESWiki is not any of the Internet's other unofficial sites
Just as we cannot copy blocks of text directly from the official site or a strategy guide, we cannot copy text from another fansite such as UESP.

TESWiki is not the place for fanfiction or roleplaying
The In-Universe part of the wiki is for canon information only. Any articles identified as fanon will be deleted. This includes both characters from fan fiction and player characters from roleplaying games..

The exceptions are those fan fictions that have made an impact on the fanbase or canon itself. Such articles are limited to a discussion of the fan fiction in question&mdash;separate articles on characters, locations, or other individual elements found only in fan fiction are not desired.

There is another wiki, the Elder Scrolls Fanon Wiki, which accepts exclusively fan-made material. Though it is also hosted by Wikia, meaning that your username here is the same as your username there, it is a separate community with its own policies and practices. The Fanon wiki is a better place to post your fan-made materials.

TESWiki is not an all-inclusive trivia site
Behind the scenes sections in articles should contain useful, pertinent information. The number of factoids and pieces of trivia related to The Elder Scrolls are boundless, but not necessarily encyclopedic or helpful. Be mindful of what information you add to these sections.

TESWiki is not a free host or webpage provider
While registered users can create their own user page, this page is not a place for unlimited free storage of files. In other words, your user page should only contain information relevant to your work on this wiki. If you wish to put up a weblog, post your fanfiction, or advertise your business, neither your user page nor any other TESWiki or Wikia page is the proper place to do so. You can find out more about your user page here.

(On the other hand, users have historically included a few personal images for their user page. The policy on this is to be found here.)

TESWiki is not a battleground
There are many controversies in The Elder Scrolls fandom. Some of these controversial questions have either been answered by Bethesda, or have been left unanswered. This is not the place for arguing with other fans about which retcons were unneeded, what canonical works should be completely ignored, or how much you hated or loved a particular character.

In addition, when discussing articles with other users, it is important to be civil and respectful.

TESWiki is not a general-purpose message board
Article talk pages, user talk pages, and the Council Club forum will attract discussion and conversation: that's what they're there for. However, these discussions should stay focused on issues relevant to TESWiki, such as "When was this character born?", "Where did this image come from?", and the like. General Elder Scrolls questions such as "Who was the most powerful Daedric Prince?" or "Which game did you like better, Morrowind or Oblivion?" are best left for a forum such as the the Official site message boards. The Library on TESWiki may also be used for specific questions or discussions not related to improving particular articles, subject to the rules listed on that page.

Your user page is not your primary contribution to this wiki
Your user page and any associated sub pages are meant to give some information about yourself, and to help organize your contributions to TESWiki. For example, you may wish to include a list of the Elder Scrolls games you own, list some articles you worked on that you're proud of, or mention the articles and projects you intend to work on. You might also want to give personal information like your user name on Elder Scrolls message boards, your favorite characters, what languages you speak, or a link to your personal page on another site. See our user page policy for more information on proper use of user pages.

Your user page should not be thought of as a personal homepage (as mentioned above, TESWiki is not a free host or webpage provider.) In particular, writing a long imaginary biography of your persona in the Star Wars galaxy, or putting up a "collection" of dozens of userboxes or images, is not particularly helpful to TESWiki. Your user page should help you contribute to writing and editing articles for this project&mdash;it is not a substitute for improving the articles on this wiki.