The Elder Scrolls Wiki:Policies and Guidelines

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This page is considered an official policy on TESWiki. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that everyone should follow. Except for minor edits, please make use of the discussion page to propose changes to this policy.

By accessing or using this wiki, you agree to have read the "Terms of Use"

TESWiki is an Elder Scrolls encyclopedia written collaboratively by its readers, who are known as TESWikians. The site is a Wiki, meaning that anyone, including you, can edit almost any article right now by clicking on the Edit link that appears at the top of the page.

Much of TESWiki follows a similar setup to its parent wiki, Wikipedia.

Browsing TESWiki

TESWiki contains a huge amount of information on all sorts of subjects within The Elder Scrolls universe ranging from individuals, locations, technology, weapons, organizations, and creatures to everything and anything in between. It also includes real-world articles on real world culture, and the creators who help build the series. Try browsing the various categories now.

You can also search for text in articles. Just go to the "search" field to the left, enter your search term and click "search". Note that the built-in search function may be disabled in times of server overload; in these cases you will be redirected to a Google-based search of the TESWiki database.

If you read something that you really like, then why not drop a note on the article's talk page? First select the Discussion link (look for it in the tabs above the page), to get to the talk page. Then select Edit on the talk page, or click the + to the right of Edit to simply add a new comment. We always love to get a little positive feedback.

Creating or editing a page

Everyone can edit pages in TESWiki — Just click the Edit link at the top of any page (except for protected pages) if you think it needs any improvement or new information. You don't need anything special; you don't even need to be logged in. If you want to experiment first, without risk of "messing up" a real article, head over to the sandbox, where you can practice editing to your heart's content. To practice editing an existing page like this one, just copy and paste it from the article's edit page into the sandbox.

If you want to learn more, check out the pages listed in or help page index. Our editing help and editing FAQ pages should help you to learn the basic info you should know as a member of our project.

Point of view

Never write in a first-person point of view. In example: "I found the item there, but I think it can be found elsewhere." All pages must be written in a third-person view, unless anything else is determined.

Neutral point of view

Always write in a neutral point of view. Don't use your own or anyone else's personal opinion, but rather the common opinion when writing on a page. Read more about "Neutral point of view" here.

Language; Grammar, and other mistakes

It is very important to write in a way other people can understand. However, one should not be afraid of not having a good command of the English language, and therefore not contribute to the Wiki; any information you add, can be edited or corrected by others, and yourself if desired.

Adding videos

This wiki only allow users to add links to externally hosted videos, in article pages. Embedded videos are not permitted.

(If you're wondering what an "embedded" video is, see images below)

Due to the high amount of videos which contain strong language, excessive self-promotion, off-theme or unrelated commentary, poor quality, etc; All links to an externally hosted video will only be added in article pages if they meet all the criteras below:

• Because of many minors using this wiki, videos are not allowed to contain vulgar language.
• Videos with commentary must stay on-topic.
• Have good visual quality; the viewer can clearly see whatever is necessary.

Acceptable embedded videos are officially released trailers, gameplay, etc.

There may be exceptional cases for certain videos, whose inclusion will be determined by the administrators.

How to add videos in article pages

Links added must be placed formally.

How to correctly add video links. (Press images to enlarge)

Embedded-video-not-permitted.png

Embedded video. Not permitted.

Link-to-video-permitted.png

Link reference. Permitted.

Remember: When adding a reference link do not randomly paste the link into the article page. Place it so that it looks good to read. You can add the link, then hit the "Preview" button above to see how the article page will look once you press "Publish". If you ignore this rule, and paste a link unfittingly in an article page to gain the reader's attention faster (self-promotion), the video will be removed and you will become blocked from the Wiki.

Adding images

General rules

Images from other websites should not be uploaded to this wiki, preferrably; This includes but is not limited to the UESP wiki. Images of "leaked" subjects are also not permitted on this wiki. If absolutely necessary, reference the image properly, by linking to the site where the image was uploaded from, or use Template:UESP if it comes from that site.

NB!: Avoid taking a picture with the user interface on, unless it is to prove a point!

• Please make sure that images have high resolution and reasonably illustrate the subject in question.
• If you find a page where there are more images than there is text, consider removing less informative pictures, or making a gallery. If you have the option, consider uploading your file in PNG format.
• Give your picture a meaningful name. Something that will make it findable by others, so that they can use it on the wiki.

Reuploading images

Unless there is a significant problem with a picture (such as poor resolution or lighting), we encourage people not to change pictures. This is because there can be many different opinions about what looks good which can lead to multiple changes with no improvement. Essentially, when it comes to pictures, "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

• Before uploading an image please check to make sure it doesn't already exist in the wiki.
• If it does, but you believe your version is better, click on the "Upload a new version of this file" option in the file's page, below the file history.

Article images

• Images should be of good quality.
• Images should never include parts of the UI (HUD, crosshair) unless the purpose of the given image is to illustrate the UI itself.
• Images should have a descriptive name related to their purpose (similar name of a weapon if the image is for that weapon etc.).
• Article images violating any of these rules are subjected for deletion.

Taking a screenshot

Taking a screenshot from within a running The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind/The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion/The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim game can be done in three ways:

NB!: Avoid taking a picture with the user interface on, unless it is to prove a point! Type "tm" in the console to remove HUD.

For a list of console commands see: "Console commands"

File configuration

The game uses two .ini files for configuration. One in the Oblivion game folder called "Oblivion_default.ini". The other is in My Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Oblivion.ini You should make a backup before making any changes to an .ini file. You may need to turn on the ability to view file extensions in Windows (some people have it off by default), in order to identify your .ini files.

There is a setting in both the first and second .ini files that allow you to press the Print Screen button (Prt Scrn) on your keyboard:

bAllowScreenShot=0

To enable the ability to take screen shots, change this line to:

bAllowScreenShot=1

Edit the line in both files, just to be sure. Then save. Pressing the Print Screen button on your keyboard (you may need to simultaneously press SHIFT on some keyboards) should now write a BMP screenshot file to your game folder.

Fraps

A free Windows utility called FRAPS can be started before you load up Oblivion. This enables you to press F10 on your keyboard to take a screenshot. FRAPS can also capture in-game movies and display your FPS framerate. Screenshots are unaffected, but some features such as the movies are watermarked until the application is registered. The application is mature and reliable software, and is in wide use.

Steam

If running the game through Steam, the easiest way to capture a screenshot is by pressing F12 while in-game. This will allow you to take several pictures without having to worry about saving them one by one.

All screenshots taken using the Steam feature are saved on your computer's hard disk in the "Steam" folder, but can be easily accessed by clicking View (in the top left corner of the Steam window above Library, Store, News, etc.) From View press Screenshots on the list. This will bring up a smaller window where you can see all the screenshots you've taken. The new window has also got a Show option, where you can choose to show all screenshots taken in a specific game, for easy maneuvering. You can also press Show on disk to view the pictures in their folder, which they from there can be edited, saved, moved, and so forth.

Adding categories

At this point you should only add categories that already exist. Remember that categories are added so that the reader can easily find similar pages. Video links are not categories. No page should at any point contain excessive amounts of categories.

Reliability of the information added; assumptions etc

It either does, or does not. All information added to the Elder Scrolls Wiki must be valid. Content based on assumptions will be deleted, as this does not provide the reader with standard quality-information.

Policies

The three most essential principles are NPOV, GFDL, and civility. What does this mean?

• NPOV, or neutral point of view means that articles should not be biased, and should represent differing views on a subject fairly.
• All contributions to TESWiki are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). This specifically ensures that TESWiki will remain freely distributable in perpetuity. Please do not submit any content that is copyrighted without permission of the copyright holder. (See Copyrights for more information).
• Civility. TESWiki works by cooperation, consensus, and therefore mutual respect, civility, and wikilove should be practiced universally. Please assume good faith when you disagree with someone, stay cool, and talk things over civilly. It is good practice to provide an edit summary explaining your changes so as to assist others with noticing and accepting your changes. If you find that your edits get removed or modified, wait a moment before reinstating them. First check the page history, your talk page, or the article's talk page to discuss. See also Wikiquette.
• Style: TESWiki articles should be written according to our Manual of Style. In particular, new editors should ensure that they write their articles in an "in-universe" perspective. Titles of the saga (such as movies, books and comics), alternative endings of games, non-canon and real world information should never be incorporated in the article itself. The articles present history as real. To add such commentary, use the Behind the scenes section of each article.

By accessing or using this wiki, you agree to have read the "Terms of Use".

You agree not to:

(Not a full list!)

• Harass members of the wiki.
• Use the Service in any unlawful manner or in any other manner which could damage, impair, or overburden the site;
• Post, upload, transmit, share, or store content which is unlawful, defamatory, infringing, obscene, or invasive of another's right to privacy or publicity;
• Impersonate another entity or person;
• Post, upload, transmit, share, or store unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, solicitations, "spam", or any other type of unauthorized solicitation;
• Solicit personal information from any user under the age of 18;
• Solicit passwords or other information for unlawful purposes.

(Read more about the Terms of Use, here)

Vandalism on the Elder Scrolls Wiki

This wiki does not tolerate the act of vandalism. Any edits that are not made in good faith will be reverted, and the person who executed the immoral act banned/blocked.

Badge-Hunting

Any person that edits only for the purpose of achieving "badges" or "achievements" will be given a warning depending on the severity and the amount of edits not done in good faith. If the user continues to perform pointless, absurd, unnecessary edits after the warning(s) has(have) been given, it will be up to the Administrator(s) on the Elder Scrolls Wiki to judge if the person qualifies to become blocked from the Wiki.

Want to join?

Anyone can edit, but there are advantages to creating an account if you want to contribute regularly. To join, create an account and then introduce yourself to the community at the new user log.

Don't be discouraged

If you run into conflicts in your first forays into editing, then don't let it get you down. In any collaborative project there are clashes. Have a look at the writers' rules of engagement page as well as the other articles in the tutorial wing below. Use them to help you resolve the problems and learn how to become an active and productive contributor. If there is a slang phrase or term you aren't familiar with, look it up in our glossary.

And if there's anything you don't understand — be it technical or social — and you're not sure where to look, just post a question at the Council Club, and someone will be happy to help you.

Have fun!

References

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