User blog:Saruhikofushimis/Wiki Policy & Decisions List

List copy and pasted from prior discussion (here; 16/7/2021), with addition of all decisions made since that list was drawn up.

This listing will be continuously updated as new decisions/policies are agreed upon.

Translations -

-Translations of any nature should either be made directly by the editor themself of their own accord, or be taken from a source which has either given us express permission to use their works or they have an easily found policy on the matter that allows users to repost their works provided sufficient credit is given. This is to remain respectful and courteous of translators as they provide a valuable service to the community and fandom at large, and re-using their work without such permission is seen as incredibly rude and disheartening and frequently drives translators to cease providing new material for the fandom altogether. A listing of translators who have given us permission to use their work is freely available here: https://free-anime.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Saruhikofushimis/Image_%26_Content_Permissions

-If permission has been granted and the translator has indicated a wish to be credited whenever their work is used, an appropriate reference is to be implemented upon each article or page which uses the work.

Images

-Images should be uploaded with a non-generic title that is pertinent to what the image contains (eg. Haru hssd poster.png instead of Screenshot_32.png).

-Wherever possible images should not have any watermarks or obscuring text/designs (eg. no subtitles, sample watermarks, or, if a screenshot, no leftover site design elements such as YouTube loading bars, exit icons, auto-translated text, etc.). Sample images officially provided by KyoAni can be used if absolutely no clean alternatives can be found, however sample images should be replaced as soon as a clean version is made available.

-Similarly, official images uploaded with clear and obvious vandalism are discouraged and are liable to be removed by an admin or bureaucrat depending upon how they are used and the content in question. Unofficial images such as fanart are allowed provided they are only for use on an editors personal user page and not inserted onto a proper article page. Fanart or other non-official images that are in anyway explicit will be removed immediately and the editor who uploaded the image is liable to be banned for a minimum of two weeks. Repeat offenses will produce longer bans.

-An images kb size is not a reliable indicator of a files quality, so if two different versions of an image are available use the one that has a higher pixel dimension or better resolution rather than the one with the highest kilobytes (eg. if one image is 1500 x 500 pixels and 100 kb while another is 500 x 125 pixels but is 500 kb you would use the first image). This is because different file types and sites compress images differently, so two images can be identical in terms of dimensions and quality but differ in kilobyte size depending on how they were saved and compressed (eg. png vs. jpeg).

-As with translations, if using an image scan (ie. magazine images, print item pages, clear files, etc., essentially any image which has not been provided directly by an official KyoAni source) the scan should either by provided from the editors own personal collection which they have scanned themselves, or be taken from a source which has given direct permission/has a sufficient policy on reposted content. Again this is a matter of respect and courtesy to the scanners, as many of them have had to spend significant time and money to obtain the original materials to scan and share with the fandom. Image scan permissions can be found in the same list as the translator permissions. Like translations, images should also be appropriately credited if that is the scanners explicit wish.

-Images should not be taken from sites such as Pinterest or Amino, or other such similar sites, as they are in direct violation of the previous point regarding permissions. Ideally, all images should either come directly from an official KyoAni/ANIDO source or from scanners who have given us permission. Secondary sites through which KyoAni products are sold such as Amazon, animate, Surugaya, Rakuten, etc. are also considered fair use for images, however they frequently have watermarks attached or over-saturated color profiles so these aren't ideal but are better than no image at all.

-If a better version (eg. larger, higher resolution, removal of watermark) of an existing image on the wiki is found then it should be uploaded directly onto the pre-existing file rather than creating a second file. This is to ensure that there are no duplicate images on the site, and that images will be placed/remain in all galleries to which they are relevant.

-Photography should only be uploaded if it is from an official KyoAni source, an easily demonstrable free-to-use source (such as unsplash or pixabay), or like translations and scans the editor has received direct permission to use the photos. This is both a courtesy and legal measure; if a wiki reproduces someones personal photography without their consent the wiki in question becomes liable and could be hit with a cease and desist notice or other legal measures depending on the country of origin of the photograph.

-Image gallery captions:

>Should generally be as minimal as possible, and be as faithful to the original caption (if one exists) as possible.

>Cards from the Timeless Medley & Take Your Marks roadshow will be referred to as "Roadshow illustration card"s, and do not require character/team clarifier.

>If several images from a series are presented in the same gallery they can follow one of two different styles. If in a series gallery where more than 1 characters products are shown the dash goes after the product and before the character name (e.g. Thanks Birthday tapestry - Sosuke), but if its in a character gallery the character clarifier is dropped, and the dash goes between the series name and the product type (e.g. Thanks Birthday - tapestry). If in a character gallery the product of a different character is included to a cameo from the titular character, the product pertaining to the secondary character follows the first style described (dash between character and product) while all others follow the second (no character clarifier, dash between product and series).

>The first screencap pertaining to an opening or ending song in a gallery (predominantly character galleries) should link to the song in question, while keeping the caption descriptive (eg. File_name_here.png| Free!-Eternal Summer- ending ).

>Captions for product items with dedicated article pages (drama CDs, singles, character songs, etc.) should have a descriptive caption like the opening & ending screencaps, while linking to the relevant article (e.g. File_name_here.png| Character CD cover).

>Captions for print items should not be descriptive like other product/article links in galleries, and should specifically list the print items title (e.g. File_name_here.png| Free! series CREATION NOTEBOOK ).

-Wherever possible, images are to be kept in chronological release order within all galleries. If the release period of a specific image is unknown then ask other users, attempt an educated guess based on the image content, or make it the last image present in the relevant gallery/ies.

Spelling/Stylization

-All character names and media titles should be spelled in accordance to how KyoAni officially romanizes, translates, and styles them on official materials and websites (eg. Sosuke Yamazaki instead of Sousuke Yamazaki, Free!-Road to the World- the Dream instead of Free! Road to the World Yume). This is to honour KyoAni's intentions as they are the creators and original source of the material in question, and therefore are the highest authority on how their material should be presented.

-If no official romanization is provided by KyoAni then we defer to the spelling used by funimation (eg. individual episode titles or minor character names).

-If a character name or media title has neither an official romanization by KyoAni nor an official translation by funimation then the title or name should be given in romaji (with all romaji written in long form, ie. オウ would be written as ou not ō). This is due to the fact that using fan translated titles as page names when an official title is not provided has several issues: no two translators are going to have the same opinion on how something should be translated, resulting in multiple different ways any given title could be translated. At which point, it becomes a subjective decision as to which translation is "correct" and therefore should be used as the definitive translation on the wiki. Some would use the first translation they happen to find or gain permission to use, other editors would choose the one that they personally think fits best, while others may reject other fan translations entirely and translate it themselves. A romaji title on the other hand is concrete and a more literal representation of KyoAni's original intent, and therefore is more appropriate as an article name in lieu of an official romanization/translation, while fan translations can be expounded upon in the article itself.

-In general, American spelling and grammar is to be used when editing articles.

-The use of ampersands (&) should be extremely limited and only used in situations where brevity is crucial (eg. infoboxes or gallery captions) or it was included in the original media title.

-When referring to seasons and episodes, numbers should be written numerically rather than alphabetically (eg. season 1 not season one).

-As with character names, all seiyuu and staff names should be spelled according to how they personally spell and romanize their name (e.g. Koutaro Nishiyama not Koutarou Nishiyama, and Kenjiro Tsuda not Kenjirou Tsuda). Official romanizations of staff and seiyuu names can typically be found by searching for either their agency website or their personal social media accounts. If an official romanization is not provided by the individual then defer to the literal romaji spelling of the kanji in their name. As with adhering to KyoAni's chosen spellings, this is to respect the fact that the individual in question is the best authority on how to spell their own name.

Categories -

-All articles and images should abide by the structure depicted on the wiki's agreed upon category tree, as seen here: https://free-anime.fandom.com/wiki/Category_Tree

-Due to its size, media is unique amongst the categories on the tree in that the actual category of "Media" will only be placed on those categories immediately under it (eg. Drama CDs, Anime, Print, etc.) but not on the categories below that. For example, "Media" is applied as a category to "Music" but is not applied to any categories or articles under the "Music" category such as the "Duet Songs" or "Character Songs" categories.

-Article categories should try and be applied so that they follow the flow of the categories on the tree. For example, a character CD from season 1 should be categorized in the following order: Music > CDs > Character CDs > Free! Character CDs > Individual CD category.

-All images should be categorized by which series they are derived from and which characters are featured in the image. If an image is unrelated to the series (ie. an image for personal use on a users page, or an image used to the theme the wiki) it should only be placed under the "Images of Miscellaneous" category. If an image pertains to the series but no named characters are visible it should be categorized with the series category and either "Images of Places" or "Images of Things" depending on what the image specifically depicts. Exception: product images pertaining to the series (e.g. food and drink images from themed cafes) only require the series category.

General Layout-

-Crucial site aspects (theme colors, background, top navigation) will not be altered without prior discussion between active admins (+other active users if necessary/applicable).

-Image galleries will as a default be set to columns of 4, and have gray caption colors for optimal visibility across both light and dark themes.

-Character designation within the series (& top nav) is allocated by mutual discussion between admins (+other active users if necessary/applicable) but in general will follow the most recent listing by KyoAni as per the latest series installments website/supporting material.

-Gallery and article page tabs are to be arranged alphabetically.

-Most character colors are color picked from official merchandise released by KyoAni and most major characters have specific colors they are associated with, which are used to theme articles and items relating to them on the wiki. In the case of new or more minor characters who do not yet have an officially designated color, their color is to be chosen by mutual discussion between admins (+other active users if necessary/applicable). Similarly, any adjustments to pre-existing colors also require discussion.

-Affiliations with other wikis are to be agreed upon by mutual discussion between admins (+other active users if necessary/applicable).