ESB:Policy

Encyclopedia SpongeBobia
General
About History
Policies
Rules and policies Discord policy Copyright policy Privacy policy
Community
Community portal Directory Proposals Contests
Manual of style
Guidelines People Person credits Characters Episodes Episode articles Episode credits Episode galleries Episode transcripts Grammar guide Home video articles Locations Objects Music Production music and original music
Administration
Administrators List of crew Tutorial Former crew Requests Assistants Administrators Bureaucrats Discussion moderators Deletion Restoration Merge Separation Reviews User rights review Block reviews
Nominations
User of the Month Article of the Month
Social chatrooms
Skype Discord
Other
Maintenance Wiki badges Wiki medals Other SpongeBob wikis
Main page

There are very few policies which apply across all FANDOM. These can be found on Community Central linked here.

The policies specific to Encyclopedia SpongeBobia are found below. These rules must be obeyed at all times.

NOTE: With ESB:Convention 2017, these policies are under review.

Index

The following is an index to the policies of Encyclopedia SpongeBobia. These are broken into different categories:

• I. Policies - the rules of the wiki and how different aspects function.
• II. Guidelines - the Manual of Style for the wiki in regards to content formatting, templates, etc.
• III. Glossary - a guide to the meaning of certain terms.

Key

The following is a key to the format of ESB policy.

• Article - each policy is broken down into articles, which categorize a particular policy category and are designated by Roman numerals (I, II, III, etc.)
• Section - each article is broken down into sections for organizational purposes. These are designated by capital letters (A, B, C, etc.)
• Clause - a section may be divided into clauses for further organizational purposes. These are designated by numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.)
• Subclauses - clauses may be divided further (a, b, c, etc. and i, ii, iii, etc.)

The Rules

I. Definitions

This article was revised at convention on December 4, 2017.

• A. The definitions in this section apply to this entire policy page.
• B. Definitions

• 1. Ban - a permanent removal of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.
• 2. Block - a temporary suspension of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.
• 3. Chat ban - a temporary or infinite removal of the user right to access the chatroom.
• 4. Chat flooding - posting many messages in a row.
• 5. Chat invasion - inviting a large group to chat, normally to troll and/or spam.
• 6. Consensus – when 70% or more of the participants of a discussion are in favor of the proposal after seven (7) days or more of discussion.
• 7. Doorspamming - coming in and out of chat repeatedly.
• 8. Drama - an exciting, emotional, or unexpected series of events or set of circumstances.
• 9. Fanon - any SpongeBob SquarePants in-universe or merchandise-related content not officially released by Viacom via a press conference or the Nickelodeon TV channel, and information that can be derived from that.
• 10. Necroposting - replying to a forum thread, message, or blog post that has not been replied to in at least three (3) months.
• 11. Proposal - a typed plan or suggestion put forward for others to discuss and vote on.
• 12. Sockmaster - a user who creates sockpuppets.
• 13. Sockpuppet - an alternate account used for deceiving purposes or to evade admin scrutiny.
• 14. Sockpuppetry - the act of making multiple accounts for deceiving purposes or to evade admin scrutiny.
• 15. Spam - a form of purposeful advertising.
• 16. SpongeBob SquarePants fansite - any website that contains SpongeBob SquarePants-related information.
• 17. Suspension - the temporary removal of a promoted user's privileges.
• 18. Termination - the forced removal of a promoted user from a particular position.
• 19. Trolling - a deliberate, provocative, online posting that is intended to cause an angry response.
• 20. Vandalism - any change in content that is intended to be negative.

• C. User activity

• 1. Active User - any user in which one or more of the following applies:

• a. Any user who has made at least one hundred (100) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
• b. Any user who is actively involved in any of the ESB official discussions as well as ESB Chat (not including Skype). By actively involved, meaning participating in conversations on a regular basis.

• 2. Semi-Active User - any user in which one or more of the following applies:

• a. Any user who has made between fifty (50) and ninety-nine (99) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
• b. Any user who is occasionally involved in ESB official discussions as well as ESB Chat (not including Skype). By occasionally involved, meaning participating in conversations on a not-so-much regular basis.

• 3. Inactive User - any user in which both of the following applies:

• a. Any user who has made fewer than fifty (50) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date.
• b. Any user who is rarely involved in ESB official discussions as well as ESB Chat (not including Skype). By rarely involved, meaning participating in conversations every once in a while.

• 4. Wikibreak - any promoted user taking an extended vacation or leave of absence lasting longer than two (2) weeks.

• a. Wikibreaks have a maximum of three (3) months. At that time, if the promoted user fails to return, a bureaucrat must discuss their wikibreak status with them to determine if they are going to return or if a user rights review is in order.
• b. If a promoted user makes more than five (5) edits within the first twenty-four hours of declaring a wikibreak, their wikibreak is rendered invalid.
• c. After the first twenty-four (24) hours of a wikibreak, if the promoted user makes more than five (5) edits, their wikibreak is rendered invalid.
• d. Any promoted user on wikibreak who becomes actively involved in any of the ESB official discussions as well as ESB Chat (not including Skype) will have their wikibreak rendered as invalid. By actively involved, meaning participating in conversations on a regular basis.
• e. After three (3) invalid wikibreaks during a six (6) month period, a bureaucrat must initiate the user rights review process for that promoted user.
• f. After three (3) valid wikibreaks during a one (1) year period, a bureaucrat must initiate the user rights review process for that promoted user.

II. User conduct

This article was revised and moved to the provisional bylaws. Click here to view.

III. Communication

This article was revised and moved to the provisional bylaws. Click here to view.

IV. Content

This article was revised and moved to the provisional bylaws. Click here to view.

V. Sources

This article was revised and moved to the provisional bylaws. Click here to view.

VI. Promotion policy

This article was revised and moved to the provisional bylaws. Click here to view.

VII. Demotion policy

This article was revised and moved to the provisional bylaws. Click here to view.

VIII. Blocking policy

This article was revised and moved to the provisional bylaws. Click here to view.

IX. Hurt and Heals

This article was revised at convention on January 16, 2018.

• 1. All Hurt and Heals must have under 85 contestants.
• 2. All Hurt and Heals must have proper formatting within one (1) week after the game begins.
• 3. If a Hurt and Heal has less than three (3) players per day after one (1) month, it will be closed early.
• 4. A Hurt and Heal may only be continued on another thread by the creator if there are at least three (3) players playing per day.
• 5. Hurt and Heals cannot have a voting span longer than 5 hours.
• 6. If a regular Hurt and Heal does not have one contestant eliminated within 1 week, it will be closed.

• a. If the Hurt and Heal is in tournament format, it must progress to the first checkpoint within ten (10) days.
• b. If the Hurt and Heal is a Hurt and Hurt, it must have one character eliminated within three (3) weeks.
• c. Boss battle Hurt and Heals do not have to follow this rule.

• 7. Discussion moderators and administrators may close Hurt and Heals for not being relevant to the wiki, SpongeBob SquarePants, or a topic more than five (5) users are willing to participate in.
• 8. No Hurt and Heal may have contestants starting with more than 50 HP.

• a. If the Hurt and Heal is a Hurt and Hurt, contestants may not start with more than 150 HP.
• b. Boss battle Hurt and Heals do not have to follow this rule but cannot have a character reach over 2500 HP to win.

• 9. If the Hurt and Heal uses users, you must ask for permission before you use them in your Hurt and Heal or variation of Hurt and Heal, otherwise it will be closed.

X. Advertising and affiliation

This article was revised and moved to the provisional bylaws.

XI. Signatures

This article was revised at convention on December 18, 2017.

• A. All user signatures must clearly identify the username of the user. For example, User:RandomUser305 could sign off as "RU305."
• B. All links in user signatures must clearly identify their targets.
• C. Images in signatures are permitted, as long as they do not exceed 30 pixels.
• D. All user signatures must not exceed the height of a line of text (unless they are an image), disturb the layout of the page, or be excessively long.
• E. Content of signatures must be clearly visible with regard to color schemes.
• F. Signatures that contain an elaborate amount of code must use a signature template. Users unfamiliar with this may seek assistance from another user.
• G. Administrators reserve the right to adjust signatures to comply with this article.

XII. Chat

This article was revised at convention on January 9, 2018.

• A. General. All policies in this section apply to all ESB-related chat rooms: the ESB chatroom on FANDOM and Skype chat rooms including "SpongeBobia Chatroom," "ESB Chat Moderators," "ESB Administrators," and "ESB Bureaucrats." All ESB rules apply to the said chat rooms.

• 1. Do not abuse communication tools. This includes blank messages, gibberish, and spreading words or sentences out into multiple messages. Other abuse of communication tools can result in a kick or ban at the discretion of the banning moderator or Skype administrator.
• 2. English is the preferred language in the chatroom. It is recommended to not use other languages. Using other languages to spam, troll, or to swear is not allowed.
• 3. Trolling is forbidden.

• a. If anyone is disturbing the chat room environment and not providing anything useful to the conversation which may be considered trolling, chat moderators and administrators can ban the user from chat immediately. In Skype, users continuing to troll will receive a kick. Administrators can block them infinitely from ESB at their discretion if they feel the user does not provide any positive engagement to the community.
• b. Anyone trolling in the ESB chat room will result in an immediate ban. The administration may infinitely block the user from ESB.

• 4. Profanity. Profanity is forbidden. This includes use as an acronym or censored. "Damn" and "hell" are allowed if they are used in context and not against another user. Any use of profanity after a user is issued a warning will immediately result in a temporary ban from chat.
• 5. Be respectful toward all users, their views, and their opinions. Do not discriminate against or harass anyone. Doing so can result in a kick or ban by the discretion of the moderator.
• 6. Posing as a user of a higher position than you is forbidden.
• 7. Posting anything inappropriate or links to inappropriate sites is forbidden. This includes linking to content not suitable for children under the age of 13, notably sexual content. The chatroom is to remain clean.
• 8. Asking users for personal information (age, phone numbers, addresses, ASL (age/sex/location), religious beliefs, etc.) is forbidden.
• 9. If you are going to exchange social networking information (Skype, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.), do it in a private message.
• 10. Drama, arguing, and having heated debates is forbidden. Friendly, civil debates are allowed.
• 11. Refrain from saying things that are not useful to the conversation and continue to interrupt those having a conversation. If more than one person is doing this, those people must take the conversation elsewhere.

• B. ESB Chat room. The policies in this section apply to the ESB Chatroom on FANDOM.

• 2. Specific rules

• a. Doorspamming (coming in and out of chat) is forbidden. It is understandable if you have a bad connection, but note you may be kicked to stop the flooding. Anyone doing this on purpose shall be temporarily banned.
• b. Chat invasions (inviting a large group to chat, normally to troll and/or spam) are forbidden.
• c. ChatTags are enabled on ESB's chatroom. You may have fun with them, but you may not misuse them, such as using colors for every message you send.
• d. All moderator orders must be obeyed unless said otherwise by an administrator or someone of higher power.
• e. Abusing the chatbot (username: SpongeBobiaChatBot) is forbidden. It is okay to have a little fun with the chatbot, but if it gets excessive, a chat moderator can kick or ban you at their discretion.

• 3. Underage users. It is against FANDOM policy for a person under the age of 13 to use FANDOM. Any user who is underage or claims to be underage will not be blocked or banned since all underage users will be dealt with by FANDOM Staff, not by ESB Administration.
• 4. Moderators

• a. All administrators and bureaucrats are chat moderators. A selected few chatters are appointed chat moderator because they are active in chat and trusted to keep the peace.
• b. Abuse of chat moderator powers is forbidden. Any abuse of them will result in immediate termination.
• Any continued abuse may result in a block.
• c. Chat moderators have no jurisdiction over what happens in a private message. If someone bothers you, ignore them. There is no definite way to prove what is in a private message.
• d. There is a hierarchy in the chatroom in regards to final decisions. Chat moderators are outranked by administrators, and administrators are outranked by bureaucrats.

• C. Skype chat rooms. The policies in this section apply to the ESB chat rooms on Skype. (combining with title of section)

• 2. Adding users. Any user is allowed to add other users to the chat. However, users can only be added if they are: (combining with title of section)

• a. A current member of ESB. Users who have retired from ESB, left FANDOM altogether, or are inactive (with the exception of chat moderators, discussion moderators, administrators, and bureaucrats) are not allowed into the Skype chat.
• b. The user is not blocked from ESB or FANDOM (meaning they are not globally blocked from the network). Users who are unable to edit on the wiki or even enter the chat room are not to be allowed into the Skype chat rooms.

• 3. Kicking policy

• a. Unlike the FANDOM chatroom, when a user is kicked from the ESB Skype, they cannot come back in until another user adds them back.
• b. Kicked users can be added back immediately unless they misbehave again and are kicked once more.
• c. If a user has received a third kick from an administrator, they will not be allowed back into the Skype for twenty-four (24) hours. If the user is added back but continues to misbehave, then they will be kicked from the Skype for seven (7) days. Any users who continues to misbehave even after those kicks will receive longer kicks from the Skype depending on the severity of their actions.
• d. Do not add back any user who is kicked from the Skype until after their ban expires. Any user attempting to add users back before their ban expires will receive a kick themselves unless otherwise stated.
• e. Make sure to listen to the Skype administrators. Any user who ignores warnings will be temporarily kicked from the Skype.
• f. Skype usernames cannot contain profanity, references to profanity, or refer to sexual content.

• D. Reporting. If you see anything in the chatroom that is a violation of any policies, please report it, either at the report form (ESB:Report user) or sending a message to an administrator or bureaucrat (see here: ESB:Administration). You can also report to administrators on Skype. See a list here.

XIII. Content dispute

This article was revised and moved to the provisional bylaws.

XIV. Discussions

This article was revised and moved to the provisional bylaws.

XV. User of the Month

This article was revised at convention on December 26, 2017.

• A. User of the Month

• 1. General. This is awarded to one user each month, who will be featured on the homepage, and contain a link to a page that highlights why they received the award and the work they have done.
• 2. Eligibility

• a. A user must have contributed for at least one (1) month in order to qualify.
• b. A user must have made at least fifty (50) main namespace edits in order to qualify.
• c. Anyone can nominate any other user except themselves.

• 3. Disqualification

• a. Anyone who requests that another user nominate them will be disqualified for six (6) months.
• b. Anyone who complains that they have not been nominated will be disqualified for six (6) months.
• c. Nominated users in which the rating drops below 0 for at least seven (7) days will be marked as expired.

• 4. Procedures

• a. The nominator will create a nomination page and list reasons why the person should be nominated.
• b. Everyone except the user who is nominated can contribute to the discussion and show their support or oppose for the nomination. However, the user who is nominated is allowed to comment in the discussion.
• c.Nomination discussions expire after (3) months. After this, a user can be renominated.
• d.On the last day of each month the next month's User of the Month will be determined based on the following formula: (Number of Supports)-(Number of Opposed)=Nomination Rating. The current user with the highest nomination rating at the time will be awarded "User of the Month" for the following month.

• 5. Ties

• a. If there is a tie for the highest rating at the end of the month, the nominations will remain open until there is a change that results in one user having a higher rating.
• b. If the user who makes such a change is the user who ends up having the highest rating (such as removing their vote from another nomination), they shall be disqualified, unless the user for which they are removing their vote was in violation of a rule within the preceding three (3) days.

XVI. Article of the Month

This article was revised at convention on December 26, 2017.

• A. Each month, an article shall be featured on the home page.
• B. Eligibility

• 1. The article must follow all relevant guidelines.
• 2. The article must be free of spelling and grammar issues.
• 3. The article must be at least 3,000 bytes in size (see history to find the size).
• 4. The article must be free of any editing disputes.
• 5. The article must be of the highest quality.
• 6. The article must contain at least one image.

• C. Procedures

• 1. The nominator will create a nomination page and list reasons why the article is good enough to be featured.
• 2. Everyone can contribute to the discussion and show their support or opposition for the nomination.
• 3. Nomination discussions expire after (3) months. After this, the article can be renominated.
• 4. On the last day of each month, the next month's Article of the Month will be determined based on the following formula: (Number of Supports)-(Number of Opposed)=Nomination Rating. The current article with the highest nomination rating at the time will become the "Article of the Month" for the following month.

XVII. Deletion

This article was revised at convention on January 24, 2018.

• A. General

• 1. The requests for deletion process is an optional process; administrators can delete anything they believe is necessary.
• 2. If there is any controversy over deleting a certain page, abstain from a deletion war, do not delete the page, and bring the page in question to a deletion discussion as outlined in this article.
• 3. Anyone can nominate a page (article, template, category, image, video, etc.) they feel should be deleted.

• B. Process

• 1. Fill out the deletion request including the reason the page should be deleted and save the page to start a deletion discussion. If no explanation is given after twenty-four (24) hours, it will be closed as invalid.
• 2. A discussion will occur, centered on that particular page.
• 3. Neutral votes do not count in the final tally for consensus (70%)

• C. Closing discussions

• 1. Only administrators can close deletion discussions.
• 2. If a discussion closes and the result is deletion, the page can be redirected to another article if there is a useful redirect.
• 3. Deletion discussions generally last seven (7) days.
• 4. Exceptions

• i. If a deletion discussion does not receive a consensus (70%) either way after one (1) month, the discussion can be closed as "no consensus" and the page is kept.
• ii. If the page in question is a spam page, the deletion discussion may be closed immediately, and the page will be deleted.
• iii. The creator of a deletion discussion may withdraw the discussion at their sole discretion.

XVIII. Unprotection

• A. General (revised February 1, 2017)

• 1. The requests for unprotection process is an optional process; administrators can unprotect anything they believe is necessary.
• 2. If there is any controversy over unprotecting a certain page, using this process would be a better way to discussion the issue, as outlined in this article.
• 3. Anyone can nominate a page (article, template, category, image, video, etc.) they feel should be unprotected.

• B. Process (revised February 1, 2017)

• 1. Fill out a form to create an unprotection discussion.
• 2. Once the discussion is created, the nominator must explain why they feel the article should be unprotected.

• a. If no explanation is given after twenty-four (24) hours, it will be closed as invalid.

• 3. A discussion will occur, centered on that particular page.
• 4. Neutral votes do not count in the final tally for consensus (70%)

• C. Closing discussions (revised February 1, 2017)

• 1. Only administrators and assistants can close unprotection discussions.
• 2. If an unprotection discussion does not receive a consensus (70%) either way after one (1) month, the discussion can be closed as "no consensus" and the page is kept protected.

XIX. Contests

This article was revised at convention on January 9, 2018.

• A. General

• 1. Contests can be used to choose backgrounds, logos, or anything else requiring user submissions and votes.
• 2. Only administrators can open or close contests.
• 3. Contests must have at least a two week voting period; there may be some exceptions with some contests having a shorter voting period.

• B. Background contests. Every decision about the current background of the wiki is determined by the outcome of background contests.

• 1. You are allowed to submit multiple backgrounds.
• 2. You are allowed to vote on your own submission.
• 3. All backgrounds must relate to SpongeBob or they will be removed.
• 4. If you submit a background that won the previous year, it will be removed. You are allowed to submit backgrounds that did not win the previous year.

• a. For Summer background contests, this rule does not apply. However, if a background from the previous year has placed in the same position as in the previous year, then it will be disqualified and the next position will be the winner of that placement.

• 5. You can make your own background or add an image from the internet. While there is no size requirement, bigger is usually better.
• 6. When making an entry, please use the correct format. This format will be provided on the contest page. If you are unable to do so, ask for help or someone will fix the form for you. You will not be penalized for doing this incorrectly.

• C. Decision process

• 1. At the beginning of the final week, the current standings will be added in a table. It should be removed when the winner is announced.
• 2. The ranking of a submission is determined by the difference of likes vs. dislikes. For example, if a submission has 4 likes and 3 dislikes, it has 1 point.
• 3. Tiebreakers will be determined by another contest page with the finalists, usually shortly before the background is set to go up.
• 4. When the winners are announced, it is common courtesy to give each of them a message telling them that they won.

XX. News team

This article was revised at convention on January 16, 2018.

• A. Introduction

• 1. The ESB News Team is a group of users who create publications for the events of the SpongeBobia network.

• B. Application process

• 1. To join, leave a message on the message wall of an editor or the head editor.
• 2. News Team Members will vote on the new user. For an application to pass, 70% must approve of the user joining.
• 3. The user will then be invited to our Skype group, where they will be assigned a role. They will also get a profile tag!

• C. Special roles

• 1. Special roles are assigned to one person, usually to news team administration roles.
• 2. The head editors have the right to promote and demote users of the news team at will if the majority of them support the decision. The publisher counts as a head editor because of their abilities in the News Team. The current head editors are Nicko756, Alex.sapre, Rocky Lobster.
• 3. The publisher is the one who publishes the publications, as well as the ability to promote and demote users at will. They also can make sections, and declare sections as obsolete. They also can create and remove roles and move members around roles at all times. The publisher is Alex.sapre.

• D. Roles

• 1. The roles of the news team are:

• a. Checkers
• b. Editors
• c. Technical helpers
• d. Substitutes
• e. Head editors
• f. Publisher

• E. Termination process

• 1. A termination is when an editor is demoted from their position(s) on the News Team.
• 2. Users can be terminated by the publisher and head editors or a majority vote by the members.
• 3. A terminated member can not be added back to the News Team at all unless two head editors or a head editor and the publisher agree to let them back or if 90% of the members agree.
• 4. An immediate termination does not need a consensus. The Head Editor/publisher can dismiss someone if they feel necessary.
• 5. Immediate terminations are things such as:

• a. Revealing private information
• b. Blocked on ESB
• c. Inactivity
• d. Breaking ESB policies
• e. Harassment and/or abuse towards other members

• F. Sections. The following sections may be included in the news releases. Additional sections may be added later.

• 1. User right changes: This documents new requests, demotions, administration reviews, and user rights reviews .
• 2. Open proposals: A documentation of opened proposals.
• 3.Closed proposals: A documentation of closed proposals.
• 4.User/Article of the Month: Once a month, we will include a section for the user and article of the month if one is nominated, along with a link to the announcement thread about it.
• 5.News about the show: Current news around SpongeBob SquarePants.
• 6.Editorials: An opinion-based article.
• 7.Editor's notices: A notice at the end of a publication about important information from the publisher.
• 8.Unprotection and deletion requests
• 9. Open Convention topics: A documentation of recently opened convention topics or convention topics that have advanced a round.
• 10. Closed Convention topics.

• G. Publications

• 1. We will release a publication every week, but we have different sets of issues.
• 2. Bi-weekly: Open/closed proposals, editorials, user rights changes, news about SpongeBob SquarePants, requests for unprotection/deletion, chat ban/block reviews, and the publisher's notices.
• 3. Monthly (First week of the month): All sections along with user of the month, article of the month, and birthdays added to the edition.