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The following contains the rules of Encyclopedia SpongeBobia, outlining processes and policies in order for ESB to operate efficiently.

General information

Information in this section may be helpful to all users seeking to ensure the rules are followed for a harmonious community.

ESB:Crew - list of bureaucrats, administrators, assistants, moderators, rollback, etc. who enforce the rules.
ESB:Guidelines - rules specific to content and layout.
ESB:Glossary - common terms associated with the wiki and their definitions.
ESB:Report user - if someone is violating the rules, you can go directly to a member of the crew, or you can report a user here.

Key

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

Article - each rule is broken down into articles, which categorize a particular rule 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.)

Rules of Encyclopedia SpongeBobia

Article I: Statement of Purpose

The primary goal of Encyclopedia SpongeBobia is to create a central information database for notable information related to SpongeBob SquarePants and to make this the most accurate SpongeBob SquarePants information database.

Article II: Definitions

This article was revised at convention on December 3, 2018.

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

1. Administration - includes only administrators and bureaucrats.
2. Ban - a permanent removal of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.
3. Block - a temporary suspension of a user's ability to contribute to the wiki.
4. Chat ban - a temporary or infinite removal of the user right to access the chatroom.
5. Chat flooding - posting many messages in a row.
6. Chat invasion - inviting a large group to chat, normally to troll and/or spam.
7. 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.
8. Doorspamming - coming in and out of chat repeatedly.
9. Drama - an exciting, emotional, or unexpected series of events or set of circumstances.
10. 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.
11. Necroposting - replying to a forum thread, message, or blog post that has not been replied to in at least three (3) months.
12. Proposal - a typed plan or suggestion put forward for others to discuss and vote on.
13. Sockmaster - a user who creates sockpuppets.
14. Sockpuppet - an alternate account used for deceiving purposes or to evade admin scrutiny.
15. Sockpuppetry - the act of making multiple accounts for deceiving purposes or to evade admin scrutiny.
16. Spam - a form of purposeful advertising.
17. Speculation - any content that is theorized by users or fans, rather than taken from official content.
18. SpongeBob SquarePants fansite - any website that contains SpongeBob SquarePants-related information.
19. Suspension - the temporary removal of a promoted user's privileges.
20. Termination - the forced removal of a promoted user from a particular position.
21. Trolling - a deliberate, provocative, online posting that is intended to cause an angry response.
22. Vandalism - any change in content that is intended to be negative.

C. User activity. These policies define user activity for leaders at ESB as listed at ESB:Crew for informational purposes only, so that users are aware of which leaders are more likely to respond at a certain period in time.

1. Active User - Any user who has made at least one hundred (100) contributions within one (1) month preceding the present date and/or is actively involved in any of the ESB official discussions as well as ESB Discord or Chat (not including Skype). By actively involved, meaning participating in conversations on a regular basis.
2. Semi-Active User - Any user who has made between fifty (50) and ninety-nine (99) contributions within two (2) months preceding the present date and/or 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 who has made fewer than fifty (50) contributions within three (3) months preceding the present date and/or 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.

Article III: Content

A. General

1. Do not speculate anything unless it is an implication. If this is the case, then add {{Citation needed}}
2. All guidelines (listed at ESB:Guidelines) in regards to article formatting, content, and layout must be followed.
3. Refer to everything in the third person (i.e. do not use "we," "I," "you," etc.) , unless it is in quotes.

B. Article relevance

1. Do not create articles that are not relevant to SpongeBob SquarePants. This is not Wikipedia.

a. A person, place, or thing is relevant to SpongeBob SquarePants if it has appeared in episodes, shorts, films, games, merchandise, and the like.
b. People, places, or things that are relevant but not sufficiently relevant enough for their own articles may be included in a list or some other related article.
c. Linking to non-existent articles about people, places, or things that aren't relevant will be treated the same way.

3. Definitive content includes all content that is defined as having relevance to merit their own articles. This includes, but is not limited to:

a. All episodes, films, and shorts and their respective transcripts, galleries, and credit lists.
b. All games, including console video games, PC games, and online games, and their respective galleries and transcripts.
c. All books that are considered merchandise.
d. All members of the cast and crew that have worked on the show and/or have provided their voice to portray character(s).
e. All ten main characters and their respective galleries and appearance lists. Those designated as main characters are SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, Mr. Krabs, Plankton, Karen, Sandy, Mrs. Puff, Pearl, and Gary.
f. All major and minor characters that contain a sufficient amount of information.
g. All home video releases, including VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, and digital compilations.
h. Common objects with a sufficient amount of information (i.e. Krabby Patty)
i. Any main gallery or appearances subpage with a sufficient amount of information. (i.e. five images/ten appearances)

4. Definitive content which is not relevant to have their own articles includes but is not limited to:

a. Some very minor characters/characters with little information, such as only a single line or two.
b. Certain objects, especially those with little information, such as only a single line or two.
c. Insignificant products that do not have a sufficient amount of information.
d. Any implied content that does not have a sufficient amount of information. That can be included here: List of implied content.

C. Crossover content. All crossover characters, locations, and objects that are not native to the SpongeBob SquarePants universe do not merit their own articles. Instead, they belong on a list.
D. Fanon. Fan-made content is not allowed, unless it is discussed in chat, forum, or blog. Articles on fan-made content may be created at Fanonia SpongeBobia.
E. False/unsourced information. Do not intentionally insert false information.
F. Content from other websites

1. Content from Wikipedia is allowed to be copied to ESB. See Licensing at Community Central.
2. Publishing content (including reverting) from other websites to ESB without the author's permission is prohibited.
3. If required, all copied content must be tagged.

Article IV: Sources

A. Acceptable sources

1. Nickelodeon. Any source that is directly from Nickelodeon, including interviews and blogs made by or performed on Nickelodeon staff, its Twitter, Facebook, Vine, and Tumblr, excluding Nick.com's TV guide due to their listings often being false or inaccurate.
2. SpongeBob SquarePants. Any source from a staff member of SpongeBob SquarePants or its Facebook page, including any Twitter account of a staff member of SpongeBob and the Facebook page.
3. TV schedule. Electronic Program Guide (EPG). Zap2it's TV schedule (not the episode guide) and The Futon Critic listings are also acceptable.
4. The social media accounts for the people who are making video games, comics, DVDs/Blu-ray Discs, rides, and books and organizing events.
5. Trusted news sources that are acceptable by a vote of the ESB community.

B. Unacceptable sources - every other source that is not the ones listed above. They include, but are not limited to:

1. Any online database for movies and television, including but not limited to Metacritic, IMDb, TV.com, etc.
2. Any blog or social media that is purely speculation or fanon.
3. Wikipedia due to the nature of its content creation; instead, seek out the sources referenced by Wikipedia and ensure it falls under an acceptable source.
4. Any website that contains sources from the places that are allowed, but speculate on any information about dates or names.

C. Unspecified sources

1. Any source not mentioned in this article should be discussed by the community to determine if it is acceptable or not.

Article V: User conduct

A. User interaction

1. Do not personally attack other users. This includes, but is not limited to threatening the wiki and/or user(s), name-calling (including, but not limited to idiot, jerk, stupid, retard, etc.), derogatory statements, and use of profanity directed toward other users.
2. Do not discriminate other users based on their religion, political affiliation, sexual preference, or anything else. It is strongly recommended that users do not discuss these topics as these may cause distress.
3. Do not use profanity. "Damn" and "hell" are acceptable, but only if used in context and not directed toward other users. Censoring of words (such as "f***) even when used as an expletive, is prohibited.
4. Do not add or link to content that is inappropriate for younger readers and contributors.
5. Do not correct other people's use of spelling and/or grammar on discussion pages, message walls, or the forums unless it is in regards to spelling and/or grammar use in an article.
6. Do not pose as an administrator if you are not one.

B. Vandalism. Do not vandalize the wiki. This includes, but is not limited to: spam, nonsense edits, removing good quality content, and blanking pages.
C. Multiple Accounts. Using multiple accounts is strictly prohibited unless it is the bot account of an administrator or an approved bot account of a non-administrator. If a user has multiple accounts, they must choose one to use and the others must be blocked.

Article VI: Communication

Revised at convention on December 13, 2018

A. General

1. ESB is a community of multiple different users, and so the use of good communication is necessary to maintain a civil and productive editing and social environment.
2. Off topic discussions are allowed, but must be kept on the off topic forum. The administration reserves the right to remove discussion they deem unnecessary.
3. If an administrator requests a response from a user regarding an issue, that user must respond to them. If the user makes more than twenty (20) edits and twenty-four (24) hours have passed since the time of the administrator's message without the user responding, this will be considered ignoring and the user may be warned and/or blocked, depending on the nature of the issue.
4. Do not discuss another wiki's issues on this wiki.
5. Necroposting. Do not reply to forum threads, messages on other user's walls, or blog posts that haven't been replied to in three (3) months or more without an administrator's permission.

B. Discussion areas

1. Forums

a. The primary purpose of the forums is for topics relevant to the mission of the wiki and discussion of SpongeBob SquarePants.
b. No type of forum game may have more than five (5) games going at once. This is to avoid cluttering of threads.

2. User Pages. You do not own your user page, it is given to you to help people know you better. The administration reserves the right to remove any content they feel is inappropriate.
3. User Walls. Do not forbid anyone from leaving you a message on your message wall.

C. Reporting rule violations. Any violation of the rules may be reported to the report user page.

Article VII: Signatures

This article was revised at convention on November 21, 2018.

A. All user signatures must clearly identify the username of the user. For example, User:RandomUser305 could sign 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.

Article VIII: Chat

This article was revised at convention on December 13, 2018.

A. General. All ESB policies apply to all ESB-related chat rooms: the ESB chatroom on Fandom and Discord/Skype chat rooms including "SpongeBobia Chatroom," "ESB Chat Moderators," "ESB Administrators," and "ESB Bureaucrats."

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 Discord/Skype administrator.
2. English is the preferred language in the chatroom. It is recommended to not use other languages.
3. Trolling is forbidden. Anyone who disturbings the chat room environment and does not provide anything useful to the conversation may be considered trolling. Any trolling in the ESB chat room will result in an immediate ban. In Discord/Skype, users continuing to troll will receive a kick. Administrators can block trolling users infinitely from ESB at their discretion if they feel the user does not provide any positive engagement to the community.

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 (Discord, 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.

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

1. 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.
f. Conforming to disruption is forbidden. Conforming to disruption qualifies as feeding the trolls, continuing to discuss the trolls after they've been banned, participating in heated arguments, and engaging in unfriendly banter with other users.
g. Role-playing is forbidden in the main chat. Please conduct all role-plays in private messages.

2. 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.
3. 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. Discord/Skype chat rooms. The policies in this section apply to the ESB chat rooms on Discord/Skype. (combining with title of section)

1. 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 Discord/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 Discord/Skype chat rooms.

2. Kicking policy

a. Unlike the Fandom chatroom, when a user is kicked from the ESB Discord/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 Discord/Skype for twenty-four (24) hours. If the user is added back but continues to misbehave, then they will be kicked from the Discord/Skype for seven (7) days. Any users who continues to misbehave even after those kicks will receive longer kicks from the Discord/Skype depending on the severity of their actions.
d. Do not add back any user who is kicked from the Discord/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 Discord/Skype administrators. Any user who ignores warnings will be temporarily kicked from the Discord/Skype.
f. Discord/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:Crew). You can also report to administrators on Discord/Skype. See a list for Discord here and for Skype here.

Article IX: Discussions

This article was revised at convention on April 12, 2019.

A. General

1. All additions or changes to rules, policies, guidelines, and granting of additional user rights must be discussed and voted upon with an official discussion.
2. Discussions outside of the designated discussion areas such as message walls and forum threads are not valid places to make major decisions and/or policy changes. They can be used to bring up important issues that can be put up for official discussion, as long as they follow the rules.
3. Official discussions regarding additions or changes to the rules must done through the amendment process of the rules outlined in Article XXV [LINK].
4. Official discussions regarding new policies may be done so at ESB:Proposals, as long as it does not conflict with the Rules. All new policies shall be placed at ESB:Policies and may be integrated with the Rules during a convention. Those new policies may be modified through a Proposal as long as it is not yet part of the Rules.
5. Official discussions regarding changes to guidelines must be done so in the form of a proposal (at ESB:Proposals) and must follow the procedures outlined in Section B of this article. Any other official discussion not related to changes to policies, guidelines, and granting of additional user rights may be conducted in the same manner.
6. Official discussions regarding granting of additional user rights must be done so in accordance with Article X.

B. Format for official proposals

1. General

a. All official proposals are to be conducted at ESB:Proposals
b. Anyone can start a proposal at stage one, but only assistants, administrators, and the user that started the proposal are permitted to open the voting stage.

2. All proposals will be conducted in two stages: 1) concerns stage and 2) voting stage.

a. Stage 1: Concerns stage

i. Any user may present a valid proposal for the community to discuss.
ii. Proposals must remain open for a minimum of seven (7) days and may be open for a maximum of fourteen (14) days. However, the proposal may be moved to the voting stage early if four (4) days have passed and no concerns have been made.
iii. Concerns may be marked resolved by an assistant, an administrator, the author of the concern, or the author of the proposal and may be remarked as unresolved by an administrator or assistant.

b. Stage 2: Voting stage

i. Any administrator, assistant, or the author of the proposal are to consider everything that was concluded in the concerns stage and create a new updated proposal together, ~~thus~~ concluding the concerns stage and starting the voting stage.
ii. After seven (7) days of voting, the voting stage will be closed.

3. Exceptions

a. If further discussion is required, or is a series of discussions, the proposal may be open for a longer period of time and close a different way.
b. The author of a proposal may withdraw their proposal at their sole discretion.
c. If a proposal is redundant with a recent proposal or if a proposal is created that is considered unnecessary but is not withdrawn, it may be closed by a majority vote of the active bureaucrats, who can decide the outcome.
d. If a proposal requires a template or coding to be developed, it must be part of the proposal or added before the concerns stage ends or it will be closed before it goes to voting.

4. Closing proposals

a. At the end of the voting stage, in order for the proposal to pass, a 70% majority in support of the particular proposal is required, not counting neutrals. Otherwise, the proposal fails to pass.
b. If a proposal closes and an agreement is not reached, another proposal may be created for further discussion.
c. Any bureaucrat or administrator can close the voting stage.

5. When a proposal passes, the decision is final. Unless otherwise stated, the policy change takes effect immediately.

Article X: Voting

Revised at convention on December 13, 2018.

A. All users of ESB are entitled to vote on all matters as long as one (1) week has passed since their first edit.
B. Any user that is blocked will have their vote void if they are still blocked at the point in which the discussion is closed.
C. Any user removing votes from their own promotion request or user of the month nomination will have their entire request or nomination invalidated. The user is then prohibited from making such a request for any position for three (3) months and ineligible for such a nomination for two (2) months.
D. A user cannot vote on their own promotion request, user rights review, or user of the month nomination. They are, however, allowed to comment, ask, and answer questions.

Article XI: Roles

A. Certain users are given more abilities, known as user rights, in order for the wiki to be run more effectively.
B. Additional user roles shall be bureaucrats, administrators, assistants, discussion moderators, chat moderators, and rollbacks. Other roles may be granted to certain users, including, but not limited to bots, social media managers, and Skype administrators.
C. Duties of roles

1. When a user is promoted, they have more privileges than the average user. They are expected to use these powers with good judgment and follow all the rules.
2. Administrators are privileged with the power to block other users and are expected to have good judgment when it comes to using this tool.
3. Administrators are the only ones allowed to inform a user that they have been blocked or banned.

D. Terms of roles

1. All promoted users may keep their position as long as they want, unless they resign, retire, quit or are demoted per the article on demotions.

Article XII: Promotions

A. Application process

1. Users requesting promotion to bureaucrat (link), administrator (link), assistant (link), discussion moderator (link), or chat moderator (link) must do so through a formal promotion request, linked in this section. Rollbacks may be promoted at the discretion of any administrator.
2. Applicants must create a request page using the associated form, ensuring they answer the questions and follow the proper requirements. There are no right or wrong answers, the questions are there to help the community make a decision.
3. The questions for all requests are as follows:

a. Why do you believe you are qualified to be promoted to this position?
b. Have you had experience with this position before?
c. What are your best contributions to Encyclopedia SpongeBobia and why?
d. How do you plan to use your rights if your request is successful?"
e. Have you been in a situation in which you needed the user rights for this position at that moment but were unable to act?
f. Is there anything else you want to add?

4. During the discussion

a. Applicants shall not use any images to advertise "support" for them, so as to discourage unqualified users who seek the support of others who do not consider their qualifications.
b. Applicants shall not force other users to support them. Applicants are allowed to notify other users of such discussion, without imposing an agenda.
c. Nominating another user for any position requiring a request form is prohibited unless the nominating user is an administrator or bureaucrat. All other nominations will be closed as invalid.
d. Administrator and bureaucrat requests may be posted on the forum to seek more input, and they may also be highlighted.

5. Length of request. Promotion requests are to last no shorter than seven (7) days from the time the applicant makes the request.
6. Closing requests

a. Any applicant that has 70% support of all votes shall be promoted after the seven (7) days.
b. Successful requests may only be closed by those that have the ability to grant those rights.
c. Unsuccessful or invalid promotion requests may be closed by an assistant or administrator.
d. If a user makes a promotion request but fails to be promoted, they must wait at least seven (7) days before making another request.

7. Invalid requests. A request is deemed invalid if one of the following is true, and may be closed accordingly.

a. The questions remain blank for more than two (2) hours after the creation of their request.
b. The user is not eligible for the position.
c. Any user who receives a valid block while having a pending promotion request. The user will be prohibited from making any request for thirty (30) days, starting from the time their block ends.

B. Eligibility

1. General requirements. Generally, a user seeking promotion must demonstrate that all their contributions are positive, and further the goal of improving the wiki. They must demonstrate understanding of the how the wiki operates, familiarity with the policies, proper use of spelling and grammar, and they must also show they can hold the position with maturity. The community shall make an assessment on whether or not the user shall be promoted based on their standards that includes these as well as others. They must also demonstrate good reasons for any questionable contributions.
2. All positions

a. At least one (1) month must have passed since the user's first edit.
b. The user must have at least one hundred (100) edits, of which at least fifty (50) are main namespace edits.
c. The user must have a clean block record for at least three (3) months, not counting invalid blocks.
d. The user must have support from the active administrators.
e. The user must have support from the active bureaucrats. If the request fails to do so, it requires 75% support of administrators who are not bureaucrats for the request to pass unless otherwise stated.

3. Chat moderator

a. The user must have a clean chat ban record for at least one (1) month, not counting invalid chat bans.

4. Discussion moderator

a. The user must have at least five hundred (500) board thread edits/Discussions posts or an even mixture of two hundred and fifty (250) board thread edits and two hundred and fifty Discussions posts.

5. Assistant

a. At least two (2) months must have passed since the user's first edit.
b. The user must have at least 500 edits, of which at least 250 are main namespace edits.

6. Administrator

a. The user must be a current assistant for at least two (2) months.
b. The user must have at least 1,000 edits, of which at least 500 are main namespace edits.
c. The user must have a clean block record for at least six (6) months, not counting invalid blocks.

7. Bureaucrat

a. The user must be a current administrator for at least one (1) year.
b. The user must have at least 4,000 edits, of which at least 2,000 are main namespace edits.
c. The user must have a clean block record for at least one (1) year, not counting invalid blocks.
d. The user must have full support from all bureaucrats.

C. Repromotions

1. Any user that retires, resigns, or quits and returns and wishes to be repromoted must follow the same procedures and requirements as if they were a user who had never been promoted before.
2. If a retired or resigned user returns to ESB, they cannot be promoted to any position until three (3) months following the announcement of their return or decision not to retire or resign.
3. Any requirement of the repromotion policy can be waived by the majority vote of the active bureaucrats. This can be overruled by a majority vote of the active administrators (sysop only).

Article XIII: Demotions

A. General. A user may be demoted for various reasons, including, but not limited to: resignation, retirement, inactivity, violating the rules, abuse of rights, and/or disruptive behavior.
B. Retirement and resignation. Any user who wishes to no longer hold a promoted position and thus retires or resigns can demote themselves. They may notify a bureaucrat to have their rights removed as well. If a bureaucrat resigns or retires and fails to remove their rights, Fandom Staff will be contacted to demote them.
C. Demotion due to policy violations

1. Demotion of a rollback must be done so by a majority vote of the active administrators.
2. Demotion of a chat moderator, discussion moderator, or an assistant must be done so by a majority vote of all bureaucrats. The rest of the administration (sysop only) may overrule the decision by a majority vote.
3. Demotion of an administrator or bureaucrat must be done so through the user rights review process.

D. Demotion due to inactivity

1. A promoted user shall not be demoted due to inactivity without communication between the user in question and the rest of the administration.
2. When a promoted user becomes inactive for two (2) months, bureaucrats shall discuss this with the user in question, to understand their intentions on whether or not to continue holding that promoted position.
3. If a promoted user goes on an extended vacation or leave of absence lasting more than two (2) months with intentions of returning, they may notify the community to make their intentions known.
4. If a promoted user is inactive for a period of at least six (6) months without communication between them and the rest of the administration, they shall be demoted.

Article XIV: User Rights Reviews

A. General

1. A User Rights Review may occur if a promoted user is abusing their powers and needs to be demoted.
2. In such a case, a promoted user may be suspended, pending review, in accordance with this section.

a. In the event that a promoted user is not following the rules and/or are abusing their powers, a bureaucrat must inform them of their wrongdoing, in case of any misinterpretations.
b. If the promoted user does not stand down or admit to wrongdoing and thus the bureaucrat fails to resolve the issue, they may demote the promoted user for a suspension of one (1) week.
c. After the suspension (clause b, above), the said bureaucrat must then create a User Rights Review discussion.
d. Any administrator who is demoted after their adminship is terminated, obtains "former administrator" status.

3. Creating a User Rights Review discussion by any non-administrator to have another user demoted from any position is prohibited and will result in the deletion of that discussion.

B. Process

1. If a user feels that an administrator should be demoted, they must contact an administrator to make a request.
2. The administrators will discuss whether or not the promoted user in question should have a review discussion to let the community decide if that user should be demoted.
3. A majority of administrators must support a review discussion in order for it to be created in the first place. If it is determined that a majority of administrators do not support such a discussion taking place, the request is dropped.
4. Once a majority of administrators support the creation of a review discussion, they must notify the administrator in question to give them the following choices:

a. Resign from the position. The administrators can then decide if that user should remain as an assistant or not if the user in question chooses to resign.
b. Write up a paragraph defending their keeping the position so that it can be presented before the demotion discussion begins. Once their defense has been submitted, the review discussion can be started immediately.
c. If the user does neither of these, the review discussion will be posted three (3) days after the user in question is notified.

5. Once the review discussion is posted, it will be in the following format.

a. The administrators will list all the administrators who supported the creation of the discussion to show validation of the discussion.
b. Each user will have the opportunity to voice their opinion on the matter, summing up on what should be done, whether it is a complete demotion, demotion to another position, suspension, block, and/or combination.
c. After seven (7) days of discussion, the first stage will close. All listed options will be put up for a vote.

6. In order to terminate or suspend a bureaucrat or administrator, a majority of participating administrators (50% or more) and 70% of all participants must support the termination or suspension in order for it to be valid, not counting neutrals. The discussion must last no less than seven (7) days. The promoted user in question does not have a vote or is counted in the percentage for the decision but may make comments.
7. If the termination is successful, the terminated user cannot be repromoted unless they go through a successful request process.
8. If the termination is unsuccessful, another demotion discussion cannot take place until one (1) month after the close of the preceding demotion discussion.

Article XV: Blocking

Revised August 6, 2019

A. General

1. If a user is violating any rule, administrators must resolve the problem and politely notify the user of their wrongdoing by giving one (1) warning on their message wall.
2. If a user breaks two (2) different rules, that counts as one (1) warning for each rule. A user that breaks the same rule twice merits a block.
3. If a warned user continues to break the same rule within twenty-four (24) hours without acknowledging the warning, the administrator should try to contact that user again.
4. If the warned user continues to break the same rule for twenty-four (24) hours after the administrator tried to contact them again, the user will be blocked for a maximum of fourteen (14) days.
5. Any user who continues to violate the rule for which they were blocked within seven (7) days after their initial block ends will receive further penalties, depending on the rule(s) violated and the severity of the offense at the discretion of the administration.

B. Exceptions

1. Any user who commits offenses that are very serious to the point in which they harm the wiki or threaten a user may be blocked immediately for any given amount of time at the discretion of the blocking administrator.
2. Any user who spams, vandalizes, harasses, or threatens a user or the wiki as a whole as their first contribution or interaction may be blocked immediately without warning. If they continue to violate such rules after their block, they shall be given an infinite block.
3. Users that misuse spelling and/or grammar, unintentionally use improper formatting, and/or make an accidental edit shall not be blocked.

C. Blocking the user

1. When an administrator blocks a user, they must use the {{Blocked}} template on their message wall to notify that they have been blocked. This allows the blocked user to know that they have been blocked and the reason, so that they can be linked to the policies to better understand our rules, as well as learn how to appeal a block.
2. Administrators must leave the user's message wall open in order for the blocked user to make an appeal case.
3. If a blocked user abuses their wall privileges by spamming, threatening, or harassing other users, before making an appeal case, they have forfeited their chance to make an appeal for the duration of the block and can have their wall privileges removed until the end of their block.
4. A bureaucrat may unblock the user if they deem it an unfair block. If any other bureaucrat is in disagreement, the bureaucrat disputing the block must start a block review.

D. Block disputes

1. A block dispute occurs when an administrator's action in blocking a user is challenged.
2. Any user may appeal their block or another user's block they deem unfair to have the block or ban removed.
3. All blocking disputes should be handled between the conflicting parties. If the conflicting parties resolve the dispute, the dispute is over.
4. If neither party agrees to a compromise, any user opposing the block must start a block review and follow the procedures.

E. Blocking administrators. Blocking another administrator is strictly prohibited. All administrators are supposed to resolve disputes with each other through discussion and not blocking.

1. Any administrator who blocks another administrator will be suspended from all roles (administrator, assistant, rollback, chat moderator, discussion moderator) and an emergency user rights review shall be created.
2. Any exception to the rules, including an appeal from the suspended administrator, will be implemented by a vote of a majority of the active bureaucrats.

Article XVI: Content dispute

A. General. Not everyone will agree on how things should be done on the wiki. However, in order to have consistency and organization within the wiki, it is important to establish policies and formatting guidelines for everyone to follow in which the community agrees upon. As this is a collaborative environment, it is important to resolve disputes by using communication to address the problem instead of ignoring the problem. This article outlines the procedures in the event of an edit war and/or an issue relating to content dispute.
B. Procedures

1. Edit war. When an edit war occurs, all parties must stop editing the page and take the problem to an informal discussion and explain their reasons for their edits. Once they have explained their reasons, they must follow the procedures below to resolve the dispute.
2. Procedures

a. If an established policy and/or guideline can resolve the dispute, that policy and/or guideline must be followed.
b. If there is disagreement in regards to the policy and/or guideline, discussion is allowed, but the reverts must be halted so that the disputed content on the page is left alone until the dispute is resolved.
c. If the dispute is still not resolved, an uninvolved administrator must step in to mediate the discussion.
d. If the dispute involves one (1) or more administrators, a bureaucrat uninvolved in the edit war must intervene.
e. If all bureaucrats are involved in the edit war, an official discussion is required.
f. In the event that no such policy and/or guideline exists to establish a resolution policy-wise, the dispute may require further discussion that will ultimately be decided in an official discussion to establish a policy and/or guideline.

3. Conclusion

a. Once the dispute is resolved, the decision is final. Any edit made by the losing party in the dispute that blatantly ignores the decision is subject to a maximum three (3) day block.
b. If any user is in disagreement over the decision, they are free to make a proposal to change the guidelines/policies/rules/etc.

C. 3 Revert Rule

1. General. An editor must not perform more than three reverts on a single page—whether involving the same or different material—within a 24-hour period. An edit or a series of consecutive edits that undoes other editors' actions—whether in whole or in part—counts as a revert. Any appearance of gaming the system by reverting a fourth time just outside the 24-hour slot is likely to be treated as an edit-warring violation.
2. During an edit war, when a page is reverted after three (3) times by the same user, the editing must stop and be reported to an administrator.

Article 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.
4. There cannot be more than 30 deletion requests open at a given time. If there are already 30 requests at one time, do not create more or the requests made over the limit will be marked as invalid.

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.

D. Request Limits for Pages
- 1. When a page has been voted to not be deleted three consecutive times within three months or six consecutive times (without a bounded time for the requests be submitted it), the page will be exempt from being requested to be deleted for six months.
- 2. After the initial six month ban of requesting on a page, every request that results without a deletion will result in another six month exemption.
- 3. A page can be exempt from any six month exemption from deletion requests if:
  - If any discussion of a page's deletion that is currently exempt is found to have 3 or more sockpuppets. The six month exemption will be lifted and an admin will create a new discussion as a redo.
  - If a proposal is passed that allows deletion in a category containing pages for the purposes of housekeeping, the page can be deleted without a discussion if the passed proposal is defined in conjunction with a valid reason.
- 4. All pages currently exempt from deletion requests will be put in a sub-page to be displayed and updated on the ESB:Requests for deletion page. The starting date and ending date of their exemptions will also be listed.

Article XVIII: Unprotection

This article was revised at convention on February 4, 2018.

A. General

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

1. Fill out the unprotection request including the reason the page should be unprotected and save the page to start an unprotection 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 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.

Article XIX: Contests

This article was revised at convention on December 13, 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. Users may submit multiple backgrounds.
2. Users may vote on their own submission.
3. All backgrounds must relate to SpongeBob SquarePants or they will be removed.
4. The winning background from the previous year is not eligible and any such entry will be removed. Users may 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. Users may create their own background or use 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 calculated in a table.
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 send each of them a message telling them that they won.

Article XX: Games

This article was revised at convention on May 30, 2019.

A. The following games are not allowed in any form, whether it is forums or discussions. All such games will be immediately removed.

1. Games requiring the involvement of a certain user or users without the user's or users' permission.

B. The following games are allowed on Discussions, but not the Forum.

1. True or False
2. Never Ending Stories
3. Describe the Picture Above You
4. Games that follow the format "Post X before someone posts Y."
5. Games involving counting to a particular number, whether or not there is an interruption that would reset the counter.
6. Ban the user above you.
7. Games involving spelling, reciting quotes, and singing songs.
8. Mix and Match
9. Give A Plot a Title
10. Corrupt a Wish
11. Replace A Word

C. Hurt and Heals

1. Hurt and Heals are allowed on the Forum.
1. All Hurt and Heals must have proper formatting within one (1) week after the game begins.
2. Hurt and Heals cannot have a voting span longer than 5 hours.
3. If the Hurt and Heal involves 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.

D. The administration reserves the right to remove new games or request they be moved to Discussions.

Article XXI: Advertising and affiliation

A. Advertising

1. Fandom wikis may be advertised only in the forums or discussions and in only one forum or discussions post.
2. Advertising non-Fandom wikis is not allowed. Discussion of such websites is however allowed.
3. Any violation of these policies will result in a deletion of anything relating to that website and a warning to the user who violated them.

Article XXII: Amendment of rules

This article was revised at convention on April 12, 2019.

A. Rules (ESB:Rules)

1. The rules shall only be amended during the annual convention, which shall occur starting on July 15 of each year and ending when business is concluded.
2. The rules may be amended outside of the annual convention period if any such amendment is submitted to the bureaucrats and a majority of the active bureaucrats agree that such a discussion should occur.
3. All amendments to the rules require a 70% majority in favor of the amendment, not including neutral votes.
4. All proposed rules additions or changes must contain the exact text to change, using the {{PolicyProposalBegin}} / {{PolicyProposalEnd}} templates, inserting new language in bold, and striking out language proposed to be removed. Any policy proposal that does not contain the language to be changed by the time the voting stage is reached, it will be closed as invalid.

B. Policies (ESB:Policies)

1. The policies may be added to or amended at any time during the year, as long as such does not conflict with the Rules.
2. All proposed policy additions or changes must contain the exact text to change, using the {{PolicyProposalBegin}} / {{PolicyProposalEnd}} templates, inserting new language in bold, and striking out language proposed to be removed. Any policy proposal that does not contain the language to be changed by the time the voting stage is reached, it will be closed as invalid.

@@ Line 134: / Line 134: @@
 '''''[[ESB:Convention/Policy reviews - Signatures (2018)/voting|This article was revised at convention on November 21, 2018.]]'''''
-*A. All user signatures must clearly identify the username of the user. For example, User:RandomUser305 could sign <s>off</s> as "RU305."
+*A. All user signatures must clearly identify the username of the user. For example, User:RandomUser305 could sign 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.