 | This page documents one of Memory Alpha's guidelines. |
Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. |
These guidelines govern the use of talk pages on Memory Alpha.
Purpose
Talk pages are used for:
- Comments about articles. Positive or negative feedback from readers is always welcome for any article!
- Discussing the validity of an article. Sometimes, a reader or other contributor might have a question about the canonicity of a certain fact described in an article. The talk page can be used to iron out differences of opinion concerning the article's validity.
- Discussing potential changes to an article. Often, it becomes necessary to rewrite an article. The talk page is a useful place to discuss what sort of changes are needed.
- Saving links for future incorporation. If you think a particular link may contain useful information but are currently unable/uninterested in adding details to the page, you can leave the link behind for another user to consult.
However, talk pages are not used simply for general discussion or chat; that's what the Discussions feed is for (see What Memory Alpha is not).
Standards and practices
These standards apply to all talk pages. They exist to keep talk pages well-organized and easy to navigate.
- Separate discussion topics. Put each new topic under a separate section header.
- Add new posts to the bottom of the section. The further down the comment is in the thread, the later it was posted. If your comment is in response to something earlier in the thread, indicate that in your text. If a new thread has broken from the original discussion, it should be separated into a subsection.
- Indent posts for organization. The user starting a new talk page section does not indent their message. The next person starts their message with one colon (:), the third person uses two colons (::), and so on. Users returning to leave additional comments use the same indentation as they did initially. This method helps distinguish who is saying what.
- Sign your posts. Add four tildes (~~~~) immediately after your post. When you save the edit, the tildes will be replaced with your signature and a timestamp.
- Archive, don't delete. Talk page discussions should never be deleted, even if they've been resolved. However, they may be archived.
- Summarize discussions. When a lengthy discussion has died down and been ignored for several weeks, you may place a summary of the key points at the beginning, optionally using {{archive top}} and {{archive bottom}} to do so. Be sure to cover opposing arguments and present them from an unbiased view. Cover common ground if possible.
- Don't edit others' posts. Aside from correcting indents, fixing broken links, adding a missing signature, and (for administrators) removing personal attacks, never edit someone else's post in any way. If you aren't sure whether it's OK, don't do it. Editing or deleting your own posts can be done at your own discretion, so long as no one has responded to them.
- Use UTC to tell time. Referring to the time in UTC+00:00 helps standardize the clocks and ensure that there's no confusion concerning the timing of specific events.
- Provide appropriate references. It is important to indicate what page, user, edit, or series of events you are referring to when using a talk page. This can be done by providing a page or user name, providing a diff link (preferably via Special:Diff), or by other means. Try to be as specific and clear as possible.