Acceptable Use Policy

By editing or adding to the Shards Schtuff Wiki you agree to abide by the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) laid out in this document. We reserve the right to delete any documents which do not conform to this AUP, general Nettiquette, the law, or basic common sense.

People who break the AUP will be prevented from editing the wiki in future. If you find a document which does not conform to the AUP, please edit it to bring it in line with the guidelines given here and report the person who created/editied it to the webmaster.

Comments or questions about Shards Schtuff should be directed to the Website Forum on the main Shards LRP website.

Please check back here regularly, as the AUP may change or be updated.

Before You Start

Before you start editing or adding to the wiki you should familiarise yourself with the information in the How To section.

Content

Only information which directly relates to Shards LRP, or is of relevant interest to Shards players, may be posted to this wiki. Before adding new information, please make sure that it is not already given somewhere on the wiki. If information is relevant to more than one section of the wiki you can link to it from both, but please do not create duplicate documents which contain the same information. This is a waste of effort and server space. Inappropriate or duplicate information will be deleted.

Language

Shards is played by both adults and children, and this wiki is read by both, so please consider this when adding content. While you can use whatever language you like in the body of a document you should remember that a number of our refs and players have internet access through systems with net nanny filters and documents with swear words in them will not be visible to these people. In particular you must not use swear words in the title of a document, or in links to your document from index pages, as this will prevent these people from reading entire sections of the wiki. Documents with swear words in their titles, or links from indexes which use swear words, will be edited or deleted.

Structure

Please make sure you add content to an appropriate section of the wiki. This helps other people find the information they are looking for. When possible, follow the structure already in place, and only add new sections where necessary. Inapropriately placed information will be moved or deleted.

Server Space

The server space on this wiki is limited. For this reason we ask that, where possible, you store large files like photos and movies on other webspace and link to them from the wiki. This leaves the space here for those who don't have access to space elsewhere. If we run out of space we will have to start deleting old data, photographs, etc.

Editing Other People's Documents

It is perfectly permissable, and in many cases actively encouraged, for you to edit documents created by other people in order to bring them up to date, correct mistakes, etc. However, you should not delete large chunks of content or entire documents without checking that the person who created them is happy for you to do so. Obsolete information can often be moved or updated rather than deleted. If you do delete considerable amounts of information you should keep a backup of what you deleted in case someone requests that it be restored.

Different people will no doubt have different opinions on what information should be given in which document. For information on how to resolve differences of opinion on these matters, see the Troubleshooting section. When no resolution is possible between the parties involved, you can contact the webmater for a ruling. In these cases the decision of the webmaster is final.

Vandalism

Wikis are unfortunately prone to vandalism by their nature. People found to be vandalising this wiki (by which we mean deleting large amounts of data, defacing documents, posting inappropriate content, etc) will be prevented from editing the wiki in future. For information on how to deal with vandalism, please see the Troubleshooting section. Please report all cases of vandalism to the webmaster.

Backing Up

While the webmaster will take backups of the entire wiki when she can, YOU are responsible for making sure that you have a backup of any information that you add to the wiki. In the case of computer malfunction or malicious vandalism of the wiki you should not rely on the webmaster, or anyone else, to have a back up of your data. You can find information on how to backup can be found on the Backing Up & Restoring Data page.

Contact Details

If you wish other shards players to be able to contact you you can add your details to the members section of the wiki. You must not post anyone else's contact details (phone, snail- or e-mail) to the wiki without their express permission. Please think carefully before giving out your own contact details, particularly "real world" information like phone numbers or addresses. Although this wiki is primarily read and used by regular Shards players it is on the internet for anyone to see, and we get all sorts of people reading the website. We know. Occasionally they email us and we can assure you some of them are very strange....