Muppet Wiki:Policies and Guidelines

This is a list of the Policies and Guidelines discussed and agreed upon by the Muppet Wiki community. See also, the Muppet Wiki:FAQ and Muppet Wiki:Coverage.

Article style

• Muppet Wiki:Style Guide

• Due to the frequency with which videos are removed from YouTube, we try to keep links to that site at a minimum. Some exceptions include accounts owned by regular contributors who are keeping an eye on their own links or cases where wiki information is being sourced. We also never link to anything that's commercially available. For embed purposes, official channels are allowed and encouraged (including those of Sesame Workshop, The Jim Henson Company, Muppet Studios, individual show producers or sponsors, and filmmakers of Sesame Street inserts are examples).

• Spoilers (CE discussion)

• In/On (CE discussion)

• 's - no consensus (CE discussion)

• Muppet Show guest bios (CE discussion)

• Performer boxes are for the main performer(s) of a character only. And only when that performer has been established with a character for 1) an extended period over 2) multiple productions (these two criteria are open for discussion on a case by case basis). Exceptions include when Sesame Workshop of Muppets Studio LLC issues a formal press release (this is rare). Performer histories are covered in the article. See Talk:Janice, Talk:Sam the Eagle, Talk:Dr. Teeth, and others.

• When summarizing fictional events that happened in a TV show, book, or film, the present tense is used unless explicitly dealing with a character's backstory prior to the episode. This rule applies even if the production follows characters over a certain length of time. The exception applies to character pages with long and detailed histories over a span of several (real life) years and projects. To quote Danny: "The point is that the writing always takes place in the present of the moment that you're writing about. If the episode that you're writing about shifts from one sentence to another, then the present tense follows it." (CE discussion)

• Posting the full lyrics to a song isn't allowed on the wiki; it's considered a violation of the songwriter's copyright, and that's a violation that is enforced more often than images or other potential violations. It's okay to quote selected lines from a song within the context of a larger article about that song, the songwriter, or the character.

• Entries are expected to be made with proper grammar, capitalization and spacing.

• Don't make lists of quotes for favorite or famous lines. We don't want to become a quote database, and picking the best ones is subject to one's point of view. Quotes should be used in articles to illustrate a particular point.

• The purpose of disambiguation pages is to redirect the user to the page they're looking for. When other links are included, it tends to confuse that process. As such, only the articles being disambiguated should be linked, and any other discernible information should be kept limited to the point that a visitor can determine which of the articles they are looking for. All other pertinent information and wiki links can be found in the following article. More on disambiguation: (CE discussion)

• Infobox templates for music albums (records, tapes, CDs, etc) should only have the format, catalog number, label and cover image for the first release. All later releases (and their information) should go farther down in the "other releases" gallery.

• Captions and text should refer to a person by their last name unless it's within the context of the appearance they were making where they were referred to by their first name by other characters. For example, Elmo refers to Whoopi Goldberg as "Whoopi" and Kermit refers to Gene Kelly as "Gene". The descriptive text should read Elmo and Whoopi discuss their hair and fur and Kermit gets a dancing lesson from Gene; while captions and history about the person should be Goldberg pictured with Kami at the United Nations and Kelly didn't want to do "Singin' in the Rain", but the show writers convinced him otherwise.

• Multiple links to the same article in close proximity to each other is discouraged (in paragraphs, for example). Exceptions include links appearing under another header or in image captions. Readers often skip down to the information that interests them and tend to look over pictures first. Not providing links to relevant articles in these cases (even when they've already been linked in the article) would fail to direct the reader to relevant topics. Readers shouldn't be expected to know that a link was provided in an earlier section of the article or have to do a separate search.

• On people articles, full birth/death dates (day, month, year) are typically reserved for people for whom Muppet Wiki serves as a primary biographical source: Jim Henson, Muppet performers, major contributors (frequent writers or composers, etc.), long-term Sesame Street cast, and the like. Celebrities and more occasional crew (as well as anyone merely referenced) are listed by years only, i.e. Bob Hope (1903-2003). Wikipedia and other sources cover those dates and other information in full, so Muppet Wiki tends to focus on the more Muppet-centric people.

Editing

• Edit summaries (CE discussion)

• Wikia offers three editing modes. The first is simple code, and the other two are WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors:

1. wikicode (or source editor)
2. Rich Text Editor
3. Visual Editor

Because Muppet Wiki was built before either of the WYSIWYG editors were developed, we recommend using wikicode. It's the same simple code Wikipedia uses, in fact simpler because we don't use the complicated templates commonly used on Wikipedia. Edits made with the two WYSIWYG editors developed by Wikia may not save your changes correctly and require clean-up from another editor. The option to choose which editor to use can be set in your Preferences (wikicode is referred to in the dropdown menu as "source editor").

Communication

• Getting in touch with specific editors can be done through the Message Wall. Our FAQ has an introduction to how this space can be used.

• Ignoring messages from other contributors, especially admins, is grounds for being blocked from editing on Muppet Wiki. If someone questions one of your edits, or requires additional information about what you've added to the wiki, it's imperative that you acknowledge this communique with a response.

• Message Walls are not to be used to make requests for video content, trading, or soliciting outside of the wiki. Repeat offenders will be blocked. An example of one exception includes looking for merchandise. We can't help you find a vendor, but we may be able to point you to more information about it on the wiki.

• The Muppet Wiki Forum is meant to be used as a discussion space for the community to determine the factual outcome of articles on the wiki. This space doesn't lend itself well to social conversations about favorite memories, opinions or looking for merchandise. This sort of discussion is better suited for message boards (such as Muppet Central, Tough Pigs, the comments section of fan blogs such as The Muppet Newsflash or The MuppetCast), or social media accounts where you can chat with other fans. Before using Special:Forum, please read the FORUM POLICIES / FAQ linked at the top of the page.

• The "talk" or discussion pages you may be familiar with on Wikipedia and other wikis are no longer used here. All Talk pages are headlined with additional information to help you avoid this space direct you back to the forum.

Images

• Please use filenames that are relevant to the picture's subject. A lot of imaging programs apply an auto-generated filename made up of a prefix and a string of numbers. If you've downloaded an image from somewhere else, or have generated the image on your own in some way, please name the file accordingly.

• Categorizing and providing lengthy descriptions on image description pages aren't required here as you may have seen enforced on other wikis.

• With 218,753 images on the wiki, we're bound to get some duplicate. It's helpful to take some effort via search to avoid uploading an image we already have. If it's on the wiki, and you have a better quality copy, please upload over the existing filename to preserve the image's history. If the existing image works for the purposes you meant to use your image for, the image can be used again on another article.

• If you find an image online that you'd like to use here, especially if it comes from social media, use Google Image Search to try and find a higher resolution copy (such sites are notorious for degrading image size and quality).

• Image captions shouldn't contain quotes or commentary as they aren't considered NPOV contributions. Informational or explanatory captions are welcome when necessary, but aren't always needed. For example, a single image on a character page is self-explanatory: it's a picture of that character. But a column of images on a long list of references may require some text to identify how the illustration relates to the article. (Although a wry description in keeping with the spirit of the scene may be okay.)

• Watermarked images (which applies to Jim Henson's Red Book pictures) should only be used when there is no other visual representation of the subject available. One good example is this image illustrating the Muppets' performance of "Come Together" on The Ed Sullivan Show; when a better-quality picture or screenshot becomes available, that can be used instead.

• Picture galleries should be relevant and/or interesting of note to the article. Excessive image farms (especially of commercially available material) are mostly discouraged. We don't want to become a dumping ground of galleries that serve no topical purpose.

• Only one character image with a transparent, white, or cut-out background should be included on a character page (any other preexisting image that applies can be exchanged if necessary or kept if it serves a specific purpose); all others should be kept on Character images with a blank background. (CE discussion)

• Animated GIFs should only be used to illustrate that which cannot be shown otherwise in a still image.

Links

Inter-wiki link sanity

Don't bother linking multiple articles if they're close together on a page. Allow for a paragraph or two before linking the same article again. Please don't link every single capitalized word — it makes the page confusing and messy.

The exception is on lists — if some of the items in a list are linked, then go ahead and link all of them, even if they're repeated elsewhere in the article.

Date links

Date links should be used when the subject of the article has a specific release date or appearance date. The easiest way to think about it is: A timeline page has a set of links on it, listing events that happened that year. When you click "what links here", the list of pages that link to the year should match up with what's listed on the page. (CE discussion)

• The best example is for books, records, episodes, movies and specials. Those pages have one date linked -- for example, The Monster at the End of This Book has a link to 1971 in the infobox. Other dates mentioned on the page don't get linked, including reissues of the book. Only the first publication date is linked.

• TV appearances -- Link for the date that a Muppet appeared, but not for other dates. "The Tonight Show has been running continuously since 1953" wouldn't be linked; "Kermit and Miss Piggy appeared on the show in 1979" would be linked.

• Song pages -- Songs written for the Muppets or Sesame Street get a date link in the infobox. Songs that the Muppets covered (like most Muppet Show songs) don't get a date link.

• Individual people or characters don't get any date links. (This is the one exception to the general rule listed at the top -- a birth or death date of a performer might be listed on the timeline page, but they don't get linked from the person's page. Ditto for a character's first appearance.)

• There should never be date links in captions, galleries or references.

External links

Please don't add links to Amazon or other commercial sites. It's nice to help other Muppet fans find the cool products that are available, but we don't want to look like we're trying to sell things. We also don't want to open the possibility to people posting sponsored Amazon links, or links to their own Ebay store. If a product is currently in print and available, you can note that in the article. If that inspires readers to buy the product, then they can find it online themselves. Only link to a commercial site as a means of citing a source.

In the case of legitimate external links, sometimes these expire because the website has either moved or retired the article. If you find one, rather than removing it, check to see if an archive service has the link backed up. archive.org and archive.li are good long-term solutions, while Google Cache may have more recent content.

Sources

IMDb and Wikipedia (and other user generated sites like The Muppet Newsflash blog that don't cite sources) are generally not sources when it comes to Muppet/Henson productions. Such information should only be added or entries only brought up if they are confirmed by screen credits, presskits, or other reliable outside sources. Otherwise, it generally reflects what an unknown user * thinks* is correct, and in many cases reflects rumors, guesses, or even personal fantasies and outright nonsense. - (we've discussed this a number of times over the years; I'll try to dig up examples on talk pages; one source includes Talk:Roscoe Lee Browne)

• Because so many sketches were repeated over the years, and there have been so many in so many episodes, it's hard to commit to saying that "xxx" first appeared in Episode "yyyy". Instead, we list the Earliest Known Appearances, so that if an earlier appearance is found, it can easily be added to the list of appearances, or swapped out as being the Earliest Known Appearance. Citing a season as the first time a sketch appears is not sufficient. Mostly this is due to particular claims of a contributor that "Ernie looked this way is Season xx." That sort of speculation is obviously not conclusive. This dialogue is encouraged on talk pages so that an episode number may be found, but the articles themselves must be supplied with irrefutable proof of date of origin. The best way this can be done is with an episode number so that the information can be double-checked.

• An episode page must exist in order to cite it as an EKA. Street News Flash&diff=231450&oldid=231231 (no redlinked EKAs)

• On some sketch articles, we note that a particular segment was released on DVD. This should be done only for sketches that were released outside the context of the episode(s) they appeared in.

• We don't rely on memories for information, unless a considerable consensus can be reached. See more at Muppet Wiki:FAQ#Show your sources

Notability

• Every click should give a reader more information than they had before they clicked. We shouldn't have a page that simply repeats information given on the page that links to it. For example -- if a puppeteer only performed in one movie, and the only information that we have about that person is that they performed in that movie, then we don't create a separate page for that puppeteer. (The link on the movie's page already says the name of the puppeteer and the character they performed. The puppeteer's page would only have the name of the movie and the character, so it wouldn't add any extra information to what the reader already knows.)

This also applies to characters, especially one-shot unnamed Anything Muppet characters. If the character's page only has information that could be found in a description of the sketch -- then we don't need that page. (See Talk:Fat Blue and Talk:Harvey's friend.)

• Pages for song composers aren't necessary unless they've worked directly on Muppet/Henson/Sesame projects, they're being referenced (as in Beethoven) or their material has had a significant impact on the topics covered in the wiki (i.e. Harold Arlen). (examples of previous discussions include Talk:Falco and Talk:The Coasters)

• Celebrities for whom we created pages, and those we don't. Category talk:Celebrities

• Celebrity pages need only mention the person's year of birth and death. We only cover full dates for people who directly worked with the Muppets, Sesame Street, or Henson.

• I'm not sure what to do with this, but we talked quite a bit about how to handle non-Muppet Henson stuff here (CE discussion)

• "Through the Years" pages in Category:Character Variants are limited to significant design changes for major characters. The group consensus is that these pages are meant for major characters who have gone through a lot of changes, like Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy and Gonzo. Old puppets get refurbished or remade, sometimes resulting in minor cosmetic differences that are not the result of deliberate design decisions. Costume changes and new hairdos don't count. The changes should be immediately apparent to the reader looking at the pictures on the page. There should be more than three pictures on a Character Variant page -- if there have only been one or two major changes to the look of the character, then the changes should be noted on the character's article. (See Talk:Sonny Friendly Through the Years, Talk:Hoots the Owl Through the Years, Talk:Boppity Through the Years, Category talk:Character Variants, Talk:Mokey Fraggle Through The Years)

• No fan art, fan fiction, fan edits, or other unofficially created content of any kind is allowed on the wiki. Exceptions in the form of i.e. Real Street are included under unique circumstances after thorough discussion with the community. See also: Category:Muppet_Fandom and Category talk:Internet Mentions.

Notable crew

Some people who have worked on Muppet productions are notable and should have their own page on the wiki; some aren't. We want to highlight people who have made substantial creative contributions to the development of the Muppet/Henson productions. We've split the list of jobs into two basic lists, which correspond more or less to "creative" jobs vs. "technical" jobs. People with "creative" jobs should get a page on the wiki; people with "technical" jobs should not.

Here's the basic breakdown:

Yes: Writer, Director, Executive Producer, Producer, Associate Producer, Designers and Creative Supervisors in the Muppet Workshop or Creature Shop, Art Director, Production Designer, Music Coordinator, Costume Designer, Original Music, Choreographer, Puppet Wrangler. Plus anybody from the "No" list if there's anything Muppet-relevant to say about them, like an overview of their career with the Muppets, or a quote.

No: Line Producer, Associate Director, Stage Manager, Video Editor, Audio, Production Coordinator, Hair and Makeup, Technical Director, Video Engineer, Camera Operator, Tape Operator, Electrician, Lighting Board Operator, Carpenter, Props, Set Decorator, Production Assistant, Production Intern, Accounting.

That's not to say that those people aren't interesting, and this distinction is not meant to be disrespectful to people who do great and important work. It's just that there's so many people who get credits. Even a direct-to-video special has over a hundred people credited; a movie has hundreds. If we were to include a page for each person doing a "technical" job on each movie, TV show and special, then we'd end up with literally thousands of pages that have nothing but "Lighting Assistant: Muppet Treasure Island".

That being said -- if there are interesting things to say about someone on the "no" list, then a page may be appropriate. For example, Frank Biondo is a camera operator, but he has a long history with Sesame Street, he's won Emmy Awards, and he's been referenced on Elmo's World. Plus, we have a picture of him working on the show, and a quote talking about the show.

This guideline should not be used to block the creation of good and interesting pages; it's meant to discourage the creation of boring stubs based mostly on credit lists.

See the Current events discussion from January 2007, and the Category talk:Miscellaneous Crew discussion that followed. Also see Category talk:Sesame Workshop Staff for a similar discussion in January 2009.

Categories

• The creation of new categories must first be discussed with the community at Special:Forum. Before considering a new category, check the Category list to see if there's a similar category that already exists.

• Muppets vs Creatures

• Format for international categories -- keeping them separate from US categories -- not listing international releases in "Book appearances", "Audio releases", "Video releases".

• Every article should have a Category.

Merchandise

Merchandise dates

For the most part, books, albums, toys and other merchandise should just have a year for the release date, without a specific month or day. Release dates for most items are approximate anyway -- a Harry Potter book makes a big hoopla about a specific release date, but Sesame Street storybooks and Muppet DVDs tend to drift out into stores over a period of weeks. The source for most dates is a retail store, usually Amazon, and that just tracks the date that Amazon happened to start selling the item. So most of the time, we should just have the year of release.

The exception is for projects in the In Development category -- for those pages, a specific date can help readers know when a book/album is supposed to come out. Those dates should be sourced as much as possible -- if the date comes from Amazon, then use a ref tag with a link to the Amazon page. When a project moves from the In Development category to the regular category, the specific date should be taken out, leaving just the year.

Admin reminders

This information only applies to admins on the wiki who have different rights and responsibilities from editors.

• When deleting a forum or message wall thread (especially in cases of spam or vandalism), there are two steps. 1) From the "more" dropdown on the first message, choose remove. 2) Refresh the page and choose delete. Wikia staff and VSTF members have an ability to "hard delete" these, but local admins are restricted for some reason.

• When deleting a page, check Special:WhatLinksHere to ensure that it won't be creating any redlinks. Change those links to a better match. In the case of redirects, check to see if the page deletion has created any BrokenRedirects.

• When moving a page, check to see if it created any DoubleRedirects.

• When changing the name of a file, the Wikia software allows you to "Leave a redirect behind". Uncheck this box. Leaving a redirect on file names sometimes (but not always) interferes with certain tools like Special:WhatLinksHere, Special:WantedFiles, and Category:Pages with broken file links. Instead, check to see WhatLinksHere first, move the file to the new name, and change any pages that have been using the file to the new name.

• When moving a page back after it's been renamed with vandalism, don't forget to uncheck the "Leave a redirect behind" box. We don't want names like "poop stain" or whatever sticking around as redirects.

• Admins should always use Special:RecentChanges instead of Special:WikiActivity. WikiActivity is limited and insufficient in monitoring for vandalism, edits made in good faith that may need help, Special:Logs, and other changes to the wiki we should be aware of.

Recommended preferences for RecentChanges...

• Days to show in recent changes: 14
• Number of edits to show by default: 200 (too many will slow the page down)
• Use advanced recent changes: checked (this will group multiple changes for the same page which can otherwise make the page difficult to visually assess)
• Hide minor edits in recent changes: unchecked (you want to see everything)

• It's easy to use the rollback button when checking RecentChanges for questionable edits. More often than not, it's use is warranted since the edits we're rolling back are made by drive-by editors. When reverting good faith edits for new and established users alike, we should make an effort to leave an edit summary and leave a message on their message wall if it's a user we suspect won't know to look at an article's edit summaries.