Board Thread:Wiki Discussion/@comment-3492791-20140523192544/@comment-3492791-20140531234011

Since this still isn't being discussed, I just wrote my own policy. If no one wants to contest any part of my ideas, i'll just go ahead an enact it in a few days.

Dark Souls Wiki: Media Policy
External media such as images and videos not only make pages more detailed, but the wiki more interesting to look at. However as useful as they are, they are just as easily destructive. To ensure the that pages remain easily navigable, the information concise, and wiki legitimate, we have some guidelines for media use.

Copyright and Plagiarism
We are proud of our wiki, because it is the product the hard work of many individuals. Some of that work is not our own however. We do not have the rights to take all material related to the games we love as some is protected under copyright law. Most information borrowed will fall under fair use, being used for strictly educational purposes, however caution must still be taken that all our content is being used legally.

Other information can be taken from other sites, and while there is only so many different ways to describe the same thing, directly copying information from other sites is in fact plagiarism. To ensure the legitimacy of our wiki, we must have our own information and not simply be a collection of information taken from other sites. All our information not quoted directly from the games should be originally written by the authors and editors of our articles. Likewise all images which are not part of the in-game files or "official" promotion should be captured by the authors and editors of our articles.

Images
A picture is worth a thousand words, but not all those words are needed. Images allow us to convey information where text would be insufficient, and are an important way to improve pages. If images do not contribute to the information being given by the page, it is unnecessary and does little more than distract from the information that is relevant. Ultimately all images should be making an effort to elaborate on information given on the page.

Uploading Images
Some rules must be observed when uploading a new image.
 * Images should be of good quality. If you can't tell what it is, it might as well not be there.
 * Images should be in the .PNG format.
 * Don't add duplicate images. If we already have it, we don't need it.
 * Follow the naming convention for files. Look at other images in a similar category to what you're uploading to see what the naming convention is. Having similarly named files makes them easier to find when needed. 9iR6584ie.png is much more difficult to locate than Throwing Knife II.png.
 * Don't upload images that are not intended for use on articles. If you upload an image, be sure that you use it, otherwise it will be deleted.

Video
As with images, video is should only be used when text is insufficient. Having a video to explain what could be done just as well through text is redundant. When videos are used, they must be direct and concise like all other information on the page. If it does not attempt to illustrate or explain something specific, it just becomes a distraction. Having videos without a clear purpose is no different from writing a rant.

Posting videos for self promotion is also not permitted. This is an information resource, not free ad-space.

Linking Media
Simply do not do it. If a picture or video complies with the media policy than post it on on the page. If it does not, just having a link to it does not exclude it from the policy requirements.

I would really appreciate some criticism on this, as I don't think it's really that great.