The Sims Wiki:Guidelines

The Sims Wiki has a set of guidelines in place. These guidelines, which differ from official policies, do not establish firm rules, but instead present suggestions to editors to resolve various situations. These guidelines often reflect "best practices," or else represent standard procedures that the community tends to follow, even if those standards are not established in official policy.

Many of The Sims Wiki's guidelines are inspired by or originate from similar guidelines on. While The Sims Wiki (and many other online wikis) do take inspiration from Wikipedia's methods of operation, it is important to remember that The Sims Wiki is not Wikipedia. Thus, not all of Wikipedia's guidelines should be used to guide editors as they edit this wiki.

In many cases, the community here has established guidelines or procedures to address specific needs; some of these guidelines have been written down and are presented below, while others remain unwritten. Do remember that guidelines are just that - they are meant to guide, but they are not rules.

If you are aware of a community guideline that has not been listed here, please add it.

Style guidelines
The Sims Wiki has a number of guidelines regarding the appearance, layout, organization and composition of the wiki. Most of these guidelines are embodied by the main Manual of Style, but there are additional guidelines for specific additional cases.

For a list of style guidelines, see Category:Style guidelines

Assume good faith
A key principle of The Sims Wiki is the assumption of good faith. Editors should assume that most editors on The Sims Wiki intend to help the wiki, not harm it. Editors should try to maintain this assumption of good faith, even if an editor's actions are ultimately harmful to the wiki. It is usually best to assume that any harm caused by an editor's actions was unintentional, not deliberate.

Be bold
Editors on The Sims Wiki are encouraged to act decisively to solve problems, rather than relying on community discussion to resolve every minor issue they encounter. Bold edits may not be perfect, but they can get the ball rolling towards better solutions, and often faster than would be achieved through a period of formal discussion.

Neutral point of view
Articles on The Sims Wiki should be written from a neutral point of view. Wiki articles should present only facts, not opinions. Eliminating all bias may be impossible, but editors should strive to write articles in the most unbiased tone they can.

Please don't bite the Newbies
More experienced editors on The Sims Wiki should try their best to be supportive and welcoming to new editors. New editors may inadvertently break rules or go against established guidelines, but they should be gently and politely corrected, rather than chastised or punished. Biting the Newbies can cause well-intentioned new editors to abandon the wiki, or even to vandalize it out of anger.

Snowball clause
The "snowball clause" is a recommendation against strictly adhering to bureaucratic procedures for the sake of bureaucracy. Sometimes, the outcome of a discussion can be clear even before the discussion has run its full course. In these cases, it may be wise to simply admit that a particular position doesn't have "a snowball's chance," and move on.

Spoilers
The Sims Wiki presents all relevant information about The Sims series, including information that might be construed as a spoiler. The Sims Wiki makes no attempt to hide this information or to warn its readers that spoilers are present.