To cooperate with modern Wikia portal rules, we are setting forth some official guidelines. More guidelines may be added at a later date, but if this becomes the case a Blob post will be made to explain any new guidelines that have been formed.
All Species-specific guidelines[]
This subsection entails various information that directly pertain to All Species Wiki, specifically, and not other wikias across the portal.
Are articles on individuals allowed?[]
Although we normally as a group do not go out of our way to create pages for individuals and don't outright encourage the process of doing so, we have been lenient on this action (for example, several pages exist about named sea lions). It does not directly break community guidelines and little issue with these pages existing has been brought up so currently, we let it slide.
Species sharing names[]
Certain species in media simply have utilized actual words as their names, such as a blob, slime, et cetera. When it comes to making pages about specimens that are using actual words, the user should name the article to include what universe the exact species originates from. As an example, if you were to be making a page about the Blob species from A Boy and His Blob, the article should be named "Blob (A Boy and His Blob)"; however, if it is about either species from The Blob, a horror film from 1958 with a remake from 1988 (where the origins of the species are entirely different from one another and thus shouldn't be classified together), the article name should be either "Blob (The Blob 1958)" or "Blob (The Blob 1988)", respectively.
On classifying species[]
Anybody may be the first person to choose to classify a species into a binominal classification (genus and species). In general, it is best to place your user name and the year you made the classification in real life time into any classifications you make like this; in actual biology and paleontology, the first name chosen takes precedence over any that are created after it. If you find information elsewhere stating a different species classification that can be proven to have been created earlier than what's currently on the wiki, it should be corrected to the earliest classification found. Any new portion of taxonomic ranking created by the userbase should be given a short description on what makes this new unique - what defines it. This will allow other users to be able to add other similar species across media into this same ranking if they fit. Remember: this wiki considers all species as if they exist in the same universe and rankings above Genus should not necessarily be universe-exclusive.
When grouping species from different universes together, the holotype should be the oldest known example in media for a creature of that design. For example, Eevees from Pokémon and Chocobos from Final Fantasy are directly based on species from Studio Ghibli's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: Fox-squirrels and Horseclaws, respectively. Thus those two later creatures should be classified under a family group for the earlier specimens, which would be the holotype.
Always try to remember to describe each classification for use by others following in behind you.
What classifies a new species?[]
As far as All Species Wiki is concerned, any differing designs should be considered their own thing. Even if a species is intended by the original creators to be the same as a regular creature but do not share the same traits as the actual being it should be considered to be a separate entity. Although sometimes it may simply be due to artistic choice, if an organism has different traits including different colorations, size discrepancies (especially significant ones), or abilities or magic powers that the real life species does not have, as well as of course an alternate design, they ought to be considered a new species. It should be noted that All Species Wiki also allows for cut content designs from things like video games to be classified as their own species, even though they're likely not canon to their universe. The design should still be considered viable as an organism.
Reclassifying species[]
Sometimes, a user may create their own taxonomies for species that are not quite accurate. This is normal, and not everyone will ever have extensive knowledge for all kinds of species in existence. Sometimes their naming conventions might be off, with a lack of use of conventional suffixes normally found at certain levels of taxonomic ranking (for instance, an animal family should end in "-idae" while a plant family instead should end in "-aceae"). Considering timelines of classification, a user who may understand suffixes may have created a classification before they understood it (sometimes even years prior) and may have even forgotten that they filled out a classification that does not fit proper suffixes. In these cases other users may choose to reclassify the species. HOWEVER, it should be considered that the user's created name should always remain the same and whole new naming should not come into play as this undermines the work the previous user attempted to do and can cause bad blood between individuals. Instead, simply adding the typical suffix to the word will suffice. For example, if a species is classified as "Neognathus slipperi" of the Eognathei family, another user should simply added "-idae" to the end of the original family name to make "Eognatidae" instead of completely changing it to something like "Flibbetyjibbetidae". Genus and species names should never need reclassification. Describing genuses in the infobox is optional, and describing species in it is not usually necessary, unless you wish to add multiple species or subspecies into a consolidated article.
Always try to remember to describe each classification for use by others following in behind you.
What about Pokémon?[]
When it comes to Pokémon, each grouping of Pokémon should be considered to be the same species (example: Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu are all the same species and simply undergo metamorphosis instead of actual evolution). Although the games use the term "evolution", it must be noted that the original creator fashioned the transformations directly off of arthropod metamorphosis, and it works in a very similar manner, albeit via game mechanics. In general, each grouping should be officially named after the most mature iteration of the group (ie, Caterpie, Metapod, and Butterfree should all be placed in the same page for Butterfree, though redirect links that allow someone searching for "Caterpie" to find "Butterfree" are suggested to make navigation easier). Shinies should be considered alternate colorations such as real life piebald, melanism, leucasim, or albinism as opposed to their own species. There are exceptions to this rule, however: If a group of obviously related types have similar names in early forms but the names change as they age into maturity, it is acceptable to either name them after the furthest-along evolution that share a name (ie, Nidorans male and female become Nidorino/Nidoking and Nidorina/Nidoqueen respectively and so could be called Nidoran as a full species), but it may also be acceptable to name the group after the females of the species, as female is the default sex of species. In cases such as Eevee, it could be debated that each eeveelution could count as their own species, they are currently all listed under the Eevee page.
User-created content[]
We allow and even encourage users to add their own created species, both as fan-work and original content. User-created content does not need to follow Earth-based taxonomy and can even be universe-exclusive if so desired by the creator though is welcome to be added to existing taxonomic rankings used throughout the rest of the site.
General guidelines[]
We will give up to two warnings depending upon the severity of any issues, with some small level of leniency towards excited younger users over messenger comments so long as they are not malicious in intent. After a set of warnings a short block may occur, though this will be set while considering the severity of the issue at hand. Spamming gibberish pages or vandalizing from IP addresses always results in an immediate long block of the IP address to keep the site safe from roving vandalism from bored people not from the wiki community just looking to troll. Do not feed the trolls.
Assume good faith[]
Whenever possible, try to remember that most users editing the wiki do not carry an ill intent to harm it or the user community in general. Everyone makes mistakes or misunderstands contextual clues and may make a misstep here or there but generally speaking they are not intending to be your enemy. While it is important to assume good faith when no evidence exists to contradict that assumption, it is not required that users assume good faith when it is shown that a user is acting in bad faith. Assuming good faith does not prohibit users from discussion or even criticism, but criticism should not imply or state that a user is acting in bad faith or with malice.
Respect one another[]
We have had infighting amongst the community in the past and do not wish to see this in the future. It divides the community and drives people away. Keep in mind that some people may be here for fun and others may be here with more serious intent, and both ideologies should try and respect one another.
Sockpuppetry[]
Sockpuppeting is the terminology used when a user creates multiple accounts either to get a fresh start, but is often also used to try and incite conflict or insert drama into the community. Usually it is unnecessary and is thus frowned upon. If you wish to switch accounts it is best to contact the staff and let them know this is the case so everything can move forward with a new leaf turned over. Editing from an IP address does not count towards sockpuppetry as sometimes a person does not realize they are logged out, or does not have access to their log-in credentials at a particular moment. IP address editing will only be addressed if the IP is used specifically for vandalism or trolling, in which case it will be blocked as a roving vandal.
Spamming, flaming, and cyberbullying[]
Spamming is the act of creating large quantities of useless content that is obviously intended as vandalism and can be used as an extension to more general cyberbullying. Flaming is the act of sending malicious messages to a user simply out of anger towards them and can count as anything sent over personal message user pages or as replies in article comment sections and again is another form of cyberbullying. Harassing other users will be examined on a case-by-case basis, though if the receiving user asks to not be harassed in that manner, the producing user should invariably cease performing said action, whether it has misunderstood benevolent intent or not. Cyberbullying of any sort is grounds for warnings and eventual time-out bans or even full bans if harassment continues beyond those measures.
Discrimination against a person's ethnicity, chosen gender or orientation, or any other demographic is considered prejudice and is considered to be a serious break from the rules and guidelines and will be the result in an immediate short-term ban, followed up with a full ban should the discrimination continue beyond that point. Considering this wiki is heavily based around evolution, certain potentially-harmful phrasing will be reviewed first to make sure it is directed specifically at a user and not say, a general discussion as to the evolutionary history of the human race. Never use racial slurs and avoid derogatory terms.
Try not to start unnecessary drama or fights for the "fun" of it. Outside drama from other locations, including other wikias, also have no place here. We are our own separate entity.
Do not reveal ("dox") any personal information about any user that compromises their online or real life safety, including passwords and street addresses, accidentally or otherwise. Although you as a user should never share your personal information with another user, you will not be punished for sharing your own personal information such as passwords with another user as that is your own choice, even if it is highly advised against. It is when other users do the same and especially over a public forum such as a wikia that we will consider it a serious breach of guidelines and rules.
Userpage editing[]
Only the user in question should ever be editing their own userpages, with the sole exception of adding the Users category to their page if it has been created simply to make it easier to find each other. This is the one instance where correcting spelling and grammatical errors should simply be ignored, as it is their own personal page.
Talk Pages[]
Please do not remove talk page / message board conversations from your user page. Leaving it there allows the staff of All Species to easily check on the situation and determine necessary actions to take.
Poor choices of added content[]
When adding pages, it is best to write in your own information instead of copying it from somewhere else. Two exceptions to this guideline are if it is taken straight off of Wikipedia itself (in which case use the {{wikipedia||}} template to show this), or if you yourself wrote the information on another wiki first and are migrating or copying the information over here for redundancy. We are unlikely to check to make sure the information isn't copied from somewhere else, but if it is ever brought up to us we will look into it.
We accept most images to showcase what species look like, but if it is a real species or one drawn by a specific non-professional artist from published material, please ask first before taking images from their sites. Photography and artwork can come with copyright restrictions and we would rather not get into trouble from these situations. Media images from video games, movies, book covers, et cetera should be considered free use however and should be added when viable. Never outright steal content, though you can use free use imagery to show off how you see your own species if you so choose to do so; if another user created the image you want to use, you must ask their permission before using it as well. If that image is based off of a media source and they don't give you permission to use their specific artwork, you may create your own in a similar vein if necessary. Do not upload sexually explicit artwork to the wiki. If the article in question is one's own userpage or their user-created content, sexually suggestive artwork is allowed though should be kept to a minimum. Actual sexual acts either Human or otherwise have no place on the wiki under any circumstances.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.