HRWiki:Disputed Fun Facts
From Homestar Runner Wiki
New users in particular are often entranced by the openness of the Homestar Runner Wiki and dive right in. That's a good thing. But please note: to be bold in updating pages does not mean that you should make sweeping deletions to established articles with long histories. In many such cases, the text as you find it has come into being after long and arduous negotiations between various users.
This is predominantly true with the "Fun Facts" of newer Strong Bad Emails. People often add fun facts that most people just don't think are fun or factual.
If you encounter an article that you would like to edit, first read the comments on the talk page and view the Page history to get a sense of how the article came into being and what its current status is.
If you are an experienced wiki-ist, you will probably have a good sense what will be accepted edits, and which edits should be discussed first.
If you are new to wikipedia, or unsure how others will view your proposals, and you want to add or delete anything substantial in the text, you should either:
- If the material in question is a sentence or so in length, copy it to the Talk page and list your objections there.
- If the material is longer than a sentence, list your objections on the Talk page but leave the main article as it is.
Then, wait a bit for responses. If no one objects, proceed. But always move large deletions to Talk and list your objections to the text so that other people will understand your changes and will be able to follow the history of the page.
Things that make good fun facts
- Clear references to other toons or e-mails that will be obvious to long-time users but not to newcomers
- References to pop culture (but not those that are so obvious that everybody will recognize them; everybody knows that Pikachu is a Pokemon, for instance)
- Verified tidbits about the creation of the toon or e-mail (for example, "Mike, not Matt, provided the voice of Strong Sad saying 'Douglas'")
Things that often do not make good fun facts
- Speculation ("This scene may be a reference to a vaguely similar scene in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...")
- Glitches due to the Flash software (unless the glitch may have a very amusing and relevant anecdote to go with it)
- Things already noted in the transcript
- Things that anybody can figure out by watching the toon or reading the transcript
Things that always make good fun facts can just be added directly to the appropriate page without going through the approval process. However, be careful with references: Speculation does not yield facts!
When something is posted on a Talk page, you can comment on it. You should be logged in and sign your comments; anonymous posts do not count because it is easy for a single user to cast multiple votes. Signing your post with the name of another user in the hopes that it won't be noticed will definitely not be tolerated. This only applies to votes and talk pages: content on articles should not be signed.
If the community likes a fun fact, they will move it to the page as needed. If they don't, a rewording or more convincing argument needs to be made.
If (and only if) you think a page needs this process, add the {{disputed}} template directly under the == Fun Facts == heading, then move the disputed content to the article's Talk page.
