Doom Wiki:FAQ

This frequently asked questions page is especially for new editors on the Doom Wiki. Like the policies and guidelines, its main purpose is to stop disputes from recurring over and over, so we can spend more time on the fun stuff.

If you're a new editor, welcome! There are many places where you can help, and reading this page will get you there faster. Clicking on a question in the contents is a shortcut.

Can I write an article about myself / my clan?
In most cases, no.

Our encyclopedia includes people who have made memorable and widely known contributions to the Doom community. If you have done that, you don't need to create an article, because your reputation will make it appear.

If you write about yourself anyway, be prepared for an uncomfortable conversation about whether or not you qualify. Even if the article stays, remember that you don't control its content. It may grow to include every significant Doom-related thing you have done, no matter how embarrassing.

Can I write an article about my mod?
Probably not.

We have no black-and-white standard for a PWAD or other add-on to be declared "notable". In practice, however, "notable" projects are at least one of these: On rare occasions this has included unreleased material, but only if the hype itself is significant within the community (e.g. Crucified Dreams, Congestion 1024).
 * incredibly popular (e.g. DWANGO5, DeHackEd);
 * widely acclaimed (Aliens TC, Skulltag);
 * historically important (Origwad, Impse).

I added some trivia to an article, but another user removed it. Isn't trivia allowed here?
First, read the entire page to make sure it isn't already there.

Next, is the information documented in a public place within the Doom community? If not, it is original research. Please compare your trivia to the examples in that list before deciding that you absolutely, positively must include it.

I uploaded a picture, but another user complained. Why?
Although the MediaWiki interface makes it very easy to add images, they are often controversial. Some likely explanations are:
 * You uploaded a copyrighted image which does not fall into one of a few standard categories: unmodified in-game screenshot, map view, or media cover art. (For legal reasons, exceptions to this policy have to be justified, or the image gets deleted.)
 * A nearly identical image already exists.
 * You did not create the image yourself.
 * You photoshopped the image.
 * You did not select an option from the licensing menu.
 * The image has a nonstandard aspect ratio or game UI. (This is easy to fix by simply replacing the file.)
 * You did not place the image in an article, and no one could figure out its intended purpose.

This site is all about Doom, but doesn't provide any download links. Should I add one?
The Doom series is not freeware, so no, you shouldn't.

Why is the Doom 3 material incomplete?
Every editor here is an unpaid volunteer. We work on articles when we can find the time. On the other hand, this includes you: if you know Doom 3 and you see information missing, feel free to add it!

Why is there a "cleanup" or "stub" banner at the top of the page I created?
When you click Save, you are opening the article for collaboration by the entire wiki community, and the maintenance categories make that process easier to organize. Our goal is for every page to be polished and comprehensive, which is almost impossible for a brand new article, given the long history of the Doom series and the huge amount of technical data available.

If for some reason you must edit an article slowly with no interruptions, you can do it in a text editor (such as Notepad), or on a subpage of your user page.

I added a link to Entryway, but another user removed it. Why?
Entryway is intended as a starting point for navigation, not a complete index. We do not want the page to keep growing until it is too long for a newbie to digest. Huge agglomerations of links may also decrease our Google ranking.

This article looks like it was written by my 4-year-old cousin. How do I delete it?
A wiki by its nature contains a large number of incomplete pages. Is the subject important to the Doom community? A messy article about a relevant topic can be improved into a good article, or merged into a broader article if the amount of new content is small.

That said, if the existing text is complete gibberish or you are certain that the topic is unsalvageable, any registered user can nominate an article for deletion.

I posted to a talk page to get opinions, but nobody replied. Now what?
If your action would be extremely difficult to reverse (e.g. making 50,000 edits with an automated script), start a thread at Central Processing and explain the idea in detail. Otherwise, just start editing. If someone has a question, you'll see it on that same talk page, or on your personal talk page.

I've cleaned up spam / vandalism from the same user several times. How do I get them banned?
You can post to Central Processing or contact any administrator. If it's urgent, try one of the Doom-related IRC channels.

Why are you so anal about bad grammar / topic drift? This is just a gaming site.
If you can only remember one sentence from this FAQ, here it is:


 * The Doom Wiki is a reference work, not a social networking site.

When you open a dictionary or an economics textbook, you expect a formal tone and a logically organized outline; the same applies here. Articles should contain coherent expository prose, not conversation or excessive decoration. Talk pages are less organized, but questions and comments should be about improving the encyclopedia content, not random subjects.

If you don't agree with these ideas, that's fine; there are thousands of other gaming sites for you to try. At Doomworld.com, for example, people chat about Doom all day long. You could even create a new wiki about Doom or any other game.

Why are there so many rules? Isn't this site just like Wikipedia?
Although we use the same database engine and have similar "encyclopedic" content goals to Wikipedia's, almost everything else is different. You should never assume that a Wikipedia policy applies here without checking first.

Some important differences include:
 * The Doom Wiki is much, much smaller. The pace is slow; almost no one logs in daily.  Therefore, it can take weeks to have an in-depth conversation on a talk page, and months to change a policy.
 * As a corollary, silence is normally interpreted as consensus (see above).
 * There are no robots or gnomes to revert vandalism and clean up sloppy edits. If you see a problem, consider fixing it, or it may still be there 2 years from now.
 * Assuming good faith is often counterproductive among gamers.
 * Administrators spend 99 percent of their time writing articles, and use their special abilities only when absolutely necessary.
 * Neutral Point of View is not an inflexible rule.
 * A "blocked user" and a "banned user" are the same thing. In Wikipedia language: some bans are temporary, but all bans are enforced by blocks, and all are sitewide (no topic bans, interaction bans, or discretionary sanctions).

On talk pages, linked Wikipedia guidelines are usually intended to emphasize the poster's individual argument, not to allude to a broad unwritten rule.

Do you seriously expect me to memorize all these rules before I contribute?
No. We try to make decisions using common sense whenever possible. However, every section on those pages was added for a good reason, usually to avoid repeating a specific disaster. If you appear to be totally ignoring a policy or guideline, you should expect a polite reminder (see below).

What if I disagree with a policy or guideline?
A certain amount of this is normal and healthy on an evolving wiki. New contributors arrive and bring new perspectives to the situation. Perhaps the circumstances of the original policy discussion have changed over the years. Before undertaking a large campaign of edits to support your belief, however, please propose them on Central Processing and wait a week or two for any responses.

If you are convinced that the same situation will recur in the future, you can even edit the policy or guideline (the pages aren't locked), but be prepared to explain your reasoning at some length.

There's a long debate happening on a talk page. It's going in circles and we're all frustrated. Will an admin please step in and choose a winner?
Unlike other gaming sites, administrators here have no special authority over the content.

If a dispute is in danger of exploding into a site-wide problem (such as mass vandalism or stalking), by all means contact an admin right away. Otherwise, the participants simply must continue to seek compromise, or solicit more input on Central Processing.

A user is making confusing edits, or posting nonsense on talk pages. Why haven't they been banned?
Unlike other gaming sites, banning is a last resort on the Doom Wiki.

If someone is posting Viagra links or replacing articles with defamatory or juvenile language, by all means contact an administrator right away. Otherwise, try asking the other user (without shouting) why he/she is editing that way. Look at their contribution history to see if every edit is confusing, or just certain edits. If the article topic is unfamiliar to you, do some research to learn more about it. And if you've done all that and you still believe there is an issue, get an outside opinion by posting to the article's talk page, or to Central Processing if many pages are involved.

Someone reverted my edit. I want to put it right back. Should I?
In most cases, no. This is called edit warring, and we are on the whole particularly intolerant of it. The proper thing to do is to bring up your objection on the article's corresponding Talk page and determine if the other user has a valid reason for reverting your changes. While Wikipedia follows a so-called three-revert rule, we prefer for discussion to be opened immediately rather than for repeated reverting to occur, except in the most obvious cases of trolling or other bad behavior. Such instances should be reported directly to an administrator, or discussed on Central Processing if the issue escalates. Edit warring with a site administrator is an easy way to earn a ban.

Did the Doom Wiki change webhosts?
Yes. Technically there are now two wikis called "Doom Wiki", although this one seems to be endorsed by the bulk of the community.

If you are upset about what happened, you've got lots of company &mdash; but please try to forget about the old site. Put your energy into making great articles on DoomWiki.org. You can help us gain notability and search engine ranking on the web by referring to us as the "Doom Wiki at DoomWiki.org", and always linking to it in preference to the defunct older wiki.

If you formerly edited the old site and want the same username here, check that it still exists, then follow these instructions.

I have a question that's not answered here, and I don't want to edit the article until I get feedback.
If you've already tried the article's talk page and gotten no replies for several days, just start editing. (The revision history feature makes it almost impossible to seriously break anything.) If you're new to the site and you're certain that you're in a controversial area, look at the policies and guidelines to see if the same issue has come up before. You might also post to the personal talk pages of editors who have previously worked on the article.

I have a question that's not answered here, and it's a general question, or it applies to a group of articles.
Try reading the policies and guidelines to see if the same issue has come up before. If that fails, start a thread on Central Processing. Central Processing is one of our high-traffic areas, so if no one responds for a week, you are probably asking a brand new question! The answer will need to arise empirically over time, through further editing and expansion of the relevant topic areas.