Difference between revisions of "Policy:Canon"

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{{Policy}}
 
{{Policy}}
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{{nutshell|<br>1. BTW allows all things BattleTech onto its pages.<br>2. Fan-made or otherwise unofficial material must be segregated from official material.<br>3. BTW does not seek to decide which official products contribute canon.}}
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{{nutshell|<br />1. BTW allows all things BattleTech onto its pages.<br />2. BTW does not seek to decide which official products contribute canon.<br />3. Fan-made or otherwise unofficial material must be segregated from official material.<br />4. BTW does not publish fan fiction.}}
  
 
==The Canon Policy==
 
==The Canon Policy==
 
The [[BattleTechWiki]] (BTW) approach to the issue of [[Canon]] for the [[BattleTech]] universe is as follows:
 
The [[BattleTechWiki]] (BTW) approach to the issue of [[Canon]] for the [[BattleTech]] universe is as follows:
 
;BTW allows all things BattleTech into its pages
 
;BTW allows all things BattleTech into its pages
−
:BTW aims to be an all-inclusive source of BattleTech-related material. Therefore, as established in the BTW [[Policy:Notability]], anything that has to do with BattleTech warrants inclusion, irrespective of whether or not it is canonical or even official. Non-canonical content, such as fanzines, parodies or real-world treatises of the BattleTech universe, is explicitly included among the material that BTW seeks to cover.
+
:BTW aims to be an all-inclusive source of BattleTech-related information. Therefore, as established in the BTW [[Policy:Notability]], anything that has to do with BattleTech warrants inclusion, irrespective of whether or not it is canonical or even official. Non-canonical subjects, such as fanzines, parodies or real-world treatises of the BattleTech universe, are explicitly included among the material that BTW seeks to cover.
−
:Owing to BTW's origin as a fansite, fan-fiction (Fanon) is also welcome on BTW, but it must be tagged as such. Contributors of fan fiction are encouraged to make use of the [http://www.battletechfanon.wikia.com/ BattleTech Fanon Wiki].
+
 
 +
;BTW does not seek to decide which official products contribute canon
 +
:The [[Line Developer]]'s official ruling on the issue of what is Canon and what is not, i.e. the stance of the owners of the intellectual property that is BattleTech, is detailed in the article '''[[Canon]]'''. BTW deliberately leaves it to the individual user to interpret that ruling and decide what information he deems canonical for his personal vision of the BattleTech universe. The policy adopted by BTW is not to decide on the canonicity of a given source or piece of information, and apply appropriate tags to highlight articles where Canonicity could be considered problematic.  
  
 
;Unofficial material must be segregated from official material
 
;Unofficial material must be segregated from official material
−
:BTW articles are considered to discuss official issues of the BattleTech universe by default. Articles dealing with unofficial aspects (such as Fanon/fan fiction) should therefore be tagged accordingly.
+
:BTW articles are considered to discuss official issues of the BattleTech universe by default. Articles pertaining to unofficial topics or subjects (such as Fanon/fan fiction) must therefore be tagged accordingly. In this context, even the work of a person who is a BattleTech author otherwise is considered Fanon if it was not produced in an official capacity.
 +
:[[Meta-source]]s, i.e. unofficial compilations of information from other, canonical sources, are not regarded as canonical themselves and are not valid as references for articles on official subjects. In any case where they have been cited, the statements themselves may be challenged with the '''<nowiki>{{citation needed}}</nowiki>''' template and the meta-source citation removed.
 +
 
 +
;BTW does not publish fan fiction
 +
:Owing to BTW's origin as a fansite, we used to permit fan-fiction (Fanon) on this site. This has been changed by [[Policy talk:Fanon|user consensus]], with the approval of the site owner. As a result, fan fiction may not be posted on this site anymore and existing fan fiction content will be transferred over to the [http://www.battletechfanon.wikia.com/ BattleTech Fanon Wiki].
 +
:As per ruling #1 above, articles ''about'' individual pieces of Fanon/fan fiction are still permissible, if the subject in question has been published elsewhere and is notable enough.
 +
:See [[Policy:Fanon]] for details.
  
−
;BTW does not seek to decide which official products contribute canon
 
−
:The official stance of the owners of the intellectual property that is BattleTech is detailed in the article '''[[Canon]]'''. BTW deliberately leaves it to the individual user to decide what information he deems canonical for his personal vision of the BattleTech universe, possibly based on the official stance. The policy adopted by BTW is not to decide on the canonicity of a given source or piece of information, and apply appropriate tags to highlight articles where Canonicity could be considered problematic.
 
  
 
Articles covering real-world subjects, such as authors or companies, naturally stand outside of the canon of the fictional universe and are not affected by the Canon Policy.
 
Articles covering real-world subjects, such as authors or companies, naturally stand outside of the canon of the fictional universe and are not affected by the Canon Policy.
  
−
We appreciate your adherence to this core policy and welcome you to actively join the community of Users, Creators and Editors of BattleTechWiki.
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We appreciate your adherence to this core policy and welcome you to actively join the community of users and editors of BattleTechWiki.
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−
===Fanon content===
 
−
BTW editors are discouraged from adding unofficial fan-made information to articles that contain canonical or apocryphal information otherwise. Fan-created material may '''not''' be included within the body of any non-Fanon articles, but may be linked to in the '''==See Also (Fandom)==''' section (please feel free to add this to any articles, if it is not already present). We also ask that fan-created articles not be included in any categories that do not have a derivative of the word "fan" or "custom" in the category name.
 
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In this context, even the work of a person who is a BattleTech author otherwise is considered Fanon if it was not produced in an official capacity.
 
  
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===Use of meta-sources===
 
−
[[Meta-source]]s, i.e. unofficial compilations of information from other, canonical sources, are not regarded as canonical themselves and are not valid as references for articles on official subjects. In any case where they have been cited, the statements themselves may be challenged with the '''<nowiki>{{citation needed}}</nowiki>''' template and the meta-source citation removed.
 
  
 
==How to implement the policy==
 
==How to implement the policy==
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===Articles about non-canonical products===
 
===Articles about non-canonical products===
 
:Tag: '''''<nowiki>{{NonCanonProduct}}</nowiki>
 
:Tag: '''''<nowiki>{{NonCanonProduct}}</nowiki>
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If the subject of the article does neither (clearly) fall under Canon nor under either of the following special sub-categories (Apocrypha, Fanon), or if it is not an official (licensed) BattleTech product, then the [[Template:NonCanonProduct]] tag should be included. This will insert the following box into the article:
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If the subject of the article does neither (clearly) fall under either Canon or Apocrypha, or if it is not an official (licensed) BattleTech product (i.e. Fanon/fan fiction), then the [[Template:NonCanonProduct]] tag should be included. This will insert the following box into the article:
 
{{NonCanonProduct}}
 
{{NonCanonProduct}}
  
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If the subject of the article does not (clearly) fall under Canon, but is an official product that contains original additional information pertaining to the BattleTech universe, then the [[Template:ApocryphalProduct]] tag should be included. This will insert the following box into the article:
 
If the subject of the article does not (clearly) fall under Canon, but is an official product that contains original additional information pertaining to the BattleTech universe, then the [[Template:ApocryphalProduct]] tag should be included. This will insert the following box into the article:
 
{{ApocryphalProduct}}
 
{{ApocryphalProduct}}
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−
===Fanon articles===
 
−
:Tag: '''''<nowiki>{{Fanon}}</nowiki>
 
−
If an article consists of original fan-fiction, or is about an aspect of fan fiction, then the [[:Template:Fanon]] tag must be included. This will insert the following box into the article:
 
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{{Fanon}}
 
−
 
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In addition, the [[Template:Neveron]] tag ('''''<nowiki>{{Neveron}}</nowiki>''''') may be used to denote articles that deal with aspects of [[Neveron]] instead of [[BattleTech]] fanon:
 
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{{Neveron}}
 
  
 
===Articles containing exclusively apocryphal information===
 
===Articles containing exclusively apocryphal information===

Revision as of 04:32, 1 June 2011

The Canon Policy

The BattleTechWiki (BTW) approach to the issue of Canon for the BattleTech universe is as follows:

BTW allows all things BattleTech into its pages
BTW aims to be an all-inclusive source of BattleTech-related information. Therefore, as established in the BTW Policy:Notability, anything that has to do with BattleTech warrants inclusion, irrespective of whether or not it is canonical or even official. Non-canonical subjects, such as fanzines, parodies or real-world treatises of the BattleTech universe, are explicitly included among the material that BTW seeks to cover.
BTW does not seek to decide which official products contribute canon
The Line Developer's official ruling on the issue of what is Canon and what is not, i.e. the stance of the owners of the intellectual property that is BattleTech, is detailed in the article Canon. BTW deliberately leaves it to the individual user to interpret that ruling and decide what information he deems canonical for his personal vision of the BattleTech universe. The policy adopted by BTW is not to decide on the canonicity of a given source or piece of information, and apply appropriate tags to highlight articles where Canonicity could be considered problematic.
Unofficial material must be segregated from official material
BTW articles are considered to discuss official issues of the BattleTech universe by default. Articles pertaining to unofficial topics or subjects (such as Fanon/fan fiction) must therefore be tagged accordingly. In this context, even the work of a person who is a BattleTech author otherwise is considered Fanon if it was not produced in an official capacity.
Meta-sources, i.e. unofficial compilations of information from other, canonical sources, are not regarded as canonical themselves and are not valid as references for articles on official subjects. In any case where they have been cited, the statements themselves may be challenged with the {{citation needed}} template and the meta-source citation removed.
BTW does not publish fan fiction
Owing to BTW's origin as a fansite, we used to permit fan-fiction (Fanon) on this site. This has been changed by user consensus, with the approval of the site owner. As a result, fan fiction may not be posted on this site anymore and existing fan fiction content will be transferred over to the BattleTech Fanon Wiki.
As per ruling #1 above, articles about individual pieces of Fanon/fan fiction are still permissible, if the subject in question has been published elsewhere and is notable enough.
See Policy:Fanon for details.


Articles covering real-world subjects, such as authors or companies, naturally stand outside of the canon of the fictional universe and are not affected by the Canon Policy.

We appreciate your adherence to this core policy and welcome you to actively join the community of users and editors of BattleTechWiki.


How to implement the policy

Contributors to BTW are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the official stance as outlined in Canon. Since it is the canon that defines the BattleTech universe, BTW articles are meant to represent canonical information by default. It is therefore not required to explicitly mark (clearly) canonical products or information as such.

Articles dealing with apocrypha, non-canon and fanon are the exception, and must contain a "Canonicity" section where information on their canonicity status is presented. Further, they must be tagged accordingly by inserting the appropriate tag from among the following to the top of the article:

Articles about non-canonical products

Tag: {{NonCanonProduct}}

If the subject of the article does neither (clearly) fall under either Canon or Apocrypha, or if it is not an official (licensed) BattleTech product (i.e. Fanon/fan fiction), then the Template:NonCanonProduct tag should be included. This will insert the following box into the article:


Articles about apocryphal products

Tag: {{ApocryphalProduct}}

If the subject of the article does not (clearly) fall under Canon, but is an official product that contains original additional information pertaining to the BattleTech universe, then the Template:ApocryphalProduct tag should be included. This will insert the following box into the article:


Articles containing exclusively apocryphal information

Tag: {{ApocryphalArticle}}

If the subject and content of the article are exclusively based on a source that is itself apocryphical, then the Template:ApocryphalArticle tag should be included. This will insert the following box into the article:


Articles containing both canonical and apocryphal information

Tag: {{ApocryphalContent}}

If content from an apocryphal source is added to an article about an otherwise canonical subject, then the Template:ApocryphalContent tag should be included. This will insert the following box into the article:

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