As a collaborative encyclopedia, all contributions are welcome to the Buffyverse Wiki. However, some guidelines are necessary to maintain the wiki organized, reliable, and accessible. The following list is a compilation of current practices and agreements, which, as such, are always open for discussion. Still, common sense and cooperation are the best guides for any user.
In-universe perspective[]
- Archived discussion: Buffyverse Wiki:Central Discussion/Archive1#Tense consensus
The Buffyverse Wiki uses an in-universe point of view, specifically the consistent point of view of an omniscient observer from some point in the indeterminate future. For instance, the article on Buffy Summers opens: "Buffy Anne Summers was a Slayer activated in the late 20th century." The past tense should be used in all articles about in-universe subjects, while the present tense should be used only in articles about the real world, such as episodes, comics, actors, etc.
Characters who are themselves fictional within the Buffyverse should be written as if the in-universe fictional work were real fictional work. For instance, the article on Raven (a character from the in-universe soap opera On Your Own) opens: "Raven was the lead character on the popular television show On Your Own." Furthermore, in-universe fictional characters should be written as being portrayed by the Buffyverse character, not the real-world actor.
Neutral point of view[]
The Buffyverse Wiki has a neutral point of view policy similar to that of Wikipedia. According to Jimbo Wales, the founder of Wikipedia:
- "The neutral point of view attempts to present ideas and facts in such a fashion that both supporters and opponents can agree. Of course, 100% agreement is not possible; there are ideologues in the world who will not concede to any presentation other than a forceful statement of their own point of view. We can only seek a type of writing that is agreeable to essentially rational people who may differ on particular points.
- "Perhaps the easiest way to make your writing more encyclopedic, is to write about what people believe, rather than what is so. If this strikes you as somehow subjectivist or collectivist or imperialist, then ask me about it, because I think that you are just mistaken. What people believe is a matter of objective fact, and we can present that quite easily from the neutral point of view."
Although the Buffyverse is fictional, as a cult show it may inspire strong feelings. Some interpretation may be necessary to write a thorough and complete article; however, please avoid making value judgments about the characters or events from the series. Instead, report what happened as accurately and completely as possible without taking sides.
- Instead of: Unable to resist anymore, Buffy and Angel gave in to their passions and engaged in a heated kiss.
- Write something like: Buffy and Angel took a step toward each other and kissed.
Obviously, the Buffyverse does not exist without influence; it is the product of several minds in a determined context, and it is directed toward a public, therefore it may be appropriate to report on such things as fan response and real-life influences. When writing about a character or story, it is best to include as many different sides as possible, including that of the show's creative team, if available.
However, do not dress up your personal opinion as fact or claim that "many fans" share it, unless you have a source to back it up. Likewise, do not make claims about what the show's creative team thought or intended unless it was stated on the record (interviews and audio commentaries are good sources).
Speculation and unknown information[]
Because of the nature of television shows, there are a number of dangling plotlines and characters whose fates were never resolved. Do not include speculation unless there's consensus between members. However, please refrain from writing on an article that something is "unknown" because it is not revealed to the audience; listing everything that is not known would be redundant as well as speculative, since someone in-universe might know.
Outright speculation about events that are unknown or have not yet happened is discouraged. If anything about why information is missing is known — for instance, it was in a scene that was cut from the final broadcast version of the show — it should be explained in the "Behind the scenes" section of the article rather than the main body.
Sometimes, the characters themselves speculate on what happened or what might happen. In those cases, it is best to state that it is the character's assumption (and not necessarily a fact).
Spoilers[]
While the original shows has been over for decades, anything about the ongoing material can't be addressed without being spoilers themselves. So, be warned that this wiki contains widespread spoilers.
Canonicity[]
Canon consists of the bodies of work that are considered "genuine" or "official" within a certain fictional universe. In the case of the Buffyverse, there's not an official source that states what is canon and what is not. Currently, the Buffyverse Wiki is treating canon this way:
- Aired episodes: The 144 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the 110 episodes of Angel. They are the main source, outranking every other product.
- Shooting scripts: Sometimes they include extra information character names that are not mentioned in dialogue for example. This information will also be treated as canonical unless contradicted by aired episodes.
- Comics and novels: Unless written by people involved in Buffy or Angel (like Fray, Tales, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, After the Fall...), novels and comics are considered non-canon, though not fanfiction, as they still are licensed material. Information on the rest of comics and novels should be treated as unofficial continuity.
- Alternative canon: Sources such as the comic revamps should be treated and marked as such.
- Fanon: Fanfiction is the product of the imagination of fans and, while they can be endearing, logical, and well written, they are neither canon nor licensed material and should not be included in any way. Such information will be removed and articles about fanfic original characters deleted without discussion.
Titles and names[]
- Archived talks: Talk:Alexander Harris, Talk:Jennifer Calendar#Name, and Talk:Winifred Burkle#Article name
Titles for characters' articles are composed of first name and last name (when known). It should not include the middle name, often too obscure, as it's common in American habits of nomenclature. As such, we do not use "Anne" in the title for "Buffy Summers," although the information should be referred to within her article. Titles should not include honorifics (Dr., Mrs., Principal, Mayor, etc.) unless necessary for disambiguation.
This wiki favors complete names when the main nickname is derivative. This is the convention that titles articles "Alexander Harris," "Winifred Burkle," "Daniel Osbourne," "Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan," "William Fordham," "Gwendolyn Post," among others. This approach solves the many particularities of each nickname in one consistent pattern, and it reinforces the in-world perspective over fans' perceptions. Such nicknames still exist in the wiki as redirects, and the information should be referred to within their articles.
This is a different approach from when the name isn't derivative, as examples of "Spike" (William Pratt), "Angel" (Liam), and "Dracula" (Vlad), who are also famous figures within the Buffyverse and created completely new names for themselves.
Relevancy[]
- Archived talks: Talk:Glory's Pile of Bricks, Talk:Grey-haired woman, Talk:Blood, and User talk:OzzMan#Longbow and Compound Bow
As a fictional universe that borrows mostly from the real world, notable for its pop culture references, the Buffyverse Wiki has opted to only focus on what is specific from this universe. So, it's not interesting that we have an article for common subjects unless it has an unique meaning to the Buffyverse differently from the real world. This is the case that justifies the articles "cross," "blood," and "Halloween (holiday)" but exclude "sword," "eye," and "Christmas."
The notability of a character is based on fitting in any of the following criteria: they have to be named, have a line, be credited, appear in more than one story, or be a unique creature. This way, we avoid having to identify each background extra with no actual relevancy to the Buffyverse nor information to feature in an article.
References[]
Any content without an explicit source is considered false and therefore will be removed. References are obligatory for the author to be credited, imperative for other members to review, and helpful for a reader's research. Be attentive to the quality of the sources so we don't disseminate rumors as the truth. Plagiarism is also not welcome here.
Edit warring[]
We consider edit warring as undoing other's contributions or redoing your own without an explanation. Disrupting the wiki with this behavior is not productive. Instead, justify your contribution in the edit summary, which will be permanently visible in the page's history. If the problem persists, you can discuss the topic in the article's talk page or send a message to the user you're disagreeing with.
Blocking[]
In this wiki, there's an effort to assume good faith from users, but some actions are not acceptable in this community. Here there are some examples of causes for being blocked from the Buffyverse Wiki:
- Intimidating behavior/harassment.
- Personal attacks. If you need to criticize an argument, do so without attacking others as people.
- Use of bigoted language. This includes slurs which degrade another person or group of people based on gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, etc.
- Spam. This is not a free place to advertise.
- Inserting nonsense/gibberish into pages.
- Removing relevant content.
- Insisting in disruptive behavior after being warned.
- Violation of FANDOM's Terms of Use.