SubGenius Wikia Clench
Forums: Index > Dobbstalk > Importing and Copying



This discussion is considered archived. Please do not edit it; it will have no effect.

I'm proposing this as policy for this site. Please let me know what you think by comments below. Pope Hilde (talk)

There's been some discussion about exporting/importing articles (copying them from one wikia to another complete with credits and history) and other forms of copying information from other places.

Importing/Exporting[]

Exporting content from one Wikia can be done by any user, but only an admin can import that content into a Wikia site. The process, its purposes and procedures are described in detail here.

Some people object to the practice because it can essentially mean nothing but copying and pasting content from one Wikia to another. It could be a substitute for writing original content. While this does not violate Wikia's policy or the law (as long as it's not violating copyright), Wikia does recommend individualizing content for the particular Wiki it's been imported to.

Exporting/importing can be extremely useful for templates. One code expert's work can be used throughout Wikia. This means thousands of Wikis don't require their own code expert who will spend hours and hours writing new code that's already been done.

Copying[]

Many wikias copy content from Wikipedia; in fact there are standard templates out there that easily link to the Wikipedia article. In many Wikis, including this one, the template is {{Wikipedia}}.

As with exporting/importing, Wikia suggests content be individualized.

SubGenius Wiki[]

For this wiki at this time, there is significant disagreement on exporting/importing. Because of this, it is suggested to put a {{Construction}} tag at the top of any imported article. This will give the author time to change the article to fit this particular site. If this is not done, the article can be reviewed and deleted or, if the author desires, moved to the editor's user space.

Pope Hilde (talk) 20:10, August 3, 2015 (UTC)

Comments[]

I think this is good except I don't see a reason why an article has to change if it fits this wiki too. And what about images? Can we use the same ones? Miley Spears Discordian American Princess to the Stars (let's talk) 01:29, August 4, 2015 (UTC)

Sorry I see you have the changing the article part for a compromise. I won't argue against it. But I still wonder about images. Miley Spears Discordian American Princess to the Stars (let's talk) 02:59, August 4, 2015 (UTC)
Given the "number of edits" counting toward status/rank, importing should be actively discouraged as it falsely inflates that count. Regardless of Wikia's rules, this is SubGenius - there's nothing that FITS to import in here. 
As for images, if you have right to use them how they get on the site is hair-splitting. Jzp-wikia (talk) 05:32, August 4, 2015 (UTC)
To clarify, importing an article does not increase an editor's edit count and has no effect on status/rank. However, copying info from another source, including SubGenius publications, does.
As we had a deadlock between two editors and no consensus, I decided to give an editor a chance to adapt an article to better fit this site. I don't know of any other reasonable compromise I could have made. If you have a better compromise, please let me know. Pope Hilde (talk) 12:23, August 4, 2015 (UTC)
I agree with Jzp-wikia on the use of images. Pope Hilde (talk) 12:25, August 4, 2015 (UTC)
The decision was to allow importing of articles as long as they are changed to fit this site. Editors who import are encouraged to use the {{Construction}} tag at the top of any imported article to give the importer time to adapt it to this site.