Nerf Wiki:Wiki Policies

The following is a list of policies, rules, and guidelines on how to contribute to the Nerf Wiki.

Assume good faith
When editing an article, assume that the previous editor was adding to it in good faith. This means that edits that may seem like they are counter-intuitive to an article's construction or content may have been genuinely trying to help. As such, try to help out the previous editor, rather than berate them or punish them for making a mistake. Explanations on how articles are kept can be provided in an edit summary or on a user’s talk page, as to help them, rather than to insult or punish them.

Blank pages are an exception to this rule; when creating articles, please put effort into providing any and all information you know or can find on the subject. Creating a page for someone else to go in and completely fill out is not allowed. Repeatedly making blank pages is grounds for a warning, as this is unproductive to the wiki as a whole.

Images
Images and files uploaded to the Nerf Wiki are generally meant for mainspace articles, to provide a visual for a product. Please do not upload images solely for use off-site; the Nerf Wiki is not to be used as an image hosting site.

Off-topic images are allowed on the Nerf Wiki, solely if they are used on a personal/userspace page, such as a user page or a blog post. If an off-topic image is not linked to one of these, it may end up deleted. Images containing offensive material, including foul language, are also grounds for deletion.

The most preferred image is that of a stock photo from an official source, such as the Nerf website or a retail website like Target, Walmart, or Amazon. We will accept user-taken images as well, but these may be under scrutiny for quality control. When taking a photo to use on the wiki, please consider setting your subject on a plain background, such as a blank and/or clean surface, rather than a dirty and cluttered one.

When naming files, please use a name that describes what the subject of the photo is. A name like " " or " " is very undescriptive and unhelpful to the process of creating articles. Photos not following these conventions will be renamed for use on the wiki, but having the name set in advance helps speed up this process.

Be sure to check for duplicates before uploading an image. Unless your image is of higher quality or a larger resolution, an unused duplicate will be deleted.

Language
The Nerf Wiki uses American English as its primary language. If you are interested in contributing in another language, consider creating or editing a Nerf Wiki in another language. The English Nerf Wiki partners with all language Nerf Wikis and will link to articles the two share. If you are creating or working on a version of the site in another language, contact a staff member to discuss having them linked.

Leaked information
Leaked information is allowed on the Nerf Wiki, if enough information warrants the creation of an article. This information should be enough to give a description of the product in question, including its features and performance quirks. If the only known information of a blaster is its name, do not create an article for it. Articles that lack any information will be deleted.

All articles with leaked info must be denoted with a Leaked Information template.

Leaked images uploaded to the wiki will be deleted on sight, unless they are stock photos from a retail website, such as Target, Walmart, and Amazon.

These rules do not apply to the forums, and leaked information and rumors can be discussed freely there.

Notability
As the Nerfing hobby is very much built off of the contributions of its community, there are articles of noteworthy Nerfers and their accolades. As such, articles about people, blogs and news sites, YouTube channels, and further should only be created for those who have provided to the community and are popular for it.

Homemade blasters and other such products are only given articles if they are popular or notable enough within the community; the Plusbow, Spring Thunder, and Caliburn are examples of this.

Similarly, articles based on people are only allowed for those who have provided a great influence on the hobby, social media influences not counting as such.

References to real weaponry
While the Nerf hobby may revolve around firing projectiles at targets or other players, and share some terminology with real firearms, no references to real weaponry should be included on the wiki. The word "gun" should never be used in place of "blaster" on a mainspace article. This may be unavoidable, as describing something as "shotgun-style" does serve a purpose, but it is best to word things in a way that do not mistake a toy for a weapon.

Any comparisons to actual models of weapons and listing what a blaster may have taken physical inspiration from will be removed from articles. Exceptions to this rule may occur, based on a number of things. For example, the article for the Nerf Fortnite TS mentions a firearms company, due to a detail and Easter Egg included on the blaster.

Discussion of real weaponry is allowed on the forums, as it pertains to the Nerfing hobby. However, what is not allowed is an association of firearms to Nerf in a violent or dangerous way, such as imagery of real bullets being loaded into a Nerf blaster.

Sourcing
When adding information to articles, it may be best to provide a reference source to support it. This can be done with the use of citation templates, such as Cite web, and the references feature. Information on how to source can be found here.

When providing a source, keep in mind that some sources are preferred over others. Documented proof of something, in picture or video form, can be very helpful for supporting information on a product's performance.

Not all sources are equal, however; one product having different performance than others is not indicative of overall performance, and may just be due to having a faulty product (more commonly known as a lemon.)

Trivia
When adding trivia to an article, consider if said piece of trivia is worth bringing up. If the subject in question isn't the first or last of its kind, it may not be worth mentioning. Similarly, if a piece of trivia gets more of a list than a tidbit of information, it may be best to remove it from the article entirely.

Listing of Nerf products' appearances in pieces of media, like television shows and movies, are not allowed, as Nerf blasters are known to be popular bases in movie prop making, and thus would bloat articles. Inclusions with notable information, such as included in the Rough Cut 2x4 and Ballzooka articles, are allowed, with scrutiny.

User content
User content, such as fan-made blaster concepts or personal homemade blasters, is not allowed on mainspace articles. This should be posted either to userspace (the user's user page or a blog post) or the forum. Articles created to showcase user content will be deleted and requested to be put elsewhere.

Vandalism and spam
Vandalism done to the Nerf Wiki, in an attempt to decrease the quality of the wiki, will be dealt with accordingly. This includes inserting gibberish or spam into pages, deleting or blanking sections of a page or the page itself, uploading off-topic or inappropriate images to mainspace articles, and more.

Vandals will be punished accordingly, based on our warn and block policies.

Not all edits that decrease quality may be vandalism, however. If an edit has poor grammar or spelling, or is trying to add proper information to a page, it may be best to try and fix honest mistakes, rather than report them for vandalism.