User blog:Llanunall/Creepypasta Wiki manual

If you are reading this then (hopefully) you are new to the wiki. In which case: welcome to the site!

As a beginner it is easy to get stuck in one of two states. The first of which where you do not know what sort of content is acceptable on the site and therefore are hesitant to contribute. The other is where you are really sure how the site works and not really care that much. In the end, hopefully I can help you to merge the two into one, the "Pretty sure I know what is going on but still mindful of the policies" state.

The rest of this blog is going to be arranged in a FAQ format with topical headers so that it is easy to sift through and grab the information that you need.

Posting
Can I post my story to the site?

No.

Okay that is not entirely true. You can technically just post your story on the site and roll the dice on whether or not it is going to be deleted. There are a lot of style rules to consider, how we deal with categorization, and our restrictions on acceptable topics. In an ideal world you could post your story here and it would be in an absolutely perfect state with no errors, no topic conflicts, and no style issues.

Unfortunately this is not the case. However, as a nice little community of writers and reviewers, we have a place where you can go to get feedback on your story, its topics, and its style. More importantly, these people will actively try to help you make it so that you can actually post it to the site and not have it deleted.

You may be thinking to yourself, "But man with the stupid name, what is this place you speak of?".

To which I say, chill out mate I am getting to that. Patience now.

The place is called the Writer's Workshop. As the name suggests it is a workshop for writers where they can take their raw materials, your story, and turn it into a nice piece of furniture that anyone would be proud to display, your edited story.

Doing this allows the site to keep the quality of its content high, the number of page deletions low, and the number of deleted pasta notifications on your talk page at zero.

Re-uploading
I've ignored the section above this and now I've gone and gotten my pasta deleted, can I just upload it again?

Yes, but only if you like collecting website bans; otherwise probably not.

According to the site's policy on re-uploading stories you are not allowed to simply post your deleted story again. Instead you must appeal the deletion by filing a petition on the deletion appeals page.

You must NEVER simply upload a pasta again because you disagree with the deletion or the reasoning behind it. Doing so can net you consequences ranging from a simple slap-on-the-wrist warning to a complete site-wide ban for editing.

If your story was deleted you can always appeal.

Always appeal a deletion over re-uploading.

Categories
Assuming that all is well and good you've got your story posted to the site. Congratulations.

So what do you do with it now? Well mate, you have to add categories to it so that it can actually be found by other people who might be interested in it. In order to do this the site employs what are called, "categories".

Now you might be thinking, "Pink deer man, I know what a category is".

Shush.

For those of you who do not have any idea what a category is they are just vague terms which can be used to describe and group together a bunch of related things. For instance, if your story revolves around some sort of rehashed werewolf then you can say that it has to do with animals. Because it revolves around animals and their activities you can categorize the story as having to do with animals.

Again, if your story is about a specific place and an experience the character is having or has had there then you can say that the story has to do with places and can be categorized under places.

You see what I mean? It's not hard to grasp is it?

Now, as with everything, this site has rules for categories. This may seem like a lot but it essentially comes down to these four simple rules:


 * 1) Do not use a category that doesn't already exist.
 * 2) Do not add categories that conflict (more about this below).
 * 3) Only use categories on pastas.
 * 4) Be conservative with how many you add.

This looks simple right? Right.

However, there is a gotcha in there at #2. There are categories which are mutually exclusive. This means that a pasta can only have one of that type of category on it. For example: you have a story about a book and just a book. You can only classify it as a Book and not also as a Diary/Journal or an Item/Object.

For a full list of categories you cannot mix please see the site's page on Categories.

Unfinished pages
NEVER post a story to the site that is not fully completed. This is a good way to get your stuff removed from the site for good with no chance to appeal. The site is not a word processor and we are not here to host half-baked content. Please finish all stories before attempting to post them to the site.

However, there is an exception. Should you want feedback on a story that is not finished you are free to post it on the Writer's Workshop. Otherwise, keep it on your hard drive please.