Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 12:19, 8 July 2007

This page documents an English Misplaced Pages style guideline. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page.

Shortcuts WP:SPOILER WP:SPOIL WP:SW

This page is the subject of a current discussion. Please feel free to join in. This doesn't mean that you may not be bold in editing this page, but that it would be a good idea to check the discussion first.

This page in a nutshell: Misplaced Pages contains revealing plot details of fictional works; this is expected. Spoiler warnings should only be used in articles about fictional subjects. When adding or removing a spoiler warning, be prepared to obtain consensus.

A spoiler is a piece of information in an article about a narrative work (such as a book, feature film, television show or video game) that reveals plot events or twists.

Spoilers on the Internet are sometimes preceded by a spoiler warning. In Misplaced Pages articles, for purposes of style and clarity, the use of spoiler alerts is minimized, though they are acceptable as an exception to our general guideline, no disclaimers in articles, when there is consensus for their inclusion.

As the lead section of an article is of particular importance, concerns about placing spoiler alerts in the lead should be governed by Misplaced Pages's lead section style guideline.

Spoiler warnings

When spoiler warnings should not be used

• Spoiler warnings must not interfere with neutral point of view, completeness, encyclopedic tone, or any other element of article quality.
• Spoiler warnings are usually inappropriate in articles discussing classical works of literature, poetry and theatre. Fairy tales should never have spoiler warnings. In grey areas, editors placing spoiler templates should use the article's talk page to discuss the matter.
• Spoilers and spoiler warnings should not be used in articles on non-fictional subjects. If explicit spoilers are mentioned in non-fiction articles (e.g. articles on authors, actors, real-life locations in which (a) fictional text(s) is set, or literary concepts like climax), consider whether the spoiler improves the encyclopedic quality of the article. It may be better to remove the example.
• Spoiler warnings are usually redundant when used to cover an entire "Plot" or "Synopsis" heading, or fictional "History" headings of any sort in articles whose subject is fictional, since spoilers are to be expected in a plot summary. Spoiler tags may be permissible in a subsection of a "Plot" heading, where there is consensus that the spoiler is particularly significant.
• Spoiler warnings should not be used when they can be replaced by more accurate heading information. If a "Themes" heading starts with a plot description, the best thing to do is break the plot description into a separate heading. If there are no headings, it is usually better to add them.
• Articles about fictional characters, objects, or places can be expected to include significant elements of the story. They should not contain global spoiler warnings.

When spoiler warnings may be appropriate

• Spoiler tags may be appropriate when significant plot information appears in unexpected places, such as an "Audio" heading, if there is consensus that this is necessary. This includes articles which do not usually contain plot summaries, such as articles about subjects related to the work of fiction in question (spoilers are usually expected in the plot section of the work in question, but not in related pages, such as pages about actors in a television series).
• Spoiler tags are more likely to be appropriate in newer works than in older works. Movies currently in first release, TV shows that haven't aired in all major markets, and books that have only been released in hardcover are more likely candidates for spoiler tags than a film from 1935, though exceptions may exist on either side. Note that this does not imply that spoiler tags become redundant shortly after the work of fiction reaches market.
• Very rarely, a spoiler warning may appear in the article lead. Some feel that the article lead should not need to warn about plot spoilers that are significant enough to appear in the lead, but others disagree. In any case, plot spoilers that are not significant should not be found in the lead at all.

How to add or remove spoiler warnings

• Where it is appropriate, a {{Spoiler}} tag can be used to mark spoiler sections, with {{Endspoiler}} to mark the end. Whether one is adding or removing, be sure to do both. Do not improvise such warnings in plain text, always use the templates.

Unacceptable alternatives

The following methods should never be used in relation to spoilers:

• Deleting information from an article about a work of fiction because it spoils the plot.
• Making spoiler-free parallel versions (content forks). Creating parallel versions on Misplaced Pages mirrors is acceptable.
• The insertion of blank lines before a spoiler.
• Concealing spoilers using codes such as ROT13.
• Setting the text and background colors to the same color using HTML, so the reader has to highlight the text to read it.

Notes

1. Examples include GameFAQs, Television Without Pity, and TV.com.
2. An explicit spoiler mentions the work of fiction concerned.

• Misplaced Pages style guidelines
• Misplaced Pages how-to