Forum:Premature character page creation

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Spoilers are strongly policed here.
If this thread's title doesn't specify it's spoilery, don't bring any up.

Is there anything we can do about stopping people from creating character pages before episodes have aired. We have a WHOLE lot of pages this series which are just first names of characters, like Sophie (The Lodger). This isn't particularly helpful because it forces us to go back and put in the full name of the character once the episode has been aired, as had to be done with Mo Northover and his family. Can we at least get an official policy set against this sort of "pre-creation"? CzechOut ☎ | ✍ 18:09, June 6, 2010 (UTC)

We should do. If we link the character on the page, protect it until the time of release I think. User:Solar Dragon/Signature 18:12, June 6, 2010 (UTC)

I do generally semi-protect/create protect (prevent pages from being created with a semi-protect on the title) all pages relating to any stories of the current series. This stops unregistered/new user.

I will though add something to the spoiler policy noting that all pre-broadcast spoilers need to be kept to that story's article page or that series' page until broadcast (or something to that effect). --Tangerineduel 12:19, June 7, 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, I always add the spoiler tag to any I notice that are from episodes that haven't aired. I don't really see the need to delete the ones from the next weeks episode, it's just easier to add the spoiler tag and be done with it the once. Any that are two weeks ahead though should be deleted. The Thirteenth Doctor 12:43, June 7, 2010 (UTC)

But this isn't about spoilers. Quite the opposite. And it's not really to do with unregistered editors. It's about registered editors, for the most part, creating articles with too little knowledge. That is, they get the Radio Times or some other reputable listing which gives the name of the character as credited in the episode, rather than as provided by the narrative. When we actually do see the episode we discover, magically, that the narrative actually does fully name the character. So we're stuck with an article based on just a first name, when all along it should have been created with the full name of the character. If people just waited to actually see the episode, they would be able to create the article properly the first time around. We need a policy that says, Do not create articles about characters characters prior to the airing of the episode. That way, we stand a much better chance of getting articles that have both a first and last name, and ones that have the proper spelling of the name. CzechOut ☎ | ✍ 21:29, June 9, 2010 (UTC)

People? Waiting to see the episode before writing articles...? What crazy world are we living in when people would be patient and write articles when they have information...? (sigh...I thought I'd thought of all the permutations of 'Christmas Special 2010' to protect, yet the other day another was created. Maybe people are just enthusiastic rather than lacking in patience?)

I'd added something to the Tardis:Spoiler policy to similar to CzechOut's statement, we could also add something to the vandalism policy if we want to go down that path. --Tangerineduel 14:46, June 10, 2010 (UTC)

I don't think we should alter the vandalism template to include premature page creation. As you said Tangerineduel, most of them will just be enthusiastic and not vandals. I think another template warning them not to create more would be best. And, as I said, we shouldn't bother deleting the pages that will be made, just put spoiler tags on them. And if the page just has a first name to begin with, then needs a second name, we just move the page and the first name becomes a redirect. And if that name is needed in future as a disambig page etc, it can easily be deleted. --The Thirteenth Doctor 15:00, June 10, 2010 (UTC)

Well, again this has absolutely nothing to do with spoilers. I'm not sure I follow the logic of "putting a spoiler tag up", as that doesn't address the issue in the slightest. As for fixing problems after they've already been created, I'd certainly disagree with the word "easily". If someone creates a page with just a first name — especially if that first name is super common — it's not particularly "easy", in most cases, to divest the wiki of it, unless it's caught very early on. You can't just move it; you have to go to the "what links here" list and make sure that all instances are relative to the thing being moved, rather than other instances of the same name. There were instances of Amy linking to at least three different pages before it was all untangled. Craig currently links nowhere, except to Tardis:List of unwritten BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures characters, even though the "Craig" in question is actually from a Tardisode, and now, of course, the most famous Craig in the DWU is set to be Craig Owens from The Lodger. Very clearly, Susan should not link to Susan Foreman, but at this point, I'm frankly just too damned scared to untangle that one until I've literally got a day to kill. First-name-only pages really are a no-no for a variety of reasons. Common English-language names really should go straight to a disambig page. There should be no waiting around "until we need it", because the truth is, including behind-the-scenes names and names that work as both first and last names, we need almost every common English-language name to be disambiguated from the start. Don't believe me? Check out Peter. Even Elliot has at least three that come to mind without even doing any research: [[[Elliot Northover]] from Cold Blood, Elliot Thorpe, author of Cryptobiosis and Eric Elliot, a guest actor in The Ark. CzechOut ☎ | ✍ 00:43, June 11, 2010 (UTC)

I agree with CzechOut, and I think he's given us a big part of the solution. Make it a policy that first names (and things like Dad) _always_ go to either a disambig page or a fancified disambig page (much like on Wikipedia). So, the page for Craig would look something like this:

'''Craig''' was a common given name in English-speaking countries on [[Earth]].

Craig can refer to:
* [[Craig Owens]] ({{DW|The Lodger}})
* [[Craig (Sanctuary Base 6)]] {{TS|Tardisode 8}}

And, to forestall people creating a page for Elliot, we could have immediately created, and semi-protected, a similar page at Elliot disambiguating Elliot Thorpe and any other known Elliots. Sure, someone could have just added an Elliot (The Hungry Earth), but even that small hurdle would have turned off the more inexperienced editors, and if worst came to worst, fixing that would be a whole lot easier than fixing just plain Elliot.

The only problem with this is that we'd often be disambiguating between in-universe and out-of-universe articles, but I assume (or just hope?) that this is a problem that's already been solved? --Falcotron 03:54, June 11, 2010 (UTC)

Answering myself here--yes, idiot, as a quick glance at Peter had already told you. :P

Anyway, I think Peter could serve as an example of what first-name pages should look like. --Falcotron 03:55, June 11, 2010 (UTC)

Right, I hate Peter. Haha, well then, the idea of protecting the creation of pages that just have first names should be good. The, after the episode airs, the page can either be created with their forename and surname, like Craig Owens or created with their name and then the episode like Pedro (Time of Angels). That would mean as soon as spoilers are released concerning names, those individual first names are protected asap, whether they are true or false. --The Thirteenth Doctor 09:04, June 11, 2010 (UTC)