User blog:Random-storykeeper/Emoticons and adjusting our image policy

Lately Nitrome Wiki has been experiencing an "emoticon uprising", at lack for better words, where many users in the past month or so have been requesting that their fanmade emoticons be uploaded to Nitrome Wiki and/or used in the Emoticons page for chat. It was going relatively okay I guess until users started uploading them 1) on this wiki and 2) making them less Nitrome related.

Now a couple weeks back, I made a statement on NOBODY's talk page implying that it was, in fact, okay to upload emoticons to the wiki on the basis that they were being used. I suppose it wasn't the best way to word the comment, so I ought to clarify. Yes, Nitrome related emoticons are fanart. Do they have to be uploaded to the wiki in order to be used? Not necessarily. But my main point was that users seemed to have this mindset that because "non-Nitrome related images" were not allowed on the wiki, and on that basis go and upload the images to Nitrome Fanfiction Wiki instead. Just think about the policy that goes on that wiki. Images are strictly to be Nitrome related, not other media related fanart unless it involves Nitrome or to be used *appropriately* on a Nitrome fan page. I was trying to point out that this logic doesn't make any sense, but I guess at the same time, I said that the emoticons could be handled better with something such as categorisation.

Could. Not should.

Anyways, NOBODY did point out that the policy did state that all other images such as non-Nitrome related images were to be deleted, though this was written in error, since it was at the time when fanart was allowed on the wiki and I suppose we just never updated it since.

I'm not saying to completely dismiss our image policy nor keep strictly to it, but we do need to consider the timeframe and circumstances of which the policy was written. So we start with a few rules, and over time we learn that maybe another method works better. Does this mean we should listen to our old selves and old selves only?

What's the point of all this talk
Hmm two things. First, is to address and revise the image policy. Again, the policy was written three years ago at a time when Nitrome fanart was allowed to be uploaded to the wiki and "Nitrome related" was there to ensure that no other fanart could be uploaded. Now that fanart is no longer allowed to be uploaded here, it's due time to update the policy to reflect this.

Most of the time, images uploaded here will be Nitrome related. No kidding; it's a wiki about Nitrome. But there are a few odd images out there such as File:Jpeg.jpg that, while not Nitrome related, serve an important purpose in illustrating a concept that helps the wiki.

For the image policy, I think it's important to revise it to stress that images uploaded should be judged based on where they are used. They should be deleted if they serve no purpose. Next, we should consider where they are being used. Appropriate for the mainspace, maintenance templates and policy pictures are fine. Fanart is typically uploaded for personal use on user pages, talk pages, blogs, etc and thus are not to be uploaded. I want to change the emphasis on the fact that implies that only Nitrome related images are allowed and instead focus it entirely on the wiki.

Secondly, we have to address emoticons here. Should they be allowed on this wiki? I mean they are fanart, but they can also be *indirectly* used. I have no trouble believing that Nitrome related emoticons should be uploaded to Nitrome Fanfiction Wiki, but what about the other, non-Nitrome related images? Do we make it so that the images can be uploaded to Nitrome Wiki provided that they are properly categorised and labelled, or just tell users to upload them off wiki? And most importantly, should there be a policy imposed on how many or what type of emoticons are to be utilised in chat?

Ponder on these things and plop them in the comments. /rant