Forum:Guidelines for pure blog editors

The reason for this forum topic
''I have read somewhere that a forum is where users discuss or talk seriously. Hence should be the right place to get clarification on a doubt that I am struggling with currently.''

I would like to ask, are there guidelines that pure blogging users (like me) should know if I am to become a part of the community here?

I am asking this because I saw a statement somewhere which lead me to think that there's something that I am not aware of currently.

The statement goes "Another major offender are his blog content - most of it is mainly tournaments, non-OP blogs and just downright spam blogs". While its obvious that spam blogs are a clear NO, I have no idea that doing tourneys or non-OP blogs are wrong.

I have searched all over the place but mainly I find references and guidelines for editors to do articles and images but have yet found an appropriate one meant for blogs. And when I say "guidelines for blogs" I don't mean things like "How to write a proper blog?" or "These topics should not be done because its discussed a lot in the past" or the likes. Its a more wider perspective of what is acceptable and what is not by the community.

I would think that the more senior users would have automatically know what bloggers do which is acceptable and the opposite through experiences from the past. But a new user (like me) may not be aware of such "unwritten rules". Some notable examples are power blogs, blogs which may lead to comment wars, etc. So in order not to offend anyone further without being aware of it, I wish to seek a clarification onto what users (especially the veterans) perceive the dos and don'ts, can and cannots, yes and nos, right and wrongs when it comes to blogs (and purely blog users like me).

I welcome inputs or opinions from any users (especially veterans and admins) to point out the things that I was not aware about. Having this knowledge, I will then know my boundaries of how far I can be doing with my blogs before I tick off someone in the community.

Thanks for your time and input. 16:29, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

General Discussion / Feedback
In my honest opinion, i like power blogs. I like discussing if a character is legit or not or if one character is stronger than the other. It leads to great debates in my opinion with knowledge vs. knowledge. But there is a way to avoid comment wars and still have ur power blog. Disable comments and open a poll as yes or no basis only. They dont have to vote if they dont want to and you would not have to hear their pussy ass complaint, "ooooo power blog wah wah wah"(LPK). If we create guidelines then we might as well create an entire list of rules and regulations not just for blog editors, but for everyone who wantst to create a blog new or not. I am against this.

17:18, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

On this wiki, guidelines are basically nonexistent for blogs. The only real regulation is DP, who deletes any blogs that he apparently thinks might cause a problem. I hope this answers your question about blog guidelines. Personally, concerning the types of blogs that people make, I think anything should be allowed. If a blog will cause a flame war, let it happen. It's not like you have to pay attention to it, and it isn't negatively affecting the workings of the wiki. And if a stupid blog is made, people will let the author know that it is stupid through comments or straight-up ignorance. New users can make all the blogs they want, but they will learn eventually what is socially acceptable or not. For example, compare this to your school. There isn't a list of rules saying what fashions are cool, or what jokes are funny or not, you have to pick it up by yourself. 17:47, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

I'm glad someone finally made a forum for this. Yes, I think there should be rules in place for blog topics. From what I've seen, the four topics most likely to spark flame wars are power level blogs, is character X alive (even after the two major ones were answered), whether or not character X has haki, and who the next Straw Hat/new admirals is/are going to be. I say we just nip them in the bud and outlaw them altogether. Also, I think the blogs should somehow pertain to One Piece and/or the wiki in some way. I've seen some errant crap get written in the past while that really has no place on the wiki. IH, I know you like them, but power level blogs just get out of hand way too fast and it just makes the place look bad, and they're a pain in the ass to quell. 17:52, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

All blogs should be allowed. Especially non-OP related blogs. SeaTerror 17:56, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

To be honest, I think that some of the most thought-provoking conversations on blogs happen on those kinds of blogs. It forces people to actually think and defend their point. Just an idea, but what if users could submit negative votes for blogs they don't like, and if a blog receives too many negative votes, then it is deleted? For example, suppose someone makes a non-OP blog saying how pie is good. People throw down a few negative votes, and the blog is deleted. Don't think this would work as well I would like, but it's an idea. 18:36, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

Thanks Ayet for bringing up this matter because this has now became a critical issue. After the April 1st prank when the blogs were turned "off", many members in forums said that they find blogs "bullshit" "useless" "not needed" and ect ect. They reason was simple "Blogs have lost their standards and have became rather pain then literature" and I somewhat agree to it. I love reading BLS's predictions(JUST DO IT BLS!!!), DP's Abridged chapters, Neo's reviews(can't believe I just said that >_>), Angel's serious thoughts(except her blog about her landlady's issues >_>) LPK's pointless yet somewhat logical blogs, fight predictions and many other OP related blogs that has theoretical Questions and require opinion of fellow members. This blogs are my favorite but I also like he OP games and non-op fun activity blogs. But now those blogs have crossed their limits. {C}For past few days and around the month blogs have lost their importance and fan-base since their standards are getting lower and lower(at least thats what I think). When Whiskey did the character tourney, it was a new concept and a group project that interested them all. When Tuck did the annual-repetition of that tourney, to me it seemed pointless and didn't interest me after few blogs >_>. Most of tournies are already done and repeating it every year is nothing but "spamming" in my opinion. Its not written in guidelines, its my personal opinion. Repetition of successful blogs is also considered spamming if taken too far. I have no problem with Power Blogs cause there is a solution to their problems. If you are avoiding power level blogs to not cause comment war then there are ways to prevent it. As IH already said, just disable the comments and put polls. This was the opinions will be shared without a argument. These are called Smart Blogs and I have made few in past and they have been quite a success from the bumber of votes I got. OR you can just have the pure guts of a blogger and as soon as you feel that someone is trying to start argument on your blog, JUST DISABLE the commenting and stop the war to drag further. You just need to have the guts to look beyond the greed of comment number and more about the dignity of your blog.-- 18:43, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

I don't find blog-type restriction necessary, but I think we should start a deep blog categorization. Guidelines for behavior should already exist, meaning you are not allowed to go and start insulting another user in a blog. I don't know if we need guidelines for determinating useless blogs, because for me it's a case-by-case decision, so I rely the decision to the admins, for objections or suggestions for deletion there are talk pages and forums.

As you can see on this blog, http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Ricizubi/The_main_villains_from_the_Grand_Line and on Soul's long blogs. People don't start randomly rumbling about power levels, since those who have a totally contrar and stupid opinion on power levels will not read the blog, will say it's too long and most likely will not comment either. That's just a thing that might be true or not, but it is kinda irrelevant. Power blogs were, are and will still be the easiest to discuss types of blogs. We all read/watched One Piece and we can all tell from the story what is true and what is not. Facts like how Enel was defeated by Luffy was absolute luck and how he, even as a Logia is still amazingly powerful. Physically, in agility and so on. On pages we don't make comparrisons to other characters so on blogs it's the best place to do so. There is so much to talk about! As long as there are enough known scenes of that individual's power, you can make a comparrison! And can create a power level. So in my opinion, it depends on the individual you're talking about in the powerm blog, a most stupid example would be the Gorosei, they can be the strongest in the world or as weak as a normal human! We have simply no freaking idea! Same goes for Mihawk, we just saw how he cut a ship, cut a gigantic mountain wave of ice half the size of marineford or so and he beat Zoro. Besides those things, the fact that he fought on par with Shanks and is known as the strongest swordsman in the world, are still not enough info to actually compare him to someone. But for Lucci, we know clearly how strong he is. Techniques, speed, power and many other things to compare to a common person such as Luffy are so much easier to detect power levels and not create any stupid arguments. As long as the person you're talking about is good enough, I say power blogs are great, but if you make a power level about Kaido, then you must be an idiot. Also how the blog is structured and so on matters to a certain point. Power Blogs are great, just be careful.

@PX, I too am in favor of your idea to cast negative vote on blogs which were deemed "bad". And with enough votes visible in the blog comments, then someone with the rights can tag "Deletion" on the blog and admins can take it down. In a way, I think it ease the burden on DP (I should say admins but I think its only DP who actively monitors blogs) without him alone solely paying attention on blogs created. The community (especially veterans) can assist to monitor on the blog creation.

@MDM, with regards to repetitive on successful blogs, I have a different opinion. You see, back then when you all played a game (e.g. OP char tourney), you guys (and girls) have had lots of fun at that time in the past. But we (newer generations) never get to experience those fun times that you once had. So in repeating a successful blog we get a chance to enjoy that same fun stuffs that you all had, thus I don't see it as far as spamming. I once repeated one of Jinbe's blogs and in my opinion it was fun. You know, once I do wish I can mimic your GMC blog (having a general idea over blog content while users run the show in the blog comments) but sadly there's no proper way to do this anymore (not in an innovative way), hence I can only admire in awe of that excellent creative mind of yours when you start off that blog. All in all, while you veterans might have "been there, done that", please don't deny the newer generations off the fun of your previous times. Of course you all are welcomed to join in but if you find it of not much interest then its ok to not get involved in the repeated blog topics / games. And who knows in a year or two from now, someone at that generation may repeat some of the fun blogs we had recently and we (me included) could just sit back and watch the new generations enjoying the fun that we are having now. ;)

 Summary of "General Discussion / Feedback" (to-date): 

- Four types of blogs are generally considered taboo as it may easily lead to flame wars:

1) Power level blogs

2) Speculation on a character's survival

3) Speculation on a character having haki

4) Speculation on new SHP nakama, new admiral, and the likes

- Power level blogs - in some opinions - may not be a bad thing. It could lead to great serious discussion and knowledge debates as it promotes critical thinking and often may require to quote proof and evidence to justify or defend one's thoughts. However, it tends to be quite easily slide into unnecessary comment (flame) wars which may get out of hand pretty fast during author's absence (e.g. sleep). Extreme caution measures must be taken and monitored by author to avoid these unnecessary flaming wars. Also a good power blog should have enough information (revealed in the canon manga / anime) to benchmark the strengths of the two characters in question, hence the proper debate on knowledge could take place. 04:37, April 16, 2012 (UTC)

@Ayet, I understand your point about letting the new members have the fun that we old(I AM NOT OLD) members had in past. I see not problem in it and that is why regardless of how much I find that as spam, I do not write a troll comment or oppose the blog cause if I am not going to join the fun then I better keep myself out of it. Thats me. BUT .. .. not everyone is smart, understanding, handsome, dashing, daring, caring, manly, sexy, ... ok so not everyone is understanding like me and they might oppose the blog and write troll comment >_> but since there are no rules in guidelines to prevent them from doing it, (_ _ ) you will just have to deal with it and continue with the fun >_> .. I know this is kinda awkward but getting all members on one point is understanding it difficult. Still you have full support from me if you want to do a repeat-blog-extravaganza and want me to help you in it so it does not annoy or offend other members. 05:17, April 16, 2012 (UTC)

Too many comments in a blog
From somewhere I got the impression (via people's reaction) that a blog with too many comment replies is a bad thing, two examples of such blog being MDM's GMC and LPK's recent 5-words-blog. Can anyone share opinion on this matter? Could it be that a blog with too many comments may cause harm to the Wikia's system? 01:40, April 14, 2012 (UTC)

There is no harm, the only side effect of popular blogs is that they spam the Wiki Activity, a solution to this is using Special:RecentChanges, selecting "blog comments" and tick "invert selection" (like this).

Ah! Now I understand the problem of having too much blog comments in the Recent Wiki Activity. So you all (article editors) are monitoring changes onto the articles using the Recent Wiki Activity page, and too much of blog comments messes it up and causes the monitoring process to be more difficult. Thanks for the clarification, Levi. Now I get the gist why article editors dislike (too much) blog comments as due to its presence in the said page. 12:22, April 14, 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, there are so many blog comments that in a hour or so the wiki activity is completely changed, so if an anon make a vandalism and nobody notice it in time can get buried in the wiki activity. With recent change it can be avoided, but this wiki is really active (not only for blog comments, but because there are many users and from different timezones). In the wiki activity side rail there is also a table to keep track of latest forum, talk pages and blogs.