Forum:International air dates and spoilers

Discussion
As of today, Arthur Wiki:Policy has nothing about what to do with "spoilers" and international air dates. What should we do about this? Any suggestions are welcome. 5000 Explosions and a Supernova (talk) 23:32, May 26, 2015 (UTC)

As far as non-English air dates go, we shouldn't cover anything on Korean, etc.. This wiki is universal, but this is an English wikia first and foremost. "The Last Day" is a major turning point, and of course users will want to start changing every character that gets affected by it, therefore spoiling, confusing, and conflicting with what we only know in USA and Canada air dates. To some this is obviously not going to be an issue; it's officially aired (even if it's online), so what's the problem? Well, the problem is, is that other countries are obviously going by their own episode order. If a non-US and non-Canada doesn't know what's aired in those countries (the two countries that gave the show its life), then they're obviously going to make it their own choice what they're going to be spoiling for themselves. And it's exactly the other way around. If a new episode airs in the UK or Australia and something happens where a development occurs (big or small), then that's what's happening in the country you're living in. I don't think it's right to start spreading something that isn't really fair to the North American viewer because it hasn't aired yet.

Arthur is an American-Canadian television series, so everything should be based on those air dates. Everything should only come on this wiki after those air dates have occured. If a character has a full name given or some detail about them is revealed (or even dies), it should only be after that episode has aired in North America; it keeps everything straight and focused and not mixed with what's aired elsewhere, because like I said it just confuses things because of the people that want to cover the whatever released episode that hasn't even been aired yet in North America. It's bad enough America isn't going in order, we don't need to follow a country other than America and Canada that's going in random order.

Even if new episodes are released on DVD first, then that's that company's choice. We can cover the DVD and say which episodes have been put on DVD first, but it shouldn't influence what happens on this wiki in regards to characters and locations, etc. (I don't think that really matters now, but it's something I still stand by).

I said a lot, and I sound very firm with what I want. But not only is this only my one viewpoint, I'm also thinking of one straight road this wiki should follow. -- Anythingspossibleforapossible (talk) 13:53, May 27, 2015 (UTC)

I was treating seasons 18 and 19 as the same, so I guess my comment about new episodes on DVD still stands. -- Anythingspossibleforapossible (talk) 16:58, May 27, 2015 (UTC)

I agree with the above.

I was (years ago) proposing other users from other countries like the UK, Australia, Korea, etc. to create their own separate version of the site.

They could post any information they have about the upcoming episodes on those sites. We can than focus on the American and Canadian version.

Everyone else with the Australia, Korean, UK, etc. can focus on those versions. I'm kind of surprised no one has really done that, yet.   Caesar  | Talk  . 21:31, May 27, 2015 (UTC)
 * Me, too. Every nationality just kind of flocks to the English one because it's easier. Although the fact that no one has even attempted to do one is surprising. Orion had to do a Canadian, but that hardly helps. -- Anythingspossibleforapossible (talk) 21:47, May 27, 2015 (UTC)

At least he had the right thinking when it comes to doing a Canadian one. I'm kind of shocked no other nationality went in the same direction.   Caesar  | Talk  . 22:09, May 27, 2015 (UTC)
 * When it comes to starting wikis, don't think nationalities. Think languages. 5000 Explosions and a Supernova  (talk) 22:21, May 27, 2015 (UTC)
 * I pretty much meant languages. I wouldn't prohibit it, of course, but it gets a little hard to work with one or two users of a foreign language because of what they don't understand. English miscommunication is bad enough, without having miscommunication with people who speak another language, especially in live chat. It's almost impossible to have any kind of conversation, which I have experienced here. I mean, if you're going to an English wikia, then at least have the decency to learn the language a little rather than just translate everything, because it makes it hard to read and be potentially embarrassing. That's why I don't edit on French wikis or the like. -- Anythingspossibleforapossible (talk) 20:21, May 28, 2015 (UTC)

Policy draft
To make sure we cover everything, here is a list.

It can be revised.
 * Note: In this chart, "international" refers to anywhere outside of Canada and the United States.

Revisions
Looks good. Does adding new information include crew info (writers, directors, etc.) or should that go in a new row. -- Anythingspossibleforapossible (talk) 18:39, May 27, 2015 (UTC)
 * Besides Greg (who never leaks anything), we don't really hear from any other crew. But still, I think the chart row about leaks should be changed to include that. 5000 Explosions and a Supernova  (talk) 22:21, May 27, 2015 (UTC)

If we did this then that would mean having Maria's surname (and anything else about "Maria Speaks" on Maria's page) would violate policy. I was thinking as a loop hole to that, we could have a dotted line or something else under her surname to make it canon-in-training (or canon-to-be, although that's just the same thing really), despite the fact that it is canon, but this episode hasn't aired in America yet, right? -- Anythingspossibleforapossible (talk) 19:05, May 27, 2015 (UTC)
 * No, it would be better if we didn't make exceptions for specific cases. 5000 Explosions and a Supernova  (talk) 22:21, May 27, 2015 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I'd have to agree (although I'm not sure when this policy starts kicking in). What I specifically meant for writers and directors was for leaked episodes. -- Anythingspossibleforapossible (talk) 13:44, May 28, 2015 (UTC)
 * I like the idea of using a little notice called "canonization pending". Maybe a little something like this: Maria Pappas [ cp ] (hover over "cp"). To be honest, I was a little surprised when I first saw Maria's last name, and learned it was from an episode I could not watch. Seemed a little bit like a spoiler. —OWL 01:49, May 29, 2015 (UTC)

I split summary from plot, since websites will provide official "summaries" but not "plot", as we use the terms. 5000 Explosions and a Supernova (talk) 06:15, May 29, 2015 (UTC)

Uploaded images
We currently have a bunch of images that are from "unreleased" episodes, according to the above discussion. What should we do with them? 5000 Explosions and a Supernova (talk) 08:24, May 30, 2015 (UTC)
 * Either delete or hide them. But it should be made clear that it doesn't go beyond what's already uploaded, the rule doesn't include new uploaded images from "unreleased" episodes. -- Anythingspossibleforapossible (talk) 20:03, May 30, 2015 (UTC)
 * I have the time and patience to delete them all, if we decide someone should do it. I've already saved them all (~400 files) on my computer, so reuploading them later is also an option. But what do you mean by "go beyond"? 5000 Explosions and a Supernova  (talk) 21:49, May 30, 2015 (UTC)
 * If you're offering, 5000, then that would be great. I meant by "go beyond" as in hiding additional new images that may be uploaded for "unreleased" episodes that we don't have. But if the ones we already do have are all going to be deleted anyway, then we don't have to worry about what's going to be hidden. -- Anythingspossibleforapossible (talk) 13:37, May 31, 2015 (UTC)
 * I'll delete any screenshots from episodes that have not shown up in North America this week. And just asking, how were you planning to "hide" them? 5000 Explosions and a Supernova  (talk) 03:25, June 4, 2015 (UTC)

Comment sections of articles
Most of the comments on unreleased episodes are going to be speculation, but what should we do if they are clearly spoilers? 5000 Explosions and a Supernova (talk) 03:25, June 4, 2015 (UTC)
 * I was thinking about that, too. It depends, as personal comments and building an encyclopedic database in a certain order are two separate things. But revealing something that happens before it airs may still violate policy. -- Anythingspossibleforapossible (talk) 15:36, June 4, 2015 (UTC)