GTA Wiki:Cleanup

Cleanup refers to the process of keeping GTA Wiki's articles clean, correct and consistent.

There are four stages to cleanup - Removal of Vandalism, Enforcement of Organisation, Correction of Style and Verification of Accuracy.

'''To mark a page as requiring cleanup, use Cleanup Templates. To view pages requiring cleanup, see Category:Cleanup.'''

Removal of Vandalism
Vandalism refers to content on pages that is disruptive. This includes spam (text or external links), deliberately offensive content, malicious removal of useful content or addition of totally irrelevant content (including images).

There is zero tolerance on Vandalism on GTA Wiki. Any editor that spots vandalism should remove or correct it immediately and report it to a member of Staff. Staff will not hesitate to block any editor found vandalising anywhere on the wiki.

Enforcement of Organisation
This part of cleanup refers to making sure articles fit in with the structure of GTA Wiki. This includes things like consistency of page names, level of detail, images, categories and templates. If multiple pages, images, templates or categories exist for the same subject, then cleanup is required.

This is a process generally implemented by staff and other experienced members, mainly because they are the ones that are aware of the organisation of the wiki. Likewise, it is usually new members who are not aware of these policies that make these mistakes.

Correction of Style
The style of an article refers to both the content and aesthetics of a page. This is also known as "wikification".

The obvious part of Style is aesthetics (the way an article looks). Articles on GTA Wiki should not be in 72pt pink text, nor should they have dozens of images (unless in a gallery). Most long pages use at the top to float the table of contents to the right, rather than use up a large vertical portion of the page.

Style also refers to the way an article is written - articles consisting entirely of lists are not preferable, nor are paragraphs written in a "this then that then that" style. In particular articles should not be written with 1st or 2nd person pronouns, such as "I did this" (use names), "to do that, we do this" (use "the player can do this").

Articles should also avoid giving opinion or bias unless it is particularly relevant or widely accepted (referencing a source is preferable for this). For example, "Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 is the least known game in the series" is acceptable because it is widely accepted to be true and it is justified (reasons are given for it) - nobody has challenged this so far. If an editor wrote "Everybody hates Jack Thompson", that would be a gross exaggeration with the intention of making their point of view seem more valid. Subjectivity is occasionally acceptable, but not to the level of saying "This is the best car in the game" - this should be objectified, such as saying it is the fastest vehicle. No editor should write anything similar to "I like this car".

Verification of Accuracy
All information on GTA Wiki must be true, and unknown information or data such as statistics or dates should be verified with a link to or mention of a reliable source.

A reliable source is an issue of much controversy at Wikipedia. On GTA Wiki, the rule of thumb is that a source must be from a well-known website, and not written by the person referencing that source.

For example, if an editor writes that "Liberty City is suggested to be located in 'Liberty City State'", a relatively unknown fact, they should be able to verify that with a reliable source. In this example, a screenshot from Grand Theft Auto IV shows the words "Liberty City State" on the licence plate. When writing this information, the editor must reference this source to prove to skeptics or uninformed persons that the information is true.

Any information found on GTA Wiki that is not referenced to a reliable source may be removed until verification is found. This is required to ensure that all information on GTA Wiki is able to be taken seriously. That said, we cannot always guarantee the reliability of information on the wiki, nor do we have any control over the reliability of external sites.

The exception to this rule is when we deal with fiction - such as the content of games or Fan Fiction written about GTA games. Events that occur in GTA games do not have to be marked as fiction, but if recounting ingame events, editors should write "in the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" to make sure it does not get confused with real-world events. For information that is not Canonical, it should be marked with Unofficial.