Answers to common questions.
Before you make a change to a page, please read this. It answers some common questions that keep coming up, requiring the changes to be removed.
Why register?
The wiki system is set up so that anyone can edit pages. You don't have to register to become a member in order to make edits. We do encourage people to register so that when they add to the wiki, they get proper credit under the name they choose, rather than just the IP address of the computer they are using. When you register, you can add ~~~~ at the end to have your name and the time automatically added to your edit. (This should be used on discussion pages, not episode or character articles.) For example: Dragon Rainbow 03:17, 18 February 2015 (UTC)
Registering allows you to create a user page with info about you and your interests and to edit some pages that we've had to protect because people were vandalising the pages or by changing information to where we know it's not correct.
Registration here also registers you for the other wikis that Fandom.com hosts. From Family Guy to Fallout 4, you may find other wikis that you're interested in. You can visit those wikis by clicking on the "Wikis" link at the upper-left corner of each page.
Why was the page I worked on changed?
There are a variety of reasons why a page that's worked on has to be changed. Sometimes it's to correct a common mistake that people make, other times, the wording needs to be adjusted. Re-edits are also performed when people decide to be mischievous and/or vandalize pages.
If you create a new page for a character or subject, it may get redirected to a different page if we already have one that covers what you wrote. Misspelled page names are a common reason for using a redirect.
When a page is edited, the person who edited it will usually put an edit summary as to why they changed it. You can see the reason(s) when you look at the Recent changes page. The edit summary should be a polite explanation of why it had to be changed.
See the "Editing pages" section below for other reasons why the page may have to be changed or deleted after you worked on it.
Story ideas
Sending my idea to Craig
"I have an idea for a story, character or song. How do I send them to Craig McCracken?"
The short answer is you can't. Not because he wouldn't want to hear them, but because he would have to avoid legal problems that could occur from doing this.
There are many instances where lawsuits have happened when there is a dispute over where an idea came from. The episode "Passing Through Gethsemane" of Babylon 5 was canceled because there was a fan fiction story with the same kind of plot. It was able to be restarted a year later because the author of that fan fiction story took the unusual step of giving the creator of the show a notarized letter saying that he released all rights to his fan fiction story.
I really want to send him my idea
If you really want to try sending your idea to Craig, then you will need to do research to find out what Disney XD's process is for submitting ideas.
The first step will be to find out if the show is even accepting ideas from outside writers. If they are, then the next step will be to find out where to send the idea and what legal requirements have to be met in order for Disney XD to accept your idea.
Fan fiction
If you are creating an article for a new episode that you made up, this wiki really isn't the right place for that. There are other websites specifically set up for user-made stories. They let people be creative with something they enjoy, without stepping on the toes of the people here.
Refer to the Fan fiction page for more information about where fan fiction should be placed.
Fake episodes
A fake episode is one where we do not have confirmation that is real. Many times we have to wait until an episode shows up on the Zap2it schedule, but occasionally we get word back from Craig McCracken about whether an episode is real or fake.
Articles for things that are determined to be fake episodes will be deleted. Many of the fake episodes that are created are just fan fiction.
Speculation
Speculation is when you use your own personal opinion as the basis for what you are adding. Since it is a guess or your opinion and usually cannot be backed up by what is seen in the episodes, it will typically be removed. Speculation in Allusions is permitted, as long as when you add the allusion you state why you think it is valid. This allows for a community review of the allusion. See below for details about allusions.
If it is decided that what you've added should be removed, a reason will usually be given in the edit summary. You can see the edit summaries when you look at the Recent Changes page.
Users that continue to add fake episodes and/or speculation are abusing their privileges here. When it is bad enough, they will be blocked from access for a certain time period. Severe abuse of privileges can result in a user being labelled as a vandal and permanent blocking. See above for what is considered vandalism. Just play nice and we'll all get along fine.
What's the big deal about adding speculation?
In one respect, speculation is a form of fan fiction. It's one person's opinion of what they want it to be, rather than what can be proven by what we see in the episodes. We are also prohibiting fan fiction because this can lead to contradictions. To avoid contradictions, we rely on what is in the episodes, published interviews, and information from the crew. Anything outside of that is not permitted.
We're trying to keep this wiki about what we see in the episodes. If you add something, you have to be able to back it up. The episodes have to be your primary source of this proof. This is referred to as "being canon".
We've already learned that what appears on other websites may not be true, even when it is a respectable website like the Internet Movie Database.
If you are getting your information from another website like TV.com, you need to provide a link to the page so that other people can review the information. This is called a "community review" of your entry.
"What I want" instead of what it actually is
When adding something to this Wiki, you need to ask yourself "am I doing this because it's what I want to happen, or did I see it in an episode?" If the answer isn't "I saw it in an episode", take another look at the reason why you're making the change.
As mentioned above, things that are added to this Wiki have to be supported by what is seen in the episodes or learned through interviews and articles about the show's creators and cast. Without proof, these changes are "what I want", instead of what actually is, and this is a form of speculation.
Likewise, any changes made because "that's the way it should be" are to be avoided. In these cases, you are saying that you know better than the people who make the show how things should be.
Example:
- The galaxy is part of the solar system because it has humanoid characters.
If you are really determined to make a "what I want" or "that's the way it should be" change, then you are venturing into fan fiction territory.
Ages
How old are the characters on the show?
Barry
Barry is the only character that we currently have a definite answer for. He is 30 years old, according to the episode "The Rider".
Wander
In The Waste of Time, it is heavily implied that Wander is virtually immortal (or his species simply ages slower than most), looking the same 1,000 years ago as he does in the present day. We can assume by this that he is at least 1,000+ years old, but that should not be added to his character page as it is pure speculation.
Other characters in the show
All of the other characters ages are not specified. We can make reasonable assumptions about what their approximate ages are, but we will most likely never know an exact age for any of them. However, those assumptions should not be added to any character pages.
Discrepancies
Mistakes that appear in other TV shows are often collected and reported on various "nitpicking" websites. Wander Over Yonder does not attempt to be an exact part of our universe or reality, and in fact, some of what we might consider to be goofs or mistakes are deliberate decisions on the part of the show's creators. The main example of those decisions is discussed above in the "Ages" section.
We do have an errors section on the episode pages, which typically list animation mistakes and other errors.
Editing pages
"Good Faith" and "Bad Faith" edits
A good faith edit means that what you're adding here is done with good intentions so that other people will enjoy what you've contributed.
A bad faith edit is a change that doesn't benefit the community. It can be something as simple as adding something known not to be true, to as severe as vandalism and obscenities.
Bad faith edits are usually caught fairly quickly since the members see what's been changed on a regular basis. If it's an honest mistake, the person that made the mistake receives a gentle notice about the change having to be removed.
One way to show that your edit is in good faith is to provide a reason for the edit. This should be placed in the Summary line, which is to the left of the Save page button you click to save what you worked on.
Vandalism
At the other end of the spectrum is vandalism. The most common types of vandalism are creating article titles with obscenities, replacing text with obscenities, erasing pages, or adding nonsense characters/gibberish. Another example of vandalism is taking pieces from other articles and adding them to fake episodes, trying to make a "real" episode.
References
What is "Continuity"?
Continuity is a reference in one episode to another episode. This differs from foreshadowing because continuity is not a plot point that had to be resolved later. It is simply a reference or trivia about another episode.
What is an "Allusion"?
An allusion is a reference in the show to something outside of the show.
Allusions are sometimes subjective about whether they really are referencing something outside of the show. In these situations, you should add words like "may be a reference to" in the allusion. This lets other members of the community double-check the allusion to see if it's valid or not.
What is Background Information?
Background information is trivia or information from outside of the show that relates to an event or plot point in the episode. Some background items qualify as continuity items and should be listed there.