Welcome new member! I am DrDuskie also known as Dr. James Rota in the Solar Initiative Lore. I also go by "Dingus Insect" in a few other places. In this guide, I will tell you everything you need to know about the Solar Initiative Wiki.
1. What is the wiki to begin with?
The Solar Initiative Wiki was created by 
DrDuskie and 
s n o w y. It is a wiki dedicated to the creation of Confic pieces. Similar to the SCP Foundation and the RPC Authority Wikis, who we thank for our inspiration. However, unlike those two wikis, we specifically only use AI Art for our anomalies. And we are more family-friendly then the other two wikis. The lore may be grim at times if you are younger, so be cautious about getting into the Solar Initiative's lore.
2. What do you suggest I do first?
We suggest you read the Site Rules before doing anything else, from there you will be able to well… learn the rules as well as learn how to make your own Anomaly. But don't make an Anomaly immediately until you are experienced.
3. I am experienced already, what do you suggest I do before making an Anomaly?
First, you should read some pre-existing articles created by Me and Snowy. We have 5 Anomalies already registered in Series I and one in the Luciren Anomaly page. I personally suggest you start with reading AN-009 and AN-031 as they are the first two Anomalies created.
4. Any places where I can communicate with other members of the community?
I suggest you join our community Discord server, there should be a link on your left hand side. If you join it, your articles can be advertised, criticized, and more. You can hang out with other members of this community in regular chat, or voice chat. If you have any questions, please DM me them or ask them in the Questions Section on the server.
5. I am a writer from the SCP, RPC, or Backrooms Wiki. Can I transfer my SCPs, RPCs, or Entities to this wiki?
Long story short, yes with some rules. You are allowed to do it if those communities agree with it. However, you cannot just use the image you used to show what you SCP/RPC/Entity looks like unless it is already AI Art. And again, The community you are transferring from must agree with sharing the SCP/RPC/Entity and it must be YOUR creation.
Site Behavior
The rules page contains a list of things you are allowed to do, things you are expected to do, and things you are not allowed to do. However, the Solar Initiative is a writing community, and no list of hard-and-fast rules will explain the nuances of social interaction for you. There are some behaviors that will simply grate on different people's nerves; you can't, as the quote says, please everyone. There are, however, behaviors that annoy everyone, and these will get you banned. Keep this in mind:
So much of your life and your time here at the Initiative will be much easier if you remember this.
Rudeness to the Mods: We are volunteers, not paid workers, who are curating a list of quality articles. We are not easily prone to anger by sarcasm or jokes, but repeated harassment of staff will result in a ban.
- That said: Moderators and Administrators are allowed to have and express opinions just as writers and site members. You are advised not to behave obnoxiously towards them (or anyone—see the first rule), but you as a member are allowed to debate, disagree with, and discuss whatever you like, however you like (as long as you're civil), with Mods or Admins in their capacity as members. You will not be banned for disagreeing with a staff member.
Harassment: It will be noted that the Solar Initiative does indeed allow users to speak their minds freely on topics of any kind without fear of being banned. However, there is a difference between speaking one's mind freely, and making a user feel uncomfortable. Repeated and purposeful harassment of users will not be tolerated. Harassment could be categorized in the following:
- 1. Threats of violence towards a user/users.
- 2. Spamming a user/users with insults
- 3. Targeting a user, or a group of users, with false allegations and insults.
- 4. Falsifying evidence to have another user banned.
- 5. Insults or threats to a user's family member.
- 6. Vandalizing or group raiding an article
Raiding: Raiding is the act of targeting an article or website with the intention of disrupting, harassing, and/or angering a user or community. Raiding is done by either spamming, down-voting, or harassing people related to a community or article. With this being said raiding of a user's article or a community is strictly forbidden and is a bannable offense.
Staff/Mod/Admin Posts: This is a member of staff acting in a position of Authority. They will be clearly marked as "Staff Post", "Mod Post", or "Admin Post". Those are generally discussions to be read by members, but contributed to by Staff.
- Moderative Posts: Moderative posts will have a specific title. These titles are used to indicate specific types of posts, and should only be responded to in certain situations.
- Stop Order - Do not respond to this post. If a staff member ends a discussion, it is over. Do not try to get the final word in; just stop.
- Closed - Do not respond to this post. Staff is posting a statement that does not require a reply.
- Open - You can respond to this post if you want.
Writing: If you are interested in writing an article for the Solar Initiative there are is a specific process that you must familiarize yourself with. This writing process should be followed in order to improve your writing and to avoid "coldposting". If any article is coldposted it will be removed.
- Rough Draft: Once you have written the basics of your article and are happy with your progress, post your draft to the forum. Users are required to submit a draft once they have finished writing the basic parts of their articles. Every article uploaded to the official site is expected to have received at least two thorough pieces of criticism in the draft stage. If this step is not completed the article will be deleted for coldposting. At this point, users viewing the draft are recommended to point out any sort of errors they find. Once you have received criticism on the forums you are expected to calmly take and apply a majority of it to your article. If you disagree with the criticism given to you then you do not have to apply it, but you are expected to receive and apply criticism from more users. While we do not punish people for responding poorly to criticism, it reflects badly on the writer's character.
- Final Draft: After completing a rough draft and acting upon criticism an article is expected to have most or all of its plot holes, grammar and other remaining issues fixed. It is encouraged to update your rough draft posted on the forums to reflect these changes. When this is done you may seek out more criticism to further improve your writing.
- Publish/Post Publishing: Before publishing your article give it one last read over. If you feel confident in your article and have followed the previous steps then you are ready to post it. If you are uploading an Anomaly, find a number that you desire on the main list that has not been taken (article spots that aren't taken do not have a title). Click the number link and press "Click here" to open up the editor. Paste your article into the space provided and edit the title (Change the title An 1111 to AN-1111). Make sure to edit the rating module as well ([[include component:rate]]). Once you have saved your article go to the bottom of the Series I and edit the slot next to your chosen number. Change the blank title to an original title that describes your article. Once you have done this check out the Tagging Guide and edit the Tags section at the bottom of your article. Congratulations! your article is now an official part of the site. If you ever feel that the article could be improved on, you are free to make edits. Note if the article ever remains under 2.7 stars with 6 user ratings, the article will be removed.
Editing: The Solar Initiative is a wiki, meaning users are encouraged to write and contribute to the site. Likewise, users are permitted to improve the site by editing existing pages, to an extent. Editing is broken up into different ranks:
- Minor edits: These include minor grammar, spelling, or punctuation fixes, or adding (correct) tags to a page. The rule is: as long as the change doesn't alter a sentence's meaning, the edit is fine. If a user plans to do a lot of minor edits, be sure to let a moderator and/or author know, to avoid misunderstandings about the changes.
Also important: Make sure you know what you're doing when you edit. Don't make a sentence worse by a) changing something that is supposed to be whatever it is, like an intentional misspelling, formatting quirk, or an acceptable but alternate spelling of a word (color/colour, analog/analogue, etc.), or b) fixing something that literally isn't wrong in the first place.
- Major edits: This includes changing paragraphs changes, altering pictures, or other concept changes. These types of changes should be run past the original author if possible. If the original author can't be found, ask a moderator or administrator for permission or advice.
Appropriate Content: Any images portraying real gore and pornographic content, is a bannable offense due to breaking Wikidot's Terms of Service.
In-character Behavior: The Solar Initiative is NOT a RP wiki, it is a site dedicated to writing pieces of fiction. So, when interacting in the wiki, do not act as if you are in the Solar Initiative universe, talk how you normally do. If you are looking for a place to role-play, you're in the wrong place.
Spam: Don't bring up your new Anomaly every two minutes, and don't bump threads you created. Additionally, don't post content that warrants no response to forum posts. To put it simply, don't bring up an idea repetitively and don't post meaningless things.
- To join the site, type in the following phrase in the proper location on the Join Page: "Shining light on the unknown." This is the pass phrase. Your application must also explain why you wish to join the site. The entirety of your application must be grammatically correct with proper punctuation and spelling. If your application does not include this information and the above phrase, it will be automatically denied.
For a complete list of the things we do and do not allow on the site, check the Site Rules.
