This page is an ideal that User:Jimbo the tubby feels the Lostpedia spoiler policy ought to be. It fixes what he feels are the many inconsistencies, errors, overreactions and downright hypocrisies in the current version of the policy. Note: this page is in no way official policy on Lostpedia, and represents only the views of User:Jimbo the tubby. To see a version indicating changes from the actual policy, see here. To clarify, I don't intend this as a substitute for the current spoiler policy. If anything, I consider it simply an essay, if you will, about what I feel the spoiler policy ought to be. The easiest way to do that was to simply rewrite it as I felt it should be. Please don't confuse this for an attempt to subvert the spoiler policy in its current form: it is not.

Contents 1 Motivation 2 Definitions 3 Current policy 4 Spoilers and protected content on Lostpedia 4.1 "/Promotional" pages 4.2 Upcoming episode pages 4.3 Related pages 4.4 Season Nav templates 4.5 Ep/ templates 5 Violations 6 International broadcast dates 7 Banner

MotivationEdit

The motivation for this policy is twofold:

• ABC, Bad Robot Productions and the creators and creative talent behind Lost have voiced their desire that the fans of the show not be spoiled by unofficial information about upcoming episodes, and only find out this information when they release it for the fans to enjoy. Such content is considered spoilers and is not allowed on Lostpedia.
• Many fans, however wish to avoid even information released by the show's creators until the information is revealed in the show. Such content is considered spoilers by some fans, however for the purposes of this policy, it is referred to as "protected content" and only appears certain places on Lostpedia in order to protect such fans from viewing it.

DefinitionsEdit

• Lostpedia considers a spoiler to be any content about unaired episodes or seasons which has been released unofficially by somebody who is not directly associated with ABC or Lost.
• For the purposes of this policy, protected content is defined to include any information about upcomming episodes or seasons which has been revealed by promotional material for the show (including press releases, advertisements and convention materials) or the show's creative team (such as podcasts, DVD commentaries and interviews). Protected content may only be considered as such when it comes from either:
  • ABC promotional material
  • The show's producers, directors, writers or cast
• A piece of information is considered neither a spoiler nor protected content once:
  • It has been revealed in an episode of Lost that has aired on ABC in the Eastern time zone in the United States.
  • It has been revealed in officially authorized spin-off media released, including:
    • Tie-in novels, such as Bad Twin.
    • Video games, such as Lost: Via Domus.
    • Alternate reality games, such as The Lost Experience and Find 815.
    • Mobisodes, such as Lost: Missing Pieces.
    • DVD releases.

Current policyEdit

• Spoiler content may only be placed and/or discussed on the Lostpedia forum in the specified Spoilers sub-section. No spoilers, as defined above, are permitted on the wiki whatsoever.
• Spoilers, as defined above, may not be added or mentioned on user blogs.
• Protected content, as defined above, may be placed on user blogs, on podcast/convention/press release transcripts or on the "/Promotional" pages.
• Protected content may not be added anywhere else on the wiki, with the following exceptions:
  • Upcoming episode titles, officially released by ABC Medianet, may be added to the season Nav.
  • Any information on upcoming episodes from official ABC Medianet press releases (including titles, synopses, guest cast, writers and directors) may be added to a locked page for that episode. That page must be named something like "Season 6, Episode 1" until the episode has aired to prevent the title from showing up in "Recent Changes", but the actual title may be placed in the article.
  • Any information on upcoming episodes released through an ARG may only be placed on the page for that ARG and nowhere else.
  • Any information released at Comic-Con may be added to any relevant out-of-universe articles, but not to any in-universe articles. (For example, the revelation at Comic-Con 2007 that Harold Perrineau would be returning in Season 4 could be added to the Harold Perrineau article, but not to the Michael Dawson article.)

Spoilers and protected content on LostpediaEdit

Spoilers, as defined above, do not belong in any articles or pages on the Lostpedia wiki including, but not limited to:

• Articles
• Article talk pages
• Unanswered questions sections
• User pages
• User talk pages
• Theory pages and their respective talk pages
• User blogs

"/Promotional" pagesEdit

Any page labeled "/Promotional" (ie: Season 6/Promotional) may contain any protected content, as defined above, provided that that a link to its source be provided. This includes:

• Episode titles
• Central characters
• Guest cast
• Character appearances
• Directors
• Writers
• Promotional photography
• PR synopses
• Details revealed in "Next time on Lost" promotional trailers
• etc. (all other information regarding an upcoming episode)

Provided such content is coming from an official source. No spoilers, as defined above, may appear on this page.

Upcoming episode pagesEdit

The following information related to upcoming episodes may be revealed only on the page for that episode until the episode has its premiere airing on ABC in the Eastern time zone. Furthermore, the information must come from an ABC Medianet press release for that episode, and from no other source:

• Episode titles
• Guest cast
• Directors
• Writers
• PR synopses
• Airdate and broadcast information

Upcoming episode pages must be protected and titled something like Season 6, Episode 1 to prevent protected content from appearing in the "Recent Changes section.

Related pagesEdit

Pages for locations, characters, actors, events, etc... which are considered protected content may not have new pages created for them until after they have appeared in an episode.

Season Nav templatesEdit

Upcoming episode titles may be placed in season Nav templates (ie: Template:Season5nav).

Ep/ templatesEdit

Ep/ templates may be created for all episodes in a season. If the episode they refer to has not aired, then they must say something like Season 6, Episode 1. Once the episode has aired, the actual title may be used.

ViolationsEdit

All violations of spoiler policy are subject to disciplinary action against the editor's account. If you are considering posting protected content, it is your responsibility to understand the above guidelines.

International broadcast datesEdit

The English language Lostpedia is updated based upon U.S. television airdates. All non-U.S. visitors should take care not to visit pages that have been edited following newly-aired episodes and which may contain spoilers for international viewers. This may differ for other Lostpedia languages.

BannerEdit

Any page containing protected content, as defined above, must contain the following banner at the top:

Spoiler alert!