Warriors Wiki:Charart/Guidelines

Herein lie the basic guidelines for Project Character Art so as not to take up room on the main page.

Current Projects
This table on the main Project page is to be used to let others know which character and rank you are currently working on, so disputes do not rise on which member started working on it first.

Guidelines for using the table:


 * If your name is not entered in the table, enter it by editing the section and adding a row with your name in the same fashion as the others. It should be listed alphabetically.
 * Example:


 * Iceheart
 * Original Charart
 * Redo/Tweak #1
 * Redo/Tweak #2
 * Date
 * Date


 * Using the model above, enter the character and rank you are currently working on in place of 'Original Charart'.
 * Please use the correct rank abbreviations to put beside your character: these are listed on the main page. Example: Firestar (L)
 * Keep in mind that you may only reserve one charart at a time
 * The "Redo/Tweak" section only applies to warriors or leads of the project (see Using the Project Tweak Talk page
 * Using the model above, enter the date of the day that you entered the character and rank, so you can be held responsible for getting the art done and not holding the character for a long measure of time. Replace 'Date' with the date of that day.
 * Please use abbreviations for the date (ie Dec. 13th instead of December 13th) so as not to unnecessarily stretch the table.
 * Do not put a date for your tweaked/redone image, as it there is no written time limit for reserving a tweak or redo, and adding a date tends to stretch the table.
 * A single piece of art may only be on the table for one week, due to this being a more than adequate amount of time for an image to be done. Once an image is put up for approval on the talk page, the time limit is irrelevant, and once the image is approved/declined it can be removed from the table.
 * Please CHECK THE TABLE before adding a character to your name; arguments have been known to break out over who has laid claim to the image.
 * Pressing the Ctrl and F keys on your keyboard will pop up a search feature, where you can search the character and make sure it has not already been claimed.
 * If a member claims a character that is already on the table, that member will be given a 24-hour ban. There is no excuse for claiming a character that is already there.
 * If the same member does this more than two times, a 24 hour ban will be given and the member will be removed from the Project.
 * If a member enters a character without putting the date, the character will be removed.
 * If unperceived circumstances (such as the talk page being full) prevent a member from getting his/her image up within two weeks, the member can renew the character claim and date after the two weeks expire.

Membership Table
This table show which users belong to the Project, and lists users according to their qualifications.


 * If an apprentice becomes inactive for more than two weeks, that apprentice can be removed from the Project.
 * Qualifications for being moved to a senior warrior on the table are listed on the nominations page.
 * If a warrior is inactive for more than two months, than that member will be removed from the table.
 * Regular members (read: warriors and apprentices) may NOT edit the membership table.

Project Senior Member Duties
These include duties that other members may not do on the main Project page. The Senior Members (SM) include the leader, the deputy, and the senior warriors.

Member Table


 * The SM's may edit the members table as follows:
 * When a user asks to join on the talk page, any SM may add them into the table under the kit listing.
 * Once a kit has completed one charart above 50% complete, any SM may move them from the kit listing into the apprentice listing.
 * Once an apprentice is eligible, any SM may move them from the apprentice listing into the warrior listing.
 * If an apprentice becomes inactive for more than two weeks, any SM may remove them from the Project.
 * Once a warrior becomes inactive for a month, any SM may move them from the warrior listing.

News Section


 * Only one SM, designated by the leader, may edit the News section. As of now, the current news editor is Shellheart.

Joining

 * A new section should be added when a user is requesting to join the Project, and the heading should read: 'UserName - Join Request'.
 * There are no requirements needed for the user to be accepted into the Project.
 * A Project SM will then add the user into the member list and provide any helpful links that the new member could benefit from.
 * A regular user should not welcome in the new user until a SM has added them in.
 * It should be noted that a user does not have to join the Project to put up art and participate.

Discussion Sections

 * A new section should be added when discussions are started, and should have the topic being discussed in the heading of the section.
 * Appropriate discussions should include questions that adhere to the Project as a whole, an idea that could improve the Project, an error in the Project being pointed out, or a user asking for help with navigation of the Project.
 * Inappropriate discussion topics include personal user notices; i.e: absence notice.
 * Absence notices should be posted under the Vacation List section on the project page.

Project Senior Member Duties
These include duties that other users are not permitted to do on the Project talk page. The Project Senior Members (SM) include the leader, the deputy, and the senior warriors.

Archiving

 * Everything on a talk page should always be archived and stored away safely, so anyone can look back at something for reference.
 * Discussion sections should be archived in the current Discussion Archive.
 * Talk page sections should never be blanked. No user is permitted to blank a section off the talk page or cover it with something else.

Accepting Join Requests

 * A SM should accept a join request whenever one crops up, unless the user is ineligible.
 * The SM should thank the user for his/her interest, and provide any links that would be beneficial to the user in the Project.
 * The SM would then add the new member into the Project table on the main page, under the listing of kit.
 * Once said user puts up a charart for approval on the talk page that's at least 50% done, their name is moved to the apprentice section.
 * If it is a rejoining member, they must be added in as a rank lower than they were last time.

Using the Project Approval Talk page

 * When an image is put up for approval, a new section should be added, and the heading should read: ' Character - For Approval'
 * If the user is a kit, then the heading should read: ' [[Character - For Evaluation'
 * An image up for approval is an image an artist submits to be critiqued by all the Project members, and when it is seen to qualify for the best possible level of excellence, will be approved and placed on its respective article.
 * If the image is approved, declined, or withdrawn by its artist, the 'For Approval' will be changed accordingly to 'Approved', 'Declined', or 'Withdrawn'.
 * There are only ever to be fifty image sections up for approval at one time.
 * Withdrawn, declined, or CBA'd sections that have not been archived yet should NOT be subtracted from the total section number to provide how many image sections are up for approval. If the number of images up for approval is at fifty, a user should wait before adding another.
 * Images that should not be put up for approval include fan-made characters and character ranks already completed.
 * A user is only ever to have one image section up for approval at any one time.
 * The image being put up for approval should be taken out of thumbnail; the coding should look like this:, not like this:
 * When an image is in the 'comments before approval' stage the heading will read: ' Character (Rank) - CBA'

Project Lead Duties
These include duties that other users are not permitted to do on the Project talk page. The Project leads include the leader, the deputy, and the senior warriors.

Approving/Declining
Approving is the process of accepting an image into the main database for use in the main namespace articles.


 * When a Project lead believes an image is qualified enough to be placed on its article, the image should not be approved right away. Instead, the customary 'comments before approval' or 'CBA' should be placed in the image section for twenty-four hours.
 * If during the twenty-four hours someone critiques the image, the twenty-four hours will expire until the artist complies with the criticism. The hours then can be restarted by an additional CBA.
 * If the twenty-four hours finish with no criticism, then a Project lead should post 'Approved' in the image section and change the heading to Character - Approved.
 * The section can then be archived in the current approved art archive, and the image in question will be placed on its respective article, and have the correct categories placed upon it (example: for Firestar's leader image - Approved Character Images, and Leader Character Images.)

Declining is the process of refusing an image for use in the main namespace articles.


 * Reasons for a Project lead to immediately decline an image are as follows; copyright infringement, a completely unneeded image for whatever reason, an image that has been claimed by another user (see Current Projects section of page), image is placed on the wrong page, two separate images of the same character rank up for approval simultaneously; newest one should be declined, and an image that is a fan-made character.
 * Reasons for a Project lead to decline an image up for approval are as follows; lack of work on updates to image, the user becoming unable to work on the image, the image does not meet the requirements of it being at least 80% done, or the user failing to complete the image within the one month limit.
 * An image that is at least 50% complete is to be given a week before being declined.


 * When declining, a Project lead should post 'Declined due to (reason for declining)' and change the heading to Character - Declined.
 * The section can then be archived in the current declined art archive, and the image link should be given  tags so it can be deleted from the wiki without leaving redlinks.
 * If the one month limit is the case, the user will have to wait two weeks before reserving that same image. This is fair, so that if they wish, they may take on another task, and give another user the opportunity to take on the declined image.
 * If an image is less than 50% complete or remains less than 80% complete for more than a week, two seniors warriors in agreement can auto-decline the image.
 * If the auto-decline of an image is under conflict, the deputy and leader of PCA must agree on an outcome together. If the deputy and leader cannot come to an agreement, a staff member of the wiki not involved in PCA may be contacted to resolve the conflict.

Archiving

 * Everything on a talk page should always be archived and stored away safely, so anyone can look back at something for reference.
 * Any approved image sections should be archived in the current Approved Art Archive, and any declined or withdrawn image sections should be archived in the current Declined Art Archive.
 * Talk page sections should never be blanked. No user is permitted to blank a section off the talk page or cover it with something else.

Image Sections

 * The same rules as the normal approval page apply for commenting.
 * Only warriors and leads can post art.
 * When an image is put up for approval of the tweak, a new section should be added, and the heading should read: ' Character - Tweaked' or ' Character - Redone'.
 * Images are to be re-uploaded over the original image.
 * There are only ever to be twenty-five image sections up for approval at one time.
 * A user is only ever to have one image sections up for approval at any one time.
 * Exception: If a user does not have an original image up for approval, they may put a second image up for tweaking. This does not affect the twenty-five image restriction rule.
 * The image being put up for approval should be taken out of thumbnail; the coding should look like this: Firestar.warrior.png]], not like this: [[File:Firestar.warrior.png.
 * The image will be archived by a lead if it goes 24 hours without comment.
 * When an image is put on the talk page, the warrior who uploaded it should state its original artist, and then list the improvements made and ask for any further suggestions.
 * An image is only to be redone if it is in the redoing section, or with the permission of the project leader and/or project deputy.
 * You are given a week to tweak an image after it is posted, and if you exceed the time limit it will be declined.
 * You are given a two weeks to redo an image after it is posted, and if you exceed the time limit it will be declined.

Redoing Images
If the image is in the redoing section, feel free to redo it, but if it's in the tweaking section...
 * An image should only be redone if and only if the image is too hard to work with, and either the leader or deputy gives you permission to redo it.
 * No major tweaking that the image isn't listed for will be done. If the image has bad shading, do not redo any other aspect of the image so that every other pixel of that character then needs to be redone to match.
 * Exception: if a user comments on an aspect of an image that they believe needs to be corrected, you may then change that aspect of the image, even if the image was not listed to be tweaked for that particular aspect.
 * If an image needs to be redone as longhair/shorthair, try not to change the original pelt style.

Image Guidelines
These are guidelines for how an artist should choose to portray a character.

Clan Leader Blanks

 * The Clan leader blanks should only be used to depict traditional Clan leaders, and not leaders of regular groups or even other organized units, such as BloodClan.
 * A traditional Clan would be the Clans who recognize StarClan and the Warrior Code (ThunderClan, WindClan, RiverClan, SkyClan, ShadowClan)
 * Clan leaders who did not receive their proper name and nine lives but still were shown as a leader of their Clan will be given a depiction with a Clan leader blank.

Rogue Blanks

 * All adult cats that are classified as a rogue in the books should be given a rogue blank.
 * All BloodClan cats are depicted with modified rogue blanks, with toothed collars and dog's teeth sheathed on their claws.

Alternative Images

 * These are images made that reflect an author mistake in the book, mainly a major description change.
 * An alternative image should NOT be made if only the gender of the cat is changed.
 * An alternative image should be made if a permanent major injury happens to the character in question, such as Briarlight or Brightheart. The alternative should be made in the same rank when the injury happened.
 * Discussions can occur to discuss if an injury is major enough to count.
 * An alternative image should be made for a pelt color change or a marking change. Eye color or gender change only does not count.
 * If in the same instance in the book, both the eye color, gender and the pelt color change, an alternative can be made displaying both.
 * An alternative image should NOT be made when a synonym of a color is used in the books; i.e: cream instead of yellow, dark brown instead of brown, etc.

Queens

 * A queen is defined by the project to be any cat to either be seen pregnant/nursing a kit/kits or a cat mentioned as having done so in the past.

Tabbies

 * If only 'tabby' (no specific colour) is given for the description, the tabby should be made brown.

Uploading

 * When re-uploading an image that is up for approval use the same file for every upload.

Comments

 * Be detailed when critiquing; the artist may not know what you mean otherwise.
 * Explain how to fix something, don't tell the artist to fix it.
 * Do not post just to restate a comment. This creates clutter and long, long sections.
 * Compliments are great, but they cause clutter. Do not post just to say, "Great job!"
 * Exception:If there have been no constructive comments for 24 hours, it is permitted to say, "I see nothing wrong, wonderful job."
 * Do not post conversational comments; that is, comments with no constructive merit. This is not a chatting page, this is for solid, constructive criticism.
 * The artist is entitled to his/her opinion as well as others, and well-worded, polite debates are permitted. This may be about color, markings, or the formation/texture of the image.
 * Caps, multiple exclamation points, and insults are not permitted.

Behavior

 * Members are expected to be polite and courteous towards their fellows, in critique and discussion.
 * Aggression and any form of personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Violation of User Conduct

 * If a fight starts up between two or more aggressive users on the talk page, the participants are to be given a 24-hour ban. Their comments will be struck out.
 * If the artist is involved, he/she will also be given a ban and the image will be declined. It may not be re-submitted for a week.
 * If the same users start a fight more than two times, they will be given a ban and they will be removed from the Project.
 * If a member uses caps, multiple exclamation points, and/or insults another member, that member will be given a warning by a Project lead.
 * If behavior continues, a 24-hour ban is given, and possible eventual removal from the Project.

Copyright

 * Under no circumstances should artwork of the cats from the Warriors books be used in this Project; they are copyrighted, and the Project encourages original art.