Encyclopedia Dramatica:Basic Rules

Consult the ED style guide and you will be well on your way to success!

1. Basic Rules - very important read!
2. When is it crap?
3. Wiki-specific markup
4. Why not pipe?
5. Why not pie?
6. Good Joke:Word Count Ratio
7. Internet Relevance
8. ED vs. Wikipedia
9. ED Is Not
10. Templates
11. Strikethroughs
12. Image Selection Process
13. The Encyclopedia Dramatica Guide to Article Building

Policy This article defines official ED Policy. Shortcut: ED:RTFM

Read, dummy! Read at least 100 articles before you create one. The list of previously featured articles is a good place to start. If this is too much to ask, go to the list of lulz wikis where you'll probably find something less demanding for your crap stubs.

1. Keep ED on topic: we only want articles relating to drama, internets, or memes. If you are unsure, please refer to ED:LULZ.
2. Add drama and information as much as possible, when writing up an article. Google and Ljseek are your friends.
3. Don't make an idiot of yourself! Seeing as you are new around here, we don't appreciate a case of severe unwarranted self-importance. If you even think you can handle the production of a new lulz induced article, write it with the greatest care and precision. There is no value in one-sentence articles; make a story of it, use correct formatting, and use your feeling. Of course, it is recommended you start out with minor edits to existing articles.
4. ED is not NPOV. We don't ever want to see an edit that can be summarized as 'reduce bias'. Ever.
5. Add no new categories. The existing ones work just fine, thank you very much.
6. Assign categories to your articles. If you don't, they might be marked "{{crap}}" (oh noes!)
7. Preview before saving. Before saving your changes, hit "Show preview" if you're unsure of formatting or how the page will look after you're done editing. That way, if you change your mind or notice a mistake, the article's history won't be filled with your multiple edits. Several consecutive edits are generally frowned upon unless you're making major changes to an article. Try to avoid it if you can or you will get {{Preview}} on your page, and noone wants that.
8. Wikify your articles. To test skills, use the Sandbox. Read the Encyclopedia Dramatica:Style Guide for wikihelp.
9. Create links to your articles. Srsly, if your article isn't linked to from the outside world, it may get BALETED.
10. Do not write any articles about Chuck Norris (Moar liek JEW Norris, amirite?). Or re-create any other crap articles that have been deleted, for that matter.
11. Promote the site to your friends and enemies. ED Banners and stamps[1][2] are available for your use, or you can make your own.
12. Use edit summaries. For instance, if you sass the admins, you write it in the edit summary. (example).
13. Don't piss off these people.
14. Got nothing to do? See {{opentasks}}.
15. Sign comments in Talk pages. If you're leaving a comment in a talk page, sign it. You can do this by inserting four tildes at the end of your comment or by clicking in the Signature with Timestamp button ( ) above the edit field.
16. How do I shot fancy signatures?
    • Make fancy sig like so.
    1. Put it in the nickname box in your prefs as a template, like so User:User/Sig.
    2. Check raw signatures.
    3. ???
    4. Profit.