BetaWiki:Guidelines

These are the common practices for creating and extending BetaWiki articles. If you don't follow these, it's possible you might end up in the Hall of Shame.

Miscellaneous

 * Use your common sense.
 * The rules are not exhaustive. Do not assume that not forbidden automatically means allowed. We are not going to tolerate spam, vandalism, or not-so-okay usernames. Proxies and Tor are allowed as long as they are not abused to break those rules.

General
It's not advised to copy and paste content from other sites. It's always better to do your own research and write the article in your own words.

We'd appreciate if you put some effort into the articles. People visiting BetaWiki will more appreciate longer, more interesting articles than a one line article.

Don't add a build article when you have no source of the build, be it a leak, a screenshot, a file version, a mention in a warez CD list, mention in an antitrust document, etc. We document fakes aswell, so don't hesitate to make an article on a fake screenshot!

Also, make sure that you link to the build pages you create! If you don't, the page will get lost and probably will lead to another one being made, for no reason. Unlinked pages can be found here: Orphaned pages

Dates & times
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS

When writing dates, always use this format (of course, you don't have to write all parts, having time in just HH:MM or only the date can be enough). When posting timestamps, always convert them to GMT. However, with timestamps hardcoded as string (such as those in a buildstring), leave them as they are.

User pages

 * Advertise only on your own user page.
 * Articles on beta community projects will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.


 * Don't edit user pages of other users.
 * A very rare exception is staff removing inappropriate content.

Talk pages

 * Prefix new talk page threads with a header.
 * It makes an unnecessary mess from the page without these.


 * Sign your comments on talkpages.
 * If you want to be anonymous, make a user account, the signature will bear your username instead.


 * Keep talk pages fully intact, with all previously added threads present.
 * The only exception to this rule is a staff member removing a controversial thread.


 * Talk pages are not a private messaging service
 * Use a different service to request your builds.

Quick deletion
More information in Delete requests

Use the Delete template to mark articles that are against the rules for deletion.

Naming
The specification above is the most verbose one and isn't going to be used a lot. In most cases BetaWiki covers only one build with a particular build number, in that case the lab (if any) should be omitted from the page name. Use the name that's reported by the RTM build in the version field, i.e.,  ,. If the full build tag contains a lab name, make sure to create a redirect from the most verbose form above to the reduced form of the page name (without lab), i.e. ⇒.

In case there are several known builds with the same build number but from different labs, names of the pages should contain the lab name. To maintain a degree of consistency, the reduced name without a lab should be used for a disambiguation between the individual builds.

For Windows versions that just used a major and a minor version number, use them in the version field and omit the buildnumber completely, i.e. . For versions of Windows 2.x that had different 286 and 386 compiles, add the particular architecture to brackets, i.e..

Don't mention the full update name for builds of Windows 10 updates, just use a plain numeral 10, i.e.:. On the other side, it's encouraged to make separate build listings for the individual updates, whose names should contain the official name of the update, i.e.:. The YYMM update version should redirect to the full name, for example  would redirect to the Creators Update mentioned before.

Redirecting
To make searching for build pages easier, BetaWiki maintains a couple more redirects aside from the ones mentioned above:
 * 1) If the build has got an official name, we should redirect it to the main page, i.e.  ⇒.
 * 2) If there are more official builds with the same official name, redirect it to the main version page, i.e.  ⇒
 * 3) The full buildtag, both including and not including the major and minor version must redirect to the main article, i.e.  ⇒,  ⇒ . If there is a build number conflict between two versions of Windows, make a disambiguation at the conflicting redirect name.
 * 4) For already existing articles, the old-fashioned page name should redirect to the new page name for the purpose of not breaking old links.
 * 5) If the build calls itself by a codename, the combination of the codename and the build number should also be a redirect, i.e.  ⇒

Infobox Windows build
Every page about a windows build MUST contain the "Infobox Windows build" template. It has only two required values: buildtag (the whole known buildstring, for example 6.3.9431.0.winmain_bluemp.130615-1214 or 5.1.2428.idx01.010129-1827) and version (i.e. 8.1 or Server 2003). If you don't supply any image, Placeholder.png will be automatically used.

Reference for other values:

Using the rivals template
Use when the build you're posting also has an article on BA wiki, has a build page on TCB or has a gallery on TCB.

Buildlists
When creating buildlists, use the provided BLItem templates: - use when the build was leaked, released, or we have another confirmation from Microsoft. Private leaks don't count. - use when there is information avaliable, however no provided proof for it  - use when this build is fake, don't use if it's real and fake screenshots are also avaliable

When sorting buildlists, the first that matter is the buildnumber. If you have different builds with the same number, always sort them like this: 1. winmain (& derivates like winmain_rtm or winmain_bluemp) 2. partner recompiles (fbl_partner_out) 3. other builds sorted alphabetically

Naming
, where vendor can be either Microsoft or IBM.

Omit the vendor part for OS/2 2.0 and later, make sure to make a redirect.

OS/2 1.30 and earlier
OS/2:Version:Microsoft:Build for Microsoft-released versions

OS/2:Version:IBM:Build for IBM-released versions

VersionInfo
for Microsoft-released versions.

for IBM-released versions up to OS/2 1.30.

for OS/2 2.0 and later.