This page is, essentially, a set of rules that are set and expected to be followed as long as you participate in the growth of the How to Get Away with Murder wiki. These guidelines apply to adding images, making pages, editing the wiki and everything in between. These policies may change at any time, and do not represent all community guidelines.
Respect for Others
- All users, regardless of status, are required to show the utmost respect to others at all times. No slander, harassment or insults will be tolerated at any time.
- No mini-modding. Mini-modding occurs when a user oversteps the boundaries of their authority. (Such as warning another user about a policy violation or removing forum posts.)
- We encourage users to make others aware of our policies, but actual warnings and removals are the responsibility of the Wiki staff. (The sole exception to this is any content that insults or slanders a user personally)
- If you see any policy violations, please bring it up to an active member of the Wiki staff.
User Behavior
- Vandalism will not be tolerated. Vandalism is deleting a large portion of the page without proper reason. If someone becomes a vandal, the administrators have the right to block the person for an indefinite amount of time depending on the severity of the act.
- Comments on pages are expected to be appropriate. This means that there should be no inappropriate language, the comment should not be irrelevant, and should not be inflammatory. All comments are expected to use decent spelling, grammar and punctuation. Any comments insulting or harassing any users will deleted; such comments will also result in blocks. For more information about what kind of comments are allowed on article pages, see the comment policies.
- In the case of an edit war, the two opposing people are expected to solve their problem for themselves. Get a neutral party to give an opinion. If they cannot do that, an administrator will step in.
- We do ask that major format changes (such as adding or deleting sections on articles) be run by the community first to get a consensus. Ask any administrator for details, or feel free to start a discussion in the comments section of the page it's relevant to, or in a blog post.
- Insulting/slandering other users is not permitted. It is the right of any user to remove, or request the removal of, any comment, blog, forum, or message wall post that is insulting or slanderous to them personally. Harassing users in this way will result in lengthy blocks.
If You Are Blocked/Banned
- If you are blocked or banned and want to appeal it, please use your message wall on THIS wiki, or contact an administrator on their wall on the Community Central Wiki.
- If you are blocked/banned on this Wiki, it is NOT appropriate to follow any Admin to another Wiki they work on to protest. This will result in your block being extended here, and likely get you a block on the other wiki.
- If you are blocked/banned by one of our Admins on another Wiki, do not follow the Admin here to complain. This will result in a block here and possibly an extension on the Wiki in question.
Site Purpose
- This is a wiki for the ABC television series How to Get Away with Murder. We are not affiliated with any other English How to Get Away with Murder wikis. As such, our content should not be posted on these kinds of sites. Neither should their content be posted on ours. Please be respectful of other people's hard work.
Canonicity of Media
- What is canonicity? Something is canon if it is considered valid in the How to Get Away with Murder universe. For example, an event occurring in a dream sequence is not canon to an overall timeline: the event didn't really occur.
- Where it applies, the How to Get Away with Murder Wikia treats events and statements made in other show-related media as canon.
- The order of canonicity is show -> writer/producer -> cast member -> other sources. This means, when a statement/event from another source contradicts something occurring/said in-show, or a statement from a writer/creator/producer, the show event or crew member statement will be what is considered canon.
Editing Policy
Page Creation
Some kinds of pages that should not be created on the wiki are:
- Family tree pages
- Individual fan-based "shipping" pairing pages - Such as Coliver, Wesbecca, Bonnalise, etc.
- Pages for character relationships - such as "Annalise and Wes", "Connor and Oliver", etc.
Page Format
- To see what a sample character page format looks like, click here.
General Page Edits
- All information edited into a character/item/location/episode page must be written in the user's own words. Do not copy and paste in information taken from other sites - including pasting in character history summaries, whole episode recaps, and/or trivia information. Even if hypothetically you wrote something on another site, and paste it onto one of the pages on this wikia, this would not be acceptable because the information will have the appearance of having been copied from another website domain. Do not take summaries or information from another site and try to switch or reword paragraphs to make it look like your own work.
- Do NOT add categories that are inappropriate for the page.
- Do NOT create new categories without a previous discussion or administrator's permission. For discussing your own suggestion of a new category, please contact one of the wiki admins.
Character Edits
- The introduction sentence of a character's page is to always be "___ is a(n) ___ character of/on How to Get Away with Murder." It is to then be continued by a small paragraph that sums up said character. For example:
Rebecca Sutter is one of the main characters of How to Get Away with Murder. She plays her music so loud the walls vibrate... which isn't ideal for Wes, her next-door neighbor. A bartender at an off campus bar, Rebecca is no stranger to Middleton students... and their various vices. Her edgy, take-no-crap attitude scares most people away, but Wes recognizes that her pierced, intimidating exterior is just a cover for a much more haunted, vulnerable side - especially when she's pulled into the mystery surrounding the murder of a popular campus coed.
- When determining how to classify a character, the options are either main, supporting, minor, or episodic.
- If a character is "main" then that means the actor's name appears in the "Starring" credits.
- If a character is "supporting" then that means the actor portraying said character has appeared in a total of five or more episodes as any credit but starring. This includes as a guest star, costar, uncredited, or if the character is featured in archive footage.
- If a character is "minor" then that means the actor portraying said character has appeared in a total of 2-4 episodes as any credit but starring. This includes as a guest star, costar, uncredited, or if the character is featured in archive footage.
- If a character is "episodic" then that means the actor portraying said character has appeared in a total of 1 episode as any credit but starring. This includes as a guest star, costar, uncredited, or if the character is featured in archive footage.
- For a recap on a character page, we request that a paragraph be be given detailing what a character did in a particular episode marked off with an "E" Template. We also request that each paragraph be big enough for an image to be added along with it. E.g. (From Nate's page):
 Nate is forced to lie to the court. ("Pilot") |
After coming up with an idea that could be useful in Gina Sadowski's trial, Wes Gibbins hurries over to Professor Annalise Keating's office, where he finds her getting ready to have sex with Nate Lahey. The detective tells Wes to get out. Annalise leaves the room to meet Wes in the hall; Wes presents his idea, but is told that it's not good enough. A couple days later, Nate is called to the court as a witness. Annalise asks where he was the night Detective Gill supposedly acquired the video that incriminates Gina. Nate states that he was "at a friend's." Annalise finds it odd that it took so long for evidence to get logged into the computer, but Nate tells her that sometimes that's what happens. Annalise asks if Nate has ever known them to alter video footage to help the prosecution get a conviction. He states that he has, thus winning Gina's case. Wes, who watched the entire encounter, later receives a job working for Annalise's firm. He confronts her about making Nate lie to the court, and tells her that if she gave him the job to make him keep his mouth shut then he doesn't want it. Annalise tells him that she gave him the job because she liked his self defense argument. She says they won the case because she did her job. After a bit more conversing, Wes decides to keep the job. ("Pilot")
Appearances Edits
- The information in a character's infobox stating their last appearance and episode count is to only be updated to the latest episode that aired. So any information, such as promos, a press release, or promotional stills confirming a character to be featured in an upcoming episode will not effect any appearance counts until the episode has aired.
- In order for a character to be counted as present in the episode, they, themselves, will have had to appear onscreen in some sort of way. This does include voice over appearances, video footage, and archive appearances. However, it does not include photographs, drawings, or simply being mentioned.
Quotes Edits
- On character/item/location pages, there should be quotes at the top of the page, and one to head each section, such as "Early Life" and "Season 1" if for a character.
- The quotes can't just be any random phrase, but should have some sort of meaning to a character. It could be a regular catchphrase of their's, or be something specific about them or related to them.
Fluff Edits
- Fluff editing will not be tolerated. Fluff editing includes, but is not limited to, changing of the codework in source mode when the change will not alter the actual appearance of the page. Such a change may be tolerable if there is another change in the edit as well. Basically, if your edit does not make a VISIBLE change on the page, it is fluff.
Edit Warring
- An edit war is the repeated undoing of edits (or readding information) by different editors. This is unproductive and detrimental to the Wikia.
- If someone undoes an edit of yours, it is not appropriate to undo their edit. Please, start a discussion in the article's comment section or contact an administrator. You can make your case for your opinion there and get unbiased opinions on the subject.
- The How to Get Away with Murder Wiki defines an "edit war" as occurring when one editor reverts (either via undo, or by adding/removing information manually) an edit three times in a short period (usually 48 hours).
- Once an edit war is noted as occurring, the article in question will be temporarily locked so a consensus can be reached.
- Any editors engaged in edit warring will be warned, and possibly blocked, depending on the situation.
Spoiler Policy
- Spoilers need to come from a reliable source, and should be referenced in articles.
Reliable Sources
- Sources that are usually reliable will always link back to the article they got the information from; some tumblr blogs and wikis do this. IMDB is not always correct, and due to any registered user having access to edit information on there, IMDB is not trusted as a true source. Please do not use fan sites of How to Get Away with Murder as source or reference links.
Speculation Edits
- Pages for a character, item, or location that does not exist in the How to Get Away with Murder universe, or has not been confirmed to appear by a reliable source, such as a press release, cannot be created.
- We do not add information to already existing articles that is unreasonably presumed to be fact, has not appeared on the show, or has not been confirmed by a reliable source. It is the practice of this wiki to consider information learned from promotional material and sneak peeks of upcoming episodes to be speculation, and such information should not be added until the episode itself concludes airing.
Image Policy
- ALL IMAGES SHOULD BE IN THE .png FORMAT AS THEY'RE BETTER QUALITY. jpg FILES WILL BE DELETED.
- The best website to use for finding images is screencapped.net.
Sizes
- For a Character Infobox, images should be in the ratio of 250x350.
- For an Episode Infobox, images should be in the ratio of 1110x630.
- Images used in recaps should also be in the ratio of 1110x630.
Names
- Images for a Character Infobox should be named after the character themselves. E.g., Annalise Keating's main image should be named "Annalise Keating.png".
- Images used in a character recap should have the character's first name followed by the episode the image is set in the title. E.g., Bonnie Winterbottom's image for the Pilot episode should be named "Bonnie 101.png" (101 being the production code of that episode).
- However, the only character that require screencaps to always feature their names in the titles is Annalise Keating (e.g., Annalise 101.png...), the series' leading character. Every other character can have either images taken from other characters or episodic recaps, or their own original images.
- If the character requires more than one image for an episode, then the images should be numbered. E.g. "Wes 101 01.png" and "Wes 101 02.png".
- For an Episode Infobox, the image's title should contain the show's title, "How to Get Away with Murder", as well as the episode's number. E.g., for the Pilot episode, the main image should be entitled "How to Get Away with Murder 1x01.png", and for the show's second episode, "It's All Her Fault", the main image should be entitled "How to Get Away with Murder 1x02.png", etc.
- For episode recaps, the images' titles should contain the production code of the episode followed by which image on the page it is. E.g., the first image on the Pilot episode's recap should be entitled, "101 01.png", and the following image should be entitled, "101 02.png", etc.
The "I" Template
- THE "I" TEMPLATE MUST BE USED FOR ALL IMAGES THAT EXIST WITHIN RECAPS, ANY OTHER WAY OF ADDING AN IMAGE TO A PAGE WILL BE DELETED FROM SAID PAGE.
- The "I" Template is simple to use, simply type the image you want into a recap using this skeleton:
- We request that the "I" Template only be written out on top of a paragraph, as it will look better and neater when it comes time to publish.
- If you're adding an image to a character recap, we request that you put the name of the episode using the "E" Template (See below). Here's the skeleton:
Galleries
- Galleries must be posted in slider form only as this reduces the size of the page dramatically.
- On character pages, the only images to be posted in the image galleries are promotional photos for episodes that feature said character. Also, promotional photos of the character are also to be added to the character page.
- Despite how minor the character appears in the photo, for example an arm of the character, the picture shall still be posted in their gallery.
- On episode pages, the only images to be posted in the image galleries are promotional photos and behind the scenes photos that promote said episode.
- On actor pages, the only images to be posted in the image galleries are behind the scenes photos that feature said actor, despite how minimal their appearance, such as an arm.
- Images are also to be added in order of the episode they belong to, for example, 1x01, 1x02, 1x03 etc...
ANY OTHER IMAGES ADDED TO THE GALLERIES WILL BE REMOVED
- ALL images must directly relate to the show; this includes episode stills, promotional photos released by ABC, and actor photos. No other types of images should be uploaded to the wiki. This means no fan art or fan-made How to Get Away with Murder material.
- Do not upload cropped images.
- Do not upload images just to place on a user page. This is a waste of server space. Any such images will be deleted. If you would like to use images not appearing on the wiki, you can upload them to a whitelisted site, such as Flickr or Photobucket, and use the direct image url to have them on your userpage.
- Do not upload images with an ABC or CTV logo.
- Do not upload images from Tumblrs or Seriable.
- Do not upload images from Fanpop.
- Do not upload images with letterboxing ("bars" around the image).
- Do not upload images that already exist on the wiki.
- If you have any questions regarding our naming policies or what images are or are not acceptable, please ask any administrator.
Chat Policies
Unacceptable Behaviors
- Excessive use of caps
- Excessive cursing
- Harassment/slander of another user - this includes insults directed at the room, or users
- Spam/trolling/"invading"
- Excessive linking to another wiki/outside site
- Entering chat just to advertise another wikia/chat/site/etc.
- Entering chat just to complain/protest a ban/block on another wikia
- Users engaging in the above behaviors will be warned by an administrator or chat moderator. If the behavior continues, they will be "kicked" from the chat. If the user returns and continues, they will be banned for a period of time. If the behaviors continue after blocking, longer blocks will result.
- It is the discretion of the administrators or chat moderators to extend bans, and to ban without kicking, depending on the severity of the offending behaviors.
Age
- To comply with COPPA, all Wikia users must be 13 years old or over. This is enforced on HTGAWM wiki. If it becomes known in chat (or out) that a user is under 13, they will be blocked.
Sockpuppeting
- "Sockpuppeting", using another account to circumvent a ban or block, is not permitted on HTGAWM Wiki. If it becomes known that a user is sockpuppeting, their sockpuppet will be infinitely blocked, and the block/ban the original account will be extended.
Comment & Blog Post Policies
- We expect all users utilizing our comment sections and blog posts to be respectful of each other. Slander, harassment, and insults will result in lengthy blocks without question, and the offending post will be removed.
- Do not post the same reply more than once. There is no need to post things repeatedly, and such actions will result in warnings and blocks.
- Refrain from using excessive caps. There's no need to shout.
- Do not create blogs or comment just to advertise or spam. Such acts will be deleted.
- Keep the posts/comments on topic as much as possible. Remember, you can always change to another topic and start a discussion there! Posts and comments that go off topic excessively and for a long period of time will be considered spam, and may be deleted because of it.
Video Policies
- Videos must be relevant to the show; such as sneak peaks, promos, deleted scenes, or DVD extras. Any videos not directly relating to the show will be deleted.
- Do not upload duplicate videos.
- Do not upload videos just to use them on a user profile. This is a waste of server space.