View source for Lostpedia:Spoiler policy

{{RetiredPolicy|[[LP:SP]]<br />[[LP:SPOILER]]}}
A spoiler is something that gives away information about future episodes of the show that have not yet been aired.  In general, Lostpedia is not a spoiler site but there are a few places where spoilers may be found.  In general, try to be courteous and allow people who wish to avoid spoilers to do so.

==Motivation==
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 information about upcoming episodes, and only find out this information when they release it for the fans to enjoy.  Lostpedia has shaped its spoiler policy to best reflect that wish.

==Current policy==
*No spoilers are permitted on the wiki whatsoever.
**Spoilers may not be revealed in articles, talk pages, user pages, theory pages, or any other wiki page.
**Spoilers may not be revealed on [[Blog:Recent posts|user blogs]] or their comments.
**Images of upcoming episodes or upcoming new cast members may not be uploaded.
**The exception is the name of the immediately upcoming episode in very limited areas of the wiki.
*Official press releases, podcast transcripts <!--and summaries--> may contain spoilers and thus should be marked with <nowiki>[[Template:Spoilers]]</nowiki>.
*Spoilers in the Lostpedia discussion forum may only be placed and/or discussed in the specified Spoilers sub-forum. ([http://forum.lostpedia.com/general-spoiler-discussion-f35.html? link])
<!--*Images and content (with the exception of direct sneak peeks of episodes) related to [[Dharma Special Access]] videos are not considered spoilers.-->

==Spoiler definition==
<!-- This section is put into a sub-page so that it can be quoted on Lostpedia messages (Special:Allmessages) -->
{{/def}}

==Spoilers on Lostpedia==
Spoilers '''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

===Immediately upcoming episode names===
Until an episode is the next to be broadcast in the United States:
* A new article may not be created with the episode name.
* The episode name and other episodic information may not be added to Lostpedia.

Once an upcoming episode is the next immediate episode to air in the United States, the following pages may be updated with the episode name and airdate only. This information must first be released by [[ABC Medianet]]. Other sources, including confirmation by producers, cast interviews, and IMDb are not considered valid for the purposes of this policy.
* The episode article
* Main Page
* Season navigation templates, which appear on all episode articles for their relevant season.
* Season 6
* Portal:Episodes
* Airdates
* ABC Medianet
* User blogs and user blog comments
**Do not post spoilers under the guise of theory.
**Analysis of the title is not allowed due to the above.
**Information other than the title or airdate must not be discussed or posted.

===Information related to upcoming episodes===
The following information '''may not be revealed on any existing page or article''' and '''new articles on these may not be created''', even if these have been revealed by ABC Medianet, until the episode has its premiere airing on ABC in the Eastern time zone: 
*The central character
*guest stars
*characters
*directors
*writers
*[[promotional photography]]
*PR synopses
*Images
*Details revealed in "Next time on ''Lost''" promotional trailers, even when they are aired at the end of episodes
*etc. (all other information regarding an upcoming episode other than the title, episode number, and airdate)

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

===Podcasts===
[[Official Lost Podcast]]s are released weekly during the airing of the season and at special occasions such as Comic-Con. Lostpedia archives information on the podcasts in the form of transcript and summary pages. Because of this, any spoiler information revealed in the Official Lost Podcast is allowed '''only''' on the podcast transcript or summary pages, and nowhere else on Lostpedia. The transcript or summary page must carry the spoiler warning template if it contains any content that is considered a spoiler based upon the guidelines of this policy. Once this information is revealed via [[Lostpedia:Canon|canon]] sources (as detailed in the [[Lostpedia:Spoiler Policy#Spoiler definition|spoiler definition]] section above), it can then be placed into main articles.

Information from the Official Podcast that clarifies already-released content from canon sources is not considered spoiler, and can be placed on the site as normal.

==International broadcast dates==
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.

<nowiki>{{spoilers}}</nowiki>

[[Category:Lostpedia]]