Battlefield Wiki:Video Policy

Videos are an easy way to communicate information to readers without having to write large blocks of text in articles. While the use of videos is a great benefit to the wiki's mainspace, there are a few rules or guidelines to how videos should be used within the mainspace.

Wiki YouTube channel
As per significant re-organisation in the first half of 2011, the Battlefield Wiki set up a YouTube channel under the name OfficialBFWiki. This was intended to be the main source of videos for the wiki, and to act as a collaborative archive for users' videos for use on the wiki.

Users may apply to the Wiki email, officialbfwiki@gmail.com, for permission to upload videos to the YouTube channel. These videos should be for use on the mainspace of the wiki - be them for weapon, vehicle, or map pages - and the content should be run through with an admin prior to uploading videos.

The content of the videos should be in accordance with the wiki's principles - it should be short, clearly recorded and rendered (i.e. using a HD capture card or program such Fraps for PC, or with a screen recorder such as the HD PVR for consoles, etc.) and should be unbiased. If the user wishes so, videos which incorporate a review at the end of the video shouldn't be made to look like an official view, either a clearly labelled personal view or an unbiased score. Montages can be submitted, as they show the subject outside of a controlled environment, but can detract from the professionalism of the wiki somewhat. As a result they should be carefully run through before submission.

Personal Videos
While a user may have his/her own YouTube channel, and have a good selection of videos that could be relevant to the wiki, simply uploading their videos to mainspace pages without prior consensus from the community, or at the least the consent of one or two admins, is not recommended, and will result in the removal of the videos. Users who wish to propose their videos for use in the mainspace should contact an administrator and set up a proposal forum to start the discussion.

At current there are two users who have been granted permission to upload videos from their personal account. Videos from the YouTube accounts of YuriKaslov (uploaded by admin of same username) and DKWHIT85 (uploaded by Rebel Leader) are at current the only two video channels to have recieved permission to upload videos to the mainspace - Rebel Leader by community consensus, and YuriKaslov by admin consensus (from SSDGFCTCT9, approved by other admins)

Any user that wishes to ask for permission to upload videos from their personal YouTube channels should make sure that their videos abide with the following guidelines:
 * The video(s) are UNBIASED and IMPARTIAL - it shouldn't give huge amounts of praise/disdain to a weapon and shouldn't encourage users to only use a certain weapon over another.
 * The video(s) should be clearly recorded and rendered - bad quality videos, beit through bad audio or bad graphics set-up, aren't useful when users are trying to gain information from the videos.
 * Shorter videos are more useful than longer ones - by keeping the videos short, yet still containing all the necessary information, videos pack more of an informationary "punch", and transmit information better.
 * Montages while discouraged, as they detract from the professionalism we try to achive on the wiki, are also recommended, as it shows the subject in different situations outside of a controled environment.

Trailers
Any form of trailers, be them for DLC packs or game reveal trailers, should only be uploaded to the wiki from two official accounts - eavision, EA's main YouTube trailer channel, and Battlefield, the Battlefield series' main channel. Any videos not on these two channels should be sourced from an official source before a user's personal channel.

Placement of videos
The placement of videos is highly important - placing a video in the wrong place can lead to it being overlooked or ignored. Likewise, placing videos can also lead to the rest of the subsection/article being ignored or overlooked in the same way. Therefore, the placement of videos is an important concern.
 * Video galleries
 * Video galleries are the equivalent of image galleries for their animated consorts, but have a few limitations. The first is that the video gallery is much larger than the image gallery, and thus shouldn't be placed in subsections, rather in a final section entitled "Videos". The second is that it, by default, shows 4 slots for videos, even when not filled. This also causes space problems and is one cause for the restraint on use of the video gallery.
 * Infoboxes
 * Recently a new part of the infobox was added to allow for videos to be placed at the base of the infobox, tying them into the page in an easy and professional-lloking way. Videos placed here are usually the responsibility of the Wiki's YouTube channel, and are usually more simplistic than videos placed outside the infoboxes. An example of a video used in an infobox is Video:BF2 M16A2 Firing.
 * In article
 * Videos placed inside the actual article itself, i.e. in the main subsections instead of in a video section or infoboxes should be carefully positioned and sized to fit into the article correctly - oversized or undersized videos can cause problems with the rest of the subsection, especially text placement and pictures. If in doubt over the placement of a video, it is recommended that a user should remove the video and place it in a video section, or ask an Administrator for assistance.