Memory Alpha:Announcements/Star Trek release announcement/prerelease version

May 8th, 2009 sees the release of, the latest Star Trek film, produced and directed by J.J. Abrams. Memory Alpha has been preparing for the release for some time now, creating articles on the actors and production staff involved in this new adventure. But now, with release imminent, it's almost time for new in-universe content to be created...

So, what does this mean for you, the editors and readers of Memory Alpha?

Spoilers
As our says, Memory Alpha contains spoilers for all released material. Ordinarily, this should mean that, as soon as has its first US screening, it is fair game.

However, because the release of is taking place nearly simultaneously across the world, there will be people who will get to see the film ahead of the "official" US release (either via advanced screenings, an earlier release date, or simply by virtue of living in a time zone where May 8th arrives sooner!). Even with the best will in the world, it would not be possible to prevent spoilers getting out on Memory Alpha - either as a result of genuine additions to the database, or because of mindless vandalism on unrelated pages across the wiki (which has happened in the past when new episodes have been aired).

Consequently, in order to allow the users of Memory Alpha time to see the film without having to worry about being spoiled before it is (technically) released, the community has taken the decision to lock the English edition of Memory Alpha to editing from 2000 UTC on May 6th until 0400 UTC on May 9th. This means that no new pages can be created, no new edits can be made. (You may see administrators performing certain upkeep functions during the lock such as page moves or deletions, but all of us have pledged to keep the "embargo".)

Beyond May 9th, however, articles will contain spoilers for. Even then, you should still have a warning. Articles which contain spoilers will carry the following banner:

to alert you to the fact that information from the new film is present on that page. Articles where only a small section is of relevance will also have the following notation:

as a final reminder.

A warning, though: we may not be able to catch everything. With the level of editing we are anticipating, some things may slip through the net. So, if you still haven't seen the film on May 9th, remain cautious.

Articles
As the community has yet to see the film, and many of us have chosen to remain as spoiler-free as possible, we do not currently have a specific framework in place as to where information from will go in the wiki. There will be some measure of discussion following the film's release, and the consensus of the community will be the final arbiter as to what goes where. An channel specifically for this purpose (#memory-alpha-spoilers) has been created, so that the ordinary #memory-alpha channel remains as spoiler-free as possible. Any relevant or useful information from the channel contributed during the lock-down will go on a Ten Forward page. Once the site has reopened, discussion will likely continue in both venues, as well as talk pages generally. Anything policy-shaping will be communicated as widely as possible.

This will not happen overnight, so we ask that you take care when adding new information. Remember these key points:


 * Check to see if what you're adding is already on the site - see if you can improve what's there if so!
 * Check you're putting it in the right place and under the right name
 * Above all, check what you're writing is accurate!

Remember, there is no rush, no need to be the first person to write something about a character. All work gets edited by someone at some point. A well-considered, well-written contribution is much more rewarding (and much more helpful to other users) than one dashed off in thirty seconds without so much as a spellcheck!

We are expecting things to be extremely busy, and hope you will bear with us as we all absorb the events of the film, and work out how they fit into the grand scale of Star Trek.

Apart from that, we hope you enjoy the show, and may The Future Begin...

-- The administrators and editors of Memory Alpha, 11:19, 3 May 2009 (UTC)