Wikipedia:Spoiler warning/RfC

This page is currently inactive and is retained for historical reference.
Either the page is no longer relevant or consensus on its purpose has become unclear. To revive discussion, seek broader input via a forum such as the village pump.

This is a request for comment (RfC) on the use of spoiler tags. This RFC aims to gather community opinion on the Wikipedia:Spoiler warning guidelines and its companion templates: {{spoiler}}, {{endspoiler}}, {{spoiler-about}}, {{spoiler-other}}, {{spoiler-blank}}, {{magic-spoiler}}, {{Solution}}, {{sgspoiler}}, {{Spoiler-season}} and {{Spoiler-solicitation}}.

Previous discussions

Wikipedia:Templates for deletion/Log/2006 May 4#Template:Spoiler
Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject Computer and video_games#Spoiler tags
Wikipedia talk:Spoiler warning/Guideline status — (discussion of guideline status in June 2006)
Wikipedia talk:Spoiler warning/Guideline status2 — (discussion of guideline status in July 2006)
Wikipedia talk:Spoiler warning — (present discussion and establishment of this RfC)

Older discussions

Examples of current usage

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (contemporary book and upcoming film)
Beowulf (epic poem)
Stargate SG-1 (contemporary TV series)
Iron Chef (TV series)
The Breakfast Club (classic film)
Citizen Kane (classic film)
Jack O'Neill (fictional character)

The Matrix (contemporary film)
Three Billy Goats Gruff (fairy tale)
Beauty and the Beast (folktale)
Sawing a woman in half (magic trick)
Final Fantasy VII (game)
Codename 47 (game, usage of both {{spoiler}} and {{Solution}})

Arguments for and against

This is a very brief summary of the major arguments for and against the use of spoiler tags. Note that this is only intended to be an extremely brief summary, and all substantive reasoning of arguments can be found on this page's discussion page.

For:

Useful and helpful to some editors and readers; can aid in article navigation
A convention/practice that readers (and prospective future editors) would expect
Discourages exclusion of spoilers by some editors
Can be seen as a neutral label such as "Theme" or "Genre"
Avoids needing to restrict information to specific sections (such as "Plot details")
Choosing to add the tag or not is similar to other decisions in the editorial process
Are consistent with Wikipedia's mission and policy of being informative

Against:

An informative section header and Wikipedia's content disclaimer are enough
Violation of Wikipedia's "Neutral point of view policy", or "NPOV" which should cover content exclusion and inclusion
What is or is not a spoiler is subjective
Violation of Wikipedia's "Wikipedia is not censored" policy
Unprofessional and unencyclopedic
Organization issue; presents the notion that spoilers must be contained "inside the box" of begin-spoiler and end-spoiler templates

RfC discussion

All new discussion should be directed to this page's discussion page, where arguments and suggested solutions are discussed. Discussion should not be added below.