Recently there was a topic on here about questions being rejected on OTDB. While I’ve been a frequent visitor and hopeful contributor to the service, I can’t say I’ve seen guidelines or rules for submissions. The only real discussion for the service is the link on the site to the front page of these forums.
As it appears there’s some guidelines to follow besides submitting correct information from a reliable source, I’d like to suggest having a short bulleted list or paragraph on the submission form so contributors know how to format questions and what will make for an acceptable question/statement.
Some questions I have for example
- Do multiple choice questions need to be a question, or are they OK being a statement? (Think jeopardy! style)
- What are some unacceptable sources that will get a question rejected? I personally find Wikia/fandom and personal/opinion blogs to be unacceptable, but I would consider Wikipedia to be acceptable. I would also find book sources to be valid as long as proof could be submitted upon request.
- What does the OTDB deem as ‘too specific’? I get asking how many puddles are in a Half-Life 2 level would be insane, but is asking gameplay questions about a discontinued game Ok (I see one of these in the question pool now)?
- For questions that would fit multiple topics (see Film or Television VS Cartoons & Animation), would the most specific category apply or are we free to add it to whatever we prefer?
At the very least, I would like an answer to my first question as I may need to go through 30+ pending questions to get them fixed as I’ve made some statement-choice submissions.