FAQ/Main FAQ

What is a wiki?

From Wikipedia: "A wiki (/ˈwɪki/ WIK-ee) is a form of online hypertext publication that is collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience directly through a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the public or limited to use within an organization for maintaining its internal knowledge base."

For more information on what a wiki is, and how to use and edit it, please visit Help:Contents on RetroCDN.

What is Sonic Retro?

Sonic Retro is an ad-free, freely editable collaborative online encyclopedia focused on Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The slogan of the website - "Second only to Sega" - serves as Sonic Retro's mission statement: to be the largest and most comprehensive repository of information regarding all things Sonic on the world wide web.

More information on the history of Sonic Retro can be read here.

Who owns Sonic Retro?

The database is owned and managed by Scarred Sun, who also manages the operation of Sonic Retro's sister projects, including Sega Retro, NEC Retro and the Retro CDN. However, hundreds of authors have contributed their own writings to Sonic Retro as well, and as such the site's content is collectively owned by all those writers.

The articles hosted on this site are released by their authors under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, and in some cases the GNU Free Documentation License, so the articles are free content and may be reproduced freely under the same license. See Sonic Retro:Copyrights and the Readers' FAQ for information on how you can use the site's content.

Who is responsible for the articles on Sonic Retro?

Everyone. This is a collaborative endeavor. Many people have contributed to different parts of this project, and anyone can do so, including you. All you need is to know how to edit a page, and have some knowledge you want to share. The database provides users with a certain amount of freedom.

You can learn who is responsible for the most recent versions of any given page by going to the "actions" tab on the upper right of any given page, hovering over it, and clicking on the "history" link. If you spot an error in the latest revision of an article, you are highly encouraged to be bold and correct it. This practice is one of the basic review mechanisms that maintains the reliability of the database.

If you are uncertain or find the wording confusing, quote the material on the associated talk page and leave a question for the next person. This helps eliminate errors, inaccuracies or misleading wording more quickly and is highly appreciated by the community.

What material is meant for the Sonic Retro wiki?

In short? If it's about Sonic the Hedgehog, it belongs on the wiki.

To fulfill the goal of being the largest database for Sonic information in history, numerous topics fall under the scope of the website: the characters, the games in which the cast feature in, promotional art, concept art, comics, books, movies, tv shows, toys, and just about anything else one can think of that was officially licensed and sanctioned by Sega. In addition, Sonic Retro also covers the stories behind the creation of each game and piece of expanded media. Aspects of the Sonic Internet community, specifically fan games, ROM modifications, and guides written to understand the inner workings of a multitude of Sonic the Hedgehog software, also fall under the purview of Sonic Retro.

What material is not meant for the Sonic Retro wiki?

The story of Sonic the Hedgehog and the story of Sega are forever intertwined. Originally, Sonic Retro allowed any articles connected to Sega to be hosted on here. Realizing that such content needed its own dedicated space, Sega Retro was created. Articles relating to the development staff (i.e., Yuji Naka) and development studios (i.e., Sonic Team) were moved to Sega Retro, where they continue to exist and be updated. If you are adding a new page to Sonic Retro, first ask yourself: would it be better suited on Sega Retro? If so, hop over to our sister site and begin editing there.

Also, while certain aspects of the Sonic Internet community are covered on the pages within, this is not a general Sonic fanon wiki. Works such as fan comics, fan animations, fan characters, music remixes, and the like are best covered elsewhere.

How do you know if the information is correct?

The articles on Sonic Retro are meant to not only be detailed, but contain citations to source where a piece of information came from. This allows the user to do their own research looking at the primary sources of a given article if they so choose. However, as anyone can edit any article, it is of course possible for biased, out of date, incorrect, or non-cited information to be posted. Because there are so many other people reading the articles and monitoring contributions using the Recent Changes page, incorrect information is usually corrected quickly. Thus, the overall accuracy of the database is improving all the time as it attracts more and more contributors. You are encouraged to help by correcting articles and passing on your own knowledge.

See Sonic Retro:General disclaimer for more information.

Should I create an account? Can't I just edit articles anonymously?

Sorry, users cannot edit anonymously at this time. You will need to create a Sonic Retro wiki account in order to start editing.

How do I create an account?

Click here and follow the prompts.

Note: Currently, all new Sonic Retro wiki accounts are only for use on the Sonic Retro wiki. If you wish to use the Sonic Retro forums, you will have to create a separate account in which to do so. If you wish to edit on Sega Retro or upload files to the Retro CDN, separate accounts must also be created on those platforms. We encourage users to have the same name across all platforms for ease of use.

I have an account, now what?

Now you can go ahead and start editing the Sonic Retro wiki! If you're looking for a starting point, check out the Getting Started page. If you're not quite ready to start working on articles, but have noticed places that could use improvement, feel free to mark them with one of our cleanup templates.

What is your deletion and edit policy?

Sonic Retro has a straightforward policy in regards to deletions and edits:

• A page will be deleted if it is deemed to be inappropriate for the database.
• A page will be deleted if there is a duplicate copy.
• Any malicious pages will be deleted on sight with bans towards the offending user and/or IP address.
• Any malicious edits will be deleted on sight with bans towards the offending user and/or IP address.
• All user pages should be edited only by the user themselves.

What is your privacy policy?

Our privacy policy is fully detailed here. It applies to all members of the Backwards Compatible family of sites, including but not limited to Sonic Retro, Sega Retro, and SEGAbits. It may not be circumvented, eroded, or ignored by local site policies.

How can I contact the project?

To contact Sonic Retro directly, visit the Retro forums. Registered forum users can see the Site Affairs sub-forum, in which a pinned topic exists for all questions relating to the Retro wiki. Alternatively, there is a dedicated channel for the wiki, #wiki-talk, on the Sonic Retro Discord server.

To get in touch with any of the administrators directly, there are three options:

• Send a private message on the Sonic Retro forums
• Send a DM to an administrator on Discord
• Send a message using our contact form.

Site X seems to be violating Sonic Retro's copyright. Do you guys know about this?

It's most likely the answer is yes, and it's reasonably likely they're within their rights. Anybody may mirror or fork Sonic Retro as long as they comply with the GNU Free Documentation License.

Which wiki software does Sonic Retro run on?

The Retro family of sites uses MediaWiki software.