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Since it is possible to synopsize a book without spoiling it, it is not redundant to offer a spoiler tag in a synopsis section. I thought from the edit summary that the tag-removing edit was "official" in some sense, or indeed a simple tidying up of a redundant bracket somewhere, but now that I know it was one of thousands of similar wholesale edits I'm reasserting its importance. I'd also argue that people familiar with the books are the ones best suited to making those sorts of determinations, and that the WP:SPOILER guideline clearly lacks consensus at this time. --Jere7my07:11, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, but Wikipedia is not a repository for plot summaries. Multiple synopses are unnecessary for encyclopedic coverage. These sorts of warnings detract from the professional quality of the encyclopedia, and shouldn't be used unless there is a strong reason for a user to not expect spoilers. People understand that reading a plot synopsis might spoil the material, even if its possible to write a synopsis that doesn't. --Eyrian07:18, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This debate is not going to be settled here. Please leave the spoiler tags be until WP:SPOILER actually achieves consensus. --Jere7my07:19, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I say remove them until the debate reaches consensus. Again, it's pretty obvious to me, speaking only in this single case, that putting a spoiler warning in a synopsis section is pretty unnecessary. --Eyrian07:26, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Doesn't it make more sense to return the article to the state it was in before the tag-purging began? At the end of the day, I may agree with the removal or relocation of the spoiler tag here, but since the nub of the debate is whether the tag purge was a good idea I'd just as soon return the article to its pre-debate state until consensus on a policy is reached. --Jere7my07:30, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Also, since this "book" actually consists of three separate novels, it may not be clear what the synopsis section covers; I think a spoiler tag is more appropriate here than in a single novel's SYNOPSIS section. --Jere7my07:32, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I've now divided the section up, so that readers needn't worry about spoiling further than they'd like. Still, the spoiler tag in this instance remains unnecessary. --Eyrian07:37, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I think that's sensible. Obviously the good of the article can be considered irrespective of debate elsewhere. Asking for us to hold off editing because a decision hasn't been made on some page somewhere else isn't really how we do things on Wikipedia. --Tony Sidaway10:01, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Have either of you read these books? If not, I submit that you do not have the necessary knowledge to make a decision about spoiler tags. I further submit that Tony Sidaway, at least, has an anti-spoiler tag agenda that goes beyond what is good for any particular article. Finally "how we do things on Wikipedia" is dismissive. Obviously, it's how some of "us" do things on Wikipedia. --Jere7my16:39, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
