Editing Encyclopedia:Spoiler (section)

== Why spoiler warnings are no longer used ==
Until late 2007, spoiler warnings, also known as spoiler disclaimers, were a frequent occurrence in Wikipedia articles about works of fiction. However, by 2007, some editors were also including spoiler warnings in articles about myths, folklore, fairy tales, and even biblical stories. After such a warning was [[Special:Diff/106263469|added]] to the article about ''[[The Three Little Pigs]]'', other editors took notice and began questioning the prolific and unrestricted use of the disclaimers. After a series of long, contentious discussions,{{efn|For the main discussions, see:
* {{section link|Wikipedia:Templates for deletion/Log/2007 November 8#Template:Spoiler}}
* [[Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Wikipedia policies and guidelines/Wikipedia:Spoiler warning]] (and many talk archives listed there), 2007
* [[Wikipedia talk:Spoiler/old template talk]] (formerly Template talk:Spoiler), 2007
* [[Wikipedia talk:Spoiler/old template talk/Archive 1]], 2003–2004
}} several issues with spoiler warnings were identified:

# There was no strong basis to exclude disclaimers for potential spoilers from the "[[Wikipedia:No disclaimers in articles|No disclaimers in articles]]" guideline when many other disclaimers—such as warnings about offensive images or content and medical and legal disclaimers—would be of greater benefit to the reader.
# No other academic, scholarly, or other professional publications that describe or analyze works of fiction, such as other encyclopedias, include disclaimers about spoilers when discussing said works.
# Sections that frequently contain spoiler warnings—such as plot summaries, episode lists, character descriptions, etc.—were already clearly named to indicate that they contain plot details. Therefore, further disclaimers would be redundant and unnecessary.
# Labeling a plot detail as a spoiler would require editors to use their own subjective opinions to interpret the significance of a plot detail and its likelihood of altering the enjoyment of the work of fiction. This would be a violation of Wikipedia's core policies of [[Wikipedia:No original research|no original research]], [[Wikipedia: Verifiability|verifiability]], and [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|neutral point of view]].

Supporters of spoiler warnings pointed out that it had become common practice on the Internet to give a warning about potential spoilers any time plot details were discussed—especially details about how a work of fiction ends—and that readers had come to expect such warnings as a form of courtesy even when most readers will ignore the disclaimers. Because of this, they argued that Wikipedia's policies and guidelines [[Wikipedia:Ignore all rules|should not apply]]. However, editors could not reach a consensus about whether the presence of spoiler warnings in articles was an improvement to Wikipedia.