This has been a long time coming. We haven't had a new featured article since February 2011, when Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies became a part of Acepedia Main Page history for two and a half years. We also haven't had an update to the fan material rules since August 2010.
Time for some updates.
What is the new featured article system?
Featured articles will now be chosen in a joint effort between the admins and the users. On the first Saturday of every month (starting today!), I will post a blog asking people to suggest articles to be next month's featured article.
Two weeks later, I will close that blog and post a new one with a poll. The poll will be taken from the suggestions, but only the good suggestions will be included. Users will vote from that day until the first day of the next month, when the votes will be tallied and the featured article will be chosen!
See Acepedia:Featured articles for a lot more information on this. However, please be advised that the link does mention the need of references. This is a loose rule right now, because very few articles contain references right now. This will be enforced more as time goes on.
What are the new rules on fan material?
Fan material, fanon, headcanon, and user squadrons are all included in this update. Basically, they're not allowed. Don't make an article about your squadron or its history. Don't make an article about a character in your fanfiction. Don't upload any pictures or videos that aren't from Ace Combat itself or are edited.
There is an exception to this. Written fan material is allowed on user pages and in user blogs. This doesn't include pictures, videos, or any other uploads. Only written material is allowed in the user areas. Outside of user areas, none of it is allowed.
See Acepedia:Fan material and user squadrons for more information on this.
What's next?
These updates are a part of my cleanup effort on the articles in the Acepedia: namespace, which includes a lot of articles concerning our policies or things we do such as featured articles. 99% of them are outdated. I've already deleted a few of those pages. This cleanup will continue, and it is part of a major update to the Main Page.
If I did this right, this blog should be displayed on Blog:Acepedia Updates now. That is where future Acepedia Updates will go.
Until next time, aces!