The following outlines the general principles and policies for contributing content to Wikibon and editing existing articles.
PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS PAGE UNLESS YOU ARE A SYSOP
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Objective
The main goal of Wikibon content is to provide How-to knowledge. Content describing what something is and how it works is acceptable and often desirable, however Wikibon encourages providing links to external sources if this information is readily available. By "How-to" Wikibon means implementation advice, guidelines, metrics and rules-of-thumb.
Professional Alerts (aka opinions) are by definition less how-to oriented, however authors are encouraged to provide implementation advice within opinion articles.
Sign in
Users must sign in when editing or authoring articles. This practice allows attribution for work and helps resolutions to disputes.
Objectivity
Wikibon authors are strongly asked to maintain objectivity at all times. Preferential treatment to clients or products represented by community members is discouraged and will ultimately be vetted by the community. The goal of Wikibon is to inform, advise and independently assess, please adhere to this important policy and help make the Wikibon brand associated with utmost integrity.
Respect for all Community Members
Please remember that Wikibon is comprised of a wide array of talented individuals with varying degrees of experience. Everyone has something to contribute and everyone can experience ongoing learning. Please respect the dignity of each individual member and help a peer grow.
Originating Author
Wikibon uses the designation of "Originating Author" to indicate the person who initiated an article. If you are writing a 'New' Wikitip, Professional Alert, Case Study, How-to Note or Wiki Whitepaper, your name will automatically be placed in the Originating Author field. If you're writing an article from the Vault, please sign in and sign your work by entering "Originating Author:" and signing three tildas (~).
To start an article in the Vault, enter the article name in the search field and hit Search. If the article doesn't exist, you'll have an option to 'Create this article.' Doing so and hitting save will create the article in the database.
Editing Notes
You'll need to sign in before editing works. This is necessary and helpful to track changes and resolve disputes. Editing/correcting facts and spelling errors is strongly encouraged. As well, correcting technical innacuracies is also encouraged. Wikibon asks you be careful about editing opinions, changing the tone of articles and substantively altering the central conclusions or premise of a piece. It is requested that prior to making such major changes you initiate a discussion on the 'Comments' tab. Please succinctly summarize your views and request feedback from trusted community members.
Conflict Resolution
If an Originating Author and editor cannot agree on a resolution the community has the final say via a vote. The Originating Author is responsible for managing the feedback process and moderating the discussion. The Originating Author may designate a volunteer to take the lead. If the Originating Author is unable or unwilling to provide this service in an expedient fashion then the editor may request to take the lead role. Once such a request is made on the comment board the Originating Author has 24 hours to respond and either take or relinquish the lead role. If no response is logged the lead automatically converts to the editor.
The lead will summarize the issues and solicit feedback from the community. There is no fixed time limit for submitting feedback but leads are asked to work diligently to resolve outstanding conflicts in an expedient manner. Any lead or sysop may call a community vote after the issues have been documented and vetted for at least 48 hours. Votes will be handled on an issue-by-issue basis and majority rules. Votes are binding but may be revisited if new information is presented that may substantively change the opinion of the community.
Votes should be public and conducted in the comments section of the article.
Writing Diverging Opinions
Contributors may sometimes feel it is necessary to write a diverging opinion. This is acceptable if it provides new information to the issue at hand. Each 'competing' note should reference the other. Ultimately the community will strive for consensus. Any sysop or lead can recommend deletion of a note and initiate a corresponding discussion. If a note is recommended for deletion a discussion will ensue and the community will vote to 'keep' or 'delete' the note.
Malicious Behavior
Malicious behavior in the form of vandalism, purposefully providing false information or other willful acts of disruption will not be tolerated. Please adhere to the Wikibon Terms of Service. Members who willfully engage in such activities will be permanently banned from participating in Wikibon.
Freezing Notes
When the community deems a note has been fully vetted and the issues have been adequately examined a note may be frozen. This is done for two reasons:
- The note is stable and deemed to reflect the most current thinking of the community
- The note is controversial and parties are unable to resolve conflicts in a civilized manner
A note can be unfrozen by requesting a sysop review the status of a note. This should be done formally in the comments section of the article.