Wiki Etiquette

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When editing pages just keep the following rules in mind:

General

+ Be nice - don't be rude or offensive.

+ Write in a way that is easy to understand and avoid local slang or phrases - Many of those who will read your text may not have English as their first language.

+ Don't delete other people's contributions (unless you know what you are doing)

+ Don't use too many acronyms (or at least, have a page explaining them)

+ Avoid the "click here" phrase!! Don't say: "More info about etiquette can be found here" but use "More info about etiquette can be found at WikiEtiquette". I'd suggest avoiding it for external links as well.

+ Contribute only original stuff. Links are fine, but don't cut-and-paste from copyrighted things.

+ Correcting typos is quite okay - in fact, it's a very good habit, since it makes the web page more readable.

About comments

+ You are free to contribute anonymously, but it is preferred that you sign your comments with your name (or handle). It is common to prepend the signature with '--' like this: -- Janne Jalkanen? (While you're at it, you are free to create your own wikipage and tell us about yourself.)

+ A good way is also to put your name first, like this: Janne Jalkanen? : I'd like to say that...

+ Think before you comment. WikiWiki? is not a high-speed conversation board. It's not a news server either. What you say will stay here forever (yeah, we do take backups) for everyone to see and comment.

Creating WikiNames

+ A good WikiName is short and descriptive. If the name is logical and easy many more people will link to it.

+ Although you can take a whole sentence and crunch it up to make a WikiName, it is better style to restrain it to at most 5 words.

+ Instead, try to use WikiNames like you would use as chapter titles in a book.

+ This Wiki allows you to create pages with a single word as a name, but try to use at least two words - we don't want to exhaust the name space :-).

+ Double-check WikiNames for typos - otherwise someone will create a misnamed page! Misnamed pages are bad, since linking to them requires more effort than to a logical, correct WikiName.

Refactoring pages

Refactoring is the process where you sum up a page, shortening it, making it more accessible. Anyone who feels up to it may go ahead, but we suggest that you leave it up to frequent (experienced) visitors.

+ Be objective - both pros and cons have to be represented correctly.

+ Be careful with signed contributions - don't change their meaning.

+ Give credit where credit is due.

+ Use 3rd person or plural instead 1st person singular in your summary.

(Thanks to Sensei's Library for this initial text.)