User:OttawaAC/sandbox

This is the user sandbox of OttawaAC. A user sandbox is a subpage of the user's user page. It serves as a testing spot and page development space for the user and is not an encyclopedia article. Create or edit your own sandbox here.

Other sandboxes: Main sandbox | Template sandbox

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The guidelines guide summarizes Wikipedians' "best practises" that support collaborative editing. They are created through community experience and consensus. Guidelines serve as advisable practises for newcomers and, equally, for experienced editors. They differ from principles, as they do not state far-reaching objectives for the project as a whole to try to achieve. They are not cut-and-dry like rules, since guidelines allow some leeway for individual discretion, constructive discussion, and debate when exceptions happen. Guidelines also differ from the policies that support the project, since policies describe a broad course of action, and tend to be more strictly enforced than guidelines. Instead, guidelines address specific editing situations.

This summary includes the current (2013) guidelines, it does not exhaustively compile their total content. Links to the main article dealing with each particular guideline are provided. Main articles for each guideline are helpful for finding detailed examples of the guidelines as they are applied to common situations.

Behavioral[edit]

Communicating[edit]

To make collaborative editing possible, communicate with your fellow editors:

Signatures: Sign all of your posts on Wikipedia talk pages by typing ~~~~ to be accountable and to help others understand the conversation, but do not sign in articles.
Talk page guidelines: Talk pages are for polite discussion serving to improve the encyclopedia, and should not be used to express personal opinions on a subject.
User pages: You can use your user page to add a little information about yourself or to help you to use Wikipedia more effectively. However, remember that Wikipedia is not a blog, webspace provider, or social networking site.

Collaborating[edit]

Build a collaborative effort:

Assume good faith: Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it.
Etiquette: Contributors have different views, perspectives, and backgrounds, sometimes varying widely. Treating others with respect is key to collaborating effectively in building an encyclopedia.
Please do not bite the newcomers: Many new contributors lack knowledge about Wikipedia policies. Nevertheless, always understand that new contributors are prospective "members" and are therefore our most valuable resource.
Polling is not a substitute for discussion
Deceased Wikipedians

Dealing with behavioural conflict[edit]

Manage behavioural conflict:

Appealing a block
Canvassing
Conflict of interest: Do not use Wikipedia to promote yourself, your website, or your organization.
Courtesy vanishing
Disruptive editing: Participants with a pattern of edits that has the effect of disrupting progress toward improving an article or the fundamental project of building an encyclopedia may be blocked or banned indefinitely.
Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point: State your point. However, do not spam Wikipedia, disingenuously nominate articles for deletion, push rules to their limits, or otherwise create work for other people just to prove your point.
Gaming the system
Linking to external harassment
Rollback
Spam blacklist

Content[edit]

Adding content[edit]

Anarchism referencing guidelines
Citing sources: For writing and formatting references using different citation styles.
Content forking: Articles should not be split into multiple articles just so each can advocate a different stance on the subject.
Days of the year
External links: External links should be kept minimal, meritable, and directly relevant to the article. Wikipedia is not an advertising opportunity.
Images: Images must be relevant to the article that they appear in, properly referenced, and large enough to reveal relevant details without overwhelming the text.
No disclaimers in articles: Wikipedia contains spoilers, potentially objectionable material, and more. There is generally no need to warn readers of this.
Non-free use rationale guideline
Non-U.S. copyrights
Portal guidelines
Reliable sources: Information about identifying and using appropriate sources to comply with Wikipedia's Verifiability policy.

Identifying reliable sources Identifying reliable sources (medicine)

Scientific citation guidelines
Spoiler: It is not acceptable to delete information on the basis that it might "spoil" a reader's experience of a narrative work.
Wikipedia is not for things made up one day: Resist the temptation to write about the new, great thing you or your friends just thought up.

What to leave out[edit]

Autobiography
Accuracy dispute
Content forking
Fringe theories
Do not create hoaxes
Do not include the full text of lengthy primary sources
Logos
No 3D illustrations
No disclaimers in articles
Non-free content
Offensive material
Patent nonsense
Plagiarism
Spam
Wikipedia is not for things made up one day

Deletion[edit]

Deletion process: An overview of the processes by which articles get deleted.
Deletion guidelines for administrators
Speedy keep

Editing[edit]

Be bold: Wikis develop faster when people fix problems, correct grammar, add facts, make sure the language is precise, and so on. We expect everyone to be bold. It is okay.
Categories, lists, and navigation templates: This guideline helps editors choose appropriate grouping techniques.
Categorization: Link articles upwards to create categories.
Overcategorization: Overcategorization makes categories more crowded and less useful.
Subpages: Creation of subpages in main namespace is not allowed. Subpages may be created in other namespaces using the slash (/) character.

As of

Be bold

Categories, lists, and navigation templates
Categorization
Categorization of people
Categorization/Ethnicity, gender, religion, and sexuality
People by year
Categorizing redirects
Copying within Wikipedia
Disambiguation
Extended image syntax
Reviewing good articles
Hatnote
High-risk templates
Page blanking
Overcategorization
Preparing images for upload
Recent years
Red link
Redirect
Reference desk/Guidelines
Shortcut
Soft redirect
Spellchecking
Stub
Subpages
Summary style
Substitution
Updating information
User categories
Article size

Naming conventions[edit]

General naming guidelines[edit]

Category names: Category names should be specific, neutral, inclusive, and follow certain conventions.
Image file names: Image files should have readable file names.
Naming conventions (capitalization): Always lowercase any words following the first in a page title, unless they are part of a proper noun.
Naming conventions (use English): The title of an article should generally use the version of the name of the subject that is most common in the English language, as found in reliable sources. This makes it easy to find, and easy to compare information with other sources.