User:OrenBochman/Adoption/Wikiquette

This is an assignment for Oren's adoption program. You are welcome to edit this page if you notice any errors or have any additional information to add, but as a courtesy, please notify Oren if you make any major changes to avoid any possible confusion between him and his adoptee(s). Thanks!

Wikiquette

In this unit we will cover correct rules of behavior in a wiki. These are not just only recommendations, these are codified as Wikipidia's Conduct policies and include. Breaking them can have serious consequences and follow these rules will increase your of participation.

Conduct policies
Civility	Consensus	Edit warring	Editing policy	No personal attacks	Ownership of articles

What is wikiquette?

Wikiquette basically means "wiki etiquette", and is the etiquette of Wikipedia.

I'm just going to highlight some of the important Wikiquette items that you should try to remember. It may help you out.

Assume good faith - This is fundamental. Editors here are trying to improve the encyclopedia. Every single member of the community. Every one. If you read a comment or look at an edit and it seems wrong in some way, don't just jump straight in. Try and see it from the other editors point of view, remembering that they are trying to improve the encyclopedia.
Sign your talk posts with four tildes (~~~~). The MediaWiki software will substitute the four tildes with your signature and timestamp, allowing the correct attribution to your comment.
Remember to reply to comments by adding an additional indentation, represented by a colon, :. Talk pages should something like this. Have a read of WP:THREAD to see how this works.

How's the pizza? --[[:en:User:John|User:John]]
:It's great!! --[[:en:User:Jane|User:Jane]]
::I made it myself! --[[:en:User:John|User:John]]
Let's move the discussion to [[:en:Talk:Pizza|Talk:Pizza]]. --[[:en:User:Jane|User:Jane]]
:I tend to disagree. --[[:en:User:George|User:George]]

Don't forget to assume good faith.
There are a lot of policies and guidelines, which Wikipedians helpfully point you to with wikilinks. Their comments may seem brusque at first, but the linked document will explain their point much better than they may be able to.
Be polite, and treat others as you would want to be treated. For example, if someone nominated one of the articles you created for deletion, I'm sure you'd want to know about it, so if you are doing the nominating make sure you leave the article creator a notification.
Comment on the edits. NEVER COMMENT ON AN EDITOR. EVER.

On to Civility

Participate in a respectful and considerate way, and avoid directing offensive language at other users.
Do not ignore the positions and conclusions of others.
Try to make coherent and concise arguments rather than simply attacking others, and encourage others to do the same.

To be more civil you need to:

Avoiding incivility

Incivility – or the appearance of incivility – typically arises from heated content disputes.

Be careful with user warning templates. Be careful about issuing templated messages to editors you're currently involved in a dispute with, and exercise caution when using templated messages for newcomers (see Wikipedia:Please do not bite the newcomers). Consider using a personal message instead of, or at least in addition to, the templated message.
Try not to get too intense. Other people can misread your passion as aggression. Take great care to avoid the appearance of being heavy-handed or bossy. Nobody likes to be bossed about by an editor who appears to believe that they are "superior"; nobody likes a bully.
Avoid editing while you're in a bad mood. It does spill over. (See Editing under the influence!)
Take a Real-Life check; disengage by two steps to assess what you're about to say (or have just said). Asking yourself "How would I feel if someone said that to me?" is often not enough, many people can just brush things off, and it's water off a duck's back. So, to get a better perspective, ask yourself: "How would I feel if someone said that to someone I love who can't just "brush it off?" If you'd find that unacceptable, then don't say it. And, if you've already said it, strike through it and apologise.
Just because we're online and unpaid doesn't mean we can behave badly to each other. People working together in a newspaper office aren't supposed to get into punch-ups in the newsroom because they disagree about how something's worded or whose turn it is to make the coffee. Nor are volunteers working at the animal rescue centre allowed to start screaming at each other over who left ferrets in the filing cabinet or the corn snake in the cutlery drawer. In fact, there's pretty much nowhere where people working together to do something good are allowed to get into fist-fights, shouting matches, hair-pulling or name-callng. Same applies here, too.

Getting Help

Wikiquette assistance

Discussion

Any questions or would you like to take the test? The test is pretty brief...consisting of only three questions!