VassarWiki:Policies: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 21:26, 30 May 2026

📝

This page is a proposal under discussion.

Policies are foundational principles of the site that contributors should always follow. Like everything on VassarWiki, they are established by community consensus.

Build consensus

Disputes over content should be discussed on the respective talk page and resolved through consensus-building. While voting can be utilized, it should not act as a replacement for discussion.

If you disagree with the outcome of a dispute, please respect the community's decision and move on. At the same time, consensus can change. Discussions can be reopened if the facts have changed or if sufficient time has passed to shift community opinion.

When there is a dispute and a consensus hasn't yet formed or cannot form, the page should remain at the status quo ante bellum.^[1] If waiting for community discussion is especially untenable (e.g. the page presents a legal issue), please report the page and it will be dealt with by an administrator. Reverting back and forth, known as edit warring, is not tolerated (even if you're right).

Leave a trail

Please sign all messages on talk pages. The Visual Editor should do this for you automatically on talk pages. When in the Source Editor, you can add your signature with four tildes (~).

To help page histories be navigable, please write a short edit summary for each of your contributions.

To tether the project to reality and help readers find external resources, content should be sourced with inline references^[2] whenever possible. You can use reliable external publications, public statements from groups, or firsthand accounts from community members (including yourself) as sources. Citations can be brief, and they don't have to be in any citation style. If possible, hyperlink the sources to the relevant VassarWiki page or external website.

To produce references with the Visual Editor, click the "Cite" button. On the Source Editor, click the book with a ribbon or write the reference content between <ref> and </ref>.

Don't steal

All content on VassarWiki must be original or in the public domain. If you want to include a resource that is copyrighted, please link to it in an "External links" section. By contributing to VassarWiki, you agree to release your contribution under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Don't censor others

VassarWiki is not censored. As a result of this principle, negativity towards any subject is allowed. On main pages, negative content should be sourced and written from a neutral point of view.

Information about living people is held to a higher standard than content about other subjects. Please consider other people's privacy when including information about them.

Conduct

Please be respectful and civil. Harassment, defamation, and privacy violations are not tolerated. Deliberately nonconstructive edits will be removed, and editors responsible may be permanently or temporarily suspended from editing VassarWiki.

Unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, assume that your fellow contributors are here in good faith to improve the project.

Notes

↑ Latin for "status quo before the conflict"
↑ Like this one!

[1] Latin for "status quo before the conflict"

[2] Like this one!

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Policies''' are the foundational principles of the site, established by community consensus. They should not be confused with [[VassarWiki:Guidelines|guidelines]], which are records of consensus regarding more specific issues.
+{{Proposal}}
-== Be bold! ==
+'''Policies''' are foundational principles of the site that contributors should always follow. Like everything on VassarWiki, they are established by community consensus.
-Contributions generally do not require prior approval, so be bold! If someone finds an issue with your edit, it can be reverted and discussed on a chat page. Though not required, it's encouraged that you understand VassarWiki policy and any relevant guidelines before editing.
+== Build consensus ==
+Disputes over content should be discussed on the respective talk page and resolved through consensus-building. While voting can be utilized, it should not act as a replacement for discussion.
-== Keep a trail ==
+If you disagree with the outcome of a dispute, please respect the community's decision and move on. At the same time, consensus can change. Discussions can be reopened if the facts have changed or if sufficient time has passed to shift community opinion.
-All content on encyclopedia pages must be sourced. By sourcing your edits, you help the project be tethered to reality and help readers find resources. Though content on other spaces is not required to be sourced, it is encouraged. Sources fall into three categories, listed in decreasing authority:
+When there is a dispute and a consensus hasn't yet formed or cannot form, the page should remain at the ''status quo ante bellum''.<ref>Latin for "status quo before the conflict"</ref> If waiting for community discussion is especially untenable (e.g. the page presents a legal issue), please [[VassarWiki:Reports|report]] the page and it will be dealt with by an [[VassarWiki:About#Governance|administrator]]. Reverting back and forth, known as edit warring, is not tolerated (even if you're right).
-# Reliable publications like external newspapers/journals, The Miscellany News, and official Vassar websites
+== Leave a trail ==
-# Public statements by VSA-recognized student organizations
+Please sign all messages on talk pages. The Visual Editor should do this for you automatically on talk pages. When in the Source Editor, you can add your signature with four tildes (~).
-# Current or past Vassar individuals (including you!)
-Please sign all messages on chat pages. When in the source editor, you can add your signature with four tildes (~); the visual editor should do this for you automatically.
+To help page histories be navigable, please write a short edit summary for each of your contributions.
-To help page histories be navigable, please write a super short edit summary for each of your contributions.
+To tether the project to reality and help readers find external resources, content should be sourced with inline references<ref>Like this one!</ref> whenever possible. You can use reliable external publications, public statements from groups, or firsthand accounts from community members (including yourself) as sources. Citations can be brief, and they don't have to be in any citation style. If possible, hyperlink the sources to the relevant VassarWiki page or external website.
+To produce references with the Visual Editor, click the "Cite" button. On the Source Editor, click the book with a ribbon or write the reference content between <nowiki><ref></nowiki> and <nowiki></ref></nowiki>.
 == Don't steal ==
+{{See also|VassarWiki:Disclaimer}}
+All content on VassarWiki must be original or in the public domain. If you want to include a resource that is copyrighted, please link to it in an "External links" section. By contributing to VassarWiki, you agree to release your contribution under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License].
-All content on VassarWiki must be original or in the public domain. If you want to include a resource that is copyrighted, please link to it in an "External links" section. By contributing to VassarWiki, you release your contribution under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License].
+== Don't censor others ==
+VassarWiki is not censored. As a result of this principle, negativity towards any subject is allowed. On main pages, negative content should be sourced and written from a neutral point of view.
-== Don't censor information you don't like ==
-VassarWiki is not censored. As a result of this principle, negativity towards any subject is allowed. On encyclopedia pages, negative information must be verified by sources of types 1 or 2, and like all other pages, written from a neutral point of view. Content concerning living people is held to a higher standard than content about other subjects.
-== Don't be a jerk ==
+Information about living people is held to a higher standard than content about other subjects. Please consider other people's privacy when including information about them.
-Please be respectful and civil. Harassment, defamation, and privacy violations are not tolerated. Nonconstructive edits will be removed, and responsible editors may be permanently or temporarily suspended from editing VassarWiki.
+== Conduct ==
+Please be respectful and civil. Harassment, defamation, and privacy violations are not tolerated. Deliberately nonconstructive edits will be removed, and editors responsible may be permanently or temporarily suspended from editing VassarWiki.
-== Resolve disputes through building consensus ==
+Unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, assume that your fellow contributors are here in good faith to improve the project.
-Disputes over content should be discussed on the respective talk page and ''resolved through consensus''. While voting can be utilized, it should not act as a replacement for discussion.
+== See also ==
-Where there is a dispute and a consensus hasn't yet formed or cannot form, the page should remain at the ''status quo ante bellum''. If this is for some reason especially untenable, please [[VassarWiki:Reports|report]] the page and it will be dealt with by an administrator. Edit warring (reverting back and forth) is not tolerated (even if you're right).
+* [[VassarWiki:Guidelines]], best practices developed by consensus
+* [[VassarWiki:Privacy policy]]
-If a dispute doesn't go your way, respect the decision.
+== Notes ==
+<references group="note" />