VassarWiki:About: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 03:49, 21 July 2026

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This page is a proposal under discussion.

VassarWiki is a common space for the Vassar community to share and organize knowledge about Vassar life. Any community member can contribute, so keeping up to date is a shared effort instead of an individual burden. And as a persistent resource, VassarWiki is building an institutional memory that survives the four-year student turnover cycle.

Our existing communication tools weren't built for college life. Emails are overwhelming and easy to miss, official sites only push information from the top down, and social media is manipulated by corporate algorithms. These tools fail because they don't reflect the fluidity and collaboration of communities. This is why we are building Vassar a wiki: a website that is collaboratively edited and governed by its users.^{[note 1]}

If you want to help us, you should contribute! All you need is five minutes and something worth sharing.

Getting started

Anyone connected to Vassar^{[note 2]} can contribute! All you have to do is sign up with your Vassar email. If you lack a vassar.edu email, you need to apply to have your account approved.

You can edit a page by clicking the "Edit" button by a section or at the top of the page. You can either use the visual editor (recommended if you're new to editing, but more resource-intensive and slightly less capable) or switch to the source editor on the upper-right. Make whatever changes to the page you want, write a short edit summary, and save your changes. If your changes are non-controversial and superficial (e.g. fixing typos or minor formatting), click the minor edit button before saving your changes.

You can create a page by going to Special:EditPage and entering your desired title, or clicking a red link with the desired title (on desktop, you can find one by searching it).

What can I contribute?

VassarWiki is deliberately open-ended to adapt to community needs. There are two main types of pages:

Articles are about things like student groups, events, classes, departments, and college lore. Content should be written from a neutral third-person point of view^{[note 3]} and be sourced when possible.
Every contributor has user pages that only they can edit. You can put pretty much anything you want on user pages.

There are a few other types of pages as well:

Each page has a talk page where you can resolve disputes about page content, or otherwise talk freely about that page's subject.
Categories are assigned to pages to assist in navigation and organization. They are listed at the bottom of a page.
Templates are pages designed for inclusion in other pages.
Files (e.g. images, video, audio) can be embedded in pages. Files should generally be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, where they will be released to the public domain.
Project pages (those with the prefix "VassarWiki") deal with the governance and maintenance of VassarWiki.

Contributions generally don't require prior approval,^{[note 4]} so if you think you can improve this project, be bold and make the edit! If there's an issue with your contribution, another user can revert it and you can discuss on a talk page if needed.

Governance

VassarWiki adopts a collective governance model, where decisions are made through deliberation and consensus-building. The weight of each contributor's voice is determined by the strength of their argument. Certain technical actions require their access be limited to a smaller group of contributors called administrators, who remain bound to community consensus and are not given any precedence in disputes.

Policies are the site's foundational principles that all contributors must follow. You should read and understand policies before editing. Guidelines are records of best practices in content and behavior. While there is no need to be an expert on guidelines when starting out, contributors should generally defer to and attempt to follow them. Like everything on VassarWiki, policies and guidelines are established by community consensus and can evolve.

References

↑ While many wikis are encyclopedias, they don't have to be. VassarWiki was created to be an encyclopedia and more.
↑ Being a (current or former) student, faculty member, staff member, administrator, trustee, or local community member
↑ But by no means soulless!
↑ The exception to this rule is the group of project pages meant to reflect consensus. On such pages, a new consensus should be established on their talk pages before edits are made.

[1] While many wikis are encyclopedias, they don't have to be. VassarWiki was created to be an encyclopedia and more.

[2] Being a (current or former) student, faculty member, staff member, administrator, trustee, or local community member

[3] But by no means soulless!

[4] The exception to this rule is the group of project pages meant to reflect consensus. On such pages, a new consensus should be established on their talk pages before edits are made.

[note 1]

[note 2]

[note 3]

[note 4]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Consensus|status=draft|users=[[User:Ewelchmorgan]]}}
+{{Proposal}}
-Welcome to '''VassarWiki''', a wiki for the Vassar College community!
+'''VassarWiki''' is a common space for the Vassar community to share and organize knowledge about Vassar life. Any community member can contribute, so keeping up to date is a shared effort instead of an individual burden. And as a persistent resource, VassarWiki is building an institutional memory that survives the four-year student turnover cycle.
-Put simply, a wiki (from the Hawaiian word for "quick"<ref>https://www.britannica.com/topic/wiki</ref>) is a collaboratively edited website.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki</ref> While many wikis are encyclopedias, they don't have to be. VassarWiki was created to be an encyclopedia and more. It's a space for the Vassar community to collectively share and organize information—building a persistent institutional memory and bridging otherwise isolated corners of our campus.
+Our existing communication tools weren't built for college life. Emails are overwhelming and easy to miss, official sites only push information from the top down, and social media is manipulated by corporate algorithms. These tools fail because they don't reflect the fluidity and collaboration of communities. This is why we are building Vassar a [[Wikipedia:Wiki|wiki]]: a website that is collaboratively edited and governed by its users.<ref group="note">While many wikis are encyclopedias, they don't have to be. VassarWiki was created to be [[VassarWiki:An encyclopedia and more|an encyclopedia and more]].</ref>
+If you want to help us, you should contribute! All you need is five minutes and something worth sharing.
 == Getting started ==
+{{See also|VassarWiki:Help}}
+Anyone connected to Vassar<ref group="note">Being a (current or former) student, faculty member, staff member, administrator, trustee, or local community member</ref> can contribute! All you have to do is [[Special:CreateAccount|sign up]] with your Vassar email. If you lack a vassar.edu email, [https://tally.so/r/aQEMRW you need to apply to have your account approved].
-=== Who can contribute? ===
+You can edit a page by clicking the "Edit" button by a section or at the top of the page. You can either use the visual editor (recommended if you're new to editing, but more resource-intensive and slightly less capable) or switch to the source editor on the upper-right. Make whatever changes to the page you want, write a short edit summary, and save your changes. If your changes are non-controversial and superficial (e.g. fixing typos or minor formatting), click the minor edit button before saving your changes.
-Anyone connected to Vassar can contribute! All you have to do is [[Special:CreateAccount|sign up]] with your Vassar email. If you're connected to Vassar but lack a vassar.edu email, [https://tally.so/r/aQEMRW you have to apply to have your account approved].
-=== How do I contribute? ===
-Once you register an account, click the "Edit" button by a section or at the top of the page. You can either use the visual editor (recommended for new editors) or switch to the source editor on the upper-right.
-Make whatever changes to the page you want, write a short edit summary, and save your changes. If your changes only contain ''superficial'' differences (e.g. fixing typos or minor formatting errors), click the minor edit button before saving your changes.
+You can [[VassarWiki:Creating a page|create a page]] by going to [[Special:EditPage]] and entering your desired title, or clicking a red link with the desired title (on desktop, you can find one by searching it).
-If you want to create a page, search the name of the page you want and click the red link. [[VassarWiki:Templates|You may want to use a template to get started.]]
 == What can I contribute? ==
+{{See also|VassarWiki:What should I contribute?}}VassarWiki is deliberately open-ended to adapt to community needs. There are two main types of pages:
-Contributions generally don't require prior approval, so '''be bold'''! If there's an issue with your edit, another editor can revert it and you can discuss on a talk page. It's recommended that you read and understand VassarWiki [[VassarWiki:Policies|policies]] and any relevant [[VassarWiki:Guidelines|guidelines]] before you edit.
+* '''Articles''' are about things like [[:Category:Student groups|student groups]], events, classes, [[:Category:Departments|departments]], and college lore. Content should be written from a neutral third-person point of view<ref group="note">But by no means soulless!</ref> and [[VassarWiki:Policies|be sourced when possible]].
+* Every contributor has [[VassarWiki:User pages|'''user pages''']] that only they can edit. You can put pretty much anything you want on user pages.
-VassarWiki is deliberately open-ended to adapt to community needs. There are a few main types of pages:
+There are a few other types of pages as well:
-* [[VassarWiki:Encyclopedia pages|'''Encyclopedia pages''']] are about things like student orgs, events, classes, departments, and college lore. Content should be written from a neutral point of view and [[VassarWiki:Policies|be sourced]].
-* Unlike other pages, [[VassarWiki:User pages|'''user pages''']] can only be edited by the relevant individual. You can put pretty much anything in your profile (e.g. interests, projects, org memberships, essays or freeform content, contact information).
-* [[VassarWiki:Project pages|'''Project pages''']] (those with the prefix "VassarWiki") deal with the governance and maintenance of VassarWiki. All project pages should be listed with [[Template:Consensus]] to indicate whether the page is established consensus, a proposal under consideration, or the position of a specific group or individual.
-* Every page has a corresponding '''[[talk page]]''', where you can resolve disputes about page content or otherwise talk freely about that page's subject.
-* Pages can be assigned to multiple '''[[VassarWiki:Categories|categories]]''', to assist in navigation and organization. Categories are listed at the bottom of a page. To add a category to a page using the visual editor, click the hamburger menu button (yes, that's what the three-line menu icon is called<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger_button</ref>) and then "Categories". In the source editor, just wikilink to the category at the very bottom of the page.
+* Each page has a '''talk page''' where you can resolve disputes about page content, or otherwise talk freely about that page's subject.
+* '''[[VassarWiki:Categories|Categories]]''' are assigned to pages to assist in navigation and organization. They are listed at the bottom of a page.
 * '''[[VassarWiki:Templates|Templates]]''' are pages designed for inclusion in other pages.
-If you feel limited by these page types, feel free to [[VassarWiki:Improvements|suggest a new one]]!
+* '''[[VassarWiki:Files|Files]]''' (e.g. images, video, audio) can be embedded in pages. Files should generally be uploaded to [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:UploadWizard Wikimedia Commons], where they will be released to the public domain.
+* [[VassarWiki:Project pages|'''Project pages''']] (those with the prefix "VassarWiki") deal with the governance and maintenance of VassarWiki.
-== Policies and guidelines ==
+Contributions generally don't require prior approval,<ref group="note">The exception to this rule is the group of project pages meant to reflect consensus. On such pages, a new consensus should be established on their talk pages ''before'' edits are made. </ref> so if you think you can improve this project, '''be bold''' and make the edit! If there's an issue with your contribution, another user can revert it and you can discuss on a talk page if needed.
-'''[[VassarWiki:Policies|Policies]]''' are the site's foundational principles and should always be followed. Like everything on VassarWiki, they are established by community consensus. Put simply, editors should:
-* Build and respect consensus when disputes arise
-* Leave a trail of references, edit summaries, and talk page signatures
-* Shouldn't publish copyrighted work here
-* Not censor information they don't like
-* Be civil and assume other contributors come in good faith
-'''[[Guidelines]]''' are records of consensus that contributors should ''attempt'' to follow, generally regarding more specific issues.
 == Governance ==
-VassarWiki adopts a collective governance model, which means it has no single owner or leader.
+VassarWiki adopts a collective governance model, where decisions are made through deliberation and consensus-building. The weight of each contributor's voice is determined by the strength of their argument. Certain technical actions require their access be limited to a smaller group of contributors called [[VassarWiki:Administrators|administrators]], who remain bound to community consensus and are not given any precedence in disputes.
-However, certain technical actions require their access be limited to a smaller group of contributors. Administrators are contributors who have been granted the ability to perform these actions on VassarWiki, including suspending users for policy violations, deleting and restoring pages, and approving prospective contributors who lack a vassar.edu email. Administrators are ''not'' given any precedence in content disputes (unless the dispute involves a legal issue).
-[[VassarWiki:Administrator elections|Anyone can apply to be an administrator]]. While there are no official requirements, candidates should have a track record of constructive editing. (Though given how new the wiki is, feel free to immediately apply if you're interested.) Applications to be an administrator are approved by consensus through community discussion. Administrators who abuse their authority should be [[VassarWiki:Reports|reported]].
+'''[[VassarWiki:Policies|Policies]]''' are the site's foundational principles that all contributors must follow. You should read and understand policies before editing. '''[[VassarWiki:Guidelines|Guidelines]]''' are records of best practices in content and behavior. While there is no need to be an expert on guidelines when starting out, contributors should generally defer to and attempt to follow them. Like everything on VassarWiki, policies and guidelines are established by community consensus and can evolve.
 == See also ==
-* [[VassarWiki:Launch checklist]]
 * [[VassarWiki:Disclaimer]]
+* [[VassarWiki:Privacy policy]]
 == References ==
-<references />
+<references group="note" />