VassarWiki:Policies: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 04:52, 30 April 2026

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This page is a proposal under consideration.

It does not yet reflect consensus and is open for 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. While voting can be utilized, it should not act as a replacement for discussion. If a dispute doesn't go your way, please respect the community's decision and move on.

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 (the status quo before the conflict). If this is for some reason especially untenable (like in the case of a legal issue), please report the page and it will be dealt with by an administrator. Reverting back and forth is known as edit warring, and it 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 in-line citations^[1] whenever possible. You can use reliable external publications, public statements from groups, or firsthand accounts from community members 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 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 encyclopedia 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 fellow contributors are here in good faith to improve the project!

References

↑ Like this one!

[1] Like this one!

[1]

@@ 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.
+{{Consensus|status=draft|users=[[User:Ewelchmorgan]]}}
-== 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. While voting can be utilized, it should not act as a replacement for discussion. If a dispute doesn't go your way, please respect the community's decision and move on.
-== Keep a trail ==
+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'' (the status quo before the conflict). If this is for some reason especially untenable (like in the case of 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 is known as edit warring, and it is not tolerated (even if you're right).
-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:
+== 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 (~).
-# Reliable publications like external newspapers/journals, ''The Miscellany News'', and official Vassar websites
+To help page histories be navigable, please write a short edit summary for each of your contributions.
-# Public statements by Vassar administration, departments, and VSA-recognized student organizations
-# 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 tether the project to reality and help readers find external resources, content should be sourced with in-line citations<ref>Like this one!</ref> whenever possible. You can use reliable external publications, public statements from groups, or firsthand accounts from community members 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 help page histories be navigable, please write a super short edit summary for each of your contributions.
+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 release your contribution under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License].
-== Don't censor information you don't like ==
+== Don't censor others ==
-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.
+VassarWiki is not censored. As a result of this principle, negativity towards any subject is allowed. On encyclopedia pages, negative content should be sourced and written from a neutral point of view.
-== 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.
+== 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.
-== Build consensus ==
+Unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, assume that fellow contributors are here in good faith to improve the project!
+== See also ==
-Disputes over content should be discussed on the respective chat page and resolved through consensus. While voting can be utilized, it should not act as a replacement for discussion. If a dispute doesn't go your way, please respect the community's decision and move on.
+* [[VassarWiki:Guidelines]], best practices developed by consensus
+* [[VassarWiki:Privacy policy]]
-Where there is a dispute and a consensus hasn't yet formed or cannot form, the page should remain at the ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status%20quo%20ante%20bellum 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).
+== References ==