VassarWiki:Policies

Policies are the foundational principles of the site, established by community consensus. They should not be confused with guidelines, which are records of consensus regarding more specific issues.

Be bold!

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.

Keep a trail

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. Sources fall into three categories, listed in decreasing authority:

1. Reliable publications like external newspapers/journals, The Miscellany News, and official Vassar websites
2. Public statements by VSA-recognized student organizations
3. Current or past Vassar individuals (including you!)

Content on other spaces is not required to be sourced.

Please sign all messages on chat pages. When in the source editor, you can sign with four tildes (~); the visual editor should do this for you automatically.

Please write a short edit summary for all contributions.

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 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

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.

Resolve disputes through building 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.

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 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).

If a dispute doesn't go your way, respect the decision.