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. Though content on other spaces is not required to be sourced, it is encouraged. 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 Vassar administration, departments, and VSA-recognized student organizations
3. 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 super short edit summary for each of your 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. Deliberately nonconstructive edits will be removed, and editors responsible may be permanently or temporarily suspended from editing VassarWiki.

Build consensus

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.

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).