VassarWiki:About
What is VassarWiki?
A wiki is a collaboratively edited internet publication. While many wikis are encyclopedias, they don't have to be; the term describes a model of internet governance.
VassarWiki is simply a wiki for the Vassar College community. The aim of the project is to collectively organize and publicize community knowledge about Vassar. Think of VassarWiki like a digital commons.
Contributing
Who can contribute?
Anyone connected to Vassar can contribute! All you have to do is sign up with your Vassar email. If you're connected to Vassar but lack a Vassar email (e.g. alumni, former faculty), you must apply to have your account approved.
How can I contribute?
Once you register an account, click the "Edit" or "Edit source" button at the top of the page to use the visual editor or the "Edit source" button to use the source editor. Make whatever changes to the page you want, write a short edit summary, and save your changes.
It's recommended that you read policies and any relevant guidelines before you edit.
What kind of content is allowed?
VassarWiki is deliberately open-ended to adapt to community needs. There are a few main types of pages. If you feel limited by these types, please bring your concern to the village pump!
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 reflect group consensus. All content here must be sourced (see the policy on sourcing).
Profiles
Unlike other pages, profiles can only be edited by the relevant individual. You can put anything in your profile, within reason (e.g. interests, projects, org memberships, essays / freeform content, contact information). No sourcing is required—the individual is the authority on their own page.
Chat pages
Every page has a corresponding chat page, where you can resolve disputes about page content or otherwise talk freely.
Categories
Pages can be assigned to multiple categories, to assist in navigation and organization. Categories are listed at the bottom of a page.
Project pages
Project pages deal with the governance of VassarWiki. These pages have the prefix "VassarWiki". Some notable project pages include:
- Village pump: Suggestions and discussions about improving this project
- Policies: Basic principles of the site
- Guidelines: Records of consensus regarding groups of pages (e.g. reliable sources, style)
- Reports: Policy violations should be reported and discussed here