Linguifex:General policy

Policy

Any suggestions or additions to this page's content shall be discussed on the page's discussion page.

See also: Linguifex:Policy

This is the General policy of the Conlang Wiki which details the general and conduct guidelines of this wiki. All policies are cross-referencing and may be referred to in discussion.

1. Editing

Always log in or create an account.

While it is true that anyone can forget to log in, there are complications of remaining logged out.
If an IP edits multiple times in a short period of time, they will be asked to log in or create an account, and eventually that get their IP banned.

All exposure of IP is a security risk for the user.
As the conlangs presented on the wiki are personal we need to be able to identify the author. IPs are unidentifiable, so if two IPs make claim of a page there is no way to tell who is the real owner, as IPs often change.
Authors of vandalism must be identifiable.

No ownership of articles

Although you retain some rights to the pages you create and edit, they effectively belong to the community. Others can and often do mercilessly edit "your" material.
You do however have the "spiritual" right to your own language or article, and if you want other people to refrain from editing it, signal it clearly. Thus, any editing falls under the conduct guidelines.
You also maintain the rights to your language according to Linguifex:Copyrights.

Always edit in good faith.

All your contribution to this wiki and other users' pages should always be made in good faith.
Do not vandalise or insult other users' articles.

General

Improve pages wherever you can, and don't worry about leaving them imperfect. It is advisable to explain major changes.
Do not intentionally vandalise or insult other editors or their articles. If done unintentionally, an apology is in order.

No edit warring

If someone challenges your edits, discuss it with them and seek a compromise, or seek dispute resolution. Do not start fights over competing views and versions. Reverting any part of any single page repeatedly, or even once if long-term edit-warring is apparent, can result in a block on your account.

2. Conduct

Arguments should stay at the top three levels.

Civility

The essence of the wiki's code of conduct can be summarised as: "One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself"
Intentional or unintentional rudeness or insensitivity can distract from and interfere with our work, and insult the users. Contact the administrators when civil, reasoned discussion breaks down.

No personal attacks

Do not make personal attacks anywhere in or on the Conlang Wiki. Comment on the content, not on the contributor. Personal attacks damage the community and deter editors.
- Disobeying this guideline is a reason for blocking

Assume good faith

Similarly to Wikipedia, this wiki is based upon the "Assume good faith" principle, that simply states that edits and comments of all users ought to be percieved as having good intent, and that the editor is trying to help.

Consensus

Consensus among the users is our only tool for resolving content disputes, and our main tool for resolving all other disputes. Consensus and compromise is enforced as often as possible, however, the administrators have the final say, and are themselves governed by a majority principle.
- Contact the administrators if a matter cannot be solved by means of consensus.

Constructiveness

Be constructive in the critique of languages or articles to promote a good community and to not discourage others from editing. Everyones help is valued and appriciated.

3. Language

The standard and official language for the Conlang Wiki is English.

English is the language used in all articles on constructed languages, linguistics, guides et cetera.

English is also elementary in coding templates, as well as making template documentation.

Being a fundamentally multilingual wiki, prohibition of using languages other than English would be ignorant. Using other languages other than English ought however to be limited to user talk pages.

There is no official dialect or accent of the English language explicitly established, thus any dialect may be used on all articles.

It is therefore desireable if the editors by common sense restrict the usage of words that might be unintelligible for other users.

Please note, however, that the currently prevalent orthographical variant on this wiki is the British non-Oxford spelling and variations.

In accordance with conduct, a respectful and fair language is demanded.

4. Deletion

See also: Linguifex:Deletion policy

This is a synopsis of the deletion policy's guidelines, with appropriate prefixes for referencing. Reasons for deletion include, but are not limited to, the following (subject to the condition that improvement or deletion of an offending section, if practical, is preferable to deletion of an entire page):

G:12; F:6. Copyright violations not in accordance with the Linguifex:Copyrights

G:3. Vandalism, including inflammatory redirects, pages that exist only to disparage their subject, patent nonsense, or gibberish.

G:11. Advertising or other spam without relevant content (but not an article about an advertising-related subject).

G:8. Inactivity of a personal constructed language. Revertion of deletions shall be petetioned to the administrators.

T:1. Redundant or otherwise useless templates.

C:1. Categories representing overcategorisation.

F:1;2;6. Files or images that are unused, obsolete, or violate the Non-free policy.

Any other use of the article, template, project, or user namespace that is contrary to the established separate policy for that namespace.
Any other content not suitable for a wiki.