See also naming conventions and editing policy.
Rules are established according to the vigor of their enforcement; but realistically, enforcement depends on whether enough supporters of a rule keep track of changing pages and newly created ones. In practice, this community gets most vigorous about enforcement when a page has just been changed.)
Ignore all rules. If rules make you nervous and depressed, and not desirous of participating in the wiki, then ignore them entirely and go about your business.
Supporters include: Larry Sanger, WojPob, Jimbo Wales, AyeSpy, OprgaG, Invictus, and Koyaanis Qatsi, Pinkunicorn, sjc, mike dill, Taw, GWO
Opponents include: tbc, AxelBoldt (deliberatly breaking them is fine; ignoring them is not -- ignorance is bad.)
I now pleasantly ponder the paradox encountered by those who seek to rigorously follow this rule. --Jimbo Wales
Well, what about the related paradox that there is no Rule to decide that something is a Rule (and so should be ignored) --OprgaG
My MBTI? is INTJ?. I live to make the rules. :-) <>< tbc
Always leave something undone. Whenever you write a page, never finish it. Always leave something obvious to do: an uncompleted sentence, a question in the text (with a not-too-obscure answer someone can supply), wikied links that are of interest, requests for help from specific other Wikipedians, the beginning of a provokative argument that someone simply must fill in, etc. The purpose of this rule is to encourage others to keep working on the wiki.
Supporters include: Larry Sanger, TimShell, Invictus, LinusTolke, Pinkunicorn, sjc, Janet Davis, mike dill, GWO
Opponents include: AxelBoldt, Mark Christensen
Alternative rule:
Make omissions explicit. When writing an article, always aim for completeness. If, for some reason, you can't cover a point that should be covered, make that omission explicit. This has two purposes: it entices others to contribute, and it alerts non-experts that the article they're reading doesn't yet give the full story.
Supporters include: AxelBoldt, Mark Christensen
Opponents include:
see AlwaysLeaveSomethingUndoneDebate
Explain jargon. It would be great if you would hyperlink all jargon (area-specific terminology that someone who might happen not to have had a college course in your subject might not understand) and explain it, and then explain all the jargon you use to explain that, until you've reached terms that ordinary educated people can understand.
Supporters include: Larry Sanger, JerryMuelver, TimShell, Pinkunicorn, AyeSpy (fervently), Janet Davis, drj, GWO, tbc, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
See ExplainJargonDebate?
Wikipedia is not a dictionary. If, on the other hand, a word is not jargon, please don't just write a definition of a word and then stop; please don't just list the different senses that a word has. People who read an encyclopedia are not interested in words per se and their bare meanings, but in knowledge, information, facts about the items that the words identify. This doesn't mean we want only long articles, or that we don't want "stub" articles--it does mean, though, that "stub" articles should not consist just of a definition of a term.
Supporters of this rule include: Larry Sanger, Koyaanis Qatsi, sjc, tbc, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
Avoid bias. Since this is an encyclopedia, after a fashion, it would be best if you represented your controversial views either (1) not at all, (2) on *Debate, *Talk, or *Discussion pages linked from the bottom of the page that you're tempted to grace, or (3) represented in a fact-stating fashion, i.e., which attributes a particular opinion to a particular person or group, rather than asserting the opinion as fact. (3) is strongly preferred. See the neutral point of view article for elaboration.
Supporters include: Larry Sanger, JerryMuelver, Pinkunicorn, AyeSpy, Janet Davis, drj, mike dill, GWO, tbc, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
See AvoidBiasDebate
Integrate changes. When you make a change to some text, rather than appending the new text you'd like to see included at the bottom of the page, if you feel so motivated, then please place and edit your comments so that they flows seamlessly with the present text. (But note that being bold in updating pages does not mean add all new material in bold type.) Wikipedia articles in the end shouldn't be a series of disjointed comments about a subject, but unified, seamless, and ever-expanding expositions of the subject. (Rule introduced 29-Mar-2001)
Supporters include: Larry Sanger, LinusTolke, Pinkunicorn (strongly), Koyaanis Qatsi, and sjc, Janet Davis, drj, mike dill (hard isn't it?), Damian Yerrick (who personally doesn't think it's that hard), GWO, tbc, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
See [Integrate changes debate]?
Delete patent nonsense. When you run across patent nonsense, simply put the deleted text on the Bad jokes and other deleted nonsense page. The problem with this is that people disagree about what is patent nonsense. So be careful, anyway. It's possible that this makes supporters of this rule "[wiki reductionists]".
Supporters include: Larry Sanger, TimShell, JerryMuelver, Pinkunicorn, Koyaanis Qatsi, Janet Davis, drj, Taw, GWO, Damian Yerrick, tbc, clasqm, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
See DeletePatentNonsenseDebate
Supporters include: AyeSpy, TimShell, JerryMuelver, Damian Yerrick (except not at the bottom of a page but rather in each page's /Talk section, with a pointer in the user's /Talk section), and tbc
Opponents include: clasqm (This rule assumes that all authors periodically check everything they have written so far. Too much of an assumption), AxelBoldt (either rewrite, or start discussion on /Talk) Robert Merkel (in general, see the debate article for more details).
See GiveTheAuthorAChanceDebate
Supporters include: Jimbo Wales, Larry Sanger, TimShell, LinusTolke, Janet Davis, drj strongly, Koyaanis Qatsi, GWO, Damian Yerrick, tbc, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
Define and Describe similar to Explain Jargon
Supporters include: TimShell, Larry Sanger, and LinusTolke, drj, mike dill, Koyaanis Qatsi, GWO, tbc, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
Keep rules simple. If a rule cannot fit on this page, but is so long it has to be on a subpage, maybe it is too complicated to attract followers. --LA2, drj, mike dill
Supporters include LA2, drj, mike dill
Opponents include: tbc (nitpicky -- subpages are fine), AxelBoldt (if a rule can be stated in one sentence, maybe it is too simplistic to attract followers)
Build the web. Article?s in an encyclopedia are nodes in a hypertext system. Don't just write the article, but also consider its place in the link web. Make upward links to categories and contexts (Charles Darwin was a biologist, Sahara is a desert in Africa, enlightenment happened in the 18th century). Make sideways links to neighboring articles (for proton see also electron, Oregon borders on California). Don't build category trees too deep and narrow, or too flat. Writing category directories first (top-down) will help ensure that subcategory articles get useful names (church names are not good now). --LA2
This may be found to contradict the "Make only links relevant to the context" rule.
Supporters of this rule include: LA2, sjc strongly, mike dill, GWO, tbc, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
Don't use external links where we'll want Wikipedia links. Don't put in links [like this] to external URLs linking text that we will want articles on Wikipedia about. Put external links in a "links" section at the end of the article. For example, if you're writing an article about Descartes and you know of a great article about Rationalism online, don't link the word "Rationalism" to that article. Put in a "Links" section and simplify wikify the word "Rationalism" like this: Rationalism?. (Rule introduced June 29, 2001.)
Supporters include: Larry Sanger, Janet Davis, sjc, GWO ([Wikipedia_commentary/When should I link externally]??), tbc, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
Supporters include: Janet Davis, Larry Sanger, drj strongly, sjc, mike dill, Taw, Damian Yerrick, tbc (strongly!), AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
See also: CiteYourSourcesDebate
List links to references and primary sources List external references and primary sources, using links to web resources. You can take advantage of Wikipedia's autofootnoting of bracketed urls and/or make a list at the bottom of the page. See the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack pages for examples.
(The Open Directory Project database would be excellent for this if it were actually open, and not under AOL's control. A wiki/FDL/public domain web directory would be an excellent complement to Wikipedia.)
Supporters of this rule include: The Cunctator, AxelBoldt
See also the "Cite Your Sources" rule above an "Proper referencing" below.
Use proper references. References and external links relevant to an article should be collected at the end of the article, clearly separated from the rest of the material. Every book listing needs to have at a minimum author and title. Every article needs to have author, title, journal and issue, link to online version where available. Every Internet resource needs to have author (if known), title (so that the resource can still be located even if its URL changes) and URL, which should be given in plain view (like http://wikipedia.com) to make the reference useful if printed out. Preferably, every reference should come with a one sentence summary.
Supporters of this rule include: AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
Supporters include: Taw, Geronimo Jones, tbc, The Cunctator, MichaelTinkler, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
Use color sparingly. You do not know how much color is presented on the recipient's machine if at all. Wikipedia is international; colors have different meaning on different cultural backgrounds. Too many colors on one page make them look funny but unencyclopedic. Use the color red only for the purpose to alert something, show up serious errors, and even then make it a dark red.
Supporters include: StefanRybo, drj strongly, sjc, GWO strongly, tbc, Damian Yerrick, Josh Grosse, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
Supporters include: StefanRybo, drj, Larry Sanger, Koyaanis Qatsi, GWO, Damian Yerrick, tbc (strongly!), AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
The complementary rule:
Bold the phrase or word that the article is about. When writing an article, put bold markers around the word the article describes. This makes it easier for the casual reader to identify the topic.
Supporters include: tbc (strongly!), Koyaanis Qatsi, Larry Sanger
Opponents include: Josh Grosse - the title tells you what the article about, the bold just annoys you by constantly directing your eyes to something you already
know.
A very similar rule:
Link only one or a few instances of the same item. Do not link all instances of it. /Make links relevant. There's also a rule about this below; see below and see /Make only links relevant to the context debate.
Supporters include: StefanRybo, Larry Sanger, Koyaanis Qatsi, Josh Grosse, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
Supporters include: StefanRybo, Larry Sanger, Koyaanis Qatsi, tbc, AxelBoldt
Opponents include:
Supporters include: StefanRybo, tbc
Opponents include: AxelBoldt (strongly). ("Short sentences", "Seven items"?? Are we writing a powerpoint presentation?)
Supporters include: StefanRybo, sjc, tbc
Opponents include:
Supporters include: drj, GWO ("now", "recently"), Damian Yerrick (instead of sixties say 1960s), tbc (ditto)
Opponents include: sjc, GWO, ("the sixties". Other things will date much faster)
Avoid statements that will date quickly talk
Supporters include: HelgeStenstrom
Opponents include: sjc, mike dill, tbc
See Make only links relevant to the context debate
See also /Make links relevant and /Make links relevant talk
Supporters include: 209.122.212.xxx, Larry Sanger, mike dill, drj (articles with good spelling and proper grammar will encourage further contributions of good content), tbc (ditto) (Sloppiness in one aspect of writing can lead to sloppiness in others. Always do your best.), Josh Grosse (spelling would be easily amended by others, but incorrect page names quickly get copied all over the place, making it difficult), AxelBoldt
Opponents include: GWO (good content is king, other wikipedians easily amend bad spelling), Larry Sanger :-) (I agree with that too)
/Pay attention to spelling debate
Supporters include: clasqm (If working with primary sources is your thing, go to Project Gutenberg instead), Damian Yerrick (if you just want to mirror a Gutenberg etext with links, go to Everything2 instead.)
Opponents include: Geronimo Jones (strongly!), tbc (strongly!), The Cunctator (though I think a better long-term solution is needed), Damian Yerrick ([literary analysis]? benefits from having a copy of the primary source close by)
/Do not include primary sources debate
Supporters include: Koyaanis Qatsi (strongly!), Larry Sanger, tbc, Robert Merkel
Opponents include: The Cunctator, Josh Grosse (not that we should tell people the butler did it, but in historical and mythological materials the audience might as well know - thinking of the Odyssey here)
For debate, see Wikipedia contains spoilers/Talk
Opponents include: The Cunctator
/Usefulness for readers debate
A corollary to the above: Consider the audience in your writing.. An article entitled "Use of chromatic scales in early Baroque music" is likely to be read by musicians, and so technical details and jargon are entirely appropriate. But an article entitled "Rap music" is likely to be read by laymen who want a brief and plainly written overview, with links to more detailed information if available.
Supporters include: Lee Daniel Crocker, Damian Yerrick, AxelBoldt (jargon terms should still be linked to explanations though)
Opponents include:
Supporters include: Larry Sanger, tbc, Josh Grosse, AxelBoldt
Opponents include: Damian Yerrick (Doing this is highly non-trivial until Wikipedia begins to update its index more often. Once this happens, move me to supporters.)
Supporters include: Larry Sanger, Damian Yerrick, tbc
Opponents include: Satan, The Cunctator
Supporters include: tbc, Damian Yerrick (strongly; whenever I go through an article, every paragraph I touch becomes "diff-friendly" with a soft line break after)
Opponents include:
Supporters of this rule include (at least): MemoryHole.com, Clasqm, Larry Sanger, Damian Yerrick, Josh Grosse
Opponents include: AxelBoldt (a chain of links is desirable, but orphans really don't pose a problem, since most people use the search engine anyway)
Supporters of this rule include: MichaelTinkler; J Hofmann Kemp Ok non-English titles I can think of are pietas, hubris, and possibly basileus and strategos...
Opponents include: Anders Torlind (nota bene only in cases where not supplying foreign article names violates the Useful for readers rule. Example: People searching for the Swedish kings are very likely to be swedes, and so a redirect from the swedish name (or to it, doesn't matter) would be appropriate)
Supporters of this rule include: Larry Sanger
Opponents of this rule include: