Difference between revisions of "Help:Be bold"
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| + | <!--I have left the original text intact, but offer my own "bold" re-write of this article in a form that I think would be more helpful as advice to a newcomer. --~~~~: | ||
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| + | Most routine edits of Camera-wiki.org articles will be small ones: Adding a few facts, removing a dead link, replacing a missing photo, etc. | ||
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| + | Occasionally, you will discover an article that you believe is seriously flawed. There may be incorrect statements, confusing organization, or clumsy prose. In this situation, it may be necessary to make a bold, radical revision to what exists—perhaps even rewriting an article completely. Or you may feel that an entirely new topic should be covered, an article needs be split into multiple ones, etc. | ||
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| + | All this is permissible, if you are ''certain'' your improvement is a valid one. However bold edits bring with them extra responsibilities: | ||
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| + | #Camera-wiki.org is a project of volunteers. You should realize that any page author before you sincerely believed their work was a helpful addition. Try to treat earlier work with respect, and consider whether it is possible to save portions of it. | ||
| + | #Be certain of your facts; be prepared to give references supporting any statement that might be disputed. | ||
| + | #Click the "View history" link above the article. If you find that an article is primarily the work of one author, it is most courteous to leave a note on their user talk page, linking to the article's discussion page. Explain your proposed changes there. | ||
| + | #The [http://www.mediawiki.org/ MediaWiki software] permits any edit (even a radical one) to be reverted. You should be prepared to accept this, if others find your change too extreme. To facilitate this, begin by making one minor change and saving it, with the "minor edit" checkbox under the edit window '''left unchecked'''. This insures that an intact version of the article (from before your radical edit) will be preserved in the page history. | ||
| + | #Don't remove existing text just to see your own words instead: There must be a reason for the change which you can explain to others. Don't write argumentative pieces that would be best published in your own personal blog ("Lomography is a rip-off!" etc.) | ||
| + | #If your radical edit is reverted (perhaps by the prior author), don't react emotionally. You may have misunderstood something about the prior version. You should discuss the goals behind your radical change in the article discussion page, and try to work towards a compromise. | ||
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'''Be bold''' is an old [[Wikipedia]] rule-of-thumb to propel further development of a wiki. Thus if You feel uncomfortable with contents or appearance of a page and You develop an idea how to make text or page design better: Try it. Your change may be reverted, and then You can try to understand why Your change was unwanted. Did it go too far? Try it again with a more moderate change or write Your question or improvement idea into the talk page of the changed page. | '''Be bold''' is an old [[Wikipedia]] rule-of-thumb to propel further development of a wiki. Thus if You feel uncomfortable with contents or appearance of a page and You develop an idea how to make text or page design better: Try it. Your change may be reverted, and then You can try to understand why Your change was unwanted. Did it go too far? Try it again with a more moderate change or write Your question or improvement idea into the talk page of the changed page. | ||
Revision as of 18:38, 6 May 2011
Be bold is an old Wikipedia rule-of-thumb to propel further development of a wiki. Thus if You feel uncomfortable with contents or appearance of a page and You develop an idea how to make text or page design better: Try it. Your change may be reverted, and then You can try to understand why Your change was unwanted. Did it go too far? Try it again with a more moderate change or write Your question or improvement idea into the talk page of the changed page.
The one who reverts a change should also think about wether or not the reason for the reversion is obvious, for example as obvious as the reversion of a spam address insertion or a moderate partial reversion to recover important contents details. Otherwise the one should also write the reason for the reversion into the talk page of the changed page.
If the change and reversion game goes into a second round, editor and reverter should use the user talk pages of each other to reach each other better with questions and arguments for and against the change or just to remind each other of further changes in the original page talk discussion. If the reverter is an experienced contributor or wiki admin he/she should be open-minded for new ideas, and each party should reduce the number of exchanged arguments to a minimum so that others can follow and enter discussion if necessary. It would be better to switch discussion early from arguments exchange to consent building if the suggested change proves to result from a realistic page-improving intention or can be developed from a totally free idea to a sound page inprovement.
Important hint for busy contributors: If You know that you made some valid major changes to a page, the last of these edits should not be marked as small change thru the checkbox "This is a minor edit" left below the editing window when You save the page. Thus the version can't go lost in database reorg actions of this wiki site's bureaucrat. It's very useful for the project if many small changes are marked as such minor edit in the page histories. But sometimes it's good to have a "major edit" in page history if a really improved article status is reached.
Important hint for bold contributors: Look into the page history before You make a big bold change. If there are only minor edits in the near past, make a small change first and save that as "major edit", i.e. as an edit that should not be marked as small change thru the checkbox "This is a minor edit" left below the editing window when You save the page.
see also
- more about good practice in this wiki
- original Be Bold philosophy of Wikipedia
