Tutorial (Policies)
From Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia
To make the TJ Wiki work, we'd like everyone to observe the following guidelines as you are using and editing it. This is just a brief overview of the most important policies; for more detail, refer back to the Style Manual.
Content
- When considering what is appropriate to put up as a wiki article, think about whether this information is substantial enough to merit its own article; and whether it may be useful for others to know at some future point.
- Each article should be a concise, encyclopedia-like treatment of a topic. Be sure to limit content to known, provable facts based on reliable sources as much as possible, and refrain from editorializing or speculating. Remember that your colleagues and the general public are relying on the wiki for reliable information!
- Be sure to always cite sources whenever possible; primary sources, when available, are preferable to secondary sources. Refer to the Chicago Manual of Style for formatting of citations.
- If you have an article that is in progress, don't put it up in the wiki! Once it is up there, it is publicly available.
- If you are not sure of the veracity of a particular piece of information, do not post it.
Editing Pre-Existing Articles
- Please consider carefully before making a change to a pre-existing article. If the change is minor (spelling, punctuation, etc.), there is not much to worry about. But if you have a major philosophical dispute with something said in an article or are considering adding or deleting something that would constitute a major change to an article, you may wish to consider posting a comment on the article's talk page or contacting the original author of the article to discuss your comments. We would like the TJ Wiki to be a collaborative tool rather than a battleground!
- When you make a change to an article, please fill out the change summary field to let future users know who made this change and why.
You're almost done! Next: Wrap-Up
