User:Alex Roggio/WikiLove

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——————————————— WHAT'S WIKILOVE? ———————————————


What is WikiLove?

WikiLove is a term that refers to a general spirit of collegiality and mutual understanding among wiki users. It was coined over time on the mailing lists. Because people coming from radically different perspectives work on Wikipedia together – religious fundamentalists and secular humanists, conservatives and liberals, etc. – it is easy for discussions to degenerate into flamewars. But we are all here for one reason: we love accumulating, ordering, structuring, and making freely available what knowledge we have in the form of an encyclopedia of unprecedented size. Wikipedia is not just another discussion forum — it is a project to describe and collect what we know.

If we keep this common goal, this love of knowledge, in mind, if we concentrate on achieving a neutral point of view even when it is difficult, and if we try to actually understand what the other side has to say, then we can reach the state of "WikiLove". If we fail to achieve WikiLove, this will only mean that the encyclopedia and its mission as a whole will suffer. Constant flamewars will scare contributors off, biased articles will drive readers away, and will both harm our reputation in the long term.

Promoting WikiLove

Here's a list of ways we can spread WikiLove

  • Sending a smile - adding {{subst:Smile}} to a fellow editor's user page
  • Wishing a Happy Birthday - Adding {{User Birthday-alt}} to an editor's talk page on their birthday
  • Saying thank you - by adding {{Subst:User:Lex94/WikiThanks}} to an editor's talk page, with your thank you note. (It will look like this:
  • Random act of kindness- See WP:Bold
  • Making articles in a neutral point of view so everyone can agree with what's written
  • Assuring good work - Comment on someone's page when they did good work, or give them a barnstar.
  • Kindness Campaign - Join Wikipedia's Kindness campaign!


Here's a list of articles relevant to WikiLove

Assume Good Faith

Assuming good faith is a fundamental principle on Wikipedia. In allowing anyone to edit, we work from an assumption that most people are trying to help the project, not hurt it. If this were not true, a project like Wikipedia would be doomed from the beginning. When you can reasonably assume that a mistake someone made was a well-intentioned attempt to further the goals of the project, correct it without criticizing. When you disagree with people, remember that they probably believe that they are helping the project.

Consider using talk pages to clearly explain yourself, and give others the opportunity to do the same. Consider whether a dispute stems from different perspectives and look for ways to reach consensus if possible. This can avoid misunderstandings and prevent problems from escalating.


WikiHate

WikiHate is a counterproductive attitude that takes away time from many Wikipedians. Often the consequence of taking both Wikipedia and oneself too seriously, it can express itself in revert wars, hate campaigns against individual Wikipedians or fierce crusades for one's own opinion of what everybody else should do. Its opposite is not WikiLove, since, as Elie Wiesel remarked, "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference".

Image:Broken-heart.gif

Dispute Resolution



The best way to resolve a dispute is to avoid it in the first place.

Be respectful to others and their points of view. This means primarily: Try not to simply revert changes in a dispute. When someone makes an edit you consider biased or inaccurate, improve the edit if you can, rather than reverting it, or if you do not see it as improvable, discuss it on the talk page. Do not edit war. Provide a good edit summary when making significant changes that other users might object to. The revision you would prefer will not be established by reverting, and repeated reverting is forbidden; discuss disputed changes on the talk page. If you encounter rude or inappropriate behavior, resist the temptation to respond unkindly, and do not make personal attacks.

Writing according to the "perfect article guidelines" and following the NPOV policy can help you write "defensively", and limit your own bias in your writing. For some guidelines, see Wikipedia:Wikiquette.

WikiPeace

WikiPeace is an idea dedicated to making Wikipedia a more peaceful place for everyone. It involves giving others WikiSmiles, or just brightening up one's day. If you agree with this idea, you can sign your name here and / or use WikiPeace userbox (Add {{Template:User WikiPeace}} to your user page).

This is the userbox:

This user advocates WikiPeace.

Consensus

Consensus is an inherent part of the wiki process. Consensus is typically reached as a natural product of the editing process; generally someone makes a change or addition to a page, and then everyone who reads the page has an opportunity to either leave the page as it is or change it. In essence silence implies consent if there is adequate exposure to the community. In the case of policy pages a higher standard of participation and consensus is expected.

When there are disagreements, they are resolved through polite reasoning, cooperation, and if necessary, negotiation on talk pages, in an attempt to develop and maintain a neutral point of view which consensus can agree upon. If we find that a particular consensus happens often, we write it down as a guideline, to save people the time having to discuss the same principles over and over. In the rare situations where consensus is hard to find, the dispute resolution processes provide several other ways agreed by the community, to involve independent editors and more experienced help in the discussion, and to address the problems which prevent a consensus from arising.

When consensus is referred to in Wikipedia discussion, it always means 'within the framework of established policy and practice'. Even a majority of a limited group of editors will almost never outweigh community consensus on a wider scale, as documented within policies.