Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 15:10, 27 August 2004

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Misplaced Pages is an encyclopedia and as such, there are certain things that Misplaced Pages is not.

What Misplaced Pages is not

1. Misplaced Pages is not a paper encyclopedia. Thus, Misplaced Pages has no size limits, can include links, can be more timely, etc. It also means that the style and length of writing appropriate for paper is not necessarily appropriate here.
2. Misplaced Pages is not a dictionary, a usage or jargon guide, or a genealogical or biographical dictionary. See #2-5 and #17 in the next section.
3. Misplaced Pages is not a soapbox or discussion forum. See #1, #6, #8, #9, #18 in the next section.
4. Misplaced Pages is not a link repository. See #11, 12, 13 in the next section.
5. Misplaced Pages is not a "Mirror"—content added to WP is supposed to be released for free use under the GNU FDL with the intention of it being edited mercilessly. Misplaced Pages does incorporate many images and some text which are considered "fair use" into its GFDLed articles. See #14 in the next section.
6. Misplaced Pages is not a free wiki host. You may not host your own website or blog at Misplaced Pages. If you are interested in using the wiki technology for a collaborative effort on anything other than writing an encyclopedia, even if it is just a single page, there are many sites (such as SeedWiki) or Riters.com that provide wiki hosting (free or for money). You can even install wiki software on your server.

What Misplaced Pages entries are not

1. Discussion forums, or Everything2 nodes. Please try to stay on task (the task here is to create encyclopedia articles). Misplaced Pages is not a discussion forum or chat room (mind you, neither is Everything2, or at least it tries not to be—but because it tolerates that, that is what it has become). But of course you can chat with folks on their discussion pages, and you can resolve article problems on the relevant Talk: pages.
2. Dictionary definitions. Misplaced Pages is not a dictionary, so please do not create an entry merely to define a term. But of course an article can and should always begin with a good definition or a clear description of the topic. If you come across an article that is nothing more than a definition, see if there is information you can add that would be appropriate for an encyclopedia. If you're interested in working on a wiki dictionary, check out the Wiktionary project. An exception to this rule is for articles about the cultural meanings of individual numbers.
3. Lists of such definitions. But of course an article can certainly consist of a pointer to other pages, where a word is too general to have any one topic associated with it; see freedom and Columbus for examples; further, Misplaced Pages includes glossary pages for various specialized fields.
4. A usage guide. Misplaced Pages is not in the business of saying how idioms, etc., are used. But of course it's often very, very important in the context of an encyclopedia article to say just how a word is used. E.g., the article on freedom will, if it doesn't already, have a long discussion about this.
5. A hacker/computer usage or other slang and idiom guide. We aren't teaching people how to talk like a leet cracker or a Cockney chimney-sweep; we're writing an encyclopedia. (See meta:Knocking her dead one on the nose each and every double trey for an historical example.) But of course see jargon file; also, articles, even extremely in-depth articles, on hacker culture are very welcome, and insofar as guides to some particularly essential piece of hacker slang is necessary to understand those articles, of course articles on that slang would be great to have.
6. Propaganda or advocacy of any kind. But of course an article can report objectively on what advocates say, as long as an attempt is made to approach a neutral point of view. Go to Usenet if you want to convince people of the merits of your favorite views—and good luck.
7. Mere vehicles for testing anarchism. The fact that Misplaced Pages is an open, self-governing project does not mean that any part of its purpose is to explore the viability of anarchistic communities. Our purpose is to build an encyclopedia, not to test the limits of anarchism. But of course none of this is to deny that a great deal of our success has been due precisely to our openness.
8. Neither encomia/fan pages, nor critical pans. Biographies and articles about art works are supposed to be encyclopedia articles. But of course critical analysis of art is welcome, if grounded in direct observations. See also wikipedia:check your fiction.
9. Personal essays that state your idiosyncratic opinions about a topic. Misplaced Pages is supposed to compile human knowledge, not serve as a vehicle for personal opinions to become part of human knowledge. See Misplaced Pages:No original research. In the unusual situation where the opinions of a single individual are important enough to discuss, it's preferable to let other people to whom those opinions are important write about them. Of course essays on topics relating to Misplaced Pages are welcome at Meta-Misplaced Pages. Wikinfo is a Misplaced Pages fork that encourages personal opinions in articles.
10. Primary research such as proposing theories and solutions, original ideas, defining terms, coining words, etc. If you have done primary research on a topic, publish your results in normal peer-reviewed journals. Misplaced Pages will report about your work once it becomes part of accepted human knowledge. But of course you don't have to get all of your information on entries from peer-reviewed journals. See Misplaced Pages:No original research.
11. List repository of loosely associated topics such as quotations, aphorisms or persons. But of course there is nothing wrong with having lists if their entries are famous because they are associated with or significantly contributed to the list topic. If you want to enter lists of quotations, put them into Wikiquote, Misplaced Pages's sister project. But of course Misplaced Pages includes reference tables and tabular information for quick reference.
12. Mere collections of external links. But of course there's nothing wrong with adding both lists of links and lists of on-line references you used in writing an article.
13. Mere collections of internal links. But of course there's nothing wrong with disambiguation pages when a word is too general for any one topic to be associated with it; and of course, it may help to make lists of relevant internal links, as this conveys useful information and helps navigation.
14. Mere collections of public domain or other source material; such as entire books or source code, original historical documents, letters, laws, proclamations, and other source material that are only useful when presented with their original, un-modified wording. But of course there's nothing wrong with using public domain resources in order to add factual content and wording to an article (such as the use of the 1911 encyclopedia). See Misplaced Pages:Don't include copies of primary sources. Complete copies of primary sources (including any public domain documents you can find) should go into Wikisource.
15. A personal homepage and/or file storage area. Wikipedians have their own personal pages, but they are used for working on the encyclopedia. If you're looking to make a personal webpage unrelated to encyclopedia work, there are many free homepage providers on the Internet. If you upload files, please upload only files that pertain to encyclopedia articles; anything else will be deleted.
16. A news report. Misplaced Pages should not offer news reports on breaking stories. But of course creating encyclopedia articles on topics currently in the news is an excellent idea. See current events for some examples. (However, the Wiki process lends itself to collaborative, up-to-the-minute construction of current events of historical significance, as long as these are written as encyclopedia articles.) When updating articles with recent news, authors should use the past-tense in such a way that the news will still make sense when read years from now.
17. A genealogical or biographical dictionary or phonebook. Biography articles should only be given for people with some sort of notoriety or achievement. One measure of achievement is whether someone has been featured in several external sources (either online or offline). But of course minor characters may be mentioned within other articles (e.g. Ronald Gay in Persecution of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and the transgendered). See m:Wikipeople for a proposed genealogical/biographical dictionary project. The people who have biographies here should be important or otherwise notable for some reason.
18. A vehicle for advertising and self-promotion. We don't need articles on items just because a contributor is associated with them. Commercial links are certainly OK if they can serve to identify major corporations associated with a topic, as in Finishing school. Many people consider it a good idea not to start articles about yourself or projects you have a strong personal involvement in. A few somewhat famous Wikipedians have significantly contributed to encyclopedia articles about themselves and their accomplishments, and this has mostly been accepted after some debate. But of course the standards for encyclopedic articles apply to such a page just like any other. Creating overly abundant links and references to autobiographical articles is not in accordance with the spirit of Misplaced Pages. See Misplaced Pages:Auto-biography for more information. Please note Misplaced Pages does not endorse any business and it does not set up affiliate programs.
19. A collection of photographs with no text to go with the articles. If you are only interested in putting a picture into an article but have no desire to write an explanation as to who the person is and why they should have an article, maybe the article shouldn't exist at all. If the picture comes from a public domain source on a website, then consider adding it to Misplaced Pages:Images with missing articles or Misplaced Pages:Public domain image resources instead.
20. A Yellow Pages or a resource for conducting business other than the business of creating a great encyclopedia. For example, an article on a radio station generally shouldn't list upcoming events, current promotions, phone numbers, etc (though mention of major events or promotions is of course acceptable). Furthermore, the Talk pages associated with an article are for talking about the article, not for conducting the business of the topic of the article.
21. A list of FAQs. Misplaced Pages articles should not list frequently asked questions, either with or without answers. Instead, format the information provided as neutral prose within appropriate article(s). You may also want to consider sending the list to Wikibooks.
22. A cookbook. For example, when writing an article about fried rice, don't give "A simple recipe for fried rice." (that belongs in Wiki Cookbook. Instead, write an article about what is commonly included in a fried rice recipe, the history of fried rice, types of fried rice, how the Chinese and Japanese versions differ, etc.
23. Battlegrounds. Misplaced Pages is not a war. Do not threaten, harass or intimidate those with whom you have a disagreement. Rather, approach the matter in an intelligent manner, and engage in polite discussion. See Misplaced Pages:Staying cool when the editing gets hot for tips on how to remain calm in a conflict.
    • Misplaced Pages does not negotiate with "terrorists". Making threats against Misplaced Pages or its members (to engage in vandalism, or to launch a lawsuit) is a good way to get banned.

Please feel free to continue adding to this list as we discover interesting new ways of not writing encyclopedia articles. When adding new options, please be as clear as possible and provide counter-examples of similar, but permitted, subjects.

For examples of what kinds of articles people consider to be encycopaedic, see Misplaced Pages:Votes for deletion/Precedents.

See also: Misplaced Pages:Google Test, Misplaced Pages:Ownership of articles, Misplaced Pages:Avoiding common mistakes.

Possible measures in response to violations of these rules

• Changing the content (normal editing)
• Changing the page into a redirect; the page history is preserved
• Deleting the page with its page history altogether, often after discussion on the Misplaced Pages:Votes for deletion page. To develop an understanding of what kinds of contributions are in danger of being deleted you have to regularly follow discussions there.
• Changing the rules on this page (after an appropriate discussion with other Wikipedians, of course).