Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Radiant! (talk | contribs) at 16:50, 25 January 2007 (don't know where that snuck out? Ancient practice is not a proposal, and the remark you refer to is from last year and hardly relevant now.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This page documents an English Misplaced Pages ]. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page.

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The fundamental fallacy of instruction creep is assuming that everybody reads instructions.

Instruction creep occurs when a person or persons add to a list of instructions repeatedly, causing it to increase in size and complexity over time. Instruction creep is generally frowned upon, as it causes instructions to be unmanageable and daunting. In general, people are less likely to read and follow long instructions than they are shorter ones. Although those who partake in instruction creep are probably acting in good faith, they may actually be acting counterproductively. Some new rules arise with the deliberate intent to control others via fiat without an adequate attempt for the formation of consensus. This antagonizes others even when it appears to the instigator that he's acting with proper intent.

Instruction creep is common in complex organizations where rules and guidelines are created by changing groups of people over extended periods of time. Note that Misplaced Pages is not supposed to be bureaucratic.

Instruction creep on Misplaced Pages

In general, try to avoid instruction creep - including that which may be perceived as instruction creep by others - here on Misplaced Pages. Procedures are popular to suggest but unpopular to follow, due to the effort to find, read, learn and abide by them. Therefore, it is more favorable to employ the KISS principle when writing instructions on Misplaced Pages. (Note that our editors are volunteers, and are not obliged to follow procedure if they feel following them doesn't benefit the encyclopedia.)

Page instructions may have to be pruned at times. Feel free to remove excessive requirements as you see fit. All new policies should be regarded as instruction creep unless it can be proved they will actually be helpful.

To quote Albert Einstein: Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

See also

• Creeping featurism
• Functionality creep
• Red tape
• Bureaucracy
• Iron law of oligarchy - on inevitable instruction creep

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