Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Radiant! (talk | contribs) at 12:05, 12 December 2006 (→Deletion: this page is supposed to list "best practices" not legislative procedures). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Misplaced Pages contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Misplaced Pages's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

Some people claim the following are guidelines that have been decided based on consensus; others dispute this. Please don't make any changes here without discussion.

Certain Misplaced Pages policies, but not all, apply to the Reference Desk. The Ref Desk is not an article, and is not subject to any policies specific to articles. In general, the rules for talk pages apply at the Ref desk, although we strive to provide a level of quality matching that of Misplaced Pages articles. Since the Ref Desk is unique, some Ref Desk interpretations of Misplaced Pages policies are unique, as well.

Reference Desk Guidelines

• Are answers with references outside of Misplaced Pages allowed ? Yes.

• Are references required for all statements of fact ? Required, no. Encouraged, yes.

• Are opinions allowed ? See below:

• Questions which contain an opinion ? Yes.
• Questions which solicit an opinion ? Yes.
• In responses to factual question ? Yes, but opinions should be identified as such, i.e., with "I think..." or "I believe...".

• Is original research allowed: Yes, but it should be clearly identified as such, i.e., "I've found that...".

• Is humor allowed ? Yes, in moderation, but only after at least one serious answer has been given.

• Is sexual content allowed ? Yes, but not prurient sexual content, and only in response to a sexual question.

• Are signatures required ? Yes.

• May we edit the posts of others ? See below:

• The title ? Yes, but only add to the title, as the original title may be used as a search keyword.
• The original question ? Yes, but for format only, not to add links or fix spelling.
• The responses ? Yes, but for format only, not to add links or fix spelling.

• Should responses be edited for content? No, but they may be deleted.

• Is "just Google it" a good response ? No, you should do the search yourself, verify that it provides useful results, and provide a link to those search results, instead.

See also

• Misplaced Pages:Reference_desk/purpose

• Misplaced Pages essays