Thelemapedia:Editorial Policy
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Revision as of 22:50, 15 Jan 2005 Ash (Talk | contribs) additions about Executive editor rights |
Revision as of 23:28, 26 Jun 2005 Ash (Talk | contribs) Crowley comes first |
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- | To a large degree, Thelemapedia is edited by the community. This means that issues such as factual accuracy, content, grammer, spelling, formatting, and completeness are left to the members to monitor and correct. | + | Thelemapedia is edited by the community. This means that issues such as factual accuracy, content, grammer, spelling, formatting, and completeness are left to the members to monitor and correct. |
==Primary Editorial Principles== | ==Primary Editorial Principles== | ||
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#'''Respect others.''' Although entries should be made from a "Thelemic" point of view, this is not a platform for attacking people, tarnishing reputations, or insulting groups, religions, or ideas that do not conform to your own (e.g. we will not tolerate generic bashing of Christians or Wiccans, or "real OTO" fights). This principle is vigorously enforced. Persistent attacks will result in a ban. | #'''Respect others.''' Although entries should be made from a "Thelemic" point of view, this is not a platform for attacking people, tarnishing reputations, or insulting groups, religions, or ideas that do not conform to your own (e.g. we will not tolerate generic bashing of Christians or Wiccans, or "real OTO" fights). This principle is vigorously enforced. Persistent attacks will result in a ban. | ||
+ | #'''Crowley comes first.''' Because Thelema is such a huge topic with countless interpretations and types of adherents, Thelemapedia attempts to avoid conflict by making the primary focus the works and philosophy of [[Aleister Crowley]]. Whenever there is a conflict regarding content between various beliefs, those of Crowley should take precedence. | ||
#'''Avoid writing in the first person'''. Articles should be written from a neutral point of view. No article should contain phrases like, "I believe..." or "I have found that...". Look over current articles to get a feel for the writing style suitable for Thelemapedia. | #'''Avoid writing in the first person'''. Articles should be written from a neutral point of view. No article should contain phrases like, "I believe..." or "I have found that...". Look over current articles to get a feel for the writing style suitable for Thelemapedia. | ||
#'''This is an OTO-friendly site.''' Thelemapedia is hosted by Scarlet Woman Lodge, an [[Ordo Templi Orientis|OTO]] body, and so naturally we discourage OTO-bashing (or the bashing of any order). '''However, we strongly encourage non-OTO contributors.''' Furthermore, we welcome contributions that might not be in line with standard OTO positions, as long as they are thoughtful, unbiased, and have a strong basis in fact or common consensus. | #'''This is an OTO-friendly site.''' Thelemapedia is hosted by Scarlet Woman Lodge, an [[Ordo Templi Orientis|OTO]] body, and so naturally we discourage OTO-bashing (or the bashing of any order). '''However, we strongly encourage non-OTO contributors.''' Furthermore, we welcome contributions that might not be in line with standard OTO positions, as long as they are thoughtful, unbiased, and have a strong basis in fact or common consensus. |
Revision as of 23:28, 26 Jun 2005
Thelemapedia is edited by the community. This means that issues such as factual accuracy, content, grammer, spelling, formatting, and completeness are left to the members to monitor and correct.
Table of contents |
Primary Editorial Principles
Whenever executive editorial decisions have to be made on Thelemapedia, they will be based on the following primary principles:
- Articles should be sympathetic with the principles, culture, practices, and beliefs of Thelema whenever possible.
- Articles should promote clarity, accuracy, and the will to inform without distortion or fabrication.
- Articles should reflect knowledge that is generally accepted in the Thelemic community, drawing from expert sources or common knowledge.
Editorial Guidelines
- Respect others. Although entries should be made from a "Thelemic" point of view, this is not a platform for attacking people, tarnishing reputations, or insulting groups, religions, or ideas that do not conform to your own (e.g. we will not tolerate generic bashing of Christians or Wiccans, or "real OTO" fights). This principle is vigorously enforced. Persistent attacks will result in a ban.
- Crowley comes first. Because Thelema is such a huge topic with countless interpretations and types of adherents, Thelemapedia attempts to avoid conflict by making the primary focus the works and philosophy of Aleister Crowley. Whenever there is a conflict regarding content between various beliefs, those of Crowley should take precedence.
- Avoid writing in the first person. Articles should be written from a neutral point of view. No article should contain phrases like, "I believe..." or "I have found that...". Look over current articles to get a feel for the writing style suitable for Thelemapedia.
- This is an OTO-friendly site. Thelemapedia is hosted by Scarlet Woman Lodge, an OTO body, and so naturally we discourage OTO-bashing (or the bashing of any order). However, we strongly encourage non-OTO contributors. Furthermore, we welcome contributions that might not be in line with standard OTO positions, as long as they are thoughtful, unbiased, and have a strong basis in fact or common consensus.
- Do not discuss items under seal. Because the world of Thelema includes initiatory orders, do not openly post information revealed within initiations or under oath, even if you feel you are justified to do so. However, with proper tact, you may discuss something that is considered secret if it is done completely out of context. Do so with great caution.
- Create Stubs responsibly. A stub is a new entry that has very little by way of content. Please make stubs only when there is a good reason, such as a topic that you feel strongly should exist, but you are not prepared to write yourself. When you do, be sure to write {{stub}} at the top of the edit box.
- Avoid profanity. This is not so much about offending others as it is about content. Profanity tends to be an expression of personal opinion, rather than fact or general consensus.
- Make omissions explicit. While you should try to make articles as complete as possible, if you leave something out, let that be known. Two suggestions: leave an HTML comment in the page or make a note on the discussion page for that entry.
- Avoid reverting and deleting. Amend, edit, and discuss.
- Do not sign your articles. But DO sign your posts on discussion pages by typing three tildes.
- Learn good etiquette. For a complete discussion, we strongly recommend reading the Wikipedia Etiquette Page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiquette).
- Try not to delete useful content. Just because something is written poorly doesn't mean it lacks a purpose. Consider what a sentence or paragraph tries to say. Clarify it instead of throwing it away. If the topic seems not to belong where it stands, consider moving the wayward material to another page, or creating a new page; otherwise, it's usually best to move it to the article's "Talk" page, which can be accessed using the "Discuss this page" button. Whoever wrote the text must have thought it valuable, so it's polite to preserve it somewhere.
- We recommend reading Wikipedia's Content Guidelines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines#Content_guidelines).
Executive Editorship
Thelemapedia is looking to form an Executive Editor group. Their job will be to:
- Mediate and resolve content disputes
- Protect certain pages from editing when appropriate
- Ban abusers of the system
- Help define and enforce needed policies
- Keep Thelemapedia within its intended scope
- Try to see that copyrights are protected (see our Disclaimers)
Until that time, the benevolent dictator (i.e. managing editor) is Fr. Ash.
The Executive Editorship reserves the right to:
- Accept new memberships, deny new memberships, ban users, and delete accounts without explanation. Banning and eliminating accounts are done only as a last resort and in extreme situations.
- Protect articles from changes.
- Control all aspects of the functionality of Thelemapedia, including (but not limited to) navigation, the categorization system, and namespaces.
- Rule on editorial content requirements that are global (e.g. all spellings of magician and magical must be spelled without the extra 'k').
- Change, eliminate, or add to existing Thelempedia policies without warning or explanation.
Where to go from here
- Where to start Read this if you are having trouble with getting started
- Really Simple Tutorial A friendly guide to all the basics
- Editorial Policy Basic policies regarding content and behavior on Thelemapedia
- How to Contribute A quick start primer for adding content to Thelemapedia
- Wiki Markup Full list of all the formatting code, including text, images, sections, and links
- Article Basics Find out how to write a great article
- Common Sources How to cite sources (including short libers), and a list of common books in reference format
- Projects Page List of needed articles organized by general topic
- What Thelemapedia is not
- Thelemapedia Power Structure Who's in charge
- Characters How to use Greek and Hebrew letters in your article
- Using Images How to upload and use images in your Thelemapedia articles
- Dispute Resolution What to do when the fighting breaks out
- List of boilerplate templates Automatic text messages, like the "stub" line
- Comprehensive Wikipedia Help Pages (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents) Everything there is to know about using a wiki