Thelemapedia:Power structure

(Revision as of 22:13, 26 Oct 2005)

The power structure of Thelemapedia is in an early phase. There are three main areas of power: content, policy, and function.

Table of contents

Content

Content refers to Thelemapedia articles. With almost no exceptions, every single member of Thelemapedia has equal editorial power within this domain. As long as content fits within site policy, no editor has any more authority than any other editor. This means that articles should result from the process of consensus building. Sometimes, only one or two people work on an article, and little consensus-building is needed. When several editors are working on a page, some disagreement becomes likely. In such cases, disagreements should be solved with polite discussion (although this is more of a guideline than a policy...sometimes it is better to go ahead and edit. Just use your common sense to know the difference and please be polite). Just remember the golden rule: the object is to create a great encyclopedia article, not to win arguments or force a belief into the site.

When it comes to editorial policy that guides content, pretty much all Thelemapedia rules and guidelines fall under the Primary Editorial 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.

Policy

Policy refers to the overall conceptual parameters and objectives of Thelemapedia and the rules and guidelines developed to manifest them. Stewards are Thelemapedians who have "administrator" rights. Their primary responsibility is to care for the welfare and integrity of the site. Editorially, they have no more authority than any other site member, and are equally bound to Thelemapedia editorial policies. At the same time, they do have special security privileges which they use to enforce policy when necessary. For example, they have the ability to protect and delete pages, block and ban users, and delete obvious vandalism. More than that, they are available for dispute mediation and as a source of assistance, essentially providing guidance and leadership within the Thelemapedia community. (See: List of Stewards, which are technically called Admins).

Since Thelemapedia is a project of Ordo Templi Orientis, there are those who are in a position to make certain high level decisions. The Lodgemaster of Scarlet Woman Lodge and the Grand Master of U.S. Grand Lodge may institute changes when content or policies might interfere with Order policy or general wellbeing.

Function

Function refers to the general mechanics of the site. This includes code, visual design, wiki functionality, and all elements that affect the general user experience (such as the design of the main page, promotional efforts, etc.). The site is hosted on a server by Fr. Omega, who donates his time and expertise in server maintenance.

Where to go next

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

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