Wikipedia:Editin policy
Perfection nae needit, or the joy o editin
eeditIt is grand whan somebodie eiks a full, weel-screiven, final draucht ti Wikipedia. This maun aye be encouraged.
Houaniver, ane o the great pynts o the Wiki seistem is that pairtly duin or puirlie screiven first drauchts o airticles can turn intil polished, presentable maisterpieces throu the process o editin thegither. This gies oor gate an advantage ower ither gates o makkin seimlar warks. Sae the makkin o roch drauchts shuid be encouraged richt steivelie an aa.
Ae body can stairt an airticle wi, aiblins, an owerview or a few facts allevolie. Anither body can eik a minority opeinion. Some ither bodie can full oot the airticle wi mair perspectives. Yet anither can play up an angle that haes been negleckit, or reword the earlier opeinions til a mair neutral pynt o view. Anither body micht eik facts an feigurs or a graphic til it, an yet anither micht fix the spellin an grammatical fauts that haes cruppen in athrou thir monie edits.
As aa this material is eikit, onybodie micht contreibute an refactor ti turn it intil a mair cohesive haill. Than, mair text will be eikit; then, mair refactorin, an the airticle will slawly evolve aye nearer ti the ultimate final draucht.
Whiles this process is gaun on, the airticle micht leuk like a first draucht—or waur, a mixter-maxter o jottins an factoids. Raither nor bein horrifee'd bi this ugsomeness, we shuid rejyce in its potential, an hae faith that the editin process will turn it into braw prose. Atweill we dinna hae ti like it; we may creiticise raellie orra wark, as weel as juist richtin it. It is maist important that it is richtit, gin it can be richtit. For text that is ayont howp we will muive the offendin article til its collogue page, or, whan the airticle claerly haes nae redeemin wirth in onie wey, dae awa wi it ootricht. The latter action shuidna be taen lichtly, houaniver.
On editin styles
eeditMaistly, different fowk here haes different editin "styles". Some fowk edits lichtlie an juist wirks on contreibutin new content. Ithers wad liefer impruive existin "stubs" an airticles, makkin them mair hail. Some likes ti mak wee copyeditin (sic as graimmar, spellin, clarifeein, an syntax) chynges, as weel as eikin new airtins an flittin pages (sae as ti rename them athoot lossin history an collogue).
There's room for aa this on Wikipaedia.
There's differin editin styles forbye in the sense o hou bauld fowk is willint ti be:
- Maist o us thinks we shuid be bauld chyngin pages.
- Nearhaund naebodie acts as tho previous authors maun be speirt at afore makkin chynges; gin we thocht that, we'd mak little progress.
- Quite the contrar: some Wikipedians thinks ye shuidna beat aboot the buss at aa—juist chynge a page richt awa whan ye see a faut, raither nor waitin ti discuss chynges that ye believe maun be duin. Colleaguin becomes the last resort.
- A middle viewpoint grees that collogues should be respeckit, but aa the same a wee tweak shuid be acceppit. In this view, til edit muckle or no will aften lippen on the context—an that seems mensefu eneuch.
There is a place for aa thir attitudes on Wikipaedia.
Wi muckle proponed deletions or replacements, it micht be best ti suggeest chynges in a discussion, sae the oreiginal author isna discouraged frae postin again. Ae body's betterment is anither's desecration, an naebodie likes ti see their wark destroyed athoot wairnin.
Sae ettle ti uphaud wittins, whataniver ye dae. Raisons for takkin bits o an airticle awa micht be:
- Duplication
- Irrelevancy
- daftness
- copyricht violations
- Inaccuracy, or whaur the accuracy o the wittins canna be estaiblished
Alternatives micht be:
- Rephrasin or giein an accurate precis whiles keepin the content
- Flittin text athin an airticle or til anither airticle (existin or new)
- Eikin mair o the wittins that ye think is needit for ti mak an airticle mair balanced
Whan, in yer conseidered opeinion, a page maun be rewritten or muckle chynged, gang on an dae that. But keep onie auld contents that ye jalouse micht hae some value on the collogue page, alang wi a comment anent whit for ye did the chynge. E'en gin ye dae awa wi something that's juist plain wrang, odds is that it got there acause somebodie thocht it wis richt, sae keep a comment that there's nae doot that it's wrang for tae lat later editors ken.
In onie case, gif ye decide til edit unco bauldlie or ti mak enquiries on the collogue page first, we'd thank ye ti mind that Wikipaedia isna a "discussion forum". Wikipaedia can be a gey energetic place, an it's best for the projeck as a hail gin we pit oor energies til betterin airticles raither nor til defendin oor fand theories, ideologies, releigions, an sae furth. Some conseideration o Mainners wadna hurt.
Editin an refactorin collogue pages
eeditFor mair guidelines on editin an refactorin collogue pages, see the follaein: