<
User:FT2
- This page is considerably out of date as I have stopped tracking these over the years. See the talk page for a few updates.
Policy and project pages are an important editor resource. Improvements to clarity have wide impact. They encourage and guide good editorship within the community at large, reduce disputes, and are often referenced by third parties to understand more about Wikipedia.
For article edits, see here.
|
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Wikipedia project-space editing
Caveats: 1) In some cases stated diffs include minor collaboration by others. 2) Categorization and representation are invariably subjective in a few cases.
2008 - 2010 updates Authoring or rewriting:
- Local checkuser policy (author)
- IP block exempt (author - new tool)
- User pages guideline (rewrite)
- Pending changes help pages (author - new tool)
- BLP subject's help page (author)
- Sockpuppet investigation pages and processes (primary author - merger of SSP and RFCU)
- much of the current structure and wording of administrator policy
- much of Oversight and RevisionDelete policies (both involved new tools)
- notability noticeboard static section and guidance (author)
Pages written or rewritten
Page Modification Date Before / after WP:ABOUT
(main 'about' page)Rewrote; became the current stable format Dec 2005 before after Cleaned up edited introduction, added sections: 1/ handling of disputes/abuse, 2/ "see also" and other resources, 3/ disclaimers, 4/ sections on "editorial administration, oversight and management" and the Foundation - important for many readers and for 3rd party understanding. Mar.-May 2006, Dec. 2006, Aug. 2007 diff diff diff diff Admin coaching requests Rewrote page to add 1/ request management, 2/ responding guidelines, 3/ applicant "pre coaching basics checklist", 4/ archiving of old requests. June 2007 before after Admin coaching guidelines Switched Admin coaching from "edit count" basis to "perception of trust" basis. March 2008 before after WP:APPEAL
(appealing a block)Rewrote, became the current stable version Jan. 2007 diff Arbitration policy/Case handling Authored this arbcom information subpage. Sept. 2007 new WP:BANAV
(guide to basic navigation)Authored this guide to basic navigation in 2005. Dec. 2005 new WP:BRD
(bold, revert, delete)Rewrote much of page. Remains current stable version. June 2007 before after WP:DBF
(essay:don't be a fanatic)Authored. Dec. 2005 new WP:DP
(deletion policy)Rewrote/reorganized; became the current stable format July 2006 before after WP:EOC
(editorial oversight and control)Authored project page which is intended to back up pages such as WP:ABOUT and Reliability of Wikipedia by explaining Wikipedia's systems of self-regulation; important for commentators and third parties performing research or seeking to understand Wikipedia. Jan. 2007 new WP:GAME
(gaming the system)Authored; became current stable format July/Aug. 2007 new WP:GOOGLE
(search engine test)Authored this comprehensive page on techniques (and limitations) of search engine usage for Wikipedia. Became the current stable format. Aug. 2007 before after WP:NPOV and
WP:NPOVFAQ
(neutral point of view)Clean-up and reorganize (not a policy that's easy to get consensus for major reworking) June 2006 before after new faq Fork interesting but non-core FAQ material to separate page. Became the current stable format. June 2006 Various additions and edits covering 1/ interaction of neutrality and verifiability - how they interact (a common problem in disputes of the form "it's verified so it needs to be included"), 2/ address article name POV issues more carefully, 3/ update nutshell, 4/ clean up "good research" July-Aug. 2007 diff diff diff diff WP:PRESS
(press coverage)Reorganization of sections and lists; became the current stable format July 2006 before after WP:RFC
(request for comments)Rewrote; became the current stable intro Nov. 2004 before after WP:RTV
(right to vanish, 'meta')Authored. Approved as the current stable version Oct. 2007 before talk after WP:SPA
(single purpose accounts)Authored; became the current stable format Mar. 2006 new TMPLT:UW-COI
(talk page COI warning)Authored, provisional: - awaiting consensus and feedback. No.v 2007 before after WP:WTA
(words to avoid)Rewrote; became the current stable format Dec. 2005 before after (TBA) Current draft in progress Section edits and general cleanup
TMPLT:AFD header
(AFD header text)Rewrote; became the current stable intro Nov. 2004 before after WP:AGF
(assume good faith)Complete refactor. Remains the current stable version. July 2007 before after WP:ATA
(Arguments to avoid at AFD)Clarify communal norm that the original motive for article creation is separate from the decision to keep or remove it at AFD. July 2007 diff WP:BAN
(banning policy)User not to be described as 'banned' without good basis for it. After various discussions, policy changed to add "and the block has received due consideration by the community" in two places. Aug. 2007 before proposal current WP:BLOCK
(blocking policy)Correct definition of "indefinite block" drafted and (after some discussion) added Sept. 2007 diff Clarifications regarding 1/ purpose and goal, and 2/ blocking without warning. Nov. 2007 proposed diff WP:BRIEF
(Wikipedia in brief)Authored page. Small though! Dec. 2005 new WP:CITE
(citing sources)Unreasonable or one-sided use of cite demands as a means of gaming the system is not acceptable per WP:POINT. Jan. 2007 diff WP:COI
(conflict of interest)Nutshell rewritten to be more useful and less BITEy, and actually sum up what we want people to do. Oct. 2007 talk diff WP:N
(notability)Added important definition of "presumed" which made WP:N policy consistent with WP:NOT (sourcing is evidence but the existence of sources alone is not conclusive - announcements, transient media, and so on being examples. WP:N gave the impression that sources were enough, leading to misunderstandings and incorrect contention at AFD.) Also cleanup of footnotes. Sept. 2007 talk diff WP:NOT
(what Wikipedia is not)Added significant exceptions and clarifications covering non-encyclopedic cross-categorisations ("Nebraskans in NASA" for example). A second edit on "gazeteers" was later reverted. Aug. 2007 diff WT:NPA
(no personal attacks)Following tentative agreement by the community on a resolution to the notorious BADSITES case, proposed the means finally adopted as "elegant" of fixing WP:NPA. Oct. 2007 diff1 diff2 WP:POINT
(disruption to make a point)Drafted a section on "refusal to get the point", a major loophole exploited by warriors and other disruptive editors. July 2007 diff WP:RFA
(requests for adminship)Current proposal: Modifications proposed in the wake of recent events, to handle two problem cases: 1/ voluntarily resigned admins who later seek RFA, only to then ask for sysophood "as of right", and 2/ exceptional disruption Nov. 2007 diff WP:SIMPLE
(simplified ruleset)Cleanup; Reorganize from list of rules, to itemize important v. less important. July 2006 before after WP:SIZE
(article size)Cleanup; added sections to clarify what is/is not readable prose, and explain rationale June 2006 diff WP:SOCK
(sock puppetry)Involved in page rewrite collaboration, and rewrote section on meatpuppet groups and solicitation. Mar. 2006 before after WP:WBE
(Wikipedians by edit count)Rewrote caveats to address the WP:MFD case in which this page was felt to glorify 'editcount-itis' Oct. 2007 diff
Mediawiki user interface:
- Mediawiki:Blocktext - resolving the mailing list concern whereby blocked users were not given good directions regarding email and appeals.
Navigation improvements:
- precedents, and copyright assistance header (mentioned above).
New categories added and populated:
Topic templates added:
Security
- May 2006 -- Created Template:Derefer to prevent HTTP referer tags being inadvertantly logged in the few cases where this would be a problem, in relation to external links.
- Oct 2007 -- Arbitrary code execution exploit identified and closure obtained in user and admin monobook user script ( WP:ANI report).
Projects
Key Wikipedia reference articles
Wrote these four pages, covering topics that wikipedia needs to have well founded articles on, for researchers, critics, media inquiry, or other internal/external understanding and information.
- As noted, "See talk page. ABOUT has been criticized on Village Pump (Policy) for not actually guiding newcomers what Wikipedia is, and how to rely on it for research. This has resulted in bad publicity." own edit summary, Dec. 2005.
Despite including some subjects considered controversial (eg, reliability and Wales/Sanger disagreements), these pages have remained long term almost completely stable, evidencing the neutral cited focus they were written. Although presumably controversial, no edit dispute has yet occurred over any cites, representation, or neutrality.
The "Editorial oversight and control" page in particular provides formal coverage regarding the exercise of formal editorial control in an "encyclopedia that anyone can edit", how that actually works, and how quality control is generated on the project. It's important since some commentators discuss the apparent lack of editorial specialization and control (particularly in the context of reliability and/or vandalism), without much insight as to how editorial oversight operates in practice.
Copyright section reorganization and cleanup
Cleanup of the project's copyright pages into one organized section:
- Wikipedia:Request for copyright assistance (Authored; current stable version. new)
- Wikipedia:Requesting copyright permission Explanation of permission requests and necessity (add context, key information for readers, and layout before after diff)
- Wikipedia:Example requests for permission (cleanup before after)
- Replaced unhelpful names, such as Boilerplate request for permission to Example requests for permission
- Updated copyright navigation sidebar template [1]
- Template:Copyrightassistanceheader Created copyright assistance section header template (Authored new)
The entire copyright section was fairly disorganized. With copyright increasingly a focus of serious attention in the project, this wasn't fully helping or supporting editorial work to the degree needed.
<
User:FT2
- This page is considerably out of date as I have stopped tracking these over the years. See the talk page for a few updates.
Policy and project pages are an important editor resource. Improvements to clarity have wide impact. They encourage and guide good editorship within the community at large, reduce disputes, and are often referenced by third parties to understand more about Wikipedia.
For article edits, see here.
|
Wikipedia project-space editing
Caveats: 1) In some cases stated diffs include minor collaboration by others. 2) Categorization and representation are invariably subjective in a few cases.
2008 - 2010 updates Authoring or rewriting:
- Local checkuser policy (author)
- IP block exempt (author - new tool)
- User pages guideline (rewrite)
- Pending changes help pages (author - new tool)
- BLP subject's help page (author)
- Sockpuppet investigation pages and processes (primary author - merger of SSP and RFCU)
- much of the current structure and wording of administrator policy
- much of Oversight and RevisionDelete policies (both involved new tools)
- notability noticeboard static section and guidance (author)
Pages written or rewritten
Page Modification Date Before / after WP:ABOUT
(main 'about' page)Rewrote; became the current stable format Dec 2005 before after Cleaned up edited introduction, added sections: 1/ handling of disputes/abuse, 2/ "see also" and other resources, 3/ disclaimers, 4/ sections on "editorial administration, oversight and management" and the Foundation - important for many readers and for 3rd party understanding. Mar.-May 2006, Dec. 2006, Aug. 2007 diff diff diff diff Admin coaching requests Rewrote page to add 1/ request management, 2/ responding guidelines, 3/ applicant "pre coaching basics checklist", 4/ archiving of old requests. June 2007 before after Admin coaching guidelines Switched Admin coaching from "edit count" basis to "perception of trust" basis. March 2008 before after WP:APPEAL
(appealing a block)Rewrote, became the current stable version Jan. 2007 diff Arbitration policy/Case handling Authored this arbcom information subpage. Sept. 2007 new WP:BANAV
(guide to basic navigation)Authored this guide to basic navigation in 2005. Dec. 2005 new WP:BRD
(bold, revert, delete)Rewrote much of page. Remains current stable version. June 2007 before after WP:DBF
(essay:don't be a fanatic)Authored. Dec. 2005 new WP:DP
(deletion policy)Rewrote/reorganized; became the current stable format July 2006 before after WP:EOC
(editorial oversight and control)Authored project page which is intended to back up pages such as WP:ABOUT and Reliability of Wikipedia by explaining Wikipedia's systems of self-regulation; important for commentators and third parties performing research or seeking to understand Wikipedia. Jan. 2007 new WP:GAME
(gaming the system)Authored; became current stable format July/Aug. 2007 new WP:GOOGLE
(search engine test)Authored this comprehensive page on techniques (and limitations) of search engine usage for Wikipedia. Became the current stable format. Aug. 2007 before after WP:NPOV and
WP:NPOVFAQ
(neutral point of view)Clean-up and reorganize (not a policy that's easy to get consensus for major reworking) June 2006 before after new faq Fork interesting but non-core FAQ material to separate page. Became the current stable format. June 2006 Various additions and edits covering 1/ interaction of neutrality and verifiability - how they interact (a common problem in disputes of the form "it's verified so it needs to be included"), 2/ address article name POV issues more carefully, 3/ update nutshell, 4/ clean up "good research" July-Aug. 2007 diff diff diff diff WP:PRESS
(press coverage)Reorganization of sections and lists; became the current stable format July 2006 before after WP:RFC
(request for comments)Rewrote; became the current stable intro Nov. 2004 before after WP:RTV
(right to vanish, 'meta')Authored. Approved as the current stable version Oct. 2007 before talk after WP:SPA
(single purpose accounts)Authored; became the current stable format Mar. 2006 new TMPLT:UW-COI
(talk page COI warning)Authored, provisional: - awaiting consensus and feedback. No.v 2007 before after WP:WTA
(words to avoid)Rewrote; became the current stable format Dec. 2005 before after (TBA) Current draft in progress Section edits and general cleanup
TMPLT:AFD header
(AFD header text)Rewrote; became the current stable intro Nov. 2004 before after WP:AGF
(assume good faith)Complete refactor. Remains the current stable version. July 2007 before after WP:ATA
(Arguments to avoid at AFD)Clarify communal norm that the original motive for article creation is separate from the decision to keep or remove it at AFD. July 2007 diff WP:BAN
(banning policy)User not to be described as 'banned' without good basis for it. After various discussions, policy changed to add "and the block has received due consideration by the community" in two places. Aug. 2007 before proposal current WP:BLOCK
(blocking policy)Correct definition of "indefinite block" drafted and (after some discussion) added Sept. 2007 diff Clarifications regarding 1/ purpose and goal, and 2/ blocking without warning. Nov. 2007 proposed diff WP:BRIEF
(Wikipedia in brief)Authored page. Small though! Dec. 2005 new WP:CITE
(citing sources)Unreasonable or one-sided use of cite demands as a means of gaming the system is not acceptable per WP:POINT. Jan. 2007 diff WP:COI
(conflict of interest)Nutshell rewritten to be more useful and less BITEy, and actually sum up what we want people to do. Oct. 2007 talk diff WP:N
(notability)Added important definition of "presumed" which made WP:N policy consistent with WP:NOT (sourcing is evidence but the existence of sources alone is not conclusive - announcements, transient media, and so on being examples. WP:N gave the impression that sources were enough, leading to misunderstandings and incorrect contention at AFD.) Also cleanup of footnotes. Sept. 2007 talk diff WP:NOT
(what Wikipedia is not)Added significant exceptions and clarifications covering non-encyclopedic cross-categorisations ("Nebraskans in NASA" for example). A second edit on "gazeteers" was later reverted. Aug. 2007 diff WT:NPA
(no personal attacks)Following tentative agreement by the community on a resolution to the notorious BADSITES case, proposed the means finally adopted as "elegant" of fixing WP:NPA. Oct. 2007 diff1 diff2 WP:POINT
(disruption to make a point)Drafted a section on "refusal to get the point", a major loophole exploited by warriors and other disruptive editors. July 2007 diff WP:RFA
(requests for adminship)Current proposal: Modifications proposed in the wake of recent events, to handle two problem cases: 1/ voluntarily resigned admins who later seek RFA, only to then ask for sysophood "as of right", and 2/ exceptional disruption Nov. 2007 diff WP:SIMPLE
(simplified ruleset)Cleanup; Reorganize from list of rules, to itemize important v. less important. July 2006 before after WP:SIZE
(article size)Cleanup; added sections to clarify what is/is not readable prose, and explain rationale June 2006 diff WP:SOCK
(sock puppetry)Involved in page rewrite collaboration, and rewrote section on meatpuppet groups and solicitation. Mar. 2006 before after WP:WBE
(Wikipedians by edit count)Rewrote caveats to address the WP:MFD case in which this page was felt to glorify 'editcount-itis' Oct. 2007 diff
Mediawiki user interface:
- Mediawiki:Blocktext - resolving the mailing list concern whereby blocked users were not given good directions regarding email and appeals.
Navigation improvements:
- precedents, and copyright assistance header (mentioned above).
New categories added and populated:
Topic templates added:
Security
- May 2006 -- Created Template:Derefer to prevent HTTP referer tags being inadvertantly logged in the few cases where this would be a problem, in relation to external links.
- Oct 2007 -- Arbitrary code execution exploit identified and closure obtained in user and admin monobook user script ( WP:ANI report).
Projects
Key Wikipedia reference articles
Wrote these four pages, covering topics that wikipedia needs to have well founded articles on, for researchers, critics, media inquiry, or other internal/external understanding and information.
- As noted, "See talk page. ABOUT has been criticized on Village Pump (Policy) for not actually guiding newcomers what Wikipedia is, and how to rely on it for research. This has resulted in bad publicity." own edit summary, Dec. 2005.
Despite including some subjects considered controversial (eg, reliability and Wales/Sanger disagreements), these pages have remained long term almost completely stable, evidencing the neutral cited focus they were written. Although presumably controversial, no edit dispute has yet occurred over any cites, representation, or neutrality.
The "Editorial oversight and control" page in particular provides formal coverage regarding the exercise of formal editorial control in an "encyclopedia that anyone can edit", how that actually works, and how quality control is generated on the project. It's important since some commentators discuss the apparent lack of editorial specialization and control (particularly in the context of reliability and/or vandalism), without much insight as to how editorial oversight operates in practice.
Copyright section reorganization and cleanup
Cleanup of the project's copyright pages into one organized section:
- Wikipedia:Request for copyright assistance (Authored; current stable version. new)
- Wikipedia:Requesting copyright permission Explanation of permission requests and necessity (add context, key information for readers, and layout before after diff)
- Wikipedia:Example requests for permission (cleanup before after)
- Replaced unhelpful names, such as Boilerplate request for permission to Example requests for permission
- Updated copyright navigation sidebar template [1]
- Template:Copyrightassistanceheader Created copyright assistance section header template (Authored new)
The entire copyright section was fairly disorganized. With copyright increasingly a focus of serious attention in the project, this wasn't fully helping or supporting editorial work to the degree needed.