This is an
essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been
thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
This page in a nutshell: Use clear, expository, and even-handed responses in clashes over a new contribution. |
This essay aims to reduce controversy over proposed additions to existing articles.
It is important for editors with an established interest in a page to be welcoming to new contributors, to respond to new opinions on an article's direction with an open mind, and to reject changes appropriately, should rejection be warranted.
Likewise, there are a number of steps a new contributor to a page can take to gain serious consideration among the established editors.
One of Wikipedia's Five Pillars is to provide a contribution environment that is respectful and civil. That goal is served by carefully considered responses to contributors' requests for clarification when their contributions are rejected. Listening and responding thoughtfully can be the difference between a collaboration with a potentially valuable new editor and irrevocably souring their view of the community on that page, and perhaps WP as a whole.
For the contributor:
For the established editors:
Upon rejection, it is natural for a contributor to attempt justification of their addition. Upon initial refusal, a contributor will make what they believe to be a more careful explanation. Some sensitivity to the efforts of the contributor demands more than an off-the-cuff rejection:
For the contributor:
For the established editors:
Established editors should bear in mind that their involvement in previous discussions of various proposals may give them a mindset that is blinkered to the novelty of a new proposal that is only superficially similar to an old one. A useful guard against such a mindset is the process of explanation of the similarity, which provokes some thought about the new contribution and avoids knee-jerk rejection.
It is natural for some controversy to arise over the value of proposed additions.
For the contributor:
For the established editors:
For both:
WP guidelines and policies are spelled out on their respective pages, and provide guidance toward good content and productive behavior. But the application of the general policy to the particular case takes judgment that may be controversial. The appearance of cavalier rejection without explanation is inflammatory and may result in a hostile encounter on Talk pages that is hard to correct.
For contributors:
For established editors:
For both:
A feature of WP is the one-line edit summary. The key guideline here is: [8]
When material is rejected, the terse one-line summary without Talk-page amplification works best with obvious reversions. A reversion with a one-line edit summary hardly ever works for serious, extended contributions; the one-line edit summary easily can lead to an unproductive and unpleasant Talk-page exchange.
If the one-line edit summary employs links to a policy or guideline like WP:OR, WP:Syn or so forth, it is quite likely to result in a Talk-page engagement because the contributor is unlikely to view their addition as a violation. With that in mind, the one-line edit using such links should be supplemented with a Talk-page explanation that frames subsequent discussion, or worded in a way unlikely to set up an irritated Talk-page exchange. For example, a conciliatory one-line edit summary:
might avoid an edit war.
This is an
essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been
thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
This page in a nutshell: Use clear, expository, and even-handed responses in clashes over a new contribution. |
This essay aims to reduce controversy over proposed additions to existing articles.
It is important for editors with an established interest in a page to be welcoming to new contributors, to respond to new opinions on an article's direction with an open mind, and to reject changes appropriately, should rejection be warranted.
Likewise, there are a number of steps a new contributor to a page can take to gain serious consideration among the established editors.
One of Wikipedia's Five Pillars is to provide a contribution environment that is respectful and civil. That goal is served by carefully considered responses to contributors' requests for clarification when their contributions are rejected. Listening and responding thoughtfully can be the difference between a collaboration with a potentially valuable new editor and irrevocably souring their view of the community on that page, and perhaps WP as a whole.
For the contributor:
For the established editors:
Upon rejection, it is natural for a contributor to attempt justification of their addition. Upon initial refusal, a contributor will make what they believe to be a more careful explanation. Some sensitivity to the efforts of the contributor demands more than an off-the-cuff rejection:
For the contributor:
For the established editors:
Established editors should bear in mind that their involvement in previous discussions of various proposals may give them a mindset that is blinkered to the novelty of a new proposal that is only superficially similar to an old one. A useful guard against such a mindset is the process of explanation of the similarity, which provokes some thought about the new contribution and avoids knee-jerk rejection.
It is natural for some controversy to arise over the value of proposed additions.
For the contributor:
For the established editors:
For both:
WP guidelines and policies are spelled out on their respective pages, and provide guidance toward good content and productive behavior. But the application of the general policy to the particular case takes judgment that may be controversial. The appearance of cavalier rejection without explanation is inflammatory and may result in a hostile encounter on Talk pages that is hard to correct.
For contributors:
For established editors:
For both:
A feature of WP is the one-line edit summary. The key guideline here is: [8]
When material is rejected, the terse one-line summary without Talk-page amplification works best with obvious reversions. A reversion with a one-line edit summary hardly ever works for serious, extended contributions; the one-line edit summary easily can lead to an unproductive and unpleasant Talk-page exchange.
If the one-line edit summary employs links to a policy or guideline like WP:OR, WP:Syn or so forth, it is quite likely to result in a Talk-page engagement because the contributor is unlikely to view their addition as a violation. With that in mind, the one-line edit using such links should be supplemented with a Talk-page explanation that frames subsequent discussion, or worded in a way unlikely to set up an irritated Talk-page exchange. For example, a conciliatory one-line edit summary:
might avoid an edit war.