User:RobertMfromLI/Adoptees

About Me

By now, I am sure you all have probably read my user page* to learn a little about me. If not, please stop and check it out now, then continue here. In addition to what you can glean from my userpage, I have a lot of experience in dealing with dispute resolution, vandalism, article creation and copyediting on some of the other projects I work on outside of Wikipedia. If there's something in particular you are interested in knowing about me, dont hesitate to ask. Though there is an email link on my userpage, I would prefer any Wikipedia related questions are put on my talk page for transparency purposes.

Sorry this page is pretty long... but if you read and fully understand it, chances are you will never get into problems on Wikipedia and you'll find you will become a valued contributor.

* If I (RobertMfromLI) am not your mentor, then possibly your mentor helped me work on this document and is using it too, or your mentor found this and finds it useful.

Summary

Wikipedia is comprised of various Policies and Guidelines. As long as you accept me as your mentor (which, unless your mentorship is involuntary, is something you can end at any time), I am hoping you can abide by those Policies and Guidelines, as well as my outlined expectations below. Though I go into great detail below, they are all very simple (as you will notice when you've read it all).

Though Wikipedia has very few rules that are set in stone (most are always open for discussion, new consensus and thus changes), as long as I am your mentor, I do have a few that are set in stone (remember, you can always choose to find another mentor - or choose to agree to these rules). In addition, I have a few Guidelines/Suggestions that will make your use of Wikipedia easier.

Important Things About Editing Here

Questions: My Definition of "Stupid" Questions

The only stupid question is the one you don't ask. I mean that! There are no stupid questions!!! If you have a question, ask it! No one (that I've met) knows everything about Wikipedia (even though there are a few people who do know a whole lot), especially since some things are determined by consensus. So, if you have a question, ask it; never be too proud to ask a question, take the opportunity to learn something new, and some time down the road when you think you are ready, return the favor to someone else who has an unanswered question.

Mistakes: You WILL Make Them (So Don't Worry About It)

If you decide to stick around, you WILL make mistakes. It happens to the best of us (and me as well). So, be bold, and edit! Try things! Learn things! I've only got a few simple tips for this (mistakes to always avoid):

Don't make the mistake of being uncivil to your fellow editors (even if one is uncivil to you).
- This is very important. The comments you make never "go away". You can't delete them, you can't change them. They will always be in the edit histories.
- Thus, if you are in a heated discussion, go take a break and calm down instead of posting something nasty in the heat of the moment.
Don't get into edit wars! Wikipedia is a community; instead of repeatedly reverting each other, try discussing the issue on the article's talk page. If that still doesn't work, let me know and I will teach you how to file a request for comment to get other uninvolved editors to help out.
If you are treated uncivilly over your mistakes, politely let the person know you'd like to get your Mentor involved and we will deal with the issue together (keep in mind, you still must be civil in return).
- If you make an honest mistake, and it's not one of the things I mentioned above (or below), I can and will defend you and your right to make mistakes here. And I will win.
- If it is one of the things I mention above or below, I can't do much to help you, and unless you can convince me you won't do them again, I might not even try (I really don't like seeing people being uncivil to each other or being part of an edit war over something as silly as page edits or disagreements over content; always keep yourself above it).
The Undo link is a handy tool to revert a mistake you have made. Click the article's "History" page, and check to see if the latest revision is yours (first entry) - if so, undo it with apologies, and ask someone for help to achieve what you were trying to do.
On this note, if you want to see how an edit works, or you want to play around, you can either use the Wikipedia Sandbox or create new pages in your own userspace (if you don't know how to do that, let me know - it's pretty easy).
If (WHEN) you make a mistake, how you handle it is the most important thing. Be honest, admit you screwed up, and ask for help if you need it to fix your mistake. Oh, and learn from it. Turn it into a learning experience so your editing here improves.

Things you should know about Wikipedia

Wikipedia is not about the truth - it's about verifiability sourced by reliable sources written in a neutral point of view. That's in a way beneficial. It means Wikipedia can discuss numerous topics as perceived by others, regardless of whether they are true or not. People believe many things, and each should be given weight, whether they are true or not - because the part that is true is that people believe many things.

Wikipedia is not MySpace or Facebook - things shouldn't be written in a fashion that would be used on those sites.

Wikipedia is not a blog - things must always maintain a neutral point of view.

A source is not a reliable source if it's a blog, MySpace, Facebook, etc. Nor is it a reliable source if the contributor is not appropriate to the premise (and proposed addition) being discussed. For instance, one would not cite a professional plumber on matters of music, religion or science.

My Guidelines for My Adoptees

Wikipedia Policies and Guidelines

Please familiarize yourself with the various policies and guidelines of Wikipedia. These policies and guidelines are also my expectations of you. If you have any questions about how to interpret any of them, drop me a note. If I dont know the answer, I will be sure to ~~make up something that sounds good~~ ask someone more experienced than I to ensure you get the correct answer.

Article Creation and editing

For article creation or edits, please review Manual of Style, Reliable Sources, Neutral Point of View, (Not) Writing in essay form, The Truth^TM (as opposed to verifiability), Rules concerning Biographies of Living People (citing and wording is much more specific in these cases), Copyright rules (do not ever plagiarize any other site, book, blog, etc - please! You may face an indefinite block if you do, and there's little I can do to help you out of this).
More tips, policies and guidelines on editing can be found here: Policies and Guidelines

General help on how to use the editor, add infoboxes and so on can be found here: Help: Editing Wikipedia

Interacting with other editors

When interacting with other editors, please always remember these tenants: always be civil, always assume good faith, use proper etiquette on Wikipedia, always work towards (and abide by) consensus on disputed articles/additions, never resort to personal attacks, never vandalize Wikipedia (or unless you can convince me it was an accident, you may find that I will be the first to ask for you to be blocked), never disrupt Wikipedia to prove a point, and if all else fails use some form of dispute resolution and ensure you let me know there's a problem.

More tips, policies and guidelines on editing can be found here: Policies and Guidelines

The Five Pillars

This should be mandatory reading for everyone, as it describes a lot about what you can expect and how you should interact on Wikipedia in a nutshell: WP:FIVE.

My Rules for Adoptees

Conduct

Please treat all other editors with respect, whether they treat you the same or not. This rule applies to talk page comments, edit summaries or any other interaction with any other editor on Wikipedia. If another editor is not treating you with respect, please let me, an admin, or an experienced uninvolved editor know. Do not take the bait and violate this rule of conduct.

Do not violate the three revert rule no matter how strongly you feel about the content you wish to be included in the article. Also, I'd prefer if you don't hit 2 reverts. Instead, before it gets to two:
- Leave a polite note on the other editor's Talk Page offering to discuss the matter on the article's talk page.
- Get other editors involved to help form a consensus and review all involved editors' proposed contributions on the article's talk page.
- IF those fail: contact me, or start a Request for Comment to get uninvolved editors to review the situation.
  - An article not being "perfect" for a day or two while everyone comes to a consensus or while uninvolved editors step in to help work things out is far better than you being blocked for edit warring

Your Actions

YOU are responsible for your actions - not me (unless I give you some off the wall instructions that get you into trouble and an uninvolved editor or admin agrees that I am the cause - in which case, I will step up to shoulder the blame).

If you make a mistake, and someone points it out to you, please politely take it as constructive criticism, own up to your mistake (hey, we're all human, we will all make mistakes from time to time), and work on not making the same mistake again.

If someone else claims you have made a mistake, and you disagree, let me know or find an admin or an experienced editor to review your actions to let all parties know what they think of what's going on.

Keep in mind that neither myself or they may side with you (or the other party for that matter) - or we may. Whatever consensus is reached should be treated as if it is binding (Wikipedia is a community effort driven by consensus... you will win some, you will lose some... don't let that dampen your enthusiasm for contributing to this project).

If I feel you are in the right, I will (if needed) involve an uninvolved experienced editor or admin to confirm my opinion, and if they agree, I will fight for you till my dying breath - or at least until my fingers get tired (in all seriousness though, it wont come to a fight... usually all that is needed is the perspective of an outsider).

If I feel you are in the wrong, I will tell you so. That does not mean I will suddenly disappear and stop helping you. It simply means you made a mistake (refer above to the "we're all human" statement), so let's fix it and move on. How you deal with your mistakes means faaaaar more to me than that you made one.

Never attack another editor. Comment on the edit, but not the editor. Do not word your comments in an ambiguous way that makes it imply anything negative about the editor.

Always remember that many editors here are very passionate about the articles they contribute to - just like you. Keep that in mind when dealing with others and work on focusing that mutual energy and passion towards making the article better instead of getting into heated debates. After all, it's the betterment of the articles and Wikipedia as a whole that should be the reason we are all here.

Conclusion

This may seem like a lot to digest, but it's pretty easy. Always be civil, even if not treated that way. Don't get into edit wars. Be bold and know you will make mistakes (and don't worry about that, we can fix it). If there's a disagreement, get other editors involved and reach a consensus - and then graciously abide by that consensus even if it's not the result you were looking for. Ask for help, and take advice when given by other editors who have lots of experience. And read up on the tips and links above to get a basic understanding of how to edit and how to add content. Oh, and (again), ask questions.

Why then is the page so long if that's all I need to know?

I've made this page verbose not to scare you away, but to ensure everything you need to know about being a good contributor to Wikipedia is explained thoroughly. But as I said directly above this, it's all pretty easy stuff. So, now that you understand the guidelines and policies, and you've got my quick summary in the "Conclusion" in your head... go out and edit! Welcome to the Wikipedia Community!