 | This is an essay on the Ignore all rules policy. 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. |
The policy "Ignore all rules" says If a rule prevents you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia, ignore it.
It's simple, and seems like a the perfect solution when one pesky rule or another gets in the way of improving the encyclopedia, but for inexperienced editors it's a trap. What it actually means is "ignore most of the written rules, while not breaking any of the unwritten ones".
As an inexperienced editor you won't know what these unwritten rules are, and instead you'll probably find your edit reverted, and yourself thrown in irons or dragged to the stocks. This is particularly true if you attempt to ignore the rules in a contentious topic.
In short: If you're inexperienced, don't use IAR - and if you're not sure whether you're experienced, you're not.