Wikipedia:Training/For students/Discussion

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Tips for effective discussion

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For productive discussions, remember to:

• Assume good faith: Wikipedia, being on the internet, is often a place for misunderstanding tone. Always assume other editors are trying to improve the project, mean well, and aren't being deliberately rude.
• Likewise, try to be your best self in responding to feedback: don't get defensive or angry. Whenever an edit is challenged, it has nothing to do with you as a person, and everything to do with improving Wikipedia. Be polite, and discuss article content rather than editors. Never make personal attacks, even in retaliation.
• Read messages people have left on the talk pages of articles you are editing. There may be a concern that will change the way you see your own plan to edit. Try to respond quickly, ideally within a few hours.
• Remember to keep an eye on the Watchlist for the pages you edit. (Did you set up email notifications in your preferences? You should!)

• Always sign your posts on talk pages using four tildes so that others can follow who is saying what. Put ~~~~ at the end of your message (not in the edit summary box).
• When you intend comments for a specific editor, make sure they get notified. You can either:

  a.)   start your comment on any Talk page with a reply template, like {{reply to|SomeUsername}}. That way, User:SomeUsername automatically gets a notification about your message; or

  b.)   leave a message on their User Talk page (with a link to the comments, if the discussion is happening on a different page).