FamilySearch Wiki:Talk Page Guidelines: Difference between revisions

When writing on a Talk page, certain approaches are counter-productive, while others facilitate good editing. The prime values of the Talk page are communication, courtesy and consideration. The following list is designed to help the contributor use talk pages effectively.  

{{Wikipedia|Wikipedia:Talk page}}  

*<span id="objective" />'''Stay objective''': Talk pages are not a forum for editors to argue their '''personal point of view''' about a controversial issue. They are a forum to discuss how the different '''points of view obtained from secondary sources''' should be included in the article, so that the end result is [[FamilySearch Wiki:NPOV|neutral and objective]] (which may mean including conflicting viewpoints). The best way to present a case is to find properly referenced material.  

*<span id="sharing" />'''Share material''': The Talk page can be used to store material from the article which has been removed because it is not verified, so that time can be given for references to be found. New material can sometimes be prepared on the Talk page until it is ready to be put into the article.  

=== Good practices  ===

*<span id="signature" />'''[[FamilySearch Wiki:Signatures|Sign your posts]]''': To sign a post, type four tildes (<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>), and they will be replaced with your username and time stamp, like this: [[User:Example|Example]] 13:21, 9 May 2008 (UTC). Please note that it is impossible to leave an anonymous comment because your user name or IP address is recorded in the page history.  

*<span id="concise" />'''Be concise''': If your post is longer than 100 words, consider shortening it. Long, rambling messages are difficult to understand, and are frequently either ignored or misunderstood. If you need to make a detailed, point by point discussion, see [[FamilySearch Wiki:Talk page guidelines#Layout|below]] for how to lay this out.  

*<span id="layout" />'''Keep the layout clear''': Keep the talk page attractively and clearly laid out. Avoid repetition, muddled writing, and unnecessary digressions. Talk pages with a good [[Signal-to-noise ratio#Informal_use|signal-to-noise ratio]] are more likely to attract continued participation. See {{wpd|WP:Talk_page_layout}}  

*<span id="archives" />'''{{wpd|WP:RTFA|Read the archives}}''': Many article talk pages contain links to archives, which contain earlier discussions. If you are a new editor to an article, be sure to read them, as they often deal with common content disputes and resolutions to them. You may well find your questions and/or objections have already been answered.  

*<span id="english" />'''Use English''': No matter to whom you address a comment, it is preferred that you use English on Talk pages in the English version of the wiki. This is so that comments may be comprehensible to the community at large. If the use of another language is unavoidable, try to also provide a translation of the comments. If you are requested to do so and cannot, you should either find a third party to translate.  

*<span id="contentnotcontrib" />'''[[FamilySearch Wiki:No personal attacks|Comment on content, not on the contributor]]''': Keep the discussions focused upon the topic of the Talk page, rather than on the personalities of the editors contributing to the Talk page.

Please note that some of the following are of sufficient importance to be official FamilySearch Wiki policy. Violations (and especially repeated violations) may lead to the offender being [[FamilySearch Wiki:Blocking and Banning|blocked or banned]] from editing.  

**'''Do not threaten people''': For example, threatening people with "admins you know" or having them banned for disagreeing with you.  

**'''[[FamilySearch Wiki:Avoid legal threats|Do not make legal threats]]''': Threatening a lawsuit is highly disruptive, for reasons given at the linked page.  

*'''Do not misrepresent other people:''' The record should accurately show significant exchanges that took place, and in the right context. This usually means:  

**Be precise in quoting others.  

**When describing other people's contributions or edits, use [[Help:Diff|diffs]]. The advantage of diffs in referring to a comment is that it will always remain the same, even when a talk page gets archived or a comment gets changed.  

**As a rule, do not edit others' comments, including signatures. Exceptions are described in the [[FamilySearch Wiki:Talk page guidelines#Editing_comments|next section]].  

*'''Do not impersonate other editors'''  

*'''Do not claim to be an administrator or claim to have an access level that you do not have''', as this can be highly disruptive and may cause other editors trouble in the cleanup process. User access levels can be checked at [[Special:ListUsers]] by anyone.  

*'''De-linking categories''': you may make category links inactive (e.g. change <nowiki>[[Category: foobar]]</nowiki> to <nowiki>[[:Category: foobar]]</nowiki> by adding a colon) to prevent the page from being added to a discussed category.

It is best to avoid changing your own comments. Other users may have already quoted you with a diff (see above) or have otherwise responded to your statement. Therefore, use "Show preview" and think about how your amended statement may look to others before you save it.  

**Strike-through is typed <nowiki><s>like this</s></nowiki> and ends up <s>like this</s>.  

**A placeholder is a phrase such as "[Thoughtless and stupid comment removed by the author.]". This will ensure that your fellow editors' irritated responses still make sense. In turn, they may then wish to replace their reply with something like, "[Irritated response to deleted comment removed. Apology accepted.]"  

*When modifying a comment, you can add a parenthetical note pointing out the change. You can also add an additional timestamp by typing <nowiki>~~~~~</nowiki> (five {{wpd|tilde}}s).

If you have a disagreement or a problem with someone's behavior, please read [[FamilySearch Wiki:Dispute Resolution]].  

*[[Help:Talk Pages]]

[[Category:Help|Talk page]]