Wikispooks:Document Editing Rules

Pages in the Document namespace (i.e. with names which begin "Document:") are not ongoing productions but finished pieces of work. Accordingly, two rules apply to the Document: namespace which apply nowhere else on Wikispooks:

1. Use Template:Document

All pages in the document: namespace use the template:Document template at the top. This provides a convenient way to provide metadata such as the author, source, publication date, document type and so on. Putting all the metadata in a predictable place facilitates Semantic Mediawiki. All this information is editable, and you are encouraged to fill out as many of the fields as you can. If the document's author is new to this website, you are recommended to help readers by making for the author, even if it has relatively little content, e.g. just a few URLs.

2. No Content Editing

Unlike other namespaces, where page editing is encouraged, content of pages in the document: namespace must not be changed, since they are finished pieces of work by the author(s) credited in template:Document; the authenticity of source documents must be preserved with the same attention as direct quotations.

3. Errata

Preserving of errors is helpful to indicate the accuracy (or otherwise) of the document. Simple typographical errors are best just left, but if the document contains unambiguously verifiable falsehoods (e.g. matters of undisputed fact rather than interpretations), best practice is to add a footnote clarifying this. e.g. "<ref>In fact, the author was [[John Gatto]] — [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/The_Underground_History_of_American_Education See here]</ref> — ~~~~", The "~~~~" characters will expand to a signature, giving the time and date of your correction.

Good practice

You are recommeneded to re-publish works in their entirety as a single document, even when they are serialised, unless their are special reasons for treating them separately (for example, if they have different subjects, or if their separate publication dates are important).

In contrast to content edits, formatting improvements (especially adding internal wikilinks) are encouraged, for example the fixing of typos. Another common adjustment to Wikispooks style is to replace use of single quotes (') with double quotes (") where they are used for direct quotations.

For discussion about a document, use its Talk page, If you wish to make a more formal and permanent comment about a document, the recommended way to do so is to use Template:Rate.