Forums: War Room → Poll: Editorial Guidelines for New Users

At the behest of Lady Lostris, with honourable mention to Unnamed Airbender (who helped me come up with this), I would like to gather the community's opinion on whether a set of guidelines should be introduced for new users - a group of which I happen to be a part. The guidelines would cover all of the main editorial customs which this wiki normally operates by, as well as the specific uses of certain systems, such as linking pages to categories. It would be sort of a reference, a fall-back point for new users who are unsure about editing on this site, and whether they are upholding the correct standards of operation when publishing their edits. With hope, there may even be a tutorial on basic coding... but that's only if enough interest is shown in making this idea a reality! KettleMeetPot 12:33 June 5, 2012 (UTC)

Edit: For more information on how we came up with this, click on this thread. KettleMeetPot 12:33 June 5, 2012 (UTC)

I am in favor of creating an "editing for newbies" guide and I had been thinking about making one for a while now. We have one for fanons, why not make one for editing the main space as well? Having "some" experience editing and being the one that rewrote the making a fanon guide, I'd be happy to work on an editing guide as well.

Now, I actually directed you to the forum to see whether people would be okay to create a category "non-benders" as it is apparently not always clear for newcomers. I undid the edits at first as it comes naturally for me, knowing our categorization system that when someone is not listed as a bender, they are a non-bender. However, it has been brought to my attention that it is not as clear for some. Since seasoned editors can see possible complex things as "well d'uh, isn't that obvious", I think it's important that we hear out more of ideas like this and advertise the ways to convey new ideas more. Now, back to the category: we have a general list with all the characters and then we have a list of characters for each of the bending elements. If it is helpful for newer users, I will reconsider my initial thought of it being unneeded, and say "why not indeed create a category for non-benders as well"? (as now we are oppressing them without granting them any representation like the benders. Sorry, couldn't resist saying this ^^) Lady Lostris (talk • HotN) 12:43, June 5, 2012 (UTC)

Well, I jumped the gun... I shall hide under the excuse of being a new user!!! KettleMeetPot 12:48 June 5, 2012 (UTC)

You have nothing to hide for as what you proposed was a good idea. I just said that as I don't have anything to do with the editorial guide idea, that was all you two, so I don't need to get credit for that :-) Lady Lostris (talk • HotN) 13:18, June 5, 2012 (UTC)

I think an editing/formatting guide would be a great thing to look at making. Things like not having a space before blockquotes is a confusion (maybe not the best word, but mistake isn't really correct, and I couldn't think of anything better) that a lot of new users make, and a simple formatting guide would help this.

As for a non-benders category, I don't see a real problem. If someone wants a list of firebenders, they can easily use the firebender category to find this. It stands to reason that someone might also want to find a list of all non-benders, but at the moment they can't do this. If the categorization guide is designed as a navigational tool, then this is kind of a black spot on the map. HAMMEROFTHOR 13:44, June 5, 2012 (UTC)

I think a general editing guide and a categorization guide for the mainspace is a great idea. We should include some tips on basic source mode coding and think up some other helpful info that it would be good for a new user to have. Everyone was a new user at one point or another.

I'm hesitant to the idea of a category for non-benders, simply because there are a lot of cases where we simply don't know. If we just categorize everyone not in one of the bender categories as a non-bender, that's really just speculation. Take Lau Gan-Lan for example. Is he a bender? We don't know. We never saw him earthbend, but that doesn't mean he isn't. Someone is confirmed a non-bender when they are not seeing bending and they are stated within the canon to be a non-bender. We can't just add a category to a page when we don't know if it applies, even if it helps with navigational purposes. --AvatarRokus Ghost (Message me • Read my fanon) 17:07, June 5, 2012 (UTC)

Some sort of guide would work well - I also think in addition to it, the source mode layout that Lady drafted up a while ago should be linked somewhere, so that when people craft a new page, they know how to set it up. As for a non-benders category, I don't think it's needed. I think it's fairly obvious - those who don't have a bending category are obviously not a bender (Outside Avatars) or, as ARG said, we don't know if they are a bender or not. Katara and Bolin Fanboy Send me a messenger hawk 20:21, June 5, 2012 (UTC)

This would really be helpful. Something like this page but applied to canon and not only creation; it's a good idea. :) Dcasawang1 • wall 16:48, June 6, 2012 (UTC)

I'm definitely in favor of creating a beginner's editing guide, that would be extremely helpful for newer users who want to jump in and edit, but aren't sure what to add/change/fix. For the non-benders category, that would definitely bee useful to have, mainly for navigational purposes, as stated above. Annawantimes (Talk) 17:02, June 6, 2012 (UTC)

I agree, strongly. It took me 2 weeks to figure out linking. I was stupid. The Kid 100% (wall • contribs)

I'm 100% in favor of this as well. I remember when I decided that I wanted to become a serious contributor, I didn't want to be too annoying, so I sat down and spent an afternoon reading the MoS and the AW Policies page. They seemed really hard for me to even find, though, and it took a long time before I thought I'd read enough pages to have a slight understanding of editing. A user-friendly guide that new users are immediately directed to (perhaps linked in the welcome post on people's walls) would be a huge asset. Monkeyfeathers94 (wall • contribs) 01:56, June 7, 2012 (UTC)

I think that Monkeyfeathers94's summation is very apt towards the issue of encouraging new users to contribute, and to do so in the correct fashion. I certainly felt that way when starting out a little over five days ago. KettleMeetPot, 04:41, June 7, 2012 (UTC)

I took liberty of drafting up a version of how this could look: Sos editing. Feel free to add/correct anything and/or suggest things to be added if you are uncertain of how to be include it or don't know whether or not is should be included. Lady Lostris (talk • HotN) 13:09, June 8, 2012 (UTC)

I must say, Miss Lady, you have outdone yourself - an outstanding piece of work which is very well done considering the amount of notice you had to put it together. I made a few, tiny changes here-and-there, but you are a "voracious" editor indeed. Now, to read it a second time to cram the knowledge! KettleMeetPot (wall • contribs) 14:52, June 8, 2012 (UTC)

Nice job, Lady :) That was a very well written page. I have added some points, including information about galleries, image licenses, in-universe writing, etc. Dcasawang1 • wall 05:39, June 9, 2012 (UTC)

We should definitely keep Lady's guide, I have already used it several times to help me out in editing, and, it's getting rather annoying to have to come back here to find it XD.Truly Ferret 23:27, June 11, 2012 (UTC)