Wiki Etiquette

General

• Be considerate – Please don't be rude or offensive.
• Write in a way that is easy to understand and avoid using local slang or phrases. Many of those who will read your text may not have English as their first language.
• Don't delete other people's contributions (unless you know what you are doing).
• Don't insert your own opinion into (i. e., «correct») other people's signed contributions or append unsigned material that makes them appear to say what they did not say. If you wish to make an anonymous comment within a signed discussion, sign yourself anonymous.
• Don't use too many acronyms.
• Avoid the «click here» phrase. Don't say: «More info about shape can be found here» but use «More info about shape can be found at Basic Live Shapes». We would suggest avoiding it for external links as well.
• You may use SL Conventions as guidelines.
• A conscientious writer spends time to reduce the readers' efforts instead of avoiding writer's work.
• No marketing speech; SL is not an infomercial. (See Advertising on SL.)

Signing contributions

• You are free to contribute anonymously, but it is preferred that you sign your comments with your name (or handle). It is common to prepend the signature with "[name]: " or append '' like this: " [Arno Hollosi], 1dan" (While you're at it, you are free to create your own wikipage and tell us about yourself. If you prefer you may put your rank on your homepage)
• On discussion pages it is preferable to have your name precede your comment. Article-like pages, which are not subject (anymore) to discussion, can be signed at the bottom.
• If you are commenting on / writing about game-related aspects, please leave your rank as well. This serves as a good guide for later readers.
• See To Sign or Not to Sign.

Adding comments

• When contributing to a discussion, put your material at the end, so that the page makes sense when read from top to bottom.
• Make use of Discussion pages and other subpages.
• When you answer a question, put the answer after the question.
• When you add a new item to a list, put it in alphabetical order or in its logical position.
• When you add a new item to a page of miscellany like Meta Discussion, put it at the top with the date.

Creating Wiki Names and pages

• A good Wiki Name is short and descriptive. If the name is logical and easy to understand, many more people will link to it.
• Do not add pages without any reference to them. (See adding pages).
• Although you can take a whole sentence and crunch it up to make a Wiki Name, it is better style to constrain it to at most 5 words.
• Instead, try to make Wiki Names like you would make chapter titles in a book.

Refactoring Pages

• Be objective – both pros and cons have to be represented correctly. It is easy to make mistakes when you hold strong views about the material you are editing.
• Be careful with signed contributions – don't change their meaning.
• Be aware of context. Moving material or deleting or moving surrounding material can change meaning.
• Use links and cross-references where appropriate.
• Give credit where credit is due. However, see Stating Authors.
• Use 3rd person or plural instead of 1st person singular in your summary.
• Please also take a look at the Difficulty. If it's «Advanced» and you're a beginner, be cautious about changing something you don't understand.
• See Wiki Master Edit for more information.
• If the page title turns out to be not appropriately chosen, put the suggested change at Page Name Change Requests.

Language

• Most pages on this site are in English, but you are welcome to write in any language you choose. There is a sister wiki called [ext] EncyGoPйdie that is in the French language. If you do add a page in another language than English to Sensei's Library, it is considered polite to add a note at the top with a short explanation in English indicating what the page is about (see also Language Template). This also helps other editors in determining whether a page is appropriate and not spam.