FamilySearch Wiki:Policies/Proposed enhancements

Policies and Procedures

This page documents the ongoing development of the policies and procedures for the FamilySearch Research Wiki. The information in the tables track the ongoing development of each policy and the associated procedures.

When Policies and Guidelines are accepted as standards of the Research Wiki, there will be indication of such on the page.

Personal Actions

na = not applicable

Personal Actions Policies	#	Procedure	Flags	Role	Help:	Category:
Always work to improve the site	1	na	na	na	na	na
Bots provisions	2	Prior consent needed from FamilySearch management		FamilySearch Management
Civility and polite discourse must be the rule	3	Report to administrators. User is warned about possible banning or blocking		Admin
Wiki-stalking other contributors or users	4	Contact administrators		Admin
Encourage others	5	na	na	na	na	na
Be bold in your desire to edit	6
Avoid edit wars	7	Contact moderators		Moderators
Avoid legal threats	8	Use mediation first. If needed, contact administrators.
No personal attacks	9
Relinquish "ownership" mentality	10
Digital Coups	11
Three-revert rule	12	See Three-revert rule		Admin
User ID	13
Conditions of Use	14
Be kind to newcomers	15
User page	16

Content and Style

Content and Style Policies	#	Procedure	Flags	Role	Help:	Category:
Attack pages	17
Biographies	18
Page or article naming	19		{{Title}}		Help articles  related to naming and renaming pages: FamilySearch Wiki:Naming a Page or Article; Help:Renaming a page; and Help:Renaming a page which redirects to Help:Renaming a page; and Help:Redirects. Other pages not in the Help namespace include: Help:Name a New Article and Help:Renaming a page	Category:Ambiguous page title
Neutral point of view	20	If the page is not fixed within two weeks, the content will be deleted.	FamilySearch Wiki:Maintenance Templates see Neutrality disputes			Category:Neutrality disputes
Proven techniques	21
Verifiable	22	Anyone can add or remove the "Source" flag. The flag remains on the page until sources are added and the user removes the flag.	FamilySearch Wiki:Maintenance Templates see Articles needing citations			Category:Articles needing citations
Proper content	23			Missionaries are reviewing new pages by following the guidelines listed at Help:Patrolling new pages Existing pages that are edited do not go through a review process. Instead, we assume the community will review edited content and report inappropriate content as needed. Recently edited Talk pages are reviewed in patrolling, using Help:Patrolling Recent changes.	Help:Patrolling new pages: Patrolling Recent changes.
Article/page size	24
Be bold	25
3D graphics or illustrations	26			Missionaries with the Moderator Role
Disambiguation	27		FamilySearch Wiki:Maintenance Templates see Geographic Disambiguation and also Disambiguation			Category:Disambiguation place names
Link, don't copy	28

Deletion

Deletion Policies	#	Procedure	Flags	Role	Help:	Category:
Deleting Articles/Pages	29	Report to admin; Consensus process	FamilySearch Wiki:Maintenance Templates - see the Delete Template	Authors can report; Admin deletes		Category:Deletion Requests
Immediate deletion	30	Report to admin; Consensus process	FamilySearch Wiki:Maintenance Templates - see the Delete Template	Admin		Category:Deletion Requests
Category deletion	31	Report to admin; Consensus process	FamilySearch Wiki:Maintenance Templates - see the Delete Template	Admin		Category:Deletion Requests
Deletion Process	32	Report to admin; Consensus process

Notes: The current deletion request template was created for content that should be immediately deleted. There are other reasons for deletion, but users are hesitant to use the deletion template because of its strong language. We need to either revise the deletion template's language or create additional templates to fill the multiple reasons to request a deletion of content.

Policy Enforcement

Policy Enforcement	#	Procedure	Flags	Role	Help:	Category:
Blocking and Banning	32	Blocking length of time determined by admin consensus; Banning is result of multiple blockings		Admin
Arbitration	33			Admin
Disputes between members	34
Mediation	35

Legal and Copyright

Legal and Copyright Policies and Procedures	#	Procedure	Template	Role	Help:	Category:
Copyrights	36	Anyone can add the copyright template to a page.	Template:Copyright			Category:Copyright problems
Image use	37
Libel	38

Editing

• Design and implement Editing best practices. See Wikipedia How to edit a page for ideas
• Document the usage of the Summary field when editing content. Include a suggested list of abbreviations because the field is limited to 250 characters. See Wikipedia Edit summary legend and Edit summary legend/Quick reference
• Define difference between minor edits and major edits with the corresponding best practice.
• Design and implement content disputes policies and procedures. (See Wikipedia:Dispute Resolution)
  

Dispute Resolution

• Create a Dispute Resolution page and include content that will help authors resolve their own disputes with other authors. For reference see Wikipedia:Negotiation, Wikipedia: Dispute resolution and Wikipedia:WikiProject Dispute Resolution.
• When disputes about content are not resolved, the page should be protected or locked until disputes are resolved. Wikipedia has a padlock flag for pages that are locked and includes the description: "This page is currently protected from editing until disputes have been resolved." (See POVFORK as an example.)
• Identify processes and procedures for authors to use when disputes between authors cannot be resolved by themselves. Consider options developed for use by Wikipedia such as:

1. Editor assistance
2. As for a third opinion (See Wikipedia:Third opinion article)
3. Ask about the subject (See Wikipedia:WikiProject talk page)
4. Ask about a policy by using the talk page of a policy related to the dispute.
5. Ask for help at a relevant noticeboard (Wikipedia has the Administrator's noticeboard and also separate noticeboards related to specific topics such as Reliable sources; Conflict of interest; and Neutrality.)
6. For civility issues Wikipedia authors are encouraged to refer to Wikipedia:Wikiquette for idea.
7. Request a comment (Wikipedia:Requests for comment)
8. Informal mediation - "The Mediation Cabal is informal, but formal mediation is also available.
9. Formal mediation through a "Mediation Committee." Wikipedia uses formal mediation "only for disputes about Article Content, not for complaints about user conduct." What happens when disputes are related to the organization and layout of content?
10. Conduct a survey to help parties gain a better understanding of the dispute. Wikipedia state that the survey itself cannot generate a consensus. (See Wikipedia:Polling)

• Urgent situations that would require other procedures include:

1. Urgent violations of policies on Civility and Personal Attacks
2. Improper usernames
3. Edit warring and the three-revert rule
4. Requests for permanent deletion of personal information
5. Suspected sockpuppetry
6. If a user has been blocked and wants to request the block be removed
7. When user's conduct needs urgent attention from an administrator
8. Others???

Arbitration

When all steps to resolving disputes are unsuccessful, what should an author do? Wikipedia incorporates Arbitration as the last resort to dispute resolution, but only when the dispute is NOT over content of an article. The Arbitration Committee reviews the case and makes the final decision. Whereas, Mediation was an attempt to help the parties come to a consensus. Normally Arbitration is used when there are disputes about user conduct and Mediation is used for disputes about article content. Wikipedia articles that may be helpful in developing this process include:

• Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee
• Wikipedia:Arbitration policy
• Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration
• Wikipedia:Arbitration guide