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Difference between revisions of "Help:Writing and Editing for the JFA Wiki"

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The JFA Wiki offers you a unique opportunity to contribute to the animal rights and vegan movement by lending your writing and research skills, as well as your specialized knowledge to this collaborative site. You also have a chance to grow with us and become a trusted contributor, moderator, or editor, as [[#Contributors, Editors, Moderation, and Approval | explained below]]. We hope you will participate, and can't wait to see your contributions.
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''This page is a work-in-process draft.''
  
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== Background ==
Because we are using the Mediawiki software platform—the same platform used by Wikipedia—some of the links on this page will direct you to documentation on the Mediawiki site or the Wikipedia site.
 
{{jfa-note-end}}
 
  
== Creating an Account and Your User Page ==
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The JFA Wiki offers you a unique opportunity to contribute to the animal rights and vegan movement by lending your writing and research skills, as well as your specialized knowledge to this collaborative site.  You also have a chance to grow with us and become a trusted contributor, moderator, or editor, as [[#Contributors, Editors, Moderation, and Approval | explained below]]. We hope you will participate, and can't wait to see your contributions.
  
Before you can edit content, you need to create an account and verify your email address. This will allow you to:
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== Continual Refinement ==
  
* Edit existing pages and create new draft pages.
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You can write new articles, paid or not as explained below. Our wiki platform also allows you to help with making continual refinements and improvements with smaller edits.
* Be eligible for consideration as a contributor, senior contributor, moderator, or editor.
 
* View a convenient list of all your contributions (edits).
 
* Use your watchlist to monitor changes made to pages that interest you, and be notified via email when a page you are watching is edited.
 
* Create your own user page to share information about yourself.
 
* Exchange emails with other users.
 
* Use custom preferences to change the look and behavior of the JFA Wiki.
 
  
In creating an account, please use a ''Firstname.Lastname'' format for your username. For example, ''Jane.Doe.''  Your username cannot be changed after an account is created. After you create your account, you will receive an email asking you to verify your email address.
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Smaller edits can:
  
To get started creating your account, do one of the following (while not logged in):
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* clarify, or correct grammar and spelling
* Click or tap [[Special:CreateAccount | here]].
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* bring an article up to date
* Select ''Create Account'' in the sidebar menu,
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* correct faulty or weak logic
* Select ''Create Account'' from the dropdown menu on the top right of the screen.
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* add additional pertinent information
 +
* provide more convincing or compelling wording
 +
* provide additional evidence
 +
* replace unconvincing or weaker evidence
  
After you create your account and verify your email address, a link to your user page will be shown in the menu on the top-right of the application under your name. The link will be shown in red because the page has not been created. If you wish, click the link and follow the instructions to create the page. You can include information about yourself on the page.
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== Paid Assignments ==
  
== Contributors, Editors, Moderation, and Approval ==
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Our recent [[Wiki Go-Live Announcement (2019-08-19)|conversion to a wiki]] expanded the mission of the site to include being an encyclopedic and collaborative resource for animal rights and vegan advocacy, not just a resource to aid in answering objections. This calls for new foundational articles (as shown in [[Help:Future Home Page | our vision for a future home page]]) on a variety of topics—one for each species of farmed animal; one for each kind of product made from animals; one for each of the ways we exploit animals; one for each of the health problems that are mitigated by a plant-based diet, etc.
  
Due to the nature of the subject matter on this site, we are using a multilevel moderation and approval system which will render vandalism pointless and encourage compliance with [[Help:Content Guidelines | our guidelines]]. As a user, your edits will require moderation (acceptance) before they become part of [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Page_history page history] and become visible to other users.
+
To kickstart our goal of meeting this expanded mission, we are offering paid assignments for new articles. We expect these paid assignments to continue until at least the foundational articles needed are completed. These paid assignments will in no way stop writers from contributing their time to the wiki without remuneration.
  
As you make more edits, you have a chance to progress from ''user'' to other more trusted levels:
+
Our current rate of eight cents per-word USD is at least competitive, if not high, for non-profit assignments. As an example of what you can earn, our 6,568-word article on Chickens would pay $525, while a short article like the one on Honey would pay $123. These numbers assume you have contributed all the words to the article.
  
* ''Contributor'': Your edits bypass moderation and show up in [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Page_history page history]. They must still be approved to show up in the default view of a page, but your changes are readily viewable by anyone.
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To learn more about writing assignments, both paid and unpaid, see [[Help:Writing Assignments|Writing Assignments]].
  
* ''Senior Contributor'': Your edits bypass both moderation and approval, but could still be reversed by an editor.
+
== Articles Needed ==
  
* ''Moderator'': You provide the first level of defense against vandalism, misuse, and other violations.
+
The focus for new articles in the near-term will be foundational articles that need to be written to fully realize the site's new mission of being an encyclopedic resource. You can find a list of these foundational articles in [[Help:Future Home Page | our vision for a future home page]].
  
* ''Topic Editor'': You provide compliance oversight of one subject area, such as environment, health, or ethics.
+
== Technical Help ==
  
* ''Copy Editor'': You contribute to the style guides and help enforce compliance with the style guides and other guidelines. A copy editor also edits to improve readability, clarity, fitness for purpose, grammar, and style.
+
Technical help can be found at [[Help:Technical Help and Hints]].
  
* ''Managing Editor'':  The managing editor takes the lead in managing the site and its contributed content.
+
== Qualifications ==
  
At any level, all contributions to JFA Wiki may be edited and substantially altered by other users. It's also possible your edits could be reversed.
+
Our ideal writer, particularly those writing new articles under assignment:
  
The following may result in you being blocked from further participation:
+
* cares about animal rights and veganism
* Reversing edits made by editors.
+
* can write with a friendly voice
* Consistently submitting content that violates  [[Help:Content Guidelines |guidelines]].
+
* holds a college degree or equivalent work experience
 +
* has experience authoring and/or editing online content
 +
* possesses a willingness and an ability to perform academic research
 +
* is committed to providing high-quality, accurate information
 +
* can take direction from editors and work in a collaborative environment.
  
== The Editing Process ==
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== Expectations ==
  
{{jfa-note}}
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Before you consider writing for us, you need to understand the kind of writing that will be expected and accepted. This is covered in the[[Help:Content Guidelines | Content Guidelines]]. But the best way to get a feel for what is expected is to familiarize yourself with existing articles. As the[[Help:Content Guidelines | Content Guidelines]] explain, the articles on this site are written in an informal academic tone with an objective point of view, and substantively differ from articles on other wiki sites such as Wikipedia.
You should be familiar with both the [[Help: Content Guidelines | Content Guidelines]] and [[Help:Style Guide | Style Guide]] before editing content.
 
{{jfa-note-end}}
 
  
The JFA Wiki provides two editing tools that are often found on wiki sites, the source editor and the visual editor. When you are logged in, you can begin editing a page by clicking or tapping on ''Edit Source'' for the default editor or ''Edit'' for the visual editor, near the top-right of a page, or beside each Section Heading. Depending on your preference settings, one or both buttons may appear.
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Because providing credible citations for factual statements is a requirement, much of the time spend on an article will be spent in research. If you are a new contributor to the site, we will more closely monitor your progress on an article to help ensure you stay on track and that you don't waste time on content that will not be accepted.
  
=== Source Editor ===
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== Creating an Account and Your User Page ==
  
If you have edited a Wikipedia page you have used the source editor, which is the default editor. When you need to use some type of formatting, such as for new headings or bolding of text, you do this using wiki syntax or the buttons in the edit toolbar above the editing zone. For help with editing see [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Editing Help Editing]. Most of what's on [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Editing Help Editing] applies to the JFA Wiki except for ''Starting a New Page''— see [[#Starting a New Article | Starting a New Article]] below for that. For help with formatting, see [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting Mediawiki Help Formatting].
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Before you can write articles and edit content, you need to create an account and verify your email address, according to the guidance offered in the article [[Help:Your Account and Personalization]]. Creating an account offers benefits beyond just enabling editing, as is discussed in the article.
  
=== Visual Editor ===
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== Contributors, Editors, Moderation, and Approval ==
  
The Visual Editor provides more of a ''what you see is what you get'' editing experience. This editor was developed by the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) to provide a way of editing that does not require editors to learn wiki markup.  
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Due to the nature of the subject matter on this site, we are using a multilevel moderation and approval system which will render vandalism pointless and encourage compliance with [[Help:Content Guidelines | our guidelines]]. As a user, your edits will require moderation (acceptance) before they become part of [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Page_history page history] and become visible to other users.
  
Experienced editors may still prefer editing wikitext because they find it faster and more precise. Even editors who enable Visual Editor will have the wikitext option available from the toolbar for each page and section. The Visual Editor is fairly stable, but it still has some bugs and missing features. Also, the visual editor requires a separate server that periodically may not be available. See [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:VisualEditor/User_guide the Visual Editor User Guide] for help.
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As you make more edits, you have a chance to progress from ''user'' to other more trusted levels:
  
== Research and Citations ==
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* ''Contributor'': Your edits bypass moderation and show up in [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Page_history page history]. They must still be approved to show up in the default view of a page, but your changes are readily viewable by anyone.
  
In doing research for an article, the [https://scholar.google.com Google Scholar] search engine is your friend.
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* ''Senior Contributor'': Your edits bypass both moderation and approval, but could still be reversed by an editor.
  
As the [[Help:Style Guide |Style Guide]] and [[Help:Content Guidelines |Content Guidelines]] indicate, citations are formatted according to ''The Chicago Manual of Style (17th Edition)''. If you haven't committed this format to memory, we recommend [https://zbib.org Zotero's online tool] to assist. Be sure to choose ''Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition (note)'' from the dropdown.
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* ''Moderator'': You provide the first level of defense against vandalism, misuse, and other violations.
  
== Practicing in the Sandbox ==
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* ''Topic Editor'': You provide compliance oversight of one subject area, such as ethics, environment, health, or ethics.
  
If you would like to play around with editing you can create an article in the ''Sandbox'' namespace and edit to your heart's content. To create your sandbox page, fill out the text box below, replacing ''Jane.Doe'' with your username, then click the button. A page will be created with some boilerplate content to help you get started. You must save the page for it to actually be created.
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* ''Copy Editor'': You contribute to the style guides and help enforce compliance with the style guides and other guidelines. A copy editor also edits to improve readability, clarity, fitness for purpose, grammar, and style.
  
{{#createpage:Sandbox | Sandbox for Jane.Doe | Create a Sandbox Page | Template:jfa-boilerplate }}
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* ''Managing Editor'': The managing editor takes the lead in managing the site and its contributed content.
  
To get back to the page, use the ''Sandbox'' link under ''Other Namespaces'' in the sidebar, or search for ''Sandbox:Page Name'' on the search field at the top of the page. The page may be deleted if it goes unedited for over a month, but you can always create another one.
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At any level, all contributions to JFA Wiki may be edited and substantially altered by other users. It's also possible your edits could be reversed.  
  
== Starting a New Draft ==
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The following may result in you being blocked from further participation:
 
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* Reversing edits made by editors.
{{jfa-note}}
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* Consistently submitting content that violates  [[Help:Content Guidelines |guidelines]].
If you are working [[Help:Paid Writing Assignments|on assignment]] a draft will be created for you.
 
{{jfa-note-end}}
 
 
 
Once you decide on the topic and title (see ''Needed Articles'' below), create a draft article by typing the title of the article in the text box below and clicking the button. Your page will be created with some boilerplate content to help you get started. If you create a draft and don't follow through with developing the article in a reasonable length of time, the draft will be deleted.
 
 
 
Once the article is completed, email your.friends@justicefornamimals.org to request it be moved out of the draft namespace. Note that articles in the draft namespace are not subject to the same level of moderation of other articles. But editors will still be keeping an eye on your work and may make modifications and suggestions along the way to help you comply with guidelines.
 
 
 
{{#createpage:Draft | Page Title | Create a Draft Page | Template:jfa-boilerplate }}
 
 
 
== Getting Help ==
 
 
 
If you need help creating and editing content, please email [mailto:your.friends@justiceforanimals.org email us] with your questions. Before you do, please carefully read this article, the [[Help:Content Guidelines | Content Guidelines]] and the [[Help:Style Guide]]. You will also need to peruse [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Editing Mediawiki's Help Editing]
 
 
 
== Articles Needed ==
 
 
 
{{:Help:Articles_Needed}}
 
  
 
{{jfa-meta}}
 
{{jfa-meta}}

Latest revision as of 08:44, 30 October 2019

This page is a work-in-process draft.

Background

The JFA Wiki offers you a unique opportunity to contribute to the animal rights and vegan movement by lending your writing and research skills, as well as your specialized knowledge to this collaborative site. You also have a chance to grow with us and become a trusted contributor, moderator, or editor, as explained below. We hope you will participate, and can't wait to see your contributions.

Continual Refinement

You can write new articles, paid or not as explained below. Our wiki platform also allows you to help with making continual refinements and improvements with smaller edits.

Smaller edits can:

  • clarify, or correct grammar and spelling
  • bring an article up to date
  • correct faulty or weak logic
  • add additional pertinent information
  • provide more convincing or compelling wording
  • provide additional evidence
  • replace unconvincing or weaker evidence

Our recent conversion to a wiki expanded the mission of the site to include being an encyclopedic and collaborative resource for animal rights and vegan advocacy, not just a resource to aid in answering objections. This calls for new foundational articles (as shown in our vision for a future home page) on a variety of topics—one for each species of farmed animal; one for each kind of product made from animals; one for each of the ways we exploit animals; one for each of the health problems that are mitigated by a plant-based diet, etc.

To kickstart our goal of meeting this expanded mission, we are offering paid assignments for new articles. We expect these paid assignments to continue until at least the foundational articles needed are completed. These paid assignments will in no way stop writers from contributing their time to the wiki without remuneration.

Our current rate of eight cents per-word USD is at least competitive, if not high, for non-profit assignments. As an example of what you can earn, our 6,568-word article on Chickens would pay $525, while a short article like the one on Honey would pay $123. These numbers assume you have contributed all the words to the article.

To learn more about writing assignments, both paid and unpaid, see Writing Assignments.

Articles Needed

The focus for new articles in the near-term will be foundational articles that need to be written to fully realize the site's new mission of being an encyclopedic resource. You can find a list of these foundational articles in our vision for a future home page.

Technical Help

Technical help can be found at Help:Technical Help and Hints.

Qualifications

Our ideal writer, particularly those writing new articles under assignment:

  • cares about animal rights and veganism
  • can write with a friendly voice
  • holds a college degree or equivalent work experience
  • has experience authoring and/or editing online content
  • possesses a willingness and an ability to perform academic research
  • is committed to providing high-quality, accurate information
  • can take direction from editors and work in a collaborative environment.

Expectations

Before you consider writing for us, you need to understand the kind of writing that will be expected and accepted. This is covered in the Content Guidelines. But the best way to get a feel for what is expected is to familiarize yourself with existing articles. As the Content Guidelines explain, the articles on this site are written in an informal academic tone with an objective point of view, and substantively differ from articles on other wiki sites such as Wikipedia.

Because providing credible citations for factual statements is a requirement, much of the time spend on an article will be spent in research. If you are a new contributor to the site, we will more closely monitor your progress on an article to help ensure you stay on track and that you don't waste time on content that will not be accepted.

Creating an Account and Your User Page

Before you can write articles and edit content, you need to create an account and verify your email address, according to the guidance offered in the article Help:Your Account and Personalization. Creating an account offers benefits beyond just enabling editing, as is discussed in the article.

Contributors, Editors, Moderation, and Approval

Due to the nature of the subject matter on this site, we are using a multilevel moderation and approval system which will render vandalism pointless and encourage compliance with our guidelines. As a user, your edits will require moderation (acceptance) before they become part of page history and become visible to other users.

As you make more edits, you have a chance to progress from user to other more trusted levels:

  • Contributor: Your edits bypass moderation and show up in page history. They must still be approved to show up in the default view of a page, but your changes are readily viewable by anyone.
  • Senior Contributor: Your edits bypass both moderation and approval, but could still be reversed by an editor.
  • Moderator: You provide the first level of defense against vandalism, misuse, and other violations.
  • Topic Editor: You provide compliance oversight of one subject area, such as ethics, environment, health, or ethics.
  • Copy Editor: You contribute to the style guides and help enforce compliance with the style guides and other guidelines. A copy editor also edits to improve readability, clarity, fitness for purpose, grammar, and style.
  • Managing Editor: The managing editor takes the lead in managing the site and its contributed content.

At any level, all contributions to JFA Wiki may be edited and substantially altered by other users. It's also possible your edits could be reversed.

The following may result in you being blocked from further participation:

  • Reversing edits made by editors.
  • Consistently submitting content that violates guidelines.