Hi all,
It seems to me that [[Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines]] is in a sad
shape. I've posted the following request for comment at the talk page.
So reply there if you feel inclined. :)
--
This page is, IMHO, a bit of a mess. There were (until an hour ago :))
policies and guidelines mixed together down the bottom of the page
(undistinguished from each other), style guidelines in the content
section, and some really dubious guidelines. Meanwhile, most of the
serious, meaty policies aren't even linked.
So I ask: what is this page about? What should it be about? What should
be here? What should not be here?
Tentative answer: It should be a meta-policy for policies and
guidelines. It should explain why we have policies and guidelines. It
should explain what the difference between a policy and a guideline is.
It should give guidelines for creating policies - what should not be
enshrined in policy, what should be a guideline, when a guideline
becomes a policy, and when a policy becomes a pile of crap.
I've seen a few discussions about policy around the place and there is
considerable disagreement about whether policy articles describe or
prescribe, and what that means. Do policies describe what people think
people should do, or do they describe what people actually do. A rather
subtle point, but important: If people break a given rule regularly,
should the policy document the fact?
Lastly, should this page actually attempt to list all the policies and
guidelines? There are already other pages that do that, and that do it
better (notably WP:SR and Wikipedia:List of policies and guidelines).
Steve