G'day all, over on the wikimedia au mailing list, we've been having a discussion about whether or not our 'official wiki' should be able to be edited by more than just the current financial members (I think we've got around 30 - 50 members at the mo) ( see http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaau-l/2009-December/002745.html... the thread, and it sort of gets just a little bit heated....) I thought I'd flick this list a note because the tensions between the foundation's aims and this more pragmatic decision have been discussed. What I'd like to ask this list's members is whether or not you agree that open editing is a good thing, and as many pages as possible on a chapter's wiki should be open to as many folk as possible? Obviously there are important factors to keep in mind in making these decisions, but I feel it would be useful for others not quite so connected to 'WMAU', but with a close connection to WMF in general, if they have a moment, to review our thread, and offer feedback and ideas as to whether we're doing it right, or (as I feel) we really should open up the wiki a bit more :-) best, Peter, PM.
There are some pages that should legally be restricted, like the bylaws. i do believe that most pages should be open to public editing because of the risk of some non member Aussie thinking of a better way to do something and being stifled.
________________________________ From: private musings thepmaccount@gmail.com To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Cc: Wikimedia-au wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org Sent: Sat, December 12, 2009 12:40:06 AM Subject: [Foundation-l] open wikis for chapters....?
G'day all, over on the wikimedia au mailing list, we've been having a discussion about whether or not our 'official wiki' should be able to be edited by more than just the current financial members (I think we've got around 30 - 50 members at the mo) ( see http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaau-l/2009-December/002745.html... the thread, and it sort of gets just a little bit heated....) I thought I'd flick this list a note because the tensions between the foundation's aims and this more pragmatic decision have been discussed. What I'd like to ask this list's members is whether or not you agree that open editing is a good thing, and as many pages as possible on a chapter's wiki should be open to as many folk as possible? Obviously there are important factors to keep in mind in making these decisions, but I feel it would be useful for others not quite so connected to 'WMAU', but with a close connection to WMF in general, if they have a moment, to review our thread, and offer feedback and ideas as to whether we're doing it right, or (as I feel) we really should open up the wiki a bit more :-) best, Peter, PM. _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
On Sat, Dec 12, 2009 at 7:33 PM, Geoffrey Plourde geo.plrd@yahoo.com wrote:
There are some pages that should legally be restricted, like the bylaws. i do believe that most pages should be open to public editing because of the risk of some non member Aussie thinking of a better way to do something and being stifled.
Those should be protected anyway, stuff like bylaws shouldn't be getting touched without consensus from a AGM. But there are methods to protect "important" pages like that, for example standard page protection methods or the flagged rev system for another example.
-Peachey (Also gah at cross posting to multiple lists via cc'ing, seems to cause some issues in gmail =( so this may not be in/on all the correct lists/threads.)
what will be the goal of the website? Answers should depend on that. The question whether "open editing" is a good thing or not, is not an absolute question, but depends on what you want to reach etc. First get consensus on that, then find the model best suited for that.
-- eia
2009/12/12 private musings thepmaccount@gmail.com:
G'day all, over on the wikimedia au mailing list, we've been having a discussion about whether or not our 'official wiki' should be able to be edited by more than just the current financial members (I think we've got around 30 - 50 members at the mo) ( see http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaau-l/2009-December/002745.html... the thread, and it sort of gets just a little bit heated....) I thought I'd flick this list a note because the tensions between the foundation's aims and this more pragmatic decision have been discussed. What I'd like to ask this list's members is whether or not you agree that open editing is a good thing, and as many pages as possible on a chapter's wiki should be open to as many folk as possible? Obviously there are important factors to keep in mind in making these decisions, but I feel it would be useful for others not quite so connected to 'WMAU', but with a close connection to WMF in general, if they have a moment, to review our thread, and offer feedback and ideas as to whether we're doing it right, or (as I feel) we really should open up the wiki a bit more :-) best, Peter, PM. _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
My viewpoint is: why restrict editing? As Geoffrey and Peachey mentioned, there are some pages that do need protecting, but other than that? A central part of the Wikimedia zeitgeist for me is that anyone can edit.
If you restrict editing, then you're removing the ability for non- members to give their opinions and help out. They _might_ become members so that they can edit, but odds are that won't be the primary driver for them joining. Then there are people that can't join for whatever reason (in another country [if your bylaws restrict that], no money, ...).
The Wikimedia UK wiki (http://uk.wikimedia.org/) is open for everyone to edit - even anonymous editors (who can even create pages - so we're more open than Wikipedia. ;-) ). There are pages that are necessarily locked down, but the talk pages are always open. That's worked out well for us so far. There's a little bit of vandalism, but it's been kept in check by board members and some trusted members that are also admins.
BTW, I've never liked that the WMF's wiki is completely locked down. It feels a bit like a cabal. ;-)
Mike
On 12 Dec 2009, at 10:01, effe iets anders wrote:
what will be the goal of the website? Answers should depend on that. The question whether "open editing" is a good thing or not, is not an absolute question, but depends on what you want to reach etc. First get consensus on that, then find the model best suited for that.
-- eia
2009/12/12 private musings thepmaccount@gmail.com:
G'day all, over on the wikimedia au mailing list, we've been having a discussion about whether or not our 'official wiki' should be able to be edited by more than just the current financial members (I think we've got around 30 - 50 members at the mo) ( see http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaau-l/2009-December/ 002745.htmlfor the thread, and it sort of gets just a little bit heated....) I thought I'd flick this list a note because the tensions between the foundation's aims and this more pragmatic decision have been discussed. What I'd like to ask this list's members is whether or not you agree that open editing is a good thing, and as many pages as possible on a chapter's wiki should be open to as many folk as possible? Obviously there are important factors to keep in mind in making these decisions, but I feel it would be useful for others not quite so connected to 'WMAU', but with a close connection to WMF in general, if they have a moment, to review our thread, and offer feedback and ideas as to whether we're doing it right, or (as I feel) we really should open up the wiki a bit more :-) best, Peter, PM. _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/ foundation-l
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