[Foundation-l] MediaWiki Handbook, i.e. Help pages

[Robert Scott Horning]

I've been trying to find out the origin of a "policy" on Wikimedia 
projects, and I'd like some help to see just where the discussion about 
this is at and where the origins of the policy came from.  Most of the 
Wikimedia projects copy the help pages from Meta, usually with a strong 
disclaimer that you shouldn't edit the copied pages but instead try to 
contribute to the pages on Meta.

My question is this:  Why are the pages copied to the other projects at 
all?  Is there a strong technical reason to have this content duplicated 
multiple times across multiple projects?  Who made the decision to have 
all of this content duplicated?  Where is an appropriate forum for even 
discussing this policy and where is the policy even written down?

I got into an editorial dispute with another admin on Wikibooks, where I 
was having the help pages simply redirect to Meta (including the 
MediaWiki:Edithelppage location) to point users directly to the original 
source rather than trying to duplicate the content on Wikibook.  These 
changes were reverted back, so I started a VfD on Wikibooks over this 
whole thing to get community input on the concept.  So far, it is 
accepted as gospel fact that this content must be duplicated, but I am 
challenging that assertion and trying to find out why it is done in this 
manner.

My main argument for getting rid of these pages on Wikibooks (and 
perhaps other Wikimedia projects) is that not only do they take up 
server space, but they are also vandalism targets and seldom on the 
watchlist of any users.  In addition, because the editorial effort is 
taking place on Meta they tend to go stale rather quickly and don't the 
the attention of the active regular users on the project.  Making the 
help pages protected may be an option, but that keeps the pages "frozen" 
with no ability to update the content if it improves on Meta except 
through direct admin intervention.  I am not advocating the removal of 
the Help namespace, just the end of duplication of the MediaWiki handbook.

Right now a user on Wikibooks has created a 'bot (without the bot flag 
in place as well... another issue for another day) that occasionally 
duplicates the help content on Meta and copies it over to Wikibooks and 
other Wikimedia projects as well.  As this is just a single user's pet 
project, there is no scheduled update for transfering the help pages 
either.  This also causes problems typical of a 'bot like overwriting 
talk page discussions, but it does help keep the help pages coordinated.

Mind you, I'm not trying to disparage the very valiant effort of those 
who have been writing this content for the MediaWiki handbook.  This is 
a largely thankless job that is critical to all of the MediaWiki users, 
beyond just the Wikimedia sister projects.  Steady improvements in the 
content have occured over this past year, together with minor changes in 
the MediaWiki software that have generally been reflected in the 
documentation as well.  A general thank-you to all who have been 
involved with its development is certainly in order.

-- 
Robert Scott Horning