[WikiEN-l] When Unsourced Isn't That Bad

[Seraphim Blade]

Really, I think a -lot- of policy could be consolidated in a lot of
ways, or at the very least we could offer a very short synopsis that's
easy to take in for newer users. During the ATT poll, I didn't find it
hard at all to think of a way to combine those three policies
(V/NOR/RS) into one sentence-"Do not use your personal knowledge or
original research to write articles, instead use only verifiable
information from reliable sources, and attribute those sources." Easy
enough to add "All articles must be written using a neutral tone and
viewpoint." There we go, the core policies in two sentences. Clueful
people could mainly get it from those two. Those with less clue, but
genuinely wishing to develop it, could go read the more detailed
versions to get an idea of what we're talking about. And for the
clueless who don't care to get a clue, no amount of policy is going to
get it through their heads anyway. They're the ones who will someday
wind up at the community sanction noticeboard or ArbCom, and wondering
why they're being so horribly persecuted, after failing to notice that
20 different people were asking them to stop whatever it was they were
doing.

Seraphimblade

On 4/11/07, Phil Sandifer <Snowspinner at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> On Apr 11, 2007, at 9:21 PM, Ray Saintonge wrote:
>
> >>
> > I don't think so.  Establishing a constructive mindset is more
> > important
> > than going into a lot of detail about what sources are.  We want to
> > see
> > that they are making a reasonable effort before we start putting
> > things
> > in a "Don't do that," format.  Your two points are best made in a
> > friendly dialogue.
>
> Exactly. We should attempt to communicate principles, not rules.
>
> -Phil
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