[WikiEN-l] dueling templates

[phoebe ayers]

On 9/9/07, Brock Weller <brock.weller at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Because being useful is not nor has ever been a valid argument for
> keeping things. WP:USEFUL is the piece that better explains it i
> believe.


1. To quote the tag on the top: "This is an
essay<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_essays>.
It is not a policy or
guideline<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines>and
editors are not bound by its advice." Also, it's only about deletion
of
articles; not about the style of writing articles.

2. Please note that particular page has only existed since August 2006;
certainly people argued against "usefulness" as a valid 'keep' criteria
before then, but I can't say how widespread that was. Personally, I dislike
the section you cite; I think usefulness is a fine argument, and should be
considered as part of a wholistic conversation on what to keep. If we aren't
building an encyclopedia because it's useful to people (who need to look
stuff up) then what the heck are we doing?

-- phoebe