Contributors Guide
From Manual
set best practices, process for collaboration and contributions, rules for copyrighted sources, etc
Contents |
Introduction
Who can access
Anyone can read the contents of this wiki.
Who can edit
You need a wiki account to edit contents on this wiki. EVCO members can submit content to one of the editors who edit this site directly.
How to submit content
Please contact one of the wiki editors by email, or send a message using the EVConversions.ca Contact page. If you want to contribute all or part of a chapter you may want to become an editor (ask for an account). Or, you can simply send contributions by email to one of the editors.
Editing policy
Article pages should contain factual information or other information generally accepted as facts. They can also contain other information reflecting consensus. When editing an article page, please ensure that your revisions are factual and verifiable or reflects consensus. If in doubt, consider discussing changes on the corresponding discussion page. Improve pages wherever you can, and don't worry about leaving them imperfect. It is advisable to explain major changes.
Most editing decisions should be done by a rough consensus between editors.
Cite sources where claims can be verified whenever possible.
Do not abuse abbreviations. A good practice is to also use the full text in brackets on the first use of an abbreviation in a text. You may think an acronym is obvious to all but it may not be.
Behavior
Be civil, respect the opinions of others and try to avoid upsetting other people. Comment on contents, not on other contributors.
Discuss and seek compromise rather than fight over competing views.
Copyrights
In order to respect international copyright laws, only original material or copyrighted material which we have written permission to republish can be added here with a mention about the source and permission. While copyright laws generally allow for "fair use" (at least in Canada they do), the legalities of copyright and "fair use" are quite complex. It may be best to paraphrase and cite the original text (with a web link if the original material is available on the Web). In Canada, all original work is copyrighted by default to the author, without need for registration or for a notice to that effect.
Please report any material that you suspect infringes on copyright so it can be removed.
Contributors of original material agree to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.
File naming conventions
Naming conventions make site maintenance and contents re-use easier. Please follow the these recommendations:
- For wiki pages
- create pages using meaningful names, no cryptic or non-intuitive abbreviations (for example, EV is acceptable as this wiki is for Electric Vehicles, so this seems reasonably intuitive. ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) is less obvious and not recommended.
- for media files
- upload media files (such as .jpg image files) using meaningful names, no cryptic or non-intuitive abbreviations. This will make it easier to manage and re-use media files as their number grows and help prevent naming conflicts. You could only have on file named image1.jpg, and soon after uploading you will have forgotten what it represents. On the other hand, names such as EVCO_small_logo.jpg, EVCO_large_logo.jpg or VW_Golf_motor mount.jpg would be much more helpful.
Dangling pages
Pages that are not referenced from anywhere can be difficult to get to, so they should be referenced from at least one other page. Please consider adding a link to a page you create in a suitable location.
Editor's bookshelf
As we are using the same software as Wikipedia, these following aids can be used for your reference:
