Mw:Tutorial (Keep in mind)

There are some things to keep in mind when editing MuslimWikipedia.

Editorial policies

Subject matter

MuslimWiki is an encyclopedia on Islam-related subjects and the Muslim world. Articles should consist only of encyclopedic information about notable subjects.

MuslimWikipedia is also not the place for "original research" — that is, new theories, etc., that have not been supported by peer review.

Neutral point of view

MuslimWiki's editorial policy is the "neutral point of view," often abbreviated "NPOV." This policy says that we accept all the significant viewpoints on an issue. Instead of simply stating one perspective, we try to present all relevant viewpoints without judging them. Our aim is to be informative, not persuasive. Our policy does NOT mean that our articles are expected to be 100% objectives since in any dispute all sides believe their view to be "true."

It's OK to state opinions in articles, but they must be presented as opinions, not as fact. Also, it's a good idea to attribute these opinions, for example "Supporters of this say that..." or "Notable commentator X believes that..."

You might hear MuslimWikians referring to an article as "POV." This is Wiki slang for a biased article, or one obviously written from a single perspective. In a less extreme case, an article might have "POV" problems if it spends significantly more time discussing one view than another view of equivalent significance, even if each view is presented neutrally.

If you're going to spend time on controversial articles in subjects like religion or politics, it's important that you read the "neutral point of view" policy page as soon as possible. If you're going to spend your time on less emotional subjects like math, you should still read the policies, but it's a less pressing concern. Keep in mind the advice here, and read the full policy if an NPOV issue comes up. See the NPOV tutorial.

Citing sources

MuslimWiki requires that you cite sources for the information you contribute. This is particularly important on Deen-related subjects. MuslimWiki provides a mechanism for referring to Quranic surahs and hadiths; see Mw:Citing sources. All sources should be listed in a section called "References". If a partcular website would be of interest to a reader of an article, the website should be linked to in an "External links" section. Books of particular interest should be listed in a "Further reading" section, but only if they were not used as sources for the article. Citations help our readers verify what you've written and find more information.

Copyrights

Do not submit copyrighted material without permission. When adding information to articles, make sure it is written in your own words. Remember that all information found on the Internet is copyrighted unless the website specifically states otherwise.

English Dialects

All common forms of English are welcome on MuslimWiki. An abridged version of the relevant policy could be stated as:

1. Do not edit a page simply to "correct" the spelling from U.S. English to Commonwealth English, or vice versa.
2. If the subject is related to the United States, then U.S. English is preferred.
3. If the subject is related to a country or an organization that uses Commonwealth English, then Commonwealth English is preferred.
4. If the subject is not regional, the original contributor's usage should be followed by other contributors. See American and British English differences if you have difficulty with this.
5. The usage should be consistent throughout an article, unless it mentions both US- and Britain/Commonwealth-related topics. In that case, Policies 2 and 3 prevail.
6. When you create a new article, generally the most commonly used title is preferred. A simple way of testing this is to try a Google search and see which generates more results. (GoogleFight.com allows you to test two search terms at once.)

Conduct

MuslimWiki encourages an atmosphere of friendliness and openness. Of course, in practice there are sometimes disagreements and even an occasional heated argument, but members of the community are expected to behave according to islamic Adhab.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you should always assume good faith on the part of other editors. Don't assume that someone is acting out of spite or malice. If someone does something that upsets you, leave a polite message on the relevant article's talk page or on the user's talk page, and ask why. You may find that you've avoided a misunderstanding and saved yourself some embarrassment.

Renaming articles

If you find an article that you believe is mis-named, please do not copy and paste the contents of the old article into a new article. Among other things, this separates the previous contributions from their edit history (which we need to keep track of for copyright reasons). The preferred method is to move the page to the new name. If it's your first move, please read the warnings on the move page carefully, as there are a number of issues to consider before moving a page.

Categories: TOC templates | MuslimWikipedia tutorial