WikiErrors. Templates. WikiCreatures (wikitrolls, etc...) Wiki linguistics. Users. Wiki folklore. About vehicles. Help:Contents. Wiki disputes. Help:Diff. A diff is a web page displaying the difference between one version and another of a Wikipedia page. A particular version of a page is called a "revision"; each revision has a unique date and time of creation which can be seen in the page history. Clicking a "diff" link in a page's history will display the diff of two successive revisions. Links to diffs are found on various special pages other than page histories, including the User contributions page which every user has, Recent changes, Related changes, and watchlists.
Using the history of a page, it is possible to generate a diff between any two versions – select the left radio button for the older version, the right radio button for the newer version, and click Compare selected revisions. While editing a page, the Show changes button displays the changes you are about to make. How it looks This example shows the top of the diff page (some of the links are dummies). Explanation of colours Controls and links Linking to a diff See also. Civil POV pushing. Wikipedia, and specifically the dispute resolution process, has a difficult time dealing with civil POV pushers. The Arbitration Committee has a mixed record in dealing with such problem users.
The arbitration committee has chosen to avoid focusing on content, because admittedly they are not subject experts, and often these issues are complicated enough that knowledge of the topic is necessary to identify pseudoscience, crankery, conspiracy theories, marginal nationalist or historic viewpoints, and the like. (One important reason for this is that oftentimes there is a great deal of misinformation surrounding these topics.) Rather than focusing on content the arbitration committee has focused on behavior. The problem is compounded because it often takes the form of long-term behavior that cannot accurately be summarized in a few diffs.
This is an untenable situation. On occasion the arbitration committee acknowledges the existence of this problem. Behaviors Locality Neutrality Editing. No personal attacks. Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.— Eleanor Roosevelt Do not make personal attacks anywhere in Wikipedia. Comment on content, not on the contributor.
Personal attacks do not help make a point; they only hurt the Wikipedia community and deter users from helping to create a good encyclopedia. Derogatory comments about other contributors may be removed by any editor. Repeated or egregious personal attacks may lead to blocks. Why personal attacks are harmful[edit] Contributors often wish to have their viewpoints included in articles. The prohibition against personal attacks applies equally to all Wikipedians. Avoiding personal attacks[edit] As a matter of polite and effective discourse, comments should not be personalized. In disputes, the word "you" should be avoided when possible. Editors should be civil and adhere to good wiki etiquette when describing disagreements. What is considered to be a personal attack? Recurring attacks[edit] Neutral point of view. "Neutral point of view" is one of Wikipedia's three core content policies. The other two are "Verifiability" and "No original research".
These three core policies jointly determine the type and quality of material that is acceptable in Wikipedia articles. Because these policies work in harmony, they should not be interpreted in isolation from one another, and editors should try to familiarize themselves with all three. The principles upon which this policy is based cannot be superseded by other policies or guidelines, or by editor consensus.
Explanation of the neutral point of view Achieving what the Wikipedia community understands as neutrality means carefully and critically analyzing a variety of reliable sources and then attempting to convey to the reader the information contained in them fairly, proportionately, and as far as possible without bias. Avoid stating opinions as facts. Achieving neutrality See the NPOV tutorial and NPOV examples. Naming Article structure Due and undue weight. What Wikipedia is not.
Vandalism. This is not a noticeboard for vandalism. Report vandalism at Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism. Vandalism is any addition, removal, or change of content, in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of Wikipedia. Examples of typical vandalism are adding irrelevant obscenities and crude humor to a page, illegitimately blanking pages, and inserting obvious nonsense into a page.
Abusive creation or usage of user accounts and IP addresses may also constitute vandalism. Vandalism is prohibited. While editors are encouraged to warn and educate vandals, warnings are by no means necessary for an administrator to block. Even if misguided, willfully against consensus, or disruptive, any good-faith effort to improve the encyclopedia is not vandalism. Upon their discovery, revert clearly vandalizing edits. How to spot vandalism Very useful ways to detect vandalism include: How to respond to vandalism For beginners Template and CSS vandalism Image vandalism Warnings.
Attack page. An attack page is a page, in any namespace, that exists primarily to disparage or threaten its subject; or biographical material which is entirely negative in tone and unsourced. Under the criteria for speedy deletion, these pages are subject to speedy deletion. Upon finding such a page, identify it for speedy deletion by prepending the {{db-attack}} template, and warn the user who created it using the {{Attack}} user warning template. Attack pages may also be blanked as courtesy. Once a page is tagged with the {{db-attack}} template, it will be added to Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as attack pages.
If the subject of the article is notable, but the existing page consists primarily of attacks against the subject of the article, and there's no good revision to revert to, then the attack page should be deleted and an appropriate stub article should be written in its place. Attack pages eligible for speedy deletion may be inside or outside the main namespace. Please do not bite the newcomers. Wikipedia articles are improved through the hard work of regular editors, but also through numerous contributions made by newcomers. Remember: all of us were new editors at Wikipedia once, and in some ways (such as when editing an article on a topic outside our usual scope) even the most experienced among us are still newcomers. New members are prospective contributors and are therefore Wikipedia's most valuable resource. We must treat newcomers with kindness and patience—nothing scares potentially valuable contributors away faster than hostility.
It is very unlikely for a newcomer to be completely familiar with all of the policies, guidelines, and community standards of Wikipedia when they start editing. Even the most experienced editors may need a gentle reminder from time to time. Please do not bite the newcomers[edit] How to avoid being a "biter"[edit] Newcomers' ideas of how things should be handled within Wikipedia will largely be out of context. Common newcomer errors[edit]