OpenGeofiction:Wiki policy

The primary focus of OpenGeofiction is what the community builds on the map. At the same time, one of the benefits of a wiki is to have a forum for further describing what exists on the map. To this end, the wiki is divided into multiple functional namespaces. The most prominent are "main," User, Collab, Index, Forum, and Help. A few are discussed below, with the rules that govern each namespace.

Rules for the "main" namespace

The "main" namespace is our in-universe encyclopedia, wherein community members can create articles about their territory and help introduce it to the world. To keep the wiki clean, and to ward against 'overwikification,' a few limits are in place. Members are encouraged to create a territory page and populate it with information relevant to the map. In addition to the territory page, users may also wish to create the following articles: Administrative divisions of (territory name): This article would include a listing and brief description of second-level, third-level, etc. divisions of the territory. Provinces and cities would be explained here. This could be done as a list, table, article, clickable map, or a creative combination. Capital or largest city: This separate article allows for the political, economic, or population center of the territory to have its own place on the wiki. Culture of (territory name): This article would include additional details about the important cultural elements of the society, from religion to sports and more. Cuisine, attire, and the fine arts are all things that can populate this article. Economy of (territory name): This article explains the economic functions of a country, from the currency to major businesses and corporations. Important historical business leaders and merchants would be mentioned herein. Once again, it could be done very effectively as a list, table, article, map, or combination. Government of (territory name): An article about government and politics can be important, because it allows users to list major historical figures, describe political structures, and express the cultural-political mores of the population. Infrastructure in (territory name): This meta category of transportation allows for issues of rail, road, aviation, and marine transport along with electricity, dams, and other public-works projects to be expanded upon in greater detail. Are users limited to just these pages in the main namespace? For the time being, yes. Users will not be permitted to create multiple individual articles for each highway or historical figure. The limiting of page creation is done in part to keep a degree of standardization across articles and also to help prevent issues with cleanup in the event of territory turnover. Additionally, users should aim to cap their page contributions around 100kb of size, although there is understanding that the MultiMap extension may inflate page size dramatically. The goal of the wiki right now is to start creating what is essential and allowing it to evolve over time, as the community builds. Additional pages may be permitted at admin discretion for events or multinational considerations, such as the approved Pancontinental Games pages. Be advised that all content pages must be categorized. The territory article, along with any secondary articles, must be in a category that features the territory name (e.g. Category:Gobrassanya). Uncategorized articles will be marked for deletion after a period of time. Categorization helps keep the wiki clean and allows for easier browsing.

User namespace guidelines

The User namespace is where users can introduce themselves, have sandbox pages, and communicate with others directly via user_talk pages. Some members of the community have historically developed blikis, created sandboxes for collaboration or to draft territory proposals, and even to practice wiki editing. You are encouraged to not have an abundance of sandbox pages, but you are welcome to create one to help in your mapping, planning, and collaboration.

Collab namespace guidelines

The Collab namespace is designed to house official collaboration documents for collaborative territories on OpenGeofiction. Collab pages are not designed to be in-universe in any way. Furthermore, these pages should be active venues for collaboration and not another means of building 'an empire on paper' or to circumvent the 'main' namespace rules. Larger projects, such as the Federal States, have subpages for the collaborative territories within them. To facilitate collaboration, all the main collaborative pages will include {{CollabHeader}} at the top of the page. Next will be any opening information and details; active users of a project should be listed thereafter. Subpages may be permitted as needed, and these will not need to be marked with a header but should link back to the main collaborative page. Please note that shared territories themselves do not constitute a collaborative territory under this framework; collaborative territories are marked as purple on the territory map. As with articles in the 'main' namespace, Collab pages should be categorized. Collab pages, however, should be categorized in Category:Official collaborative projects (included as part of the header template). It is not preferred to categorize this page in the country's in-universe category, but if it is done a spacing sorting element must be placed after a pipe: [[Category:Gobrassanya| ]].

Index namespace rules

The Index namespace is a designated place for bulk lists, listings, and other larger tables that aid in site collaboration and territory comparison. For example, this namespace includes a list of airports and the table that shows world time among all listed countries. Its purpose is to be a one-stop-shop for quick bits of information that are present on the map and may not be easily found by searching through a myriad of territory articles. Please note that information added to an Index page must be relevant to the article at hand and on the map in some considered way.

Other namespaces

Forum, Help, and OpenGeofiction namespaces are also available for your browsing. The Forum namespace is a place where the wiki forums will be housed. The Help namespace is an excellent place to find documentation about how to do something and other bits of wisdom offered by community members from their mapping experience. The OpenGeofiction namespace is reserved solely for official OGF documentation, policies, and other public-facing notices. The Template namespace is a useful area for on-wiki templates. Please do not create needless templates or copy-and-paste templates from Wikipedia or other sites directly! Template code that is from other sites usually includes other content that can bog down the server and cause problems on the wiki.

Overwikification

On OpenGeofiction, overwikification is when a place is the subject of numerous or overly detailed wiki articles, despite having little or no significant mapping. Overwikification is generally discouraged, for several reasons:

It can generate interest in a country that isn't really "there." This creates an inaccurate impression of OpenGeofiction. When people see an elaborate wiki article about a country, they often expect the country to be elaborately mapped as well, and they want to go exploring it on the OGF map. So it can be disappointing to discover that the place is virtually empty of any detail. Remember that this site is primarily a mapping project. The wiki is a secondary project that exists as a way to bring the mapping to life, to enhance it, to support it, to express it on another level. This site is not for people who only want to write wiki articles about an imaginary country; there are other places on the internet for that. It can distract from mapping and developing mapping skills. If something is overwikified, then by definition it has only a limited amount of mapping. Every hour spent on the wiki is one less hour adding to the map or developing skills to become better mappers. It can lower the quality of the wiki. Overwikification sometimes manifests itself in a way that involves creating large numbers of mediocre articles, thus lowering the average quality of content in the OGF wiki. See also Help:Making a good wiki article. It can increase inconsistencies and contradictions in the wiki. It takes time to learn about the complex and confusing OpenGeofiction world before being able to write cohesively about it. Extensive articles by users who aren't familiar with this world often end up including content that conflicts with content elsewhere in the wiki. It can leave a mess to clean up if the creator abandons the project. Unfortunately, some people who overwikify do so because they're not really that interested in mapping and eventually leave OpenGeofiction. The wiki articles they leave behind need to be dealt with, the connections to other countries need to be revised, and the lists they've added to need to be edited.

If you feel the need to work on the wiki for collaborative or planning purposes, consider using a user sandbox or a collaboration page for official projects. Remember that a brief, basic article can do just fine for introducing a country to the community. Further information can be expanded as the country becomes more and more mapped.