There are certain editing strategies and practices which – deservedly or not – may damage your credibility in the eyes of other Wikipedia editors. Please be cautious about doing any of these things.
Article titles edit
While new editors may make mistakes about capitalization of article titles, and even experienced editors may be unfamiliar with all the arcana buried in the Manual of Style, the following may be seen as warning signs.
- Creating articles whose titles are declarative statements rather than nouns:
- Water fluoridation is a Communist plot
- Capitalizing every word in an article title which isn't a proper noun:
- The Water Fluoridation Conspiracy
- Capitalizing every letter in an article title:
- DEADLY FLUORIDE
- Any title including the words conspiracy or manifesto
Talk page signatures edit
It is a good idea to sign your posts on talk pages. While many newbies are innocently unaware that they can sign with four tildes ('~~~~') and instead just type their names after a comment ('Jon Smith'), certain other signature practices may set you apart.
- Signing in all caps:
- JON SMITH
- Signing with postnominal list of degrees:
- Jon Smith, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.
- Including degrees which are irrelevant to the subject area under discussion (especially if they are bachelor's degrees or college diplomas)
- John Smith, B.Eng. (posting at Art history)
- Including degrees which are irrelevant to the subject area under discussion (especially if they are bachelor's degrees or college diplomas)
Article content edit
- Creating multiple articles containing duplicate copies of the same manifesto (or Manifesto, or MANIFESTO)
- Keeping duplicate copies of your Manifesto or Conspiracy on your User or User talk pages and subpages
- Keeping duplicate copies of your Manifesto or Conspiracy on your User and User talk pages and subpages
- Adding the full titles and postnominal initials to any reference to a person whose ideas parallel your own. (This is a variant of the signature rule):
- The magnetic spirits theory of disease was created by Dr. Jon Smith, M.Sc., Ph.D.
- Continuing to employ titles and honorifics throughout the body of the article in any subsequent reference.
- Dr. Smith is widely respected for his contributions to spirit theory.
- Continuing to employ titles and honorifics throughout the body of the article in any subsequent reference.
General strategy edit
Broadcast messages edit
Do you feel the need to express yourself to the entire community? How you go about that may affect perceptions of you.
- (mild) You post an 'open letter' to the community on your user page.
- (moderate) You post an open letter on the Administrators' Noticeboard, the Village Pump, or Jimbo's talk page.
- (severe) You post an open letter to the user talk page of every administrator, or to the talk page of every article you've ever edited.
- (worrying) You post an open letter to God on your user page.
- (!) You post an open letter to God on Jimbo's talk page.
- (worrying) You post an open letter to God on your user page.
- (severe) You post an open letter to the user talk page of every administrator, or to the talk page of every article you've ever edited.
- (moderate) You post an open letter on the Administrators' Noticeboard, the Village Pump, or Jimbo's talk page.
Engaging in discussions edit
How you interact with other editors on a talk page can reflect on you. In multiperson, threaded discussions,
- Do you respond to every, or nearly every, other comment on the page?
- Are you the only editor posting responses?
- Have you failed to master the use of indentation to properly thread discussions, even after many months of Wikipedia editing?