User:Turkeybutt JC/An Essay on Editing Wikipedia Articles

Inspired by Manual of Style/Words to watch. More will be added to this essay as I go. So be sure to come back to see new entries. Questions? Disagree? Corrections? Explanations? Violates policies? Hate this page? Comments?

Citing the right sources
If you want to prove a statement to be right, verify it by citing a source, if you want to prove a source to be right, verify it by making sure the source is reliable.

If you are citing sources you should not write opinions in Wikipedia's voice.

Acme Blogs says: Monopoly is one of the best games ever, but it is important to note, however, that you should not pass Go when you go to Jail.

Wrong: Monopoly is one of the best games ever, but it is important to note, however, that you should not pass Go when you go to Jail.[1]

Correct: An entry on Acme Blogs writes that "Monopoly is one of the best games ever". Players can not pass Go if they go to Jail.[1]

Wikipedia articles should not be written in an instructional tone, or use first/second person pronouns, or write nice things about things or other potentially biased things and there is no exceptions in the policies or guidelines except if you quote it or write that Source says so and attribute it to Source.

Writing in a neutral way.
Wrong: John Doe is most famous for his notable contributions to the scientific study of farts.[1]

Correct: John Doe's studies on farts are, according to Acme Blogs, "notable contributions that made him famous".[1]

You can't just let articles hold such subjective ideas just because a source says such.

Biased towards: Being one of the greatest flatuologists in the world, John Doe is best known for farting in jars and donating them to Acme Labs.

Unbiased: During his late childhood and into adolescence, John Doe has farted in jars and donated them to Acme Labs.[1] Wikipedia articles should never praise or demean anything.

Biased against: One of the most idiotic things that John Doe would do was to fart in jars like a moron and donate them to Acme Labs.

Wikipedia articles should not take sides. They should explain the sides without bias.

Really negative loading: Adolf Hitler is an evil tyrant who ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945, the Nazi totalitarianism ended when he fortunately killed himself in his bunker.

Negative loading: Adolf Hitler is a fascist dictator who was the führer of Germany from 1933 to 1945, this tyrannical Nazi regime ended when he killed himself in his bunker to escape Allied forces.

Neutral loading: Adolf Hitler was the Führer of the National Socialist German Worker's Party and chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945. He killed himself in his bunker to avoid getting arrested by Allied forces.

Positive loading: Adolf Hitler was a war hero who saved Germany from economic unrest in 1933. Unfortunately in 1945 he killed himself in his bunker because the commies were going to arrest him.

Really positive loading: Adolf Hitler is one of the greatest military geniuses of all time, in 1933 he helped Germany make the Jews pay back for what they did to her economy during the Great War.

Wikipedia should not praise or demean anyone or anything, especially controversial topics where there are unverifiable claims that such subjects are the greatest things or are improvements on anything.

Wrong: Note that, however, Richard Nixon was pardoned by Gerald Ford following the controversial Watergate scandal in 1972.[1]

Correct: Richard Nixon was pardoned by Gerald Ford following the Watergate scandal in 1972.[1]

Wikipedia should state the facts, but Wikipedia should not state that the facts presented are important, interesting or that they should be noted.

Wrong: It is interesting to note that Kim Jong-il passed away in 2011.[1]

Correct: Kim Jong-il died in 2011.[1] You should not use "it is interesting to note" just because a source says that.

You should not use idioms or clichéd statements. A literal interpretation wouldn't make sense then.

Wrong: Acmetown is home to the John Doe Sr. memorial. Doe was a veteran in the War of Acmestan, where he gave his life to save another.[1]

Correct: The John Doe Sr. memorial is located in Acmetown. Doe was a veteran in the War of Acmestan when he was shot by an al-Babbur recruit.[1] You should not use "it is interesting to note" just because a source says that.

Wikipedia articles should not state that things are special, important, correct, wrong, ironic, unexpected, surprising, good, bad, interesting, notable, popular, etc. let the reader decide

Wrong: Ironically, the infamous and controversial tyrant Adolf Hitler shook hands with Jesse Owens, but former president Roosevelt didn't give him any handshakes.[1]

Correct: Adolf Hitler shook hands with Jesse Ownens. President Roosevelt didn't shake hands with him.[1]

...some things are important/notable!
Are you sure? Because those words can be subjective. What is notable to one person may not be notable to someone else and vice versa.

If you want that used to refer to whatever subjects you think as such, at least cite some sources that state such things and write in that the source said it was important/notable, otherwise you're just throwing a personal opinion that you agree with on Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is here to state facts, not to praise or demean anything based on whatever editorial opinions you or I or anyone else agrees with.


 * Senator Smith was one of the most notable senators and an important political figure.[1] Just because a source mentions an opinion doesn't make it a fact.
 * Senator Smith was, as mentioned by Acme Inc., "one of the most notable senators" and "an important political figure."[1] This is mentioned in quotation.

...this is an interesting thing to note!
Are you sure? What may be interesting to you may not be interesting to someone else.