Wikipedia:Update/1/Content policy changes during January 2009


 * Biographies of living persons
 * In the lead section, changed "[The burden of evidence for any edit on Wikipedia ... rests firmly on the shoulders of the person who] adds or restores the material" to "... commits the edit"
 * Added to WP:BLP: "Before adding or restoring material, the editor committing the edit must ensure it meets all Wikipedia content policies and guidelines, not just verifiability of sources."
 * Added new section, WP:BLP:
 * This policy applies equally to biographies of living persons and to biographical material about living persons on other pages. The burden of evidence for any edit on Wikipedia, but especially for edits about living persons, rests firmly on the shoulders of the person who adds or restores the material. This burden applies not just to verifiability of sources, but to all Wikipedia content policies and guidelines. In the case of deceased individuals, material must still comply with all wikipedia policies and prompt removal of questionable material is proper.


 * Naming conventions
 * In WP:NAME, first sentence changed to: "Avoid giving an article an ambiguous title (unless it is unlikely that the other meanings deserve their own article)."
 * In WP:NAME, pointed to the exceptions at technical restrictions page, and removed pointer to Naming conventions (capitalization)
 * In WP:NAME, added pointer to Naming the disambiguation page
 * In WP:NAME, added pointer to common (vernacular) names
 * Sections were combined into a new section, WP:NAME, with a pointer added to Policies and guidelines, a new sentence: "A central discussion, with notification through RFCpolicy, can be useful in forming and demonstrating a strong consensus", and many changes in the WP:NAME subsection.
 * 20 of the former proposed guidelines were moved into a new subsection, WP:NAME.


 * Neutral point of view
 * Removed: "Wikipedia's nature as an encyclopaedia demands that articles should always use the best and most reputable sources. A neutral point of view cannot be synthesised merely by presenting a plurality of opposing viewpoints, each derived from a polarised source."
 * Extensive changes to WP:UNDUE (again)


 * No original research
 * Added to WP:NOR: "If you are able to prove something that few or none currently believe, Wikipedia is not the place to première such a proof. Once a proof has been presented and discussed elsewhere, however, it may be referenced. See: Verifiability."
 * Removed from WP:PSTS: "Wikipedia articles should rely mainly on published reliable secondary sources and, to a lesser extent, on tertiary sources. All interpretive claims, analyses, or synthetic claims about primary sources must be referenced to a secondary source, rather than original analysis of the primary-source material by Wikipedia editors."
 * Added the word "secondary" to: "Articles may include analytic, synthetic, interpretive, explanatory, or evaluative claims so long as they have been published by a reliable secondary source."
 * Removed "easily" and "any" from: "Without a secondary source, a primary source may be used only to make descriptive claims, the accuracy of which is [easily] verifiable by a [any] reasonable, educated person without specialist knowledge."
 * The paragraph on "routine calculations" was moved from the lead section down to the WP:SYN section.


 * Verifiability
 * The addition in December to WP:V was reverted.


 * What Wikipedia is not
 * Added to WP:NOT: "Articles are about a person, or a people, a concept, a place, an event, a thing etc."
 * Added to WP:NOT: [is not] "A complete exposition of all possible details. Rather, an article is a summary of accepted knowledge regarding its subject. Treat verifiable and sourced statements with appropriate weight." A pointer to Requests_for_arbitration/Rex071404 was added as a footnote.
 * Added to WP:NOT: "Words and images that would be considered offensive, profane, or obscene by typical Wikipedia readers should be used if and only if their omission would cause the article to be less informative, relevant, or accurate, and no equally suitable alternatives are available."
 * Added to WP:NOT: "Elections and votes are endorsed in some scenarios, such as when electing the Arbitration Committee"
 * The WP:NOT section was deleted, and some of the contents moved to WP:NOT.