Wikipedia:WikiProject Cooperation

The Cooperation Wikiproject facilitates collaboration with editors paid to edit Wikipedia. We provide education and outreach to public relations and marketing professionals, freelance editors, and employees working on assignments from their employers. The project is intended to support ethical, transparent paid editors that opt-in to collaborative efforts to meet Wikipedia's encyclopedic goals, serve the public's interest and avoid even the perception of impropriety.

This WikiProject does not advise editing articles directly where one has a conflict of interest or advocacy position. Instead, the main source of assistance this Wikiproject affords is the Paid Editor Help board, where paid editors and company representatives can add requests for changes to an article, where the request will be reviewed by a volunteer editor and completed if found to be within the community guidelines.

Scope
The purpose of this Wikiproject is to work with editors who have resources, expertise, encyclopedic information or corrections to contribute to Wikipedia, but their COI make them especially likely to run afoul of Wikipedia's rules. The project is focused on editors who are paid to edit Wikipedia or assigned to do so by their employer and not COI in general. While project participants may engage in recommending or influencing Wikipedia's policies and guidelines, it's not within the project's scope to influence or change them.

Paid editor help
All editors are encouraged to be polite and civil. Recognize you may not always get what you want or have control over Wikipedia's content. Also, be willing to investigate (and follow) the documentation and resources provided by the community, rather than maintaining an expectation of hand-holding. Remember, most paid editors are new to Wikipedia, but the participants helping you are veterans who have poured many hours into learning how the site works and the best way to collaborate with others. Paid editors are strongly encouraged not to make direct edits to articles.

Brief factual updates
To request a brief factual update to an article, add edit COI to the talk page of the article. Include the details of the fact you would like to update or correct and a link to an authoritative source where the fact can be verified. If you don't hear back within a couple weeks, you can also use The Paid Editor Help Page or escalate to the  COI Noticeboard. You can also use the article talk page or find an editor actively involved in the article and ask them directly. Please do not use all these pages at once, but do escalate your problem to another page if you don't get a reasonably prompt response and consider the urgency of your request.

To submit a request to a noticeboard or talk page:
 * Once you are at the correct page, click "edit"
 * Scroll to the bottom and insert a headline for your conversation string with "==" on either side
 * Disclose who you are, the edit you're requesting and provide a source where the information can be verified
 * Sign the string using four "~"
 * Click "Save page" at the bottom

Also, be sure to read the instructions if any are given on the page before editing.

Asking for help
Whether you have technical, ethical, or general questions, there are many ways a paid editor can ask for help. While the COI noticeboard is often used to report unethical paid editors, the COI guideline also encourages paid editors to use it to ask questions and collaborate with the volunteer community. This project also created The Paid Editor Help Page as another alternative. There are also many noticeboards that correspond to specific projects or types of articles. Paid editors may consult the full list of noticeboards to identify the most relevant noticeboard to the article. General questions can also be taken to the help desk.

Requesting new articles
To request a new article on your company or organization, please closely review the notability requirements for companies and organizations. If your organization passes, you may submit a request or entire article through articles for creation or  requested articles. Please keep in mind, that not all subjects that are notable are written by the volunteer community, simply because volunteer editors are very busy. When they do, the article may not be the way you would like it.

You can improve the chances of a complete article by providing detailed information such as:
 * Links to at least two authoritative third party sources where the company is the subject of the article and the depth of information is significant
 * Explain the organization's impact on society, such as politics, education, science, economy or community work, ideally with links to where the information can be verified
 * Provide details such as number of employees, whether it's public and revenues
 * Include any other authoritative third party sources that have significant information to be included in the article

Mentor program
The mentor program matches experienced volunteer editors with paid editors that have made a long-term commitment to becoming routine knowledgeable, encyclopedic contributors. Mentors educate their apprentice, closely review their work, provide tips and post encyclopedic contributions from their partners that have been closely vetted. The mentor may show their apprentice how to use noticeboards, the best ways to consult other editors, and is ultimately responsible for keeping the editor on the straight and narrow. The mentor program is not for one-off corrections or individual articles, but for paid editors interested in making a long-term commitment to becoming a routine encyclopedic contributor. Applicants are not guaranteed a mentor and should demonstrate patience.

Participant expectations
Participants are expected to make a substantial investment in reading Wikipedia policy, learning the rules, accepting criticism and striving to become better editors. They must avoid being argumentative, insisting on their expectations for an article and, above all else, must follow the guidance of their mentor. Mentors are experienced editors. Participants must be humble, accept feedback and have an attitude of wanting to learn. There are over 200 policies and guidelines on Wikipedia and many are very lengthy and detailed. Participants aren't required to read all of them, but should closely review documentation suggested by their mentor. Participants unwilling to read lengthy documentation should not participate in the mentor program.


 * The apprentice is strongly encouraged not to make edits directly to articles.

Participants are also expected to follow best practices like disclosure, summarizing the edits they've influenced on their user space and routinely reporting to their mentor. Participants are not required to write negative content about the subjects they write for, but must notify their mentor when negative information exists on the topic that is not covered by the editors' work. The editors must allow other editors - including their mentor - to write that content when needed, or to add flags to the article suggesting community participants do so. To prevent even the appearance of impropriety, participants are expected not to re-write controversial content or remove negative encyclopedic information, even if it could be argued they are enforcing Wikipedia policy in doing so.

Mentor expectations
Mentors are encouraged to identify - the best they can - COI editors to work with that appear to have genuine, ethical intentions and a likelihood to uphold their expectation and become positive contributors. Ultimately, mentors may need to post content on their apprentice's behalf and should do so knowing they can be personally proud of the content. One important element of the mentor is as a gatekeeper and neutral editor, however mentors are encouraged to coach their apprentice, not write content on their behalf or under their influence.

Mentors should coach their apprentice on how to use noticeboards, talk pages and other sources, and closely scrutinize content provided by their apprentice, providing tips, suggestions and other help until the content is acceptable. Mentors are also encouraged to champion the successes of their apprentice, to demonstrate examples of fruitful collaboration. In other cases, they may be required to revert edits from their own apprentice or deal with other situations if a participant is not cooperative. Mentors need to attempt to make themselves reasonably available to their apprentice and notify their apprentice in the scenario they're no longer available to support them.

How to participate
To request a mentor, simply add your name to the list below by writing # followed by four "~". To become someone's mentor, add your signature after their name in parentheses. Mentors are encouraged to interview their apprentice on their talk page before accepting them as an apprentice. Ask what their goals are, where they think they can improve and review any recent edits. Becoming a mentor is a big decision and both parties should consider closely if they have the right mentor/apprentice.

Requests for mentors

 * 1) User:Sam Bobsa "~" "~" "~" "~"
 * 2) VickyS11188 (talk) 18:07, 13 June 2013 (UTC) VickyS11188


 * 1) FacultiesIntact (talk) 22:42, 14 May 2015 (UTC)

Accepted mentorships

 * 1) WWB Too (talk) - Currently being mentored by  Silver  seren C

Education
This project also aims to help educate public relations, marketing and other paid editors on best practices and ethical editing. The project welcomes opportunities to host workshops, collaborate with industry groups, promote awareness, respond to media inquiries, speak to PR firms, or other projects that may support ethical participation of paid editors on Wikipedia or deterrence of unethical behavior. We may also help improve documentation or spread awareness of these resources and recommend them to paid editors. To request participation from the project in any such effort, simply leave a message on the project Talk page.

Status
Version 1.0 of an engagement flowchart for PR people was made available on the Commons on April 3, 2012.

Version 2.0 is available for editing, with a freeze-date of June 29, 2012. You will need to get an account on Creately.Com in order to contribute. --Philgomes (talk) 20:29, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

Tracking pages

 * Major Contributions
 * Article alerts

Other Wikiprojects

 * WikiProject Companies
 * WikiProject Wikipedia
 * Wikipedia Teahouse: Wishlist for the project
 * Wikipedia Ambassador Program

Tasks

 * 1) Create brief but informative instructions on how to write a good question or request.
 * 2) Figure out ways of managing the Category:Wikipedia conflict of interest edit requests backlog - User:Jimbo Wales believes such rapid action will encourage paid editors to engage constructively in building Wikipedia.
 * 3) Survey best practices in backlog management on Wikipedia (DYK, GAN, FAC, Help desk, Teahouse, drives...) and leverage those
 * 4) Create brief but informative instructions on how to write and submit an edit request
 * 5) WikiProject Cooperation/Requesting an edit
 * 6) Create brief but informative instructions on how to review an edit request
 * 7) WikiProject Cooperation/Reviewing requested edits
 * 8) Create a "Clear the Backlog" drive and recruit editors to it
 * 9)  template
 * 10) Modify the template to set people's expectation that there is no deadline
 * 11) Notification like "We're serving other customers. The average wait time is ___." e.g. Template:edit COI/sandbox
 * 12) Make it usable for non-programmers: English word "answered" tag instead of the "tld" gobbledigook e.g. Template:edit COI/answered
 * 13) Userboxes, barnstars, and WP:FUN items related to requested edits
 * 14) More templates!
 * 15) "This X is in scope of WP:CO-OP" for non-mainspace stuff
 * 16) Help with running monthly COI backlog elimination drives
 * 17) Improve essays
 * 18) Improve the essay Plain and simple conflict of interest guide, and/or provide suggestions on the talk page
 * 19) Improve the essay WikiProject Cooperation/Non-controversial edits, and/or provide suggestions on the talk page
 * 20) Improve the essay WikiProject Cooperation/Escalation, and/or provide suggestions on the talk page
 * 21) Cooperate with the Corporate Representatives for Ethical Wikipedia Engagement group

Project participants

 * To add yourself as a member, just place a # sign and then your signature via four ~'s after it at the bottom of the list


 * 1)  Silver  seren C 00:12, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) WWB Too (talk) 00:59, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
 * 3) Ebikeguy (talk) 01:01, 10 January 2012 (UTC)


 * 1) Bilby (talk) 01:54, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) CorporateM (talk) 01:54, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
 * 3) bobrayner (talk) 08:39, 10 January 2012 (UTC)


 * 1) causa sui (talk) 19:18, 11 January 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) Rklawton (talk) 19:20, 11 January 2012 (UTC)


 * 1) Philgomes (talk) 15:41, 21 January 2012 (UTC)
 * 2)  Cullen 328   Let's discuss it  05:31, 6 February 2012 (UTC)
 * 3) Ocaasit 08:08, 7 February 2012 (UTC)
 * 4)  DGG ( talk ) 06:10, 10 February 2012 (UTC)


 * 1)   Blue Rasberry    (talk)   15:33, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) Mdrozdowski (talk) 13:46, 13 February 2012 (UTC)


 * 1) Happy to be a sane, outside voice for users to consult when needed. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 22:47, 20 February 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus&#124; talk to me  04:23, 21 February 2012 (UTC)
 * 3) I, for one, welcome our new corporate overlords.  Cardamon (talk) 23:12, 24 February 2012 (UTC)
 * 4) BusterD (talk) 18:14, 27 February 2012 (UTC); A great idea!
 * 5) Writegeist (talk) 23:52, 29 February 2012 (UTC). Also support the excellent and timely WP:PAIDWATCH.
 * 6) I'm part of the Facebook group; might as well join here. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 01:19, 5 March 2012 (UTC)


 * 1) Guy Macon (talk) 00:40, 20 April 2012 (UTC), Especially interested in helping with issues in engineering / technical articles.


 * 1)  Ebe  123  → report 17:17, 29 July 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) TheOriginalSoni (talk) 22:39, 22 March 2013 (UTC)


 * 1) Sourov0000 (talk) 20:58, 24 April 2013 (UTC)


 * 1) User:kosterberg Nov 14, 2013 - Requiring assistance with editing errors in a corporate page within appropriate Wikipedia guidelines (financial services sector)
 * 2) -- S Philbrick  (Talk)  16:28, 26 April 2014 (UTC)
 * 3) EdJaUno (talk) 22:31, 17 April 2020 (UTC)
 * 4) BlueRoses13 (talk) 17:12, 23 June 2022 (UTC)

Talk page template


Note: Don't be concerned that the noun phrase project page isn't clickable. It will be clickable when you paste the template anywhere else except on this page. It's a little known property of all MediaWiki links that they automatically bold themselves out for instances sitting on the page they are pointing to. It avoids a circularity or something.

Userboxes
Paid editing supporter

Barnstars
Find a paid editor that was civil, cooperative, well-researched and provided good, encyclopedic content? Reward them with a barnstar! Below are some examples you can use.