Workgroup: Style guidelines

Workgroup to develop style guidelines

A workgroup convened to research and develop style guidelines for WikiEducator projects and resources

Charter  |  Draft guideline policy proposal  |  General questions & discussions  |  Proposed guidelines  |  Suggest a new guideline  |  Style guide  |  Report

Purpose

This workgroup is convened with the purpose of designing user guidelines suggesting the appropriate style in which to add content to WikiEducator. Style guides are used for the purpose of uniformity throughout the wiki, which eases the level of difficulty for the user to navigate, contribute, and understand.

Specified outputs

Work in progress, expect frequent changes. Help and feedback is welcome. See discussion page.

In addition to the continual production of style guidelines, this workgroup hopes to achieve:

• The production of a document that describes the rationale behind the guidelines
• A process by which the guidelines are ratified and approved.
• The incorporation of the guidelines into WikiEducator's instruction and self-guided learning tools
• The development of materials that will support the continued progress of the workgroup, i.e. templates and transclusion articles
• The development of a workgroup/team of style guide "gurus" that will aid the WE community in achieving the guidelines
  • This group may also have additional duties, including but not limited to basic wiki maintenance
  • Including methods in which the team members interact with the community and work with authors to follow the guidelines

Leadership style

The workgroup will be facilitated by volunteers whose responsibility it is to keep the discussions active, productive, and civil.

Skills required to achieve workgroup objectives

In order to achieve our objectives, contributors must know how to breathe, use a computer, type (<smile>), voice their opinions with honesty, and how to come to civil compromise with colleagues. Contributors do not need to know anything about style guides, or other Wikimedia Foundation projects.

Participants

It is this workgroup's hope that every user will participate.

Participant responsibilities

By voicing your opinion in this workgroup, you are agreeing only to be frank and honest. You are not required to make a commitment of time or productivity.

Facilitators

Participants may contact any of these facilitators for assistance.

Volunteer facilitators	Skype and/or other IM	Contact preference
Jesse Groppi 00:06, 15 July 2009 (UTC)	Skype:jesse.groppi, MSN:jagroppi@comcast.net	IM or talk page
Wayne Mackintosh 02:57, 15 July 2009 (UTC)		email
Peter Rawsthorne 14:45, 24 July 2009 (UTC)	Skype:peter.rawsthorne, twitter:@prawsthorne	email or @prawsthorne
Nellie Deutsch 14:45, 24 July 2009 (UTC)	Skype:nelliedeutschmuller, twitter:@nelliemuller	email or @blendedlearning

Anyone may volunteer to be a facilitator. If you would like to sign up, do so using the above table. You will find instructions inside the table in the edit box.

By signing up to facilitate the workgroup, you are agreeing to help mediate discussion. Your responsibilities include regular participation, displaying the most even-tempered behaviour in your own discussions, mediating disagreements, attempting to keep discussions active, and offering assistance to participants that may need it. You also agree to monitor the proposed guidelines category, and ensuring that all proposals are included in the list. No overall length of your time is required. You may take your name off the list at any time.

Resources

The following links may prove useful to contributors:

• Wikipedia:Manual of Style
• WoWWiki:Manual of Style
• Style guidelines common to Wikimedia Foundation wikis

Please add other links that may be useful.

Ground rules (The process)

Work in progress, expect frequent changes. Help and feedback is welcome. See discussion page.

Each guidelines will be brought up on a case by case basis, at the discussion page linked above. When a facilitator feels a discussion on a single point has been actively contributed to for a sufficient length of time, and that a general consensus on the point has been found, the agreed upon point will then be added to the in progress draft. The discussion will then be archived and the archived discussion will be linked to from the drafted point.

At an unknown point in the future, when either a contributor, council member, or facilitator feel the guide has enough content as a whole, it may be nominated for final proposal as a whole. The final proposal (a process yet to be determined) will make any final changes and suggestions before deciding if the guide will become official policy, or go back to the drafting table until the correct changes are made and it is nominated again.

Charter approval

If you are in approval of this charter, please sign your name in the table below. If you have any suggestions for improving this charter, please discuss them with us at the talk page.

Charter signatures
Jesse Groppi 00:06, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
Peter Rawsthorne 14:46, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
Nellie Deutsch 15:15, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
Wayne Mackintosh 01:32, 31 July 2009 (UTC)