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WHATWG Wiki:Contribution Guidelines: Difference between revisions

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(Added language to specify that copies or modified versions of WHATWG specs should not be part of the wiki.)
(Added Proposal Guidelines)
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# '''If you're part of a group of people supporting the same proposal, use the "Group Proposal" namespace.''' In other words, if you have a group proposal for an <XYZZY> element, the page would be named "Group Proposal:XYZZY element".
# '''If you're part of a group of people supporting the same proposal, use the "Group Proposal" namespace.''' In other words, if you have a group proposal for an <XYZZY> element, the page would be named "Group Proposal:XYZZY element".
# '''Avoid creating alternate versions of WHATWG specifications using this wiki.''' The WHATWG specifications can change swiftly and with little notice, so copies of part or all of a specification may become outdated overnight. Please submit requests for changes to a WHATWG specification directly to the [http://www.whatwg.org/mailing-list mailing list].
# '''Avoid creating alternate versions of WHATWG specifications using this wiki.''' The WHATWG specifications can change swiftly and with little notice, so copies of part or all of a specification may become outdated overnight. Please submit requests for changes to a WHATWG specification directly to the [http://www.whatwg.org/mailing-list mailing list].
==Proposal Guidelnes==
When proposing a feature, there are a number of questions you should try to answer.
* What is the problem you are trying to solve?
* What is the feature you are suggesting to help solve it?
* What is the processing model for that feature, including error handling? This should be very clear, including things such as event timing if the feature involves events, how to create graphs representing the data in the case of semantic proposals, etc.
* Why do you think browsers would implement this feature?
* Why do you think authors would use this feature?
* What evidence is there that this feature is desparately needed?

Revision as of 04:47, 16 November 2006

Before you get started on editing any of the pages, please read all of the following carefully.

Key Policies

The WHATWG Wiki has policies similar to those of Wikipedia. Among these are the following:

  1. Avoid bias. Articles should be written from a neutral point of view, representing differing views on a subject fairly and sympathetically. There will be some bias given the nature of this working group, but this does not mean that information should be excluded or opposing viewpoints supressed. All contributers should keep an open mind.
  2. Don't infringe copyrights. The WHATWG Wiki is licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Submitting work to this wiki in violation of copyright threatens the objectives of the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group, and could lead to legal problems.
  3. WHATWG Wiki is not intended as a free wiki. It is intended to help people contribute to the development of WHATWG specifications, and to help others understand these specifications and why we feel they are necessary.
  4. Respect other contributors. Editing pages for any purpose other than to add value to the pages or to improve the fairness in which the subject is dealt with is inappropriate.

Site-Specific Policies

We also have some policies specific to our site:

  1. Don't misrepresent your own proposals or opinions as those of WHATWG.
  2. Keep pages expressing your own proposals and opinions under your own user namespace. That is, if you want create a page about your proposed <XYZZY> element and your user name is "Fluffy the Rabbit", you should create a page called "User:Fluffy the Rabbit:XYZZY element".
  3. If you're part of a group of people supporting the same proposal, use the "Group Proposal" namespace. In other words, if you have a group proposal for an <XYZZY> element, the page would be named "Group Proposal:XYZZY element".
  4. Avoid creating alternate versions of WHATWG specifications using this wiki. The WHATWG specifications can change swiftly and with little notice, so copies of part or all of a specification may become outdated overnight. Please submit requests for changes to a WHATWG specification directly to the mailing list.

Proposal Guidelnes

When proposing a feature, there are a number of questions you should try to answer.

  • What is the problem you are trying to solve?
  • What is the feature you are suggesting to help solve it?
  • What is the processing model for that feature, including error handling? This should be very clear, including things such as event timing if the feature involves events, how to create graphs representing the data in the case of semantic proposals, etc.
  • Why do you think browsers would implement this feature?
  • Why do you think authors would use this feature?
  • What evidence is there that this feature is desparately needed?