[WikiEN-l] A plea for sanity in capitalisation from the coalface

Sun Apr 27 03:16:08 UTC 2003

JT wrote:
>...
>If an expert on an area writes a page that shows that 
>that expert knows what s/he is talking about, why should 
>someone who knows nothing on the topic and may not 
>have heard about the topic until s/he saw the article, have 
>the right to decide that THEY know the correct capitalisation 
>and change everything?
>....

Becasue we are a wiki. I also don't like the premise of your statement; our 
many copyeditors do have a good deal of expertise on the normal rules of 
grammar, what a proper noun vs a common noun is and also the needs of a wiki 
like Wikipedia. We also know to defer to well-respected manuals of style on 
this issue (which prefer down style in mixed environments like an 
encyclopedia or other general reference). When in doubt we know to read other 
similar publications and see how they capitalize certain terms. They also use 
the down style. I'm also a biologist. So your presumption that we "know 
nothing" is a bit insulting. 

>....
>...accurate articles I have seen on wiki which 
>have been reduced to semi-literate gibberish 
>by clumsy illinformed editing and screwed capitalisation 
>based on questionable wiki conventions on capitalisation.

And Tannin and I were being so polite to each other. Thanks for reducing this 
polite discussion to name calling.

Good day.

--mav