[WikiEN-l] Verifiability

Wed Dec 21 23:25:06 UTC 2005

David Gerard wrote:

>Ray Saintonge wrote:
>  
>
>>David Gerard wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>We can write guidelines and guidelines and guidelines, and no-one will
>>>care except the writers or someone looking for a stick to beat their
>>>opponent on the wiki with - because you can't Taylorise clue.
>>>(When was the last time you read the Manual of Style through? Me
>>>neither.)
>>>      
>>>
>>One could begin with Taylorizing the Taylorizations.
>>    
>>
>Heh. I have started in a slow way tightening up some of our ridiculously
>bloated, opaquely-written and special-case-riddled guideline and policy
>pages; I look forward to the time to really go the hack on the MoS. I
>think it could be one-third the length without losing a single useful
>detail. Heck, someone might even want to read it for reasons other than
>querulousness.
>
I have tried similar things at Wiktionary, where I often trace a wide 
circle of "What links here" that ends up where I started.  The problem 
is not just with the people writing imaginative new policies, but also 
with individuals who come along with a great plan to reorganize 
everything.  They start with a lot of enthusiasm, but half way through 
their project they fall off the edge of the earth never to be seen 
again.  Then at least two others develop contradictory policies on the 
same thing on two different pages; this entitles newbies to use 
whichever one they found first to justify whatever action they want to 
take.  One never knows when one will be deleting someone's pet policy>

Being bureaucrat and the most senior active editor in the project buys 
me a certain amount of sin points, but I would prefer to limit that kind 
of boldness to situations which really matter.  Dear Abby, what would 
you do? :-)

Ec