AmtWiki:User pages
| AmtWiki policies and guidelines |
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| Policies List · Guidelines List |
User pages are pages in the User and User talk namespaces, and are useful for organizing and aiding the work users do on AmtWiki, and facilitating interaction and sharing between users. User pages are mainly for interpersonal discussion, notices, testing and drafts.
User pages are available to AmtWiki users personally for purposes compatible with the AmtWiki project and acceptable to the community; AmtWiki is not a blog, webspace provider, or social networking site. Wikipedia policies concerning the content of pages can and generally do apply to user pages, and users must observe these policies.
Contents
Terminology and page locations
- User page
- Your user page is titles thusly: "User:Username" (This is the link to yours.) Its normal use is to give basic information, if you wish, about yourself or your AmtWiki-related activities. You don't have to say anything about yourself. If you prefer to put nothing here, then you can redirect it to your player page.
- User talk page
- Your user talk page (sometimes abbreviated to "your talk page" or "your user talk") has a name like this: "User talk:Username". (Special:MyTalk|This link is to yours.]]) Its normal use is for messages from, and discussion with, other editors.
- Subpages
- You can create subpages of your User page and your Talk page. These have a name like this: User:Your_Username/subpage_name
- User pages or user space
- All of these pages are your user pages or user space. While you do not "own" them, by custom you may manage them as you wish, so long as you do so reasonably and within these guidelines.
You also have subpages ending in .js and .css to store any user scripts and skin customizations that you may wish to have when you edit Wikipedia. Only you and administrators can edit such pages, although anyone can view them.
User talk notification
You will be notified when someone else edits your user talk page. The alert below is automatically displayed on all pages until you view your user talk page. If you click "new messages" it will direct you to the bottom of your talk page. If you click "last change" it will show you the last edit done to your talk page.
In practice, user and user talk pages are mostly visited by clicking on user signatures in discussions, and links shown in page histories and diffs.
Options available from user pages
In addition to the usual information accessible from an article page such as page history, "Discuss this page" and the like, users visiting user and user talk pages can also click "User contributions" (in the sidebar or at the bottom of the page) to see what contributions you have made at AmtWiki over time, and "Logs" to see records of other events related to your editorship, done by yourself and by others. (Note that having your user page deleted does not delete any list of your wider contributions.)
Visitors to your user page can also click "Email this user" if you have opted in your user preferences to be able to send and receive email. Your email address will remain private unless you reveal it yourself, select the option to reveal it (in preferences), or reply using an email system outside AmtWiki.
User page content
There is no fixed use for user pages, except that usually one's user page has something about oneself, and one's talk page is used for messaging. Provided other users can quickly and easily find the pages they need, users may, within reason, freely organize their user pages as they choose.
Contributions can also be given a wider license - for example releasing them into the public domain or multi-licensing them - by putting a notice to this effect on one's user page, or on a subpage linked from it. Note that it is not possible to give them narrower licensing: all edits on AmtWiki, including all userspace edits, are licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
User pages may be mirrored by other sites. If there is material you do not want copied, reposted, or reused, do not post it on the site.
Besides communication, other legitimate uses of user space include (but are not limited to):
- Significant editing disclosures: sharing information about alternative accounts or any commerical organizations you are associated with.
- Notes related to your AmtWiki work and activities: Current or planned articles, topic areas, to-do lists, reminders, articles worked on, collaborative works, draft proposals, (constructive) thoughts on Wikipedia articles or policies and how they should be changed, etc.
- Work in progress or material that you may come back to in future (usually on subpages): usually drafts, especially where you want discussion or other users' opinions first, for example because of conflict of interest or major proposed changes
- Useful links, tools, and scripts
- User space archives: Old talk page threads, etc.
- Experimentation (usually on subpages): Trial pages for templates, unfamiliar or specialist markup (including LaTeX), etc., as a kind of personal sandbox. Also pages to test bots and scripts without doing harm.
- Limited autobiographical content: A full personal summary should be included on your player page instead
You are also welcome to include a simple link to your personal home page, although you should not surround it with any promotional language. However, if a link to your home page is the only thing on your userpage, this may be seen as an attempt at self-promotion.
User pages are also used for administrative purposes, to make users aware of blocks, warnings, or other sanctions if they happen, and to notify of matters that may affect articles you have worked on or editorial issues you have been involved with. Others may also edit your user pages, for instance leaving notes and images for you, or adding comments and questions.
Personal material
Some people add personal information such as contact details (email, instant messaging, etc.), a photograph, their real name, their location, information about their areas of expertise and interest, likes and dislikes, etc. Once added this information is unlikely to ever become private again. It could be copied elsewhere or even used to harass you in the future. You are cautioned to think carefully before adding non-public information to your user page because you are unlikely to be able to retract it later, even if you change your mind.
Privacy-breaching non-public material, whether added by yourself or others, may be removed from any page upon request, either by administrators or (unless impractical) by purging from the page history and any logs.
Inappropriate content
Generally, you should avoid substantial content on your user page that is unrelated to AmtWiki. AmtWiki is not a general hosting service, so your user page is not a personal website. Your user page is about you as a Wikipedian, and pages in your user space should be used as part of your efforts to contribute to the project.
In addition, there is broad agreement that you may not include in your user space material that is likely to bring the project into disrepute, or which is likely to give widespread offense. You do have more latitude in user space than elsewhere, but don't be inconsiderate. Extremely offensive material may be removed on sight by any editor.
is generally tolerant and offers fairly wide latitude in applying these guidelines to regular participants. Particularly, community-building activities that are not strictly "on topic" may be allowed, especially when initiated by committed Amtgardians with good edit histories. At their best, such activities help us to build the community, and this helps to build the encyclopedia. But at the same time, if user page activity becomes disruptive to the community or gets in the way of the task of building an encyclopedia, it must be modified to prevent disruption.
In general, if you have material that you do not wish others to edit, or that is otherwise inappropriate for AmtWiki, it should be placed on a personal web site. Many free and low-cost web hosting, email, and weblog services are widely available, and are a proper place for content unrelated to Amtgard. For wiki-style community collaboration, you can download the MediaWiki software and install it on your own server if you want full control, or use one of many online wiki farms.
Categories and templates that add categories
Do not put your userpage or subpages, including draft articles, into categories meant for content. Userpages and subpages may be placed in appropriate administrative categories. Especially note that templates often add categories themselves.
Ownership and editing of userspace
Traditionally Wikipedia offers wide latitude to users to manage their user space as they see fit. However, pages in user space belong to the wider community. They are not a personal homepage, and do not belong to the user. They are part of Wikipedia, and exist to make collaboration among editors easier.
Bots and other users may edit pages in your user space or leave messages for you, though by convention others will not usually edit your user page itself, other than (rarely) to address significant concerns. Most community policies including No personal attacks will apply to your user space, just as elsewhere. As with all other edits, user space contributions are irrevocably licensed for copying and reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
Editing of other editors' user and user talk pages
In general, it is usual to avoid substantially editing another's user and user talk pages other than where it is likely edits are expected and/or will be helpful. If unsure, ask. If a user asks you not to edit their user pages, it is sensible to respect their request (although a user cannot avoid administrator attention or appropriate project notices and communications by merely demanding their talk page not be posted to).
