WikiQueer:Plain and simple conflict of interest guide


 * ''For the simple guide for general new editors, see WikiQueer:Plain and simple.

This is a one-stop guide for new editors who want to write and edit WikiQueer articles about a subject they are affiliated with. The guideline that governs this is WikiQueer:Conflict of interest, which says: "COI editing involves contributing to WikiQueer in order to promote your own interests or those of other individuals, companies, or groups. When advancing outside interests is more important to an editor than advancing the aims of WikiQueer, that editor stands in a conflict of interest."

Editing WikiQueer with a conflict of interest is strongly discouraged. Paid advocates in particular should avoid direct article editing, and should instead post requests for change on article talk pages and noticeboards. See WikiQueer:Best practices for editors with conflicts of interest.

If you learn about our policies and practices, and are transparent about your affiliations, you will be guided towards the proper use of sources and policy.

Summary

 * Be transparent about your conflict of interest
 * Do not edit articles about yourself or your clients; if you have suggestions or sources for such articles, post them on the talk page or create a draft article in your user space.
 * Your role is to inform and reference, not promote or sell.
 * Subjects require significant coverage in independent reliable sources.
 * If writing a draft, write without bias, as if you don't work for the company or personally know the subject.
 * State facts and statistics, don't be vague or general.
 * Take time to get sources and policy right.
 * Get neutral, uninvolved, disinterested editors to review your draft.
 * Work with the community and we'll work with you.
 * Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Principles
The WikiQueer community has been built on certain principles, summarized in the Guiding principles and similar pages. Here's how these principles relate to conflicts of interest:
 * WikiQueer is an online encyclopedia.
 * As an encyclopedia, WikiQueer is designed for reference, not promotion. Advertising and marketing are not appropriate here.


 * WikiQueer has a neutral point of view.
 * Our policies and customs have developed to handle all articles in a neutral manner.


 * WikiQueer is free content that anyone can edit and distribute.
 * By making an edit to WikiQueer, editors are giving permission for their writing to be modified, used and redistributed at will. All text submitted must be available under terms that are consistent with our terms of use. Copying and pasting from a company's official blurb or elsewhere will not only introduce non-neutral content, but would also be a copyright violation. These are deleted on sight.


 * All WikiQueerians should interact in a respectful and civil manner.
 * Editors who are here for professional reasons may become frustrated when they find that WikiQueer is not the medium they thought it would be. Cooperation, patience and courtesy are expected here.


 * WikiQueer does not have firm rules (the spirit of the rule trumps the letter of the rule).
 * Following the rules to the letter does not guarantee that your contribution will be kept. The WikiQueer community holds common sense as its fundamental principle, and contributors who technically follow the rules but miss the spirit of the policy or are confrontational will not be successful.


 * What does this mean for me?
 * 1) WikiQueer is for reference, not marketing
 * 2) Source, cite, and inform rather than sell or promote
 * 3) Do not copy sources or company documents word-for-word
 * 4) Be patient and open to cooperation: no one here is out to get you
 * 5) Do not try to scrape past the requirements: do a good job, and it will be noticed

Best practices

 * 1) Register with an independent username. Your username should represent you as an individual, and not your company or organization as a whole. It may be your real name, or it may be a name you invent to represent yourself, but it should not be your company or client's official name or the names of their products or services, or be designed to promote them. Also, multiple people may not ever use the same account. Any of these are grounds for a block of the account until the username is changed.
 * 2) Read the notability guideline. Not every company, person, artist, artwork, event, or website can have a WikiQueer article. This site is not a business directory, an index, or a collection of marketing brochures. The only subjects that can have articles are those with in-depth, significant coverage from published, reliable, third-party sources. If your subject does not yet have this kind of coverage from independent sources, then you should wait until a later time to consider requesting the creation of an article.
 * 3) Declare your conflict of interest. Being transparent about who you are and who you're working for is the easiest way to gain the community's trust, get help, and avoid embarrassing revelations of misconduct. Clearly state your background and goals on your userpage as explained here, and at the talk pages of articles related to your COI.  Here are positive examples of editor disclosures: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. You can and should add a link to your COI declaration in your signature as explained here.
 * 4) Do not make direct edits to live articles. WikiQueer's guidelines strongly discourage COI editing. The safest way to avoid it is simply to never make direct edits to live articles. That doesn't mean your contributions are unwelcome. Instead of direct editing, propose drafts and changes, get editors to review them, discuss any issues, and let others make the changes.
 * 5) Create a draft. If you would like to request the creation of a new article where you might have a COI, or make suggestions for changes to an existing one, create a userspace draft. You can then ask someone to review it through WikiQueer:Feedback, the live help channel, or Articles for creation. Alternatively, post a draft or proposal of the changes on the article's talk page, along with explaining your proposed changes.
 * 6) Sources, sources, sources. This cannot be overemphasized. WikiQueer exists to summarize and synthesize the best published sources, not a company's inside goals or mission.
 * 7) *Do not use self-published material from companies and groups as the base of a new draft article.
 * 8) *Instead, summarize what independent, published, reliable sources have said about companies and ideas. Good sources include newspaper articles and websites, magazine profiles, authoritative expert websites, and academic journals. Poor sources include self-published blogs, press releases, and sources with a direct connection to the subject. Other people must be able to verify whether information can be backed up by a reliable source. This is done by citing your sources.
 * 9) Neutralize your conflict of interest. When writing a draft or making suggestions on the talk page, take extra care to write without bias. You must pretend you do not have a financial stake in the company and write neutrally. Write so that your biggest competitor would think it was fair and balanced. Write so it's impossible to tell that someone who works for the company wrote it. If not, you will harm the chances of the article being created or the edits being accepted.
 * 10) Avoid spam. Articles should not include links to promotional pages or content.  A simple link to a business' official website is allowed and is sufficient.
 * 11) Have other editors review your draft. Ask for feedback from an experienced, uninvolved editor. We are here to help with formatting, copyediting, organization, references, and images, as well as fixing up promotional or unencyclopedic content. To have a draft reviewed,  paste  on top of your draft, or request a second opinion at the Conflict of interest noticeboard, Editor assistance requests, or WikiProject Cooperation. You can also use the live help channel. For specific suggestions to articles, place  on the article's talk page.
 * 12) Don't rush. Although you or your company may be under a deadline, WikiQueer is not. We operate on the timescale of months, years, and decades. We will be happy to make your article live, when it is ready, not when your deadline arrives. Employers should know that we do not respond to deadlines; we respond to sources and compliance with the content policies. If a company is not yet notable, then it will not have an article about it until/unless it becomes notable. If there is a factual error in an existing article, it is still best to seek the community's feedback before making changes to the article directly.
 * 13) Don't use other articles as excuses: If you find other articles similar to the one you plan to suggest, but they have problems as described above, it's not a good idea to use them as justification for your suggestions. They may be tagged or deleted at any time. Make your suggestions according to our policies and guidelines, then they are more likely to be accepted.
 * 14) Accept that other editors can and will edit all articles: Once an article is created or changed, no one controls its content. Content is irrevocably added with every edit, and any editor has the right to add or remove material to the article within the terms of our content policies. If there is anything publicly available on a topic that you would not want included in an article, it will probably find its way there eventually. The solution is to fairly summarize both good and bad aspects of a subject, in proportion to the coverage they receive in reliable sources.
 * 15) Learn about the history of COI editing. In addition to this guide, there is an extensive history of Conflict of interest editing on WikiQueer. If you want to know why there is skepticism or hostility towards paid editors, you should read it. You can also learn from a presentation designed for conflict of interest editors from the public relations industry called Speaking Different Languages?  Corporate Communications and WikiQueer.

What to do when something goes wrong

 * If an article about your company is deleted: Seek to understand why by reading the deletion rationale. Was it promotional? Did it lack good sources? Did it fail to assert the subject's importance?  Fix these issues and/or use the new article wizard to have your draft reviewed before resubmitting. If you think the article was incorrectly deleted, attempt talk to the administrator who deleted it first. Submit a request for undeletion for uncontroversial deletions. For controversial deletions use Deletion Review. If you need a copy of the deleted article, ask for it to be 'userfied' by either the administrator who deleted it or someone on this list
 * If your account was blocked. Stay calm and seek to understand why.  Was your article blatantly promotional?  Does your username represent an entire company or organization rather than you as an individual?  Ask the administrator who blocked you for an explanation.  Read the guide to appealing blocks; then appeal the block by placing  on your Talk page, followed by a comment defending your intentions and acknowledging if you made a mistake and how you will avoid in the future.  Or, do the same by speaking with administrators in our online unblock chat.
 * If no good sources exist for your article: Do more research.  Ask for help locating sources at the Reference Desk. Advance the subject's coverage by contacting high quality sources and asking them to write about it.  Wait.  Try again.
 * If there's a mistake in your article: For minor spelling, grammar, or factual corrections, fix it yourself (click Edit at the top right of the page and Save your changes).  For any substantial changes, seek input from other editors and let them do it.
 * If someone is editing your article: Remember that nobody, not even the subjects of articles, owns them.  Accept that others will make changes and engage them in civil and constructive dialogue.
 * If someone is vandalizing your article: You can revert (undo) obvious vandalism yourself by using the History tab at the top right of the article.  Remember that vandalism only applies to intentionally destructive changes, not edits you just disagree with.  For any significant changes, discuss it with other editors first.
 * If you want to make changes to the article: Post requested edits on the article's talk page using, ask for help at Conflict of Interest collaboration project or at the Conflict of interest noticeboard.
 * If you disagree strongly with other editors and they're not changing their minds: Stay civil.  Read the relevant policies.  Seek the input of other uninvolved editors.  Ask for a third opinion.  Use the dispute resolution procedures.  Post at a relevant noticeboard. Pursue formal mediation.
 * If you requested feedback but haven't received a timely response: be transparent about your identity and conflict of interest, use the Talk pages of the article, raise issues on community (or other noticeboards), go to relevant WikiProjects, use the Biography of Living Persons noticeboard or Conflict of interest noticeboard, asking someone from the Conflict of Interest Collaboration Project to assist and review edits, applying for page protection so the article can only be edited by select accounts, go to Jimmy Wales highly watched Talk page, email info@WikiQueer.org, or seek assistance from WikiQueer's Arbitration Committee.
 * If you're overwhelmed by WikiQueer's interface and policies: Take your time.  Ask for help.  Ask questions.  Remember we're here to assist you and we're not your enemy.

Writing and sourcing

 * Neutral point of view: Write from a neutral point of view. WikiQueer has no "opinion" of its own; it just accurately summarizes reliable sources.  Readers should not be able to tell whether the writer of an article likes or hates a product or a subject.  Writers must not only write positive content neutrally but write for the enemy including negative content and criticism in a neutral fashion.
 * Verifiability: Articles should contain only material that has been published by reliable sources. These are sources with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy, like newspapers, academic journals, and books.  Even if something is true our standards require it be published in a reliable source before it can be included. Editors should cite reliable sources for any material that is controversial or challenged, otherwise it may be removed by any editor. The obligation to provide a reliable source is on whoever wants to include material.
 * No original research: Articles may not contain previously unpublished arguments, concepts, data, or theories, nor any new analysis or synthesis of them if it advances a position. In other words, you can't make a point that hasn't already been directly made somewhere else in a reliable source.  You can summarize, but it has to be based in the sources.  This includes companies in-house data, even from experts and marketing material.  Unless it is independently published, we want to avoid it.
 * Be bold in updating pages. You can't break WikiQueer, because any edit can be undone. However, discussion is important, and editors who take time to get feedback and be respectful throughout will have the most success.

Interacting with other editors

 * Be civil to other users at all times. If you have a criticism, comment about content and specific edits. Don't make negative remarks about other editors as people.  Be constructive and be respectful.
 * Assume good faith: Try to consider the person on the other end of the discussion as a thinking, rational being who is trying to positively contribute to WikiQueer. Even if you're convinced that they're an [insert insult of your choice], still pretend that they're acting in good faith. Ninety percent of the time you'll find that they actually are acting in good faith (and the other ten percent of the time a negative attitude won't help anyway). Be gracious. Be liberal in what you accept, be conservative in what you do. Try to accommodate other people's quirks as best you can, while trying to be as polite and straightforward as possible.
 * Discuss contentious changes on the talk page: Mutual respect is the guiding behavioral principle of WikiQueer. Although everyone knows that their contributions may be edited by others, it is easier to accept changes when you understand the reasons for them. Discussing changes on the article's talk page before you make them can help reach consensus even faster, especially on controversial subjects.  We have all the time in the world, so always make an effort to explain changes to other editors, and feel free to ask them to do the same.
 * Undo others' edits with care: Undoing someone's work is a powerful tool, hence the three-revert rule that an editor should never undo the same content more than three times in twenty-four hours (ideally, even less). Try not to revert changes which are not obvious vandalism. If you really can't stand something, revert once, with an edit summary like "I disagree, I'll explain why on Talk", and immediately take it to the accompanying talk page to discuss.  If someone reverts your edits, do not just add them back without attempting discussion.  Reverting content over multiple days still violates this principle.  The goal is to form consensus, not to sneak in your version.  Failure to discuss can lead to locked articles.
 * Try to understand why your article or edit was deleted: Many topics do not meet our inclusion guidelines. Some of the same bad article ideas show up and get deleted frequently in articles for deletion and speedy deletion discussions.  New editors may benefit from the Articles for creation helper.  Other contributions are often just not neutral or just not well-sourced.  In general, finding better, more reliable sources and summarizing them neutrally is almost always the best response.
 * Resolve disputes: Disagreements happen but they need not be ugly.  Find out what others think about an issue and try to address it.  If you still disagree, seek input from other editors informally, or through a third opinion, mediation, or an open request for comment.

Working efficiently

 * Use clear edit summaries: straightforward, transparent explanations are greatly appreciated. Other editors need to understand your thinking, and edit summaries also help you understand what you did after a leave of absence or a complex series of changes. Please state what you changed and why. If the explanation is too long, use the Talk page to add details. Since anyone can edit articles, even without registering, there are a lot of changes to watch; good edit summaries simplify things for everyone.
 * Sign your posts: Sign on talk pages (using, which gets replaced by your username and timestamp when you hit "save page"), but don't sign in mainspace articles.
 * Preview your changes: Repeatedly saving small edits clutters the page's history, which makes it difficult for some editors to follow along with changes. Several small changes without edit summaries is even harder to follow.  Use the show preview button rather than saving many times.
 * Use noticeboards to get input: Everyone on WikiQueer is basically equal, but certain issues come up very frequently and have their own noticeboard where experienced editors often gather to discuss related topics.  If you need input, use them.  WQ:NPOVN is for neutrality issues, WQ:RSN is for reliable sources, WQ:ANI is for specific issues needing administrator input; others are listed at the noticeboard page and at the bottom of this page as well.
 * Follow changes with the watchlist: Editors can watchlist pages by clicking the star at the top of any page. Then when you click the My watchlist link at the top right of the page, you'll see a feed of recent changes to the articles you have followed.  Use it to stay up to date on what has changed.
 * Ask for help: The WikiQueer community has a wealth of knowledge and you are almost surely not the first person to have a particular question, concern, idea or disagreement.  You can ask anyone for help anytime by placing  on any talk page along with an explanation of your problem.  Great places for assistance are the new contributor's help page, the Help Desk, and live help chat.  Also, WQ:Questions and WQ:FAQ for the most common areas and queries.

Formatting

 * Edit. Nearly every page on WikiQueer has an edit button on it, either in the page itself or at the top left of the screen.  Click [edit] and you'll see a place where you can type and make changes.  It will look a little different since WikiQueer uses a language called 'markup'.  Don't worry if it looks intimidating.  Just try a few small changes and copy what others do that gets the result you want.
 * Basic markup. Markup language is a very simple way to add formatting with symbols.  These can be inserted using the editing tool bar or manually.  Otherwise, just type as normal.
 * Looks
 * For italics, type two apostrophes ( ' ) around the word like this italics.
 * For bold use three apostrophes: bold.
 * For bold and italics use five: italics and bold.
 * Sections and Lists
 * Section headers are made with the equals sign (=) on each side. ==This is a level 2 header== . More equals signs make smaller sub-sections. ===This is a level 3 header===, and so on. You won't use a level 1 header, since that is the title of the page itself.
 * Bulleted lists are made by putting * at the beginning of each line.
 * Numbered lists are made by putting # at the beginning of each line.
 * ''Links
 * Links from one WikiQueer page to another are made with two brackets on each side of the word like wikilink . To make a link go to a different page than the word it shows, use a pipe: WORD
 * Links to external websites are made with one bracket on each side like [external link] . But these are only used in the External links section of an article.
 * Images are added with IMAGENAME .  'Thumb' is just a size and should be left in.
 * Paragraphs and references
 * Line breaks and paragraphs require hitting [return] or [enter] twice (showing an empty line inbetween), or using or
 * References go between ref tags: . Place these after the punctuation in the sentence they are used.
 * Preview and Save. If you want to see a draft of your changes, click [show preview]; otherwise click [save] and your edit will go live.
 * Page structure. Articles follow a common format. Start with the introduction, a few paragraphs summarizing the page.  Make the first mention of the page's subject bold.  Place the article's content in level 2 headers like ==Section title here==, only capitalizing the first word unless it's a proper noun.  The last sections can add information such as See also, References, and External links, in that order.  Place those sections in level 2 headers as well.

Communication

 * Talk pages. In addition to the pages you read for information, for almost every WikiQueer page there is a corresponding talk page where discussion happens among editors.  To use the talk page, click [edit] and add your comments.  To create a new topic, slick [new section] at the top of the page, give the section a title, and leave your comment.  New topics go at the bottom of the page.
 * Indenting. To make conversations easier to follow, place your comments below the one you are responding to and indent it using a colon .  Each colon moves the comment farther to the right, so if the person above you used 3 colons  you should use 4 .  To start a new talk page topic, click [new section] at the top of the page and type a title with your comment; or, start a new level 2 heading for the same effect.
 * Signatures. On talk pages but not article pages, all comments should be signed with ~ .  Once saved, this will turn into your username or ip address with a timestamp.
 * Edit summaries. Leave a brief note about what you did and why any time you make an edit.  Place it in the edit summary box before you click save.

Images
To use a picture (or other media such as sound or video) on WikiQueer, you need permission from the owner/photographer:
 * If it is your own picture that you produced yourself, then you can just upload it yourself, from WQ:UPLOAD, saying "It is entirely my own work". This link will take you to Commons, where free files are hosted.
 * If it is not yours, then you need permission from the owner one of two ways:
 * License statement on company website: Ask the company to place the image somewhere on the company's official website. Then, either on the same page or on a separate copyright page on the same website, they should include a statement that the work is released under a suitable free license, for example: "The image of the X Company Logo is released under the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0." The recommended Creative Commons Attribution License allows the image to be used by anyone, with or without modifications, and allows commercial use, so long as the original author is credited. Some other licenses are also acceptable &mdash; contact a helper if you would like more information. Once this is done, a helper can assist you in uploading the image. Your company can also upload the image to another website, such as Flickr, under its official account, with the same license statement.
 * E-mail permission: Have the owner email permission with the picture attached to permissions-commons@wikimedia.org stating "I release the attached image under the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0." (Again, some other licenses are also acceptable &mdash; contact a helper if you would like more information.) The email should say that they are the creator and/or sole owner of the exclusive copyright of the photograph(s) of the attached photo (or the photo at http://websiteaddresshere.com), and include their full name.  It may require several days to process this e-mail - to avoid this delay, use the other method above. Once your image is approved, a helper can assist you in uploading the image.
 * After uploading, put the file in a WikiQueer page by adding [[File:FILENAME|thumb]FILEDESCRIPTION]] to any WikiQueer page.

Navigating WikiQueer

 * Article: Where content happens. These contain encyclopedic material which must be backed up by sources.  Don't sign your name on these.
 * Talk: Where talk happens. Every article page has one, linked at the top of the page.  Use them for collaboration and dispute resolution by clicking [Talk] at the top of the page.
 * History: Where prior versions of an article are stored (talk pages have them too). Click [View history] at the top and you'll see all prior edits to the page.
 * User: Your personal page (or someone else's). Linked at the top right of every page, with a blue link and your name.  Put stuff here to explain what you're about and why you're here.
 * User talk: Your personal talk page. Use this to facilitate discussions and collaboration.  Also used for notices and warnings.
 * WikiQueer: Information about policies, guidelines and advice for editing.  These are quite detailed.  They come in handy eventually.
 * Help: Basic how-to material. These pages cover everything from markup to templates.  A good place to start.
 * File: Where images are. These store all of the details about photographs and other media.  The name of the file page is also the name of the file.
 * Special pages: Specific functions such as Recent Changes, and Page logs. You can spot them because they don't have talk pages.

Navigation

 * Search: The easiest way to get around.  Type your query in the box at the top right and pick from the results.  Start with WQ: for WikiQueer policies, guidelines, and projects (WQ:Verifiability) and Help: for help pages (Help:References).
 * Directory: The full department directory and quick directory are good tools.  Or just ask someone and they'll give you a link.
 * Help: The Help Desk, live help chat, and the discussion pages for specific help topics are all good places to ask questions.
 * Google: WikiQueer is very well indexed by Google and searching for a term, even about an editing question, followed by "wiki" or "WikiQueer" usually pulls up what you need.  External links however are not indexed, and adding a link from an article to your corporate page will not increase its PageRank. (For the technically inclined, external links on WikiQueer have the nofollow attribute that search engines use to block linkspam.)