How To Contribute

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To contribute :

1. First learn more about the P2P Foundation
2. Below, read the basic rules that are adopted as conventions on this wiki
3. Try out unfamiliar techniques in the Sandbox where nothing is damaged ;)
4. If you need to, refer to the MediaWiki help
5. Email us your name, login and password
6. Wait a few days for processing... receive you credentials.
7. As a member, Login and edit this Wiki.

Here are our basic formatting conventions:

The Rules of the P2P Foundation Wiki

Please note that our wiki needs integrity in its naming conventions and internal structure. These rules have been used for 10 years, are specific to our wiki, and several of our conventions differ from Wikipedia for good reasons.

Method

Our method is called 'opportunistic updating', this means that most of the time, our entries take material from the flow of knowledge and information that comes through us through the internet, and we iteratively improve articles.

Our method is pluralistic, so we juxtapose various perspectives, we are a 'perspectopedia' and do not strive for neutrality and objectivity, as the Wikipedia claims to do.

We use names and concepts as they are used by existing p2p movements and commons movements, in their practice and own terminology, and we observe and reproduce these with quotes taken from their own material.

All our material should be sourced; if you write something yourself, you should sign it. Always use quotes for external material. Avoid copying wholesale articles without permission, use citations under the fair use doctrine. Don't delete the material if the original source disappears, and keep the original source URL even if it disappears.

Naming Conventions for Page Titles

• Don't start with an article. Leave out any initial "A" or "The".
• Use an initial capital letter for names, nouns, and verbs, but not for articles ('the' , 'an') or other minor words.
• No double titles, just a single phrase (i.e. title:subtitle is a no-no).
• Filenames have to be clearly descriptive, this means occasionally we change the titles of books and articles when they have no clearly independent meaning. Original titles are placed in the entry itself and are therefore still fully searchable.
• Videos and Audio Podcasts take a different naming convention, i.e. Name on Topic, for example: "Yochai Benkler on Peer Production". Make sure all video and audio titles make sense.
• People entries take Firstname Lastname format.

Careful use of Category Tags

We do not use free tags, but controlled Category names. On the main wiki page, the middle column shows the most important subject-oriented categories, and the right column includes the format categories.

Normally, each page gets at least one subject or topic Category tag, a format Category tag, and if appropriate, a geographic Category tag. Don't use tags randomly, use the popular categories that already exist so that they can form well-documented section pages; only introduce a new category if you intend to use it regularly; we don't want too many of them.

Here is a list of the format categories we use:

• Articles
• Bios
• Books
• Case Studies
• Companies with P2P business models
• Conferences on P2P topics
• Courses: P2P Curricula
• Encyclopedia
• Events Calendar P2P Foundation Calendar
• Individuals, Who's Who in P2P
• Licences: open and free licenses
• Maps
• Movements, P2P and commons-oriented org's
• Places
• Podcasts
• Reference
• Research on P2P
• Resources and tools
• Standards
• Statistics on P2P trends
• Webcasts

Kinds of Pages

We have ordinary pages, and Category pages.

Category pages are the pages automatically created if you use Category tags. The Category pages are an introduction to the topic of the section, offering a selection of introductory material, and following by the full list of articles tagged with that Category.

Subdivisions Used in Normal Pages

Subsections take one or two 'equal signs' (=) before and after the subsection, and one additional = sign for each deeper subdivision. If you use more than two subsection headings, a table of contents will be created. Adjust the = signs so that the table of contents is as helpful and readable as you can make it.

Many pages start with a one line summary in bold, which is the definition, followed by the main URL, if one particular resource is being referred to.

Common section names should be used, where appropriate, in this order:

• Definition
• Description
• Abstract, Review, Excerpt(s): for articles and books
• Characteristics, Typology, if available and needed
• Discussion
• More Information