CZ:Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians

Welcome Wikipedians and ex-Wikipedians!

Most Citizens were once (and some still are) at work on Wikipedia, and have joined Citizendium to try a different model of content development. We want to welcome you here. We think the world could use a free alternative to Wikipedia, and you can help us create it.

Before you start boldly contributing, please read this document. By doing so, your work at Citizendium will get off on the right foot, and that you won't run into any unexpected snags.

There are some important "do's and dont's" that Wikipedians may have to bear in mind. Wikipedia's policies either do not apply here or have been altered.

Citizendium is not a mirror

Citizendium is not a mirror of Wikipedia. Do not simply copy content from Wikipedia to Citizendium without working on it. If you wish to import material from Wikipedia, it must be because you have immediate plans to improve it (See Improving articles stylistically) andArticle Mechanics: Narrative coherence and flow.

See How to convert Wikipedia articles to Citizendium articles for directions. Articles copied from Wikipedia without any substantive revisions after one week are subject to deletion.

Differences in style, approach and tone

You're probably used to well-developed Wikipedia articles being divided into many short sections, full of bulleted lists. Some are written in dense prose that shows off erudition more than really introducing a topic.

We don't like to speak "encyclopedese." Rather, we want Citizendium articles to be lucid, highly readable introductions written in compelling, narrative prose. This doesn't mean our articles will have less information or be more lightweight. It means we simplify the difficult, engage our readers, and allow a narrative voice to come through.

For further information, see Article Mechanics. You might also want to have look at Sage advice on writing CZ articles, and examples of our approved articles.

New and unfamiliar practices

• The use of Subpages to expand article content. At Wikipedia, subpages are disallowed related to articles. Citizendium has made them universal for all articles. See our list of subpage types. Note how we have replaced "List of" articles with catalogs.

• The "Content is from Wikipedia?" tick-box. If any content of an article at Citizendium came from Wikipedia and you aren't the sole author of that content, check the tick-box, above the "Save page" button. If you are the sole author, please make it clear on the relevant talk page and post a link to the Wikipedia article history giving evidence of such. The {{WPauthor}} template has been created for this purpose.

• Workgroups, Workgroup Category Tags, and Workgroup Recent Changes. Anybody can edit any article but we want every article to have its editorial team assigned.

The above new practices are things you can use every time you do work on Citizendium. See We aren't Wikipedia for other new practices.

Acting like a pro

Our professionalism policy is our cornerstone behavior policy and is about our intent to create — and enforce — a respectful, pleasant, and productive working environment.

Real names means real names

Part of behaving professionally is signing with your real name on the wiki. You need not worry about your real name showing up all over the Net from CZ pages, since we use robots.txt to prevent that.

Handling content disputes without "edit warring"

See Dispute Resolution

We ain't elitist, but our "world" isn't flat

We ain't elitist, but our "world" isn't completely flat. At Wikipedia, everyone has the same role when it comes to making judgments about article content. Between competing citations and changing "consensus", disputes can seem unending. We think our system is an evolution of that model.

Editors

You already know we make a special role for experts. But this does not at all mean you cannot professionally argue your case with them; you most definitely should. To edit, editors must work shoulder-to-shoulder with authors and other editors. You'll probably be pleasantly surprised at how well it works!

Authors

Editors are authors too, but what can authors do? Almost everything. Authors can start new articles, edit existing articles, talk things over on the talk page, and much else. Authors work side-by-side with not only other authors, but with experts in their field. Although you may be skeptical at first, you'll probably find yourself heartily agreeing after a while—especially after you see your work appearing in articles that have been approved! For more on author functions, please see CZ:The Author Role.

Constables

Our constables are Citizendium's "community managers" or "Sysops". They oversee adherence to basic policies, and settle behavioral problems whereas editors settle content disputes. Constables also review applications and create new accounts. They operate within a "separation of powers" and are held to a strict conflict of interest policy. For further information see CZ:Constabulary.

Constables replace attacks of any kind with our {{civil}} template, which reads,

Text here was removed by the Constabulary on grounds of civility. (The author may replace this template with an edited version of the original remarks.)

Attacks result in a warning or even a ban, depending on the case.

If you have any complaints to make about other users, no matter how well justified, please don't make them on the wiki. Constables remove complaints and replace them with the {{nocomplaints}} template, which reads:

A comment here was deleted by The Constabulary on grounds of making complaints about fellow Citizens. If you have a complaint about the behavior of another Citizen, e-mail constables@citizendium.org. It is contrary to Citizendium policy to air your complaints on the wiki. See also CZ:Professionalism.

All of our constables are very friendly and helpful, but don't make the mistake of taking that to mean they play fast and loose with the rules. They don't. For further information see Constabulary Blocking Procedures.

To "call a constable," please email constables _at_ citizendium.org.

Images

Any type of open content licensed images are allowable and preferred, although images from Wikipedia or the Wikimedia Commons and other image banks must pass a two-pronged test before you upload them to Citizendium. Fully copyrighted images are allowable in Citizendium if you place proof of permission in a Permission subpage of the image's talk page.

All images lacking clear copyright data are subject to speedy deletion by constables acting on their own recognizance. Citizendium editors will not nominate articles for approval if the status of their images is unclear.

See Images Help on Copyrights.

Not categories and projects but workgroups

Wikipedians self-organize into Projects whose foci are articles in certain categories. Citizendium organizes authors and editors into discipline workgroups. Editors are assigned their workgroups, while authors add themselves to whichever workgroups they choose. You can take a workgroups tour to find out more, and read Get plugged in to the community!

Article deletion policy

The general rule is that articles should be deleted if their continued existence would create more work and frustration, in the long run, for either contributors or users, than deleting them. This is the essence of our Maintainability policy. It is different from Wikipedia's notability policy.

Constables may delete articles that are not maintainable. Editor permission is required for deletion of other articles. See CZ:Article Deletion Policy for elaboration.

We may also place articles into what we call Cold Storage rather than delete them.

Don't spill alphabet soup!

We wish to avoid having an insular, unintelligible community. Accordingly, we don't use neologisms like "NPOV" and "POV", "RS", "FWIW", and "OR". Just use plain English on top of wikilinks or post them in full. Any page shortcuts you find (the one for this page is CZ:CZ4WP) are exclusively for your personal use. In our informal discussions, however, it is generally agreed that CZ and WP are permissible, but only in an informal context.

Family-friendly

Citizendium aspires to be an encyclopedia with international acceptance, usage, and credibility. All general usage traditionally print encyclopedias who enjoy such a status have a "family-friendly" policy, and so does Citizendium. All articles about sexual topics will be scholarly and tactful, and none will contain gratuitously graphic photos. For more information, see our Family-Friendly Policy.

For further reading

• We aren't Wikipedia - A rundown of the similarities and differences
• How to convert Wikipedia articles to Citizendium articles - Essential reading if you wish to import anything from Wikipedia
• Citizendium's Statement of Fundamental Policies - The document you endorsed before being granted Citizendium membership.
• A Dozen Essentials - A dozen things you should know about.
• Article Mechanics - Different in several ways from Wikipedia, definitely worth reading.