Wikishire:General policies

See also: #List of policies

Style

Clarity and accuracy do not forbid a good writing style. Articles should not be dully encyclopædic but helpfully descriptive without compromising accuracy.

Inevitably collaborative authorship will harm the beauty of composition, and this has its own challenges. A contributor who has composed what he considers a beautiful piece should not get too upset about changes made by another contributor, as changes are quite legitimate, and preferences in styles are individual, and contributors should Assume good faith and practise courtesy. Variety in composition is the essence of a collaborative wiki and all we ask is that contributors try to leave an article pleasant to read without compromising accuracy.

Language and dialect

The Wikishire in default uses British English. Articles about British or Irish topics should use British / Irish English. Dialectical usage is outwith the scope of prescription and local usages are acceptable as long as they can be readily understood by English-speaking readers in general. Articles about other English-speaking lands may use local forms and spellings of English.

Articles should try to avoid grammatical and other errors of English (which are generally unaffected by dialect). To ensure correct grammar and usage, useful guides are provided by the Academy of Contemporary English.

When reference is made to geographical features such as parishes, cities or counties, the prefix form shall be preferred. That is to say one should write about the "Parish of Thurso", not "Thurso Parish"; the "City of St Davids", not "St Davids City" and the "County of Devon", not "Devon County". Special attention must be taken with the names of counties to avoid tautological constructs such as "County of Cheshire": Once the correct form "County of Chester" has been introduced, the author is free to use the proper noun "Cheshire" as long as it is not preceded with the descriptive "county of". A list of the appropriate constructs is given at Counties of the United Kingdom.

Accuracy

The key aim of Wikishire information is truth. References should be provided as far as possible, both as verification and as a guide for users' further research.

Primary sources are preferred to secondary sources, secondary preferred to tertiary and so forth, and ideally an effort should be made to find original sources. Neither Wikishire nor other wikis should be used as a cited source.

Soapboxing

Feel free to vent your spleen on the Talk pages; they are not restrained by the policy of Wikishire:General neutrality. However the requirement of Courtesy to other contributors still applies.

List of policies

• General policies
• Article management
• General neutrality
• Geography in Britain and Ireland
• Locked articles