User:Szmenderowiecki/Attempt at compilation/Intro

General philosophy and principles

• Your main goal is: you are here to write and maintain an encyclopedia that others can trust.

• All rules outlined here are meant to lead to this goal, without exception. If any rule prevents you from doing that, ignore it. Facing multiple interpretations of the same rule, choose the one that best leads to this goal.
• If you came here to do something else, please stop. In particular, this is not a place to make up stuff, spread propaganda, advocacy, gossip or otherwise make the encyclopedia unreliable and biased. You will be banned if you do that, particularly if repeatedly or consistently so.
• This is an encyclopedia, so not everything belongs. We are not a newspaper, an information dump, a dictionary, a directory nor a collection of source documents.

• Wikipedia is a collaborative project.

• Treat others as you would like others to treat you, even when you disagree with them or do not like them.
• Don't be a jerk to anyone in any way. We will ban people who misbehave.
• We are not social media.
• If you came here to start, wage, or win wars of any kind, to "own" someone or to advance any sort of agenda other than improving the encyclopedia, you are in a wrong place
• Wikipedia operates on consensus - a general agreement of editors. We are not, however, a political experiment of any kind.

• Wikipedia is free to use, edit, and distribute

• Do not violate copyright and never plagiarise from any source.
• If possible, use free media ("free" as in "freedom"). Usage of copyrighted media is sometimes allowed but is legally restricted.
• There is no such thing as "your article". Anyone can edit, and even delete, what you wrote, as outlined in the rules.

• Wikipedia's rules should be written in a simple, understandable way that yields just outcomes for all participants.

• Rules should be as concise and clear as possible
• Rules must be consistent and should apply equally to all editors
• Use common sense and your best judgment when applying the rules
• When in doubt that you follow relevant rules when doing a certain thing, consider alternatives that you are sure to be compliant with them, or failing that, consult your doubts with the community
• We are not here for the rules, the rules are here so that the encyclopedia creation process runs smoothly.

Types of rules

1. Policies have wide acceptance among editors and describe standards all users should follow. They are codified here.
2. Guidelines are sets of best practices supported by consensus. As such, you should also follow them, but there may be some valid exceptions, so don't interpret them rigidly. Guidelines, except for the Manual of Style, are also codified here. They are explicitly marked as such.
3. Process pages implement a certain policy or guideline in connection with a certain process (e.g. Articles for Deletion allows for articles to be deleted according to a subset of rules regulating removal of content).
4. Essays are pieces of advice or commentary (a) certain editor(s) offer(s) on a policy or guideline. Explanatory essays or supplemental essays are special cases of essays that offer advice on how to apply a certain policy or guideline when editing Wikipedia. Essays are NOT policies or guidelines, may not override them and are not their official interpretations. That said, some may be influential in the community.

When applying a certain policy or guideline, apply only the interpretation that will best work towards making the encyclopedia and its articles better, and maintaining a collegial atmosphere, even if alternative options better suit your political, religious or other personal veiws. If a policy or a guideline prevents you from improving Wikipedia, ignore it.

Another way of defining the rules reflect the areas that the rules cover:

Editing. This includes rules about:

• Content, i.e. what you should and should not write in an article for it to belong to an encyclopedia. They only apply to article space.
  • Naming conventions are a set of guidelines about choosing an appropriate article title
  • The Manual of Style regulates the technical details of writing, which includes proper language and formatting.
• Deletion, i.e. how unwanted content is removed, wherever it is.
  • Notability guidelines regulate what topics are important enough to belong in an encyclopedia. They are often used in article deletion discussions.
• Conduct, i.e. acceptable behaviour between editors.

Disputes between editors are divided into those about conduct (the last position) and content (everything else). Wikipedia generally maintains a separation between the two. Therefore, conduct disputes will generally be processed in dedicated venues resolving conduct issues.

Procedure. These rules treat about:

• User rights, which outlines what a user with a given permission may or may not do.
• Processes, i.e. ways to report bad conduct, appeals, seeking consensus or changes to the rules.
• Legal issues, mostly set by the Wikimedia Foundation.
• Enforcement, outlining the duties, rights and restrictions on actors authorized to enforce the all of the above rules.