HandWiki:Help/Dispute resolution

Dispute resolution

HandWiki articles are created through consensus of all users. Unlike other wiki encyclopedias, HandWiki does not have super-users who resolve disputes and create final versions of articles.

After an article is created, it can be added to the "Watch list" (see the blue star at the top panel). In this case an email will be sent to the author about changes by other users. If the editors disagree, they can discuss articles in the "Discussion" page. In addition, authors can add their names directly at the bottom of articles using Author template, in which case the name always shown at the bottom of articles.

If you think that a topic is too controversial for the mainstream science, consider adding it to the Unsoved namespace.

Alternative opinions

HandWiki provisions a mechanism for dealing with different opinions without resolving them by editors with administrative privileges. When a consensus is impossible, specially designed sections are used to express alternative opinions. Such sections will be embedded automatically in the body of the article, creating a well-formatted content extending the article. The sections without consensus can be edit-protected by persons who have alternative opinions. The protected sections will require verified name of the contributor. The editor name who created such sections will be automatically indicated at the top header of such boxes. A vote will be added to indicate the popularity of this opinion.

The reason for this feature is following: HandWiki articles are created by users with professional backgrounds, therefore, all opinions of researches matter. HandWiki gives you instant access to alternative opinions the reader should be aware of.

Creating sections with opinions

Let us assume you want to create an edit-protected section with alternative opinion for an article "Cat" in the namespace "Biology",

https://handwiki.org/wiki/Biology:Cat

Create a sub-page which starts with the word "Opinion" . For example, create a sub-page with the name "Opinion1":

https://handwiki.org/wiki/Biology:Cat/Opinion1

Check that the sub-page "Opinion1" does not exist. Write the text with your opinion, and then protect it from modification by other editors. You can do it using the menu "Change protection" from the top menu (an icon with three dots). Note that the sub-page title should always starts with the word "Opinion", otherwise it will never be parsed. Instead "1", you can add any other number, word or even you name.

Now the sub-page "Opinion1" will be parsed at the bottom of the main article "Biology:Cat". The user name of this "Opinion" section will be indicated in the header of this section. This section cannot be edited or removed by other users.

If you would like to see the opinions of the users about our comment, add this "vote" line to the "Option" sub-pages (before or after your text):

<vote type=1/>

It should be noted that "alternative opinion" sections may not be possible for the namespaces such as "Book", "Monograph" and "Tutorial" (this depends on the authors). By default, should use the dedicated "Discussion" pages for such topics.

Example

Here is an example article about cats: HandWiki:Test. Since the consensus on this article was impossible, it has automatically created sections with alternative opinions from two users. The name of the sub-pages are HandWiki:Test/Opinion1 and HandWiki:Test/Opinion2 (instead of "1" and "2" can be any string, but the starting word "Opinion" is mandatory). These sections can be edited by the users with alternative opinion only, and they cannot be removed by the author of HandWiki:Test.