MormonWiki:Policies

When we were in kindergarten, one of the great places to build things, along with other children, was in the sandbox. We quickly learned that there were rules that those in the sandbox needed to follow so that everyone could have fun. If the rules weren't followed, then people were unhappy and little got done in the sandbox.

It is the same at MormonWiki.com. There are rules (policies) that this site expects to be followed. The policies are not perfect, but they are designed to allow the site to fulfill its mission, to support the mission of the More Good Foundation (the sponsor of this site), and to allow the members of the Foundation to utilize this site in the best way possible.

By nature, the policies are fluid. They won't be changed arbitrarily, but they may change over time. The policies are established by the staff of the Foundation, but are open to discussion by all Foundation members.

Key policies

You don't need to read all these policies before you start editing at MormonWiki.com, but you'll probably have a better long-term experience if you become familiar with them.

1. MormonWiki.com is a tool. It is not a publication, but designed as an incubator of content that can be used by Foundation members to create their own Web sites.
2. Adopt a point of view. There is a point of view that should be used in all content created at MormonWiki.com. In general, content needs to be supportive of the Church and the faith claims of Mormonism.
3. Respect copyrights. You can share your own content on MormonWiki.com, but don't share someone else's. More information is on our copyrights page.
4. Use the content. The content on MormonWiki.com is designed to be used by others. You should feel free to do so, provided you use the content in accordance with our licensing policy.

How are policies decided?

MormonWiki.com policies are decided upon by the staff of the More Good Foundation. If you have input for the policies, make sure you communicate them to the Foundation. We encourage discussion on policy issues.

How are policies enforced?

Most policies are enforced by members of the More Good Foundation. Hopefully you are a member, and you can help with this enforcement. (If you are not a member, visit the Foundation's website and click on "Member Login" at the upper-right.)

Some policies are enforced by blocks placed on individual users. This level of enforcement is typically used only if an account is guilty of vandalism (repeatedly making pages worse instead of better) or not adhering to the site's point of view when writing or editing.

Editing Policy

Collaborative environments, such as the one at MormonWiki.com, are designed so that people can easily add content and edit existing content. We want you to feel free to make changes to what you see at this site. We've made this as easy as possible; anyone can register at the site and start making changes.

You don't need to be a trained editor in order to make changes, nor do you need to devote massive amounts of time to making edits. MormonWiki.com is designed so that regardless of your skill level you can make as many or as few changes as you deem necessary. The idea is that as enough people make small improvements, an entire article or series of articles can be substantially improved over time.

So, the official editing policy of MormonWiki.com is this: make edits. Just do it, and in the process make the content better than it was when you arrived.

To assist you in making edits that really do make the content here better, we've created a style guide that you will want to take a look at. (It really is good.)

Breadth of Information

Unlike some other religious traditions, the Church has no systematic theology, believing instead in a non-static, dynamic faith that grows and changes as God reveals more information. This can present a challenge for writers and editors, because it means that some Church teachings have changed over time and will continue to change. It also means that there are many areas in which there is no official Church doctrine and where a variety of opinions—all equally compelling and equally non-binding—can be held by deeply religious Mormons.

Definition of Doctrine

The term doctrine can be rather ambiguous. In its broadest sense, a doctrine is synonymous with a teaching; in its strictest sense, not all teachings are doctrines. The question “what is doctrine” is actually open to debate among many LDS scholars and theologians.

Recognizing that there is no universal agreement on the definition of doctrine, a working definition of the term has been adopted by MormonWiki.com: official doctrine is contained within the four standard works of the Church (the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine