Templates and page structure

You can try out some of these on the playground page.

If a template has been set up, it will appear as a kind of scaffolding when you create a new page on the wiki — in this case, suggesting the elements that we think work well in a page. It helps both writers and readers:

• for writers and curators, it gives a good idea of how to structure a page;
• for readers, it gives more consistency, so they know what to expect and therefore can read and understand more easily.

The essential idea is that the template is there to help you know what might be expected on the page, and you set up and continue to edit the page on that basis.

Templates are useful guides, but are not set in concrete. They can be changed when needed, though to maintain consistency and readability, we want these to be changed by agreement rather than by individuals. Individuals can always change any page they create or edit in any case, so they don't need to change the templates. When needed, we will update the templates after general consultation.

Below are outlines of the page templates we either have or are working on.

In some templates, we have put comments to guide us to fill in the template. You can leave these comments in if you like — they won't appear in the displayed page, or delete them if you don't need them any more.

Comments start with /* and end with */. Thus if in the edit window I write …

Something to fill in here /* but it doesn't matter really what */.

… it's displayed as …

Something to fill in here.

However, be careful, as if you write /* and not the balancing */, lots of text may disappear! It won't have been lost … you would just need to check the comment starts and ends.

The basics here include:

• Curator's real name
  • “real name” here means name by which they are generally known, not necessarily legal name
• A photo, cartoon, etc.
  • or other graphic if the curator prefers not to share photos of themselves publicly
• About: any short bio, and/or links to other pages with verifiable publicly available information, recommended to include
  • links to the topics on this wiki curated by this curator
  • and any other relevant writings
  • any chosen relevant social media presence (e.g. LinkedIn)
  • with no need to duplicate, but rather to focus on commons-related information
• Organisation(s),
  • with links, and roles within them
• Contact details
  • whichever are reliable and suit the curator

We want curators, particularly on their public home pages, to be free to represent themselves as they see best. The above are just guidelines.

One thing we do ask, though: for some effective way of contacting curators, especially for other curators of the same pages, so that curators can work towards agreeing structure and contents for their topic pages, and hopefully, for responding to readers' feedback on the pages they curate.

• A link to the topic group(s) this topic belongs to.
• Topic title, with:
  • main graphic representing the topic, with optional caption
  • lead quotation, for inspiration, with source
• “Introduction”
  • the essential meaning of this topic
  • subsections are possible here
• “Why …”
  • rationale; benefits; why this topic is important / significant; etc.
  • subsections are possible here
• “What can I do about …?”
  • what action a reader can take around this topic
  • could be actually taking some action; or connecting with or supporting other people taking action; or learning more about the topic, either alone, in a course, or in a peer group.
  • subsections are possible here
• Have your say on our forum for public exchanges
• Learn more about … in subsections (not just one long list):
  • links to any sub-pages for this topic (only if they exist)
  • links to key concept pages (optional, as they can better be linked from the main text)
  • links to other related topics in this wiki
  • directions to other places, whether links to web sites or other
  • references to sources cited (with links if available)
• Curators / contributors
  • links to their home pages on our wiki
  • with affiliations if desired
• Developing the … topic
  • curator commentary: for adding personal perspectives, opinions, links,
    • being respectfully open about any diversity of views on the topic
  • open questions on this topic
    • where curators together can formulate questions that point to possible areas, for further investigation, and to grow the knowledge base

For a more detailed explanation, please see the annotated template for topics.

• A link to the start page for concepts
• Our term for the concept
• Our working definition
  • our definition, with reasons, including how the concept relates to the Commons
• Key topic pages, if any, with information about the concept
• Related terms and definitions
  • links to other definitions, related terms, and other sources of information about the concept
• Commentary
  • as with topics, we want to allow diverse perspectives within our common ethos
• Open questions
  • as with topics, we want to highlight the growing edge of our knowledge commons

For people significant to the Commons, who are not curators, the template is somewhat lighter than the one for curator/users. If possible (and if the person is alive), all content of this page should be all agreed by the person themselves.

• Name of the Commoner
  • (as for curators, the name by which they are generally known, and publish under)
• A photo, cartoon, etc.
  • either publicly available images, or images desired by the person — acknowledge source if not public domain
• Bio: any short bio, and/or links to other pages with verifiable publicly available information, recommended to include
  • links to any writings relevant to the commons
  • any public social media presence (e.g. LinkedIn)
  • Any organisation(s) with which the person was clearly identified, with links
• Contact details

  • only if explicitly agreed by the person themselves

Always link to the names of significant people, such as Elinor Ostrom (coded [[p:Elinor Ostrom]] — p stands for “person”) in topic or concept pages, and then there is no need to list pages in which the person is mentioned, as these can be found using the Backlinks button.

To come.

See the DokuWiki documentation on namespace_templates.

(Please sign all commentary)