Essay:How to make good wiki pages

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How can we create good wiki pages for the Mises Wiki? What do those pages look like and what should they should?

Embryonic versions

The minimal wiki page, sometimes it features just a few sentences. It is usually used to define a concept used on many other pages, or to drop that one cool link that is highly relevant for the concept. Please add a {{Stub}} template and use a reference if possible. You should also link to other wiki pages.

One would hope that this minimalistic page will grow out of it. In any event, it should at least contain a meaningful definition of the concept. Which brings us to our first topic:

How to write a good definition:

For many concepts, the easiest thing to do is to Google them. Searching for the term alone or with the keyword "define:" usually provides several good definitions. Choose one that is suitable, ideally from a respectable source - some favorites are Encyclopedia Britannica, the Merriam-Webster dictionary, or the Free Online Dictionary. It is preferable to use "mainstream" definitions to maintain an even tone and a certain neutrality.

Exception: use appropriate sources for topics that are unique to e.g. the Austrian School. Same goes for where a concept is markedly different from the "mainstream". See e.g. the page on Inflation for a good example - the definition is Austrian, followed by a section discussing where it differs from its common understanding.

What about Wikipedia? While Wikipedia may be the first result, it's better to avoid using its definition - but it can link to a resource with a useful definition, then it's fair game. (One reason not to use WP material is copyright.)

In some cases, no suitable definition can be found. In that case, you could do worse than adapting a definition from Wikipedia. If it is a short text, add a {{Fact}} template and comment on its origin. If the text is long, add a {{Wikipedia text}} template. If not even that is possible, formulate some good definition yourself and add {{Fact}} - hopefully someone will find a better one in time.

Stubs

Many pages never grow out of this stage, but a decent stub can be still very useful. A typical stub may consist of a single longer section, which includes the definition and some general points. Or it may contain several sections on whatever aspects the author(s) consider important. It also typically contains links, so readers can find useful resources to study (and perhaps expand the page).

How to make a nice list of links:

A link should contain the URL, name of the page linked to, and the author or organization creating the article. A date of creation is also nice to have, the year and month are sufficient most of the time, for books should be the publishing year fine. Links get broken and disappear over time - it shouldn't be too hard to find the item if that happens.

Now, what are the most crucial pages for that topic? If it's an organization, you should include the homepage. For a person it may be the personal or professional homepage - or both. Is there a list of writings, or a bibliography? Works available online? A public archive about a historical event? Google around (again, Wikipedia can be helpful).

Then, what is the Austrian or libertarian take on this concept? You could do worse that search for the topic with a "site:mises.org", but there are more useful pages out there (try e.g. this custom search engine). Avoid forum posts and personal blogs, try to focus on articles by notable authors and books. There may be also interesting media like videos out there - you can see e.g. Milton Friedman talking eloquently about the free market and frequent misconceptions.

Finally, the (almost) obligatory WP link. For many topics is Wikipedia, the largest encyclopedia in human history, a great resource and can quickly provide an overview and hint at controversies (the Talk pages can be particularly instructive in this regard). Wikipedia can also serve for comparision to "mainstream" views and public perceptions of a given topic, and to provide insight about whatever the Mises Wiki page is not focusing on.

And on some topics, Wikipedia will provide little or no content at all - that is okay too.

Pages

Most pages, hopefully, grow into a good overview of their topic: well defined and touching all the important aspects (or at least the economic, historical, etc. aspects we are focusing on). Where a stub can be an introduction to a topic and provide some pointers or an actual reading list, a good wiki page can explain a topic by itself, and to a degree represent the position of the Austrian School or the libertarian movement. Which brings us to...

How to create good references:

Most of the mainspace-content of this wiki should come from respectable sources and should not contain the personal views of the editors. It should be also be clearly visible where a quote or notion is coming from.

A reference should contain the link (if available) of the work cited, the author and/or organization publishing it (e.g. if the quote is from a newspaper, include the newspaper's name, the date of publishing, and any other data that might help to locate the quote (again, remember links get broken). If it's a book or long article, including the page number or section name also helps. One should also include the data when the reference was created. That is especially important with online sources - even if the article changed in the mean time, it is obvious you were referring to the version of that date. (It may be possible to find that version via the Internet Archive.)