FFXIclopedia:Content Control and Article Ownership


 * This article is about the control of content, not the ownership of copyright for content, which is addressed elsewhere.

Some contributors feel very possessive about material that they have donated to this project. Some go so far as to defend them against all intruders. It is one thing to take an interest in an article that you maintain on your watchlist or originally drafted. But if this watchfulness crosses a certain line, then you are overdoing it. Believing that an article has an owner of this sort is a common mistake people make on FFXIclopedia.

You cannot stop everyone in the world from editing "your" stuff, once you have posted it to FFXIclopedia.

If you don't want your material to be edited mercilessly or redistributed by others, do not submit it.

Working on an article does not entitle you to "own" the article. It is still important to respect the work of your fellow contributors. When making large scale edits, particularly of content contributed by one editor, it is important to consider whether a desirable result could be obtained by working with the editor, instead of against him or her&mdash;regardless of whether he or she "owns" the article or not. (See also FFXIclopedia:Appropriate Behavior)

Do not sign what you do not own
Since no one "owns" any part of any article, if you create or edit an article, you should not sign it. As for credit, the exact contributions of all editors are seen with their names on the "History" pages.

On the other hand, when adding comments, questions, or votes to talk pages, it is good to "own" your text, so the best practice is to sign it by suffixing your entry with " ~ "&mdash;no spaces, no brackets, no quotes, no nothing&mdash;just the four tildes.

Primary editors
Primary editors, that is to say, one editor who takes ownership of an article, should be approached on the article talk page with a descriptive header that informs readers about the topic. This typically arises in guides that are entitled by User and/or contain the UserGuide template. Always avoid accusations, attacks, and speculations concerning the motivation of editors. If necessary, ignore attacks made in response to a query. If the behavior continues, the issue may require dispute resolution, but it is important to make a good attempt to communicate with the editor on the article talk page beforehand. While all unprotected articles on FFXIclopedia may be edited by any user, special consideration should be taken when editing a guide containing the UserGuide template.