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→An open letter to users and administrators of the various different Christian wikis
(--[[User:Graham grove|Graham grove]] 21:55, 24 July 2006 (PDT))
:I appreciate the comments. I don't really disagree with any of it. I think some of the similarity with Wikipedia is an effort not to re-invent the wheel. For example, in the area of organization of the Wiki. Of course there are other aspects than just organizational and logistical things. In addition, we also need to remember that there are many people in the world that haven't even heard of Wikipedia, so it shouldn't be too surprising that Christian wikis are lacking in editorial support. Here are some responses to your points... --[[User:Ymmotrojam|Tom]] 06:41, 25 July 2006 (PDT)
# The use of unhelpful usernames. Why can’t we all use our real names as our user names. It makes us less anonymous
#:Interesting idea, I think I like it. Especially for citing articles. --[[User:Ymmotrojam|Tom]] 06:41, 25 July 2006 (PDT)
# The complaints that seem to arise whenever someone writes an article in an essay style presenting his viewpoint, rather than in an encyclopedia style. Articles should be able to have sentences starting with “I think”. Now these are clearly individual opinion articles, and so need to be marked as such. But Christianity is a personal religion, and people have opinions which differ. “I think” is valid.
#:I agree. "I" statements should be included somehow. If you think about it, every statement is an opinion, even encyclopedic writings are opinions from various points of view, although they may be more educated than the average person. The only trouble I see is in how to merge encyclopedia and user commentary. I'd love to see what others think about that! --[[User:Ymmotrojam|Tom]] 06:41, 25 July 2006 (PDT)
# Vandalism – but I don’t know what to do about that – perhaps the only way to stop it is to have a critical number of users
#:I pretty much haven't had any vandalism at Wikible for a few months now. I use keyword filters, captchas, a username registration blacklist, and a user creation log to keep track of who registers. And I still allow anonymous users to edit and add content, and all registered users are free to edit the Main Page. In fact, the only page thta no one can edit but me is the Copyright notice, which I think is self-explanatory why I did that. Other than that, almost anyone can edit it. --[[User:Ymmotrojam|Tom]] 06:41, 25 July 2006 (PDT)
# The unwritten rule that an article about the local church down the road is not acceptable. What is wrong with writing an article about my church down the road and writing about its minister, congregation, teaching, music and service times? Nothing as far as I can see!
#:I agree with that. --[[User:Ymmotrojam|Tom]] 06:41, 25 July 2006 (PDT)
# The layout is never particularly logical.
#:Layout? What are you referring to? --[[User:Ymmotrojam|Tom]] 06:41, 25 July 2006 (PDT)