Meta:Content Guide for ICANNWiki

This is the canonical Content Guide for ICANNWiki, containing the rules and conventions that are to be used in the project.

Last revision date: October 2024.

What you absolutely need to know

• Base style for articles:
  • Article title (is/was) a (type of entity, like "registrar" or "lawyer"), [founded in (four-digits year)], originating from (country/territory). + (write any additional essential information to close off the leading paragraph) + (a new header follows with detailed content).
• Scope: ICANN and Internet Governance are the subjects of the wiki. Avoid broad themes better covered elsewhere and focus on matters specific to these areas.
• Writing:
  • 📌 The wiki is in the English language, all variants are accepted, as long as they are written in formal style (academic style not required).
  • 📌 The editor's tone should always be neutral. Articles about services and businesses are welcome, but cannot be written in advertisement form.
• Notability: Low bar. The person, entity or concept needs to have a clear proven connection with ICANN or Internet governance.
• Lists of names: Long lists of names are unwelcome, unless they pertain to essential matters (ex.: members of Working Groups should be listed, winners of awards should not).

❗ For further guidance consult the full Content Guide for ICANNWiki and check our documentation at ICANNWiki Content Planning.❗

Detailed explanations follow after the table of contents.

Base style for articles

• For all articles, with the title always in bold: Article title (is/was) a (type of entity, like "registrar" or "lawyer")
  • Then, in case of a natural person: originating from (country/territory).
  • Then, in case of a legal person: founded in (four-digits year), in (country/territory).
• Then, write any additional essential information to close off the leading paragraph.
• Then, create a level two heading with ==Example== to start writing specific sections, usually starting with "Origin" or "History".

Scope

Summary: ICANN and Internet Governance are the subjects of the wiki. Avoid broad themes better covered elsewhere and focus on matters specific to these areas.

ICANNWiki is concerned with all matters related to Internet Governance, not being limited to ICANN. The scope of this coverage is wide, but should not normally encompass subjects that would already be better covered elsewhere.

For a clear-cut example, it might be notable to outline that a person comes from a certain geographical region, for example, if they were responsible for bringing Internet connectivity to the Brazilian city of Embu das Artes. In that case, an external link to Wikipedia’s article on Embu das Artes would be ideal, rather than creating an article for ICANNWiki.

For a more subjective example, an article on router devices might be better covered by Wikipedia’s article on Router (computing), although that might not be the case if an ICANNWiki volunteer wants to contribute their expert insights into how this affects Internet Governance. Meanwhile, an article on the practice of routing traffic can be assumed to be better covered by ICANNWiki’s specialized community in our Routing article.

Writing

Summary: The wiki is in the English language, all variants are accepted, as long as they are written in formal style (academic style not required). The editor's tone should always be neutral. Articles about services and businesses are welcome, but cannot be written in advertisement form.

Given the global nature of the ICANNWiki project and the diversity of its users, an academic tone is not expected from contributions. However, a professional tone is required. Usage of slang and stylistics outside of common language rules is discouraged exactly to ensure an even playing field for all contributors. This normalization will be enforced by community managers and administrators.

The main language of the wiki is English, and any variant of that language is accepted, with spellings such as color and colour being equally valid and with no need to normalize them. Our focus is on stabilizing the main version of the wiki before branching out to other languages, but exceptions can be made if they are coordinated with administrators.

In the case of companies, NGOs, and programs, the writing of materials relating to their work must be neutral, without marketing products or services. It is valid and welcome to state what an entity does and how that is related to Internet Governance or how that entity participates in ICANN. Entities are allowed to list their services, but that should not be done as a sales pitch. Occurrences of blatant marketing posting will be moderated.

Notability

Summary: Low bar. The person, entity or concept needs to have a clear proven connection with ICANN or Internet governance.

The criteria for notability of an article are that of being relevant to Internet Governance or ICANN in general, without the need for further qualification as long as that connection is firmly established. The bar is intentionally set lower than that of Wikipedia in order to accommodate concepts and community members that would not otherwise be fit to be included there. Be aware that the other criteria outlined above still hold, and blatant self-advertising will be edited out.

Lists of names

Summary: Long lists of names are unwelcome, unless they pertain to essential matters (ex.: members of Working Groups should be listed, winners of awards should not).

It is undesirable to include long lists of names on ICANNWiki that do not have a designated maintainer and are not directly connected to a relevant project, especially when the list is likely to change. Essential lists, such as those of members of the ICANN Board, the GNSO Council, and participants of Working Groups, are allowed and encouraged due to the necessity of the information and the implicit expectation of their maintenance. Conversely, a list of recipients of a specific award for a particular year is undesirable unless the editor intends to compile a historical list of all recipients of the prize, which would make the list into more of an effort for content curation, rather than vanity editing.