ICW Article FAQs
Who approves accounts?
Anyone who has an admin role on the site. Account approvals are usually quick. Presently, J-P and Jessica are the most active daily on the site. If you have had a request sitting idle for more than two days, feel free to nudge us via our talk pages. We have the account approval process in place because it is the simplest way to filter out spambots.
When I'm requesting an account, what should I put in the "Biography" and "Other Information" sections of the form?
Because the primary purpose of the account request process is to filter bots, anything that indicates that you are not a bot is an excellent start. More specifically, your connections to or interests in ICANN, the DNS, and other aspects of Internet governance are good things to include. Any other goals you may have in joining our community are good additions.
Who approves content?
Virtually anyone who works on the wiki! This means you and your peers can add, edit, and delete information (with discretion). Our admins and long-standing editors may remove or flag an item if it doesn't meet the wiki criteria. Overall, this community is very forgiving and we will generally reach out to you on your discussion page before doing anything drastic.
Why is _______ so out of date?
Excellent question! If you notice something that's substantially out of date, you have an amazing opportunity to fix it. Even if all you do is note the need for an update on the Articles Wanted page, you will be taking a step toward improving the wiki. Or, you might be motivated to dive in and make edits yourself. For either of these options, you can request an account if you don't have one yet. Basic wiki markup is pretty straightforward - we have a series of videos that provide a primer.
There are other ways to bring dated information to our attention. You can use the talk page links for JP & Jessica, or email us - jp [at] icannwiki.org or jessica[at] icannwiki.org). If you use these options, don't hesitate to include as much detail as you can - we can take your information live much faster than we could start from scratch.
When I click 'Save' or 'Publish' what should I write?
Provide a brief summary of what you added or changed. This will help future editors/writers understand where you left off, and provide context for the work they hope to add.
What if I disagree with an edit, line of information or editor?
This is where the 'history' page can help. Once you discover the username of the person who made the edit, you can go to their 'talk' or 'discussion' page. Here, you create a 'new topic' and address the issue at hand. You can also use the 'talk' page of the article where the contested information lives.
What are the red links?
Redlinks are called 'invitation' links in wiki-speak. If you encounter an invitation link, you are encountering a subject that does not have an article attached to it. The original writer thought it was pertinent to invite another user to contribute and create an article for that subject. If you see this link, consider creating an article!
What if I don't have time to write something up?
We get it! Send links to JP or Jessica using any of the means above. Even a bare link in an email will help us get eyes on your topic or news quickly. You can also make a note on the Articles Wanted page to alert us to breaking news or information that would help a particular article.