AARoads:Content policy

Content policy
A subpage for the AARoads project

Standard:

This content policy shall govern content intended to be published in the main article namespace. It does not apply to content in the Annex. All terms used in this policy shall be interpreted according to the definitions established in the policy overview.

Licensing

Standard:

Support:

Requiring the use of a free license allows editors to build upon and modify the work submitted by the editors that came before them, so long as they agree to license their contributions under the same terms. The "Attribution" aspect of the CC-BY-SA license ensures that users will be credited for the use of their work. The CC-BY-SA license is also used by Wikipedia and other Wikimedia Foundation projects, allowing AARoads Wiki to host content originally published to these projects.

Article titles

See also: AARoads:Naming conventions

Standard:

Articles shall be titled in a consistent manner that accurately reflects their contents. All articles on roads that make up a numbered route system shall be titled alike, differing only in the number assigned to the subject highway.

Option:

Articles on numbered highways which are not publicly identified by their route number may instead be titled according to the name most commonly in use by the general public.

Guidance:

When alternate names for a highway exist, redirects from these names should be provided allowing users to reach the article from any plausible search term.

Articles on roads that have two or more coextensive highway designations should be titled according to the most-commonly-recognized designation.

Support:

Consistency in article titles improves usability for our readers. It also improves maintainability, as it prevents editors from spending large amounts of time looking up article titles when making links.

Standard:

The community shall establish a naming convention for each highway system within its scope. Until such time as new naming conventions are decided by the community, the naming conventions established on Wikipedia under the authority of the State Route Naming Conventions poll of 2006 shall govern.

Guidance:

Naming conventions should be constructed in a consistent manner where possible, such that a reader unfamiliar with the naming convention established can make a plausible guess as to what the naming convention may be.

Support:

A number of users have suggested they are unhappy with details of the naming conventions established in 2006. Until a decision can be reached on what needs to be changed, if anything, the existing article titles will suffice.

Guidance:

The community should endeavor to not make the process of selecting naming conventions as much of a disaster as what happened in 2006, because, good Lord you guys.

Images

Standard:

Freely-licensed images used on AARoads Wiki shall be hosted on Wikimedia Commons when they would be accepted by that site.

Support:

Because the server space on AARoads Wiki is limited, to avoid undue financial burden to Alex, use of server resources should be avoided where possible.

Standard:

Editors shall only use non-free images on AARoads Wiki where they will significantly increase readers' understanding of the article topic, and their omission would be detrimental to that understanding. Such images shall not be used unnecessarily. All use of non-free images shall be compliant with United States fair use laws.

Guidance:

Non-free images should only be used where unavoidable, for example, a highway's primary route shield. Fair-use images should only be displayed in the article's main infobox, and not in junction lists or other decorative contexts. A rationale should be provided on the image description page that adequately justifies the use and fair use status of a non-free image.

Non-free images should be deleted when no longer in use in an article, or when an adequate fair use rationale cannot be established for a given image. Non-free images should be replaced with free images when a free image serving the same purpose can be created or obtained.

Support:

Limiting the use of non-free images reduces the chance they will be used in a way that inadvertently violates copyright law.

Sourcing

Standard:

Information included in articles shall be supported by reliable sources. Sources deemed reliable include:

1. Works (including, but not limited to, websites, maps, geographic information system data, databases, catalogs, and meeting minutes) published by a state or national department of transportation or similar agency responsible for the construction and maintenance of roads,
2. Published works, such as commercial atlases and maps, books, newspapers, magazines, journals, and commercially-run websites,
3. Self-published works related to highways, such as websites or blogs, which are known to the community as being generally reliable.

Works appearing on the above list in a higher position shall generally have precedence over those in a lower position, except when the preponderance of the evidence available demonstrates that the higher-ranked source is likely to be factually inaccurate.

Guidance:

Reliable sources should be provided in the form of citations formatted in a standardized fashion according to the Manual on Uniform Road Articles. If, after a reasonably thorough search, no reliable source can be found to support a piece of material, that material should be removed from the article.

Option:

Unsourced content may be left in place and clearly marked as unsourced if there is a reasonable expectation a source may be found supporting it at a later point in time. Large amounts of unsourced content may also be moved to the Annex, or user space, if it is anticipated that finding adequate sources may be a significant undertaking.

Support:

Using reliable sources makes it more likely that only accurate information included in articles is correct. Providing citations to the sources used enables readers to verify that the article does not misrepresent the source and allows them to be confident in the quality of our work.

Scope

See also: AARoads:Scope

Standard:

The main namespace of the AARoads Wiki shall consist of articles covering the subjects defined at the scope subpage.

Guidance:

If a user believes that an article or list does not fall within the scope of the project, they should move it to the Annex if it is believed that it may be of interest to the community, or else list it at Deletion requests to allow the community to decide whether or not it should be deleted.

The community should establish a process in which content from other countries, or other types of highways in the countries already so listed, may be added to the above list, should maintaining such content be deemed viable.

Support:

Limiting the subjects allowed in the main namespace allows the wiki to remain a useful research and reference tool, rather than an indiscriminate collection of facts. It also encourages editors to focus on subjects of wide general interest, rather than limited local interest.