User:Andrewa/this is an unthreaded discussion

Hi. This is a personal notice. It's not protected, in the spirit of Wikis, but this particular page is intended to represent my views on a particularly sensitive subject. In view of this, IMO any update of it by others is vandalism, however trivial you think it is. So instead, please discuss anything you want changed (including this notice of course) on my talk page. Andrewa 21:38, 25 Apr 2004 (UTC)

By unthreaded discussion I mean any discussion in which the rules of thread mode are not observed. Obviously this includes document mode discussion, but it also includes what I have called semi-threaded discussions which use some sort of mixed mode. Perhaps unthreaded is not the best term. It has led to some misunderstandings, so other suggestions are very welcome!

Some possible rules for unthreaded mode discussions:

• Use commonsense.
  • Make it clear what is your text and what is someone else's, especially if their text is signed.
  • Make it clear which discussion your comments belong to. Horizontal lines or subheadings can be used to separate different topics (note that I didn't say threads).
• Don't use devices, such as indenting, which might mislead those unfamiliar with unthreaded mode discussion.
  • This rule is disputed, and is currently being explored a little further.
• Remember that the position of a comment is meaningless so far as the timing or sequence of the discussion goes. If the comment is undated, look to the history.
  • If you include a date on your signature, update it every time you change the signed text, however trivially.
• Remember the goal! We are building an encyclopedia!
  • Research and experiments that strive to improve our processes are good, and belong here.
  • Personal interest stuff and experiments that aren't motivated by this goal are good too, but not on this Wiki. Check out Meatball.

None of these rules are mandatory. Feel free to break them if you feel this will help to explore the pros, cons and general feasibility of unthreaded mode discussions. And be prepared to be criticised if your breaking one of them makes the discussion less satisfactory for someone else. Hopefully it will be constructive criticism, and we will all learn from it. And of course you can reply.

Nor are these rules complete. Many rules by which a community lives are never written down. Keeping the written rules doesn't mean you'll never be criticised. Nor should you feel someone else is beyond criticism just because they keep them.

Let's all explore how this can best work.

For some earlier, and continuing, experiments with this sort of discussion, see Meatball.