CZ:Contributor Lists
This is part of a proposal that is currently pending. Please do not use!
What are contributor lists?
Contributor lists are alphabetical lists of people who have contributed at least a couple of sentences to the article. A list appears only after at least five contributors.
If a name appears on the list, does that mean the person endorses the current version of the article?
No, not necessarily. In fact, a person may claim to be a contributor in spite of the fact that his or her contribution has been completely removed from the article.
Why are there contributor lists at all?
It is a small honor that might motivate some people to contribute.
How do I get added to a list?
You add yourself, once you have contributed "two substantive sentences," or an equivalent amount of content such as an image or notes, to the article. Add your name alphabetically to the list. For example, if my name is Joe Moe, I would add my name as follows:
{{contribs|John Doe|Joe Moe|Jane Roe}}
Do not skip down a space, and do not add [[ or ]] around your username.
What is a "substantive sentence"? What categories of data are "equivalent"?
One that is not particularly short or particularly unimportant. If you claim that a sentence is substantive, we probably won't object. One image or other graphic will earn co-contributor credit, as will two citations in notes; five "related articles" links; three "external links"; and similar amounts of content for data types.
Can someone add you to a contributor list?
Yes, if you have met the requirements to be added to the list, and you have not specifically asked them not to do so.
Can I remove myself from the list?
Yes, and no one may prevent you from doing so.
I created a list, or added myself to a list, but I don't see my name. Why not?
Probably because there are fewer than five names on the list.
Why don't you display fewer than five names?
Because a list of relatively few names would tend to put off people who feel uncomfortable joining what might appear to them to be a small "clique" or "club." Moreover, giving people credit only once the list of names reaches five in length will encourage more robust collaboration in the beginning of the authoring of an article, which is a very good thing.
Isn't the list meaningless if one can be added to it for contributing just a couple of sentences to the article?
It isn't meaningless, because it is a list of people who have, after all, worked some on the article; most people cannot make that claim. We grant that it is a small honor--one that, again, will motivate some people to do work on the wiki and take pride in their work, even if very small.
Why not make the honor more meaningful? Why not restrict credit to "major authors," defined somehow?
Because, in short, to do that would be to recognize people as major authors. This would change the robustly collaborative culture of our project. Probably, this would make people less likely to contribute to articles that they aren't honored for writing. Other projects, such as the Encyclopedia of Earth and Scholarpedia, do recognize major authors, but they do not enjoy nearly the sort of robust collaboration that the Citizendium does. It is best that we not play fast and loose with the very engine--collaboration--that runs the wiki process.
One Citizen may list another Citizen on the template, but if a Citizen asks not to be credited, his or her wishes must be respected. If a contributor does not want to claim credit, then it should be possible for contributors to add the words and other contributor(s) to the list of contributors, e.g., by simply writing |other [the template does not currently permit this, but it will]. This in effect means that, even if there are many people who do not want to claim credit for a specific article, there must be at least four contributors who do wish to claim credit, for any of them want to receive credit. One may not argue about a Citizen's claim of credit. The Constabulary may edit author lists and is responsible for settling any objections to a particular author listing. There would be a small notice wherever the template appears that pithily conveys the notion that, despite our having listed these names, the article is wide open and available to work on by any Citizen. Contributor templates work precisely the same way for subpages, that is, each subpage uses its own contributor template.