GuildWiki:Assume good faith

Assume Good Faith is the guiding principle of any community-edited content. Assume all editors are acting in good faith, unless their actions prove otherwise.

Specifics
Assume every edit is intended as a positive contribution to this site, and assist the contributors accordingly. When possible, correct any well intentioned errors, and politely explain any corrections or applicable culture, so that the editors may contribute more effectively.

Everyone makes mistakes, and new editors are especially prone to technical errors. Remember that inexperienced editors may not understand the policies, practices or culture of the wiki. Always attempt to help and explain, before removing, reverting or scolding.

As with any community-edited content, ideas will conflict and tempers can flare. This policy requires all editors to stop and reconsider, assuming all edits in question were intended as positive edits, before taking any action.

Why is this important?
This wiki operates on the ideal that all contributors and consumers want a complete, comprehensive, and correct reference, and that all edits intended to advance that goal.

By assuming good faith, we:
 * Allow inexperienced editors into the wiki process.
 * Ease the improvement of articles.
 * Reduce the barrier for new content creation.
 * Prevent disputes.

Explain reverts
Assuming every edit is a well-intended edit, any reverts or removals should be explained throughly, unless the edit in question is obvious vandalism. The removal of any legitimate contribution should be well justified, and the reverting editor should provide reasoning why the edit should be removed.

Easily verifiable
Whenever possible, edits should be easily verifiable. For example, if you edit an article to reflect the results of your own experimentation, you can leave details of that experimentation in the article's discussion page so other editors can try it too. Hard-to-replicate observations can gain some weight from having a screenshot supporting the observation. If you garnish information from a forum post or fansite article, a link to your source in your edit summary is helpful. All these measures help editors determine which edits are valid information and which edits need more justification.

Do good
Every editor should strive towards actions that embody the assumption this policy provides. This policy does not excuse any editor from acting in good faith. Always review your own edits for good faith.

Assuming bad faith
Assuming any edit is a bad edit will prevent objective analysis of every edit. This often results in good content being lost because articles are summarily reverted or removed.

Assuming bad faith of editors naturally leads to suspicion and conflict, which slows or halts improvement. Always assume your fellow editors are working for the betterment of the wiki, and act to assist them when you can.

Assuming any edit is bad, or any person is acting to the detriment of the wiki has a profoundly negative effect the functioning of this site.

Exceptions
This policy does not require editors to assume good faith in the face of evidence to the contrary. Obvious vandalism, personal attacks, and other explicit policy violations should not be assumed to be good faith edits. Editors may quickly erode the assumption of good faith, and all editors contributions should be viewed in the light of past contributions. Not all editors are universally knowledgeable, and any information that is verifiably incorrect should be quickly corrected.