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Welcome to the Projects reading room. On this page, Wikibookians can talk about subjects related to books, book projects, and other tasks here on Wikibooks that require discussion and organization.
History of criminals
Could someone help? Seikopo (discuss • contribs) 03:10, 15 October 2020 (UTC)
- What is it that you need help with? —Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 03:22, 15 October 2020 (UTC)
What are the community's views on receiving financial compensation for contributions?
Hello, I've enjoyed writing the Wikibooks book I created on end-user computer security; I've also benefited from Wikibooks's hosting of it.
I would like to work on a second version (again hosted on Wikibooks), but I can't get away from the fact that I do not have enough free time to work on it, due to needing to work for money. I could try to get funding for such, which I think may well be possible, but I'm not sure how well that would work in respect of the material being on Wikibooks. In the Wikimedia Foundation terms of use, it states you need to publicly disclose whether you received compensation for contributions you made, so I would have to do that. I can do that, but what do others think about that approach to working on the book. Is it bad? Is it best avoided? Is there no problem with that?
Thanks for reading this enquiry, and I look forward to reading any of the community's thoughts on this.
thank you MarkJFernandes (discuss • contribs) 10:40, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
- I'm not aware of any particular rules about this. But the most important thing I feel is that this should be disclosure: preferably there should be a note on the book cover or preface that you received financial compensation, and from whom. Otherwise, as long as you stick within the rules for the site (e.g. Wikibooks:What is Wikibooks and Wikibooks:Neutral point of view) then I can't see a particular problem. For reference you could look at Wikipedia's view on the matter at w:WP:PAY, and I believe that here should be roughly comparable. --Jules (Mrjulesd) 22:35, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
- While agreeing this should be possible, I would caution against giving an impression of ownership. The book isn't defined —mustn't be defined— by the paid contribution at its inception. We need to be sure other (most likely, unpaid) contributors feel entirely welcome and free to contribute also; such open collaboration is the point of Wikibooks. --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 05:23, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
Help Wanted for new project (Annotated Text): "Critique of the 1776 Commission Report"
I'm looking for help on this new book: Critique of the 1776 Commission Report
Specifically, I would like help to implement a process for an innovative book design. I already have the design in mind. I just need to implement it in a way that works in the Wikibooks project and community. So far I have not found any resources on Wikibooks that covers the process of implementing an innovative design. Also -- if you can point me to examples of Wikibooks with innovative design, that would be helpful. I can't see a way to search for that property.
- By process I mean -- after the initial book design is completed, how is it maintained? How is it modified? How is it defended from malicious edits? How do contributors cope with competing designs, if they arise? (For example, if two or more designs aimed to 'dominate' the landing page of the book.) How do collaborators cope with wiki pages that are outside and orthogonal to the design(s) for the book?
Second, I would like help implementing an Annotated Text. So far I have not found any good examples in Wikibooks. There is the United States Government/The Annotated Constitution of the United States but as far as I can tell there are no annotations any where. Also I can not see any specific design to facilitate annotations, nor is there any instructions or style guide for anyone who might add or edit annotations.
Third, I am very concerned about potential for vandalism, both intentional harm and also just accidents by new people. I could put in all the work to implement an innovative design (creating several templates, several levels of transclusion, etc.) only to have the work 'fall apart' through accidents or malicious acts.
I realize that most Wikibooks have a single contributor and thus such problems don't normally arise. But this book is on a controversial subject, and if someday it becomes widely known and publicized, it could quickly become a target of malicious vandalism similar to what Wikipedia experiences on it's most contested pages. I would like to deal with this risk in the design stage, if possible, rather than solely relying on reactive measures (undo).
Fourth, I will not be the sole author on this. The only way this book will be successfully completed is if several or many historians, students, educators contribute actively -- and nearly all will be new to Wikibooks and most will be new to Wikimedia. I am focusing all my effort to set it up, to design it, and to provide instructions and guidance. My belief is that I need to implement the book design in such a way as to be "idiot-proof". Is that true?
Finally, I am looking for constructive comments and help (specific pointers to information and/or your labor). I'm not looking for "you can't do that" or "not a good idea" or "read the manual".
Thanks. --Russell Cameron Thomas (discuss • contribs) 20:25, 20 January 2021 (UTC)
- Would creating a static PDF of a reviewed version of your work meet your needs? That way you would get the best of both worlds, and not need administrative action. For example, I can link to a really old static version of the WikiBook US History like so. --Mbrickn (discuss • contribs) 00:38, 13 February 2021 (UTC)