proposed guideline, or essay
Appropedia complements Wikipedia
Appropedia complements Wikipedia, rather than competing with it. We're ultimately concerned about our planet and the welfare of humanity, rather than being the "best" at something.
Early on, the appropedia community decided that the most constructive policy was to consider that:
- Wikipedia is an encyclopedia (see Wikipedia:Project:Wikipedia is an encyclopedia), and
- Appropedia is a much broader resource, with original research, case studies, project writeups, how-to's and more.
Appropedia cooperates with Wikipedia
The Appropedia community wants Wikipedia to be successful, and to have great resources on the topics that we focus on. Wikipedia will probably always be more well known than Appropedia, with a larger community of editors and a wider variety of viewpoints. Many people will go to Wikipedia to search for information on these topics, and we want them to find good information.
Appropedia encourages networking
For Wikipedia, socializing may be a side-benefit, but it's frowned upon if people start networking for reasons not directly related to developing Wikipedia.
Appropedia on the other hand, has networking as a secondary goal (sharing of knowledge being our primary goal). Rather than having "developing Appropedia" as the only allowable goal of networking, we encourage any networking that helps us to develop humanity and protect the planet that we rely on, regardless of whether it directly benefits Appropedia.
So, please network and socialize.
Social networking features
At the moment our W ability is limited. You're encouraged to describe yourself on your web page, search the profiles, and use userboxes to describe yourself and help people find you if they have similar interests.
We are looking into social networking options - adding software, developing wiki functionality (with complex category searches), or integrating our social networking with other sites that have this feature.
Appropedia is not MySpace
Appropedia is not for promoting your band.
You're encouraged to let people know about your sustainable business, on your user page and where you have reason to think they might be interested, but please don't market aggressively and don't spam.