From TDN

Contents 1 Introduction 2 You should use TDN... 3 Content should be... 4 Users should be... 5 Dreary Administrative Policy

Introduction

In order to make TDN as useful as possible, information on site policy and guidelines, both formal and informal, are collected here. These are the rules and guidelines you should follow when working with TDN.

You should use TDN...

• Whenever someone makes an extended explanation of a complicated issue relating to Torque.
• Whenever a frequently asked question is answered.
• Whenever you find an inaccuracy in existing documentation. Do your homework and make sure there's really a problem with the docs... then go fix 'em!

Content should be...

• Accessible within 3 clicks of a hub page (TorqueCore, TorqueGameEngine, Torque2D, TorqueShaderEngine, etc.) It's vitally important that people be able to get to content quickly and easily - everyone should be a motivated, thorough learning, but wouldn't it be great if they didn't have to be? Learning is hard work, and there's no reason to make it harder.
• Clear, concise, and well-formatted. Where possible you should use HTML instead of wiki formatting; this makes it easier to bring content over to other venues (for instance, converting it to DocBook for publication).
• Available in English, although translations of content to other languages are welcome.
• Factual. Opinions should be clearly marked as such. If you don't know something for sure, say so (This is a good way mention an omission or possible inaccuracy -- BJG). Content on TDN is used frequently, and someone more knowledgeable on the topic will be along shortly to help you out. Bonus points if you e-mail a known expert nicely and ask them to review what you wrote!
• Written in Plain Old HTML. The usual set of HTML accepted by many forums, blogs, and so forth. This is basically a subset of HTML4. For examples, look at the source code to this page and many others. The big exception is for links, which should be done in MediaWiki style. For more specifics, see the Meta/Style Guide.

Users should be...

• Respectful. You don't have to agree with others, but you do have to be polite to 'em. If you want to rant, rave, gesticulate, pimp your project, or so forth, we have an excellent IRC channel, as well as blogs, and Images of the Day. And forums. Use 'em!
• Helpful. TDN is all about community, all about helping others. Think of it like a bank for Torque wisdom - if you make lots of deposits of knowledge, then when you need something out of it, it'll be a lot easier to get help than if you had just made lots of withdrawals the entire time...
• Well-spoken. TDN is textual. Text is how we see one another, and the gold standard we do business on. Help one another out making this site read well, be free of typos, thinkos, and so forth. Many eyes make quick work of problems!

Dreary Administrative Policy

Wow, you read all the way down here. You have remarkable fortitude!

Deletion

Much like a bonsai, a judicial amount of pruning on a wiki can go a long way. Sometimes content needs to be deleted. It might be outdated, it might be superceded, it must just be plain out wrong. There are two ways content can be deleted. Either it can be overwritten with new, better content (ie, edited away) or it can be removed from the wiki entirely (ie, deleting an article with the delete button).

In general, if you're not an admin, you shouldn't be doing any wholesale deletions of anyone's content. Ask an admin or editor's advice (you can find us on the TDN IRC channel if nowhere else). If you are an admin, consider - does removing the content benefit the wiki as a whole? Housecleaning is good - especially if there's a clear "canonical" version of the content that is being deleted. Make sure to always provide a reason for deletions. And don't forsake the fellowship of other admins and editors - it's good to discuss this stuff and make sure our reasons are sound. For any significant decision affecting others, you should consider discussion very strongly encouraged!

Use of Resources

The resources of TDN are made available for the purpose of enabling collaborative development of high-quality documentation for Torque developers, by Torque developers.

This is our major guideline for determine what will and won't fly on TDN. Using TDN to host your collection of puppy pictures isn't OK - posting screenshots for a tutorial or reference manual is. Expressing vitriolic personal opinions isn't OK - explaining technical issues relating to Torque in an objective and well-reasoned manner is.

In general, the role of editors, admins, sysops, and other such beasties on TDN is to guide the userbase towards this ideal, thus making TDN the very best technical documentation site on the planet, a blessing to all who come into contact with it. Hmm... Maybe we won't get quite that good, but we can at least be the best place for Torque documentation. Are you with us?

-- The TDN Wranglers.