(see also preceding message)
From: Pierre Carbonnelle
Together with Bill Beaty, I'm pleased to introduce Alternapedia to the
Vortex community. It can be reached at http://en.alternapedia.org/
What is Alternapedia ?
--------------------------------
Alternapedia is the collaborative project that brings all points of view
together. Unlike Wikipedia, it provides valuable information on all sides
of controversies, with equal weight, so that its readers can form their own
opinions.
Alternapedia's policies and guidelines can be summarized as follows:
1. Anyone can contribute to Alternapedia. The user interface is
kept as simple as possible. Editing an article does not require the
knowledge of special formatting codes.
2. Alternapedia welcomes all points of view. You can contribute
new points of view in personal, authored articles, and present
published points of view in collaborative articles.
3. Alternapedia is an archive of authored articles, written by one
or more authors to present new research or opinion. They must relate
to a controversy, and meet certain quality requirements. They are
subject to a peer-review process by named administrators. Authors
can protect their articles from other editors, and submit their work
while retaining the copyright.
4. Collaborative articles are written collaboratively to include
all points of view in a controversy, based on the best sources available.
Complex controversies are divided up in two-sided sub-controversies,
so that each opposite view can be presented side by side, with equal
weight. Collaborative articles are available under the GNU Free
Documentation License (GFDL).
5. Alternapedia has a code of conduct. Respect your fellow editors
even when you may not agree with them. Be civil, open and welcoming.
Find consensus, avoid edit wars. Disruptive editors will be restricted
to editing only one side of the controversy, or blocked from any
editing.
The policies will be refined over time to help us reach our stated
goal efficiently.
How to use it
-------------------
The Vortex community is welcome to use it to communicate
internally and to the wider public. In particular, feel free to use
it to:
- publish personal ideas, and solicit comments from peers
- clarify issues by presenting both sides of controversies in
collaborative articles. For example, Alternapedia could be used to
clarify the He4 issue that has divided the cold fusion community recently.
Click here to see how to get started:
http://en.alternapedia.org/wiki/Help:Getting_started
Next Steps
-------------
After Alternapedia's introduction to the Cold fusion and Vortex community,
we plan to further promote the site via announcements in online magazines
such as The Register. Your help is welcome in making it known ! We would
be delighted if you could link to Alternapedia from your website (if you
have one).
We welcome your comments, and remain at your disposal for any
questions regarding this project.
- Pierre Carbonnelle, Steve Krivit, Martinphi, Ron Marshall,
Mark Iverson, Bill Beaty
