Template:TOC/testpage

Note: This is a test page for the TOC template. The content on this page is not maintained and may be outdated by the time you read this.

What is Wikimapia

WikiMapia is an open-content collaborative mapping project, aimed at marking all geographical objects in the world and providing a useful description of them. It combines an interactive web map with a wiki system. Both registered users and guests have already marked over 18,000,000 objects and this number grows every day. Currently over 1,500,000 people have joined the Wikimapia community. All content added by users is available to re-use under Creative Commons license through the web application and API.

Wikimapia goal

Wikimapia is an editable interactive map. The goal of Wikimapia is to create and maintain a free, complete, multilingual and up-to-date map of the whole world. Wikimapia intends to contain detailed information about every place on Earth.

Philosophy

NPOV

A neutral point of view (or "NPOV") is paramount to any description of a place in Wikimapia. Places that are not neutrally described, and do not provide a neutral source of information if challenged, may be edited or even deleted. The reasons for this are clear: any two people may not agree on their feelings and emotions about a place, and therefore editing the places may become a repetitive cycle that strains the resources of Wikimapia as well as the patience and goodwill of the Wikimapia community.

A NPOV is not always possible in the physical world in which we live, as there are many internal and external forces that affect our opinions and the way we perceive truth as individuals. Yet, in the world of cyberspace, and more specifically, within the confines of Wikimapia, it is unfair and unproductive to provide a slanted or skewed view of places when describing them to others.

---

What NPOV is not

Since Wikimapia's maps and the information contained therein, are not a forum for discussion, places must be added with extra care. This is especially true of places that are sensitive and controversial in nature. Therefore, brevity is sometimes preferable over verbose information because the temptation to pad out descriptions with opinions and promotions of personal interest is lessened. Typical verbiage to be avoided includes:

• Feelings, opinions, experiences. Words which display a personal bias or agenda
• Politics
• Religion
• Publicity or advertising.

When in doubt, follow the old saying: If you do not have anything nice to say do not say anything at all. Non-NPOV descriptions shall either be removed or updated to reflect objectivity in compliance with Wikimapia's NPOV policy.

Etiquette

Wikimapia's contributors come from many different countries and cultures. We have many different views, perspectives, opinions, and backgrounds, sometimes varying widely. Treating others with respect is the key to collaborating effectively in creating a free, complete, multilingual, up-to-date map of the whole world.

Principles of Wikimapia etiquette:

• Assume good faith.
• Be civil.
• Be polite.
• Work towards agreement.
• Argue facts, not personalities.
• Do not make misrepresentations.
• Do not ignore questions.
• If another disagrees with your edit, provide good reasons why you think that it is appropriate.
• Concede a point when you have no response to it, or admit when you disagree based on intuition or taste.
• Be prepared to apologize. In animated discussions, we often say things we later wish we had not. Say so.
• Recognize your own biases, and keep them in check.
• Forgive and forget.
• (more to follow)

Advertising

Wikimapia is not a place for self-promotion or advertising. That means that you can not use Wikimapia for commercial or other propaganda purposes. We understand that it can be tempting to tag your projects, company or business and we do not forbid your doing that. But, please, remember that a neutral point of view is paramount to any description of a place in Wikimapia. In other words, no one will mind seeing factual information about your business: company name, address, what you do or sell, how long has the company existed, a link to its website, that sort of thing; but you should not include promotional material ("the best in town", "good prices", prices in general ...), which would be considered propaganda.

Policies

Wikimapia Guidelines

The Wikimapia Guidelines are actually the official rules for Wikimapia and should be adhered to strictly and regarded as the official regulations which supplement the Terms of Reference.

Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference set out the contractual terms which one must agree to abide by in order to use Wikimapia and its services. It also covers the Terms of Use, Copyright Notice and Privacy Notice in greater detail.

Forum Guidelines

Main article: Forum Guidelines

The Forum guidelines are a set of community rules which must be adhered to by users participating in Wikimapia's forumdiscussions.

Photo policies

A photo (or photos, photograph(s)) are images that assist in describing places in Wikimapia that words cannot accurately express. We encourage you to upload photos that will help describe places, and make Wikimapia tags even more worthwhile and interesting. However, we do have some rules, mainly because Wikimapia does not wish to, nor allow its users to violate copyrights; nor should photographs and images be used to bypass Wikimapia's philosophy of Neutral Point of View.

At present the photos in Wikimapia stand by themselves, and there is no method to associate them with notes, nor with any associated copyright information. If you wish to add notes, then the best you can do is to add a comment that describes the photo and write your notes there. Please note, if you are a registered user then your name will be displayed beside the photo when it is enlarged (click on it), so that makes it a little easier to associate a photo with a comment.

Photo uploading

You are free to upload any photo you took yourself. If you want to contribute a photo you found on the web, however, you must first determine whether it is protected by copyright. If the website you got the photo from states that their content is copyrighted, you must gain permission to use that photo, or follow their usage guidelines. Once you have uploaded a photo you grant Wikimapia license to use and distribute it according to the Wikimapia Terms of Reference.

Photo deletion

Personal photos (in close up), images hurtful to someone's feelings, pictures inciting national, religious or political discord, pornographic images, pictures advertising goods or services as well as images that are not relevant to the place itself should be deleted.

Comments deletion policies

Offensive, meaningless, talk between users, or unrelated comments will be removed by the Advanced Users or by the Wikimapia Team. If you find any comments that falls into this category, please report them for removal in this thread of the Wikimapia forum, providing a link to the place where you found the inappropriate comments.

Restrictions/banning policies

Restrictions and banning policies are applicable to users who infringe Wikimapia's policies. For the purpose of simplicity, a user who commits violations shall be called an infringer.

Banning is the act of restricting an infringer's account, and therefore the privileges it offers, by Advanced Users and Wikimapia Administrators. Although, Wikimapia Administrators reserve the right to ban any user, Advanced Users can only ban an infringer as per the ban reasons listed under section 4. of the Wikimapia Guidelines.

The Restrictions/banning policy comprises of four core modules:

• Wikimapia Guidelines
• Terms of Reference
• Banning Guidelines
• Ban Moderation

Banning Guidelines

The Banning Guidelines is provided by the Wikimapia Administration to guide Advanced Users on the process of determining and banning an infringer. You may also find Ban Moderation useful.

Interpretation

Please note, the meaning of policies and rules should be read literally (i.e. as written) and not subjectively (i.e. what the reader believes is intended). That said, however, there is no sure way to apply an absolute definition to the words of any regulation or requirement and so there will always be a margin for interpretation involved. In situations where you are unsure about a correct or acceptable interpretation or construction, you should:

• use sound judgment
• discuss the point with Advanced Users
• contact the Wikimapia Administration

back to Main Page