Policies

Revision as of 17:55, 11 April 2012

Guidelines

Guidelines

Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference

Forum guidelines

Forum guidelines

Photo uploading/deletion policies

Comments deletion policies

Offensive, meaningless, talk between users, or unrelated comments will be removed by the Advanced Users or by the Wikimapia Team.

Regarding Personal Residences

• Koriakine's comments on personal residences: Feature discussion and requests / Private places/homes, page 5

"I think the situation must be logical in this case: any object visible from satellite (or undegroound) or house with a street number must be on the map, whatever, private it is or not! Must be there any more information of the owner - a decision by owner of the house. By any request the private info may be cleared." [sic] Koriakine's post is 13th on page 5

"If a house put on the map does NOT have an address added in the address box or the desciption box, should we keep it there or not? The situatio is - take a look on Wikimapia layer, then yoo will se that if a house exist it must be on Wikimapia layer. Cluttering will not be a problem since soon we will get rig of RECTANGLES (but not very soon - there will be a transitional period)." [sic] Koriakine's post is 22nd on page 5

Restrictions/banning policies ("No penalty without a law")

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

Ban policy

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. Users ban policy of the Wikimapia Guidelines.

The Ban policy comprises of four core components:

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

The Wikimapia Guidelines is the official documentation for Wikimapia and should be adhered to as the only enactment of legislation in addition to the Terms of Reference. The Terms of Reference contains the Terms of Use, Copyright Notice and Privacy Notice and is an agreement notice which one must accept to abide by in order to use Wikimapia and its services.

Please note, the interpretation of the Wikimapia Guidelines and the Terms of Reference should be literal (i.e. as is written) and not subjective. With this said however, there is no sure way to apply an absolute definition to the wordings of any written legislation and so there will always be a margin of vagueness or ambiguity involved. In situations where this is apparent, you should either use sound judgement or contact the Wikimapia Administration for clarification.

The Banning Guidelines is provided by the Wikimapia Administration to guide Advanced Users on the process of determining and banning an infringer.

Ban Moderation, explained in detail below, is a corrective procedure that must be followed closely by Advanced Users in order to ensure an infringer is afforded exhaustive resources for rehabilitation before he/she is banned.

Ban Moderation

Ban moderation consists of three remedial stages and a final punitive stage. Aside from extremely rare exceptions, the punitive stage of permanent banning must only be reached after the utilization and failure of the first three remedial stages in consecutive order.

Remedial

The remedial stage consists of Guidance, Warning and Temporary ban. The purpose of the remedial stage is to provide corrective assistance in order to tutor an infringer. A few essential requirements for Guidance to be successful is for you to be friendly, patient, approachable. These qualities shall benefit your communication and mediation skills.

Aside from extremely rare exceptions, you are required to adhere to the conditions listed under section 1. Analysis and 2. Recommendations for using banning system of the Banning Guidelines when communicating and handling an infringer, regardless of his/her culpability.

1. Guidance

The Guidance stage should always be perceived as the only one required to enlighten new, inexperienced and settled users. It is customary as well as necessary to establish a dialogue with a user so that you can:

1. make them acknowledge the error they are committing, be it on the map or with another user
2. show or prove to them why the error is incorrect by citing rules which have been violated
3. provide a solution(s) for them to correct the error
4. advise them to avoid making the same mistake again
5. encourage them to ask questions about things they do not understand

Infringers should also be given the benefit of the doubt depending on the level of their cooperation. You are more likely to see positive results with a communicative infringer than one who doesn't respond to messages. At the same time, an infringer who doesn't respond to messages shouldn't be deemed uncooperative if he/she hasn't had the opportunity to open their messages. Each case should be treated using common sense and sound judgement.

2. Warning

An infringer who repeats or commits further violations during or after the Guidance stage is to be regarded as a repeat infringer. The repetition of errors or offences warrants the issue of a Warning, thus elevating the case to the Warning stage. Examples of such behaviour which warrants the issue of a warning are:

• continuing to make similar errors
• cancelling or reverting correct edits
• being abusive

Cautionary communications should be made explaining that you have been alerted to further infringements. You should repeat the mediation techniques of the Guidance stage with a more persuasive approach by emphasizing that failure to comply with the conditions set may result in a temporary or permanent ban.

Warning stages are quite delicate matters and can easily erupt into volatile situations if not handled correctly. Remember, calm communication is key.

3. Temporary ban

User can temporarily limit from editing the map, from posting in the forum or complete blocking. Temporary ban - this is not punishment/retribution, but educational activity.

Punitive

It is important to reiterate that the punitive stage of permanent banning must only be reached after the utilization and failure of the first three remedial stages in consecutive order.

4. Permanent ban

If, after a temporary ban the user (the offender) has continued to make similar mistakes, it is necessary to apply a permanent ban.

AU Codex