User:Jeff02/What WikiProjects are not
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WikiProjects are not bureaucracies
This may seem obvious at first, after all,
WikiProjects are not governed
No individual person "leads" a project. WikiProjects are simply groups of editors who work together, not organizations that work under a leader. Everyone has the equal right to make changes to how the project operates, but for major changes, it's better to get the group to come to a consensus on that change.
WikiProjects are not battlegrounds
This is another thing that Wikipedia isn't that also applies to WikiProjects. WikiProjects are supposed to be places of collaboration. As part of Wikipedia, editors are expected to
WikiProjects are not walled gardens
A walled garden is a place on a wiki that is in some way hidden from the rest of the wiki (such as a group of pages with no incoming or outgoing links). Discussions that affect a WikiProject should operate should be open to all of that project's members. A form of walled garden can sometimes be formed off wiki, such as through IRC channels. Even if a project invites all members to participate in off-wiki discussions, not everyone will do so. It's best to keep all discussions related to Wikipedia on Wikipedia, however sometimes it's more convenient to hold discussions off-wiki. In this case, if an apparent consensus is reached in an off-wiki discussion, the same discussion needs to be opened up on-wiki to get the real consensus. While off-wiki discussions can help speed up the process of consensus-building, it is important to make sure that everyone is given the chance to voice their opinion. This can only be done on-wiki.
WikiProjects are not in control of other WikiProjects
Sometimes a WikiProject's scope completely covers the scope of another WikiProject. While it's a good idea for such WikiProjects to work together and coordinate their standards or other requirements they might have for their articles, the project with the wider scope (the "parent project") does not completely
When trying to give articles a consistent appearance, if the child project's standards conflict with the parent project's standards, a discussion should take place between members of the two projects to reach a solution. No project's standards immediately trump those of another project. Just like members of WikiProjects need to work together through consensus, so should entire WikiProjects.