Wikisource:User pages

User pages are administration pages in the User and User talk namespaces, and are useful for organizing and aiding the work users do on Wikisource, and facilitating interaction and sharing between users. User pages are mainly for interpersonal discussion, notices, testing and drafts, and, if desired, limited autobiographical and personal content.

User pages are available to Wikisource users personally for purposes compatible with the Wikisource project and acceptable to the community; Wikisource is not a blog, webspace provider, or social networking site. Users believed to be in violation of Wikisource policies should first be advised on their talk page.

Terminology and page locations

Your in this context means associated with you, not belonging to you.

User page: Your user page has a name like this: User:Example. (This link is to yours.) Its normal use is to give basic information, if you wish, about yourself or your Wikimedia-related activities. You don't have to say anything about yourself. If you prefer to put nothing here, then you can redirect it to your user talk page for the convenience of other editors. You may also wish to create a global user page that will display on all Wikimedia projects where you have not created a local user page.
User talk page: Your user talk page (sometimes abbreviated to "your talk page" or "your user talk") has a name like this: User talk:Example. (This link is to yours.) Its normal use is for messages from, and discussion with, other editors. For more information see Help:Using talk pages (in Wikipedia).
Subpages: Subpages in user space can be used to store sandboxes, essays about Wikisource, and drafts of Wikisource texts, among other things. You can create these subpages yourself.
User pages or user space: All of these pages are your user pages or user space. While you do not "own" them, by custom you may manage them as you wish, so long as you do so reasonably and within these guidelines.; You also have subpages ending in .js and .css to store any user scripts and skin customizations that you may wish to have when you edit Wikisource. Only you and interface administrators can edit such pages, although anyone can view them.

Creating a subpage

You can create subpages of your User page and your Talk page. To create a subpage write the following text into any editable text area:

User:Your_Wikisource_Name/subpage

then copy and paste this text into the Wikisource search box and press ENTER. This will bring you to a page with the title User:Your_Wikisource_Name/subpage. Now click the CREATE-button next to the Wikipedia search box and your new subpage will be created for you. Click on EDIT, enter a few test words and save the new page. You will notice that different from your User page a subpage contains a backlink to your User page looking like this:

<User:Your_Wikisource_Name

Clicking on the backlink will bring you to your User page. But, contrary to what you might expect, no new tab has been created for "subpages", for example, containing a list of all of your subpages; everything on your User page is unchanged. So how do you navigate to your subpage? As a method of last resort, you can always go back to your subpage by adding the title of your subpage to the url of your User page:

If your home page  url is:
https://wikisource.org/wiki/User:Your_Wikisource_Name
just add the name of your subpage:

              https://wikisource.org/wiki/User:Your_Wikisource_Name/subpage

we used "subpage" as our first subpage name, and therefore the above url will get us to our newly created subpage.

There is, of course, an easier method, but it has to be done manually. Copy and modify the following text and put it on your User page:

[[Special:Prefixindex/User:Your_Wikisource_Name]]

After saving your User page, clicking on this link will provide you with a list of all pages, containing the string "User:Your_Wikisource_Name", which in our test case includes the sandbox, the User page and, of course, the newly created subpage.

Personal and privacy-breaching material

Some people add personal information such as contact details (email, instant messaging, etc.), a photograph, their real name, their location, information about their areas of expertise and interest, likes and dislikes, etc. Once added this information is unlikely to ever become private again. It could be copied elsewhere or even used to harass you in the future. You are cautioned to think carefully before adding non-public information to your user page because you are unlikely to be able to retract it later, even if you change your mind.

Privacy-breaching non-public material, whether added by yourself or others, may be removed from any page upon request, either by administrators or (unless impractical) by purging from the page history and any logs by stewards.

What may I not have in my user pages?

Generally, you should avoid substantial content on your user page that is unrelated to Wikimedia. Wikisource is not a general hosting service, so your user page is not a personal website. Your user page is about you as a Wikisource user, and pages in your user space should be used as part of your efforts to contribute to the project.

In addition, there is broad agreement that you may not include in your user space material that is likely to bring the project into disrepute, or which is likely to give widespread offense (e.g. pro-pedophilia advocacy). You do have more latitude in user space than elsewhere, but extremely offensive material may be removed on sight by any editor.

The Wikisource community is generally tolerant and offers fairly wide latitude in applying these guidelines to regular participants. Particularly, community-building activities that are not strictly "on topic" may be allowed, especially when initiated by committed Wikisource users with good edit histories. At their best, such activities help us to build the community, and this helps to build the free library. But at the same time, if user page activity becomes disruptive to the community or gets in the way of the task of building the library, it must be modified to prevent disruption.

Excessive unrelated content

Unrelated content includes, but is not limited to:

Writings, information, discussions, and activities not closely related to Wikisource's goals

A weblog recording your non-Wikisource activities.
Extensive discussion not related to Wikisource.
Extensive personal opinions on matters unrelated to Wikisource, wiki philosophy, collaboration, free content, the Creative Commons, etc.
Extensive writings and material on topics having virtually no chance whatsoever of being directly useful to the project, its community, or a Wikisource text.
Communications unrelated to Wikisource, with people uninvolved with the project or its related work.
Games, roleplaying sessions, secret pages and other things pertaining to "entertainment" rather than "writing an encyclopedia". Such activities are generally frowned upon by the community.

Promotional and advocacy material and links

Advertising or promotion of an individual, business, organization, group, or viewpoint unrelated to Wikisource (such as commercial sites or referral links).
Extensive self-promotional material, especially when not directly relevant to Wikisource.

Very divisive or offensive material not related to wikisource editing

Polemical statements unrelated to Wikisource, or statements attacking or vilifying groups of editors, persons, or other entities (these are generally considered divisive and removed, and reintroducing them is often considered disruptive).
Material that can be viewed as attacking other editors, including the recording of perceived flaws. The compilation of factual evidence (diffs) in user subpages, for purposes such as preparing for a dispute resolution process, is permitted provided it will be used in a timely manner.
Users should generally not maintain in public view negative information related to others without very good reason. Negative evidence, laundry lists of wrongs, collations of diffs and criticisms related to problems, etc., should be removed, blanked, or kept privately (i.e., not on the wiki) if they will not be imminently used, and the same once no longer needed.

Personal information

Personal information of other persons without their consent.
Inappropriate or excessive personal information unrelated to Wikisource.

Wikipedia content not suited to userspace

Images or texts which you are not free to use.
Categories and templates intended for other usage, in particular those for articles and guidelines.

In general, if you have material that you do not wish others to edit, or that is otherwise inappropriate for Wikisource, it should be placed on a personal web site. Many free and low-cost web hosting, email, and weblog services are widely available, and are a proper place for content unrelated to Wikisource. For wiki-style community collaboration, you can download the MediaWiki software and install it on your own server if you want full control, or use one of many online wiki farms.

Editing of other editors' user and user talk pages

In general, it is usual to avoid substantially editing another's user and user talk pages other than where it is likely edits are expected and/or will be helpful. If unsure, ask. If a user asks you not to edit their user pages, it is sensible to respect their request, although a user cannot avoid administrator attention or appropriate project notices and communications by merely demanding their talk page not be posted to.

Handling inappropriate content

On your user pages

If the community lets you know that they would rather you delete some content from your user space, you should consider doing so—such content is only permitted with the consent of the community. Alternatively, you could move the content to another site, and link to it.

Although other editors will aim to respect your user space, if corrective action is needed and not undertaken the inappropriate content will eventually be removed, either by editing the page (if only part is inappropriate), by redirecting the page to your main user page (if entirely inappropriate). Inappropriate content may be removed from any page in your user space, including your user talk page.

On others' user pages

The best option if there is a concern with a user's page is to draw their attention to the matter via their talk page and let them edit it themselves, if they are agreeable. In some cases a more experienced editor may make non-trivial edits to another user's user space, in which case that editor should leave a note explaining why this was done. This should not be done for trivial reasons. If the user does not agree, or does not effectively remedy the concerns, or the matter is unsure or controversial, then other steps in this section can be taken including uninvolved user opinions or proposing the page for deletion.

If the material must be addressed urgently (for example, unambiguous copyright, attack, defamation, etc.), the user appears inactive, the edit appears unlikely to cause problems, and you are quite sure the material is inappropriate, then remove or fix the problem material minimally and leave a note explaining what you have done, why you have done so, and inviting the user to discuss if needed. If the entire page is inappropriate, consider blanking it, or redirecting the subpage to the userpage, or to the most relevant existing project space page.

Unsuitable pages, media and images in userspace may also be nominated for deletion or (if appropriate) speedy deleted, but special care should be taken as the user may be expecting leeway and take it personally, and there are a few exceptions. Users with a strong editing record and/or most of their contribution edits outside their user space should be given a little more leeway in this regard than users whose edits consist solely or mostly of user space edits or promotional-style activity. See Deleting user pages below.

User pages and leaving Wikisource

When a user leaves Wikisource, their user and user talk pages are usually unaffected and may be edited again at any future time. A user may blank their user and user talk pages (i.e. overwriting with a blank page) provided non-removable notices (if any) are left intact.

Protection of user pages

As with article pages, user pages are occasionally the targets of vandalism, or, more rarely, edit wars. When edit wars or vandalism persist, the affected page should be protected from editing.

Most user page vandalism occurs in retaliation for a contributor's efforts to deal with vandalism. Administrators may protect their own user pages when appropriate, and are permitted to edit protected pages in user space. Sometimes a non-administrator's user page may be targeted for vandalism. Some of this vandalism is prevented through an abuse filter.

In cases in which the filter is insufficient in preventing vandalism to a non-administrator's user page, an editor may create a .css suffixed sub-page containing their user page content within their user space, transclude the sub-page into their main user page, then request that an administrator fully protect their user page. (For instance, create User:Example User as {{User:Example User/userpage.css}}.) This method will completely prevent further vandalism by limiting user page editing to yourself, and interface administrators since ".js" and ".css" pages in userspace can only be edited by them. Note that the addition of inappropriate content to your user page after locking other editors out is considered a serious offense.

Repeatedly inserting copyrighted content or other inappropriate material on your own user pages after being notified not to do so, or misusing user space following a block (e.g., for personal attacks) are both considered disruptive and may lead to the pages being protected to prevent further disruption. User pages may also routinely be protected in the event of a ban.

Vandalism of talk pages is less common. Usually such vandalism should merely be reverted. Blocks should be used for repeated vandalism of talk pages, where policy permits. In rare cases, protection may be used but is considered a last resort given the importance of talk page discussions to the project.

Deletion of user pages

If you wish to delete your own page, tag the top of the page with {{delete}}, and an administrator will delete it for you. However, note that user talk pages are normally not deleted.

Deleting others' user pages

In general other users' user pages are managed by that user. Except for blatant or serious matters, it is preferable to try contacting the user before deletion (see above). However, unambiguous copyright violations, attack pages, promotional text, and privacy violations or spam can be speedy deleted; other pages likely to require deletion (or where remedial action is not taken) may be submitted to Wikisource:Proposed deletions.

Take special care to speak appropriately and explain the concern; many users will take it as a personal affront or attack if an unknown user announces they are going to delete a userspace image or page and an uncivil or heavy duty approach can discourage new users who are unaware of expectations and might enjoy contributing. Remember that a limited amount of personal information (perhaps a short biography) and a freely licensed tasteful personal photograph or two are usually allowed if the page reasonably complies with other requirements.

Use of a user page as a personal web page unconnected with Wikisource's mission may be a speedy deletion criterion, as is clear advertising and promotional use. A user's contributions that consist solely of a lone edit to their user page should not normally be speedy deleted unless it consists solely of spam or other speedy deletable material. Test edits and the re-creation of deleted material (within limits) are permitted in user space.

Deleting your user page or subpages

You can freely blank any pages in your user space yourself (other than the few items that must not be removed) and request the deletion of your user page or subpages, by adding {{delete}} to the top of the page. Alternatively, you might consider simply making the page redirect to your user page. This is normally sufficient for most people's needs. Subpages tagged for deletion will be deleted if there is no overriding reason the page must be kept.

Your talk page and user talk archives created by page move, may not be deleted in this way.

Deletion of user talk pages

User talk pages and user talk archives created by page move are generally not deleted; they are usually needed for reference by other users. Individual revisions, log entries, and other user space material may be deleted or redacted for privacy reasons, or because of harassment, threats, gross offensiveness and other serious violations. Exceptions to this can be and are made on occasion for good reason. In addition, nonpublic personal information and potentially libelous information posted to your talk page may be removed as described above.

User page search

By default Wikisource's search engine is restricted to the main namespace. Typing the project page prefix User: (User followed by a colon) will provide search results for the "User namespace". You can also use the Special:Search box below to locate User pages. See Help:Searching for more information.