Contributor Guide

Purpose

Leatherpedia was designed to be a living, breathing encyclopedic record of the leather and kink communities, and we hope that it will soon become to the largest repository of leather knowledge in the world. This will only work if we have a large base of contributors writing and editing entries, so we thank you for being here and contributing your time and effort to this important project.

Community, Protocols and Conventions

Because of the importance of the Leatherpedia Project, and to maintain Leatherpedia’s credibility as a voice of authority in the community, we have certain guidelines for contributors to follow. Anyone can become a contributor, and we place a large amount of trust in our contributors to uphold the following principles:

  • Mutual respect: For the subject you are writing about, for other users, and for the Project itself.
  • Objectivity: Ensuring that your contributions are objective and not colored by personal experience or bias.
  • Just-the-facts style: No editorial commentary on the subjects you’re writing about. Think of this as a traditional encyclopedia that is free of personal opinion and only presents the facts.

General social norms should be followed by all contributors. The Leatherpedia community is made up of people from different countries, cultures and parts of the community, with different views, perspectives, opinions and backgrounds. Contributors should treat each other and the Project respectfully, and avoid behavior that would widely be seen as unacceptable, disruptive, tendentious, or dishonest.

Entry Development and Content Protocols

Entries make up the bulk of Leatherpedia’s mainspace. Each entry should focus on a topic (rather than a word and its definition), and content should be verifiable in reliable sources.

It hopefully goes without saying, but we prohibit contributors from writing about personal vendettas or any other topic in which they have a significant conflict of interest. Edits to entries are monitored by administrators on a daily basis to ensure compliance with this point.

The quality of entries on Leatherpedia varies widely; many are very good, but some lack depth and clarity, contain bias, or are out of date. In general, high-quality entries have these elements: a lead section that gives an easy-to-understand overview, a clear structure, balanced coverage, neutral content, and based upon and verifiable in reliable sources.

Before creating an article, please search Leatherpedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject.

Notability: What qualifies for a page on Leatherpedia?

On Leatherpedia, notability is a test used by contributors to decide whether a given topic warrants its own entry. This concept of notability applies this basic standard to avoid indiscriminate inclusion of topics. Article and list topics must be notable, or “worthy of notice”.

If a topic has received coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject, it is presumed to be suitable for a stand-alone entry. Coverage is defined as addressing the topic directly and in detail in an independent publication or medium, so that no original research is needed to extract the content.

For example, a new titleholder who was mentioned in The Leather Journal following their contest win would be suitable to include in Leatherpedia. A contestant from that same contest who did not win, and who has not been mentioned in any independent coverage, would not be suitable for an entry. Similarly, a published author from the leather community would be suitable for an entry if they or their published work received coverage in a reliable source. Another example is a person sitting on a community board of directors. If that person has received independent coverage in reliable sources, they are suitable for an entry. Others topics which are notable include well-known businesses, clubs or organizations in a community, widely-known and regularly scheduled events, and commonly known behaviors and things.

Please note that we require “coverage in reliable sources” so that we can actually write a whole article, rather than half a paragraph or a definition of that topic. If only a few sentences could be written and supported by sources about the subject, that subject does not qualify for a separate page, but should instead be merged into an article about a larger topic or relevant list.

It is important to remember that Leatherpedia is not a soapbox or means of promotion. This applies to usernames, entries, categories, files, images, and user pages. Therefore, content hosted in Leatherpedia is not for advocacy or recruitment of any kind; opinion pieces; scandal mongering; self-promotion; or advertising, marketing or public relations.

If any contribution contravenes any of the above, it may be edited or deleted. Please remember that the editing/deletion process is about the appropriateness of the article for inclusion in Leatherpedia. Therefore, please do not take it personally if an article you have contributed to or created is edited or deleted. Entries are monitored by administrators on a daily basis to ensure compliance with this point.

Manual of Style

In-depth: For a more in-depth version of this section, please visit our Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Entry.

Sections and Subsections

An article should begin with an introductory lead section, which should not contain section headings. The remainder of the article may be divided into sections, subsections, etc. The lead should be a concise summary. Newly added information does not always qualify as important enough for the lead; it should be placed in the most appropriate section or sections.

Formatting

Section headings should be formatted with the “Heading 2” class available in the visual editor. Subheadings should use the “Heading 4” class, and further subheadings in descending order from there. Paragraph text should use the “Paragraph” class. This is described in greater detail on the Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Entry page.

Grammatical Person

Entries should be written in the third person.

Biographical Entries

If writing a biographical entry, the subject’s full name, if known, should be given in the lead sentence (including middle names and/or scene names, if known, or middle initials). After the initial mention of any name, the person should generally be referred to by surname only. Generally speaking, subjects should not be referred to by their given name. The use of the given name gives the impression that the writer knows the subject personally, which is not relevant – even if true.

Photos and Media

Images, sounds and videos enhance articles greatly. Please ensure that the copyright status of any file you upload has been researched and we are allowed to use it on Leatherpedia. Instructions for adding photos and media are outlined in greater detail on the Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Entry page.

Lists and Tables

Lists and tables are essential to the organization and presentation of content. If you are new to creating entries, please model the structure on more notable, sophisticated entries from the site.

Hyperlinking

Linking through hyperlinks is an important feature of Leatherpedia. Internal links bind the Project together into an interconnected whole.

Appropriate links provide instant pathways to locations within Project that are likely to increase readers’ understanding of the topic at hand. Whenever writing or editing an article, it is important to consider not only what to put in the article, but what links to include to help the reader find related information, as well as which other pages should carry links to the article.

Care should be taken to avoid both underlinking (words are not linked that are needed to aid understanding of the article) and overlinking (an excessive number of links, making it difficult to identify links likely to aid the reader’s understanding significantly).

Graphic and Potentially Disturbing Content Policy

Sexual topics (for example, humiliation play, etc.) are permitted to be covered on this site given the nature of the leather community. However, the way in which these topics are written about is of the utmost importance. Leatherpedia is not an adult website, and entries are meant to be strictly education-based. Therefore, when adding content related to topics which are sexual in nature, contributors must write in an academic style and must take care not to be graphic or gratuitous in description. Pornography is not allowed, and if an entry calls for a visual depiction, an illustration (as opposed to a photograph) must be used.

We take care not to censor our contributors. However, we also strive to maintain education-based content that is appropriate for a general audience.

Spam and Abuse

Actions such as maliciously editing or deleting content to harm the Project, spamming users or pages, or willfully adding deceptive or untrue content will result in the user being banned from Leatherpedia. Banned users are not allowed to create new accounts using alternate email addresses. In addition to account suspension, a banned user will also have their IP address permanently blocked from creating a new account.

Sidebar