Help:Conversing
From Studyplace
In face-to-face conversation, speakers follow subtle clues of turn-taking. On StudyPlace, speakers cannot synchronize together in the same time and place. Instead, they need to attend to a few simple techniques afforded by the MediaWiki software to coordinate their contributions —
- Start a conversation with a brief statement of the topic, above any headings.
- Use headings [ === ] to identify a thread, a distinctive line of thought in the conversation.
- Use colons [ : :: ::: ] to set off contributions within a thread.
- Use tildes [ ~~~~ ] to sign and date your contribution.
- Use the Talk page via the Discussion tab to explore potential misunderstandings.
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[edit] The art of conversing
Multiple participants create conversations, each contributing distinctive views, which gives conversation an enlightening amplitude. An argumentative style impedes conversation. The object is not to silence others, but to add new insight to the shared comprehension of the topic. In a salon one must be an attentive listener and an informed speaker. Reason pertains to the conversation as a whole, not to a unique interjection within it. People who care only to hear their own vehement words will dampen conversation, no matter how much they speak.
Good conversation requires clarity and concentration. To contribute well, one must listen carefully — in this environment that means reading thoughtfully, thinking about what has been said, and considering with some care what one has to contribute further. Someone starts a conversation. Others add to it, speaking to the conversational thread the originator introduced. As that proceeds, someone may feel that a new thread, pertinent to the overall topic of the conversation, deserves to be initiated and does so. Thus the scope of the conversation expands until the topic of the whole conversation is fully developed. All along, some may take part in the conversation as attentive listeners, while some may see opportunities to edit what has been said with minor copy editing, while others may contribute significant expansions and clarifications of a thought. Such forms of participation can add a lot, but they must be done with restraint and tact.
Conversations often occur on the Talk pages activated by the Discussion tab on article pages. Generally, those exchanges concern procedural issues or interpretative disagreements that emerge in editing an article. Conversations held on StudyPlace form around topics of potential general interest. The Wikipedia talk page guidelines concerning the mechanics of using them are helpful in contributing to StudyPlace conversations.
[edit] Starting a conversation
A conversation should have a clear topic indicating what participants will be discussing. Place a statement of this topic, a paragraph or at most two, at the top of the page, before any headings. The topic should initiate the conversation, posing the question or suggesting the concept that the participants are invited to think about together. Make the start of the conversation succinct; you can easily use an initial thread to elaborate what is in question in it.
[edit] Starting a thread
In talking about a topic a number of different threads will build up, each concerning a distinct aspect of the topic. A thread has clear pertinence to the topic of the conversation. In starting threads, ask whether the thread or sub-thread is genuine, an authentically different line of discussion within the overall topic of the discussion. The initiator of the thread has a special responsibility to have thought carefully about what has been said in the conversation up to that point. When genuine, new threads work to develop the conversation more fully. But if not genuine, a "new" thread will simply invite reiteration of points already made, which does not develop the conversation in an illuminating way. Those who feel a "new" thread to be unnecessary should say so on the discussion page to the conversation, indicating how it is redundant with other threads in the conversation or how it is actually an unrelated topic that should start a new conversation instead of a thread.
[edit] Identify threads with headings
Starting a new thread or sub-thread is easy — give it a heading and an initial contribution. If it is a new thread, indicate that with 3 equal signs before and after; a sub-thread with 4. Remember to sign the initial entry to it with 4 tildes. Ideally, the paragraph initiating the thread should state both what distinctly makes it a thread and what connects it to the overall topic of the conversation. Sub threads are of course possible, indicated by sub headings and so on.
Headings to threads are important for two reasons. First, MediaWiki software will automatically construct a set of links in the form of a table of contents for the conversation from them, placed directly after the topic statement for the conversation. This is essential for navigation within a well-developed conversation. Second, deciding on what a heading should be helps to test whether one is really stating a new thread. If the possible heading obviously connects to the preceding discussion, one is really just adding to the preceding thread and should enter one's thought that way. And if the heading is a lot like some other heading, it is probable that what one has to say is really a further contribution to that thread, not a new one.
[edit] Contributing to a thread
Good conversation stays on point as participants speak to one another about a common topic. Before adding to a thread, read what is there and be sure what you have to say applies to that thread and adds something new. If it does not apply, start a new thread. If it does not add something new, perhaps you really want to make an edit on something there or simply to say to yourself, "Yeah, well said." Good conversation requires self-discipline from contributors. Speak to the point. Avoid indulgent blather tacked onto a thread to which it has no relevance.
[edit] Indent contributions with colons
To contribute a new thought to an existing thread, indent your addition by preceding it with one or more colons at the left edge of the edit box. [A tip: When editing, do not start a line with a blank space or a tab unless you want the software to show what follows with no reformatting.] Each colon will indent the paragraph by a distinctive increment.
Here is how Wikipedia explains this process:
Plain indentations
The simplest way of indenting is to place a colon (:) at the beginning of a line. The more colons you put, the further indented the text will be. A newline (pressing Enter or Return) marks the end of the indented paragraph.
For example:
This is aligned all the way to the left. :This is indented slightly. ::This is indented more.
is shown as:
This is aligned all the way to the left.
- This is indented slightly.
- This is indented more.
Using this technique, the first speaker in a thread should use no indenting, the second 1 colon, the third 2, and so on.
[edit] Sign contributions with tildes, ~s
It is also important, each time your contribute, to sign your contribution with the four tildas. If you add further material to the thread, use the same number of colons as you used in your first contribution. That way, the degree of indentation becomes an indicator of who is speaking. But, nevertheless, sign each contribution to minimize the need readers will have to scroll up and down to see who it is who is saying this or that. These signing principles also suggest why you may prefer to choose a nickname close to your actual name if you want readers of conversations to attribute your words to you, rather than to some imaginary personna that rom2 or whatever might conjure up in their minds.
[edit] Editing contributions to a conversation
Any reader/writer can and should edit any part of a peer produced site, although in each district within StudyPlace, different modes of editing will be appropriate. Good copy editing should go on everywhere, correcting spelling and improving grammar and perfecting the choice of words, all with careful attention to the intellectual integrity of the matter at hand. Editing should be more expansive with unsigned materials than with signed ones. In conversations, editing should probably not go much beyond basic copy editing without resorting to a clearly identified addition rather than a simple change of the text.
In a conversation, when an editor thinks something should be restated or expanded, it is probably best to do it with a comment. To do so, insert and click on the "Save Page" box. On clicking on the "edit tab" again and returning to the location in the conversation, one can then enter the substantive comment in the commenting markup, and then sign the comment with 4 tildes.
