PrivacyWiki:Namespaces

is broken into a number of namespaces which delineate purpose of each article, and how it should be written. This page is here to elaborate how each namespace should be used.

Main namespace
Main namespace is where most of the wiki's content should reside. Articles in main namespace should focus on practical advice regarding software, services, technologies and concept which the reader uses every day. The focus here is on the practicality and actionability. This means that the reader can take the subject product/service and based on the article's advice be able to implement changes to it which strengthen reader's privacy.

Articles in main namespace should not be about abstract concepts or arguments. While advocating for privacy is purpose of this wiki, we do not want to bog the reader down in philosophical arguments which offer no immediate value to the reader. That does not mean that the mainspace articles cannot offer explanations or mention more abstract topics, but those explanations have to be directly in service of the actionable advice they're attached to.

For example, if the advice is for the user to change to a more private DNS provider, you may have to offer a brief explanation of what DNS is. However, this explanation should only be as long and as detailed as it is necessary to convey the basic idea of DNS (phone directory of the internet). If the reader wishes to know more, they can follow the links to the specific Concept namespace article or to Wikipedia itself.

Concept namespace
Concept namespace is for concepts and ideas that are adjacent to privacy, but do not lend themselves to actionable advice. Articles in the Concept namespace should be considered optional or supplementary reading to contextualise the decisions and advice we offer in this wiki. The reader should not have to read the Concept namespace articles to benefit from the actionable advice in the namespace, but doing so should be beneficial to their understanding of the underlying issues.

Not every concept or idea should have a Concept article. Generally speaking, terms which could be unfamiliar to a reader should be linked to the appropriate Wikipedia article. A Concept article should be created only where the equivalent Wikipedia article does not cover the privacy adjacent issues well or at all, and a separate elaboration would be helpful.

The Concept articles also should not reinvent the wheel in comparison to Wikipedia. We are not looking to write a general article on the topic, or focus on non-privacy related aspects. Stay on topic. For example, using Concept:Free software has a number of different benefits, such as education, freedom from abusive copyright laws or accessibility of software to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. However, our article in the Concept namespace should focus on the privacy benefits of the Free software, and leave the coverage of remainder of the benefits to Wikipedia or Free Software Foundation. Thus, while we won't shy away from mentioning those benefits, where possible and tone appropriate, we will do so mainly by linking to those resources.

Analysis namespace
Purpose of Analysis namespace is to provide a space to offer considered opinions and insights which may not be readily apparent to the reader. This is the place to help the reader connect the dots, and read about arguments that we make regarding why privacy is important and worth protecting.

Alternatives namespace
Alternatives namespace is the place for expansive coverage of all the privacy respecting alternatives to common services and software.

Recommending better alternatives in the Mainspace articles is usually appropriate. However, we do not want to bury the reader in many similar options which are all better, but differ subtly. Instead, the mainspace article should focus on one or two no-regret and most feature complete options. Avoid inducing analysis paralysis.

Instead, Alternatives namespace is the place to built a list of all which are better than the privacy-invasive choice. This companion page is optional reading for those readers that do want to drill down into nuances of all their alternative choices.

Recommended namespace
These namespace is, in some sense, opposite of the Main namespace. Here we recommend software and services which are privacy respecting, and we document why those choices are better than the privacy invasive ones.

However, this does not mean that the articles in this namespace have to be universally positive or contain only praise. If fair criticism can be levelled against the subject, we should do so.

PrivacyWiki namespace
PrivacyWiki is the place to document internal policy and to coordinate working on the project itself.

User namespace
For user pages.

Talk content
Each above detailed namespace has it's own talk namespace. All discussions between editors directly should be confined to those talk namespaces.