User:Whiteknight/Community Summary

Is Wikibooks Like Wikipedia (or another project)?
Like Wikipedia, Wikibooks is run by the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF). However, the two projects are different in a number of ways. The most important difference is that Wikibooks writes multi-page books, not encyclopedia articles. If you are familiar with Wikipedia, you might find this page useful:


 * Wikibooks for Wikipedians

For information about what Wikibooks is all about, read What is Wikibooks.

Unlike Wikipedia, or some of the other projects, the Wikibooks community has largely resisted the creation of many rules and large bureaucracy. Wikibookians are encouraged to use their best judgement when making changes, and also to be respectful of the opinions and the work of other contributors. Just because we don't have an ArbCom doesn't mean that we can all act however we want.

Where do I Ask Questions?
The Staff lounge is the central hub for asking questions, making announcements, and generally chatting with other wikibookians. The staff lounge is broken into several discussion rooms:


 * General Chat, a place where you can talk about anything. If you dont know where to post a message, this is a good place to start.
 * Project Chat is where you can discuss books or other large projects, and get community involvement.
 * Technical Chat This is where you discuss technical issues, such as the markup language, bugs, javascript/css, and other topics.
 * New Users and New Books Chat If you are new, or if you are starting a new project, stop into the new users room and say hello. If you have started a new book, post an announcement about it in this room, including the book's title and what your plans for the book are.
 * Administrator's Noticeboard is the place where you can ask for help from one of the site staff or administrators. We can help you with vandalism, spam, or other problems.

How Can I Participate?
Beyond writing books, there are a number of places where you can become more involved with the Wikibooks project. Some of these places include:


 * Wikibooks Maintenance, where people go to find general cleanup jobs.
 * Requests for Adminship, where people nominate and vote on new administrators.
 * Votes for Deletion, where we decide as a group what kinds of materials belong on Wikibooks.
 * The Staff Lounge, where you can help to answer questions, as well as ask them yourself.