About the Wiki category

These are collaborative articles by the Discuss & Discover community intended to explain fundamental terms and concepts found in the Early Buddhist Texts.

The primary purpose of the wiki category is to generate a set of articles in a simple, clear style, which can help someone, especially newcomers, get familiar with the concepts, culture, ideas, and terms.

All articles are collaborative. You may edit anything, but be kind and generous in your choices. Don’t let us end up with the legalistic culture of Wikipedia!

Favor writing that is clear, simple, and neutral in tone. Take care to write as well as you can. Review your writing, spellcheck, and ensure proper markup is used. If you’re not familiar with any of this, don’t worry, just ask for help.

Unlike Wikipedia, favour original sources from the EBTs. Modern scholars, if they are included at all, should be secondary. But it is fine to have the article based purely on the EBTs.

Make an effort to include references to texts other than Pali. Always use standard SuttaCentral references. Include images or other resources wherever possible. Avoid controversies and lengthy discussions. Better to do that in the Discussion or Essays category as appropriate. Keep the focus on the meanings and usages found in the EBTs. Include context if necessary, but make sure the main sense is clear.

A wiki article may be started by anyone. No concept is too small or simple. It’s fine to do just a couple of simple paragraphs on a basic term or idea. Remember, most people have zero familiarity with the suttas, and any help we can give them will be appreciated.

To start a wiki post, simply create a new topic in the wiki category. If it is accepted as an “official” wiki article, the user will be reassigned by an admin to “wiki”. From then on, anyone will still be able to edit the article, but it will no longer be attributed to you by name. Edit history for wiki articles, however, may always be seen by clicking the pencil icon at the top of the post.

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