Keep safe. Never post your personal information or information about someone else. Keep things like ages, addresses, phone numbers, names of towns, or your school off the Internet. Remember that information on the internet, especially embarrassing information, may still be around after you've deleted it. Be careful not to post things that may come back to haunt you later. The internet is written in indelible marker (like a Sharpie). 

Cite your sources and give credit for ideas and someone else's material. Try to use creative commons material. Always give credit or cite your source.

Don't post pictures of other people without their permission. Ask to post their photos, pictures or pieces of writing. Never use first and last names of people that could identify them in a photo or video. (This includes tagging in Facebook.) Ask.

Be respectful. The most important thing to remember is sarcasm hurts. It is most often misunderstood when typed in a message which is then posted on the Internet. You may think you're funny when you write something rude or silly, but it can be extremely hurtful to read. Negative words hurt worse when said by someone you thought was your friend. Remember ... treat others as you would like to be treated.

Proofread your work. Use spell check and even ask a friend to read your work.

Information please. The Internet is a great source of information but information is only useful when it is accurate. Before referencing a website, ask and answer a few simple questions: 

• Who is the author or sponsor and what are the author's qualifications or credentials?
• What type of information is provided?
• When was the information created? last updated or revised?
• Where is the information coming from. Is it a trustworthy source? Is it a for-profit or non-profit source?
• Why is the information posted; to educate, to inform, to present unbiased views, to entertain, to sell or entice?

Be brief and keep your work legible. If you have a lot of text to add to a page, compose your information in Notepad and then copy and paste it into the wiki, then format your text (bold, colors). That way you won't lock the page for a long time. Use breaks in your text and formatting elements to make the page easy to read and understand.

Follow Directions. Be sure to follow the directions that are given for the assignment -- be creative, but within the parameters set forth on the page.  

Do not delete the work of others deliberately. Unless it is part of the editing process and the other student knows you will be doing the editing and deleting.

Stealing Locks.  If someone else is already editing a page, take a 5 minute break before "stealing" the lock. Once the wiki indicates that the page has not been edited for 5 minutes, you can steal it. If you are around the person who has the lock or are able to chat with them online it is good to ask before you steal.

Comment or Edit? Comments are used for discussion, questions or comments on the information. If your comment is facts or information of relevance for the topic of the page, you should EDIT the page and put the information there.

Open external links in a new window. If you link to a page outside the wiki it's a good idea to open the link in a new window. This way users don't have to leave the wiki when following the link. You can do this after inserting a link and choosing Link Type: URL.

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