User:McJeff/Competence is required

Competence is required is a disputed and currently inactive policy on GTA Wiki. It states that experienced editors should endeavor to help new users, but that users who after being helped still cannot or will not edit constructively can be blocked from editing as a last resort.

Learning to edit
Among veteran wiki users there is a tendency to forget that the learning curve to using a wiki can be fairly steep.

In the older days of Wikia, most users got their start on Wikipedia, which was and is run extremely formally and with a great number of rules, policies, guidelines and supporting essays. However, it is no longer reasonable to think that users have Wikipedia experience. Wikipedia has become notorious for its serious business attitude and hostility towards new editors. Meanwhile, Wikia has increased in popularity significantly. Many users now find their way to Wikia through google searches and the like. Finding a wiki about the subject that interested them, they may leap right into editing, unfamiliar with concepts that long term users have memorized such as "edit warring", "formal tone", "citing sources" and "no original research".

Veteran editors should be patient with new editors and try to explain these policies to them. Staff especially are required to be courteous and helpful to new editors for as long as possible.

Incompetence
Unfortunately, some users turn out to be unable to learn how to edit a wiki constructively. Some simply are unable to understand the policies of the wiki, violating them again and again. Some have an inadequate grasp of written English. Some refuse to obey social norms and treat other users abusively. Others simply refuse to communicate with other users on the wiki in any way.

It is permitted by the rules that as a last resort staff may levy blocks, up to and including indefinite blocks, against users who edit incompetently to the point of being a net negative to the wiki.

What Incompetence is
Incompetent editing is editing that provides no benefit to the wiki, only a mess for others to clean up. It may take the following forms, although it is not necessarily limited to them.
 * Edits that are consistently written in grammatically and mechanically poor language.
 * Inability to properly use wiki formatting after instruction.
 * Inability to comprehend the rules after instruction.
 * Social incompetence - unable to interact without causing undue stress to others.
 * Refusal to communicate. There are edit summaries, article talk pages and user talk pages.

What Incompetence is not

 * Incompetence is not an editing dispute when both editors are explaining their points.
 * Incompetence is not a new user who simply doesn't know how wikis work.

Blocking for incompetence
Blocking for incompetence is very rarely necessary. In the overwhelming majority of cases, editors will have broken enough rules that they can be blocked for various other reasons. For example, an editor who makes controversial edits and refuses to communicate will end up blocked for vandalism, not incompetence. A user who insults other users will end up blocked for personal attacks, not incompetence.

The average editor has no reason to worry about being blocked for incompetence. In fact, a good rule of thumb is that anyone worried about running afoul of a policy is by definition a intelligent, good faith contributor and does not have to worry about being blocked.