Real Names User Advantages

The Original page came from MeatBall, a wiki respected by most RegularContributors of most WikiCommunity. The wiki term BarnRaising need careful thoughts and backed up by actions, if WardsWiki is going to be anything more than a CoffeeShopWiki.

• WardsWiki was much more than a coffee shop. When I joined here, there were lots of good material, but lots of out-dated material. I have seldom seen DocumentMode based collaboration, and lots of NarcissismOfSmallDifferences. DeclineOfCivility accompanied by decline in the use of RealNames. And I am convinced RealNamesUserAdvantages is much underrated.
• But WardsWiki can still be useful for ApplicationDevelopment (amongst other serious purposes), if people in their field of expertise go and review / update technical pages that have TemporalContext. -- DavidLiu

Taken from their CategoryRealNames page:

• No single issue in MeatballWiki's history has received as much attention as RealNames

The following points taken from the MeatBall page of the same name, should allay most concerns regarding RealNamesUserDisadvantages?, with annotations added.

• Trust - Other people need to exercise TrustButVerify, and decide how best to collaborate with you.
• History of cooperation - leads to Reputation. And encourages PlayNiceBehavior.
• Copyright - See ChangingSignedContributions
• Authorship - If you started a significant discussion on a relevant topic this will enable further dialogue.
• Reputation - If you have a good WikiGnome reputation your needs get priority.

See UsernameBookmarklet if you are not using one, but want to help the community to grow.

I think it is important to note that Ward's preference for WardsWiki has always been for contributors to NOT sign their work. When a contribution is signed, it implies that the author does NOT want that contribution "refactored", edited for content, or similarly changed. The drift towards signed contributions is therefore, in my opinion, an important factor in the growth of ThreadMode exchanges -- it is nearly impossible to refactor or gnome a page filled with signed contributions. -- TomStambaugh

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See also CollaborationStartsWithaQuestion? on TheAdjunct

Contrast with EgolessWiki