This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Antaeus Feldspar (talk | contribs) at 17:06, 4 April 2005 (what is a "POV fork"? also differentiated project-level forking). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 17:06, 4 April 2005 by Antaeus Feldspar (talk | contribs) (what is a "POV fork"? also differentiated project-level forking)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Content forking or POV forking occurs when two or more contributors disagree about the content of an article or other page, and instead of resolving that disagreement, someone creates a second version of the article, or a second article on the same subject to be developed according to their own views rather than according to consensus. This second article is known as the POV fork of the first. Misplaced Pages does not view article forking as an acceptable solution to disagreements between contributors.
There is a difference between article forking and the legitimate practice of project-level forking. This latter occurs when someone wishes to create their own wiki, according to their own standards and practices, but they want to use Misplaced Pages's content as a starting place. As long as the new project adheres to their obligations under the GFDL in exchange for use for this content, this is perfectly acceptable.
Sometimes people have disagreed with some aspect of Misplaced Pages's content or management, and they choose to fork the entire project, creating their own wiki with Misplaced Pages's existing content as a starting point; this is a legal and legitimate option which is discussed in more detail at Misplaced Pages:Forking FAQ. One such Misplaced Pages fork is Wikinfo, whose major difference from Misplaced Pages is in fact its approach to content forks: multiple articles covering a subject from different POVs are actually preferred to Misplaced Pages's goal of covering the subject from the neutral point of view. Like any other project-level fork, Wikinfo is free to make their own choice on policy matters such as this one. However, Misplaced Pages is also free to make its own policy choices, and on content forking, Misplaced Pages's policy is that it is not a legitimate way for contributors to deal with a lack of consensus.