Precis and removal of flames from talk pages
 | This is an essay. It expresses the opinions and ideas of some Wikimedians but may not have wide support. This is not policy on Meta, but it may be a policy or guideline on other Wikimedia projects. Feel free to update this page as needed, or use the discussion page to propose major changes. |
A"I know I have sometimes fanned the flames myself. I promise to lead the way on this issue, and, when using talk pages if I must, I'll try my best to focus exclusively on issues that directly concern the articles themselves. I'll also more often be deleting others' comments that look like flamebait with zero relevance to improving the article, and I'd encourage others to do the same." User:Larry Sanger on What Talk pages are not for
"If you don't want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then don't submit it here." Every edit page on every mediawiki project.
I suggest that it is reasonable to precis verbose statements unless specific instances can be shown that meaning has been lost. In those cases, the precis should be re-worded.
I also suggest it is useful to remove invective from discussion as it contributes nothing to the development of an encyclopedia.