help-style

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This is a series of stylistic tips:

  • Make lots of links. If you mention a term in your article that you think needs explanation, do two things. First, run a search to see if anyone's done an article on it that you can link to. Second, if no such article exists yet, put in an article request.
  • Don't make the perfect the enemy of the good. Be bold, and write something even if it's conspicuously adequate. No Wex entry is going to be perfect in its initial submission.
  • Begin from the American law perspective.
  • Avoid politicking, actual or intellectual. Law sits in close proximity both to public controversy and personal belief. Even-handed, balanced presentation is essential here. A good explanation of this neutral-point-of-view policy, as articulated by the Wikipedia project, can be found here.
  • Try to avoid duplication.
    • Run searches before starting a new article.
    • Remember that eventually, we will be moving all of the existing LII "law about" articles to Wex. You can find a full listing of them here. If there is one that bears on your topic that we have not yet moved over, please let us know, even if you think the page in question needs improvement -- we'll be pleased to move it, and have you bring it up to snuff.
  • Remember that Wex is an international resource, used by people from differing legal systems.
  • Avoid needless jargon, and explain jargon that is needed. Remember that Wex is heavily used by laypeople. When you can't avoid jargon, make it the occasion for a contribution -- write an article explaining terms of art, specialized law vocabulary, etc.

See also