Topics (AKA wiki pages[1] or tags[2]) are used to organise Forum posts into useful groupings. They can be used to give readers context on a debate that happens only intermittently (see Time of Perils), collect news and events which might interest people in a certain region (see Greater New York City Area), collect the posts by an organisation, or, perhaps most importantly, collect all the posts on a particular subject (see Prediction Markets).
Any user can submit and begin using a topic. They can do this most easily by clicking âAdd topicâ on the topic line at the top of any post. However, before being permanently added to our list of topics, all topics are vetted by the Forum facilitation team. This quick take outlines some requirements and suggestions for new topics to make this more transparent. Similar, more polished, advice will soon be available on the âadd topicâ page. Please give feedback if you disagree with any of these requirements.
When you add a new topic, ensure that:
The topic, or a very similar topic, does not already exist. If a very similar topic already exists, consider adding detail to that topic wiki page rather than creating a new topic.
You have used your topic to tag at least three posts by different authors (not including yourself). You will have to do this after creating the topic. The topic must describe a central theme in each post. If you cannot yet tag three relevant posts, the Forum probably doesnât need this topic yet.
Youâve added at least a couple of sentences to define the term and explain how the topic tag should be used.
Not fulfilling these requirements is the most likely cause of a topic rejection. In particular, many topics are written with the aim of establishing a new term or idea, rather than collecting terms and ideas which already exist on the Forum. Other examples of rejected topics include:
Topic pages created for an individual. In certain cases, we permit these tags, for example, if the person is associated with a philosophy or set of ideas that is often discussed (see Peter Singer) and which can be clearly picked out by their name. However, in most cases, we donât want tags for individuals because there would be far too many, and posts about individuals can generally be found through search without using tags.
Topics which are applicable to posts on the EA Forum, but which arenât used by Forum users. For example, many posts could technically be described as âRisk Managementâ. However, EA forum users use other terms to refer to risk management content.
Technically there can be a wiki page without a topic tag, i.e. a wiki page that cannot be applied to a post. However we donât really use these, so in practice the terms are interchangeable.
Guidelines for new topic tags
Topics (AKA wiki pages[1] or tags[2]) are used to organise Forum posts into useful groupings. They can be used to give readers context on a debate that happens only intermittently (see Time of Perils), collect news and events which might interest people in a certain region (see Greater New York City Area), collect the posts by an organisation, or, perhaps most importantly, collect all the posts on a particular subject (see Prediction Markets).
Any user can submit and begin using a topic. They can do this most easily by clicking âAdd topicâ on the topic line at the top of any post. However, before being permanently added to our list of topics, all topics are vetted by the Forum facilitation team. This quick take outlines some requirements and suggestions for new topics to make this more transparent. Similar, more polished, advice will soon be available on the âadd topicâ page. Please give feedback if you disagree with any of these requirements.
When you add a new topic, ensure that:
The topic, or a very similar topic, does not already exist. If a very similar topic already exists, consider adding detail to that topic wiki page rather than creating a new topic.
You have used your topic to tag at least three posts by different authors (not including yourself). You will have to do this after creating the topic. The topic must describe a central theme in each post. If you cannot yet tag three relevant posts, the Forum probably doesnât need this topic yet.
Youâve added at least a couple of sentences to define the term and explain how the topic tag should be used.
Not fulfilling these requirements is the most likely cause of a topic rejection. In particular, many topics are written with the aim of establishing a new term or idea, rather than collecting terms and ideas which already exist on the Forum. Other examples of rejected topics include:
Topic pages created for an individual. In certain cases, we permit these tags, for example, if the person is associated with a philosophy or set of ideas that is often discussed (see Peter Singer) and which can be clearly picked out by their name. However, in most cases, we donât want tags for individuals because there would be far too many, and posts about individuals can generally be found through search without using tags.
Topics which are applicable to posts on the EA Forum, but which arenât used by Forum users. For example, many posts could technically be described as âRisk Managementâ. However, EA forum users use other terms to refer to risk management content.
Technically there can be a wiki page without a topic tag, i.e. a wiki page that cannot be applied to a post. However we donât really use these, so in practice the terms are interchangeable.
This term is used more informally. It is easier to say âIâm tagging this postâ than âIâm topic-ing this postâ