Memory Alpha:Perfection is not required

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This page describes one of Memory Alpha's policies and guidelines.
Please read through the policy below to familiarize yourself with our common practices and rules.
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One of the most disconcerting features of the wiki system is its incompleteness. At any given time, there are probably going to be more pages that are in some stage of incompletion than finished, polished articles. And this is a good thing – it means the wiki is expanding!

This may go against common sense – most people are used to seeing web pages as completed, static works that don't change (and probably don't need to change). When writing a page, you may have the urge to make sure the article is finished and polished before you post it. You need to fight that urge! It's better to have a rough, unfinished article that can be refined and revised instead of no article at all.

The key to the lack of perfection is the opportunity for collaboration. You may only post a rough, vague skeleton of an article (or even less, and just a stub), but that's okay, because other archivists can pitch in and add their own ideas. It's like the old cliché goes – two heads are better than one.

And ultimately, this process will attain perfection, because everyone is working together towards a common goal. That goal is just a lot further off than it might seem.

See also

• The perfect article