Supporting the Build

Overview

Campaign Labour is designed to collect data into one source for easy searching. The search facilities in a wiki ensure that users can answer questions with a simple search. For example if asked what Labour's stance on Fracking is, then the information can be easily checked by carrying out a search for "Fracking". In seconds the result will show as below:-

As can be seen, search has identified that in the Economy section of the Labour manifesto it is stated unequivocally that fracking will be banned. The search results also show that the Tories are disingenuous on the subject. As the wiki grows and more articles are added, it is likely the search will include details of the Tory actions on fracking (such as ignoring public opinion, evidence of the environmental damage fracking causes and the government's vested interest in the fracking industry). That is the wonder of a wiki; If the detail is missing, somebody can add it.

The wiki can be used:

On the doorstep with a tablet or smartphone to answer questions during campaigning
In discussions to provide useful information
As a method of learning more about Labour campaigning events and activities
To learn more of the facts behind the manifesto
A method of sharing information to a wider audience through social media

It is worth reading the page Campaigning Tips to get a clearer idea on how this wiki can be used.

Content

The Home Page (Main Page) provides access to all the pages within the Wiki, using links. Below is an explanation of the 3 main areas of the wiki and what they provide. Carrying out a search from a particular page will search the whole wiki, not just the section the user is in.

Campaign Labour is divided into 3 areas.

Labour Campaigning Toolkit provides information to aid with campaigning. This area should be fairly static as the information in here will not change over a short period.
- The manifesto will change when an election is approaching. At that point it will be archived and the new manifesto added. Data such as the 2017 manifesto shouldn't be changed except to correct typo errors. It is a direct copy of the manifesto as found on labour.org.uk.
- The MPs will of course change. When MPs lose their seat, retire or are deselected then an end date can be placed on them and they will be moved out of the Labour Members of Parliament category. New MPs will be added and included in the Category.
- The campaign tools are likely to be more dynamic. Header and summary information will be held on the wiki to help with searching for information. Each section will be held on https://labour.org.uk/issues/campaigns/. To help users find information the wiki will hold details of specific campaign events.
- During elections or times of increased activity the wiki will hold summary details to aid users easily find out details. For example users will be able to put their postcode into search and find campaign events that are local to them.

Articles and Analysis provides articles that give further insight into Labour policies, global politics and background data that underlines the need for progressive politics.
- Should be a very dynamic area.
- A number of editors will be adding to this section, the idea being that given media publications look after their own pages.
- It is not intended for this area to become a dumping ground for every article that is produced by the media whether that be the old media or the new independent media. Although there will be an expectation for media providers to update these pages, they will be monitored and if the facility is being abused then the right to edit will be revoked.
- Articles should support campaigning.
- Articles should not be about Trump or have an unhealthy obsession with American politics.
- International articles must support the aim to be useful campaigning tools; for example an article on Portugal's socialism would be acceptable. An article on how wonderful it is that Portugal has a socialist government, if it lacks detail on the mechanics of that socialist offering, will not be acceptable.

Conservative Policy Impact provides a detailed analysis of the devastating impact that Tory policy is having in the UK and globally.
- Broken down into sections that cover Education, Housing, the NHS, Public services etc. The main page for this area provides quick overviews of the latest activity that is impacting the welfare of the country.
- The sections give detailed analysis impact and are the main purpose of this area.
- Information presented in this area must be sourced fully.
  - Headlines that create an impact but are not based on facts will be removed. For example a recent meme that did the circuit stated that the Tories have closed 1250 Jobcentres. This has a impact as a headline but it is blatantly untrue, as a figure of 1250 closed Jobcentres will mean that the UK now has -400.
  - Headlines that could well be true but have no source evidence will be removed.
- Contributors are responsible for ensuring the information is accurate. If challenged on the data, the contributor should check the information. Record any challenges in the discussion section (without the challengers personal details) and provide reasons why the challenge has been accepted or rejected.
- If a challenge to the data is correct, alter the data or remove if applicable.

Visit Pages

If you wish to contribute to this wiki, you may be deterred due to your lack of knowledge of creating wiki pages. Campaign Labour has a number of admins who can assist you. For example you can create an article in a format you feel comfortable with, email it to an admin and then an admin will format it for the wiki. See the section #How you can contribute for more details of the kind of contribution that is helpful to the wiki.

Campaign Labour is written using a tool called Mediawiki. Regardless of whether you wish to add directly to the Wiki or submit content to the adminstrators, it is useful if you start from the main page and surf through the content to gain an overall feel for the wiki and where the gaps are.

How you can contribute

Contributions to the wiki are gratefully accepted. The more contributors the wiki has, the more information is available to aid in campaigning. However, unlike other wikis such as wikipedia, this wiki has restricted access to editing. The reason for this is that being a political campaign wiki, it is more likely to come under attack. It is also important that the content is managed so that the amount of information in the group doesn't mean that it becomes impossible to navigate.

The wiki will include links to media but these will be monitored to ensure it doesn't become a newsfeed service. Articles need to be very specific to UK campaigning. This doesn't exclude articles about political activity abroad, but an article highlighting a new policy introduced in the US to, for example, restrict immigration, would not qualify as an article that supported UK campaigning.

Type of Contribution

Proofreading is helpful. Due to the amount of material that is added daily to the wiki, it is very easy for mistakes to be made or for content to be unclear. If you are an editor in the group, please make changes to obvious errors in the text.
Researching existing pages. Rather than preparing all new content for the wiki, it is very useful if users can look at existing content and further research to add evidence and sources. If a user sees, for example, an article suggesting school funding has been cut, but there is no source or it is felt the source is not adequate, then it is very helpful for the user to carry out the additional research and provide the necessary sources.
Research for new pages. This can be sections on a page or whole pages. Sometimes admins will know a subject needs covering, but will not have the bandwidth to carry out the work. In those cases a page will be added with no content, with the intention of revisiting at some point. Providing articles for such pages is very helpful. Exactly the same for sections on pages where the page may partially cover the subject but has not been fully completed.
Inclusion in Blogs, Webpages and specific articles. The more web sites that link to the wiki, the more likely it is to rise in search engines. Part of the algorithms of search engines is to look at what links to the wiki and if it is linked to from many sources, this will push it up the search priority of the engine.
Share from the wiki. If somebody asks a question in a social group, don't necessarily collect the information from the wiki and then share the source. It will promote the wiki if you share the link to the Campaign-Labour wiki where the source material is referenced. This spreads the wiki to a larger audience and helps it to be more successful
We love Wiki gurus. Campaign-Labour has been created by volunteers who are intent on spreading the message - we need a Labour government. That means that we have learnt how to use wiki on the fly. This will become obvious to a wiki guru with just a quick glance at the code. If you are that guru, then volunteer your services please.

Note: Although many pages are still incomplete, where possible we have broken them down into sections. This allows contributors to pcik up a single section to work on, rather than feeling overwhelmed by having to cover the whole subject from end to end.

How to Contribute

Not everybody will want to edit directly into the wiki. It takes some skill to edit the wiki. Writing pages of text is pretty straightforward, but once you want to add formatting, links or pictures, it starts to become a little more complex. Below is how you can contribute:

Write an article in a application you are comfortable with and submit it by email. To provide content for the wiki, you must make an initial contact using the Email Admin option. Once an admin has checked your email, you will receive a reply with an email address to send your submission(s). Please provide these details in your initial contact email:
- What your article is about.
- Which section you would like it adding to.
- If you wish to add it yourself, then provide evidence of your support for the Labour party as outlined below.

You can become a direct contributor (add content directly to the wiki). To do so the following is required:
- A member of the Labour party helps but is not compulsory.
- Evidence of your support for the Party. For example, Facebook groups you are a member of that support the Party.

As can be appreciated we have to be very careful who edits pages on Campaign-Labour. If you are not accepted to add content, please understand that it is due to our uncertainty based on the evidence available to us. Though it may appear that the rules are strict, we actually don't need too much evidence. We will tend to lean towards giving the benefit of the doubt because if we do get a rogue editor, we can easily remove them and roll back to the original state.

Note: If you wish to become a contributor to the wiki, you will need to be a "User". This is important for a number of reasons:

If you email us and you are not a user, the wiki will provide your IP address. You shouldn't be sharing your IP address if you can avoid it.
If you contribute to the wiki without a user ID then the Wiki will record your IP address. You certainly don't want to be sharing your email address to a wider audience.
Bearing the above points in mind, we have configured the wiki so that articles cannot be added unless you are a registered user on the wiki.
To add yourself as a user follow this link

Pages that need work

We have added a page to put all the areas where work is required. This sometimes is a link to an article that will support a section. If you select a section article to work on from the page then please email us to let us know what you picked up.

This is the page with outstanding work... Pages that need work

This is where you email to let us know you picked up a subject...Email Admin.

Note the Email Admin option can also be found in the left hand side navigation bar.