Template:Newapostate/guidelines

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This is the submission form for testimonies. Views contained in testimonies are not necessarily endorsed by WikiIslam. Please see the Testimony Disclaimer for details.

Guidelines

Testimonies may be rejected if they do not adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Fill out the form with as much detail as possible (submitting your real name is optional). If an appropriate nickname is not chosen, one will be chosen randomly.
  • Focus on explaining how and why you left Islam (your personal situation and experiences), and if you were a convert to Islam, explain how and why you converted.
  • Please do not:
    • simply attack Islamic doctrine and Muslims. If there is something in particular about Islam that you now disagree with or find immoral, what led you to that realization is the important thing to address in a testimony.
    • use your testimony as an easy way of dumping an essay or article onto WikiIslam, thereby circumventing our policies and guidelines on acceptable content (e.g. submitting a long rant not related to leaving Islam or a list of contradictions).
    • say something like "XYZ happened and then I left Islam". This does not tell people anything.
    • use SMS language or excessive ALL CAPS.
  • Submissions that indirectly attack the criticism of Islam, contain falsifiable statements about Islam, are written with an agenda or are poorly written (e.g where the English is incomprehensible) and require a lot of re-writing may be edited or declined.
  • Use acceptable tone and language.
  • Use a noun or pseudonym for the "Pseudonym" field. Verbs or phrases are not acceptable and an arbitrary noun or pseudonym will be chosen if none is provided.
  • Make sure your testimony is longer than 300 words (excluding any quotes, scriptural or otherwise) and at least 3 paragraphs. http://www.wordcounter.net/
  • If you run a website or (an active) blog, it is possible to link it from the right-aligned info box. However, linking to hateful/racist/pornographic or otherwise illegal content will not be tolerated.
  • If the administration feel that the underlying purpose of a submission is to simply promote an external website/product or attempts are made to solicit visitors for contact (via email or other means) then the testimony may be edited or deleted (whichever is most appropriate).

Adhering closely to these guidelines is recommended, however, they are not rigid. Submissions are accepted on a case-by-case basis. For example, one criteria for an acceptable submission is whether it will be an interesting read for the audience.

Notes

  1. Consider providing a contact email address at the bottom of your testimony. If an email address is not submitted, then there may be difficulty in getting information altered/removed later on if such a request is made. Your email address will be wiped from the page history before being added to the wiki mainspace, meaning only administrators will be able to view it.
  2. To prevent data loss through possible errors occurring during the submission, before you submit the form, copy the text of the testimony into Notepad or Microsoft word.
  3. Pictures add a lot to the overall testimony. If you want to upload a picture of yourself, use the upload file link in the left menu after you have submitted this form or simply email the picture to WikiIslam.
  4. Browse through some of the existing testimonies. Featured testimonies are good examples of well-written and well-thought-out testimonies.
  5. For very short testimonies, you can enter them directly here.
  6. It will take some time to format your testimony correctly, edit it for appropriateness and grammar (if needed) and include it on the website. Links to some existing articles may also be inserted into your submission so that readers can access more information on certain topics.
  7. All non-copyrighted submissions will become the property of WikiIslam. Please see WikiIslam:Copyrights for details.
  8. If at any point you need help, leave a message on the relevant Discussions page.
  9. If your current world-view is not listed, choose the closest that applies or leave a note on the relevant Discussions page.
  10. Do not use this form if you are not a former Muslim, or if your "conversion" is to an offshoot/sect/cult of Islam (i.e Ahmadiyya, Bahá'í or Qur'anism).

Errors or Problems?

  • If you see a message saying 'Page exists', go back to the form and try a new entry for 'Pseudonym'. Add some numbers to the Pseudonym and it will go through.
  • If you are unable to submit the form due to encountering an error, you can email your testimony directly.

Enter your data