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Wikispecies:What Wikispecies is not
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Wikispecies is an online species directory, and must be treated as such. There are certain things that Wikispecies is not:
- Wikispecies is not paragraphs of information about species. Blocks of prose are language-specific and would incorrectly lead to the impression that Wikispecies is a fork of Wikipedia, which it is not.
- Wikispecies is not paper. There are no size limits.
- Wikispecies is not a general encyclopedia. For instance Wikispecies lists some of the repositories preserving type material of taxonomic importance, such as holotypes. While these repositories are often maintained by universities and museums, Wikispecies does not have any pages about the actual universities or museums themselves, since those institutions are of no real value in terms of the systematics of taxa. For information regarding them, please use Wikipedia instead.
- Do not host your own web site at Wikispecies.
- Wikispecies is not an image repository. Whilst images of a species can enhance an article, they should not be the only thing on that page, and they should not be abstract art. For instance do not use artistic restorations of prehistoric life forms such as dinosaurs or prehistoric plants, since they are very rarely factually accurate. Instead, scientific illustrations and clear photographs of the organisms are all ideal for Wikispecies. As stated in our Image Guidelines one or in some rare cases perhaps two images is enough for one species. If you really want to upload your image somewhere, please use Commons rather than Wikispecies – more people can use the image if it is there.
- Wikispecies is not a link repository. Excessive use of links to other sites may be considered as promotion or advertising, and the links will be deleted.