Wiki-Praxis Institute Tutorials - Revision history

Admin at 00:51, 1 October 2026

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	However, you may think of ways to solve problems that do not require government intervention. Think outside the box and figure out what resources and connections you can make available to you. The more people you have working on the problem, the more ideas you will come up with! Good luck!		However, you may think of ways to solve problems that do not require government intervention. Think outside the box and figure out what resources and connections you can make available to you. The more people you have working on the problem, the more ideas you will come up with! Good luck!

			== Events Tutorial ==

			=== Introduction ===

			Another benefit of our non-profit status is that we’re not trying to keep you scrolling forever- we can actually encourage you to log off and go outside when necessary- which it often is in political activism. It is not enough to find people on the internet who agree with you- you must build power in the real world, starting with your neighbors. You just need to give them something to come out for. Each of the items from Workflow and Discourse gives you the option to create an event in support or opposition. You can have multiple items, but if you have a bunch of items without belonging to an organization or supporting a candidate, it can be hard for things to cohere. Organizations and candidates running for office can create their own events using the same general tools.

			=== General Guidance ===

			There are lots of different types of events you can have in political activism- the two main types are indoor and outdoor. For indoor events you can reserve space at a community center or library, or, depending on how many of you there are, you can go to a pizza joint and order a pizza for every half dozen people, and have your meeting over a meal. There are lots of possibilities. Outdoor events may require permits, but the First Amendment covers a great deal. Remember that urban police tactics are based around stopping one large demonstration- if a large city’s population held demonstrations in ten different locations, it’s unlikely the police could contain them.

			=== Conduct at Events ===

			Be respectful to those you encounter at these events, so long as they are respectful to you.

			Do not monopolize the conversation- allow everyone time to speak.

			Be sure to get permission from all private citizens before filming them.

			It is not a good idea to ask someone out on a date the first time you meet them. Yes, everyone is lonely, but that’s not what we’re doing here. People are coming to these events for political reasons, not to be asked out, and if you ask them out, they may not come to the next event- and then you’ve sabotaged the original mission. It’s not your fault- Hollywood tells you that the only solution to loneliness is romance, but there’s another way- community. Go to the event and connect with your peers. Stir up trouble. Make the world a (slightly) better place. See if that changes how you feel.

Admin at 00:49, 1 October 2026

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	If anyone wishes to help with the organization in general- fundraising, programming, marketing, etc., feel free to email us at [mailto:contact@wikipraxis.org contact@wikipraxis.org]. To report technical issues, send an email to [mailto:beta@wikipraxis.org beta@wikipraxis.org].		If anyone wishes to help with the organization in general- fundraising, programming, marketing, etc., feel free to email us at [mailto:contact@wikipraxis.org contact@wikipraxis.org]. To report technical issues, send an email to [mailto:beta@wikipraxis.org beta@wikipraxis.org].

			== Discourse Tutorial ==

	===Introduction===		===Introduction===

Admin: /* Discourse Tutorial */

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Discourse Tutorial

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	This website differs in function and purpose from any other, so there is a lot to talk about. We suggest reading the General Information section, and coming back to read about the specific functions if you want to know more.		This website differs in function and purpose from any other, so there is a lot to talk about. We suggest reading the General Information section, and coming back to read about the specific functions if you want to know more.

	~~== Discourse Tutorial ==~~

	__TOC__		__TOC__

Admin at 00:47, 1 October 2026

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			This website differs in function and purpose from any other, so there is a lot to talk about. We suggest reading the General Information section, and coming back to read about the specific functions if you want to know more.

	== Discourse Tutorial ==		== Discourse Tutorial ==

			__TOC__

			== General Information ==

			Welcome to WikiPraxis, the world’s first online political organizing platform (as far as we know). In contrast to existing social media platforms, which force you to engage with issues indirectly by following the pages and profiles of imperfect politicians and parties, we aim to create an index of the subject matter to allow you to organize more directly with your interests. As of this writing (September 2026), we are still a small organization, and the process of creating this index is just beginning.


			Because we are a non-profit, not focused on maximizing advertising dollars, we’re not putting people into bubbles and dividing them- we’ll be focused on solutions. After many years of studying what doesn’t work on other platforms, we’ve developed unique tools specifically for political content- the Discourse tool and the Workflow tool. The Discourse tool allows oft-repeated discussions to be archived for easy reference, to save time when educating others, and make persuasion more efficient. The Workflow tool creates a framework for measuring progress on issues in terms of data, rather than election results, allowing the public to stay engaged year-round. You will learn more about both of these tools below. The combination of these tools, in the wiki structure, create a series of items that can be linked to events you create in your area, from which you can organize a variety of actions to bring about necessary change in your community.


			The current version of the platform (1.0) is a combination of MediaWiki for the educational functions, and Mastodon for the social media functions. Currently, they open in separate tabs. This is not ideal, but we wanted to get something out as soon as possible. We are ready to begin development of our mobile app but would like to solicit feedback from potential users before doing so, and if you’re reading this you’ve been invited to participate in the beta testing of the website. This is a very early stage of development, and it was always intended to evolve based on input from members. Currently, during the beta testing phase, anyone can post in the Member Proposals section, whether they are a paid member or not, but you must pay the $5 monthly fee to be able to vote on any of these items.


			Our organization is intended to operate as a democracy. There is a board of directors (currently people who have helped the project get started) to keep things stable. Dues-paying members get to vote on most decisions that come before the board, and in between board meetings, submit their own petitions. However, these votes are not binding unless the number of members is 10,000 or more. This was done to prevent any instability that might arise from catering to the whims of a small group of members during the early development phase. But as long as the members do not request anything too reckless, the board will go along with it- to do otherwise would lead to members canceling their monthly payments. With the tools we’ve built for the platform, we should be able to arrive at a consensus that most are happy with.


			If anyone wishes to help with the organization in general- fundraising, programming, marketing, etc., feel free to email us at [mailto:contact@wikipraxis.org contact@wikipraxis.org]. To report technical issues, send an email to [mailto:beta@wikipraxis.org beta@wikipraxis.org].

	===Introduction===		===Introduction===

Admin: /* Introduction */

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Introduction

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	===Introduction===		===Introduction===

	Have you ever grown frustrated with repeating yourself making the same arguments about politics over and over again? We are building an archive of common debates so that once we have them entered, we have an easy reference to come back to, saving the energy of repeating the argument yourself in the future. For more information about the problems solved by the Discourse system, visit the “[[Why WikiPraxis?]]” page.		Have you ever grown frustrated with repeating yourself making the same arguments about politics over and over again? We are building an archive of common debates so that once we have them entered, we have an easy reference to come back to, saving the energy of repeating the argument yourself in the future. For more information about the problems solved by the Discourse system, visit the “[https://beta.wikipraxis.org/index.php/Why_WikiPraxis Why WikiPraxis?]” page.

	This will not (entirely) replace the comment sections you’re used to. You’re free to engage in the normal back-and-forth in the Social section- this is just a special format to make things more efficient.		This will not (entirely) replace the comment sections you’re used to. You’re free to engage in the normal back-and-forth in the Social section- this is just a special format to make things more efficient.

Admin: /* Introduction */

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Introduction

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	===Introduction===		===Introduction===

	Have you ever grown frustrated with repeating yourself making the same arguments about politics over and over again? We are building an archive of common debates so that once we have them entered, we have an easy reference to come back to, saving the energy of repeating the argument yourself in the future. For more information about the problems solved by the Discourse system, visit the ~~“Why~~ WikiPraxis?” page ~~(link)~~.		Have you ever grown frustrated with repeating yourself making the same arguments about politics over and over again? We are building an archive of common debates so that once we have them entered, we have an easy reference to come back to, saving the energy of repeating the argument yourself in the future. For more information about the problems solved by the Discourse system, visit the “[[Why WikiPraxis?]]” page.

	This will not (entirely) replace the comment sections you’re used to. You’re free to engage in the normal back-and-forth in the Social section- this is just a special format to make things more efficient.		This will not (entirely) replace the comment sections you’re used to. You’re free to engage in the normal back-and-forth in the Social section- this is just a special format to make things more efficient.

Bermy88: /* Workflow Tutorial */

2026-09-30T06:55:03Z

Workflow Tutorial

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	== Workflow Tutorial ==		== Workflow Tutorial ==

			===Introduction===

	Our platform is specifically designed for political activism, so instead of treating all content as interchangeable blocks of text, we have broken down different steps of the process into various types of posts to make things easier. Our three stage workflow begins with identifying which measurable Goals you want to achieve (typically something like lower gas prices), debating Proposals for how to achieve it, and evaluating ongoing Projects to see how well they are working. By focusing on achievable goals, rather than elections, we believe this will be a more constructive way to focus our users' attention.		Our platform is specifically designed for political activism, so instead of treating all content as interchangeable blocks of text, we have broken down different steps of the process into various types of posts to make things easier. Our three stage workflow begins with identifying which measurable Goals you want to achieve (typically something like lower gas prices), debating Proposals for how to achieve it, and evaluating ongoing Projects to see how well they are working. By focusing on achievable goals, rather than elections, we believe this will be a more constructive way to focus our users' attention.

Bermy88: /* Conclusion */

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Conclusion

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	This system was designed to be as generic as possible a tool for solving problems. Identify what you hope to achieve, debate possible courses of action, and audit ongoing efforts in terms of stated goals. Combined with the Discourse system, we believe it will allow users to cut through the muck and bring democracy into the 21st century, kicking and screaming.		This system was designed to be as generic as possible a tool for solving problems. Identify what you hope to achieve, debate possible courses of action, and audit ongoing efforts in terms of stated goals. Combined with the Discourse system, we believe it will allow users to cut through the muck and bring democracy into the 21st century, kicking and screaming.

			We recently indexed thousands of bills from Congress’s website into the workflow system. Pending legislation can be tagged based on its impacts so users can more easily follow its trajectory. Bills passed into law are visible under Projects and pending legislation is visible under Proposals. There are thousands of entries, so you can make use of the search feature to find a specific bill- we should have everything going back to 2019. Congress’s website obviously doesn’t have goals or any of our stuff on it, so that would need to be added to the ones worth discussing. The merits of these bills can be discussed using the Discourse system.

			However, you may think of ways to solve problems that do not require government intervention. Think outside the box and figure out what resources and connections you can make available to you. The more people you have working on the problem, the more ideas you will come up with! Good luck!

Bermy88: /* Discourse Tutorial */

2026-09-30T06:11:42Z

Discourse Tutorial

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	== Discourse Tutorial ==		== Discourse Tutorial ==

			===Introduction===

			Have you ever grown frustrated with repeating yourself making the same arguments about politics over and over again? We are building an archive of common debates so that once we have them entered, we have an easy reference to come back to, saving the energy of repeating the argument yourself in the future. For more information about the problems solved by the Discourse system, visit the “Why WikiPraxis?” page (link).

			This will not (entirely) replace the comment sections you’re used to. You’re free to engage in the normal back-and-forth in the Social section- this is just a special format to make things more efficient.

	=== Creating a New Topic ===		=== Creating a New Topic ===

Bermy88: /* Adding Arguments */

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Adding Arguments

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	Each argument should be a single talking point that supports that side of the topic being discussed. It can be multiple sentences, or a paragraph, but should not be an essay. The idea is that each side puts forth a talking point, and then the other side gets to respond to that specific point. Users are able to vote up or down, whether they agree with those points or not. If you type in a long essay, with multiple points being made, then it is harder to respond to, and we cannot evaluate feedback.		Each argument should be a single talking point that supports that side of the topic being discussed. It can be multiple sentences, or a paragraph, but should not be an essay. The idea is that each side puts forth a talking point, and then the other side gets to respond to that specific point. Users are able to vote up or down, whether they agree with those points or not. If you type in a long essay, with multiple points being made, then it is harder to respond to, and we cannot evaluate feedback.

	If the argument being made relies on some other principle that could be argued elsewhere (for example, the Easter Bunny exists because the Earth is flat), you should check if that page exists (and if not, create it), and make a link to the relevant Discourse table. You should also cite sources when appropriate.		If the argument being made relies on some other principle that could be argued elsewhere (for example, the Easter Bunny exists because the Earth is flat), you should check if that page exists (and if not, create it), and make a link to the relevant Discourse table. You should also cite sources when appropriate. Try to keep things simple- the average American reads at a 7th grade reading level.

	[[File:WikiPraxisAddArgument.png\|center\|800px]]		[[File:WikiPraxisAddArgument.png\|center\|800px]]