Bugwoodwiki:About

From Bugwoodwiki

The purpose of the BugwoodWiki is to provide a source of reliable information for homeowners, scholars, industry professionals, and researchers. Despite the considerable merits of Wikipedia, it is unlikely that it will gain the full support of the academics and professionals due to its open nature. However, "wiki" technology does provide great promise in it's ability to centrally consolidate information, promote collaborative writing, and provide a channel of authoritative information for academics, extension personnel, and industry professionals as well as the general public.

By developing a specialist site we hope to develop a mechanism of appropriate peer review for all articles and to restrict contributors to qualified individuals. This will allow articles to achieve academic status for referencing purpose and ground the content solidly in the knowledge base of the discipline.

To make this resource as dynamic and useful to as many audiences as possible, BugwoodWiki provides tools to:

  • Allow collaboration on the creation of fact sheets and other information sources with accommodations made to make sure individuals are credited for their contribution
  • Provide easy, open access to the Bugwood Image Database System so the images and information can be used in the creation of Wiki articles
  • Provide easy portability of the Wiki articles to other formats including: other websites, publications, AgAlerts, and factsheets. Special emphasis is placed on maintaining proper citations for both images and the Wiki Articles

Who can edit BugwoodWiki?

BugwoodWiki Scholars are users who have been given permission to edit and create articles in this wiki. To qualify as a Scholar, you must have experience, education, or training specific to the articles you plan to edit.

Examples of individuals who qualify as BugwoodWiki Scholars include:

  • Graduate Students
  • Faculty and Staff of Educational Institutions
  • Industry Professionals
  • Plant Diagnosticians
  • Government Scientists

If you wish to become a BugwoodWiki Scholar so that you can contribute to wiki articles Use the following contact information:

You can also contact the Bugwood Network Staff or a BugwoodWiki Bureaucrat to receive permission to edit articles. You may also look at our current events to find a project leader in an area you are interested in. General requests to become a BugwoodWiki Scholar can be sent to the Bugwood Webmaster.

If you would like an training on how to use the wiki, you use the following information to request an online training session:

or you can try the Self-Help section on the wiki which has plenty of examples.

What constitutes authorship?

To edit articles in the BugwoodWiki, you must be a BugwoodWiki Scholar. Even then, the BugwoodWiki system 'does not' automatically assign authorship. We leave this upto the site contributors to assign on the various articles. If you make a significant contribution to an article, you should be listed as an author.

Examples of significant contributions include:

  • adding a section to article
  • improving a section of an article to be more complete

Examples of non-signficant contrubutions include:

  • correcting spelling and punctuation
  • minor revisions of grammar

This will be an evolving definition as this project develops. We believe most people have a basic understandig of ethics in science and there will be few (if any) disputes over authorship.

How do I become a BugwoodWiki Scholar?

BugwoodWiki Scholars are users who have been given permission to edit and create articles in this wiki. To qualify as a Scholar, you must have experience, education, or training specific to the articles you plan to edit.

Examples of individuals who qualify as BugwoodWiki Scholars include:

  • Graduate Students
  • Faculty and Staff of Educational Institutions
  • Industry Professionals
  • Plant Diagnosticians
  • Government Scientists

If you wish to become a BugwoodWiki Scholar so that you can contribute to wiki articles Use the following contact information:

You can also contact the Bugwood Network Staff or a BugwoodWiki Bureaucrat to receive permission to edit articles. You may also look at our current events to find a project leader in an area you are interested in. General requests to become a BugwoodWiki Scholar can be sent to the Bugwood Webmaster.

If you would like an training on how to use the wiki, you use the following information to request an online training session:

or you can try the Self-Help section on the wiki which has plenty of examples.

Standardizing the author line

The standard Author line (in WikiText) for BugwoodWiki articles is:

''Authors: [[User:USERNAME]], [[ORGANIZATION]]''

  • The double single quotes ('') at the begining and end will put the text in italics.
  • The USERNAME is whatever username you entered when you made your account. Using the [[User:USERNAME]] will link to your personal page on the BugwoodWiki.
  • [[ORGANIZATION]] will link to the page for your institution or company. From that page, visitors can find out a little bit of information on the organization access links to different departments and units.

Standardizing the article naming

A policy for naming articles in the BugwoodWiki has been developed. This standardization is important for several reasons:

  1. It allows other users to link to another article without having to look it up beforehand. If we are all using the same naming convention, there is no need to guess.
  2. It allows features such as {{states}} to work. This particular feature looks at the name of the article it is placed on, checks to see if there are other articles by that name that are written for a state or region, and provides links to those articles if they exist. You can see it in action on Rhizoctonia solani (belly rot). This allows for easy interlinking between article in different states and regions.


We have made up a set of articles to give an example of dealing with a organism that causes multiple disorders. The examples laid out here are meant to demonstrate the rules. Please feel free to give feedback to Joe LaForest

1. If an organism only causes one problem, it should be listed under the scientific name. All common names should have articles that redirect to the main article.
2. The scientific name should be used as the main name for the article when the organism is the only causal agent. The common name for the disease is placed in parentheses after the scientific name. If the common name for the disease is unique, it should have an article that redirects to the main article.
  • Add {{Otheruses2|SCIENTIFIC NAME}} to provide the standard link to the other articles.
3. When there are multiple articles for the same organism, there should be a disambiguation article created to sort out the names and articles. It is also recommended to create a general article to discuss the pathogen itself.
  • Add {{dab}} to the disambiguation article to provide the standard header
4. When an organism is part of a suite of species or a complex that causes a problem, the article should be named be the “approved name” for the disorder. This may lead to a future disambiguation article since the common name is not necessarily unique.
  • Add {{Otheruses2|COMMON NAME}} to provide the standard link to the other articles.
  • Add {{dab}} to the disambiguation article to provide the standard header
5. If the article is meant for the High Plains IPM Project, the name is proceeded by HPIPM: This places it in the High Plains Namespace which has authorship restricted to only High Plains Members
6. If the article is meant for a particular state, add /STATENAME after the article name. These article should be in the main Namespace (no HPIPM: prefix).

Funding Sources

This site has been funded by a wide range of organizations, grants, and projects. Below is a list:

  • Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program Grant No. 2010-85605-20541 from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture
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Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health at the University of Georgia