Wikipedia:Ignore all precedent
Essay on editing Wikipedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If the old or established way of doing things prevents you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia, ignore it.
 | This is an essay on the precedent essay and consensus policy. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article or a Wikipedia policy, as it has not been reviewed by the community. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Although there is an established precedent, consensus can change, and you should ignore precedent if it prevents you from making constructive edits. |
What it means
If you want to make a constructive edit but the traditional way of doing things holds you back, ignore it. Be bold and edit it. This can help settle into a bold, revert, discuss cycle. Discuss your changes on the talk page, and editors might give you feedback on if your way is better than the previous method.
What Ignore all precedent is for
- When you want to make a change but you are turned down by the reasoning that "We always do it this way" or "This is how it was done in x article"
- When pages are outdated but the main editors refuse to let anyone update it (which is also a violation of WP:OWN)
What Ignore all precedent is not
- It is not an excuse for edit warring.
- It is not an excuse for unconstructive edits.
- It is not an excuse for ignoring all consensus in a content dispute or deletion discussion.