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I've noticed some of the tag wiki entries are only very basic one-line definitions, while others go into some detail and provide examples of the topic.

I personally do think that a little extra detail is nice for those looking to understand one of the tags, but how authoritative does that description need to be (does it need sources)? And how long should the description be? At some point, just going to the corresponding Wikipedia article would probably be a better idea for the reader. And for the editor, editing the corresponding Wikipedia article would probably be more helpful to the world.

Are there any guidelines or good examples for a good tag wiki entry?

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The purpose of a tag wiki is twofold:

  1. The wiki should introduce what the tag represents. [ELU Example, JLU Example]

  2. The wiki should clarify when the tag should be applied. [Example]

Naturally, a simple concept will require less explanation than a more complex and nuanced topic.

I wouldn't recommend too much detail in the tag wiki, just enough so that people can understand if the tag applies to their question. In fact, it's difficult to establish tag wikis as the end-all place to learn everything about a topic because they aren't very discoverable (almost nobody reads them) and there's very little peer review (so improper sources or misstatements often don't get noticed).

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  • I think the examples I included are "good" but not really "great" or "exceptional" tag wikis. I wasn't able to find the latter without considerably more effort, but if someone else has some suggestions, I can update the links.
    – Troyen
    Feb 13, 2013 at 23:28
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    Speaking of which, I think most of our tags badly need clarification on when they should be applied. Especially the broad ones like "words", "translation", "meaning", and "usage".
    – Troyen
    Feb 13, 2013 at 23:52

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