Wikivoyagers have knowledge about our destinations that sometimes goes beyond what can be included in a guide. Often, visitors to Wikivoyage have a very specific question that is not answered by our usual guide format. To connect these folks, it would be great to make an explicit connection between some articles and contributors.

Docents for a particular destination are listed in the left-hand navigation area on the destination's page, between "In other projects" and "In other languages".

If you are curious which destinations currently have docents, here is a current list.

Becoming a docent

To become a docent for a destination, add the following template to the end of an article:

{{hasDocent|Username}}

Replace "Username" with your actual user name. If you have a divided user name, like John Smith, you need to put an underscore instead of a space: John_Smith instead of John Smith.

If there is already a docent listed, add your name on the next line:

{{hasDocent|Username}}
{{hasDocent|User2}} 

At your user page, indicate how you would like to be contacted: on your talk page, via email, IM, IRC, etc. Link back to this page so people can understand the idea better.

Currently, there is no limit on the number of docents for a destination, but attempts should be made to keep the total number of docents under 3–5 depending on the size of the destination.

Stopping being a docent

If you decide you no longer want to be a docent, or you plan on being away for more than a week or two, just remove your username. If you aren't going to visit Wikivoyage frequently, but are still available to help, leave a note on your user talk page asking people to reach you by email.

If a docent has been unreachable for one week, without making note of their absence, their name can be removed from the docent list.

Nominating a docent

If you notice a user who seems to have a lot of good insider knowledge about a destination and you think they would be a great docent, put a comment on their talk page:

You sure seem to know a lot about [[insert place name here]], have you considered becoming a [[Wikivoyage:Docents|Docent]]? --~~~~

Rights and responsibilities

  • Docents should create a Docent section on their user page. In that area they can indicate how they would like to be contacted: on their talk page, via email, IM, IRC, etc. Link back to this page to help people better understand the whole idea.
  • Docents should try to integrate information back into the guide.
  • Docents are not "in charge" of an article. They have the same control over article content as any contributor. Issues should still be settled on the appropriate talk pages.

See also