The contracts wiki is sponsored by the Harvard Law School and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. The purpose of the wiki is twofold: (i) to identify "shocks to the system" — judicial decisions, changing markets, and new regulations — that may necessitate changes in contract language; and (ii) to provide examples of contract language that responds to these reported developments.
The site consists of a blog with articles describing specific shocks to the system. Most of the posted articles also include sample contract language. The site is referred to as a "wiki" because registered participants are able to contribute and modify much of the content on the site in a collaborative fashion.
We encourage you to become a participant in the wiki, and to participate by (i) posting new articles describing specific shocks to the system that may necessitate changes in contract language; (ii) posting sample contract language that responds to these reported developments; (iii) initiating polls in connection with a previously posted article; (iv) revising previously posted contract language (if the posted language is open to collaborative editing); (v) adding your comments to the discussion of any previously posted article or contract language; or (vi) voting in a previously posted poll.
As you begin to post content on the site, you may also wish to become familiar with the procedures for (i) formatting your posts, (ii) editing your previous posts, and (iii) recovering from a mistake.
If you are registered as a participant, and would like to post an article on the wiki describing a new development, you would proceed as follows: (i) select "Create content" from the menu in the left sidebar of any page; (ii) select "Article" from the menu that appears; (iii) type the headline of your article in the "Title" box; (iv) select one or more of the categories (Litigation, Markets, or Regulatory) in the "Tags" menu; (v) type the text of your article in the "Body" box; (vi) select the "Preview" button and make any necessary edits; (vii) select the "Submit" button when your article is edited and ready for posting; (viii) select "Outline" from the menu above your posted article; and (ix) select the "Add to book outline" button.
If you are registered as a participant, and would like to post sample contract language on the wiki in response to a new development that is described in an associated article, you would proceed as follows: (i) select "Create content" from the menu in the left sidebar of any page; (ii) select "Language (Closed to Editing)" or "Language (Open to Editing)" from the menu that appears (your choice determines whether or not other participants will be able to revise your posted language); (iii) type a title for your contract language in the "Title" box and the contract language itself in the "Body" box; (iv) select the "Preview" button and make any necessary edits; (v) select the "Submit" button when your contract language is edited and ready for posting; (vi) select "Outline" from the menu above your posted contract language; (vii) in the menu that appears, select the title of the associated article under the heading "Parent"; and (viii) select the "Add to book outline" button.
If you are registered as a participant, and would like to initiate a poll in connection with a previously posted article, you would proceed as follows: (i) select "Create content" from the menu in the left sidebar of any page; (ii) select "Poll" from the menu that appears; (iii) type the question for your poll in the "Question" box and the possible answers in the "Choice" boxes; (iv) select the "Preview" button and make any necessary edits; (v) select the "Submit" button when your poll is edited and ready for posting; (vi) select "Outline" from the menu above your posted poll; (vii) in the menu that appears, select the title of the associated article under the heading "Parent"; and (viii) select the "Add to book outline" button.
If you are registered as a participant, and would like to revise contract language that someone else has previously posted in a form that is open for collaborative editing, you would proceed as follows: (i) select "Edit" at the top of the applicable page (this selection will be unavailable if the language is closed to editing); (ii) revise the contract language as appropriate; (iii) select the "Preview" button and make any necessary edits; and (iv) select the "Save" button when the contract language is edited and ready for reposting. If you wish to explain your revisions to the previously posted contract language, you may add a comment to the bottom of the appropriate page as described in How to Join the Discussion of a Previous Posting. You may not edit previously posted language that is closed to editing, but you may provide alternative language (see How to Post Contract Language Responding to a Shock).
If you are registered as a participant, and would like to join the discussion of any previously posted article or contract language on the wiki, you would proceed as follows: (i) select "Add new comment" at the bottom of the applicable page; (ii) type the subject of your comment in the "Subject" box and the comment itself in the "Comment" box; (iii) select the "Preview comment" button and make any necessary edits; and (iv) select the "Post comment" button when your comment is edited and ready for posting. Although you may edit certain previously posted contract language (see How to Edit Previously Posted Contract Language), you may not edit an article that someone else has posted. You can only join the discussion of a previously posted article by providing comments.
If you are registered as a participant, and would like to vote in a previously posted poll on the wiki, you would proceed as follows: (i) select the poll at the bottom of the applicable article; (ii) indicate your choice from among the alternatives presented; and (iii) select "Vote." If you wish to explain your vote or discuss the issues presented in the poll, you may add a comment to the bottom of the poll as described in How to Join the Discussion of a Previous Posting.
For the most basic postings, you can simply type the text of your article or contract language in the applicable Body box as described above. Any web page addresses and e-mail addresses you type will turn into links automatically.
You can also insert basic ''HTML markup'' codes in the text in order to perform simple formatting or to create links to other pages. For example:
<strong>Some text</strong>, your formatted text will appear as Some text.<em>Some text</em>, your formatted text will appear as Some text.<a href="http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/">Harvard Law School Corporate Governance Blog</a>, your formatted text will become a link appearing as Harvard Law School Corporate Governance Blog.In addition, you can use HTML markup codes to created bulleted lists. For example, if you type <ul> <li>First item</li> <li>Second item</li> </ul>, your formatted text will appear as
Most unusual characters can be entered directly in the Body box without any problems. If you do encounter problems, try using HTML character entities. For example, you would type " for a quote character, & for an ampersand character, or for a non-breaking space.
In order to edit any article or contract language that you have previously posted on the wiki, you would proceed as follows: (i) select "Edit" at the top of the applicable page; (ii) revise your article or contract language as appropriate; (iii) select the "Preview" button and make any necessary edits; and (iv) select the "Submit" button when your article or contract language is edited and ready for reposting.
As noted above, you should always click "Preview" to see how your postings will look before you click "Submit" and make them permanent. If you do make a mistake, however, one of the advantages of a wiki is that you can always edit your previous postings. In addition, the application automatically saves all previous versions of each page in a permanent archive. Therefore, it is always possible for the administrator of the site to restore any earlier version of the page.