Elite Dangerous Field Manual:Verification Policy

Current answers. Practical procedures. Reliable reference.
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How article accuracy is tracked on EDFM.

Verification statuses

Recorded via {{Article status}}, always as visible text (never colour alone):

  • Verified — checked directly against current Live gameplay by a named reviewer.
  • Partially verified — some claims checked, others not; the article should say which.
  • Needs review — drafted but not yet checked. Tracked in Elite Dangerous Field Manual:Pages Needing Review.
  • Draft — incomplete, use {{Draft warning}}.
  • Historical — describes a past state of the game; use {{Historical warning}}.
  • Legacy only — applies to Elite Dangerous: Legacy, not current Live; use {{Legacy warning}}.
  • Upcoming — describes an announced-but-not-yet-released feature; must not be presented as current fact.

Game modes

  • Live — the actively developed, current game.
  • Legacy — the frozen pre-Odyssey-update client, still operated separately.
  • Both — confirmed true in both.
  • Historical — no longer applicable to either; kept for record only.

Status "Legacy only" vs. mode "Legacy"

These are two different axes and are not redundant with each other:

  • Mode "Legacy" is the routine, per-fact tag — use it any time part of an article's subject differs between Live and Legacy, at any verification status. Pair it with the optional |legacy_differences= field on {{Article status}} to say what actually differs.
  • Status "Legacy only" is reserved for articles that are entirely about a Legacy-exclusive mechanic with no Live counterpart at all — the same relationship "Historical" already has as a status vs. as something you'd note in passing on a Live article.

An article can be Live-mode with a noted Legacy difference; it should not usually be both "Legacy only" status and "Both" mode, since that would mean claiming universal applicability for something defined as Legacy-exclusive.

What a review means

A reviewer records: verification status, game mode, game version/update, last-reviewed date, reviewer identity, an assessment of source quality, and any known uncertainty. These seven fields are always part of {{Article status}}. Two more are optional and used only when relevant: |legacy_differences= (what specifically differs from Live, when mode isn't simply "Both") and |recent_changes= (a one-line pointer to a recent, significant change — for anything longer, use {{Patch history}} instead).

Uncertain content

Use {{Unverified claim}}, {{Estimated information}}, or {{Community observation}} inline rather than stating something as settled fact. A page can be genuinely useful while honestly marking its own gaps.

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