Pattern Editing

Group Works is a collaborative and dynamic project, and we encourage you to help enhance its content by sending us comments and reviews, telling us about new uses of the deck you've discovered, posting new method maps you've developed, or adding to the descriptions and examples of the use of specific patterns. To do any of these things you will first have to (if you haven't already), register as a community member and sign in.

TO PROPOSE A NEW PATTERN, first read the Template and then go to the Pattern Seed page.

TO ADD TO EXISTING PATTERNS, here is what you do (you might want to compose the material you wish to add in your own text editor first, so you can then just copy and paste onto the pattern pages):

  1. Go to the Patterns by Category or Patterns by Name page (under "The Patterns" menu), and select the specific pattern you wish to edit or add to.
  2. Click on the 'Edit' tab near the top of the page. A set of four WYSIWYG edit boxes will open up allowing you to add new material to various fields on the page.
  3. Note that you cannot change any of the following fields: the pattern Title, Image, Heart, Category or Related Patterns. You can add to any or all of the Descriptions, Examples, Resources and Other fields.
  4. In the 'Descriptions' field, please identify (by creating or adding to existing subheadings) the type of Description information you are adding:
    • Context: What is outside of this pattern that is relevant to it? Under what recurring circumstances might we apply it — the “if” for which this pattern is the “then.” What forces and constraints are worked in this pattern to produce the desired outcome? 
    • Instructions: How does one use this pattern? Guidance designing or practicing this element in a group conversation. What users should know about it. 
    • Variations: Different ways the pattern might be implemented. May include specific, named techniques or formats that embody or apply this pattern. 
    • Cautions & Caveats: Potential misinterpretations, misuses, exceptions, over-applications and/or limitations of the pattern.
  5. In the 'Examples' field, please note what best illustrates this pattern at work in group process? Offer if possible one to three examples that bring the pattern to life, providing a sense of the range of possible solutions using the pattern. Could include songs, poems, videos, and other forms as well as written stories.
  6. In the 'Resources' field, please add links, contact information and reference titles where people can learn more about this pattern, including: people who have experienced it in use and can say what it is like; organizations, networks or individuals who can provide information or expertise about this pattern; other references – books, websites, articles, videos, bibliographies.
  7. In the 'Other' field, please add anything else you want to say about the pattern. This could include: 
    • Levels/Fractal: How does this pattern play out at various individual and collective/holonic levels (micro and macro)? In the hierarchy of patterns (from general to specific), what level is this pattern at? What category does it occupy with other patterns at its level? 
    • Learning Edges: Reflective commentary at the borders of what is known about a pattern, its application, and its relationship to other patterns. May include instances where the pattern appears to break down, pose questions that arise in application, offer insight into unusual applications, etc. 
    • Quotes: Short, expressive statements that embody or articulate this pattern (explicitly or implicitly), from a recognized authority, or an especially astute observer or advocate of the pattern.

That's it! Thank you for your contribution, and let us know if you have any questions or encounter any problems with this process.

Latest News