Site Agent Operating Rules — Evidence, Links, Citations & Change Control

page · Updated 2026-10-11T01:21:04 · Original source

Time-stamped evidence-status rule — effective 10 October 2026

Every Wiki conclusion about whether evidence or a record has been found, whether an institution appears in a process, or whether involvement is or is not established must be dated as at the review date. Append a small superscript clock icon 🕒 to the relevant status statement with a hover/accessibility label in the form “As at DD-MM-YYYY”. The marker records the date of the Wiki’s assessment, not the date of the historical event. Refresh it when new material, an FOI/EIR/SAR reply, archive discovery or correction changes the evidential position. Do not make open-ended claims that no record exists, or that an actor did or did not participate, without specifying the material searched and the as-at date. Preserve verbatim quotations and transcription text unchanged; place the marker on the Wiki’s surrounding interpretation/status statement instead.

Site Agent Operating Rules — Evidence, Links, Citations & Change Control

Scope: These rules apply to AI agents, automated editors, research assistants and human editors working on the Great House Farm Wiki. They are subordinate to the site’s PRINCE2 7 Compliance & Control Manual and support the PRINCE2 Control Registers, Project Plan and Evidence Library.

1. Source-first rule

Do not write a substantive factual statement into a page until the agent has identified the source supporting it.
Prefer the Evidence Library, the relevant canonical research page, the Master Timeline, the Records Access Chronology or the original external source.
If the source is not yet public, say so and classify the statement correctly rather than inventing a citation.

2. Hyperlink rule — cite the statement where it appears

Every substantive factual statement should be linked to its supporting source wherever a public link exists. Do not rely on a bibliography elsewhere in the page when an inline hyperlink can identify the source.
For internal evidence, link to the specific Evidence Library entry and/or the canonical subject page.
For external material, link to the actual document, archive catalogue, register, judgment, official response or official webpage where possible.
Put the hyperlink as close as practical to the statement it supports.
Do not invent, guess or fabricate URLs, document identifiers, archive references or source locations.

3. Duplication rule — repeated statements must point back to the canonical source

The same historical, legal, planning or project-control statement may appear on more than one page for discoverability, but the duplicated statement must not become an independent uncited assertion.

Every repeated statement must carry a hyperlink to its canonical source page and, where possible, the underlying evidence entry.
Use one canonical formulation for important propositions. Other pages should summarise it and link back rather than creating competing versions.
When the source changes, update the canonical page first, then check and update dependent summaries.
Do not copy a factual sentence from one Wiki page to another and strip its source link.
Cross-page duplication is for navigation and context; the Evidence Library remains the evidence anchor.

4. Truth-status rule

Status	Meaning	Agent writing rule
DOCUMENTED FACT	Supported by an identified documentary/source record	State accurately and link the source.
FAMILY EVIDENCE / CONTENTION	Family testimony, recollection, privately held material or a stated family case	Attribute it; do not turn it into an external fact.
RECONSTRUCTION	An evidence-based synthesis connecting multiple records	Show the component sources and mark the synthesis as reconstruction.
LEGAL INFERENCE / ISSUE FOR COUNSEL	A legal interpretation that requires professional assessment	Do not state it as established law/fact; link the primary authority and mark the issue.
UNRESOLVED ^🕒	Evidence is incomplete, conflicting or not yet obtained	Preserve both sides of the conflict and link the evidence on each side.

5. Evidence-language rule

“Not found” means the source-holder reported no material located; it does not mean the historical event did not occur. ^🕒
“Not held” means the holder says it does not hold the record; it is not equivalent to destruction or non-existence. ^🕒
“Not searched” and “search incomplete” must remain distinct from “not found”. ^🕒
“Destroyed” requires evidence supporting destruction; do not infer destruction from absence.
An acknowledgement, referral, administrative closure or refusal is an event in the control chronology, not automatically evidential closure.

6. Canonical-page rule

Maintain one authoritative public page for each major subject wherever practical: a person, parcel, title, deed/agreement, case, planning application, heritage record, evidence item, institutional request, project control or museum product.

Subject pages contain the stable factual summary and source links.
Evidence pages contain the evidence record and provenance.
Chronology pages contain dates and sequence.
Project-management pages contain control decisions, tasks, risks, issues and acceptance criteria.
Other pages link back to these canonical pages rather than maintaining a second independent factual record.

7. Event nomenclature and citation-gateway rule

Where an event or incident has materially different descriptions — for example “eviction”, “possession enforcement”, “forced removal”, “seizure”, “occupation”, “taking control” or “regaining possession” — maintain a canonical Event Nomenclature Register entry.
Pages describing the event in chronology, narrative or analysis should cite the nomenclature/event gateway page first, rather than selecting one evidence item as though its label were neutral.
The nomenclature page must list alternative descriptions, identify who or which source uses them, state whether each is fact, source wording, family contention or legal issue, and then link onward to the individual evidence pages.
Terms such as “illegal occupation” or “unlawful occupation” must be labelled as a family legal position or issue for counsel unless independently established.
Evidence pages remain the documentary endpoint. The nomenclature page is the event-navigation gateway and must not replace the evidence.

8. Edit-before-add rule

Before creating a new page, search the Wiki for an existing page on the subject.
Before creating a new evidence entry, search the Evidence Library for the identifier, document or event.
Before adding a project task, check the Delivery Breakdown and HubSpot for an existing task.
Prefer updating the canonical record to creating another parallel statement.

9. Evidence catalogue rule

Every new evidence unit receives the next available GHF-E identifier.
Record title/description, date, source/holder, provenance, file/media reference, preservation state, truth status and relevant proposition links.
Do not reuse an existing GHF-E identifier.
Images, PDFs and scans must be linked to their Media Library item or Evidence Library record once uploaded.
If the underlying file is private, state that it is private rather than presenting a public hyperlink that does not work.

10. Project-management rule

Every actionable item belongs to a Project → Stream (where applicable) → Work Package → Task Group → Task.
Every task has owner, target, status, dependency, cost basis and acceptance test.
A task is complete only when its acceptance test is met and the result/evidence is linked.
External waiting is recorded as an external dependency, not silently counted as completion.
Changes to scope, baseline, dates, costs or product requirements are recorded in the Issue & Change Register.

11. Citation and hyperlink QA gate

Before publishing, check every substantive paragraph for a supporting hyperlink or an explicit truth-status/attribution statement.
Check that the link resolves to the intended page/source and is not merely a generic homepage when a specific source is available.
Check dates, names, references, title numbers and evidence IDs against the source before publication.
Check that copied material still points to its canonical source.
Check for contradictions with the Master Timeline, Evidence Library and Records Access Chronology.
If a contradiction is found, create or update a registered issue instead of silently choosing one version.

12. No-source / no-link rule

Where no supporting source is available, the agent must not manufacture authority by repetition. The statement must either be removed, explicitly attributed as family evidence/contention, labelled as reconstruction/inference, or moved into the open-questions/anomalies system pending evidence.

13. Change-control and audit trail

Do not silently overwrite a materially different factual position.
Record material corrections, scope changes and control decisions in the appropriate register.
Preserve prior evidence records and closed control records for auditability.
When a correction affects several pages, update the canonical source first and then propagate linked summaries.

14. Public-language rule

Write the public Wiki in third person.
Do not write as though the editor is William Buckler, Mary Williams or another historical participant.
Do not turn family experience into omniscient narration.
Keep contested allegations explicitly attributed and evidence-graded.
Do not publish legally privileged advice, sensitive personal data or material designated for restricted handling.

15. Final agent instruction

Before any material edit, an agent should be able to answer: What is the canonical page? What is the supporting evidence? Where is the hyperlink? What truth-status does the statement have? Is this a duplicate of an existing statement? What project/work package owns the action? What acceptance test proves it is done? What register records the change, risk, issue, lesson or decision?

When those questions cannot be answered, stop the factual edit and record the evidence gap, open question or project-control issue instead.

16. Page schema

Base evidence page

Evidence. Show the source itself: document, image, recording, official reply or testimony. Link the original or best available copy. Transcribe readable text verbatim. Mark illegible words as illegible; use brackets only for editorial notes. Do not silently correct spelling or fill gaps.

Description. State what the item is, its date, author or issuer, source/provenance, and what is visibly or literally present. Keep description separate from conclusions.

Interpretation. State what the item supports and what it does not establish. Link each material inference to the evidence or the parent evidence-group page. Note a contradiction only where a specific source shows it.

Parent evidence-group page

Group a short, named set of evidence pages around one pattern or proposition. Hyperlink the particular records beside the facts they support. Describe the pattern in plain language. Distinguish direct observation from inference. Do not repeat whole transcripts or add claims beyond what the cited set supports.

Overall theory page

Combine the findings of the parent evidence groups. Link down to those groups and their sources. Label any additional inference. A missing source is a gap, not support for the proposition it might have contained.

Use these three labels and no decorative summaries, coloured callouts, repeated status preambles or filler. Keep language direct and source-led.

Index: Hierarchy · Evidence Library · Overall theory.