Minor edits

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  1. Minor Edits

Minor edits are a fundamental concept within the MediaWiki ecosystem, particularly crucial for collaborative content creation and maintaining a clean revision history. This article provides a comprehensive guide to minor edits, explaining what they are, how to use them, their benefits, potential misuses, and best practices for contributing to a wiki. This guide is geared towards beginners but will also be helpful for experienced users seeking a refresher.

What are Minor Edits?

In MediaWiki, a minor edit is a revision to a page that is considered primarily cosmetic and does not substantially alter the content. These edits are typically focused on things like:

  • Fixing typos and grammatical errors: Correcting spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, and improving sentence structure.
  • Formatting changes: Adjusting headings, lists, indentation, and stylistic elements without changing the core meaning. This includes consistent use of templates.
  • Whitespace adjustments: Removing unnecessary spaces, tabs, or line breaks.
  • Adding or removing whitespace only: Changing the visual presentation without altering content.
  • Updating internal links: Correcting broken links to other pages within the wiki or updating them to reflect page renames. A faulty internal link can significantly degrade user experience.
  • Minor template adjustments: Small changes within templates that do not alter the overall output significantly.
  • Tagging edits as minor: Using the "Minor edit" checkbox during the editing process.

Crucially, a minor edit should *not* include substantial content changes, major restructuring, or adding new information. It’s a way to indicate to other editors that the change is relatively insignificant and doesn't require immediate review. Significant content changes should *always* be marked as a regular edit. Think of it as a signal: "I've cleaned up something small, but the core meaning hasn't changed."

How to Mark an Edit as Minor

Marking an edit as minor is straightforward. During the editing process, you’ll find a checkbox labeled “Minor edit” located just below the edit summary field.

1. Navigate to the page you want to edit. 2. Click the "Edit" button at the top of the page. 3. Make your desired changes to the page's content. 4. Write a concise edit summary describing your changes. Even for minor edits, a summary is good practice. For example: "Fixed typo in introduction" or "Corrected broken link." 5. Check the "Minor edit" checkbox before saving your changes. 6. Click the "Publish page" button.

Once saved, the revision history will visually distinguish minor edits from regular edits. Typically, minor edits are displayed in a lighter color or with a different icon, making them easier to identify.

Why Use Minor Edits?

Using minor edits effectively offers several benefits for both individual editors and the overall wiki community:

  • Cleaner Revision History: Minor edits help declutter the revision history of a page. By visually separating small, cosmetic changes, it becomes easier to identify significant content updates. This is especially important for popular pages with frequent edits. A bloated revision history can make it difficult to track important changes and revert to previous versions if necessary.
  • Reduced Notification Fatigue: Many users subscribe to watchlists for pages they are interested in. Minor edits, when properly used, can prevent users from being bombarded with notifications for trivial changes. This allows them to focus on more substantial updates. Unnecessary notifications can lead to “watchlist fatigue,” where users stop paying attention to important changes.
  • Streamlined Collaboration: Minor edits encourage a more collaborative editing environment. They signal to other editors that the change is non-controversial and doesn't require immediate attention, fostering a sense of shared responsibility for maintaining the wiki's quality.
  • Faster Review Process: For wikis with a review process, minor edits may be subject to less scrutiny, allowing them to be approved more quickly.
  • Improved Wiki Organization: Consistent application of minor edit conventions contributes to a more organized and maintainable wiki.

Misusing Minor Edits

While minor edits are valuable, they can be misused, leading to frustration and hindering collaboration. Here are some common examples of inappropriate use:

  • Adding Substantial Content: Adding new paragraphs, sections, or significant amounts of information should *never* be marked as a minor edit.
  • Major Restructuring: Reorganizing a page's layout, moving large blocks of text, or fundamentally changing its structure is not a minor edit.
  • Correcting Factual Errors: Fixing inaccurate information is a significant change and should be flagged as a regular edit. This allows other editors to verify the correction.
  • Changing the Meaning of Text: Even seemingly small changes that alter the intended meaning of a sentence or paragraph are not minor edits.
  • Removing Information: Deleting content, even if it seems irrelevant, is a significant change that requires a regular edit and a clear explanation in the edit summary.
  • Repeatedly Marking Non-Minor Edits as Minor: Consistently misusing the minor edit flag can be seen as disruptive behavior and may be subject to administrative action. It undermines the purpose of the feature and annoys other editors.
  • Using Minor Edits to Circumvent Discussion: Attempting to sneak in controversial changes by marking them as minor is unethical and counterproductive.

Best Practices for Using Minor Edits

To ensure you're using minor edits effectively and contributing positively to the wiki, follow these best practices:

  • When in Doubt, Don't Mark it as Minor: If you're unsure whether an edit qualifies as minor, it's always better to err on the side of caution and leave the checkbox unchecked.
  • Always Provide an Edit Summary: Even for minor edits, a concise edit summary is essential. It helps other editors understand the purpose of your change.
  • Focus on Cosmetic Improvements: Limit your minor edits to things like typos, formatting, and whitespace adjustments.
  • Respect the Community Guidelines: Be aware of any specific guidelines or policies regarding minor edits on your wiki.
  • Review Other Editors' Use of Minor Edits: If you notice someone misusing the minor edit flag, politely point it out to them. Constructive feedback can help improve the overall quality of the wiki.
  • Understand the Wiki's Culture: Some wikis have a stricter interpretation of what constitutes a minor edit than others. Pay attention to how other editors are using the feature.
  • Don't Use Minor Edits for Ongoing Disputes: If you're involved in a content dispute, avoid using minor edits to repeatedly revert changes. Instead, engage in a discussion on the talk page.

Technical Considerations

The "minor edit" flag is a boolean value (true or false) stored in the revision record. MediaWiki's interface provides a user-friendly way to set this flag, but it's also accessible through the API. This allows developers to create tools that automatically identify and highlight minor edits. The specific way minor edits are displayed in the revision history can be customized through CSS.

The database query to identify minor edits typically involves checking the `minor_edit` column in the `revision` table. This column stores a value of 1 for minor edits and 0 for regular edits.

Relationship to Watchlists and Recent Changes

Minor edits play a significant role in how users interact with watchlists and the recent changes page.

  • Watchlists: As mentioned earlier, minor edits can be filtered out of watchlist notifications, reducing clutter. However, the specific filtering behavior can be configured by individual users.
  • Recent Changes: Minor edits are often displayed differently on the recent changes page, using a lighter color or a different icon. Some wikis allow users to hide minor edits from the recent changes feed altogether. This allows users to focus on more substantial updates.

Advanced Topics: Bots and Minor Edits

Bots are often used to perform automated tasks on wikis, including making minor edits such as fixing typos and updating templates. When configuring a bot, it's crucial to ensure that it correctly identifies and marks edits as minor. Incorrectly marking bot edits as minor can defeat the purpose of the feature and annoy other editors. Bots typically have specific guidelines for their use of minor edits, often requiring them to only mark edits as minor if they are truly cosmetic and non-controversial. Many bots also have a mechanism for reporting their actions, allowing administrators to monitor their behavior and ensure they are following the established guidelines. Consider using AWB for automated tasks.

Comparison to Other Wiki Software

While the concept of minor edits exists in other wiki software, the implementation and conventions can vary. Some wikis may have a more lenient definition of what constitutes a minor edit, while others may be more strict. It's important to familiarize yourself with the specific guidelines for the wiki you are contributing to. For example, some wikis might not have a dedicated "minor edit" flag but instead rely on edit summaries to indicate the nature of the change.

Strategies for Effective Editing

Before making *any* edit, consider these strategies:

  • **Understand the Existing Content:** Read the article thoroughly before making changes.
  • **Research Thoroughly:** If adding new information, cite reliable sources. Consider using citation templates.
  • **Discuss Controversial Changes:** Use the talk page to discuss significant changes with other editors.
  • **Follow Wiki Style Guidelines:** Adhere to the wiki's established style conventions.
  • **Be Respectful:** Treat other editors with courtesy and respect.
  • **Use Preview:** Always preview your changes before saving them.
  • **Learn from Feedback:** Be open to constructive criticism from other editors.

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