Rose

This page is about experienced editors reflecting on their own experiences, with a specific emphasis on what it was like to be a new editor. It was inspired by my experience meeting people at WikiConference North America and wanting to recreate that feeling onwiki. I don't think my questions were anything particularly groundbreaking and I'm sure people have attempted to collate something similar at other places like at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Editor Retention. Regardless, it's thrilling to see the perspectives of so many Wikipedians. I think the best way to approach all this is to read it for yourself as open-ended answers and authenticity can never truly be summarized the way a simple survey with yes/no answers can.

On a somewhat frequent basis, I issue invitations to participate here. This is not a requirement and people are free to pitch in without a formal invitation as long as they consider themselves to be an experienced editor.

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia? (Question added June 13, 2024)
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

Incredibly large pages can be difficult to load. To prevent such issues, I will be keeping archives of every 100 interviews. These can be seen here:

• User:Clovermoss/Editor reflections/1–100
• User:Clovermoss/Editor reflections/101–200

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

September 28, 2012 (so, over 11 years ago)

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I got into Wikipedia shortly after finishing my PhD thesis. I'd written introductory chapter on oxazolines and I knew that it would likely just sit on a shelf and never be read again. The existing page was pretty basic and I figured I could improve it very easily by just copy-and-pasting across some general information.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

There were certainly things I did wrong at the start, mostly to do with getting the tone right. Writing science articles for Wikipedia is very different to writing for scientific journals, and it took me time to learn and appreciate that - but that doesn't mean I had any particular trouble I needed help with. Some things can only be learned by persistance.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

I can't say that I did. Occasionally I'd take something to WP:Chem

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Something dramatic would have to happen to make me stop

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Not really. It's a good idea, but I'm not sure how well it works in practise. Some years ago WikiEd was viewed as a bit of a menace. The chemistry editing community of en:wiki is small, I would estimate fewer than 20 frequent editors. WikiEd class sizes could be upwards of 50 and being students their assignment pages would all appear at the same time (presumably the deadline day). This would cause a lot of bother for the community, because the new pages were often of a poor quality and needed heavy editing, merger or deletion. However, the students were being marked on these articles and were of course resistant to any of that. The experience was regrettably negative for all concerned.

The present situation is less severe.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

No, never. I imagine you could make simple edits: a typo, a reference, a short sentence - but writing substantive content via a phone sounds like no fun at all. I don't expect I will ever try.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

• Like many I still dislike the new layout.
• I really wish someone would fix [Graph module]. Wiki is the worlds most popular encyclopaedia - but we can't render statistical information as graphs. Madness.
• The think the notability guidelines for living people need to be severely tightened.

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

In 11 years this is first time I'm been surveyed. Wikipedia still feels like a Web 1.0 kind of a place - I don't think it understand it's content creators anywhere near at well as webpages with a similar ranking. That might be the secret of it's success, with obsessive people just being left alone to do their thing, or is might be a problem - truly, who can say?

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Although I created my account in June 2020 (during the pandemic), I started editing in 13 December 2023, the exact day of Clovermoss' RfA. I only made a few edits before December 2023 and have never made edits while logged out (good thing the warning saved me!) or using another account at time of writing.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? Since the pandemic, I have thought about editing on Wikipedia, but it never came to tuition until December 2023. I have real life interests in transport related content (roads, railways, public transport, etc) and thought about editing on these topics. I also started to have some interests in video gaming content and help out at did you know (DYK).
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? When I created the farm sim Sun Haven, I didn't know that game didn't meet the notability criteria even though it was quite popular (about 15,000 Steam reviews). I just thought that since we have My Time at Sandrock, a game with similar popularity (and which I have significantly contributed to), I thought Sun Haven deserved an article. However, when that game gets to the Swtich, I may consider editing that again. Now I learned that notability does not equal to being popular I and won't consider improving/creating it until it gets on the Switch. However, I did create a successful video game article and got that to DYK: Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly. I intended to create that article on its one year anniversary. I also didn't know about DYK until March 2024 (because of theleekycauldron's 2nd RfA) in which I made my first nomination for cozy game, an article I didn't make. This meant I would have likely nominated Sun Haven for DYK if I didn't make that first.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? I did have some help at the Teahouse but other than that, I did learn some of the stuff by myself including the fact that I didn't know how to reuse citations without copying and pasting for a while and I almost always edit using the source editor. I also had a little help on my first DYK nomination where someone made slight adjustments to the hook and to bold the article title link.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? I am not sure to be honest, but I think I should be here for at least 12 months from now. It's like when I use to have interests in playing Subway Surfers years ago and have never played that for a long while. However, I haven't played that game for more than a couple consecutive months so it may not be comparable.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? No and I never even heard of it.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? I never considered editing on mobile because its quite hard for me to do. I am alright with reading Wikipedia on mobile but editing is on another level. It's hard to type over 1000 characters using a mobile keyboard and to copy and paste to use sources.
• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia? I can't say for sure. One thing I can think of is that maybe the new UI could be improved further or to allow unregistered users to go back to the old one.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :) I also did a little bit of my editor reflections at User talk:Clovermoss/Archive 11#JuniperChill's experience at editing and RfA.

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

  February 2010

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

  I saw that there was a missing article, Marie of Savoy, Duchess of Milan. I was interested in late medieval Milanese & Italian biography at the time, specifically anything around the time that I think Shakespeare set The Tempest or that he may have drawn upon for his characters.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

  Learning about citation templates, citer.toolforge.org, & the Manual of Style

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

  I did not receive much help as a new editor. That said, I probably did not require much. I initially edited during my shifts as a part-time university librarian. As a librarian, I understood the importance of citation, & as a full-time IT worker I was comfortable in Wikitext. There was one single bit of advice that I got that helped, at this particular edit.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

  Yes

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

• Not really. I know Sage Ross & am acquainted with Frank Schulenburg & LiAnna Davis. I have used the Outreach Dashboard. Several years ago I sat in panels of editors for a couple of classes at the University of Washington in Seattle.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

  I did while I was commuting by mass transit for a couple of years, but I prefer editing with a keyboard. Sometimes when I am doing a major overhaul on an article I will check out how it looks on mobile. It would be nice to simply simulate that on the desktop somehow.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

  • Better recognition of the volunteer editors by the WMF staff
  • Better tools, tutorials, slide decks, learning modules, & et cetera for teaching new users
  • Better tools, tutorials, slide decks, learning modules, & et cetera for GLAM

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

  I am also active with WikiConference North America & Cascadia Wikimedians. I also edit on sister projects (see xtools.wmcloud.org/ec/en.wikipedia.org/Peaceray).

Peaceray (talk) 21:37, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I started editing in March 2021.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I found some wrong info and updated some numbers as an IP, and then went in with the intention to write about fiddling and my local history a couple months later. I am not editing about fiddling (lack of RS) or my local history (privacy) lol.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

I jumped into a pretty complex area of Wikipedia (copyright cleanup) at a very early point in my editing. Having a better grasp of social situations and not being so impulsive and impatient would have done me wonders in my first six months. I had a handle of most policies surrounding content, and became pretty experienced in copyright in my first six months, but I didn't have the social aspect down and made a few blunders. They were somewhat due to being less mature and clearly inexperienced, but they were blunders nonetheless and I do not intend to make those same blunders.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

I joined the unofficial Discord also pretty early on, so yes! I had lots of help. I think most of the help worked, since I was asking questions in project channels (#wpcci mostly). Furthermore, I edited Fandom for a while, and I also edited a game wiki that used MW software, so I was already fully aware of the editing aspects and just needed assistance with WP-specific policy. What didn't work was WP:The Wikipedia Adventure. I couldn't figure it out.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Hopefully! I work in some pretty thankless and tedious areas so my motivation can wane and wax, but I enjoy editing. My main limiter is my IRL obligations, but I do end up being mostly active.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I had the opportunity, but the professor seemed uncommunicative when I reviewed the course, and I was already experienced. You could call my work on WP:CCI/IEP involvement (WikiEd predecessor in its "menace" era as Project Osprey put), and I end up cleaning up and sometimes interfacing with WikiEd instructors/WMF liasons about plagiarism and copyvio due to my work at WP:CPN and occasional Copypatrol.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

Yes, I edit on desktop view with Vector 2022 on my phone using source editor. I do not do this often, I think it's really hard because of the screen size, but I find things like reverts and quick talk page replies to be okay to do while on the go.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

I'd love to be able to time travel and change how we handled copyright enforcement back in 2000s and early 2010s. We have a couple old problems cropping up and the way everything was set up then is causing problems today in the tediousness. Plus, we had things like Billy Hathorn, where we had edits spanning from 2006 to 2021 and multiple expansions because of extensive socking.

Other wishes include:

• Better antispam
• Rediscussion of WP:NFC just to stop all of the pointless arguing at FFD
• Community respect for non-admin closes. We expect prospective RFA candidates to have close experience, but there are barely places where NACs can even happen.
• More help at copyright cleanup, always

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

It feels like with every major drama that happens, the enjoyment I get from my interactions with others decreases here. But I always will come back, because the people I have met because of Wikipedia are truly amazing. I respect the people I interact with a lot and I am honored to call some of them my friends. Sennecaster (Chat) 06:26, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Looks like February of 2021.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I have only vague memories of this time period, unfortunately. The narrative I have in my head is that I was bored, started reading a whole bunch of the backend essays and noticeboards and so on somehow, stumbled on WP:Typo_Team/moss which was a nice straightforward task, and branched out from there. Unfortunately my edit history doesn't bear this one out - I clearly started with a smattering of minor fixes (this is my first edit aside from three in 2019, which look like fixing obvious issues as I was reading), and only got to systematically going through the moss typo list a few weeks and a hundred or so edits in.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? I think my biggest issue was figuring out what to work on - that's why the typo list was so appealing. There are pages that collect maintenance backlogs etc, but I think I had some trouble finding them or didn't feel like they were approachable? Overall though I was self-teaching and happy to be, reading backend pages was fun at the time.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Not much, but I again don't feel like this was a major lack.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Seems likely! I tend to be into things in bursts, so I'll be kinda obsessive for a while and then drop it completely, but Wikipedia's stuck for over three years (though definitely with ups and downs). It helps a lot that if I get bored of my current fixation (e.g. I was the second-most prolific AfC reviewer for a few months) I can trivially move on to something else (de-orphaning articles, typos, removing fluff from dog breed articles, redirect patrol....)
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Other than the occasional AfC draft that originated there, no. They tended to be pretty distinctive (essay-like), but then if they hadn't been like that I probably wouldn't have been able to pick them out as WikiEd drafts, and it was an improvement over the average AfC draft.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? I used to do recent change patrol on mobile using a script (good for long commutes), but either Wikipedia or the script changed their UI and made it annoying enough I mostly don't any more. Otherwise I've made the occasional minor edit when reading. It's fine for copyediting and similar, but basically not useable for anything that requires tabbing back and forth between sources, talk pages, etc, which is most work. This isn't really Wikipedia's fault, though they could definitely make the editing experience better, just a basic mobile UI fact.
• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia? If I was assigned dictator of Wikipedia and everyone had to listen to me? Probably. But one of the very good things about Wikipedia is that we don't actually have a dictator, and I don't really think my opinions should be elevated above consensus (even though I'm right :) ).

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I registered my account in 2018 and made some edits then, but really I started editing in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I wasn't very knowledgeable about what Wikipedia was and how it functioned and I found myself just wanting the satisfaction of knowing that I was making a difference. Knowing that people would read my work was great, even if I slightly misunderstood how the project worked back then.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

I really missed the baby steps; I never knew about the tutorial nor any of the newcomer pages available, and my knowledge came from slowly accumulating information from my mistakes(!) The newcomer mentoring is great, even if I do sometimes get some interesting questions from my mentees; I definitely wish it was around when I joined. Just having someone to guide you in your Wikipedia journey can be so beneficial to making you a better editor.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

For my first two years of editing, no. Later, I joined the Wikimedia Discord. I have no doubt that being surrounded by experienced editors, who would take the time to answer my every question, was the only reason I decided to stick around. It quickly became an invaluable resource for me, especially when I began editing in copyright. I was also very fortunate to go through NPP School to improve my knowledge in other areas.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

I hope so :) My editing may fall over time, but I doubt I'll ever leave completely.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Not yet.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

I edit quite a lot on mobile, but almost exclusively for more minor edits. I basically only use Minerva, which makes any bigger edits difficult. Honestly, I'm a bit scared to edit on mobile at times due to how easy it is to make a mistake.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

In my own editing, copyright cleanup is a constant pain. A lack of editors, the steep learning curve, and an active hostility towards many who have to do the gruelling task of working through copyright violations does not help.

This may sound slightly childish, but sometimes I wish Wikipedia could just be a friendlier place. So many disputes, arguments and blocks over often meaningless issues; sometimes, it really feels like there is so much anger, pent up in this project. I am guilty of not doing so myself, but sometimes I wish that people could follow that one rule of netiquette: "remember the human".

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

One comment has stuck with me from when I had my NPP right (rightly) revoked. Nick ended his note with the following: Wikipedia should be a fun hobby for you to participate in, and my removal of your permission should not be seen as a rebuke, just a gentle reminder that you're being a little too enthusiastic. Well within his rights to scold me, he chose to end in a manner that encouraged me to keep going.

(Also, congratulations on Wikimedian of the year!)

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

2005-6

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

As much as Wikipedia at that time seemed to cover a multitude of topics (compared to paper encyclopedias), there were still many things it didn't have, especially about my country. So, I started to put my contributions there, creating articles, fixing typos and adding sources.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

If some sort of tutorial like TWA existed then, it would be an easier experience.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

No. I learned as I went through, reading the policies, the Manual of Style, and *countless contradicting* user essays

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Yes, as long as I can.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

Yes, but mainly small and quick edits. For larger edits and article creations, desktop is still unbeatable.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

Edit conflict is still a pain.

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

Congratulations for your Wikimedian of the Year award. Your Editor Reflections is an invaluable space for sharing our experiences within Wikipedia and attests the strength of this collaborative project.