Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Coordinators/Archives/2015

Learnerktm

Yesterday, Dthomsen8 told me that Learnerktm's copy editing jobs were not of sufficient quality. I glanced over some of them myself, and it was easy to see some rather obvious errors. He advised that I contact the more experience coordinators for advice on what to do about the situation. The coordinator page seems like the best place to do this, so decided to post here. Any thoughts? --Biblioworm 15:36, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

Remember Wikipedia:Please do not bite the newcomers.--DThomsen8 (talk) 15:44, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

I think you need to take a closer look, Biblioworm. The two that they have marked *R are not requests, but tagged ones. (The three marked *O are marked correctly.) Punctuation is all over the place, and I spotted a tendency to remove things in such a way as to change the meaning (for example changing "in countries such as <list of countries>" into "in <list of countries>"). OK, don't bite, but also Wikipedia:Competence is required, and occasionally we have to ask editors not to copy edit in GOCE's name. Whether this is such a case I'm not sure. Maybe Miniapolis should decide this? --Stfg (talk) 16:05, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

Here's what I recommend. If, in your judgment as a coordinator, the copy edits are incomplete in a minor way, take a minute or two to clean them up and then mark them as reviewed with {{y}} in the editor's article list, with a comment that you made a couple of minor fixes. If the articles have not been satisfactorily copy-edited, mark them in the editor's article list as {{not done}} and re-add the copy edit tag with the date that was there before. I advise against reverting the edits unless the editor really made a mess of things. – Jonesey95 (talk) 16:24, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

Just got here. Especially since they've only done a few articles and none are requests (*R and *O get the same 50-percent bonus, but it gives me a chance to ping them), with all respect to Simon I'd rather err on the side of WP:BITE. I'll see if they'd like some mentoring. All the best, Miniapolis 02:59, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

OK, but the two marked *R weren't *O either. I've edited the drive page to correct those. --Stfg (talk) 11:08, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. We seem to have little enough participation in the drive that we can keep on top of things, and I have no problem with editors learning the ropes on the backlog articles (which have largely been forgotten, anyway; many seem to be tagged as part of AFC). What I don't want is newbies running before they can walk on the requests page :-). I've left a clarification on Learner's talk page. All the best, Miniapolis 14:02, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

That's actually a very good point about the backlog articles, especially the older ones. Once an article as bad as those usually are has been languishing for a year, we can guess that it's not arousing much interest, and letting people cut their teeth on them, short of actually doing real-world harm, is probably a net positive for the encyclopedia as a whole. --Stfg (talk) 15:06, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Checking Dthomsen8

As the only signed-up reviewer, I have checked a good many articles in the drive (See above), but now I am requesting that someone check some of my articles. --DThomsen8 (talk) 01:09, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

I will check some of your articles and leave constructive comments if I see that there were opportunities for further improvements. Please take them as the helpful advice they are intended to be. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:26, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

I have checked a few of your articles and made minor edits to a couple of them. Overall, you made improvements, but I recommend reading the article aloud one more time after you have completed your edits. You may find one or two other items that could be fixed. I know that I always do. Thanks for your diligent work! – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:45, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

GOCE template copy edit question

I noticed a copy editing problem with {{GOCE}}, and I haven't figured out an elegant way to resolve it. The template takes |date= as an argument. Some editors like to put in a full date, like "January 25, 2015", and others have put in something like "January 2015". The copy editing problem is this: the template inserts the word "on" before the date, which works only with a full date. The first sentence of the template reads like this with different dates:

"A version of this article was copy edited by a member of the Guild of Copy Editors on January 25, 2015."

"A version of this article was copy edited by a member of the Guild of Copy Editors on January 2015."

Can anyone here think of an elegant way to phrase a sentence so that either kind of date will work? We could change the documentation and hope that people read it, but I see that as a hopeless way out, and that won't fix all of the month/year templates that are out in the wild already. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:50, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

Think it's the nature of this (non-maintenance) template; there's also a parameter for the editor. Templates aren't my forte, but I can't imagine syntax for "change 'on' to 'in' if there's no date" that's not more trouble than just previewing (which will remind you to include the date :-)). All the best, Miniapolis 14:53, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

I was thinking of an English-language fix rather than a programming fix. For example, "January 2015 was the last time this article was edited" and "January 25, 2015 was the last time this article was edited" both read as correct grammar, even though the date is phrased differently. Is there a way to rewrite the above sentence so that either date format works? I'm happy to edit the template if we can come up with something good. – Jonesey95 (talk) 15:45, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

We can change the documentation. Where it says use {{GOCE |user= |date= |small= }}, change it to {{GOCE |user= |date={{date}} |small= }}. That will substitute in the date template, which will always format the date in the same way. Then people won't even need to remember to add it. Example: {{GOCE |user=Torchiest |date={{date}} |small= }} produces:

—Torchiest ^talk_edits 16:32, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

That seems elegant enough, with one minor problem: I think that will display the current date all the time, which is not what we want. I suspect that we will come back to this page tomorrow to see that the above template says "28 January 2015" instead of the current "27 January 2015". Maybe {{GOCE |user= |date={{subst:date}} |small= }} will work. Let's try:

I'll see you tomorrow, right here, and we'll check the results. – Jonesey95 (talk) 19:35, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

According to the {{Date}} documentation, only if no date is entered will it insert the current date but we'll see; something tells me it shouldn't be substituted :-). Thanks, Torchiest and Jonesey. All the best, Miniapolis 23:49, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

Nice catch. Looks like subst is the way to go. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 13:49, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Time for me to watch and learn :-). Miniapolis 14:33, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

I have changed the documentation. It doesn't fix instances of "on January 15" that are out in the wild, but future instances should be more consistent. – Jonesey95 (talk) 15:53, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

January drive results

I will run my script tonight and post the chart. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 15:10, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks very much! All the best, Miniapolis 14:05, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks to Miniapolis, Torchiest, and Biblioworm for calculating and distributing barnstars. I think we have distributed them all. On to February! – Jonesey95 (talk) 18:27, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Reviewing articles

When I am reviewing articles in the future, what should be done if the copyediting tag is left on the article, or the {{GOCE|user=|date=February 2015}} tag is not placed on the talk page, or both?--DThomsen8 (talk) 18:03, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

If the copy editing is done, remove the tag. The {{GOCE}} template is optional. I tend to use it for Requests, but not for backlog articles. – Jonesey95 (talk) 18:07, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for the quick reply. Take a look at Loïs Andréa for me.--DThomsen8 (talk) 18:15, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

February blitz

With the January drive out of the way, its probably time to start thinking about the theme and time for the February blitz. (It never hurt anyone to think ahead!) For the time, I was thinking that it could start on the 15th (around the middle of the month). As for the theme, I can't think of anything at the moment, but perhaps others have ideas. --Biblioworm 18:32, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Since the requests page is long again, I wouldn't mind getting back on that horse :-). All the best, Miniapolis 02:59, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

That horse is not easily ridden, though, certainly not by newbies. --DThomsen8 (talk) 14:58, 5 February 2015 (UTC)

Yes, that bronc was a-buckin' back in August :-). Just a thought, because of the current length of the requests page. We've done request blitzes in the past without incident; dunno what happened last summer. Miniapolis 02:42, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Just a general note: I used to post blitz ideas/idea requests on the main talk page rather than in the coordinators subpage in order to get more input from guild members. I'd also say almost all discussions should be there for just that reason, and only the most boring procedural stuff (or very rarely, drama-containment situations) should end up here. Cheers. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 20:25, 5 February 2015 (UTC)

Good idea. Miniapolis 02:42, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

February newsletter

...is here. Please check for typos and other errata before it goes out. Thanks and all the best, Miniapolis 20:22, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Twofingered Typist

I'm a bit concerned about the copy editing quality of Twofingered Typist. He's already "done" with two articles in the requests page today, and I didn't see any substantial improvement when I reviewed the copy edits. I'm rather reluctant to archive the requests. Also, he has signed up for the February blitz (which, as we know, focuses on the requests page), so I'm a bit concerned that his copy edits might not be up to par. --Biblioworm 22:04, 9 February 2015 (UTC)

Left a note on their talk page; as a coordinator, you can do the same in the future :-). Thanks and all the best, Miniapolis 00:36, 10 February 2015 (UTC)

March drive and newsletter

The March drive page is up, and the newsletter is here. Please check both for errors, especially the newsletter (which I hope to send out later today). All the best, Miniapolis 17:13, 22 February 2015 (UTC)

I edited the drive page a bit. Is it being generated from a template now? It might need a bit of tweaking. The newsletter looks good. --Stfg (talk) 18:03, 22 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks both. Yes, it's generated from a template now; you may want to alert @Jonesey95: (and me :-)) about any specific problems. All the best, Miniapolis 21:38, 22 February 2015 (UTC)

Newsletter looks good. – Jonesey95 (talk) 18:39, 22 February 2015 (UTC)

Stfg and Miniapolis: I have updated {{GOCE-new-drive-page}} so that new drive pages require less fiddling after they are created with that template. I included the copy edits that were made to the March drive page. I'm going to take a break for a while, but I will probably pay a visit to {{GOCE-New-Blitz-page}} as well. – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:42, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

I have also updated {{GOCE-new-blitz-page}}. It should work more smoothly. We still need to remember to update the Intro page each time to link to the correct month's /Barnstars page. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:59, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

Thanks much. All the best, Miniapolis 00:25, 8 March 2015 (UTC)

One to decline?

WP:GOCE/REQ#Calamity Jane might be one to decline? It's already tagged for copy editing (dated Feb 2015). The request just says "needs verification", and was made by an editor who has done just one quite minor edit to the article (and is doing very strange things elsewhere on WP). I didn't want to decline unilaterally, but I'd have thought that the tag is sufficient on that article and that there's no need to give it any greater priority. Cheers, --Stfg (talk) 15:13, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Initially, I was leaning toward letting it stay on the Requests page (AGF and all that), but then I went down a fifteen-minute hole looking at this editor's Talk page and edits. I think we are safe to decline this request on WP:CIR grounds, and on the grounds that "needs verification" is a nonsensical request. But do leave the copy edit tag on the article; someone will enjoy doing it as part of a monthly drive. – Jonesey95 (talk) 17:25, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Done, and requester notified. --Stfg (talk) 10:54, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

Wikibreak

I'll be away for a few days (March 27 to 30), but should be back for the end of the drive. All the best, Miniapolis 01:13, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

Dthomsen8 March drive

The total words for Dthomsen8 March drive is not accurate. Can you fix it?--DThomsen8 (talk) 21:02, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

@Dthomsen8: I make it 4196. (Am I answering the question you meant?) --Stfg (talk) 21:16, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

Yes, and thank you for being so prompt.--DThomsen8 (talk) 21:18, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

Welcome :) --Stfg (talk) 21:21, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

March drive barnstars

Torchiest, are you available to run your handy barnstar script?

Is that script something you would be willing to share with GOCE coordinators? It would be useful to have more than one person able to run it. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:47, 2 April 2015 (UTC)

• Yes to both. I'll run it tonight. E-mail me and I'll send you the script tonight too. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 14:53, 2 April 2015 (UTC)
  • @Torchiest: Could I have it, too? --Biblioworm 18:38, 2 April 2015 (UTC)
    • Yes just e-mail me too. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 23:30, 2 April 2015 (UTC)

 ... and check your inbox again in a few minutes :-). Thanks and all the best, Miniapolis 01:34, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

April blitz

Time to set up the April blitz? April 19–25, with a theme of Requests, appears to be our easiest option. Remember that {{GOCE-new-blitz-page}} is a very easy way to create a blitz page. Just copy and paste the example onto the April blitz page. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:21, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

Anyone? I'm happy to set up the blitz, I was just hoping for a little feedback. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:30, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

Since the requests page is long again and Baffle and I seem to be the only ones working on it, a blitz might shake things up as long as we don't have quality problems :-). I'm starting to think about the May drive; howzabout the December through February backlog and the February requests? All the best, Miniapolis 13:20, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

I have created the April blitz page. I found a minor bug with the template that means that a new blitz or drive page need to have "~~~" added to the "default=" line in the section creation box once the page is created using the template. I fiddled with the code in the sandbox for a while but was unable to find a fix. I'll work on it later today. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:16, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, Jonesey, and also for doing the ombox; I admire your coding skills. I've begun the April newsletter and will advise when it's ready for checking. All the best, Miniapolis 15:49, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The newsletter is here; please tweak any errata before it goes out in a day or two. Thanks and all the best, Miniapolis 16:43, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The newsletter looks perfect to me. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:13, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

(←) I could never fix the Signing Up section code either; the scripting in that section seems to interfere. You'll need to change the code manually in the created page to make sure sections are created in the Blitz page you're setting up. I think I left an instruction to that end. Thanks to Jonesey; i hope you find a suitable workaround. I third the themes proposed. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 22:46, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

Fixed! I think. I figured it out while working on something else during the day today. I just had to stop banging my head against it and let it percolate for a while. I adjusted the new drive and the new blitz templates. They should work using the copy/paste example now; we'll see in June. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:11, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, Jonesey. I just updated the blitz progress and while it looks like we did two articles today, they're not showing up in the last column. What am I missing? All the best, Miniapolis 01:42, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

That column has to be done manually. It's a pain in the neck. I have removed it. We'll have to be satisfied with net progress, as we are with drives. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:51, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Thanks again. Yeah, what makes it tricky is that articles continue to be added during the blitz or drive :-). All the best, Miniapolis 14:04, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Blitz done

The blitz is over. I have archived it and created the barnstars page. Can someone please check my math and give out the barnstars? Giving out the barnstars is very easy. Use the copy and paste examples from the GOCE award template.

This blitz started with 50 requests in the queue. We edited 13 requested articles during the blitz. Five were added during the drive, so we ended the blitz with 42 articles on the list. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:50, 26 April 2015 (UTC)

Done. Thanks very much and all the best, Miniapolis 13:48, 26 April 2015 (UTC)

(←) I don't wish to ruffle feathers, but might i point out that one user added her/his articles to the Blitz page before the event commenced? diff. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 03:27, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

It's worse than that. The article in question was not a Request, and the only thing that Rhumidian did was remove the copy edit tag, with no edit summary.

I have restored the copy edit tag to the article. I have pinged the editor in question above, assuming that the whole thing was just a good faith misunderstanding by a new editor.

I think that in fairness to other blitz participants, both now and in the past, that the barnstar in question should not have been awarded and should be rescinded. I'd like to hear opinions from other coordinators rather than acting alone. Pinging Miniapolis, Philg88, and Biblioworm.

I have posted a note on the editor's talk page. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:27, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

 ... which should have been done by the first person who noticed :-). In the five-plus years I've been active in the GOCE, I've always seen system-gamers. What I'm not seeing now, for some reason, is the number of people we've had in the past for copyediting or checking. I agree that the barnstar should be removed, and will do so if no one's beaten me to it. All the best, Miniapolis 13:31, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

The section above ours on their talk page indicates that this wasn't an isolated problem; it may be a CIR issue. Miniapolis 13:43, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

I must admit I didn't check their supposed c/e edits, but I agree the editor seems to have a deficiency of competence. One to watch out for, I think. OTOH, this edit and some of their earlier edits seem to suggest the opposite. I'm not in a ny position to remove barnstars, since I'm not a coordinator here. Anyway, barnstars are cheap. ;-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:42, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

Decline Battle of Utsunomiya Castle?

The request added today just says needs wikifying. I don't see what wikifying needs doing, and the requester has never worked on the article. Cheers, --Stfg (talk) 15:57, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

I gave it a copy edit, changing only a couple of sentences. It was in fine shape, and it is wikified appropriately, as far as I can see. – Jonesey95 (talk) 18:36, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

Extra eyes needed this weekend (May 22–25)

We're hosting a family reunion this weekend, so I probably won't be around to update the daily progress chart for the drive. Time permitting, I may be in and out to unwind :-) and Monday (between loads of laundry) things should return to normal. Enjoy the weekend and all the best, Miniapolis 13:25, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

I will be around to do it. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:40, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Elections

Just a reminder that the June coordinator elections are starting in a few days. I'm probably not going to stand for re-election this time around (unless there are practically no nominations by June 15), since I was not as active as I would have liked to be (not to mention that I'm planning some content projects in the coming months), but I might run again in the December elections. We should probably advertize (sorry about the "z", Baffle...) the elections here and get the page ready. Regards, --Biblioworm 20:42, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

I am away for the next few days but can help starting on June 1. I am willing to stand for Coordinator again. – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:55, 28 May 2015 (UTC)

I think the page is ready. I updated the Ombox. Please correct anything I missed. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:44, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

May drive closed

I have closed the May drive and created a draft Barnstars page. I cleaned up the drive page in preparation for running the script. If Torchiest can't get to it in the next couple of days, I may try my hand at that vbscript; I don't have a ton of time available in the next few days, though. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:48, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

I should be able to get it done later today. Cheers. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 11:37, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

Thanks both; we had a power failure here and I was offline for a few hours. All the best, Miniapolis 15:31, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

I have given out all of the barnstars except my own. I did a little something special for Lfstevens, who did a little something special for the Guild in May. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:34, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

June newsletter needed

We need a June newsletter with May drive results and news about the coordinator elections. Anything else? A June blitz teaser? – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:38, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

I'm spending the month on the requests page :-). All the best, Miniapolis 12:46, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

First draft of the newsletter is here. Please check and tweak as needed, and let me know when it's ready to go out. All the best, Miniapolis 13:01, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

Newsletter looks good to me. – Jonesey95 (talk) 13:15, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

June blitz next week?

It looks like next week is the last full week in June, so if we're going to do a blitz, we should do it then. Unless anyone has a better idea (I'm open to them), I'll set one up using {{GOCE-new-blitz-page}} with the theme of Requests. – Jonesey95 (talk) 22:45, 13 June 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. Miniapolis 23:35, 13 June 2015 (UTC)

The June blitz is set up. I think I caught all of the bits that needed to be cleaned up after using the template. I also updated the Ombox.

A reminder that elections start in less than one day, if I'm doing my UTC math right. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:45, 14 June 2015 (UTC)

July drive

I've created the drive page; please tweak as needed. All the best, Miniapolis 02:13, 26 June 2015 (UTC)

Looks solid to me. Did you have any trouble using the template?

No; thanks to you, it's a piece of cake :-). Enjoy your wikibreak and all the best, Miniapolis 02:26, 28 June 2015 (UTC)

I will be on a wikibreak for most of July, so you other Coordinators are on your own. – Jonesey95 (talk) 02:26, 26 June 2015 (UTC)

Since you will be gone, should Miniapolis or Baffle be listed as the main coordinator for this drive? Might make it easier for others if they are looking to ask questions; the first name on the list is often the one people pick, I think. -Pax Verbum 23:02, 27 June 2015 (UTC)

You're probably right, and I defer to Baffle :-). Unless they object, I'll tweak the drive page to make them the lead. All the best, Miniapolis 02:26, 28 June 2015 (UTC)

I'll be around as usual, so I can do the updates etc. most days. I'll try and give notice if I won't be able to. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 09:50, 28 June 2015 (UTC)

Since I am new to this aspect of the GOCE drives, is there anything in particular that I can help out with? Obviously spot-checking articles, which will come as second nature: until I decided to return to grad school this August, I was an English teacher, but I am willing to work in other areas as well. Oh, and I suppose the above question applies to what I can do for the GOCE in general, not just this drive. -Pax Verbum 19:20, 28 June 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, Pax; spot-checking will be a tremendous help. All the best, Miniapolis 22:45, 28 June 2015 (UTC)

Order of coordinator names

Obviously lead coordinator (or the assist leading the drive in the case of the coming one) should be first, but how are we to order names? Alphabetically is nice and pretty, and the current one in the forthcoming july drive isn't - it has me, followed by pax then miniapolis - I'd order this to have me then miniapolis then pax? Sorry for brevity & not entirely shiny grammar - currently rushing to finish a history assignment and I decided to read up on George IV. KieranTribe (talk) 08:21, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

KieranTribe, I say be bold and change it. Miniapolis can always restore the original order if that's necessary. :) -Pax Verbum 08:35, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

Fair enough, though I was going to wait till tomorrow to start making changes (though I changed my userpage as I knew I'd forget) :-) KieranTribe (talk) 08:36, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

Feel free to change it; doesn't matter to me. I'll add your talk page to my watchlist. All the best, Miniapolis 16:08, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

48 hours

I am moving tomorrow, so for the next 48 hours or so I may not be around much. Although due to wikiholism, what I just said may be thrown out the window. Who knows... :) Hopefully by the time I get back full force, we will have quite a few finished articles in the drive and I will start helping with the spot–checks. -Pax Verbum 06:57, 1 July 2015 (UTC)

Not to worry. Moving is tough, and I hope yours goes smoothly. See you when you get back and all the best, Miniapolis 17:30, 1 July 2015 (UTC)

Thank you! In a twist of fate too, it just happened to be the hottest day of the year so far (I live in Northern California) at 110 degrees... Enjoying a nice air-conditioned house now, and editing anyway, fulfilling my prediction from above. :) -Pax Verbum 04:19, 2 July 2015 (UTC)

Echo Miniapolis. Enjoy the move, hopefully everything goes well for you :-) KieranTribe (talk) 09:51, 2 July 2015 (UTC)

Welcome back, although you sure weren't gone long. It's been cool and rainy here in the eastern Great Lakes, but 110 is a tad warm :-). All the best, Miniapolis 20:40, 2 July 2015 (UTC)

Well, I'm not really gone I suppose, just more in and out. :) The moving will be done tomorrow, so I should be back full force tomorrow evening. And I would love cool and rainy right now, as would the rest of California, I'm sure... -Pax Verbum 05:43, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

As would England, it's actually a decent temperature outside and we're all moaning. Welcome back, anyway. KieranTribe (talk) 09:51, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

Questionable edits?

I checked the copy edit performed on Bharouli Village and found it to be substandard, having to go back and make some adjustments myself. Do you folks agree on this assessment? Since Dthomsen8 has edited mainly small word count articles, I glanced at several more, and some of them still have issues. He also has a habit of leaving GOCEinuse tags in place after marking them completed on the drive page. I realize that he has been around for a while; thoughts on how to proceed? He has done good work, but there are times when it could be improved... -Pax Verbum 06:28, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

To be fair, I think he might just be moving a bit too fast... -Pax Verbum 06:30, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

IMO the copy edit improved the article and justified removal of the cleanup tag, and then your further edit improved it a bit more. If it were a potential FAC, I might say something different, but while we're in among the cleanup tags, I think all is well. A gentle reminder about removing the GOCEinuse banner might be appropriate, but I suspect he has this page on his watch list anyway and he may already realise this. --Stfg (talk) 09:17, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

The copy edit improved the article but the editor should look over it more - basically I agree. KieranTribe 12:16, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

I agree with Simon that some sensitivity is appropriate here. The editor in question has been around awhile, and their heart is in the right place; this is a different situation from a new copyeditor coming in with guns blazing to win a barnstar in a drive. I'm sure if someone checked my copyedits carefully they would find mistakes but the bottom line is that if an article is substantially improved, it's good enough. We're all volunteers, and sometimes RL gets in the way of our best work. All the best, Miniapolis 13:57, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

Agreed. It certainly improved the article. I sometimes forget to turn off the "English teacher" part of my brain (several years working with middle and high school students), and goodness knows I leave my fair share of mistakes behind. I've even caught a few of them myself! :) Thanks all for your input. I will leave a gentle reminder about the inuse tags. -Pax Verbum 18:12, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

I must confess that I have gone for numbers, and not always the usual high quality I have done before. Bharouli Village was difficult to do, and I was unable to add any references, which I have done for many South Asia short articles. I sometimes spend an hour or more on very short articles about villages and castes. I intend to look over the 18 articles I have done, and look for more copyediting.--DThomsen8 (talk) 18:19, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

Hi Dthomsen8 - I don't think there is a need to go over all of them by any means, unless you feel very strongly about it. As others have mentioned, they aren't going for FA and your edits have improved them. Remember too that my time as a teacher tends to give me a critical eye and I tend to be a bit picky, while often making mistakes of my own. None of us are perfect. In other words, just keep an eye out in the future and have fun! :) -Pax Verbum 18:27, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

@Dthomsen8: I agree with Pax; don't beat yourself up over this. As we know, all articles are not created equal when it comes to copyediting—a long one can be a (relative) breeze, and a short one can be a bear. We all need to AGF, since we have the same goal: to improve articles. All the best, Miniapolis 22:57, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

Short semi-wikibreak

Just a quick heads-up; from today until Sun 26th, I'll be busy in RL and won't be around as much as usual, though I'll be logging in daily and should be around to do the Drive midnight updates. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 22:49, 20 July 2015 (UTC)

Hope it's good-busy :-). Don't worry about the daily updates; midnight UTC is early evening here and no problem for me. All the best, Miniapolis 00:02, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

Yes it's good-busy; I'll be doing a short residency at a local arts centre to play with old photographic processes like cyanotype—it should be a giggle if nothing else. Thanks for staying on top of the updates. :-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 03:02, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

WikiBreak

I'm going to be less active for about a month from now (there's court cases and whatnot going on and WP isn't really a priority for me atm). Apologies. I'll be back early September, and you can reach me via my talk page as always. - KieranTribe (who's in a rush and not signing in, sorry) 31.52.117.237 (talk) 19:57, 30 July 2015 (UTC)KieranTribe 17:27, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

Thanks Kieran; no worries. Have a restful break and I hope things RL-side go well for you. See you soon, Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 21:57, 30 July 2015 (UTC)

Thanks baffle. Going better so far :-)KieranTribe 17:27, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

August blitz?

Any objections to starting a blitz at the end of this week? – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:38, 10 August 2015 (UTC)

None from me. Theme? Bearing in mind last year's shenanigans, perhaps we should avoid Requests for August. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 21:12, 10 August 2015 (UTC)

Fond as I am of whittling away at the request backlog, Baffle's right; last August was awful :-). All the best, Miniapolis 23:01, 10 August 2015 (UTC)

How about biographies? I don't know if there is a perfect way to search for them, but I searched catscan for two variations on the WPBiography template in the copy edit category and got 569 articles. Maybe we can narrow down that search to old months. I'll have more time to contribute in a few hours. – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:08, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

There are 36 biographies in our oldest two months. How about that for a Blitz list? – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:53, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

Sounds like a plan, and I'm sure there'll be plenty more if we should run out... I'll vet them over the next few days. :-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 21:43, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

I have created the blitz page with a starting list of 60 articles. The list is what catscan returned when I asked for articles from our three oldest backlog months that contain either {{WPBiography}} or {{WikiProject Biography}} on the article's talk page. I have clicked through the list to ensure that each of the articles is actually a biography. They all appear to be correctly tagged as needing copy editing.

I have also updated the Ombox. – Jonesey95 (talk) 22:22, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

I have created an August newsletter. It would be great to get it out before the blitz starts. Are any coordinators around to give it a once-over? – Jonesey95 (talk) 22:30, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

Looks good; thanks. Want me to send it, or do you want the mass-message flag? All the best, Miniapolis 23:31, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

You now have the mass-message flag (or should), although I'll gladly send it out if you'd like. Let me know if I was presumptuous. Useful links are here and here; the toughest part is remembering the four tildes :-). All the best, Miniapolis 00:02, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

Hate to bring bad news, but the rollover-words link in the signup edit-window header goes to April (not June). The link on the drive page is good, but I don't know how to edit that edit-window header yet; the page and group notices are redlinked. All the best, Miniapolis 00:12, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

The page is Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/BlitzIntro. I always forget to update it. I have added some brains to it, so now it will always display a link to previous blitz. Note: The programming assumptions behind that change are that (1) people will always be signing up for a blitz during the month of the blitz, and (2) the previous blitz is always two months prior to the current blitz. If that's too goofy, just change it to "June" and we'll have to remember to update it just before or after each blitz, as we do with Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Intro for drives.

I'll read the instructions for MassMessage two or three times, then hold my nose and try to send the newsletter. – Jonesey95 (talk) 01:13, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

It's easier than it looks. On the Special page you just need to enter the mailing-list page, a header and the message itself. I used to have trouble because I used click-and-drag to copy the newsletter and sometimes missed those final curly braces until I discovered the magic of Ctrl+A :-). Just add those four tildes to the end of the message and you're good to go. All the best, Miniapolis 12:47, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

I think I figured it out. Thanks for the helpful instructions (and your confidence). – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:45, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

(←) Told you it was easy :-). Thanks and all the best, Miniapolis 23:24, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

Barnstars

I have given out all of the blitz barnstars except my own. Thanks to Baffle gab1978 for working on the barnstars page with me. – Jonesey95 (talk) 13:50, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. Yours is done, and sorry about the disappearing act; got home today after almost a week in hospital for emergency small-intestine surgery, and it'll take me a bit to get back up to speed. All the best, Miniapolis 20:24, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Surgery, shmurgery! Get back to editing ASAP. Wikipedia is much more important than recovering from major abdominal surgery.

(For the seriously humor-impaired: just kidding, of course. Get well soon or slowly or somewhere in between, whatever it takes.) – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:28, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

Laughing hurts for now (and coughing is excruciating :-)), but I enjoyed the smile. It's great to be back. All the best, Miniapolis 17:07, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

Somehow I knew this was going to be an issue

It is going to appear that I signed up and did nothing. It will probably take me several blitzes to get everything right but for now I'm having issues with just installing the word count script. I have a monobook.js already and tried navigating through the instructions. I ended up also adding the custom.js which I now think I have to remove as I have two page size links. I think that I have it working but these technical issues have left me behind the power curve as I'm only on the first step and haven't even looked at the article I've chosen to ce. I'm a grammar nazi, not a techy :). --SlimJim^Talk 08:04, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

Okay. I'm not the best person to be addressing this, but hopefully someone more technologically savvy will pop in. I read the instructions here and you're right, it's a bit confusing. The prose size script was the first one I ever installed; on my javascript page it reads:

importScript('User:Dr pda/prosesize.js'); //User:Dr pda/prosesize.js

but when I just copy-pasted from the instructions it looks like what's on your monobook.js page, so that's okay. The two links are probably because the script is on two .js pages; if you want to delete custom.js, let me know. Good luck and all the best, Miniapolis 13:02, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

You do not need the Page size script to do copy editing. Don't get hung up on it. Many text editors and word processing programs have the ability to count words; copy and paste the body of the article into a text editor, remove the extras and fluff if you are detail-oriented, and run the word count tool. Close enough. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:50, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

And I'm back. Hurrah!

Title basically explains it. All back and whatnot. Probably slightly less active this year but hey. KieranTribe 09:41, 3 September 2015 (UTC)

Good to see you here again. All the best, Miniapolis 16:02, 3 September 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. Hope you're recovering well. :-) KieranTribe 13:47, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

Staples come out today, so it's all good :-). Thanks and all the best, Miniapolis 13:56, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

Oh good, good. That means its basically repaired then, I assume? KieranTribe 13:58, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

Sort of. The skin is slow to knit, but at least the staples aren't pulling :-). All the best, Miniapolis 22:54, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

For those who haven't seen

[[1]] - Jonesy's been amazing as always (thank ye!) and compiled some stats about requests, just throwing this over here in case you're not watching the requests page. KieranTribe 08:22, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

Short wikibreak

I'll be away from WP from 11th to 17th October; if there's anything I should do before then, please tell me PDQ so I can sort it out if necessary. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 03:58, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

Any ideas for an October blitz? We can do requests unless someone has another idea. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:23, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

Enjoy your wikibreak. Requests sounds fine to me, since the list is getting long again. All the best, Miniapolis 14:58, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

Ditto; it would be a good chance to get August and some of Septemeber out of the way. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:29, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

GOCE tag

When I just tagged Talk:What's So Amazing About Grace?, I noticed that File:Writing Magnifying.PNG (the image on the tag) had a pink square around it like it was up for deletion or something; I didn't notice that yesterday when I tagged Talk:Crusades. On its Commons file page, it's tagged with {{Should be SVG}}; I don't know if that's triggering the pink outline and alas, I don't know how to do the .png-to-.svg conversion (if that's what's needed to get rid of the pink). Help, anyone? All the best, Miniapolis 19:20, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Well, there are two versions, both called Writing Magnifying.PNG. One is on Commons, the other on enWiki. Your link actually points to the Commons one, which isn't tagged for CSD. The GOCE template picks up the one on Wikipedia, which is. I don't know the technicalities, but have challenged the CSD with a note on the talk page saying please only delete if the result will be that the template will pick up the version on Commons. Cheers, --Stfg (talk) 19:50, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Interesting, because when I clicked on the image on the tag it did take me to Commons version (where, as you say, there's no speedy tag). I don't know why it was tagged as F2 or see any difference between the local and Commons versions, so I can decline the speedy and replace it with {{Keep local}} (if we want a local copy) or F8 it if we don't. All the best, Miniapolis 22:59, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Decided to trust the tagger (who has more image experience than I) and F2ed it, saving the local talk page. All (whew) seems to be well. Thanks, Simon, and all the best, Miniapolis 23:09, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Fairy Nuff :) But did you actually delete it? If so, how come I can still access it? --Stfg (talk) 23:54, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

(←) Because you're seeing the Commons version. AFAICT, the local image had already been deleted; all that was left (with the image from Commons) was the local description page—hence the F2 tagging, instead of F8. All the best, Miniapolis 13:33, 9 October 2015 (UTC)

Ah, now I see, though it's seriously confusing. I went to File talk:Writing Magnifying.PNG to see how you'd tagged and saved the local talk page, and then I clicked the File link at top left, and it took me to URL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Writing_Magnifying.PNG, which looks for all the world like an enWiki page that grunts like me shouldn't be allowed to see. But actually, although the URL is enWiki, what's displayed is the stuff imported from Commons. How very ... technical! Thanks, Anne. --Stfg (talk) 14:17, 9 October 2015 (UTC)

October blitz closed

I have closed the October blitz and given out all barnstars except my own.

This would be a good time for a newsletter recapping the September drive and the October blitz and announcing the November drive. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:27, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, Jonesey. Since the drive page is up, I'll do the newsletter (unless someone else wants to). All the best, Miniapolis 13:54, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

November drive

I just signed up for the drive. When I do, I always change the ~~~ in the header to {{user0|Miniapolis}} (learned that from Torchiest) so it displays plain text instead of my signature. Can we change the default parameter in the sign-up button to {{user0|USERNAME}}? I don't know the markup for that (or even if it's possible), but thought it might be helpful when running the script at the end of the drive. All the best, Miniapolis 14:09, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

Good idea. I have changed the button to substitute the {{User0}} template instead of the editor's signature. I tested it, and it appears to work fine. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:13, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

I have been unable to figure out how to modify the blitz and drive creation templates to copy this new format, however. Something black magicky with the subst: parameter, I think. I have a month and a half to figure it out. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:14, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

October newsletter

Please amend errata before I send it out :-). Thanks and all the best, Miniapolis 15:32, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

Looks right to me. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:52, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the second set of eyes. All the best, Miniapolis 13:50, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

Slow archiving?

Is it just me, or are others having problems with the requests archive? Here, the archiving process has become glacial; what I type (and I'm a slow typist) takes seconds—or minutes—to appear in the edit box and I don't always have that kind of time. Early in the year there's no problem, but over time it gets slower and slower; I've noticed this every year, but this year it's especially bad (and we still have a month to go). Can we do something with the table—break it up or something? If no one else is having problems I don't mind them doing the archiving (Baffle seems to do most of it), but if it's a general glitch maybe it's fixable. All the best, Miniapolis 19:57, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

The table is just big, and I think we have processed more requests each year for the past few years. That makes editing it slow and painful. Should we break it into pieces by quarter (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, etc.), or maybe just have an editable section near the end? I can do that if it makes sense. – Jonesey95 (talk) 20:58, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

I've had no such recent problems with archiving requests, but I'm using the basic editor with no javascript enabled. Miniapolis, are you using the Visual Editor, or some javascripted thing? I sometimes have delayed server responses, but i think that's down to my ISP rather than anything WP-based. Splitting into section is fine with me; it can always be re-merged next month. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 21:07, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

I also use the basic editor; I used WikEd for a while before it started giving me grief, and Visual Editor ... hell, no :-). I assumed it was my slow computer or ISP, but it only happens on this page later in the year. Either solution (quarters, or an editable section near the end; Baffle's suggestion sounds better) would be great, Jonesey; Baffle, I'm glad you're not having as much trouble as I am now. Thanks both and all the best, Miniapolis 00:31, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

I split the page into two sections and added some instructions that may succeed in guiding archivists to editing the shorter, more recent section. Let me know if my work can be improved, or be bold and fix it if you see a better way. – Jonesey95 (talk) 02:49, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

Works great; what had become a chore is a piece of cake again. Thanks and all the best, Miniapolis 16:22, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

December blitz

December blitz ideas, anyone? We should probably do the blitz next week, given the widely observed holiday in the last full week of the month.

I don't think we can really do Requests, given the current volume. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:56, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

How about Food and drink? I'm not sure how to use the Catscan tool properly, though my slightly ropey connection might be somehing to do wtih that. I'll try it later to see if any of those are tagged for c/e. Backup: Mythology; there are plenty of myths around this time of year. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 13:31, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

Even I would not suggest requests under the circumstances. F&D sounds great; many articles are tagged by WP:WikiProject Food and Drink, and I'll wager a fair number could use copyediting; I'm looking forward to working on any vegetarianism-related ones :-). Thanks for a nice change and all the best, Miniapolis 13:42, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

OK, Food and Drink sounds like fun. I used catscan to check for copy-edit-tagged articles whose Talk pages are tagged with {{WikiProject Food and Drink}} or one of its many redirects. I used this very long query.

I have created the blitz page with a starting list of 27 articles. I have clicked through the list to ensure that each of the articles appears to be correctly tagged as needing copy editing and is somehow related to food or drink. Lots of barbecue! – Jonesey95 (talk) 06:45, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

Thanks both; if there's only 27 articles we might need a backup category, but perhaps "oldest-tagged articles" could be used. I feel a Catscan lesson coming on... :-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 08:07, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

(←) All the articles except one have been eaten; is it time for dessert yet? :-D Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 03:51, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

I think dessert is our just deserts. See my post on the blitz talk page. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:50, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

I will not be around to close the blitz and give out barnstars, and I will have limited availability to start the January drive page. I'll be on WP off and on over the next couple of weeks. Happy holidays to all! – Jonesey95 (talk) 18:40, 19 December 2015 (UTC)

You too, Jonesey. See you when you get back and all the best, Miniapolis 23:56, 19 December 2015 (UTC)