CZ:Group Editing

Some new users are frustrated by the concept of group editing. They arrive, develop an article in their sand box, thinking it is equivalent to a rough draft of a paper. They then move the draft from the userspace to the main article location and suddenly, people from all over start changing it left and right, often "without even consulting the primary author!" "They didn't even consult me on the talk page before making changes!"

If this is your reaction, prepare to have your world rocked. Wiki editing is completely different than the Rough Draft - Final Copy format that most of us have grown used to starting in Elementary School and continuing through Post-Graduate programs and beyond. Many of us have grown used to people submitting their ideas to the author, letting the author brew the ideas for a while, then the author decides what edits s/he likes or dislikes and makes the appropriate changes.

In wiki editing, once your article has been entered in the main article area, users from around the world are going to not only read it and make comments on the article, but also add to, change, or modify the article as well. While it is nice to summarize your changes in the talk page or for drastic changes to developed articles it may be appropriate to discuss it on the talk page before making changes. However, it ENCOURAGED that users "be bold" and make changes directly on articles! See ____ for more information on being bold.

This adjustment may be incredibly frustrating and we hope to alleviate some of the frustration by helping you know what to expect before beginning your journey in to the wiki world.

Please see CZ:Home for more information on various introductory or help topics to help you along the way.