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Wikipedia:Recent changes patrol

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dan100 (talk | contribs) at 21:32, 4 August 2005 (→Edits to existing pages). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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RC Patrol refers to the act of checking the recent changes to the wiki for harmful edits.

RC patrol is entirely voluntary and carries with it no obligation. At its heart, it's really just a way to see that every new page gets checked in a timely manner and given a boost on its way to becoming "brilliant prose", and that the rest of Wikipedia is not harmed.

Tools

  • Special:Recentchanges is the wiki-based display of the latest edits. However it changes very rapidly and one of the following may make RC patrolling easier:

Other tools can be found here: Wikipedia:Tools.

What to do

Edits to existing pages

"Sneaky" vandalism - maliciously altering dates etc - can be hard to spot. If you are unsure about a change, list it in the odd edits section below.

New pages

Check new pages as they are created for the following problems:

  • Newbie tests. These often take of form of typing exercises ("adsfjklasdfjkl") curious questions ("wow, what is this?") or miscellaneous irrelevant comments ("ed gruberman is gay"). These can be tagged with {{d}} so that they can be deleted by an administrator. You might also want to consider placing {{test}} on the creator's user talk page to help point him or her in the right direction.
  • Unsuitable pages. Pages about individuals, places, or things which generally don't merit an encyclopedia entry should be listed at Wikipedia:Votes for deletion. What exactly qualifies as encyclopedic is debatable, though, so it's best to err on the side of caution and not delete or nominate for deletion too hastily.
  • Primary source texts. These should be transwikied to Wikisource.
  • Dictionary definitions. These can be transwikied to Wiktionary. Many may be redeemable as Wikipedia articles, if sufficiently refactored, rewritten, and expanded.
  • How-tos or instructional materials. In some cases, these can be transwikied to Wikibooks; however, it's often possible to turn these into meaningful articles. Try to improve an article by adding some more material before moving it out of Wikipedia.
  • Copyright violations. One way to check for a possible copyright infringement is to do an internet search; however, not all text is on the internet; search engines do not index all the internet's text, and some texts available through search engines are public domain and thus suitable for import into Wikipedia. These public domain texts include the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
  • Orphaned articles. Checking the "What links here" link will tell you if any other page points to the newly created article. Sometimes orphans result from a mistitled article (see below). Other times you'll want to find a related article and link the new one to it.
  • Mistitled articles. Simply to move a page to a more appropriate title using the "Move this page." Sometimes you'll find that an article already exists, in which case you should try to merge any new material from the newly created article into the old one.
  • Stubs, which are the beginnings of meaningful and encyclopedic articles but which need a little help (a little wikifying, as it were). The basics of wikifying stubs:
    • Bold face the article title.
    • Link relevant terms.
    • Phrase the article in complete sentences, including the first.
    • Place {{stub}} at the end of the stub.
  • Foreign language articles. Run the page through an on-line translator, such as Google translate. The page will probably need tagging for cleanup afterwards.
  • Style problems. Add the {{cleanup}} tag for pages which need tidying up.

Suggestions for patrollers

  • Don't bite the newbies. If you see a new user or IP address contributing, {{welcome}} them if you're so inclined, and include a pointer or two of feedback about how they can make their contributions even better. Most will gladly welcome the support.
  • Try not to step on people's toes. Many times, users will start an article as the briefest of stubs, and then expand it over the succeeding hours or days.
  • Be hesitant to list articles on Wikipedia:Votes for Deletion if there's a chance they could be improved and made into a meaningful article.
  • A tabbed browser can help increase efficiency when checking pages.

Odd edits

Remove older entries after a couple of days.

  • Therealedisite is making attacks on the Edinburgh & Glasgow Airport pages: here and here - vandalism to replace a URL because you do not like the site's owner? Surely should be just added. This isn't the first time such edits have been made. --Wangi 12:45, 25 Jul 2005 (UTC)
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