User:Clovermoss/Editor reflections/101–200

This is an archive of editor interviews from User:Clovermoss/Editor reflections. Feel free to update your interview here if you wish, but if you haven't contributed to this page, please do so at the current iteration.

User:Qwerfjkl – December 8, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

Sometime around 2021, I'd have to check my logs to be sure. I made a few edits without an account before I created this account.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I think I was doing minor fixes to articles and I also did some minor edits to wiktionary.

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

Be more careful. I seem to recall making quite a few mistakes by running into things to carelessly. That said, they were resolved fairly easily, so it's not something to worry about too much.

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

I had some friendly talk page messages (see here), which helped me with my mistakes.

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

I have no plans to stop editing any time soon. If real life gets busy I might become less active, but I try to check in at least once a day.

• 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?

I have edited frequently on my tablet. That said, I haven't written an article (ever), which I assume would be harder to do on a mobile device. Normally I just catch up on discussions and occasionally I close CfDs.

User:HistoryTheorist – December 9, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? July 4, 2023
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? The article of a town near where I lived was out of date and it bothered me, so I fixed it. I first wanted to edit Wikipedia after someone questioned its credibility and then some Internet personality responded to those accusations and encouraged people to make Wikipedia a better place. From then on, I really wanted to start editing, but I was unsure if I was ready to become an editor quite yet, so I lurked around the ITN discussion boards and edited some Fandom pages first. Once I started editing, I could not stop, as I wanted to gain various user rights and improve this awesome site.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? I needed to understand that Wikipedia is a team effort, and I am not going to be able to improve every article here. I've made other mistakes, but those were more out of policy ignorance than anything else.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Sort of. I got the standard welcome message and when I made a mistake, a more experienced editor pointed it out, but I really wouldn't call it help. The warning messages looked a bit ominous (they were quite mild) but they've helped me grow in my editing journey.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? As long as I am not busy, I want to continue helping make Wikipedia a better place.
• 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? No, that sounds really uncomfortable and I don't own any mobile devices that can run WP without crashing.

User:Pbsouthwood – December 9, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

  Registered Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 2:29:18 PM, first edit apparently 5 August 2009. It is possible that I edited earlier unlogged from IP address, but that is a long time and many edits ago.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

  I wanted to add content that was missing, and was unsuitable for Wikitravel where I was quite active at the time. I was involved in the fork to Wikivoyage when IB ruined Wikitravel, which indirectly got me more involved in Wikimedia, and I gravitated to Wikipedia where I found a niche that fitted well. (Actually several, but there is only so much one can do).

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

  I don't really know. My steep learning curve was on Wikitravel, which was a much friendlier environment, so I was already familiar with much of the software, and the policies were not incompatible, so quite an easy step. My interests on Wikipedia are mainly in technical and scientific topics, so I fitted in quite smoothly with the encyclopaedic editing environment. I still work on dive site travel articles on Wikivoyage, but they are mostly based on my own research, so get updated when I have done the necessary dives, leaving plenty of time for WP.

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

  I didn't need a lot. When I needed assistance with coding I asked for it, and it was given. Mostly by User:RexxS, who was unfailingly helpful, technically skilled, and we shared topic interests related to underwater diving.

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

  Probably, but how much of the future is foreseeable?

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

  No. I don't think so.

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

  No. Mobile view is crippled, and I see no reason to punish myself when desktop is available. I had a very nice tablet for a while, but I always used desktop to edit from it. Desktop is excessively cramped on a smartphone, and my vision is not great, so I use my desktop with 23" screen and mouse when possible, and medium sized laptop at other times. I do try to make article layout user friendly for mobile when I think of it.

User:Chipmunkdavis – December 10, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Without checking contribs, I remember heavily editing sometime around 2009/2010.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I started following the discovery that articles I was reading had talkpages. Seeing people discuss how pages could be changed made me feel I could contribute.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Despite being thrown a bit into the deep end in a couple of places, I think I was quite lucky overall. The processes I was put into worked and clearly were seen to work (by me). Enough people were watching my talkpage that I received support and advice. When thinking of what I appreciated, I actually focus a bit further on. During an editing break, I received some encouraging messages on my talkpage about my editing. There should be more advantage taken of the social aspects of Wikipedia to provide support.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? I was able to learn from participating in talk discussions and getting a feel from what other editors were doing. To link to above, what helped the most was having editors willing to pop into my talkpage every now and then.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Have dropped out and in before as time has permitted, both overall and within certain areas, but certainly don't feel an urge to cease completely.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? I have provided advice/feedback to WikiEd representatives on issues like student topic choice, and provided some advice occasionally as an editor, but not participated outside of that.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? I have tested editing on mobile, I found it dreadful and prone to mistakes. Putting the phone into desktop mode helps a little, but editing seems a bit more complex than mobile can manage.

User:Tails Wx – December 10, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? I first edited on September 21, 2020.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I stumbled onto Wikipedia to check out and update weather-related pages, including 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, where I made my first edit, but, I did not know about how to edit back then.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? I should've read notability guidelines prior to creating articles that didn't quite satisfy criteria, or were borderline. This includes several drafts about non-notable sports athletes.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? I helped out with anti-vandalism work, but I also hold myself responsible for additions of largely unsourced content on 1971 Pacific typhoon season, and likely other related pages.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the forseeable future? Of course! I can't see why I can't.
• Were you involved with WikiEd? No.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yeah, but editing on mobile is painful and I prefer editing on desktop.

User:Rotideypoc41352 – December 11, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • 2009
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • Got annoyed at typos. Registered an account because I took the "your IP address will be public" warning seriously.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • I think I should have been WP:TROUTed more than I have for the shoddy Great Expectations translation from fr-wiki.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • Not really. What worked was working in more minor areas, such that my cluelessness didn't create time-consuming cleanup for others (or future me). Trying to teach myself to write just hasn't worked—all...two? articles I've created are stubs.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • For the sake of my mental health—I jest, I jest. Yeah, probably. I really should take a break from it, though, and do some serious reading, so that I have something substantive from WP:RS to contribute.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
  • No. I did join an edit-a-thon hosted by a school but was too shy to actually engage with those around me. They have an uneviable task, considering working knowledge of en-wiki is not exactly common knowledge, and (too) many teachers don't care if their students don't clean up after themselves.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
  • I edit on mobile all the time. It just takes some getting used to, as with any other new interface you come across. I do think it's silly that the default mobile editor only previews changes and doesn't show me changes done.
• Other thoughts
  • I think my experience has been weird (so many people start by trying to write an article or are content-oriented in some way) that I'm not sure how widely applicable it is. Not sure how helpful my answers will be, but here they are. Rotideypoc41352 (talk · contribs) 20:47, 11 December 2023 (UTC)

User:John of Reading – December 13, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Late 2009.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I saw a spelling mistake in an article, with an "edit" link nearby.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Not sure. Once I'd found the Wikipedia:Typo Team project page I had all the help I needed.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? After my second spelling fix, User:Abductive sent me a welcome message with fascinating links that set me reading dozens of help and policy pages - a whole new world behind the scenes. From there I started to read the Help Desk, and realised I could answer some of the questions. And exploring the project further I found that the portal namespace was full of rubbish, and began a Recent Changes Patrol there that I continued for several years.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? I have no plans to stop, but I am getting less able to concentrate as the years go by.
• 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? No. On mobile I am a one-finger typist, so I'd need to hook up a keyboard. And a mouse. And a bigger screen.

User:OhanaUnited – December 13, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Around December 2005 as IP, July 2006 as registered account.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? Originally to write about game articles.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Quick ways to start editing. Also pointing out the existence of talk pages and how to use watchlist to monitor changes.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Many people started editing around the same time, so the community is quite forgiving towards "newbie mistakes" and willing to help out more. Also, there was many more content gaps back then so people feel like there is always something that they can write about. Barnstars were handed out far more frequently back then than now to show appreciation of someone's work. What didn't work was more-experienced editors simply cited a policy name (especially abbreviated and not linked) and expected you to know what they were referring to. When it comes to whether certain contents (not pages) should be included or not included, again, editors will cite the policy without elaborating how that policy applies in this scenario.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes, I continue to focus on updating content. And there are sister projects that will occupy my attention for a while.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Yes, I have been involved with using Wikipedia in education setting even before WikiEd came into existence.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yes. I find it to be clunky (especially for editing pages with long tables). Users need to scroll a lot. It is also difficult to move content from one section to another section within the same page.

User:Yngvadottir – December 14, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? 2008
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I got sucked in by fixing things as an IP—probably typos—and then realized it was fun and there was actual writing I could usefully do, and that it would fit well in the downtime on my job.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Can't think of anything. I think the newbie help desk and "fix and advise" culture I encountered was both friendlier and more useful than the poorly conceived "newbie how-to" pages and the Wikipedia Adventure / Teahouse projects, both of which can come off as condescending, and the now pervasive "template and take to a noticeboard" culture. I got a welcome template relatively late—by that time I'd seen them and wondered when I'd be noticed, and I think I'd already started reading and even speaking up at AN/I—but the then-standard type I got, with lots of sections linking to PAG pages, I still think is invaluable as a ready reference, as well as an indication that the community does value new editors and wishes to "onboard" them rather than "other" them.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? See above :-) I was never treated as a clueless noob. Put another way, nobody assumed that my errors with wiki-syntax implied I was either a child (not that there's anything wrong with that) or ignorant. Or that I decided to start editing for some nefarious reason. And I was given links to read up on the rules, not just told I was doing it wrong. It wasn't just when I was new, either; years later, someone turned up on my talk page out of the blue to point out that I didn't need to use HTML to make n-dashes and m-dashes, there are keyboard commands to get them.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? I have no idea. I've sharply curtailed my activities here since WP:FRAM, and I'd tried to quit before that. I still love the project and we are a wonderful community. But ...
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? No. I'm afraid this is one of the clearer examples of WMF-sponsored programs (I'm aware it is now nominally independent) that hurt the encyclopedia—and in most cases, I think it does the students a disservice, too.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? No. For multiple reasons, one of which is that cellphone user interfaces are a technical barrier to those of us who are both old and technical incompetents; I only recently exchanged my cellphone for a smartphone, under protest, and even though I got a model that emulates a flip-phone, still can't figure out how to use it :-) However, basically, I can't see how the small screen and the necessarily limited support for keyboarding can ever be overcome to make cellphones equally good text editing devices as desktop computers. And the WMF's implementation, from the limitation of reader view to one section of the article at a time to the still shockingly poor apps (and the refusal to let logged-in users make the switch to desktop editing mode "sticky"), locks in the divide between editors (and readers) who only have cellphones (including almost all those in the developing world as well as younger and less wealthy people in wealthy countries) and those of us who have the privilege of using an interface that works (and seeing pages with a minimum of actions to open things, and with the images more integrated with the text). I think that divide is inevitable, and is one of the biggest challenges Wikipedia faces, but the WMF makes cellphone editing worse than it could be. I'm not sure someone exclusively using the mobile app could even respond here.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :) Thanks for asking, particularly since you got the idea from the sharing at a face-to-face event. The majority of editors, including many long-timers, will never attend one of those (including a disproportionate number of women, less wealthy editors, editors with high-responsibility jobs, and I suspect editors with disabilities, too). Things like this that share the text-based, anonymous nature of Wikipedia editing do a little to offset that. Yngvadottir (talk) 03:34, 14 December 2023 (UTC)

User:XOR'easter – December 14, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? I'd been making the occasional edit in a very irregular way since 2004(?), but I created this account and got consistent about it in April 2017.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I'm a rather bookish person, and I wanted a hobby where my peculiarities could help people.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? I wrote an essay that attempts to explain Wikipedia to people from my professional background and vice versa. That might have been practical for me when I started to get serious.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? I learned by doing and by screwing up. I recall genial interactions going back to my first spring as XOR, but nothing I'd quite call being mentored.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? I go through episodic burnout and have given up on at least one activity here that I used to do a fair bit with, so it's possible that my involvement will drop to zero.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Occasionally, an article created or edited during a WikiEd activity will come to my attention, but I haven't been involved with WikiEd in any organized or substantial way.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? No. I am old.

User:Midori No Sora – December 14, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • My first edit on Wikipedia was on September 24, 2021 on the Tropical cyclones in 2021 article.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • I can't remember when or the exact reason how I began editing. After digging through my brain's archives, I remember that I first discovered Wikipedia a few years ago on the school Chromebook when I was researching about several science topics. When I was bored in school, the Chromebook was my only way of "entertaining myself". They weren't heavily restricted but of course, the common "computer games" were indeed blocked but popular websites such as YouTube and Wikipedia weren't. During that time, I was very fascinated about learning geography and aviation. (Not to mention that there was an international airport near the school.) During the school lunch break, I remember going to the school library often and I've read many Wikipedia articles about several topics. However, I never recall making an account or editing under an IP address. A few years went on until 2021, when I came back to Wikipedia to know about the current situation of the then-ongoing 2022 Pacific typhoon season. After seeing some typo mistakes or seeing incomplete articles that I have interests in, I finally decided to make this account.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • As I am now mostly focused on anti-vandalism work, I wish I had knew how useful the Twinkle gadget was. Before using RedWarn, I used Twinkle for reverting vandalism when I was still new to anti-vandalism work, but I never knew that it could be used for warning users. Instead, I did it the pain in the neck way and warned them manually.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • As I've only done minor editing when I began, I mostly didn't get help from other users. However, I did some things on Wikipedia I shouldn't have done like talking in a different language and recently continued to revert a block evasion user's edit without alerting an admin.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • Absolutely. I do have things I should be doing instead of editing Wikipedia, but I can't help it and I like this community.
• 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?
  • No. I did try it once but I gave up as the mobile version is very difficult to use. I prefer editing Wikipedia on the computer.

User:Pbritti – December 14, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?: I just discovered an account I made as a high schooler because of this question (mercifully, only a couple of lousy edits but nothing I'm too ashamed of). My first "real" edit was this one as an IP in February 2018. Shortly thereafter, I decided I should make this account.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?: In college, I realized I really bought into the idea of free access to information, so I started editing. It became my "thing": I was first introduced to a lot of my friends as "the guy who edits Wikipedia". Editing became inertial after a while.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?: I think I would have benefited from speaking face-to-face with an experienced editor. My early editing often emphasized expansive coverage over quality content. I also should have been told not to share any of my personal beliefs publicly on here, but that's not the worst thing. One thing that kinda bothers me to this day is having discovered some of my early typos were shared in an off-site community in a way that was hurtful by an editor I thought was offering me help with a larger project. I would probably tell my new editor self to hold off on such large projects.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?: Here and there. Usually, if I screwed up something and self-reverted my mistake, saying something to the effect of "nuts, how do you do X?", a nice editor would pop out of the woodwork to help. Still happens often enough, which is a nice thing.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?: Sadly, probably not. Burn out is real. I've bought reference books and read in-depth on topics to improve their coverage on Wikipedia, only to find I was either unimpressed with my own work or, when I do like something I make, watch as nobody reads it or refines it further. This has been coupled with a couple of socks that occasionally pop up and make personally harassing comments. It really wears on me. I still believe in the project, but I don't know if I want to keep contributing.
• 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! I am editing on my phone as we speak. Most of my edits (basically anything that isn't large-scale content additions) are made on my phone, though I generally switch to the desktop version of the site. I don't like the mobile UI and find it peculiarly limiting. Like, why can't I see talk page WikiProject templates? That's just weird. ~ Pbritti (talk) 05:46, 14 December 2023 (UTC)

User:~delta – December 14, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? March 2023, but I've made some edits as an IP before that. And I've been lurking since around 2022 before registering.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? Sometime in 2022ish, I wondered why Wikipeda kept misinformation and vandalism out when "anyone could edit" it, found out about Wikipedia's policies, noticeboards, etc. and lurked for a while. I would be content lurking until I found a couple of errors, cruft, etc. that needed fixing in a few articles as an IP. One day in school, I was bored in study hall since I already did all of my homework then, so I decided to try to fix some typos and revert some vandalism in Wikipedia articles partly because I was out of ideas on what to do and also because at that time, after all this lurking I started wanting to revert those acts of vandalism myself because editing seemed like something interesting to do. However, my school's IP address was blocked anon only with account creation disabled (it still is now), so I just made an account at home to continue contributing. Plus, I was just plain shocked at that time that articles like Prodigy Education and Korea Job World did not exist even if they were obviously notable - I thought that if there is no article on those subjects on Wikipedia, I might as well write them myself.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? I would say, maybe more detailed/helpful info on navigating between different namespaces. When I was new, I did not know that they exist and thus had a hard time finding certain pages (including my user page!) due to my lack of knowledge of them. I did know that a "separate part of Wikipedia which had policy stuff" existed, but I did not know how namespaces worked at all! Also, the help channel on Discord (which was created relatively recently) would have been helpful too if it existed back when I was newer. Getting feedback from other Wikimedians certainly help people understand policies and such.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Yes, numerous members of the community have given me advice as a new editor and taught me about how Wikipedia functions through venues like my Talk page and the Teahouse, and that was definitely helpful. And, I do have to admit, I do thank them a lot for doing this - cleaning up after my newbie mistakes so I could learn from them, letting me know how Wikipedia works and teaching me policies and guidelines, offering advice etc.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Certainly, yes. Although I expect my activity to slow down during times when I am busy, I definitely want to continue writing new articles, fixing more typos, reverting more vandalism etc. because there's always more to do here on Wikipedia.
• 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? I occasionally edit on my phone, but mostly minor edits and almost never major changes (aside from discussion !votes or talk page message replies). I prefer to use the desktop site when editing on my phone, except when replying to talk page messages - then I use the mobile site.

User:caeciliusinhorto – December 15, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? My first edits were in or before 2007, but I only made a few sporadic edits until I created the account caeciliusinhorto on 7 November 2014. I have edited ever since, though my activity levels have been variable – according to xtools, my least active year since then is 2018 with only 35 edits; my most active is 2022 with 3,792.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I think I started editing initially to correct obvious typos and vandalism, but I never really got into it. When I started editing seriously in late 2014 I was at university; I was going to say that I started editing because I was looking at the Wikipedia articles for the subjects I was studying and decided I could do better, but in fact my first fifty edits seem to mostly have been copy-editing; it wasn't until my fifty-third edit that I actually added any content. Within 100 edits I had found WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome; ancient Greece has been the main focus of my content editing ever since.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? To be honest I can't remember ever really having any issues as a new editor, and a quick look back at my early edits doesn't reveal any serious howlers. I am I suspect the right kind of person to master Wikipedia as it was when I joined: I'm happy to go away and read the guidelines and work out how to do things on my own without much interaction with other people.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? I was invited to the WP:Teahouse the day after I created my account, but I don't seem to have ever used it until I started occasionally answering questions there more recently; I never used it as a place to get help. I don't remember having had any explicit help. I discovered the Good Article process and made my first GA nomination inside 500 edits, and the GA (and later FA) review systems have given me a bunch of practice at writing better articles and been probably the biggest source of my improvement as a Wikipedia editor.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? I've been here pretty consistently for nine years now; I don't see any reason to think that I won't keep editing. I have a bunch of ongoing on-wiki projects to work on and keep me coming back.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? No. I've come across WikiEd in the course of my editing, and while my view of the project isn't as entirely negative as I think some long-term editors', I am unconvinced as to how much benefit it really brings Wikipedia. I don't think that forcing students to edit as part of their course is likely to bring in many long-term editors, many students in my experience struggle with writing content which is suitable for an encyclopedia rather than a university essay, and often I will see student editors appear on my watchlist to announce their existence but never actually make any changes to the article they are supposedly working on. It's a project which seems like a good idea in theory, but I don't know what it really achieves in practice.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yes. Under 2000 edits, out of about 15,000 between caeciliusinhorto and caeciliusinhorto-public at time of writing, so approximately one in eight of my edits. I use the advanced mobile editor and have never browsed or edited Wikipedia through the app. The editor is... fine. I find it's pretty much the same as the desktop editor, but not having a physical keyboard slows everything down, and not being able to have multiple windows visible, one with a source or my notes and the other with the text I am editing, makes editing more awkward. Because of these downsides, I don't do much major content editing on mobile; if I'm writing or re-writing a large chunk of an article, I want at least a keyboard, and preferably to be on my computer at home with all of my books around me, where I can write the wikitext in a proper text editor and only bring it over into wikipedia when it's ready. I couldn't have made this edit re-writing Aspasia without a real computer, for instance. Nor would I want to do large-scale reference wrangling like this; doing that without a proper text editor would have been horrible.

User:Sideswipe9th – December 15, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? I created my account on 19 October 2007, and made my first edit on 11 December 2007. After a few edits between 2007 and 2009, I didn't edit again until August 2021.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? It's been so long, I don't actually remember why I created my account. My first edit was reverting some vandalism though. When I came back to editing in 2021 though, I wanted to add some missing information to an article.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? If I could tell my 2021 self anything, it'd be not to immediately jump in to a contentious topic. There's a lot of...strong feelings there, and things can boil over from time to time. If I could tell my 2007 self anything, it'd be that life gets better eventually.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Initially no, but from my background as a programmer and web developer I was able to pick up the basics of making edits pretty quickly. As for people skills, I think I've improved a lot over the last couple of years. It's difficult for me to read between the lines because I'm autistic, but I find being direct with people helps. I've made more than a few Wikifriends which has helped a lot with my soft skills, and I try to be helpful with sharing information on our policies and guidelines, as well as resolving technical issues wherever I can.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes. I'd be lying if I said there hadn't been times when I've felt disheartened by actions taken, or frustrated by the outcome of some project wide consensus outcomes. There are some elements of our policies and guidelines that I think are being updated too slowly with respect to best practices off-wiki. But on the whole, I have no plans to stop editing any time soon, minus the odd holiday of course. Just like in all aspects of life, work, and volunteering, self-care is important. Never neglect your needs, and don't be afraid to take breaks whenever you need to. In my experience, burn out is not fun to recover from and can take years.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Directly no. It wasn't a thing when I was at school or university. Indirectly yes, I've commented on a few of the discussions relating to problematic courses and teachers. And I've seen more than a few student edits pop up on my watchlist from time to time. The goals of the program are laudable, even if the implementation of the courses results in a fair few issues. Can those issues be fixed? Maybe, but I think it'd require more active involvement and oversight from both the WikiEd co-ordinators and the teachers responsible for each class cohort.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yes, but not using the mobile website or app. The Minerva skin is awful for me to use, and I've gone so far as to add a user script so that whenever I load a Wikipedia link on my phone, it redirects me to the desktop site. Aside from this, I edit occasionally on my phone, usually reverts or responding to talk page comments. Most of my editing is done on a desktop or laptop though.

User:Smallchief – December 16, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? My first edit was 25 February 2010.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I retired from my job in 2005. I've always been a researcher and writer and have published non-fiction. While looking for a book subject, I chanced upon Wikipedia and noticed that some articles of interest were inadequate. I decided to improve them. What hooked me, I believe, was the delight of seeing my work appear at the touch of a button as opposed to the lengthy time often required for published work to appear.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? When I began editing Wikipedia my use of computers was limited to word-processing and Google search. I had no idea how to use the syntax or code or whatever it is called to edit Wikipedia. My vocabulary didn't include many of the common words and concepts of online editing. What the hell is a template? What does the word deprecate mean? What's with all those symbols: < and / and [ and { and so forth? I had to start in first grade, so to speak, and work my way up to the minimal level of competence I enjoy today. Does my technical ignorance bother me? Nah, I just want to write words. I revel in the obscure so few editors mess around with what I've done. That might be good or bad.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? I found my way along by looking at what other editors had done to achieve what I wanted to do and copied their examples. For example, I learned how an editor posted an illustration in a Wikipedia article or how an editor formatted a quote. On the few occasions I've asked for help, other editors have been gracious and understanding.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? I have no plans to cease editing. I occasionally find myself wondering if I will find something interesting to edit, but I always do. I try to keep my prose simple with the objective that people one hundred years from now will understand what I've written today. That requires not assuming that what is common knowledge now will still be common knowledge to the reader in the future. It also requires confidence that civilization will exist 100 years from now. I'm not so sure about that.

• 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? No. I can't imagine a situation so desperate that I would edit on a mobile phone. I need my office, desktop computer with a 34-inch screen I can see without eye glasses, three file cabinets full of research material, and bookcases crammed with a thousand books. I'm a content creator. I don't do much else.

User:Seraphimblade – December 17, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Late 2004 or so with occasional typo fixes and the like as an IP, then in early 2005 I created this account.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I originally thought the idea of an encyclopedia edited by the general public was ludicrous and doomed to be filled with spam and trolling. Once I started to see that it actually worked, that intrigued me a great deal and I decided to check it out for myself. (At the time, people would frequently ask me "What's Wikipedia?" if I talked about it. Haven't gotten that question in a long while.)
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Things like The Wikipedia Adventure, which we now have, but we should make sure new editors are aware of them. Any "tutorial" type guidance we can give to new editors is an excellent idea, since Wikipedia is both rather complex and probably very different from what they're used to on social media sites and the like, and we do not have enough time from experienced editors to personally mentor every potential newbie one on one. I wish we did, as that would be ideal, but it's just not realistic. The Teahouse is also awesome for that purpose, so that new editors have a place to ask for some advice when they need it.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? I did receive some advice and feedback from experienced editors. This, of course, is always helpful, as long as it is provided in a civil and helpful way.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes. While Wikipedia is not perfect, we have created what is almost certainly the largest educational work in the history of humanity, and with the possible exception of the Linux kernel, the most successful open source/open content project as well. I think that's something we should be immensely proud of, while realizing we always still have a lot more to improve.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Only tangentially, when I've run across problems with a few classes that admins' attention was called to. I did find, though, that the WikiEd coordinators were very responsive in helping to deal with those, so I give them a great deal of credit. Dealing with that many inexperienced editors all at once can't be an easy task, so hats off to them for volunteering for it.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yes, but only by switching to the "desktop" interface. The mobile interface is incomplete and awful, and I've heard the same thing about the "apps" (I don't use any "app" for any website, except a browser, so I don't have personal experience with that.) Given the number of people we have as potential editors who may primarily use mobile, this needs fixing sooner rather than later. Seraphimblade ^{Talk to me} 00:59, 17 December 2023 (UTC)

User:Gog the Mild – December 17, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? 12 April 2014.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? To get brief changes of pace during busy working days.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? See WP:GOG1.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? See WP:GOG1.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Yes, I have assisted in using Wikipedia as a teaching aid for journalism undergraduates.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yes; it doesn't work, or barely (for me). Gog the Mild (talk) 17:40, 17 December 2023 (UTC)

User:Freedom4U – December 18, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? I'd like to say I started editing Wikipedia three times. I've had two false starts: I made my first edit in 2014 and I made Means TV in 2019. I was basically inactive until February of this year, when I first started editing Wikipedia for the sake of editing Wikipedia.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I don't really know. I think it was the realization that there's just so much missing from Wikipedia, particularly when there's a language barrier involved.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Templates god! I couldn't figure out most templates, I tended to just copy and paste what I saw in other articles and refill the parameters. But especially when they got complicated—templates within templates, templates without parameters, templates with confusing names—I felt so lost.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? No, not really (I don't think I've ever received a welcome message either). When I first really started out, the teahouse was really useful, though I think I've replaced that with asking questions on the Discord server.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes, absolutely. I think there were signs I'd be a Wikipedia editor earlier on, but now that I know how the site works and I know all the complex wikimarkup, I don't see how I'd ever stop editing.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Only in removing their unsourced essay-like additions and image copyvio. I don't think you can force people into editing Wikipedia and come out with a good product.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? I spent my commute this summer just editing Wikipedia on my phone so I can say I have some experience. At least for me, content creation is practically impossible on mobile and it's broadly much easier to edit talk pages than articles on mobile. In particular, one bug causes deleted text to stay visible in the editor, making it frustrating to move content around. My workaround for mobile editing has been to draft my wikimarkup onto a note, and then copy and paste it into the article when I'm done.

Notes

User:Volunteer Marek – December 18, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? In the second millenium of the third era of the fifth eon, in the time of the rule of Jorgen the Cabbage, long since the elves had departed this world but still while men remained, with the status of mermaids and beagles was yet uncertain. Or, in 2005.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? Saw something wrong. Corrected it. Off we went.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? If you know, you know - taking care to preserve anonymity. Back then I think we were all super naive about what a sociopathic shitshow the internet, including Wikipedia, was going to turn into. Though there were voices, oh yes, there were loud prophetic voices. In particular I still remember User:Risker sounding the warning with her mighty coiled horn.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Nope. Just stumbled around. One lonely and desperate night I lay my weary head down on the barroom table only to wake up to find out I had been blocked. Ah the memories. It was quickly overturned as having been made in error which in some strange mystical way predetermined and characterized my future Wikipedia journey. As in some of the more esoteric cosmologies, the Fates apparently twisted up their yarn and the same thing would happen over and over again, albeit with new details, dressings, developments and dangers.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Sure, off and on.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? That land is strange to me.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yes, once or twice, and I was not pleased with that experience. I can see how it would be good for someone doing a gnome's work but that isn't me. I'm a mermaid. Or maybe a beagle.

Volunteer Marek 19:43, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

User:Polyamorph – December 20, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

My first edit was on September 2 2007 on the article Glass.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I was doing a PhD on the structure and properties of liquids and glasses and saw that the main scientific content in the article on Glass was focused on the myth that it is a liquid. I wanted to improve the accuracy of the content and so created an account and started editing. I don't think I ever edited as an IP before this, although it's possible I made a few edits before registering, I don't recall.

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

If I could go back in time I don't think wikipedia would be my first priority, although I could genuinely say that I had a crystal ball, although mine would be made of glass! I did use wikipedia as a resource in the early days of its existence, I would like to have created an account back in 2001!

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

I do recall CambridgeBayWeather helping me fix the map on my first new article Stanton Prior. I'm still grateful for that interaction and remember it well, even though CambridgeBayWeather has probably forgotten all about it!

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

Wikipedia is the bread and butter of my existence. Lol.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Not really. I've had articles on my watchlist edited by WikiEd students before. Some of the edits are useful and I think I've helped ensure they remain incorporated into the article, but invariably they tend to be too essaylike for wikipedia.

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

Fairly often, particularly talk page edits, although sometimes mainspace. The main difficulties are due to the screen size making it difficult when consulting and citing sources or finding diffs / policy pages etc. for discussions. I prefer editing on a computer. Most of my mistakes are mobile edits!

User:Skynxnex – December 21, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Early 2003 probably. I made my account in Feb 2003 and I don't recall editing it before then as an IP but it's possible. I had long gaps of zero edits in my history in the 00s and 10s; it's possible I did minor edits as an IP and forgot to login. I started contributing a bit more in 2018 because I had a few articles I wanted to improve/write that got me more active and once you actually start, it's easier to keep doing more. I steadily got involved in more bits progressively (like starting to use redwarn, getting perms to do things faster, be bolder at AFD sorting, etc).
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? Wikipedia was a very new and pretty cool thing then, so probably just to try it out and my first edit (edit 676,702-ish overall it seems (assuming that oldid matches edit count, which I know is weird in the early days)) was to fix the Forth example in "Hello, World!" program article.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? I didn't edit very much in the early days; I think being bolder at being willing to spend the time at the back room areas of Wikipedia and contribute there would have encouraged me personally but I stayed out mostly and so felt disconnected from conventions. I think someone you actually trust and feel willing to ask questions to about what happens in WP and talk-space would have helped.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Not really. Starting sometime in the mid-teens I became friends IRL (i.e., not through Wikipedia editing) with a couple of more active contributors which helped me be willing to read more WP-space pages and to understand it.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yep. As seen from my activity, I've remained much more active than my previous levels for the past 18 months and see that continuing.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Nope.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yes. I mostly use it for simple talk page replies, very minor fixes, and reverting/reporting obvious vandalism from my watchlist. I find it a bit more difficult than computer due to slower text input and harder to manage clipboard, multiple tabs, etc. But I think it's valuable and hope general work on it continues. (I use either the advanced mobile web view or timeless in my mobile browser; never an app other than when I was trying to help debug a template caching issue.)

User:Risker – December 21, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?I started editing as an unregistered user (aka IP) in early 2005, and created my account at the end of 2005 when I wanted to edit a semi-protected page.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I fixed a typo, saved the edit, and suddenly realized that I had changed the internet forever. It was possibly the most empowered I have ever felt, and I was immediately addicted to that feeling.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? I spent a lot of time reading in my early months, and to be honest, even before I started editing. I read policies, I read noticeboards, I read talk pages, and of course I read articles. Part of this was that I've always been really cautious about my internet activity, and at the time I only had one other active internet account. But I think this is what made my editing journey quite different than a lot of other people.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? As noted above, my biggest teacher was the act of reading and self-directed learning. Eventually, I started to participate in discussions, made some wiki-friends, and just kept doing ever-more-significant editing.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Editing Wikipedia, and eventually taking on more governance roles, has been my volunteer activity of choice for 18+ years. I find it far more interesting and fulfilling than watching TV, and simpler than most other volunteer activity. So yes, you're stuck with me.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Not directly. I had some peripherally-related activity when I was a member of the FDC, participating in funding discussions for their organization. I am definitely wiki-friends with several of their staff. In my work as a member of the Communications Committee, I have spoken in interviews and other fora about various education-related Wikimedia activities, including WikiEd (in all its variations).
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Being able to edit on a mobile device is essential for the future growth of our global content, and for attracting contributors from around the world, many of whom have access to only one internet-connectable device, usually a mobile phone. Having said that, I hold a bunch of advanced permissions, and I don't log into Wikimedia sites with my primary account on my phone for any reason, just as an added security precaution. If I absolutely need to get online, I can usually find a way to do so with a more secure environment. Others in my situation may view things differently. (This harks back to Volunteer Marek's comments earlier!)

Thanks for this opportunity, both to participate, and to read about others. Risker (talk) 22:37, 21 December 2023 (UTC)

User:Dr vulpes – December 22, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? I started editing as an IP editor in 2003 or 2004 when I was in high school but I didn’t make an account until I was in graduate school and needed something to distract me from my dissertation. If I had to guess I would say I did between 1-7 edits a week until the last couple of years.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I enjoyed fixing little problems and adding sources to articles. It was nice to give back and to make things a little bit better.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? I think if I had made an account I would have learned a lot more and enjoyed it. I was really intimidated with everything that I just assumed I wouldn't have anything of value to contribute. I met a couple of folks at the 2015 useR! conference who worked for the Wikimedia Foundation, I kind of wish I had hung out with them I think it might have given me the push I needed to make an account and take editing seriously.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? When I first started editing in 2004 I was mostly fixing little issues, adding sources, and rewriting a paragraph or two on an article. No one really helped me but I also wasn’t tracking my work so if I ever got feedback I never saw it. I think if I had engaged with the community I would have learned a lot more and been a much better contributor. I've gotten more into editing in the last couple of years and I think the best thing for me was doing NPP school. Having a structured system really helped me become a better editor which allowed me to learn more about how things work.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Absolutely, in graduate school I did a lot of work on meta-analysis and evidence synthesis so hunting down sources is my jam. I made a lot of edits to the Clipperton Island article to the point that my partner pokes fun at me for it, you'll never know what interesting thing will be out there that needs to expanded and documented. I've tried writing and editing for some our sister projects and it is not as enjoyable as it is here.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? No, I thought about doing it for a class I taught at my University but after cleaning up some really bad contributions I decided against it. I have thought about reaching out to a non-profit I’ve worked with to try and create a Wikipedian in residence type thing. I enjoy teaching and I think the experience would be a net positive.  
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yes but only to fix very minor issues or reply to something on my talk page.

User:Ser! – December 23, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Discounting a few well-meaning IP edits at the age of 7-8, I started editing in 2017.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? Around 2017 was when I started getting really into one of my favourite things in life; the Eurovision Song Contest (hence, my original username being Serhatserhatserhat, after this guy), and I realised that a few of the pages of older contestants probably needed work.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? An introduction to referencing in particular being pushed upon me would have helped. In my earlier edits, I added things that were factual and notable but did not add a source to them - things such as singers participating in Eurovision selection events.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? For the most part I paddled my own canoe and learnt to edit as I went along. I was of course given the customary welcome template, but never got around to reading any of those links.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Barring catastrophe or other events, I'm planning on it!
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Never. I've never heard about them operating in Ireland at all, though I admittedly haven't done much research there.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Painstakingly, a few times when travelling without my PC, I've had to do edits using my phone. The main issue that always pops up for me is editing talk pages; you try to edit the page and it only allows you to edit the top bit of it. Another thing that puts me off it is how easy it is to accidentally delete a great deal of what you had typed without any ability to ctrl+z and get it back - though this is a fault with my phone rather than anything else!

User:Kj cheetham – December 23, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Created the account on 25 April 2008, but didn't really start editing "seriously" until the end of 2019.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? Not sure, but being in the house during COVID lock down in 2020 was a factor for increasing my activity in 2020. I wanted to try and be useful and make things better, if only a little bit.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Perhaps a mentor.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Not really, I mostly learned by reading help pages and looking how existing articles were put together.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Probably.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Not directly, only a bit of clean-up after students have created articles.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? I don't think so. I'd rather not struggle with a small screen and no proper keyboard.

User:Eviolite – December 29, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? I created an account in 2014 but abandoned it after a few years and only a few dozen edits. I made my current account in 2020 as I felt I had become more mature, and started actively editing in April 2021.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I mostly joined as I noticed minor issues that I felt like I could fit - outdated info, typos, grammar, etc. During the pandemic I became an active editor as it felt right to contribute something after using Wikipedia for so long, and I also wanted to join a new community. I also remember seeing some excellent maps of river basins by User:Shannon1 and thinking "wow - maybe I should try to make and contribute things like that." (Of course, my cartography skills are quite poor... but seeing the "Author" field in Commons and clicking the name made me realize that Wikipedia editors are normal people, just like me.)
• If you could back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? I feel like just knowing that most Wikipedians are actually reasonably approachable would have helped me in the early days -- Wikipedia somewhat has a reputation of being arcane and unfriendly, but it's great to be in touch with the experienced editors (real people) out there.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Yes, actually. One of the first things I did when thinking of becoming more active was seeing if Wikipedia had any sort of help chat since I didn't want to run into policies I didn't know of, and found WP:DISCORD. I asked around if I had questions and eventually became a more confident editor.
• Do you'll think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? I almost certainly won't quit, but as XTools can show you, my activity has more or less fallen off a cliff in the past year due to some real life issues and priorities, so I'll see if my interest returns at some point. There are certainly still projects I want to finish and work on.
• Were you involved with WikiEd? No.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? I have used the Android app to make small edits (it's actually not too bad in my experience - I mostly did basic wikitext changes and undos/rollbacks). Besides that, I recall using SWViewer on mobile for reverting vandalism and found it an okay experience (though obviously worse than using it on a computer).

User:Bringingthewood – December 31, 2023

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Registered on April 6, 2022. Started, I'd say about a year and a half earlier as an IP user. Little here and there.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? T. J. Watt page mainly, then some other NFL player pages. Later on, Hey man im josh asked me if I would be interested in becoming a registered user.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Nothing. Coming from Answers.com. I kind of knew the basics with editing. (Though, there are more ins and outs here at Wikipedia). I just tried to keep things simple and not ruffle many feathers. 'Tried' is the operative word.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? No help. But Josh did try to point me in the right direction many times. I have an old computer ....
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Don't see why not. Even when T. J. retires, lol.
• 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? No. I'm a dinosaur, at 55. Sorry, I don't like evolving with the times. Flip phone guy. @@

User:Just Step Sideways, Jan 1 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? 2007

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I'd been a reader for a while, and decided I could probably help out here and there.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Knowing when to escalate a matter past a talk page. We did not hold admins to account back then to the same degree we do now. I was bitten pretty good by two different admins, both of whom eventually lost their tools via unrelated arbcom cases.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? We have way better help resources now, in particular the Teahouse. I mostly depended on picking up things from other editors as I went along.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? That's kind of a tough one for me right now, I'm feeling a little burned out and disolussioned. Taking a break of a few months now and then is a good thing for long-term editors. I keep telling myself I'm going to take one but one thing after another seems to keep me here at least a little.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Only in that I've tried to reach out when there is a class in a subject area I edit, and pretty much every time my offer to assist is completely ignored.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? I've tried a couple times, but the mobile apps are so terrible I gave up.

Additional thoughts: Channging anything important here at this point is hard. That's not an entirely bad thing, you don't want to spend your time learning hopw things work only to find it all tilted over on its head the next day, but it also means people despair of changing the things that aren't quite working. It is still possible, just very difficult, and there are always those who will personalize the matter when they realize they don't have an actual strong refutation of what you have proposed. That's a behavior that needs to be called out when it rears its head.

I also think a lot of people view adminship as a trophy or a promotion. It is not. The admin burnout rate is high because if you actually do the work, it's exhausting and fairly thankless. In fact you are more likely to be attacked for doing the work than to be thanked for it. If you can't handle that, don't sweat it, just don't run for adminship. You'll be fine. Just Step Sideways ^{from this world ..... today} 17:39, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

User:Deor – January 2, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? December 2006. Made a few IP edits, then created this account.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I know it sounds sort of stupid, but there was a really irritating guy on a Usenet group I was active in, and he had begun making a bunch of POV edits on Wikipedia. I came here to try to prevent his loony opinions from infecting WP articles, then got sucked into typo fixing, minor copyediting, and vandalism reversion.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Probably not much, as I tend to be rather independent and bull-headed. I was working at the time as an editor at a publishing company, where we used formatting tags to prepare word-processed documents for printing, so I adapted easily to wikicode. I had also written the manual of style for a company I formerly worked for, so I rarely, if ever, ran afoul of the WP MOS; and I was familiar with various citation formats, so I had little trouble with referencing. When I ran into anything I didn't know how to do, I'd usually just blunder around until I figured it out.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? The only thing I recall is that User:SatuSuro advised me to create a user page so that my sig didn't keep showing up in red. (His was was the first edit on my user-talk page, and I was surprised that anyone was paying attention to anything I was doing.)
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? I've reached an age where the foreseeable future has contracted quite a bit, but I have no immediate plans to stop.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Only in dealing with ill-advised student edits.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? No. I do not own and do not want to own any mobile telephone/internet device. Deor (talk) 17:59, 2 January 2024 (UTC)

User:Piotrus – January 4, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Around 2003, as an IP, I think, registered an account a year later.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? The story I remember despite not being able to find the fight diff :> is that for some reason ("anyone can edit"?) I wanted to add a definition of the new term I encountered (ghostwriter, copywriter, or such). I did so (as an IP), it was removed, I got annoyed and read some Wiki rules to make my case, obviously I was wrong (it was a copyvio) but I got hooked and stayed.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? On some days I think I should have been anonymous; releveling my real name gave me no advantage I can think of (including respect) but exposed me to some serious harassment. On others I feel proud I chose to edit under my name but frankly it seems like a bit of masochism: all pain, no gain. All things considered, yes, I'd tell my older self to be anonymous; I honestly cannot think of any good thing that happened to me because I chose to be not anonymous, but many bad experiences instead.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? I can't recall anything substantial. Back then our new editor help was even more lacking than today (well, everyone was kind of new in 2003).
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Sure. I still believe in the mission of Wikipedia (making the world better by creating value for others). The system is not perfect, to say the least, but it still works better than anything else out there.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? It's complicated. I believe I have been one of the pioneers of 'teaching with Wikipedia' (WP:SUP, which predates WikiEd) and I still do it. But IMHO WikiEd became 'corrupted' (a bit like WMF) by going commercial as well focusing on US&Canada; the rest of the world right now gets very little support from it. I use the outreach dashboard developed by WikiEd (I think?) but that's about all I can say for being involved with it these days. ~10 years ago they still cared enough to send me some teaching brochures for students, these days after sending a bunch of emails that were ignored I was eventually told 'we don't to this anymore'. That's about all "involvement" I have with them (yes, I am quite disappointed/disillusioned with WikiEd these days).
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Tried a few times, it is a terrible experience, the interface is not very good. But here I am not going to blame anyone because it's just IMHO not possible to develop something that will work for a tiny screen. Just like nobody does serious research or any writing on mobile. Sure, there are Google Docs or whatever mobile apps, but they are more for emergency use. So IMHO we should just stop wasting funds on the 'mobile editing' stuff. We cannot make it better, let's leave it as it is and focus on many other stuff we can make better (up to and including reading on mobile, which is much more important and still not as good experience as it should be). --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 03:39, 4 January 2024 (UTC)

User:Boing! said Zebedee – January 7, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? 2007.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I used to just use it to find information, and then made a few corrections when I saw errors for a while. Moved on to grammar fixes, copy editing, and things like that, and it escalated. I ended up spending far too much of my time here.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Some well-written introductory guides, not full of impenetrable WP:WORDSALAD. Things seem a lot better on that score now.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Nothing formal, just general feedback and encouragement in the form of talk page comments.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? No. I haven't been very active for a while now, and I'm pretty much at the end of my time here.
• 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? No, because I don't have one that can do it. I'm a long-term keyboard user and reasonable typist, and I don't know how anyone can work the internet with those wretched thumb-operated things in any productive way. (I'm old - can you tell?)

User:Princess of Ara – January 13, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? - 2020
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I was a bit misguided. My favourite celebrity at the time did not have a Wikipedia page, and I wanted to create one by all means. I got into a lot of trouble. She still doesn't have a Wikipedia page, by the way.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? My initial experience would have been a whole lot better if I had taken time to go through the introductory classes as opposed to jumping right into it.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?I had help from a couple of experienced editors especially NnadiGoodluck, who was like a guardian angel to me. Taking a gentle approach when delving into new territories and asking questions at the foraumalso really helped.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? - I derive joy from editing Wikipedia so I will very likely keep up with it as much as my activities off WIki allow me.
• 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? I edited heavily on mobile during my "Wikipedia addiction phase" and I think the interface has improved a lot over time. It remains a good way to edit on the go.

User:Derek Ross – January 17, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? I started in October, 2001
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I like sharing what little knowledge I have and Wikipedia needed a LOT of work at the time. Non-existent articles, spelling and grammar, formatting, vandalism. The encyclopedia was pretty limited and there was a lot to do in 2001.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?. Nothing really. There wasn't all the bureacracy and templates there are nowadays, so it was pretty straightforward to edit. All you had to do was use commonsense.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? No formal help. However the editing community was small when I joined so we all knew each other and learned from each other. Main problem was vandalism but "the good guys" were able to keep on top of it for the most part.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Maybe not so frequently, but when I see a mistake I fix it. That's always been the appeal.
• 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? Now and again but I prefer a proper keyboard. I can type a lot faster and I don't have @!#$ing Autocorrect sabotaging me.

User:The Herald – January 30, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?: I started editing in 2013, just after my 10th grade started. They used to teach us Robert Frost in school and I started by editing those articles (mostly test edits and random stuff), but then slowly picked up anti vandalism and an inclination towards astronomy topics.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?: I loved reading and Wikipedia articles was always a fascinating read. Mostly because I really wanted to know if I could actually make changes in the stuff I read and when I knew I could, I went for it. Then I learnt about this whole different world that goes behind the article mainspace.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?:WikiAdventure is an amazing tool which I found out very late, prolly years down the lane. If I had that, I'd have learned faster.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?: Tonnes. Everytime I made a mistake, such as random page moves, file uploads, test edits and copyvio, admins and other experienced editors always guided me. They were never patronizing and that love and feeling of belonging is the main reason why I'm still here. I try to incorporate those features into my views of newbies whenever I can.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?: Hopefully so. I was a student back then when I joined and now I have a full time busy career. But still I do find time for editing whenever I can. So if the trend could keep up, I might still be around when Wikipedia hits a century, lol.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?: Not yet. I might give it a go sometime.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?: I started editing on my PC, but for the past one year, I am using my mobile but in it's web view. That gives me the hold of the entire toolset and yes, the borders and indent do leak at times, but it's faster and more comfortable for me this way.

User:Pichpich – February 24, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

January 2008 under this username but I previously edited for a couple of years under another account which I abandoned due to offline harassment.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

It took a while for me to realize that Wikipedia existed. But after that, I first got hooked by editing stuff I knew about in my professional area of expertise. I rarely do that anymore and basically gnome my way around.

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

To be honest, it was a pretty smooth ride, so I don't think going back in time would help much. My only regret is revealing too much personally identifiable information with my first account.

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

It's been fifteen years, so I can't recall who took the time to answer questions or just provide guidance on my talk page. But I've never asked a question that didn't get an immediate answer and I've never been told that my question was dumb though I'm sure I asked a couple of dumb questions along the way.

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

Well I'm hooked so I suppose I will. But then again, people kick drug habits all the time, so who knows. I think it's more likely that somewhere down the road, real life will restrict the time I can devote to the project. It's happened in the past if you check my contributions with XTools and it will happen again.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I have not.

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

A couple of times on my phone as an IP but I found it inconvenient: tiny screen, no decent keyboard, distracting coloured markup... I'll even confess that I never figured out how to log in on the Wikipedia mobile app. So if I spot a typo, I'm likely to leave it there (yes, shame on me) and if I find something more problematic, I'll wait until I can sit in front of a real computer screen.

User:DJ Cane – February 24, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I started editing Wikipedia in 2006 as a bored teenager on summer break in a small town with nothing else to do. My motivation in the project grew from that boredom to a belief in the democratization of infomration and desire to learn about the world around me.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

My interest mostly started from a dorky fascination with obscure topics such as highways. At the time, Wikipedia was one of the main sources of information on the subject but didn't have much content in my immediate area.

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

Honestly, I think a minimum age limit on editing in some form. My earliest edits didn't reflect the level that I like to adhere to today. The first edit I'm really proud of is creating the page for Amon Creek which I think is when I really fell into a good rhythm and knew what I was doing to generate useful material.

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

I can't remember what did and didn't help back then, but I do remember there were a small number of more experienced editors who guided my inexperienced edits in a way that was tactful and supportive. I think they suspected my young age and rather than just immediately shooting me down they tried pointing me in a more constructive direction.

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

Yes indeed. I enjoy editing, am sometimes able to do so in person with a friend of mine who shares similar interests, and I like showing off my work.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I have not been exposed to this.

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

Yes, I have. Editing on mobile can be a bit of a behemoth but for minor edits and adding short descriptions it's fantastic.

User:Koavf – February 25, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • Reading: 2003, editing via IP: 2004, editing with an account: 2005
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • I was primarily interested in using the platform to discuss, educate, etc. about Western Sahara. I was also just enamored of doing something that can help someone so easily: it's the same kind of impulse for slactivism, with some naivete and a bit of an agenda, but also the more noble impulse that I have taken from the community, so I should give back. The same thing that motivates donating to public radio.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • Understanding some of the subtler cultural things that move the site and community at large. E.g. I have mentioned before in many interviews how while there are rules and those are more-or-less applied and done so more-or-less fairly, there is a lot of stuff that happens due to a power user type or someone who is willing to get into a war of attrition (the latter I think could include myself, and I hope I'm not part of the former!).
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • Not so much: I mostly just did my own thing and never had any explicit mentor or direct helper person. I'm lucky that I started using the site when it was still pretty small and insular and started editing after reading and using it for several months, so I could dip my toes into it pretty easily at a time when it was pretty intelligible.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • I definitely plan to edit indefinitely.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
  • I have not. :/
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
  • I don't have a smartphone, so I have on very one-off situations with someone else's device, but functionally, no.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to
  • Happy to share more, but I'll kick it back to you to solicit. If there's a more efficient way to discuss, please let me know. Thanks for the invitation.

User:Iggy the Swan – February 25, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Around late January in 2017 before registering my own username on 8 September in the same year.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? When I see some sort of mistake on an article that I have read, I noticed at the top of a section which had that mistake and realised "oh, I can actually edit that page" so I stepped in and corrected that mistake. That was, at the time, done anonymously.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? Think before you edit and make sure everything looks excellent before saving your edits. Also don't repeat the same editing problem otherwise you risk being blocked.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Effectively, yes. What worked was that some experienced users have checked my edits and corrected them once I've noticed that on the watchlist of mine. They pointed out to me some instruction or two so that what I did should not happen again.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes, as long as Wikipedia is still running, I shall continue to be active on Wikipedia for 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, it's not as simple as doing it on the desktop - I have edited it a couple of times there but I prefer doing it on the computer device I am using.
• Do you think other people (friends, family etc.) know that you're a Wikipedia user, or a Wikipedian knows what your real name is? I think a couple of friends know I am on Wikipedia but currently not a lot. Only one Wikipedian has found out my real name and that is the number I am keeping it to for the foreseeable future.

User:Gnangarra – February 25, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

• somewhere back in 2005

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

• wanted to explain how a Kangaroo paw is polinated

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

• There was a lot of low hanging fruit and a lack of photographs back them that made it easy to edit. I think the community was more welcoming and allowed people to find a path without the strick pedantic enforcement of the rules. As someone who has run many workshops I discourage the use of Draft space tell people to directly create articles.

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

• there was no direct help there was a lot of encouragement to find your way without hard hitting big stick absolute must be my way or you'll get hammered instantly by editors. As editors now we need to put effort into letting people develop when they are being a net positive to sharing knowledge

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

• I plan to keep editing but there are some editors who put a serious chill on the fun side of exploring a new topic scraping together information as they demand ridiculous precision, depth, and defining of every little word as you create the story.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

• from a far and on the fringes, explored using some of the tools created to help others learn.

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

• my service provider is currently ranged blocked on en now that I have retired being an admin I cant edit from a mobile. For Wikimedia Commons I do a lot of photographs using my phone which I upload through the Commons App which is absolutely marvelous.

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

• The chilling affect of some editors need to be addressed, even though they arent actually breaking the rules or policies they are harmful to maintaining a positive experience and retaining new contributors. Gnangarra 13:20, 25 February 2024 (UTC)

User:Jenhawk777 – February 25, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Account created on 15 May 2017.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I felt there were problems with articles in my field that needed a more balanced and up to date view. Instead of just complaining, I decided to act.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? A warning might have helped. Some established editors get territorial and take it as a matter of principle that all newcomers should be bitten and barked at to see if they are tough enough to stay. I wasn't, at least back then I wasn't. My first interaction as a new editor was harassment until I left for over a year. Then I was notified by Admin that so many others had similar problems with that editor, they had been permanently banned from Wikipedia. It restored my faith that Wikipedia is overall a good place, that the wheels of justice may move slowly at Admin, but they do work, that Admin is scrupulously fair and bends over backwards to solve problems, but that eventually - not wanting to lose anyone - they will act to do what's best for the community. I have been brave and bold - and a little feisty - ever since. Backing down is no longer my first response. Since that unhappy beginning, I have met many more truly exceptional people. I want to list them all, but I will just say, with rare exceptions, people here are the best of the best - even those who disagree with me!
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

I had the very best of help. Through my most difficult time here, there were other editors encouraging me and trying to help me learn Wiki's many mysterious ways - I would not be here without Gråbergs Gråa Sång and User:Gerda Arendt. They are endlessly patient, kind and truly knowledgable. There is so much I still don't know, but they never get annoyed with my asking.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes.
• 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 I don't like it and only do so when out of town away from my desk.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

Wikipedia has been a great experience for me. I haven't had this much fun since grad school! I learn something new every day. I get to spend hours on research - my fave - then I get to write, and make friends all at the same time! I don't care that this is "just" online - Wikipedia editors are among the best people one could ever meet. We are all focused on the same goal: writing the best quality encyclopedia possible - and we all come from different backgrounds and views - yet here we are working together. I love that. I love Wikipedia!! Thank you for asking! Jenhawk777 (talk) 21:32, 25 February 2024 (UTC)

User:Doc James – February 29, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

Around July of 2008.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

Came across an article during a night shift that had errors and realized, after a bit of effort, that I could improve it.

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

Had some excellent guidance when I started from a User:Jfdwolff

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

Occasionally, over the years I cared a bit to much about content accuracy. Was reviewing too many contributions by others without enough time to work on new content myself.

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

Have mostly moved my English efforts to MDWiki, which is were I have edited primarily these last couple of years. I still very much enjoy reviewing the literature and find it's a better fit for me.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Yes have collaborated with WikiEd on a number of efforts. Was involved with starting this class which received a write up in the NYTs.[1] WikiEd provided support in subsequent years.

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

Have begun editing a bit on mobile. Currently it is rather clunky and I find I generally have to switch to desktop formatting on mobile. Find mobile is only useful for minor changes.

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

I have concerns for Wikipedia's long term future. We, as a movement have struggled to adopt, rich and interactive content such as video and graphs; we struggle with undisclosed paid editing; we struggle with advocacy editing; and we struggle with expanding our scope. Recently had a Wikipedian ask why we would need an article on dislocated finger and that one on joint dislocation should be enough. This perspective, I imagine, is part of the reason the road Wikipedians set off on their own. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 09:51, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

User:Crossroads – March 5, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? August 2018, though I think I did very rare IP edits before that to revert obvious vandalism I stumbled across.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? My earliest edits (aside from the aforementioned vandalism reverts) were to correct or remove content that superficially was sourced, but that I could tell was blatantly wrong, or out of step with what highest-quality sources actually said on the topic. Seeing such fringe ideas presented as fact, or as a major view, really annoyed me - much like this xkcd most of us have probably seen by now. Compounding this was that I had not previously seen Wikipedia to be wrong, having held it in high regard, so I had to fix it all the more.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? I feel I have learned a lot over these last 5 and a half years, and grown a lot as a person. Even in just the last year, honestly. There are many things I would have handled in at least a somewhat different manner in the past, had I had the experience I have now.
  One misconception that held me back from becoming an editor in the beginning for a while is the idea that most of Wikipedia's text is already carefully scrutinized for accuracy by many editors. I wonder how common this misconception is. In the beginning I actually fully expected all my edits to be reverted and the existing content vigorously defended. I think one thing that would help is, somehow, making it clearer to the public that Wikipedia needs more than just more text and more articles - it still needs scrutiny and updating of existing text and critical thinking about how sources are being chosen and used.
  Another word of advice I would give my past self is to strive to avoid letting any interactions become adversarial and to treat editing as a sort of academic exercise in spirit and tone (of course with the difference that instead of trying to arrive at the truth of the world as actual academics would, we instead try to arrive at representing expert opinions proportionately, since we avoid original research). This helps avoid other editors viewing oneself as a counter-POV-pusher, and makes bad faith editing/POV pushing all the more evident by contrast. Of course, this doesn't mean letting bad editing go unchallenged or refusing to address behavioral problems, but it does it make it easier to address in the long run.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Yes, in some cases other editors were helpful with constructive comments or pointers. I think it was helpful, and I'm not sure much more could realistically have been done other than me learning and growing with time.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes, to at least some degree.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Not directly, and sorry to say I've had a number of unhappy experiences as a result of student editing. In fact, some of the aforementioned fringe content I had to clean up in my early days I later found out was the work of a student editor who basically created a short essay arguing in favor of a marginal theory and posted it to an article as though it was the mainstream view. Other student editors have odd terminological quirks that they've tried to implement in their assigned articles. My advice to WikiEd is, if we must have student editing at all, please do whatever you can to drive home to them that this is not like any other writing they've done for school; and they must strive to reflect expert opinion on their assigned topic with due weight and NPOV.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yes, but I've almost always turned it to desktop mode. It's much easier for me when I can see a lot of text at once.
• Thanks for putting this together! Crossroads ^-talk- 02:47, 5 March 2024 (UTC)

User:Hydrangeans – March 7, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

A few years ago.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

A class I was in had a WikiEducation assignment that introduced me to Wikipedia and the idea of editing it.

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

Several things, probably. Here's just a smattering:

• Knowing how to make shortened references. I used the visual editor and thought the way it worked meant that I should just cite the whole book every time I referenced it—and I didn't paginate back then. I cringe thinking of those old edits...
• A dose of cynicism—or maybe realism, said more optimistically. The materials that WikiEducation provided me to learn about Wikipedia were very glowing and embraced a hyper-optimistic "hurray we're going to make information so accessible and it's going to be great and transformative and anyone can do it because it's so easy!" vibe. Everything was collaboration and learning, accessible and easy, sunshine and roses. It all leaned into the general reputation that Wikipedia has of being 'the one good thing about the Internet', of being a grand success story of education, access, mass collaboration, etc., "the encyclopedia anyone can edit". I would have liked it if someone had told me some of the troubles that Wikipedia has, instead of obliging me to find out about them by accident: the intensely particular style and tone Wikipedia has and the way one can get bitten for falling afoul of it with easy mistakes; bruising and brutal talk page conversations about article content, site policy, source reliability, etc.; subtle disinformation (like the myth of the clean Wehrmacht) getting so much circulation on so many pages; dismissive disrespect of academic scholarship despite policies that encourage us to cite such sources; or the frustrating and painful experience of discovering that quite a lot of community members (or at least a lot of vocal ones) like to rally around and and defend editors who harass, stalk, bully, etc.. I'm not necessarily trying to say Wikipedia's more bad than good, but I wish my introduction to Wikipedia had done more to prepare me for some of the deeply unpleasant experiences I have faced, instead of leaving me so Pollyannishly optimistic and kind of naive.
• Related to that—knowing that pages like Village Pump, the Administrator Noticeboard, the Reliable Sources Noticeboard, etc. existed would have helped, I think. When I saw behavior that violated policy, I had no idea there even was any place to which one could report such. The pages about harassment seemed to link to each other in circles and offer bland advice that felt like someone asking if I'd thought about just being nicer. Granted, that's sometimes the advice that gets given at such noticeboards anyway, but it helped to learn that avenues technically do exist.

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

There was the WikiEducation material, which did teach me how to format pages, make infoboxes and image boxes, etc. I don't remember there being much else. I remember feeling like I got proverbially bitten a lot, which is probably why I added WP:BITE to my user page.

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

I guess so. I enjoy the mechanics of Wikipedia. To some it's tedious, but there's something satisfying about creating citations, formatting pages, locating and uploading public domain images, etc. And there's something satisfying about demonstrating how well documented, in reliable secondary sources, something is. There have been some more positive interactions scattered among the gloomy ones. Though they are rare.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I think so, presuming it's the same initiative as the one that got me started editing, though that's the only interaction I've had with it, I think.

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

I haven't. I don't use smartphones for much and prefer computers in general, so I haven't really bothered trying to edit on mobile. I've read Wikipedia on mobile, and I've looked at page histories on mobile, though both feel pretty inconvenient. I guess I'm spoiled from getting used to a larger screen than a phone has.

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

Thanks for inviting answers to these questions. This was an interesting exercise. I hope you were able to get what you wanted out of this. Hydrangeans (she/her | talk | edits) 10:53, 8 March 2024 (UTC)

User:CambridgeBayWeather – March 9, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

Apparently back in June 2005.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

At the time I was busily involved in creating books for my Palm (PDA) and to share online. I was working on a book for rulers of the UK and after realising that information from Wikipedia was available for free and I could edit it. So I started editing.

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

Well given that my second ever edit was to add a template I'm not sure that I needed much help. Perhaps some on the social aspect of Wikipedia but editing seemed very easy. Especially as I had been creating similar things for the Palm. I suspect today starting like that would lead people to believe I was a sockpuppet .

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

Not really but there was a greater acceptance of newbie errors. People didn't get so upset when you made a mistake.

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

I would like to think so. I still enjoy editing although not as active as I once was I check in every few days

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No I haven't.

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

I have tried on the app and the mobile version. I find neither of them ideal but I suspect that has to do with my age. Even on a Samsung Fold I find the size is too small.

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

Before I started editing I had spent a couple of weeks reading up on Wikipedia, both internal policies and guidelines and external reviews. This helped with being ready to edit. Unlike a lot of people I didn't start editing as an IP but straight in with an account. CambridgeBayWeather (solidly non-human), Uqaqtuq (talk), Huliva 22:09, 9 March 2024 (UTC)

User:DreamRimmer – March 10, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I first learned about Wikipedia in 2015-16 when there was a Wikipedia workshop in my college hosted by Hindi Wikipedia enthusiasts. They encouraged everyone to join and contribute, but at that time, I wasn't interested. Later, while researching psychology for my sessional work, I turned to Wikipedia for information. As I prepared to go to another country for work, I frequently searched for information on beautiful cities and celebrities of that country on Wikipedia. Every five or six months when I revisited Wikipedia, I noticed grammar mistakes which I fixed, though I hadn't created an account because there was an option to edit pages without one. Then, life got busy, but in 2021, a friend asked me how to create a Wikipedia-style theme for my own website. I searched for how to make a website with similar options, leading me to mediawiki.org, where I read many tutorials about Mediawiki and created an account, thinking I could access more information with one. After that, I found myself opening English Wikipedia, searching for pages, and fixing any mistakes I saw. I was aware of basic policies because I had once read Help pages about how to create an article and how Wikipedia works. Despite this, I never found the time to open it again due to my real-life work. Then, in 2023, after changing my job and having more free time, I thought about fixing Wikipedia articles mistakes. Subsequently, I spent many hours every day reading about its policies and discussions. Seriously started editing in March 2023.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

See above.

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

I discovered that diving into the guidance pages and exploring the conversations in the Teahouse archives was helpful. Chatting with fellow editors on Discord also made a big difference. Plus, being somewhat tech-savvy, I found it pretty easy to navigate and get involved.

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

Lots of help! When I made mistakes, experienced users kindly reached out on my talk page to provide corrections and guidance. However, navigating Wikipedia's complexities alone initially was challenging.

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

Of course.

• 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 I prefer using a computer because I find the larger screen more comfortable for editing.

User:JML1148 – March 12, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

September 2021.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I was reading the article of my school out of curiosity and I remembered a fact that I thought would be cool to add. I decided to create an account to add it. I don't know why I didn't contribute under an IP address, I assume my IP range was blocked for some reason. I thought this would be a fun thing to do, and the rest is history.

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

I learnt a lot of Wikipedia's policies through randomly clicking through policies and reading them. For a newer editor, there's a lot of policy to have to know, often off by heart, and implement in a frequent basis. It can be quite daunting, particularly if you're not 100% sure that you want to edit. An abridged version of Wikipedia's policies that covers only the key points would have helped me so many times. If it does already exist, it needs to be advertised more to newer editors.

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

I didn't get much help as a new editor. I learnt how to edit mainly through hours of scrolling Wikipedia's policies and guidelines, as well as other pages. The best thing about being a new editor is that if you make a mistake, nobody really cares because you are learning - when I did make mistakes, the talk page templates that are used to warn people were very helpful to make me learn.

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

I hope so. I've been on and off with editing the past few months, because juggling school, family, life and Wikipedia is hard. I would certainly love to have all the time in the world to edit, though.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No. As much as I think it would be awesome to learn how to edit Wikipedia in school/university, as a new page patroller and an AfC reviewer, I've seen too many examples of bad articles in draftspace and mainspace from WikiEd contributors that the facilitators should have picked up on long before they are submitted for review. I know this is barely related to the question, but I have wanted to say this to someone for a long time.

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

I never understood the amount of criticism towards mobile editing, before I tried to do it. I think I tried to respond to a talk page message, and then I understood all of the criticism towards it. Most new editors are probably editing on mobile. The horribly designed interface it makes it very, very hard to do anything, which would have to dissuade at least some prospective editors from doing it more frequently.

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

This has been interesting. I wasn't invited to do this, instead, I found it through TarnishedPath's talk page. If I needed to be invited to do this or I've done something else wrong, please let me know. JML1148 ^{(talk | contribs)} 07:26, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

User:IgnatiusofLondon – March 17, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

This account dates to June 2023. I had a previous account from 2017, which had notable spurts of activity in 2018 and 2023. This account is a clean start, editing in different topic areas. I created it because I was quite embarrassed by some of my old contributions (poor-quality edits, immaturity in talk-page discussions, etc.). But I still identify as a new-ish editor, so it was something of a surprise to be invited to this interview project!

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I made my old account to improve Wikipedia's coverage of current affairs. While current affairs remained the majority of my contributions on that account, I grew to realise that I was most proud of edits to articles and sections in which I collated together sources scattered across the Internet that nobody had previously collated together. I particularly enjoyed learning about niche or interesting topics.

This account is more interested in the latter project. For me, Wikipedia is an educational recreation, where I can enjoy learning new things, particularly things nobody has bothered to document yet (at least in the English language), in my free time. One consequence is that many of my edits concern articles that aren't frequently edited or visited, which I balance by participating in community discussions and editing the occasional more-traversed article that I think I can improve. It's good to feel part of a community!

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

This might not be a conventional reply, but in the last few months, I've really benefitted from reading other users' userpages. A well-maintained userpage can help new editors understand what more experienced editors are doing in Wikipedia and all kinds of things new editors can do with their wikitime, such as WikiProjects, new page patrol, GA/FA/DYK, etc.. I took particular inspiration from UndercoverClassicist's userpage (which mine imitates). I don't think I have ever interacted with the editor before, but it was cool to see how I can compile statistics on my contributions and summarise my edits and topic interests.

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

The only help I can remember (and do excuse my forgetfulness) is the patience of other editors, who would helpfully and kindly point out my mistakes.

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

I think so, as real-life commitments allow!

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Nope. I do some tutoring for pocket money, and have previously wondered if I could incorporate WikiEd into it.

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

I only make minor edits on mobile. It's just too fiddly.

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

Thanks for the invitation to take part in this project. It's been lovely to reflect on my journey thusfar, and even lovelier to read some testimonies!

User:Skyshifter – March 17, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • For context, I started editing on pt.wiki. I'll try to respond to the questions with both my en.wiki and pt.wiki experiences. On pt.wiki, I created my account in 2016, but started editing constantly starting on January 2018.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • (pt.wiki): Between 2016 and 2017, I did very minor changes and created a single page through automatic translation (which has since been deleted). In January 2018, after doing vandalism (I was extremely young at that time), I was blocked for a day, and this really surprised me. I've always heard anyone could do anything on Wikipedia, but after being promptly reverted and blocked, I noticed, "wait, there's actually people who moderate this, and I can be a part of that and help them". After my block expired, I started reverting vandalism. I also kinda wanted to contest my teachers who were like "don't use Wikipedia for research, it sucks and anyone can edit it", and after that vandalism, I was kinda contributing to that narrative, so I decided to go completely against that to try to say "hey, Wikipedia has moderators... like myself".
  • I've started editing en.wiki more constantly (by that I mean like, daily) since mid-2023, and now it's my main wiki. This was mainly due to the toxic environment of pt.wiki, which is, in fact, a recurrent complaint there. Today, I feel like en.wiki is much better than pt.wiki, especially in the community aspect — I feel like it is much more welcoming. I feel less like a robot; I am always discovering new people, while on pt.wiki it's always the same people (many of them being toxic). I also feel like the general "work" I do here is more valued and reaches more people.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • I think some gadgets could be more publicized, especially the ones that aren't in "Preferences" but are extremely used. For example, just a few weeks earlier I discovered an extremely important, extremely used script that shows the reliability of sources, and I've been reviewing GAs for months, for example. I was definitely missing out, having to check WP:RSP manually every time.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • I got help from my mistakes, basically. On pt.wiki, when I created my first article from scratch, it was speedily deleted for not being notable. I then contacted the administrator responsible for that and they helped me understand the notability guidelines. I didn't have a mentor or anything like that, though. Even now on en.wiki I am still learning the differences between pt.wiki and en.wiki regarding MOS and stuff. I mean, I am also literally learning English while I edit, as I'm not fluent.
  • I only really improved by actually being bold by editing and creating articles, even if I wasn't completely sure of what I was doing. There were some mistakes here and there, but they would be corrected, and I'd try to correct that mistake in future articles.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • Yes. Wikipedia is my main hobby today. I don't know, I guess I just love the idea of contributing information, about topics I like, to the world. Whenever I see a topic and I'm like "yo, this is like, definitely notable for years and it still doesn't have an article", and I create that, it's a nice feeling. There's also a lot of projects that I want to finish, a lot of articles that I'm like "I want to bring this to GA/FA someday". I really want to accomplish these. There are many topics that I love in real life or in general, and I want them to have high quality articles on Wikipedia, For example, whenever I play a game and by the end of it I love it, I want that game to have a good quality article.
  • Sorry if I am exaggerating, I probably take Wikipedia too seriously, but yeah. It's important to note that, in my current situation, I can edit Wikipedia a lot, on a daily basis even. My life can change and maybe that won't be possible anymore (I'll hopefully not be the person that doesn't do important real life stuff just to edit Wikipedia). But I don't plan to stop editing Wikipedia entirely, no.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
  • No, I have not.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
  • I am writing this on mobile! However, I always open Wikipedia on a web browser using Desktop mode, so I don't use the app or the mobile website. It's fine, to be honest. I've created quite a few articles on mobile and even wrote a GA (when I say I'm extremely online on Wikipedia... I can't stop even when I'm not on PC). The main problem is just not knowing exactly how many lines a paragraph has on a traditional 16:9 screen, for example, or if the size of an image is right. It's definitely slower to write, and while not directly related to Wikipedia, searching for sources and all that is also harder. Because of that, I try to limit my mobile editing to minor edits, though there are some cases where I'm not home and some "breaking news" event happens that is clearly notable and I'm like, "ok this needs to be created like, right now".
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)
  • Honestly there were some questions above I might have responded slightly off-topic with what I really wanted to share, so I think what I'd write here is already up there. I do thank you for creating this page allowing people to talk about Wikipedia. Even if I'm on Wikipedia itself... I love talking about Wikipedia, so I really enjoyed answering these questions. I also just noticed the top of this page reads "This page is about experienced editors reflecting on their own experiences". Honestly, I think I'm kind of new to en.wiki still, so thank you for considering me an experienced editor, lol. I've also looked on some other responses and noticed I'm probably one of the longest ones, so I guess sorry for that...

Skyshiftertalk 19:36, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

Slightly edited on 23:01, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

User:John B123 – March 17, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? - 2014
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? - To add/improve articles about the sex industry which was poorly covered at the time.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? - A 'Dummy's Guide to Wikipedia' would have been useful. It's a steep learning curve when first editing WP. Although all the information is available, finding it is difficult until you know where to look.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? - Polly Tunnel was a great help when I started offering help and advice.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? - I edit less than I used to do due to commitments elsewhere but intend to continue editing as time permits.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? - Not directly but have cleaned up articles after they have been edited by students. I'm not convinced that WikiEd is that beneficial to students. Learning the intricacies of editing WP seems an extra burden on top of the subject they are learning.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? - I check my watchlist regularly on my mobile but usually wait until I'm on my tablet before editing. On the odd occasion I do edit on my mobile I switch to desktop view.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :) - Following on from Just Step Sideways comments above. I can imagine being an admin is a thankless task and on many occasions you will be wrong in somebody's eyes no matter what decisions you make. I haven't had any significant interactions with most of the admins, but those that I have had seem to fall into two groups. The first I have nothing but praise for, doing a difficult job with wisdom and patience. The second seem to view adminship exactly as a "trophy or a promotion" and take an attitude of "I'm an admin so therefore I'm right and everybody else doesn't know what they are talking about".

User:Spencer – March 18, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? January 2007
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? It looks like I did not know what I was doing with my very first edits, but shortly after I was removing vandalism. Soon, I had discovered the "internal workings" of Wikipedia, that is non-article spaces, and got hooked from there.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? To be honest I'm not too sure. I appreciate how I wasn't blocked off the bat for uninformed edits, but an introductory page earlier on would have been useful to help me get better familiar with Wikipedia policies.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? I think there was a little bit of trial by error and talk page feedback on things like the importance of referencing with reliable sources.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes, although may have some periods of waxing and waning. I've been an admin since 2008 (15? 16? years now), but I know our admin corps has been thinning out so still trying to stay as involved with AIV and WP:ITN as I'm able, at the expense of some of the content editing I did earlier on.
• 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? Maybe an edit here or these but I have a strong personal preference for desktop editing.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :) I got started editing pretty early, and I'm still only in my 20s (although barely lol).

User:PantheonRadiance – March 19, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

Technically in 2019, but I didn't consider myself a full-on editor until April 2021.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

To whittle the branching story to a twig, I've read Wikipedia pages since I was a child, but didn't consider editing until after the passing of a favorite internet personality of mine. However, the impetus for me to fully edit as a hobby was the deletion of another article of a personality I enjoyed (emphasis on the -ed). After a while I decided it would be a fun hobby.

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

I think I would have benefited from playing The Wikipedia Adventure first as it would've been a fun way for me to ingratiate myself to the site's culture. Most of my knowledge came from merely studying the policies and guidelines like a law student cramming for the Bar exam. Although I found multiple good resources I still use to this day, I've heard how daunting it's been for newer editors to move forward because of the vast rules. From what I've seen of the adventure, it looks like a solid form of gamification.

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

When I first started, I mainly had to commit the policies and guidelines to memory. I occasionally asked editors about certain processes like AfC and reliable sourcing. Without delving too much into specifics, I did get the help I needed and it was mostly positive, but there were moments where I felt better off learning for myself.

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

It depends. Assuming I have enough time on my hands going forward and the AI takeover doesn't render editing obsolete (just joking… I hope 😐), then I'd be more than happy to continue.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I have not, but I'm sure that it's helped plenty of those who have been involved with it. I would have liked to take a class like that in school.

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

I'm editing this on mobile right now! On one hand it's convenient for posting a quick one anytime you need or want. I also like the layout and design for the most part. On the other hand, it can be a bit cumbersome to add citations as quickly as possible, and I'd like to see some of the desktop elements in mobile mode too (like the GA/FA article grading system icons especially).

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

Thank you for the survey! I always appreciate sharing my feedback on Wikipedia, and I look forward to answering more in the future.

User:Skysmith – March 19, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

21 years ago. In fact I added some non-US presidents before registering an account to test waters first. Then I begun to write about things I know something about. Mostly using books as sources.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

Out of curiosity. Also to kind of an excuse to organize notes I had collected over the years for other purposes. And use my physical library for something relevant.

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

I'm kind of sad to say that I am used to environments that require you to learn as you go. At least at the time I discovered things myself. I am not sure if that is the case any longer, rules and other things have changed rather lot in couple of decades.

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

Not particularly. I have got couple of congrats for making some articles understandable but that's about it.

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

Probably, at least in the capacity of updating my Missing Topics pages and reverting nonsense when I have time. In these days the requirements for sources of articles have raised to academic level (sentence-specific notes and inline citations) so I have found it hard to start any new articles, even if I have had plans. I have other writing to do as well.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Nope.

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

Mobile in general is too clumsy for me to use for this purpose.

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

It seems that fashions change. When I started, there were lots of short articles about individual Pokemons, Star Trek and Star Wars planets that were barely mentioned in the relevant medias (I blame Star Trek Omnipedia) and secondary and tertiary characters of the Simpsons. Now there seems to be lots of articles about soccer players with same names as prominent scholars, scientists, politicians and so on. People certainly have different priorities. And there seems to be more deletionists now.

I am also sad to see that there are lots of articles in limbo. When I have been checking my Missing Topics pages, often I find that article exists in draftspace – and has been there for rather long time. According to New pages Feed the oldest article is 5799 days old – which would mean it has been in limbo for 15 years. Also I have seen someone's new contributions moved to draftspace immediately and mostly languishing there. I would think that would be rather, shall we say, discouraging. Yes, some of those are not worth including but those should at least be deleted. And No, I am not touching subjects I know nothing about.

It seems that standards of what constitute proper article mean that "starting with a stub is fine" is no longer true. One must begin with academic writing standards.

- Skysmith (talk) 20:08, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

User:KylieTastic – March 20, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Created an account November 2006 but didn't actually edit until September 2013
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I can't remember why I created an account, but I think I just liked the idea of building an encyclopaedia and thought I could help. My first main-space edit was to revert vandalism, as was much of my initial editing. So I guess I started actual editing to protect the content from vandals.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? If there had been a welcome or something after creating an account maybe I would have started editing in 2006 rather than 2013.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Not really as far as I remember.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes probably. Sometimes real-life issues have to take precedence. Sometimes the relentless vandalism, self promotion, wiki-bureaucracy wears me down and I edit less or stop for a while, but I think I'm likely to keep editing, but I may change focus... maybe to more pure content creation
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? Nope
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Just a few edits. I have a small smartphone so it's extra impractical, but even on a larger phone or tablet it's just not a practical experience for me. I read messages and review notifications on the phone/tablet, but leave editing to the computer

User:DisillusionedBitterAndKnackered – March 20, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

2002

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I saw something that annoyed me too much to leave it alone. Probably a misspelling of Middlesbrough! That's been a theme for me for some time ...

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

Supportive mentor.

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

Didn't really have help but built relationships with a couple of people about (eg) classical music. What worked was supportive chat and what did not work was lecturing/hectoring.

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

Sadly, yes ... I keep not-quite giving up.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Nope

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

I have, when bored or desperate. I don't like it for complex pages – I can't see where I am.

User:ltbdl – March 22, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • 2020
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • honestly? vandalism
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • would have been nice if someone told me there were policies and guidelines
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • no
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • as long as people keep adding crap to wiki, i'll be removing it
• 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?
  • it's horrible. highlighting text is basically impossible, you can't delete linebreaks, sometimes what is displayed is different from what you're actually typing, etc. i do it anyway because i don't always have access to my computer
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)
  • this is still the funniest thing on the site. nothing will top it

User:Apparition11 – March 24, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? Probably 2007 as an IP, 2008 with an account.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I read Wikipedia a lot and would occasionally stumble upon typos, errors, and vandalism. When I did, I would fix them. It took a while, but I eventually noticed the recent changes button. Then, I started seeking out and reverting vandalism after seeing how common it was. Sometime or another, I found Wikipedia space and started seeing the structure in the policies and guidelines. After studying those, I became hooked.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? It's probably better now, but back then, a quicker introduction to the policies and guidelines would have helped immensely. Even though I was making a few edits, I had no idea how the sausage was made. I really had no formal introduction to what was expected of editors until I received a welcome template 6 months after I started making small edits.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? Not particularly. As stated above, I didn't even receive a welcome for about 6 months. That felt like a badge of honor at the time. A month or so later, I was granted rollback without requesting it. That was when I really felt that my edits were appreciated and really mattered. That was when I really started feeling like a Wikipedian and not just somebody making a few edits.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Indeed. While I have slowed down a lot and don't have the time that I used to, I will generally check in before I leave for work, when I get home, and a little when work is slow. It is still ingrained in my daily routine.
• 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? I do when I edit at work. I use the desktop view. I generally save bigger edits for when I get home and just make less nuanced edits such as reverting spam/vandalism.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :) Thanks for the invitation to fill out the survey! It's been fun looking back to when I first started and thinking about how much Wikipedia and I have changed!

User:Chaotic Enby – March 24, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • Started sporadically reading and editing French (and then English) Wikipedia when I was a kid, although I really seriously got to editing when I created this account in 2022.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • Because it's fun to add knowledge that will help everyone who might see the articles I edit. Also because writing (and researching) is fun, and I like to do fun things that happen to be constructive (and, often, to teach me stuff too). Also also, the community.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • Finding the Wikimedia Discord earlier, it really helped me with building a sense of community.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • Not really from what I remember?
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • Hopefully, although of course real life things still happen and I can't predict anything.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
  • Nope!
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
  • Reading on mobile is cool when you're in public transit or something, but editing is absolutely awful for anything more than fixing a typo.

User:LunaEclipse – March 29, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

Circa 2017, used to edit as an IP before registering as a user in late 2018. I didn't really get the grasp of editing Wikipedia, notability and all that stuff until I made this account last year.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

Generally out of frustration that articles had issues and nobody fixed them.

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

The Teahouse. Really lovely people there, I would recommend it to any new users here.

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

No, not at the time (late 2018-early 2019). I got a bunch of warnings for vandalizing the September 11 attacks article, because I used to be a stupid tinfoil hat type of person and a very gullible child that would often believe in conspiracy theories.

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

Most likely, if I have free time.

• 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?

Between "sometimes" and "rarely". Editing on a computer is less of a pain in the ass.

User:Lustiger seth – March 31, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

2003, and 2004 i created an account (at dewiki)

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

i liked the idea of creating a collaborative collection of knowledge and was suprised that the wikipedia just worked and had some well-prepared infoamtion. and i wanted to give something back by adding some missing information (about mathematics).

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

i don't remember.

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

as far as i remember:

i was lucky, because as i was a tech guy, so i did not need technical help. furthermore i did not have any conflicts with other users at the beginning.

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

yes.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

User:Cacycle/wikEd: yes, i'm using user:Cacycle/wikEdDiff.js for a very long time now. ;-)

(iow: no, i guess i've never heard of Wiki Education Foundation before this question.)

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

yes. it sucks (because of the lack of a good keyboard, browser/text-editor short-cuts, ...), because everything needs more time.

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

at least in dewiki, it would be great, if we could simplify the notability rules (relevanzkriterien), because they are one major reason for conflicts between users.

i would also think it would be good if a prerequisite for being an admin was that you attend an online communication course organized and paid for by WMF. and admins should have in their catalog of measures, in addition to user bans, the option of requiring someone to attend a communication course if they want to continue contributing to wikipedia. :-)

-- seth (talk) 19:49, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

User:Dr. Blofeld – April 5, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

In around spring 2005, but I didn't join create an account until June 2006.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I saw massive potential in the website for coverage and saw extreme systematic bias towards American and western culture and sports and poor coverage of some very important topics in many parts of the developing world.

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

I would have appreciated being taught to slow down and build it one brick at a time, rather than trying to do everything at once.

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

Yes, User:Pegship and User:Darwinek I remember being very helpful and showing me how to reference etc. The only thing which didn't work was a few rude editors turning up on my talk page complaining about my content.

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

Yes, though I have slowed down very significantly since my early days on here.

• 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?

I've made a number of minor edits on an iPad, but consider a mobile too small and fiddly for editing Wikipedia.

User:Ingratis – April 5, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? - In 2005, under a different user name (to which I forgot the password during a long absence). I never edited as an IP address - it seemed insecure.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? - Curiosity - I used to work with a library, where the librarians were very dismissive of Wikipedia as a reference tool (they still are), and I'd never heard of it till then, so I went to take a look and got hooked on fixing the mistakes.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? - The ability to distance myself from / switch off from Wiki dramas - I hope I've developed it somewhat since.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? - Absolutely none.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? - Maybe... I've got to admit I'm finding it increasingly dull. Also, I get increasingly annoyed at the hard-line deletionists at AfD and also at the stupider inclusionists (mentioning no names on either side). I'm also not thrilled by the spread of the use of DISCORD.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? - No! I've seen articles on my watchlist badly spoilt after WikiEd interventions and am very unconvinced of the value of it.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? - I tried it a couple of times and hated it. It was very awkward. I like having a large screen and a proper keyboard and also having a good reason not to be on Wikipedia and not to be on my mobile.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :) - this is (I think) the first time since 2005 that anyone has asked for my opinion on anything - thanks!

User:Tim riley – April 5, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

2005

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I thought the concept admirable and felt it appropriate to pitch in as best I could.

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

There was no Tearoom in those days (at least I don't think so) but some early explanation of the basics - proper citation, no personal opinions etc would have helped. I think things are better now in that regard.

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

Some wonderful help from experienced editors, including the sorely missed Brian Boulton, leading by example and giving gentle steers when necessary.

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

Yes.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Not knowingly. Been to several editathons, if they count.

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

No. Can't stand mobile 'phones - so fiddly.

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

I often review at GAN, PR and FAC, and one thing I try to keep in mind, and wish everyone did, is that it is wrong to approach reviewing with the mindset "I would write this differently and therefore so must you". Hope these few comments suffice. Tim riley talk 12:15, 5 April 2024 (UTC)

User:Davey2010 – April 5, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

2010 (became heavily active from 2013 onwards)

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I originally started off as an IP in 2010 editing the Strood article here and there[2][3], After getting fed up of having a new IP and losing my contributions every day, I decided to to create an account in October 2010 and have loved editing and giving our readers knowledge since then.

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

A mentor would've definitely helped me back then - From what I can remember I didn't read any of the introductory pages - I just jumped straight in, took each day as it came and began to find my footing as the months went on.

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

I did, Jac16888 and Endofskull are names I'll never forget in my lifetime! - Both editors guided and helped me in 2010 despite me probably testing their patience more than anyone!, During 2013 I was guided and helped by various other editors such as Charlesdrakew, Wilbysuffolk and Cindamuse (may she rip) all of whom I'll always be internally grateful too.

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

Yes.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Nope.

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

Yes, tried https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page many moons ago and hated it, never looked back. Quite happy using the desktop version! :), also never used the Wikipedia app.

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

Thank you for the invitation to fill out this reflection page, it's been nice not only sharing my reflection but also going back and revisiting the past too, With the exception of my incivility and perhaps a better name I would do it all over again!, Thanks again.

User:Hawkeye7 – April 5, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

  I created my account in June 2005, but only made occasional changes. I started editing in earnest in December 2006, and have been editing on a fairly regular basis ever since. One of my earliest edits was to the page of Virginia Haussegger, a local Canberra journalist. I was upset that her article misspelt her surname, and corrected this. Back then the search function was not as good as it is now. I was appalled at how bad the Wikipedia was, and how much work was required to bring it up to a usable standard.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

  I was contacted about an error in a Wikipedia page that I had written. My response was that I had not written any Wikipedia articles, but on checking I found that the page had largely been copied from a web page of mine. I created an account and corrected the error. Later, I retrospectively authorised the copyvio by re-licensing my pages under a creative commons licence. I have been soft on copyvio ever since. Another editor encouraged me to get more deeply involved, and I attended a meet up. It turned out to be the largest one we ever had in Canberra. Over the Christmas break in 2006 I had a go at rewriting an article related to the subject of my doctoral thesis. I quickly ran into conflict with another editor, but convinced him in short order that I knew what I was talking about. Initially I worked on articles and biographies related to the Second World War in the South West Pacific. In 2012 I began a ten-year effort to bring the articles related to the Manhattan Project up to standard. The final article, Hanford Engineer Works was promoted to featured earlier this year.

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

  I found a copy of of Phoebe Ayers's How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It in a remainder bin. This would have been extremely useful to have had back in 2006, or even 2008 when it was written. It badly needs updating, but I still recommend it. In recent times, I have documented procedures of our Military History project. Too much has been left to individuals remembering how to do things. One of the biggest hurdles in the beginning was an overwhelming sense of how big Wikipedia was, and how much work it needed. Fixing it was beyond my ability. I had to come to terms with this to start editing in earnest. There remains a tension between editing articles simply for the enjoyment of it, and the fact that in some narrow topic areas I am world expert, and may be the only editor who can bring an article up to scratch.

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

  What I had was encouragement. Other editors encouraged me to try editing articles, and later to submit them for review. At a meet up, I was encouraged to submit my first article to FAC. For the most part, I have navigated the complexities of editing Wikipedia on my own, gradually discovering each part when I needed to. This includes technical subjects like writing templates, modules, and bots. Learning is a key part of engagement with Wikipedia, as it follows from the educational mission. I got advice from the Village Pump (Technical) and then figured out how to merge the rocket template with the nuclear reactor one for nuclear-powered rockets. Collaboration with other editors has mainly been in the form of me writing an article, and other editors proofing and reviewing rather than collaborative writing. The only time I have been involved in co-writing articles was when I was roped into the History of the Paralympics in Australia Project. I have worked with a couple of wiki photographers, who are great.

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

  For the foreseeable future. I have slowly been editing less often, but still start the day by checking the Wikipedia.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

  Not really. I have been involved with teaching undergraduates how to use Wikipedia at the University of Queensland. My sense is that for the generation for whom the Web and the Wikipedia has always been there, there is a lack of curiosity about how it got there. One of my professors was told that everything was available on the internet. That they were talking to to someone responsible for putting it there was not realised.

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

  I did do some editing on the iPad for a time, but found it very frustrating. You had to chase some of the controls around the screen and I keep accidentally hitting rollback. Nowadays I only edit on the desktop and laptops. I use the desktop view everywhere, even on the phone.

• Anything else you wish to share?

  I will be in the Washington, DC, area at the end of April, and in Paris at the start of September if anyone is interested in meeting up.

User:AP 499D25 – April 14, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

It was on a lovely afternoon on 1 October 2022 that I created my Wikipedia account and published my first edits.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

At some point I got annoyed and bugged enough with factual errors, layout issues, typos, missing data and excessive / inappropriate information on various pages, that I started editing Wikipedia to correct them myself, rather than letting and waiting for others to fix them.

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

I can't think of anything that would've helped me more really, the system was already pretty friendly to me as a new editor with the "here's this, here's that" popup messages, the various Help: and Wikipedia: info pages and whatnot.

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

I didn't ask for much help from other Wikipedians as I was able to self-learn most of my way around editing tools, source coding and even counter-vandalism.

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

I very likely will, but how much time I will be able to regularly spend on edits in the foreseeable future is uncertain to me. I'm gonna enter a full-time university course or a job soon, leaving me with less free time for edits and additions.

Another issue for me is having to deal with sockpuppets and abusive users that persistently make disruptive edits on some pages that I edit frequently. It's such a big burden on me that kinda makes me want to go away from editing.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No. I don't think my school ever offered that.

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

The closest I've been to editing on mobile is clicking the edit button to inspect the source code of a page, but I've never published a mobile edit before. I don't like editing from my mobile phone (iPhone SE 2nd gen) because of the cramped view you get, the editing tools being difficult to find and use (how do I even add a citation?!), the slowness of the mobile touch keyboard, and lastly but not least, I don't feel like signing my Wikipedia account into any other devices than my desktop computer at home, because of security concerns.

There are some times when I tried to purge the cache of a page on mobile by publishing a dummy edit, but unfortunately the mobile web view does not let you publish dummy edits – the submit button is greyed out unless you make changes to the page.

On a mildly related note, I did once however publish a sandbox test edit on my Playstation 4 game console using its built-in web browser, and I was blown away that I could make Wikipedia edits from a device that's meant for playing video games. Obviously it's cumbersome and time-consuming to enter text using a game controller, however it's worth noting the PS4 lets you plug a USB keyboard and mouse in, so you could probably get away using a PS4 for regular Wikipedia edits!

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

Most of my work on Wikipedia is copyediting (e.g. fixing typos and errors, improving visual style / layout), adding citations, updating information, adding new content to an article, as well as patrolling the recent changes for disruption and unconstructive edits when I'm bored at times. However, over the 1.5 year course of being here, I think I've only ever created two or three articles. The notability guidelines are a bit complicated for me to understand and grasp, which is the big thing I'm afraid of when thinking about creating new articles. I can't believe there are some people out there that are able to create Featured Article (FA) quality articles almost entirely on their own!

I've had thoughts of editing Wikipedia as long as 7 years ago; sometimes I regret not starting my editing career back then, or at least a few years earlier. I think the reason why I didn't start earlier is because I'd always thought to myself, 'why bother creating an account when other people will eventually come and fix the mistakes I see?'. But now I regret it a bit.

In the year and several months coming up to the creation of my account, I would often "lurk" around, looking through the editing histories of pages I frequently visit, the contributions of some users on those pages, as well as reading through various Help: and Wikipedia: info pages. Then the temptation to edit finally bit me and I joined.

By the way this weird 'AP 499D25' username was chosen because the other better-sounding names I had in mind were either already used up or not allowed, I didn't wanna pick the nice nickname I use on gaming and chat platforms, and also I didn't really thought I would become quite the 'big' editor I am today, back then – i.e. "I didn't care" much. I know I can rename my account (I even asked how many times you can rename your account, and apparently there is no limit) but I still haven't come up with a much better name that I like as of yet. — AP 499D25 (talk) 01:56, 14 April 2024 (UTC)

User:TrademarkedTWOrantula – April 14, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • Well, on this account, December 2023. I've actually been editing since April of that year under the name TrademarkedTarantula.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • While I was resting at my relative's house in the Philippines, I was pretty bored, so I checked out Wikipedia to learn more about the town I was staying in. One thing led to another (I even searched up the airport I was in), and now I'm here, staying up until 11:00 PM figuring out if an article has formatting errors. I started creating articles because I felt there was something missing in Wikipedia, and I was like, "Wow, nobody has written this? Welp, let's get to work!"
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • Easy. I didn't know what a reliable source was when I started editing Wikipedia, so I thought adding every source I could find to this article would make it better. With the help of Vrxces (my favorite editor IMHO), he gave me loads of advice that really set a clear path for me. I would've also wished I knew that perfection wasn't required and that I shouldn't have compared myself to others.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • Mostly learned by myself (with a few Teahouse questions). I tried to be bold on most of my edits, and when they are undone, I try to learn why that happened and what I can do to avoid that mistake. (A bit corny, but it works :D)
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • What answer is there left? I'm deep enough into the Wikipedia rabbit hole...
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
  • Nope.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
  • Once. It was because I needed to upload a gameplay screenshot for Letterpress, and this account was just about to be autoconfirmed at the time. Other than that, I don't usually edit on mobile (too clunky + I prefer to keep my Wikiaddiction to PC only).
• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?
  • Okay, picture this. A side window with the Manual of Style in it. Why? You can look up rules without ever having to leave the editing space. (Answered 20 June 2024)
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)
  • Does anyone else listen to music while they edit Wikipedia? I do C:

User:CursedWithTheAbilityToDoTheMath – April 17, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

July of 2023

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I believe I first noticed a word on the page Addison's disease that didn't have a wikilink but I thought should and I made the edit but I believe it was an IP edit.

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

Probably learning how to properly paraphrase and reword content. I struggled a lot with this when I first started editing (and still do at times) but I wish I had learnt how to do that before making major edits.

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

I didn't really have much help aside from the wikiproject medicine where I spend a lot of time. Finding articles that needed a lot of improvement really worked well for me as they somehow feel less overwhelming than articles that have lots of content. Creating new articles for really rare diseases hasn't worked out great for me as it's hard to find good sources.

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

Yes!

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Considering I don't know what WikiEd is, no.

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

Yes I have, I believe my first-ever edit was mobile. I much prefer editing on my laptop but I'll occasionally make small edits or reply to people on mobile.

User:Di (they-them) – April 23, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • I don't remember the exact time off the top of my head, but I believe I was in middle school. I’m currently 21.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • I started out just making minor edits, such as fixing typos or adding images. I used Commons much more than Wikipedia at first, but I started to use Wikipedia more later.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • I think that knowing that visual editor could generate an automatic citation would've been incredibly useful. In the early days I would manually fill out the cite website template, which was a bit tedious.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • I didn't really seek out help for the first few years of me using Wikipedia, but I think that's ok because I only did small stuff. When I began writing more seriously, the community on WP:Discord was immensely helpful, and it's helped me make many friends.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • Absolutely, this website has changed my life for the better and I love it. Wikipedia is surely flawed, but I genuinely believe that it's one of the greatest achievements of human collaboration and I'm glad to be part of it.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
  • I have not!
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
  • I have edited on mobile (this edit is on mobile actually) although I prefer to use my laptop. The mobile app is simply atrocious, but the mobile web editor is fine.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)
  • I think that's all :)
• Di (they-them) (talk) 05:41, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

User:ThatOneWolf – April 30, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

My Wikipedian history is well described in my user page, so for a good paragraph about it look over there, but I'll sum it up. Basically, I started reverting vandalism as an IP in late October of 2023, and I just decided, like, to make the account. The account was logged in as created on November 1, 2023, at 3:18 PM UTC, which would have been 11:18 AM in local time for me.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

Again, there's more of a history on my user page, but I'll sum this up too. Originally, I was on the Minecraft Wiki, which I've been on since early October of 2023, and am still active there. I came here to learn about things, as there are Wikipedia links there, and eventually it just kind of merges with the story above.

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

Well, I kind of figured everything out, I don't really know what else could have helped, it definitely wouldn't have been here, if anything it would be from the Minecraft Wiki, as I was established there by the time I came here. Even there, I can't find anything I really could have used as help.

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

I mainly just read help pages, that's basically what did it for me.

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

Oh yeah, definitely.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Not really, I've looked at it but nothing past that.

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

It's a last resort for me. I'll use it if I have nothing else, but if I have access to a computer, I'll use that.

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

Thanks for the time ;)

User:Relativity – April 30, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

7 April 2022— wow, it's been over two years!

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I was editing other smaller wikis, and really enjoyed it. However, I quickly became frustrated since there was hardly any traffic to those wikis and it felt like my contributions didn't really matter to them. That was when I had a total brain wave, and realized that Wikipedia was a wiki, and had millions of visitors per day. Also, I knew a bit of WikiMarkup, which did make the transition easier :)

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

Probably if I got a bit more encouragement. I felt like I was mostly screwing up with my editing, and it would have really helped if someone came out and said, "hey, you might have made a few mistakes, but that's part of learning, and overall you're doing great." Also, I was struggling with finding out what my "niche" was on Wikipedia.

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

I didn't really have help as a new editor. I mean, I did ask questions on the Teahouse and whatnot (which did help), but I think that I tried to mostly keep to myself.

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

I don't see myself ever wanting to stop editing Wikipedia. I mean, I think that I will take Wikibreaks often, but I think that Wikipedia is an interest that really goes along with all of the stuff I want to do. I edit because it's fun, and because I want to make sure that everyone gets quality information.

• 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?

I've never edited on mobile. I prefer a laptop— I hate that tiny on-screen keyboard on phones.

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

I think that we should make some links more prominent for new users. I was thinking WP:ADOPT, because we have the mentorship module thing, which I am part of, but all we really do there is answer questions. User adoption is much more personalized. Personally, I really like User:WormTT/Adopt. Wikipedia:Task Centre is another link that I would want to make more prominent because I was struggling a lot with finding things to do on Wikipedia, and I think that that would help some users.

User:Warofdreams – May 2, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I started back in 2003. I discovered the site while searching for some information, and it took a while to understand how it worked, but it would only have been a week or two later that I made my first edit.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I liked the idea of collaborative editing and making knowledge freely available, and saw some topics I was interested in which weren't well covered - back then, lots of topics were missing or only covered by stubs or unreferenced articles.

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

Back then, there were lower expectations and fewer policies, so diving straight in worked pretty well. I do wish I'd started referencing articles properly from the start; every now and then, I still get a query about the source of something I added in those early days, and it can be tough to remember.

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

I had help in the sense that I worked with other editors, talked and learned from them, but not from a specific mentor. Helping establish some policies in areas where basic standards were needed worked well. Creating articles, particularly relating to Africa, and seeing them grow and improve as others worked on them was particularly satisfying. It's hard to think of what didn't work, but I guess sometimes writing an article which wasn't clearly notable and then seeing it deleted could be dispiriting.

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

Absolutely, I still enjoy learning about topics, editing and creating articles.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No, though when I did my PhD, I did some teaching on using Wikipedia when writing essays.

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

Only to make minor corrections if I spot something obvious, it's too cumbersome to make more substantial edits.

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

I've been involved in a few interesting things over the years, setting up Wikimedia UK, and being a bureaucrat for 20 years. Who knows what the future will hold? Thanks for your interest!

User:Shonebrooks – May 3, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

March 2, 2006

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I can't say for certain, but I think it might have been because my employer at the time decided to deploy a wiki-based knowledge management tool, and Wikipedia seemed like the logical place to learn the basics so I could make more meaningful contributions to that other system. I didn't realize at the time that different Wiki environments may differ from each other significantly.

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

WP has a lot of rules; I mean A LOT OF RULES. I still struggle to find applicable policies to any given situation without a lot of searching, hunting, and clicking around. That led to me running afoul of some of those rules that don't always align with what one might assume is "common sense." That nearly got me banned from WP without me realizing what I had done wrong.

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

I believe help was available, but it wasn't clear how to make the best use of it. The Help content is robust, but it is also deep, thick, and a bit labyrinthine. My experience with seeking help from other editors has had mixed results. Some have been kind and truly helpful. Others have been insulting and condescending. Still others have been punitive and cruel, to the point where I seriously considered leaving WP forever and nearly did so.

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

Yes, there are so many ways to be involved. Some provide creative outlets. Others feel more like the "mindless" pastime typically associated with video games like Tetris or Angry Birds. Regardless of which activity I engage in, I learn much from being exposed to the various articles and source materials.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No, I haven't heard of that. Although, I reckon it could have appeared on various pages that I was scanning when looking for help on some specific matter.

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

Yes, but in a very limited way. I find editing much easier and more fulfilling on my laptop. I'm a lot less likely to make a silly editing error on my laptop. That and my Wikipedia app seems to shanghai my efforts to use the desktop version of the site on my phone. I've mostly given up on that.

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

I have observed that numerous WP policies are rather subjective or contextual in nature which leads to potential conflict between editors in good faith who arrive at different conclusions concerning the practical application of those policies. I realize a certain degree of flexibility and contextualization is required for an international and far-reaching undertaking like this, and it could be argued that the project's success owes something to such an approach; but providing more objective guidance on policies that leave a lot to individual interpretation would probably reduce the frequency of conflict between editors. Also, I feel anonymous edits should have been eliminated a long, long time ago.

User:NoobThreePointOh – May 8, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I first started editing Wikipedia around late 2020 anonymously as an IP. Eventually, I moved on to an account, Death Brushing, which is no longer in use. On January 28 of 2021, I eventually got on this account and started editing from here onwards.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I felt bored of just sitting in my house and doing nothing. Especially when I was in my freshman year of high school, I would always just browse Wikipedia, looking for something to read. Later on, I thought, "Why not edit Wikipedia to show that I have great dedication and helpfulness to improve the encyclopedia? I could do that and try to make the site a better place." This inspired my journey to start editing and I feel great about it.

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

If I could go back in time, I would certainly go back to when I first started in January 2021. This is where I might have gotten help from experienced editors and understood how to properly make edits so that it would be easier to figure out my mistakes. Now that it has passed, I do feel a little sad that I never hopped on Wikipedia much earlier (preferably around 2018) and edited from there. At that year, my editing skills would in fact be much more professional.

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

I sadly did not get help as a new editor. As for what worked and didn't, I still have no answer to that.

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

I most definitely will keep editing. I want to continuously edit until I drop dead. It really makes me enjoy Wikipedia a lot more and relieves me of my stress.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Mmmm... not really.

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

Yes indeed. It's a lot more clunkier compared to working on a PC or desktop computer, that's for sure. Before late April of this year, I remember Twinkle used to be completely useless. Not a single button (including the restore button) would work at all. The only button I remember that would only work pretty much once was the "welcome" button. Which is somewhat pointless, since I don't welcome people a lot. Also, starting from May, I noticed Twinkle did start to function a lot better, allowing me to revert edits on mobile. However, if I had to pick a choice between using Wikipedia on a computer or on my phone, I'd choose my computer. While I can edit on my phone (especially since it's a handheld device and portable), the computer is better for doing complex tasks.

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

I had been known for getting into multiple conflicts in February of this year, most of them being for either talk page issues, or simply minor nitpicks. Fortunately, I have improved myself and hope that I won't make as many mistakes when I grow up.

User:HLHJ – May 19, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I'm moderately sure it was between 2003 and 2005. The first edit in my history is in January 2007.

I'd edited H2G2 a tiny bit, before I was aware of the existence of Wikipedia, and possibly before Wikipedia existed. The editing interface was awkward and slow. Wikipedia was much better, essentially like hand-writing static HTML, which I'd done a fair bit of (not unusual, for people online in the 1990s).

I edited exclusively as an IP for some time; my IPv4 addresses were not identifying, I hadn't considered harassment, and I had no reason to register. Unregistered users could do pretty much anything then (including create articles, which I think I did). After I registered, I still sometimes made edits as an IP, mostly from unrestricted public computers (in libraries, computer labs, etc.).

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

Because the information on Wikipedia was frequently inadequate (and, rarely, wrong), and I could fix, very easily. Then there would be more useful information on the internet. I could look it up again easily if I forgot. Because I liked writing encyclopedic content.

The copyleft on my contribs and the democratic governance were important deciding factors; not enough to get me to edit, but without them, I'd have gone elsewhere. Wikipedia was (perhaps not entirely intentionally) built to the standards of the early internet, and so I had confidence in it from the start.

Context. Post-ARPANET, the internet was made by 1980s academics who wanted to share information and collaborate easily. In the eighties it was very villagelike; by convention, you gave the entire world write access to your server. If a random reader saw that the info you were publishing was a bit wrong or out-of-date, they could edit the files on your server to fix. It was polite to use your e-mail address as your login name, so the server admin could contact you. Almost every server was an open relay, because that worked better. Good faith was a safe assumption. In the 1990s, it became clear that everyone was coming online, and we thought that the ability to freely share infomation would create a utopian gift economy for data, and all the monopolies in the information sector would evaporate in the sunlight of competition. Oh, and democracy would become global, because autocracies of the day relied on censorship; if people had free communications, they'd tear down the remaining walls.

Beliefs that today's online landscape is inevitable make this sound fairly idiotic (it was literally quite the reverse). The best way to explain it now is probably "the whole internet working like Wikipedia".

• Why do you keep editing Wikipedia?

My motives for editing have not changed much, but I've added a few.

1. Wikipedia has, I think, become more useful to poor and marginalized people who had little access in the early years of the century. So I've added to my alturistic motivations. Wikipedia ameliorates some of our now-more-conspicuously-needless barriers to knowledge.
2. Wikipedia's reach means that if I keep meeting a popular misconception, I can fix. Things like "human evolution has stopped" and "the ceiling of Notre-Dame is burning". I honestly think there are fewer of these than there used to be. I think I, too, hold fewer misconceptions of that sort than I used to. Fact-checking has gotten easier. When I started editing, one frequently had to explain what Wikipedia was in casual conversation; now "Let me check Wikipedia" is used to settle casual conversational disagreements.
3. Wikipedia is a large democratic space online, and it isn't toxic. It feels egalitarian, in precisely the same way that a hunter-gatherer society does. Status is accorded to those who contribute most.

There was a near-complete 5-year gap in my edits from 2008-2013, for entirely extrinsic reasons; nothing wrong on-wiki. I still have (smaller) gaps in my editing, also for extrinsic reasons. I've sometimes deliberately edited less, to take time and focus on other stuff, but I don't think I've ever stopped editing for on-wiki reasons.

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

I picked up the markup language inductively; I really should have looked up a cheatsheet sooner. I'd say that I should have read a lot more docs sooner, but I'm not sure that would have helped me enjoy editing.

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

As far as I remember, in my first few years of editing, I interacted with other editors almost exclusively via mainpage edits, collaborating with others to build a text without talking directly. I learned from looking at existing content, and watching other people fix and tag my newbie edits; I don't recall seeing anyone just delete them. This form of teaching was very helpful; it meant that my early, imperfect edits were still useful, and I learned skills in a very targetted way, as I needed them.

The documentation which was linked from inline tags was probably the most helpful; it was much more newbie-oriented then than now. There was less documentation, fewer rules, and it was easier to be confident that you knew the rules.

I know that for some people, Wikipedia's backstage area was a sort of proto-social-media, but not me. This was probably substantially because I edited as an IP, on uncontroversial topics (it was not because I had difficulty with the talk-page interface, although apparently many do). I didn't get revert notifications because there were none and I had no account anyway; I manually checked back on some of my content and improved it. I once got a notification to someone else editing from the same IP. I see from my talk page history that I got a welcome template on my talk page in February 2008, which was list of useful links. I remember seeing it, and I think I read them. I might have found an automated welcome offputting, but an automated generic informational message was fine.

And then, in 2011, I got my second talk page message, a notification that an article I'd created maybe five years earlier was being deleted. I don't recall when I saw that, but by then I knew it was warranted, and the deletion did not upset me.

For me, the lack of human contact was fine. Editing Wikipedia was something I did in more introverted moments. It wasn't about social interactions; I had those IRL. It was about the encyclopedia.

It still is. I don't want this to come off as a social rejection of other editors, because they are some of the most likable people I've met. I've enjoyed socializing with fellow editors (especially in person). But Wikipedia is a collaborative project, with communication as a necessary overhead. Wikipedia:Communication is required only when there are editing disputes. Social interactions here should be pleasant, but they should not be the goal. I don't want Wikipedia to become another addictive social platform. I want to write encyclopedia content.

I am not opposed to forms of help I didn't have! When I come across new editors, of course I talk to them and try to help them, and I share and work on new-editor resources that didn't exist when I started. Starting to edit should be easy, which means we should minimize the need for help, but help is good.

When I was a new editor, a third of good-faith new editors stuck around, but now it's a tenth

I'm concerned that the type of help I got as a new editor is much less available now. New editors often make poor edits, now as then. We used to revert vandalism manually, and it was actually easier to fix or tag an edit than to revert it. Now, semi-automated tools are needed to screen the edits of new editors, and their current UIs make it easy to revert, but not to improve, tag or comment.

I recently wrote about this at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Medicine (see section #How do we welcome new medical editors? [2] ), contrasting the modern experience of new editors with my early experience, and mentioning

• an essay I'm sure you, Clovermoss, are familiar with
• A request for one-click inline-tagging in Huggle, T209797 (comments and tokens welcome, from anyone!)
• a draft explanatory template (contribs and comments welcome, ditto)

WP:MED text

: How do we welcome new editors? There's an essay (much of which I wrote): WP:Encourage the newcomers. It includes all the empirical evidence I could find on the question (if you find more, please add it). On account of said evidence, I think adding T209797 to Huggle might also be pretty effective. HLHJ (talk) 02:37, 10 March 2024 (UTC) Thanks HLHJ. That’s a great essay. I’m especially amazed by the graphs, for example: First message to new users (including vandals), by tool used. Reverts of new good-faith editors increased (from ~7% to ~20%) in 2007, and new editor retention dropped sharply. I agree with you that adding the { { citation needed } } feature to Huggle may help. It will need other features like { { medref inline } } as welll. --Dustfreeworld (talk) 17:54, 11 March 2024 (UTC) I think other tags are a good idea, too; I commented on T209797 to suggest a general tool for adding inline point & span tags. Anyone can add a comment or token; adding specific ideas about use cases might be quite useful. I didn't actually make the graphs myself! It might be possible to remake that >decade-old graph live via Wikidata now. HLHJ (talk) 18:40, 11 March 2024 (UTC) Yep the graph needs update. The trend seemed to indicate that “Other bots” were becoming the major problem (not Huggle) in 2011? --Dustfreeworld (talk) 18:49, 11 March 2024 (UTC) I don't think Huggle is the problem; semi-automated editing countered an existential threat. Cluebot is, I think, also part of the solution; the third of those 2011 new users who were reverted by Cluebot were probably almost all vandals. Because the evidence says "inline-tagged new editors stay, reverted new editors leave", I think the problem is that it's now hard to inline-tag noob edits. This is not an intrinsic problem. It's hard to imagine a scenario where newcomers don't need semiautomated scrutiny. It's easy to imagine an interface where adding "cn" to a new edit is a single click. The longstanding lack of semiautomated tagging capabilities is influencing our culture. Pre-2007, citation-needed tagging was very common. It was policy to tag only stuff you thought was unverifiable, and delete it only after giving others a chance to verify it (BLP excepted, it's still policy). Readers knew to distrust anything with a [[citation needed]] tag; it was part of pop culture. Now, an increasing number of editors think they are expected to revert all probably-true but unsourced content (even on medieval Japanese furniture). It's rare to tag it first or talk to the contributing editor afterwards. I've been working on an explanatory template, contribs welcome. The current interface marks new editors as pass/fail, and never as "imperfect, but means well and should improve". Whether a new editor will stay depends mostly on the fate of their first three or four edits. It's more a learning cliff than a learning curve. HLHJ (talk) 02:15, 14 March 2024 (UTC) References

Of course other things have also changed, and affected editor retendtion, but this one has a technofix.

Possibly we also used to get more pre-acculturated new editors. "People online who stumbled across Wikipedia" is not a random sample. It was biassed towards scholarly-minded technophiles, and they were good at figuring out the markup and reading the docs. Now, everyone has heard of Wikipedia. New editors are more varied, which is good. But when we get preschoolers or people who have never heard of plagarism learning to edit, they need more teaching, and it seems we've gotten worse at teaching editing.

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

Well, until I die, or Wikipedia does. And I'm sure it will live on in some form or other.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No. I've tried to interact with some students on-wiki, I think, but I don't recall being significantly useful.

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

Yes. On a Pinephone. It was awful, worse than the old H2G2 interface by a wide margin. It slowed my editing drastically. The difficulty of cut-and-paste was particularly problematic; I tend to rearrange text as I write, and of course I copy citation information. It is much harder to cite on the mobile interface. The old-school bare-URL-in-square-quotes cites (which used to get expanded by a bot) would be much easier, but one gets yelled at for using those now.

Many people have no access to the internet except through a mobile, so this is a big problem. It seems to be intrinsically difficult to build that sort of interface for mobiles. Mobile-desktop convergence may help, but I don't know of any wiki-specific work being done on that.

We should perhaps throw some WMF grant money at audio-only interfaces for Wikipedia (reading and editing). Vision-impaired people rarely use Wikipedia, because it is so unusable through screenreaders, many of which read every link-target URL aloud. This is worthy of resentment. An audio interface would also help the large demographic of illiterate people currently coming online with mobiles (I am told by folk who work on global literacy that official stats for literacy rates in many parts of the world are solidly inflated, and I suspect they are right). And, of course, an audio-only interface would run well on a mobile phone, or even a podcast app. Sighted, literate editors would also benefit.

User:Evrik – May 29, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

July 2005, I think. That's when I started this account.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I saw things that were wrong, and I wanted to "fix" them.

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

Had a mentor with whom I could correspond to get advice.

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

No help at all.

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

Yes, though I just got off a six month break. I may take another break soon.

• 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. It doesn't have all the tools I can use on the desktop version.

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

I support efforts to build community, comity, and friendship. --evrik ^(talk) 02:15, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

User:Robertsky – May 30, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

First created my account in 2006. However, back then I wasn't a programmer, and the editing interface then was daunting to me. Starting editing in earnest in 2019.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

Between 2006 and 2019, it was just to correct small grammatical or spelling errors. In 2019, there were IRL changes in my life that I wouldn't dwell on, and then improving Goo Hara article all the way to GA status cemented the current interest.

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

Better editing interface for the non-IT folks.

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

I had so many questions, which only after a rigourous reading of the MOS, policies, guidelines, and essays pages were answered. I regularly bounces off questions and opinions with an editor who is a friend in real life (only told me much later that he is also editing on Wikipedia). I think this helps the most, to have a buddy to talk to as and when you can.

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

Yes.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I was roped into observing/helping a class once. I hear horror stories at AfC of how students are getting blocked or drafts getting deleted due to issues with the course structure/people/etc. So I was pleasantly surprised that the class had produced a good number of work on Wikipedia.

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

Yes, for quick edits. However, The experience can be improved though.

User:Silver seren – May 30, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I started editing in the middle of 2006. Technically against the rules at the time, as I was 16 and still in high school.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

The idea of Wikipedia fascinated me. And, since I was interested in a variety of topics including online games and science, my early edits involved subjects like that. I liked the idea of being involved in collaborative encyclopedic effort. Without the existence of Wikipedia, I expect I would have become some sort of blogger or something like that, just to get my thoughts out there.

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

A difficult question. I was still rather childish at the time and only experience would result in me learning more about how to write properly and work on articles. A lot of the resources that we have now, such as the amazing Wikipedia Library, wasn't available. Even Google Books and Scholar were rudimentary. I don't think there's anything in particular that would've improved things that far back.

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

I did apply for the mentorship program. The first I had was User:Chrishy man, which was extremely helpful in my early editing career, though they unfortunately disappeared in the middle of 2007.

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

I see no reason why I wouldn't. I'm in for the long haul.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Only insofar as I've interacted with WikiEd students when they pick one of my articles for their projects (which happens surprisingly frequently for me, but maybe that's just because of my science topic area).

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

No, it feels too finicky to write proper changes to articles on a phone keyboard, whether digital or analog.

User:Vipz – May 31, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I started editing Wikipedia in late December of 2017, albeit I believe I did not start editing actively until 2021.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

To contribute information about things that interest me and might interest other readers.

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

Knowing the importance of citing sources.

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

Interactions with other editors on discussion pages helped shape my knowledge of core Wikipedia policies and their application. I had a plenty of time on hand to learn all the specifics of source code editing, which I use to this day (except when creating tables).

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

I don't see myself retiring from Wikipedia editing anytime soon. Despite being on board for over half a decade, I am still unsatisfied with how relatively little I have contributed to Wikipedia and how much there is I want to be done/able to do.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Personally haven't been involved with WikiEd in any way, but I support such initiatives.

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

I haven't edited on mobile and don't plan doing so (except in emergency) because it can potentially take way more effort and time than contributing the same amount of work on a computer. –Vipz (talk) 05:35, 31 May 2024 (UTC)

User:Jengod – June 8, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

2003

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I think I was mostly bored at my copy editing job! As I do now, I liked reading other people's fascinating contributions.

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

Better referencing tools?

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

I just dove in. I don't remember having help but there was at least one person I kind of collaborated with on a couple of projects and that made it a pleasant and rewarding place to visit.

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

Sure?

• 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?

I only have a phone not a laptop so all my edits are on mobile. (It was very difficult about 10 years ago but it's good now which is part of why I do it a lot now.) [ON EDIT: Another major reason I edit more now is the availability of Wikipedia Library, which is {expletive} incredible.] My thoughts are that it's mostly fine but it's ruining my eyes. Reading scans of microfilms of handwritten documents is unbearable but that's not the project's problem. I toggle between visual and source editor and mobile and desktop a looooot.

One issue is that I can't seem to add an alternative copyright license in one of the fields on the Commons upload series, so I always just mark it CC-by-4 just to get it up and then go back when I'm done and change to it PD-not-renewed or whatever I'm doing. [EDIT 2024-09-03: This bug got fixed so thank you to whoever made the changes!!]

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)
  • The minor edit checkbox confounds me. All my edits are minor! I've seen people complain that a comma was marked minor because a comma changes meaning. I've seen people add big chunks of text and mark it minor. Does it just mean "keep someone's watchlist less busy"?
  • Our article grading system is three grading systems in a trenchcoat. Stub through A grades should be converted to a clearly defined 100-point system. It should keep the nifty colors. A robot should add and remove points possibly in a totally arcane way with zillions of incomprensible chutes-and-ladders increases and decreases, just to keep everyone on their toes. Human review can be a separate thing but grades and tags should be considered as part of our usability: should the undergrad who found this article consider it to be likely reliable and complete? Are grades even visible to non-logged-in users?
  • I love you guys. user:AlexNewArtBot/GoodSearchResult is the greatest general-interest magazine in the history of the world. Stay awesome.

User:CanonNi – June 8, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I've actively edited since November 2023, around half a year ago.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

Long story. TL;DR: I was bored and thought "Instead of breaking walls, why not do something meaningful?"

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

Definitely a guide of some sort. I was pretty frustrated when 2 of the articles I created were deleted, and if someone was there to guide me through the article creation process and mistakes to avoid, it would have been much easier for me.

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

I was assigned a mentor, but I've never asked them questions. I did ask at the Teahouse a lot, and that has helped a bit. The most helpful thing was simply editing, as I naturally gained experience as my edit count increased.

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

Of course! Well, unless Wikipedia shuts down for some reason. Even if that happens, I will still continue editing sister projects and other wikis.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I've never participated in WikiEd, but I've welcomed and helped guide editors participating in it.

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

Very rarely. I prefer typing on a physical keyboard and a bigger screen. A lot of elements, such as Navboxes, don't even display on mobile.

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

Well, thanks for inviting me to do this!

User:DrowssapSMM – June 9, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I technically started editing in 2019, but did not become active until late 2023.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I liked (and still do!) reading articles, and decided to try and help the project.

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

I probably would have waited to mature a little more before starting editing. My first edits were... questionable, to say the least.

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

I didn't have too much help because I didn't particularly ask for it.

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

Most likely, yes.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I have not.

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

I usually edit on a PC, but I have to edit on mobile as of now. I do not like mobile editing, as I find it very unresponsive and confusing to use. Touchscreen keyboards do not work very well at all for editing.

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

Thank you for the invitation! :)

User:Rusty4321 – June 10, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

Early 2022, maybe November 2021 as an IP.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I thought, this seems pretty cool, I felt like I had learned stuff from the wikilinks on "maintenance templates." (See "Did you have help a as new editor...")

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

Looking at the introduction and reading more policies to the point of understanding them. I'm an avid reader!

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

As I previously mentioned in question 2, I clicked on links to policy, guideline, and help pages from maintenance templates, then kept learning from following links and navboxes on those pages. As a reader, that worked. I never, and to this day have never, asked my mentor a question.

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

Of course! Despite my hiatus in late '22 and early '23, I picked this back up.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No, I haven't.

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

Yes, I have. I would definitely recommend the use of desktop mode, especially on tablets. Mobile has some weird issues especially with viewing talk pages. However, I wouldn't consider RC patrolling usable, as on Safari on an iPad I have to long-press to open the page in a new tab.

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

My first mainspace edit on this account was, in fact, reverting a vandal, something I've continued to do throughout my time on Wikipedia, even requesting rollback to help with this twice, and not being disappointed when my first request was declined.

User:Pharaoh of the Wizards – June 10, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I started editing Wikipedia in 2006.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I was interested in the topics hence started editing.

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

Nothing much I can think off.

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

I did not get much help.I ddi not kwow how to ask for it.

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

I have around for nearly 17 years think will editing Wikipedia for life if possible.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I have not involved with wikied through have welcomed students.

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

I have not edited on mobile. I use a desktop and laptop to edit never felt the need to edit on a mobile.

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

Thank you for the invitation! :)

User:Pawnkingthree – June 10, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

November 2006.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

At the risk of stating the obvious, we had many fewer articles back then, and there were still a lot of topics that needed expanding. I had my niche area of interest in which I like to think of myself as a subject expert (sumo) and so I began writing articles to fill the gaps.

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

I don't think I was aware of any part of Wikipedia outside of article space for the first year or so of my editing! Maybe that's not all bad, but I could have explored some of the back end areas a bit more. I could have got more into reviewing, such as doing GA reviews, and I think that would have helped my content work.

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

I was definitely helped by the small but very friendly group of fellow sumo enthusiasts at WikiProject Sumo. That and one or two other WikiProjects, (Chess, Doctor Who) were how I learnt to collaborate as an editor and are a vital part of WP in my opinion.

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

My activity has tailed off in the last year or so due to work and family commitments, but yes I will still keep editing. I still have a to-do list that I will get done one day, there is no deadline...

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No, it's never been on my radar at all I'm afraid.

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

Yes, I edit frequently from my iPhone. Using the desktop version of course - the app is next to useless for editing purposes. Mobile editing not the best for a substantial amount of article writing, but is fine for adding references and taking part in discussions.

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

Though I will always be around on WP, I must admit to getting a little frustrated as to how so much of it these days is not about expanding areas in which we are still short on coverage, but arguing over what we should not cover. I fully agree with deleting topics which are only subject to routine news coverage, but NOTNEWS now seems to be being used to justify getting rid of topics which are clearly not routine. Maybe I shouldn't let it worry me and just stick to my little obscure corner of WP :)

User:Gonzo fan2007 – June 11, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • April 2006.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • I believe I was looking up some statistics about my hometown Arizona Diamondbacks and stumbled upon the relevant article on Wikipedia. I noticed things weren't up-to-date and realized I could update them. Continued to touch a few topics that were interesting to me as I get my feet wet and understood what Wikipedia was all about.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • An orientation course would have been nice. Like helpful pop-ups pointing out different tools/policies, or a course you work through to grasp all the major things you can do on Wikipedia.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • Yes, I had a few editors assist me and were available to answer questions. I also tried to mirror editors I realized were well-respected, trying to understand the right way to interact or go about expanding. I think one thing that didn't work is I got sucked into the Administration part of Wikipedia more than I should have. Got pulled into Wiki-drama, discussions, editor behavior, etc and forgot the main purpose was to expand knowledge and build an encyclopedia.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • Yes. My editing tends to stay pretty steady, although if I get a new job or have new demands it may wane. I don't think I will ever leave though.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
  • Nope.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
  • Yes, but only for quick typos, quick responses, etc. Mobil is fine for that type of stuff, but I tend to work on bringing articles to GA/FLC these days, and complicated editing, especially with tables, doesn't lend itself to a small screen, no keyboard and no mouse.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)
  • Wikipedia is fun, and there is a cool feeling of taking obscure or not easily accessible sources and then expanding an article with them. Really bringing in new knowledge that will likely stand the test of time. It is also cool to see how AI and Google are now relying so much on Wikipedia, makes what we do even more important. « Gonzo fan2007 (talk) @ 15:10, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

User:Thebiguglyalien – June 12, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? – Officially in 2017, but I never made more than a handful of edits until February 2022, which I consider my real start date as a Wikipedian.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? – Nothing better to do. And I guess something about sharing free knowledge.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? – There needs to be a better way to get potential editors acquainted with Wikipedia culture and how to navigate the site. I figured out how to edit, but it took much longer to figure out what constituted a faux pas or where to go when I had an issue. It takes endurance to be a new editor, and that's devastating for the project.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? – Not right away. I taught myself to edit by looking at what other articles did and doing things the same way. What really helped me learn was good article nominations. After learning the basics, most of what I learned came from advice I received from GA reviewers and later FA reviewers looking over my articles. I believe it's very difficult to become a good content creator without submitting your work for review from time to time.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? – Not forever. Until the encyclopedia is complete at the latest.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? – I was a WikiEd student a while back, before I was an active editor. It didn't mean much to me, just another assignment to get a grade. Now that I've seen it from the other perspective, I don't know how helpful it is. I'd love to see evidence that it produces long term contributors to change my mind.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? – I have not. Mobile's only advantage is that it's portable. Editing is better in every way if you wait until you're at a computer.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :) – No. >:( Oops I changed my mind and shared too much: User:Thebiguglyalien/Autobiography.

User:Adam – June 12, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • I made my account in late 2016, with a fair few edits at that time but really I didn't get into it until 2022.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • Somewhat long story warning: midway through one of my high school semesters, my history teacher went AWOL, completely vanished. The school found an interim teacher for our class, and due to the limited time, his curriculum basically consisted of researching a local historical event and making a Wikipedia article for the memorial sculpture of that event (it was NOT through WikiEd). No, please don't go find that article, my edits at that time were so essay-toned and poorly sourced... Anyway I really picked it back up for real in 2022 when I realized I could really improve Yume Nikki to GA quality.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • I'm sure there are a lot of answers I could give in general. There's a lot to take in (lots of project pages and procedures). Maybe a single page that contained digestible summaries of our most critical policies (V, NPOV, N, BLP...), how article reviews and quality assessment works, as well as guidance that new editors often need{{{1}}}avoid writing like an essay, if your edit gets reverted follow BRD, and pointers on how to get help from experienced editors. Bottom line is, it's easy to get lost in projectspace and totally miss a lot of important stuff. While answering the next question I also thought it might have helped if someone patrolling noticed issues with the article(s) I was working on and reached out on my talk page to say "hey, this doesn't have an encyclopedic tone" or "I think the sources you're citing are unreliable because X or Y", but obviously how can we possibly manage this for every good-faith new editor?

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

• • Not really. I remember noticing WikiProjects seemed inactive unfortunately. My teacher was helping us but I now realize how poorly he also understood Wikipedia policies...
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • As far as I can see, yeah, although like most things I suspect there will come a point where I just won't feel like it anymore.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

• • No, and from my limited experience/knowledge I think it needs more oversight to ensure quality contributions. Students who are used to researching and writing in school often (understandably) have trouble with N, RS, and NPOV as we understand them.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
  • Recently I've often made minor edits on mobile. I use the desktop site (en.wikipedia.org as opposed to en.m.wikipedia.org) in Firefox, and I'm logged in with Monobook and all my gadgets and scripts. I don't expect I would edit much on Minerva or without the very convenient buttons provided by e.g. Twinkle. It's tiring on the fingers to make large edits and I make more mistakes, so I don't do a lot of content creation on it, for example; selecting text (e.g. to cut and paste) is weirdly hard, I feel. I've had some pretty bad bugs with VisualEditor (if I recall correctly; it could have been a different editor) on mobile that make most edits nigh impossible.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)
  • Free Palestine

User:MtBotany – June 19, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I edited a few times long ago, but had gotten annoyed with the prevalence of fringe views and political slap fights. So I left. That would have been around 2008, I think. I would have to do some research to figure out an exact date. I returned with my present account in April 2020 for a few edits, but did not start regularly editing until December 2022.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

Someone was wrong on the internet!!! More seriously I thought, "You know, I find Wikipedia useful, but it could be a lot better. Especially for plants." I also resolved to not go down political rabbit holes or trying to fix everything I'm interested in. I read much more widely than my monomaniacal botanical editing would suggest. For my own sanity and for the peace of the Wiki it is best that I stay out of political stuff. Unless someone edits it into a plant article like an IP user did with a middle-eastern plant's range claiming that certain countries were not real. Nope, that gets reverted. Also, by specializing somewhat I think it makes me a more effective editor. It gives me a better basis for judging if a source is credible or not to have the ability to actually go look at a plant.

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

A How To specific to finding reliable information about plant species and advice to join Archive.org sooner. I made certain things unnecessarily hard on myself going to libraries for actual physical books and journal articles when about 70% of them were already on Archive. I still hang out in libraries to do my editing, but that's for the work environment more than the need for paper books. Though I still use some of those.

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

I mostly figured out things for myself. That's my method for most things in life. I did ask a few questions in the teahouse, but I think I was lead slightly astray as much as I got useful advice. Almost everything about Wikipedia is in the documentation, the documentation is just very long and complex because it is such a large sprawling project with multiple competing standards and templates. What new users need is experience and time. I keep learning new things about editing Wikipedia at least every month. I'm starting to master tables and this last month I found a new template I'm going to use more. Always something new or new to me.

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

My plan-t is to keep going until I die or illness forces me away. I think I can maintain a rate about about 2000 mainspace edits a year with another 1000 talk and other edits without much trouble. I might be able to do more when/if I retire in about 20 years. My big goal is to get every plant that grows in the Southern Rockies up to a "B" standard.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I have not.

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

I have and it was so awkward. I just uploaded an image to the commons today and I think I may never do it again. Easier to attach my phone to a computer. I really, really prefer having at least laptop keyboard for writing. I'm older and I'm so used to touch typing with physical keys. And a full clicky mechanical keyboard is even better. I do often check my edits on my mobile because I want the experience to be good for myself and for other users, but even leaving a comment is a bad pain in the fundament and I avoid it.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

So many things. First off I'd make categories a protected thing that can only be created by consensus rather than something just anyone can do because they're mostly not useful except as maintenance categories. I'm not sure anyone navigates by them. They are a cruffy hole and the first thing to do when in a hole is to stop digging. Then I'd advocate for killing off about 80-98% of the ones that exist. The ones to keep are the big, basic ones, not sure exactly what that looks like, but there are so many subjective, useless ones. Like "ornamental trees". Every tree has been used as an ornamental by someone somewhere!!! Arggguee!

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

This is global edit 7113. One of my goals is to improve my German enough to start translating articles from English into Deutsch. Guess which kind. Fun fact: I'm obsessive enough that I even did some editing of Wikipedia while I was on vacation in Germany last year. :) Also: my theory is there are three Wikipedias. Factual Wikipedia, Fan Wikipedia, Political Wikipedia. They can shade into each other, but Political WP is about trying to push a point of view onto the second draft of history by various political factions moderated by editors who do believe the truth exists and try their best to take out biases. Bless the truth seekers, but I cannot be one of them. Fan WP are all the people wanting to document their hobby. Sports, anime, movies, etc. This one shades quite a bit into Factual WP where fandom crosses over with actual literature/cinema/game criticism, but so much is documented in excessive detail. But it is essentially harmless so I'm not going to fight about if every Star Wars character needs an article. Factual WP is the stuff you'd find in an old paper encyclopedia (minus the stuff where it gets political, because internet), just more of it due to no space constraint. I wish there were more people working on it, but it is also nice to be in the (mostly) quiet end of the Wiki pool.

User:Volcanoguy – June 25, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? I first started editing Wikipedia in 2005 but didn't create an account until 2006.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I started editing because Wikipedia didn't have many articles nor much information about Canadian volcanoes, a topic I still work on to this day.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? I don't know.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? I can't remember since I was a new editor a long time ago.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes, Wikipedia is the only website I write articles for.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? No, I haven't.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yes, I've edited Wikipedia on mobile, but I'm not too keen on using "mobile view"; I prefer "desktop view" because I find it easier to use.
• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia? Nothing comes to mind.

User:Hemiauchenia June 26, 2024

When did you start editing Wikipedia?

The first edit I recall making to Wikipedia were to the Henderson Island (Pitcairn Islands) article as an IP user in March 2013 [1] adding mention of extinct bird species formerly present on the island. I first created my account in 2017 with my edits since then also largely revolving around extinct organisms, and to a lesser extent New Religious Movements and other topics.

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

Hard to give a good answer to this one.

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

Not really, mostly just flying blind and learning as I go. One of the best lessons I learned is the VisualEditor's automatic citation function is a lifesaver that saves a lot of time when citing academic papers and the like

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

Probably, but my activity may fluctuate in the future depending on various foreseen/unforseen circumstances

Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No. I have been quite critical of the output of WikiEdu in the past, as the students output is of variable quality to say the least, with a considerable amount of it being low quality. You feel awkward reverting their contributions even if you know they are bad, because you know this student needs this to pass the class and they'll keep reverting into back into the article until the course is up, even if the article is highly viewed.

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

I semi-occasionally edit on mobile. Mobile editing is workable but somewhat awkward but I really think the issues with it are mostly limitations with the medium of mobile web browsers, rather than the software (other than not being able to add images, and issues with table editing which are annoying).

Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

I really think IP editing should be disabled at least on the main Wikipedia pages, especially on Biographies of Living Persons articles. So much IP editing that I see on my watchlist is blatant vandalism, which is especially concerning regarding articles about living people. I think IP editing is more useful on talkpages and noticeboards where people can notify experienced Wikipedia contributors about issues with articles.

User:TylerBurden June 26, 2024

When did you start editing Wikipedia?

Probably made my first edit to Wikipedia around 2008, it got me an IP ban for years on the Swedish Wikipedia, I guess they don't mess around with vandalism there. I started editing the English Wikipedia in 2021.

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

Understanding the imperfections of Wikipedia better, I was under the impression that it was a lot more well run and functional than it really is at that time, learning how flawed Wikipedia is and there is nothing a single editor can do about that leaves you a lot more time to be productive with the time you spend here.

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

I was oblivious to policies and guidelines, so when I made mistakes people corrected me and informed me, even if it was through the use of standard templates I still felt they helped make me understand how editing works.

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

Yes.

Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Nope.

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

I haven't, took me long enough to get used to editing on PC.

Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

Enforcing actual neutrality more, Wikipedia is full of editors clearly pushing fringe agendas and ideologies, but if they technically stay within guidelines they rarely face consequences, in fact they'll use these guidelines against the less Wikilawyer savvy people calling them out on their shit. Wikipedia is a fountain of knowledge which is constantly having poison poured into it, and these people do way more damage to the site than vandals.

User:Nick Levine – June 27, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

Late 2005

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

A work colleague was editing a page about the company we’d both been in, ten years previously. I joined in. Within two months I was correcting vandalism, which is where I’ve spent almost all my effort since.

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

It was a long time ago and I honestly can’t remember. My career was as a programmer, so the system pretty much made sense from the beginning.

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

Not really. Trying to create a page that got speedy deleted woke me up to how WP policies work.

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

Yes. Recent change patrol is something that you can pick up and put down really easily, so it’s great for filling short gaps in the day.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No idea what that is.

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

Almost exclusively. (I use a proper monitor/editor only if one is needed, or if my WP access is linked to something else that needs a monitor/editor.) Some changes are just too complex to review on a mobile, so I leave them for others to handle.

Later comment: I much prefer the desktop view though. Nick Levine (talk) 06:09, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

My mind is a blank :(

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

I make regular use of WP to look things up, so it’s only fair to put some time into helping the encyclopaedia exist and grow.

User:Lemonaka – June 28, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I started editing Wikipedia years ago, maybe 2 years.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

When I first came to Wikipedia, I found something wrong in the chemical articles and need to fix. I'm a medical student and I believed these are something serious and important which need to be exactly correct.

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

Reading the policies, having courage for editing, but anyway, the easiest way for making contribution and getting into the community is anti-vandalism.

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

I got several helps from WP:ANI and WP:VP, however, more importantly, we need to Read the fucking Manual ourself. Learning Wikitext can be likened to climbing a cliff, the learning curve is still steep.

Nowadays, with the help of Covenient Discussion, visual editor, ProveIt, twinkle and a host of gadgets, we can edit more conveniently. Having these gadets on a page for newly registered users may help them a lot.

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

Perhaps. But the stress from real-life is emerging.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No, there isn't such project in our school.

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

Edited several times on mobile, both using app and browsers. I don't want to leave my thoughts about app, since lots of users has complaint about its UI. When you tried to delete something on Edge, there's a bug 2017 wikitext editor, the size of words will become very large and make it hard to read.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

I shouldn't ask for too much, since English Wikipedia is one of the most stable community, without the need of lots of Office Action from Wikimedia Foundation. What about policy regarding chemistry?

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

Current SPI process is very slow, maybe we need more clerks or better process for quick actions.

User:Smokefoot – July 1, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

About 20 years ago.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

Contributing to Wikipedia was an assignment for my classes and I quickly realized that contributions from students required serious intervention.

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

I got good help from experienced editors.

• 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?

probably

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

no. In fact I am suspicious and even resentful of WikiEd. Those editors often promote real garbage, since their prime goal of getting credit for recruiting new editors. Really disappointing. Its like Wikipedia is Boy Scouts and these editors are collecting merit badges. Kiddie stuff that often promotes misinformation and requires serious repair. The WikiEd effort (if I am understanding this theme) leads to an emphasis on word count vs quality.

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

no editing on mobile. I am slightly creaky and my hands vibrate too much.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

There is not a lot that I would change but there are some irritations, inevitably. For example, when we in ChemProject have a discussion like an Afd or such, all sorts of rather senior nonchemical editors show up at the scene (ambulance chasers), spouting wisdom (which they lack) and screw up the decision making. The WikiEd focus on recruitment is misguided because it focuses on quantity (number of new editors) vs quality. And the WikiEd editors do little useful curation. I realize that these editors are well intentioned.

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

Good luck with your project.

User:GrayStorm – July 2, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? April 2022
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I don't remember the exact reason, but I think I just wanted to edit, plain and simple.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? As a new editor, I thought I just had to randomly stumble upon things to edit while reading. I didn't realize their were thing like the recent changes patrol, and this caused me to not edit very much. So, I would tell myself about that stuff.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? I don't remember having much help.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Yes.
• 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? I have, but it kinda sucks. Most tools dont work on mobile, and certain edit notices, like the one for clerks on WP:CHU/S just dont work.
• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia? I think wikipedia could use more pending changes protection, and less semi protection. Also, the technical ability to protect specific sections on a page would be nice for articles that touch on WP:ARBPIA issues, but don't cover them as a whole.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :) Just want to say thank you to Clovermoss for inviting me to fill this out.

User:Diriector Doc – July 3, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • I'll answer February 2018. I've made edits before that, both with and without an account, but this was when I started to make actual contributions.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • To be perfectly honest, I don't remember what my inspiration was. All I remember is making a few edits and liking it, so I continued.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • To be honestly, probably nothing. I learned pretty fast. Then again, I like to wander, so I discovered a lot of helpful pages real quick.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • I did not. Or at least, not to my recollection.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • Yes.
• 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?
  • I've edited a wiki on mobile. It is much more difficult.
• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?
  • I have no notes at this time.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)
  • I am most active on the Brawlhalla Wiki.gg. I'm an admin. That's where I do most of my editing.

User:Joy – July 3, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I started in 2003. That is over twenty years ago now, which sounds pretty weird to me, but I guess I'm now #oldpeople :)

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I don't remember exactly, but I do recall there generally being a lot of work to do with regard to Croatia, which is where I'm from, and I wanted to fix that. I always had an interest in geography, and in turn history, since I was a kid.

By the time I was twenty, I was also completely comfortable opening new accounts on random websites :) as I had joined many online volunteer projects for many years up until then. Since about '97. I had contributed to a smattering of BBS's, free software communities, news groups, web forums, etc.

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

Well, if someone could have magically reduced the number of various trolls in the Balkan topic area, that would have been nice :) I remember when I first heard of WP:ARBMAC being instituted after 2007, that would have probably helped with a fair bit of frustration in my early years here.

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

Not sure, but I was accustomed to using fresh new software and practices, reading documentation and trying to do my best.

With regard to what didn't work - in the meantime, we found at least one case of me editing an article, not writing down the sources I used properly, the original website where I found the info getting lost, and the unsourced claims in the Wikipedia article then becoming replicated elsewhere and those new websites in turn being used as sources for our article :D

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

Yes, I think so. My volume of editing has tapered off since my heyday, but I've managed to maintain some reasonably healthy volume overall.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I don't think so, sorry.

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

I used it a few times for some small edits, it seemed to work fine, but a proper keyboard is just much more comfortable for editing.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

I remember at least a half a dozen situations over the last few years where my idea of civility didn't match the standard of other editors, who would tolerate a much rougher discourse than I would. I think we need to maintain a stringent standard of good behavior. Largely anonymous online forums such as Wikipedia's get toxic way too quickly, which alienates people. For example, in my long tenure as admin, I actually got blocked once because a fellow admin thought I overstepped our boundaries, and in retrospect that was a good exercise of our process; whereas, too often I observe us giving so much leeway to people who are not here to build an encyclopedia.

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

Thanks for the invite to share. I can't think of much else at this moment. If anyone has any comments, please feel free to reach out at my user talk page. Cheers, --Joy (talk) 16:45, 3 July 2024 (UTC)

User:Rjjiii – July 8, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • During the pandemic (2022).
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • I wrote software documentation professionally but switched jobs, so I contributed to a few open-source projects' documentation to stay sharp. Volunteer writing led me to K-Meleon, a niche web browser. K-Meleon's documentation was all done through an ancient wiki, so I just started updating it. I was surprised to find it had a Wikipedia page citing the ancient Wiki pages that I was updating.[4] I started an account here and began updating Wikipedia's K-Meleon article. I liked the process and the result, so I moved on to other pages.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • I don't think of the past like that.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • Not really. I did GA and DYK noms to get feedback; it was helpful and frustrating.
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • It's hard to say.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
  • Nope.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
  • Yes. I check articles to see how they render on iPhone, Android, apps, etc. Things stick out, and I go ahead and fix them. I did these as IP edits at first. I didn't want to log in to many devices, and it wasn't clear if I was allowed to make a second account.[5] On mobile, reading is fine, but editing is so frustrating. The app's editor is worse than a standard textbox widget. Eventually, I made an alt account just for mobile: Rjjiii (ii). I use two web browsers on my phone now, one to test mobile rendering and one to edit in desktop mode.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)
  • When I started editing, I followed the link beside "edit summary" to see what it was. I read about 3,000 words of documentation and could not figure out what they should contain or who they were for. For example, Help:Edit summary links "ce" to Wikipedia:Wikipedia abbreviations, which is almost certainly an error. That page is a list of Wikipedia:Shortcut abbreviations. As a new editor, I had no idea what these shortcuts were. There are over 400 of them, and many seemed bizarre as edit summaries. There is "CB" for "complete bollocks", and "HA" which is like a laughter noise for "Harassment". I think I was a year or so into editing before I got it. And not from any help page, but from reading Randomstaplers' edit summaries.

User:Amortias – July 11, 2024

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

May 2014 as a registered editor. Randomly via ips since about 2004 on very rare occasions

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I was studying for a Teaching qualification and was advised that this could be a good way of getting experience working alongside people who would disagree on my content/commentary without my suggestions actually being wrong. it didn't quite work out like that as i found the anti-vandalism and new page patrolling more interesting than the editing and content debates.

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

A better guide on things you could do, there's plenty of guidance on new page creations and your first articles but nothing for more of the gnome-work like reviewing pending changes, anti vandalism work and the likes.

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

I probably did but mostly it was through support via thanks and barnstars, I was fairly confident as id read a lot of guidance (as thats how my brain works) and the confirmation of the work being good was more helpful than a wall of text explaining policy etc.

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

Yes, I've taken 2 unplanned Wiki-breaks since i started here both on medical grounds but subject to not getting hit by a bus or lightning strike I don't plan on going away permanently.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Not knowingly.

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

Have tried but I don't like the mobile interface and the desktop version is a bit too chunky for mobile usage. I prefer my multiple screens with multiple windows easier to navigate between pages to check stuff/confirm policy etc.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

Theres still a sense of it being bitey several people come here without knowing how to edit, do something wrong and instead of getting slow helpful advice get slapped with a bunch of "Declare your COI" "whos paying you" "tell us what your doing this for" thrown at them. We could be a bit more forgiving and helpful in our first interactions than we are in some cases.