[WikiEN-l] Newbie and not-so-newbie biting

[Carcharoth]

On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 4:43 PM, Charles Matthews
<charles.r.matthews at ntlworld.com> wrote:

<snip>

> To get back to the complainant, I'll say this. If I had a friend (and I
> have been asked exactly this) who has an idea for a Wikipedia article on
> a topic of immediate personal interest, what would I advise? I'd say
> "edit the site generally for three months, before trying to edit on
> anything you really care about". This is nothing new: I felt this five
> years ago. I think this is the right advice. Sure, the USP is "you can
> edit this site right now". I think the intelligent reaction is "it can't
> be that simple, surely" and that is also true: it is easy to edit and
> make changes, which can be edited right back.

Ooh look! Something else to frame for a quote-wall! :-)

One problem is that most people start editing on things they care
about. When people get in trouble for their conduct on some articles,
the standard advice is (or should be) to calm down, walk away, and if
you want to edit, do so in another area.

Carcharoth