CZ:Group Editing

The Citizendium is a collaborative knowledge project. We don't assign articles. Instead, we have fun working together on community-built introductory narratives.

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

If this is your reaction, prepare to have your world rocked. Wiki editing is completely different from the "Rough Draft/Final Draft" method of composition that most of us have grown used to in our schooling. Many of us have grown used to people giving feedback to an author who is looking for help. The author brews the ideas for a while, then decides what edits he or she likes, and makes the appropriate changes.

Composition on a wiki is different. Once an article has been entered in the main article area, users from around the world can and should not only read it and make comments on the article, but also add to, change, or modify the article. It is nice to summarize the change on the talk page, and for a drastic change to a developed article it may be appropriate to discuss on the talk page before making the change. However, everybody is strongly encouraged to "be bold" and make changes directly to articles!

This adjustment may be frustrating, but in time we learn what to expect, and look forward to working with other knowledgeable individuals, and good writers, on articles for which many people take responsibility.

Exceptions

Group editing applies to almost all articles on the Citizendium. A small number of exceptions exist where one needs to be careful:

• Eduzendium projects sometimes lock articles for their own use. This allows students involved in the Eduzendium project to work on an article directly. Please observe the Eduzendium notices at the top of articles. If they are unavailable for editing, do edit something else, make suggestions on the talk page, and be ready to cleanup and check through Eduzendium articles after they have been completed.
• Articles awaiting approval. Once consensus has been reached on an article, it is best not to fiddle with it in the last stage of approval, if only to reduce confusion for the person tasked with formally signing off on the approval.

With these minor exceptions in mind, get editing!

See also

• How to Collaborate for a longer discussion about the topic above.
• CZ:Home for more information on various introductory or help topics to help you along the way.
• Getting Started for more information on getting started.