Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Backlog elimination drives/May 2017

I would like my work checked

Hi, I was hoping someone could check my work to make sure it was up to standard. I was also wondering whether you add yourself to the leader board or a coordinator does? Thanks, WikiMasterGhibif (talk) 15:01, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

I'll check your work (time permitting), and you add yourself to the leaderboard. Have fun and all the best, Miniapolis 21:53, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

Thank you WikiMasterGhibif (talk) 23:42, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

Problems opening article lists

I was just wondering if anybody else was having trouble with the show buttons on article lists not working without several page reloads and/or purges. I have noticed this problems now on at least 2 or 3 different computers I've used to edit, and figured I'd ask because It Doesn't seem likely that the exact same problem would happen on multiple computers. Thanks, WikiMasterGhibif (talk) 17:04, 10 May 2017 (UTC)

Just tried mine and it's okay. I've been bogged down on Solar power in India (an interesting article, just time-consuming) for a few days, and haven't updated my list. Miniapolis 17:53, 10 May 2017 (UTC)

Works fine for me, too. Tdslk (talk) 20:23, 10 May 2017 (UTC)

I believe the expand/collapse function on those boxes use Javascript. I have Javascript turned off (mine is very out of date) so they always appear expanded. If Javascript becomes buggy, restarting the browser or computer would be my first advice. I'm not sure why the problem is happening across multiple computers, unless you are also visiting some other website that is making an odd (and hopefully temporary) interaction with the Javascript. Reidgreg (talk) 17:16, 11 May 2017 (UTC)

Editing gap at History of iPhone

I am currently copy editing the History of iPhone article. However, there is one section of the article which I am having trouble with: the section Exclusive Tying of iPhone to AT&T.

If someone else would like to copy edit this section, please do so! For the purposes of the drive, I will subtract the word count of this section from my word count if someone copy edits this section (and the copy editor can add the section's word count to their total).

Please let me know if you intend to copy edit this section.

Thanks!

Noah Kastin (talk) 00:59, 11 May 2017 (UTC)

I can do the section after I finish Solar power in India (hopefully today). All the best, Miniapolis 13:24, 11 May 2017 (UTC)

I took a pass at the section (needed something fresh after a long article). I reordered one sentence, cut a bit of redundant language, added/removed some hyphens and an apostrophe, and italics for legal cases. Miniapolis can undoubtably improve the prose. Reidgreg (talk) 17:51, 11 May 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, Miniapolis and Reidgreg, for your help! I will subtract 493 words from the word count of the article on my Working list (as this is the word count that appears on Miniapolis' Completed list for the section in question). Thanks again! Noah Kastin (talk) 20:02, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

I have now updated the word count of the article on my Working list appropriately (in this edit.) Noah Kastin (talk) 20:12, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

Issues with word counting

It appears the tool for getting details on page size, including word counts, is not working well, at least not since I last used it a couple of days ago. What does one do, especially when confronted with a particularly long article? - BroVic (talk) 17:45, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

I am seeing this as well, but only on some articles. When I have this problem, I copy and paste the article's body into a text editor or word processing software, remove references, extraneous junk, and parts that I did not edit, and then use the program's word count feature. – Jonesey95 (talk) 18:33, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Highland and Island Emigration Society

Just a note in case anyone casts an eye over Highland and Island Emigration Society. I did copyediting on this article but there were 2 broken Harvard references that I couldn't fix; one needs a page number (I think) and the other is missing from the bibliography. I have talked to the original editor on the article, and I think that he is going to take care of it. Leschnei (talk) 01:12, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Fixed. That was fun. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:45, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Thanks! Leschnei (talk) 23:40, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Advice on a list, please

I could use a little advice on List of Marvel Comics Golden Age characters as I haven't worked on too many lists. I read up on the formatting guidelines in the MOS and the main rule seems to be 'be consistent'. The predominant formatting of the note section is phrases, rather than full sentences, connected by semi-colons, with the first word in lower case and ending with a period. If this is not a correct way to format this list could someone please wave a red flag before I waste a bunch of time? Thanks, Leschnei (talk) 12:56, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Also, the word 'current', without a date, is used a lot. I'm assuming that 'current' in this context refers to fictional time, so I haven't made any changes to that.(?) Leschnei (talk) 13:11, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, because lists can be time-consuming. For this list, I think sentence case (first word capitalized) works best. If it looks like a sentence (if it has a verb), put a period at the end; omit the period if it's an obvious fragment. I'd remove all uses of "current", since the word is too vague. All the best, Miniapolis 13:33, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for the guidance. You're right, it is time consuming - that's why I wanted to do it right from the start! Leschnei (talk) 13:43, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Most of the notes are merely descriptions without a verb, like: "formerly of the All-Winners Squad and the V-Battalion; founder and financial backer of the Scourge of the Underworld program." This appears to be the chosen format for this list. Should I ignore the fact that these notes don't have a verb and capitalize them anyway? or put something like "Angel is" at the beginning? Leschnei (talk) 13:48, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

I've gone through the 1930s and 1940s sections. If they look OK, I'll carry on with the rest. Thanks again, Leschnei (talk) 14:26, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Sorry for not being clearer. "Sentence case" means capitalizing the first word, and needs to be consistent in an article. Whether or not a phrase is a sentence determines if a period is placed at the end. No need to make everything a sentence :-). Miniapolis 23:36, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

I agree with Miniapolis. They're trying to keep the descriptions short, so I'd avoid adding words. When a list is in table form, I'm more inclined to use sentence case (in comparison to embedded lists where you can play around with punctuation between the entry name and its description). Don't forget to check the lead when you're finished (and more familiar with the subject). I'd get rid of the ampersand, and maybe put in a date range for the "Golden Age" to help show what should and shouldn't be included on the list. – Reidgreg (talk) 22:07, 27 May 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice, Reidgreg (talk · contribs). Those pesky leads! I've made the changes you suggested. Leschnei (talk) 12:23, 28 May 2017 (UTC)

Still copyediting...

Hi! I just wanted to mention that I am still copyediting History of iPhone. Can I count my additional copyediting efforts towards the drive? Thanks! Noah Kastin (talk) (🖋) 00:30, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

The normal practice is that edits made before and after the official drive period do not count for the drive. They help make Wikipedia a better place though, so clean up that article and be proud of yourself. Link to a diff of your edits from here when you are done, and we can all praise your excellent work! – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:45, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply, Jonesey95!

I will make sure to add the diff links when I am done. I will also update my word count to reflect the fact that I had only done the sections before Canadian release (minus the section mentioned here).

Thanks again for the reply!

Noah Kastin (talk) (🖋) 00:52, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

Actually, I can't figure out right now how to properly get the word counts for the sections I completed before the drive ended. If somebody else could do that for me, I would greatly appreciate that! Noah Kastin (talk) (🖋) 00:56, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

By the way, thanks for the compliment, Jonesey95! Noah Kastin (talk) (🖋) 01:02, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

MS Word says 2,576 words for those sections (above "Canadian release") prior to your edits. That's the count to use. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:55, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

@Jonesey95: Thanks for the word count! Noah Kastin (talk) (🖋) 06:43, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

@Jonesey95: Does that include the word count for Connection to AT&T? I didn't copyedit that section, so that section's word count should not be included in my total. Noah Kastin (talk) (🖋) 06:47, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

I selected the whole article from the top until just before the "Canadian release" header, so probably. – Jonesey95 (talk) 12:47, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for the update, Jonesey95!

I will deduct 493 words from the pre-Canadian release word count (493 was determined as the word count of the Connection to AT&T section in this discussion); this will leave me with 2,083 words for the article in question.

Thanks again for the update!

Noah Kastin (talk) (🖋) 22:28, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

I have now updated the word count and completion status for History of iPhone (in this edit), as well as my total article count and my total word count (in this edit). Noah Kastin (talk) (🖋) 22:37, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

@Jonesey95: I just realized that I have largely lost interest in the History of iPhone article, so I'm probably going to stop copyediting it. I left a Copy edit section template to point copy editors to the section. I also left comments to help copy editors copy edit the section (comments left in this edit).

Here are diffs for what I've done on the article since the drive ended: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. (Note that 2 was a dummy edit.)

I hope that this information is useful!

Noah Kastin (talk) (🖋) 23:18, 10 June 2017 (UTC)

Note that due to the fact that edit summary from this edit (linked to earlier in this discussion) exceeded the character limit, I made this edit and this edit. Noah Kastin (talk) (🖋) 23:28, 10 June 2017 (UTC)

Last call

The May copy editing drive has ended. Please make any final edits to your article lists and the leaderboard (it is not updated automatically) in the next 24 hours or so. It is OK to edit your section of the page, or the leaderboard, even though the page is archived.

If you have a minute, please ensure that your section conforms to the instructions on the drive page, which are repeated here:

Properly completed records look like this in the edit window:

# {{Completed}} [[Dark chocolate]] (yummy!) (1,234) *O

and like this on the rendered page:

1.  Completed Dark chocolate (yummy!) (1,234) *O

Parenthetical comments come between the article name and the word count. No extra bold or italics on the *O labels, please. Having things formatted properly makes calculating the barnstars easier for your volunteer coordinators.

Barnstars will be distributed in the next few days. Thanks to everyone who participated. We eliminated the oldest month and almost got rid of a second! We ended the month with our lowest total backlog count ever! – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:47, 1 June 2017 (UTC)