User:STEMinfo/COI edit requests for novices

This is an essay designed to help new users make successful connected edit requests. The first section describes the reFill tool, which helps fill in bare references for any sources used with the edit request. The second section shows a suggested simple format for posting information to add to existing articles. The third shows a format for displaying the old and new information side by side, to help volunteers understand the request.

Automatically filling in citations using reFill
Wikipedia requires all new requested information to be accompanied with independent third party sources, to validate it. Properly done, a citation generates a clickable numeric superscript and a footnote following the sentence. Since citation syntax can be a little confusing for new editors, there is a tool called reFill that converts bare references on a page into fuller references. The tool works not just on article URLs but also works on links saved on a user's sandbox. The bare URL has to be saved sandwiched between ref tags. An example of a bare reference link that can be filled out on a sandbox page looks like this: Then the user can go to https://refill.toolforge.org/ and type in the last part of their sandbox URL, starting with “User:”, and then click Fix page. (Note: A user's default sandbox would be User:username/sandbox.) In the example above, the tool returns this code:

Simple connected edit request
When making a connected edit request, it is important to format the request in a way that is easy for unconnected readers to understand. If the request is to add new content, a simple format to use is the box template as shown below. Edit requests should be as specific as possible to indicate where the new information should go. The template should always be included with requests that include references (and all should), in order to display the references in a special talk page box format. Different requests can be set off with asterisks. A simple edit request could therefore look like this:
 * Please insert this sentence as the last sentence of the History section.

The Wikicode for the above request looks like this: * Please insert this sentence as the last sentence of the History section.

Showing before and after text side by side
If the request involves changing existing information, it can be helpful to show the before and after text side by side, using the TextDiff template, along with a short reason for the change. Below is a simple example:

Reason for change: Existing business model and CEO are outdated.

The syntax for this change is as follows: Reason for change: Existing business model and CEO are outdated.


 * Note - alert readers will notice that the TextDiff template doesn't display reference footnotes within the text boxes. To simplify the reviewer's task, editors could consider also using the box template to show the footnote placement within the new text, below the before and after TextDiff request. It would look like this: