Help:Recent Edits: Difference between revisions

Help:Recent Edits (view source)

Revision as of 05:19, 10 August 2011

547 bytes added , 10 August 2011

→‎Example: A good start, but I've had to reword. "Contributions are determined through bytes" doesn't make sense. "Diff" means "difference", to show what changed. These links do not "redirect" you, they are just links.

VisualWikitext

Gboyers

Executive Manager, Managers, Executive Managers, Interface administrators, Administrators

13,610

edits

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 ;What are the numbers in brackets indicating?
-Contributions are determined through bytes (B) and kilobytes (KB). Green numbers with a positive symbol, eg. (+129), indicate that bytes have been added to the edited article, in other words, the editor has added content to the article. Red numbers with a negative symbol, eg. (-129), indicate that bytes have been taken away from the article, in other words, the editor has removed some content. If over 500 Bytes have been added or removed to the article, the numbers will become bold, indicating a large contribution, eg. '''(+701)'''. When uploading and [[Help:Deletion|deleting]] content, bytes are not displayed.
+This shows whether that edit has increased or decreased the size of the page's code, overall, measured in bytes. Bear in mind that many edits will remove and add content, whilst this just shows the total. Green numbers show a positive increase, whilst red negative numbers show a decrease. If the edit increases or decreases the size by more than 500 bytes, that will show in bold to indicate that it is a major edit. This will bring the edit to the attention of staff to check that the page hasn't been blanked or filled with spam. These numbers are only shown when page's code is edited, not for image uploading or log operations such as deleting pages or changing user's rights.
-;What are the italic words in brackets?
-Most edits will have an edit summary, which informs users briefly on what actions have been executed within the [[Help:Editing|edit]].
+;What are the italic words, in brackets, at the end?
-;What do the (diff | His) mean and how are they beneficial?
+These are edit summaries - the user's explanation of what they changed. Most page edits give you the opportunity to enter an edit summary at the bottom. You should always take this opportunity to explain what you have done. This makes it easier for staff to keep track of what's going on on the wiki, but it also means other editors can see ''why'' you made a particular edit. Sometimes it is not obvious, and they might undo or revert your edit thinking that it was unnecessary or even damaging. You should always try to add an edit summary, but especially when it is
+;What do the (diff | his) mean?
+'Diff' shows the 'difference' in the page before and after you edited it. The diff link takes you to a side-by-side comparison of the page code, showing and highlighting the sections of code that were changed in the edit. From here you can also see the full edit summary, and undo/revert the edit.
+'His' shows the full [[Help:Page history|history]] of all the edits to that page, not just the most recent diff. From here you can see all the edits, all the contributors, and undo/revert/rollback as necessary.
-'Diff' is short way of applying the words differ or differentiate. Following this link, [[Help:Redirects|redirects]] you to the revision section of the article, which allows you to compare earlier and present revisions or edits made to the selected article. It also displays the users who edited the article. 'His' is a short terminology for history. This link, if clicked, redirects you to the article's [[Help:Page history|page history]] which shows you in chronological order, the editors of the page.
 ;What do the (talk | contribs) mean?
-'talk' redirects you to the user's [[Help:Talk Pages|talk page]]. 'Contribs' is a short way of applying the word contributions when if clicked, redirects you to a another special page entitled, Special:Contributions/USERNAME, which allows you to view a list of all the chosen user's contributions.
+For the user that made that edit, 'talk' takes you to their personal [[Help:Talk Pages|talk page]], whilst 'contribs' shows you all of that user's contributions (edits they've made). The contribs link is useful to determine whether they are a spammer, and if there is a problem, for finding other edits by the same user that you may also need to correct.
 ==See Also==
 *[[Help]] - The navigation to all other pages documenting help.