Wikipedia talk:Edit requests

Unique edit request section headers

I'm not sure exactly what template or tool creates edit requests, but the headers are always something like "Semi-protected edit request on 27 August 2020". On active protected articles, like high-profile current events, we often get multiple edit requests on the same day, resulting in multiple sections with the same exact heading. These requests sometimes lead to substantive discussions. Yet, it's difficult to link to them, especially when they go into talk page archives, because they have the same heading. Renaming the heading might confuse the new editor making the request (as well as break any prior links). My suggestion is that the section header should be: "Semi-protected edit request on 27 August 2020 by [EDITOR]". Anybody think this is a good idea, or have suggestions for alternatives? Lev!vich 18:57, 27 August 2020 (UTC)

Levivich, I would support this change, because it's easier to link to unique section headers that way. I would recommend you ask on a higher visibility forum, because it seems that the edit request page is sparsely watched. Sam-2727 (talk) 16:23, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

Agree that allowing for the possibility of duplicate headings is poor design.

When someone opens a new discussion, they don't put the date or their username in the heading. That's because neither is particularly needed or useful in the heading (both are available in the signature of the first comment). So, from a usability standpoint, all these headings need is the type of edit request (type of protection) and something to ensure a unique heading. Username would still not be foolproof because there is nothing to prevent multiple requests on the same day from a single user. I would suggest a simple unformatted timestamp with one-second precision: "Extended-confirmed-protected edit request 20200828172408". ―Mandruss ☎ 17:24, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

@Levivich, Sam-2727, and Mandruss: This title comes from Module:Submit an edit request/config - while it won't gauruntee uniqueness, adding the timestamp along with the date stamp should be easy. — xaosflux ^Talk 17:26, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

c.f. mw:Help:Extension:ParserFunctions##time for available parameters, we are currently using [j F Y] on that. — xaosflux ^Talk 17:29, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

I'd oppose "Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 28 August 2020 at 17:24:08 (UTC)" as too long, adding unnecessary clutter to TOCs and page histories. Again, it isn't there for human informational purposes but only to ensure uniqueness. It doesn't need to be readable. ―Mandruss ☎ 17:37, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

@Mandruss: changing [j F Y] to [YmdHis] would change the date part to a plain date like 202008281737. — xaosflux ^Talk 17:56, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

Minute precision would not be enough, need second precision. Note that I'm also dropping the word "on" as unnecessary. ―Mandruss ☎ 17:59, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

@Mandruss: my example above does include seconds (the s parameter and the "...37" part). I really don't mind the 'on' - it explains to a reader what the string of numbers is. — xaosflux ^Talk 18:02, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

37 can't be seconds unless your format is yyyymmddhhss or yyyymmddmmss, both of which are highly unlikely. Any time-of-day with second precision is six digits long. And I submit that a reader doesn't need to know what the string of numbers is, although one could figure it out if they really cared. ―Mandruss ☎ 18:08, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

"[type]-protected edit request 20200828172408" sounds like a good solution to me. Lev!vich 19:02, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

Oops, indeed - I kept leaving some precision out of the example (the mins I think) - not the parser code. — xaosflux ^Talk 02:03, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Wouldn't the ideal solution be to make Module:Submit an edit request automatically detect if the header already exists and automatically add a suffix like (2) instead of increasing the precision of the timestamp and therefore making things less human-friendly in the common case? * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 18:59, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

Oh, that would be good, too. On the one hand, it makes it more human-friendly to have a readable date (28 August 2020) followed by (1) and (2), etc. On the other hand, it would make the code more complex, but I really have no idea how difficult or expensive that is from a technical standpoint, i.e., is it worth the extra coding and computing. Lev!vich 19:04, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

 Coded at Template:Submit an edit request/sandbox, tested at Template talk:X10 * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 19:35, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

Thanks Pppery! How can I test it? And what's the process for making the change live? Lev!vich 16:14, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

You can see from my contributions what I did: I placed Template:Submit an edit request/sandbox at Template:X10, then clicked the button several times, cretating several blank edit requests with increasing section numbers (the intervening edits to Module:Submit an edit request were me fixing a bug I found while testing). I also manually added headers for 5 through 9 in case some unforeseen bug happened when the counter hit 10, but it didn't. The process for getting my change live would be (assuming consensus supports it as opposed to one of the higher-precision-timestamp proposals) to make an edit request at Template talk:Submit an edit request on a different day from 9 other edit requests on that page * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 16:32, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

• I am surprised at the cryptic `20200828172408` suggestion, how can human read this comfortably? This format is meant for machines not humans; and the heading, as far as I know, is for humans not machines. Actually this suggested solution is worse than the duplicate heading problem. I'd rather deal with a duplicate heading than read date and time in a format meant not for humans and that requires more time for cognitive parsing. I will really suggest not do this.

  Many people will not care about these duplicates, because for most requests there's a little reason to refer to them after archiving. I am not convinced there's a problem to solve here in the first place, especially with a solution that will exacerbate it being advanced.

  If you absolutely need to do this then "28 August 2020 at 17:24:08 (UTC)" is more human-friendly, unless if the titles are no longer meant for human readers. I don't agree with the length and clutter argument about it, that issue stems from the very design of the heading boilerplate. If the length need to be reduced may be consider changing the heading fom for instance "Extendern-confirmed edit request 20 May 2024" to just say "Edit request on 20 May 2024". To my knowledge, these requests are already being categorized in some way, and anybody can see the protection level in the article if the want. I never find the extra verbosity in this heading useful. – Ammarpad (talk) 09:19, 1 September 2020 (UTC)

Edit request user script for new vector (fixed width)

I have been working on a userscript which should format on the new (fixed width) vector skin without extending past the page or having unexpected formatting created by the fixed width article and talk pages compared with the legacy vector. I have been testing it on edit requests and appears to work as intended, if you are interested it is Edit Request Closer. Terasail^[✉] 15:40, 5 January 2021 (UTC)

@Terasail: How does it compare in terms of functionality with Wikipedia:EditProtectedHelper? RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 14:43, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

@RandomCanadian: You can do most things that edit protected helper can, apart from changing the protection level and the "page to be edited" part of the template. The other changes are mainly in how the the buttons and drop down menu look. Terasail^[✉] 17:01, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

Moved to User talk:Terasail/Edit Request Closer

 – RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 17:32, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

Edit Notices Creation Requests

Not sure if this is the place to request the creating of edit/page notices. But here goes. Since the List of Canadian journalists its own edit notice, I thought it would be good for the List of CTV personalities and List of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to have an edit notice like as well. Unless there is a way to add said edit notice to the two lists as stated. Mr. C.C.^{Hey yo!}_{I didn't do it!} 05:15, 20 February 2021 (UTC)