Edit counts!

[lian]

Inofficial post is unofficial and curious.

I only very occasionally add stuff to Fanlore, but I used to be a heavy editer back in the day. So it idly occured to me to check my edit count: I've never done that before, but apparently it's right there under "My preferences".

Turns out my edit count is 1,208. Hmmm... honestly, I have no idea whatsoever whether that's meagre? average? creditable? (I thought it was more, tbh, seeing as I do tons of silly little typo edits etc.)


Indulge me -- what's your edit count? And how does it compare to your expectations? Any anecdotes you want to share?

Comments

The Winner of the "Get A Life? I *Have* A Life! Now Let Me Get To It!" Award

[morgandawn]

goes to Mrs Potato Head at....115,878. But like me, she saves as she edits so that creates multiple counts for a single page.

Re: The Winner of the "Get A Life? I *Have* A Life! Now Let Me Get To It!" Award

[frogspace.livejournal.com]

There is no WAY to play that number down. ;)

Re: The Winner of the "Get A Life? I *Have* A Life! Now Let Me Get To It!" Award

[lian]

But of course there are multpile counts for a single page ?_? does anyone edit differently? Probably not prudent. I always do lots of mid-edit-saves myself. That doesn't discount that sublime number at all! :D

Re: The Winner of the "Get A Life? I *Have* A Life! Now Let Me Get To It!" Award

[kylara]

I totally avoid mid-save/multiple edits. It's just so nice having it perfect (not that there is such a thing on a wiki) in one go. Also, other than simple fact-checking, I'm generally nervous about editing so I'll work on and save edits in a notepad file for a few days to make sure it's accurate and to my liking before doing one massive edit. For instance, at the moment I have a few pages in notepad only; they're redlinked on Fanlore. One day I'll be happy enough with them to add them....

If I did mid-save edits, maybe my number would be triple? Haha!

Re: The Winner of the "Get A Life? I *Have* A Life! Now Let Me Get To It!" Award

[lian]

Interesting! I edit as I go, basically -- if I don't get it onto the page right away,I never do. I only keep offline notes where I collect quotes etc. and other research, but it's pretty rare. I try to wean myself off perfectionism in wiki editing too -- the only thing I'm completely anal about is sources XD

Re: The Winner of the "Get A Life? I *Have* A Life! Now Let Me Get To It!" Award

[(Anonymous)]

I look at my stat page every few months and shake my head. That's a pretty big number! But like Morgan, Lian, and others, I work as I go, which creates multiple edits. That process fits my work-style brain-wise.

When I edit, I have multiple windows open: the Fanlore page I'm editing, the Fanlore page I'm using to search the wiki to add to the edit, and/or the Fanlore page I have open to upload an image. In the reserve are my tabs: my word document cheat sheet with all my codes and templates and reminder hints, my personal mail account, my work mail account, the program for my scanner, and the site for my music (89.3/The Current!). I have a really tiny screen, maybe 7x10 inches (smaller than a 8x10 piece of paper anyway, it's the smallest Mac laptop) and keeping all this straight in that space is a challenge.

My to-do list on my user page is what keeps me going and organized. That, and red links where red links shouldn't still be. Like Doro, I have to switch off and on between types of work, or I get bored or overwhelmed. I make some meaty pages, mindlessly add dates to images, check sources, do general research, and then some systematic clean-up. I have to mix it up. And all with my to-do list in mind to keep me focused.

Recent Changes is a place I like to check often, because if someone's working on a page, I like to see what she or he is doing. It gives a certain energy to the work at hand. I also review the corrections that other folks make so that I can learn to do it better the next time. I find that very helpful.

When I stumbled upon Fanlore in July 2009, all I was planning to do was to add some zines to it in a single fandom. I swear! That's it! But as I did, I was reminded that those zines didn't exist in a vacuum, and that zines touched upon all sorts of other stuff -- cons, flyers, writing contests, awards, production techniques, glossary terms, and were the basis for all sorts of fannish things today. The whole world of pre-internet media fandom became something I wanted to help document. There are bits and pieces of fannish history here and there, but nothing that really ties things together. I thought the best place to do that was on a welcoming wiki where fans could pool their knowledge. And to get the ball rolling? Start writing about media zines, ALL media zines. Not only would this preserve the fanworks themselves, but it would branch out and show, in a much clearer way, how everything fit together, what fans talked about, what they expected from each other, how they viewed their "rights" as fans, the difficulties fans faced, and how they communicated and created in a world they really cared about. None of it any different that what fans have always been doing, of course, but in a different medium, one before computers.

I think it's been a marvelous journey so far.

MPH

Re: The Winner of the "Get A Life? I *Have* A Life! Now Let Me Get To It!" Award

[lian]

That was fascinating -- thank you so much for sharing your journey into editing superstardom :D It think the kind of interconnectedness that you describe is exactly what attracts me the most about wikis -- interlinking, referencing, that's the stuff of my HEART. It's exactly what makes keeping on track hard though, I always get my priorities mixed up. The next red link always backons!!! Haha.

(Also, for a me as a firmly internet-era fan, these are rather invaluable historical lessons.)

I can't believe you're managing this on a tiny tiny monitor though! o_O

Re: The Winner of the "Get A Life? I *Have* A Life! Now Let Me Get To It!" Award

[(Anonymous)]

I think of editing like knitting a very, very long scarf. The interconnectedness, pulling bits from here and there, is the key, and it is why I love it. Sometimes a bit of fannish info pops up, like a convention name, a theory, a reference, or a word, and I swear I hear the physical sound of another piece of the puzzle locking into place. Everything builds on everything else, and it's all related; it's then just a matter of creating paths that people can navigate.

That twenty-five year stretch of pre-internet media fandom is seminal, and what's on Fanlore is still just the tip of the iceberg -- but at least it's a start!

The tiny monitor? Sometimes it's hard to read stuff, and to be able to stack more open windows would be great, but so far it's working for me. :-)

It was a neat question you asked; I like hearing how other folks edit and all the different styles and plans.

MPH

Re: The Winner of the "Get A Life? I *Have* A Life! Now Let Me Get To It!" Award

[onceamy]

I had a vague feeling you wore pioneering on a tiny screen -- I really would like to implement a mobile skin that actually lets you edit (a lot of the ones I've seen around are focused on viewing). It's one of my priorities when my (mental) health gets a bit better.