# I Edit Wikipedia **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 2, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688 "2014-03-02T18:43:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/41 "2014-03-06T19:28:07Z")
The thing that’s weird about these volunteer bureaucrats is that they are oblivious to their own rulebreaking. There is essentially a “don’t be a jerk” policy there, but few actually follow it. And why should they, when there are usually no consequences for doing so? The proper way to handle an unsourced addition is to tag it first, and allow time for a citation to be found. The sole exception are biographies of living persons, and that’s due to legal reasons. If you do delete it, it’s because you think it’s false, and that means you are supposed to leave a comment on the talk page explaining yourself. Oddly enough, I encountered someone doing this on freaking Wikimedia Commons. Someone deleted some maintenance tags I added without explanation. ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/42 "2014-03-06T19:47:32Z")
I’ve created/contributed to quite a few. And I got the reference. Love that song! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/43 "2014-04-04T17:06:48Z")
Seems I’ve discovered a particularly persistant vandal using a series of [IPv6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6_address) addresses to bypass a year-long block of their [IPv4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv4) address. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/44 "2014-04-04T23:03:00Z")
If you haven’t already done so, please report them on the [Administrator intervention against vandalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrator_intervention_against_vandalism) page. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/45 "2014-04-04T23:16:55Z")
I had a slow learning curve, but now know how to contribute and not get deleted. I have to do some major original research, but that’s good in a way. Among my contributions are “dead man’s hand” “cheesburger” “kemosabe” and more. I’ve posted my research on [kemosabe](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9485775&postcount=1) and [dead man’s hand](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/275/was-wild-bill-hickok-holding-the-dead-mans-hand-when-he-was-slain) on the SDMB first. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/46 "2014-04-07T04:03:23Z")
> [@Number](#): > > If you haven’t already done so, please report them on the [Administrator intervention against vandalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrator_intervention_against_vandalism) page. They’ve been changing addresses pretty much daily. I mentioned the suspected IP sock when requesting that the page with the most vandalism be protected from IP editing. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/47 "2014-04-07T04:21:18Z")
I gently edited Heather Mizeur’s article. Changed “partner” to “wife”, added wife’s maiden name. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/48 "2014-04-07T05:00:49Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > I have no “babies”. I typically fix spelling and punctuation, only occasionally adding something or changing the page if the omission/inclusion is egregious. Same thing with me. Some pages can’t be edited; they will have a padlock at the top of the page. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/49 "2014-04-07T16:39:54Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Some pages can’t be edited; they will have a padlock at the top of the page. Although there are a few which can only be edited by Wikipedia staff, the padlock typically means the page can’t be edited anonymously. In other words, it’s most likley protected from IP editing. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/50 "2014-04-30T22:06:30Z")
Just yesterday I made my first substantive edit in years to Wikipedia, adding an entirely new section to a certain movie celebrity’s page. ---
**Author:** ![Jaguars](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaguars/32/5879_2.png) [@Jaguars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaguars)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/51 "2014-06-05T23:46:40Z")
Question: I’m thinking of revamping the article on land surveying and it has some dumb citation requests that anyone with experience in the industry was taught in their first year. e.g: > [@wikipedia](#): > > Starting from a position with known location and elevation, the distance and angles to the unknown point are measured.[citation needed] I mean, in layman’s terms that’s like questioning whether the sky is blue. What’s the best way to remove them without provoking an edit war? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/52 "2014-06-06T00:41:05Z")
> [@Jaguars](#): > > Question: > > I’m thinking of revamping the article on land surveying and it has some dumb citation requests that anyone with experience in the industry was taught in their first year. > e.g: > I mean, in layman’s terms that’s like questioning whether the sky is blue. What’s the best way to remove them without provoking an edit war? I googled the sentence in question. I found it [here](http://www.landwengineering.com/content/surveying-nutshell). Now, I have no doubt that the web site copied the sentence from the wikipedia article, but who will ever check? Use this as your citation. If you don’t want to do that, there are hundreds of other hits with similar sentences that probably weren’t copied from you, choose one and use it as your citation. ---
**Author:** ![Jaguars](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaguars/32/5879_2.png) [@Jaguars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaguars)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/53 "2014-06-06T01:05:21Z")
Fair enough, but would it be legitimate to just remove the citation needed tag? I can’t imagine anyone with surveying knowledge disputing what is written. Wouldn’t that be better than having a circular citation? ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/54 "2014-06-06T02:10:15Z")
I usually update articles related to Tokyo Disney Resort. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/55 "2014-06-06T03:36:49Z")
I used to but haven’t for over a year now. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688/56 "2014-06-06T12:46:14Z")
> [@Jaguars](#): > > I mean, in layman’s terms that’s like questioning whether the sky is blue. What’s the best way to remove them without provoking an edit war? I took a look at [the article in question](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Surveying&oldid=611311547#Surveying_equipment). To me it appears that the [citation needed] tag refers to the entire paragraph, rather than just the sentence you quoted. It’s saying there should be a reference backing up the fact that the specific equipment and techniques were used as late as the 1990s. This isn’t terribly unreasonable, and such a source shouldn’t be hard to find. Do you have any old trade publications lying around which mention the common practices of the time? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-edit-wikipedia/682688.md?page=2)