Edit Note

Edit notes are comments left by users on an edit and are an important form of communication between users on the site. They can either be entered at the same time as an edit, or can be added to an existing edit.

Note: All users are expected to follow the Code of Conduct when entering an edit note.

What to use them for

Common uses for edit notes are to:

• provide supplementary information (e.g. a URL that contains the source information)
• ask for clarification on an edit (e.g. if no source was provided)
• discuss the changes being made and/or whether they're appropriate changes (e.g. perhaps the change doesn't follow the Style Guidelines)
• enable a more experienced user to help answer another user's questions (e.g. questions on how to correctly perform an edit)

Edit notes can be as long or as short as you like, but keep in mind that others will have to read and understand what you are saying. See how to write edit notes for more information.

Email notification

Any edit notes that are made will always be displayed when viewing the edit they're left on. Additionally, they will also be sent via email to:

• the user that made the edit
• others users who have entered a note on the edit
• any user who has voted on the edit

Note: Any vote, be it "Yes", "No" or "Abstain", will cause you to receive notes (previously, that was restricted to only "Yes" or "No" votes).

When to do it

It is good practice to enter a note whenever you make a non-trivial edit, to explain the edit to other users. Entering a URL link to supporting information is particularly helpful. It is also important to enter a note if you are making a contentious edit such as adding a standalone recording or removing anything from the database, otherwise users are likely to vote against the edit.

If you are voting against an edit it is important to enter a note explaining why. Such a note serves several purposes: it explains to the editor why you believe their change to be incorrect (so that they won't make the same mistake again, and can even cancel the edit in question), it and warns other voters that they should not vote "Yes" to the edit. It also allows an editor to contact you to explain why they feel their edit is correct, and perhaps convince you to change your vote.

Edit note syntax

HTML syntax is not supported, but URLs are automatically displayed as clickable links and there is some basic wiki syntax markup available.

Notes

• There is no syntax to use when entering in a URL, any entered URLs will turn into links automatically.
• URLs may break if there are special characters in the URL, but if this happens it is a simple matter to fix.
  • Copy the URL (by right clicking on the link); paste this URL into a new window or tab; now copy the remaining portion of the URL that was left out of the clickable link.
• Long URLs will be shortened when displayed, don't worry the link will still work.