Since I’m quite new to wikiHow, I don’t know all the useful commands yet. That’s why I tend to use the Sandbox every now and then, just to make sure I’m using the right command, or I’ll go there to experiment a bit. Now as you may or may not know, some commands have different functions when placed on Talk pages. And as I do not want to go experimenting on other people’s Talk page, I thought it might be a neat idea to have a Talk Page Sandbox? @Anna
suggested that I make an alternate account to test with, which was an idea I hadn’t thought of yet, but I still wanted to hear from the rest of you what your thoughts are. Also, if a Sandbox like that could be created, would every edit made to it have to be checked in the RC Patrol? If not, that would be another plus point to make the sandbox, as making a sockpuppet account would not have that “privilege” of not getting patrolled. So, any ideas on this would be great. Daniel
well that idea might work.
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Yes, every edit (made on a sockpuppet account) would have to be patrolled. I’m always using the “Preview” button – there’s no harm in that
Skip the sockpuppet account and just use an anon acct to which you dont need to sign in with to edit. Make.sure to bookmark it on your browser to ensure that its not lost!
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We need to keep in mind that although creating personal userpages is a part of the community, the focus should always be on mainspace improvements, the articles we provide for visitors and users are the primary mission of wikiHow. For some reason, it seems like (to me, anyway) userpage obsessions become a larger and larger part of wikiHow’s edits, and that means more work patrolling changes that are, for the most part, vanity exercises. It isn’t unusual to see someone working on their page and having a dozen or more edits in a short time, often using html code that isn’t easy to patrol.
What commands are you referring to specifically?
Commands like {{nfd|not}} or other NFD tags. I can’t immediately find another one that works like that, but NFD is one of the most common commands I use on a Talk page. If I don’t know how one will turn out on a Talk page, I like to test that out beforehand, just to see the outcome. Granted, preview would work with that, but there wouldn’t be any harm in having a Sandbox for it. In fact, I would think it only beneficial. And that’s what a Sandbox is for after all: To create a space where you can have your freedom and test things out, edit and add.
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I realize several of those in this thread are relatively new, so I thought a bit of history might be in order here… /begin history lesson wikiHow used to allow sandboxes… As many and varied as a user might want. The problem was that they got out of hand rather quickly. Users used them for a variety of non-wikiHow related purposes… blog space, rant space, user edit test space and “let’s see how far we can go before the admins see our useless/mean/stupid/annoying stuff and block us!” types of edits. It wasted a LOT of patroller time. It wasted a LOT of admin time. And since patrollers and admins are all volunteers, they were not particularly interested in patrolling those types of edits… and not particularly pleased to have their time and attention commandeered by unhelpful edits. So… We asked everyone to use the preview button instead of sand boxes. Users wanting to practice editing in a “safe” environment were directed to edit in the central sandbox. ( http://www.wikihow.com/Sandbox
) and were discouraged from creating “personal” sandboxes for all the reasons listed above (and a couple more which I’m sure I’ve forgotten in the intervening year or two.) /end history lesson So… Please? let’s NOT go there again? Sandboxes are/were a hot mess… and we’re already scrambling to keep up in RC patrol. Let’s not add to that problem! Thanks!
I may be just missing the point here, but aren’t sandboxes free from having to be patrolled? I thought that you could do whatever you wanted there, just because it wouldn’t have to be patrolled constantly (that way avoiding having to make sockpuppet account which WOULD have to be patrolled). I may be missing something important though, so feel free to correct me on that. Anyways, if the majority is voting nay on this, I guess I’ll just leave it.
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The only pro to having a sandbox is that it doesn’t affect the mainspace/actual user/talk pages – it’s basically like scratch paper that you have on the side of your homework. Despite that, all edits (whether it’s from your own account or a sockpuppet account) – including any edits made on the official sandbox – needs to be patrolled by an editor.
Ah, thanks for clearing that up. I honestly thought that a Sandbox didn’t have to be patrolled. The arguments makes a lot more sense now. The main reason I was also trying to get it approved because it would be a positive thing being that it wouldn’t have to get patrolled every time an edit was made. I guess I’ll just use preview from now on. Thanks for all the information! Daniel
“Commands like {{nfd|not}} or other NFD tags. I can’t immediately find another one that works like that, but NFD is one of the most common commands I use on a Talk page. If I don’t know how one will turn out on a Talk page, I like to test that out beforehand, just to see the outcome. Granted, preview would work with that, but there wouldn’t be any harm in having a Sandbox for it. In fact, I would think it only beneficial. And that’s what a Sandbox is for after all: To create a space where you can have your freedom and test things out, edit and add.” You can just test them on someone else’s talk page and use preview, like other people said
I’d have to agree that edits to a personal sandbox might clog up the Recent Changes count.
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I agree with @BR
and @Loiswade42
on this issue. Once you use the templates with regularity, you’ll know how to use them. The wasted edits and patrols from a talk page sandbox would be far more inconvenient to patrollers than seeing a user flub up a talk page template. It happens…sometimes? On a more philosophical note, the “mistakes” one makes trying to figure something new out are the best teaching tools, along with coaching from more experienced users. On a more technical note, you can always look through the coaching templates here: http://www.wikihow.com/wikiHow:Templates/Coaching
If a template allows additional arguments such as {{categorize|“Article Title”}}, it’s usually indicated.
I think this is a really good idea! I also understand the concerns of folks like @BR
and @Loiswade42
who want to reduce patrol load. I’ve actually drafted up a plan to change RC that could enable this feature without burdening RC patrollers. But sadly, we likely won’t be able to work on it till well after the redesign and MediaWiki upgrade. By then the already very impressive @Danielbauwens
will be beyond expert at all these templates.If we can streamline RC though while allowing more practice talk page editing, it will help a future generation of wikiHowians though! Wish we could do it today, but it will likely wait for a while.
So it might be a possibility somewhere in the future- AwesomeI do understand that it wouldn’t be helpful to add a Sandbox in it’s current state because of having to patrol all edits made. In the mean time, I learned using the preview button, which proves to be very useful. And thank you, @JackHerrick
for the compliments. I try to do my best
