[WikiEN-l] New policy on edit conficts

Tue Dec 2 00:06:00 UTC 2003

Dear Wikipedians,

Edit conflicts often occur on Wikipedia. We advise users to do their 
best to merge the two texts together when this happens, but mistakes 
do happen. Thus, where someone accidentally reverts one of my minor 
changes due to such a mistake, while making many other 
improvements to the article, I have two options:

1) Reinstate my changes to the other person's text
2) Revert to my version, removing all the other person's improvements.

In choosing between these two options, it is important to note that the 
first option has been standard practice on Wikipedia for some years. 
Further, the first option results in an improved encyclopedia article, 
whereas the second option results in a worse encyclopedia article. 
Further, the second option has been empirically observed to cause 
conflict. Further, the first option is in accordance with existing policies 
on Wikiquette, WikiLove, and with existing advice on avoiding reverts 
and staying cool when the editing gets hot.

As a result, I have rewritten [[wikipedia:edit conflicts]] to specifically 
deal with this issue. By the powers vested in me by the Wikipedia 
power structure, I hereby declare those changes to be de facto official, 
subject of course to overruling by other sysops, mailing list opinion, talk 
page opinion, and Jimbo's veto.

References: [[wikipedia talk:Edit war]], etc.

Thank you for your time,
-Martin "MyRedDice" Harper