Summary in Edit Page

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Nalates
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Summary in Edit Page

Post by Nalates »

I looked for this one and found an empty page at MediaWiki's Help:Edit Summary

I see that if the summary is left blank it fills in with the closest (?) level/section heading. But, I am unsure what one types in or how the information is used. So, I've been leaving it blank.

I am guessing this supposed to be a 'summary of the edit'?
Nalates
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Mac_Fife
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Re: Summary in Edit Page

Post by Mac_Fife »

Nalates, your guess is exactly right :)

Basically, it's a one line comment on the revision. If the page has section headings and click on the "edit" link in that section, then the section name will be pre-filled in that summary box, and you can then add whatever details you need. Putting the section name in is just a way to better define where the edit occured. Typically, I keep it simple, things like "Added link to forum post", "Corrected typos". It's more a guide for someone skimming the edits, as the detailed of the change can always be found from the change history.

If you look at the "history" tab on a page you'll see a list of all the revisions to that page, when they were made and who made the change. You'll also see the size of the edited section (in number of bytes) and in brackets is the comment that was entered in the Summary box. You can get similar information from the Recent Changes link on the navigation sidebar.

Other things of interest on the history pages:
  • You can use the radio buttons on the history page to compare two versions of the page: Select the older version first (this enables the second column of buttons) then select the newer version and hit the "compare" button.
  • On some items you'll see m before the byte count - this indicates that the edit was classed as "minor" by the author (like a typo or punctuation correction). The checkbox for marking an edit as "minor" is just below the Summary box when you edit the page.
Other things of interest on the Recent Changes page:
  • You'll see the same m as mentioned above, but you may also see N indicating that this is a new page rather than an edit.
  • ! may appear next to some items, possibly in addition to the m or N - this is a warning that the edit has not yet been "patrolled", i.e. checked by a sysop.
  • The Recent Changes page has a RSS/Atom newsfeed associated with it - If you use newsfeeds, this is an easy way to stay in touch with the wiki.
  • You can use the "diff" link next to an item to see the details of the edit (additions and deletions).
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