ArchWiki talk:Contributing

History clarity

about ArchWiki:Contributing#Always properly use the edit summary note to ease searchability and history readability

auto summary the section title by clicking it's [Edit] button instead of the Edit on top of the page
in case of title/section rename also add to summary (after the above): rename [[#section title]] to [[#new section title]]

― Ubone (talk) 05:40, 16 August 2018 (UTC)

That's a good idea but I prefer the comment syntax over regular section links in edit summaries. Draft:

When editing a section use its [Edit] link to automatically prefix /* Section name */ to the edit summary. The text between /* and */ becomes a section link in the edit summary. You can also use this syntax to make your edit summary more accessible, e.g. rename /* Install */ to standard /* Installation */.

--Larivact (talk) 06:15, 16 August 2018 (UTC)

The text between /* and */ becomes a section link

it... does? ― Ubone (talk) 07:00, 16 August 2018 (UTC)

oh, that little arrow... never knew it was clickable, it's a bit hardly visible tho ― Ubone (talk) 07:04, 16 August 2018 (UTC)

It would keep summaries cleaner if /* */ remains only as auto summary for the section being edited. To correct my initial example: /* (auto) section title */ rename to [[#new section title]]. I wouldn't use /* */ simply because it's easier for me to press [ or ] than shift-8 for * ― Ubone (talk) 07:36, 16 August 2018 (UTC)

A problem with /* */ is that if there's a space after it, it adds a colon. That makes it look weird if it's in the middle of a sentence. -- nl6720 (talk) 07:48, 16 August 2018 (UTC)

Good points, everybody. Updated draft:

To edit a section use its [Edit] link to automatically prefix /* Section name */ to the edit summary. When mentioning section names, link them using [[#Section links]]. Example: /* Install */ rename to standard [[#Installation]].

--Larivact (talk) 08:22, 16 August 2018 (UTC)

I would drop standard because while being a common mistake is not the point of the example. ― Ubone (talk) 08:08, 17 August 2018 (UTC)

I included it because the ideal edit summary contains a reason. --Larivact (talk) 08:18, 17 August 2018 (UTC)

[[#Section links]] should be [[#Section name]] to avoid confusion and possibly point to links syntax with something like 'see #Resources for Help:Editing' --Ubone (talk) 15:00, 26 September 2018 (UTC)

The look of /* Section name */ has changed since this discussion started. Instead of just an arrow, now the whole text is a link. Since some people seem to confuse it with some sort of comment syntax, I tried explaining what it is in Special:Diff/715163. -- nl6720 (talk) 11:19, 2 February 2022 (UTC)