Postby Chas Charles-Dunne » 14 Aug 2012, 11:48
Hello All,
What's this all about, then?
Well, in what little spare time I have, I am also a Wikipedia editor (like a few others here). Now I know that Wikipedia is like Marmite - you either love it or loathe it - there is no middle ground. Yes anyone can add content and yes that content can be deliberately wrong. But errors don't last long because there are people like me who patrol certain areas. Please remember that all content on Wikipedia has to be verifiable, so deliberate lies don't last long.
One of my areas is Heraldry. At the moment the whole category structure is a mess - a veritable swamp. Different heraldic subjects are tacked on willy-nilly, with no regard for a cohesive search ability. I am trying to sort the tree out, so that if one is searching for a particular subject it can be found.
Unfortunately, some editors are more interested in showing off their own knowledge rather than improving the overall structure. They create categories for every possible genus of animal that has ever lived. All they are doing is clogging up the system.
One of the conventions is that category titles (in Heraldry) will be in English, unless there is no equivalent. One editor created a stand alone category called "Cyclamor". I argued that, as far as English was concerned, it would be blazoned "one large annulet" and if we must have it, it should be placed as a sub-category of Annulets. The edit-war started. He impugned my heraldic knowledge, by stating that "everybody knows what a Cyclamor is". I countered with "nobody knows what a Cyclamor is". (Not my best retort, I know).
We have here a reasonable cross-section of heraldic knowledge. If members had said "of course, I know", or "I've heard it before, but can't quite place it", I would have conceded the field and apologised to the other editor. As it stands, I think I am vindicated and will press for Cyclamor to be a sub-category rather than a top category.
Thank you all for assisting me.
Regards
ChasIAAH Fellow