Community Wishlist Survey 2023/Editing/Avoid editing conflicts

Random proposal ►◄ Editing The survey has concluded. Here are the results!

Avoid editing conflicts

Problem: Conflicting edits are confusing when 2 or more users are editing the article at the same time.
Proposed solution: Display an alert message when another user tries to edit an article that is already being edited.
Who would benefit: publishers
More comments:
Phabricator tickets: phab:T329975
Proposer: Elilopes (talk) 14:04, 25 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

User:Bluedeck wrote a gadget that notifies you when the page you're editing is edited. --魔琴 (talk) 15:42, 25 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]
"Is edited" means that the other user's edit is successfully published. --魔琴 (talk) 15:48, 25 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Elilopes, does this gadget do what you wanted or would you like to keep that proposal up? @Elilopes: KSiebert (WMF) (talk) 16:07, 25 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

- KSiebert (WMF) keep the proposal, for the community to decide

2019 wish: Warn of other revisions saved during edit-preview (not quite the same but probably easier) --Tgr (talk) 04:42, 5 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
related task: T19467 (again, not quite the same thing but same use case) --Tgr (talk) 04:42, 5 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
one word: Checkout. G41rn8 (talk) 19:44, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Notably there's a script on Fandom for this very purpose. --Firestar464 (talk) 20:50, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I discussed this above with collaborative editing. I wonder if there could be something like Google Docs where you can see another editor in the document making changes. If we could see the changes made by each editor, that'd be great! This is especially useful for working with current events and/or doing large edits when someone comes in, makes a small change, and leaves. Significa liberdade (talk) 21:49, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

- Significa liberdade collaborative editing is a good one. maybe even this function is dangerous. Elilopes (talk) 15:00, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This is also like collaborative editing like in Google Docs where we can see other editors making edits together and may be more like social media when we can see other users are typing their edits. Thingofme (talk) 15:56, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Answer to Libcub, this is just a simple alert to let you know that the article is being modified. this alert should not prevent another editor from making changes. Elilopes (talk) 14:54, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. That's why I said "intimidate or exhaust" not "prevent". I think taking care in the wording of the alert could help ameliorate the issue. Libcub (talk) 03:09, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Would the first editor receive an alert as well?Wakelamp (talk) 01:15, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Voting

Support Throast (talk) 19:56, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Seems like a good idea to me. It is so annoying when you go hit "publish" and there is an edit conflict! Why not just know about it before you hit that button and save yourself a small amount of grief? :) Moops (talk) 20:03, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Firestar464 (talk) 20:50, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support SeGiba (talk) 21:00, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Tom Ja (talk) 21:15, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support TLSOSLT (talk) 21:27, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support YES Significa liberdade (talk) 21:46, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support PureTuber (talk) 21:58, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Yeoutie (talk) 22:07, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Geert Van Pamel (WMBE) (talk) 22:32, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lectrician1 (talk) 22:49, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support NMaia (talk) 23:29, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support JoshuaKGarner (talk) 23:50, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support HeyElliott (talk) 23:51, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ioaxxere (talk) 00:05, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support ·addshore· ^{talk to me!} 00:05, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Leschnei (talk) 00:47, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Skimel (talk) 00:50, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support --NGC 54 (talk｜contribs) 01:09, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hehua (talk) 02:57, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support * Pppery * _{it has begun} 03:50, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support EpicPupper (talk) 05:14, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support JopkeB (talk) 05:21, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Soumendrak (talk) 06:20, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, probably. How would we define "being edited"--clicking the Edit or Edit source button, clicking that and typing something, clicking Edit and then typing something else within some timeframe (15 seconds, a minute, 30 minutes)? Also, I am concerned that this could be abused. A problem editor may keep the page or section in almost permanent "being edited" mode to intimidate or exhaust less experienced editors into not editing that page or section. Libcub (talk) 06:38, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I would probably be responsible for that without even realising. Quite often I'd hit edit, make some changes, get distracted by something and move to another tab where I'd start editing something new without finishing and publishing the original edit. Mesidast (talk) 10:15, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nuretok (talk) 07:18, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Doktor Züm (talk) 07:29, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Transient-understanding (talk) 07:46, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Martin-78 ^{(discutailler)} 08:14, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support V0lkanic (talk) 08:40, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Grabado (talk) 09:12, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support HHill (talk) 09:33, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Exilexi (talk) 09:39, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support —Bruce1ee^talk 09:48, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support SD0001 (talk) 10:18, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support CaféBuzz (talk) 10:22, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hadi (talk) 10:33, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Kante4 (talk) 11:36, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Smetanakaviar (talk) 12:09, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lion-hearted85 (talk) 12:32, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hhorus (talk) 12:43, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Wikipelli (talk) 13:04, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support RVA2869 (talk) 13:26, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Crosstor (talk) 13:27, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Innitiative.35 (talk) 13:40, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Cepice (talk) 14:22, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support CROIX (talk) 15:12, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support That's needed to reduce the annoying feelings when others are editing or have saved the page. Thingofme (talk) 15:55, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nehaoua (talk) 16:06, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Terasail ^[✉️] 17:18, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Mbkv717 (talk) 17:24, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Erfil (talk) 19:13, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support It's only happened once (luckily) since I work on less popular pages but it's so frustrating of you lose an edit because someone fixed a spelling mistake. I do think it needs limits though based on the oppose below. Potentially a certain number of (unreverted?) edits to gain access? Maybe it could be investigated if the same person is editing after a certain amount of time and someone else wants access through a popup. And if someone is found to be abusing it (should be obvious from the edit logs), there should be a ban system in place. Obviously it's impossible to get around all the issues, but I do think some variation of this would be very valuable. OddBiologist (talk) 21:39, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support I've been around for a bit and still haven't quite figured out how to deal with ECs, this small change could help. Toadspike (talk) 22:30, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support daSupremo 23:02, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Furfur^{⁂ Discussion} 23:47, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support PolinaTomsk (talk) 03:53, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Robespierreshead (talk) 07:14, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support HLFan (talk) 07:22, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Mauricio V. Genta (talk) 07:52, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support 沁水湾 (talk) 11:47, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Wedderkop (talk) 12:15, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Firefoxys (talk) 14:23, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Molnár Gábor Dávid (talk) 14:25, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support MiSmet (talk) 15:24, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Skranon (talk) 19:45, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support P12062545 (talk) 21:13, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Funcrunch (talk) 23:55, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support আফতাবুজ্জামান (talk) 01:00, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Thomas³ (talk) 16:39, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Erbiton (talk) 21:02, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support SpacedShark (talk) 05:43, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Mikxth (talk) 12:13, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Just N. (talk) 14:41, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Barkeep49 (talk) 21:29, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support TimTheDragonRider (talk) 08:26, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Rzuwig^► 11:03, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support cyrfaw (talk) 12:22, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support ~Cybularny ^Speak? 14:07, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Although I think it would be more annoying to wait until the other user it's done, and the solution should be more complex than a solid message (more like a warning that informs of a part of the article to the user before he edits). De un millón (talk) 23:06, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Aishik Rehman (talk) 07:22, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support β₁₆ - (talk) 15:54, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support JFremd (talk) 16:01, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Husky22 (talk) 19:28, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Gubeko (talk) 10:10, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Geraki ^T_L 11:04, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support MASUM THE GREAT (talk) 16:33, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support weak support ~ Amory (u • t • c) 16:52, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support —‍CX Zoom (A/अ/অ) (let's talk|contribs) 19:29, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jim.henderson (talk) 00:49, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lightoil (talk) 03:04, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Daniel Case (talk) 06:09, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Kpjas (talk) 07:46, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Shinkolobwe (talk) 12:19, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Vulcan❯❯❯Sphere! 15:27, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support ysjbserver (talk) 15:51, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Aspiriniks (talk) 17:59, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Wturrell (talk) 09:27, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Packerfan386 (talk) 09:59, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Very important Schotterebene (talk) 12:00, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Unexpectedlydian (talk) 15:01, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support schurdl (talk) 15:48, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Constant314 (talk) 17:47, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Niskka2 (talk) 22:26, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support DerMaxdorfer (talk) 00:04, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ïvana (talk) 00:53, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Althair (talk) 02:05, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hans5958 (talk) 03:01, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Support 17387349L8764 (talk) 08:47, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Mombacher (talk) 09:22, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support — Draceane ^talk_contrib. 11:10, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Might be misused to block articles and then complain if they're edited ("didn't you see I was editing?") or the waiting person might complain if one takes too long and just the knowledge that someone might be waiting could be a little stressful, also some could intentionally cause conflicting edits (how to prove?). Otherwise useful, but I'm not convinced it would lead to less annoyances, probably just different ones. In Google Docs style shared editing I also wonder how that would work if the other person is a vandal. How would you be able to report someone for something that's not published? So unpublished editing would have to be stored at least temporarily as soon as more than one person is involved. There should also be some kind of parallel chat then to coordinate and shared editing should also only be available to users with an account to avoid vandalism problems. --Lupe (talk) 11:31, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Eli0030 (talk) 14:31, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support نیکات (talk) 19:22, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Some1 (talk) 02:00, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Korhoj (talk) 02:38, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Logret de Carlin (talk) 20:22, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Serieminou (talk) 22:33, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Santropedro (talk) 00:59, 22 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support LilyKitty (talk) 12:40, 22 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support ~ Seb35 [^_^] 13:27, 22 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Phil Buchenrauch (talk) 15:07, 22 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Yes, merging manually conflicting edits is hell. Contributors are here to disseminate free knowledge, not fix technical issues. Juandev (talk) 10:44, 23 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support IMHO easier to solve _and_ more useful than real time collaborative editing: In collaborative editing, you cannot anticipate what the other is going to do next, i.e. whether both changes are semantically inconsistent / conflicting – and most of the times in most of the MediaWiki-installations I do use, I can easily wait for the other user to finish his/her work and then start on a solid base. Schoschi (talk) 18:03, 23 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support. —— Eric Liu_（Talk） 01:37, 24 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Someone could keep the article/section locked for editing forever, even if only making you believe someone else is editing. SoupePrimordiale (talk) 07:32, 24 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose For big reworks there are templates to notify editors about this; otherwise the conditions for showing the notice are quite unclear. ~~~~
User:1234qwer1234qwer4 (talk) 17:53, 24 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]