O-█: Policy

2014-07-14T17:07:18Z

Policy

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Sometimes, two (or more) editors attempt to edit the same article at the same time. This results in an '''edit conflict'''.

==How edit conflicts happen==
Alice decides to edit the article about PUPPIES. She downloads the current version of the article, PUPPIES_0, and starts work. Then Bob also decides to edit the article about PUPPIES. He too downloads PUPPIES_0 and starts work.

Now Alice finishes work and saves a new version of the article, PUPPIES_1, replacing PUPPIES_0. Finally, Bob finishes work and tries to save a new version of the article, PUPPIES_2. But PUPPIES_2 is expecting to replace PUPPIES_0, not PUPPIES_1. Conflict!

The same situation can arise even if Bob starts editing first. If, while he is editing, Alice makes change to the PUPPIES article, then a conflict will arise when Bob tries to save his edits.

==Who resolves edit conflicts==
Best of all, '''dont let them happen'''. There are various ways to prevent edit conflicts. Apply a suitable template before making major changes. Coordinate your work with other editors on the talk page.

Sometimes prevention fails and a cure is required. In the above scenario, the wiki software has no reason to think that anything is amiss with Alices edit. However, it will detect when Bob tries to save an unexpected version and will thus warn him.

Since Alice probably has no idea that an edit conflict has arisen, it is clearly Bobs responsibility to resolve it.

==How to resolve edit conflicts==
First of all, '''dont panic'''. The wiki software keeps every version of every article, so nothing is lost.

Have a look at the document history, and in particular the diffs, to see what changes have been made. Quite often, one set of changes are fairly minor, and can easily be merged with the other set of more major changes.

If necessary, ask for help from the other editor.

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O-█: Policy