Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Backlog elimination drives/September 2015

List of wars involving the Philippines

The List of wars involving the Philippines does not appear to need copyediting. I can fix the green links, and add more inline citations, but I do not see copyediting to do. Page size is 11 words. If I do some of those improvements, can I take credit for an old article?--DThomsen8 (talk) 15:30, 28 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

List of nuclear weapons tests of China

The List of nuclear weapons tests of China does not appear to need any copyediting. Any advice?--DThomsen8 (talk) 15:43, 28 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

List of communities in Dubai

The List of communities in Dubai does not seem to need copyediting, certainly not in Arabic. Advice?--DThomsen8 (talk) 20:50, 28 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Since no one else has weighed in on these three articles I will, although I'm recovering from emergency small-intestine surgery and even less patient than usual :-). I'm taking your word for the situations, because I don't have the energy to check all the links. First of all, the drive doesn't start until next Tuesday, and IMO it's not really kosher to pre-copyedit articles. First article: if you do any work at all, take credit for the 11 words. Second article: if it needs no work at all (rare), don't take credit but for the love of God remove the tag. Third article: en.WP copyeditors are not required to work in Arabic. Hope this helps. Miniapolis 23:10, 28 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your advice. On the first article, I will work on it and take credit for 11 words on an old article in September. On the other two, I will remove the copyedit tags now and take no credit. I am sorry I left the impression that I was jumping in early, but I did want advice. Please take care with your health. --DThomsen8 (talk) 23:21, 28 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your kind thoughts. I'm definitely on the mend, but think I'll stick to backlog articles for the first part of the drive :-). Have fun and all the best, Miniapolis 13:36, 29 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Posting here in response to all of the above. If an article does not need copy editing, you can remove the tag. It is up to you whether you want to wait until the drive and take credit for an 11-word copy edit or simply remove the tag. For reference, here's what I do: if I actually copy-edit an article during a drive, I will typically record it in my section of the drive page. I think that this motivates other editors by showing that there is a community of editors at work. If I find that an article does not need copy editing, or only needs a couple of fixes, I fix the article, remove the tag, leave an appropriate edit summary, and move on. Some other editors do this as well, which is one of the reasons that the backlog typically drops by more than the total number of recorded edits.

One thing to remember, especially about the oldest tags, is that the tags have been in place for over a year. During that time, articles may have been copy-edited extensively by non-GOCE editors, but the tag has not been removed (for whatever reason). In these cases, the GOCE serves a mopping-up function by ensuring that the article is tagged correctly. – Jonesey95 (talk) 21:42, 30 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Not to be nitpicky, but...

Can this page be moved to the "current drive" tab? I didn't even know where to go looking for it, just found it now. Not of major importance, I know, especially since it seems people are finding this page okay, but thought I'd ask. —2macia22 (talk) 19:45, 2 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Not nitpicky at all; thanks for the reminder, and it should be fixed. God is in the details :-). All the best, Miniapolis 22:49, 2 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Had to de-cobweb my brain to find Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Backlog elimination drives/tabs :-). Miniapolis 22:53, 2 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]