SoylentNews

martyb [soylentnews.org] writes:

Thank You! Today marks seven years since the first story I edited appeared on SoylentNews [soylentnews.org] . I count myself extremely fortunate to have worked with some amazingly-gifted people who founded, developed, and supported this site. And, even more importantly, the community that sprung up as we made ourselves known, waaay back on 2014-02-17 02:06:00 UTC [soylentnews.org].

Motivation: It all started when I noticed spelling and grammatical errors on SoylentNews.

I hopped onto the the #editorial channel of our IRC (Internet Relay Chat) service and tried to get the attention of an editor. Once that was accomplished, I then explained what I found and asked to get it corrected. (Background: I'd worked in software testing for decades. That included more than just testing the software. On-line help, user guides, design documents, function specifications, system specifications and training manuals all came under my review.)

Sure enough, a day or two later, I noticed another error. Again onto IRC. Try to get the attention of an editor. Explain what I found and what I thought it should be changed to. And then, sure enough, another day and another mistake.

One day I was particularly exasperated as I struggled to find someone to correct a mistake. Took me seemingly forever to get the attention of someone on IRC (athough it was most likely less than an hour). I pointed out that if they just let me edit stories on the site, I could go in and fix them myself!

A day or two later, it happened again. Took a while to get someone to correct a mistake in a story. Again I suggested letting me edit stories directly. There's an old saying along the lines of: "Be careful of what you ask; for you just might get it!"

Background: Mind you, I'd started on the Green Site before it even had UIDs and nicknames! (ca. December 1996). I already knew the user-visible capabilities quite well. It couldn't be that hard, right? Heck, I was using IBM Generalized Markup Language [wikipedia.org] in the early 1980s. That was the primary ancestor to SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) [wikipedia.org] which was developed in 1986. SGML, in turn, went on to become a foundation to HTML (HyperText Markup Language) [wikipedia.org] which followed in 1993. So I was astonished when I discovered there is a LOT more under the covers than meets the eye! There's an Admin menu at the top of each page with several selections and each of those had a similar number of sub-selections. By default, that is. Depending on one's privilege level, additional menu options appeared. Further, admin pages gained additional fields and capabilities! Whew! But that all came later.

One day I was informed that I could be an editor, but in involved some training. Just learning the UI (User Interface) of the story submissions page, the story editing page, and then the story list page was a learning cliff. That was not helped with the site still being relatively newly-started. We were still experiencing site outages and hiccups. Some controls did not behave the way they were supposed to.

Further, beyond the UI's editing controls, there are site standards and style guides to follow, as well.

Thank You! At this point I wish to call out special thanks to those who guided me through that training period. Sadly, the names escape me, but I'm pretty sure janrinok led the way and I recall paulej72 helping me at one point. (If anyone has more info, I'd love to hear it!).

=== EXTENDED COPY =====

Oh yeah. Let's say I use a single letter to represent each story that I edited and posted here. So far, I've averaged just shy of 4 stories posted per day (3.91, to be precise; 220 more stories would be required to reach the 4-per-day average). As I've now posted over 10,000 stories, I find it hard to visualize.

Imagine each letter in each of the following words corresponds to posting a single story. Each four-letter word corresponds to an average day's posting. This is what 10,000 story postings would look like:

*SPOILER* (click to show) *SPOILER* (click to hide)

abbé abed abet able ably abut aced aces ache achy acid acme acne acre acts adds adze aeon aery afar agar aged ages agog ague ahem ahoy aide aids ails aims airs airy ajar akin alas albs ales alga alit ally alms aloe also alto alum amen amid amir ammo amok amps anal anew ankh anon ante anti ants anus aped apes apex apps apse aqua arch arcs area ares aria arid arks arms army arts arty ashy asks asps atom atop auks aunt aura auto aver avid avow away awed awes awls awol awry axed axes axis axle axon ayes baas babe baby back bade bags bail bait bake bald bale balk ball balm band bane bang bani bank bans barb bard bare barf bark barn bars base bash bask bass bast bate bath bats baud bawl bays bead beak beam bean bear beat beau beck beds beef been beep beer bees beet begs bell belt bend bent berg berm best beta bets bevy bias bibs bide bids bier bike bile bilk bill bind bins bird bite bits blab blah bled blew blip blob bloc blog blot blow blue blur boar boas boat bobs bode body bogs bogy boil bola bold bole boll bolt bomb bond bone bong bony boob book boom boon boor boos boot bops bore born bosh boss both bout bowl bows boys bozo brad brag bran bras brat bray bred brew brig brim brow buck buds buff bugs bulb bulk bull bump bums bung bunk buns bunt buoy burg burn burp burr burs bury bush buss bust busy buts butt buys buzz byes byte cabs cads café cage cagy cake calf calk call calm came camp cams cane cans cant cape caps card care carp cars cart case cash cask cast cats cave caws cede cell cent chap char chat chef chew chic chid chin chip chit chop chow chug chum cite city clad clam clan clap claw clay clef clew clip clit clod clog clop clot cloy club clue coal coat coax cobs cock coda code cods coed cogs coif coil coin coke cola cold cols colt coma comb come cone conk cons cook cool coon coop coos coot cope cops copy cord core cork corm corn cost cosy cote cots coup cove cowl cows cozy crab crag cram crap craw crew crib crop crow crud crux cube cubs cuds cued cues cuff cull cult cums cunt cups curb curd cure curl curs curt cusp cuss cute cuts cyst czar dabs dado dads daft dais dale dame damn damp dams dank dare dark darn dart dash data date daub dawn days daze dead deaf deal dean dear debs debt deck deed deem deep deer deft defy deli dell demo dens dent deny desk dewy dial dice dick died dies diet digs dike dill dime dims dine ding dins dint dips dire dirk dirt disc dish disk diss diva dive dock docs dodo doer does doff dogs dole doll dolt dome done dons doom door dope dopy dork dorm dory dose dote doth dots dour dove down doze drab drag dram draw dray drew drip drop drub drug drum drys dual dubs duck duct dude duds duel dues duet duff duke dull duly dumb dump dune dung dunk duns duos dupe dusk dust duty dyed dyer dyes dyke each earl earn ears ease east easy eats eave ebbs echo ecru eddy edge edgy edit eels eery eggs egis egos eked ekes elks ells elms else emir emit emos emus ends envy eons epic eras ergo ergs errs espy etch euro even ever eves evil ewer 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loth lots loud lout love lows luau lube luck lugs lull lump lung lure lurk lush lust lute lynx lyre mace made mads maid mail maim main make male mall malt mama mane mans many maps mare mark mars mart mash mask mass mast mate math mats matt maul maws mayo maze mead meal mean meat meek meet megs meld melt meme memo mend menu meow mere mesa mesh mess mete mewl mews mica mice mien miff mike mild mile milf milk mill mils mime mind mine mini mink mint minx mire miss mist mite mitt mkay moan moat mobs mock mode mods mold mole moll molt moms monk mono mood moon moor moos moot mope mops more morn moss most mote moth move mown mows much muck muff mugs mule mull murk muse mush musk muss must mute mutt myna myth nabs nags nail name nape naps narc nark nary nave navy nays near neat neck need neon nerd nest nets news newt next nibs nice nick nigh nine nips nite nits node nods noel noes none nook noon nope norm nose nosh nosy note noun nous nova nubs nude nuke null numb nuns nuts oafs oaks oars oath oats obey obit oboe odds odes odor offs ogle ogre ohms oils oily oink okay okra oleo omen omit once ones only onto onus onyx oops ooze opal open opts opus oral orbs orcs ores orgy ouch ours oust outs oval oven over ovum owed owes owls owns oxen pace pack pact pads page paid pail pain pair pale pall palm pals pane pang pans pant papa paps pare park pars part pass past pate path pats pave pawl pawn paws pays peak peal pear peas peat peck pecs peed peek peel peep peer pees pegs pelt pens pent peon peps perk perm pert peso pest pets pews pica pick pied pier pies pigs pike pile pill pimp pine ping pink pins pint pipe pips piss pita pith pits pity pixy plan play plea pled plod plop plot plow ploy plug plum plus pock pods poem poet poke poky pole poll polo pols pomp pond pone pony pooh pool poop poor pope pops pore pork porn port pose posh post posy pots pour pout pram pray prep prey prig prim prod prof prom prop pros prow psst pubs puck puff pugs puke pull pulp puma pump punk puns punt puny 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