Community Wishlist/Wishes/Make tiny edits (typos etc) easier
< Community Wishlist | Wishes
Make tiny edits (typos etc) easier
Submitted
Description
99% of my edits are typo/spelling/grammar fixes. It is unwieldy to have to load the edit page, find the same spot in the text, and make the fix, only to then have to find the spot in the article again to continue reading. This unwieldiness is, of course, amplified on mobile.
I'm envisaging a feature that would allow me to select a stretch of text and get a text box inline with the text where I would edit the wiki text of just that small fragment. This would allow me to make small edits without leaving the page and without losing my reading position.
Here is an outline of an algorithm that could achieve this:
- First, attempt to find the selected text in the wiki text verbatim. In many cases, this is sufficient and finds a unique match. If multiple matches are found, inform the user.
- If no matches are found, split the selected text into thirds and attempt to find the first and last third. If still no matches, use a recursive subdivision similar to binary search until a unique match can be found where the start and end of the selection match and the interim text contains wiki formatting.
- Once the appropriate span of text is found, the inlined form elements should include its wiki text as a hidden element. That way, the submit handler can find the correct text fragment even if another part of the article has since been edited by someone else.
- The inlined form element should be multi-line if and only if the wiki text of the fragment contains a newline.
Assigned focus area
Unassigned.
Type of wish
Feature request
Related projects
All projects
Affected users
occasional, non-obsessed editors