Help:Problem situations

Edit conflict

Help is on the way :-).

What is an edit conflict?

Edit conflict arises when:

• User A begins to edit the text of the article.
• User B opens the edit window of the same article.
• User A completes the changes and saves them.
• User B also completes his/her changes, but just after user A saved his/her changes. When he clicks "Save changes", edit conflict arises.

Page of the edit conflict

The very first version is listed (i.e. user A’s version). Then difference between the two versions (A’s and B’s) follows. At the end the last version (user B’s without user A’s changes) is shown. User B (it means that user, who experienced edit conflict) has to compare changes, modify the top of the text (i.e. the text by user A) according to his changes at the bottom text.

There are two more controversial options. The first possibility is that the user B gives up his changes and leaves a valid version of the user A. The second option is to reject the changes of user A.

Solving the problem

• User B makes small changes, user A makes major change: in this case it is advisable to use the version with major changes and add smaller changes to the text.
• If both people make big changes, the solution is more difficult. User B has to compare both edits and merge them.
• It is necessary to contact the first user about edit conflict and discuss all the changes at someone’s discussion page.
• If you are not sure, please, contact the editorial board.

Prevention

Since the editing conflict is very unpleasant and time-consuming, it is necessary to prevent it. Options are as follows:

• whenever possible, edit the smallest part of the text as possible
• do not edit article that was edited a few minutes ago

Spam

How do you recognize spam? It is usually anonymous user or new user who inserts strange article containing links to external sites, discussing a topic which does not concern medicine.

How to treat spammer?

1. In history of the page with spam click on the rollback link.
2. Add template {{Spam}} to the discussion page of the spammer and don’t forget to add your signature.
3. If the spam was entered by anonymous user, you can see information about his IP address on the discussion page after saving the template as decribed above. Please click on Report IP … to the provider link and fill in the form. E-mail address of the provider will be displayed under the form (it usually starts with abuse@... and does not contain anything like ripe.net or apnic.net).
4. Send the message using the form.
5. Administrator should block the spammer. If any page is repeatedly attacked by spammer, you can protect it using the protect link at the top of the page.
6. If you cannot block the spammer, please enter template {{Block|Spam}} to his discussion page.

Vandalism

How do you recognize vandalism? It is usually anonymous user or new user who inserts gibberish into pages, damages the content of the articles or inserts false information.

How to treat vandalism?

1. In history of the page with vandalism click on the rollback link.
2. Add template {{Spam}} to the discussion page of the userm and don’t forget to add your signature.
3. If the vandalism was entered by anonymous user, you can see information about his IP address on the discussion page after saving the template as decribed above. Please click on Report IP … to the provider link and fill in the form. Choose the type of vandalism in the form. E-mail address of the provider will be displayed under the form (it usually starts with abuse@... and does not contain anything like ripe.net or apnic.net).
4. Send the message using the form.
5. Administrator should block the user. If any page is repeatedly attacked by the user, you can protect it using the protect link at the top of the page.
6. If you cannot block the user, please enter template {{Block|Vandalism}} to his discussion page.