Wikipedia:WikiProject Editor Retention

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WP:RETENTION: These editors are willing to lend a helping hand. Just ask!

WikiProject Editor Retention aims to retain Wikipedians. Editors are as important as content. Without editors, there are no contributions. Without contributions, the encyclopedia grows stagnant. Editor retention is the concern and proactive effort of retaining contributors.

We aim to do the following: discuss patterns of behavior or processes that discourage editors, guide editors to optimal venues for having their questions answered or disputes resolved, and create projects to provide support and recognize editors. Policies are not decided here, but are discussed, hoping to find solutions that are specifically geared toward retaining editors. Since some of the topics are controversial and contentious, we ask that editors strive for civility in their participation in discussions and projects here.

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Editing Goals

  1. Stay calm and maintain a professional demeanor. Patience is key.
  2. Avoid conflict, even when you know you are right. Give other editors the benefit of the doubt.
  3. Assume good faith toward your collaborating editors, if not their edits. Assuming good faith is not intended to be self-destructive, but to avoid conflict.
  4. Ignore attacks. Not easily done, but a real timesaver. Attacks and counter-attacks are hazardous to your mental health. The best and most frequently offered administrative advice is to move on, and, if absolutely necessary, return the next day.
  5. Don't take it personally. Editors make mistakes. Communicating our thoughts is not easily done on the Internet.
  6. Don't isolate your interpretation. There are many interpretations other than yours. What you read might NOT be what was meant.
  7. Don't think of editing as a competition. WE are cohorts, collaborating to improve our thing.
  8. Don't edit when angry or upset. Stay off the article and talk page in question. Never let your anger or frustration be the deciding factor in your behavior.
  9. Don't forget the human dimension of Wikipedia editing. Keep things in perspective. There is a real, living and breathing, sensitive human on the other side of the discussion.
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This User is a Squirrel
Vermont
 
Editor of the Week
for the week beginning October 25, 2026
Vermont (aka Rae) wears many hats. A copyright and SPI clerk that does incredible work cleaning up hundreds of reports at CopyPatrol and busting numerous sock farms. In mainspace, they have written Frisch–Waugh–Lovell theorem, Charles Mattocks, and Squirrel Census (self-explanatory!). They have been doing good work as a member of the Wikimedia Foundation's Movement Communications team. They spearheaded the creation of the resource support pilot, which has already helped dozens of encyclopedic causes. They are consistently humble and willing to help people. Rae was recently elected as an English Wikipedia administrator. Beyond the English Wikipedia, they are an admin on Simple English Wikipedia, a Meta-Wiki checkuser, and a global steward. Most importantly, they are the Chief Squirrel Officer (CSO) of the Wikimedia Stewards User Group. They deserve a week in the spotlight for their incredible work and dedication.
Recognized for
busting sock farms!
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Overview

Editor retention is a Wikipedia-wide problem. This WikiProject aims to build a stronger Wikipedia for the future, a Wikipedia in which editors want to work and participate, rather than pointing fingers or making accusations at one another. Pointing out the positive actions of administrators and others is encouraged, as we believe the best way to lead is by example. We want to point out what is RIGHT about Wikipedia, encourage others to use those methods, and establish new methods and ideas that make editing Wikipedia enjoyable, fulfilling, and rewarding for everyone.

Spreading awareness

Supporting editors

  • answer questions on the Teahouse Q&A board
  • send templated invitations to new editors listed on the Teahouse invitee report (it's refreshed daily!) Don't be shy about emailing people too; email + talk page invite works better than a template alone. And personalizing the invitation with an introduction or a "good job with your edits to the article FOO" is likely to have an even more positive impact. Currently, most of these editors are not being invited to the Teahouse.
  • post a welcoming message on the talk pages of editors who have recently introduced themselves on the Teahouse guests page. Currently, most of these are not being welcomed, even after they introduce themselves.

Recognizing editors

Working within the project

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Project Goals

A part of increasing retention of editors at Wikipedia is to encourage new editors to continue editing in a positive and constructive manner. We therefore encourage you to:

Even experienced editors can get discouraged, and we should always consider ways to retain those who have been here awhile. Many editors become semi-retired or just stop editing without declaring so for various reasons, some of them more obvious than others. With regard to them, our project goals are to:

Project Tasks
Here are some tasks awaiting attention:
  • Article requests: Start a project "style guide"
  • Cleanup: Check all lists and bullet points for stale proposals, pages, etc.
  • Infobox: Create a Project Infobox
  • Maintain: Maintenance of the Discussions section. Update listed discussion and archive stale discussions.
  • Map: Create an Index.
  • Merge: Merge relevant content.
  • Photo: Create an Image Gallery
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Discussions & Links

Initiatives

Current working groups

Other areas of the project

Why do editors leave?

Identifying editors who have left, or who are at risk of leaving

Discussion

Main Talkpage discussion

Current discussions

Current discussions
General discussion
List of current sub-discussions
Administrator retention
Comments by editors as they retire
Reasons editors leave
Wikipedia:First contact Essay
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Peripheral links suggested by editors

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General research process ('Incubation')

Resources

See also