Notes

Loose ideas from what @nayoub and I talked about offline just now...

• Edit Checks require you to make an explicit choice, even if that choice is to decline the invitation to alter the change(s) you've begun making. As a result, Edit Checks can stand in the way of you and what you're attempting to do. E.g. publish an edit.
• Suggested Edits are invitations/offerings. They are never required and always meant to land at the intersection of the below. As a result, Edit Suggestions cannot stand in the way of you and what you're attempting to do. They could; however, move you to do something you hadn't previously considering doing.
  • 1) You, the person encountering the Suggestion, are motivated by and interested in
  • 2) Wikipedia, the project, is an agreement would be a useful contribution

Notes

• Edit Checks are reactions to actions you've explicitly taken
• Edit Suggestions are proactive suggestions based on inferences we/the software makes about what you are interested in and equipped to accomplish.

Maybe we could create a diagram similar to the one below to demonstrate the key properties of Edit Suggestions and Checks.

via @nayoub

Notes

• Edit Checks are successful to the extent that they inspire people to improve an edit they've started making and in ways that evolves said an edit from something experienced are likely to consider damaging [i] to something experienced volunteers are likely to consider constructive/helpful.
• Suggestions are successful to the extent that they inspire people to:
  • Do something they feel good about
  • Benefits the project they're motivated to contribute to
  • Crucially, do something they would not have likely thought to do themselves

i. E.g. we assume that edits that [potentially] violate a copyright, would be reverted. As such, it would make sense to present an Edit Check to offer people acting in good faith an opportunity to avert damaging the project they're motivated to contribute to.

This work is complete and is/will be published in the following places:

1. https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Edit_check#FAQ
2. The soon-to-be published WE 1.2 mediawiki project page