User:STEMinfo/COI edit requests for novices 2

Simple request to add information

When making a connected edit request, it is important to format the request in a way that is easy for unconnected readers to understand. If the request is to add new content, a simple format to use is the box template as shown below. Edit requests should be as specific as possible to indicate where the new information should go. The {{reflist-talk}} template should be used to display the references in a special talk page format, and different requests can be set off with asterisks. A simple edit request could look like this:

• Please insert this sentence as the last sentence of the History section.
  In September 2023, ABC industries hired a new CEO John Smith, and current CEO Bob Bigwig became chairman of the board.

References

The Wikicode for the above request looks like this:

* Please insert this sentence as the last sentence of the '''History''' section. {{box|In September 2023, ABC industries hired a new CEO John Smith, and current CEO Bob Bigwig  became chairman of the board.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com/story1234 |last=Kent |first=Clark  |title=ABC industries announces new CEO and Chairman |date=September 26, 2023 |website=News |access-date=September 27, 2023}}</ref>}}
{{reflist-talk}}

Automatically filling in citations using refill

Wikipedia requires all new requested information to be accompanied with independent third party sources, to validate it. Properly done, a citation generates a clickable numeric superscript and a footnote following the sentence, as in the example above. Since citation syntax can be a little confusing for new editors, there is a tool called Refill that converts bare references on a page into fuller references. To use it, users must first save the bare URL of the reference sandwiched between ref tags onto their sandbox. An example looks like this:

<ref>https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/22/health/covid-hospitalizations-seniors-kids-vaccines/index.html</ref> 

Then go to https://refill.toolforge.org/ and type in the last part of the sandbox URL, starting with “User:”, and click Fix page. A user's default sandbox would be User:username/sandbox. In the example above, the tool returns this code:

<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/22/health/covid-hospitalizations-seniors-kids-vaccines/index.html|title=As Covid-19 hospitalizations climb, rates among seniors and children raise concern|first=Jamie Gumbrecht, Deidre McPhillips, Betsy|last=Klein|date=September 22, 2023|website=CNN}}</ref>

Showing before and after text side by side

If the request involves changing existing information, it can be helpful to show the before and after text side by side, along with information about why the change is requested, if it is not intuitive to unconnected readers.