Help:Edit check

Edit check is a tool in the visual editor that suggests improvements to Wikipedia articles before the edit is published. It can be configured locally by interface admins.

This page is meant to equip people who seeking to understand, use, and/or contribute to the Edit Check project with the information and resources they need to do so.

Several features are available within Edit Check:

• Reference check
• Link check and Reference reliability

See our deployment page.

If you add a large amount of text without any citations, the reference check will remind you to add a citation. This only works for edits made using the visual editor.

It can be configured to your wiki's needs.

The reference check was introduced in late 2023. Please report problems on the talk page.

1. Edit any article in the main namespace using the visual editor.
   • The feature is only available for articles.
2. Add &ecenable=1 to the URL in your browser.
   • Example: https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soleil&veaction=edit&ecenable=1
3. Reload the page with the new URL.
4. Create a new paragraph, that is at least 50 characters long without adding a citation
5. Press the Publish…
6. Notice the prompt that appears
7. ✅ Test is completed.
   • Don't save your edit unless you know what you are doing!

We use the following tags in Recent Changes and Watchlist, so that users can identify edits where Edit Check was activated, and the reasons why a user decided not to add a citation.

editcheck-references

EditCheck thinks a reference might have been needed

editcheck-newcontent

EditCheck thinks new content was added to the page

editcheck-references-activated

Edit Check (references) activated

EditCheck thinks a reference might have been needed, and the UI was shown

editcheck-reference-decline-common-knowledge

Edit Check (references) declined (common knowledge)

EditCheck reference was declined as common knowledge

editcheck-reference-decline-other

Edit Check (references) declined (other)

EditCheck reference was declined for an unlisted reason

editcheck-reference-decline-uncertain

Edit Check (references) declined (uncertain)

EditCheck reference was declined as being uncertain

editcheck-reference-decline-irrelevant

Edit Check (references) declined (irrelevant)

EditCheck reference was declined as irrelevant

List of all tags

• Reference check is shown to all logged-out users, and to logged-in users with less than 100 edits.
• Reference check is shown when a new paragraph of more than 50 characters is added.

Reference reliability evaluates all external domains people attempt to insert using Citoid to against defined sources.

Link Check evaluates all external domains people attempt to link using the link insertion inspector to against defined sources.

• Local lists: MediaWiki:BlockedExternalDomains.json, MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist
• Global list: meta:Spam_blacklist

Communities can configure how Edit check works at their wiki.

All terms we use are defined in the glossary.

What editing interfaces is Edit Check being developed for?

To start, Edit Check is being developed for the visual editor on both mobile and desktop.

How does Edit Check and AbuseFilter relate? What are the distinctions between these two capabilities?

As of June 2024, Edit check provides feedback when the editor clicks on "Publish changes...". This is where AbuseFiter is shown. The difference is that Edit Check offers feedback within the editing experience. The Editing team is also looking into the possibility of displaying checks during the editing experience. These checks would react to actions taken by the user. We also plan to display multiple checks withing the editing experience, to highlight a few different improvements at once.