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When good illustrative examples of a general concept are added step by step, the end product may defeat the purpose of examples. The list may be so long that a reader does not want to read it. It may be so long that the general concept being illustrated may be lost in the specificity or sheer volume.
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A line by line process for additions from different editors may creep into stylistic problems. The result may appear to be a disorganized and incoherent pile, perhaps not even about a single unifying subject matter, when it actually is. The article may appear to be a committee product, rather than an
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People can become aclimated to a hot tub as it gradually warms, but a newcomer might stick their toe in and find it to be too hot. Editors who have been close to the step-by-step editing of an article might not notice that the article has crept up to an undesirable state. An outside editor might come
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argument states that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant effect. - As bricks are added, this will eventually become a pile. At what point does it become a pile? At what point has article creep resulted in an ineloquent article, or one that
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Creep can lead to a loss of perspective. It may be hard to notice creep when a group of editors have been closely monitoring each step. An editor who has made substantial contributions to a page may come back to an article after a leave of absence and see a huge change in tone, point of view, style,
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A paradox arises in application of this essay. The above list of examples from outside of
Knowledge is illustrative of the creep concept. Each addition of a different type of example illustrates the general creep concept in a different way. But by creeping up to being too long, it should be trimmed
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Article creep is not necessarily bad as an intermediate step an article goes through. Sometimes it is good to put in too much information, in order to help see everything at once to make a better informed decision as to overall layout and structure, or to compare what to keep and what to trim. Once
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An editor might make a series of deletions, each well reasoned in the edit summaries. If this is done too quickly on an article that has been relatively stable for a long time, other editors might have time to only look at the total effect of all the edits, not check each step by step edit summary,
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A meta-example of creep is the following list, which may grow so long, step by step, that no one bothers to read it, or the clarification provided by examples is lost in their sheer volume. Since this essay is in user space, editors may think of examples that are better than those below, add their
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emphasis on one perspective. Editors may want to rebalance to achieve NPOV by adding more content from other perspectives, or by trimming some of the new edits solely on the basis of creep to POV, even though they would otherwise be very good edits. In the latter case, the trimming should first be
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reason to delete a new edit by another editor. This might unnecessarily discourage them from participating in the article, and some of their coming edits may make this edit better than others already in the article when viewed cumulatively. New information is constantly arising, and
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idea, and not want to delete another editor's edit. So the list below should be periodically assessed so that only the most illustrative examples are kept, so it does not become too long. As the following list gets added to by other editors, it may creep up to being very long.
361:, an editor should create a separate section for each edit that has a different rationale in the edit summary. This may then create talk page creep. An editor should not expect quick responses to all of the new talk page sections, and should have patience as each is addressed.
398:, it is an encyclopedia. Lists may make an article look like it does not belong in an encyclopedia through list creep. When an article subject has a large fan base, lists can be added so as to make the article not be encyclopedic in form, as in early versions of the
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and readability. This editor may have a perspective that enables them to see unwanted creep from a global perspective that is no longer easily seen by the editors who examined the edits in a step-by-step manner. That editor is like a newcomer to a
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An editor should look at an article globally, not just line by line. A folk tale is that if you drop a frog in boiling water, it will jump out and live; but if you drop it in cold water and let the temperature creep up bit by bit, it will
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with examples of the reverted editor's edits elsewhere. The reverted editor may have made each edit in good faith and with good edit summaries, no matter what their history elsewhere, and which may or may not have resulted in creep.
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Images in an article may appear like a list at the right of an article. Good images that are very illustrative may be added one-by-one until they create a list of images at the right, which may be an unencyclopedic in appearance.
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uphill with each step, then get to the top and notice a nearby peak has a much better view. It might have been better to not take the straight uphill steps, but to maybe take some steps so as to go around or even sometimes down.
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Conversely, the reverting editor should not accuse vandalism, bad faith, POV, or use expressions like “butchery” or “gutting an article”, but should participate in talk page discussions with patience, and never argue
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that allows the temperature to get warmer than where it was set before shutting the heater off, then allows the temperature to get cooler than where it is set before turning the heater back on.
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Repeatedly creeping up to a larger article and then down to a smaller article is a natural process of article development. Adjusting for article creep is analogous to the function of a
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and get in once it is warm enough, after which it continues to heat up. A new person may come along, see the group relaxing, stick their toe in the water, and recoil as if burned.
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occurs when a series of reasonable step-by-step edits are made, but the end product is undesirable. An editor should look at a page globally, not just in a step-by-step manner.
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A series of reasonable step by step edits, each with consensus, can create a final article that is not what was intended, and there may not be consensus as to the final product.
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creep has occurred, determining what to trim should be discussed on the talk pages to get consensus as to how best to trim materials that may be good, but cause creep.
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is the commercial phenomenon in which merchants and retailers exploit the commercialized status of
Christmas by moving up the start of the holiday shopping season.
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when a hard work producing a large number of edits is deleted in an adjustment for article creep, and they feel like they are being made to start all over again.
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is the expansion of a project or mission beyond its original goal. A military operation may experience mission creep and find itself bogged down in a
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Sometimes "article creep" can also refer to an unintended proliferation of articles at
Knowledge, not just proliferation inside articles, such as in
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Sentences clearly based on a reliable source can be slightly adjusted again and again, until ultimately they are no longer supported by the source.
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It may be a good idea to discuss at the talk page before deletions are made. Otherwise an editor my feel like they are in the Myth of
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It contains the advice or opinions of one or more
Knowledge contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of
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eloquent exposition. Organization into more sections may help. Rewording by a single editor or smaller group of editors may help.
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applies to resolve this paradox as it is applied to this essay, even with distinguishing examples from meta-examples.
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per this essay. In that case it will no longer serve as an illustrative example of list creep. Neither the essay
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over what to delete or not. It is best to get out of the quagmire with a patient discussion at the talk page.
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If a revert for resulting from deletion creep occurs, instead of undoing the revert, which might lead to an
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In medicine, a number of small lifestyle decisions may over time add up to a major health problem, such as
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Knowledge articles tend to grow in a way which lends itself to the natural creation of new articles
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when a hard work producing a large number of edits is deleted in an adjustment for article creep.
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This essay is about creep in articles and talk pages. For creep in policies and guidelines, see
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a discussion about creating a separate article for each contestant in a reality television show
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may be imported and go wild, and the numbers creep up until they harm the ecosystem, as with
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is when relatively small steps lead to a chain culminating in some significant effect.
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Article creep is a natural process. When editing from a group of sources with one
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at the top of the article section and new article in the appropriate manner.
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Discuss article creep on the talk page: Thermostat and
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additions may be made to retain a theory, such as excessively complex
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A reasonable list in an article may creep up to make the article
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Examples of the "creep" concept from outside of
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List creep may make an article look like the Yellow Pages
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Talk page creep to unnecessary length can be avoided by
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
