View from the Queue
Created | Updated Feb 9, 2004
Welcome to a new weekly column for the h2g2 Post. Its focus is on h2g2's progress in approving new Guide entries. The column will start with a handy statistical analysis, and will cover related topics. These include tips for getting your entries approved, any changes in the editing process, h2g2-related factoids, and so forth.
This Week's Queue
As I write, there are 796 guide entries submitted and waiting for approval1 at h2g2. That sounds like a lot. But it's only one entry in the queue for roughly every 71 registered users. Of course, some users are responsible for an inordinate number of submitted entries.
There are 1737 approved guide entries so far. 44 were approved last week. For every 2.2 approved guide entries, there is one in the queue. Going out on a limb, I predict that this figure will drop below 2.0 in the next two to three months. The average entry seems to be getting longer and longer, and this understandably slows down the editing process.
In the past month alone, the number of entries approved on the average day has jumped from 8 to 10.2 That demonstrates an effort underway to reduce the queue. However, the queue has stayed steady at about 800 entries over the past two weeks. And when I first checked a month ago, there were about 750 entries in the queue.
On Getting Entries Approved
So how long does it currently take to get a guide entry approved or rejected? I've heard everything from seven weeks to seven months.
The exact amount of time depends on many factors, including:
the length of the entry
the general writing quality of the entry
how many facts must be checked
whether another entry on the same subject has been submitted
which sub-editor happens to be processing the entry
what mood they're in, and
just plain luck of the draw.
What I have often been told is that the process can be very long indeed, but somehow it's worth the wait.
Some Cheap Gossip
Two weeks ago, Peta wrote:
We're not taking any more Sub-editors at the moment, but we're shortly starting a new
scheme... Look out for news on the front page.
Is this a leak about upcoming changes at h2g2? And why is Anna still accepting sub-editor volunteers if a change is upcoming? As Alice in Wonderland would say, this gets curiouser and curiouser!
See Peta's full post in this forum.
Next Week's View
Next week we'll take a random sampling to determine what percentage of entries in the queue violate the most basic rules for submission. Should h2g2 concentrate on weeding them out, or are they few enough to lump with the rest? Could other rules be created to cover submissions that have little chance of being approved? We'll find out.
Go back to the Post.
