h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*phases in*
Hmmmm, just thought I would come along and say hello
BCNU - Crescent

Hi Crescent - perhaps you would like to explain the role of the Sub-editors to teh new researchers?

Will do my best If you write a Guide Entry, and feel, naturally enough (because it is one of yours), that it should become part of The Approved Guide, then you submit it up to scrutiny by the Sub-Editors - well at least one Sub-Ed anyway. The Sub Editor, following the guidelines set by TPTB (follow the links at the bottem for the guidelines themselves), then decides if the entry should be recommended to TPTB for Acception (is that even a word?) or Rejection.

Those recommended to be Accepted are then edited, following the same guidelines as above. Basically we just tidy them up, put in Approved GuideML, add links to other Accepted Entries, strip out pictures and music, check any links to external sites and try and make the tone of the Article that of an impartial advisor (change first persons to third persons). I try not to change the style at all, and basically try to do as little as possible to the Article. Sometimes, if it is a subject I know particularly well, I will add extra pieces (see the X Files Accepted Article), but I try and fake the original researchers style (sometimes successfully and sometimes not).

Once we have done our work they are all (even the ones recommended for rejection) passed to TPTB. They look at all of them, and give the final verdict - Accepted or Rejected. They then give them a final tidy up, to make sure they all fit The Guides style (a lot of work if the Sub Ed Rejected it) and then they go into the queue for the front page. Once they reach the head of that queue the emails are sent out saying Woohoo or Boohoo - and that is the journey a submitted article takes.

Did I miss anything, Abi? I don't think so, so onto the links -

The Sub-Editors Style Guide - http://www.h2g2.com/A266131
Submitting Entries for the Approved Guide - http://www.h2g2.com/A53209
The Subbing Process - http://www.h2g2.com/A266159
The Sub-Editors Guide to Approved GuideML - http://www.h2g2.com/A264520

OK, any questions?
BCNU - Crescent

Sub-Editors are mythical creatures that ancient legend would have us believe, go from page to page of Researcher's and read their submitted Guide entries, making suggestions, improvements and getting them approved to OFFICIAL Guide entries. Of course, actually having one of these mythical beings stop by your page is a statistical probability equal to winning the Irish Sweepstakes. They are constantly busy and working their tails off, yes they have tails, it's a requirement of being a Sub-editor. It's so they can easily swing from sub-branch to sub-branch of forums or so I've been given to understand. Hope this helps.
And if you believe any of this I've got a bridge to sell you...
~S

How long do Subeditors get (max) with my precious entries?

(I knew once, but have since forgotten)

It is meant to be about six weeks, however depending on who gets it, what is in the rest of the batch that the sub ed gets, and whatever else is going on in their life it can be longer (or shorter) - at the mo' I am on six - seven weeks per batch - I am also trying to finish my Cannabis Article, which is why it is taking so long.........
BCNU - Crescent

Right... & how many entries do you get given at a time?

Ten, of which (in my experience - which, bear in mind, is slight) about seven will be recommended to be Accepted
BCNU - Crescent

And how many of each batch are written by yours truely.

And where do articles go when they vanish from the "Most recent guide entries" list but fail to appear in the "Most recent approved guide entries" list?

I think that mystery may not be so for very much longer EV.

If you lucky/smart get a sub-ed-friend to look at your newly written entries and make suggestions, that way (hopefully) the only changes to your entry will be made by you yourself.

ZOE ya round.

Why strip the pics?
To be WAP friendly?


ZOE ya round

Ok here we go

DD I have only had one of yours (so far the BYOB was yours, wasn't it?

EV I am afraid I do not know. Once I send them back, unless someone asks a question, or comments, about an entry I just let TPTB take them and get on with it

ZOE the pictures are stripped out because h2g2 does not have the room to host externally produced graphics on the site, maybe sometime in the future, but not at the mo' (well I think that is the answer

Hope this helps
BCNU - Crescent

The reason at the moment that we don't host externally produced graphics is two fold. Firstly the original idea was that the art team would produce graphics to produce a uniform look to the Guide. Second there are many problems with hosting graphics, the biggest being copyright. This is a particularly true with photographs - if you use an image that you do not have permission to use, h2g2 is liable.

That being said this is an issue that is being looked at currently so stay tuned.

Ahhh - so that is the reason
BCNU - Crescent

Tnx Crescent, Abi

Now I know too.

ZOE ya round

a pleasure! A veritable pleasure!

*continues to look for italics, but feels a little discouraged*

Oh I see - i will ICQ them again!