What is an edit-a-thon?

answered 2017-07-21 14:36:49 -0500

Shalor (Wiki Ed)

updated 2017-07-21 14:53:59 -0500

Edit-a-thons are organized events where Wikipedia editors gather to create or improve articles, typically in a specific topic area. (Although it's fine to edit on any topic of interest at these events, of course!) These events are often good ways to draw in people who have never edited Wikipedia before or have only edited infrequently, so edit-a-thons are open for people with any (or no) level of editing experience! Some edit-a-thons like Women in Red, a WikiProject aimed at improving coverage of women, are entirely virtual and don't require any sort of travel.

You can check the meetup page to see if there are any edit-a-thons in your area. Some of the events on this page are meetups where people get together to talk about their interests (which of course includes Wikipedia) but can often include some editing on the side - anyone is more than welcome to join in! To show that you'd like to attend, just sign your name on the edit-a-thon or meetup's page under the attendee list (this may be named something else depending on the page's creator).

Something to note, however, is that Wiki Education does not provide support for these edit-a-thons.