Edit War

""For the love of god, please don't start an edit war""

- Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation ,1862

When a contributor doesn't see eye to eye with a current entry, they will usually make some sort of change to correct it as they feel it needs to be. However, other posters may feel that the change is wrong, and restore the earlier version—or write yet another new one. If those involved are sufficiently incensed over an issue, this may lead to a cycle of posts, cancellations, counter-cancellations, re-posts, etc. In extreme cases, it may lead to Flame Wars on the Discussion Page, Thread Mode posting, or even retaliatory Wiki Vandalism. If these problems become too unmanageable then it may lead to a need for page locking.

Many wikis have policies about repeated cancels and reposts to try and disarm such conflicts, but sufficiently angry posters often have ways of getting around such controls. The Sock Puppet is a common tool.

Not to be confused with the Great Text Editor Wars.

No examples, please. This page simply defines the term, and nothing is duller than the retelling of someone's edit war.