Updating articles

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   Rupert Taylorposted 15 months ago

   I've just completed the onerous task of updating several hundred articles, mostly with the goal of telling Google they are more current. I'm sure the big G will catch on to that strategy and punish me. A few things emerged from the process that others might want to take note of:
   Articles that contain references to the Holocaust sometimes have advertising removed and sometimes advertising is placed with them; the decision as to which happens appears to be capricious.
   Embarrassing typos still appear in articles, leading me to suspect the HP editors aren't as thorough as I'd hope for. And, there was a terrible homonym that wasn't caught in which I wrote “peaked” when I meant “piqued.”
   Occasionally, editors render image captions into APA title face; who does that?
   Quite often video capsules turn up to have broken links that I have not been previously notified about.
   Happiness abounds when I attach the adjective “former” to any reference to U.S. President Donald Trump in older articles.

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      Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

      At the very least, there was something to cheer you up

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      Kenna McHughposted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Editing is non-stop on HP.

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      OldRosesposted 15 months agoin reply to this

      I caught an instance where an article of mine was edited without the usual courtesy email.  It was a bear undoing all of the erroneous changes that the editor made.  It also made me wonder how long it had been like that and how many people visited it and thought that it was my work?

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         Rupert Taylorposted 15 months agoin reply to this

         I usually find editors improve articles, but sometimes they edit in errors. It's annoying.

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            ReViewMeMediaposted 15 months agoin reply to this

            I always keep a copy of my article in Microsoft Word so if I want to change the article back, I can.

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               OldRosesposted 15 months agoin reply to this

               I do too, but the editor added and deleted text, re-arranged the order of the text capsules and added an unnecessary table.  It was a mess.

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                  Rupert Taylorposted 15 months agoin reply to this

                  Oh dear. Sounds a bit like someone trying to justify their existence. Thankfully I haven't experienced anything this egregious.

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                  ReViewMeMediaposted 15 months agoin reply to this

                  Someone rearranged my review so I put it back the way I had it and edited some of the title changes I didn't like.

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      Miebakagh57posted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Rupert, congratulation! All your efforts is worth the time.

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   Jodahposted 15 months ago

   Thank you for sharing your observations, Rupert. I have only been updating one or two older articles at a time.

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   letstalkabouteducposted 15 months ago

   This seems like a good time to update articles while HP works on the problem of the person stealing articles. At least, I hope they're working on that! Getting one of those notices that says your newest (and most fabulous) piece is a duplicate is a real bummer.

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   eugbugposted 15 months ago

   Editors are going on a rampage at the moment capitalising the initial letters of words in my H3 titles. I still notice typos too. I presume editors don't read articles and run them through software which doesn't trap them. Meanwhile I'm only half way through updating my articles for 2022. I wish I could be as productive as you Rupert, but I've got lots of other chores to do.

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   Rupert Taylorposted 15 months ago

   Productivity is way down at present Eugene thanks to fracturing the humerus in my right arm ten days ago. if you are contemplating braking a bone try not to make it the humerus - it's extraordinary painful and can take up to 12 weeks to heal I have been told by my orthopedic surgeon.
   
   Left-handed typing is slow.

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      eugbugposted 15 months agoin reply to this

      The only bone I ever fractured was my right collar bone after falling off a roof. Managing to find ways of doing things with one arm was a challenge. Have you thought about writing about the experience?

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      theraggededgeposted 15 months agoin reply to this

      A great opportunity to dictate your articles Something I've always wanted to do but never seem to get round to.

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         eugbugposted 15 months agoin reply to this

         The native voice recognition on Windows I've found is pathetic and from looking at forums, other people have the same experience, even with a decent quality microphone. I don't know whether it's any better on Mac.  The problem is that the processing has to be done by Windows and the limited power of a single PC, whereas when you say something in the Google browser, it gets uploaded to them and some serious number crunching machines do the work of interpreting what's being said. Narration on a mobile device would probably be the way to go because the interpretation isn't done locally.
         
         Edit: Google Docs is another option in the Chrome browser on Windows. Just tried it reading a four line paragraph and it didn't make any mistakes.

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         Miebakagh57posted 15 months agoin reply to this

         Bev, why postpone time? I'm editing an article or two every week.

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   bhattucposted 15 months ago

   Updating, most of the times is beneficial to the author.

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   Peggy Wposted 15 months ago

   So sorry to hear about your broken humerus bone, Rupert.  Wishing for you much less pain as each day passes and good healing to take place.  Take care!

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      Rupert Taylorposted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Thanks Peggy.

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