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Welcome to the home page of the '''WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors''' ('''GOCE''').

This WikiProject is dedicated to improving the quality of writing in articles on the English Wikipedia. The Guild encourages all editors to join our project, participate in its activities, and copy edit Wikipedia articles to make them '''[[Wikipedia:Basic copyediting|clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent]]'''; to '''''make them say what they mean and mean what they say'''''.

{{Big Blue Button}}

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|What we do}}
The Guild of Copy Editors aims to improve Wikipedia by:

*eliminating the backlog of articles marked with the {{tl|copy edit}} template and its cousins {{Tl|copy edit section}}, {{Tl|copy edit inline}}, {{Tl|awkward}}, {{tl|cleanup tense}}, and {{tl|inappropriate person}};
*helping editors raise the standard of prose in [[English Wikipedia]] articles that they wish to nominate for [[WP:GAN|Good Article]], [[Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Assessment/A-Class criteria|A-class]] or [[WP:FAC|Featured Article]] status; and
*maintaining the [[:Category:Wikipedia articles needing copy edit|category of articles needing copy edit]].

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|Current focus}}
The Guild's members are currently working to:

*reduce the number of articles tagged as needing copy editing;
*promptly fulfill [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Requests|special requests]];
*organize [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Backlog elimination drives|backlog elimination drives]] to encourage active participation in the Guild, and to reduce the copy edit backlog;
*to attract competent copy editors to the Guild.

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|Joining the Guild}}
Membership of the Guild of Copy Editors is informal and is not monitored. To be considered a member you can:
*add your name to the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/List of participants|List of Participants]];
*add {{tl|User Copy Edit}} to your userpage, which will automatically add you to [[:Category:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors participants]];
*join our [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Mailing List|mailing list]] to get regular newsletters with information about our activities.

Because of the nature of our project, members who copy edit articles listed on our Requests page should have a high level of skill with English spelling, grammar and punctuation. Requests are often being prepared for promotion to Good Article, A-class or Featured Article status, all of which require prose that is clear, concise, and error-free. Good judgment is often required when deciphering the meaning of confusing passages of text and considering how to best clarify it without altering its meaning. If you're not as confident about your skills, you can gain some copy editing experience by working on articles from the backlog of [[:Category:Wikipedia articles needing copy edit|articles needing copy edit]].

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|New copy editors}}
*If you're new to copy editing and you want some help, you can ask questions on any of the project's coordinators' talk pages. We'll do our best to help you.
*Wikipedia's guide to basic copy editing is [[Wikipedia:Basic copyediting|here]].
*Our [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/How to|how-to guide]] has links to exercises and advice for copy editors of all levels.
*Advanced copy editing advice and exercises are available at [[User:Tony1/How to improve your writing|Tony1's copy editing guide]].

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|How you can help}}
There are {{PAGESINCAT:All Wikipedia articles needing copy edit}} articles currently in the backlog.
You can:
*Dive right in and start improving [[CAT:COPY|articles needing copy edit]]
* Help improve our [[:Category:Wikipedia articles needing copy edit from October 2023|oldest backlogged articles]] (October 2023)
* Help improve our [[:Category:Wikipedia articles needing copy edit from {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}|most-recently tagged articles]] ({{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}})
*Follow the instructions on and select an article from our [[WP:GOCE/REQ|Requests page]] to copy edit.
*Copy edit a random article from our backlog; see these [[Wikipedia:WikiProject_Guild_of_Copy_Editors/Backlog_elimination_drives#Finding_articles|instructions]] on our Drives page.

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|Events}}
The Guild organizes regular monthly events to help us achieve our goals. These are:
*Month-long [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Backlog elimination drives|Backlog Elimination Drives]], in which Wikipedians earn awards for improving the standard of prose in articles from the backlog;
*Themed, week-long [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Blitzes|Copy-Editing Blitzes]], similar to Drives but shorter and more focused.
Drives occur in odd-numbered months, and Blitzes are held during even-numbered months.

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|Requests}}
The Guild maintains a [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Requests|Requests]] page, where editors can request copy edits on articles they are working to develop and improve, or want to nominate for [[WP:Good articles|Good Article]], [[Wikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team/Assessment#Grades|A-class]] or [[WP:Featured articles|Featured Article]] status. We try to complete requests quickly, but waiting times are variable. We do not guarantee that articles we copy edit will be accepted at review.
:;The Requests page is not for<nowiki>:</nowiki>
*Draft articles awaiting review at [[WP:AFC|AFC]], in the [[Wikipedia:Drafts|Draft]] namespace, or in your user space;
*Articles currently nominated for deletion at [[WP:AfD|AfD]];
*Articles undergoing rapid development, are the venue for edit-wars, or have other major problems that may result in a copy edit being replaced or reverted. Copy edit requests for the above may be declined after discussion. Also note that the GOCE is not [[WP:Cleanup|Cleanup]].

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|Who coordinates Guild activities?}}
{{main|Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Coordinators}}
The GOCE's '''project coordinators''' are the designated points of contact for issues concerning the project, and are responsible for maintaining the Guild's internal structure and processes. They do not, however, have any authority over article content or editor conduct, or any other special powers.

<table width=75%><tr><td>
;Lead Coordinator
:[[User:Dhtwiki|Dhtwiki]] ([[User talk:Dhtwiki|talk]])
;Coordinators
:[[User:GoldRomean|GoldRomean]] ([[User talk:GoldRomean|talk]])
:[[User:Mox Eden|Mox Eden]] ([[User talk:Mox Eden|talk]])
:[[User:Miniapolis|Miniapolis]] ([[User talk:Miniapolis|talk]])

|
;Coordinators emeriti
: [[User:Baffle gab1978|Baffle gab1978]] ([[User talk:Baffle gab1978|talk]])
: [[User:Diannaa|Diannaa]] ([[User talk:Diannaa|talk]])
: [[User:Jonesey95|Jonesey95]] ([[User talk:Jonesey95|talk]])
: [[User:SMasters|SMasters]] ([[User talk:SMasters|talk]])
: [[User:Tdslk|Tdslk]] ([[User talk:Tdslk|talk]])
: [[User:Torchiest|Torchiest]] ([[User talk:Torchiest|talk]])
</td></tr></table>

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|Progress}}
* A full version of our progress chart can now be found [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Progress|on its own page]].
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| [[File:Copyeditors progress.png|left|thumb|Graph of progress (2018–2023)]]||{{URA task|date=May 1, 2010|catname=All Wikipedia articles needing copy edit|startnum=8323}}
|}

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|Useful links}}
*The [[WP:MOS|Manual of Style]] (MOS) defines Wikipedia's "house style". Familiarity with it is essential when copy editing, especially when fulfilling [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Requests|requests]].
*[[Wikipedia:Simplified Manual of Style]] is a gentler introduction to the MOS. It covers the most important points of the MOS and has many links to the manual and its sub-pages.
*[[Wikipedia:Basic copyediting]] is a useful beginners' guide to copy editing.
*[[Comma#Uses in English]] explains English's most misunderstood punctuation mark.

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|Tools}}
This section lists some tools you might find useful for your copy editing activities:
* ''Main tool page: https://toolhub.wikimedia.org/''
*[[Wikipedia:AutoEd|AutoEd]] is a [[WP:User scripts|user script]] that helps to automatically clean up articles, and allows for the easy design, use, and customization of user scripts related to automated article cleanup.
*[https://tools.wmflabs.org/refill/ reFill]{{spaced ndash}}This tool edits bare references and adds elements like titles and dates to bare references.
<!-- *[https://tools.wmflabs.org/dispenser/view/Checklinks Checklinks]{{spaced ndash}}Edit and repair external links. (Does not work anymore.) -->
<!-- *[https://tools.wmflabs.org/dispenser/view/Dab_solver Dab solver]{{spaced ndash}}Quickly resolve ambiguous links. -->

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Section header|Off-wiki sites of interest}}
*[https://discord.gg/wikipedia Discord]{{spaced ndash}}We have a channel on the [[WP:Discord|Wikipedia Discord server]] for real-time discussion and collaboration with other copyeditors. 

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