Annotation length and errors
I’d just like to remind people to be careful with their annotations. Recently there have been more errors appearing, more lengthy posts, and more annotations that should be in the Background Info section.
First, there have been an increasingly large amount of errors and duplicate posts — the Preview functionality is there so you can proof-read your annotation and check any links before finally posting it. If you right-click (or Control/Command click) a link you can open it in a new window, which won’t disrupt your annotation. Every mistake requires some work from me to correct it which I’d obviously prefer to keep to a minimum! Pause and think before posting.
Second, please keep annotations brief. The guidelines still recommend 2-3 paragraphs and this should be the normal maximum. While the line is always blurry I’d prefer to keep annotations informative rather than discussive. It’s a shame if I have to delete something you’ve spent a lot of time over just because it’s too long.
Third, do check whether your diary annotation would be more useful to everyone in the Background Info section.
I’d like to pre-empt the inevitable discussion this will cause about the format of annotations, and whether it should be changed (something we’ve discussed at great length before). There is no chance of me changing the current format right now. Later in the year I may be able to change things to allow different varieties of annotations. I could, however, easily start a discussion group (email and/or web-based) now for more lengthy and general chat about the diary if people would find it useful. Let me know!
That said, thanks to everyone who’s contributed useful and fascinating information over the past few months; it’s greatly appreciated by many people.