Subject: EDQ #5: The Art of the Correction Note
Posted by: WesleyCrusher
Date: May 05 13
As a FunTrivia quiz author, you will sooner or later inevitably come into contact with a correction note. There are three ways by which you may get involved with corrections: sending a correction note, receiving a correction request by an editor prior to your quiz going online and finally receiving a player correction once your quiz is online. Each of these situations is quite different and you should be aware of what to do for each of them.
Firstly, sending corrections is not limited to authors - any player can send them - but as an author, especially one who may have a bit of experience, you are in a better position to send them than a player who has never written a quiz because you know the quiz-writing process and rules. So, when you feel that something in a quiz is wrong, put yourself in the author's shoes and, before you send your note, pretend you're the author of the quiz. Would you consider the note helpful and would you feel compelled to act upon it if you were the one who wrote the quiz? If so, send away. Otherwise stop and rethink your note. Make sure that you are truly pointing out an error - whether one in language or one in fact - and also consider whether it makes sense to fix the error. Don't be too picky, however. Sometimes it is not possible to explain the last detail of a complex issue in the space of an interesting info field, so please don't hold that against an author if the explanation is otherwise correct. Also, when correcting language, always ask yourself if you're actually pointing out a spelling or grammar error or just rather want to fix a style you consider inferior.
The bottom line here is that anything that is not actually a correction should not be in a player correction note. If you want to have a deeper factual discussion on a fine point beyond the scope of the quiz, you can send the author a direct message, but for anything else - it's their quiz and if you think you have something to add, why not write one yourself to take the subject further?
The second scenario ties in with the previous issue of EDQ about the queue and edit process: An editor has reviewed your quiz and found some problems with it, so they send it back to you for fixes. At this point, you are expected to make these fixes - completely and diligently. If anything in the editor request is optional or merely a suggestion, the editor will mark it as such - but even then, please strongly consider the change. All editors have significant experience in writing good quizzes, and heeding a simple suggestion may well be the difference between a top 5000 quiz and a mediocre offering!
Also, please understand that editors have different styles and some even somewhat vary their style based on available time and quality of your quiz. Many editors will go into depth and explain things for you if they have the time and believe that the more detailed description will help you learn to become a better author - but sometimes you may also get only a short, general message, especially if there are many errors of a similar, avoidable kind. Do your best to fix the issue and if something is unclear, reply and ask back.
There may of course be the case that you disagree with the editor - we are only human and our corrections may contain errors as well, especially if there's a factual issue - but even then please do not just resubmit your quiz with the issue you want to dispute unchanged. Seek the dialog with the editor - either message them and politely explain your case or, at the very least, put a note in the editor message field of your resubmission when you leave something unchanged and explain why you did so - in case of a factual disagreement, you should link to a reliable source confirming your version.
Finally, the case of receiving a player correction note is the one that requires most judgement from you. When you get such a note, you will not at first know its quality. Some player corrections are obviously bogus (like when a newcomer tries to correct their own answer, someone complains about a technical error or you get a message based on an outdated version of the question still in a timed game's database). You can safely make all of these as "not an error" with just a short notice so the editor who will check your handling of the correction will see you have read and understood the message.
If a message is obviously correct - you made a blatant misspelling which the editing process did not catch, for example - do make the correction, save the quiz and then mark the note as corrected if you can. If you can't make the correction because the quiz has been online and unchanged for too long, put a note to the editor in the box to tell them exactly what you want changed - in form of a text ready to copy and paste and right in the box if at all possible. If you want to send a separate note to an editor, make sure you give the exact quiz title, question number and location to be fixed (question text, answer or info).
Please ONLY mark a note as "corrected" if you actually made a change or are providing instructions for the editor on how to make it. If you do not make a change, you should always select "Not an error".
The most challenging correction note is the one that isn't immediately clear as correct or false. Most of these are factual corrections, but there may also be some for language issues. In these cases, don't just gloss over them and mark them "Not an Error", possibly even with a semi-rude note like "This player has no idea" or a comment like "I know my stuff, I have a Bachelor's degree in ...". Instead, check back that what you wrote is truly correct and if you are correct, provide a reliable link or plausible explanation confirming your opinion. Remember that all your corrections - whether made or declined - will be crosschecked by editors and if you ignore a valid note or brush a note aside unchecked, the editor will call you out on it or, in a really clear-cut case, change your quiz or pull it offline until you fix it. Avoid that by treating every correction as a genuine concern - you could have confused something or simply have been a victim of outdated knowledge. If, at the end of the process, you find out you were right after all, you may want to send a reply to the correction, explaining your case to the original sender - it will almost always be appreciated.
Bottom line: Write every correction like you'd want to receive them and treat every correction as a chance to improve your work. If you do this, you'll no longer need to dread the "red alert" on your homepage - you'll rather see it as a way to make your quizzes even better.
Posted by: WesleyCrusher
Date: May 05 13
As a FunTrivia quiz author, you will sooner or later inevitably come into contact with a correction note. There are three ways by which you may get involved with corrections: sending a correction note, receiving a correction request by an editor prior to your quiz going online and finally receiving a player correction once your quiz is online. Each of these situations is quite different and you should be aware of what to do for each of them.
Firstly, sending corrections is not limited to authors - any player can send them - but as an author, especially one who may have a bit of experience, you are in a better position to send them than a player who has never written a quiz because you know the quiz-writing process and rules. So, when you feel that something in a quiz is wrong, put yourself in the author's shoes and, before you send your note, pretend you're the author of the quiz. Would you consider the note helpful and would you feel compelled to act upon it if you were the one who wrote the quiz? If so, send away. Otherwise stop and rethink your note. Make sure that you are truly pointing out an error - whether one in language or one in fact - and also consider whether it makes sense to fix the error. Don't be too picky, however. Sometimes it is not possible to explain the last detail of a complex issue in the space of an interesting info field, so please don't hold that against an author if the explanation is otherwise correct. Also, when correcting language, always ask yourself if you're actually pointing out a spelling or grammar error or just rather want to fix a style you consider inferior.
The bottom line here is that anything that is not actually a correction should not be in a player correction note. If you want to have a deeper factual discussion on a fine point beyond the scope of the quiz, you can send the author a direct message, but for anything else - it's their quiz and if you think you have something to add, why not write one yourself to take the subject further?
The second scenario ties in with the previous issue of EDQ about the queue and edit process: An editor has reviewed your quiz and found some problems with it, so they send it back to you for fixes. At this point, you are expected to make these fixes - completely and diligently. If anything in the editor request is optional or merely a suggestion, the editor will mark it as such - but even then, please strongly consider the change. All editors have significant experience in writing good quizzes, and heeding a simple suggestion may well be the difference between a top 5000 quiz and a mediocre offering!
Also, please understand that editors have different styles and some even somewhat vary their style based on available time and quality of your quiz. Many editors will go into depth and explain things for you if they have the time and believe that the more detailed description will help you learn to become a better author - but sometimes you may also get only a short, general message, especially if there are many errors of a similar, avoidable kind. Do your best to fix the issue and if something is unclear, reply and ask back.
There may of course be the case that you disagree with the editor - we are only human and our corrections may contain errors as well, especially if there's a factual issue - but even then please do not just resubmit your quiz with the issue you want to dispute unchanged. Seek the dialog with the editor - either message them and politely explain your case or, at the very least, put a note in the editor message field of your resubmission when you leave something unchanged and explain why you did so - in case of a factual disagreement, you should link to a reliable source confirming your version.
Finally, the case of receiving a player correction note is the one that requires most judgement from you. When you get such a note, you will not at first know its quality. Some player corrections are obviously bogus (like when a newcomer tries to correct their own answer, someone complains about a technical error or you get a message based on an outdated version of the question still in a timed game's database). You can safely make all of these as "not an error" with just a short notice so the editor who will check your handling of the correction will see you have read and understood the message.
If a message is obviously correct - you made a blatant misspelling which the editing process did not catch, for example - do make the correction, save the quiz and then mark the note as corrected if you can. If you can't make the correction because the quiz has been online and unchanged for too long, put a note to the editor in the box to tell them exactly what you want changed - in form of a text ready to copy and paste and right in the box if at all possible. If you want to send a separate note to an editor, make sure you give the exact quiz title, question number and location to be fixed (question text, answer or info).
Please ONLY mark a note as "corrected" if you actually made a change or are providing instructions for the editor on how to make it. If you do not make a change, you should always select "Not an error".
The most challenging correction note is the one that isn't immediately clear as correct or false. Most of these are factual corrections, but there may also be some for language issues. In these cases, don't just gloss over them and mark them "Not an Error", possibly even with a semi-rude note like "This player has no idea" or a comment like "I know my stuff, I have a Bachelor's degree in ...". Instead, check back that what you wrote is truly correct and if you are correct, provide a reliable link or plausible explanation confirming your opinion. Remember that all your corrections - whether made or declined - will be crosschecked by editors and if you ignore a valid note or brush a note aside unchecked, the editor will call you out on it or, in a really clear-cut case, change your quiz or pull it offline until you fix it. Avoid that by treating every correction as a genuine concern - you could have confused something or simply have been a victim of outdated knowledge. If, at the end of the process, you find out you were right after all, you may want to send a reply to the correction, explaining your case to the original sender - it will almost always be appreciated.
Bottom line: Write every correction like you'd want to receive them and treat every correction as a chance to improve your work. If you do this, you'll no longer need to dread the "red alert" on your homepage - you'll rather see it as a way to make your quizzes even better.
39 replies. On page 2 of 2 pages. 1 2
agony
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I'd say send one for anything that actually changes the quiz significantly. So, maybe not for a typo, but yes for a mistaken fact. The nice thing about an official CN is that you know an editor will check it, so you're covered that way, but there's no hurry, no waiting for the quiz to go online. You just make your change, and eventually, if there's a problem, someone will contact you to discuss it. Reply #21. May 09 13, 8:00 AM |
guitargoddess
|
"(In passing I might add that I get enormously annoyed with myself for failing to see the darn typo in the first place, when I go over and over each quiz before submitting." My most recent quiz, that I posted a note somewhere in the lounge asking for players to keep an eye out for an error that I'd seen and then "lost" - well someone found the error but a bunch more too! I was thinking to myself, well I don't remember being drunk or something when writing this quiz, but apparently I was... Reply #22. May 09 13, 8:56 AM |
adam36
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GG at least you have that potential excuse since I dont drink I am left with only incomeptence as an explanation. While on the subjct of typo's, when I was a young associate before word processors or spell check, I had a brief returned to me from a partner with a series of typos circled and the comment that "the typo was the window to the soul...." FT has confirmed that my marginal editing skill will bar any chance of gaining access to heaven. Reply #23. May 09 13, 12:11 PM |
self-control
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Thanks for the guidelines! It's good information for all of us. Reply #24. May 09 13, 2:14 PM |
logcrawler 
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Whenever I encounter something of a questionable nature in a quiz, I usually just send a private message to the author and try to be as polite as possible. Correction notices are great in that they do address blatant errors. (Believe me, I've had a number of those myself!) That said, it can be quite intimidating to get the dreaded Official Notification of Error, so I try my best to not be authoritative or in-your-face with my suggestions to fellow players. Why send a "Correction Notice", when a simple friendly note will suffice and help you make a new friend, instead of making you someone to be wary of? :) Logan Reply #25. Oct 06 13, 8:02 AM |
kaddarsgirl
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Logan, sometimes the quiz author is not active, and your note will go unread. If you send an actual CN, even if the author is not active an editor will see it and can fix the problem. Usually when I feel I have to send a correction note on a quiz, I will also send a compliment about something that I liked in the quiz. In my mind, at least, I think that offsets the correction red letters a bit. :) Reply #26. Oct 06 13, 8:12 AM |
| agony
|
I'd like to speak further about archived quizzes, as I've just spent a rather frustrating hour dealing with corrections. When you receive a CN on a archived quiz, a note saying "this quiz is archived so I can't make any changes" is NOT helpful. Please use that space to let us know what needs to be changed - the exact wording is best, so we can just copy and paste it. Don't forget that if the answer has changed, most of the time the info section will also need a change. Your CN comes with a box for you to put any needed changes into, and I cannot stress enough how much more easily the whole thing works if you just use that box to indicate exactly what you would like done. Reply #27. Jun 08 14, 10:11 AM |
kyleisalive
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On the same note, if you play through your old, archived quizzes and discover an error, sending a correction notice on your own question is ideal for us and for you. Each correction sent via that method comes up on our lists, so any editor in that category can attend to it or un-archive it for you to fix. Sending an editor a personal message about your archived quiz could take much longer to be attended to as your placing the issue into one editor's hands; we can't guarantee when we can get to it. Reply #28. Jun 08 14, 10:17 AM |
| agony
|
I know a lot of you don't like to use the correction system the way it is designed because you don't like the idea of sending someone that red notice. But please, spare a little thought for your hardworking editors - it is SO much easier for us to deal with corrections that go through the system the way it is set up. I can deal with twenty (or more!) minor corrections through the system in the time it takes me to find one quiz question in a note sent to me through the mail. Reply #29. Jun 08 14, 10:54 AM |
tazman6619
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As an author I wanted to share a recent experience. I had an old archived quiz that at the time it came out had a question that caused some controversy but I thought I had dealt with it sufficiently then. Well the quiz became a quiz of the hour so it got many more plays from normal players and I got more CNs. After reviewing the question I figured out a better way to ask it that would remove all of the controsversy. I sent myself a CN and noted exactly what needed to be changed and how the II needed to be changed. Within a couple of days it had been taken care of without any further effort on my part. This was a rather big change but it went off without a hitch and the quiz is much better for it. I highly recommend this process if you run into this type of issue. Reply #30. Jun 08 14, 12:22 PM |
VegemiteKid
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Thanks, an interesting and informative discussion. Reply #31. Jun 08 14, 10:50 PM |
Lottie1001
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What's the best thing to do when you've submitted a correction via the CN system, but you find the same error in the question appearing a few weeks later? Should one send another CN, or should one assume that the author/editor decided that nothing needed changing? If that's the case, would it be possible to send a note explaining why. The specific question I've just found is from the Question Quest. Reply #32. Jun 09 14, 12:26 PM |
| agony
|
Good chance it just hasn't been gotten to yet, or possibly the editor is still checking it out. In some categories the editors stay right on top of the CNs, while in others, it's more like clearing out the spare room closet - "I'll get to it, I'll get to it....." In general, we seldom send a note saying why action isn't taken on a CN - it's just not an efficient use of our time. The way the system is set up, it would involve five or six extra steps and losing your place in the list, in addition to having to write the note. Dealing with CNs can be very time consuming already, and since many of them are sent by players who are never seen again, it's just not worth it to answer every one. Reply #33. Jun 09 14, 2:30 PM |
| guitargoddess
|
It's possible it hasn't been seen yet. Some categories deal with correction notes almost as soon as they come in, in other categories they pile up for awhile and then someone will deal with a whole bunch all at once. I don't think it's realistic to expect an explanation note from an editor for every correction you send that's determined doesn't need a fix. Especially in the Question Quest, there is no quick easy way to do this. When your name appears as the sender of the correction note, it's not hyperlinked in any way to be able to efficiently send a message. Certainly some editors send such messages in some instances, and while I can't speak for everyone, I'm definitely not about to reply to the senders of every correction I deal with. Reply #34. Jun 09 14, 2:31 PM |
| agony
|
Snap, gg. Reply #35. Jun 09 14, 2:41 PM |
| Lottie1001
|
Thanks for your replies, Agony and GG. I presume the CN I sent is still in the system, then. Thanks, also, for explaining why it's impossible to inform senders when they are rejected. Reply #36. Jun 09 14, 2:46 PM |
| agony
|
I'd like to go back to a point Wes raised in the original post. We get a lot of "corrections" that are not corrections at all, but just discussion about the question. An additional fact that would be nice if added to the info section, that kind of thing. This is nice - we love it that players are interested and invested enough in their trivia to want to discuss it further. However, it's not a correction, and really doesn't belong in the CN system. You can send these comments through the compliment button on quizzes. For single questions it's a little more difficult, but a DM sent directly to the quiz author will - I can assure you, as an author myself - be greatly appreciated. Reply #37. Sep 30 15, 8:32 AM |
Creedy
|
I'd like to add that when sending a correction notice, to try to always be courteous about it. Some correction notices get my back up because of the manner in which they're expressed. Others are lovely in their wording and I'll sometimes send them a quick thank you for pointing out the error. I don't have a problem with being incorrect at all. I do have a problem with rudeness. Reply #38. Oct 16 15, 10:16 PM |
| agony
|
Something just came up today which illustrates why it's better to use the CN system for corrections, rather than the "nicer" way of just sending a note to the author. I just got a note from a very prolific author - he had gotten a note from a player about a small correction needed in one of his older, archived, quizzes. He told me what was needed, and the name of the quiz. The only way for me to find the quiz, with that information, is to look for it on his profile - the name was common enough that it did not show up in the search box. Almost all of this author's many quizzes are in the same category, so I didn't even have the category to go by. Something that could have been taken care of in about five seconds from the quiz author and another ten from me, has taken something like half an hour, and a lot of trouble for both the author and the editor. It's not really nicer to send a note - the system works. Reply #39. Oct 27 15, 12:45 PM |
39 replies. On page 2 of 2 pages. 1 2
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