WikiGnome

plural WikiGnomes

1. chiefly Wikimedia jargonA wiki editor (such as Wikipedia) that primarily makes minor and uncontroversial edits such as fixing typos and grammar mistakes.

   To meet its goal of encapsulating the sum of human knowledge, Wikipedia draws on the talents of different kinds of editors. [Bryan] Henderson is an archetypical WikiGnome, a contributor who specializes in fixing typos, repairing broken links, adding categories and, yes, correcting grammar.

   2015 February 3, Andrew McMillen, “Meet the Ultimate WikiGnome”, in Wired, San Francisco, C.A.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Mar 2023

   2 more examples

   On another front, one of the site's most prolific editors has made thousands of revisions, almost all of them correcting perceived misusages of the phrase "comprised of" across the site's millions of articles. Far from being treated as an eccentric outlier, this editor is celebrated, recognized as an exemplary WikiGnome, a class of editors committed to "tying up little loose ends and making things run more smoothly."

   2015 February 18, Jacob Brogan, “Han Solo Shot First”, in James Bennet, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2015

   [Steven] Pruitt considers himself a WikiGnome (according to Wikipedia, "a wiki user who makes useful incremental edits without clamouring for attention"), and he works the gamut, though much of his recent focus is on "authority control" — linking entries to worldwide library catalogues — and especially on categorizing articles.

   2018 October 2, Stephen Harrison, “Wikipedia’s top editor is this mild-mannered Virginian”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 Mar 2020

   Synonyms: WikiGardener