User talk:Danielfrayer

Hi Danielfrayer! I noticed your contributions and wanted to welcome you to the Wikipedia community. I hope you like it here and decide to stay.

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Happy editing! Lynch44 14:35, 17 August 2025 (UTC)Reply

Thanks! I'm still getting used to being an occasional editor, so wasn't even aware that I'd received messages here. I'm certain that there are topics on which I could contribute substantively, but there's plenty of work to be done just tidying up spelling and grammar, especially on topics primarily of interest to those living in countries in which English is not the primary language. Danielfrayer (talk) 00:09, 13 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hi. Please don't leave "fixed grammar" as an edit summary--in one of your edits you indeed fixed a broken sentence, but in all other cases you changed wording etc. for reasons of style. Thank you, Drmies (talk) 15:56, 12 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

You're quite right. I've gotten into this habit after I had painstakingly typed something along the lines of "Edited for greater readability" on my iPhone Mini one too many times. Plus, as will probably be obvious upon reading this, I personally tend to express myself with long, complex sentences, and was looking for some brief description to avoid long-winded explanations. If you'll forgive me, I'll digress a bit on my editing philosophy, for no other reason that, although I've edited quite a number of pages over several years, I've never received a personal message other than from bots, or from editors who speak English as a second language and therefore aren't as fluent as they'd like, expressing gratitude. Thanks for being the first!

I might dispute that it's a matter of simple stylistic preference, although I can see how it might appear as such; regardless, whatever one might call it, it's certainly a stretch to designate them as grammar fixes. I'd have to look at the specific changes you mention, but in general, I edit for what I'd argue to be optimal clarity, although I certainly make edits to correct grammar, or to reduce duplication of non-technical terms in close proximity. This often means splitting up what I see as excessively lengthy sentences, those filling up at most of the diminutive screen on my iPhone, as long as they have fairly clear ancillary clauses. This is just because I generally visit such pages as a non-expert in the relevant areas, and am looking for a primer on them. I figure, if a fluent, educated person who's fluent in English and writing has some difficulty parsing such sentences, then ESL visitors, students, and others who visit would likely have a much worse time. I do appreciate technical jargon and writing, as I've used the former and written the latter innumerable times in my professional career; however, as a person who is deeply curious about nearly everything and who frequently seeks information in areas outside of my field, I know well what it's like to be flummoxed by obtuse language. Plus, I've always viewed as Wikipedia as the premier champion of democratizing knowledge, so I feel that pages ought to be as approachable as possible, to the widest audience.

Anyway, that's rather enough about my editing motivation. Can you tell me whether there is a short description of such changes accepted within the community? Thanks again.

Regards,

Daniel Danielfrayer (talk) 16:49, 12 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hey--well, I guess you could say "improved clarity" or "ce" if you're actually correcting an error. But not leaving edit summaries, or leaving inaccurate edit summaries, is generally frowned upon. After all, this is a collaborative joint and so it behooves one to explain even a bit. Having said that, I hope my "meh" which I left a few times today is clear to the few who are likely to look at it. You could say "broke long sentence in two". Or "word choice", if that's what it is--I might leave that when I replace "relocate" with "move". (Or "normal English is good enough.") BTW English is also my second language. ;) Take care, Drmies (talk) 20:37, 12 August 2026 (UTC)Reply