Help:Edit conflict

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In certain situations, two people may try to edit the same page at the same time. If this happens, the second person to attempt to save the page will cause an edit conflict — that is, a conflict between two different saved versions of the same page. Consider the following sequence of events:


 * 1) Adam clicks the "edit this page" button, and begins editing an article.
 * 2) Eve clicks the "edit this page" button, and begins editing the same article.
 * 3) Adam saves his version of the article.
 * 4) Eve tries to save her version of the article, which is different from Adam's version.

In cases such as these, several things can happen. First, the MediaWiki software will attempt to merge the two versions of the page. Using the diff3 utility, MediaWiki can combine the two versions of the page — provided that Adam and Eve each changed different parts of the article. However, Adam and Eve might have made different changes to the same part of the article. The rest of this page will address the second situation.

Conflict warning page
If MediaWiki cannot merge the two versions of the page on its own, it will bring up a "conflict warning" notice when Eve tries to save her version of the article, because Adam has already saved his version. The conflict warning notice contains three parts: first, at the top is shown Adam's version of the page. At the bottom, the version that Eve was trying to submit is shown. In the middle, a colored table shows the differences between the two versions. asian sluts anal sex asian girls in thongs japanese nudities asian lesbians asian pussy asian teens booty free asians tight ass asian school girls asian asian chicks asian ass japanese porn big ass hot asian perfect butt asian pussy japanese schoolgirls asian sex anal fisting asian lesbians asian supermodels asian lesbians hot asian asian porn ghetto booty japanese schoolgirls nice butt asian porn ass like that japanese anime japanese schoolgirls asian babes nice butt asian sluts ass parade japanese schoolgirls teen ass asian sex ass asian women free asian porn asian supermodels asian asian babe asian tits asian camel toe pictures japanese sex ass to mouth japanese sex asian babes asian big tits round asses asian teen asian teens asian thumbs japanese schoolgirl japanese nudities asian girls asian tits big ass asian lesbian asian school girls in thongs asian school girls asian thumbs asian lesbians rate my camel toe asian sluts ass asian babes asses japanese animation butt asian chicks hot asian asian babe asian asian pussy asian tits asian anal asian sluts asian girls anal fucking japanese schoolgirl asian sex hot asians asian girl asian girls in thongs anal fisting asian models asian school girls in thongs asian porn asian teens asian porn ass fucking asian anal perfect ass asian asses japanese sex perfect butt asian girls nice ass asian school girls hot asians asian ass rate my camel toe asian anal ass young asian sex asian teens asian models butt young asian sex asian teen japanese schoolgirls butts

How to resolve a conflict
Resolving an edit conflict is always a value judgment. Eve must choose whether to integrate her changes with Adam's version, or Adam's changes with her version. In either case, she can then add some text like "via edit conflict" in the edit summary to warn others that she had to integrate the changes.

If both Adam and Eve made large changes to the article, the situation is more complicated. Sometimes, it may just be best to temporarily add both versions of the text, and to merge them later on after some discussion on the article's talk page.

In all cases, Eve should never simply post her own changes on top of Adam's. Such an act is unfair to Adam because it erases the work he just completed, and is therefore considered bad etiquette.

"In use" message
For convenience, OpenVistA Wiki includes the option of posting an "in use" message at the top of a page. Simply paste the string at the top of the wikitext and save the page; this will inform people who come after you that you are in the process of editing the page, and help to avoid edit conflicts. (This should generally only be used for large edits, however.)