Copyediting Process and Tools for Lesson Plans

The topic of what process should be used for copyediting lesson plans and what tools could be used came up during the October 11 Make WordPress Training Meeting. During the SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. discussion, questions arose about how team members should handle copyediting concerns.

  • Is there a definitive process for new copy editors to follow?
    • What basic guidelines should be followed?
  • How are editing changes handled?
    • Make style edits on the fly?
      • RevisionsRevisions The WordPress revisions system stores a record of each saved draft or published update. The revision system allows you to see what changes were made in each revision by dragging a slider (or using the Next/Previous buttons). The display indicates what has changed in each revision. track changes
    • How to handle major edits?
      • Use strikethrough to flag deletions?
      • Use highlighting to flag additions?
      • Create a new document when rewriting?
      • Need review before committing?
        • By original writer or another editor?
  • What is the difference between copyediting and rewriting?
  • Does the copy editor need to contact the original writer?
  • How should comments be relayed between writers and editors?
  • Can we add a pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party to provide built-in features for extensive editing?

The Make WordPress Training Getting Started page indicates the various roles of contributors on the Training Team:

  • Writing – Create lesson plans.
  • Copyediting – Check lesson plans for grammar, spelling and punctuation and make sure it aligns with our style guide.
  • Testing – Help run tests of betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. lessons at Meetups or workshops and let us know how it went.
  • Auditing – Check content for accuracy with the current version of WordPress
  • Connecting – Group lesson plans that together would coordinate for a workshop
  • Reviewing – Screenshots to compare with current appearances

The workflow for Training Lesson Plans is tracked on a Google Apps Sheet: WP Community Training Lesson Plan Progress as in the Getting Started section. The general workflow for lessons is tracked in a Status field:

  1. In Progress
  2. Ready for copyediting
  3. In Copyediting
  4. Ready for testing
  5. Complete

In addition there is tracking of lesson assignments with the following fields:

  • Current Owner
  • Username
  • Previous Owners
  • Progress
    • Started
    • Date to Complete
  • Team Review
    • Copy Editor
    • Status
  • Final Review
    • Testing Stage
    • Testing Results
  • Ongoing Review

There is a Key tab in the Progress Sheet, but that appears to be out of date:

  • correct
  • needs copyeditor recheck
  • abandoned
  • possibly abandoned
  • Ready to Test

Make WordPress Training includes two guides for writing and editing lesson plans:

There is a set of guides and tracking documents already in place; it seems they could be reviewed for updates and documentation to clarify the copyediting process.

Plugin features would be helpful for copyediting tasks and workflow for published lesson plans. However, with editorial tracking already in place with the Progress sheet, the plugin does not need to recreate nor constrain that part of the process.

Some potential solutions:

  • Revisions to backtrack editorial changes
  • Apply strikethrough & color coding to text during editing for review
  • Google G Suite Docs
    • Revisions History
    • Suggestions
    • Comments
      • TagTag Tag is one of the pre-defined taxonomies in WordPress. Users can add tags to their WordPress posts along with categories. However, while a category may cover a broad range of topics, tags are smaller in scope and focused to specific topics. Think of them as keywords used for topics discussed in a particular post. user
    • Bookmarks
    • Footnotes
    • Research Tool
    • Dictionary
    • Offline mode
  • Editflow plugin:
    • Calendar – A convenient month-by-month look at your content.
    • Custom Statuses – Define the key stages to your workflow.
    • Editorial Comments – Threaded commenting in the admin for private discussion between writers and editors.
    • Editorial Metadata – Keep track of the important details.
    • Notifications – Receive timely updates on the content you’re following.
    • Story Budget – View your upcoming content budget.
    • User Groups – Keep your users organized by department or function.
  • JetPack plugin—After the Deadline:
    • Contextual Spell Checking
    • Advanced Style Checking
    • Intelligent Grammar Checking

Are there other copyediting concerns or potential solutions?