Wikipedia:Typo

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WP:TYPO

Welcome to the Wikipedia Typo Department. November 22, 2003 was our first typo correction day. The Typo Team aims to make Wikipedia look more professional by correcting typos and misspellings.

Contents

[edit] Correcting spelling

If you see any typos (even minor ones), please correct them. This helps make Wikipedia look more professional.

Note that the English form of Wikipedia has no preference for American, British, or other forms of English as long as usage is consistent throughout the page. Check the rest of the page before assuming that flavor, color, meter, or defense (or, likewise, flavour, colour, metre, or defence) is a mistake. Note that the endings "-ize" and "-ization" are acceptable in both British and American English. The suffix -ise is more common in Commonwealth usage than -ize, but both spellings are correct. The use of -ize/-ise should remain consistent throughout a page.

More information can be found in the following links:

[edit] Edit summary

To help promote the project, please consider using an edit summary like the following:

Typo correction - [[Wikipedia:Typo|You can help!]]

Or, for a more specific description of your edit, say what specific error you are correcting:

Spelling: lense ==> lens. [[Wikipedia:Typo|You can help!]]

[edit] Typos that need to be corrected

Common typos can be found and should be listed at Wikipedia:Lists of common misspellings. More complicated cases in need of correction can be listed here. If only one or two articles exist with an incorrect spelling, please feel free to correct them yourself instead of listing the word here.

[edit] Methods for searching and correcting typos

Many users have found that using Google to search for misspelled words yields better results than Wikipedia, such as this Google search (replace "occured" with desired typo to search). However, the results may be out of date; the results are reindexed in a week or two.

Also, you may want to consider using AutoWikiBrowser to expedite the process by using its 'Make list from Google search' and find and replace features. However, all changes must be thoroughly checked. Make sure you read the AWB page thoroughly before using the software and please report any problems that you may come across. If many quick successive edits are made, please consider getting a bot account.

You can also use Lupin's Anti-vandal tool, which includes a live spell checker that checks for common typos in all newly updated articles.

[edit] Browser spell-checkers

  • Mozilla Firefox 2.0 has a built-in spell-checker. Additional languages, such as British, American, Canadian, and Australian English, are easily installed via "Add Ons". Switching back and forth between them is especially useful for editing Wikipedia. Users of other versions of Firefox can download the SpellBound extension to check spelling, which supports American English, and additional language-country variations such as British English. Users of Firefox 1.5x should use the development version.
    • By default, Firefox's spellchecker stops after 500 flagged words. This is insufficient for some articles. You can increase the maximum number of misspellings by changing the extensions.spellcheck.inline.max-misspellings preference. Enter about:config in the URL bar then in the filter bar enter spell. This will show options related the the spell checker and you should see the one we want. Change its value to something like 1000.
  • Users of Opera can visit Spell-checking With Opera for information on how to check spelling on Opera.
  • The latest version of Konqueror highlights misspelled words in text boxes.
  • The newest Google Toolbar includes a multilanguage spell-check feature for forms. However, some articles are longer than it is willing to check.
  • ieSpell is a spell-checker for Internet Explorer. Right-click in the edit box to check spelling.
  • Users of Safari on Mac os x or a Windows Beta can spell-check an input box from the "Spelling" submenu in the context menu of the box (activated via Control-click or right-click). Spell-check-as-you-type can also be enabled there or alternatively in the application "Edit" menu.
  • Camino 1.1a1 and later has automatic spell checking in edit fields enabled by default.
  • Searching in the edit form can be done in Firefox using the Findtextarea extension or the Searchtextarea bookmarklet, or by using Firefox 2.0 Beta 1 (see Wikipedia:Tools/Browser tools/Mozilla Firefox/Search within Textarea Extension with regex). Most other browsers support searching in the text area of a page.

[edit] Checking spelling

The following online tools can be used if you are unsure of how a word is spelled.

[edit] Free Internet dictionaries

[edit] Free online spell checkers

[edit] Lists of common misspellings

[edit] Utilities/scripts

[edit] Using online dictionaries

If a word does not exist, you often get this kind of result:

Did you mean exec rise?

Make sure to click the underlined word, then check if that word does exist, because the underlined word or words in the message do not always exist. Often, when you get this message, it gives the correct spelling or it gives the word from which what you're trying to look up is derived.

When you look up an entry, punctuation and capitalization do not make any difference. For example, looking up "etc", "etc.", "ETC", "et.c.", or "e-t-c" all yield the same results. Unfortunately, some entries that come up when using improper punctuation or capitalization suggest that the punctuation is right. When looking up "et.c.", for example, the top entry may punctuate it correctly with one full stop, but another entry may punctuate it incorrectly as "et.c." (i.e., the same punctuation you typed in the search box). With the American Heritage Dictionary, an entry is always properly punctuated and capitalized, but often some other entries are punctuated and capitalized just as you typed them.

[edit] Work completed


  • Baghad->Baghdad (1) --Babedacus (talk) 14:31, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
  • "is been" -> "is being" or other (153, a few of which weren't sortable!) - PamD (talk) 11:12, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
  • "was been" -> "was", "has been", "was being", etc (181, some not sortable, including a verified quote from CBS who should know better!) - PamD (talk) 11:12, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
  • "would of" -> "would have" (except where it's "would, of course/necessity" etc!) 34 hits (excluding "would of course"), 7 to fix now fixed. PamD (talk) 11:50, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
  • "could of" ->"could have" - checked, but almost all are legit "collected what they could of the remains..." or direct quotes. A couple sorted out. PamD (talk) 12:00, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
  • "should of" ->"should have" - checked, only a few to sort out... including a nice little bit of vandalism undiscovered since October! PamD (talk) 12:19, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
  • "might of" ->"might have" - vast numbers of legit uses, but 7 abuses fixed. PamD (talk) 13:00, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
  • "must of" ->"must have" - just 8 to fix, mostly typos for "most" rather than grammar problems! PamD (talk) 13:13, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
  • "are been" -> "are being" etc - 27, most of them fixed, some unintelligible and tagged for cleanup. PamD (talk) 16:21, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
  • "were been" -> "were", "had been", "were being" etc - 63, mostly fixed, some unintelligible and tagged. PamD (talk) 22:49, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
  • informations -> information (35) It's a wiki with many informations alright. There are a lot more. Just be careful for the French/Danish word. --Babedacus (talk) 19:32, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
  • "of been" -> "of being", "have been", etc - 37 PamD (talk) 23:29, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
  • "beleivers" became "believers" Stellar (talk) 10:24, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
  • "desgin" in all its variations is now "design" Stellar (talk) 10:44, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
  • initally → initially (26) -- Ynhockey (Talk) 23:11, 22 March 2008 (UTC)
  • Another round of "should of", "would of", "could of", "must of", "is been", "was been", "are been", "were been", "of been", "has went", "had went", "be been". PamD (talk) 10:08, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
  • "teh" -> "the" - 16 down; many, many to go. On the upside, most of the articles that have "teh" refer to foreign language uses and proper names. --MisterB777 (talk) 00:38, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Pledges

  • I pledge to correct spelling and grammar errors with the iron fist of pedantry. --Candleguy1994 (talk) 07:18, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct typos and misspellings as I see them while browsing Wikipedia, hopefully leaving each article a little bit better than I found it. --MisterB777 (talk) 18:39, 10 May 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to welcome other users to correct my anticipated typos and spelling mistakes, and I pledge to correct typing errors (and grammar!) using Google as a spell checker even when I'm in a hurry to do something else because I am a pedantic. Londonsista (talk) 04:28, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to use time at work when I should be doing something more productive to use the search function in Wikipedia to find spelling errors. TicketMan - Talk - contribs 21:03, 5 January 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to change typos I see around Wikipedia.--Chomeara 00:38, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
  • I pledge to fix errors on typos wherever I see them (Weston 20:14, 9 November 2007 (UTC))
  • I pledge to correct all misspellings and typos I encounter; I will search especially for my personal favorite, "qoute" (rather than "quote") Madnessandcivilization 19:24, 22 June 2007 (UTC)
  • Every few days I will check for various mispellings using Google. Created NavouBot (talk · contribs) for spell check. Navou talk 03:06, 15 May 2006 (UTC) Updated 02:53, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
  • Every couple of weeks I will check for all misspellings of occur/occurs/occurred/occurring/occurrence/occurrences with this google search. AxelBoldt 17:39, 23 September 2005 (UTC)
    • One round completed. AxelBoldt 17:39, 23 September 2005 (UTC)
    • And another one. AxelBoldt 19:43, 11 November 2005 (UTC)
    • And a third one, this time using AutoWikiBrowser, corrected about 800. AxelBoldt 01:52, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
  • I will check for "sucess" and "suceed", regularly. This may help me spot new material which needs NPOV editing, too. CarolGray 09:55, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
    • check completed. CarolGray 14:37, 20 December 2005 (UTC)
    • rechecked. CarolGray 08:38, 5 January 2006 (UTC)
    • rechecked. CarolGray 21:50, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
    • about 150 this time CarolGray 14:45, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
JoeBot is now doing this with AutoWikiBrowser so I'll bow out, and move my efforts over to Wikipedia:WikiProject Disambiguation.
  • I'll be regularly checking for "rather then" using this google query. Furthermore, I'll add a link to the google query I use on every entry I add to the work completed section on this page. Rbarreira 20:25, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
  • Checking for "wheres" (which often should be whereas or where's) with this google query from now on. Rbarreira 23:20, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
  • I used to get confused as to the correct spelling of "forty", so it's on my regular hit list. So is "valuable", and I'll be adding a new word to the list every week or two. --Estarriol 17:38, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
  • Every time I get bored, I'll continue from where I left off in the list of common misspellings. Right now, I'm only on the letter 'a', so by the time I get back around to 'a' in about 100 years, it'll be good to go again. tv316 15:50, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
  • I will be looking for duplicates like "the the" and "that that".
  • Umm.. "that that" is not necessarily wrong. The reason I dislike this car, is that that other car was better. Not the best example of a sentence, yes, but it is still grammatically correct :) EuroSong talk 00:20, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
  • My favourite example of multiple thats in a sentence - Did you know that that that that that woman used should have been a this DanBeale 10:15, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
  • Re: . . . that that that that woman used . . .; that is beautiful!Joshua Crowgey 09:43, 9 July 2007 (UTC)
  • Finished the ones from the March Data Dump.
—-- That Guy, From That Show! (talk) 2006-04-13 10:49
  • Continuing checking for "disasterous" which I did a little bit of at previous times. --Bigdottawa 16:57, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
That surely is a disasterous typo Rbarreira 12:24, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
  • One of my pet peeves is the use of it's when its is meant. Hundreds corrected already, thousands more to go. --Ghewgill 12:06, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
  • I will search for one of the common misspellings every few days using the search. Caleb09 18:51, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Will any of you be terribly upset if I merely correct what I find without using any tools?

JimCubb 03:39, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

  • I will continue to correct the word "diferent" with "different." Dablueeagle 09:34, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
  • I will continue to correct all the typos I find every single day. Akaziel 03:11, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
  • I have chosen one letter, V, and will work my way through all of the commonly misspelled words beginning with V. I did vaccum(e) and vacinity tonight. Kyriosity 06:41, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
  • I will correct any typo I find and do searches via Google every so often to help correct frequent problems. --Second crimson 15:20, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
  • Declaration of Spell-checking: I hereby declare that I will correct a mis-spelled word wherever I find it, and will make at least 100 corrections a day, after searching articles for various typos. Vikas Kumar Ojha Talk to me! 02:02, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
  • First Amendment: I will copy-edit (for Typo) each article I come across while searching for a particular Typo. An article that contains one Typo most probably contains more. Vikas Kumar Ojha Talk to me! 04:23, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
  • I will correct any typo I come across on Wikipedia, using the spell-check in Firefox and by searching on Google for mistakes. I will pay special attention to British vs American consistency in articles. Laerwen 05:19, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
  • Every work day possible I will run AWB to search for and correct any typos contained on WP:AWB/T on every page linked on Main Page/Tomorrow. Those pages should be examples of quality articles and part of that should be a lack of misspellings. --Maelnuneb (Talk) 20:58, 19 January 2007 (UTC)
  • I will try to spell wierd weird correctly. Bushcarrot (Talk·Desk) 18:56, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
  • I will use my skills and intuition in correcting every typo I come across when looking for such things. If I am unsure, I will use the spellcheck on my computer, and the web to compare with relevant websites. Coryma (Talk)
  • I will correct any typo I come across on Wikipedia, as well as make sure all typing variables (I.E. colour and favourite vs. color and favorite) are consistent. Bsroiaadn (Talk) 06:32, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
  • I will use AWB to search for any medical/drug-related misspellings I can think of. --Galaxiaad 06:49, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
  • I will use my brain, Firefox's spellchecker, and Merriam-Webster Online to correct every typo I see. I will be on special lookout for the heinous misspelling of "February" as "Febuary." Vivalosangeles 22:04, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
  • I will continue what I have been doing and spend much of my editing time correcting typos. Chyel 14:15, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
  • Every few weeks I fix /Ju(i)?l(l)?(i)?ard/. I ended up creating the article at Julliard, when I realized how often they really mean Editions Julliard. I also change Chumash to Humash, though if an article on a town in California means the Jewish sense, I may have missed it. These two tasks straddle the line between disambiguation and spelling, and I am more of a disambiguation faerie, but I fix a lot of spelling too. I just did a few dozen of Brittanica, but I won't make a habit of that. I'm just commiting to Juilliard and Humash.— Randall Bart 23:49, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
  • I will correct any typos I come across in my normal browsing, as well as try to keep an eye out for consistency of usage (color/colour) in an article. Furthermore, I will check the Common misspelling list from time to time.gorffy 05:21, 25 April 2007 (UTC)
  • I pledge to maintain a mostly casual but sporadically flurried vigil. --Segaba 15:32, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
  • I'll fix 'em as I find 'em! Red minx 16:18, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
  • I pledge to immediately correct spelling errors when I find them, including an error I often make "teh" instead of "the". Truthanado 23:06, 3 June 2007 (UTC)
  • I pledge to check for spelling errors whenever I edit a page -littlebum2002 20:33, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
  • I'll see what I can do. Ahahahaha. Okay, I pledge to use Mozilla Firefox to correct any spelling errors I come across. Furthermore, I will attempt to correct the spelling on 10 pages per day. Okay, maybe not. 5 a day. That I can be certain to do daily. BlueCanary9999 00:35, 14 June 2007 (UTC)BlueCanary9999
  • I pledge to check for errors anytime I am editing a page.

Doenut1793 04:33, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

  • I pledge to correct any errors that I note on any page whilst browsing. Awils1 01:04, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
  • I pledge that I will come before E, except after C. --Breno talk 15:28, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Except when sounded as "ay", as in neighbor or weigh, of course. 208.200.176.2 17:05, 17 September 2007 (UTC)
Unless you're just weird. Admiral Memo (talk) 02:09, 22 February 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct ANY TYPO I may come across on this vast internet encyclopedia. L337p4wn 04:35, 6 August 2007 (UTC)
  • I pledge to check and correct all typos that I come across. PERIOD! --PolarWolf 22:21, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
  • I pledge to look out for any single typo error, no matter how small. Even a full-stop missing. I'll correct them too, of course! *Sigh* 04:47, 3 September 2007 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct any errors that I note when performing other editing tasks and while browsing Wikipedia. -JPmaverick 12:55, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct any spelling errors I find during the time I am on Wikipedia. One tool I use is Microsoft Outlook. I have a page in my drafts folder that I cut and paste to correct errors. --CrohnieGalTalk 13:39, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct any typos I find on Wikipedia and any other wiki-related sites. Rivka 17:29, 8 November 2007 (UTC)
  • I hereby do solemnly pledge [and all that malarkey] to google for common misspellings, and correct them. Paidgenius (talk) 14:05, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
  • I will replace "alternate" with "alternative" except when it's used to mean "every other". Thunderbird2 18:51, 2 December 2007 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct all misspellings and typos on all Wikipedia articles I edit or read. Pinkadelica (talk) 21:58, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
  • I'll fight a one-editor campaign against "is been", correcting it variously to "is being", "has been", plain "is", or whatever seems appropriate, ditto "was been", "should of", "could of", "would of". And will continue to correct typos I fall over, anywhere on WikiPedia. PamD (talk) 13:05, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct all typos I find around Wikipedia. Fleetflame (talk) 01:49, 5 January 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct all misspellings and typos I encounter

Runningblader (talk) 05:54, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

  • I pledge to correct all spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors I come across

Elle (talk) 02:13, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

  • I pledge to correct typos while I'm supposed to be doing homework... and still getting the homework done. (ApostleJoe (talk) 15:04, 25 January 2008 (UTC))
  • I pledge to fight in the war against typos, as I have too often been atacked attacked by them. (YET AGAIN) --LaPianísta!03:11, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct typos, because it could be benefical beneficial in allowing me to practice for Scripps National Spelling Bee (although I really should be doing my math geometry) --Princess Janay (talk) 14:32, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to fix typos and grammer errors when ever i see them. Staffwaterboy Talk♂ 12:50, 25 March 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to be ruthless and passionate in catching incorrect uses of it's versus its, and their versus there versus they're. Kathy (talk) 23:35, 29 March 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to fix any tyop typo I encounter. I promise to fix typos that are even as minor as just adding a comma, space, ect. I hope that I will reach many mainspace edits because of this. And I hope that Wikipedia can be typo free.--RyRy5 Talk to RyRy? 18:38, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to fix any typos that I come across. KaylaraOwl (talk) 22:34, 7 April 2008 (UTC)KaylaraOwl
  • I pledge to help keep Wikipedia as professional as possible by correcting all spelling errors I find Freshbakedpie (Wanna talk?) \'_'/ 18:28, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
  • Although I've been correcting typos, I pledge to continue correcting typos as I notice them upon first glance.Byankno1 (talk) 01:23, 26 April 2008
  • I pledge to fix any typos, grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and just plain bad English (or Russian) on sight!

--Dukakis (talk) 01:21, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

  • I pledge to repair any typos, grammatical errors, and restructure any sentences that require such action. Ginbot86 (talk) 03:08, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to ruthlessly correct every grammatical error, spelling error, etc. that I come across in my wanderings. I will also make a great effort to rephrase sentences that I feel can sound more professional. IceUnshattered (talk) 00:00, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge I will correct typos and mispellings I encounter, especially misused "their" and "there". Snaxx719 (talk) 00:00, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct more typos than I make. --Wloveral (talk) 03:16, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
  • I also pledge to correct more typos than I make. Razorflame 22:23, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
  • I hereby pledge to uphold my honour and that of Wikipedia by correcting typographical and grammatical errors upon sight and do my duty towards copy-editing.Avnas Ishtaroth (talk) 11:41, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to try and use my time at work to help look for errors on pages when I am searching wikipedia. Also to fix more errors than I create. Motorex (talk) 06:12, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct spellings and gramatical errors here in Wikipedia. 216.57.96.1 (talk) 01:11, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to fix all gramatical and spelling erros that I will encounter here at Wikipedia. Monzonda c",) 01:13, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • I will destroy every last typo!!!!!!!!! Lunakeet 13:25, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to use the power vested in me by wiki to remove typos from the encyclopedia. PwnerELITE (talk) 04:22, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • I pledge to correct typos, at first sight SPBLU

[edit] Userbox

There is now a userbox to show that you are a member of the Typo Team:

tyop
typo		 This user is a member of the Wikipedia Typo Team.

To include the userbox on your user page, you can use {{User:Galaxiaad/typo}} or {{subst:User:Galaxiaad/typo}}. Note the bold "Wikipedia Typo Team" is a link to this project page.

[edit] Members of the Typo Team

See Wikipedia:Typo/Members

[edit] See also