Editing Encyclopedia:Glossary (section)

==S==

;{{Vanchor|s/word1/word2/|/word1/word2/}}
: Replace <var>word1</var> with <var>word2</var>. Used in edit summaries. It is a reference to the command for "find and replace" in languages such as [[sed]] and [[Perl]]. "s/<var>word1</var>/<var>word2</var>/" means "replace all occurrences of <var>word1</var> with <var>word2</var>" (''s'' stands for "substitute").
;{{Vanchor|Salt|Salted|salted}}, salted
: (From "[[salting the earth]]".) Administrators can prevent the creation of pages through the [[Wikipedia:Protection policy|page protection interface]] and if so the page title is said to have been "salted." This is useful for articles that have been deleted but repeatedly recreated with undesired content. See also [[WP:SALT]].
;{{Vanchor|Sandbox}}
: A [[Sandbox (software development)|sandbox]] is a page users may edit however they want. Though it is meant to help users experiment and gain familiarity with {{slink||Wiki markup}}, the public sandbox at [[Wikipedia:Sandbox]] is often filled with strange things and [[WP:patent nonsense|patent nonsense]]. In addition to the public sandbox, users may create private sandboxes on [[WP:subpages|subpages]] of their [[WP:user page|user page]].
;{{Vanchor|Scap}}
: A scap occurs when {{slink||MediaWiki}}, the software that runs Wikipedia, is updated. Scap stands for "[http://techblog.wikimedia.org/2009/03/mediawikis-scap-map/ sync-common-all-php]", the internal script used to deploy the update.
;{{Vanchor|[[WP:SEAOFBLUE|Sea of blue]]|Sea of blue|sea of blue}} 
: The undesirable result of placement of two or more wikilinked terms adjacent to each other, with no intervening plaintext, so they look like a single link, as in <code><nowiki>[[Ireland|Irish]]&nbsp;[[Chess]]&nbsp;[[Championship]]</nowiki></code> ([[Ireland|Irish]]&nbsp;[[Chess]]&nbsp;[[Championship]]).
;{{Vanchor|Section editing|Section editing}}
: Using one of the '[edit]' links to the right of each section's title, one can get an edit window containing only the section of the page that's ''below'' the [edit] link. This makes it easier to find the exact spot where one wants to edit, and helps you avoid an {{slink||Edit conflict}}. You can turn section editing off in your [[Special:preferences|preferences]] under the "Enable section editing via [edit] links" option.
;{{Vanchor|[[Help:Self link|Self-link]]|Self link|self link|Self-link}}
: A Wikilink contained in an article that points the reader to that same article, e.g., linking ''[[Vice President]]'' in the article "[[Vice President]]". Such links are automatically displayed as '''strongly emphasized text''' rather than links, but the more complex case of a link which ''redirects'' to the same article is not, and should be de-[[#Wikify|wikified]] in most cases. See also: {{slink||Circular reference}}, {{slink||Internal link}}.
;{{Vanchor|Self-ref|Selfref|selfref|self-ref|Self ref|self ref}}
: When used in terms like "no self-refs", this refers to the guideline [[Wikipedia:Self-references to avoid]] whereby articles should generally not refer to the Wikipedia project directly or implicitly. Self-ref can also refer to the template [[Template:Selfref|<nowiki>{{selfref}}</nowiki>]].
;{{Vanchor|Self-redirect}}
: ''See {{slink||Circular redirect}}.''
;{{Vanchor|Self-revert}}
: An editor self-reverts when they [[Help:Reverting|revert]] or undo an edit they had previously made. This may be because the editor was merely making a test, or because the editor later realised their edit was faulty, or because they wish to show good faith after a [[Wikipedia:Edit_warring#The_three-revert_rule|three-revert rule]] violation. ''See {{slink||Revert}}.''
;{{Vanchor|Set index articles|Set index article}}
: A [[WP:Set index articles|set index article]] (SIA) is a [[WP:Stand-alone lists|list article]] about a set of items of a specific type that also share the same (or similar) name. ''Not to be confused with a {{slink||Disambiguation page}}.''
;{{Vanchor|SfD|SFD}}
: The [[Wikipedia:Stub types for deletion]] page; abolished in 2012.
;{{Vanchor|Sharpen cat}}
: To place an article within a more specific category, e.g., placing a biography article from [[:Category:Kenya]] into [[:Category:Kenyan people]]. In addition, '''sh cat''' in edit summaries.
;{{Vanchor|Sheep vote}}
: A vote on Wikipedia that seems to be cast just to go along with the flow. E.g., on [[WP:RfA|RfA]], this can typically be a vote such as "'''Support''' because x, y, and z are supporting." The opposite is called a {{slink||Wolf vote}}.
;{{Vanchor|Shortcut}}
: A {{slink||Redirect}} used within {{slink||Wikispace}} to enable editors to get to a project page more quickly. See also '''[[Wikipedia:Shortcut]]''' for the policy on these redirects, and '''[[Wikipedia:List of shortcuts]]''' for a complete list.
;{{Vanchor|SIA}}
: ''See {{slink||Set index article}}.''
;{{Vanchor|Silver bullet}}
: From fantasy literature; see [[silver bullet]], sometimes the only or preferred method of killing monsters. In deletion discussions, '''Delete with a silver bullet''' implies the page to be deleted is a monster.
;{{Vanchor|[[WP:Single-purpose account|Single-purpose account]]|Single-purpose account|single-purpose account|single purpose account}}
: An editor whose editing is limited to one very narrow area or set of articles, or whose edits to many articles appear to be for a common purpose.  If that single purpose is disruptive (e.g., vote stacking, or attacking some user) the account tends to be indefinitely blocked. See also {{slink||Vandalism-only account}}.
;{{Vanchor|Skin}}
: The appearance theme in [[Special:Preferences]]. Currently, four are available: Cologne Blue, Modern, Monobook, and Vector.
;{{Vanchor|[[Wikipedia:Sleeper account|Sleeper]]|Sleeper|Sleeper account|sleeper|sleeper account}}
: An informal term for an account that appears to be dormant. May become active at any time as long as it is compliant with Wikipedia [[WP:PG|policy and guidelines]], but sometimes becomes an issue in {{slink||Sockpuppetry}}. Also ''sleeper account''.
;{{Vanchor|SME}}
: An acronym for [[subject matter expert]].
;{{Vanchor|Smerge}}
: A contraction of "slight [[WP:Merging|merge]]" or "selective merge", sometimes used in [[WP:Articles for deletion|Articles for deletion]] discussions. This is for when a topic deserves mention in another article, but not to the extent and detail that is already included (a partial ''merge and redirect'').
;{{Vanchor|Snap}}
: To {{slink||Retarget}} a double redirect to point to the ultimate target.
;{{Vanchor|SNG}}
: A Subject-specific {{slink||Notability}} guideline, see [[:Category:Wikipedia notability guidelines]].
;{{Vanchor|snowball clause|Snowball clause}} ('''snowball delete''')
: Sometimes entries on [[#Process page|process pages]] are closed early when it becomes obvious they have "a snowball's chance in Hell" of passing the process. This removal is "per the Snowball clause". The verb "snowballing" is sometimes used for this action. Later '''snowball keep''' came into the usage in {{slink||AfD}} pages, by analogy. Abbreviated as '''snow keep'''.
;{{Vanchor|snow close|Snow close|snowclose|Snowclose|SNOWCLOSE|snow closed|Snow closed|snowclosed|Snowclosed|SNOWCLOSED}}
: A verb meaning to close a discussion, per the snowball clause. Can be used as a noun ("The [[WP:WoW|Willy on Wheels]] RfA was an instant SNOWCLOSE") or a verb ("The [[Main Page]] AfD nomination was SNOWCLOSEd after two minutes").
;{{Vanchor|Sockmaster|sockmaster|Sock master|sock master}}
: The first account of a user that operates multiple sockpuppet accounts
;{{Vanchor|[[WP:Sock puppet|Sock puppet]]|Sock puppet|Sock|Socks|Sock puppets|Sockpuppetry}}, sock
: Another user account created secretly by an existing Wikipedian, generally to manufacture the illusion of support in a vote or argument. Also, particularly on {{slink||AfD}}, a friend of an existing Wikipedian who has created an account solely for the purpose of supporting that Wikipedian in a vote (this special case is often called a {{slink||Meat puppet}}). It is not always possible to tell the difference.
;{{Vanchor|[[WP:Soft redirect|Soft redirect]]|Soft redirect|soft redirect|Soft 404|soft 404}}, soft 404
: A very short article or page that essentially points the reader in the direction of another page. Used in cases where a normal redirect is inappropriate for various reasons (e.g., it is a cross-wiki redirect). Contrast: {{slink||redirect}}.
;{{Vanchor|[[Help:Category#Sort key|Sort key]]|Sort key|sort key}}
: A device to make an article file alphabetically (in a category or other list of articles) other than by the article title, e.g., "John Smith" under "Smith, John", or "The Who" under "Who, The". Can be assigned to a specific category, or as a <nowiki>{{</nowiki>[[Wikipedia:DEFAULTSORT|DEFAULTSORT]]:<nowiki>}}</nowiki>. See also [[Help:Category#Sort key|Help:Category § Sort key]].
;{{Vanchor|[[WP:SOURCE|Source]]|Source|source}} 
: The person, place, or thing that the information in an article came from.  The source might be reliable or unreliable for that particular information.  Frequently, in discussions, the word ''source'' is specifically used to mean one of these specific aspects of a source:
:# The work itself (the article, book:  "That book looks like a useful source for this article.") and works like it ("An obituary can be a useful biographical source", "A recent source is better than an old one")
:# The creator of the work (the writer, journalist:  "What do we know about that source's reputation?") and people like them ("A medical researcher is a better source than a journalist for..").
:# The publication (for example, the newspaper, journal, magazine:  "That source covers the arts.") and publications like them ("A newspaper is not a reliable source for medical facts").
:# The publisher of the work (for example, Random House or Cambridge University Press:  "That source publishes reference works.") and publishers like them ("An academic publisher is a good source of reference works").
;{{Vanchor|sp}}
: Short for ''spelling correction'' or ''space''. Used in [[WP:Edit summary|edit summaries]].
;{{Vanchor|SPA|Spa|spa}}
: Short for {{slink||Single-purpose account}}. See also {{slink||VOA}}.
;{{Vanchor|[[Wikipedia:Spam|Spam]]|Spam|spam}}
: In Wikipedia context, any [[WP:SPAMPAGE|promotional content in an article]], whether in the {{slink||body}} of the article, [[WP:LINKSPAM|external links]], [[WP:CITESPAM|citations]], or elsewhere.
;{{Vanchor|Spamming}}
: The inappropriate [[WP:CANVAS|canvassing]] technique of attempting to sway consensus by posting an excessive number of messages to individual users, or to users with no significant connection to a community discussion.
;{{Vanchor|Speedy}}
: Abbreviation for {{slink||Speedy delete}} (or "speedy rename" as appropriate). Can also be used as a verb{{snd}}e.g., ''"I think the article should be speedied"''. "Speedy" on Wikipedia does not mean "now, immediately", but rather something that can be done without further discussion.
;{{Vanchor|Speedy delete}}
: Deletion of a page without prior discussion. Pages can be speedily deleted only under very specific circumstances; see [[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion]] for those.
;{{Vanchor|Speedy keep}}
: The closing of a vote on a deletion wikispace page (like {{slink||AFD}}) before the normal end of the voting period. This happens when the nomination has been faulty (e.g., a {{slink||Bad faith nomination}}) or when there is overwhelming evidence that the page should be kept (e.g., overwhelming support for keeping it, or a history of deletion attempts that all ended the same way).
;{{Vanchor|Split}}
: Separating a single page into two or more pages.
;{{Vanchor|Sprot|Sprotect|Sprotection}}
: Short for ''[[WP:Protection policy#Semi-protection|semi-protect]] [ion]''. Articles that are semi-protected cannot be edited by unregistered or newly registered users.
;{{Vanchor|Stealth canvassing}} [[WP:STEALTH]]
: The inappropriate {{slink||canvassing}} technique of notifying editors off-wiki about ongoing Talk page discussions.
;{{Vanchor|Steward}}
: A user who has been empowered to change any user's status on any Wikimedia Foundation project, including granting and revoking Administrator status and granting {{slink||Bureaucrat}} status. See also [[WP:Administrators#Stewards|Wikipedia:Administrators § Stewards]].
;{{Vanchor|Stillborn}}
: Having failed to initiate. Used in deletion discussions, for instance of a WikiProject that never had members except its originator.
;{{Vanchor|Strike out|Strike-out|Strikeout|Strike through|Strike-through|Strikethrough}}, strike-through
: To place text in strikeout (HTML {{Tag|del}} or {{Tag|s}}) tags. This is very rarely used in articles, but is relatively common in votes and discussions when a contributor changes their opinion. As not to cause confusion, the outdated comments are struck out (<del>like this</del>). The inserted material (HTML {{Tag|ins|open}}) tag is sometimes used with it to show a replacement for the struck material (<ins>like this</ins>). Generally, one should strike out only one's own comments. Some editors prefer to simply remove or alter their updated material, though this is discouraged if others have responded to it and their responses would no longer make sense after the change. ''Note'': {{Tag|strike|open}} will not exist in HTML 5/XHTML 2, so {{Tag|s|open}} is recommended.
;{{Vanchor|Stub|stub}}
: An article considered too short to give an adequate introduction to a subject (often one paragraph or less). Stubs are marked with stub templates, a specific type of {{slink||Cleanup}} template, which add the articles to stub categories sorted by subject matter. See also [[Wikipedia:Find or fix a stub]] and [[WP:WSS|Wikiproject Stub Sorting]].
;{{Vanchor|Stubify|Stubbify|stubify}}
: To turn an article into a stub because majority of it was unusable
;{{Vanchor|Sub-article|Subarticle|Subarticle|sub-article}}
: 1. An article that has been split from an original, larger main article to keep the main article readable and to better develop the sub-topic of the split into a richer article in its own right. Contrast {{slink||Subpage}}. See also [[Wikipedia:Summary style]].
: 2. A page in multi-page list that was split to reduce list article size. See also [[Wikipedia:Stand-alone lists]].
;{{Vanchor|Subject page}}
: In [[WP:mainspace|mainspace]], this is the article page as opposed to its {{slink||Talk page}}. In other namespaces the subject pages are the content pages as opposed to their talk pages.
;{{Vanchor|[[WP:Subpages|Subpage]]|Subpage|Sub-page|sub-page|subpage}} 
: A page connected to a parent page, such as ''Page name/Arguments''. You can create subpages only in certain namespaces. Do not use subpages in the main article space. ''Contrast {{slink||Subarticle}}. See also [[Wikipedia:Subpages]].''
;{{Vanchor|[[WP:Substitution|Subst]]|Subst|subst|Subst'ing|subst-ing}}, subst'ing
: Short for "[[WP:Substitution|substituting]]" a template which permanently copies the substituted content and breaks the link with the source template page. Contrast {{slink||Transclusion}}, a live updated reference to the source template page.
;{{Vanchor|[[WP:SUBSCRIBE|Subscription]]|Subscription|subscription|subscribe}} 
: [[Wikipedia:Talk pages project#Notifications for topic subscriptions|Subscription]] is a feature which adds a [subscribe] link to discussion section headings on Talk pages, which enables users to receive a [[Help:Notifications|notification]] to [[Wikipedia:Talk pages project#Notifications for topic subscriptions|topics they subscribe to]].
;{{Vanchor|Substub}}
: A very short {{slink||Stub}} article, typically only one sentence.
;{{Vanchor|Succession box}}
: A type of {{slink||Template}}, usually placed at the foot of an article, linking to articles on the immediate predecessors of and successors to the subject of the article. Thus, for example, an article on the tenth president of {{slink||Foo}} would be linked by succession box to articles on the ninth and eleventh presidents. ''Compare {{slink||Infobox}}.''
;{{Vanchor|Suckpoppet}}
: '''[[WP:SOCKPUPPET|Sockpuppet]]''' or '''Sockpuppetry''', silly typo occasionally used esp. in deletion discussions to indicate the page under discussion is of illegitimate origin and should be deleted
;{{Vanchor|SUL}}
: Abbreviation for [[WP:Single user login|"Single user login"]], which refers to the process of unifying individual accounts with the same name across Wikimedia projects into one global account.
;{{Vanchor|Summary style}}
: Summary style is an [[WP:List of guidelines#Editing|editing guideline]] comprising an organizational approach for writing articles on topics that are [[WP:Article size|too large to contain in a single article]]. Summary style calls for the creation of a hierarchy of articles, with the main topic, called the {{slink||Parent article}}, sitting at the top of a pyramid, with one or more {{slink||Child article}}s beneath it. An example is the topic '''World War{{nbs}}II''': this is represented in Wikipedia in summary style, with the parent article [[World&nbsp;War II]] at the top, and many child articles, such as [[Causes of World War&nbsp;II]], [[Pacific War]], and many others subsidiary to it. See [[Wikipedia:Summary style]].
;{{Vanchor|Super Mario problem|Super Mario Problem}}
: A problem that arises during [[WP:Arbitration Committee|arbitration]] when conduct that would normally get a non-administrator [[WP:Banning policy|banned]] only gets an [[#Admin|administrator]] [[#Desysop|desysopped]]. It is named after the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' video game: when Super Mario gets hit, he turns back into small Mario; when small Mario takes the same hit, he dies. There is an [[WP:Super Mario effect|essay]] about the problem.
;{{Vanchor|[[WP:Supervote|Supervote]]|Supervote|Super-vote|supervote|super-vote}}
: a term used in reference to a formal [[WP:CLOSE|discussion closure]] that ought to reflect community opinion as shown in the discussion, but that instead reflects the opinion of the closer.
;{{Vanchor|SWAG}}
: [[Scientific Wild-Ass Guess]].
;{{Vanchor|Sysop|Sys-op|sys-op|Sys-Op|sysop}}
: A less-used name for '''[[#Admin|Administrator]]'''. See also {{slink||Desysop}}. and the [[Sysop]] article.
;{{Vanchor|Systemic bias}}
: In Wikipedian terms, this refers to the preponderance of Wikipedia articles relating to subjects specific to English-speaking and/or Western countries, as opposed to those from the rest of the world. It may also refer to a bias for articles that may be of particular interest to those who have an affinity towards computers and the Internet, since they are more likely to edit Wikipedia. See also [[WP:WikiProject Countering systemic bias|WikiProject Countering systemic bias]].
{{/Compact ToC}}