▲ 2 points

Never use Wikipedia as a sandbox

by paulpauper·10y ago·4 comments·view on hn ↗

One of my math papers I wrote using Wikipedia's sandbox was deleted.

  It was deleted for U5: Misuse of Wikipedia as a web host

I seldom visit the page ,and I assumed it would remain safe up there until I eventually would type it up on latex later. Nope. Gone. months of work deleted.

Some of these editors are awful. There is no respect or regard for anyone's work. They see something that they don't like , it's gone. I thought that the sandbox was safe, but it's not.

Feel completely gutted like the rug was pulled out from under me

NOTHING YOU WRITE IS SAFE ON WIKIPEDIA

Why didn't you use Google Docs, or Evernote? Or even email it to yourself? Or just create a fake FB account, and add it to your FB notes?

That's what I'm doing now for all my other Wikipedia sandboxes. I just assumed it was safe up there, and it was for almost 2 years, until I checked recently.

You should never, ever have just one copy of any important document. ALWAYS MAKE BACKUPS!

You could try finding an active admin on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_administrat... and asking whether they can get you a copy of your deleted paper.