Notifications about Wiki edits

So, I get emails to inform me of an edit to a wiki, with a link to the wiki.

gir bot? wrote:Hi,

You received this email because the wiki "100 ways to cut one's personal carbon footprint - in order of tons of carbon" in the paul wheaton's pseudo blog forum has been updated by Ashley Cottonwood since your last visit.
You may use the following URL to read the new updated version. You will not get more notifications until you read it.

https://permies.com/wiki/159647/ways-cut-personal-carbon-footprint#1249956

If you no longer want to receive notifications for this wiki, please access the URL

https://permies.com/forums/posts/unwatch/159647

I'm delivered to the top of the wiki page, where I feel as if I'm in a text-based game of "Concentration" or "Where's Waldo"... What's been changed? are my powers of observation up the the challenge?
I hope this doesn't seem ridiculous, would it be possible to have new edits to a wiki appear in red text, for maybe 24 hours?

If the edits were always in response to a post (although that doesn't seem to be the case), and the edit was merely incorporating it into the wiki, then the notification link could go to that post in the thread.

Kenneth Elwell wrote:
If the edits were always in response to a post

It's highly unlikely as we encourage perennial discussion - if it was a direct reply, it would be a reply in the thread.  But a post might have inspired something to update.  

I have trouble figuring out what's been changed too.  

Yeah, That's why I led with the expiring edit color idea... it would help for those "keeping up with things", maybe even encourage that behavior?
Sort of like the "staff notes" about threads being merged, or posts deleted, which expire within 3 days... Maybe THAT could be a ready-to-go method to adapt to identify the newest edits?

I think it has to be some sort of expiring thing, to remain a signal, not just become a different sort of noise.

What about something in all other wiki stuff: revision history.

??

I just went to Wikipedia to become aware of what "revision history" is about... Wow.
That could work? The ability to look back and find a recent edit(s), or edits by a user, would be great.
It's farther under the hood than the little button to reset the trip odometer.

So, if adding access to the revision history is bog standard wiki stuff to implement, cool!

That would leave it up to "us" to find what we want, rather than "you should make it work *my, I mean, *our* way..."

Sometimes when I can't tell what happened it turns out to be a picture was removed.  They don't show up in the text.

Yeah, wiki edits are awkward.  Sometimes we care (Did a new name get added to the list of billionaire permies wanting to give away money?)  or is it just a typo that was fixed.

Maybe an easier approach would be for a pop up or selection to appear for the person doing the edit.  Something that says "You changed this wiki, do you want a wiki update email to be sent out to everyone or should we keep it on the down low?"

Great points about edits and photos vs. text Mike. Yeah, some of the edits I noticed in the sample Wikipedia article I looked at were: "deleted (something)" or "changed 'his' to 'a'"... definitely NOT newsworthy. It's a great idea to have the author of an edit have to opt IN to a notification being sent, default being none.