User history edit
My first year: 2005-2006 edit
Although I had been aware of Wikipedia since 2003, it was not until 1 November 2005 that I formally registered. The mix of articles I edited in my first year was quite eclectic: some of my earliest edits related to articles on the Viking Age, medieval history and The Lord of the Rings. In 2006, the main articles I worked on included Irish people, the History of science, miniature wargaming and The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, as well as a number of articles related to those topics.
In September 2006, I also got involved in a lengthy discussion over a relatively minor issue — the role of Christian charity versus Roman state philanthropy in the Julian the Apostate article. Although the paragraph and blockquote in question amounted to fewer than 250 words, the discussion itself reached over 4000 words in two days. At least the consensus has held over the last three years, but it was an unpleasant episode in tendentious editing that for the most part I have been fortunate to avoid.
In October 2006, I joined the Military history WikiProject, back when the project had only about 400 members in total, and acted on a request to expand an article stub on the Byzantine-Arab Wars. It was my first major article on the Byzantine Empire, and later qualified as a Good Article and an A-class article. I went on to work on a number of articles on the Sieges of Constantinople. One year after my registration, some of my "first-class material" on the Rus'-Byzantine War (860) appeared as my first DYK article on the Main page. I have to thank Ghirlandajo for this fruitful collaboration and generous comment, as it later qualified as a Good Article.
2006-2007 edit
In my second year, I continued editing Byzantine and Varangian articles and topics, and also turned my attention to the improvement of the article on John Chrysostom. In the case of this article, I got closely involved in a lengthy, multi-faceted discussion over how much weight to give to the differing points of view; this spanned over 11,000 words from November 2006 to March 2007. The positive result of such thorough discussion, however, was another Good Article being passed in April.
Meanwhile, I started work on producing more DYK articles, and got my first barnstar working on history of science and technology in China. My other notable DYKs of 2007 included Bolli Bollason, Fort Senneville, the Battle of Quebec and various articles on the History of cannon. These articles, including the main article on Cannon, also passed as Good Articles. In June 2007, I went into the more relaxed topic of miniature wargaming, followed by a period of relative inactivity.
2008 edit
I came back in March 2008, however, to help the Tzatziki Squad get the Cannon and History of timekeeping devices articles along to Featured Article status.
I also started work on a number of side articles on the interaction between religion and science, such as the Condemnations of Paris (1210-1277) in April and Cistercians in May — the latter of which was the only article/topic for which I have ever got two different barnstars. I am very happy with how they turned out, and I think they have good potential eventually to achieve Good Article status. In June I also gave attention to expanding, referencing and restructuring one of Wikipedia's clumsier (if rather interesting) articles, List of persons considered father or mother of a field, and I also worked on a long overdue revamp of Irish people.
In July 2008, I started work on what is very probably my most ambitious article to date: my redraft of the 1340s (for WP:YEARS). As a redesign of what decade articles should look like, it aimed to give balanced coverage to every recorded aspect in every geographical region of the decade — and it should hopefully someday reach Good Article status.
2009 edit
After July 2008, I went into an effective retirement lasting several months. Then, with a sudden burst in March 2009, I reached my peak level of edits for a single month (833). The reason was my preparation of Hiberno-Norse articles such as Brodir and Ospak of Man, Sigtrygg Silkbeard, Amlaíb mac Sitriuc and the Battle of Glenmama to coincide with the week of St. Patrick's Day. Since then, I have made edits mainly to Cistercian topics and the 1340s, although my level of editing has been significantly lower.