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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Gorilla 999 (talk | contribs) at 20:01, 26 October 2007 (→Rakesh Bhatt: new section). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

May I edit this article?

This is a good idea. I have some suggestions for minor wording changes, but I hesitate to edit the article itself since it's in your user space. May I? Elf | Talk 00:40, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC)

The answer to this is yes, yes, yes! And the more the merrier. I've moved it out of my user space now. It's still a draft, and I want to be sure that there's consensus that this is actually better for a newcomer than Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not (which is very good).
The goal for this article is to address the commonest sources of VfD nominations, and make sure that newcomers who venture into iffy territory understand that submitting an article does not guarantee that it stays. Dpbsmith 14:33, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC)

More formally:

This is the proposed guide I mentioned earlier. Please do edit it and discuss it at Wikipedia_talk:Your first article. The intent is that a link to this article will replace the current link to Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not in the new article text. That is,

Please do not create an encyclopedia article about yourself, or an article whose main purpose is to promote a product or business. See Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not for more guidance. Articles in serious violation of Wikipedia's policies may be removed without notice.

will become

Please do not create an encyclopedia article about yourself, or an article whose main purpose is to promote a product or business. See Wikipedia:Your first article for more guidance. Articles in serious violation of Wikipedia's policies may be removed without notice.

The goal of the article is to deflect newcomers from innocently creating the commonest kinds of articles that end up on VfD. I will only link to it if there is consensus that it is actually for that specific purpose than Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not.

P. S. I know, I know, the stuff on local interest articles is probably too long and, uh, controversial... I put it there because I think it belongs there but I won't be too surprised if it comes out in the wash. Dpbsmith 14:52, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC)

This seems like a much better introduction for newbies than Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not. It's worth a shot to try to reduce the number of vanity and advertising articles that show up on VfD. -- Cyrius|✎ 01:42, 6 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I think it's an excellent contribution. Well done. It should probably be linked to from a couple of other places, such as the Wikipedia:tutorial. Andrewa 09:04, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Hi,

I am Shams, You have requested to delete Pakhnari from the map, stating that "Pakhnari is blatant advertising for a company" Pakhnari is a village and not to mention how rural it is because it was there in the tag. if you are taking about the gas station that was an information for those who are traveling on NH2 having no idea of the rout. You might have suggested that the name of gas station should be removed that would have been a wise suggestion. But to request and act deletion of the mark is nothing but a brutal act.


66.81.194.66: Here's why I removed your expansion of "closeup"

66.81.194.66 expanded the section on extremely short articles. The expanded version was:

Questionable Better
A close-up is a shot in a movie taken with the camera close to the actors. A close-up is a shot in a movie taken with the camera close to the actors. Video and film cameras as well as still photo cameras and digital still photo cameras can all be used to perform a "close-up" shot. Subjects can also be shot as Close-ups, such as a Close-up shot of a hand holding a pencil writing. Close-ups can also be shots shot "up-close" either by zooming in with the lens of the camera, or by simply placing the lens of the camera close to the actor or subject. Close-ups are typically brief, and are used to draw attention to the actor's expression. Closeups are an important part of film grammar. D. W. Griffith invented the close-up as we know it. A good closeup shot requires skillful camera work and careful choreography.
This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

I reverted it back to an earlier and shorter version:

Questionable Better
A close-up is a shot in a movie taken with the camera close to the actors. A close-up is a shot in a movie taken with the camera close to the actors. Close-ups are typically brief, and are used to draw attention to the actor's expression. Closeups are an important part of film grammar. D. W. Griffith invented the close-up as we know it.
This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

The reason is that the purpose of this illustration is to show the difference between a bad stub—one so lacking in information that it is not a good way to start an article—and a good one, one that does convey some information and does set the stage for further expansion.

Now, there's no doubt that the longer version is an improvement. In fact it is a good example of how people add to stubs and create more complete articles. But the purpose of the illustration is to show an example of a good short stub.

To whomever expanded the example: by all means, feel free to improve the actual article on the Closeup.

Ah, I see what happened—People are interpreting the "stub" notice as an invitation to expand the text there. I wonder whether I should "nowiki" it or remove it? I'll try nowiki with an explanation. Dpbsmith (talk) 16:42, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Reverted article due to apparent vandalism

10/8/05

Reverted change of section title from "Things to avoid" to "Things not to avoid" by Phonymaronypony. GRBerry 20:18, 19 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

"Local interest" articles: should this be deleted?

I pretty much wrote this section, but I'm thinking that the article is way too long, and that the advice in that section, while sound, probably isn't influencing contributors much. Maybe it's not serving any purpose. Should it be removed? Dpbsmith (talk) 00:40, 20 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]


I was just reading the artical on local area interests and found it quite interesting. No I think you should leave it. Tenchi Muyo 16:27, 20 December 2005 (UTC)Tenchi Muyo[reply]

most important fact

this article does not deal with the most basic question of a newbie trying to make his first article : how?

it explains what you can't do, what it should be about, but how do you simply technically get started?? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Evilbu (talk • contribs) 16:56, 3 February 2006 (UTC).[reply]

AGREED! I find no information here on how to actually create a new artical! I have done edits of others but after dilligently searching for the topic I wish to write about and finding none, I cannot find any info on actually starting a new artical. Am I blind or is it just not here? This reminds me of searching for instructions on a can of spray paint and finding only the myriad of warnings on what not to do! Midwestman78 19:05, 25 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No vanity pages is a bogus exclusion

I can understand why you initiated this "strong suggestion", but I believe it may punish a lot of creative and well-intentioned efforts just for the sake of putting the kaibosh on tacky, self-aggrandizing boobs. Furthermore, any artificial division between subject and object which might be used to justify this policy is philosophically untenable, not to mention opposed to the spirit of "being bold". For these reasons and others, my first Wikipedia article is going to be about myself. I dare you to take it down. Graham

Before you create that article, I strongly suggest you read the guidelines on biographies, the guideline on Wikipedia:Autobiography, and the policy on deletion. You may not agree with these guidelines but I assure you that most Wikipedians who participate in deletion discussions do. As a matter of fact, under some circumstances vanity pages can be removed immediately, without debate; see Candidates for speedy deletion, A7. Dpbsmith (talk) 17:38, 7 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dear dpbsmith. Grudgingly, I accept this bogus convention. For future reference, however, might I suggest you suggest to persons such as me that they divert their energies into working on their User pages? I had no idea I could do that. Thanks

Merge from Wikipedia:Avoiding common mistakes?

Change "best darn hamburgers"?

For me, it's really easy to read the "darn" in "Louis' Lunch makes the best darn hamburgers in New Haven" as "dam", so I was wondering if it would be a good idea to change it, but I don't know what to. "Dang" doesn't seem right, and ommiting it completely seems to make it less meaningful. Any ideas?

Sam Van Kooten 00:44, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Increase your font size? ;-) --Sam Blanning(talk) 08:52, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
"Darn" is already a euphemism for "damn". Changing it to avoid offending the sensibilities of people who don't know the difference between a divine condemnation and a beaver's home would be ridiculous. Wikipedia is not censored for people who don't know how to spell. --Icarus 06:54, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Include more info in YFA.

YFA currently lists several warnings about common mistakes.

I think that we should take a more positive approach. There are newcomers who want to contribute but also want to know how to contribute.

For me, I joined Wikipedia to contribute information to articles (both existing and new) about websites and Singapore TV shows. These are my interests. New editors are best off contributing information about their interests or specialist subjects. Therefore, we should direct them bearing this in mind. For example, you could include a paragraph about how WikiProjects help editors find other editors of similar interests and collaborate on articles of a particular topic, then link to the WikiProjects list so the new editors can find a WikiProject that suits them.

In addition, new editors will probably wish to get feedback on their edits/articles. Wikipedia:Peer Review "is intended for high-quality articles that have already undergone extensive work". Therefore, I created Wikipedia:Requests for feedback, where new editors can post their articles/edits to get feedback that they can use to improve the article and their skills as an editor. I think we should include a link to RFF in YFA.

After their first article, what does an editor do next? Perhaps you could make a Wikipedia:Your second article page that goes beyond the basics.

--J.L.W.S. The Special One 05:09, 12 June 2006 (UTC) what ever —Preceding unsigned comment added by The dudet (talk • contribs) 22:16, 25 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Mood of this page...

This page seems relatively harsh-sounding. For first time users who have never written a page, all this page says is "Don't do this" and "Avoid this", and never mentions any real positive things, except maybe in the beginning. I suggest the "Don'ts" list be made smaller and put at the end, and a "Do's" list should be made for the top. This way, we assume good faith in the new users who are eager to write new pages. Really, if I saw this page when I first started, I'd probably not be here right now. → J@red  19:52, 17 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Vanity

I feel that vanity page rule should be changed so that pages about an ordinary, little known or other thing of that ctaegory can be made but must be written by a neutral party. --Ralroc 03:24, 9 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It would probably be more productive to leave this comment on the talk page of WP:VANITY or similar. That would probably generate more discussion from people interested in the vanity guidelines, and avoid getting this talkpage off-topic. ----Icarus (Hi!) 04:38, 9 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I Have a question

How do you make colored words when creating an article or editing a page??? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mr Angel Editor (talk • contribs) .

PCI cards

Can a PCI card function properly on a PCIe slot? I currently have a new intel motherboard but without any IDE connection so i an planning to buy an IDE card which requires a PCI slot. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Me4yuu (talk • contribs) 21:32, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Questions like this should be asked at the reference desk. And please sign your posts with ~~~~, and don't overwrite other people's posts. --Sam Blanning(talk) 01:05, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Can someone PLEASE Provide an Easy Way for Non-Elite users to suggest a stub ?

I've spent 20 minutes trying to find out where to suggest an article, and get nothing but guidlines and more guidelines. Why not a link on the main page "Suggest An Article" OR "Suggest a stub" ? Something simple.

Anyway, the article I propose is "Alternative-A (Alt-A) Mortgages." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.81.86.173 (talk • contribs)

See: WP:REQUEST. The place to search for things like this is on:
You could also ask questions on the Help desk. Lots of experienced volunteers monitor the Help desk and try to answer questions quickly, unlike the typical talk page which might not get many views. There are so many talk pages like this one that there aren't enough experienced editors to monitor all of them. --Teratornis 19:33, 11 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

From what I read, this help page doesn't actually tell you HOW to create a new page...

Shadow)OS 16:37, 2 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

...It for the most part just tells you what are the do's and don'ts. It manages to help out the unregistered users, but it offers no guidance on how to create new pages for registered users.

Unless I'm justing missing it over and over again.

How to create a new page, no matter what you're planning to include in it, is relatively simple. Type the name of the article you're searching for / wish to create in the search box. Then it'll say something along the lines of This article does not exist. There'll be a link somewhere in red saying that click here to create this article. Proceed with caution... ;-) Lradrama 17:11, 17 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]


User - Willedsmithmo - ^ Yep, this guy speaks the truth! It really seems like i shouldn't be doing my head in looking for how to create an article. And yes I remember that "create this article" message coming up previously, however it's not happening right now whether I'm logged in or not! It simply gives me further search options and the nearest matches. To confirm, this article does not mention how to create an article for registered users, how bizzare! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Willedsmithmo (talk • contribs) 16:18, 12 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Could someone revert this article back to its original form?

This article has no valuable information in regards to creating your first article. Instead, it contains the ramblings about someone named Michael Campbell. Could someone please revert this article back to its original form since the page is protected?. Thank you! —Evaglow 22:41, 14 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"best damn burgers"

Is it really necessary to include a swearword in the examples? Of course Wikipedia is not censored, but I don't think the idea of that policy is to condone using swearwords unnecessarily. ssepp(talk) 21:35, 15 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

At some point in the past, it said "darn." I don't know which one of these was the original version, but in this case I honestly don't think it matters. If you want to change it back to "darn," I for one won't care. I agree that while censorship should be avoided, there's no need to use profanity in cases where it adds nothing. --Icarus (Hi!) 22:21, 15 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Might it not be better to just avoid the whole "darn (censored)/damn(cussword)" problem by rephrasing to something like, I don't know, "Louis' Lunch makes truly amazing hamburgers in New Haven."? ssepp(talk) 23:38, 15 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Creating an article

how do I solicit volunteers to help with a cultural project?


Claraparks 23:11, 20 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Family Tree

I was hoping on putting my family tree on here to encourage "long-lost" family memebers to add themselves in. This would probably mean that I create an additional page for each person (?). As I understand it, I am not allowed to create pages with only a few names, places & links. If each member of my family had their own page with subsequent links to their family memebers, there would be quite a few pages. Is this allowed/feasible?

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pjconnel (talk • contribs) 20:33, 23 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The type of project you're describing here is not within the scope of what would be permitted on Wikipedia. This is an encyclopedia, meant to contain informative articles. Biographical articles are permitted for people who are notable in some way (historical figures, prominent politicians, famous actors and musicians, industry leaders, etc.) but the geneological articles you're proposing don't sound like they'd fall within that category.
There are a number of other websites designed to allow users to create family trees. You can find several by googling "family tree" or "genealogy". I'm not familiar with any, so I can't recommend any, but I've at least heard of ancestry.com and genealogy.com. Good luck! It's never fun to have to delete content that would be great on other websites, but doesn't belong here, so thanks for asking first!--Icarus (Hi!) 20:44, 23 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Ok thanks I will look into it. I for one am glad there are some rouge-admin out there! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pjconnel (talk • contribs) 20:57, 23 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Rakesh Bhatt

Rakesh Anirudh Bhatt (born on born September 9, 1975) is an American Manufactruing, Electrical and Chemical Engineer. Rakesh rose to fame by his inevitable knowledge in Harvard University that help him get promoted to a higher level. The university helped him get a job in NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

After entering NASA he was eventually recognized as the shuttle-maker by his colleagues and he got his first assignment of designing the Shuttle 1255 for NASA. His shuttle has since 1998 been in construction and still is. NASA claims that it will be launched with a series of commercials in 2009. The government of the United States has promoted Rakesh to become the CEO of NASA and expect him to become very popular amongst the public before the launch of his shuttle. Now Rakesh is adding his finishing touches to the shuttle and is working in Microsoft as well as a Manager trying to design the new OFFICE package which the company is planning to launch in 2015. In a recent interview Rakesh said that the CEO of Microsoft (sir Gates) has very dicrete expectations from this talented engineer. Rakesh claims that the new OFFICE package will serve to The CEO's full potential and will be the sign to a new technology drill.

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