User talk:Ripple72
Orphaned non-free media (Image:AW-Nov-8-Cover.jpg)[edit]
Thanks for uploading Image:AW-Nov-8-Cover.jpg. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, it is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).
If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. BetacommandBot 02:41, 12 November 2007 (UTC)
Welcome[edit]
Welcome!
Hello, Ripple72, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:
- The five pillars of Wikipedia
- Tutorial
- How to edit a page
- How to write a great article
- Manual of Style
I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on discussion pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{helpme}} before the question. Again, welcome! NSH001 (talk) 20:06, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for starting this article, something I've been meaning to get around to for a long time (too many other things to do!). Among other things, its existence removes an annoying redlink from the Chrissie Wellington article — important as I think the period she spent training under Frank was critical in laying the foundation for her current success.
--NSH001 (talk) 20:06, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
- I've done some work to improve this article, but a lot of work remains to be done to bring this article up to a reasonable standard. The links under "Welcome" above will point you in the right direction, but by far the most important is to provide verifiable references for everything stated in the article (within reason!). This is best done by the original contributor, so I'm asking you now if you could do so. If you need help on how to do this, just ask me on my talk page, and I'll be glad to assist. Good luck,
- --NSH001 (talk) 17:27, 28 September 2008 (UTC)
We are struggling to understand what the problems are? We need some more clues please? Thanks Ripple72 (talk) 16:53, 29 September 2008 (UTC)
- Don't worry, you're doing OK for someone new to Wikipedia. Best not to think of "problems", rather "ways to improve". Most articles on Wikipedia start off as "stubs", and this is a better one than many others. The whole of Wikipedia is really a giant work in progress, and there's always scope for improvement on every article. A good way of understanding what makes a good article is to look at some examples:
- Category:GA-Class biography (sports and games) articles - a list of sports-related biographies that are considered to be "good articles".
- Category:FA-Class biography (sports and games) articles - "featured articles", the very best on Wikipedia
- You can find some tips on how to write biography articles at WP:BIOGRAPHY#Tips for writing biographies - ignore the bit about drafting it in your user space first (but it's good practice to bear in mind for the future). However the bit about finding sources is important. Since anyone can edit Wikipedia, there needs to be some way of ensuring that dross, rubbish, blatant advertising and self-promotion are kept out and only factually accurate material stays in. The main way this is done is to ensure that the material can be verified in reliable sources. This undoubtedly means extra work, but it pays off in the quality of the result. Also, technically, it isn't that easy for beginners to learn how to do it, so here's a wee beginner's guide (stolen from elsewhere):
- Click on "show" to open contents.
| Using references (citations) |
|---|
|
I thought you might find it useful to have some information about references (refs) on wikipedia. These are important to validate your writing and inform the reader. Any editor can removed unreferenced material; and unsubstantiated articles may end up getting deleted, so when you add something to an article, it's highly advisable to also include a reference to say where it came from. Referencing may look daunting, but it's easy enough to do. Here's a guide to getting started.
A reference must be accurate, i.e. it must prove the statement in the text. To validate "Mike Brown climbed Everest", it's no good linking to a page about Everest, if Mike Brown isn't mentioned, nor to one on Mike Brown, if it doesn't say that he climbed Everest. You have to link to a source that proves his achievement is true. You must use Reliable sources, such as published books, mainstream press, authorised web sites, and official documents. Blogs, Myspace, Youtube, fan sites and extreme minority texts are not usually acceptable, nor is Original research, e.g. your own unpublished, or self-published, essay or research.
The first thing you have to do is to create a "Notes and references" section. This goes towards the bottom of the page, below the "See also" section and above the "External links" section. Enter this code:
The next step is to put a reference in the text. Here is the code to do that. It goes at the end of the relevant term, phrase, sentence, or paragraph to which the note refers, and after punctuation such as a full stop, without a space (to prevent separation through line wrap):
Whatever text you put in between these two tags will become visible in the "Notes and references" section as your reference.
Copy the following text, open the edit box for this page, paste it at the bottom (inserting your own text) and save the page:
(End of text to copy and paste.)
You need to include the information to enable the reader to find your source. For a book it might look like this:
An online newspaper source would be:
Note the square brackets around the URL. The format is [URL Title] with a space between the URL and the Title. If you do this the URL is hidden and the Title shows as the link. Use double apostrophes for the article title, and two single quote marks either side of the name of the paper (to generate italics). The date after The Guardian is the date of the newspaper, and the date after "Retrieved on" is the date you accessed the site – useful for searching the web archive in case the link goes dead. Wikilinks (double square brackets which create an internal link to a wikipedia article) function inside the ref tags. Dates are wikilinked so that they work with user preference settings.
You may prefer to use a citation template to compile details of the source. The template goes between the ref tags and you fill out the fields you wish to. Basic templates can be found here: Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles/Citation quick reference
The first time a reference appears in the article, you can give it a simple name in the <ref> code:
The second time you use the same reference in the article, you need only to create a short cut instead of typing it all out again:
You can then use the short cut as many times as you want. Don't forget the /, or it will blank the rest of the article! A short cut will only pick up from higher up the page, so make sure the first ref is the full one. Some symbols don't work in the ref name, but you'll find out if you use them.
You can see refs in action in the article William Bowyer (artist). There are 3 sources and they are each referenced 3 times. Each statement in the article has a footnote to show what its source is.
When you become familiar with the process, the next step is to have one section, "Footnotes", with links embedded in the text, and another, "References", which lists all of your references alphabetically with full details, e.g. for a book:
If you're ready to go into it further, these pages have detailed information: |
- FWIW, I have my own preferences on how to do citations, which you can find at User:NSH001/citation, but you don't have to follow this way of doing it. I can't over-emphasis enough the importance of providing citations. In the meantime, I've just found a source for Frank's "cup of tea and a bun" quote, so I will put that in the article shortly.
Thanks for the extra hints, the problem is that most of the "facts" come from media that are too old to be on the internet (e.g. old copies of Athletics Weekly or from lectures at BMC training days or old copies of the BMC News. But I know them to be true as I was there!! What are the policies in such circumstances? Ripple72 (talk) 22:22, 29 September 2008 (UTC)
- Policy says sources have to be reliable and verifiable; they do not have to be on the internet (and the best sources are usually books or peer-reviewed journals). So anything printed in AW is OK (can be verified at a good public library); BMC News is probably OK, but not ideal as it might possibly be considered by some as self-published, or to have a lower standard of editorial checking than, say, a large national newspaper. Unfortunately your or my personal experience is not considered a reliable source - but if you were to write up an article on Frank, and get it published in a newspaper or magazine, it could then be used.
- --NSH001 (talk) 22:41, 29 September 2008 (UTC)
Proposed deletion of Descartes Publishing[edit]
The article Descartes Publishing has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:
- Non-notable company, with only one notable publication, with no references since 2007 creation. Might be redirected to Athletics Weekly as an alternative to deletion.
While all contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.
You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{dated prod}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.
Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{dated prod}} will stop the Proposed Deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. The Speedy Deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and Articles for Deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. LessHeard vanU (talk) 21:13, 6 September 2009 (UTC)
Orphaned non-free image File:AW-Aug-28-2008-Cover.jpg[edit]
Thanks for uploading File:AW-Aug-28-2008-Cover.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).
If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of "file" pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "File" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described in the criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. Skier Dude2 (talk) 07:12, 12 April 2011 (UTC)