User:MrScorch6200/Adoption HQ/AnnaBorgida

AnnaBorgida

Small description of what you would like to do here (as in Wikipedia)

I would like to ensure that Wikipedia remains a reputable source of information for the masses. I specifically want to improve grammar, spelling, and phraseology and decrease the usage of biased information and terminology.

Questions

Are there any questions that you would like me to answer? If so, please ask here!

Q: Since the English Wikipedia is viewed by speakers around the world, how do we decide on the spelling of words like "colour/color" and "defence/defense"?

A: (talk page stalker) In most circumstances one would use words that are common across the various incarnations of the English language whenever possible. Beyond this each individual article tends to eventually reach a state where a specific language variety is used, and in such a circumstance that variety becomes the baseline for that specific article. Article's detailing a subject closely related to a specific language variety (Article's detailing Britain for example) should favor that particular variety due to the argument that these article's tend to be mostly-read by readers of a specific nationality.

For reference sake: There is a section in the Manual of Style titled "National varieties of English", which provides some pointers and exceptions for dealing with this problem. Excirial ^{(Contact me,Contribs)} 19:10, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Q: Is there a page that concisely explains the formatting options? For instance, in a link to a main article (the ones listed below a heading), if the main article is actually a heading in another article, how can you change it from "Main Article#Heading" to "Main Article Heading"?

A: (talk page stalker) I think that the cheatsheet should be to your liking in this case, as it provides a quick reference for the mostly used formatting around Wikipedia. There is also the Wikimarkup help page which also has several subpages dealing with formatting for specific tasks (Images and tables, for example). The help pages tend to be more extensive and a more complete, though their size makes them less easy to access than the cheat-sheet.

Also, to answer the question you specifically asked: You can use a so-called piped link to link a specific text to an article. Everything on the left side of the pipe is considered to be the article that needs to be linked to, everything to the right of the pipe the page that should be displayed. For example: [[User:MrScorch6200/Adoption_HQ#Resources|This is a link to MrScorch6200 "Resources" section on the adoption HQ Page!]] would display this: This is a link to MrScorch6200 "Resources" section on the adoption HQ Page! while actually linking to a section lower on this page. Excirial ^{(Contact me,Contribs)} 19:21, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for your help. I'm a little confused by this talk format. I can't write any messages that aren't public? What if I just want to thank someone, is what I'm doing here the accepted practice? AnnaBorgida (talk) 21:00, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Everything on a Wikipedia talk page is public. If you ever want to privately speak with someone, it is common practice to e-mail them or chat over Skype. If you need to know how to e-mail someone on Wikipedia, see this link along with the important information in that help page. MrScorch6200 (talk | ctrb) 02:15, 1 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, MrScorch6200! I've learned a lot today... I practically made my own article (this was a very small stub with no references when I started!) Out of curiosity, what do you do full-time? I'm interested to see how many editors here are in related fields. AnnaBorgida (talk) 04:07, 1 May 2014 (UTC)

Q: If a large paragraph of text all comes from the same source, is it alright to only cite the reference at the end of the paragraph?

A: Here's an answer that's nice and short: Yes. And make sure that you sign your name at the end of your posts with four tildes (~~~~) MrScorch6200 (talk | ctrb) 02:15, 1 May 2014 (UTC)

Tasks you can do

Take your time with Wikipedia. I have been here almost a year and am constantly learning things. I strongly encourage you to read the links at the bottom of the page.