User talk:Vancemiller

Talk Page

Feel free to talk.

TUSC token 582ae5ff6c2140132bae6e58282ba67b

I am now proud owner of a TUSC account!

Talkback

Hello, Vancemiller. You have new messages at NYMFan69-86's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Any Help?

Hello, my name is Marissa and I am now a part of Mr. Butler's wikipedia project. I have heard you have been helpful to other students and that your articles were very well done. I was just wondering if you have any suggestions for me on how to tackle this project. I was also wondering if a case came up that I needed help, that you might be able to guide me in the right direction(with problems in formatting, coding, etc.) Any help or suggestions you have to offer me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time. Marissa927 (talk) 01:32, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

hmm... Where to start?

Choosing your topic

• In choosing your article, make sure to choose a topic with lots of credible resources to back it up. The big mistake I made with my first article was not researching before choosing. (A quick google search does not constitute research.) Research, research, research, and then, after all that researching, if you decide that perhaps the topic you were researching isn't the best, throw away all that research and research a different topic. Rinse and repeat ad libitum.

• Choose a topic that is at least slightly interesting, or somehow relevant to you. It's really hard to write an article on something that 1) you might not understand or 2) are not intrigued by, viz, don't pick some obscure disease that is poorly understood, like hypertrichosis. An animal, perhaps?

Helpful tools

If you are "computer-savvy" enough to change the settings of your account, labeled: My Preferences, then you might find a few/many helpful tools just waiting to be enabled. Some are:

1. Recent Changes>Enhanced recent changes (requires JavaScript)

2. Watchlist>Expand watchlist to show all changes, not just the most recent

3. Gadgets>Editing>Wiki-ed (awesome)

4. Gadgets>Appearance>"Display an assessment of an article's quality..."

5. Gadgets are pretty useful for doing things faster or for discovering more ways to do things.... Try them out...

Coding

• Basically, everything on wikipedia follows a template. If you don't know how to do something you have a few options. Ask, search, or copy.

• If you ask, you might have to wait a while before someone can answer your question, though they may explain it to you magnificently.
• If you search Wikipedia, you may/will find a page with information on the specific template including instructions on how to fill it out correctly. Very useful... A common search would be like... "Wikipedia:taxobox" to find information on the taxonomy box included on every animal page.

• If you copy, (it's not bad...) just find an article which has the specific element you were looking for, and copy the code. Change it to match your article and paste. Use discretion, of course.
• The best method is probably a combination of all three, however personally I prefer to only use templates. After all, if you want your article to be the best, you should make your formatting the best it can be.

I suppose I've written enough for now... If anything is confusing or if you have questions, please ask them. One additional piece of cliché advice: Don't procrastinate! Really though, this project is one that requires you to work (edit) in order for you to understand what you're doing. If you don't work, you will have no experience with editing, and your article will reflect that. Don't despair though, editing will be fun.

Vancemiller (talk · contribs · count · email) 02:22, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

lol Der Elbenkoenig (talk) 05:28, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

I probably haven't answered any of your current questions, since this was all more futuristic advice, so if you or any of your colleagues have specific questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'll try my best to point you in a moderately helpful direction. Vancemiller (talk · contribs · count · email) 01:56, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

Thank you so much! I may have questions later on, but those were some great tips. I'll keep them in mind as we get deeper into the project. For now, just one more request; if you had/have or remember any helpful resource websites or compilations of journals and articles that you used it would greatly benefit the class. If you just tell me the links I will post them on the project discussion page for this year so the whole class can use them. Thanks again! Marissa927 (talk) 21:56, 4 October 2011 (UTC)

A resource for resources? Well, surprisingly, the public library is a good source of books. Really though, depending on what you choose, you might find some good information there. As far as online resources go, I think we may have gained access to a UNC database of some sort, though I'm not sure if it is still available (maybe JimmyButler knows...). Also the school has/had access to a mildly useful database of its own, though now it appears not to work (It might only work at Croatan): http://www.carteretcountyschools.org/chs/mediacen/ (click the first cougar in the upper left). Google is also a friend, though use discretion. Vancemiller (talk · contribs · count · email) 00:33, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

Thanks again! I'll check out the school's site and talk to JimmyButler about UNC. — Precedingunsigned comment added by Marissa927 (talk •contribs) 12:00, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

I'm not so sure about the okay-ness of posting the secret way to the database on a public place such as this one... if the owners/operators of the database were to see it, they might make a big deal out of it. The whole point of the oddly hidden link is so that they can make it available to Croatan students (it being rented/paid for in some way by Croatan) and not to non-Croatan students without password-protecting it; when I first learned of its method of location, I was surprised they allowed even such crufty security as that. Unfortunately, I've also added a link to that same database to the WP:APBIO talk page... Der Elbenkoenig (talk) 01:23, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Apparently we no longer have access to that specific database now (As per yesterday). Vancemiller (talk · contribs · count · email) 01:34, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Brûûēçh

Vance, When we were sophomores and you were taking the challenge AP Biology, I envied you and looked up to you. I admired your dedication and effort(although at times your devotion to the labour of AP Bio made you a less fun person). At the time when you were suffering under the whip of Mr. Butler, I was in the classroom of Mr. Coffey learning a basic understanding of chemistry. And that's what I see between you and me: chemistry. I consider you a bro, as well as a breh and a bruah and a brēah (depending on the season and level of deixis), but in this challenge that it has come my time to undertake, I humbly submit myself to you as an apprentice, a disciple, and your humble servant. Teach me the path to WikiEnlightenment and I will be forever in your debt.Der Elbenkoenig (talk) 05:49, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

Bræ, the path to WikiEnlightenment begins at the WP:MOS. Good luck on your quest. —Vancemiller (talk · contribs · count · email) 13:08, 2 October 2011 (UTC)