User talk:Rjohnson wiki

Welcome[edit]

Hello, Rjohnson wiki, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions.

I notice that one of the first articles you edited appears to be dealing with a topic with which you may have a conflict of interest. In other words, you may find it difficult to write about that topic in a neutral and objective way, because you are, work for, or represent, the subject of that article. Your recent contributions may have already been reverted for this very reason.

To reduce the chances of deletion, you might like to draft your article before submission, then ask me or any other editor to proofread it. To start creating a draft article, just click your user name at the top of the screen when you are logged in, and edit that page as you would any other. If the page you created has already been deleted from Wikipedia, but you want to save the content from it to use for that draft, don't hesitate to ask anyone from this list and they will copy it to your user page.

The one firm rule we do have in connection with conflicts of interest is that accounts used by more than one person will unfortunately be blocked from editing. It is also worth noting that Wikipedia generally does not allow editors to have usernames which specifically link them to one company or corporation. If your username does have such a name, it would be advisable for you to request a change of username.

If you are stuck, and looking for help, please come to the New contributors' help page, where experienced Wikipedians can answer any queries you have! You can also just type {{helpme}} on your user page, and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Here are a few other good links for newcomers:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you have any questions, check out Wikipedia:Where to ask a question or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome! Sandstein 19:10, 13 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion continued from User talk:City of North Charleston[edit]

If you want to continue to edit Wikipedia, you also need to agree not to describe your city in promotional language, as you did here back in 2009, and you need to cite your sources, as you have been advised above. See WP:FAQ/Organizations for more guidance. Sandstein 18:40, 13 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I am the Public Information Officer in the Mayor's Office of the City of North Charleston and was attempting to improve the page. By virtue of my role at the city, I inherently have a great deal of knowledge about North Charleston that can be valuable to this page. What is the best way for me to share and not pose a conflict of interest? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rjohnson wiki (talk • contribs) 18:59, 13 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. To begin with, you should spend a hour or two reading Wikipedia's basic rules, as linked to at WP:5P and, specific to your position, the pages linked to in the welcome message above and at WP:FAQ/Organizations. Some other advice:

If you change information such as population statistics, you need to complement the new figure with a citation to a reliable published source, such as a census report, even if you are certain that your new figure is right. See WP:V for why and WP:CITE for how to do this.
If another editor undoes your changes, you should not simply reinstate them, even if you are certain that you are right. Instead, discuss the issue with the other editor. People who continuously "revert" instead of discuss may be blocked, even if they are right. Please see WP:EW for more information.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions. Sandstein 19:17, 13 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

2010 census figures for North Charleston, South Carolina[edit]

I have updated the article to reflect the 2010 census population (97,471) as listed here (Post and Courier) and here (U.S. Census Bureau press release). The figures are properly sourced in the article. Cjmclark ^(Contact) 20:29, 13 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Council Members Source[edit]

Here is the source for the City Council Members: http://www.northcharleston.org/residents/Government/City/members.aspx

It is generally preferable to use reliable secondary sources (newspapers, books, journals, for example) as much as possible when adding information to Wikipedia. This is discussed at WP:PRIMARY. As you can see, I've sourced a lot of edits I've made regarding the North Charleston area (South Carolina Stingrays, North Charleston Coliseum) to articles in the Post and Courier.

If there is no other possible source for the list of council members than the self-published one on the city's website, then it could be a permissible source, but if there's an independently published list (last year's election results, a newspaper article perhaps) then that source is preferable. Additionally, such information would be cited in the article directly per WP:CITE. This generally takes the form of footnote-style notation. For an example of a template to use for citation, see Template:Cite web or Template:Cite news.

Due to your position and access to first-hand knowledge you will find it difficult to edit the North Charleston page without adding original research. That is why the rules governing conflict of interest exist. If you have a question about whether or not something should be in the article, try asking yourself the following questions:

Has the information been made available to the general public (i.e., published) yet? If so, what reliable source can I use to source it?

Is this information going to affect the neutral point of view that should be maintained in the article?

Would I expect to find this information in an encyclopedia article about the city? Is the information generally notable to people?

If you need any help or have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Most editors (myself included) are perfectly willing to help those who are genuinely trying to improve Wikipedia. Also, don't forget to sign your talk page posts by typing 4 tildes (~) in a row with no spaces. Welcome! Cjmclark ^(Contact) 20:52, 13 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]