User:Mgeheren/adoptionold

Adopton Archives

Old Messages

Hey there, Mgeheren. I'm Arknascar44, but call me Arky :) I'd be happy to adopt you. If you accept, just say so here or here. Don't be afraid to refuse!! Cheers, Arky¡Hablar! 19:33, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

I aceppt! --Mgeheren 22:02, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Awesome! Now, in order for me to create an adoption "curriculum" for you, I need you to tell me what you like to do here at Wikipedia, what you'd like to do here, and any ambitions you have about things you can become. Thanks, and happy editing, Arky¡Hablar! 17:26, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Well I want to Make some pages and edit some things. I will like to make edits more than makes pages. I have no main topic. I am working on a page it is in my sandbox. I also would like to be someone who checks pages when they are new or check updates. Really what ever you want me to learn that is important. --Mgeheren 19:18, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Excellent. I hav\e created a curriculum for you here (just scroll down until you see your name). Don't worry if you don't understand some of it; all will be revealed in time. Oh, and by the way, I'll be mostly gone until September 3rd, so I may not be able to answer questions here. However, just email me if you have a big question. Otherwise, just ask it here. Cheers, Arky¡Hablar! 12:54, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I shouldn't have any questions but if i do i will email you. i will talk to you after sept 3rd. --Mgeheren 13:22, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Michael

Arky you can call me michael. Hope your wikibreak is good!!--Mgeheren 15:11, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Suprise Lesson!

Alright, Michael! I have some very short time away from my vacation, so I thought I'd give you a short, non-curriculum lesson!

Now, one of the many policies, or rules, in Wikipedia is it's "Conflict of Interest" policy (located here), known to jargon-happy Wikipedians as "WP:COI". It dictates some simple rules to avoid what is known as a "conflict of interest". I'll break it down for you:

What is a conflict of interest, anyway?: Well, the policy says that it is "An incompatibility between the purpose of Wikipedia to produce a neutral, verifiable encyclopedia, and the purposes of an individual editor," which just means that it is when one user promotes their own agenda on Wikipedia, without caring about what Wikipedia stands for.

Well, gee whiz; that sounds bad! How can I avoid a conflict of interest?

To do this, there are some things you need to avoid:

Editing articles about you, about organiztations you work for, etc. This is because you might put you or your organization in a more positive light, thus drastically altering its neutrality; something Wikipedia strives for.
Trying to get others to delete or undelete any of the above mentioned articles
Maliciously linking to your article from another article in any way that could constitute spam (although you shouldn't be linking there anyway, since you aren't editing articles that fall into the aforementioned categories =P)
Breaking any policies to promote your personal agenda.

Now, I'm not trying to say that you are maliciously trying to promote your agenda in Wikipedia, as that is simply not true, and that would mean I'd be breaking a policy myself. You're not in trouble at all. I have no intention of getting you in trouble either, because that's not who I am.

I saw you wrote the article Kv Chronicles, and a great job, too. However, unfortunately, it was deleted. You did nothing wrong, and I stand by that and will defend you, but on your user page, you say that you are a writer for the Chronicles. Many editors could take this the wrong way, and think that you were trying to promote an organization to which you belong by writing an article on it. I can see where they're coming from, in that you might shed a more positive light on the subject, but I am quite sure you were just writing about what you know about :)

I would strongly suggest that you don't write about the Chronicles, but I won't prohibit it. Be warned, however, that there may be users out there who aren't as, um, understanding as I am, and while I will defend you should the situaton arise, others may not.

But, to brighten things up, there are over a million articles to contribute to, billions of topics that need an article, and I've had great ice cream up here =P Happy editing, Arky^¡Hablar! 23:22, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Well thanks that was interesting. I won't work on thet article anymore it is in my sand box right now but i think i will delete it and start something new. Have Fun. By the way are you in vermont because you said it was tom and Jerry's Ice Cream. I love Tom and Jerry's. Have fun again and thanks, --Mgeheren 01:36, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Vermont? Getting warmer... Arky^¡Hablar! 16:47, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I see. Hope you are having fun.--Mgeheren 01:37, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Ready?

Hey Michael! I'm back from my exciting vacation, and I'd be willing to start your lessons. Just say when you're ready, and we can get going! Cheers, Arky ^¡Hablar! 21:31, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I am ready! --Mgeheren 21:24, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Basic Policies and Background of Wikipedia

Alright, Michael! Let the fun begin!

We'll start with the basics. The most fundamental and important policies of Wikipedia are its Five Pillars. They are as follows:

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia.: This means that Wikipedia strives to provide accurate information on all areas of knowledge. You must be able to back up everything you say with reliable sources and you cannot just make things up. Wikipedia is not a list of facts, a place for your own opinions or advertising, or a dictionary.

See also: What Wikipedia is not

Wikipedia has a neutral point of view: This simply means that Wikipedia does not advocate any particular view. It equally represents every major point of view, without giving any "undue weight" or presenting it as the best or correct view. Points of view should be verifiable as well.

See also: The Neutral Point of View policy

Wikipedia has free content

This means that Wikipedia can contain absolutely no Copyright Violations. All its text is licensed accordingly. You also need to remember that anyone can edit any article, so no one person can take ownership of a single article; rather, it is the community's article.

See also: GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), which all Wikipedia's text is licensed under

Wikipedia has a code of conduct

This means that all editors have to behave accordingly. In order to avoid edit wars and Three-revert-rule violations (making more than 3 reverts to an article in under 24 hours), try to reach consensus instead. Also, don't mess with Wikipedia to make a point and assume that others are doing what they think is right for the encylopedia.

See also: WikiLove: An essay

Wikipedia does not have firm rules (besides these five pillars)

If a rule gets in the way of you improving the encyclopedia, ignore it! Be Bold when you update a page. Even if you think you made a mistake, or if you're unsure how helpful your edits are, perfection is not required! Sure, it should be aimed for, but any good-faith contribution to the encyclopedia is helpful! Once again, BE BOLD!

See also: Ignore all rules

Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question! If you have one, don't be afraid to ask it; I enjoy discussion :) Arky ^¡Hablar! 21:26, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

I am very sorry i am not as quick as before, I have had a lot of work this week. I am reading right now.--Mgeheren 04:52, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Don't worry; no need to rush this. It's very important, so try not to miss any important details :) Happy editing, Arky ^¡Hablar! 17:11, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

I get everything except that, If a rule gets in the way of you improving the encyclopedia, ignore it. --Mgeheren 04:12, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Hmm...let me think of an example....ah! Let's say (hypothetically) that you find a user who has created attack pages about other users, constantly uses profanity aggressively, and vandalizes large amounts of articles with insults and spam. Now, Wikipedia:Assume good faith tells you to assume that another user is doing what they think is best for the encyclopedia. However, this is obviously not the case, so you report the user to administrators, and have them blocked. You have, therefore ignored a rule of Wikipedia in order to improve the encyclopedia. Also, check out this page. It'll answer your question a bit better than I can on the fly :) Cheers, Arky ^¡Hablar! 20:49, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Ok Thanks that makes more scense. --Mgeheren 02:18, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

If you're ready to move on, just tell me. Don't worry; if you still have questions about this, you can ask them. Cheers, Arky ^¡Hablar! 20:16, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Nope I am ready when you are. --Mgeheren 20:31, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

WikiMarkup

Wikipedia has it's own special "language" called "WikiMarkup". It is very important, therefore, to know a good deal of it when you begin to write an article.

Links

External links

An external link is a link that goes to another website, besides Wikipedia. They are formatted like this: [Name of website goes here].

For example: [http://www.google.com] becomes [1].

To display alternate text for an external link, type [Name of website goes here Alternate text goes here]. Note the space between the website's name and the alternate text.

For example: [http://www.google.com Google search engine] becomes Google search engine.

Internal links

An internal link is a link that links to any page within Wikipedia. They are formatted like this:[[Name of page goes here]]

For example: [[Giraffe]] becomes Giraffe.

An internal link can display alternate text through the use of a pipe character "|"

For example: [[Giraffe|A long-necked animal that lives on the planes of Africa]]. becomes A long-necked animal that lives on the planes of Africa.

Normal text can also be blended into a link.

For example: I like [[Giraffe]]s. becomes I like Giraffes.

Internal links can link across namespaces.

For example: [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view]] becomes Wikipedia:Neutral point of view.

They can also use Pipe tricks.

For example: [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|]] (note the pipe character before the two end brackets) becomes Neutral point of view

For example: [[Orange (fruit)|]] becomes Orange.

Redirects

A redirect is a page that, if accessed, sends you to a related page automagically. For an example of this, see Gill net. Note how at the top of the page it says (Redirected from Gill net). Voila!

For example: #REDIRECT [[United States]] redirects whatever page it was on to United States.

When you've finished this portion of the lesson, just tell me and I'll continue on to the next stage of your WikiMarkup lesson. Happy editing, Arky ^¡Hablar! 00:50, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

Ok i am ready to move on. I knew everything except the intrnal links. Am i moving to fast? Thanks, --Mgeheren 01:02, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

Nope, your aren't going too fast :) Alright, next part of the lesson:

Images

An image is a picture file (*.png, *.jpg, *.gif, etc.) that can be displayed in a page on Wikipedia.

For example, [[Image:Smile.png]] becomes

An image's size can be changed, too.

For example, [[Image:External.svg|40px]] becomes

, an image with a width of 40 pixels.

An image can have alternate text, too.

For example, [[Image:Smile.png|Hey, Michael!!]] becomes

, which reads "Hey Michael!!" when it is pointed at with the cursor.

Also, an image can be placed inside a thumbnail with a label.

For example, [[Image:External.svg|thumb|The Wikipedia External link symbol.]] becomes the thumbnoail on the right

while [[Image:External.svg|80px|thumb|left|The Wikipedia External link symbol.]] is the same thing, but it aligns the thumbnail to the left.

Finally, an image can be linked to without displaying a picture.

For example, [[:Image:Smile.png]] becomes Image:Smile.png.

:For example, [[Image:Smile.png|Hey, Michael!!]] becomes , which reads "Hey Michael!!" when it is pointed at with the cursor.

That is really cool! --Mgeheren 01:26, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Headers

You might already know this one :)
Headers for pages are created like this:

== Header == (level-2 header)
<text>
=== Sub-header === (level-3 header)
<text>
==== Sub-sub-header ==== (level-4 header)
<text>
===== Sub-sub-sub header ===== (level-5 header)
<text>

Also, be careful not to use level-1 headers (= Header =) as they mess up formatting on pages and change the size of the page title.

This concludes your lesson, and you can tell me when you're done :) ARkY // ¡HaBLaR! 23:32, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

OK I AM READY!!! --Mgeheren 18:39, 22 September 2007 (UTC)