User talk:DBirdie

Welcome!

Welcome to Wikipedia, DBirdie! Thank you for your contributions. I am BrillLyle and I have been editing Wikipedia for some time, so if you have any questions feel free to leave me a message on my talk page. You can also check out Wikipedia:Questions or type {{help me}} at the bottom of this page. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

Also, when you post on talk pages you should sign your name using four tildes (~~~~); that will automatically produce your username and the date. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! BrillLyle (talk) 23:45, 6 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Asking questions

Hi, I saw your query on a mutual friend's talk page, and there are plenty of places to ask. Too many, maybe, but don't let that stop you. The left side of the page has "help" and other links which can lead to forums both general and specific. When you ask a question in the wrong place, someone will tell you the right place. We've got plenty helpful people; just not much organization. We watch our friends' talk pages, which results in networks of friends among us thousands of frequent editors.

Questions about a specific article are best asked in that article's talk page. There are also WP:Wikiprojects for hundreds of fields of knowledge (I watch several on various kinds of science, geography, history, etc). No harm to also asking the question in the user talk pages of a few friends and friends of friends. Or, for that matter, asking in your own talk page (this one) will be especially useful once you persuade a few friends to WP:watchlist it. Jim.henderson (talk) 15:10, 16 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! DBirdie (talk) 15:22, 16 July 2017 (UTC) Dianne aka DBirdie[reply]

Okay - a question - and perhaps you can tell me how I would ask this on the help page or community - I feel like when I go there I just get very general 'articles.' the question - I created a draft article in my sandbox - and it's url is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:DBirdie/sandbox/Donald_C._Lubick but then I created just a very basic user page (I thought I already had, but since I hadn't typed anything, apparently I hadn't) - and then when I go to my 'user page and click on Sandbox at the top - I get nothing. How do I get the article I created in the sandbox to turn up when I click "Sandbox" ? Dianne aka DBirdieDBirdie (talk) 15:30, 16 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

All righty, there are several little problems but the big one is, with no experience in Wikipedia writing, and no experienced editor literally looking over your shoulder (that's the big advantage of being at an edit-a-thon) you are trying to make:

A new article
A biography
Of a living person
A friend.

Each step along this scale multiplies the difficulty. Hey, it could be worse. It could be your boss, your brother, or yourself. None of which is actually forbidden but the hoops you have to jump through are high and narrow. So, the experienced, such as @BrillLyle: can help with some of the little problems but I think a quicker course will be to edit dozens of other articles. If those other articles can be improved by citing your friend's works, or by quoting what others have said about him, all the better. Make sure your user page mentions your personal connection, lest your fellow editors suspect you of secretly WP:Promoting or one of the other no-nos. Exposing everything in the goldfish bowl lets you build a reputation. What, that's the quicker way? Well, it's not quick, but a good reputation helps greatly when you attempt difficult things in Wikipedia.

Oh, I think the article's name is why you didn't get the link you wanted, but anyway you can copy this: [[User:DBirdie/sandbox/Donald C. Lubick]] into where you want the link to show. Jim.henderson (talk) 23:57, 16 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Jim - thanks so much for your advice. A couple folo up questions. First, of course, I think it's misguided that one can't write about someone one knows. Who else could or would or should? But, taken that as a given, isn't putting in cites to him and then writing about him even more suspicious? And, will 'they' see this chain of emails and what will they think? Thanks, Dianne PS - I will start by doing some editing. aka DBirdieDBirdie (talk) 15:02, 17 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Notability does not actually say, but suggests, that any qualified subject (including person) is already famous. Thus, Henry Kissinger and Madeline Albright don't need their friends, colleagues and acquaintances to make an article for them. Complete strangers have information (and, alas, feelings) about them, and can compile a big thorough biography from major newspapers and other published sources.

Yes, we are working in the fishbowl. This puts my reputation slightly in play, as my support for someone of poor reputation can somewhat expose me. That's one of the reasons to be cautious; each addition to any article must help that article. When an objection arises, discuss it in that article's talk page and if you don't have a good defense, withdraw the offending edit yourself. Your long term intent is difficult, so the process will be slow. As a bonus, if you do it right, you will have learned much along the way. When we try something that's barely within our powers, we usually gain more powers. Jim.henderson (talk) 17:51, 17 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]