User talk:Elderlawmo

April 2020

There have been two problems with this account: the account has been used for advertising or promotion, which is contrary to the purpose of Wikipedia, and your username indicates that the account represents a business or other organisation or group or a web site, which is also against policy, as an account must be for just one person. Because of those problems, the account has been blocked indefinitely from editing. Additionally, if you receive, or expect to receive, compensation for your contributions to Wikipedia, you must disclose who is paying you to edit.

If you intend to make useful contributions other than promoting your business or organisation, you may request an unblock. To do so, post the text {{unblock-spamun|Your proposed new username|Your reason here}} at the bottom of your talk page. Replace the text "Your proposed new username" with a new username you are willing to use. See Special:CentralAuth to search for available usernames. Your new username will need to meet our username policy. Replace the text "Your reason here" with your reason to be unblocked. In that reason, you must:

Convince us that you understand the reason for your block and that you will not repeat the kind of edits for which you were blocked.
Describe in general terms the contributions that you intend to make if you are unblocked.

If you believe this block was made in error, you may appeal this block. To do so, please read the guide to appealing blocks, then add the text {{unblock|Your reason here}} at the bottom of your talk page, replace the text "Your reason here" with your reason for thinking that the block was an error, and publish the page. Justlettersandnumbers (talk) 21:40, 27 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

This user's unblock request has been reviewed by an administrator, who declined the request. Other administrators may also review this block, but should not override the decision without good reason (see the blocking policy).

Elderlawmo (block log • active blocks • global blocks • contribs • deleted contribs • filter log • creation log • change block settings • unblock • checkuser (log))

Request reason:

I just created this account today and did not realize I did anything wrong. On my user page I was introducing myself as my business name and was saying what I do and hope to contribute based on my experience and knowledge of my industry. I read the guidelines and it indicated that I could add my website url which I did but I did not have verbiage that asked anyone to buy my services. I listed out in bullets what elder law, my industry, focuses on. I am happy to change my user name, it is the same as my website name. Thank you for your consideration. Paths Elder Law (Russell Fracassa) Elderlawmo (talk) 22:09, 27 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Decline reason:

To propose a new username, please follow the instructions in the block notice. You should also review conflict of interest and explain how your future edits will be consistent with that policy. I must decline your request at this time. To make one that also proposes a new username, please use the first template in the block notice(not the second one that you used here). 331dot (talk) 22:43, 27 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to make any further unblock requests, please read the guide to appealing blocks first, then use the {{unblock}} template again. If you make too many unconvincing or disruptive unblock requests, you may be prevented from editing this page until your block has expired. Do not remove this unblock review while you are blocked.

This user's request to be unblocked to request a change in username has been reviewed by an administrator, who declined the request. Other administrators may also review this block, but should not override the decision without a good reason (see the blocking policy). Do not remove this unblock review while you are blocked.

Elderlawmo (block log • active blocks • global blocks • autoblocks • contribs • deleted contribs • filter log • creation log • change block settings • unblock • checkuser (log))

Requested username:

RFracassa (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Request reason:

changing to comply with wikipedia rules

Decline reason:

See below ~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:35, 28 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Elderlawmo / RFracassa,

Thank you for the appeal. The proposed username looks fine to me. However, your user page was indeed promotional, even after the attempt to make it less promotional. Asking the reader to buy services is by no means a requirement for something to be an advertisement.

You propose to contribute based on personal experience and knowledge, but Wikipedia is not based on personal knowledge. Personal experience can be helpful, but can also lead to a common mistake, the publication of "original research", which is not allowed on Wikipedia. Please have a look at WP:INTREF for Wikipedia's approach, which does not rely on personal knowledge.

The honesty shown in the appeal, both about your affiliation with the website, as well as about your current misunderstanding of what constitutes promotion, is commendable and appreciated. We're almost there. However:

Your appeal needs to prove your understanding of what led to the block; it currently openly discloses a lack of this understanding. Wikipedia is not for promotion, and you have a strong conflict of interest (COI) regarding Paths Elder Law. Per Wikipedia's conflict of interest guideline, "Editors with a COI are sometimes unaware of whether or how much it has influenced their editing. If COI editing causes disruption, an administrator may opt to place blocks on the involved accounts." This has correctly happened here.
Your appeal needs to promise that the block reason is no longer valid: Please clearly, unequivocally promise not to edit about your conflicts of interest again.
Your appeal should provide examples for future contributions in at least a more specific way than "contribute based on my experience and knowledge of my industry": Ideally, you should provide examples for articles you could imagine editing. I assume that the general topic will be "law", but I should not need to read this between the lines, and "law" has a very broad spectrum. You may also like to have a look at the community portal and the Task Center for ideas.

You are welcome to create such a new appeal at any time, using the following code: {{unblock-spamun|RFracassa|Your more detailed and specific reason here}}

There is no deadline for such an appeal. The guide for appealing blocks is probably helpful, and skimmed far too quickly by most appellants. Please take your time, and feel free to ask if there are any questions, before making the appeal. To ask a question, feel free to write "{{ping|ToBeFree}} Your question here ~~~~" (or replace ToBeFree by any other username that appeared here on your talk page).

Thank you very much in advance and best regards,
~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:35, 28 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]