User talk:Thopunk

Welcome!

Hello, Thopunk, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

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 need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question and then place {{helpme}} before the question on your talk page. Again, welcome! hike395 21:46, 19 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Belmont Shore external links

Hi, Thopunk. Wikipedia has an established set of guidelines for when to link to an external site: Wikipedia:External links. Check out Wikipedia:External links#Links normally to be avoided, which lists a set of links that should be avoided. Note #10: we should not link to discussion forums (which http://www.belmontshorenow.com seems to be). Also note #3: links should not be intended to promote a web site. It seems to me that given these guidelines, belmontshorenow should not be in the article.

Do you see any rationale within the guidelines for linking to the website? Please let me know at User talk:Hike395, at the bottom of that page. Thanks! hike395 21:46, 19 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, Thopunk. There are two separate issues: whether the business association site should be linked, and whether you site should be linked.

I just cleaned out the article -- it had many links that didn't obey the guidelines. I left in the business association, perhaps I should not have: I am inclined to remove that, too.

re. your web site. Check out the wikipedia guidelines about linking to your own web site:

Due to the rising profile of Wikipedia and the amount of extra traffic it can bring a site, there is a great temptation to use Wikipedia to advertise or promote sites. This includes both commercial and non-commercial sites. You should avoid linking to a website that you own, maintain or represent, even if the guidelines otherwise imply that it should be linked. If the link is to a relevant and informative site that should otherwise be included, please consider mentioning it on the talk page and let neutral and independent Wikipedia editors decide whether to add it.

Here's a suggestion -- let's put both the business association link and your web site link into the Talk page for Belmont Shore, and see if anyone moves them back into the main article. Sound like a good compromise? hike395 09:21, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for pointing out the external links in Belmont Heights: I pushed those over to Talk, too. In general, Wikipedia is not perfect. We shouldn't look at one page, saying "this is the way it is", and then copy that to another page. Instead, that's what guidelines are for. The relevant guideline is Wikipedia:External links. You'll find that many people add external links, which are then removed by Wikipedia old-timers, who are more familiar with the guidelines. It happens all over the encyclopedia, not just for Long Beach. Don't take it personally.

Looking forward to more information that you can add about these neighborhoods! hike395 05:50, 28 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]