Hello! Welcome to my user page, a page where I can talk about myself, what I like to do on Wikipedia and possibly elsewhere, and what might affect my editing. For example, if I believed I had a potential conflict of interest, I'd declare it here. If I didn't understand English very well, I'd say so; likewise, if I knew any other languages, I'd also say so. You'll also notice various "decorations" on this page (the template above this paragraph, the picture and infobox to the right, the userboxen to the left, etc.) These help me to express what sort of Wikipedian I am. You can access your own user page here. All blue/purple text can be clicked for further explanation, as can the "ad" above this paragraph.
I used to let other people edit my user page; I still don't mind if people do. However, my user page has had to be protected repeatedly, and not a lot of people edited, anyways. In response to that, I created a subpage here, which is inserted with a template to the "main page". I then requested that my "main" userpage be semi-protected indefinitely.
I believe that Wikipedia can be a valuable resource when used as a starting place for research; however, no adult or teenager should ever use it solely for research, per the general disclaimer. What I like about Wikipedia is that we're trying to educate other people, however imperfectly we may do it.
The Wikimedia Foundation, the English Wikipedia, and specific articles within our encyclopedia are all routinely the subject of substantial news coverage by reputable media sources. Unfortunately, the media often misunderstands how Wikipedia works, leading to mistakes and even retractions. If you stumble upon my profile while working on an article for a reputable news source, please feel free to reach out to me for clarification on any facts or just to sanity check yourself. If I can't do it, I can probably find someone who can. You can contact me by any of the means listed below. You can, alternatively, browse through the rest of my userpage to find out more about this bizarre corner of the internet.
Above paragraph blatantly copied, and pasted from TheSandDoctors' userpage, who apparently copied and pasted from a former version of BU Rob13s' userpage; brutally edited afterwards to fit my situation.
Contacting me on discord. I'm StarDreamer#0001, and hang out in the Wikimedia discord server. If I find you trustworthy enough to send or accept a friend request, I can be asked to send an invite link to my discord server.
Frequently asked questions
THIS
IS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA
One gateway to the wide garden
of knowledge, where lies
The deep rock of our past,
in which we must delve
the well of our future,
The clear water we must leave untainted
for those who come after us,
The fertile earth, in which
truth may grow in bright places,
tended by many hands,
And the broad fall of sunshine,
warming our first steps toward knowing
how much we do not know.
What if it's nominated because I wrote about a living person without adding sources?
Add the sources, then remove the tag at the top.
What if it's nominated for a procedural deletion?
Then remove the tag at the top; however, if you do so, you might have to endure an articles for deletion discussion.
Can I remove the tag?
Unless it's a PROD or procedural deletion, then no, you can't.
Drafts
Active Wiki Fixup Projects
Must be active, systematic, have lists, & need help.
Writing
Articles that need to be wikified
Massive backlog. Ongoing (category)
Dead-end pages
These pages are not wikified. Ongoing (category)
Missing articles
Wikipedia is not as complete as you might think. Ongoing
Most wanted articles
Updated February 2015
Oldest requested articles
Updated November 2012
Other
Articles needing geo-coordinates
Help locate places. See WP:GEO. Ongoing (category)
Articles written by a single editor
Reviewing articles written by a newer editor. Updated February 2013
Bluelink patrol
Directing wayward links to the intended articles. Ongoing
Check Wikipedia
Fix the syntax of Wikipedia. Updated every 15 minutes
Disambiguation pages with links
Directing ambiguous links to the intended articles. Ongoing
Fix Common Mistakes
Fix common mistakes in English grammar (e.g. "the the", "and and"). Ongoing
moss
Currently doing a collaborative spell-check of the entire encyclopedia.
Moving free images to Wikimedia Commons
Moving free images to the Commons so they are easier to find. Ongoing (categories)
Orphaned articles
Help link to these orphaned articles. Ongoing (category)
Red Link Recovery
Turn red links blue. Ongoing
Stubsensor
Help remove stub tags from articles they don't belong on. Updated August 2011
Uncategorised articles
Help categorise articles. Ongoing (category)
Unreferenced articles
Ensuring articles include at least one reference or source. Ongoing (category)
MainInactiveMini
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Why was my draft rejected?
Barring a technological SNAFU, you should have a rejection message explaining why your draft was rejected with links. Perhaps you should look at those links to find more information.
Can you review my draft?
Most likely, I'll choose not to review your draft if you ask this; note that I'm not obligated to do so, anyways.
Why did you revert my edit?
Probably because I was reverting vandalism. Less commonly, because I thought the edit you made wasn't constructive, but wasn't vandalistic, either. I also make mistakes; tell me if I did.
No. For technical and copyright reasons (Wikipedias' copyright license requires attribution), accounts can't be deleted. You can, however, vanish, or have a clean start instead. You can also simply stop editing.
Are you serious? There must be a way!
No, I'm serious. There's simply no way your account will be deleted, no matter how justified.
Under what circumstances can an admin protect my talk page?
If edits are needing to be hidden by oversight or rev-deletion, and there is no other way (that is, blocking, etc.) to prevent edits from needing to be hidden in the future, you can semi-protect my talk page. Please create an unprotected subpage for IPs and non-confirmed users to talk to me; at the very least, put ((User talk protected)) at the top. Of course, make the protection as short as possible. If I need indefinite semi-protection, I'll request it explicitly; otherwise, don't semi-protect my talk page indefinitely.
I am not an admin, so under no circumstances should my talk page be fully protected.
Can I edit this userpage?
Sure you can! Click here to do so. Just don't vandalize the page.
Where can people help with Wikipedia?
This actually isn't asked very frequently, but by golly, it should be!
You can find out what to do next on most pages by clicking on "random article" and adding ?gettingStartedReturn=true to the end of the web address at the top of the screen. Another way to find out what to do next by going to the community portal, particularly the department directory and maintenance department. Another way to find out what to do is to get suggestions from suggestbot.
Once you have a few months and umpteen dozen edits under your current username, you can sign up for the feedback request service, or at least look at ((cent)) every so often to help develop consensus. Technically, you can do this immediately; however, the more experienced you are, the more trusted.
How do people help new users specifically?
While it's not always a good idea to spam welcome templates, if you see a redlinked talk page link attached to a registered account in a page history, you should probably give one out (I prefer ((welcome-personal)) and ((welcome belated)) for registered accounts, myself). If you use the "good edit" keyboard shortcut (typing the letter "G) on huggle, you'll do the same thing; however, be careful with IPs, which may be drive-by editing and never see the welcome template. A lot of new users will click on the links in welcome templates to help themselves, and also contact you.
Also, having a talk page that's frequently archived with at least one thread left behind (I'm talking, a bare minimum, having seven day old threads archived---the more active you are in helping new users, the more you should archive), and having ((talk header preload)) at the top should both reduce the number of times new users accidentally mangle your talk page, and reduce what can be mangled.
What do you do if I "fix" a RegexTypoFix false positive?
. Surround the "corrected" word(s) with ((not a typo))
How do you want to be helped with harassment?
I was targeted by a sexual harassment sockpuppet who appears to be using a wide range of IPs. Checkusers are well-aware of the situation. Since The Creepster might decide to target me again, I'll leave the instructions below alone.
Admins: If you come upon pornographic imagery or a graphic request to do a sexual act, please be certain to block talk page access and emailing other users while blocking the offending editor. Oversighters and checkusers need to be alerted as well. Revision-delete the harassment.
Non-admins: Non-admins can email Checkusers at checkuser-en-wpwikipedia.org, and contact oversighters at User:Oversight. After contacting Checkuser and Oversight, revert the edit.
I might slow down or even temporarily stop editing during times of stress in any area of my life, or boredom surrounding Wikipedia. There's no reason to worry; I'll likely come back.
If you need to contact somebody for help, you can contact me on my talk page even if I'm not editing much. Somebody will likely respond, either me or a talk page watcher. You can also go to the links right above you, to learn how to edit on your own or get help from someone else.
I have a few previous accounts from when I was younger and less able to deal with conflict and criticism. I never intended to use these accounts at the same time. I never used them abusively.
References (or refs), on Wikipedia, are important to validate writing and inform the reader of the source of the text. When adding something to an article, it is highly advisable to cite a reference which describes the source of the information to help the reader who wishes to verify it, or to pursue it in greater depth. It is also useful to update or improve existing references.
To add this auto-updating template to your user page, use ((tip of the day))
Today's featured picture
Chillon Castle is an island castle located on Lake Geneva to the south of Veytaux in Vaud, Switzerland. It is situated at the eastern end of the lake, on the narrow shore between Montreux and Villeneuve, and close to the Fort de Chillon, which is embedded in the neighbouring hillside. The oldest parts of the castle have not been dated definitively, but the first written record of the castle was in 1005. It was built to control the road from Burgundy to the Great St Bernard Pass, on the site of an earlier Roman outpost. From the mid 12th century, the castle became the summer home of the Counts of Savoy, who kept a fleet of ships on Lake Geneva. It was greatly expanded during the 13th century. The castle became a prison in the 16th century, housing among others the Genvois monk François Bonivard, before reverting to being a residence and then again becoming a prison in 1733. Since the end of the 18th century, the castle has been a tourist attraction.
United States of America
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