Welcome to Wikipedia. Because we have a policy against usernames which give the impression that the account represents a group, organization or website, I have blocked this account; please take a moment to create a new account with a username that represents only yourself as an individual and which complies with our username policy or request a change of username.

You should also read our conflict of interest guideline and be aware that promotional editing is not acceptable regardless of the username you choose. Additionally, if your contributions to Wikipedia form all or part of work for which you are, or expect to be, paid, you must disclose who is paying you to edit.

If your username does not represent a group, organization or website, you may appeal this username block by adding the text ((unblock|reason=Your reason here ~~~~)) at the bottom of your talk page.

You may simply create a new account, but you may prefer to change your username to one that complies with our username policy, so that your past contributions are associated with your new username. If you would prefer to change your username, you may appeal this username block by adding the text

((unblock-un|new username|reason=Your reason here ~~~~))

at the bottom of your talk page. Please note that you may only request a name that is not already in use, so please check here for a listing of already taken names.

 Thank you. -- Ed (Edgar181) 19:28, 27 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

This user's request to be unblocked to request a change in username has been reviewed by an administrator, who accepted the request.

Alex5112 (block log • active blocks • global blocks • autoblocks • contribs • deleted contribs • filter log • creation log • change block settings • unblock • checkuser (log))

---

Requested username:

Alex5112 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Request reason:

I would like the username to be changed. Hopefully now the username complies with the terms. Thank you Hikingbeast (talk) 4:04 pm, Today (UTC−4)

Accept reason:

Allowing username change to requested username. Please select an option from Wikipedia:Changing username and file a request as soon as possible to avoid re-blocking. -- Ed (Edgar181) 21:32, 27 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Edgar181, was this meant to be a softblock? I would not be happy to unblock unless the issue of the inappropriate links is addressed, too. Huon (talk) 20:58, 27 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it was intended to be a soft block. My error. -- Ed (Edgar181) 21:32, 27 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Edgar181, Huon, Why were the links inappropriate? I am just trying to understand what I did wrong and what I can link as reference in the future.

I wanted to contribute by adding a section about the hiking trails to the articles about the mountains where I most often go hiking. The website I linked describes these hiking trails in detail, does not have any ads and does not sell anything.

I just created my account today so, as you can see, I don't have any contributions to lose if I get completely banned, but I don't think it would be fair. Hikingbeast (talk) 21:29, 27 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

When a user's only contributions involve adding links to a website that matches the username, it appears as if the purpose is to promote a website that the user has an association with. This can be considered spamming. The external link may or may not be appropriate, so it is best to user the article talk pages to suggest adding the external links to the article, and then only add the links if uninvolved editors agree that the link would be appropriate. Regards, -- Ed (Edgar181) 21:36, 27 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

In this case, the website is a blog, not a reliable source, and there is no reason for Wikipedia to link to it. Huon (talk) 21:45, 27 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Huon Thanks, it all makes sense now. It can't be used as reference since it's not a published, peer reviewed article and noone can guarantee the content on the website is accurate. However, If I understand correctly, anyone could edit the Wikipedia articles with information gathered from blogs, and probably get away with it without providing any source (of course, if the information is accurate and nobody asks for citing the source). Hikingbeast (talk)

People who add information should always cite a source for that information (and a reliable one, of course); see WP:Verifiability. People who persistently add unsourced information may be blocked from editing. That's not to say that people can't get away with it for some time, but it shouldn't be done, it's not an improvement of the encyclopedia, and it causes a lot of cleanup effort when it's finally discovered. Huon (talk) 22:22, 27 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]