Talk:The Student Room

pig

I see that Ninman has posted again despite his edits being deleted three times before. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.129.64.35 (talk) 11:04, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Exactly what is the problem? Why is it that Neurotypicals can't accept that people just post facts, without allowing their emotions to come into question? I am not an NT, I am an Aspie, I think logically and speak facts and truth only. I am physically incapable of lying, it is the way I was built genetically. Why can't you understand that? Apparently you only seem to care about the facts that you like, rather than the ones that are true, but to satisfy you I have removed the offending paragraph. However I strongly believe that people should understand the policies of the website regarding autistic users before they throw their hard earned money away. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.36.37.86 (talk) 13:19, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Is the inclusion of the paragraph slurring pig's management really necessary in an encyclopaedic article? It seems to me that it is a thinly veiled declaration of support for CN's administration. 194.129.64.35 12:55, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Not at all, because I still can't have my ban removed even with Pig no longer managing the site. I find it really pathetic and I think people need to be aware of all the facts good or bad when they read about something in an encyclopedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.36.37.86 (talk) 14:08, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

Removal of C

Mel Etitis, do you want a copy of my P45 or something?! I left TSR almost 2 months ago, access to my account has been revoked, and I no longer work for them. You're adament I need to reference this minor change. You have to reference facts contained within the article but you don't have to reference things NOT in the article! It was perfectly explained that C was removed because I said so in the edit. --Chrisjwowen 09:12, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

"The obligation to provide a reliable source lies with the editors wishing to include the material, not with those seeking to remove it." --Chrisjwowen 10:15, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

History of the site

Does someone who knows a bit more about the site want to write history section and how and when it got started and developed? I don't really know a great deal about the place in this respect, but to grow so big, I'm sure it must have been around a fair while in one form or another and been developed from a smaller site. Evil Eye 13:10, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Theres one on the site, Ill have a look for it and post it. fr browne

I'm pretty sure UKL used to harvest posts from various educational newsgroups, even as late as it had begun to use vBulletin; there are artifacts in the old database that confirm this, as well as (IIRC) some old orphaned posts on the subject which I may be able to dig up Pig@thestudentroom.co.uk 08:55, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

POV-Check

I have listed this as a POV Check until I am able to verify the statements regarding TSR US and its member base/post count. Once done, Ill reconsider its listing. Lessthanthree 19:00, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

I just deleted the TSRUS POV; the member numbers seem accurate enough. Just gave the article a quick edit, I'll add anything else substantial that comes to mind later.

Sorry, forgot to sign: Mister Five 19:16, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Page appearence

The page appears to have no formatting atm... {Athena}

Stats

There's no need to update the stats all the time is there? Just when significant numbers are reached. Pig@thestudentroom.co.uk 01:31, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

It's best to keep the article as up to date and accurate as possible. But if you don't like it, you could always change it back :-) Evil Eye 07:58, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Well you can if you want but it just seems like a waste of your time! 'More than 5 million posts' would have sufficed til we got to 6 million. Pig@thestudentroom.co.uk 13:46, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Revert 16/9/06 justification

I have reverted edits made by Ninman on the basis that it:

• Refers to himself;
• Appears to be a grievance held against pig and SilverWings;
• Links to a dubious and most definitely unencyclopaedic website.

CJHung 19:55, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

Revert 18/9/06

I have reverted Ninman's entry again. This will be the 3rd revert (twice by myself and once by AntiVandalBot). Ninman is perfectly welcome to discuss his contributions here. CJHung 12:01, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Bannings

I think it's important to mention the sites policies on banning members and how they treat members. There are many people who are unhappy with the way they are treated on the site, for example [1]. Ninman is a good example of that, he explains all on that thread, and there are many people who agree with him.

I take it that nobody cares about why members are banned?

--

I'd like to back this up, the moderation on the site is awful, the site itself is one of the most hostile places I've encountered on the internet, full of the most arrogant, argumentative people. The worst thing is how the site and moderators work. Typically a person who spends a lot of time on the site will have multiple accounts, when they meet someone who they dislike/who they disagree with, they will attack that person on all of their multiple accounts apart from their main account (at no risk since if one of their lesser accounts does happen to get banned for all the swearing, insults etc. they are giving out, it's no issue, their main one is still fine). Then what happens is the moderators typically ban the person who is the one actually being attacked in this fashion. My only guess is that the person with multiple accounts also stalks and "reports" the person, and due to bad moderation, they just see many reports and ban the person.

If you ever mention anything remotely negative about the moderation it's also an instant ban. Making any kind of topic about problems with moderation will see the topic deleted and you permanently banned.

The community team who run the site are some of the most arrogant people I've ever encountered, they will regularly take sides in debates and ban the person they don't agree with or don't like for whatever reason they like. Along with it being a cesspool of people simply trying to create arguments (see the religion section how many topics there are on hating Islam made every day for example), I would advise to anyone that the site is best avoided.

An important note is that whilst your account is not banned, you can delete comments you have made on other people's topics (but if you create your own topic, you cant delete it and need to ask a moderator to delete it for you). Once your account is banned, you can no longer delete or edit anything you've written on the site and it will be there forever. So with how the community team do like to go around unfairly banning people, this is something important to consider as well if using the site.

Current state of TSR

There are a lot of changes currently happening at TSR that are likely to prompt frequent re-edits of this page. I've tried to include the only information that isn't speculative - it would be helpful if other users could respect this. Cheers. Wadhamite 08:14, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

WP:CITE is the key policy here; changes need to have verifiable sources. --Mel Etitis (Talk) 09:31, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

If I link to the thread on TSR, will you allow my edit to stand? I'm not competant enough with wiki editing to do the revert myself, and I can provide a verifiable source. (Here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8483282&postcount=1 )Wadhamite 20:25, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

That source cerianly backs up some of your edits; I've edited the article, mainly by just removing references to specific people, leaving details of the posts. --Mel Etitis (Talk) 14:31, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:TSRCP.jpg

Image:TSRCP.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 04:29, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Update for the page

Hello! I work for The Student Room and we've noticed that the page is a little bare in parts. It lacks a logo, links to forums and some of the information stops at 2007.

We don't want to edit the page ourselves, as this contravenes the ethos of Wikipedia, but it'd be great if the whole page could be brought into 2012 in terms of history, design and changing focus (thanks to the people who have updated parts of it!) — Preceding unsigned comment added by TheStudentRoom111 (talk • contribs) 11:35, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

Hi there! I just have a tip on adding a new source to the list of References on this site. It's www.iRevise.com, a GCSE and A Level revision source for students, tutors and parents... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mockness (talk • contribs) 13:27, 1 July 2015 (UTC)

Proposed deletion

Couruu (talk) 14:39, 13 June 2023 (UTC)

I would be happy to spend the time adding reliable sources to this page. There is a lot of out of date information on here. ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 06:47, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

Factual change request to logo and CEO of The Student Room

• What I think should be changed (include citations):

Logo: The Logo should be updated as it changed in January 2024 as announced by the company in this discussion thread:

The logo can be seen in use across the website, and is available for easy access here:

Key People: Marcus Palmer should be removed from the Key People, as he left the company almost 2 years ago. This is evidenced by the official record of his resignation as a Director on the UK Government's official Companies House listing . Marcus Palmer has also detailed this change on his LinkedIn page

• Why it should be changed:

The current logo has been out of date since January 2024.

Marcus Palmer has not been CEO of the Student Room for nearly 2 years

ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 06:30, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

References

 Partly done: Hi Chris, I've removed Marcus from the page, but the logo provided in ref 2 appears to be the same as the one already present on the article. Is this correct? Thanks, Encoded  Talk 💬 22:13, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

Hi there @Encoded, would it be possible to also remove the mention to Marcus Palmer as the CEO in the 2nd information box on the page please. ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 14:23, 1 December 2024 (UTC)

Done :) Encoded  Talk 💬 14:26, 1 December 2024 (UTC)

Fab. Thank you! ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 15:38, 1 December 2024 (UTC)

Change to Key People

Hi, as I have now clarified my conflict of interest on my user page, please can I propose the following small edit to increase the accuracy of this article

• What I think should be changed (include citations):

Marcus Palmer should be removed from the Key People, as he left The Student Room Group almost 2 years ago. This is evidenced by the official record of his resignation as a Director on the UK Government's official Companies House listing . Marcus Palmer has also detailed this change on his LinkedIn page

• Why it should be changed:

Marcus Palmer has not been CEO of the Student Room for nearly 2 years, so this information is inaccurate.

ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 12:10, 7 October 2024 (UTC)

Done! Encoded  Talk 💬 14:26, 1 December 2024 (UTC)

Proposed major upgrade to this page

Hi there,

What I think should be changed

I would like to propose a major upgrade to this page which I have drafted on my sandbox, but as I am conflicted, I need another editor to review and apply changes as they feel appropriate.

Why it should be changed

The current page is extremely thin content, it was flagged in 2019 as follows: "This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage. Please help improve this article and add independent sources. (January 2019)"

The current page is so poor that it was proposed (but declined) for deletion in 2023.

The Student Room is a large website and an important part of the UK education system, as my replacement article hopefully portrays.

I have put together what I believe to be an objective and well-referenced article to replace it. If you feel that the content I have drafted on my sandbox is not objective or good enough, I would be happy to make further changes as required.

Thank you! ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 13:59, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

Hi @ChrisN at The Student Room, I've had a quick look over the article and there's a few issues I'd like to have addressed before replacing the article with this proposed draft.

1. The "The Uni Guide" and the "Community management and volunteers" sections rely heavily or entirely on primary sources, I'd either remove them or re-reference them with other sources if you can. "Community management and volunteers" section could also be cut down to a paragraph or two I think, it seems a bit Wikipedia:NOTPRICE.
2. Refs 15, 16, 48 are UGC and will need to be replaced.
3. The "Sector engagement and recognition" needs cutting down as well, please see Wikipedia:DIRECTORY. I don't think the entire section needs removing, but it needs seriously re-writing. Could it be included in a "history" section?

Just so you're aware as well, I fixed some minor formatting issues - you can see my changes here. I've also added this request to the COI queue, so that other editors can take a look as well.

I hope this helps, Encoded  Talk 💬 10:09, 12 November 2024 (UTC)

Thanks so much @Encoded - that is really helpful. I will have another run through it with your comments in mind to make sure I tackle them. Much appreciated! ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 12:47, 12 November 2024 (UTC)

Hi again @Encoded - Thank you once again for all your time and feedback on this. I have now made a load of changes to the article in my sandbox to take into account your feedback. How do you think it now looks please? I think it works much better as a result of your feedback, so thanks for that. Happy to make more changes if needed. Many thanks. ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 18:48, 12 November 2024 (UTC)

Hi @ChrisN at The Student Room, I've had a quick glance and this does look like a big improvement, thank you! Unfortunately I'm stuck at University all day today & tomorrow so might not get a chance to have a proper look, but since this request is in the queue hopefully another editor is able to soon! If not I'll take a look once I'm back. Thanks, Encoded  Talk 💬 08:47, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

Great - that's good to hear. Thank you! ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 10:13, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

Just a brief note to say that I find that a significant amount of the material in the draft is of a highly trivial and non-encyclopaedic nature. It reads as though it could be the 'About us' section of a corporate website. There is also much content listing services provided, which appears promotional.

I do not believe that significantly extending the article in this way is desirable. It looks to me as though it is an attempt by a conflicted editor to write as much as physically possible about a borderline notable subject and turn something which ought to be a short article into a very long article full of non-encyclopaedic and trivial material.

What is needed here is a genuine attempt to identify the actually useful material in the new draft and add it to the existing article. Allowing a conflicted editor to install a complete re-write of the nature indicated would be wholly inappropriate. Axad12 (talk) 22:41, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

Hi @Axad12, I'm sorry if I have taken the wrong approach here. I can imagine it is a hard job to keep Wikipedia standards up, so do appreciate your intervention. I do only have positive intent to improve the description of The Student Room, and thought that this replacement approach, with me fully disclosing my COI, and working with editor feedback to get it right was the best way - there are a number of errors/out of date issues with the existing article, and it didn't seem an optimal structure. I understand and accept fully, if that is wrong though. I am new to Wikipedia editing and don't have a nuanced feel for it.

I have spent hours and hours researching and come up with lots of referenced sources, and am sorry that I seem to have included too much trivia, and made it too long, and certainly don't want it to be promotional.

Are there other non conflicted editors who would be happy to adopt your suggested alternative approach of "identify the actually useful material in the new draft and add it to the existing article"? @Encoded I wonder if there is any chance you would be up for helping?

Alternatively, I would be happy to give that approach a go in my sandbox, but if my conflict is going to create too much doubt as to my intentions, then I would be very happy for anyone else to help out, if they can spare the time. Thank you all. ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 05:13, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

 Not done The current article is poor but I don't think it's WP:BLOWITUP territory. The draft lead is of a promotional tone and it's just generally downhill from there. I don't think any of the universities cited really count as high quality reliable sources given that they're just boilerplate student advice pages. It's interesting that you've included an "Academic and press coverage" section given that in an ideal world almost all of the article would be based off secondary sources. The entire thing reads like a press release or a corporate About Us page. Picking a citation at random, you've included this seemingly because someone in the comments mentioned "There’s plenty of published data from the Student Room, [...] demonstrating that students were deeply concerned about the fairness of calculated grades[...]"? Or that you 'collaborate' with OCR because you collated some questions off the forum? It just seems like you've just cobbled together any passing mention of the student room and included it as a reference. It's probably best just proposing smaller changes for now. -OXYLYPSE (talk) 21:38, 18 November 2024 (UTC)

OK. Understood. Thanks. I will do that. ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 14:02, 1 December 2024 (UTC)

Update to TheStudentRoom.co.uk section

Would it be possible for a non-conflicted editor to consider adding some references and extra content to TheStudentRoom.co.uk section. I have written this and included below, but also happy if the editor wishes to change them further.

As per the previous advice, I am trying to approach this in smaller chunks, and keep as much as we can of the existing page.

To give context, I am also trying to get the evidence to demonstrate that The Student Room no longer owns Get Revising or Marked by Teachers, and will revert back to that later, but in the meantime it makes sense to add detail in the main sections, as otherwise there will be little left on the page when those sections come out.

Here is the proposed edit for this section. I hope this method of pasting source into Talk works ok? @Encoded Tagging as I know you have been interested in helping with this.

TheStudentRoom.co.uk

The Student Room (often abbreviated to TSR), established in 1999, is a United Kingdom based community and social learning website for school and university students. It is generally known as the UK’s largest online student community.

It connects students with other students so that they can make more informed education choices, get help with their studies and get support with student life.

Discussion on The Student Room covers study help, choosing a university, careers and broader student life conversations. Many UK universities have official student representatives answering questions on TSR.

The Student Room contains a student finance zone in partnership with the official student loan organisation, Student Finance England. The Student Room's volunteer clearing & application advisors are trained by UCAS, the UK’s official undergraduate admission service). ChrisN at The Student Room (talk) 15:51, 1 December 2024 (UTC)