User talk:Andrew Flusche

Welcome!

Hello, Andrew Flusche, 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}} after the question on your talk page. Again, welcome! MastCell ^Talk 22:44, 30 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestions

Hi... since you're interested in some of the workings of Wikipedia, I'd recommend taking a (brief) look at the following pages:

Verifiability and Reliable sources - these are key, since in principle all additions to Wikipedia (other than obvious common-sense things) should be verifiable and attributable to reliable sources. This is especially important on controversial articles/topics.
Neutral point-of-view, particularly the section on undue weight - it's not entirely intuitive, but the "neutral point of view" here doesn't mean that everything should be presented uncritically. Things generally get presented in the context of their acceptance by "experts in the field", meaning that minoritarian viewpoints ought to be described as such, etc.

Those are probably the most useful and the ones that often aren't totally intuitive (I know they weren't for me). The other useful principles are to discuss potentially controversial things on the talk page, and if you find yourself in a dispute that's escalating, look for outside input or disengage temporarily instead of responding in kind (this is detailed in dispute resolution). A thick skin is a definite asset here. It's really not as complex as it might appear; you ask good questions so I'm sure you'll work things out and settle in fine. MastCell ^Talk 01:56, 1 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]