User talk:DerekTollefson
American/British English
[edit]Welcome, and thank you for correcting spelling on Wikipedia! However, both spellings of the word you "corrected" are acceptable.
Please familiarize yourself with American and British English spelling differences before making further spelling corrections to articles. Wikipedia has 48,460,451 registered users on this English Wikipedia. These editors use different versions of English including American English and British English. The list of dialects of the English language goes on and on.
When many styles are acceptable, avoid changing from one style to another unless there is some substantial reason for the change. It is acceptable to change from American spelling to British spelling only if the article concerns a British topic or vice versa or if you are making the article internally consistent.
More information is available at Wikipedia's Manual of Style. Enjoy your time on the encyclopedia. Thank you. RHB Talk - Edits 19:14, 24 January 2007 (UTC)