User talk:Ellie from Bindmans

Welcome!

Hello, Bindmans, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions.

I noticed that one of the first articles you edited was Saimo Chahal, which appears to be dealing with a topic with which you may have a conflict of interest. In other words, you may find it difficult to write about that topic in a neutral and objective way, because you are, work for, or represent, the subject of that article. Your recent contributions may have already been undone for this very reason.

To reduce the chances of your contributions being undone, you might like to draft your revised article before submission, and then ask me or another editor to proofread it. See our help page on userspace drafts for more details. If the page you created has already been deleted from Wikipedia, but you want to save the content from it to use for that draft, don't hesitate to ask anyone from this list and they will copy it to your user page.

One rule we do have in connection with conflicts of interest is that accounts used by more than one person will unfortunately be blocked from editing. Wikipedia generally does not allow editors to have usernames which imply that the account belongs to a company or corporation. If you have a username like this, you should request a change of username or create a new account. (A name that identifies the user as an individual within a given organization may be OK.)

In addition, if you receive, or expect to receive, compensation for any contribution you make, you must disclose your employer, client, and affiliation to comply with our terms of use and our policy on paid editing.

Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

• The plain and simple conflict of interest guide
• The five pillars of Wikipedia
• Contributing to Wikipedia
• Tutorial
• How to edit a page and How to develop articles
• How to create your first article (using the Article Wizard if you wish)
• Simplified Manual of Style

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{Help me}} before the question. Again, welcome! PamD 17:18, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

Username and Conflict of Interest.

Hallo and welcome to Wikipedia. I created the article Saimo Chahal after hearing the radio 4 programme about Debbie Purdy, on the basis that she sounded a "notable" woman in Wikipedia's terms, meriting an article, and that we need far more articles about women. (See WP:Women in Red)

I noticed that you edited it to remove the birth date, although this is publicly available in "Who's Who", and I should perhaps have commented then on your username. Wikipedia has a policy against the use of usernames which "Imply shared use", such as the use of a company name - see Wikipedia:Username_policy#Usernames_implying_shared_use. All edits under one username must be made by one single person, although that person can keep their identity hidden. It would be best to stop editing under this name and create a new one, or to request a change of username to one such as "Jane at Bindmans", as explained in that policy. To change the username, see Wikipedia:Changing username.

A separate problem is Wikipedia's policy on "WP:Conflict of interest", whereby editors are "strongly discouraged" from editing an article on "yourself, family, friends, clients, employers, or your financial and other relationships". Additionally, anyone editing as part of their paid employment comes within the further rules on Paid editing, and should make a declaration of the fact. Paid editors are "very strongly discouraged" from editing the article directly, but are welcome to make comments on the article's talk page giving any corrections or potential additions, sourced to "reliable independent sources".

A couple of points about your edits: Wikipedia uses surnames, not forenames, in discussing people. And children's names are not usually included, as an invasion of their privacy and irrelevant to the article - and in this case they aren't sourced, as the "Who's Who" reference at the end of the sentence just has "1s 1d". Unsourced content is not allowed, and unsourced content about living people even more so. The long list of "honours and awards" is excessive: getting into "Who's Who" is not usually mentioned in anyone's article and smacks of desperation and barrel-scraping. There's a risk of someone independent coming across the article and claiming that it's too much like an advert/promotional piece. I'll have a look at the article now and tweak it (ah, maybe later or tomorrow - just noticed the time and have to get a meal before going out to choir rehearsal!).

There is a standard template message about usernames, which I'll now include:

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Welcome to Wikipedia. I noticed that your username, "Bindmans", may not comply with our username policy. Please note that you may not use a username that represents the name of a company, group, organization, product, or website. Examples of usernames that are not allowed include "XYZ Company", "MyWidgetsUSA.com", and "Foobar Museum of Art". However, you are permitted to use a username that contains such a name if it identifies you individually, such as "Sara Smith at XYZ Company", "Mark at WidgetsUSA", or "FoobarFan87".

Please also note that Wikipedia does not allow accounts to be shared by multiple people, and that you may not advocate for or promote any company, group, organization, product, or website, regardless of your username. Please also read our paid editing policy and our conflict of interest guideline. If you are a single individual and are willing to contribute to Wikipedia in an unbiased manner, please request a change of username, by completing this form, choosing a username that complies with our username policy. If you believe that your username does not violate our policy, please leave a note here explaining why. Thank you.

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I don't know whether I'm addressing Saimo herself, or her secretary or assistant working at her suggestion, or Bindman's PR department: Hallo, anyway, and I hope that you understand my explanations of Wikipedia policy. Welcome to editing, it can be a fascinating hobby (and a terrible time-sink), with the fascination of an infinite jigsaw-puzzle, always something more to add or tidy up.

PamD 18:02, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

Hello PamD. You are addressing Ellie from Bindmans, and as you rightly guessed I am new to editing Wikipedia. Thanks for setting up the page, and for all your useful guidance on editing. It seems more complicated than i'd imagined, but it is, of course, right and proper that Wikipedia should remain balanced and neutral. I'll therefore change my username and refrain from editing directly in the future, and will make suggestions on the talk page instead. I hope you enjoyed choir rehearsal, and if you have any thoughts on tweaking the page that would be most welcome. Bindmans (talk) 16:53, 20 March 2019 (UTC)