User talk:John8917

Welcome to Wikipedia!

I noticed you were new, or at least that nobody has officially welcomed you yet, so let me be the first to say hello, give you some tips, and share a few useful links.

One thing we like to tell newcomers is to be bold. By this we mean don't be afraid to join the rest of us in improving the articles you see here. Most Wikipedians are friendly and patient, willing to give you the same respect you give them, no matter who they are or how long they've been here.

It looks like you're the type who isn't afraid to dive right in, which can be great as long as you understand the ground rules. Since being bold does not include being reckless, many new editors feel that it's good to be somewhat cautious at first. It certainly helps to avoid conflicts with other users if you learn the ins and outs before making major changes. If it's a big edit or a controversial issue, you may want to look at the article's talk page to see if the issue has been discussed in the past, or to post a message to see what other editors think about your proposed change before you make it. It's important to cite references and set personal points of view aside.

Here are some links you might find helpful:

• User tutorial
• Help desk
• Policy on maintaining a neutral point of view
• Policy for content when editing articles and creating new ones
• Tips for settling disputes

Now that you have your own user name, you can sign your discussions by typing four tildes (~~~~). This will automatically stamp your user name, the time, and the date. That will help other users reply to your posts. If you want to experiment with coding or see how articles will look before you post them, you can use your own private sandbox at User:John8917/sandbox (the link will turn blue after you start the page). You can edit that page however you want without worrying about disrupting other articles.

I hope this information is useful to you, and I'm looking forward to seeing your contributions. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me for help. Kafziel ^Talk 15:08, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

You have recently vandalized the Wookiee article, and you are now being asked to stop this type of behavior.

Since you have registered an account, I assume you intended to do more than vandalize pages. If this is the case, you're welcome to continue editing Wikipedia, so long as these edits are constructive. For an explanation of what constitutes vandalism, please see this policy; such actions are not taken lightly.

Here are a few links you might find useful:

• Policy on reverting others' changes
• Policies on politeness and wikiquette
• Policy on maintaining a neutral point of view
• Policy for content when editing articles and creating new ones
• Policy on using Wikipedia to advertise

If you want to continue editing here, I hope you will begin to take these policies more seriously. Disruptive editors can be blocked from editing Wikipedia, and nobody wins when that happens. I'm looking forward to seeing your contributions, and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me for help. Kafziel ^Talk 15:17, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

This is your last warning.
The next time you vandalize a page, as you did to Wookiee, you will be blocked from editing Wikipedia. Kafziel ^Talk 15:18, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

It has become apparent that your account is only being used for vandalism, so it has been blocked indefinitely.

--  Netsnipe  ►  15:23, 12 December 2006 (UTC)