User talk:Trailmix1234

Welcome!

Hello, Trailmix1234, 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 place {{helpme}} on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! - Qyd^(talk)22:50, 25 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

As this has now been modified and I have told my own story, hopefully it will now be considered appropriate for publication Trailmix1234 01:36, 28 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

wikify

Wikilinks are links to articles insede wikipedia: for example Calgary instead fo just Calgary. Double square brackests would provide the link, and pipes are used when the linked article name is differenr from the word link. for example "[[County Mayo| Mayo County]] [[Ireland]]" will produce " Mayo County Ireland", with the two relevant links. Happy editing - Qyd 02:54, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Editing

Thanks for the help, I will put a few links in there, enough so it gives users enough interesting places to go, but not as many as some articles have, a lot of them are a bit rough to read with so many links. Trailmix1234 02:59, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Citing references

I can certainly try. One thing to remember is wikify can also mean clean up, as in formatting of the page to make it look nicer. Section breaks, a table of contents if necessary, external links, an applicable picture if a proper one can be found. For example you could take your own picture of something in question and release it to public domain and have it used here (rather than using a copy protected picture of the same thing that someone else took).

WP:CITE is a good place to start in learning how to cite references. Another thing about wikifying is to tie the article into other things. The first usages of any important concepts or things, like say Calgary could be put in link tags, or Mayo country ireland could be put in tags. A good habit to get into is if you don't knwo if an article exists on a subject you think should be linked, put tags on it and preview the page, if its red, you've got it wrong. Try searching for the term and change what you've written to match it so that it links up. I'll do a couple on the page so you get the idea. No need to remove the wikify tag yet, as it does need wikification. This lets other editors know the page still needs work, and they may be able to help out. --Crossmr 02:59, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

One more thing to keep in mind when setting up wikilinks, read this WP:CONTEXT while you COULD link every other word to somewhere, it lays out some guidelines on what you should and shouldn't link so that you have an appropriate amount and don't under or overlink. I've linked up the first paragraph so you can get a feel for it. --Crossmr 03:02, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you so much for your help, I will get to work on it. Trailmix1234 03:19, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Annoying Wikipedia

Trailmix, I'm sorry to hear that your first experience of Wikipedia has been annoying. And I hereby apologise on behalf of the other editors. It definitely wasn't our intention to be that way. We really do like new people contributing since every new editor brings that little bit extra to the project. And I personally am glad that you decided to contribute as I knew nothing about John Glenn until you did. I'm a newcomer to Calgary and I love hearing about its history. Just bear in mind that you are getting to know other editors and learning how we do things at the moment and that we are getting to know you. So things are probably at their most annoying for you right now. I hope that as we get used to you and as you get used to us, you will have more fun than you have been having. After all fun is the main reason that most of us contribute. In the meantime if you want to moan about anything or anyone, or if you want an explanation of the best way of doing something, just leave a note on my talk page. I'll do my best to help (or at least to sympathise). -- Derek Ross | Talk 04:16, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, thanks for that, I appreciate it. I have now found a few very helpful and kind wikipedia members (including yourself!) and I am starting to be less annoyed! I think basically what happened is that I edited the page on Calgary and put a nose out of joint - that is to be expected on a site such as this I am sure. There was a lot of media attention on John Glenn's original homestead in Calgary this past week and I wanted to make sure there was something on Wikipedia that people could see if they chose to do a bit of research on him, so I put that first page up in haste, didn't cite my references correctly or choose the correct copyright category for my pictures - that's my own fault.

I'm glad you find the page interesting, John Glenn had a very interesting life but I don't think this is the right venue for that story, so I will leave the article as it is, after getting the format right and I will branch out. Thanks for your offer of help, I'm sure I will need it! Trailmix1234 16:05, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Citing books

Thanks for asking. While this is essential to keep Wikipedia reliable, there's unfortunately a lot of people who don't bother asking, so you're doing the right thing by asking.

Yes, if you don't copy the text inside literally (or near literally, just changing a few words), you can use the information for an article. Wikipedia:Cite your sources and Wikipedia:Template_messages/Sources_of_articles/Generic_citations may be of help. I have no idea what a doi is, so I recommend the template on the far right. This requires: Author's first and last name, names of any co-authors if applicable, title, publisher, year and month of publication and the ISBN number. Most of this information is usually found in the front of the book on a page called the copyright page. There's different citation styles, but they usually differ only in format, most will require the same information of a book. Let me know if you need to know anything else.

Happy editing. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:38, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

P.S. Just curious, what made you ask me? I don't remember having contact with you before. I always like to know how people have come in contact with me... :) - Mgm|^(talk) 09:42, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

To be honest, I'm not quite sure. It was late last night and I was looking through information and looking for help. I typed 'help' in the talk area of this page and I ended up on your page - I don't know if that's a wiki redirect or if I clicked on something else, saw your talk page with people thanking your for help - and that is how I found you! Trailmix1234 15:50, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]