User talk:Use My Spine

Welcome!

Hello, Use My Spine, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions, especially your edits to Nantucket. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few links to pages you might find helpful:

You may also want to complete the Wikipedia Adventure, an interactive tour that will help you learn the basics of editing Wikipedia. You can visit the Teahouse to ask questions or seek help.

Please remember to sign your messages on talk pages by typing 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 for help on your talk page, and a volunteer should respond shortly. Again, welcome! HopsonRoad (talk) 21:46, 22 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Citing sources

Hi Use My Spine,

Since you are new to Wikipedia, you might not be familiar with the need to document entries with reliable sources. My first reaction to seeing changed census data in Nantucket was to revert the edit, based on lack of a cited source. On further investigation, I determined that the updated census number was correct. You can help other editors avoid this drill by placing a reference after the number that you cite, e.g. <ref>https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/nantucketcountymassachusetts/PST045217</ref>. This isn't as fancy as an ideal reference, but it shows that there is a legitimate source.

Ideally, the citation would look like this: <ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/nantucketcountymassachusetts/PST045217 | title = Nantucket County, Massachusett | last = Editors | first = | date = July 1, 2017 | website = QuickFacts | publisher = United States Census Bureau | access-date = 2018-04-20 | quote = }}</ref>

Which renders in the reference section as: Editors (July 1, 2017). "Nantucket County, Massachusett". QuickFacts. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2018-04-20. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)

I hope that this helps you improve Wikipedia!

Cheers, HopsonRoad (talk) 22:13, 22 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much for this information, in other county pages such as Berkshire County, Massachusetts the population did not have a source so I was tripped up by that and believed that population data did not need to have a source, I am now in the process of adding sources for updated population data. --Use My Spine (talk) 01:14, 23 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you both for your interest in updating information and your willingness to add sources, Use My Spine. Unfortunately, it's true that one frequently finds unsourced census data. It's also true that such data is a frequent target for mischief makers to alter with the expectation that no one will notice, which is why Magnolia677's message came across as a warning. Keep up the good work! Cheers, HopsonRoad (talk) 13:14, 23 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

April 2018

Please stop adding unsourced content, as you did to Worcester County, Massachusetts. This contravenes Wikipedia's policy on verifiability. If you continue to do so, you may be blocked from editing Wikipedia. Magnolia677 (talk) 23:04, 22 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, I looked at several other pages of counties with an updated population and none had sources so I assumed that sources on updated population were not needed (I now see I was wrong). I have added a source on Worcester County, Massachusetts for population, I hope this solves the issue. --Use My Spine (talk) 00:36, 23 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]