Welcome!
Hello, ASnieckus, 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:
- The five pillars of 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)
- Manual of Style
I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on discussion 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 {{helpme}} before the question. Again, welcome! Novaseminary (talk) 18:14, 25 August 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks for the welcome and suggestions for getting started. Very helpful. There seem to be many things to learn on how to work effectively in wp. I'm open to all suggestions on how to improve my contributions. ASnieckus (talk) 02:36, 26 August 2010 (UTC)
- I'd say you are doing a great job so far. Something many new editors don't get is that a pillar of Wikipedia is verifiability, not "truth." (WP:V). They'll often add facts without citations because they know (or think or suppose) the facts are true. You've got it right by focusing on sources. It slows down the writing, of course, but it should ensure that your edits are not reverted and makes for a better base from which to continue expanding articles. You've also got it right to discuss on talk pages, though you might be being even a bit too cautious (which is NOT a problem). Your suggestion on Talk:WikiEducator to switch infoboxes was a good one. Since there was no prior discussion or reason to believe anyone would object, you could probably be bold (WP:BOLD) and just make that sort of an edit. If somebody objects they will revert it, or change it, at which point you can then go to the talk page (see WP:BRD for how that way of operating can work). Of course, if you do think an edit might be controversial, discussing it first is a great idea. Anyway, way to go! Now, feel free to edit on any other pages that strike you as interesting. Oh, and kudos for consistently using edit summaries, that little habit alone will prevent misunderstandings (WP:ES). Happy editing!! Novaseminary (talk) 03:26, 26 August 2010 (UTC)
- My thanks to you, again. I've done a fair bit of wiki editing on WikiEducator (thus my particular interest in this article), though I'm not expert, and along the way have studied quite a bit of the policies, procedures and how-tos on wp. I don't remember reading the page on the brd process, thanks for that link in particular. I'd not thought through how the be bold idea could be critical to consensus. I wish more of the wikieductors consistently included edit summaries. I think I'll adapt the es page you shared with me so I can link to it in the tutorials we use with new users. I will certainly be on the look out for other articles to which I can contribute. ASnieckus (talk) 18:09, 26 August 2010 (UTC)
- I'd say you are doing a great job so far. Something many new editors don't get is that a pillar of Wikipedia is verifiability, not "truth." (WP:V). They'll often add facts without citations because they know (or think or suppose) the facts are true. You've got it right by focusing on sources. It slows down the writing, of course, but it should ensure that your edits are not reverted and makes for a better base from which to continue expanding articles. You've also got it right to discuss on talk pages, though you might be being even a bit too cautious (which is NOT a problem). Your suggestion on Talk:WikiEducator to switch infoboxes was a good one. Since there was no prior discussion or reason to believe anyone would object, you could probably be bold (WP:BOLD) and just make that sort of an edit. If somebody objects they will revert it, or change it, at which point you can then go to the talk page (see WP:BRD for how that way of operating can work). Of course, if you do think an edit might be controversial, discussing it first is a great idea. Anyway, way to go! Now, feel free to edit on any other pages that strike you as interesting. Oh, and kudos for consistently using edit summaries, that little habit alone will prevent misunderstandings (WP:ES). Happy editing!! Novaseminary (talk) 03:26, 26 August 2010 (UTC)