Welcome!

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Welcome to Wikipedia, Car0lina01! I am DeltaQuad and have been editing Wikipedia for quite some time. Thank you for your contributions. I just wanted to say hi and welcome you to Wikipedia! If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page or by typing {{helpme}} at the bottom of this page. I love to help new users, so don't be afraid to leave a message! 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! Also, when you post on talk pages you should sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); that should automatically produce your username and the date after your post. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and ask your question there. Again, welcome!

-- /DeltaQuad|Notify Me\ 16:52, 29 July 2010 (UTC)Reply

{{helpme}}I hope I'm doing this right. I have been emailing you for a few months now about our Wiki page in my Sandbox and wanted you to check out the updates I made recently and provide feedback. I sent an email to you last week. Could you also take a look at my info box. Some of the items there are not appearing in the box once I save. Thank you for your help.

can you provide a link to these sandboxes? Sophie (Talk) 20:15, 20 October 2010 (UTC)Reply

User:Car0lina01/sandbox —Preceding unsigned comment added by Car0lina01 (talkcontribs) 20:23, 20 October 2010 (UTC)Reply

That's because the parameters you are using parameters that are not listed here. You might want to consider using this template instead. Hope this helps. Set Sail For The Seven Seas 0° 25' 15" NET 00:01, 21 October 2010 (UTC)Reply

Is this site approved? Can I make it a live wiki page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Car0lina01 (talkcontribs) 19:33, 21 October 2010 (UTC)Reply

Are you referring to your sandbox page? Set Sail For The Seven Seas 3° 26' 30" NET 00:13, 22 October 2010 (UTC)Reply

Yes, DeltaQuad was working with me in the Sandbox to make sure my page was free from "marketing copy." Initially, our IP addresses got blocked because our Wiki page was not done correctly. DeltaQuad was giving me suggestions on making the page information so our IP addresses would not get blocked again.

{helpme}} Hello DeltaQuad...We would like to make our Wiki page live now. Could you or one of your associates check the page to make sure the content is appropriate for Wiki. We don't want our IPs blocked again and you have been so helpful in the past. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.15.150.50 (talk) 15:02, 26 October 2010 (UTC)Reply

Your draft article at User:Car0lina01/sandbox

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That is a neatly-presented article. I have tweaked the references so that the ref-list shows what they are. I think you could omit the Affinity 4 and Cross Bridge entries under "external links", because they are already in the ref list, but that's up to you.

The main problem, which might well lead to the article being challenged on notability grounds if you post it now, is the lack of any independent references. Remember that the General Notability Guideline requires that you show "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject". You don't have any; the references are the founders' profiles, Affinity4 and Crossbridge's websites, and a press release. None of that counts as independent.

See what independent comment on Affinity4 you can find, and add that. A good way to check whether you really have notability is to follow the advice of a very experienced user in User:Uncle G/On notability#Writing about subjects close to you:

When writing about subjects that are close to you, don't use your own personal knowledge of the subject, and don't cite yourself, your web site, or the subject's web site. Instead, use what is written about the subject by other people, independently, as your sources. Cite those sources in your very first edit. If you don't have such sources, don't write.

The same idea is described at WP:Amnesia test. When you have done the best you can, post a request at WP:Requests for feedback, with a link to your draft, to get more comments.

In conversations on talk pages, it helps to know who has said what when, so please sign your comments by adding four tilde characters ~~~~ at the end, which the system will turn into a "signature" of your username and the time and date, like this: JohnCD (talk) 19:55, 27 October 2010 (UTC)Reply

Hi JohnCD. Thanks for your suggestions. I was able to gather some references from outside sources and added them to my sandbox.Car0lina01talk2:34 PM EST, 4 November 2010.

Hello again. I made the suggestions JohnCD gave and I posted to the WP:Requests for feedback and this is the response I received. "Hi, it seems to go with an advertisement type of article profile. Even if you claim to be a non-profit site, the site does charge for the services it offers. This is a not allowed for Wikipedia pages. You can explain what the site offers, but the links cannot become an advertisement. Read up on the requirements from the tags at the top of your page. This is what the sandbox is for, asking questions. Hope it helps.--ESMcL 02:09, 9 November 2010 (UTC)"

I honestly feel like every editor I that helps me says something different. When JohnCD gave his suggestions, I thought I would be it. Now, it looks like we have more changes to make. JohnCD or DeltaQuad, if you are out there can you please confirm whether the suggested changes from the editor above are indeed changes I need to make. I appreciate any help you can provide.

Here's a third opinion: I think the truth is somewhere in the middle between neutral and advertising. JohnCD's analysis is fairly close to the mark, and you've made good additions in response. But why is Affinity4 notable? What makes this subject interesting or unique? Looking at the references, you have 8 - though one is a press release and two are just the homepages for Affinity4 and Cross Bridge. You might consider trimming some of the more advertising-ish phrasing - the list of product/clients in the lead, for example. A focus on how the company does what it does might help, as much of the article is about what Affinity4's investors have done and the fact that the name changed. More detail on the company's operation would be good. UltraExactZZ Said ~ Did 16:37, 12 November 2010 (UTC)Reply
Also - take a deep breath and don't get frustrated. There is no deadline. You've done good work so far, no need to rush the article out the door before it's ready. UltraExactZZ Said ~ Did 16:38, 12 November 2010 (UTC)Reply
Hi Car0lina, make sure you've read our specific notability guideline for organisations such as yours. At the moment, I can't see why we should have an article on the company, as the article doesn't include references to multiple reliable sources discussing it. Have any newspapers written about the company for example? SmartSE (talk) 16:47, 12 November 2010 (UTC)Reply

Thank you for your response. I understand its not a race to finish but I have been under a lot of pressure at work to get this page done and I'm at a point where I don't know what's right and what's wrong because every editor is saying something different and none of you totally agree with the others' comments. That can be a little frustrating but I do appreciate the help I am receiving. I have updated our page with you suggestions. Please note that we never mentioned that our company was a non-profit organization. We stated we served non-profits but I updated the page to say we were a for-profit company. Also, we have a NY Times article and an article from Virginia Business about our organization. These are not press releases. Please read the article carefully and let me know my next steps. Also, here is another organization that does what we do and we tried to create our page similar to theirs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CREDO_%28company%29). Can you tell me what is the difference with their page and ours and why that page is okay and ours is not? Thanks again for your help.

The article and the references look good, there are some high class references, Like the NY times. I can see how this COULD be notible. Although, the article could assert the importance more.--intelatitalk 20:43, 15 November 2010 (UTC)Reply
Agreed. Think about it this way - if you had to say why the company was important, and you only had three sentences, what would you say? Then expand on that. UltraExactZZ Said ~ Did 21:31, 16 November 2010 (UTC)Reply

Thank you for your help. One of my questions about was, "Can you tell me what is the difference with their page and ours and why that page is okay and ours is not?"(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CREDO_%28company%29). We have the same type of business. Sorry for all the questions, but this is what I'm being asked from management and I can't give them the answer because I tried to build this page similar to CREDO. Thanks.

Also, my management doesn't believe that we can't talked on the phone with an Wiki editor. Could you please confirm that this and chat are the only means of communication and you don't have "customer service?" I really appreciate it.

Hey Car0lina01! It is true that you cannot speak with us over the phone. We are all widely spaced volunteers, and try to avoid using personally identifiable information. A phone number would be such. You can find us on IRC (internet relay chat) on irc://freenode/wikipedia-en-help where we would be happy to help you. Phone communication is not practical for Wikipedia. This is the closest to customer service we have. Hamtechperson 13:57, 18 November 2010 (UTC)Reply
The other thing that you and your associates have to understand is that Wikipedia is run by volunteers. Everyone who has helped you edit your draft article, everyone who has responded on this page, everyone you 'speak' to in the IRC Help channel,... we're all volunteers. we're not paid by 'Wikipedia' to do what we do. Shearonink (talk) 14:03, 18 November 2010 (UTC)Reply
Who owns and runs Wikipedia should be a help. Shearonink (talk) 14:08, 18 November 2010 (UTC)Reply

Break

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Thank you so much for this information. I already gave my team this information, but I think my team needed to hear this statement from you. Okay, my question from above still wasn't answered. "Can you tell me what is the difference with their page and ours and why that page is okay and ours is not?"(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CREDO_%28company%29). We have the same type of business. What makes theirs notable and ours not? Car0lina01talk9:26 AM EST, 19 November 2010.

It's not if the company is "more notable," it's if you assert the notability.--intelatitalk 20:55, 19 November 2010 (UTC)Reply