Ishankasampath

November 2017

Hello, I'm Marianna251. I wanted to let you know that one or more of your recent contributions to Ella, Sri Lanka have been undone because they appeared to be promotional. Advertising and using Wikipedia as a "soapbox" are against Wikipedia policy and not permitted; Wikipedia articles should be written objectively, using independent sources, and from a neutral perspective. Take a look at the welcome page to learn more about Wikipedia. Thank you. Marianna251TALK 16:44, 26 November 2017 (UTC)

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Hi Marianna251,

This is regarding the changes that has been made to Ella Sri Lanka page.

I do understand that having links to a different site can be described as promotional.

Still if that gives information about the the all area I think it is valid to be in the page at least on EXTERNAL LINK section.

Let me know your thoughts. I can already see there is a external link there. But VisitElla.com is location based website which covers everything about Ella, Sri Lanka which is useful for all the visitors.

Let me know!

Thanks in advance!

Hi Ishankasampath! Thanks for replying. I see that you re-added the single link, but Oshwah reverted it again as it goes against Wikipedia's external links guideline. I've also removed the other link you mentioned, since that too should not have been there. Thank you for pointing it out.

The website you linked to is designed to promote Ella, therefore it should not be linked to on Wikipedia. Neutrality is one of Wikipedia's core policies and anything promotional goes against that. Hope that helps. Marianna251TALK 17:09, 26 November 2017 (UTC)

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Hi Marianna251,

Just read the external links guidelines.

The visitella.com does not provide any paid services, but a location based information website which covers everything about Ella, Sri Lanka.

So do you think adding that as an external link is violating the wikipedia guidelines?

I mean if anything gives information about the location can not go in the external links section, what type of things you expecting to be there?

I'm new to wikipedia, so appreciate your guidance

Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ishankasampath (talk • contribs) 17:22, 26 November 2017 (UTC)

Hi, Ishankasampath! You don't need to make a new section for every reply, you know; instead, you can indent your replies using colons, as detailed at WP:INDENT. (Please also remember to sign your talk page comments with ~~~~ or by clicking the signature link - that makes it clear who's left which message. )

I don't know if you had a chance to read Oshwah's reply to your comment on their talk page before asking this. Oshwah summed up the issue pretty well, so I'm just going to quote them, apologies if you've already read this: The external links you're adding to the article make it shift towards being an advertisement (either by enticing users to visit the website, or by enticing users to visit the place). Articles on Wikipedia don't actually need an external links section at all - most of the content appropriate for an encyclopaedia, if not all, should be covered by the article itself, so it's not unusual to see articles without any external links.

I know Wikipedia can be very confusing when you're starting out. Some of the policies/guidelines can seem as clear as mud! I hope this issue is a little bit clearer now, at least. Let me know if you have any other questions. Marianna251TALK 20:23, 26 November 2017 (UTC)

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Please do not add inappropriate external links to Wikipedia, as you did with this edit to Ella, Sri Lanka. Wikipedia is not a collection of links nor should it be used for advertising or promotion. Inappropriate links may include, but are not limited to, links to personal websites, links to websites with which you are affiliated and links that attract visitors to a website or promote a product. See the external links guideline and spam guideline for further explanations. Because Wikipedia uses the nofollow attribute value, its external links are disregarded by most search engines. If you feel the link should be added to the article, please discuss it on the article's talk page rather than re-adding it. Thank you. ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 16:59, 26 November 2017 (UTC)