Logicalview

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Mary Coughlan article

Welcome to Wikipedia! I see that you have already begun editing the article Mary Coughlan (politician). While it's important to be bold, it's also important to build consensus. If you have a problem with a particular section of an article, it's often best to use the discussion page first so that other editors can weigh in and perhaps explain why certain material has been included. In the example of the Mary Coughlan article, the section you deleted was relevant and had been well sourced. When a previous edit has been reverted it is best practice not to make the same edit without discussing it with other editors.

I'm delighted to welcome you to Wikipedia. Good luck and have fun! --Conor (talk) 01:46, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Hi, I started writing something myself but Conor beat me too it. So I thought I'd just say "welcome" too, and post what I had written anyway.

I notice that in the last week you have twice removed material from the article on the Fianna Fáil TD Mary Coughlan. In both instances[1][2] you removed all of the section entitled "gay rights" with the edit summary "removed unbalanced comment on gay rights". On the first occasion, I reverted your removal, and the most recent change was reverted by another editor.

That section appears to be throughly referenced to reliable sources, so I see no grounds for its removal. If you feel it is unbalanced, you are welcome to discuss your concerns on the article's talk page (i.e. Talk:Mary Coughlan (politician)). It would be particularly helpful if you were able to offer references to other reliable sources which would redress the imbalance you perceive; the aim in these things is to reach a consensus.

You may also want to read wikipedias' neutral point-of-view policy. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 01:55, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your message on my talk page.

To centralise discussion, articles should be discussed on the talk page of the article concerned, so I have moved your comments to Talk:Mary Coughlan (politician)#Allegations_of_imbalance, and will reply there. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 22:03, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Editing talk pages

Hi! I noticed you removed your comments from Mary Coughlan talk page. It's often better to just use strike-through (i.e. strike-through), so I've reverted your edit and would suggest you just edit in this way. Also, don't forget to use edit summaries and to sign your comments. You can find some tips on style and editing Talk pages at Wikipedia:Talk_page_guidelines, e.g.:

"It is best to avoid changing your own comments. Other users may have already quoted you with a diff (see above) or have otherwise responded to your statement. Therefore, use "Show preview" and think about how your amended statement may look to others before you save it.

Altering a comment after it has been replied to robs the reply of its original context. It can also be confusing. Before you change, consider taking one of the following steps:

   * Contact the person(s) who replied (through their talk page) and ask if it is okay to delete or change your text.
   * use strike-through or a place-holder to show the comment has been altered.
         o Strike-through is typed like this and ends up like this.
         o A placeholder is a phrase such as "[Thoughtless and stupid comment removed by the author.]". This will ensure that your fellow editors' irritated responses still make sense. In turn, they may then wish to replace their reply with something like, "[Irritated response to deleted comment removed. Apology accepted.]"
         o Please do not apply strike-through to other editors' comments without permission."

--Conor (talk) 15:17, 12 April 2008 (UTC)