Matt at Blackburn College

June 2021

Your account has been blocked indefinitely from editing because of the following problems: the account has been used for advertising or promotion, which is contrary to the purpose of Wikipedia, and your username indicates that the account represents a business, organisation, group, or web site, which is against the username policy.

You may request a change of name and unblock if you intend to make useful contributions other than promoting your business or organization. To do this, first search Special:CentralAuth for available usernames that comply with the username policy. Once you have found an acceptable username, post the text {{unblock-spamun|Your proposed new username|Your reason here}} at the bottom of your talk page. Replace the text "Your proposed new username" with your new username and replace the text "Your reason here" with your reasons to be unblocked. In your reasons, you must:

• Disclose any compensation you may receive for your contributions in accordance with the Wikipedia:Paid-contribution disclosure requirement.
• Convince us that you understand the reason for your block and that you will not repeat the kind of edits for which you were blocked.
• Describe in general terms the contributions that you intend to make if you are unblocked.

Appeals: If, after reviewing the guide to appealing blocks, you believe this block was made in error, you may appeal it by adding the text {{unblock|Your reason here}} at the bottom of your talk page. Replace the text "Your reason here" with the reasons you believe the block was an error, and publish the page. Longhair\^talk 08:21, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

This user's request to be unblocked to request a change in username has been reviewed by an administrator, who declined the request. Other administrators may also review this block, but should not override the decision without a good reason (see the blocking policy). Do not remove this unblock review while you are blocked.

Matt at Blackburn College (block log • active blocks • global blocks • autoblocks • contribs • deleted contribs • filter log • creation log • change block settings • unblock • checkuser (log))

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Requested username:

Matt at Blackburn College (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Request reason:

This account is not being used to promote a business/organisation. It is being used to maintain business/organisation information accuracy and remove vandalism.

Decline reason:

I agree the edit that you have made so far is not promotional. However your username gives the impression that you are here to market or promote for an organization. Your new username is fine.

Articles are typically written by users not involved in the subject of the article. Our conflict of interest policy goes into greater detail. If corrections need to be made to an article you are involved in it is best to go the article talk page and use the Wikipedia:Edit requests template, and make recommendations backup up by reliable 3rd party sources. An independent editor will review the suggestion and implement it if it is in line with our editorial standards.

Removing blatant vandalism yourself is typically okay though. HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 08:45, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

@Longhair: Their edit did not seem blatantly promotional. Can this be treated as a ua-softblock? That is if they acknowledge the conflict of interest policy and choose another name are you okay with them being unblocked? HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 08:47, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

@HighInBC: I agree their edits were not blatantly promotional, however their username was problematic in that it suggested a role account where anyone from the marketing department could be operating it which as you may be aware is contrary to the username policy. Also, the account was involved in direct editing of the article where a clear conflict of interest exists. Your suggestion of using the article talk page to request edits to the article concerned is possibly a more appropriate direction from here. Does the editor have plans to edit any other articles or just maintain the article on the college? I have no issue with their choice of new username btw. -- Longhair\^talk 09:00, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

Okay thank you my long haired friend. Matt at Blackburn College, if you can demonstrate an understanding of our conflict of interest policy and agree to use the Wikipedia:Edit requests template at the article talk page to suggest changes to the article instead of directly editing it then I am willing to unblock your account.

You will of course be welcome to edit any subject that you are not involved in directly. It is strongly encouraged to edit other areas of Wikipedia to avoid being seen as a single purpose account. HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 09:21, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

@HighInBC: Hi. I do understand the conflict of interest policy and understand how this can be seen as such here. The username chosen was clearly in violation of Wikipedia's username policy. I would, however, like to question where the line is between what is considered 'promotional' and what is considered 'general maintenance' or 'maintaining accuracy', if you will. For example, the edits I made consisted of updating information (such as Principal and Affiliates) which was no longer accurate, and hadn't been for many, many years. Are these edits considered 'promotional', and therefore would need to follow the Wikipedia:Edit requests you have mentioned? Or, are they ok?

Following on from this, could I question the Wikipedia:Edit requests template? Do these requests ping an administrator/group of active users or, is it just a matter of someone stumbling across the 'Talk' section of that particular article?

Forgive me for not knowing or using incorrect formatting here. I am not a Wikipedia user outside of my place of work so, picking this up and figuring it out as I go. -- Matt at Blackburn College

Any change of information should be done through the edit request template. This will place the talk page into a category that is monitored by numerous editors, one of them will go to the talk page and respond to your request. HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 08:13, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

As Wikipedia is made up of many different editors with many different personalities and beliefs, one persons ok/maintenance related edit may be another persons promotional editing... not everyone may agree with you every time, and by using the edit request feature you'll steer well clear of any potential conflict of interest issues from here. -- Longhair\^talk 08:23, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

This user's request to be unblocked to request a change in username has been reviewed by an administrator, who accepted the request.

Matt at Blackburn College (block log • active blocks • global blocks • autoblocks • contribs • deleted contribs • filter log • creation log • change block settings • unblock • checkuser (log))

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Requested username:

Matt at Blackburn College (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Accept reason:

Allowing username change to requested username. Please select an option from Wikipedia:Changing username and file a request as soon as possible to avoid re-blocking. HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 08:18, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

I am going to go ahead with this unblock because it seems you grasp and accept our policies regarding conflict of interest. Make sure you go through the rename process before editing anywhere else and use the edit request template on the talk page of any subject that you are associated with. HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 08:18, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

@HighInBC: Thank you for clarifying. Obviously our main concern was that these edit requests would never be seen or actioned. So, more than happy to follow the edit requests template going forward. Sorry for the inconvenience, appreciate the help and guidance here. I will sort that rename out now. — Preceding unsigned comment added by MarketingAtBlackburnCollege (talk • contribs) 08:25, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

Looking forward to seeing your productive edits. I will be keeping an eye out and offering any advice if I think it is needed. Please sign your messages with 4 tildes like ~~~~. HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 08:33, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

@HighInBC: Thank you. Yes, please do. Aha, that's how you do that! Gotcha 👉 Matt at Blackburn College (talk) 08:42, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

Hi Matt at Blackburn College! I noticed that you recently marked an edit as minor at University Centre at Blackburn College that may not have been. "Minor edit" has a very specific definition on Wikipedia – it refers only to superficial edits that could never be the subject of a dispute, such as typo corrections or reverting obvious vandalism. Any edit that changes the meaning of an article is not a minor edit, even if it only concerns a single word. Please see Help:Minor edit for more information. Thank you. Kj cheetham (talk) 09:20, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

@Kj cheetham: Thank you for clarification. Will keep this in mind going forward.

Welcome!

Hello, Matt at Blackburn College, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few links to pages you might find helpful:

• Introduction and Getting started
• Contributing to Wikipedia
• The five pillars of Wikipedia
• How to edit a page and How to develop articles
• How to create your first article
• Simplified Manual of Style

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. Need some ideas about what kind of things need doing? Try the Task Center.

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 , and a volunteer should respond shortly. Again, welcome! HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 09:01, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

This is the standard welcome and information packet we give new users. HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 09:01, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

Attempted move

I see you are trying to move a page through Wikipedia:Requested moves/Technical requests. If you are using your Special:Watchlist then you will see there is a request for a reliable source to back this up. This needs to a be a reliable source of information independent of the subject itself(you can't use the subject of the article as a source). This could be a newspaper or other publication that mentions the name of the school.

You will find that this is the requirement of pretty much all content on Wikipedia as we try to avoid original research being an encyclopedia. HighInBC ^{Need help? Just ask.} 09:33, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

@HighInBC: Thanks for letting me know. I missed the request as wasn't watching the page. Appreciate the help with formatting. Matt at Blackburn College (talk) 10:52, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

Y Now moved. -Kj cheetham (talk) 11:11, 23 June 2021 (UTC)