User:Strdst grl/adoption

This sub-page is for new users that I have adopted or who would like me to adopt them. I am currently happy to adopt any users who ask me, please leave me a message on my talk page.

My Adoptees

My past and present adoptees are listed below. Messages from all of my adoptees can be found below, although some messages are left at User Talk:Strdst grl/adoption.

I currently have nine active adoptees:

The following adoptees have not edited Wikipedia for at least three months, and I consider them to have left the site. I do not monitor inactive adoptees, although I will not officially end the adoption. If your name is listed below and you have begun editing again, please tell me and I will return you to active status:

The following adoptees have ended their adoptions:

MichaelWestbrook - adoption ended by mutual agreement on 26th June 2010.
Sabiona - graduated on 9th July 2010.

General Messages for Adoptees and New Users

I have created a welcome template giving a brief introduction to Wikipedia. You can find it at User:Strdst grl/welcome. Please read it and check out some of the links.

Look through the suggestions at WP:LEARN, WP:HELP and WP:ACM to get help getting started.

Don't worry too much if you make mistakes - everyone does. Just be bold and ask for help if you get stuck.

If you want to make sure a page isn't vandalised, or check if someone's replied to your comment on a Talk Page, you can click "watch" at the top of the page to add it to your watchlist. When you're logged in, your watchlist is in the links at the top of the page (along with your User page, Talk page etc.) and will display the last edit to any of your watched pages or their Talk pages.

When editing, remember to write an edit summary in the line above the Save button. This is displayed on the page history, and helps other users see what changes you have made. Writing edit summaries reduces the chance that your edits will get mistaken for vandalism.

If you need to access an old version of the page, click 'history' at the top. This has links to how the article appeared after every edit that has been made to it.

WikiProjects can help with general maintenance of articles. Add the relevant project box to the talk page of the article - the code should be available on the project page.

Adoptee Messages

Click here to read discussions with my adoptees

Adoptee:Escuincla

Just found this subheading. Did you just now put it in? Or did I miss it the first time? Anyways, my next question: I want to add "Retrieved on May 25, 2009" to my references at Valle de Chalco. I'm using the following code: ^[1]. But the result isn't coming out precisely correctly, e.g. the "pipe" is printing out. I know this is a really minor, but I want to get it right. Escuincla (talk) 16:50, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

I only recently put this heading in, so it might not have been here last time. As for the citation, try using a "cite web" template. <ref>{{cite web|url=Web address here|title=The text for the link|work=The general website name|accessdate=Date}}</ref>. You can find more citation templates here. Also, when you want to write down what mark-up you are using without it getting displayed, surround it by no-wiki tags - <nowiki> and </nowiki>. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 17:01, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

Hi Strdst grl. I've pretty much completed my article on Valle de Chalco. But there's already another article on the same city, Valle de Chalco Solidaridad, with a re-direct to Xico, Mexico State. The reason I created a new article (with the help of an experienced user) rather than editing the existing one, is because this is an inappropriate redirect. Xico is the wrong name for Valle de Chalco. How do I know??? I lived for five years in Valle de Chalco! However, there's a lot of good information in the Xico article, and it's confusing to have two articles about the same place, but under two different names. We really need to come to an agreement and combine the two articles. BOTTOM LINE: How do I identify the person who originally created the redirect to Xico? I've looked back in the history, but it's VERY confusing. Can you help? By the way, an Administrator told us we couldn't just delete the redirect. Escuincla (talk) 03:15, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Okay, to find out who made the redirect, you go to the redirect page (if you click on the link, it should redirect to Xico, but underneath the title it says "redirected from Valle de Chalco Solidaridad" with a link to get back to the redirect page). Then, in the history, you can click on the dates of each edit to view the page after that edit. If you start at the top and work backwards, then the last page which is still a redirect is the one where the redirect was created, and the editor's name is at the top. Here, you want to talk to User:Thelmadatter about why the articles were merged in the first place. If they agree that Valle de Chalco deserves its own article, then you can change the redirect so that it points to your page by editing the link. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 09:59, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Adoptee: Sabiona

I just finished my article on Rick Shiomi. Would you look it over and give me an honest critique. I have more information and will be adding to it as I find time, but for now I just want it to make sense and fit in. I am continuing to work on Yellow Fever (play) and Mu Performing Arts and will be adding more as I find sources.

Also, I was surfing around and found the requested pages area. I fond an authhor I'm familiar with in that list, so I claimed it by creating a user/alison mcghee page and then putting a note next to teh blue link saying that I've clamed it. Is that the way I should do it? Thanks, Sabiona (talk) 19:14, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Your article on Rick Shiomi looks like a good starting point, and it can be built up over time. I would make two suggestions: firstly, try giving the NavBox its own page as a template - for example, Template:Works of Rick Shiomi NavBox, and then linking it in through transclusion - putting the name of the template in {{these brackets}}. This will allow you to link the same template to all of the related articles. My only other suggestion would be to add the WikiProject Theatre project box to the Talk page, so that other editors with similar interests can find the article and improve it.

The way you've done the Alison McGhee page looks good, just remember to move the article out of your userspace when you are done working on it, and move the links to it as well - you can find out what pages link to a certain page by going to that page and pressing alt-shift-j. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 10:18, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

06-09-2009

How do I delete a page that I'm no longer using? I copied and pasted all the work I did to a new page to create a new Alison McGhee page, but now I have the original piece still in my user pages. Can I delete that? Should I have 'moved' it instead? Sabiona (talk) 16:37, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Moving the page might have been simpler, but it still wouldn't delete the original. You need to add a deletion template explaining why you want the page deleted, so that an admin can delete it for you (see WP:DELETE for more details). As the page you are deleting is a user sub-page, I suggest you use {{db-user}} - just add that text to the top of the page, and it should be deleted within a day or so. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 16:59, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Oh, and with Shiomi you suggested I create a template and store it elsewhere so that I can just link to it...I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense to me, can you walk me through it with McGhee's works? Thanks, Sabiona (talk) 16:39, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Okay. First, find the template text at the bottom of the page - it's in the last section, from where it says {{Navbox until the }} just before <noinclude>. All templates are surrounded by those brackets - {{ }}. Right now, the template being linked to is the general Navbox template which is generating the box from the list that you have specified. However, you could make it so that you can put that template on multiple pages by making a template page for it.

All you have to do is create a page called Template:Works of R A Shiomi (or anything along those lines). Then cut the Navbox section and make that the content of the page - nothing else, or that will be included in the linking later. If you want to put some text on the page outside of the template, surround it by no include tags - <noinclude> and </noinclude> so that it doesn't get linked. Then, back on the Rick Shiomi article, where there used to be the Navbox, put {{Works of R A Shiomi}} (or whatever you put as the name). The appearance should be the same, but you can then link to the template in exactly the same way from any other article.

This way of linking in a template is called transclusion, and thats what the {{ }} is for. If you want more information, you can find it on WP:TMP or H:T. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 17:14, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, that seemed easy enough. I'm not sure why my head wasn't wrapping around the concept. Thanks. And, I 'moved' a page that's easy enough, too. Hmmm, maybe I need a nap.

Adoptee: JazzieIce!

YES!I would LOVE to be adopted by you!--JazzieIce! (talk) 21:55, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Adoptee: Marxmorley

Hi Strdst_grl, I just saw your message and followed the adoption instructions. Perhaps I should also use this option to ask one of my first questions. Regarding the edit I made of imminent threat, I also suggested that this be merged with a topic on self defence in international law. Such a topic does not exist yet and searching wikipedia for self defence will only yield a criminal law reading of self defence. Self defence in international law is quite different because of the Security Council and its powers under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The imminent threat is part of the concept of self defence in international law and probably should not deserve a topic on its own.

Did I edit the topic properly?

While I am unfamiliar with this topic, if you think it needs to encompass self defence in international law as well, you have made a couple of mistakes. Firstly, when using a merge banner it should be placed at the head of the article, not on the talk page, although it will automatically link to the talk page for the discussion of the merger which should occur there.

However, since in this case the article you wish to merge with does not yet exist, you have several options. You can create the new article, and then merge it if/when the discussion agrees to, but this will be very time consuming and cumbersome. You could extend the existing article on Self defence to include the international law definition, and then merge with that, but this may lead to some confusion between the two topics.

I would suggest than you remove the merge proposal and instead propse to move the page to the new name, at which you can extend it to more fully cover the new topic. As this is likely to cause some controversy, you should announce your intention to move at both the Imminent threat talk page, and discuss the new page at the Self defence talk page (since the two articles will be similar and disambiguation may be needed). This is not required, and you could move the page straight away, but it's better to be on the safe side. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 12:45, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks Stardust. I have proposed a move and hopefully initiated the debate on both imminent threat and right of self-defense, which seems to be the legal topic on self-defence. Hopefully something will come of it ;) —Marxmorley (talk) 13:25, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Adoptee: Deadlyops

Hey. I have made an article and I have noticed that it falls within the scope of a wikiproject. Should I go ahead and add the tag to it, or will a bot get it? Also, I think I could find it, but if you have the format for adding it. Thanks!Deadlyops (talk) 20:56, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

Definitely add it - to more than one project if they apply. Most WikiProjects do not have bots to tag articles, they rely on the project members and other users. Adding your article saves someone else having to search through to find it, and also gives you somewhere to go to request assessments and advice on making improvements. The relevant template can normally be found on the project page of the project in question. It might be best, however, not to specify the 'class' and 'importance' parameters in the template - while you do not have to be a project member to assess articles for most projects, it is hard to make an objective rating of an article you have been closely involved in. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 21:48, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

Hey. I have a feeling that an article should be up for deletion, but I'm not entirely sure why. It has been given a couple of days to develope, and nothing has resulted so far. Tell me what you think. Heres the article: Sekar Engineering Works Deadlyops (talk) 01:15, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

Okay, it looks like this page has already been deleted. If you try to view the page now, you can see the deletion log which specifies why it was deleted. But for future reference, the possible reasons to list an article for speedy deletion (for articles with obvious problems) can be found at WP:CSD, and information on when and how to propose non-speedy deletion can be found at WP:AFD and WP:DEL. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 17:57, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

Hey. Thanks for checking up on me. I'm doing pretty good, but I have a question. I can't really figure out how to make a subpage. I tried to look it up at Wikipedia:Subpages, but that didn't help. Thanks in advance. Deadlyops (talk) 06:07, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

It's fairly simple. You just enter "ORIGINALPAGE/SUBPAGE" in a link or the search box, and then follow the link to create a new page. For instance, if you wanted to create a subpage of your userpage about your favourite articles, you could follow the link User:Deadlyops/Favourite articles. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 14:08, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Me again. This time I have more of a personal question: do think I should adopt someone? And if so any tips? You've been a great help to me and I want to help new editors, too.DeadlyOps (talk) 07:31, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Technically speaking, you can't adopt someone just yet. Adopt-a-User specifies criteria for adopters, and you don't meet two of them: a minimum edit count of 500 (yours is 439, as shown here) and no current adoptees. However, if you continue to edit as you have been recently, your edit count should be over 500 soon, and, if you feel ready, I wouldn't have a problem letting you graduate... If you really want to become an adopter, let me know and I will help you.

However, if you would prefer to stay an adoptee for a while longer, you can still help out new users. Welcoming users with welcoming templates like this one is something any user can help out with, and pages like Special:Contributions/newbies, Category:Wikipedians looking for help and the Help Desk allow you to track down new users and offer assistance on particular problems. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 08:39, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Adoptee:DJO CODY

ADOPT ME (DJO CODY (talk) 22:08, 29 January 2010 (UTC))

I would be happy to adopt you. Any problems you are having, please come here and I will do what I can to advise you and point you towards relevant pages.

I think, from your message, you might need some pointers on Talk Pages (although this isn't technically a talk page, it should be treated like one). Firstly, from the layout of the page you should find a reasonable are to leave your comment - generally, at the very bottom or occasionally the very top, depending on the convention set by other messages. In the middle of another section of writing is generally not a good idea, as it confuses the messages. On talk pages (although not here) you can click 'New Section' at the top of the page to automatically create a separate area for your message. Secondly, all caps is generally a bad idea, as it can be considered rude - see All caps#Internet

I hope this was helpful! strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 09:57, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

is there a list for all the cool gadgets i can find? that i can put on my user. —Preceding unsigned comment added by DJO CODY (talk • contribs) 20:44, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Do you mean gadgets or things like userboxes and other decorations? strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 20:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

I want decerations, and ...stuff like that... —Preceding unsigned comment added by DJO CODY (talk • contribs) 20:54, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Well, the Design Centre has lots of suggestions for starting out. Try looking at other userpages. Don't worry too much about adding tools - they are only useful if you plan to use them frequently. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 20:54, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

did i do good?(DJO CODY (talk) 20:51, 11 June 2010 (UTC))

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs

It looks like your edit has been reverted as vandalism. Some of your recent edits have seemed to be unconstructive, although I can see that many of them may be due to confusion or mistakes. Please make sure that you are familiar with Wikipedia's most important policies and guidelines - you can find a brief overview at my welcome message. You may also wish to use the preview button to prevent mistaken edits before they are saved. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 15:32, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Adoptee: CB661876

I'm still learning about how to edit on Wikipedia. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing. 14:24, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Well, anything you want to ask about, fire away. I would say a good place to start would be the tutorial, followed by How to Edit a Page and the Five Pillars of Wikipedia. Between them, these pages just about cover the basics of Wikipedia. If you see anything which catches your eye, or if you want some more suggestions, just leave a note here and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

The only thing I would point out is that when you sign a note on a talk page, like above, you should use four tildes - ~~~~. Using the wrong number will produce the date or your name, (depending on whether you use three or five) not both, which is generally considered more polite. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 15:30, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Thank you Claire-chan 13:31, 8 February 2010 (UTC)? I'm sorry for being slow. How do I edit my raw watchlist? I don't understand quite yet. Claire-chan 13:32, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

When you are logged on and viewing articles there should be a tab along the top of the page that says 'Watch'. If you want to keep an eye on the page, you click on that and it will be added to your watchlist, which is linked to at the top right of every page if you are logged on. Your watchlist will tell you what the last edit on each page was, and you can include as many pages as you want. If you want to remove a page, enter your watchlist and click "View and Edit watchlist" just under the title, and there are instructions on the page.

On an unrelated note, I noticed you have a custom signature. You might want to change it from just "Claire-chan" to [[User:CB661876|Claire-chan]] to make it clear where your user page is situated (this will link the words Claire-chan to your user page). strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 14:51, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

I can't find the 'Watch' tab at the top of this page, exactly. Ooh, I'll try the Watch this page option!! Claire-chan 02:03, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Let's see, what exactly is the Sandbox? Claire-chan 02:11, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Sandbox can mean lots of things on Wikipedia. Generally, it is a term referring to any page which can be used to 'test' edits without affecting any important articles. Firstly, there is the Sandbox, a general page which anyone can test edits on, but you will often find that important templates have their own sandboxes, so that users can test edits to the complicated mark-up without affecting pages which display the template. Many users also create a user subpage entitled 'Sandbox' in which they can work on projects outside of the article namespace without cluttering their main user page. You can find my sandbox sub-page here. User sandboxes are often used to draft new articles and give other editors a chance to offer help on them before moving them to the main encyclopedia.

Hope that helped! strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 10:07, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Adoptee: Arshan.abbas

In future, I will leave all messages for you here, and it is easier if you post questions here as well. You might like to add this page to your watchlist to keep track of new messages. You can find out more about your watchlist by reading my advice to CB661876 above.

Before creating this page, you need to check it meets Wikipedia policy: notability and verifiability are two of the most important ones, and any article which fails to meet them will be deleted fairly quickly. The reason given for deletion was Criteria A7 which is a notability issue: this may mean that the subject is not suitable for an article, but it might just mean you failed to indicate why it was notable.

The best way to create an article if you are uncertain about these policies is to draft it in your user space, for example at User:Arshan.abbas/Sandbox (click on the red link to start the page). Here, it will not be deleted, so you will have as much time as you want to work on it and ask for other editors - including me - to help expand it. Then, once you are sure it is up to standard, you can simply move the page to its correct title and it will become a part of the encyclopedia. I would suggest creating an initial draft as soon as possible, and then I can look at it and advise you further on notability guidelines.

On an unrelated note, I notice you have created a custom signature for yourself, which does not currently have links. While there is not rule against this, it is generally considered polite to provide a link to you user page or user talk page in your signature in case other users want to contact you about the message you have left. You can do this by replacing the text Arshan abbas with the markup [[User:Arshan.abbas|Arshan abbas]]

Also, looking at your user page you might want to consider some re-writes. While keeping lists of tools is a good idea, some of your userboxes are misleading - for instance, I know you do not have rollback rights. While this does not violate the user page guidelines as far as I know, it would almost certainly be considered bad manners.

strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 17:52, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Okay, I have some more feedback for you:

Innaccuracies on your user page. While I have no problem with some parts of your user page, others worry me. Barnstars such as the India Star you are currently displaying are awards for outstanding work on articles, and MUST be awarded by another user - you cannot simply add it to your user page. Userboxes are used to help categorise editors and contact them for certain tasks, and it is considered polite to keep them accurate - for instance, you are clearly not a user with rollback rights and I can't see any evidence of you patrolling new pages, so it might be best if you remove those. Also, you really don't need admin tools if you aren't an admin.
Display problems. If you are having trouble getting your user page to display properly, please ask me for help. For instance, I notice that the WikiProject India is not displaying correctly because it only has one } at the end where it needs two - see WP:TEMPLATES for more details. I also think you might need some sub-headings, which can be achieved by using three equals signs instead of two - ===Heading===
Personal information. While I understand you want to be able to be contacted, it might be best to rely on your talk page. Leaving your e-mail adress might get picked up by spammers.
Jamia Live. Looking at the draft, I recommend you read Wikipedia's policies on notability - specifically articles about websites - verifiability, neutrality and copyrightred information (which includes the content of other websites). I know these pages are not that interesting, but they are all important and the more familiar you are with them, the easier it is to edit any article.
WikiProjects. Well done on joining some! WikiProjects are a great way to find articles to edit and to get help from editors with similar interests.
Edit summaries. I know it is a bit annoying, but the more helpful your edit summary the less likely your edit will be deleted. Try and leave one with all your edits, even if all you put is 'spelling error'. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 10:01, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

Dear Strdst Grl, Please review my recent work.

I want to nominate someone for Adminship, Please give detailed procedure.--Arshan abbas 09:25, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Looking at your recent edits, you seem to be contributing well to the encyclopedia. Well done! If you have any problems in future, please contact me here.

In future, please post messages for me on this page so that they will not be archived before you can read them. Also, please acknowledge when you have read messages posted for you here with a quick reply, because I have no way of knowing when you visit this page.

I noticed a message on your talk page saying that you have applied for ACC membership. Could you please explain this to me, as I have not heard of this before and cannot find any information on it. When you do, I will try to help with your application if possible.

In response to your point about adminship, the procedure for nomination can be found at WP:RFA/N and some more useful information about nominations can be found at WP:GRFA. The actual procedure occurs at WP:RFA. If you need more information, there are plenty of links or you can ask here about anything more specific. My only warning would be to make sure you are making a sensible nomination - be sure that whoever you are nominating would make a good admin, and be prepared to explain why you think they are suitable.

Hope this helps! strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 15:03, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

I read this.--Arshan abbas 17:25, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Star Dust, How can I get to my deleted edits, Can I write in talk page of article edited by me to give feedback. Please help.--Arshan abbas 20:13, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

That depends on the article, if you link to it here I can give you more specific advice. If someone has merely reverted your edits, you can access them through the page history, by clicking the tab labelled 'History' at the top of the article page. Edits made by you will be listed with your user name. However, if the entire page has been deleted, you will not be able to access it unless you ask an administrator to help you; please see WP:Deletion policy#Access to deleted pages for more information.

I'm afraid I don't understand your comment about talk pages, but if you wish to ask for feedback on your edits or give feedback to other editors that will usually be alright, although please remember that not all editors regularly visit article talk pages and it may be easier to visit their own talk page if you wish to contact them. For more information, please read WP:TALK for widely accepted talk page guidelines, and you may also wish to consult WP:Etiquette. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 16:09, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

√Dear Stardust, I appreciate your prompt and worthy reply. --Arshan abbas 19:57, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

Adoptee:Winner 42

I joined the Percy Jackson Task Force. Can you tell my more about Task Forces and Wikiprojects

Firstly, I would just like to warn you that when posting a message for another user you should sign it by typing four tildes at the end - ~~~~. This will automatically be converted into your user name and the date the message was posted, as well as links to you user page and talk page.

Wikiprojects are organisations of editors who come together in order to edit articles on a particular subject. As well as organising editing, WikiProjects will monitor target articles for vandalism, set standards and guidelines for the articles they oversee and assess articles according to a variety of criteria. You can learn more about WikiProjects at Wikipedia:WikiProject, which includes many helpful links, or from the WikiProjects themselves. The WikiProject Directory is a helpful way to locate WikiProjects for topics you are interested in.

There is no need to join an article's WikiProject in order to edit it, Projects are purely for fun and collaboration work. You can also request help with your editing from most WikiProjects without having to be a member. Anybody who wants to can join a WikiProject, with no responsibility to edit that project's articles and no limit on the number of projects you can join. However, it is considered impolite to join dozens of WikiProjects and not contribute towards them, and many WikiProjects send out regular newsletters which will clutter your talk page if you are not careful.

Task forces are smaller, more tightly focussed groups of editors who work within a WikiProject. While a WikiProject tends to have a broad category of articles it oversees, a task force will focus on a particular sub-set - for example, the Percy Jackson task force is part of WikiProject Novels, a much larger project. Task forces work in much the same way as a larger project, but they will work within the project's guidelines and use the project's resources. Joining a task force for a project may mean you are automatically considered a member of the project.

An example of this link is the relationships between WikiProject Novels, the Percy Jackson task force and WikiProject Children's literature (which I am a member of). Because the Percy Jackson task force is a task force belonging to WikiProject Novels, you will find its location on a sub-page of the WikiProject and many members will discover it through this project. Tasks such as tagging relevant articles are carried out through the larger WikiProject Novels template.

On the other hand, WikiProject Children's literature uses its own template and has its own policies and guidelines, although these are similar to Wikiproject Novels and there is a lot of overlap of articles. This is because WikiProject Children's literature is a separate project, although out of respect for the overlap it is known as a "daughter project" of WikiProject Novels - since Novels encompasses both Children's literature and other topics. The Percy Jackson task force could equally easily have developed as part of WikiProject Children's literature, but since the Novels project is much larger and more used to handling task forces, it developed there instead.

But that's enough of the technical terms. Now that you have joined the Percy Jackson task force, you have a dedicated group of editors who can help you to edit any articles within the task force, and easy access to the rules and guidelines for creating good articles about Percy Jackson. Joining a WikiProject makes it clear to other editors that you are interested in the topic, and they may ask you to help them with any problems that they might have. Joining a WikiProject is very useful if you plan to regularly edit articles on a certain topic, and is also an enjoyable way to meet like-minded editors.

I hope this helped! strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 16:33, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

I did thanks :) Winner 42 (talk) 17:03, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

My Wikiage???

I see you have found WP:7AGES, which you may have noticed was created by me over a weekend last year. This is a joke page, inspired by similar pages such as WikiGnome and WikiElf. Nevertheless, many users display their age with the userbox User:Strdst grl/ubx/sevenages, which can be used to display any WikiAge. As with WikiGnomes and WikiElves, displaying this userbox implies certain points about your editing habits, which other users can infer from the age you have chosen.

Really, you can choose which of the WikiAges suits you the best, although since you have been editing for a little while you are probably beyond WikiInfant, and since you are still adopted WikiAdult is probably too far. That leaves you three to choose from: WikiChild, WikiTeen and WikiYoungAdult. Just because you are fairly new does not necessarily make you a WikiChild - it all depends on your state of mind and how you feel about editing. Many new users jump straight to WikiYoungAdult, so progressing through in order is not required. Also, feel free to change your age if you feel differently in future, to whatever age you feel suits you best.

I'm glad you enjoyed this page! I hope this helped you decide. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 08:54, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I have been looking at a lot of User boxes and Barn stars lately. I was wondering how I could create some of my own and if there is a template to help me do so. P.S. Good job on the welcome template! :)

Since making userboxes is a hobby of mine, I will start with them first. You can learn about userboxes at WP:UBX, although you needn't read the entire page before making one. Really, you just need to focus on WP:UBX#Constructing a userbox. There is a Userbox Maker which can do this for you, but I would recommend using the standard userbox template:

{{Userbox |border-c=#000 |border-s=1 |id-c=#fff |id-s=12 |id-fc=#000 |info-c=#039 |info-s=8 |info-fc=#fff |id=ID |info=Content}}

Simply copy and paste the text above into a suitably titled user subpage and it will create an infobox. You can then specify the text you want in both the "ID box" (the smaller side box) and the main "info box" section. If you wish, images can be placed instead of text. The three-digit numbers following the hash signs are CSS colour values. Each digit can be any value from 0 to f (hexadecimal), with the first representing red, the second green and the third blue. Other numbers control text size and border thickness.

The simplest way to get used to creating userboxes is to try it for yourself, so I encourage you to have a go. If you need some ideas or different formats, look through my userboxes or the userbox gallery. If you need any help, let me know here, and I will get back to you.

Barnstars are a bit more complicated. Basically all you need to do is create and upload an image, but you cannot officially create a barnstar without a consensus at WikiProject Wikipedia Awards. Since I have never gotten involved with making a barnstar, I suggest you contact one of the project members and ask them how you can go about contributing.

I hope this helps! strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 08:48, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks it helped a lot! :)

Like the user boxes I created? Winner 42 (talk) 21:25, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

They look great! The only other thing I would say is that if you want other people to be able to use them (it's your choice whether you do or not) you can move each to its own sub-page, and then link them in with the code {{User:Winner 42/Userbox 1}} or whatever you call the subpage. This would allow you to add your userboxes to the gallery for other users to share. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 07:45, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

I want to improve the formatting of my userpage by creating a header and organizing better. Could you give me some tips to help with this? Winner 42 ( Talk to me! ) 20:10, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

I can help you adapt some formatting if you give me an example - can you find a page with some of the features you want? Also, you can try the User Page Design Centre for some tips. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 10:21, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Dear Srtdst grl, Do to the fact that I haven't been using your adoption for a while I was wondering if we could officially end my adoption. Thank you, Winner 42 Talk to me! 18:47, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Adoptee: Elvie Love

Thank you very much for the welcome. I really appreciated it, and found the links you provided to be most helpful. I hope you don't mind me asking a question here, but from your user page you seem pretty new-user friendly, so I hoped it might be okay!

As I've been exploring wikipedia on the subjects that interest me, I've noticed that a lot of the talk pages link to various Projects. I'd like to get involved with one or two of them, but although there is information on how to get involved, I remain unsure of any particular etiquette. I lack the confidence to just barge in and start doing stuff off the bat, but is that what's normally done? Or is it okay to join a project and then sit on the sidelines for a bit and see what other people have done/are doing? Would it be bad form for me to start adding topics to the todo list? I'm just not sure if there's any kind of protocol involved with working on specific Projects. Is there any particular approach you think I should take? Or maybe an article that relates to this that I haven't yet found? Any help or advice you can offer is appreciated. Elvie (talk) 14:37, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Most projects are happy for you to sign up straight away and begin working - be bold is the guideline on Wikipedia. Most projects will have instructions on the project page for how to sign up and what tasks you could get involved with. However, they might prefer you to discuss any changes you want to make, which can be done on the associated talk page. If you need some one-to-one advice getting started, you might like to see if anyone at the adoption centre is involved in the projects you would like to work on.

I hope that answered your question. If you have any more, don't hesitate to ask me - I'm always happy to help out. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 16:38, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for taking the time to answer me - your advice is very helpful, and appreciated! Elvie (talk) 18:23, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Hiya Stardust, I'm sorry to be pestering you again, but I didn't really know who else to ask. I have just encountered an unpleasant situation, and I don't really know what I ought to do, and I'm also slightly worried I may have responded inappropriately. I would really welcome some advice about this. Please forgive the lengthy explanation. I have been engaged in a discussion on the talk page of United Kingdom. Some users were engaged in an edit war (which I stayed out of), and the discussion to try and reach a consensus has been ongoing for a few days. For my part it has been civil throughout, and I've enjoyed the discussion, and the research I did as a result of parts of it. There are several users in agreement on both sides of the debate. However after my last edit on the subject this evening, a random IP made a comment accusing me of being the sock puppet of another user in the debate. This was just so out of the blue, and just so completely unfounded I really felt (and feel) quite upset and offended. I replied in as civil tone as I could, but I'm wondering if I should have replied at all. I'm now regreting even participating in the discussion, and feel quite discouraged - and won't be adding to another discussion I was having on a different talk page, because I don't want to risk the hassle. I really resent having to justify myself against unfounded accusations in an article Talk Page. I also don't know if this is going to have other consequences for me. Sorry, I realise I am quite possibly over-reacting. That aside, I think I could still use some advice, since I genuinely don't know what, if anything, I should do; or if I can protect myself against these sort of nasty accusations in the future; or if I was wrong to have defended myself on the talk page. I'm sorry for putting this on you - I just don't know who else I can ask. Feel free to point me elsewhere! Thank you. Elvie (talk) 03:01, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Firstly, I would like to reassure you that the IP user in question is clearly in the wrong, as a number of Wikipedia policies demonstrate: no personal attacks, civility, Wikiquette, assume good faith, even the fourth pillar. No-one should ever make an unfounded accusation of this manner against you, and if the user in question really believed you were a sockpuppet they should have begun a normal investigation and given you a chance to defend yourself, rather than throwing accusations at you on a talk page. However, it is still best to assume the assumption of good faith, and treat the user as civilly as possible, to avoid attacking them in return.

I know from experience that attacks are very hurtful, but there is some good advice on how to deal with them at Responding to personal attacks. The advice here does recommend not responding at the article in question, but at the user's talk page, and it does suggest it might be better not to respond at all. Your response was a little confrontational, but that is understandable and the only trouble it might cause is encouraging further attacks. If this happens, I would suggest you follow the advice at WP:CALM, and try not to respond agressively.

Unfortunately, all editors run into attacks like this from time to time, and they are never enjoyable. When you have been editing for longer, accusations of sockpuppetry are less likely, but there are still some users who will find something to get at you about. I hope that this does not put you off editing entirely, as these attacks are generally rare - although the more lively debate, the more likely they become. Nevertheless, I urge you not to change your editing habits over this, but rather to do your best to continue as normal and contribute as best you can.

Also, do not feel sorry for pestering me - this is precisely the kind of tricky situation which confuses even fairly experienced users, and helping out with problems is one of the things I enjoy most about Wikipedia. If you have anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 08:31, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you so much for your reassuring response. I think you were right about my talk page reply being less than ideal, and I'll know next time just to take a step back and tell myself to breathe or something! You are also right that I shouldn't let it get to me too much and stop me from contributing on here. Thank you for the links you supplied too - they were also helpful in aiding me to regain some perspective! Elvie (talk) 23:25, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Adoptee:Kalbmkms

This adoptee has not yet left any messages.

Adoptee:MichaelWestbrook

I see the term "sensationalism" tossed around a little on at least one talk page. What if I disagree with what a user labels "sensationalism"? Is it appropriate for me to reply with a rebuttal? Or will I appear "trolling", as they say in the cyberworld? Opinion please. MichaelWestbrook (talk) 22:28, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Talk pages are designed for discussion, so if you want to disagree, you can. However, you should always respect the talk page guidelines and avoid appearing to attack other users. This can be trickier than it sounds on a divisive topic. It is generally best to try and suggest a compromise rather than simply disagreeing, and you should not change the article in question (or revert any changes made by other users) until the discussion has reached a consensus. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 09:35, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Adoptee:CrabFreak

Stardust, How do I make a userbox in code? I've just created a userbox for the Userboxitis page and I wanted to put it on with the code. CrabFreak (talk) 07:37, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

Firstly, when linking to a page which starts with the text Wikipedia: you need to include either that text or the abbreviation WP: - this directs the link into the correct namespace, that is, to the pages about Wikipedia rather than the articles. If you want, you can hide the prefix with a piped link, as I have just done.

Secondly, there are two ways to present the code for your userbox. Either you can simply type it, surrounded with the text <code><nowiki> and </nowiki></code> to format it as code rather than displaying the userbox. See the example below for how this looks:

{{A userbox}}

Alternatively, you can use the format of the userbox gallery, which uses the text:

{{usbktop}}

{{usbk|Your userbox name}}

{{usbkbottom}}

This displays as:

Code

Result

Go slowly insane as you sit and stare...

Usage

This is helpful is you plan to make more userboxes for the page, as you can add as many as you like between the top and bottom tags. I hope this helped! strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 09:26, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

Thank you! CrabFreak (talk) 09:39, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

Adoptee: SeparateWays

You can choose whether to reply to messages on your own talk page and leave a talkback or to reply on the other user's; both methods are equally valid, and it's down to your own preference. From what I have seen, replying at the other user's page is more common, but several users prefer to leave talkback so that the discussion is more readable. Whichever way you choose, just try to be consistent. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 16:29, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi Stardust: I'm not sure if this is a general question for you or a specific one for someone else, but I figure my adopter is a fine place to start. I'm thinking about contributing to the progressive rock project. A number of the current tasks have already been completed, so I figured I'd clear them off. In recording a task completed, I'm supposed to sign it with my name. Should I be concerned about looking like I'm taking credit for work I didn't do? By putting my sig next to a completed item, I'm concerned that I'm posing as someone who actually did the task. Is there any general Wikipedia principle here? And as a related question, I'm noticing that the markup for a completed item is complex (at least for my Wikipedia noobie tastes.) I can certainly copy and paste a completed item and edit appropriately, but if you're willing to take a look at it -- am I missing the boat here? Is there some more straightforward way (of using templates or some such) of recording a task as complete? If this is a more appropriate question for the folks on the project, let me know and I'll ask them; I figured I'd start here in case this was some systemic Wikipedia issue that I didn't understand yet. Thanks!

If the person who completed the task didn't cross it off, you could check the relevant page history to discover who did and credit them with it, or simply put a not saying "already completed" without signing. It's generally best not to claim work as entirely your own, but few will mind if you leave a short message making it clear it wasn't your work.

The markup doesn't seem that unusual to me - it's pretty much the standard format. There are basically three portions to it: the line striking out the task, which is created by placing <s> and </s> around the relevant text; the

Done symbol, which is here provided with {{tick}} '''Done''' - the three apostrophes is the standard formatting for bold text; and the signature created by four tildes ~~~~ which should be left after any message.

The only suggestion I would make is that the code {{Done}} can also be used to create

Done, although you may prefer to stick with the current format in this case. At Template:Done you can see a series of other common symbols relating to task completion in the same style - these are fairly standard. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 20:38, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

That helps. Thanks! SeparateWays (talk) 10:40, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi Stardust: Is the best way to keep up with a particular discussion to "watch" the page, and then to view the "diff" for the most recent change(s) on my watchlist? The reason I ask is that this seems cumbersome at times. If I'm trying to keep up with a Village Pump page (for example) that I haven't seen in a while, there might be a bunch of scattered diffs throughout the page. This may be the nature of the beast; but it feels terribly disjointed to me compared to a classic threaded-discussion interface, such as in a web forum or old-style USENET or the like where I can see anything new as a separate message / posting. Are there any particular master tricks I should know about in terms of tracking changes to discussions and keeping up, or is this just more of an issue where I need to get oriented and accustomed to it? Thanks... SeparateWays (talk) 21:26, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I don't know of any way to avoid this other than to check more often or to re-read the entire discussion each time. Normally, new entries will be at the bottom, but this is not always the case, so to keep up to date "diff" is the best option I know of. strdst_grl (call me Stardust) 16:04, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. At least I know to stop chasing down solutions that likely don't exist. :) SeparateWays (talk) 18:41, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

References

Example references used above will be illustrated here:

^ Mexican Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografica|Retrieved on May 25, 2009

[1] Mexican Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografica|Retrieved on May 25, 2009

[1]