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User:WormTT/Adopt/Adwiii

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Adwiii (talk · contribs)

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Hi Adwiii, and welcome to your adoption center. I've substituted across a lesson for you and I thought you'd like to know that you do now have your own official page. As you can see from User:Worm That Turned/Adopt, I've created an adoption HQ, where you can read ahead in the lessons. I haven't finished them all as yet - the red linked ones are likely to change, but feel free to read ahead - it might help. I'll also be creating a few more "advanced optional lessons" in the future. The tests might include a couple of extra unique questions if I see an area that you might need a little extra development - don't take it as a negative, it should help. Also we now have a talk area for us to use, away from the more public areas - if you would like to use it - it's at User Talk:Worm That Turned/Adopt/Adwiii. Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see. WormTT · (talk) 09:33, 21 April 2011 (UTC)


The Five Pillars  Wikiquette  Copyright 
Dispute Resolution  Deletion Policy  Policies and consensus 
Templates  Vandalism  Complete 
The Worm That Turned Adoption Course Barnstar
Congratulations on completing the course with an exceptionally high score Adwiii. I have no doubt you will go far on wikipedia, and will always be around should you need my help! Enjoy this complete barnstar, and know you are one of the elite who can display it. WormTT · (talk) 11:59, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
Lesson 1 - Five Pillars - Complete

Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing.

User:Jimbo Wales

The Five Pillars

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One of the most important essays in Wikipedia is WP:FIVEPILLARS which is designed to eloquently sum up what we're here for.

  • Pillar one defines Wikipedia as an encyclopedia. It suggests some things that we are not. Thoughts about what we are not are covered in the deletion lesson.
  • Pillar two talks about neutrality, a concept that this lesson will be concentrating on.
  • Pillar three talks about free content. The Copyright lesson will go into this in more detail.
  • Pillar four talks about civility. Wikipedia is a collaborative working environment and nothing would ever get done if it wasn't. I'll go into civility more during the dispute resolution module.
  • Pillar five explains that Wikipedia does not have firm rules. This is a difficult concept and will be covered in the Policy and consensus lesson.

Once you get your head around these five pillars, you will be a Wikipedian and a good one at that. All 5 are covered in my adoption school, though at different lengths. Be aware that I don't know everything and I would doubt anyone who said they did.

How articles should be written

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The articles in Wikipedia are designed to represent the sum of human knowledge. Each article should be written from a neutral point of view - personal opinions such as right and wrong should never appear, nor should an editors experience. Neutrality also means giving due weight to the different points of view. If the broad scientific community has one set of opinions - then the minority opinion should not be shown. An example is in medicine - if there was an article on say treatment of a broken leg, a neutral article would not include anything on Homeopathy.

To ensure that the information in an article is correct, Wikipedia has adopted a policy of verifiability. Anything written in Wikipedia should be available to confirm by looking at the associated reliable source. Wikipedia should not include anything not verifiable by seeing it is published elsewhere, in other words it should not contain anything original.

Reliable sources

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So what is a source? Wikipedia uses the word source for three interchangeable ideas - a piece of work, the work's creator or the work's publisher. In general, you would expect a reliable source to be published materials with a reliable publication process, authors who are regarded as authoritative in relation to the subject, or both. This doesn't mean that a source that is reliable on one topic is reliable on every topic, it must be regarded as authoritative in that topic - so whilst "Airfix monthly" may be a good source on the first model aeroplane, I would not expect it to be authoritative on their full size equivalent.

A source that is self-published is in general considered unreliable, unless it is published by a recognized expert in the field. This is a very rare exception - so self publishing is generally considered a no-no. This means that anything in a forum or a blog and even most websites are considered unreliable by default. One interesting sidepoint is on self-published sources talking about themselves. Obviously, a source talking about itself is going to be authoritative, but be careful that the source is not too self-serving - the article really should not be totally based on a direct source like that.

Mainstream news sources are generally considered notable... but any single article should be assessed on a case by case basis. Some news organizations have been known to check their information on Wikipedia - so be careful not to get into a cyclic sourcing issue!

There's a lot more about what makes a source reliable here

Questions?

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Any questions or would you like to try the test?
Q: Yes, actually I do have one question (for now). For things that are considered "general knowledge", such as things everyone generally knows like maybe High Profile things such as who the president is or more common sense things such as grass is green, sky is blue, etc. Do those such things need a source always?  Adwiii  Talk  12:48, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

Well, that's interesting ;) it's question in the test - so good on you for thinking about it beforehand. Basically, it comes down to the amount of sourcing needed. If a fact is uncontentious, it does not a source. However, if there is any controversy over the fact, it should be sourced. The other thing to keep in mind is that the onus of adding the source is on the person who wants to add the information to wikipedia. WormTT · (talk) 12:54, 21 April 2011 (UTC)
Okay I believe that settles all questions I have on the Issue. I am ready for the test (although I may not complete it immediately). Thanks,  Adwiii  Talk  13:01, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

Five Pillars

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This test is going to be based on questions. Some questions will have right or wrong answers, whereas others are just designed to see if you are thinking in the right way. There's not time limit - answer in your own words and we'll talk about your answers.

1) Q - You have just discovered from a friend that the new Ford Escort is only going to be available in blue. Can you add this to the Ford Escort article and why?

A - No, your friend is not a reliable source and you cannot cite him as such.

2) Q - A mainstream newspaper has published a cartoon which you see is clearly racist as part of an article. Can you include this as an example of racism on the newspaper's article? What about on the racism article?

A - You cannot include it in the first one but given appropriate circumstances i.e. there is a subsection in the Racism article relating to this topic specifically yes you could use it as an example there.
Ah, just because you see something is clearly racist doesn't actually mean that it is. Interesting idea that you might be able to put it under that subtopic, but unless there is third party coverage to agree that the cartoon is racist, you shouldn't be putting it in :)

3) Q - You find an article that shows that people in the state of Ohio eat more butternut squashes than anywhere in the world and ranks each of the United States by squashes per head. Interestingly you find another article that ranks baldness in the United States and they are almost identical! Can you include this information anywhere on Wikipedia? Perhaps the baldness article or the butternut squash article?

A- Well commonsense says looking at it not to include either. And if they were published by the same source then I wouldn't include either. However (as I believe this is likely to be the case) if the Baldness article comes from a respectable source and the squash does not you could legitimately include the baldness one but not the source on squash.
I see what you mean, and I'm pretty happy with your answer. The heart of the question is asking if you could include the synthesised research that baldness relates to butternut squashes, which would be original research, a big no-no.

4) Q - Would you consider BBC news a reliable source on The Troubles? What about on ITV?

A - (With out looking into actual BBC reports) I would consider BBC news to be a reliable source on The Troubles. However, I doubt they would be reliable for ITV as ITV is competition.
Interesting outlook. Not wrong, certainly, but I'd happily used BBC on ITV. Should be evaluated on a case by case basis though, and remain aware that as competition, there is a possibility of bias.

5) Q - Would you consider Ben and Jerry's official Facebook page a reliable source?

A- No, as it is widely A. a place of discussion and B. likely not to contain very much encyclopedic information.

6) Q - A "forum official" from the Daily Telegraph community forums comments on Daily Telegraph's stance on world hunger. Would this be a reliable source?

A- No, b/c this one persons comments, unless he has the true authority over The Daily Telegraph, cannot change the over all view/policy and it would be a better source for the encyclopedia anyway to use the Daily Telegraphs officially published view instead.

7) Q - Would you have any problem with http://www.hopsandpips.com being used in a beer related article?

A - Yes, there is a very slim chance that you would be able to find any unbiased facts in there and even if you did to be able to take them out of context enough for them to be considered useful in an article.
This is a "no right or wrong" answer question, but that is a very good answer.

8) Q - Would you have any issue with using the About Us page on Xerox as a source for the history section of the Xerox article.

A - For the more simple things no I would not have a problem with it. The only real problem is you are highly unlikely to find a whole lot information about previous events as it is more likely to give more information about more current things. And as always there is no problem with using it as a source but there needs to be other third party sources as well e.g. you can use the Xerox article, but you need to use it with another third party source like a book etc.
Bang on. If you can get 3rd party sources, you should, if not - regarding simple things, it's not a problem.

9) Q - Everybody knows that the sky is blue right? An editor doesn't agree - he says it is bronze, do you need a source?

A - Yes the sky is indeed blue and while you do not necessarily need a source. The quickest way to end the argument would be with a source (or even a picture).
Yep :D

Results

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That's a great start Adwiii. I've made a few comments, please do have a look at them, but I'm happy you get the idea well enough to move on.

Yeah on the #4 case by case thing that is more or less what i was saying I haven't looked into any articles but just looking at it htere seemed to be a high possibility of bias. Anyway, whats next?  Adwiii  Talk  13:51, 21 April 2011 (UTC)
Lesson 2 - Wikiquette - Complete

Wikiquette

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WP:Wikiquette - or the etiquette of Wikipedia is something that you may already be familiar with, depending how much reading around the different wikipedia pages you've made.

I'm just going to highlight some of the important Wikiquette items that you should try and remember. It may help you out.

  • Assume good faith - This is fundamental and I'll be going over it again in dispute resolution. Editors here are trying to improve the encyclopedia. Every single member of the community. EVERY ONE. If you read a comment or look at an edit and it seems wrong in some way, don't just jump straight in. Try and see it from the other editors point of view, remembering that they are trying to improve the encyclopedia.
  • Sign your talk posts with four tildas ~~~~. The software will stick your signature and timestamp in, allowing the correct attribution to your comment. I have a script that reminds you to do this if you think you'll forget.
  • Try and keep to threading, replying to comments by adding an additional indentation, represented by a colon, :. I cover more about this in my basics of markup language lesson - let me know if you'd like to take it. Talk pages should something like this - Have a read of WP:THREAD to see how this works.
How's the soup? --[[User:John]]
:It's great!! --[[User:Jane]]
::I made it myself! --[[User:John]]
Let's move the discussion to [[Talk:Soup]]. --[[User:Jane]]
:I tend to disagree. --[[User:George]]

How's the soup? --John

It's great!! --Jane
I made it myself! --John

Let's move the discussion to Talk:Soup. --Jane

I tend to disagree. --George
  • Don't forget to assume good faith
  • There are a lot of policies and guidelines, which Wikipedians helpfully point you to with wikilinks. Their comments may seem brusque at first, but the linked document will explain their point much better than they may be able to.
  • Be polite, and treat others as you would want to be treated. For example, if someone nominated one of the articles you created for deletion, I'm sure you'd want to know about it, so if you are doing the nominating make sure you leave the article creator a notification.
  • Watch out for common mistakes.
  • Did I mention that you should assume good faith?
  • Comment on the edits. Not the editor. I'll cover this more in dispute resolution.

Questions

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Any questions? Q: not related to the lesson but can I put that Barn Star on my User page and I am ready to take the test. Adwiii  Talk  14:09, 21 April 2011 (UTC) (see look how good i am i signed it!)

You can, but I'd suggest you don't. The reason being, every time you complete a lesson, the barnstar will get bigger - until you finish the course :) Once you're done, I'll update it all and give you a final comment - that's the best time to move it to your page.

Test

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Have a look at the conversation below:

What's the best car in the world? -- Rod
Probably something German or Japanese. -- Freddie
Like what -- Rod's Mate
I dunno, something like Volkswagon? -- Freddie
Volkswagon Passat --Passat Lover <-Postion:A
What do you want it for? -- Jane
Volkswagon Passat --Passat Lover <-Position:B

Well, the Passat lover clearly loves his Passat, but who is he replying to? In

1) Position A?

A- He is building off of Freddie's response by supplying the Passat as an option for a VW car (and a german car).
That's not exactly wrong, certainly. Based on the indentation he's replying to Rod's Mate.

2) Position B?

A- okay here I'm stumped. These are all of my thoughts, here he is replying to Jane although there it seems he just wants the world to know that he likes his Passat. So based on indents he is replying to the original comment. Final Answer: I think he is replying to the original comment.
Yes, he is, based on the indentation.

3) An editor who has a low edit count seems awfully competent with templates. Should he be reported as a possible WP:SOCK?

A- NO, I have a relatively low edit count and yet I know my way around templates and coding etc. (see here, and here. I didn't copy any of it and I'm not a sock. Although yes this generally should be decided on a case by case basis but someone being fluent with templates doesn't mean they are a sock. They could be like me, or they could be an IP that has been around fo a while and knows what hes doing but just recently got an account. But yes sadly there is a possibility that it is a sock.



Those are my answers and I'm gonna stick with them although I am not sure at all about most of them... Adwiii  Talk  14:33, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

Very good. Basically, if you assume good faith, the user could be like you (or many other situations). There may be a possibility he is a sock, but he should not be reported for that, as it's assuming the word.

Results

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I've replied to each answer, but you've done a good job there. How about another lesson :D

Lesson 3 - Copyright - Complete


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This is probably the most important lesson I'll give, because this is the only one where failure to adhere exactly according to policy can and will result in a block. Pay attention.

Wikipedia is as the slogan says, "The Free Encyclopedia". Unfortunately, this causes some problems when we use other materials that aren't so free, and other problems when we'd like to do something but really can't.
 
The GNU logo
Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, or GFDL. This is a copyleft license that allows for the free distribution of content under certain conditions. The main terms of this license are as follows:
  • Anything licensed under the GFDL must display a copy of the license (Wikipedia's is at the link I just gave you).
  • Any "derivative works", or works based on something licensed under the GFDL, must be licensed under GFDL.
  • Content licensed under the GFDL may be modified, but must include a history of all changes and who made them when.
  • All content licensed under the GFDL must be freely available or available under "fair use".

There are other terms to the license, but those are the most important for what is done on Wikipedia. Wikipedia displays a copy of the license, which is fully protected under the authority of the Wikimedia office. Whenever we make an edit, that edit is logged in the page's edit history, as well as your contributions. When a page is deleted, contributions to that page are hidden, but are still visible to administrators or "sysops". Certain page revisions may also be hidden from public view in the event of extreme circumstances, but are still visible to those with the authority to remove them for GFDL compliance.

Unfortunately, the GFDL does have some limit on what we can do. When merging pages, we cannot delete the page that is now empty, even if it serves little useful purpose even as a redirect. The contributions to that page, which provided the information that was merged out, must be kept logged so that people know where it came from and what changes were made when.
 
Creative Commons logo
 
Public domain logo
The Mediawiki software is designed to be GFDL compatible. (As a side note, the software itself is available under a similar license, the GPL.) The most common issue, and the one that most frequently results in blocks, is copyright. Any registered user can upload an image or media file. If they created the image, they can license it under a free license such as the GFDL or a Creative Commons license, or release it into the public domain (Although if you use any of those options, it's recommended to upload the image to the Wikimedia Commons instead so any language Wiki can use it.)
 
Copyright symbol
Problems arise when people upload images that are not their own. Most images are under some form of copyright, even if it's not explicitly stated anywhere. This is usually the case with anything found on the internet. When these images are uploaded, Wikipedia must adhere to a very strict policy known as "fair use". What this basically is doing is giving us a reason to use an otherwise non-free image, on the basis that it is for educational purposes, using it has no measurable effect on the copyright holder's rights, and that we have no other alternative. The establishment of this reason is called the fair use rationale, part of a set of criteria that MUST accompany any fair use/copyright tag on Wikipedia. These criteria are:
  • A specific fair use tag (see link above) that describes what the image is.
  • The source of the image (this is usually a website, but could also be a book or magazine that you scanned the picture out of)
  • The image itself must be of low resolution. If it is high resolution, that version must be deleted and replaced with another (essentially, worse) version.
  • A fair use rationale explaining:
  • Where the image is to be used (This page MUST be in the main (article) namespace. Fair use images MUST NOT be used anywhere else)
  • That the image cannot be used to replace any marketing role or otherwise infringe upon the owner's commercial rights to the image
  • How the image is being used, in a way that fits within the fair use policy (i.e., identification purposes, etc.)
  • That there is no way the image can possibly be replaced with a free version
  • The image must have been previously published elsewhere

Only when an image meets all of these criteria may it be used. Fair use images must be used in at least one article (not "orphaned"), and articles using fair use images must use as few of them as possible. Any image that does not meet these criteria to the letter will be deleted. Any user that repeatedly uploads images not meeting these criteria to the letter will be blocked.

As a further note, I mentioned that fair use images must not be able to be replaced by a free alternative. What this basically means is, there is no way you, me, or anyone else could go out and take a picture of this same thing and release it under a free license. For example:

  • I could upload a publicity picture of Eddie Izzard. Now, the photographer holds the copyright to that particular picture of the hilarious man. I can claim fair use, but the claim would be invalid because you could just as easily go to a performance Izzard is giving and take a picture of him yourself. (That's what happened here) The publicity picture is considered replaceable fair use and so would be deleted.
  • Person X could upload a picture of the Empire State Building from a marketing kit they distributed. This image would likely be copyrighted, and so they claim fair use. But I happen to have been to New York and have a picture of the ESB. I upload that instead and release it into the public domain. The first, copyrighted picture, is also replaceable.
  • For the article on the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I want to upload an image of their logo (visible in no great detail here). I go to their website and upload their version. This fair use is allowable, because no matter where or how they display their logo, it'll be under the same copyright. Since the simple art of scanning or taking a picture of a piece of work is not enough to justify my ownership of the rights to the image, there is no way to obtain a free version of the logo.

For a full description of the policies and guidelines concerning fair use, you should read (and commit to memory :-P) the page at WP:FU. Rest assured that you will never forget the name of that shortcut. Got your head around all that? Well lets move away from images - but we're not done!

Plagiarism

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Copyright violations do not only appear on images, they can appear in text too. Even if the source text is wholly in the public domain, you can't just copy it without falling foul of plagiarism. As I'm sure you're pretty frazzled at the moment, I'm just going to say don't copy and paste text! Write it in your own words and make sure you cite your source.

Questions?

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Any questions? It's a heck of a topic, so feel free to ask "why" to anything, and I will do my best to explain. Let me know when you are ready for the test.

Extra help on copyright if you need it
I can't think of any direct questions right now. The concept seems fairly straight foward so onto the test!  Adwiii  Talk  15:16, 21 April 2011 (UTC)
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Welcome to the Copyright for Dummies. I'm hoping to take you back to basics, and cover the same concepts as the copyright course. Hopefully, with this and the other course combined, you'll be able to work through the copyright module.

Glossary

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There are a lot of terms associated with copyright. If you are having trouble with any, here's a quick reference.

Term Explaination
Attribution The identification of work by an author
Copyright symbol © - used to show work is under copyright
Creative Commons Creative Commons is an organisation that provides licensing information aimed at achieving a mutual sharing and flexible approach to copyright.
Compilation A new work created as a combination of other works, which may be derivative works.
Derivative work A work which is derived from another work. (Eg a photograph of a painting)
Disclaimer A statement which limits rights or obligations
FACT Federation Against Copyright Theft
Fair use Circumstances where copyright can be waived. These are strict and specific to the country.
Copyright infringement Use of work under copyright without permission
Intellectual property Creations of the mind, under which you do have rights.
License The terms under which the copyright owner allows his/her work to be used.
Non-commercial Copying for personal use - not for the purpose of buying or selling.
Public domain Works that either cannot be copyrighted or the copyright has expired
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What you can upload to commons

Ok, now if I use a term that's not in the glossary and I don't explain, feel free to slap me.

Copyright is a serious problem on a free encyclopedia. To remain free, any work that is submitted must be released under the WP:CC-BY-SA License and the WP:GFDL. You can read the actual text under those links, but the jist is that you agree that everything you write on the encyclopedia can be shared, adapted or even sold and all you get in return is attribution.

In practise, if it comes out of your head - is entirely your own work, you have the right to make that release. If you got it from somewhere else, you don't. That doesn't mean it can't be used though. You can in these situations

  • If the work has already been released under a compatible or less restrictive license.
  • If the work is in the "public domain" - Very old items, 150 years is a good benchmark
  • If the work is not free in certain circumstances (Non free content criteria)
  1. There must be no free equivalent
  2. We must ensure that the owner will not lose out by us using the work
  3. Use as little as possible (the smallest number of uses and the smallest part possible used)
  4. Must have been published elsewhere first
  5. Meets our general standards for content
  6. Meets our specific standards for that area
  7. Must be used. (we can't upload something under fair use and not use it)
  8. Must be useful in context. This is a sticking point, if it's not actually adding to the article, it shouldn't be used.
  9. Can only be used in article space
  10. The image page must attribute the source, explain the fair use for each article it is used and display the correct tag

It's a lot, isn't it! Well, let's have a look at the non free stuff. "No free equivalent" means that you will never be able to license text under it (except for quoting) - as you can re-write it in your own words to create an equivalent. So the fair use only applies to other media. The most common use of media is images, so let's look at them. I'm going to suggest two different images. One, a tabloid picture of celebrity actress Nicole Kidman, and the other, the cover of the album Jollification by the Lightning Seeds. The tabloid picture of Nicole Kidman will instantly fail #1, because can be a free equivalent - anyone can take a picture of Nicole. The album cover on the other hand is unique - there's no free equivalent. It's discussed in the article too, so showing it will be useful in context (#8). The copy we show should be shrunk, so that it can't be used to create pirate copies (#2). I couldn't put it on my userpage though (#9)

Commons

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When people refer to Commons on wikipedia, they're generally referring to Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free material. Images on Commons can be linked directly to wikipedia, like that picture just to the right and above. Now, since commons is a free repository, fair use is not permitted. It makes sense to upload free images to commons, so that they can be used by all language encyclopedias.

Test

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Q1) Do you think Wikipedia *is* free?

A- WP is as free as information can be with all of the crazy copyright laws of the information age.

Q2) When can you upload a picture to Commons?

A- When you have either a copyright free picture, a picture with proper licensing to be used freely, or a reasonable Fair Use Rational.
I get a lot of people on that. Commons is more strict than Wikipedia, so Fair use is unacceptable. but otherwise, yes.

Q3) You find music displaying this licence [1] (non-commercial). Wikimedia is non-commerical, can we upload it to Commons?

A- Yes you can as long as the author is properly attributed.
Also, no. It's a tough question, but people are allowed to download and sell Commons work (and their derivatives) - as long as it's attributed, making it commercial. A Non-commercial license is too strict.

Q4) A user uploads a poster which is a composite of all the Beatles album covers. Can he do this? It is his own unique composition.

A-Hmmmmmmmm,I believe he can do this. He can then license it so it can be appropriately used on WP and then, I would have listed the album names and who did cover design in the description.
Well, no. Because the covers are copyright - we can't use their derivatives under freely, only under fair use, and since fair use is so strict, that will violate many of the options.

Q5) Can you upload a press image of the Pope?

A- Yes, as long as the image is appropriately licensed and you have a reason to use the picture.
Nope :P He's alive, you can mozey on to vatican city and take a photo. There is a free alternative.

Q6) Can you upload a press image of a prisoner on death row?

A- As far as I can tell it is the same as #5, As long as it is being used under a proped license tag and you have a legitimate reason to use

the image it is okay to upload

Please correct me on 5&6 I think they are wrong but i can't come up with a reason not to be able to.
I'll leave you to decide on 6. There's no right or wrong answer, but do you think you could get a free alternative picture of a prisoner on death row?

Q7) You find an article that matches a company website About Us page exactly. What do you do? You check the talk page, and there's no evidence that the text has been released under WP:CC-BY-SA

A- If it matches the page exactly there a few things you can do. You could rewrite the entire page yourself, Tag it for CSD under G12, or you could find another source that is CC-BY-SA
Yep

Q8) Can you see any issues with doing a cut-and-paste move?

A- Yes (I have had to request a History Merge before :) ), Copy and Paste does not preserve File history (as it must be for the WP GNU license thing (yes thats its technical name))
Yep (Glad I didn't have to explain it!)

Q9) A final practical test... Go. Have a snoop around some wikipedia articles, see if you can find an image which is currently being used under "fair use". Come back and link to it (using [[:File:IMAGENAME]]. You must get the : before the File name, as we cannot display the image here!)

A- File:The academy at lincoln.png
Good find! Yes.

Results

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I've commented under each question. Let me know if you have any further thoughts - especially regarding question 6 - and when you are happy to carry on.

I think I understand on #s 5&6, as long as there is absolutely no way you could obtain a free equivalent (or it would be extremely difficult) you can upload it under fair use. Again correct me if I am wrong but that is as far as I can tell what it is. I believe I am ready for the next section.  Adwiii  Talk  22:31, 22 April 2011 (UTC)
Yeah, that's about it. If there's a way you (or anyone) could get a free picture - a free picture is required.
Lesson 4 - Dispute resolution - Complete

Dispute resolution

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No matter how well you edit Wikipedia, no matter how simple and obvious your changes may seem, you are very like to end up in a dispute. This becomes more and more likely as you get into more contentious areas of Wikipedia. The higher the number of page views and the more evocative the subject - the more likely the area is going to be considered contentious.

 
Stay in the top three sections of this pyramid.

I'm going to go through the different methods of dispute resolution there are on Wikipedia. They are all covered at the dispute resolution page and the tips there are really worth taking.

Simple Resolution

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No. I'm not expecting you to back down. You obviously believe what you are saying, and there is nothing wrong with that. What you can do though is attempt to resolve the dispute. How??? I hear you ask.

Firstly assume good faith, remember the person you are in a dispute with is also trying to improve the encyclopedia. They are not trying to deliberately damage the encyclopedia. Try to see things from their point of view and see if you can both come to a compromise.

Keep calm. There's no urgency to the change you are trying to put in or take out, it will wait until the discussion is complete. If you try to fight by editwarring to keep your preferred version there is a large chance that you will get nowhere and face a block. So, instead follow Bold, Revert, Discuss - one editor makes a Bold edit, which they feel improves the encyclopedia. A second editor Rerverts the edit as they disagree. The two (or more) editors discuss the matter on the talk page until they come to an agreement or proceed along Wikipedia's dispute resolution process.

When it comes to the discussion, I want you to try and stay in the top 3 sections of the pyramid to the right. You've heard the phrase "Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit" right? Well, this pyramid explains the different forms of disagreement. Attacks on the character of an editor is never going to help anything. If an editor is "attacking" you, don't respond in kind - stay focused on the editors argument and respond to that.

If you think about what you are saying and how the editor is likely to respond you realise that you have a choice. Your comment will generally go one of two ways 1) it will address the editors argument and put forward a counterargument which the opposing editor will be able to understand 2) It will not address the situation, thereby infuriating the other editor and escalating the drama.

Accusations of attacks, bad faith, WP:OWNership, WP:VANDALISM or any number of negative suggestions are going to fall into (2). If there are issues with one of these problems, follow Wikipedia's dispute resolution process and try to keep a cool head. If needs be, walk away and have a cup of tea. Play a game of "racketball". Whatever you do to calm down and just not be on Wikipedia.

Wikipedia dispute resolution process

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If the simple techniques don't work (and you'd be amazed how often they do, if you try them), Wikipedia does have some methods of dispute resolution

Assistance
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If you want someone to talk to but not necessarily step in, there is an WP:Editor Assistance notice board. The editors there are experienced and can offer suggestions about how to resolve the situation.

Third opinion
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You can get someone uninvolved to step in and give an opinion on a content dispute. WP:3O has instructions on how to request a third editor to come in and discuss the situation. Another option to get a third opinion is to go to the project noticeboard associated with the article to ask for an opinion (the talk page lists which projects are associated with the article). Finally, you could leave a message at a relevant noticeboard - WP:SEEKHELP

Mediation
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If the issue won't go away, even after a couple of people have weighed in, you can try Mediation. There are two processes here. Informal (WP:MEDCAB) and formal (WP:RfM). The editors at each specialise in sorting debates.

Request for Comment
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You can use WP:RfC to draw community discussion to the page. You are likely to get a larger section of the community here than a 3O request. There is also an option to Request comment on a user. This is rarely necessary and should not be taken lightly. Only after almost every other route of dispute resolution has been taken should this happen - and it requires at least two editors having the same problem with one editor to be certified.

Arbitration
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I really hope you'll never see this place in a case. It's the last resort, the community has elected it's most trusted willing volunteers to preside over the most complicated cases. Have a read of WP:ARBCOM if you like, but try not to end up there.

Reports

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If an editor is acting badly, there are a few boards that you can get some help.

    Remember: you could be wrong!

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    You could be acting against consensus! But as long as you are open to the possibility and have been sticking the top 3 sections of the pyramid, there's nothing wrong with disagreeing. Just make sure you are aware that at some point you might have to realise you are flogging a dead horse.

    Any questions?

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    No I believe I am good. Ready for the test.

    Dispute resolution

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    1) What do you understand by bold, revert, discuss?

    A- As far as I can tell BRD is literally: Make a bold edit, Wait for it to be altered, and if you disagree with the revert discuss it on the talk page. This very much reminds me of a quote from Larry Sanger where he said something about how if rules bug you then just be bold and fix what you believe to be wrong and then, if others disagree work it out by discussing it with others.

    2) Assuming that person A puts in an edit, person B reverts, person A reverts... and so on, but both stop short of WP:3RR (the bright line)... who wins the edit war? Trick question alert!

    A- No one wins the war. If they both stop then generally it will be looked at later by a third party and then is liable to either revert both or one of them. And for some articles it is less than a 3RR, but that is beside the point. Just because they stop short of 3RR it doesnt mean that they are right it just means that someone else needs to ook at it because they are both obviously to involved in the situation. I am not sure the best way to go from there but I say no one wins.

    3) What is vandalism?

    A- Well the WP dictionary definition is "Vandalism is any addition, removal, or change of content in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of Wikipedia. Examples of typical vandalism are adding irrelevant obscenities and crude humor to a page, illegitimately blanking pages, and inserting patent nonsense into a page." I personally take vandalism to be any purposeful degrading of an article. For some good examples of a case of blatant vandalism look at the featured article that happens to be on the page at the moment. There is almost certainly one case of vandalism there (there is one on today's such as here

    4) What is the difference between editor assistance, third opinion and request for comment?

    A- If I still have all of this right WP:EAR is more for actual advice on how to use WP as well as essentially just a case by case version of what your doing right now teaching me the ropes. WP:3O is when you really need a third editor to come in and give an unbiased opinion about what is going on so a "consensus" can be reached (out of three people), and as far as I can tell WP:RfC is just a less formal version of 3O that can be used for a little wider range of things all though for the most part you could use 3O and RfC interchangeably.


    This User reserves the sole right to alter his answers until Worm TT reviews them if he is unsatisfied with how he has responded.

    Results

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    I have nothing to say... those answers were exactly was I was looking for. Too good Adwii, too good.

    Lesson 5 - Deletion - Complete

    Deletion Policies

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    While Wikipedia does strive to include as much information as possible, there is a practical limit as to what we're going to include as an article. Just because you think your pet cat is the cutest thing on the planet, that does not mean you should create an article about it. There's a whole list of things that Wikipedia is not. Some relate simply to style or formatting, such as Wikipedia is not a paper encyclopedia or Wikipedia is not censored. Most, however, relate to the content of the encyclopedia, and what is considered encyclopedic and what isn't. WP:NOT is an official policy, which means that all articles must adhere to it. If they don't, they're at risk of deletion.

    Wikipedia has three methods to delete pages. The first, and by far fastest, is the Criteria for Speedy Deletion. These criteria depict what content absolutely cannot be kept on Wikipedia for whatever reason and must be removed immediately. The most commonly used ones are as follows:

    • General criteria 1 (G1) or G2 - Patent Nonsense and/or Test pages. Commonly created by new accounts, these have no meaningful purpose at all. Mark these pages with the templates {{db-nonsense}} or {{db-test}}.
    • G3 - Vandalism. Obvious junk that you can understand (and so isn't nonsense) but obviously isn't intended to be the least bit helpful. This includes redirects that get made as a result of someone moving pages around disruptively. Mark these with {{db-vandalism}}
    • G4 - Recreation of deleted material. If a page is deleted through an XfD debate (see below) and it gets re-created essentially identically to the previous version, it can be speedied under G4. This does not apply to pages deleted under any other method (although another speedy criteria may fit and can be used), or pages that have been "userfyed" (see below). Tag these with {{db-repost}}
    • G10 - Attacks. If a page is created with the apparently singular purpose of attacking someone, it's a candidate for deletion. Mark these with {{db-attack}}.
    • G11 - Advertising. If a page is so blatantly advertising (for anything, even a person) that it really doesn't serve any other purpose at all, it can be deleted. {{db-ad}}
    • G12 - Copyright violations, or "copyvio". If a page meets ALL of these criteria, it should be deleted immediately for GFDL compliance. Tag these with {{db-copyvio|website}}
    • Direct copy of a non-GFDL-compatible website
    • No non-copyrighted content in history
    • All copyvio content added at once by one user
    • No assertion of permission or fair use, or that content is public domain or freely available.
    • Article criteria 1 or 3 (A1 or A3) - Little to no context OR no content. For articles that provide no useful information about the subject, are completely empty, or consist only of links elsewhere. Note that an article can be as short as a single sentence but still qualify as a stub. Mark with {{db-empty}}.
    • A7 - Non-notable subject. An article about a person, group, band, company, or website that does not establish why it is notable. If this is somewhat controversial, consider another deletion method. Mark with {{db-bio}}, {{db-corp}}, {{db-band}}, or {{db-web}}.

    Whenever you mark a page for speedy deletion, it's usually nice to notify the author. Each of the speedy deletion tags shows the proper warning to use - just copy that code and paste it on their user talk page. You are not required to do this, but it usually helps alleviate some confusion on the part of the author.

    Deletion discussions
    Articles
    Templates and modules
    Files
    Categories
    Redirects
    Miscellany
    Speedy deletion
    Proposed deletion
    If the page doesn't fall under a CSD, but you're pretty certain it can be deleted without too much discussion on the issue, you can PROD it. PROD stands for PROposed Deletion. To PROD an article, add the template {{subst:prod|reason}} to the top of the article. YOU MUST include the "subst:" code at the beginning of the template. If you're not sure what that is, means, or does, I'll explain when we get to templates. For now, just do it. This adds a little blue box at the top of the page to indicate that the page is being considered for deletion. If the box remains in place for five days, the article will be deleted. However, anyone can contest the deletion by removing the template. If you still believe the article should be deleted after this happens, you should open a debate at WP:AFD, which I'll explain how ot use in a moment. PROD's also come with a notice for the author, {{subst:PRODWarning|Article title}}.

    Finally, the XfD processes (XfD stands for Anything for Deletion) allow users to debate on the merits (or lack thereof) a particular article and decide by consensus what is to become of it. These are not votes - sheer numbers have no effect on the outcome of these debates. Only reasoned comments are considered towards the result of the debate. The template at right shows all the different types of deletion debates. The most frequently used is AfD, Articles for Deletion. Your nomination earlier today should have gone there. Each XfD page outlines the process for each, which often is somewhat complicated. Deletion review is where users can appeal a deletion debate, and follows similar procedures.

    Before anything is deleted, though, one should always check to see if there is any alternative. There are a wide range of cleanup templates that can be used to indicate an article needs attention (templates which we'll cover in more detail later, I'll just give you the link for now). One could always take care of the cleanup themselves. It's also possible there is usable content in the article that can be merged elsewhere, or it's just under the wrong title and needs to be moved. Wikipedia's purpose is to include as much information as possible, so deletion should always be a last resort.

    Questions

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    Any questions or would you like to try the "Test"

    Yet again I dont have any questions about this, i have done a little CSD work in the past and i think i generally understand it.

    Deletion

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    1) Describe a situation you would use a WP:PROD and one where you'd use WP:AfD?

    A - A PROD is to be used when it does not fit any of the CSD criteria but still needs to be deleted. An AfD needs to be used when there may be some discussion over whether or not the article needs to be deleted. PROD is generally used to ease the load on AfD although it also has slightly stricter standards than AfD.
    Very good answer

    2) Most WP:CSD categories are fairly clear, but one of the more difficult is A7. Describe a situation where A7 would be appropriate :)

    A - (Indeed it is one of the harder ones) For me A7 would be something that truly isn't notable. I have taken one thing to AfD before bc it was close to an A7 but not quite. For me an A7 is when I can't find news coverage (especially for a person) or none or few relevant links when searching the web. Granted I have never had to use A7, but I believe for the most obvious of cases (which is only when it should be used anyway) it is fairly clear when something is needed for an A7. (I know its a bad answer I would recommend the use of the {{n}}Red X N template)
    That's certainly a good try at an answer. Actually, the big thing about A7 is that the article doesn't even have a credible claim to importance (a lower standard than notability). You're not wrong, if you follow through your searching and so on, you'd work well in deletion, but A7 is meant to be strict. If I was godking of wikipedia, I'd probably make an argument to removing A7 altogether, but that's another discussion ;)

    I've created 5 pages, which could be deletable. What would you do if you stumbled upon them?

    3)First

    A I believe this page would pass CSD under A7 or G3
    Interesting answer on G3. I'd suggest A7 personally, but I could see your argument for G3 and also an argument for A1.

    4)Second

    A I would take it to Afd because there are no references and upon doing a little research of my own this is the only source I could find and it is not reliable.
    Good job on actually searching, you're the first to provide evidence that you have done :D As for what to do, I'd probably BLPPROD it, since it's got no references, giving the creator a chance to show that there are some. However, AfD isn't wrong either.

    5)Third

    A CSD for G1
    Yep.

    6)Fourth

    A I would fix it to read as such.
    good answer

    7)Fifth

    A I believe it would fall under A7, although I would WP:PROD it.
    I'd say A1 personally. (though it was originally deleted as A7, so good idea) - PROD isn't brilliant as we don't want that hanging round for a week, but I can see your reasoning.

    Results

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    You're the first person to actually do research on the articles, to see if they are viable. I'm very impressed. Good job.

    Haha, well thats what you have to do when you do it for real. Anyway I believe I am ready for whatever is next, Adwiii  Talk  10:52, 17 May 2011 (UTC)
    Indeed you are. I thought I'd put it up, I'm clearly not awake this morning. Anyway. Here we go.
    Lesson 6 - Policy and consensus - complete

    Consensus

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    Consensus is the way that decisions are made in Wikipedia. You may see the odd !vote (a coding joke, ! means not - confirming that this is WP:NOTAVOTE and then promptly voting), but these should generally be non-binding based upon weight of numbers, but rather through the weight of their arguments. Consensus should be created through discussion and any member of the community is welcome to enter in discussions. Yes, that means you. You have every right to put forward an opinion, but if your opinion can be based in policy it will hold a lot more weight.

    Consensus applies to everything on Wikipedia, from simple article edits (see WP:BRD and the dispute resolution lesson) to large policy decisions. Consensus can also change, it does not necessarily remain the same so if you see something wrong, don't be afraid to raise it. When involved in a consensus discussion, be careful not to fall foul of canvassing, something that is frowned upon. In other words, don't bring in more people to back you up.

    There are a couple of exceptions to consensus. Anything decree from Wikimedia foundation or WP:Office actions must be adhered too. Although these are rare, it's worth keeping in mind. Some of the things passed down in the past is that care must be taken over biographies of living people and copyright violations.

    Community

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    The community is anyone who writes and edits Wikipedia. This includes you, me and any user who clicks that little edit button. They need not be registered, which is why you see IP editors. Although some registered editors treat IPs like second-class citizens, there is no reason they should be. I've seen a few reports that show that the vast majority of Wikipedia was written by IP editors. It does mean that the vast majority of vandalism is also caused by IP editors, hence the disillusionment. I'll get onto vandalism in a separate lesson, so don't worry too much about that now.

    Policy and guidelines

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    Everything we do in wikipedia is governed by policy and guidelines, but policies and guidelines were written down once and discussed at length. Oh yes, almost every policy and guideline is based on consensus, leading us right back to the start of this lesson. Policies don't change much, the describe how the community works and in generally that remains relatively constant at the policy level.

    Ignore all rules

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    What? Is this really right? Well, what the ignore all rules policy says is "If a rule prevents you from improving the encyclopedia, ignore it." My personal interpretation is that this a catchall to remind us that we're not in a bureaucracy, that the important thing is the encyclopedia. I've never had to implement it personally, but I do keep it in mind.

    Questions

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    Well, that's that. Do you have any questions on Consensus or policy? No, No questions, I believe I'm ready

    Policy

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    1) What is the difference between a policy, a guideline and an essay?

    A Policies and guidelines are 'rules' that tell what is currently considered good practice. An Essay is something that holds no weight but can be used to express the opinion of one editor. And some don't use this policy at all be they are essays because they are humorous (hooray for the upside down purple triangle!).

    2) Can Policy change?

    A Yes policy can change, Policy (unless directed otherwise from corporate) is decided by consensus, which can change over time. THis is the entire purpose of the Village Pump, to discuss a change in policy.

    3) In your opinion. Is Wikipedia a bureaucracy?

    A In my opinion WP is not a Bureaucracy, I believe that the rules we have are set to make sure that those who are trying to improve the encyclopedia truly do improve it and again how could it be a BURO if you can still Ignore all Rules if it is needed to help the encyclopedia. (I believe that was a quote from Sanger (the ignore all rules thing)



    I'm not quite sure about #1, oh well.

    Result

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    2 and 3, very good. The only thing I'd say is that policy 'trumps' guidelines, it's the difference between almost always should follow and just should follow. But well done. Onwards and upwards...

    Lesson 7 - Templates - Complete

    Templates

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    Templates allow you to post large sections of text or complicated sections of code while only typing a few characters. Templates work similar to regular links, but instead of [[double square brackets]], you use {{curly braces}}. To call a template, just type the title of the template between the double braces. You don't need to include the "Template:" prefix; the MediaWiki software automatically searches within the Template namespace for what you're looking for. Only if the page you're looking for is in a different namespace do you need to specify it. See below:

    What I type What appears Comments
    {{user en}}
    enThis user is a native speaker of the English language.
    		 This calls Template:User en. All content there (that is marked to be included, see below) appears where I type the template code.
    {{Worm DYK}} 
    {{WormTT DYK}}
    		I get a red link because no page exists at Template:Worm DYK.
    {{User:Saoshyant/Userboxes/User oops}}
     This user tries to do the right thing. If they make a mistake, please let them know.
    		 When I specify the User: namespace, the userbox I have at that location appears. Thus, a template does not have to be in the Template: namespace to work.
    {{User DYK}}
     This user has written or expanded a number of articles featured in the Did You Know section on the Main Page.
    		 I get a {{{1}}} where a number should appear. This is due to the fact that I did not specify a parameter in that template.

    One template you can use to welcome new users, Template:W-basic, has several parameters which can customize its appearance. Most of those parameters are named, in that you have to specify to the template what the name of the parameter is when you use it. {{w-basic|anon=true}} sets the parameter "anon" to "true", which generates a message directed towards anonymous users. The advantage to named parameters is that they can be placed in any order, but they must be spelled exactly right or they will not work. The template also uses an unnamed parameter, one which does not have to be specified when it is put into use. Templates automatically assign a numerical name to unnamed parameters when they are used, starting with "1". {{w-basic|message}} sets the unnamed parameter "1" to "message", which is what that parameter is used for in that template. The userbox above can specify the number of states visited with that same unnamed parameter. Unnamed parameters must be in sequential order to work properly, unless you force them to be out of order by using syntax such as {{template|2=foo|1=bar}}. Using "1=, 2=" is also required if the parameter has a = anywhere within (occasionally the case with some external links).

    When writing templates, there are some extra tags and codes that have special effects when a template is called.

    Code What it does
    {{{1}}} Causes a parameter "1" to display at that location.
    {{{name}}} Causes a parameter "name" to display at that location. (Calling the template {{Template|name=Worm}} will cause "Worm" to display at that location)
    {{{1|foo}}} Sets a default value "foo" for parameter "1", which prevents the parameter from displaying as it does in the userbox above. This can be blank: {{{1|}}}
    <includeonly>foo</includeonly> Causes the text "foo" to only appear when the template is called. It will not appear on the template page, or in previews when editing the template. As a result, any code included in these tags will not be executed until the template is called.
    <noinclude>foo</noinclude> Removes the text "foo" from the template. Documentation (notes on how to use a template) is always included with these tags so that it is not called along with the template.
    {{{1|lorem ipsum}} <noinclude>dolor sit amet</noinclude> <includeonly>etc...</includeonly> When this template is called, it will display parameter 1 first, followed by "etc...". If parameter 1 is not defined, the template will display "lorem ipsum etc..."

    Conditional templates allow for use of more intricate templates, with optional parameters or different effects depending on what a certain parameter is set to. They use parser functions such as #if: to apply certain conditions to the code. Use of these functions can allow you to create some rather advanced templates, but often get exceedingly complicated and should only be edited by those users who fully understand how they work. Since these are rather complex, they will not be covered in your exam, but if you'd like we can cover them after we've completed the other topics.

    I forgot to mention - there are two ways to call a template. Transclusion is simply calling the template as I showed you above: {{template}}. This displays the template where you put the call for it, but leaves the curly braced call in place so that it's easy to remove. This also causes the template to update every time the page is loaded, if it has been edited or has a time-sensitive variable. Substitution, or "subst'ing" a template, causes the opposite effect. To substitute a template, add the code "subst:" at the beginning of the call: {{subst:template}}. When this is done, you are seeing the curly-braced call for the last time, because when you save the page, the MediaWiki software will replace that call with the template's code. This causes the template to lock in place - however it was when you called it, is how it's going to be from then on. This makes things a little difficult to remove, though, as instead of the simple template call, you've probably got lines of code that are now clogging up your article. Depending on how the template it written, it may require subst'ing to work properly, or it may require that it is not subst'ed. The page at WP:SUBST gives details on what templates should, must, or must not be substituted. When writing templates, it can also be useful to enclose the subst: code within <includeonly> tags. See below.

    Code Displays Comments
    {{CURRENTTIME}} 11:04 Template is transcluded, so updates every time you load the page.
    {{subst:CURRENTTIME}} 22:56 Template is substituted, so is stuck on the time I saved this page.
    {{<includeonly>subst:</includeonly>CURRENTTIME}} 11:50 Here, the template acts as though it were transcluded on the source page of this lesson, User:Worm That Turned/Adopt/Templates. However, it was substituted when I placed this lesson on the main adoption page, and so is stuck at the time shown.

    This lesson should show you how templates can be really useful for a lot of things. However, we can make templates even more functional and more powerful by having them do different things depending on what the parameters we set are. For more information on that, see the optional lesson on Advanced Templates.

    Templates for beginners if you need it

    Templates for Dummies (and you're not a dummy, so it should help)

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    Templates are scary but they're also extremely powerful, and so they're worth having as a module. They do involve a little bit of coding, but I'm sure you can manage a little bit of coding... just a little little tiny bit?

    Right, well, now you're thinking about doing some coding, let's look at where they're used on wikipedia. Chances are, you've already used them. Anything you put in curly braces {{ }} is a template. You may have only used them through copying and pasting, but there's a lot that you might have used. {{Reflist}}, {{Infobox}}, {{Category}} and {{Userbox}} are very common ones, along with templated warnings.

    What is a template?

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    So what is a template? Well, it's bit of "wikimarkup" (wikipedia code) which can be used on other pages. You have the option of "transcluding" it (putting the template in curly braces, {{TEMPLATE_NAME}} ) or "substituting" it (putting it in curly braces, with the key word subst {{subst:TEMPLATE_NAME}}). If you transclude it to a page, any updates to the template will show on the page - and if you look at the wikimarkup (ie press edit), you will only ever see the curly braces and template name. If you substitute it, you will effectively be copying the template output to the page at the point you press save. Further updates to the template will be ignored, and you will be able to edit the markup on the page.

    Where do I find templates?

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    Wikipedia has a specific namespace for templates. Any template which is used by many people should be held there, under "Template:", so for example the reflist template is held under Template:Reflist. If you use curly braces around reflist ({{Reflist}}) the clever wiki software looks at it and relises that it should look in the template namespace.

    However, you can over-ride this, by telling it specifically which namespace you want to look in. For example, I could hold a template in my userspace - indeed I do at {{User:Worm That Turned/Welcome}}. The markup sees that it should be looking in the User namespace, and goes there.

    How do I write templates?

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    The basics of templates is just the same as any other page. You can have a text only template, so that the same text can be used on many pages. But that's not where the real power comes in. The real power comes with parameters.

    Un-named Parameters
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    The most basic parameter is {{{1}}} (note the three curly braces - not two!). When you use {{{1}}} in a template, it will accept the first un-named parameter passed in. Confused? How about an example?

    Say I create a template called Template:Magic with the following code. 

    "This magic trick was first performed by {{{1}}}"

    I could call it by putting {{Magic|Worm}} and the output would be

    "This magic trick was first performed by Worm"

    You can go on to add other un-named parameters {{{2}}},{{{3}}} and so on. And in this case Worm would be used everywhere a {{{1}}} is shown.

    Named Parameters
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    We also have named parameters. They are used the same way as unnamed parameters, but when called you have to say which parameter you are calling. I have a feeling you're looking confused again. Let's do another example.

    Using the same template as I created about, Template:Magic I could change the parameter to {{{name}}} 

    "This magic trick was first performed by {{{name}}}"

    I would then call it by putting {{Magic|name=Worm}} and the output would be

    "This magic trick was first performed by Worm"

    Useful for when you're calling many different parameters, say on an infobox.

    Default values
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    Any parameter can have a default value, ie a value if no parameter is passed in. The syntax is {{{1|default value}}}.

    Using the same template as I created about, Template:Magic I could add a default value... 

    "This magic trick was first performed by {{{1|someone very clever}}}"

    I would then call it by putting {{Magic}} and the output would be

    "This magic trick was first performed by someone very clever"

    includeonly and noinclude
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    There are two very useful tags that you can use to change how things appear. includeonly tags will only show when the template is placed. noinclude tags will only show on the template page. So, if you want something to change when it's placed, then the includeonly is useful (perhaps a locked timestamp). If you want something on the template page only, then the noinclude is useful (perhaps for template documentation).

    Example? Yeah, I thought so. Let's go back to Template:Magic. If the code is (CURRENTTIME is a magic word, which returns the current time when called. Clever that) 

    "This magic trick was first performed at <includeonly>{{CURRENTTIME}}</includeonly>
<noinclude>the current time" </noinclude>

    You could go to Template:Magic and see

    "This magic trick was first performed at the current time"

    But if you were to call it, you'd get

    "This magic trick was first performed at 11:04"

    Other tricks
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    There's all sorts of other things you can do with templates, but it gets complicated from here on in. Have a look at Help:Magic words, you'll be amazed at what they can do. I'm going to teach you one more thing before I let you pass this module, and that's the #if: function. It's quite simple really - it works in the following format. {{#if: test string | value if non-empty | value if empty }} where it checks if the parameter "test string" is empty.

    So... let's try an example. Template:Magic again. I'm beginning to like it. 

    "This magic trick was first performed by {{{1}}} {{#if:{{{time|}}}|at {{{time}}} | long ago}}"

    Here it checks if the parameter {{{time}}} is null, and if it is it changes the text (the reason I've used {{{time|}}} is so that when the parameter isn't passed in, it defaults to nothing. Otherwise it defaults to {{{time}}}, as in the actual text - {{{time}}}, which just gets confusing).

    So you could call it by typing {{Magic|Worm}} and you would get

    "This magic trick was first performed by Worm long ago"

    or you could call it with a time, {{Magic|Worm|time = 4pm}} and you would get

    "This magic trick was first performed by Worm at 4pm"

    Ta-da, you've just learnt templates!

    Templates Test

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    Well, this is a bit of fun, isn't it? One of the more difficult things to test.

    Well, for this test, I've created you a nice new page at User:Worm That Turned/Adopt/Adwiii/Template. It's a template! Have a look at it now. Depending on how you call it, different things will happen. So I'd like you to call the template so that you get the correct result. No using subst, just use the parameters of your nice new template.

    1) I intend to pass this module! (Template module)

    A: User:Worm That Turned/Adopt/Adwiii/Template

    2) My name is Adwiii and I intend to pass this module! (Template module)

    A: User:Worm That Turned/Adopt/Adwiii/Template

    3) My name is Adwiii and I intend to eat a butterfly. (Template module)

    A: User:Worm That Turned/Adopt/Adwiii/Template

    4) My name is Adwiii and I intend to pass this module! I am really good with templates. (Template module)

    A: User:Worm That Turned/Adopt/Adwiii/Template

    I still think its funny I am actually pretty good with templates (see User:Adwiii/2 )

    NB, to get (4) to work properly... you will have to edit the template. Bwhahahah :D

    Results

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    Good with templates? Nooooo :) I expected you to ace this, that's why I didn't bother waiting to see if you wanted the test :P They're a very powerful thing to learn, I've only giving a basic overview here, but if you ever do get stuck, feel free to wander my way. I've got an IT degree you know, and I work in that area, I'm pretty hot on it too ;) Onwards...

    Lesson 8 - Vandalism - Complete

    Vandalism

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    What we're going to do now is get you started with some basic vandalism patrols. This is by no means something you will be obligated to do as an editor, however it is something you should know how to do due to the high risk of vandalism on Wikipedia. Should you ever become an administrator, you will likely be expected to deal with vandalism in some respect.

    To start off, let's get some background. Wikipedia is, as you know, a wiki, meaning anyone can edit virtually any page. This is both a blessing and a curse, however, as while it does allow a wide range of information to be added and shared, it also allows people with less than benevolent intentions to come in and mess around with stuff. It requires a fair amount of work during every hour of every day to ensure that this vandalism does not run rampant and destroy the project. Fortunately, with a near-endless supply of volunteers across the world, this doesn't really cause a problem. The addition of various tools help aid our cause and make the "reversion", or removal, of vandalism happen within minutes (sometimes seconds).

    What we define vandalism as is "an edit which is delibrately attempting to harm the encyclopedia" to an article or other page. Most commonly, these are pretty blatant - replacing a whole page or section with curse words, simply removing entire sections, and so forth. Occasionally, it's less obvious, like changing key words in a section to completely alter the meaning. Basically, anything that can't be helpful at all to the article should be considered vandalism, however you should always remember to assume good faith for questionable cases.

    The most commonly used, and arguably the most critical tool in this respect, is Special:RecentChanges. Recent Changes is a special page that lists every edit made across the project within the last few minutes. You can find a link to it in the toolbar to the left. The page is formatted similarly to a page's history, with a few differences. Here's how a standard entry generally looks:

    So that you can know all the terminology (which in some cases will be used across the site), I'm going to explain what all of this means. Feel free to skip this if you've already clicked the links.

    1. A "diff" is the difference between two revisions. Wikipedia has a special feature that allows you to compare revisions to see exactly what was changed. This is particularly useful when on vandal patrol, as this is the best thing available to tell you if the edit was or was not vandalism. Clicking on the link above will only take you to the help page on diffs, unfortunately, however an actual diff link will bring you to a screen that looks like this one, an actual diff of another article. Content removed appears in red text in a yellow box on the left; content added appears in red text in a green box on the right.
    2. The "hist" link will bring you to the page's history. You can click on the "hist" link above to get to the help page for this feature. A page's history lists all edits ever made to a page, something which is required under the terms of the GFDL, Wikipedia's licensing.
    3. The next link is the article that the edit was made to.
    4. The time stamp will indicate when the edit was made. The time will appear in your time zone, as you have it defined in your Special:Preferences. Note that this is different from signature timestamps, which are always in UTC/GMT time.
    5. The green or red number after the timestamp will tell you how much was added or removed to the article in the edit. A green "+" number shows the number of bytes added to the article - a red "-" number indicates the number removed. In general, the number of bytes is equal to the number of characters, however this is not always the case: Certain special characters can contain more than one byte, and templates can completely mess this number up. Templates will be covered in another lesson later on, however you will be using some in your patrols later. This number will be in bold if a very large number of characters were removed, which is usually a good indicator of vandalism.
    6. The next part is the name of the user who made the edit, which will link to their user page. In this case, an IP address made the edit, so the link will instead go to their contributions. Since most vandalism comes from these anonymous editors, this serves as another convenience to those on patrol. The user name is followed by a link to their talk page.
    7. The last part of a RC report is the edit summary. When editing a section of an article, the title of that section will automatically be included in the edit summary, as you see above. Other special edit summaries include "Replaced page with..." and "Blanked the page". In general, these last two are dead giveaways for vandalism edits, however you will occasionally see an editor blank his own user or user talk page, so be careful about that.

    Now that you know how to use Recent Changes, I want you to and find some vandalism edits. I don't want you to remove the edit yourself just yet - we'll get to this shortly and chances are, another editor or bot will beat you to it. So before you go on, go to Special:RecentChanges and find three vandalism edits. So that I can check your work and we can discuss things, I want you to copy the links to the diffs of these three edits into the brackets you see below. (This is most easily done by copying the URL from your address bar while you're viewing the diff.)

    IMPORTANT WARNING: Due to the very nature of vandalism on Wikipedia, it is possible you will encounter something that will offend you. I take this time to point out Wikipedia's Content Disclaimer, which basically says that you can find just about anything on here and it's not WP's fault. While you may find something offensive in your searches and subsequent vandal patrols, it is best to simply brush it off and not take it to heart. Later on, when you are actually reverting vandalism, it is possible that your own user pages will be vandalized. Here the same thing applies - ignore and simply remove it. I do not tell these things to scare you, or to imply that it will happen. I am simply pointing out that it is possible, although exceedingly rare. In many cases, these attempts to attack you are in fact somewhat amusing. If it occurs, just remember how intellectually superior you clearly are to the vandal and be glad that you actually have a life. Please add your signature here (~~~~) to confirm that you have read and understand this warning:

    Now that that's over with, go do your task. Have fun! (By the way, please ignore new pages, indicated by a bold "N" on the log entry.)

    • Diff 1: [2] Why you think this is vandalism: It is random letters. (unencyclopedic) had it been staand alone it would have been a CSD.
    • Diff 2: [3] Why you think this is vandalism: Because it is unencyclopedic.
    • Diff 3: [4] Why you think this is vandalism: Changes meaning and the links that are replaced dont exist.

    How to Revert

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    Well, If you're using anything but Internet Explorer, I suggest using Twinkle. You can turn it on by going to My Preferences --> Gadgets --> Twinkle. saving your preferences and then holding shift while pressing the refresh button. Suddenly you have new things to play with! Each diff gives you 3 options to roll back - more can be found at WP:TWINKLE

    Vandalism and warnings

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    You occasionally get the repeat vandal. The vandal who is here, not because he is bored and has nothing better to do, but because he has a singular purpose of wreaking as much havoc as he can before he gets blocked. These vandals go in and remove entire sections of text, or replace entire pages with gibberish repeatedly. Even after you've given them a warning, they ignore it and continue. It is for these vandals we have multiple levels of warnings. In general, you will escalate up those levels from 1 to 4 as the vandalism continues. If it's nothing clearly malicious (see below), you should always assume that it was a careless mistake (in short, assume good faith, one of Wikipedia's foundation principles), and just let them know that you fixed it. As it continues, it becomes more and more obvious that they intend to cause trouble, so the warnings get more and more stern. Occasionally, you'll get the vandal, who despite all logical reasoning, continues to vandalize after that final warning. When this happens, we have no choice left but to block them. Since we're not administrators, we lack this ability, so we must report them to those with that power at Administrator intervention against vandalism. That page provides complete instructions on how to file a proper report. If you are using Twinkle, you can report a user to this page by clicking the "arv" tab at the top of any of their user pages. Usually, an administrator will take action within minutes, but until that happens, you need to continue watching the vandal's contributions and reverting any further vandalism. The Three-Revert Rule does not apply when dealing with obvious vandals. I should also note here that many vandals will remove warning template from their talk page. While this may appear as vandalism, and for a time was treated as such, it is not necessary to re-add these warnings, and no warning should be issued for the blanking of the talk page. While these templates do serve as an easily accessible record for other vandal fighters, their main purpose is to alert the vandal to the consequences of their actions. Removing the templates is considered a way to acknowledge that they have been read.

    Then you get the belligerent vandal. This is very similar to the last kind, although they actually take the time to read the warnings (or are able to) and take offense. They go by the logic that anyone can edit Wikipedia, so who are you to tell them that they can't edit in this particular way? To make this rather annoying point, they will leave an offensive message on your talk page, or more often simply add some sort of vandalism to your main user page, which you generally won't notice for several more minutes, or days, if someone else reverts it first.

    When this happens, you just have to take it in stride, and remember that you are far more intelligent than them because you actually stop to read information instead of blanking it away, and thus the human race still has some hope for salvation. Just revert it, and slap them a {{uw-npa}} warning of whatever severity you deem necessary. The last version got a {{uw-npa4im}} warning, an "only warning" for the most severe offenses, and I still reported him straight off anyway.

    The final version is the malicious vandal. These are hardest to notice, because their edits aren't immediately recognizable. They will seem to be improving the article at first glance, when really they're replacing true information with false, often libelous parodies. Others replace valid links with shock sites, or add hidden comments with offensive information. This last version doesn't actually appear in the article, but is there waiting when someone comes to edit it. A similar type of vandal, the "on wheels" vandal, is here for the sole purpose of destroying the encyclopedia. The namesake, User:Willy on Wheels, replaced dozens of pages with the text "{{BASEPAGENAME}} has been vandalized by User:Willy on Wheels!" The BASEPAGENAME variable is a magic word that displays the name of the page. After his blocking, Willy continued to create hundreds of sockpuppets for the same purpose. This sort of vandal is clearly here to vandalize, as such actions are not accidental. With them, you can safely assume bad faith right from the start and slam them with a more severe warning. No, you don't have to escalate in all cases - if there is no doubt that the edit was made with bad intentions, you may start with a higher level than normal. The "4im" level is designed specifically for cases of severe vandalism, and is an only warning to cease and desist.

    Keep an eye out for all of these vandals, and keep that information in mind when stopping them. There is a full customized range of warning templates to be found at WP:UTM - use the most specific one possible, so that the vandal, if he did make a simple mistake, has the links at hand to learn from his mistake and improve. Any questions, please put them on the adoption talk page.

    Questions

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    Not much of a test this time, because there's so much to read... but let me know when you are ready :)

    Ready, and I thought of another q on templates. Is there a way to set the if parameter thing to be so that if say name=Adwiii then it would display as something different such as Hello my name is Adwiii. right now the only way I know how to use if is to set it as if it is either a value there or not. Anyway I am ready for the test.
    Tut tut Adwiii. Not reading the lessons? Perhaps you'll want to read this one :P
    As for the template question, yes, you use the #ifeq Parser function. It's case sensitive, but basically compares arg1 to arg2 and outputs arg3 of they are identical and arg4 if they are not. If that makes sense ;) WormTT · (talk) 08:25, 18 May 2011 (UTC)
    I read through the lesson and couldnt find this, oh well maybe me just not looking hard enough. Anyway I am ready for the test,  Adwiii  Talk  10:26, 18 May 2011 (UTC)
    Lol, sorry, no. The #ifeq wasn't in the lesson. I was referring to this lesson. Have a look - it's got a test within it :P WormTT · (talk) 10:36, 18 May 2011 (UTC)
    Oh, yeah I saw that but didnt read it carefully to realize that was it. Oh well I did it now.  Adwiii  Talk  11:02, 18 May 2011 (UTC)
    Your absolutely right with all those, they are indeed vandalism. The important thing to remember about vandalism is that it is deliberately trying to harm the encyclopedia. Adding unencylopedic content is not generally a bad thing, but in these cases, yes, that's vandalism.

    Vandalism

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    Q1) How would you define vandalism?

    A: I would define it as purposefully harming the encyclopedia.

    Q2) We currently have 4 levels of warnings, have a look at them if you like 1, 2,3,4 - along with an only warning. Do you think we need 4 levels?

    A: No i say we need three, i think it is slightlrediculous that we have 3rr and yet 4 levels of warning, I think that they need to both be the same.

    Q3) Does an admin need all 4 levels to block? How many do you think they need? How many should you have gone through before going to WP:AIV

    A: No it could be an only warning, however to take someone to AIV you generally need four regular warnings.

    Q4) When do you think you might use the "only" warning?

    A: I personally have never used an only warning but I believe one would use it when the vandalism Violates a policy and could almost get someone blocked to begin with, such as an attack page etc. (WP:LEGAL)

    Q5) Do you think that vandals should be allowed to remove the warnings?

    A: Not immediately I believe that after a certain period of time the vandals should be able to remove them especially with IPs bc those can change.

    Q6) Is a copyright violation vandalism?

    A: I think copyvio isnt vandalism unless it is purposeful I have never really seen someone purposefully violate copyright laws etc but that doesnt mean it isnt bad and doesnt need to be fixed. I thinkk copy vio is one of the places you have to AGF tell them about their mistake and then either fix it or have them fix it but I dont think it is vandalism.

    Q7) The vast majority of vandalism comes from IP editors... but the majority of good edits are also made by IP editors. Should wikipedia require registration?

    A: No It shouldnt. This is why we have things like semi protection. I believe it should be encouraged that the get involved with a username but not require it. Yes they do contribute the most vandalism but that is why we have HG which i mostly use to patrol IP edits.

    Results

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    All pretty good answers. you put in words like generally at the right points ;) The warning system is a rule of thumb, designed to help you. If the vandalism is excessive, then there's no need to go through all 4 warnings. Also, sometimes warnings aren't appropriate. Level 1 is not appropriate to someone who has made edits before, for example. The way I look at it is that blocks are preventative, and if a warning will prevent, then that's good enough.

    I'll get the next lesson up when I've got your final test ready :D

    Working the encyclopedia

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    Final module, well done for getting this far. I don't know if you realise, but the other 8 modules dealt with the theory of wikipedia, and didn't actually ask you to do anything. Well, this module is designed to teach you about the different areas you can work. It's a big wide encyclopedia out there.

    Building

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    The first option is to build new articles. You know an awful lot about how wikipedia works now, and what's notable and what's not, reliable sources and what not. How about you try and write an article? Something new, something different. You may have already done this. If you can write 1500 characters about a subject, you can submit it for Did you know. Did you know is a great way to ensure your new articles are up to scratch (they need to be less than 5 days old in the mainspace, well sourced and have a catchy "hook") and the hook should appear on the front page in the Did you know section! I've managed to do a few so far, you can have a look at mine if you like I keep a record at User:Worm That Turned/DYK. You can also apply for a DYK if you expand the characters in an article by 5x. That can be quite tough, but it is possible.

    Join a Project

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    Have a look at your favourite articles, on the talk page, you'll often find that they have an associated WikiProject. The project is always looking for new members and will enjoy your help! They often have to-do lists and you could help out :D

    Deleting

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    Why not mozy over to WP:XfD. There's always debates going on about articles that might need deleting from the encyclopedia. Throw in a view! You've been reading so much theory, you'll know as much as most people. There's an article on WP:Arguments to avoid in deletion discussions which might help you.

    Patrolling

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    There's a lot to maintain at wikipedia, and your help would be gratefully received.

    • New Page Patrol checks every single new page to see if it meets the guidelines, wikifies it, tags it and marks it as patrolled. Would be very helpful if you'd help out :D Have a read an think which you might be interested in helping out there. You may end up using your WP:CSD knowledge, or at least nominate them for deletion.
    • Recent change patrol, vandalism patrol. it's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it! I've done quite a bit, but it still only accounts for 20% of my work here.

    Cleanup

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    • WP:CLEANUP is one of the biggest backlogs on wikipedia. There's lots of things to do there, from wikification to re-writing articles to comply with NPOV. Every little does help, so whatever you can do, please do. As an example, I had a go at the . When I got there, there were 400. I chipped away at them at about 10 per day, many were no longer contradictory or mis-tagged. They're now at around 70, a much more respectable number. Every little helps. I cannot stress this enough.

    Help the encyclopedia move forward

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    There's always discussions going on at requested moves or WP:Requests for comment. Why not see if you can offer a point of view? The most important (supposedly) at any given time are listed at WP:CENT. Hey, you can even wander around the village pump (the encyclopedic version of the water cooler), see if there's any general discussions you're interested in.

    Questions

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    Think there's stuff their you can do? Are you ready for the final exam? I have to warn you, some of these will be involved in the practical test... oh yes, there's a practical test. ;)

    No I believe I am ready (as usual).  Adwiii  Talk  11:32, 19 May 2011 (UTC)
    Final test is here. Good luck WormTT · (talk) 15:27, 19 May 2011 (UTC)
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