User talk:BellviewMatt

Welcome

Hey, I see your name is BellviewMatt and that you seem to exclusively edit the Bellview Winery. Wikipedia tends to frown up on editors writing about themselves or subjects connected to them, and such conflicts of interest if not declared are usually grounds for being blocked from editing, so I advise you read up on the relevant conflict of interest policies:

Over the last year, I and one of my colleagues (who edits here infrequently due to real life obligations) have worked on Wikipedia's coverage of New Jersey's wine and alcohol industry, so that's how this article came about--and why I (among a few other interested editors) keep an eye on it. If you have any questions, feel to reach out to me on my talk page at User talk:ColonelHenry or in the left-hand column menu under "Tools" there's a link where you can reach out to me offwiki by mail.--ColonelHenry (talk) 22:15, 26 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

obligatory conflict of interest template

Hello, BellviewMatt. We welcome your contributions to Wikipedia, but if you are affiliated with some of the people, places or things you have written about on Wikipedia, you may have a conflict of interest or close connection to the subject.

All editors are required to comply with Wikipedia's neutral point of view content policy. People who are very close to a subject often have a distorted view of it, which may cause them to inadvertently edit in ways that make the article either too flattering or too disparaging. People with a close connection to a subject are not absolutely prohibited from editing about that subject, but they need to be especially careful about ensuring their edits are verified by reliable sources and writing with as little bias as possible.

If you are very close to a subject, here are some ways you can reduce the risk of problems:

Avoid or exercise great caution when editing or creating articles related to you, your organization, or its competitors, as well as projects and products they are involved with.
Be cautious about deletion discussions. Everyone is welcome to provide information about independent sources in deletion discussions, but avoid advocating for deletion of articles about your competitors.
Avoid linking to the Wikipedia article or website of your organization in other articles (see Wikipedia:Spam).
Exercise great caution so that you do not accidentally breach Wikipedia's content policies.

Please familiarize yourself with relevant content policies and guidelines, especially those pertaining to neutral point of view, verifiability of information, and autobiographies.

For information on how to contribute to Wikipedia when you have a conflict of interest, please see our frequently asked questions for organizations. Thank you.

Notice of Conflict of interest noticeboard discussion

This message is being sent to inform you that there is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Conflict of interest/Noticeboard regarding a possible conflict of interest incident in which you may be involved. Thank you.

response to conflict of interest

Hello User talk:ColonelHenry! Thank you for reaching out. I understand your concern and have been taking great care during my editing to prevent a conflict of interest, as well as reading up on relevant material (including some of the information you have sent over to me).

My main point of editing this page has been to simply add relevant information, being that much of it is missing, out of date, or should be included in sections already mentioned.

I have been very vigilant to only include things that are factual, and have been making sure to try to provide as many sources as possible, while most importantly, avoiding saying anything that sounds self promoting.

I also apologize for not responding sooner. I'm just learning wikipedia, and am not aware of many tools.

Thanks and regards,

BellviewMattBellviewMatt (talk) 22:42, 26 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The first thing to do, is to set up your user page and declare your connection to the subject matter, with a statement saying "I am Matt, and (this is my relationship to Bellview Winery)" and mention it prominently on your user page. Wikipedia:COI declaration indicates the best way to do this. --ColonelHenry (talk) 22:48, 26 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I will add, furthermore, that you should not be editing that article directly. Instead, in keeping with the conflict of interest guideline, you should propose any substantive changes to the article talk page. It's OK to make minor corrections to numbers, spelling, formatting, and such, but please don't edit the article any any substantive way. Leave that to others without a conflict of interest. ~Amatulić (talk) 23:23, 26 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

BellviewMatt, you are invited to the Teahouse

Hi BellviewMatt! Thanks for contributing to Wikipedia.
Be our guest at the Teahouse! The Teahouse is a friendly space where new editors can ask questions about contributing to Wikipedia and get help from peers and experienced editors. I hope to see you there! Ushau97 (I'm a Teahouse host)

Visit the Teahouse

This message was delivered automatically by your robot friend, HostBot (talk) 20:42, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]