User talk:Charlie Marrow

Welcome!

Hello, Charlie Marrow, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! Rama's Arrow 20:10, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

be bold

Hi Charlie - no don't worry about "chief editors." No such thing around here. All you need to be careful about is references (add sources for all info). To develop your writing skills, I strongly suggest you read WP:MOS. Rama's Arrow 20:22, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If someone raises a question or issue with any of your edits, don't worry and engage the person in civil conversation. Please don't be discouraged by any criticism. Rama's Arrow 20:24, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

userboxes

Hi - check out Wikipedia:Userboxes. Rama's Arrow 20:25, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hi - check out Wikipedia:Babel. Rama's Arrow 20:31, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Images

Hi - I'm sorry for the delay in responding - was offline for a bit. Go to this:Upload page. Please be sure to cite the source of your images, and specify the copyright as per instructions givens. Rama's Arrow 21:31, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

A Wikipedia Babel should allow you to add language boxes plus others. There are instructions on that page, but if you like, just add the name of the template in between "

" and the box will appear. Rama's Arrow 21:40, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re: Editing Lost

Hello, welcome, and thanks for the message you left on my page. The Lost articles, more than any other television show on Wikipedia, follows Wikipedia guidelines very strictly. Because of that a good place I suggest you start is familiarizing yourself with some of the Wikipedia policies and guidelines that are enforced the strongest. Here's a small list:

WP:OR - Do not publish any original research. This includes fan theories and speculation.
WP:CITE - Make sure that any bold claims you make are properly cited. This policy can be a very long and boring read, however, so I suggest that you go to Lost (TV series), look at how we do it there, and imitate that.
WP:NOT - What Wikipedia is not. Although Wikipedia is not a fansite is not officially part of that policy, we enforce it as if it were part of the policy. We do a lot of reverts because of this. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a fansite.
Fancruft ties into Wikipedia not being a fansite. We do not allow any fancruft on Lost articles.

Currently a big issue of debate is how to handle episode synopses. Until recently all episode synopses were put on one large page, however some authors began creating individual articles for each episode. You can see the poll here, but although you cannot vote since the poll is closed you can join in on the ongoing discussion here. If you're looking for a place to start editing I suggest you pick the part of Lost that interests you the most and work in that area. For example, if you like the characters we have about 20 character pages, many of them needing copyedits. If you like the episodes you can edit the episode synopses (Episodes of Lost (season 2) is a mess). See Category:Lost for a list of every Lost related article. If you have more questions or anything ask myself, another author, or leave a note on the relevant talk page. Have fun! Jtrost (^T | C | _#) 21:49, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Also happy to help out, Charlie. Jtrost's advice above is spot on. I guess a key thing from my perspective is to suggest reading the talk pages before contributing to articles; doing so can alert you to long-standing discussions. Also, be aware that tempers can run surprisingly high for "just a television show" discussions, so I'd encourage you to be aware of the guidelines in WP:Civil at all times.

One more thing: the temptation (irresistible it seems) is for Lost fans to keep adding more more more to the articles. Episode summaries shouldn't contain a description of every scene, every camera angle, everything that happens. Equally, character biographies shouldn't contain an abundance of episode summary information, except where it contributes to a key understanding of the character. I refer to this basic tenet as "more is not better." I hope that you will follow it.

Good luck and have fun! -- PKtm 22:56, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Preston

Preston being the "latest" city in the UK is an untruth. Preston is the youngest city in England - Stirling in Scotland was given city status on the same day. Furthermore, a cathedral is not a prequisite for city status.

The "largest call centre" claim is unverified, as all such claims on Wiki need a citation or proof.

There is no need to put the former claim in the Trivia section because city status is already mentioned earlier in the article.

doktorb | words 06:44, 14 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]