User talk:IcyCoco

Hello, IcyCoco! Welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions to this free encyclopedia. If you decide that you need help, check out Getting Help below, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and ask your question there. Please remember to sign your name on talk pages by clicking or using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your username and the date. Finally, please do your best to always fill in the edit summary field. Below are some useful links to facilitate your involvement. Happy editing! Kpstewart (talk) 04:09, 30 September 2009 (UTC) Getting started A tutorial • Our five pillars • Getting mentored How to: edit a page • upload and use images • create your first article Intuitive guide to Wikipedia • Article Creation Wizard Getting help Frequently asked questions • Tips Where to ask questions or make comments Request administrator attention Policies and guidelines Neutral point of view • No original research Verifiability • Reliable sources • Citing sources What Wikipedia is not • Biographies of living persons List of policies • Three-revert rule • Sock puppetry Copyrights • Policy for non-free content • Image use policy External links • Spam • Vandalism • List of guidelines Deletion policy • Conflict of interest • Notability The community Build consensus • Resolve disputes Assume good faith • Civility • Etiquette No personal attacks • No legal threats Community portal • Village pump Signpost • IRC channels • Mailing lists Writing articles Be bold in editing • Develop an article The perfect article • Manual of style Stubs • Categories • Disambiguation Pages needing attention • Peer review Miscellaneous User name • User pages • Talk pages Clean up: General • Spam • Vandalism Join a WikiProject • Translation Useful templates • Tools • User scripts

Adoption

Hi IcyCoco! I noticed the adoption box on your userpage, and I thought I could help you out. I never actually adopted anyone before, but I am happy to help you in anyway I can. I've been on Wikipedia for several months, and I feel like I know my way around, but there's always more to learn. Generally, I work with fixing pages up, adding reference citations and such. (Actually, I found you by noticing your edit to the references section in Cat pheromone) One thing that I would recommend for you if you don't know where to start is by getting involved with WikiProjects. There are hundreds of projects relating to all kinds of interests, and they'll connect you with other users and ideas for projects. If there's anything else I can help you with, please leave a message on my talk page. Welcome!--Kpstewart (talk) 04:09, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

You ask good questions. I've just changed the userbox on your userpage, so I think the adoption is now official.--Kpstewart (talk) 03:39, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

Shortcuts

If you are looking for cheatsheets, one that I rely on is WP:TC. When I find that an article has issues/problems that need attention but that I may not be able to fix by myself, I add one of the templates listed on that page. Adding such templates to an article places that article on a list with other articles having similar problems (and some people enjoy fixing articles with particular problems). For an example, go to CAT:CE. In general, if you want to find articles that are in need of editing, go to Wikipedia:Community_portal#Todo; I'm sure you'll find something put your editing skills to good use.

Another helpful thing is adding gadgets to help with editing. Click on the "my preferences" link in the upper right corner near you user name, and click on the "Gadgets" tab. There are a lot of gadgets, some of which I don't think are very helpful and can be confusing to use, but one that I like is "refTools". By adding that to your preferences, there will be a {{cite}} button that appears next to the other buttons on the editing window. By using that, you can cite references using formal citation style and not have to worry about what words to bold or italicise. Another gadget that I really like is the "wikEd", which highlights certain parts of the text in an editing window to make it easier o read. You can click on the "help page" near that option to learn more about it.

Happy editing!--Kpstewart (talk) 03:39, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

Cool! Thanks! IcyCoco (talk) 07:35, 2 November 2009 (UTC)