User:Calvin 1998/Coaching

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General stuff
  • this must be 100/100 at all times
    • Only 99/100 - I don't make enough major mainspace edits... Calvin 1998 (t-c) 03:38, 27 May 2008 (UTC)
  • two things to remember in a dispute: WP:AGF + WP:1RR

Links to keep track of everything: Calvin 1998 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · block user · block log)

You said that you need to strengthen your knowledge of our policy and content-writing.

Contents

[edit] Policy

[edit] Deletion

The button every sysop uses most is delete. Therefore, every sysop must have a strong grasp of deletion policy.

  • Practical exercise: participate in deletion discussions more, but never simply votestack like "delete per nom". Only participate when you have something non-trivial to add. Research sources, analyse other people's arguments, assess neutrality. Remember not to stick only to articles that you feel should be deleted, or vice versa.
    I see no such participation from you so far. This part of your training is very important, please don't ignore it. 05:26, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
Ok, I've participated more often. Unfortunately, most of them have been deletes, as most of the articles nominated should be deleted... Calvin 1998 (t-c) 03:38, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Images

You need to build up some experience with copyright-related issues. Primarily, this is about image. Your two non-free unfree image uploads are fine, but remember not to use non-free images outside of mainspace, even in userspace drafts. We have a boring Image use policy, and lots of other image-related policies, guidelines and so on. Just keep in mind that images must be free "as in speech" to be used in Wikipedia. This means two things: everyone must be allowed to use it for anything, including commercial use; and modification must be allowed. If the source website does not state explicitly that an image is under a free license, we can't use it. For limited cases where we can accept non-free images and media, refer to WP:NFCC. There's nothing terrible if you look it up whenever needed.

  • Practical exercise: find some free images to improve Wikipedia. There are three main sources of free images: oldies with expired copyright, images from US government (including NASA) and contemporary images under free licenses (a great example is Flickr, where images can be explicitly tagged with some of the Creative Commons licenses). For example, you could sweep through categories like 1895 deaths and use Google Images to locate a portrait of them. Caution regarding Flickr: only "Some rights reserved" images are suitable for Wikipedia, and of them, only combinations of BY and SA are considered free, NC and ND should be thrown away. Always upload free images to Commons, and you'll receive extra bonus points for going through interwiki links and adding the images you've uploaded to articles in other languages.
Is just CC-BY ok or does it need to be CC-BY-SA? Calvin 1998 (t-c) 21:59, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
Both CC-BY and CC-BY-SA are acceptable, and CC-SA is theoretically allowed, but it does not exist. Here's a cheatsheet for using FLickr images. MaxSem(Han shot first!) 10:41, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
Right. So I've uploaded Image:Alcatraz Island from Pier39 with 500mm.jpg and Image:Alcatraz full view 210mm.jpg on Commons with my Commons account. I'll see if they can be used over at Alcatraz Island Calvin 1998 (t-c) 01:40, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
  • Practical exercise: go to Category:Images with no copyright tag and try to fix a few images that don't need to be deleted by removing deletion tag from images that actually have proper copyright tag and source; or adding a tag yourself where the uploader obviously stated what s/he wants, but just couldn't format it properly. Also, you can add appropriate fair-use tags to some images, but don't waste your time on images that don't satisfy WP:NFCC. Report back after you've fixed at least ten images.
  1. Image:Bill Overal.jpg 21:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
  2. Image:Australia 4.png 21:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
  3. Image:Australia 3.png 21:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
  4. Image:Cbc.jpg 21:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
  5. Image:Welsh cup.jpg 21:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
  6. Image:Tutu 65K.JPG 21:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
    Look good. MaxSem(Han shot first!) 10:41, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
  7. Image:Dr. Novães 4.jpg 21:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
    Lacks permission from the author. MaxSem(Han shot first!) 10:41, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
  8. Image:BlydeRiverCanyonViewOfaSideofACliff.JPG 21:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
  9. Image:WeepingFaceofNatureInBlydeRiverCanyon.JPG 21:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
    These two images look suspicious: uploaded by someone who claims he's the author from Flickr, but all his images at Flickr are marked as 'All rights reserved' and certainly not GFDL as tagged. Question: what should users do if they doubt the copyright ststus of an image? MaxSem(Han shot first!) 10:41, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
  10. Image:Sumatra hen.jpg 21:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
    Had a duplicate[1], one of these images needed to be tagged for speedy deletion with {{db-i1}}. MaxSem(Han shot first!) 10:41, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
Looks like 10 of them to me! Also CSD's and IfD'd a couple of them with Twinkle. Calvin 1998 (t-c) 21:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
Regarding speedy tags: you tagged Image:Soullink-logo.gif as CSD I9, although it wasn't exactly a copyvio, it just lacked a fair use rationale. MaxSem(Han shot first!) 10:41, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalfighting

So far you're doing great, but you need to grow a thicker skin, some of your AIV reports related to your school are premature.

[edit] Article writing

While writing articles is not required to maintain the sysop status, all !voters expect admin candidates to have enough experience in this area, because ultimately this website is about writing the encyclopedia, and admins use their tools in relation to this.

[edit] Referencing

Go to your preferences choose Gadgets tab and enable refTools. It's a convenient way to add citations quickly. Use it, or don't use if you don't like it, but remeber to always source what you're writing. Source it immediately as you write. Unreferenced text is a crap no matter of how brilliant its prose is.

I can't get refTools (gadget version) to work. Calvin 1998 (t-c) 22:58, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
Ahh...yes. refTools is incompatible with wikEd, which I use. Whatever... I source everything anyhow. Calvin 1998 (t-c) 00:53, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
  • Practical exercise: find a large enough article not written by you that lacks sources and try to reference as much as possible.

[edit] Creation

  • Practical exercise: create several stubs from scratch. Try not to abandon at least some of them. A DYK would be just great.
Stubs? There's Artemis Fowl I, User:Calvin 1998/Domovoi Butler (under-construction, not from scratch), User:Calvin 1998/JLS (probably never going to make it, because the subject's notability is being questioned, despite it having an article here for several years), User:Calvin 1998/Paradizo family, Butler family (Artemis Fowl), and Fowl family (Artemis Fowl) that I've created already. Calvin 1998 (t-c) 21:10, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
And User:Calvin 1998/PAUSD should be at Palo Alto Unified School District within the hour - but I didn't really write that one from scratch, either. Calvin 1998 (t-c) 01:24, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Improvement

There are lots of ways people participate in article improvement. You can be frequent at GAC or FAC discussions if you like, or just click "Random article" and improve what you see. I can't really help you with choosing a direction here, and I don't think that anyone can even give you the full list of every opportunity possible. Just adopt an article or two you care about, you'll see what needs to be done yourself.

[edit] Other discussions

This section is for miscellaneous questions. Ask here anything you like.

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  1. - :P I forgot what the difference between hard-block and soft-block was... Calvin 1998 (t-c) 03:07, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
    Hard-block means that editing from the IP is completely disabled. Softblock means that only unregistered users are blocked, and there is another option, whether to block account creation from that IP. The 'classical' softblock means that account creation is blocked. MaxSem(Han shot first!) 18:26, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
So autoblock on would be hard-blocking? Calvin 1998 (t-c) 19:13, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
Autoblock is for registered users only. MaxSem(Han shot first!) 19:20, 31 May 2008 (UTC)