Talk:Freshwater ecology of Maharashtra

Suggestions
Hi Nilheda,

The work so far on this article is looking very good. However, there is one thing that you seem to be neglecting. Remember that this is an encyclopedia, and that we want the articles to have the same general format. Especially, please take a look at the style guideline on Lead sections.

Also, in an essay or thesis, it makes sense to define the terms that you are using throughout. However, in an encyclopedia, especially an online encyclopedia, you can just refer to the main articles. For example, you don't need to explain what ecology is, because there is already a whole article on the topic.

Further, consider whether you might be able to split some of the concepts in this article into separate articles.

Anyway, keep up the good work!

--Slashme 08:40, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Another point: I see you are writing about the work on which you did your PhD. Please confirm what the copyright status of your thesis is (this will depend on your university), and also please put in proper references (once you get a chance; this should not be too difficult if you're working from your thesis). I suggest that you use footnotes for references:

text which needs a reference

and at the bottom of the article, put the following:

==References==

Also, note that it is standard on Wikipedia to start headings like this: ==heading==. It's illogical, but we don't use =heading=, because it looks a bit too bold.

--Slashme 08:46, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Dear Shamal, These are the excellent suggestions you have given. Thanks a lot. I will try to improve the writ ups. Please note that this is my learning phase regarding WIKI and more and more I am working I am getting more and more confidence--Nilheda 10:00, 4 September 2007 (UTC).

Changes in style
Dear Nilesh, The earlier comment was written by another editor User:Slashme, however I have looked at the article and have made some changes to it to keep it more encyclopaedic. There are several important guidelines to follow including choice of titles, case used, style of writing as well citing of references all of which you will learn on your way as other editors make changes to bring it into conformity. The article should not link to parts in the Marathi wikipedia, however the whole article can have a link to the corresponding Marathi wikipedia article. You may also need to break the article into multiple articles if the need arises. Hope you have a pleasant learning process. Shyamal 10:27, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Pollution status of rivers and reservoirs of Maharashtra
The topic "Pollution status of rivers and reservoirs of Maharashtra" is a very specialised one, and also one that has to be updated to remain valid. When you get around to writing this, I would suggest that you write "As of August 2000 (or whatever the date is), the pollution status of the rivers ...". There might also be a question of whether that level of detail is at all appropriate in a general encyclopedia like Wikipedia; I think many editors might say not, but I'm inclined to err on the side of including too much when in doubt. --Slashme 12:22, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Geography of Maharashtra
I would suggest removing the entire section, as it is just a partial duplication of an existing article. --Slashme 12:29, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Subheadings
Where there is a main article about a topic which is used in a subheading, it is customary not to link the heading itself, but to use a template to refer to the main article, like this:

==Fish==

I have given an example of this usage in the "geography" section.

Also, you don't have to make the subheadings any bolder than they already are; this way all the articles look the same. --Slashme 12:32, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Image
You will notice that I have made the image a thumbnail. I think it was a bit too distracting at full size, and most users who want to read the small print will figure out that they can click on it. --Slashme 12:36, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

This was excellent change. In fact didn't knew, how to make image smaller! But now I know.--Nilheda 07:19, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Under construction
Because Nilheda is actively working at this article, I have put an "under construction" tag at the top. I know that the article is too long, does not conform to the normal Wikipedia tone, and is not yet properly formatted. All these issues can be mentioned in tags at the top of the article, but I expect that we will sort these issues out in the near future, so I don't think it's necessary to put a whole bunch of tags up. --Slashme 12:42, 4 September 2007 (UTC)