User:WormTT/Adopt/Jenova20

Hi Jenova20, and welcome to your adoption center. I'll substitute across a lesson for you tomorrow, but for now I thought you'd like to know that you do now have your own official page. As you can see from User:Worm That Turned, I've created an adoption HQ, where you can read ahead in the lessons. I haven't finished them all as yet - the red linked ones are likely to change, but feel free to read ahead - it might help. The tests might include a couple of extra unique questions if I see an area that you might need a little extra development - don't take it as a negative, it should help. Also we now have a talk area for us to use, away from the more public areas - if you would like to use it - it's at User Talk:Worm That Turned/Adopt/Jenova20. Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see. Worm   TT   23:05, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

The Five Pillars
One of the most important essays in Wikipedia is WP:FIVEPILLARS which is designed to eloquently sum up what we're here for. Once you get your head around these five pillars, you will be a Wikipedian and a good one at that. All 5 are covered in my adoption school, though at different lengths. Be aware that I don't know everything and I would doubt anyone who said they did.
 * Pillar one defines Wikipedia as an encyclopedia. It suggests some things that we are not. Thoughts about what we are not are covered in the deletion lesson.
 * Pillar two talks about neutrality, a concept that this lesson will be concentrating on.
 * Pillar three talks about free content. The Copyright lesson will go into this in more detail.
 * Pillar four talks about civility. Wikipedia is a collaborative working environment and nothing would ever get done if it wasn't. I'll go into civility more during the dispute resolution module.
 * Pillar five explains that Wikipedia does not have firm rules. This is a difficult concept and will be covered in the Policy and consensus lesson.

How articles should be written
The articles in Wikipedia are designed to represent the sum of human knowledge. Each article should be written from a neutral point of view - personal opinions such as right and wrong should never appear, nor should an editors experience. Neutrality also means giving due weight to the different points of view. If the broad scientific community has one set of opinions - then the minority opinion should not be shown. An example is in medicine - if there was an article on say treatment of a broken leg, a neutral article would not include anything on Homeopathy.

To ensure that the information in an article is correct, Wikipedia has adopted a policy of verifiability. Anything written in Wikipedia should be available to confirm by looking at the associated reliable source. Wikipedia should not include anything not verifiable by seeing it is published elsewhere, in other words it should not contain anything original.

Reliable sources
So what is a source? Wikipedia uses the word source for three interchangeable ideas - a piece of work, the work's creator or the work's publisher. In general, you would expect a reliable source to be published materials with a reliable publication process, authors who are regarded as authoritative in relation to the subject, or both. This doesn't mean that a source that is reliable on one topic is reliable on every topic, it must be regarded as authoritative in that topic - so whilst "Airfix monthly" may be a good source on the first model aeroplane, I would not expect it to be authoritative on their full size equivalent.

A source that is self-published is in general considered unreliable, unless it is published by a recognized expert in the field. This is a very rare exception - so self publishing is generally considered a no-no. This means that anything in a forum or a blog and even most websites are considered unreliable by default. One interesting sidepoint is on self-published sources talking about themselves. Obviously, a source talking about itself is going to be authoritative, but be careful that the source is not too self-serving - the article really should not be totally based on a direct source like that.

Mainstream news sources are generally considered notable... but any single article should be assessed on a case by case basis. Some news organizations have been known to check their information on Wikipedia - so be careful not to get into a cyclic sourcing issue!

There's a lot more about what makes a source reliable here

Questions?
Any questions or would you like to try the test?

I think i'm ready but will read through here a few more times just to make sure.  J e n o v a  20 10:33, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
 * good to hear :) I haven't actually MADE the test yet, but I'll get it up within the next hour! Glad you're being so proactive.  Worm    TT   10:39, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Done =] It seems you purposely made the questions unique to me, or is it just that everyone's getting the same questions? Thanks  J e n o v a  20 15:53, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Five Pillars
This test is going to be based on questions. Some questions will have right or wrong answers, whereas others are just designed to see if you are thinking in the right way. There's not time limit - answer in your own words and we'll talk about your answers.

1) Q - You have just discovered from a friend that the new Ford Escort is only going to be available in blue. Can you add this to the Ford Escort article and why?
 * A - No, because he may be wrong and it does sound unrealistic.

If i could find evidence elsewhere, like a good source then it would be worth adding but otherwise i wouldn't take it seriously.

2) Q - A mainstream newspaper has published a cartoon which you see is clearly racist as part of an article. Can you include this as an example of racism on the newspaper's article? What about on the racism article?
 * A - I would have said yes last month and i did for a homophobic/anti semitic cartoon in the Daily Mail.

Now i'd say no unless another newspaper notices.

3) Q - You find an article that shows that people in the state of Ohio eat more butternut squashes than anywhere in the world and ranks each of the United States by squashes per head. Interestingly you find another article that ranks baldness in the United States and they are almost identical! Can you include this information anywhere on Wikipedia? Perhaps the baldness article or the butternut squash article?
 * A- I'd say yes to on each article but not to assume that the two are linked or insinuate that in any way as it wouldn't be a neutral point of view.

4) Q - Would you consider BBC news a reliable source on The Troubles? What about on ITV?
 * A - I'd say yes to both as both are independant.

5) Q - Would you consider Ben and Jerry's official Facebook page a reliable source?
 * A- Not really, not unless the point being made included Facebook and even then probably not.

6) Q - A "forum official" from the Daily Telegraph community forums comments on Daily Telegraph's stance on world hunger. Would this be a reliable source?
 * A- No, it could be anyone, even the person trying to add it to the article.

Besides, i'm sure forums aren't the best place to look for facts.

7) Q - Would you have any problem with http://www.hopsandpips.com being used in a beer related article?
 * A - No, they seem well informed, although they could show a bias since they sell beer.

8) Q - Would you have any issue with using the About Us page on Xerox as a source for the history section of the Xerox article.
 * A - No, although if a better source could be found, that's probably preferrable.

9) Q - Everybody knows that the sky is blue right? An editor doesn't agree - he says it is bronze, do you need a source?
 * A - No, there's no need for something like this as he would never find another person or source to agree.

And even if he did, he has the minority point of view so he should try and prove it, not the other way round.

Results
Well, I'm very pleased with your answers Jenova, you have come a long way. Yes, some of the questions were made with you specifically in mind, though I'll be using them on my other adoptees. I don't disagree with any of your answers, though I chose some to be debatable. For example, Hops and Pips is a debatable source, it's self published and sells beer, even though it is authoritative. I would say it is an above average source, but I wouldn't want to see it on one of wikipedia's better articles, such as a WP:Featured Article. Regarding the blue sky, yes, you're right, but if it was a borderline contentious point like *why* the sky is blue (I've seen a few explanations!) you would need a source from a mainstream publication. It's important to remember that the burden of proof is on the editor adding or restoring the material. So if the editor is trying to add that the sky is bronze, you are right, he should prove it. If the editor is removing "the sky is blue"... well, you should try and find a source. And hey, if "everybody knows" it... it should be easy, right? Worm   TT   16:33, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Well i spent a good couple hours rereading the pillars and rules. I'd have to say though that the best lesson is when you learned something and i did from the 5 pillars. Do i get a score or anything or do you just tell me i passed? Thanks  J e n o v a  20 16:53, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I didn't think too much about a scoring system, it's a pretty difficult thing to score. I'm using the tests to check how you're understanding matches the general thinking of the community, and I'm very impressed that you spent so long actually getting your head around the 5 Pillars. I'll be making up a Barnstar (a wikipedia award) for each lesson you pass - you can look forward to your first one soon :)  Worm    TT   17:54, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Wikiquette
WP:Wikiquette - or the etiquette of Wikipedia is something that you may already be familiar with, depending how much reading around the different wikipedia pages you've made.

I'm just going to highlight some of the important Wikiquette items that you should try and remember. It may help you out.
 * Assume good faith - This is fundamental and I'll be going over it again in dispute resolution. Editors here are trying to improve the encyclopedia. Every single member of the community. EVERY ONE. If you read a comment or look at an edit and it seems wrong in some way, don't just jump straight in. Try and see it from the other editors point of view, remembering that they are trying to improve the encyclopedia.
 * Sign your talk posts with four tildas ~ . The software will stick your signature and timestamp in, allowing the correct attribution to your comment. I have a script that reminds you to do this if you think you'll forget.
 * Try and keep to threading, replying to comments by adding an additional indentation, represented by a colon, : . I cover more about this in my basics of markup language lesson - let me know if you'd like to take it. Talk pages should something like this - Have a read of WP:THREAD to see how this works.


 * Don't forget to assume good faith
 * There are a lot of policies and guidelines, which Wikipedians helpfully point you to with wikilinks. Their comments may seem brusque at first, but the linked document will explain their point much better than they may be able to.
 * Be polite, and treat others as you would want to be treated. For example, if someone nominated one of the articles you created for deletion, I'm sure you'd want to know about it, so if you are doing the nominating make sure you leave the article creator a notification.
 * Watch out for common mistakes.
 * Did I mention that you should assume good faith?
 * Comment on the edits. Not the editor. I'll cover this more in dispute resolution.

Questions
Any questions?

We have the weekend tomorrow so not to rush you but i'm just wondering if this test will be up then aswell? I know you wanted a module a week but i've been adding to Wikipedia for about 2 years, yet only registered for months. This stuff is still useful to me but i'm experienced in some areas a little already and that's the only reason for the rush. Thanks  J e n o v a  20 09:17, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Fair enough. I'll do my best to get some tests up today, but I can't guarantee anything, am a little busy. But I'll subst everything across that I can, so you can have a "fun" weekend.  Worm    TT   09:21, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Well i wouldn't call it "fun" exactly, i don't really know how to describe that but fun wasn't my first option for sure. I'd say more that i'm keen on improving myself. Anything you can get done would be appreciated. Thanks  J e n o v a  20 10:26, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Test
Have a look at the conversation below: Well, the Passat lover clearly loves his Passat, but who is he replying to? In

1) Position A?
 * A- Rod's mate from the indent.

2) Position B?
 * A- Rod

3) An editor who has a low edit count seems awfully competent with templates. Should he be reported as a possible WP:SOCK?
 * A- No, Wikipedia rules allow for one account per person and this person shouldn't be reported or interrogated by admin for being good at what he/she does, it would do more harm to Wikipedia than the individual.

On the other hand if the person has more than one account then it should be reported as it could make discussions with the one account more difficult and make some situations appear to have more support than they actually do.

Result
I'm back! and ready to let you know how you did. Yes, you got your threading questions right, well done, try to remember them in talk page interactions, you'll need to add your indents. Just being competent with templates doesn't imply that this person is a SOCK. Admittedly, it's one possibility, but if you assume good faith, you realise that it could be - an editor under a WP:FRESHSTART, an editor who has been editing another language wikipedia for years or even any other wiki site, it could be that the person is just very good at coding. Assume good faith doesn't mean be stupid, but if there's a sensible explaination - don't believe the worst.

For example, with Christian1982, you assumed he was trying to "own" the article, and reverting you on sight. I understand that it may feel that way, but if you were to assume good faith, you would see that he felt your additions were non-encyclopedic. Nothing wrong with disagreeing with you, you saw how a discussion could lead to an amicable solution. Worm   TT   09:38, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

I didn't assume he was trying to "own" the article, i accused him of being biased and possibly working for the Daily Mail or being affiliated with them. That was my personal opinion. And Christian only called the edit vandalism because it was potentially negative to the Daily Mail. As he stated before he would add criticism to the article only if they were added to the other newspaper articles, showing a clear bias to defending it.

And if you reread the thread he takes to accusing me of things i didn't add to the "vandalism" many times while you're talking to him ad tries using what i think against me, while it's not even what i wrote.

I merely called him up on it, besides this only happens on those two articles concerning the Daily Mail and not just with me, so i wouldn't assume it was me at fault, i did the first time but after the second it became obvious there's more going on there.

Not always this defensive, just looking forward to the dispute resolution section next time as getting admin is impossible for someone to do if they never had to do it before, still can't either.  J e n o v a  20 09:49, 28 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, accusations of bias is one thing (which may or may not be true, but certainly isn't assuming good faith) but "possibly" working for the Daily Mail or being affiliated with them? You see that key word - possibly - right? Possibly means even you are not sure. If you are not sure, then you can't be assuming good faith. Wikipedia is not like real life, and when you come here you need to focus on this fundamental idea that everyone is trying to improve the encyclopedia. Even if their actions may not improve it in your opinion.
 * I don't deny that he was also acting badly, but he's not here and he hasn't volunteered to have me as a mentor :P, I'm trying to get you to a point where you can deal with editors like Christian (and there will be more) without getting stressed - and if you can get the mindset right it's a big step forward.  Worm    TT   10:00, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Would rather have the copyright test again 6 times, as that would still be easier. It was my own opinion that Christian was biased anyway based on how he acted, i pointed it out a few times whenever he accused me of attacking him. Thanks  J e n o v a  20 10:39, 28 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Well, you made me laugh there anyway ;) - I know it's not easy, it takes time and temperment. I have no doubt you can do it though. And if you feel you can't, there's always other stuff to do!
 * As to "own opinion" well, that's a difficult one. You have to be very clear with how you say things in that case... Perhaps the dispute resolution module will help there.  Worm    TT   10:44, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Copyright on a free Wiki
'''This is probably the most important lesson I'll give, because this is the only one where failure to adhere exactly according to policy can and will result in a block. Pay attention.'''

Wikipedia is as the slogan says, "The Free Encyclopedia". Unfortunately, this causes some problems when we use other materials that aren't so free, and other problems when we'd like to do something but really can't. Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, or GFDL. This is a copyleft license that allows for the free distribution of content under certain conditions. The main terms of this license are as follows: There are other terms to the license, but those are the most important for what is done on Wikipedia. Wikipedia displays a copy of the license, which is fully protected under the authority of the Wikimedia office. Whenever we make an edit, that edit is logged in the page's edit history, as well as your contributions. When a page is deleted, contributions to that page are hidden, but are still visible to administrators or "sysops". Certain page revisions may also be hidden from public view in the event of extreme circumstances, but are still visible to those with the authority to remove them for GFDL compliance.
 * Anything licensed under the GFDL must display a copy of the license (Wikipedia's is at the link I just gave you).
 * Any "derivative works", or works based on something licensed under the GFDL, must be licensed under GFDL.
 * Content licensed under the GFDL may be modified, but must include a history of all changes and who made them when.
 * All content licensed under the GFDL must be freely available or available under "fair use".

Unfortunately, the GFDL does have some limit on what we can do. When merging pages, we cannot delete the page that is now empty, even if it serves little useful purpose even as a redirect. The contributions to that page, which provided the information that was merged out, must be kept logged so that people know where it came from and what changes were made when. The Mediawiki software is designed to be GFDL compatible. (As a side note, the software itself is available under a similar license, the GPL.) The most common issue, and the one that most frequently results in blocks, is copyright. Any registered user can upload an image or media file. If they created the image, they can license it under a free license such as the GFDL or a Creative Commons license, or release it into the public domain (Although if you use any of those options, it's recommended to upload the image to the Wikimedia Commons instead so any language Wiki can use it.)

Problems arise when people upload images that are not their own. Most images are under some form of copyright, even if it's not explicitly stated anywhere. This is usually the case with anything found on the internet. When these images are uploaded, Wikipedia must adhere to a very strict policy known as "fair use". What this basically is doing is giving us a reason to use an otherwise non-free image, on the basis that it is for educational purposes, using it has no measurable effect on the copyright holder's rights, and that we have no other alternative. The establishment of this reason is called the fair use rationale, part of a set of criteria that MUST accompany any fair use/copyright tag on Wikipedia. These criteria are:
 * A specific fair use tag (see link above) that describes what the image is.
 * The source of the image (this is usually a website, but could also be a book or magazine that you scanned the picture out of)
 * The image itself must be of low resolution. If it is high resolution, that version must be deleted and replaced with another (essentially, worse) version.
 * A fair use rationale explaining:
 * Where the image is to be used (This page MUST be in the main (article) namespace. Fair use images MUST NOT be used anywhere else)
 * That the image cannot be used to replace any marketing role or otherwise infringe upon the owner's commercial rights to the image
 * How the image is being used, in a way that fits within the fair use policy (i.e., identification purposes, etc.)
 * That there is no way the image can possibly be replaced with a free version

Only when an image meets all of these criteria may it be used. Fair use images must be used in at least one article (not "orphaned"), and articles using fair use images must use as few of them as possible. Any image that does not meet these criteria to the letter will be deleted. Any user that repeatedly uploads images not meeting these criteria to the letter will be blocked.
 * The image must have been previously published elsewhere

As a further note, I mentioned that fair use images must not be able to be replaced by a free alternative. What this basically means is, there is no way you, me, or anyone else could go out and take a picture of this same thing and release it under a free license. For example:
 * I could upload a publicity picture of Eddie Izzard. Now, the photographer holds the copyright to that particular picture of the hilarious man. I can claim fair use, but the claim would be invalid because you could just as easily go to a performance Izzard is giving and take a picture of him yourself. (That's what happened here) The publicity picture is considered replaceable fair use and so would be deleted.
 * Person X could upload a picture of the Empire State Building from a marketing kit they distributed. This image would likely be copyrighted, and so they claim fair use. But I happen to have been to New York and have a picture of the ESB. I upload that instead and release it into the public domain. The first, copyrighted picture, is also replaceable.
 * For the article on the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I want to upload an image of their logo (visible in no great detail here). I go to their website and upload their version. This fair use is allowable, because no matter where or how they display their logo, it'll be under the same copyright. Since the simple art of scanning or taking a picture of a piece of work is not enough to justify my ownership of the rights to the image, there is no way to obtain a free version of the logo.

For a full description of the policies and guidelines concerning fair use, you should read (and commit to memory :-P) the page at WP:FU. Rest assured that you will never forget the name of that shortcut. Got your head around all that? Well lets move away from images - but we're not done!

Plagiarism
Copyright violations do not only appear on images, they can appear in text too. Even if the source text is wholly in the public domain, you can't just copy it without falling foul of plagiarism. As I'm sure you're pretty frazzled at the moment, I'm just going to say don't copy and paste text! Write it in your own words and make sure you cite your source.

Questions?
Any questions? It's a heck of a topic, so feel free to ask "why" to anything, and I will do my best to explain. Let me know when you are ready for the test.

This one won't be easy. I was always told to assume everything on the internet has a copyright, but with so many different licenses this will take a long time to make sense of. Thanks for the challenge  J e n o v a  20 14:38, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
 * It's one of the hardest subjects to get your head around, and it's mind-numbingly boring to boot :) This is the one I was hoping you'd have a go at over the weekend, it might be worth taking a few hours just to digest it!  Worm    TT   14:56, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Well i found the last test easy. This copyright one will take all weekend though as i just read a few sections and they left me scratching my head just trying to understand. I'll let you know how things go. Have a nice weekend =]  J e n o v a  20 16:08, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I thought it might. I'll be away this weekend, so might not be available for questions, sorry. I should still be on email if you want to use the Email this user function on the left there. Good luck :)  Worm    TT   17:47, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Test
Q1) Do you think Wikipedia *is* free?
 * A- Free in the way that anyone can use it without paying, but not free in the way the site doesn't have bills to pay to stay online.
 * To expand, do you think the content is free for you to use in any way you want? If not, any ideas what you can't do with the content? Worm    TT   14:54, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Well, if my understanding is correct, you can quote from Wikipedia if you reference it, but copying it word for word as your own work isn't legal.

Q2) When can you upload a picture to Commons?
 * A- If it's your own work, like a photograph of a pigeon or your dog then you can but fair use is too restrictive for the Commons.

Q3) You find music displaying this licence (non-commercial). Wikimedia is non-commerical, can we upload it to Commons?
 * A- Yes, because Wikipedia Commons is in the public domain and there's an exception for that.
 * You may want to look into this a little further into this and the restriction level of the license.


 * No because you can't resell this work and so the license is too restrictive for Wikipedia?
 * Exactly. Seems counter-intuitive, and I'd have said the same as you until I came across the exact same situation on Talk:All Day. You can take work from wikipedia and sell it, as long as you attribute it to wikipedia.

Q4) A user uploads a poster which is a composite of all the Beatles album covers. Can he do this? It is his own unique composition. (addition, he wants to use it on the Beatles page)
 * A- Yes, as no free image of the covers exists?

Left a question mark because i would have said no before Copyright for dummies and i need feedback on that one.
 * Sorry, I didn't realise I didn't reply. You're not far off - no free image does exist. However, we've got criteria for the fair use that we'd need to follow, do you think that having a composite of every album cover would match all the fair use criteria? which ones might it fall foul of?


 * Well he's changed it by creating a composition of all 4 so that's not allowed, you would have to use the 4 covers individually?
 * And then since people can't edit it or resell it with attribution to Wikipedia it wouldn't be legal?

I'm not sure, i know you can use the images because i've seen some on Wikipedia, i just can't understand why.
 * He's created a derivative work - which is fine. However, the original works are still under copyright, so we would only be able to use them under fair use - the question then becomes, are the images useful in context and are we using as little as possible. Well, there is an argument that they could be useful in context, talking about the album covers and the way they influenced culture, but using every single album cover is pushing "using as little as possible" beyond its limit. You could illustrate the same point by showing one very well known album cover. Don't feel bad for getting this one wrong - you didn't. In fact there was a VERY large debate over a similar problem here, where someone had created a montage of Doctor Who companions. Lots of different opinions...including one of my first on wikipedia! see if you can find it ;)

Q5) Can you upload a press image of the Pope?
 * A- No, but you can if you took the photo yourself and you're okay with releasing it under the license so that anyone can use it.

Q6) Can you upload a press image of a prisoner on death row?
 * A- Possibly, if the prisoner gives written permission and you don't catch anything else in the picture that could cause problems, like say a coca cola logo or something.
 * Very nearly, but you may want to check who owns the copyright on a photo


 * Doesn't the person who takes the photo own the copyright?
 * In which case you could take a photo of a death row prisoner with his permission and publish it?
 * That's what i meant in my answer, obviously getting one from a newspaper will have a watermark and/or belong to a journalist or the paper.
 * Indeed you are right. It's a bit odd, but people don't have rights to the pictures taken of them (think paparazzi), which means that the prisoner's permission isn't that useful. You're right about who owns the copyright of that picture, the problem is getting the picture of the prisoner, since people may not be able to get to him. But good job.

Q7) You find an article that matches a company website About Us page exactly. What do you do? You check the talk page, and there's no evidence that the text has been released under WP:CC-BY-SA
 * A- Mark it for deletion for copyright infringement or reword it yourself.

If the entire page was a copy and paste it can be deleted straight away.

Q8) Can you see any issues with doing a cut-and-paste move from BLT (sandwich) to BLT?
 * A- Sorry, i don't understand this question.

BLT (sandwich) only has a redirect and nothing else.
 * My fault, it's an old question, which I wrote before it was moved. My question is "Is there any problem with cutting all the text from one page, pasting it into a different page, and deleting the original page"


 * Not if the two articles match as in this case they do.
 * If it's BLT Sandwich to just BLT then that could be problematic as BLT could stand for something else and create confusion, like say British Lead Tubing for example.
 * I was focusing more on the loss of attribution on a cut-and-paste move....
 * See what a consensus with others has to say?
 * They would likely agree as BLT could be anything really, unless the page is prone to vandalism.
 * But focussing on the copyright issues, wikipedia requires attribution of work, if you cut and paste the text from one article to another, you lose the history, which is the attribution. That's way we have a move button, and administrators sometimes have to spend a lot of time cleaning up after cut and paste moves - doing things called "history merges".

Q9) A final practical test... Go. Find a fair use image. Come back and link to it (using File:IMAGENAME. You must get the : before the File name, as we cannot display the image here!)
 * A- File:Coca-Cola 24 Can Pack.jpg
 * I'm really interested in that image. It's not actually fair use, but it falls under a branding issue, something I've not looked at before. Good find!

Well it could be a photo anyone could use because it's an everyday item that Coca Cola own the copyright to, but that realistically could have been photographed by anyone.

Results
You know what? You really seem to have a much better grasp on this copyright milarky. I'm really impressed. I have no qualms in passing you on this module, as you have the basic principles down and you would think before doing anything that might violate copyright.


 * Thanks, it was starting to seem pointless doing that one as i couldn't get it right.
 *  J e n o v a  20 14:58, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Copyright for Dummies (and you're not a dummy, so you should do well!)
Welcome to the Copyright for Dummies. I'm hoping to take you back to basics, and cover the same concepts as the copyright course. Hopefully, with this and the other course combined, you'll be able to work through the copyright module.

Glossary
There are a lot of terms associated with copyright. If you are having trouble with any, here's a quick reference.

Copyright on Wikipedia
Ok, now if I use a term that's not in the glossary and I don't explain, feel free to slap me.

Copyright is a serious problem on a free encyclopedia. To remain free, any work that is submitted must be released under the WP:CC-BY-SA License and the WP:GFDL. You can read the actual text under those links, but the jist is that you agree that everything you write on the encyclopedia can be shared, adapted or even sold and all you get in return is attribution.

In practise, if it comes out of your head - is entirely your own work, you have the right to make that release. If you got it from somewhere else, you don't. That doesn't mean it can't be used though. You can in these situations
 * If the work has already been released under a compatible or less restrictive license.
 * If the work is in the "public domain" - Very old items, 150 years is a good benchmark
 * If the work is not free in certain circumstances (Non free content criteria)
 * There must be no free equivalent
 * We must ensure that the owner will not lose out by us using the work
 * Use as little as possible (the smallest number of uses and the smallest part possible used)
 * Must have been published elsewhere first
 * Meets our general standards for content
 * Meets our specific standards for that area
 * Must be used. (we can't upload something under fair use and not use it)
 * Must be useful in context. This is a sticking point, if it's not actually adding to the article, it shouldn't be used.
 * Can only be used in article space
 * The image page must attribute the source, explain the fair use for each article it is used and display the correct tag

It's a lot, isn't it! Well, let's have a look at the non free stuff. "No free equivalent" means that you will never be able to license text under it (except for quoting) - as you can re-write it in your own words to create an equivalent. So the fair use only applies to other media. The most common use of media is images, so let's look at them. I'm going to suggest two different images. One, a tabloid picture of celebrity actress Nicole Kidman, and the other, the cover of the album Jollification by the Lightning Seeds. The tabloid picture of Nicole Kidman will instantly fail #1, because can be a free equivalent - anyone can take a picture of Nicole. The album cover on the other hand is unique - there's no free equivalent. It's discussed in the article too, so showing it will be useful in context (#8). The copy we show should be shrunk, so that it can't be used to create pirate copies (#2). I couldn't put it on my userpage though (#9)

Commons
When people refer to Commons on wikipedia, they're generally referring to Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free material. Images on Commons can be linked directly to wikipedia, like that picture just to the right and above. Now, since commons is a free repository, fair use is not permitted. It makes sense to upload free images to commons, so that they can be used by all language encyclopedias.

Dispute resolution
No matter how well you edit Wikipedia, no matter how simple and obvious your changes may seem, you are very likely to end up in a dispute. This becomes more and more likely as you get into more contentious areas of Wikipedia. The higher the number of page views and the more evocative the subject - the more likely the area is going to be considered contentious. I'm going to go through the different methods of dispute resolution there are on Wikipedia. They are all covered at the dispute resolution page and the tips there are really worth taking.

Simple Resolution
No. I'm not expecting you to back down. You obviously believe what you are saying, and there is nothing wrong with that. What you can do though is attempt to resolve the dispute. How I hear you ask.

Firstly assume good faith, remember the person you are in a dispute with is also trying to improve the encyclopedia. They are not trying to deliberately damage the encyclopedia. Try to see things from their point of view and see if you can both come to a compromise.

Keep calm. There's no urgency to the change your are trying to put in or take out, it will wait until the discussion is complete. If you try to fight by editwarring to keep your preferred version there is a large chance that you will get nowhere and face a block. So, instead follow Bold, Revert, Discuss - one editor makes a Bold edit, which they feel improves the encyclopedia. A second editor Rerverts the edit as they disagree. The two (or more) editors discuss the matter on the talk page until they come to an agreement or proceed along Wikipedia's dispute resolution process.

When it comes to the discussion, I want you to try and stay in the top 3 sections of the pyramid to the right. You've heard the phrase "Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit" right? Well, this pyramid explains the different forms of disagreement. Attacks on the character of an editor is never going to help anything. If an editor is "attacking" you, don't respond in kind - stay focused on the editors argument and respond to that.

If you think about what you are saying and how the editor is likely to respond you realise that you have a choice. Your comment will generally go one of two ways 1) it will address the editors argument and put forward a counterargument which the opposing editor will be able to understand 2) It will not address the situation, thereby infuriating the other editor and escalating the drama.

Accusations of attacks, bad faith, WP:OWNership, WP:VANDALISM or any number of negative suggestions are going to fall into (2). If there are issues with one of these problems, follow Wikipedia's dispute resolution process and try to keep a cool head. If needs be, walk away and have a cup of tea. Play a game of "racketball". Whatever you do to calm down and just not be on Wikipedia.

Wikipedia dispute resolution process
If the simple techniques don't work (and you'd be amazed how often they do, if you try them), Wikipedia does have some methods of dispute resolution

Assistance
If you want someone to talk to but not necessarily step in, there is an WP:Editor Assistance notice board. The editors there are experienced and can offer suggestions about how to resolve the situation.

Third opinion
You can get someone uninvolved to step in and give an opinion on a content dispute. WP:3O has instructions on how to request a third editor to come in and discuss the situation. Another option to get a third opinion is to go to the project noticeboard associated with the article to ask for an opinion (the talk page lists which projects are associated with the article). Finally, you could leave a message at a relevant noticeboard - WP:SEEKHELP

Mediation
If the issue won't go away, even after a couple of people have weighed in, you can try Mediation. There are two processes here. Informal (WP:MEDCAB) and formal (WP:RfM). The editors at each specialise in sorting debates.

Request for Comment
You can use WP:RfC to draw community discussion to the page. You are likely to get a larger section of the community here than a 3O request. There is also an option to Request comment on a user. This is rarely necessary and should not be taken lightly. Only after almost every other route of dispute resolution has been taken should this happen - and it requires at least two editors having the same problem with one editor to be certified.

Arbitration
I really hope you'll never see this place in a case. It's the last resort, the community has elected it's most trusted willing volunteers to preside over the most complicated cases. Have a read of WP:ARBCOM if you like, but try not to end up there.

Reports
If an editor is acting badly, there are a few boards that you can get some help.

Remember: you could be wrong!
You could be acting against consensus! But as long as you are open to the possibility and have been sticking the top 3 sections of the pyramid, there's nothing wrong with disagreeing. Just make sure you are aware that at some point you might have to realise you are flogging a dead horse.

Any questions?
Seems complicated, but less so than copyright law, and to be honest, no-one really understands copyright law or the court cases wouldn't drag on for years over trivial things. Thanks  J e n o v a  20 12:13, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Well, the simple resolution stuff should mean you rarely need to go further, if you can keep calm and carry on. It's a little complex because so many people find different resolutions for different problems. As for copyright law, well yes, that's complex (especial since it's different in different countries) - but copyright policy on Wikipedia is a heck of a lot easier to understand!  Worm    TT   12:26, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Dispute resolution
1) What do you understand by bold, revert, discuss?
 * A- Well if i add to an article and someone disagrees and reverts my addition, then we should discuss it on the talk page until a reasonable compromise is made or until one of us gives up and no-one else there disagrees with the addition.

Not everyone will do this though i think as i would start with the discussion rather than the revert, to gather support first.
 * cmt - No problem with reverting less! the only problem is on a low interest article, there may not be a lot of discussion going on, so the revert should get the other editors attention allowing discussion to take place.

2) Assuming that person A puts in an edit, person B reverts, person A reverts... and so on, but both stop short of WP:3RR (the bright line)... who wins the edit war? Trick question alert!
 * A- Well as you pointed out before, it's not about winning or losing.

And because the additions were reverted then the article is no better or worse off so it was a waste of time and just immature. I pointed out a victory before as i had trouble adding to two articles even with support because of one person who refused anyone elses additions to the articles, that's why i felt it as a victory to finally get an edit added, and the article was improved because of that so it was a victory for Wikipedia aswell, although it shouldn't be seen that way. Generally though not everyone is like that, but everyone is somewhat protective of their work being changed and that's why the discussion is needed, to explain it's just an improvement and not a personal attack.
 * Cmt. Exactly, it's not about winning or losing, and if you realise that you won't bother to edit war. Very good point about people being protective of their work, I'm glad you're seeing other people's points of view :)

3) What is vandalism?
 * A- Well i'm trying to write these answers in my own words rather than as an expert.

As far as i'm aware it's anything potentially that can't be proven, is insulting, or is not neutral, like the Sepp Blatter vandalism after the world cup that changed his name to Sepp Bell End Blatter. It's not his middle name and nobody would really think it was, it was just vandalism because someone didn't agree with him. I believe this happens a lot on controvertial articles and especially with articles about people who aren't well liked, like George Bush or Gordon Brown for example.
 * Cmt - Yep, that's one example of vandalism. The important thing about vandalism is that it's not possible that the edit it is improving the encyclopedia. For example, if someone was to blank a sourced section without an edit summary, that'd could be seen as vandalism - whilst if they had a summary saying "unencyclopedic content", that's not vandalism - just a good faith edit (could well be wrong and reverted, just not labled vandalism).

4) What is the difference between editor assistance, third opinion and request for comment?
 * A- Well, Editor Assistance for advice from someone else on a problem with an edit or contributor, Third Opinion for someone to actually sit in and be a kind of middle man between a discussion, say if there's a disagreement in earlyish stages.

And finally Request for comment if you feel you need more people involved or if the third opinion hasn't been much use in your case.
 * Cmt - Not a bad answer. Editor Assistance is indeed advice, you'll often find the assisting editor might offer a 3O, so lines can get blurry. A 3O is generally someone with fresh eyes giving an opinion - the middle man is more like "mediation". A request for comment is like 3O but with a lot more eyes.

5) How would you have done things differently during your run-ins with Christian1985?
 * A - I wouldn't have pointed out my personal opinion as much as i did, would have got Admin involved more often when he made his threats (as i know how to now), would have defended myself better from his insulting claims of what i think, rather than what i wrote.

Overall I know better what to do if there's a disagreement and just wouldn't get walked over the next time, aswell as pointing out assume good faith. And unfortunately there probably will be as i read the news a fair bit and am better at finding reliable sources now. Have you ever had to get Admin in for a third opinion or disagreement you had btw?
 * Cmt - Nope, never. That's not to say I haven't been involved in disagreements, though I don't edit the more contentious areas as much as some other editors - they just don't interest me. I've requested comment before, because sometimes two editors at loggerheads do need some fresh eyes and I've got myself involved in disputes more than once - you and Christian are one example - and I'm sure you'll find more if you snoop through my talk page archives.

Results
I'm pretty confident that you'd be able to handle another dispute. Do try and resolve it to the best of your ability before running to the admins - they're there to sort bad behaving editors, not content disputes. And you can always ask me to weigh in as a 3O, I'm good at seeing both sides. I've commented on all your answers, make sure you read them :) Worm    TT   11:22, 4 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Just finished reading through, i agree that i prefer the smaller articles with less commentors aswell.
 * Most of mine tend to be news or car related but i've not even had as much as a disagreement with any other article other than the 2 Daily Mail ones and both from the same person.
 * It hasn't completely put me off, it's just meant that adding something takes a lot longer and will probably involve a lot more people watching every time for an edit to get through.
 * I still don't feel it's beneficial to Wikipedia for that but he knows how to stay on the outer edge of the rules and so the more i learn here the better for any possible next time.
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 14:14, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I'm on food and southwest articles. Even when I put in something contentious (like information about how clotted cream should go on a cream tea) it didn't generate much comment. I guess people don't care about food that much! I'm currently working on Pasty, which I hope to be a good article. With 61 watchers, and a lot of people very interested in the subject, it's my biggest challenge yet.
 * As for Christian, I don't know what to say. You've learnt a lot here and if we were to start over, I don't think you'd have handled things the same way but since you've both been tainted by the experience I can't see a lot of possible progress. As long as you follow the steps in the dispute resolution and remember that your actions will be judged too (so don't Assume bad faith, keep calm and don't make accusations) I think you should remain above reproach Worm    TT   14:27, 4 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Do you just like adding random cornish foods?
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 15:53, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I like writing about what I know about. And I know a lot about Cornwall and Devon and food. So that's what I do :) I thought I knew a lot about Red Dwarf and tv shows and stuff, but it's suprisingly boring to write about, plus the food is underrepresented on wikipedia (I don't think there's a single prepared food featured article, I intend to make the first!)  Worm    TT   18:26, 4 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Sounds interesting.
 * I get irritated by obvious spelling mistakes for some reason, it's a tick i can't resist and the car articles are full of mistakes.
 * As for creating new pages, i wouldn't know how at this stage, but i'm picking new things up gradually.
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 10:18, 7 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Well, it's a very helpful thing to sort out, I think you'll find that there's a lot of errors throughout wikipedia... I don't seem to notice them myself!  Worm    TT   10:27, 7 March 2011 (UTC)
 * The car articles are littered with bad spelling.
 * And i take it you live in cornwall or just like their food then?
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 11:29, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

Deletion Policies
While Wikipedia does strive to include as much information as possible, there is a practical limit as to what we're going to include as an article. Just because you think your pet cat is the cutest thing on the planet, that does not mean you should create an article about it. There's a whole list of things that Wikipedia is not. Some relate simply to style or formatting, such as Wikipedia is not a paper encyclopedia or Wikipedia is not censored. Most, however, relate to the content of the encyclopedia, and what is considered encyclopedic and what isn't. WP:NOT is an official policy, which means that all articles must adhere to it. If they don't, they're at risk of deletion.

Wikipedia has three methods to delete pages. The first, and by far fastest, is the Criteria for Speedy Deletion. These criteria depict what content absolutely cannot be kept on Wikipedia for whatever reason and must be removed immediately. The most commonly used ones are as follows:
 * General criteria 1 (G1) or G2 - Patent Nonsense and/or Test pages. Commonly created by new accounts, these have no meaningful purpose at all. Mark these pages with the templates db-nonsense or db-test.
 * G3 - Vandalism. Obvious junk that you can understand (and so isn't nonsense) but obviously isn't intended to be the least bit helpful. This includes redirects that get made as a result of someone moving pages around disruptively. Mark these with db-vandalism
 * G4 - Recreation of deleted material. If a page is deleted through an XfD debate (see below) and it gets re-created essentially identically to the previous version, it can be speedied under G4. This does not apply to pages deleted under any other method (although another speedy criteria may fit and can be used), or pages that have been "userfyed" (see below). Tag these with db-repost
 * G10 - Attacks. If a page is created with the apparently singular purpose of attacking someone, it's a candidate for deletion. Mark these with db-attack.
 * G11 - Advertising. If a page is so blatantly advertising (for anything, even a person) that it really doesn't serve any other purpose at all, it can be deleted. db-ad
 * G12 - Copyright violations, or "copyvio"''. If a page meets ALL of these criteria, it should be deleted immediately for GFDL compliance. Tag these with
 * Direct copy of a non-GFDL-compatible website
 * No non-copyrighted content in history
 * All copyvio content added at once by one user
 * No assertion of permission or fair use, or that content is public domain or freely available.

Whenever you mark a page for speedy deletion, it's usually nice to notify the author. Each of the speedy deletion tags shows the proper warning to use - just copy that code and paste it on their user talk page. You are not required to do this, but it usually helps alleviate some confusion on the part of the author.
 * Article criteria 1 or 3 (A1 or A3) - Little to no context OR no content. For articles that provide no useful information about the subject, are completely empty, or consist only of links elsewhere. Note that an article can be as short as a single sentence but still qualify as a stub. Mark with db-empty.
 * A7 - Non-notable subject. An article about a person, group, band, company, or website that does not establish why it is notable. If this is somewhat controversial, consider another deletion method. Mark with db-bio, db-corp, db-band, or db-web.

If the page doesn't fall under a CSD, but you're pretty certain it can be deleted without too much discussion on the issue, you can PROD it. PROD stands for PROposed Deletion. To PROD an article, add the template to the top of the article. YOU MUST include the "subst:" code at the beginning of the template. If you're not sure what that is, means, or does, I'll explain when we get to templates. For now, just do it. This adds a little blue box at the top of the page to indicate that the page is being considered for deletion. If the box remains in place for five days, the article will be deleted. However, anyone can contest the deletion by removing the template. If you still believe the article should be deleted after this happens, you should open a debate at WP:AFD, which I'll explain how ot use in a moment. PROD's also come with a notice for the author,.

Finally, the XfD processes (XfD stands for Anything for Deletion) allow users to debate on the merits (or lack thereof) a particular article and decide by consensus what is to become of it. These are not votes - sheer numbers have no effect on the outcome of these debates. Only reasoned comments are considered towards the result of the debate. The template at right shows all the different types of deletion debates. The most frequently used is AfD, Articles for Deletion. Your nomination earlier today should have gone there. Each XfD page outlines the process for each, which often is somewhat complicated. Deletion review is where users can appeal a deletion debate, and follows similar procedures.

Before anything is deleted, though, one should always check to see if there is any alternative. There are a wide range of cleanup templates that can be used to indicate an article needs attention (templates which we'll cover in more detail later, I'll just give you the link for now). One could always take care of the cleanup themselves. It's also possible there is usable content in the article that can be merged elsewhere, or it's just under the wrong title and needs to be moved. Wikipedia's purpose is to include as much information as possible, so deletion should always be a last resort.

Questions
Any questions or would you like to try the "Test"

I'm fairly confident those are right but it's not an easy topic.  J e n o v a  20 09:46, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Ready  J e n o v a  20 15:54, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Deletion
1) Describe a situation you would use a WP:PROD and one where you'd use WP:AfD?
 * A WP:PROD being proposed for deletion and something you're fairly confident won't get contested for whichever reason you think it should be deleted.

The notice stays up for 5 days until someone contests it and removes it or no one offers disagreement and the article gets deleted. WP:AfD would be when someone contests the deletion or you just want a consensus to see if there's more support for it being deleted.
 * That's a pretty good answer. If you don't think a deletion will be contested, PROD is right - but don't forget that even after the article is deleted it may be recreated at the request of any wikipedian (because they are contesting it). AfD is a lot stronger, it gets community input, and will give a much clearer picture. CSD is for definite policy violations that need to go NOW.

2) Most WP:CSD categories are fairly clear, but one of the more difficult is A7. Describe a situation where A7 would be appropriate :)
 * A I understood it to mean that not every person or animal warrants a Wikipedia page, like your pets for example.

Michael Jackson's pet Bubbles on the other hand could possibly have a page because many more know about him and he has been in the media spotlight quite a bit. Michael Jackson's pet goldfish is another example of something that wouldn't be deserving of a page or possibly even a mention on the Michael Jackson article. If the page was created then A7 could be used to get it deleted quickly.
 * You're along the right lines. The big thing about A7 is not the notability but the assertion of notability. So, if we're looking at pets any old pet ("my hamster is so cute") would be deleted A1 (no context), Michael Jackson's Goldfish is not really A7, because being owned by MJ is an assertion of notability, especially if they mention it was covered by "What Goldfish" magazine. It may well still be deleted as not notable via a PROD or AfD. Bubbles should not even get through deletion.

I've created 5 pages, which could be deletable. What would you do if you stumbled upon them?

3)First
 * A DB|A7
 * I'd be happy with either A7 or A1 here.

4)Second
 * A I noticed you said "could" be deleteable and not "are" deleteable so i'm going to defend this one and maybe suggest that i help you get more information for the article.

I looked at advertising and stub and unless this article was added by the person himself then i see no real problem that can't be fixed, like the minor spelling mistakes in the first paragraph and the list-like rambling a bit.
 * Fair enough. I'm glad you didn't speedy it, if you felt it could be saved - could do with some more sources though. Good answer :)

5)Third
 * A db-empty db-A7
 * Not really, no. This is a G1 - Patent Nonsense, there's no way anyone could understand this.

6)Fourth
 * A First i would correct the spelling of the word "memeorial".

After that i would suggest the page got merged with either The Blitz, Plymouth, or possibly the University of Plymouth articles as the statue isn't very notable on its own.
 * Good job. I agree.

7)Fifth
 * A db-ad db-A7

I considered A7 aswell because there are no sources to show how notable this guy actually was, and since it's blatant advertising it's unlikely to last very long anyway.
 * Advertising? Not really - there's nothing for sale there. Oh except the "donate" thing at the end... yeah I see what you mean. Well, I'd say it's an A1 because there quite clearly isn't any context, who is he? what did he do? But it was originally deleted as an A7.

Results
Good job here Jenova, deletion is another tricky topic and so I was expecting you to struggle a lot more. A couple of your answers to the speedy deletion questions were not quite right, I've commented on each answer, so please do read my replies. As long as you use PROD and AfD for deletions you find (to encourage community input) I am happy that you've passed this module well. Worm   TT   10:14, 9 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Great, i'm happy about that.
 * It's actually still irritating me that i couldn't do the copyright test, but then i can't make head or tail of it.
 * I'll live with it.
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 14:29, 9 March 2011 (UTC)
 * If it's still irritating you, I can't have that. I'll have a think about how best to sort this out - writing a glossary of terms tonight, maybe a "Copyright for dummies" lesson ;) It took me long enough to get my head around and I don't want you missing out :)  Worm    TT   14:42, 9 March 2011 (UTC)


 * That's nice of you, you don't need to cause yourself extra work though, it's the curse of being a dyslexic perfectionist.
 * Makes some things real awkward.
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 16:31, 9 March 2011 (UTC)
 * It's not a problem. You've been exceptionally receptive to what I've been telling you and if you would like to be able to finish the course I have no problem with adding an beginner level module which might get you ready for the main module.  Worm    TT   17:59, 9 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Sure =]
 * That would be great.
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 09:32, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Will let you know when it's done  Worm    TT   10:07, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

Consensus
Consensus is the way that decisions are made in Wikipedia. You may see the odd !vote (a coding joke, ! means not - confirming that this is WP:NOTAVOTE and then promptly voting), but these should generally be non-binding based upon weight of numbers, but rather through the weight of their arguments. Consensus should be created through discussion and any member of the community is welcome to enter in discussions. Yes, that means you. You have every right to put forward an opinion, but if your opinion can be based in policy it will hold a lot more weight.

Consensus applies to everything on Wikipedia, from simple article edits (see WP:BRD and the dispute resolution lesson) to large policy decisions. Consensus can also change, it does not necessarily remain the same so if you see something wrong, don't be afraid to raise it. When involved in a consensus discussion, be careful not to fall foul of canvassing, something that is frowned upon. In other words, don't bring in more people to back you up.

There are a couple of exceptions to consensus. Anything decree from Wikimedia foundation or WP:Office actions must be adhered too. Although these are rare, it's worth keeping in mind. Some of the things passed down in the past is that care must be taken over biographies of living people and copyright violations.

Community
The community is anyone who writes and edits Wikipedia. This includes you, me and any user who clicks that little edit button. They need not be registered, which is why you see IP editors. Although some registered editors treat IPs like second-class citizens, there is no reason they should be. I've seen a few reports that show that the vast majority of Wikipedia was written by IP editors. It does mean that the vast majority of vandalism is also caused by IP editors, hence the disillusionment. I'll get onto vandalism in a separate lesson, so don't worry too much about that now.

Policy and guidelines
Everything we do in wikipedia is governed by policy and guidelines, but policies and guidelines were written down once and discussed at length. Oh yes, almost every policy and guideline is based on consensus, leading us right back to the start of this lesson. Policies don't change much, the describe how the community works and in generally that remains relatively constant at the policy level.

Ignore all rules
What? Is this really right? Well, what the ignore all rules policy says is "If a rule prevents you from improving the encyclopedia, ignore it." My personal interpretation is that this a catchall to remind us that we're not in a bureaucracy, that the important thing is the encyclopedia. I've never had to implement it personally, but I do keep it in mind.

Questions
Well, that's that. Do you have any questions on Consensus or policy?

Seems simple enough, i'm ready Thanks  J e n o v a  20 17:15, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Policy
1) What is the difference between a policy, a guideline and an essay?
 * A Policy should be followed generally most of the time, guidelines are just guides and can be stretched a bit if necessary, and essays are just helpful advice created by any editor or a few editors where a policy or guideline doesn't already cover and are not enforceable, just good faith.

2) Can Policy change?
 * A The first line being "Wikipedia policies and guidelines are developed by the community to describe best practice", i interpreted that as Wikipedia policies can change if the community stance on an issue changes, as i'm sure has happened before.

What is best policy now may not be in the future.

3) In your opinion. Is Wikipedia a bureaucracy? I knew that, HONEST!
 * A First i don't like doing this, but i believe it's spelt "bureaucracy" 1000's of apologies for the nitpicking.

And Wikipedia states that it is not a bureaucracy but does have most of the framework to become one. In my own opinion...yes, i believe it's bureaucratic and can sometimes make simple things very complicated, but i actually believe that is necessary as rules are always needed, it's just when they get too restrictive that they become a problem, like copyright laws for example.

Results
Yep, I absolutely agree. However much they tell us it's not a bureaucracy, it blatently is. There's so much to follow. It's needed though, unfortunately. I'd fiddle you first answer to say Policy should be followed *almost all* of the time, guidelines most of the time - though no to overrule policy. Essays are just helpful. But I'm happy you've passed this with flying colours. Worm   TT   10:02, 10 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Isn't "most of the time" just the same as "almost all of the time"?
 * I'm in a nitpicking mood this morning.
 * Glad that i passed though.
 * Thanks =]  J e n o v a  20 10:22, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Lol you really are - nothing wrong with that though! No, I'd say they're not the same. "Almost all of the time" means "all of the time. No, really, ALL of the time. Absolutely all of the time. Unless you have a bloody good reason not to and even then I'd need to think about it ." Whereas "most of the time" means "More often than not - in fact, so often... it's almost always."  Worm    TT   10:41, 10 March 2011 (UTC)


 * But neither means all of the time does it?
 * Otherwise the comparison would be "all of the time" instead of "almost all of the time", even if it's 99% of the time, that's still "most of the time" and "almost all of the time", while all of the time has to be 100% and then it's "all of time" and "most of the time" doesn't work in that instance.
 * See what i mean?
 * Either way anyhow my answer was that the policy doesn't have to be followed "all of the time" =]
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 15:29, 10 March 2011 (UTC)


 * No, neither means all the time, Mr. Picky ;) I was just trying to stress how rare it is that policy shouldn't be followed. Like I say, you passed the module without issue!  Worm    TT   16:33, 10 March 2011 (UTC)


 * I will be requestiong a third opinion and using the dispute resolution measures to sort this.
 * Only kidding ;), thanks  J e n o v a  20 09:55, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Templates for Dummies (and you're not a dummy, so it should help)
Templates are scary but they're also extremely powerful, and so they're worth having as a module. They do involve a little bit of coding, but I'm sure you can manage a little bit of coding... just a little little tiny bit?

Right, well, now you're thinking about doing some coding, let's look at where they're used on wikipedia. Chances are, you've already used them. Anything you put in curly braces is a template. You may have only used them through copying and pasting, but there's a lot that you might have used. ,,  and  are very common ones, along with templated warnings.

What is a template?
So what is a template? Well, it's bit of "wikimarkup" (wikipedia code) which can be used on other pages. You have the option of "transcluding" it (putting the template in curly braces, ) or "substituting" it (putting it in curly braces, with the key word subst  ). If you transclude it to a page, any updates to the template will show on the page - and if you look at the wikimarkup (ie press edit), you will only ever see the curly braces and template name. If you substitute it, you will effectively be copying the template output to the page at the point you press save. Further updates to the template will be ignored, and you will be able to edit the markup on the page.

Where do I find templates?
Wikipedia has a specific namespace for templates. Any template which is used by many people should be held there, under "Template:", so for example the reflist template is held under Template:Reflist. If you use curly braces around reflist the clever wiki software looks at it and relises that it should look in the template namespace.

However, you can over-ride this, by telling it specifically which namespace you want to look in. For example, I could hold a template in my userspace - indeed I do at. The markup sees that it should be looking in the User namespace, and goes there.

How do I write templates?
The basics of templates is just the same as any other page. You can have a text only template, so that the same text can be used on many pages. But that's not where the real power comes in. The real power comes with parameters.

Un-named Parameters
The most basic parameter is (note the three curly braces - not two!). When you use in a template, it will accept the first un-named parameter passed in. Confused? How about an example?

Say I create a template called Template:Magic with the following code. "This magic trick was first performed by "

I could call it by putting and the output would be

"This magic trick was first performed by Worm"

You can go on to add other un-named parameters, and so on. And in this case Worm would be used everywhere a is shown.

Named Parameters
We also have named parameters. They are used the same way as unnamed parameters, but when called you have to say which parameter you are calling. I have a feeling you're looking confused again. Let's do another example.

Using the same template as I created about, Template:Magic I could change the parameter to "This magic trick was first performed by "

I would then call it by putting and the output would be

"This magic trick was first performed by Worm"

Useful for when you're calling many different parameters, say on an infobox.

Default values
Any parameter can have a default value, ie a value if no parameter is passed in. The syntax is.

Using the same template as I created about, Template:Magic I could add a default value... "This magic trick was first performed by "

I would then call it by putting and the output would be

"This magic trick was first performed by someone very clever"

includeonly and noinclude
There are two very useful tags that you can use to change how things appear. includeonly tags will only show when the template is placed. noinclude tags will only show on the template page. So, if you want something to change when it's placed, then the includeonly is useful (perhaps a locked timestamp). If you want something on the template page only, then the noinclude is useful (perhaps for template documentation).

Example? Yeah, I thought so. Let's go back to Template:Magic. If the code is (CURRENTTIME is a magic word, which returns the current time when called. Clever that) "This magic trick was first performed at  the current time"

You could go to Template:Magic and see

"This magic trick was first performed at the current time"

But if you were to call it, you'd get

"This magic trick was first performed at "

Other tricks
There's all sorts of other things you can do with templates, but it gets complicated from here on in. Have a look at Help:Magic words, you'll be amazed at what they can do. I'm going to teach you one more thing before I let you pass this module, and that's the #if: function. It's quite simple really - it works in the following format. where it checks if the parameter "test string" is empty.

So... let's try an example. Template:Magic again. I'm beginning to like it. "This magic trick was first performed by "

Here it checks if the parameter is null, and if it is it changes the text (the reason I've used  is so that when the parameter isn't passed in, it defaults to nothing. Otherwise it defaults to, as in the actual text - , which just gets confusing).

So you could call it by typing and you would get

"This magic trick was first performed by Worm long ago"

or you could call it with a time, and you would get

"This magic trick was first performed by Worm at 4pm"

Ta-da, you've just learnt templates!

Templates
Templates allow you to post large sections of text or complicated sections of code while only typing a few characters. Templates work similar to regular links, but instead of double square brackets, you use. To call a template, just type the title of the template between the double braces. You don't need to include the "Template:" prefix; the MediaWiki software automatically searches within the Template namespace for what you're looking for. Only if the page you're looking for is in a different namespace do you need to specify it. See below: One template you can use to welcome new users, Template:W-basic, has several parameters which can customize its appearance. Most of those parameters are named, in that you have to specify to the template what the name of the parameter is when you use it. sets the parameter "anon" to "true", which generates a message directed towards anonymous users. The advantage to named parameters is that they can be placed in any order, but they must be spelled exactly right or they will not work. The template also uses an unnamed parameter, one which does not have to be specified when it is put into use. Templates automatically assign a numerical name to unnamed parameters when they are used, starting with "1". sets the unnamed parameter "1" to "message", which is what that parameter is used for in that template. The userbox above can specify the number of states visited with that same unnamed parameter. Unnamed parameters must be in sequential order to work properly, unless you force them to be out of order by using syntax such as. Using "1=, 2=" is also required if the parameter has a = anywhere within (occasionally the case with some external links).

When writing templates, there are some extra tags and codes that have special effects when a template is called.

Conditional templates allow for use of more intricate templates, with optional parameters or different effects depending on what a certain parameter is set to. They use parser functions such as #if: to apply certain conditions to the code. Use of these functions can allow you to create some rather advanced templates, but often get exceedingly complicated and should only be edited by those users who fully understand how they work. Since these are rather complex, they will not be covered in your exam, but if you'd like we can cover them after we've completed the other topics.

I forgot to mention - there are two ways to call a template. Transclusion is simply calling the template as I showed you above:. This displays the template where you put the call for it, but leaves the curly braced call in place so that it's easy to remove. This also causes the template to update every time the page is loaded, if it has been edited or has a time-sensitive variable. Substitution, or "subst'ing" a template, causes the opposite effect. To substitute a template, add the code "subst:" at the beginning of the call:. When this is done, you are seeing the curly-braced call for the last time, because when you save the page, the MediaWiki software will replace that call with the template's code. This causes the template to lock in place - however it was when you called it, is how it's going to be from then on. This makes things a little difficult to remove, though, as instead of the simple template call, you've probably got lines of code that are now clogging up your article. Depending on how the template it written, it may require subst'ing to work properly, or it may require that it is not subst'ed. The page at WP:SUBST gives details on what templates should, must, or must not be substituted. When writing templates, it can also be useful to enclose the subst: code within tags. See below.

This lesson should show you how templates can be really useful for a lot of things. However, we can make templates even more functional and more powerful by having them do different things depending on what the parameters we set are. For more information on that, see the optional lesson on Advanced Templates.

Questions
Any questions?

Could you display examples of what i should see after the first table of codes like you did with the second? Thanks  J e n o v a  20 09:56, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Will try to do this today :) thanks for the feedback  Worm    TT   10:15, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Does that help at all?  Worm    TT   10:35, 11 March 2011 (UTC)


 * That's helpful/complicated, or one of the two.
 * I think i'd honestly rather write what i want than use code like that to save time.
 * Thanks though  J e n o v a  20 11:44, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * That's pretty understandable. I was umming and ahhing about this lesson. Templates are so powerful, and used all over wikipedia. but... I can see people getting on without them. I'll have think about what to do here.  Worm    TT   11:51, 11 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Well don't get me wrong, it's still a useful lesson to learn.
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 13:19, 11 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Here's an example of dyslexia since it can sometimes be difficult for others to completely understand, "The Cee'd is currently not available in non-European markets".
 * It's from the Kia Cee'd article and i had to read it 5 times to understand it.
 * I would have just wrote "The Cee'd is currently only available in European markets".
 * It's often like someone is telling you something and your brain is telling you they're lying so that you reread and redo things more than is necessary. Very stressful!!
 * Hope that enlightened you a little =]  J e n o v a  20 16:00, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the enlightening comment. It's not a clear sentence at all, and I noticed you'd had a conversation elsewhere over it. My sister actually suffers from dyslexia, so I have a little experience in the matter, so hopefully my lessons are generally clearly written. Much as I hate to suggest you work elsewhere, have you ever heard of the Simple English wikipedia? It's similar to this site, but aimed at people who don't speak english as their first language, so it's written in much clearer language. At least that's the theory. Of course, it's a much smaller encyclopedia at the moment and has a lot of work yet to do...  Worm    TT   17:12, 11 March 2011 (UTC)


 * I don't intend to quit or swap to another version, i just thought i should explain that i can pick this stuff up over time, i just need to keep going at the same pace.
 * Besides, i'm sure you'll agree that a slow editor is better than one less.
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 15:40, 14 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Please don't get the impression that I was trying to get rid of you in any way shape or form! As I said elsewhere, you're turning into a great editor and I'd rather have 1 great editor than 10 maintenance workers (my personal opinion), because they help the encyclopedia move forward whereas the maintenance workers stop it moving backwards. Better to get it right slowly than wrong quickly. The only reason I mentioned Simple was that you are clearly very good at clarity, something they hold in high regard over there.  Worm    TT   16:13, 14 March 2011 (UTC)


 * I didn't.
 * I just would rather not give up on this, i don't think i'm doing too bad and regarding "Homophobia in the media" there's so much work snowballing on me at the moment that that's been sidelined and i'm not even getting to work on it.
 * I didn't mention i was the unluckiest person in the world before now but basically it's slowing me down a lot.
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 16:51, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

I honestly don't understand what i'm doing on this one. It looks jibberish to me lol. I've picked up creating new pages and redirecting since this test was available but templates are just random letters and numbers to me. Thanks  J e n o v a  20 15:29, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I read your response to BennyDigital aswell and was shocked your pride flag history was so terrible. Perhaps we should be testing you next? If i ever manage to finish these exams anyway =] Thanks  J e n o v a  20 15:36, 22 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Yikes! where was that? If I'm honest, I know little or nothing about the rainbow flag, it's something I should look up and read, I'm sure it has a very interesting history. I hang my head in shame, and would welcome any suggested reading. Don't worry that it's feeling like jibberish at the moment, I'm sure we can get you through. If you don't mind being patient, give me a day or so and I'll see if I can point you in the right direction.  WormTT   &middot; &#32;(talk) 15:41, 22 March 2011 (UTC)


 * It's okay, it's not your fault, i can read through but i just can't make sense of it.
 * I'm proud of my culture and history, it's one of the things that attracted me to Wikipedia, so that i could help and out learn more.
 * As i understand the flag originally had 7 colours until the flag maker for the riots ran out of a colour and used just 6 instead.
 * The 6 colours of the rainbow represent the gay community accepting anyone and everyone as we're tolerant and all accepting, not just because it looks fabulous ;]
 * The riots started after the Stonewall Inn was raided by police and the gay community began to fight back for their treatment by others and constant police raids and arrests.
 * We have a fairly interesting history, but it's mostly just kiss-ins and other protests to raise visiblity.
 * That's the jist of it  J e n o v a  20 16:20, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I've decided to keep the module, it's so powerful, I think that everyone needs to know how to use templates for things like infoboxes, categories and the like. So. good luck with this... and don't feel you can't ask questions - it's not an exam ;)

Templates Test
Well, this is a bit of fun, isn't it? One of the more difficult things to test.

Well, for this test, I've created you a nice new page at User:Worm That Turned/Adopt/Jenova20/Template. It's a template! Have a look at it now. Depending on how you call it, different things will happen. So I'd like you to call the template so that you get the correct result. No using subst, just use the parameters of your nice new template.

1) I intend to pass this module! (Template module)
 * A: intend

2) My name is Jenova20 and I intend to pass this module! (Template module)
 * A: intend

3) My name is Jenova20 and I intend to eat a butterfly. (Template module)
 * A: intend

4) My name is Jenova20 and I intend to pass this module! I am really good with templates. (Template module)
 * A:

'NB, to get (4) to work properly... you will have to edit the template. Bwhahahah :D'
 * Hint - you can pass in a parameter like this

Vandalism
What we're going to do now is get you started with some basic vandalism patrols. This is by no means something you will be obligated to do as an editor, however it is something you should know how to do due to the high risk of vandalism on Wikipedia. Should you ever become an administrator, you will likely be expected to deal with vandalism in some respect.

To start off, let's get some background. Wikipedia is, as you know, a wiki, meaning anyone can edit virtually any page. This is both a blessing and a curse, however, as while it does allow a wide range of information to be added and shared, it also allows people with less than benevolent intentions to come in and mess around with stuff. It requires a fair amount of work during every hour of every day to ensure that this vandalism does not run rampant and destroy the project. Fortunately, with a near-endless supply of volunteers across the world, this doesn't really cause a problem. The addition of various tools help aid our cause and make the "reversion", or removal, of vandalism happen within minutes (sometimes seconds).

What we define vandalism as is "an edit which is delibrately attempting to harm the encyclopedia" to an article or other page. Most commonly, these are pretty blatant - replacing a whole page or section with curse words, simply removing entire sections, and so forth. Occasionally, it's less obvious, like changing key words in a section to completely alter the meaning. Basically, anything that can't be helpful at all to the article should be considered vandalism, however you should always remember to assume good faith for questionable cases.

The most commonly used, and arguably the most critical tool in this respect, is Special:RecentChanges. Recent Changes is a special page that lists every edit made across the project within the last few minutes. You can find a link to it in the toolbar to the left. The page is formatted similarly to a page's history, with a few differences. Here's how a standard entry generally looks: So that you can know all the terminology (which in some cases will be used across the site), I'm going to explain what all of this means. Feel free to skip this if you've already clicked the links.
 * (diff) (hist) . . Shigeru Miyamoto‎; 14:32 . . (+28) . . 201.152.102.192 (Talk) (→ Competition with Sony and Microsoft )
 * 1) A "diff" is the difference between two revisions. Wikipedia has a special feature that allows you to compare revisions to see exactly what was changed. This is particularly useful when on vandal patrol, as this is the best thing available to tell you if the edit was or was not vandalism. Clicking on the link above will only take you to the help page on diffs, unfortunately, however an actual diff link will bring you to a screen that looks like this one, an actual diff of another article. Content removed appears in red text in a yellow box on the left; content added appears in red text in a green box on the right.
 * 2) The "hist" link will bring you to the page's history. You can click on the "hist" link above to get to the help page for this feature. A page's history lists all edits ever made to a page, something which is required under the terms of the GFDL, Wikipedia's licensing.
 * 3) The next link is the article that the edit was made to.
 * 4) The time stamp will indicate when the edit was made. The time will appear in your time zone, as you have it defined in your Special:Preferences. Note that this is different from signature timestamps, which are always in UTC/GMT time.
 * 5) The green or red number after the timestamp will tell you how much was added or removed to the article in the edit. A green "+" number shows the number of bytes added to the article - a red "-" number indicates the number removed. In general, the number of bytes is equal to the number of characters, however this is not always the case: Certain special characters can contain more than one byte, and templates can completely mess this number up. Templates will be covered in another lesson later on, however you will be using some in your patrols later. This number will be in bold if a very large number of characters were removed, which is usually a good indicator of vandalism.
 * 6) The next part is the name of the user who made the edit, which will link to their user page. In this case, an IP address made the edit, so the link will instead go to their contributions. Since most vandalism comes from these anonymous editors, this serves as another convenience to those on patrol. The user name is followed by a link to their talk page.
 * 7) The last part of a RC report is the edit summary. When editing a section of an article, the title of that section will automatically be included in the edit summary, as you see above. Other special edit summaries include "Replaced page with..." and "Blanked the page". In general, these last two are dead giveaways for vandalism edits, however you will occasionally see an editor blank his own user or user talk page, so be careful about that.

Now that you know how to use Recent Changes, I want you to and find some vandalism edits. I don't want you to remove the edit yourself just yet - we'll get to this shortly and chances are, another editor or bot will beat you to it. So before you go on, go to Special:RecentChanges and find three vandalism edits. So that I can check your work and we can discuss things, I want you to copy the links to the diffs of these three edits into the brackets you see below. (This is most easily done by copying the URL from your address bar while you're viewing the diff.)

IMPORTANT WARNING: Due to the very nature of vandalism on Wikipedia, it is possible you will encounter something that will offend you. I take this time to point out Wikipedia's Content Disclaimer, which basically says that you can find just about anything on here and it's not WP's fault. While you may find something offensive in your searches and subsequent vandal patrols, it is best to simply brush it off and not take it to heart. Later on, when you are actually reverting vandalism, it is possible that your own user pages will be vandalized. Here the same thing applies - ignore and simply remove it. I do not tell these things to scare you, or to imply that it will happen. I am simply pointing out that it is possible, although exceedingly rare. In many cases, these attempts to attack you are in fact somewhat amusing. If it occurs, just remember how intellectually superior you clearly are to the vandal and be glad that you actually have a life. Please add your signature here ( ~ ) to confirm that you have read and understand this warning:  J e n o v a  20 15:36, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Now that that's over with, go do your task. Have fun! (By the way, please ignore new pages, indicated by a bold "N" on the log entry.)
 * Diff 1: [] Why you think this is vandalism:
 * Diff 2: [] Why you think this is vandalism:
 * Diff 3: [] Why you think this is vandalism:

How to Revert
Well, If you're using anything but Internet Explorer, I suggest using Twinkle. You can turn it on by going to My Preferences --> Gadgets --> Twinkle. saving your preferences and then holding shift while pressing the refresh button. Suddenly you have new things to play with! Each diff gives you 3 options to roll back - more can be found at WP:TWINKLE

Vandalism and warnings
You occasionally get the repeat vandal. The vandal who is here, not because he is bored and has nothing better to do, but because he has a singular purpose of wreaking as much havoc as he can before he gets blocked. These vandals go in and remove entire sections of text, or replace entire pages with gibberish repeatedly. Even after you've given them a warning, they ignore it and continue. It is for these vandals we have multiple levels of warnings. In general, you will escalate up those levels from 1 to 4 as the vandalism continues. If it's nothing clearly malicious (see below), you should always assume that it was a careless mistake (in short, assume good faith, one of Wikipedia's foundation principles), and just let them know that you fixed it. As it continues, it becomes more and more obvious that they intend to cause trouble, so the warnings get more and more stern. Occasionally, you'll get the vandal, who despite all logical reasoning, continues to vandalize after that final warning. When this happens, we have no choice left but to block them. Since we're not administrators, we lack this ability, so we must report them to those with that power at Administrator intervention against vandalism. That page provides complete instructions on how to file a proper report. If you are using Twinkle, you can report a user to this page by clicking the "arv" tab at the top of any of their user pages. Usually, an administrator will take action within minutes, but until that happens, you need to continue watching the vandal's contributions and reverting any further vandalism. The Three-Revert Rule does not apply when dealing with obvious vandals. I should also note here that many vandals will remove warning template from their talk page. While this may appear as vandalism, and for a time was treated as such, it is not necessary to re-add these warnings, and no warning should be issued for the blanking of the talk page. While these templates do serve as an easily accessible record for other vandal fighters, their main purpose is to alert the vandal to the consequences of their actions. Removing the templates is considered a way to acknowledge that they have been read.

Then you get the belligerent vandal. This is very similar to the last kind, although they actually take the time to read the warnings (or are able to) and take offense. They go by the logic that anyone can edit Wikipedia, so who are you to tell them that they can't edit in this particular way? To make this rather annoying point, they will leave an offensive message on your talk page, or more often simply add some sort of vandalism to your main user page, which you generally won't notice for several more minutes, or days, if someone else reverts it first.

When this happens, you just have to take it in stride, and remember that you are far more intelligent than them because you actually stop to read information instead of blanking it away, and thus the human race still has some hope for salvation. Just revert it, and slap them a uw-npa warning of whatever severity you deem necessary. The last version got a uw-npa4im warning, an "only warning" for the most severe offenses, and I still reported him straight off anyway.

The final version is the malicious vandal. These are hardest to notice, because their edits aren't immediately recognizable. They will seem to be improving the article at first glance, when really they're replacing true information with false, often libelous parodies. Others replace valid links with shock sites, or add hidden comments with offensive information. This last version doesn't actually appear in the article, but is there waiting when someone comes to edit it. A similar type of vandal, the "on wheels" vandal, is here for the sole purpose of destroying the encyclopedia. The namesake, User:Willy on Wheels, replaced dozens of pages with the text " has been vandalized by User:Willy on Wheels!" The BASEPAGENAME variable is a magic word that displays the name of the page. After his blocking, Willy continued to create hundreds of sockpuppets for the same purpose. This sort of vandal is clearly here to vandalize, as such actions are not accidental. With them, you can safely assume bad faith right from the start and slam them with a more severe warning. No, you don't have to escalate in all cases - if there is no doubt that the edit was made with bad intentions, you may start with a higher level than normal. The "4im" level is designed specifically for cases of severe vandalism, and is an only warning to cease and desist.

Keep an eye out for all of these vandals, and keep that information in mind when stopping them. There is a full customized range of warning templates to be found at WP:UTM - use the most specific one possible, so that the vandal, if he did make a simple mistake, has the links at hand to learn from his mistake and improve. Any questions, please put them on the adoption talk page.

Questions
Not much of a test this time, because there's so much to read... but let me know when you are ready :)

Ready, not sure what this is about tho: "Diff 1: [] Why you think this is vandalism:   Diff 2: [] Why you think this is vandalism:    Diff 3: [] Why you think this is vandalism:" Thanks 81.137.240.118 (talk) 11:33, 3 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Well, I was hoping you'd go to Special:RecentChanges, click on a few diffs and if you see any that you think are vandalism, copy the url into the []. You don't need to revert or anything, just let me know you're identifying vandalism.  WormTT   &middot; &#32;(talk) 13:38, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

I don't know how to do that but here's one i found fairly easily "(diff | hist) . . Human evolution‎; 14:37 . . (-4,189) . . 72.10.107.133 (Talk) (→History of ideas: ) [rollback]" If you can tell me how i'm supposed to do this properly i'd appreciate it. Thanks  J e n o v a  20 14:45, 3 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Number 2:
 * "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aldro&curid=863177&diff=432364548&oldid=428454914"
 *  J e n o v a  20 14:47, 3 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Number 3:
 * "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Billy_Jones_%28footballer_born_1987%29&curid=4627305&diff=432364886&oldid=432351469"
 *  J e n o v a  20 14:49, 3 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Absolutely you're right on the first two, they're deliberate attempts to harm the encyclopedia. The last could possibly be a good faith edit, very borderline. I'd agree it needs reverting, but I don't think I'd call it vandalism.  WormTT   &middot; &#32;(talk) 19:37, 3 June 2011 (UTC)


 * I was a bit trigger happy looking for the last vandalism.
 * Most vandalism is reverted before i notice anyhow but i understand the difference between badly sourced and vandal edits.
 * None of the edits i proposed as vandalism could be sourced to stay in the article except for the last one, and then only if it was a quote from someone major and worth even mentioning on Wikipedia the first place.
 * There was no chance any of those edits would survive.
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 08:54, 6 June 2011 (UTC)

Vandalism
Q1) How would you define vandalism?
 * A: A harmful edit rather than a good one, anything unremotely helpful to the article.
 * Well, actually it needs to be "intentionally" harmful. If it's not clear that the person is intending to harm the encyclopedia, we need to assume good faith, that they are trying to improve it. Just because they are not improving it doesn't mean that they're not trying to.

Q2) We currently have 4 levels of warnings, have a look at them if you like 1, 2,3,4 - along with an only warning. Do you think we need 4 levels?
 * A: I do, all the bases appear to be covered with those 4 and too many warnings or not enough is ineffective and would allow people more chances before being blocked than is necessary or too few to actually learn from what they did.
 * Good answer, well thought out.

Q3) Does an admin need all 4 levels to block? How many do you think they need? How many should you have gone through before going to WP:AIV
 * A: It's going to be on a case by case basis every time but if someone indicates they know that they're doing wrong and persists then that must surely be grounds for WP:AIV
 * Yes. EXACTLY. I have not seen a better answer than this.

Q4) When do you think you might use the "only" warning?
 * A: A sockpuppet pursuing the same target over and over again for their attacks/vandalism.
 * Something very very bad that was far beyond your everyday vandalism.
 * Yep, those are both correct usages of the only warning.

Q5) Do you think that vandals should be allowed to remove the warnings?
 * A: Ideally no, but since they can then you can always look in the history to see how many warnings they've had.
 * If you force people to keep warnings, then that's effectively punishing them. A warning is designed to stop the behaviour, they may not have known it was taken so seriously. The history is there to see the warnings if you need it.

Q6) Is a copyright violation vandalism?
 * A: It could be, if for example it was done on purpose by a repeat offender or just someone who admitted to why they did it maybe to get a page deleted or just to annoy another editor working on a project.
 * I'd class any offensive or in no way helpful edit to be vandalism but it's a case by case basis.
 * I'm glad you see that there is a difference between copyvios and vandalism, and that an intentional copyvio by someone aware of the problem is vandalism.

Q7) The vast majority of vandalism comes from IP editors... but the majority of good edits are also made by IP editors. Should wikipedia require registration?
 * A: No, that would be unhelpful and deter a lot of editors, it would also make more of a sockpuppet problem i believe in the long run.
 * I don't always log in if i want to make a quick edit, by forcing me to a lot of those edits in a rush wouldn't happen and Wikipedia would be in a worse state for that.
 * Good answer :)

Results
You are certainly starting to think in the "Wikipedia way" Jenova, some exceptional answers there. You're right that if an edit is in no way helpful it is probably vandalism, but the important thing about vandalism is the intent behind it. You yourself have been accused twice, both times the accuser would argue that your edits were in no way helpful. That's a matter of opinion, you clearly made the edits in good faith, you were trying to improve the encyclopedia, that is not vandalism. Both times I did tell the editor in question off for just this point, vandalism is such a highly charged word, it shouldn't be thrown around willy nilly. WormTT  &middot; &#32;(talk) 07:54, 7 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes, and with people having different ideas and definitions of vandalisms i'm sure i can expect more accusations in future.
 * Hopefully none with anything related to Hitler/Nazi though or i could get a bad reputation ;).
 * Thanks  J e n o v a  20 09:19, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

Working the encyclopedia
Final module, well done for getting this far. I don't know if you realise, but the other 8 modules dealt with the theory of wikipedia, and didn't actually ask you to do anything. Well, this module is designed to teach you about the different areas you can work. It's a big wide encyclopedia out there.

Building
The first option is to build new articles. You know an awful lot about how wikipedia works now, and what's notable and what's not, reliable sources and what not. How about you try and write an article? Something new, something different. You may have already done this. If you can write 1500 characters about a subject, you can submit it for Did you know. Did you know is a great way to ensure your new articles are up to scratch (they need to be less than 5 days old in the mainspace, well sourced and have a catchy "hook") and the hook should appear on the front page in the Did you know section! I've managed to do a few so far, you can have a look at mine if you like I keep a record at User:Worm That Turned/DYK. You can also apply for a DYK if you expand the characters in an article by 5x. That can be quite tough, but it is possible.

Join a Project
Have a look at your favourite articles, on the talk page, you'll often find that they have an associated WikiProject. The project is always looking for new members and will enjoy your help! They often have to-do lists and you could help out :D

Deleting
Why not mozy over to WP:XfD. There's always debates going on about articles that might need deleting from the encyclopedia. Throw in a view! You've been reading so much theory, you'll know as much as most people. There's an article on WP:Arguments to avoid in deletion discussions which might help you.

Patrolling
There's a lot to maintain at wikipedia, and your help would be gratefully received.
 * New Page Patrol checks every single new page to see if it meets the guidelines, wikifies it, tags it and marks it as patrolled. Would be very helpful if you'd help out :D Have a read an think which you might be interested in helping out there. You may end up using your WP:CSD knowledge, or at least nominate them for deletion.
 * Recent change patrol, vandalism patrol. it's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it! I've done quite a bit, but it still only accounts for 20% of my work here.

Cleanup

 * WP:CLEANUP is one of the biggest backlogs on wikipedia. There's lots of things to do there, from wikification to re-writing articles to comply with NPOV. Every little does help, so whatever you can do, please do. As an example, I had a go at the . When I got there, there were 400. I chipped away at them at about 10 per day, many were no longer contradictory or mis-tagged. They're now at around 70, a much more respectable number. Every little helps. I cannot stress this enough.

Help the encyclopedia move forward
There's always discussions going on at requested moves or WP:Requests for comment. Why not see if you can offer a point of view? The most important (supposedly) at any given time are listed at WP:CENT. Hey, you can even wander around the village pump (the encyclopedic version of the water cooler), see if there's any general discussions you're interested in.

Questions
Think there's stuff their you can do? Are you ready for the final exam? I have to warn you, some of these will be involved in the practical test... oh yes, there's a practical test. ;)
 * Ready, i think  J e n o v a  20 12:25, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Good luck - You may approach the final test.  WormTT   &middot; &#32;(talk) 12:41, 10 June 2011 (UTC)