User talk:Biographyfan

Please don't spam links to ourstory
Please do not add inappropriate external links to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a mere directory of links nor should it be used for advertising or promotion. Inappropriate links include (but are not limited to) links to personal web sites, links to web sites with which you are affiliated, and links that exist to attract visitors to a web site or promote a product. See the external links guideline and spam policies for further explanations of links that are considered appropriate. If you feel the link should be added to the article, then please discuss it on the article's talk page rather than re-adding it. See the welcome page to learn more about Wikipedia. Thank you. --Minderbinder 21:48, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

I am new to posting on wikipedia, and you recently deleted all of my links that I have added. I have read the links you posted in my talk section, and appreciate your concern and commitment to keeping the external links on wikipedia relevant and non-commercial. I support you in that effort.

However, you mistakely assumed I am associated commericially with OurStory, which I am not. Additionally, none of the links I posted attempt to earn me any money. The timelines I manage are freely open to the public to browse and reference.

I am a biographer by hobby, and am using the OurStory service beacuse I like the timeline they provide. It is a service that I couldn't find else where on the web, and as a history buff and biographer, I think it is valuable. I run a number of profiles on their service, which are told collaboratively with other people on the site, and I particpate in other people's biographical projects.

I do respect the fact that external links should provide information that positively adds to the discussion, or provides valuable information that is not already in the entry. And I understand that in some cases the information on my timeline projects does this and sometimes it does not. So, in respecting this, I will only add my links back to entries where I think my timeline provides valuable (or missing) information on that subject, for the wikipedia user. You can see my comments on those individual discussion pages.

But, as a final thought, I hope that you can appreciate that, in and of itself, a biographical (graphical) timeline is a useful external reference tool. It is something I have been looking for for a long time. For example, when I created my biography on Barack Obama, in my research I could not find a biographical web source that provided dates for important events that make up his life (including the wikipedia entry, offical Illinois sentate, or US Sentate biographies, or even his current campaign page). There was nowhere I could go to get a sense of the major events in his life, without reading 3 pages of text. So, in a case like that, I think the timeline is an external reference that is contributing to the entry.

If you think it is best, I can alter the way I leave links, so that it does not say Our Story in it. I just followed the example that is widely used on wikipedia for external links to IMDB.

If you would like to further the general discussion, please post on my Talk page again. And, please engage me on the discussion page for the individual entries where I am adding the links back. If you plan on re-deleting them, please review the timeline first, and provide a reason why you feel it is not worthy of being listed.

Thank you! Biographyfan 23:07, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Actually I didn't assume you have a commercial affiliation with the site. But mass additions of links are still considered spam.  Are the pages you are linking to ones you created, or who is the author of them?  --Minderbinder 00:08, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I've requested opinions from other editors at Wikipedia talk:External links. --Minderbinder 00:12, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

I didn't link to that many. The author is a group of people, anybody who wants to add to the timeline may. But there is an owner of each project. I posted entries for timelines I monitor or contribute to. I have posted my comments to Wikipedia talk:External links Biographyfan 00:32, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I counted about 28, including links to each individual season of American Idol. --Minderbinder 01:14, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

This seems to have elements of "conflict of interest" - WP:COI - since you are directly involved the with the content on that site. In such cases, adding the link yourself is strongly discouraged. Better to post it on the talk page of the relevant article and let other editors discuss it and add it if they feel it is appropriate. Good luck. Nposs 01:21, 21 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Fair enough. I will post links to the talk section for discussion when I've got something I think is useful. Biographyfan 21:51, 23 April 2007 (UTC)