User talk:CSCunninghamCCI

Welcome!
Hello, CSCunninghamCCI, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few links to pages you might find helpful:
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Please remember to sign your messages on talk pages by typing four tildes ( ~ ); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Questions, ask me on my talk page, or, and a volunteer should respond shortly. Again, welcome! — Diannaa 🍁 (talk) 19:56, 2 February 2018 (UTC)

February 2018
Thank you for your contributions. It seems that you may have added public domain content to one or more Wikipedia articles, such as William Cuningham. You are welcome to import appropriate public domain content to articles, but in order to meet the Wikipedia guideline on plagiarism, such content must be fully attributed. This requires not only acknowledging the source, but acknowledging that the source is copied. There are several methods to do this described at Plagiarism, including the usage of an attribution template. Please make sure that any public domain content you have already imported is fully attributed. Thank you. — Diannaa 🍁 (talk) 19:56, 2 February 2018 (UTC)

Managing a conflict of interest
Hello, CSCunninghamCCI. We welcome your contributions, but if you have an external relationship with the people, places or things you have written about on the page Clan Cunningham, you may have a conflict of interest (COI). Editors with a conflict of interest may be unduly influenced by their connection to the topic. See the conflict of interest guideline and FAQ for organizations for more information. We ask that you:


 * avoid editing or creating articles about yourself, your family, friends, colleagues, company, organization or competitors;
 * propose changes on the talk pages of affected articles (you can use the request edit template);
 * disclose your conflict of interest when discussing affected articles (see Conflict of interest);
 * avoid linking to your organization's website in other articles (see WP:Spam);
 * do your best to comply with Wikipedia's content policies.

In addition, you are required by the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use to disclose your employer, client, and affiliation with respect to any contribution which forms all or part of work for which you receive, or expect to receive, compensation. See Paid-contribution disclosure.

Also, editing for the purpose of advertising, publicising, or promoting anyone or anything is not permitted. Thank you. Nick Moyes (talk) 21:55, 16 April 2021 (UTC)

Your submission at Articles for creation: sandbox (April 9)
 Your recent article submission to Articles for Creation has been reviewed! Unfortunately, it has not been accepted at this time. The reason left by Timtrent was:

Please check the submission for any additional comments left by the reviewer. You are encouraged to edit the submission to address the issues raised and resubmit when they have been resolved.


 * If you would like to continue working on the submission, go to User:CSCunninghamCCI/sandbox and click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window.
 * If you now believe the draft cannot meet Wikipedia's standards or do not wish to progress it further, you may request deletion. Please go to User:CSCunninghamCCI/sandbox, click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window, add "Db-g7" at the top of the draft text and click the blue "publish changes" button to save this edit.
 * If you do not make any further changes to your draft, in 6 months, it will be considered abandoned and may be deleted.
 * If you need any assistance, or have experienced any untoward behavior associated with this submission, you can ask for help at the [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:WikiProject_Articles_for_creation/Help_desk&action=edit&section=new&nosummary=1&preload=Template:AfC_decline/HD_preload&preloadparams%5B%5D=User:CSCunninghamCCI/sandbox Articles for creation help desk], on the [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Timtrent&action=edit&section=new&nosummary=1&preload=Template:AfC_decline/HD_preload&preloadparams%5B%5D=User:CSCunninghamCCI/sandbox reviewer's talk page] or use Wikipedia's real-time chat help from experienced editors.

🇺🇦 Fiddle Timtrent  Faddle Talk to me 🇺🇦 17:04, 9 April 2022 (UTC)

Your recent changes to Clan Cunningham
Hello. After reverted your changes to Clan Cunningham, you have continued to add large amounts of new content to the page lacking proper citations. All contributions to Wikipedia need to be based on reliable sourcing, and those references need to be properly formatted so other editors can verify that the sourcing matches the claims in the article. If you continue to have disagreements about an article's content, instead of re-adding it, please discuss your concerns and proposed changes on the talk page.

I would also encourage you to re-review the sections above discussing Wikipedia's conflict-of-interest policy, since you seem to have a close interest on these particular topics, and some editors are concerned you may have a personal connection to the subject in question. aismallard (talk) 22:36, 11 April 2022 (UTC)


 * What is considered a "reliable source?" I use the "Internet Archive" in researching the Cunningham Family history. My recent submission to the Clan Cunningham, Article The Shake-fork and the Motto, was a carefully researched and fully sourced with footnotes and 12 verified references. In a few cases I provided mutable reference to support the document.
 * I spent the better part of 3-years researching, reading and cross referencing prior to publishing The Shake-fork and the Motto article.
 * Please identify sources (references) you consider unreliable?
 * [1] The Scottish Nation, Vol I
 * [1] A System of Heraldry, Vol I
 * [1] Ayrshire, its History and Historic Families
 * [1] Caledonia, Vol II
 * [1] British Baronetage, Vol III
 * [1] A Short View of the Families of the Scottish Nobility
 * [1] A System of Heraldry, Vol I
 * [1] The Peerage of Scotland
 * [1] A Journey Through Scotland
 * [1] History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton, Vol III, Part II
 * [1] A System of Heraldry, Vol I
 * [1] Places of Interest about Girvan with Some Glimpses of Carrick History CSCunninghamCCI (talk) 16:46, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Aismallard, In April you cited with a violating 'Wikipedia's conflict-of-interest policy' do to my relationship with Clan Cunningham International editing the Wikipedia article 'Clan Cunningham.' How can I overcome, conflict-of-interest policy, enabling me to update and add to the Clan Cunningham page? C. Stevens Cunningham (talk) 18:39, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

April 2022
Because of your clearcut conflict of interest and consistent use of poorly cited, poor quality references, I have blocked you indefinitely from editing Alexander Cunningham, 1st Earl of Glencairn and Clan Cunningham and all other Cunningham related articles. You may make neutral and well referenced edit requests at Talk: Alexander Cunningham, 1st Earl of Glencairn and Talk: Clan Cunningham and the talk pages of other Cunningham related articles. Please read the Guide to appealing blocks. Cullen328 (talk) 01:33, 12 April 2022 (UTC)


 * Conflict of interest, how so? I carefully research all available resources, often cross referencing resources to validate information.  Please identify which references you consider, "poorly cited, poor quality."
 * Yes I am an officer with Clan Cunningham International, I am charged with the responsibility of seeing the organization activities in the US Northeast, Managing our Facebook Group, and seeing that the Cunningham presents on Wikipedia, provide the reader with factual information, to edit out incorrect information and add new information to any Cunningham page.
 * I am a volunteer and an amateur historian, that researches and writes about the history of the Cunningham Family. CSCunninghamCCI (talk) 16:25, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
 * As you say on your user page, you are the former President of Clan Cunningham International, and current Northeast Regional Director and maintainer of its Facebook page. It is apparent from the name of this organization that it has a vested interest in the Clan Cunningham page, for instance, wishing to promote the concept. (See Conflict of interest for more information on Wikipedia's conflict-of-interest policies). aismallard (talk) 16:44, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Please point out one incident of 'Promoting' Clan Cunningham International, (CCI) in my edits or self promoting. You can not for there is not any. Everyone including yourself have a 'conflict of interest' in every Wikipedia article. No one rights a Wikipedia article without having a point of view they want to promote.
 * It is obvious that you never read my edits or article, nor did take the time to review the references that I included. You simple saw that I was a member of CCI and therefor everything I wrote must in some way present a conflict of interest or self promoting. Every article on Wikipedia concerning a current elected official is self serving and self promoting and yet Wikipedia does nothing about it.
 * Under you rules as a Cunningham, a member of CCI I am being discriminated against. Who better knows the history of the Cunningham Family, than a member of the family. I have been researching and writing about the rich history of the Cunningham's for several years.  The current Clan Cunningham Wikipedia page DOES NOT present a true an accurate picture of my Family. Impotent details are missing from the introduction section. The section entitled 'Origins' has nothing to do with the origins of the Cunningham Family, it all about the Shake-fork and the Family Motto. In this non-origin section a man named Fredric van Bassen, is featured. van Bassen worked has been described by several Scottish writers as being; fantastical genealogy, rich fiction, mere fantasy, and 'entirely fictitious.' In my article, The Shake-fork and Motto, I provided the principle theories, including  van Bassen theory, I provided context to of these theories.
 * The true 'Origins' section should focus on a man named Warnebald, the recognized Progenitor of the Cunningham by recognized by most Scottish scholars, historians, and genealogists. NO where on the Clan Cunningham Wikipedia page does the name Warnebald appear, making the page totally incomplete and somewhat misleading. Information regarding the Earls of Glencairn are also missing from the page a major over-site.  Additional incomplete information missing from the page, 'Historic seat' missing is the original seat of the Cunningham's, Kilmaurs Castle, the second seat was Kilmaurs Palace and then Finlaystone House, not Castle. Clan branches, the list is incomplete, there is no Clan branch know as 'Earls of Glencairn' the Earls of Glencairn come from branch know as the Cunninghams of Kilmaurs.
 * Who ever wrote the Clan Cunningham did not have a full understanding as to who the Cunningham's where and are.
 * I was trying to correct miss-information, missing information and to provide the reader with a better understanding of the Cunningham Clan. If that is a conflict of interest, than I stand guilty.
 * Steve Cunningham
 * CSCunninghamCCI (talk) 19:28, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Cullen328 you partially blocked for 'Persistent addition of unsourced content: Conflict of interest editing, use of poorly cited, poor quality sources.' The main point I would like to address is my violation 'Wikipedia's conflict-of-interest policy' do to my relationship with Clan Cunningham International editing the Wikipedia article 'Clan Cunningham.' How can I overcome, conflict-of-interest policy, enabling me to update and add to the Clan Cunningham page? C. Stevens Cunningham (talk) 18:45, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Your email
I received your email. There is nothing about this matter that requires private communication, so I will respond here. You added massive amounts of poorly referenced content to Clan Cunningham. Most of your references are not bibliographically complete. They lack things like publication dates and names of publishers. Sometimes you list authors with surnames first and sometimes with surnames last. You added an entirely unreferenced section, "The Shake-fork and the Motto". You wrote a sentence This is not encyclopedic writing. We do not query our readers. Another poorly written, unencyclopedic sentence is

You added a promotional sentence about CCI referenced to the CCI website. That is conflict of interest editing. You used another Wikipedia article as a reference, which isn't allowed per WP:CIRCULAR. You messed up the beginning of the article with a bunch of italic text added before the lead sentence. In other words, you are not experienced enough with editing Wikipedia to directly edit the article, although you have the option of making formal edit requests at Talk: Clan Cunningham but you will need to gain consensus for your changes from other editors interested in that article. I believe that you have a conflict of interest but you deny it. You are free to appeal my block and another administrator will make the decision. Cullen328 (talk) 23:21, 18 April 2022 (UTC)


 * Just to be clear, you are saying that as an officer of Clan Cunningham International prevents me from making edits or corrections to the Clan Cunningham Page?
 * So you are saying that Wikipedia is fine with have an inferior page? My goal was to improve the page, adding sections such as the Earls of of Glencairn, the true origins of the Family (Clan) Cunningham, The Cunninghams of Ireland and to update the sidebar.
 * Under External Links - you have a Broken Link (www.clancunningham.us Clan Cunningham Society of America, Inc.) Clan Cunningham Society of America currently has no presences on the Internet or on any Social sites.  It is not clear if they have dissolve, after the death of its High Commissioner, December of 2021. There has been no Activity from the Society.
 * Yours,
 * Steve C. Stevens Cunningham (talk) 15:09, 19 April 2022 (UTC)

To add on a bit here (as I also received an email from you): Your seem to be misunderstanding Wikipedia's conflict-of-interest policy. I'm not saying you're advertising Clan Cunningham International, or blatantly promoting it. Having a conflict-of-interest means having a relationship with the subject of an article, or even the appearance of a conflict of interest which could affect your editing. Wikipedia seeks to be neutral, and it's easy for us as humans with our biases to be too harsh with things we dislike, too kind or lopsided in things we like, etc.

For instance, I am currently an administrator on the English branch of the SCP Foundation. This entails a conflict of interest, and thus I do not edit the page directly, I only make suggestions on its talk page. I try to understand and respect Wikipedia's policies, so I try to make my edits neutral, well-sourced, etc., as they should, but even then I do not contribute to the SCP Foundation page because of a relationship I have to it that is a conflict of interest. So when we say that your officership with Clan Cunningham International constitutes a conflict of interest, we are talking about you having a relationship to the subject in question which could bias you, even unconsciously, regarding your editing. Simply being a member of a group does not necessarily mean you cannot edit regarding it, I for instance don't automatically have a COI for the article describing the city I live in. Adding additional information when it's undue or not notable is easier if you have such a close relationship with the subject, or have an indirect relation where you could potentially benefit from the subject being more widely known. This is what I was referring to when I talked about promotion, not solely blatant advertising like banner ads.

As for your other points, they were already discussed. Wikipedia needs sources to be properly cited so they can be verified, and your writing is not encyclopedic, nor does it have proper references for its claims. If you make edit requests to suggest changes to the page, remember that even if you feel there are inaccuracies, it's not simply enough to say "this is true"; it must have citations. See the essay Verifiability, not truth.

aismallard (talk) 01:36, 19 April 2022 (UTC)

Another email
Please do not email me again.

If you want to file an appeal, then go ahead and do so. Cullen328 (talk) 17:07, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

is closed. UTRS is not the venue for addressing partial blocks, but from what I see, the partial blocks are needed. Deepfriedokra (talk) 20:54, 23 July 2022 (UTC)


 * Instructions for appealing partial blocks are HERE Deepfriedokra (talk) 20:56, 23 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Please do not email me as you have done others. Any discussions need to take place on Wikipedia and in the light of day. Thanks. Deepfriedokra (talk) 20:57, 23 July 2022 (UTC)

I removed your duplicate request, it only needs to be placed once, in the larger edit window. 331dot (talk) 20:11, 26 July 2022 (UTC)

RE: Clan Cunningham Page - CSCunninghamCCI This action from this account has been partially blocked on Wikipedia - Persistent addition of unsourced content: Conflict of interest editing, use of poorly cited, poor quality sources: (‪Cullen328) (Deepfriedokra) (aismallard) Conflict of Interest = a situation in which a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions or decisions made in their official capacity. Wikipedia Policy (Conflict of Interest) = Conflict of interest: Do not use Wikipedia to promote yourself, your website, your mixtape, or your organization. I have been an editor on Wikipedia since 2007. I have made several edits to the Clan Cunningham page; no one charged me with ‘Conflict of Interest.’ In my editor profile, I made it clear that I made it known that I was a member of Clan Cunningham International and had been an officer of the organization; again, no one charged me with ‘Conflict of Interest.’ The current situation came about when called to the attention of Wikipedia Editors that ‘Calbos’ had made edits to the Clan Cunningham based solely on a book that he had written, and his reference had a direct link to Amazon where his book could be purchased. Calbost violated two of Wikipedia’s policies. Wikipedia articles must not contain original research, and do not use Wikipedia to promote yourself. After notifying Wikipedia editors, the editors removed Calbost edits from the Clan Cuningham page, returning it to its previous state. Calbos assumed that I had removed his edits, as he wrote a nasty email concerning me to the President of Clan Cunningham International. I then was asked by the Governing Council of Clan Cunningham International and the Chief of Clan Cunningham, Sir John M. Cuninghame of That Ilk, Baronet of Corsehill, to ensure that Clan Cunningham had a positive image throughout the Internet. One of the principal reasons for ‘Blocking’ is that I have a ‘Conflict of Interest.’ To this, I plead guilty; my last name is Cunningham. And yes, I am a member of Clan Cunningham International. I have never promoted Clan Cunningham International or myself throughout my edits of the Clan Cunningham Page. I once used Clan Cunningham International as a reference for an edit, as there was no other source to reference. This was a letter from the Lord Lyon King of Arms naming Sir John M. Cuninghame of That Ilk, Baronet of Corsehill, Chief of Clan Cunningham. I have not violated the policy: Do not use Wikipedia to promote yourself, your website, or your organization. The policy does not say anything about an editor belonging to an organization associated with an interest in a particular Wikipedia page or having a last name directly related to the page. Again, I need to point out that I have never promoted myself, our website, or our organization throughout the edits I have made on the Clan Cunningham page or any other Cunningham-related page. The second reason for blocking is ‘unsourced, use of poorly cited, poor quality sources.’ I have asked, Cullen328 to provide examples to show me exactly what he was referring to. He only cited the one reference mentioned above, the letter Lord Lyon King of Arms. No other examples were cited. All the edits I made were carefully researched, using well-established Scottish academic resources; Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton, Ayrshire: its History and Historic Families, The Scottish Nation, Vol I, and British Baronetage, Vol III among other well-sourced books. Every edit was footnoted to the reference section of the document. Example: The Recognized Progenitor of the Cunningham Family (Clan) was a man known as Warnebald, who in circa 1110-1130 was granted the lands of Manor Cunningham in the Ancient District of Cunninghame.[4] [4], History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton, by Paterson, James, 1805-1876, Page 468. Between the 14th and 16th centuries, there was a bloody feud between the Clans of Cunningham and Montgomery.[7] [7] Ayrshire: its History and Historic Families, by Robertson, William, Page 131. I may not have used the correct Wikipedia format; I am more than willing to use the format you recommend. I looked at several articles and followed those formats. My only goal with my edits to the Clan Cunningham page was to 1) enhance the reader’s experience, 2) add new information that was not included on the page, and 3) expand the reader’s knowledge of Clan Cunningham. The current Clan Cunningham page does not accurately tell the story of Clan Cunningham, facts are missing, and there is misleading information. The page focuses on wars and conflicts, with little being mentioned about the Earl of Glencairn. The Cunningham family made numerous contributions to the development of Scotland, and nothing is said about our involvement with Ireland. I am requesting the block on my account be removed and that I will be allowed once again to edit the Clan Cunningham page and all other pages connected or associated with the Cunningham family. C. Stevens Cunningham (talk) 18:28, 26 July 2022 (UTC)


 * The statement "ensure that Clan Cunningham had a positive image throughout the Internet" was unclear, I meant was to ensure that what said about Clan Cunningham was true and accurate and supported well document evidence. I find it odd that my issues only started when I challenged Cullen328. I have been researching the Cunningham Family for more than 15 years. I base my research on mutable sources, where as Cullen328 bases his research on only one source, that has been discredited by almost every Scottish academia scholar.
 * If Wikipedia wants to maintain an article about Clan Cunningham that is incomplete, containing inaccurate information, so be it. I have presented my case, and I have reviewed your stated policies and clearly showed that I have not violated any of these policies.  I am concerned that Cullen328 might reached to some of your editors and discredit me. Since 2007 I have edited the Clan Cunningham page without an issue. It was only after I reported that Cullen328 edits that violated Wikipedia policies, that I was blocked, I do not believe in coincidence.
 * I ask you to review edits and see if they violate any of the policies of Wikipedia. All I want is to present the true and accurate story of Clan Cunningham. C. Stevens Cunningham (talk) 21:51, 26 July 2022 (UTC)
 * See Verifiability, not truth the threshold for inclusion is verifiability, not truth. Theroadislong (talk) 20:51, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Help me!
Please help me with... Does Wikipedia offer a mentoring program? CSCunninghamCCI C. Stevens Cunningham (talk) 16:28, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes. See Mentorship. If you want more help, change the help me-helped back into a help me, stop by the Teahouse, or Wikipedia's live help channel, or the help desk to ask someone for assistance. Primefac (talk) 16:52, 25 August 2022 (UTC)


 * Personally I think you are almost there, but how will you contribute in the area of your COI? 331dot (talk) 06:46, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

Reply to 331dot re-question how will you contribute: My writings will be factual, supported by proper citations. I will keep to the facts without any editorializing. My edits should enhance the reader's knowledge of the subject matter or clarify existing writings. I will not use Clan Cunningham Internation (CCI) as a resource (citation), nor will I ever promote CCI through any of my writings. I will place a COI statement on the talk page associated with the page that I am editing, minor or major. As a page editor, I must remain neutral when editing and avoid conflicts with other editors. I must utilize the many Wikipedia services to ensure the integrity of Wikipedia and that of the page. I will submit my edits for peer review either utilizing Template:Request edit or COI noticeboard review prior to publishing any major changes to the page. If I am writing a new article, I will utilize the Articles for Creation (AfC) process again for peer review.

I hope I have answered your question; if you have any additional questions, I would be more than happy to respond.
 * Cullen328, what are your feelings here in terms of resolving this? 331dot (talk) 17:55, 2 September 2022 (UTC)


 * This process has forced me to become knowledgeable as to the rules and policies of the Wikipedia. It has been a positive learning experience, I look forward in contributing and sharing the research and material that I have discovered about Clan Cunningham, Kilmaurs, Ayrshire and early Scotland.
 * I look forward to working with Wikipedia Administrators such as yourself in improve my writings and stay withing the guidelines. C. Stevens Cunningham (talk) 16:27, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you for lifting the Block.
 * Are you willing to serve as a mentor? C. Stevens Cunningham (talk) 21:44, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
 * I regret that mentoring is not within my wheelhouse, but you may find one at this page. 331dot (talk) 22:18, 6 September 2022 (UTC)