User talk:Gorby2

Edits to Explosives Related Pages
Yes, that was me. I've noticed that existence of 3 categories (Category:Explosives, Category:Explosive materials and Category:Explosive chemicals) is misleading and sometimes outright confusing. So I moved all pages from other 2 cats to Category:Explosives and edited interwiki links. Also I moved some pages from Category:Explosives to new category Category:Manufacturers of explosives, since they were not about explosives, but about manufacturers of munitions and explosives, and some to Category:Explosive weapons, since they clearly belonged where. So I honestly dont think my actions constitute "vandalism". Gorby2 (talk) 07:03, 7 September 2008 (UTC)


 * You might have good intentions, but a mass of edits made with no explanation or summary and done without discussion or consensus is very overbearing. Changing one article is one thing.  Having a bot do mass edits across Wikipedia based on personal perspective is something else. This warrants admin intervention. --SpyMagician (talk) 07:05, 7 September 2008 (UTC)


 * BTW what do you call a "bot"?? Every change I made myself. Gorby2 (talk) 08:16, 7 September 2008 (UTC)
 * A bot is an automated or semiautomated script used for making tedious and repetitive changes. Prince of Canadat 08:19, 7 September 2008 (UTC)


 * More to the point, the separate categories are useful. Not all explosive materials are (solely) explosive chemicals, for example.  The kind of mass changes your are making require sitewide (or, at least, project-wide) consensus. Prince of Canadat 07:07, 7 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Separate categories are useful when reason for separation is applied consistently. And when they are obvious for everybody concerned. For example, what was the reason to put Tertiary explosive into Category:Explosive chemicals? Composition B into Category:Explosive materials, but Composition C right into Category:Explosives? Fulminic acid into Category:Explosive chemicals, but Potassium fulminate into Category:Explosives? What have to do in Category:Explosives CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition, Te-1 rocket propelled mine, and African Explosives along with similar articles about different companies? Note, all this pages was put into different categories by different people with (obviously) different reasons. Exactly this turn all that perfectly legal distinction into misleading spagetti.Gorby2 (talk) 08:07, 7 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I've moved this discussion from my page to this talk page for Gorby2. It's bad enough we have to deal with tons of odd edits that have damaged the structure of a well maintained section.  Let's keep the discussion in one place please. --SpyMagician (talk) 07:11, 7 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Sorry, but if you call sections about explosives "well maintaned", you've probably never been there yourself. Some examples above. I've just tired to look at that mess. Gorby2 (talk) 08:07, 7 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Gorby, two things:
 * 1) It's usually a good idea to either keep your comments together (when made at the same time) or to sign each individual portion, in terms of readability. I have taken the liberty of doing so here.
 * 2) While it's always good to be bold, in general on Wikipedia when you want to make sweeping changes to a large number of articles, you should seek consensus, usually at the relevant project page on the change first. One of three things will happen: 1) people will agree, 2) people will disagree, 3) people will disagree and seek a compromise.  In all cases, agreement is key, as reverting all of your changes in case of disagreement is a time-consuming and difficult task.  I suggest, respectfully, that you read the links I have just provided, as well as the ones I am about to provide below, to understand where we are coming from.  The shorter version is: Wikipedia has an established set of policies and procedures for making large-scale changes, and it's probably a good idea to learn those before making those changes. Prince of Canadat 08:16, 7 September 2008 (UTC)