User talk:John A Bates

Welcome!
Hello, Rascal Publishing, and welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Unfortunately, one or more of the pages you created, such as User:Rascal Publishing/sandbox/Rascal Publishing, may not conform to some of Wikipedia's guidelines, and may not be retained.

There's a page about creating articles you may want to read called Your first article. If you are stuck, and looking for help, please come to the Teahouse, where experienced Wikipedians can answer any queries you have! Or, you can just type help me on this page, followed by your question, and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Here are a few other good links for newcomers: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes ( ~ ); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you have any questions, check out Questions or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome! –Ammarpad (talk) 13:26, 9 October 2018 (UTC)
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Speedy deletion nomination of User:Rascal Publishing/sandbox/Rascal Publishing


A tag has been placed on your user page, User:Rascal Publishing/sandbox/Rascal Publishing, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section G11 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because the page appears to be advertising which only promotes or publicises someone or something. Promotional editing of any kind is not permitted, whether it be promotion of a person, company, product, group, service, belief, or anything else. This is a violation of our policies regarding acceptable use of user pages — user pages are intended for active editors of Wikipedia to communicate with one another as part of the process of creating encyclopedic content, and should not be mistaken for free webhosting resources or advertising space. Please read the guidelines on spam, the guidelines on user pages, and, especially, our FAQ for Organizations.

If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason, you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and clicking the button labelled "Contest this speedy deletion". This will give you the opportunity to explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. However, be aware that once a page is tagged for speedy deletion, it may be deleted without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag from the page yourself, but do not hesitate to add information in line with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. If the page is deleted, and you wish to retrieve the deleted material for future reference or improvement, then please contact the. –Ammarpad (talk) 13:26, 9 October 2018 (UTC)

October 2018
There have been two problems with this account: the account has been used for advertising or promotion, which is contrary to the purpose of Wikipedia, and your username indicates that the account represents a business or other organisation or group or a web site, which is also against policy, as an account must be for just one person. Because of those problems, the account has been blocked indefinitely from editing.

If you intend to make useful contributions about some topic other than your business or organisation, you may request an unblock. To do so, post the text at the bottom of your talk page. Replace the text "Your proposed new username" with a new username you are willing to use. See Special:CentralAuth to search for available usernames. Your new username will need to meet our username policy. Replace the text "Your reason here" with your reason to be unblocked. In that reason, you must:
 * Convince us that you understand the reason for your block and that you will not repeat the kind of edits for which you were blocked.
 * Describe in general terms the contributions that you intend to make if you are unblocked.

If you believe this block was made in error, you may appeal this block by adding the text at the bottom of your talk page, but you should read the guide to appealing blocks first. — RHaworth (talk · contribs) 13:37, 9 October 2018 (UTC) --UTRSBot (talk) 15:20, 9 October 2018 (UTC)


 * JB Montgomery is too similar to an existing username. Please choose again. 331dot (talk) 11:36, 12 October 2018 (UTC)g

My real name - risks understood. I agree not to edit about any of my business pursuits or its works directly. — Preceding unsigned comment added by John A Bates (talk • contribs)
 * I have renamed your account, and someone else will review your request. 331dot (talk) 13:45, 12 October 2018 (UTC)

rename-- son of bob
We already have one. Please make another selection.-- Dloh cier ekim  (talk) 22:36, 10 October 2018 (UTC)

Question about a requested edit
I see that in an edit to the article Sylva, North Carolina you gave the edit summary "Additions requested by the Town of Sylva, N.C." How was this request made? Was there a post about it somewhere on Wikipedia, or was it direct request to you off Wikipedia from someone you are in contact with? The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 14:57, 16 November 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your question, sir. To clarify, the edits performed were done so at the request of Pineapple PR - the firm representing the town of Sylva. The town of Sylva had requested quite a few additions and edits through this firm, which were then channeled to me via email by Pineapple PR. Apparently, no one at the firm representing Sylva had the ability or gumption to tackle the task themselves and sought outside assistance. Although I'm still on the Wiki learning curve, I was able to honor their request to their satisfaction. Hope this answers your Q.
 * John A Bates (talk) 16:54, 16 November 2018 (UTC)


 * Yes, it answers my question, and thank you for doing so. I appreciate that you are "still on the Wiki learning curve". Almost all of us who edit Wikipedia started doing so with little knowledge of how things work. When I started editing I had some pretty fundamental misunderstandings about the nature of Wikipedia, and made various mistakes. I therefore have every sympathy for other new editors who are still at a low point on the learning curve. Unfortunately, not everyone is so sympathetic, and new editors often get blocked from editing early on, when I think it would be more constructive for them to be given friendly advice and a chance to learn. You already have some experience of that, having been blocked from editing 20 minutes after your first edit. So here is some information and advice regarding your editing. Firstly, it is clear from what you say that you have edited on behalf of organisations, including the town of Sylva. Experience over the years indicates that editors editing on behalf of businesses or other organisations can find it very difficult to be objective, even if they genuinely intend to be. Because of that, Wikipedia has a guideline on editing in such situations, and you should read it before doing any more editing: it is Conflict of interest. Secondly, much of the editing you have done, both about Sylva and about Cashiers, has had the appearance of being intended to give readers a favourable impression of the towns. That is hardly surprising, considering that you tell me that edits were made on behalf of the towns acting through PR firms, but such promotional editing is contrary to Wikipedia policy, which requires all article content to be written from a neutral point of view. I removed the block on your account on the basis of your assurances that you would not edit about your company, and also your statement that you would edit about digital photography and 1950s music, which I thought was likely to mean that your editing would not be promotional. However, your editing has not been about either of those two subjects, it has been highly promotional, and although it has not been about your company it has been on subjects where you equally have a conflict of interest in Wikipedia's meaning of that term. Also, although you do not explicitly say so, from what you say it seems that you may be being paid to edit, and if that is so then you must comply with the terms of use on paid editing, to which you were given a link above. As you probably remember, the reasons given for the block on your account were (1) the account has been used for advertising or promotion and (2) the account represents a business or other organisation. Your editing is still promotional, and you are certainly editing on behalf of the towns you have edited about, and your account is probably being used for your own business too. You are very welcome indeed to start editing in a neutral way on subjects to which you have no personal connection which may suggest a conflict of interest, but if you continue in the same way as you have been doing then it is highly likely that before long you will be blocked from editing again. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 22:02, 16 November 2018 (UTC)