User talk:Neville Hillyer

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The Wikipedia tutorial is a good place to start learning about Wikipedia. If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. By the way, you can sign your name on Talk and discussion pages using four tildes, like this: &#126;&#126;&#126;&#126; (the software will replace them with your signature and the date). Again, welcome! Muhandes (talk) 21:35, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

August 2011
Welcome to Wikipedia. Although everyone is welcome to contribute constructively to the encyclopedia, there is a Manual of Style that should be followed to maintain a consistent, encyclopedic appearance. Using different styles throughout the encyclopedia, as you did in Lint, makes it harder to read. Please take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia. Thank you. ''Please peruse WP:DAB, MOS:DAB and specifically WP:PTM. The edit you are trying to perform is against these policies.'' Muhandes (talk) 21:36, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Please do not use styles that are unusual, inappropriate or difficult to understand in articles, as you did in Lint. There is a Manual of Style, and edits should not deliberately go against it without special reason. Thank you. ''Your edit is completely against both policy and the manual of style. I listed above the three relevant pages. Please read them before performing this again.'' Muhandes (talk) 09:47, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

You currently appear to be engaged in an edit war&#32; according to the reverts you have made on Lint. Users are expected to collaborate with others and avoid editing disruptively. In particular, the three-revert rule states that: If you find yourself in an editing dispute, use the article's talk page to discuss controversial changes; work towards a version that represents consensus among editors. You can post a request for help at an appropriate noticeboard or seek dispute resolution. In some cases it may be appropriate to request temporary page protection. If you continue to edit war, you may be blocked from editing without further notice. Muhandes (talk) 10:01, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
 * 1) Making more than three reversions on a single page within a 24-hour period is almost always grounds for an immediate block.
 * 2) Do not edit war even if you believe you are right.
 * You are welcome to discuss the matter at the talk page, but please stop edit warring. --Muhandes (talk) 10:04, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Muhandes

There is too much copy/paste text and jargon for me to cope with in your replies. Can you assist in getting reasonable entries for the UK's most common use of the word lint onto Wikipedia?

Specifically what is wrong with the style I used? - I tried to match the style elsewhere on the page.

Is there a problem with Wikipedia not having an entry for normal medical white lint? - Would the problem be solved if I were to create such a page?

I would prefer direct email contact - please Google my full name if necessary.

Neville


 * I'm sorry, but in Wikipedia we prefer to discuss things on talk pages, not on email. I'm afraid this is going to be a long answer, I hope it will help explaining our policies.
 * I'm sure you are editing in good faith. However, Wikipedia pages follow Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. For disambiguation pages there are the policy on what to include and the guideline on how to do it. My explanation in the article's talk page points to the specific relevant sections if you are interested. Specifically, you are right in assuming that if there is no article for "white lint" there is nothing to link to, and therefore no point in adding an entry. However, even if there was an article, it would be a partial title match, which should not be included either. This is exactly the case for Boracic lint. London Zoo does not appear on either London (disambiguation) or Zoo (disambiguation).
 * You may ask, why does Navel lint appear on the page? The reason is that navel lint is often referred to simply as "lint". Usually this would need to be mentioned (and referenced) in the article, but in cases of common language use it is many times not required. With things like Boracic lint, which are not in common language usage, it would be required. You can see that the article in fact says the opposite - that it is referred to as "boracic". I can't say if "medical lint" is referred to simply as "lint".
 * As for your suggestion to create an article, I am not an expert on medicine, but I would suggest against writing an article on "White lint" as I doubt it is a notable subject. We already have an article on medical dressings which seems to cover the issue. You can add material to it if you feel it is missing. I doubt even "medical lint" is notable, but as I said, I am not expert.
 * If medical lint is referred to simply as "lint", and you add the material to medical dressings, it can be redirected to and linked. I would be happy to assist in that.
 * Best regards, and I hope you understand. --Muhandes (talk) 11:50, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Muhandes

This all started because I recently tried looking up 'lint' on Google. I am 65 and in the UK my generation, and the one before me, seldom ever used the word 'lint' except to refer to a type of medical dressing in most of our first aid kits. It is probably still available in all UK hospitals and chemists (drug stores). Before plasters with plastic gause became available (probably in the 1950s) lint was one of the few materials used in direct wound contact. As far as I am aware lint is still used for large wounds although there are probably better materials available.

Can I assume that I can create a minimal page entitle 'Lint' and then link to it without causing you undue concern?

Neville


 * I think I now start to understand better. I'm not sure what kind of reliable sources you have. Depending on what the these sources call it, you can either create Lint (medical) or Medical lint or Surgical lint (which boracic lint mentions) and it should be safe to add an entry for either of them to Lint. You can use the Article wizard to create a userspace draft, and if you leave me a note when it is ready I'd be happy to go over it and assist. I hope this helps. --Muhandes (talk) 14:05, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks - I will add this to my to-do list. Do the rules prevent me entitling the page simply 'Lint'? I would prefer this as I believe that for most English speaking people it is their dominant or only use of the word.
 * What you are suggesting is called a "primary topic", and I would advice against it from two reasons. First, procedurally, the rules for choosing a primary topic call for much more than "most people", they call for "highly likely". If this was a highly likely target, you would not be the first editor to ask for it. Second, practically, there was already an attempt to choose a primary topic on this disambiguation page, you can see the discussion here, and it failed. That's way too much time to waste on something that will most likely never happen. But I will not stop you if you insist (nor would I object). The procedure for this will be to start with an article of different name anyway, and then request a move - so you still need to create the article with another name first. --Muhandes (talk) 16:23, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice. I have to accept that my time for this is limited. I had seen some of the history and though it strange especially as the main use of the word was hardly mentioned.