User talk:RIPDREWHAYES

Drew Hayes
Dear RIPDREWHAYES, welcome to Wikipedia! I realize Wikipedia might seem confusing at first, (please click on the blue words to read the policy/guide they refer to). Wikipedia is not like other sites you may have come across. First, it is an encyclopedia. What this means, is that it is not MySpace, or FaceBook, or a place to host personal webspace, or a place where editors can make articles about anything they wish. Wikipedia has Core policies, such as neutrality, notability, verifiability, etc. What does all of this mean? Well, it means that any article on Wikipedia must demonstrate notability (meaning it must be note worthy, covered by the media, etc.), and have reliable, third-party sources (such as news media articles, magazine/trade journal articles) written about the subject, and the information given in the article must cite those sources to verify it is true. From those sources, information is summarized, paraphrased, condensed, and worded neutrally to make an encyclopedic entry (information cannot be copied from other sites). See Wikipedia's manual of style, layout guide, your first article, article development, and how to edit for assistance.

Additionally, since in the edit you made to the above article, you say you knew the subject of the article, you should be aware that Wikipedia has a conflict of interest guideline that states you should not create or edit articles about yourself, your company, your family, friends, etc., as you'd likely be unable to do so neutrally. Neutrality is one of the core policies of Wikipedia, and I'd request that you review the basic policies here, as they are quite helpful. Another policy that is helpful to be aware of is the notability policy. It appears that you have provided no reliable sources as references to the article, thus it is considered original research, and cannot be accepted. A tag will likely be placed on the article for its deletion in accordance to these policies. Please review the policies, and if you have any questions relating to them, feel free to ask, or see the help page.

I hope this helps you get around some, and learn the basic policies here, if you have any problems, please check the help pages for links to pages where you can post questions. Cheers! Ariel ♥  Gold  01:31, 1 October 2008 (UTC)