User talk:Rtludwig

Welcome!
Hello, Rtludwig, and welcome to Wikipedia!&#32;Thank you for your contributions.

I noticed that one of your first edits related to University of Maryland University College, which appears to be dealing with a topic with which you may have a conflict of interest. In other words, you may find it difficult to write about that topic in a neutral and objective way, because you are, work for, or represent, the subject of that article. It is therefore recommended that you request changes on the article talk page rather than editing the article directly.

In addition, if you receive, or expect to receive, compensation for any contribution you make, you must disclose your employer, client, and affiliation to comply with our terms of use and our policy on paid editing.

Here are some pages that you might find helpful:
 * The plain and simple conflict of interest guide
 * The five pillars of Wikipedia
 * Contributing to Wikipedia
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 * Simplified Manual of Style

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on talk pages using 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 ask your question on this page and then place  before the question. Again, welcome! TSventon (talk) 09:43, 5 September 2019 (UTC)

July 2023
 Your account has been blocked indefinitely for advertising or promotion and violating the Wikimedia Foundation's Terms of Use. This is because you have been making promotional edits to topics in which you have a financial stake, yet you have failed to adhere to the mandatory paid editing disclosure requirements. Paid advocacy is a form of conflict of interest (COI) editing which involves being compensated by a person, group, company or organization to use Wikipedia to promote their interests. Undisclosed paid advocacy is strictly prohibited. Using this site for advertising or promotion is contrary to the purpose of Wikipedia. If you think there are good reasons why you should be unblocked, please read our guide to appealing blocks to understand more about unblock requests, and then add the text  at the end of your user talk page. For that request to be considered, you must: Orange Mike &#124;  Talk  03:13, 29 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Confirm that you have read and understand the Terms of Use and paid editing disclosure requirements.
 * State clearly how you are being compensated for your edits, and describe any affiliation or conflict of interest you might have with the subjects you have written about.
 * Describe how you intend to edit such topics in the future.

Unblock Request
Rtludwig (talk) 19:08, 2 October 2023 (UTC)

you placed this block. Perhaps you can comment on the reasons for the block. You blocked on 29 July 2023 for undisclosed paid editing. The editor stated his paid position in relation to the subject he has been editing about in a talk page post on 5 September 2019, and he has always had a username which is unambiguously related to the name of the real life person they have declared himself to be, so there was clearly no attempt to hide the paid editing. Of course a mere mention in the middle of a talk page of an article is not a very satisfactory way to disclose paid editing, as it is likely to be overlooked, but the editor has never been asked to do otherwise, and at the time of the block had never been informed of the requirement for disclosure. To me, that all adds up to what looks like a situation where a friendly message explaining the situation and asking for a clear disclosure would have been a better approach than a sudden block without warning, but of course you may be aware of something that I haven't seen and which changes the situation, so I will be grateful if you can clarify the situation for me. (Incidentally, Rtludwig's editing has not been substantially promotional.) JBW (talk) 21:24, 11 October 2023 (UTC)


 * The initial disclosure was obscure, and never improved upon. That said: it seems clear that our message was received, and I have no objection to an unblock. Orange Mike  &#124;  Talk  23:40, 11 October 2023 (UTC)