User talk:Sahbapasta

Here's some reading material to help out with....
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Hi, if I may suggest - the Portuguese Bahá'í Summer Schools article really would be better served if an article like Bahá'í Faith in Portugal were written and this linked or posted in from there. Articles need third party reference and can be challenged and deleted otherwise. Please consider strongly this approach. Wikipedia has policies requiring certain standards of notoriety. The Portugal article is one that would eventually be gotten to through the Wikipedia:WikiProject Bahá'í Faith as part of the development of Category:Bahá'í Faith by country. Permanent schools may be linked to Category:Bahá'í educational institutions. Keep in mind there are a network of articles so topics that belong in various articles get segregated there so that subjects are treated fairly. Smkolins (talk) 00:22, 2 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Hi Smkolins! Thank you very much for your suggestions. I will try to contribute towards what you recommend. Meanwhile, and despite being very computer-savvy (having worked on a number of wikis before, even), I have a lot of difficulty understanding the way the edition of Wikipedia articles works. In fact, I'm not even sure you're going to receive this message! I couldn't find any way to reach you. I would very much appreciate it if you could give me a hand. Thanks. Sahbapasta (talk) 09:00, 2 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Sahbapasta, I agree with Smkolins, that the site Portuguese Bahá'í Summer Schools should be redirected to the site Bahá'í Faith in Portugal. As the site is not yet created, you can start it, and we can help you with formatting and categories.


 * To talk directly to editors, click on their name, then click on "discussion". You can then either edit a section already created, or click "new section". Content on wikipedia needs to follow policies of verifiability. Content should avoid original research, should be cited from reliable sources, be written from a neutral point of view, and articles must meet notability requirements. It takes awhile to get used to how wikipedia works, but you can do it if you're interested. Cuñado  ☼ -  Talk  19:36, 2 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks, Cuñado. I understand its philosophy very well, what I simply cannot begin to wrap my head around is how to edit, link, and add references for, articles - and things of the like. I am completely lost with what concerns synthax, etc. I'm interested, but I'd need help. Sahbapasta (talk) 18:51, 3 May 2010 (UTC)


 * The thing is to find references starting with third party references to the community in Portugal. Check the Bahá'í Faith in Spain and you will see several entries which link to information for more than one country. However at the moment the article is in danger of deletion. We'll see how this develops. Smkolins (talk) 21:05, 3 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Ok - the article has been rescued. However more content is really needed to secure the article - see if there are newspaper articles. Extensive quoting would be a problem if the original is in Portuguese but basic ideas could be used. Smkolins (talk) 23:49, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

I hope you continue to contribute to wikipedia - but keep in mind it's not like a blog at all. It's not for posting random thoughts. Among it's core policies is a question on Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies) and Wikipedia:Verifiability then articles will be deleted. If an article is deleted then it must be argued for existence rather than created. I also hope you share your experience and the things you've learned here with others. Show them the articles but also show them the rules - it's like writing a college paper. You can also grasp something of the heritage of an article by looking at it's history and talk pages. Smkolins (talk) 10:11, 4 May 2010 (UTC)