User talk:Wmalumni

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

I noticed that one of the first articles you edited was List of College of William & Mary alumni, 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.&#32;Your recent contributions may have already been undone for this very reason.

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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! Pishcal — ♣ 17:14, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

Wmalumni, you are invited on a Wikipedia Adventure!
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W&M Alumni
Greetings! I have been following the additions you have been making to the list of the W&M alumni lately. As a long-time contributor to that page, I appreciate any additions, but I wanted to ask if you would please make a few changes to the edits.

It seems like a lot of the edits that are being made are to include people who are successful, but not really notable for a Wikipedia purpose. For example, being the HR director for a company is fine, but it doesn't really merit an encyclopedia entry on the person. Generally (although not without exception), a person included on a list of notables should be notable enough to have his or her own entry on Wikipedia. I know that not every single entry fits that rule, but it's pretty good as a rule. Just being the head of some company is not really enough. Perhaps if the company is Apple or Starbucks or something, that would be okay, but otherwise you can end up with a bunch of people who just create a company on paper that are really no more notable than any other alumni. It's just something to consider.

Second, could you please try to track the formatting that has been used by all of the other editors for a few years? There is a discussion of that topic on the associated TALK page for the alumni list. Things like not capitalizing every word in the notability column.

Third, and this is sort of important, there really needs to be a citation establishing (1) that the person attended the College and (2) did those things listed in his or her notability entry. For a long time, the College itself maintained a webpage that documented the attendance of lots of famous people, and a great many of the entries on the Wikipedia list cited to that source. For some reason, the College took that list down, and not there are about 100 entries that have dead links for sources. I've been trying to find substitute links as I have time, but it is slow going. With those aside, I think every entry has at least one verifiable source for the entry. Without those, it is hard to know if the material is at all correct.

Again, I hate to seem critical of anyone else who has an interest in the WM info, and I truly do appreciate your enthusiasm for updating the list. But, if you could please try to keep your contributions consistent with the tried-and-true standards, I know I would be grateful, and I know the great majority of contributors would too.ProfReader (talk) 15:22, 24 April 2015 (UTC)


 * Wmalumni, for the W&M alumni list article you edit, there are three main points to keep in mind when adding entries: a person must pass general notability guidelines, they generally must have an article to begin with, and there must be at least one verifiable, third party reference that associates that particular individual as being an an alumna/us of William & Mary. George Washington received his surveyor's certificate but is not considered an "alumnus" of the school. Jim Ukrop and James McGlothlin may be notable per GNG (I haven't personally checked) but they do not have articles themselves. This is why these were all removed from List of College of William & Mary alumni. Jrcla2 (talk) 19:36, 11 May 2015 (UTC)

WP:LISTN
Your recent edit appears to have added the name of a non-notable entity to a list that normally includes only notable entries. In general, a person or organization added to a list should have a pre-existing article before being added to most lists. If you wish to create such an article, please first confirm that the subject qualifies for a separate, stand-alone article according to Wikipedia's notability guideline. Thank you. Jrcla2 (talk) 03:01, 16 September 2015 (UTC)