User talk:Sharonkilfoy

Welcome

Hello Sharonkilfoy and welcome to Wikipedia! I am Ukexpat and I would like to thank you for your contributions.

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ukexpat (talk) 22:28, 1 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Respite Center

Hi there,

I just noticed your help request, and thought I'd volunteer to help in any way I can.

Indeed, if you're not interested in learning how to edit for yourself, then yes, just type the page in rough, and I'd be happy to format it for Wikipedia. One thing though- you must give references to reliable sources for the information. The website of the organisation itself would not be suitable, because it's a 'primary source' - all the facts would have to be supported by references to things such as newspaper articles or books.

Alternatively, you could have a go at creating it yourself; I've dealt with 5 people in the same situation as yourself, in the past 3 months. They have all managed to make successful articles. It might sound complex at first, but it's really not so bad.

• First, I recommend reading the welcome thing above; the best way to get going is to follow that - play around a little, and edit some other articles, before starting your own.

• When you're ready to make the article, first, read the following docs carefully; WP:COI, WP:BESTCOI and WP:BFAQ.

• Following the principles of 'bestcoi', start creating the article in your own user space - e.g. user:Sharonkilfoy/mypage. Add references for everything - make sure they are reliable and verifiable sources. The webpage of the charity is a primary source, so may be challenged. For example, if you say "The organisation has 3000 employees" with a reference to their own website, that information may later be removed. If you can source a national newspaper article that mentions the fact, it should be OK. For help with how to make good refs, see my own tips in User:Chzz/help/refs.

• At the same time, get in touch with other people in the community. Go to their talk page, create a new section, and say hello. Remember to 'sign' your message, with ~~~~ at the end. Some of the others I've helped with this include;

  BasicallyGood (talk · contribs) who made Braille Institute of America

  Fintanmon (talk · contribs) who made Free Legal Advice Centres

  Peto Australis (talk · contribs) who made Centres Against Sexual Assault

  Evsfort (talk · contribs) who is writing about a non-profit organisation

  Rowena Sampang (talk · contribs) who wants to create an article about a non-profit government organisation

• It's also worthwhile you reading through their talk pages, to see the issues they faced with their articles.

• When you've got the article into shape, ask someone to look at it. You could ask a helper in IRC, or put a request on WP:FEED.

Sorry if this seems like a lot of info to take in, but from experience I've found it to be the best approach. There are lots of people in the Wikipedia community who will help you in any ways we can.

Best of luck; please leave me a message some time, and let me know how you're getting along.  Chzz  ►  09:00, 5 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

P.S. One more person has just this minute asked a similar question - again, might be useful for you both to make contact;

• Closenet82 (talk · contribs) is working to improve the article about Human Relief Foundation

 Chzz  ►  11:31, 5 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Sharonkilfoy. You have new messages at Chzz's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

 Chzz  ►  09:56, 15 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome to Wikipedia, fellow Wisconsinite and freelancer!

The problem I have to warn you about is that (counter-intuitive as it may seem), starting new articles is perhaps the worst possible way to begin editing Wikipedia. New articles, particularly articles about small organizations you know well, are replete with traps such as our policies on organizational notability and (as somebody has already mentioned here on your talkpage) possible conflict of interest. It may seem more boring, but I earnestly suggest that you start slow by working on article improvement. My favorite route is simply clicking the "random article" link on the upper left of this screen, and looking the article over to see how it may be improved: corrections, additions (properly sourced and cited), of course), etc. Much though I admire the Respite Center and the Willy Street folks, I don't think either of them is going to qualify as having encyclopedic levels of notability. I also commend to you our Manual of Style. --Orange Mike | Talk 23:35, 5 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with Orangemike, starting new articles is the most difficult way to begin editing on Wikipedia, and often the most frustrating. It is better to improve existing articles, hone editing and citing skills, and read the various places editors go to for help. Another good way to become skillful is to read books about Wikipedia. John Broughton's book is online right here. Phoebe Snow has a good book, or so I understand from reviews, but I have not seen it. I will be adding articles about Federal Election Commission members, and I am developing the information to add a local private high school article. --DThomsen8 (talk) 23:45, 5 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]