User talk:Asiaperkins

Possibly unfree File:Herbert D. Smith 008.JPG

A file that you uploaded or altered, File:Herbert D. Smith 008.JPG, has been listed at Wikipedia:Possibly unfree files because its copyright status is unclear or disputed. If the file's copyright status cannot be verified, it may be deleted. You may find more information on the file description page. You are welcome to add comments to its entry at the discussion if you are interested in it not being deleted. Thank you. Eeekster (talk) 23:09, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Hi there

Thanks for contributing to Wikipedia. There are a couple of things you should know about this project before you continue to work here. I've gone and removed much of the text from the Herbert D. Smith article for many reasons. Firstly, Wikipedia is not a memorial site. I understand from this edit that Smith was your grandfather. I encourage you to continue writing about him, as it is a valuable tool for the grieving process. But, I have to heavily discourage you from writing about him here. You have what we call a conflict of interest, and as was very evident in the article, people with such conflicts often cannot properly write from a neutral point of view, which is a core policy of the project. The two other core policies are Verifiability and No Original Research. Give those links a look, and I'm sure you'll agree that the vast majority of the Smith article did not satisfy these criteria. Since Smith served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, he has a claim to what we call notability under this guideline. That is why I chose to trim the article, rather than nominate it for deletion. I understand that this may be a painful time for you, but I hope you understand why Wikipedia is not the best place for you to celebrate the life of your grandfather. Respectfully, Steamroller Assault (talk) 14:42, 26 July 2011 (UTC)