Hello, BioGuy63, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:
I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on discussion pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{helpme}} before the question. Again, welcome! Prolog (talk) 23:18, 24 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
{{helpme}}
What am I doing wrong? I want to add Mensa to my Professional Associations!
When you leave messages, please remember to "sign" your name, by putting ~~~~ (four tilde signs) at the end. This will add your name, and the date and time. You can also do this by clicking the 'sign' button, pictured to the right.
Chzz is 98 years old.<ref> "The book of Chzz", Aardvark Books, 2009. </ref>
He likes tea. <ref> [http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com Tea website] </ref>
b) A section called "References" with the special code "{{reflist}}";
== References ==
{{reflist}}
(an existing article is likely to already have one of these sections)
To see the result of that, please look at user:chzz/demo/simpleref. Edit it, and check the code; perhaps make a test page of your own, such as user:BioGuy63/reftest and try it out.
Chzz was born in 1837. <ref name=MyBook>
"The book of Chzz", Aardvark Books, 2009.
</ref>
Chzz lives in Footown.<ref name=MyBook/>
Note that the second usage has a / (and no closing ref tag). This needs a reference section as above; please see user:chzz/demo/namedref to see the result.
You can put anything you like between <ref> and </ref>, but using citation templates makes for a neat, consistent look;
Chzz has 37 Olympic medals. <ref> {{Citation
| last = Smith
| first = John
| title = Olympic medal winners of the 20th century
| publication-date = 2001
| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]
| page = 125
| isbn = 0-521-37169-4
}}
</ref>
The main problems with the article are sourcing and lack of a neutral point of view. Of the 34 citations, only one (Google Books) seems to be reliable (IMDb is usually not considered reliable). The way the article begins, "...is a television personality and video editing pioneer", is a good example of the neutrality problem. If Pickford is a pioneer in his field, it should be easy to find a source that verifies the claim. However, because of your conflict of interest, you should really avoid editing this article (see Wikipedia:Conflict of interest and Wikipedia:Autobiography). Prolog (talk) 00:45, 25 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The article was fine until I added the "Professional Associations". It was flagged a year ago for lack of citations and was corrected at that time. The flag was then removed. IMDb was considered reliable at that time. Why is it not considered reliable now? You just can't add stuff to IMDb without it being removed if it is incorrect. The "television personality" and "pioneer" references refer to the hundreds of TV shows Pickford has edited and the 6 Emmy nominations. A newspaper is no more reliable in this day and age than the IMDb. Why are different criteria necessary? Why do different editors have different criteria? It seems to be arbitrary and unfair. Google Books is no more reliable than IMDb is it?BioGuy63 (talk) 01:12, 25 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Here is a copy of the email thread that Pickford made to Wikipedia over a year ago:
Dear MrPick,
Thank you for your email.
The notice has been removed.
Yours sincerely,
Joe Daly
12/05/2009 04:03 - MrPick wrote:
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Fwd: Citations and Verifications]
Date: Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:02:32 -0800
From: MrPick <mrpick@cox.net>
To: info-en-q@wikimedia.org <info-en-q@wikimedia.org>
Hello again:
The article bearing my name
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pickford) has been amended with
references for verification. I believe it is now compliant with
Wikipedia standards. Please advise if you need anything further.
Thank you.
Terry Pickford
mrpick@cox.net
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Citations and Verifications
Date: Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:59:41 -0800
From: MrPick <mrpick@cox.net>
To: info-en-q@wikimedia.org <info-en-q@wikimedia.org>
Hi:
The article bearing my name
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pickford) has a warning notice at
the top stating it needs more verification and/or citations. The
article is factual and I am confused as to what needs to be done to make
it compliant with Wikipedia standards. Some references in the article
are difficult or impossible to verify due to persons being deceased or
references so old they are not currently on the Internet. Quotations in
the article are correct and were made by myself. Please tell me what I
can do to resolve this issue.
Thank you.
Terry Pickford
mrpick@cox.net <mailto:mrpick@cox.net>