User talk:Mattthehall

Question

Hey, I'd like to expand the parks section of Richmond,_va by including info on parks I've visited + pictures (I have a toddler, so I go to several Richmond and surrounding area parks each week). I would like to do this with other locations and things to do in Richmond. I guess the idea is just to get more information out to people; for instance, I often will mention a park or a thing to do in Richmond to someone who says he/she has lived here for 10 years or whatever, and the person has never heard of it. I've lived in several cities across the US, and this kind of thing always happens to me. Even with the internet, it is still often difficult to find out about the area you are looking in. Another example of the sort of thing I would like to add to city pages is the James river water levels (with a link to the NWS, of course). It is these kinds of things that take so long to figure out, but which are important parts of living in a city or area. So...one additional question I have is, would this kind of info be added to the same page, or should there be an additional page added like 'Things to do in Richmond, VA?

Originally, I was going to start my own wiki, but I figure that everyone already uses Wikipedia, and I love Wikipedia, so...;) Mattthehall (talk) 12:48, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Those things sound like great additions to the Richmond, Virginia article! I think that a "Things to do in Richmond, VA" article would be a bit of a hard sell. If you have pictures of Richmond that you're willing to upload and add to the article, that's especially great. The article on the James River is probably the right place for information on the river water levels, unless the water levels are particularly relevant to Richmond. (I'm not familiar with this particular issue.) Tim Pierce (talk) 18:49, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks Tim, I appreciate the help. I will add to the Richmond and James River pages as above ;)

(In reply to the original question on the talk page of Algebraist (talk · contribs);

Just make sure that you only add verifiable information from reliable sources - do not add facts referenced to "somebody who lived there" - the information on Wikipedia must be supported by references to things that the reader can check for themselves - such as newspapers, magazines, etc.

By all means, boldly update the articles, but please stick to referenced facts!

You might also be able to take some photographs, and upload those over on commons, perhaps?

For more help, you can either;

• Leave a message on my own talk page; OR
• Use a {{helpme}} - please create a new section at the end of your own talk page, put {{helpme}}, and ask your question - remember to 'sign' your name by putting ~~~~ at the end; OR
• Talk to us live, with this or this.

The last of those is particularly useful - please try it; pop in now and say hello.  Chzz  ►  01:41, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Welcome and introduction

Hi, Mattthehall. This is NOT some automated message...it's from a real person. You can talk to me right now. Welcome to Wikipedia! I noticed you've just joined, and wanted to give you a few tips to get you started. If you have any questions, please talk to us. The tips below should help you to get started. Best of luck!  Chzz  ►  01:41, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

ようこそ You don't need to read anything - anybody can edit; just go to an article and edit it. Be Bold, but please don't put silly stuff in - it will be removed very quickly, and will annoy people. Ask for help. Talk to us live, or edit this page, put {{helpme}} and describe what help you need. Someone will reply very quickly - usually within a few minutes. Play in your user area. For example, create User:Mattthehall/test. Edit existing articles, before you make your own. Look at some subjects that you know about, and see if you can make them a bit better. For example, Wikipedia:Cleanup#2009. When you're ready, read about Your first article. It should be about something well-known, and it will need references. Good luck with editing; please drop me a line some time on my own talk page. There's lots of information below. Once again, welcome to the fantastic world of Wikipedia! -- Chzz  ►  01:41, 9 June 2010 (UTC) Getting started A tutorial • Our five pillars • Getting mentored How to: edit a page • upload and use images Frequently asked questions • Tips Where to ask questions or make comments Request administrator attention Policies and guidelines Neutral point of view • No original research Verifiability • Grade sources • Cite sources What Wikipedia is not • Biographies of living persons External links • Spam • Vandalism Deletion policy • Conflict of interest • Notability The community Signpost • IRC channels • Mailing lists • Best articles Build consensus • Resolve disputes Assume good faith • Civility • Etiquette No personal attacks • No legal threats Writing articles Be bold in editing • Develop an article The perfect article • Manual of style Pages needing attention • Peer review The missing manual

How references work

Simple references

These require two parts;

a)

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:Mattthehall/reftest and try it out.

Named references

Chzz was born in 1837, <ref name="MyBook">
"The book of Chzz", Aardvark Books, 2009. 
</ref> 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.

Citation templates

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>

Please see user:chzz/demo/citeref to see the result.

For more help and tips on that subject, see user:chzz/help/refs.