User talk:Obenamots

Welcome, and some links to help you[edit]

Hello, Obenamots! Welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions to this free encyclopedia. If you decide that you need help, check out Getting Help below, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and ask your question there. Please remember to sign your name on talk pages by clicking

or using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your username and the date. Finally, please do your best to always fill in the edit summary field. Below are some useful links to facilitate your involvement. Happy editing! DuncanHill (talk) 04:48, 15 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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To all of you guys, Thank you very very much! I am new to Wikipedia and I have absolutely no idea what I am doing and if it is correct of not. Thus, any help is greatly appreciated and if I keep making all kinds of errors please forgive me in advance :) , about the vandalism: I noticed one day in 2007 that my page was actually hijacked by some Osborne (computer retailer). This appears in the history of my original page. Additionally Osborne's page stated clearly that it was redirected from the Ofer Ben-Amots page. I also read that the Osborne page is not active anymore and maybe I was a bit too hasty but I went into my own page with my original password and re-edited it. I hope this is not vandalism but if it is, it was never meant to be. Another issue is the "autobiography" subject. I understand that there might be a conflict of interest and that it's better for a third party to do the editing. My intention was to forward the editing and maintaining job to a publicist but it was too early without any article whatsoever. I keep editing the page and adding sources and links to it. I am not sure how much is enough and what exactly is missing. I know for a fact that there is nothing offensive about the information provided, no copyright violations and that everything there, while not amazing and awesome, is at least accurate and factual. Again, many thanks for past and future help. I am not sure if this is the way to respond to this thread but I am going to save it anyway :) Obenamots (talk) 02:36, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, well, I'm glad that we've been of some help - there is usually someone around who can lend a hand. Don't worry too much about the "vandalism" - you were new, and faced with a confusing situation, and you've asked for help to sort it out, which is a good thing. As for the autobiography - I think that you are clearly notable enough for an article - and in time many editors will read and edit what you have started, to help make sure it meets our policies. I think the fact that you have been open about it being yourself is good. Do please ask for help anytime you need it. Best wishes, DuncanHill (talk) 02:42, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Again, many thanks! I am really puzzled by the speed a response is arriving - this is quite amazing! I just added some references. I think they are verifiable but they do not look that great on the page. Maybe I not using the right tags? Also, what else is needed for me to be legit? Thanks so much, Duncan, I guess... Obenamots (talk) 03:05, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't want to come across as unduly harsh (what we call "biting the noob"); but I must remind you that involving a publicist, as you said you were thinking about, would be a major problem. With all the best goodwill in the world, you (and your agents, such as publicists) cannot have the requisite neutral point of view on your article. If you want to suggest changes and improvements to an article where you have the dreaded conflict of interest, do so on the talk page thereof, allowing more neutral editors to decide whether to incorporate said suggestions or not. --Orange Mike | Talk 16:40, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your most recent comment. The point is well-taken. Would you care to give me some feedback about any section in the Ofer Ben-Amots article, which is not complying with the NPOV rules? I'd be happy to change it right away. also, any other comments would be helpful. Thanks again, Obenamots (talk) 23:41, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please help[edit]

{{helpme}}

I have been trying get some answers, assessments, and suggestions on the article Ofer Ben-Amots. However, haven;t heard back from anyone in 4 days. The article has been throughly changed and edited to match the Wiki rules. I would like to know if it is better than the previous version. Please advise... Obenamots (talk) 23:59, 22 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It is generally assumed on Wikipedia that if nobody objects to your edits, they're probably an improvement to the article. Cheers. // roux 02:12, 23 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How to cite references & other useful things[edit]

The recommended way of including references is with templates - Wikipedia:Citation templates will tell you more. Don't worry too much if you can't get the hang of them at first (I used to find them very daunting) - adding a list of references as you have done is a good start. If you want to experiment with them, you could use a "sandbox" - this is a kind of test page, where you can make as many mistakes as you like without upsetting anyone. Click on User:Obenamots/sandbox and you can create your own. I replied so quickly because this page is on my watchlist (and I haven't gone to bed yet!) - if you look right at the top of the screen you will see "my watchlist" - click on it, and it should show you the latest edits to pages which you have edited. Best wishes, DuncanHill (talk) 03:14, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'll just add, the simplest way to add a refernce is just to type <ref>your reference here</ref> in the text at the fact you want to make a reference for. You'll then need to type {{reflist}} just below the top of the References section. DuncanHill (talk) 03:17, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi again, this [1] was nearly right - you just need to put <ref>the template here</ref> and then put it next to the sentence it is supporting if that makes sense! DuncanHill (talk) 03:43, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you go to User:DuncanHill/Sandbox2, you will see what some references look like. When you are there click on "edit this page" and you will see how to type to get the references to appear properly. Don't worry about breaking anything - it is a sandbox. DuncanHill (talk) 03:48, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for walking me through this complex process! I think I got it right with the references. Do you mind answering a few more questions? What other changes are need needed? What does it mean to be Wikified and how can the article get approval. Again, many many thanks! 04:10, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, they look better! "Wikifying" means putting in links to other articles, and making the style of the article similar to others - it might be a good idea to look at articles about other composers to get an idea of what other editors have done. The article does need more references - but don't worry too much at the moment, and remember that other editors will also add them when they can. The list of your works may be a bit long, usually only a composer's most important pieces are listed, but it's not my area of expertise, so do see what has been done on other articles. Some editors may object to links to record companies if they feel it is advertising - generally I should think that a link to a list of your works on a record label would be OK, a link to the place where people can buy them probably isn't. That's because Wikipedia tries not to have anything that looks like advertising. Apart from that - there isn't really anything you have to do to get an article approved - you've already created it, and other editors can see it and edit it too. In a few days it should show up on search engines like Google as well.

One last thing - other editors will come along and change what you have written. Some will do it to wikify it, or because they think they can word something more clearly, others may seem to be more critical - maybe they will seem to be downplaying your achievements. Mainly they will just be trying to achieve what Wikipedia calls neutral point of view, but of course, as it is about you it may seem that they are putting you down - the best thing to do here is to take a deep breath and remember that on Wikipedia nobody owns an article - it is here for all the world to see and to improve as best they can. There are lots of editors who will do all they can to prevent or put right any vandalism, and of course you can always ask for more help. You can also discuss changes to the article on the talk page at Talk:Ofer Ben-Amots - it's often a good idea when the article is about yourself to use that to suggest changes, and then other editors will discuss them and agree what is best for the article.

Anyway - well done, you have created an article (which takes some editors a very long time), and do have a look through other articles which interest you, I'm sure that you must have a huge amount of knowledge to contribute. DuncanHill (talk) 04:30, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikiproject Musicians[edit]

You might want to look at Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians - this is a place for editors to discuss ways of improving Wikipedia's articles about musicians, and I am sure you will find other editors there who will help you too - I'm afraid my knowledge of music is not that good! DuncanHill (talk) 04:33, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the great tips! I will start looking at other composers and try to learn as much as possible. This actually makes a lot of fun. --Obenamots (talk) 05:57, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ofer Ben-Amots[edit]

Just wondered why you have undone my very careful (and time consuming) reformatting of the subheadings? Also, see WP:MOS - caps are inappropriate in subheadings, hence my changes. – ukexpat (talk) 20:02, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, dear, my apologies! You probably noticed that I am very new to this Wiki editing business and so far my mistakes have overshadowed my few achievements. This only happened because I received a comment about the length of the "List of Composition" section. I then realized that there is an extra space between pieces which makes the list look twice as long. I also compared it to the article on George Crumb and learned how to make this list look better. Finally, I needed to change the word order in the composition list and it was easier to create it in a single section. If the newly formatted section is not according to the rule I will change it back to the way you did it. Just let me know. Again, sorry about that Obenamots (talk) 23:09, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]