From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Please do not add commercial links or links to your own private websites to Wikipedia, as you did in Mobile Search. Wikipedia is not a vehicle for advertising or a mere collection of external links. You are, however, encouraged to add content instead of links as long as the content abides by our policies and guidelines. If you feel the link should be added to the article, then please discuss it on the article's talk page rather than re-adding it. See the welcome page if you would like to learn more about contributing to our encyclopedia. Thanks. --AbsolutDan (talk) 04:28, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- Thank you for your message on my talk page. There's really 3 major guidelines that I go by when determining whether or not a link should be removed. First, as a whole, WP:NOT - specifically, Wikipedia is not a "repository of links". This means that articles should not be fed external links simply because those links are related to the topic. In other words, Wikipedia is not the yellow pages. Next, WP:EL: this guideline indicates the types of links that should be included. I won't even try to cover all of WP:EL's criteria here, but in a nutshell external links should primarily contain knowledge that adds to the content of that article. Lastly, WP:SPAM: this describes what sorts of linking is considered spamming. Adding the same link or links to multiple articles raises a major red flag with spam fighters such as myself.
- If you think an external link would be useful for an article, but you think it might be controversial in nature or potentially violate one of these guidelines, it's best to bring it up on the article's talk page first. I see you've started a conversation on one of those articles - that's the best approach.
- Just because a link or links already exists doesn't mean that they are appropriate or even accepted. A concensus on the talk page of an article is what lends legitimacy to an external link, not it's mere existence. Regarding the other links you mentioned, I agree that those are inappropriate as well, and I have removed them. Thank you for bring that to my attention. If you run into other such unnecessary links in the future, feel free to remove them yourself -- or if you are unsure, you can mention them on the article's talk page.
- I hope the above has been helpful. I'm also going to leave a welcome message for you below which contains other useful links to get new editors started. Cheers! --AbsolutDan (talk) 14:48, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Welcome!
Hello Greyhound4334! Welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. If you decide that you need help, check out Wikipedia:Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Please remember to sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. Finally, please do your best to always fill in the edit summary field. Below are some recommended guidelines to facilitate your involvement. Happy Editing! -- AbsolutDan (talk) 14:48, 30 September 2006 (UTC) |
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Getting Started
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Getting your info out there
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Getting more Wikipedia rules
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Getting Help
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Getting along
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Getting technical
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