User talk:WLU/Generic sandbox

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[edit] Ha, discussion!

I noticed you don't make much difference between Policy and Guidelines. I think it might be an important thing to be right about the distinction, even if you don't put much emphasis on it. Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 22:22, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Noted, thanks! And thanks to FisherQueen for her spelling corrections. WLU (talk) 23:17, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Agreed... you should probably differentiate more between policy and guidelines. Confusing the two can lead new editors into problems. To paraphrase something I wrote earlier today, guidelines were not delivered from the mount by Jimbo on two stone tablets. Mingling them with the concept of policy could lead to confusion because policy is rather non-negotiable; it should never be ignored or overridden (even via WP:IAR). Policy should be able to over-ride consensus. Guidelines can not override consensus; they can and should be freely ignored if they go against common sense. I'd have to trawl through my edit history to find it, but I can think of at least a couple of AFD's where the subject failed the letter of WP:BIO, but a very compelling case was made to keep the article regardless... and it was kept.--Isotope23 talk 17:11, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
Note 1 does deal with policy and guidelines to a certain extent, perhaps somewhat superficially. I've never actually distinguished between the two myself until reading Martijn's comment yesterday (perhaps a reason why I've run into problems, and why I see my interpretation of rules as very rigid). Given my lack of knowledge and comprehension, could someone else draft, or modify what I've got regards the two? I am apparently very, very unqualified in this regard. WLU (talk) 18:46, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Grr..

Thanks for stealing my thunder man. I was just about to do that! WLU (talk) 00:01, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Too late! (ha!) Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 00:03, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
Jimbo (with whom I am now bestest Cabal Buddy), has drawn upon his powers as Illustrious 37th-and-a-quarterth-degree-Grand Marshall to curse you. It's such a powerful curse, he actually lost one-quarter of a degree. Take that fhtagn! WLU (talk) 02:05, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Any other contributions?

Does anyone have any suggestions for the essay? Have I missed anything? Is it too high or too low a level? Are there any incredibly useful tools I'm missing? Thanks to Martijn for the point about policies by the way, this demonstrates another flaw in my understanding - I myself didn't realize there was a difference between the two. And I may have similar flaws elsewhere. So feedback appreciated. WLU (talk) 14:08, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

From where I sit, you might want to reduce the use of shortcuts as link text. I think they're used far too much around here - "WP:RS" is just alphabet soup while "reliable sources" actually means something. Graham87 09:32, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
There's only a couple places that I noted on the re-read that use the TLA's a lot, but your point is taken. Thanks for the suggestion, there's value in having both methinks. WLU (talk) 17:04, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
Done, though I think there's value in presenting the WP: forms because it's necessary to be familiar with them as they're omnipresent. I've tried to do both. WLU (talk) 17:25, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
Sounds good here. I agree that new editors will need to be familiar with the shortcut lingo because it is so widely used. Graham87 05:05, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Stuff to add

For an idea about how not to approach and AFD debate, this was one I was involved in. Here's some don'ts:

  1. Don't nominate something for deletion because you don't like the user who created the page
  2. Don't treat it like a vote
  3. Don't be sarcastic in your replies
  4. Don't forget to have an explicit, bold typeface opinion on the deletion
  5. Don't be a douchebag and treat it like a conversation
  6. Don't forget to fully follow the AFD process
  7. Don't forget to cite policy
  8. Don't forget to use bullet points and sub-points
  9. Don't feel like you have to keep your old votes. Change it and strike-through your old vote
  10. If someone does change their vote, don't be a douchebag and kiss their ass
  11. Don't forget to sign

Here is a good AFD (in my opinion). If you learn from my mistakes you won't have to look back and regret being an idiot a year later. WLU (talk) 21:54, 16 March 2008 (UTC)