User talk:Pstowell

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IT2 Stowell,

Welcome to Wikipedia, and thanks for caring so much about Sea Warrior! I hope it will live up to its promise. But in the meantime, please look at it the way that your fellow encyclopedists do: an attempt by the Navy to improve personnel and acquisition processes. The information should be presented as neutrally and concisely as possible. I've taken the liberty of editing your edits; please do not take this as anything but an attempt to present things as straightforwardly as possible. Cheers! Bbpen 02:31, 26 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia customs and practices[edit]

Hi, IT2 Stowell. Sorry I didn't respond earlier to your email messages; they go to an account I rarely check, and consequently I have only now seen them. (For future reference, it is customary to hold conversations about Wikipedia behavior and edits on Wikipedia pages, such as this one.) Anyway, it seems you take offense at my edits. Please don't. They are not meant to offend. They are meant to render the information about Sea Warrior more clearly and concisely.

You wrote me saying that you believed Wikipedia was an encylopedia anyone could contribute to, and that my editing your edits showed you that was not true. You have drawn the wrong conclusion. Anyone can write or edit on Wikipedia -- and then anyone else can edit what they have written. It often happens that sentences and paragraphs and entire articles are rewritten many times. See for yourself: go to United States Navy and click on the "Page History" link at the top. You'll see how often people have written and edited everyone else's work. For an even better example, go to George W. Bush and look at its history.

Your own reaction -- anger at someone's edits -- is not uncommon among new Wikipedia editors. That's why there is a warning label under the "Save page" button that says, "If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, do not submit it." A better reaction than anger is to explain to your fellow editors why you believe the page should include certain information or be written a certain way.

You can do this in several ways:

  • One, you can offer citations in your edits for the facts you present, either to material on the Wikipedia, on the web, or in print. (To cite a Wikipedia page, enclose the page name in double brackets: [[United States Navy]]; to cite a Web page, enclose the page name in single brackets: [http://www.navy.mil].) See also another warning message under the "Save page" button: "Please cite your sources so others can check your work."
  • You can go to the page's Talk page (the one you get to by clicking "Discuss this page" in the left column of links on article pages). This is where people often discuss and even argue about their changes.

Don't get discouraged. Wikipedia is not the most complex social system in the world, but it is more complicated than first meets the eye. I would encourage you to keep on editing Wikipedia. Your knowledge is sure to help the greater community. Bbpen 16:22, 28 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia. Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! By the way, you can sign your name on Talk and vote pages using three tildes, like this: ~~~. Four tildes (~~~~) produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my Talk page. Again, welcome! - UtherSRG 23:09, May 25, 2005 (UTC)

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