Welcome to Wikinews

A nice cup of coffee for you while you get started

Getting started as a contributor
How to write an article
  1. Pick something current?
  2. Use two independent sources?
  3. Read your sources before writing the story in your own words?. Do choose a unique title? before you start.
  4. Follow Wikinews' structure? for articles, answering as many of who what when where why and how? as you can; summarised in a short, two- or three-sentence opening paragraph. Once complete, your article must be three or more paragraphs.
  5. If you need help, you can add {{helpme}} to your talkpage, along with a question, or alternatively, just ask?

  • Use this tab to enter your title and get a basic article template.
    [RECOMMENDED. Starts your article through the semi-automated {{develop}}—>{{review}}—>{{publish}} collaboration process.]

 Welcome! Thank you for joining Wikinews; we'd love for you to stick around and get more involved. To help you get started we have an essay that will guide you through the process of writing your first full article. There are many other things you can do on the project, but its lifeblood is new, current, stories written neutrally.
As you get more involved, you will need to look into key project policies and other discussions you can participate in; so, keep this message on this page and refer to the other links in it when you want to learn more, or have any problems.

Wikipedia's puzzle-globe logo, © Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia's puzzle-globe logo, © Wikimedia Foundation
  Used to contributing to Wikipedia? See here.
All Wikimedia projects have rules. Here are ours.

Listed here are the official policies of the project, you may be referred to some of them if your early attempts at writing articles don't follow them. Don't let this discourage you, we all had to start somewhere.

The rules and guides laid out here are intended to keep content to high standards and meet certain rules the Wikimedia Foundation applies to all projects. It may seem like a lot to read, but you do not have to go through it all in one sitting, or know them all before you can start contributing.

Remember, you should enjoy contributing to the project. If you're really stuck come chat with the regulars. There's usually someone in chat who will be happy to help, but they may not respond instantly.

The core policies
Places to go, people to meet

Wiki projects work because a sense of community forms around the project. Although writing news is far more individualistic than contributing to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, people often need minor help with things like spelling and copyediting. If a story isn't too old you might be able to expand it, or if it is disputed you may be able to find some more sources and rescue it before it is listed for deletion.

There are always discussions going on about how the site could be improved, and your input is of value. Check the links here to see where you can give input to the running of the Wikinews project.

Find help and get involved
Write your first article for Wikinews!

Use the following box to help you create your first article. Simply type in a title to your story and press "Create page". Then start typing text to your story into the new box that will come up. When you're done, press "save page". That's all there is to it!



It is recommended you read the article guide before starting. Also make sure to check the list of recently created articles to see if your story hasn't already been reported upon.


-- Wikinews Welcome (talk) 17:15, 12 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

Deleting User Pages edit

I'm not sure what the rationale for deleting someone's user page could be but my user page User:DonThorntonJr has been deleted for being Spam(?)

I have placed an external link to my Linkedin profile page as place holder for future development and so that anyone that clicks on the link can find out who I am.

I have deleted it as spam. The only contribution is an offsite link. If this was a link to Wikipedia or other user space, fine. If you were a regular contributor, it would be more tolerable. This looks like SEO bait for the linkedin profile. Please use interwiki links or become a more active member of the community to rationalize the need for such a link. --LauraHale (talk) 20:30, 12 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

re: edit

I guess my explanation above was either ignored or not sufficient.

I am not currently a regular contributor but that may change in the future.

Since I have created the same content on all of the other wiki sites and so far there has not been any complaint I am wondering why I am not allowed to put an external link in MY user page?

Having looked at your contributions on other projects, I highly encourage you to create a user page that links to your user page on other projects. There is nothing wrong with having a user page and having external links to it. Many newbies start off by creating a user page. Customizing your user space is fine, it is just the only link being to LinkedIn that makes it appear spam like. If you need or want assistance contributing to articles, we are happy to help. If you would like to be interviewed, then you can post a request to the interview page. There many ways you can contribute and have a customized user page without it just being a linkedin link. :) --LauraHale (talk) 20:40, 12 June 2013 (UTC)Reply
I have made very few contributions but I would like to so how do I create an inter-wiki link to my wikipedia user page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:DonThorntonJr)? DonThorntonJr (talk) 20:51, 12 June 2013 (UTC)Reply
A link to Wikipedia would be written like this: [[w:User:DonThorntonJr]]
which produces: w:User:DonThorntonJr
--Pi zero (talk) 22:23, 12 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

Hi. I asked an English Wikipedia administrator if it was acceptable to have only a LinkedIn link as your English Wikipedia content. I was informed it was not, because it fails rule 2 of en.wp's User page guidelines. The reason it is acceptable there is probably because no one has noticed it yet, not because of any rule supporting it. I hope this answers your question. --LauraHale (talk) 20:43, 12 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

as I mentioned above it is just a placeholder for now - if I can't put a simple external link in as a placeholder then maybe a pre-approved template for a user page should be provided as a way to get things started. DonThorntonJr (talk) 20:51, 12 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

{{unblock|not spam - User:Pi zero has violated Wikipedia:Blocking policy by punitively blocking my account DonThorntonJr on Wikinews.}}

from my Wikipedia {{w:User_talk:DonThorntonJr}} page

This page is a work-in-progress and therefore should be treated as such - if you expect every user to create a fully populated user page then I suggest you provide a default template that can be easily "filled-in" .

We routinely delete userpages that are used to advertise products, companies, people, causes, etc. However, a single link to another webpage that you control is acceptable (especially because it helps us to understand you better), so it's nowhere near being what Wikipedia policy considers speedy-deleteable spam. Someone would have to show good evidence for interpreting your userpage as advertising at all; as I see it, you're doing nothing wrong. Nyttend (talk) 01:27, 13 June 2013 (UTC)Reply
 
Should this user be unblocked?

Pi zero has reviewed DonThorntonJr's request to be unblocked, and the result was declined.
The reason given by Pi zero was: Wikinews is not Wikipedia. Just incidentally, the block is preventative. You were told what is and is not acceptable when linking from your user page here, and chose to repeatedly violate what you were told. After the block expires, further disregard for Wikinews policies would call for more substantial preventative measures..
Further debate can proceed here, however, the administrator's decision may be final, and the result of administrative consensus.