Welcome

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Welcome to Wikinews

 

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
  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.

--Brian McNeil / talk 08:23, 30 May 2009 (UTC)Reply

Pakistan regional divisions

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Unfortunately, the divisions you have created are unlikely to be populated reliably. It might be best to discuss this on the water cooler about getting it retroactively applied to archived articles and how it can realistically be applied to future articles. --Brian McNeil / talk 08:23, 30 May 2009 (UTC)Reply

There is a discussion on this issue on the Water Cooler, please take part in this discussion as several pages are being listed for deletion and an attempt is being made to establish a consistent policy. --Brian McNeil / talk 12:26, 12 August 2009 (UTC)Reply
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You cannot copy material from another site and post it on Wikinews. Stories must be written in your own words, and must have two independent sources for verification purposes.

Where an article is labelled with the {{copyvio}} template you should never write anything else on the article page. It will be deleted, this is policy. To cover the story you must use the sub-page you are directed to to write the story, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, and if it passes {{review}} it will be published under the original title unless that too is a copyright violation. --Brian McNeil / talk 12:34, 5 June 2009 (UTC)Reply

Please stop posting the copyright violation. Recreating articles is not required. Please see your above messages on how to edit Wikinews. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 13:18, 5 June 2009 (UTC)Reply

Explosion in Pakistan mosque kills dozens

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"London-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief, Altaf Hussain, has also expressed grief over the blast." was removed because there was no source for this. --SVTCobra 02:46, 6 June 2009 (UTC)Reply

Just a note to whoever may read this - the source was later provided (confirming) Cheers. Ali Rana (talk) 04:24, 23 September 2009 (UTC)Reply

Be careful when using thesaurus?

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Hi, in Mosque attacks in Lahore, Nowshera, the source originally read: "as a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-filled truck into" using "rammed into". This was changed to "heaped into".

What has possibly happened is that you looked up an alternative for "rammed into" in a thesaurus and found "piled into" (which would be okay, too), then used an alternative for piled into, ie "heaped into".

However, "to heap into" does not mean "to ram into". You heap sugar into a cup, for example, or collapse in a heap. Just a thought. Esowteric | Talk 11:50, 15 June 2009 (UTC)Reply

re Sri Lanka secure nineteen run victory over Pakistan

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It was tagged as {{abandoned}} for the requisite time period. Cirt (talk) 06:22, 19 June 2009 (UTC)Reply

You could inquire with DragonFire1024 (talk · contribs) or SVTCobra (talk · contribs), both had tagged it as {{abandoned}}. Cirt (talk) 06:59, 19 June 2009 (UTC)Reply

Portals

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I see you are updating/adding a number of portals. Are you going to maintain them? Because, frankly, we do not have enough Wikinewsies at present to do it. Cheers, --SVTCobra 01:44, 6 August 2009 (UTC)Reply

I see you responded to SVTCobra on his talk page. If you wish to make an edit to a protected page, simply place the {{editprotected}} template on that page. Then, below the template, describe in detail what edits you wish made to the protected page. Sometimes it takes a few days for us to make the edits in question, but it will get done (provided, of course, that the requested edits don't violate policy). Gopher65talk 02:10, 6 August 2009 (UTC)Reply
{{editprotected}} goes on the collaboration page, as the article itself is protected. Just clarifying. Cheers, --SVTCobra 02:24, 6 August 2009 (UTC)Reply

Template:editprotected

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If you are going to add this template, please do so at the end of the page. You are disrupting the chronology by adding it at the top of pages. --SVTCobra 02:44, 12 August 2009 (UTC)Reply

Ok Ali Rana (talk) 08:10, 12 August 2009 (UTC)Reply

File:Map of Pakistan highlighting Sindh.png

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This image has no acceptable fair use rationale, or link to a source. Technically, it can be deleted on sight. It does look like a user-generated map, those should be on Wikimedia Commons where all Wikimedia projects can make use of it. --Brian McNeil / talk 12:52, 4 September 2009 (UTC)Reply

Don't need pages for images on commons

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You don't need to create pages for images on Commons. There is no point in attempting to categorize the files here. --ShakataGaNai ^_^ 05:39, 5 September 2009 (UTC)Reply

Apologies. Will be careful next time. Ali Rana (talk) 04:30, 23 September 2009 (UTC)Reply

Editor status

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I have nominated you over at WN:FRRFP to gain editor status so that your changes don't need independantly checked. You could also review articles others had written if you wanted to. If you're up for that, then I'm sure there'd be no issues - it's designed to be easy come, easy go. Blood Red Sandman (Talk) (Contribs) 20:07, 22 September 2009 (UTC)Reply

{{review}}

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Please place the {{review}} template at the top of articles (after date, before any content). I've just labelled your cricket story as stale, and I wonder if having the review template so far down that it wasn't visible in a full screen display of the article had anything to do with that. --Brian McNeil / talk 14:16, 26 September 2009 (UTC)Reply

Problems with ALL your image uploads

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Every single image you have uploaded has a number of problems with it.

  • As noted above, you have a map with no source or fair use rationale. If you created the map, it should be placed on Commons. If you retrieved it from elsewhere, then it will have to be deleted unless the source explicitly releases it under Wikinews-compatible terms.
  • You have incorrectly transferred a Karachi logo from Wikipedia. The original file is in SVG format, it would appear you have taken a screenshot of this and saved it as PNG. The actual SVG file from Wikipedia should be retrieved and uploaded, with the full rationale copied from Wikipedia.
  • The emblem of Lahore is labelled {{logo}} which can be considered correct, but no source for the image is given.
  • The remainder of your images were incorrectly labelled. The labels have been removed, and without a competent fair use rationale they are eligible for immediate deletion. For flags, talk to User:Zachary - they're a hobby of his, and he may be able to get versions completed and uploaded to Commons where all projects may use them. --Brian McNeil / talk 14:53, 26 September 2009 (UTC)Reply

WN:FRRFP

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Hi, I just wanted to let you know I've closed your request for editor status as unsuccessful, as there wasn't enough support to promote you. Please don't let this discourage you from contributing; I'd suggest you write three or so good articles to demonstrate you're fully familiar with the style guide, and then consider applying again. Cheers, Tempodivalse [talk] 15:29, 26 September 2009 (UTC)Reply

Category talk pages and underpopulated categories

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Category talk pages are not supposed to be used in the manner you appear to be advocating with the templates you have placed all over Pakistan-related categories. A template directing those wishing to discuss Pakistan news, or articles listed under a Pakistan category, should be instucting people to centralise the discussion on a Bureau, or were there enough coverage and contributors to justify it, on a portal talk page. It is generally a bad idea to fragment discussions all over the wiki in this way, especially when there are actually only one or two contributors actively seeking to cover Pakistan news.

Please adjust your template accordingly, i.e. to direct all discussion not specifically related to the category page to a central point.

A related point is that you have created a huge number of categories which do not meet the generally accepted criteria of having at least three or four articles. A prime example of this would be the A.K. Kahn category. I believe there is only one article in this category, and a very low probability of further material to categorise as such. As I have seen your efforts to have additional categories added to historical archives I will allow several days for these categories to be populated. If they still fail to meet the general criteria, and appear unlikely to do so in the near to mid future, I will nominate such for deletion. --Brian McNeil / talk 18:09, 1 October 2009 (UTC)Reply

Blocked

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You have been blocked from Wikinews for 24 hours. Your edits have been reverted or removed. If you believe this block is unjustified or wish to contest it, you may add {{unblock|your reason}} to this page, go to Wikinews IRC to request to be unblocked, or send a message to wikinews-l@wikimedia.org.

Blocked for 24 hours, for image issues after warning. More info described here [1]. Cirt (talk) 18:31, 1 October 2009 (UTC)Reply

Creationg empty categories

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Do not create categories unless you have a clear list of at least five articles to place in them! Please provide details of articles to be filed in the list of categories you have created or they will be speedily deleted. --Brian McNeil / talk 17:25, 12 February 2010 (UTC)Reply

Thank you for the tender notice. The empty cats I created are subdivision-based i.e. the seven emirates of the UAE, that I expect to be populated sometime in the future. Rana (talk) 17:32, 12 February 2010 (UTC)Reply
  • They are all nominated for deletion. Perhaps if you concentrated on writing news articles instead of making hours of work for administrators to mop up after you, you might get a more kindly response. --Brian McNeil / talk 05:37, 13 February 2010 (UTC)Reply

Global Networking/Asia

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I have removed one of the sites you added to this page as Firefox lists it as an attack site. Also, please deal with the above caution on empty categories. --Brian McNeil / talk 17:34, 12 February 2010 (UTC)Reply

Writing contest

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I think you might be forgetting to add Category:Rana (WWC2010) and Category:Writing contest 2010 to the bottom of Suicide attack hits police station in Karak, Pakistan. However, this article wouldn't count for the competition because it is based on an article from VOA News. Good luck with the competition! --Rayboy8 (my talk) (my contributions) 12:23, 28 February 2010 (UTC)Reply

Hello

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In your article about the Punjabi police website being hacked, did you use original reporting for the quote by the police, or did you recollect for the previous incidents of inter Pakistani-Indian computer hackings? Please list more sources; the article has failed review. --Shankarnikhil88 (talk) 15:56, 10 July 2010 (UTC)Reply

Contest newsletter

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—Message delivered by MikemoralBot on 00:40, 11 March 2010 (UTC)Reply

Wikinews Writing Contest Newsletter

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