User talk:LordFoppington/Archive 1

This page is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Hello, LordFoppington! helpme}} on your talk page and ask your question there. Please remember to sign your name on talk pages by clicking or using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your username and the date. Finally, please do your best to always fill in the edit summary field. Below are some useful links to facilitate your involvement. Happy editing! DuncanHill 23:03, 18 October 2007 (UTC) Getting started Getting mentored How to: edit a page • upload and use images Getting help Frequently asked questions • Tips Where to ask questions or make comments Request administrator attention Policies and guidelines Neutral point of view • No original research Verifiability • Reliable sources • Citing sources What Wikipedia is not • Biographies of living persons Sock puppetry Copyrights • Policy for non-free content • Image use policy External links • Spam • Vandalism Deletion policy • Conflict of interest • Notability The community Resolve disputes Assume good faith • Civility • Etiquette No personal attacks • No legal threats Community Portal • Village pump IRC channels • Mailing lists Writing articles Be bold in editing • Develop an article The perfect article • Manual of style Stubs • Categories • Disambiguation Pages needing attention • Peer review Miscellaneous Talk pages Clean up: General - Spam - Vandalism Join a WikiProject • Translation User scripts

Hi, welcome to Wikipedia. I notice you're looking to be adopted, and I've been here long enough to qualify as a foster parent. So, if you're interested, let me know, and we can get started on the paperwork :) Seeya -

I'm more than interested, I'd be honoured! It'd be great if you can show me the ropes and perhaps a place to start my career in keeping wikipedia running! Lord Foppington 01:52, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

Alright, well let's start with this: I see from your contributions that you already know how to edit and participate in discussions. Do you have any questions about anything in particular? If you do, obviously ask away. If not, we can start with an article you might be interested in editing, and I can help you through that. If you give me an idea of your interests, that might also give us a good place to start.

Equazcion • argue/improves • 09:57, 10/21/2007

Cool, yea I'm getting the hang of it all, I'd like to know how to do the more intricate things in editing pages: adding pictures, contents tables etc. I'm in my final year of University studying English literature and one playwright I know quite a lot about is Richard Brinsley Sheridan, this page could be considerably expanded, however I don't know if this interests you, and it's quite a considerable task. As an easier entrance perhaps one of his works that doesn't even have a page? Let me hear what you think... Lord Foppington 15:43, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

← If by "contents tables" you mean a table of contents, these are automatically added to pages that have a certain number of sections (I believe the minimum is 3). Tables of contents can also be added manually to any page by typing __TOC__ on a new line, and usually go just after the introductory section (that's two underscores, followed by TOC and another two underscores).

To add images, you would first need to know which image you'd like to use. To search for images, go to Wikipedia Commons.

For example, I found this picture on Commons: Image:Robert Baddeley as Moses in Sheridan's 'The School for Scandal' c1781, by Johann Zoffany.jpg.

To add this picture to an article, simple enclose its title in double-brackets, like this: [[Image:Robert Baddeley as Moses in Sheridan's 'The School for Scandal' c1781, by Johann Zoffany.jpg]].

This inserts the picture using the default settings, which generally means it will appear at its original size, with no caption, and on the right side of an article. Generally, you'll want images to have captions and be displayed at a specific size to suit the article. To do that you add parameters, like this: [[Image:Robert Baddeley as Moses in Sheridan's 'The School for Scandal' c1781, by Johann Zoffany.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A depiction of Robert Baddeley as Moses in Sheridan's 'The School for Scandal']].

• Those vertical lines separating each setting are "pipes", and they can be typed (on most English keyboards) using SHIFT-backslash (the key just above ENTER).

• The word "thumb" means that we want to display the picture with a caption, and you'll generally include that when inserting most pictures.

• "200px" is the width that we want to display the picture at. "px" means "pixels" -- a measure of size. It won't be easy to set this number once and get the resulting size you had envisioned, so this will involve some trial and error especially at first (trying a number, clicking "preview", and correcting as you see fit).

• "left" means that you want the picture to display on the left side of the article text. You can also set this to "right" to have it display on the right side.

• The last setting is the caption you'd like to appear below the image.

Here is the result of [[Image:Robert Baddeley as Moses in Sheridan's 'The School for Scandal' c1781, by Johann Zoffany.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A depiction of Robert Baddeley as Moses in Sheridan's 'The School for Scandal']]:

Let's end there for now. Try experimenting with this at an article using "preview". I'm not sure how clear my explanation was so if you have any questions let me know :)

I started work on The Duenna page (i'll try and finish it tomorrow) - Let me know what you think. I went on to the edit page of a article i liked and stole the format from there (I hope that's accepted Wikipedia practice) Lord Foppington 02:02, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Yup, in fact that's probably the best way to go, copying the format from another article and just changing what you need to. It's a good way to learn. Just a couple things I fixed:

• To make text both bold and italicized, put 5 apostrophes on either side.
• In your inline citations (footnotes), don't put the word "see" before everything :)
• Also, the way inline citations work on Wikipedia, you don't need separate "references" and "notes" sections. Simply put all the information about the source directly into the <ref> </ref> tags.
• One more thing: You don't need to add a signature for article contributions -- that's just for discussions :)

I haven't actually read the article yet but I will now. I'm sure it's fine though, it seems you know literature, and technicalities of Wikipedia are probably the only things you need help with.

Equazcion • argue/improves • 02:57, 10/22/2007

Another thing you need to do when creating a new article is to categorize it. To add your article to categories, first find applicable categories via

Wikipedia:Categorical_index. Then, add [[Category:(category name here)]] to the end of the article. I added Category:Richard Brinsley Sheridan plays to this article by inserting this code: [[Category:Richard Brinsley Sheridan plays]].

Equazcion • argue/improves

• 03:11, 10/22/2007

The content looks good. I did some copy editing, but just minor stuff. You did a good job :)

Equazcion • argue/improves • 03:22, 10/22/2007

Thanks for the improvements, I've added some more categories. Is it possible to add pictures that aren't on Wikicommons? I realise that this is obviously a copywrite issue, how do the images in Wikipedia get in the public domain? This page [1] has excellent pictures that would really suit my article but I guess they're out of reach? Lord Foppington 09:09, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Image use comes down to the license that the images were released under. Generally, images you find on some website won't be usable on Wikipedia. I'm not that well-versed on the rules for images, as it all seems rather complicated to me and not worth the trouble of figuring out all the legalese. I generally stick to images that already exist here or that I've created myself. If you want to find out more about image use on Wikipedia you can check out Wikipedia:Images. Let me know if you find a way to use the images you found.

Equazcion • argue/improves • 16:06, 10/22/2007

I couldn't find an image that fitted the rules but I don't think the article looses anything by not including one. I've pretty much finished the article apart from adding a definite plot summary but I'm kind of against doing one. Let me know what you think. I'm pretty pleased, I just hope someone finds it useful! Lord Foppington 18:30, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

It looks good to me, although admittedly opera ain't my thing, so I can't be sure of what an article on opera should include. My best estimation tells me it looks good :) However I do think, at least from my perspective as a boorish American with no opera experience, that the article could use a plot summary -- especially because you point out influences on the story from the author's life, making references to pieces of the plot that won't mean anything to the average reader without some context of the larger story. What makes you against adding a plot summary, out of curiosity?

Equazcion • argue/improves • 19:28, 10/22/2007

Haha, don't worry you haven't adopted a super-literary geek, Opera isn't really my thing either, I just happen to have a lot of information about this one! I agree with the idea of a plot summary, I'll try to write one, I was probably being lazy, it's quite a complex story! On the article's talk page there is something about WikiProject Opera - I'm not sure what this is or what they want from me; from what I can see I can't be much use to them! Lord Foppington 23:56, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Don't worry about the WikiProject, unless you have a general interest in improving opera-related articles. WikiProjects are collaborative efforts to improve the representation of particular topics on Wikipedia. Whoever posted that banner on the talk page was just "tagging" the article as being within the scope of WikiProject Opera. Had you written an article on something military-related, someone would've found it and tagged it as part of

Wikipedia:WikiProject Military History. These are permanent tags for articles, and not a message to you personally -- but you can get involved in a project if you want to. See Wikipedia:WikiProject for more info and an index of projects.

Equazcion • argue/improves

• 00:10, 10/23/2007

Greetings, Your Grace. Re this: as you’re studying English, I thought you might like to be aware that the word you’re wanting is “divination”, not “dividation”. Hope that helps. Cheers -- JackofOz 05:28, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the heads up. I've corrected this. I'd like to say it was test but that would be a lie... Lord Foppington 14:10, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Saw you were here and had to welcome you. Not been here long meself... Simply Brazen, m'dear! Stapmevitals 01:20, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

I love it! As the man himself said: "I am struck dumb with their impudence, and cannot positively say whether I shall speak again or not." Lord Foppington 14:20, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Oh do not be so bashful, sink me if I utter another word. Prithee advance thyself and set thy Plume to't. Stapmevitals 11:27, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

Well, 'tis an unspeakable pleasure to be a man of quality, strike me dumb! Lord Foppington 01:11, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Dear Lord F, I don't think I can offer full adoption but please feel free to ask me any questions you think I might be able to help with. I've been in Wikipedia about a year in various shapes. I'm a UK Brit in the south-east with interest in classical music, literature, arts and Old English history. Your work on The Duenna seems okay. If you think I might be able to help, drop me a line on my talkpage. Best wishes, Eebahgum 11:51, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

Okay. Hi! Well why not begin by looking at The Duenna a bit more, as it is a worthy subject. Your original piece of writing is fine on the html side of things. You may be wondering why two editors have pounced on your original effort and tweaked it. Kleinzach (who has dropped in on it) is a really valuable friend in WP opera matters, and may wonder if you plan to do more to it - and if so, whether in the Opera Format (see other operas, e.g. Verdi), or on a literary/historical Linley and Sheridan approach, as it is a borderline genre subject. You could at least find the little dramatis personae template used for operas and copy/customize it for your list, to include the original performers, leaving blank what you don't know. Certainly a plot or synopsis section would be excellent. Also why not list the main songs etc in another section? History of performance is always very useful. Don't be afraid of making the article a bit longer, but stay on the overall point. The special interest about Linleys and Sheridans and Mrs E S is worth driving home. These are just some first thoughts, take them or leave them as you wish! Write it to satisfy yourself - only the world is watching! It's up to you to write what you think. Others will certainly add or subtract sooner or later. Alternatively leave that and move onto the next article. It would be a good thing if someone would do Charles Dibdin's The Waterman. I don't suppose you feel so inclined? There is/are mountains of stuff to be done, and new articles are a great way forward rather than quibbling with people over an odd sentence you can't agree with. Everything gradually resolves. Begin by being a Wikipedian who does original things, rather than one who tells other people what to do, and you won't go far wrong if you have the patience! Look for the gaps and you will find a domain: and don't waste too much time swatting flies, as there is nothing in the world more vain, stale and unprofitable than a wikipedia edit-war. You can always come back later. Best wishes, Eebahgum 08:57, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

This page is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.