User talk:Ldfeller
Welcome Ldfeller!
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{{My sandbox}} on your userpage.Sincerely, User:Crtew (talk) 17:55, 6 September 2012 (UTC) (Leave me a message)
Thanks for editing Wikipedia! Need help?
[edit]Hello Ldfeller, thanks for contributing to Wikipedia! I want to invite you to the Teahouse, a forum on Wikipedia for new editors to ask questions about editing Wikipedia, and get support from peers and experienced editors. I hope you see you there! SarahStierch (talk) 16:16, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
Assignment
[edit]Your assignment is to create and write an article about HornAfrik Media Inc. in Somalia. Several of your classmates are working on bios of people who were affiliated with HornAfrik as I point out in your assignment. Make links in your article to those individuals. Good luck, Crtew (talk) 16:54, 6 September 2012 (UTC)
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Your recent edits
[edit]
Hello. In case you didn't know, when you add content to talk pages and Wikipedia pages that have open discussion, you should sign your posts by typing four tildes ( ~~~~ ) at the end of your comment. You could also click on the signature button or 
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Happy to help
[edit]Thanks for the message. If you could let me know what exactly you want to do (but currently can't do), I should be able to explain how to do it. I'm afraid that we're in different time-zones (I'm guessing that you're 6 hours behind me), so dialogue could be a bit slow. However, I'm around for the rest of today (I'm rarely in bed before 1 a.m. UK time) and most of tomorrow, give or take meals, etc., so we should be able to engage in a bit of dialogue. Best wishes. --GuillaumeTell 16:54, 17 October 2012 (UTC)
Re: assignment
[edit]Hi Ldfeller,
Writing Wikipedia articles and navigating wiki-code can sometimes be confusing for those new to the project, such as yourself. I've taken a look at your draft article, and would like to point out some potentially helpful tips:
- It looks like you have plenty of citations at this point, but your challenge here is to read and compile the information in those citations into a comprehensive article discussing the history, impact and current operations of HornAfrik, as well as attacks seeking to undermine its presence in Somalia. I would suggest writing out prose text from your research and dividing it into readable sections, making note of where you got the information from. You can then cite the information using citation tags.
- Right now, your research citations are in "bare URL" format. When you go to the edit box, find the tab on the right of the top bar that says "Cite", click on it, and open the relevant template (usually, in this article it will be "cite news"). You can then fill in the relevant information - the most important portions for news references are the title, URL, and date of publication - it is also helpful to include the author(s)' last and first name, the news agency or name of newspaper, location of publication, and auto-fill the access date. Make sure you click on the part of the text you've written where you want to place the reference before filling in the citation form. This may sound tedious and a lot of work, but as long as you've collated the information already, it usually takes no more than one minute per reference! I've started more than sixty articles, so you can imagine that for the longer entries it is sometimes necessary to pull out twenty, thirty, or seventy citations, which tends to get time-consuming. You can cite a single reference more than once by filling in the appropriate reference name (for example, Ref name: "BBC2012" will appear as <ref name=BBC2012> {{Cite news|blah-blah-website ...}}</ref> and the second or third time you use this reference, you can just insert <ref name=BBC2012/> and the footnote will point to the same BBC citation in the bibliography). This makes it easier for a reader to understand the source and information found within a news or other reference before they click on it for more information.
- In your "lede" paragraph before all the section headings (i.e. ==heading==, ===subheading===, ====sub-subheading====, =====sub-sub-subheading=====, only as needed), you can write an introduction about the topic at hand, which is basically a quick summary that should be accessible to readers who have no familiarity or background knowledge in HornAfric Media or its context.
- In "History", what is the story behind the employees becoming Canadian or dual Canadian-Somali citizens? When was the company established, and what major conflicts were going on in Somalia at the time? How did the company become the most-listened radio station in Mogadishu? Make sure you address all these topics, as information is likely available in your references.
- "Attacks", "Notable Reporting" & "Impact": How did the al-Shabaab militants, Ethiopian-backed transitional council, Somalian authorities, local residents, and international media respond to HornAfrik's reporting of the ongoing conflict? What were/are some typical programs of the station, and what made it so notable? How did the radio program grow and its influence spread, and what is the role of BBC/CNN material being broadcast to Somalians? It's also a good idea to mention major incidents, such as when the radio station was bombed and destroyed in 2007. Although it may not be possible to name all the journalists killed, maybe you can give information as to the locations of the attacks, or even a timeline of some sort in a bulleted format, unless that's discouraged by your course guidelines. How does the radio program compare to those in other war-torn countries or to call-in programs in the developed world?
- It is generally not a good idea to rely on references that require a paid subscription for access, but most events noted by news sources will also have other news agencies reporting on the same incident. If you do include subscription-only sites, try to find other sources backing up this information.
- "Context" - although this is a rather strange section heading for a Wikipedia article, it may be a good idea to discuss the influence of this radio program amidst the chaos of the Somali Civil War, why it was started, etc. Pointing out the fact that thousands of journalists attended the funeral of at least one of the important persons killed in these attacks demonstrates notability. You could also add information on the issue of "impunity" for attacks carried out against journalists in Somalia and levels of press freedom in the country, as I've seen at least one other article from your class about Somalia that discussed this issue. Make sure to add more background information than a sentence or two about the people killed that will also get articles. Ultimately, the goal might be to integrate this section into the other parts of the article so that the reader will learn enough about the background to understand the role of and reactions to the HornAfrik radio program.
- "Reactions" - were there reactions from government spokespersons of other countries, such as Canada, on the killing of a Canadian-Somali journalist? Did al-Shabaab have anything to say?
- Make sure to refer to an individual journalist by a consistent name (here, you've linked "Said Tahlil" and "Said Tahlil Ahmed" as seperate articles), and by there last name when they are discussed multiple times.
- Finally, when you're ready to publish the article, add categories like Category:Somali Civil War.
I hope that this helps. Please feel free to contact me if you come across any further frustrations concerning article editing and wiki-code. It is actually a lot easier to manage than HTML, which in turn is one of the simplest of web editing codes, but many new editors still find it challenging to navigate. Best wishes for article-writing and progress in your courses!
~AH1 (discuss!) 02:01, 21 October 2012 (UTC)
Your query
[edit]Hi Ldfeller, I'm sorry I've been away from Wikipedia for a little bit, but I'm back now. I saw your question on my page, and I'll be glad to try to help. I see you've had some other people helping as well. What are you confused about specifically? LadyofShalott 17:59, 23 October 2012 (UTC)
Wikipedia Education Program: student survey!
[edit]Hi! I work with the Wikipedia Education Program, and I'm hoping to get your feedback about your experience this semester! In order to help other students like you enjoy editing while contributing positively to Wikipedia, it would be very helpful to hear from real program students about their experience, so we know what to change. The survey takes no more than 10 minutes, and I'd really appreciate your response!
Thanks so much! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 01:53, 18 December 2012 (UTC)