Wikipedia talk:User page

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Contents 1 Deleting sub-pages 2 "Creating user subpages" section could use some editting for clarity 2.1 ...More on creating user pages 3 Saqib Saeed Qureshi 4 Simulated MediaWiki Interfaces

[edit] Deleting sub-pages

What is the process of deleting another user's subpage? Section "Deleting user pages and subpages" has only got information on "Deleting your own sub pages". Jay (talk) 10:20, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

If you believe that another user's subpage should be deleted, you can list it at WP:MfD. Pages that are unambiguous copyright violations or attack pages, can be tagged for speedy deletion per CSD G12 and CSD G10, respectively. decltype (talk) 10:24, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, I've added this information to the top of the section. Jay (talk) 11:30, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Ah, I had no idea you wanted to put it into the guideline! I thought you just wanted to know the technicalities, so I gave a rather informal answer. I have made some clarifications in the guideline, feel free to further improve on it. decltype (talk) 12:02, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

I did actually want to know the technicality. I've asked politely at User talk:Wikid77. Guideline looks good. Jay (talk) 10:29, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

[edit] "Creating user subpages" section could use some editting for clarity

As far as I can tell the section doesn't actually say how to create a subpage. It provides some good overview info and how to create a link to your subpage (the sandbox example), but then doesn't mention that you need to navigate to that red link and then select the "Start the User:ExampleUser/Sandbox page" link to actually create the page. I'm new here as a contrib, so if this isn't correct don't bite my head off.

Also, I think the following paragraph could use some adjustments since it is kind of confusing and misleading.

To link to a user subpage called "Sandbox" from your main user page, place the text

[[/Sandbox]]

on your page, or use a piped link with the same source. Make sure to experiment on your user page, not on this page! Do not forget the first forward slash or you will put the page in the main namespace as a regular article and will have to ask for speedy deletion if you save what you write (by tagging the page with {{db-author}}). If your user page does not have a subpage named "Sandbox", the link will appear to be red, indicating that a page has no content, and if you just navigate away without saving any content the page will not be created and there is nothing to delete.

I believe the purpose of the last sentence is to clarify the preceding one, so if a user creates a link to a subpage without the slash, but doesn't actually commit any content to that new subpage, we don't have to worry about deletion and can just edit the link to include the omitted slash. But to me at least it doesn't do this very clearly, and is kind of misleading. First, like the third sentence says, if the user forgets the slash the page will be placed in the main namespace, so it doesn't matter at all if user already has a subpage named "Sandbox" at all. In fact, if they're following with the example, forgetting the slash would link to the Sandbox disambiguation page, and thus would definitely not be red. Second, someone could interpret it as saying if you mistakenly omit the slash and your link shows up red, you need not request deletion. This might be true, but if someone forgets the slash and is trying to give their subpage the same name as an existing wikipedia article (Sandbox, Other, Edits, etc), then they might mistakenly request a deletion of that valid article only because their link was not red. Like mentioned above, I believe the sentence is trying to clarify on a small ambiguity in the preceding sentence ("ask for speedy deletion if you save what you write"), where 'save what you write' could be interpreted to mean saving the link code on your user page rather then actual content to that new misplaced page.

Ironic how a sentence that was probably written to address possible confusion from that ambiguity actually accomplishes the exact opposite of its goal :p To me it would make more sense to just change that slightly ambiguous sentence and drop the last one all together; Perhaps if it said something like "... ask for speedy deletion if you saved any content to the misplaced page." MiloKral (talk) 06:27, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

You're right, it's a confusing mess and a lot of that could probably be trimmed. I suggest you go ahead and improve it. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 11:46, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm working on polishing up this section at one of my user sandboxes (Here). Once I reach autoconfirmed status in a couple days I'll merge it into this. Feel free to constructively edit my draft at will, or leave me comments/suggestions on my talkpage. --MiloKral (talk) 00:38, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

[edit] ...More on creating user pages

I’m trying to create my user page. When I sign in to Wikipedia, my user name appears in red at the top. I understand that that is because I have not created my page yet. But when I click on that link, my browser takes me to Megaclick (“not found”). Well, of course! I haven’t created it yet!

So I go to “create a user-space subpage,” which takes me to the “Wikipedia: User page” project page tab. In the Contents box, I click on “Creating user subpages,” which takes me to that section. I want to see the example (User: Example/Lipsum), so I click on that link and see another link, “your personal sandbox,” in the last line. When I click it, Megaclick appears.

I continue with the section on “How to create a user subpage”—and have to pause to edit it—and read “To create a subpage, first create a link on your user page….” That’s a Catch-22 situation; where did I miss the link “How to create a user page”?

At the bottom of “Wikipedia: User page,” I see “Wikipedia: User page design center” and go there. The third sentence of the second paragraph on the project page tab tells me “If you don't have a user page yet and don’t know how to create a page, then click on your user name at the top of the screen and follow the instructions (if the page already exists, your username will be blue instead of red).” (Oh, that line needs to be edited….)

I’ve gone around and around and just clicked on “Special: Mypage,” which took me to—guess where?—Megaclick.

How do the rest of you create your user pages?

Hi MiloKral. You write above, "you need to navigate to that red link and then select the 'Start the User:ExampleUser/Sandbox page' link to actually create the page.'" Is that red link the uncreated user page? --WR1T (talk) 09:27, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Hi WriteRight1stTime. The Megaclick thing you describe leads me to strongly believe that you have some kind of virus or spyware on your computer, because that's not what's supposed to happen when you click a redlink. I took the liberty of creating the page for you, but you really should get your computer scanned for spyware removal. Regards, decltype (talk) 09:48, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, Decltype. I need a new computer.... You did! Thanks very much!... "Ph.D" is supposed to be "Ph.D."--72.234.64.99 (talk) 10:07, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Ah, thanks for pointing that out. Interestingly enough, that typo even made the main page. decltype (talk) 10:17, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

My comment was actually referring to this old version of the page, pointing out it did not explain at all how to actually create the page. In any case, you are correct, a red colored link signifies that it points to a page that does not exist. My comment above might be kind of misleading, as it isn't 100% correct (I'm new here too, still learning). I've discovered that the page you see when you navigate to a non-existent page differs depending on HOW you reach it. I created my sandbox subpage by navigating to my user page and appending '/Sandbox' to the location bar on my browser. This will bring up the page I mentioned, where you need to select the 'Start the ... page' link to bring up the text editor frame. However, if you get to a non-existent page by following a red link, the page will already have the text editor frame, effectively bypassing 'Start the .... page' page. The difference is due to the '&redlink=1' parameter that wiki software automatically appends to URLs of interwiki links that point to a page that doesn't exist. In both situations, you create the userpage (or subpage) by entering any content into the text editor and saving via the 'Save page' button.

Thanks for fixing up some grammer in my edit, and I hope my above explanation clears up some of the confusion. I made changes to the old version in hopes of avoiding the situation you & I both experienced; it took me about an hour of crawling through unclear docs and help sections to accomplish my goal of creating a user sandbox subpage. I encourage you to clarify further on anything you found confusing so future new users can have a smoother experience. --MiloKral (talk) 19:36, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Saqib Saeed Qureshi

Assalam O Allaikum —Preceding unsigned comment added by Saqibsaeedqureshi (talk • contribs) 11:47, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Well hello.  pablo_hablo. 12:33, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Wa alayka as-salam. –BLACK FALCON ^(TALK) 16:12, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Simulated MediaWiki Interfaces

While it's been around for a while, this section was added seemingly without consensus. I don't see a compelling reason for it and will remove it soon unless I see a reason not to. Stifle (talk) 14:26, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I think it's a reasonable compromise wording, and I don't think it should be removed. SHEFFIELDSTEEL^TALK 14:42, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

First off I was at that debate and I don't see how you can say there was not a consensus, there was a huge debate with hundreds of people. Secondly, I cannot think of a website of any significance that allows users to forge elements of their user interface in such a way as to trick other users into clicking links they did not intend. Plenty of users have said that it is disruptive to their activities of writing an encyclopedia, that is a fine reason to not allow it. Chillum 14:50, 6 July 2009 (UTC)