User talk:Meadowlark

Welcome to my talk page!

Here because I reviewed your draft? Or because I'm your mentor? Please feel free to ask any questions you have and I'll do my best to answer you! The more information you can give me, the better my answer can be. :)

If I have not responded quickly to your query, please don't think I'm ignoring you; I live with chronic pain and often have to take short breaks from Wikipedia. I'll be back to talk with you as soon as I am able.

Question from Thabangmalaza01 (04:53, 28 June 2026)

Good day. I recently created a Wikipedia account and would like guidance on creating a draft article about Thabang Malaza. Since I am the subject of the article, I want to follow Wikipedia’s conflict-of-interest and notability guidelines correctly. Could you please advise me on the best way to proceed? --Thabangmalaza01 (talk) 04:53, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

Hi there @Thabangmalaza01! The first thing you should do is read through WP:ABOUTME and make sure you actually do want a Wikipedia article about yourself. Remember that you will not be able to edit an article about yourself if it is accepted, but anyone else in the world will be able to, and if any negative information about you is reported in a reliable source that could be added to the article.

If you still want to go ahead, make sure you have enough good sources - your draft should be a summary of what these sources say and nothing else. A good source meets all three criteria in WP:42, and usually three or more good sources is enough for an article. These sources can't be based on interviews with you or anything you've written or had input into - or interviews with/information from your friends, family, colleagues, employees, etc.

After that, read through conflict of interest information, Your First Article, and Referencing for Beginners. Those will get you started, and if you use the article wizard (linked in Your First Article) then it will set up the Wikicode needed.

I would suggest getting an experienced Wikipedia editor to look through your sources before you start writing - I'd be happy to do so. Just leave me links here and I'll let you know which are good and which can't be used. Good luck and happy editing! Meadowlark (talk) 05:57, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

> Hi Meadowlark, thank you again for your guidance and for offering to review my sources. I have gathered a few independent news articles about me and would appreciate your opinion on whether they are suitable for establishing notability before I continue with my draft.

1. https://myafrikamag.com/thabang-the-dreamer-from-bronkhorstspruit/

2. https://novanews.co.za/mthathaexpress/multi-talented-young-man-aims-high-20240123/

3. https://www.snl24.com/dailysun/celebs/watch-promising-filmmaker-thabangs-making-moves-20230309 ~2026-37663-87 (talk) 09:42, 1 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi Meadowlark, thank you again for your guidance and for offering to review my sources. I have gathered a few independent news articles about me and would appreciate your opinion on whether they are suitable for establishing notability before I continue with my draft.

1. https://myafrikamag.com/thabang-the-dreamer-from-bronkhorstspruit/

2. https://novanews.co.za/mthathaexpress/multi-talented-young-man-aims-high-20240123/

3. https://www.snl24.com/dailysun/celebs/watch-promising-filmmaker-thabangs-making-moves-20230309 Thabangmalaza01 (talk) 09:53, 1 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi Thabang, I hope you are well! All these sources seem to be based on interviews with you, as they quote you extensively - I am sorry to say we would not consider these to be independent. You are looking for sources that have written about you without having any contact with you. These can be quite hard to find, because of course it makes sense to reporters to talk to the person they are writing about.

You are still quite young so it might just be too soon for you to have a Wikipedia article - your career is only just starting and I'm sure you have great things ahead. Wikipedia is always the last place to start writing about someone. If news places are mostly interested in talking to you about your work, it might be best to focus on your career for the moment and see whether someone else writes a Wikipedia article before you get a chance. This is how most articles come to exist - someone sees something interesting and ends up writing a Wikipedia article.

Does that make sense? Meadowlark (talk) 11:17, 1 July 2026 (UTC)

Well I'm also new here? Looking for who will put me through Iamjoe9 (talk) 03:57, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Iamjoe9! What do you mean by put you through? If you are hoping someone will write a Wikipedia article about you, I'd give you basically the same advice as I gave Thabang here and Joe further down the page. There are very few people in the world who will ever have Wikipedia articles written about them, so it's usually best to focus on your career - if you become well-known enough (we say "notable") to qualify for an article, someone else will probably write it! Meadowlark (talk) 05:25, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Speedylee Elder (19:54, 14 July 2026)

Hello. How can I switch from Edit source to just Edit? I want to edit the top of a page and add to it. --Speedylee Elder (talk) 19:54, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Speedylee Elder! I think you want to use the Visual Editor - if that's the case, once you're in 'edit source' there should be a little picture of a pencil up the top right of the editing box, next to 'Preview'. You can use that to switch editing modes. If you want to edit the first part of an article, where it usually says something like Blah is a blah blah..., we call this the lead (or lede) and it has slightly different rules. Anything mentioned in the lead needs to also be in the main body of the article and cited to reliable sources, otherwise it will probably be undone ('reverted') by other editors. Edits being reverted is totally normal and just means other editors want to make sure the information is accurate and should be in the article, so don't worry if it happens - you can discuss it on the talk page and work things out together. Happy editing, and let me know if you need more help! Meadowlark (talk) 04:13, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you

		The Guidance Barnstar
		Thank you for helping me sort out my footnotes, Your guidance was much appreciated!. Sfar13 (talk) 10:26, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Starsandscrollsandpeace (22:55, 18 July 2026)

Hello. I'm interested in developing an article on a scholar who currently does not have one. I have a potential conflict of interest because I was formerly his doctoral student and am still a friend. --Starsandscrollsandpeace (talk) 22:55, 18 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Starsandscrollsandpeace! You do have a conflict of interest, but that's okay; you can still write a draft and send it through our Articles for Creation process. Just make sure to declare your conflict of interest! Here's more info: WP:COIE.

The first thing I would ask you to consider - and to speak to your friend about - is WP:ABOUTME. Having a Wikipedia article isn't always a good thing. If your draft is accepted, you will not be able to edit it any more. Neither will your friend, or anyone else who is connected to him.

If you decide to go ahead, please know that writing a new Wikipedia article is the hardest thing to do here, and writing about a living person is the hardest kind of new article. We always recommend that people spend time working on existing articles first, to get an idea of our policies and guidelines as well as what a good article looks like. What you can do first, though, is see whether an article is even going to be possible for him. There's two possible relevant sets of criteria: WP:NPROF, for academics, and WP:GNG, which is basically a catch-all. Have a look at those and see whether you think he fits into either. If he does, there's more to read through: WP:BLP, our policy on writing about living people, and WP:42, which talks about suitable sources. After all that, you could start with Your First Article for a beginners' guide - although again I would really recommend learning about editing existing articles first, since there's so much you have to keep track of when you start a new draft.

I know that's a lot, but it sounds like you've got plenty of experience reading through lots of documents! If you have any questions after looking through those, come on back and I'll see if I can help out. Good luck and happy editing! Meadowlark (talk) 04:54, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Articles for Creation backlog drive

Hello Meadowlark:

WikiProject Articles for creation is holding a month long Backlog Drive in August!
The goal of this drive is to reduce the backlog of unreviewed drafts to less than a month of outstanding reviews from the current 3+ months. Bonus points will be given for reviewing drafts that have been waiting more than 30 days. The drive is running from 1 August 2026 through 31 August 2026.

You may find Category:AfC pending submissions by age or other categories and sorting helpful.

Barnstars will be given out as awards at the end of the drive.
There is a backlog of over 5000 pages, so start reviewing drafts. We're looking forward to your help! MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:37, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

• If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the mailing list or alternatively to opt-out of all massmessage mailings, you may add Category:Wikipedians who opt out of message delivery to your user talk page.

Question from Besmel1946 (14:48, 24 July 2026)

I would like to either edit Richard J. Estes’s biography or inform Wikipedia regarding his passing. He passed away on July 17, 2026. --Besmel1946 (talk) 14:48, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

I'm sorry to hear that, @Besmel1946. If you knew him, I hope his memory is a blessing. Do you have a link to an obituary or other announcement? We need something published to verify his passing. Meadowlark (talk) 02:11, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

Yes, here is a link to the obituary: https://share.remembermyjourney.com/public-memorials/kN75pOwW

There is also a mention here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/in-memory-of-professor-richard-j-estes-share-7484981827816853504-Q15H/

There will be more, I understand, but this should get you started.

Thank you very much for you help and condolences.

Melinda ~2026-41555-32 (talk) 02:49, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you, Melinda. I'm beginning the update process now. My thoughts are with you and his family at this difficult time. Meadowlark (talk) 04:16, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

Perhaps adding birth date would be appropriate?

06/20/1946

I’m not sure what public records you can use to verify. I know the date to be correct. Birth dates are not usually a part of curriculum vitae. Besmel1946 (talk) 11:55, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

That's the difficulty, I'm afraid - unless it's printed somewhere reliable, we can't publish it. Certainly if we get a suitable source I'll update the article, but that might have to wait until people have overcome the initial shock and grief and have started writing farewells. If you happen to see one, please do leave me a link here. Best wishes, Meadowlark (talk) 03:22, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks. I will keep looking. ~2026-41792-99 (talk) 03:45, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Joe G Millionaire (12:55, 28 July 2026)

Hello my name is Joe millionaire, and I’m from bayelsa Nigeria --Joe G Millionaire (talk) 12:55, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Joe G Millionaire (12:56, 28 July 2026)

How want to be live on the google search bar --Joe G Millionaire (talk) 12:56, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi Joe! Google gets information for its info boxes from lots of places. Wikipedia is just one of them - it also looks for news stories, blogs, and other things where someone's name is mentioned. Very few people qualify for a Wikipedia article, so it would probably be easier to focus on your career and see whether newspapers and TV channels are interested in reporting on you. If lots of people are talking about you, then it will probably show up on the Google info boxes. And if lots of people are talking about you, sooner or later someone will probably write a Wikipedia article. Wikipedia is very slow and won't be able to write anything about you until everyone else has written about you first - every other website will be much faster! I hope that helps, and best of luck with your career. Meadowlark (talk) 02:56, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from OmegaConsultingGroup (11:45, 30 July 2026)

Hello. I wold like to create a page for my company. How to do it? --OmegaConsultingGroup (talk) 11:45, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi @OmegaConsultingGroup! My first advice would be: don't do it. Writing a new article is the hardest thing to do on Wikipedia, and it's even harder to write for a subject you care about, like your company. 99% of companies don't qualify for a Wikipedia page, and you're likely to become very frustrated and waste a lot of your time and energy. If you still want to try, start by reading through WP:YESPROMO, WP:ASFAQ, and WP:ABOUTME. Having a Wikipedia article about your company is not always a good thing!

If you've read all of those and still want to go ahead, your next step is to read through WP:NCORP and WP:42. You need to find suitable sources. A suitable source meets all three criteria in WP:42, and generally you'll need to find three or more of them. A suitable source also isn't any of the things listed in WP:CORPTRIV. If you don't have enough sources, you won't be able to write a draft. If you do have enough sources, fantastic! Your goal is to summarise what those sources say, and that summary will become a draft and hopefully an article. More information about the process is at Your First Article.

As a last note, you will need to change your username - the English Wikipedia doesn't allow editors to use company names. Another editor has already left you a notice on your talk page, User talk:OmegaConsultingGroup, to explain how to do that. You should make the change immediately.

If you have any questions after reading through all those links, feel free to come back here and I'll try to help! Meadowlark (talk) 02:24, 31 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Gorillawiki (07:54, 31 July 2026)

How do i make a wiki page? --Gorillawiki (talk) 07:54, 31 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Gorillawiki! The basics of it are set out at Your First Article, but there's some complexities depending on the subject. What do you want to write about? Meadowlark (talk) 06:01, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

i want to write about the gorrila tag vr ghosts. Gorillawiki (talk) 16:08, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Okay! I'll start by warning you that writing a new article is the hardest thing to do on Wikipedia, and it's usually a good idea to get some editing practice by working on existing articles first - there's an article on Gorilla Tag that you might be able to improve. If you want to try that instead, have a look through WP:42 for information on sources and WP:REFB for information on how to use references (also called sources or citations).

If you want to try to write a new article, step 1 is to have a look for good sources. A good source meets all three criteria in WP:42, so you would be looking for things like articles written on sites like TechRadar, GameSpot, etc, by someone whose job is writing about games, and without any input from the game devs. The ghosts would need to be the main subject of the source, as well. If you can't find three or more good sources, then we can't have a Wikipedia article about the ghosts - you could see if there's a Fandom Wiki that you could update instead, maybe! Wikipedia is really strict, but Fandom Wikis are usually much easier to edit.

I'm going to be totally honest with you - I don't think there are enough good sources out there for the ghosts, at least not right now. Maybe you can find sources I couldn't! If you can't find the sources for the ghosts, you could see if there are sources for something else you want to write about instead. If you're not sure about whether a source is good or not, you can link it to me here and I'll help you work it out. Good luck and happy editing! Meadowlark (talk) 02:36, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

but how do i make a wiki page though? Gorillawiki (talk) 12:51, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

It's all in Your First Article :) Make sure you have those sources first, though, and remember you can't use an AI/LLM to write the draft for you - if you don't have sources or if you use AI/LLMs, the draft will be rejected and you'll have wasted all that time and energy! Meadowlark (talk) 03:15, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Question from MNCVA1965 (18:31, 31 July 2026)

The page on the Southeastern US lists the "largest metros" in the Southeast. The section includes metros that are smaller than ones that are larger. Is it better to add these or replace two smaller ones with the larger metros? --MNCVA1965 (talk) 18:31, 31 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi @MNCVA1965, that's a very good question! My suggestion is to add the larger ones, and start a conversation on the talk page about whether the list needs to be cut down - and if so, what criteria should be used to decide which metros should be included. If no one joins the conversation in a week or two, you can be bold and decide whether to trim the list or leave it as-is. If other people disagree with you, they'll probably undo your edits; this is totally normal and doesn't mean you've done anything wrong. You or the other people should then start a discussion on the article's talk page and decide together what to do. We call this the WP:BRD cycle, which stands for bold, revert, discuss, and it's how we make most decisions on Wikipedia! Meadowlark (talk) 06:06, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Question from MNCVA1965 (13:36, 1 August 2026)

I tried to reply to your message to say that Ive posted to Talk on the Southeatern US page. Thank you! But, when I hit reply I got an error message that my IP address was blocked. What's happening? Ask your mentor for help Meadowlark 2,909 edits · Active today General editing help Search for answers and read top articles

When you ask a question, it gets published publicly under your username, "MNCVA1965", to your mentor's talk page, which is where they can find and respond to your question.

Your question I tried to reply to your message to say that Ive posted to Talk on the Southeatern US page. Thank you! But, when I hit reply I got an error message that my IP address was blocked. What's happening? Thank you again! By publishing changes, you agree to the Terms of Use, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License and the GFDL. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license. Something went wrong Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪XXBlackburnXx‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected. * Start of block: 23:15, 28 June 2026 * Expiry of block: 23:15, 28 June 2031 Your current IP address is 186.247.170.2. The blocked range is 186.247.160.0/19. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the Stewards Block Wizard. --MNCVA1965 (talk) 13:36, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Hi again @MNCVA1965! That sounds to me like you got caught in a kind of general block - were you using a VPN or connecting from somewhere that isn't your home wifi/mobile/cell phone? The block isn't something you did wrong, it's just in place to stop the worst trolls and vandals IP-hopping. There's more info and some suggestions on what might get you unstuck on this page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiProject_on_open_proxies/Help:blocked I hope you can get back to editing soon! Meadowlark (talk) 02:16, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

yay! I just hit reply and it worked! MNCVA1965 (talk) 13:09, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

im so glad that there is a resource like you to help guidance. Im a university professor and know my students use Wikipedia for information and sometimes I catch things that are not well informed. Having guidance to improve information is a godsend. MNCVA1965 (talk) 13:12, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

Oh, I'm happy I could help! Funnily enough I spent almost a decade working in admin for a university, so I'm extremely familiar with helping out professors - what a delightful coincidence.

We love having new editors whose goal is to help keep existing articles accurate and up-to-date - there's over 7 million articles on Wikipedia and as you can see we need much more help. Even the smallest improvements add up when enough people are making them! You may or may not know that Wikipedia is almost entirely run by volunteers, all of whom just want to make reliable information on important topics accessible to anyone with internet access. If you're interested in incorporating Wikipedia more into your courses, or even getting your students to do some work on Wikipedia, we have a dedicated program for that: Wikipedia Education Program. I can tell you from experience that the editors there are very experienced and work very hard to make sure everyone has a good time.

If you have any more questions about Wikipedia you're always welcome to come ask me! If you need fast advice you can also try the Teahouse, which is watched by experienced editors and is designed to provide answers to basically anything a new editor might need to know :) Meadowlark (talk) 03:25, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Question from Cholland0043 (19:38, 1 August 2026)

hello, I am trying to figure out how to write a new page, for a new bishop --Cholland0043 (talk) 19:38, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Cholland0043! I'll start by warning you that writing a new article is the hardest thing to do on Wikipedia, and it's usually a good idea to get some editing practice by working on existing articles first. Writing about a living person is even harder, because you have extra requirements, but I'll lay them out and you can decide if it should wait until you have more experience.

The first step is to look for good sources. A good source meets all three criteria in WP:42, so you'd be looking for something like a newspaper (or news website) article or book, written by someone who doesn't know the bishop and isn't an interview with anyone closely connected to the bishop, that discusses them at some length. Usually if you can find three or more good sources, you can write an article. The relevant criteria are at WP:ANYBIO and WP:GNG. You'll also need to pay close attention to WP:BLP, our policy for writing about living people. Making sure everything you write in your draft is backed up by a reliable source is really important, because we don't want to say things about someone that aren't true and might be embarrassing.

If you can find enough good sources, your next steps will be to head over to Your First Article and follow the instructions there. Referencing for beginners will probably also be useful. If you want a double-check on a couple of sources, you can link them to me and I'll help you work out if they're good. Happy editing! Meadowlark (talk) 03:00, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

Question from ReelShons (22:53, 3 August 2026)

Hello I would like to ask on how to change images like when updating an image or Inserting one --ReelShons (talk) 22:53, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Hi @ReelShons, and sorry for the delayed response! It's pretty straightforward if your image is on Wikimedia Commons, which is where almost all images on Wikipedia are hosted - all you need to do is change the image path on the article. Here's an example:

Which I got by adding [[File:More cookies.jpg|A plate of choc chip cookies]]

For just the picture, you'd add (or change), [[File:More cookies.jpg]]. The part after the | is for alt text, which is what people see if they hover over an image on desktop or if they're using a screen reader. It's always a good idea to add alt text, because then the image is much more accessible for everyone.

You can practice in your response if you'd like! Start with that plate of cookies, and change it to a picture of something you think is delicious :)

Does that answer your question? Meadowlark (talk) 03:27, 8 August 2026 (UTC)

Question from NobleOne63 (01:27, 4 August 2026)

Hi =) I return to Wikipedia often & wanted to support the program rather than just utilize the information. My first task was to see if I can set up a monthly contribution. Then, one of my distant relatives has his own Wikipedia page & I believe some details are incorrect. Before asking how to edit, I will be researching my knowledge & returning to this later.

Thanks --NobleOne63 (talk) 01:27, 4 August 2026 (UTC)

Hi @NobleOne63, and sorry for the delayed response! That's very kind of you - Wikipedia is well funded, so please don't contribute monetarily unless you really want to and it won't present any kind of problem for you. You can find the donation page here. But as a volunteer editor (99.9% of us are volunteers!), we would be even happier for you to contribute by editing!

Depending on how distant the relative is and how much you care about his image, you might have a conflict of interest - for example if you found some kind of awful scandal about him, would you hesitate to add it to the article? If you would be hesitant or would decide against adding it, then it would be best to request changes via the conflict of interest edit request process. If you'd just find it interesting and be happy to add it anyway, then you can go ahead and make the edits directly. Either way, just make sure you have a reliable source that backs up what you want to add to the article. Feel free to come back and link your source to me if you're not sure whether you can use it. Happy editing! Meadowlark (talk) 03:00, 8 August 2026 (UTC)

Question from Stephania0906 (12:13, 5 August 2026)

Note: Stephania0906's mentor Clovermoss is away.

Hello again sir/ma'am, this is Stephania0906, my concern is about how to upload pictures in Wikipedia, I would like to upload pictures of buildings. Thank you. --Stephania0906 (talk) 12:13, 5 August 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Stephania0906! Your normal mentor Clovermoss is away, so your question's come to me. Our pictures are hosted on Wikimedia Commons, so that's where you'd upload them. The Upload Wizard will walk you through.

The most important thing is to make sure that if you upload a picture, it's a picture that you took yourself with your own camera (or phone, or whatever) or it's out of copyright. Most pictures on the internet are still under copyright, so we can't use those. But if you've taken photos of buildings near you, that's awesome - we can use those!

Feel free to come back if you have any more questions, or if you need more help with uploading pictures :) Meadowlark (talk) 03:34, 8 August 2026 (UTC)

Question from Umarmuntari614 (08:35, 13 August 2026)

Say hello and ask your question. E.g. How do I create a citation? --Umarmuntari614 (talk) 08:35, 13 August 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Umarmuntari614! Is that your question, or did you want to know something else? Meadowlark (talk) 04:51, 14 August 2026 (UTC)