Moem's Journal
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Wikipedia and me 
12th-Jul-2009 10:43 pm
avatar met molen
Okay, I haven't been updating lately... so now that I get The Urge, I'll hurry up and type it down while it lasts.
Here goes:

So I've been interested in the subject of menstrual cups lately. (This is your cue to go 'Gee, we didn't notice!')
Bear with me, this entry isn't about that.

I looked at the Dutch Wikipedia page about menstrual cups. It appeared rather incomplete, out of date, and someone had added a code at the top that indicated he or she suggested the insertion of three related articles into this one. So I got to work.
I incorporated the relevant text of the three other articles into this one, added headers, added new brandnames and generally re-wrote the article into something fairly coherent, complete and sort of objective. I also added some external links to the list that was already there, which was mainly a list of producers, with one independent, informative site at the top (about the only one there is in Dutch).
All seemed well. I hit 'Save'.

One day later, I checked the entry. Someone had taken down all the external links but one (the independent one). That made me a bit sad, as the second one on my list was also very informative and independent.
I made a short comment on the Talk page of the person who edited it, basically telling him that I mourned the loss of that link. I signed by typing my name (I'm not a registered Wikipedia editor and not planning on becoming one).

He responded a while later, telling me the link was unwanted because links to fora are not very welcome on Wikipedia. He gave me a link to WP's guidelines on external links and told me I could sign my comments by hitting the 'signature' button on the edit window.

Uh, no. Not registered, so no button; furthermore, no wish to comply with all of Wikipedia's guidelines, which are obviously quite strict.
Okay, so I put the forum link back up again, and commented, saying that I hoped he'd leave the link this time, because while it was a forum, it was also the most valueable resource currently on the net (which I could safely say after a few months of studying the subject). I told him I was not registered as a user,  so no button etc.

He thanked me for my contribution, told me he'd leave the link up (but could of course not guarantee everyone else would, too); then proceeded to tell me everyone could sign their comments, and that registering was free and really easy and had lots of advantages, and that he'd put an explanation about the signature thing on my Talk page.
And he did. *sigh*.


I hate it if there's something I don't feel like, and I try to say that clearly but still be a bit friendly about it, and someone (usually a man, sorry) proceeds to explain to me how it's done and that it's really easy.

Look, I'm not interested in becoming a registered WP editor. I just wanted to fix this one page because of the subject. I don't WANT to stick to your Wikipedia rules.
Yes, I know that it's easy and anyone can do it. I don't  want to. Which part of that don't you understand?
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