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Welcome and feedback on first edit

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Hi, Omerm. Welcome to Wikipedia.

I hate to criticize your first edit, but I must. At Wikipedia:Manual of Style, you added:

"In the American style, any punctuation is always inside the quotation marks. For example: Have you seen the movie 'National Treasure?' The question mark, '?,' is inside the quotation marks, albeit it is part of the main sentence."

Because Wikipedia:Manual of Style doesn't endorse this practice for use within Wikipedia, I think the additional information is not helpful in the Wikipedia:Manual of Style. It could be confusing in the context.

I've only been on Wikipedia a couple of months, but I'm happy to help you if I can. I hope you enjoy the Wikipedia. Maurreen 06:18, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Quotation marks, etc.

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Hi Maurreen:


Thank you for your feedback. After I read your message, I went back to my books to find out the correct rules on quotation marks. I checked my sources and you are right! When I said that all punctuations are inside the quotation marks in the American style, I made a mistake. So thank you for letting me know and I am sorry.


I don't know who wrote all that information there on quotations marks; but, I need to tell you that the information on there is not clearly presented and does not cover all the subject - not even barely. I don't know about the British rules on quotations, but it is irrelevant to me since I haven't made any changes for that style. So here, I am only discussing the American style. But before I write about the rules on quotation marks, I would like to clarify few important issues.


I am new to Wikipedia and I don't know what kind of an educational background most users retain. I am a graduate from University of Southern California (USC). I also hold few certificates on advanced academic writing from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).


First, I would like to comment on the information that is currently displayed for "Quotation marks." Unfortunately, the balance of information provided on different British and American styles is not equal. The British style is more explored than the American one. I don't know if Wikipedia is a British company and requires members to emphasize about them or that not many people knew about the American style and could not write about it. The point is, in any case, the rules for both styles have to be explained in equal amounts, clearly, and truthfully in order to correctly inform readers. If not, the styles have to be separated and discussed under different titles. For example, a sub title for the British style and another one for the American style.


Also, the current information fails to provide a clear answer to whether or not if any punctuation has to be inside or outside of quotation marks -please remember, I am only discussing the American style. The explanation of the rules is simply limited to double (") or single (') quotation marks. This limited discussion barely covers the subject area and it is not enough. More information on the American style has to be written.


For the purpose to correct and present a clear information, I would like to invite you, to discuss further with me, what you know about the rules of the American style on quotation marks, before we edit that page.


I will post another message here with the correct rules on quotations marks.

Quotation marks and wikiville

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Hi, Omerm.

First off, Wikipedia has quite a variety of people. The educational backgrounds are spread out. I myself have some college but no degree. We have some people with doctorates and we have some schoolchildren.

Wikipedia is not a British company. It is intended to be international, but is based in the United States. In case you wonder, I am American.

I'd like to introduce you to a few Wikipedia customs and such. The style guide that you edited is titled Wikipedia:Manual of Style. The fact that the title begins with the word "Wikipedia" indicates that it is not an encyclopedia article, but intended for use by contributors such as you and I.

Pages that have a title starting with the word "Wikipedia" are probably not the best place for new Wikipedians to start making substantive changes.

They are a good place for new Wikipedians to read, to learn more about how Wikipedia operates.

I'd like to suggest that you read Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style. That is the discussion page for the style guide. The custom for the style guide is that any substantive changes be discussed first.

But before getting involved in matters beyond editing the encyclopedia articles, it can be wise to lurk and read and have some discussions in the talk pages. For example, we have articles about style guides and American English and various punctuation marks that you might be interested in.

About the style guide itself, it isn't intended to be comprehensive. And style guide matters in general, and those in Wikipedia related to national differences, can sometimes be very contentious and call for delicate handling. And established users with a good reputation are usually given more credence by the community.

Given that context and the fact that the style guide does not call for anyone to follow the American style for quotation marks, my view is that no further explanation of that specific matter is needed on that specific page.

Hope this is helpful. Maurreen 01:54, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Contributing to Wikipedia

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Maurreen:

As you know very well that everybody is a contributor at Wikipedia. The bottom line is that the information presented for the quoatation marks subject is not enough. If Wikipedia wants to do things right, they need an editor-in-chief to improve the articles the correct way. Otherwise, this place is a chaos. Why, because I am telling the truth and you are unfotunately ignoring it. We can go forever and change the article my way (the more complete way) or your way (incomplete way).

And for your information, I am not interested in punctuation rules because I know most of them. I know that the article needs to be changed.

Reply from an interested party

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I noticed your dialogue here, and thought I'd butt in. As far as having an editor-in-chief, the concept doesn't fit well with our practices. Instead, we rely on consensus to come up with rules. Of course, we respect sources, especially on matters like style--if every style guide has it one way, we'll adopt that. But the imposition of one particular style, besides being anti-consensus, would be well-nigh impossible. Thousands of people edit every day, and only the barest minimum have ever seen the style guide. Again, consensus has worked better for us, so please respect our processes and take any problems you might have with the style guide to Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style. Best, [[User:Meelar|Meelar (talk)]] 14:38, Dec 6, 2004 (UTC)




Thanks for dropping by here and adding your comments.

Your account will be renamed

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02:14, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed

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17:12, 22 April 2015 (UTC)