Welcome and some remarks about village articles
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To help get you started contributing, we've created a tips for new contributors page, full of helpful links about policies and guidelines and style, as well as some important information on copyleft and basic stuff like how to edit a page.
If you are a Wikipedian, then you may notice some differences in policies and the style of our articles. These include:
- NPOV → be fair (not quite the same thing!)
- be bold → plunge forward
- Village pump → travellers' pub
- External links → We do not use a separate external links section, but incorporate primary links only into the text itself.
- sandbox → graffiti wall
- stub tagging → article status
It may also be very useful for you to check out Wikivoyage:Welcome, Wikipedians. If you need help, take a look at Wikivoyage:Help, or else post a message in the Wikivoyage:Travellers' pub, as a reply below or on my talk page. Thanks for contributing!
Note that unlike Wikipedia, which has articles about every village, Wikivoyage has a what is an article page that gives pointers for what does and does not get an article.
Every village is unique, but so far, you have not captured that in the essentially identical articles you've started about Hausa villages, so my suggestion is, instead of creating more of them, consider starting either a travel topic about visiting the Hausa countryside or defining a rural area that could be covered in a single article. That way, you can cover the things that are unique or otherwise characteristic of the Hausa countryside without worrying about the need to avoid duplication or the problems with a proliferation of articles about undifferentiated villages without specific sights and so forth.
Please let us know whether you have any thoughts or questions. I think this is valuable content, if we can organize it in the way that best serves the traveller.
All the best,
Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:59, 17 April 2025 (UTC)
A Sulaiman Z, thank you for your contributions to Wikivoyage, and for testing new articles. Each article should start with a "lead paragraph" that explains why a reader would want to visit. This is important for drawing more readers to the article from search engines like Google, because it is the lead paragraph that potential readers see in their search results. Wikivoyage articles should never start with a subheading like "Understand ". I hope that helps. Ground Zero (talk) 12:04, 23 April 2025 (UTC)
- Hi @Ground Zero,
- Thank you for your kind feedback. I now understand the importance of adding a "lead paragraph" before the sections. I’ll make sure to include it in my future contributions and will update the existing articles accordingly. A Sulaiman Z (talk) 12:18, 23 April 2025 (UTC)
- @Ground Zero, but I checked my new created articles and I think that I added this "lead paragraph" in each article. Or is there any section which you mean by the "lead paragraph" which I couldn't understand it ? I need more clarification please. Thanks A Sulaiman Z (talk) 12:35, 23 April 2025 (UTC)
- Take Makoda or Dambatta as examples. These article start with the "Understand" section. There is no paragraph before that. You could split that text between a lead paragraph that focuses on what is interesting about the place for a traveller, followed by "Understand" which has more detailed information, such as its history. Ground Zero (talk) 13:00, 23 April 2025 (UTC)
- @Ground Zero, thanks. A Sulaiman Z (talk) 13:17, 23 April 2025 (UTC)
- You've ignored my remarks that started this thread, though. Please comment on them and deal with the issue I brought up. Ikan Kekek (talk) 15:17, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- Hello
- @Ikan Kekek A Sulaiman Z (talk) 15:27, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- Hi @Ikan Kekek,
- Thank you for your message, and I appreciate the feedback. I understand the concern about the redundancy, and I assure you that my intention was never to disrupt the project. As a new contributor, I am still learning and trying to contribute to the best of my ability. My goal is to enhance the content based on the guidelines and the available resources.
- I fully respect the collaborative nature of this project and acknowledge that I should have better communicated with other editors before making those changes. I am committed to improving and adhering to the standards set by the community.
- However, I would like to express that it’s important for new contributors to feel encouraged and supported. Being treated with respect and understanding goes a long way in building confidence. I value the opportunity to learn from experienced editors like yourself, and I hope to continue contributing constructively.
- Thank you for your understanding.
- Best regards, A Sulaiman Z (talk) 15:30, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- You're implying I may not be treating you respectfully. If you feel that way, please point out where I did that. I believe I've been quite respectful, and that's certainly been my intention, because you are making unique contributions. However, I don't think travelers benefit a lot from a bunch of essentially identical articles about villages, and that's why I'm calling for some focus on the perspective of the traveler and how best to inform them of how to get the most out of a visit to the Hausa countryside. Ikan Kekek (talk) 15:44, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- Hi @Ikan Kekek
- Thank you once again for your thoughtful reply.
- I appreciate your clarification and I truly understand your perspective. I didn’t intend to imply that you were being disrespectful personally; I only wanted to express how certain corrections or warnings can sometimes feel discouraging to a newcomer who is still learning the system.
- I am grateful for your recognition of my contributions, and I am willing to learn more about how to improve my edits by focusing more on the perspective of the traveler. I will continue working towards creating articles that are more useful and engaging for travelers.
- Thank you for your guidance and support.
- Best regards, A Sulaiman Z (talk) 16:14, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- You're implying I may not be treating you respectfully. If you feel that way, please point out where I did that. I believe I've been quite respectful, and that's certainly been my intention, because you are making unique contributions. However, I don't think travelers benefit a lot from a bunch of essentially identical articles about villages, and that's why I'm calling for some focus on the perspective of the traveler and how best to inform them of how to get the most out of a visit to the Hausa countryside. Ikan Kekek (talk) 15:44, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- You've ignored my remarks that started this thread, though. Please comment on them and deal with the issue I brought up. Ikan Kekek (talk) 15:17, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- @Ground Zero, thanks. A Sulaiman Z (talk) 13:17, 23 April 2025 (UTC)
- Take Makoda or Dambatta as examples. These article start with the "Understand" section. There is no paragraph before that. You could split that text between a lead paragraph that focuses on what is interesting about the place for a traveller, followed by "Understand" which has more detailed information, such as its history. Ground Zero (talk) 13:00, 23 April 2025 (UTC)
Hi. You're trying to add a thumbnail of the image already used as a pagebanner on that page and edit warring with a user who keeps removing the redundancy. I don't think you mean to vandalize or be disruptive, but you can't just ignore other editors on a wiki. Please stop doing this, so we don't have to temporarily block your editing privileges. Ikan Kekek (talk) 15:12, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- I've protected that page for an hour. If you continue edit warring after that, someone will have to suspend your editing privileges, and no-one wants to have to do that. Ikan Kekek (talk) 15:14, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- @Ikan Kekek: I looked at the article history and I can only see one instance of A Sulaiman Z adding this image, and of it being removed. I agree that it should not be repeated in the article, but this isn't a case edit warring. Ground Zero (talk) 16:38, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- Hi@Ground Zero, A Sulaiman Z (talk) 17:32, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- Hi@Ground Zero,
- Thank you very much for taking the time to review the situation and for your fair observation. I truly appreciate your understanding and support.
- As a new contributor, I am still learning the editing standards of Wikivoyage, and your balanced approach gives me more confidence to keep improving. I will continue doing my best to contribute positively to the project.
- Thank you once again for your encouragement.
- Best regards, A Sulaiman Z (talk) 17:35, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- As @Ground Zero pointed out, there was no edit warring. I mistakenly thought that @A Sulaiman Z was doing something fishy by making a thumbnail image out of the banner, but I'm happy to have been proven wrong about that. I'd love to see A Sulaiman Z edit and add new content on African destinations. We have far too few editors who pay attention to that region. Cheers! Mrkstvns (talk) 18:30, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- Hi@Mrkstvns,
- Thank you very much for your kind words and understanding.
- I truly appreciate your encouragement and I am excited to continue contributing to African destinations on Wikivoyage. Your support motivates me to work even harder to improve the content and make it more valuable for travelers.
- I look forward to learning more and growing as a contributor.
- Best regards, A Sulaiman Z (talk) 18:43, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- Sorry for getting this wrong. Ikan Kekek (talk) 19:07, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- As @Ground Zero pointed out, there was no edit warring. I mistakenly thought that @A Sulaiman Z was doing something fishy by making a thumbnail image out of the banner, but I'm happy to have been proven wrong about that. I'd love to see A Sulaiman Z edit and add new content on African destinations. We have far too few editors who pay attention to that region. Cheers! Mrkstvns (talk) 18:30, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- @Ikan Kekek: I looked at the article history and I can only see one instance of A Sulaiman Z adding this image, and of it being removed. I agree that it should not be repeated in the article, but this isn't a case edit warring. Ground Zero (talk) 16:38, 27 April 2025 (UTC)