User talk:Pdebee/Archive 4 (2016)

The Kindness Campaign

This user is a member of the Kindness Campaign Some Wikipedians have formed a project to better the quality of life at the Wikipedia through Kindness and Recognition of Users. It is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians. All too often we get too wrapped up in our own tasks to recognize the hard work and determination of others. This WikiProject aims to correct that injustice, even if only a little bit, by making a conscious effort to acknowledge exceptional effort, skill, and commitment. It is motivated by the belief that a little kindness goes a long way, and in the end results in a better Wikipedia experience for everybody.

To get things off to a good start, ...some ancient wisdom (which I like to try to live by) ...contributions by Buddha, Lao Tzu, Dalai Lama...

• What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? ...

• Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.

• My Religion is simple; My Religion is kindness

• How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it...

(--Natalie.Desautels (talk) 23:30, 12 February 2016 (UTC))

Article Deciphering Problems.

@Pdebee: Dear Patrick,

I am currently trying to fix the Georgi Kornazov article. However, the article has some pretty massive errors and I can't make head or tail out of some parts of it (To quote one of the more nonsensical parts of it: "He is invited as a guest soloist by the Lorient Big band- the Bretagne regional jazz orchestra and he did a several tours with: 1996 in Latvia, 1997 in Vietnam, 1998 in Cambodja and 1999 in French Polynesia. In 1998 he graduated with honors (Golden Medal) the National Academy in Paris, won the third prize as a soloist and a second prize for group with Geoffroy Tamisier’s «OLH Acoustic» sextet at the French National Jazz Competition «La Défense».". ––What? What does that even MEAN? I demand an explanation). After trying to figure it out for quite a while, I've finally decided to ask for some help. Maybe together we can puzzle this article out?

Respectfully Yours,

Maybelle. PigeonOfTheNight (talk) 21:07, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

@PigeonOfTheNight: Dear Maybelle,

Thank you for your message. Of course, I'll be glad to assist, although I am about to sign off for today (it's 21:40-ish here).

I'll look at this more closely tomorrow morning and draft a polished version for your review, then ping you when done. It shouldn't be too hard: I can see what the original editor was trying to say and it shouldn't take too long to re-write in fluent English. But if it's frustrating you at the moment, then please consider moving on to another article, at least for now...

More tomorrow! ... (Don't work too hard... )

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 21:45, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

@Pdebee: Dear Patrick,

Thank you for agreeing to offer your assistance . I'll go work on a different article as you suggested, and will have a look at your draft tomorrow (it's only 14:11 where I live, so I'll be able to do some more editing). Thank you again!

And as for you saying that I shouldn't work too hard, what makes you say that? All I'm trying to do is to copy-edit every single article in The Guild's copy-edit list within a space of two hours...XD.

Respectfully Yours,

Maybelle. PigeonOfTheNight (talk) 22:16, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

Thank you

Hi there, many thanks for the barn star - my first! It's fun making lots of small but useful changes. I signed up to the typo team a while back and had spells at attacking the lists, but as I have some time on my hands at the moment, I decided I'd have a good go at it. I do find that listening to classical music is a great accompaniment when I'm editing! Cheers Robevans123 (talk) 21:21, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

@Robevans123: Dear Rob,

Thank you for your message. The first one is always extra special and I am delighted to have been the person who awarded it to you. Besides, it was richly deserved because I was (still am!) impressed with your approach and contributions. Please keep up your excellent work, Rob, and thank you once again for all your contributions.

With kind regards;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(tated lk)(guestbook)} 21:52, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

I may be gone sometime...

Morning Patrick. I chanced upon "universiti" late last night while fixing something else. I ran a search on it and came up with over a thousand hits! I also did a google search and came up with a much lower number (about 50 after excluded images referenced from commons where the filename includes "universiti". A bit more research revealed that most of the hits arise from a few article names that include the typo, which is then compounded by being in a nav box for all the universities in the same country... I'm going to move the articles in question and edit the related nav boxes. There are also some categories affected (both in wikipedia and on commons). I'm going to attack those as well, but that may take a day or two to go through the "Moving Categories" process. I suspect that, in all, fewer than 100 edits will fix the problem, but they'll be a bit more complicated than the usual typo edits. Don't be surprised if I don't show up on the Works completed page - I'm not running away(!), just working through an interesting problem. Cheers, Rob Robevans123 (talk) 09:17, 7 January 2016 (UTC)

@Robevans123: Dear Rob,

Thank you for your message; what an intriguing problem! Clever of you to have traced it all down to the root causes and also full marks for your determination to tackle the whole chain in order to fix it properly.

It's funny what we find when we look into things in detail. Last year, I undertook a similar project of restoring the hyphen to 'hurdy-gurdy', which seemed trivial enough but took me two weeks to complete, as the instrument was mentioned in many articles! I still had to check each instance of the typo, because the name of the instrument was also misspelt in the titles of creative works (paintings, books, films, recordings) which, of course, could not be 'corrected'. I enjoyed it though, and I hope you will feel the same sense of achievement when you're done with 'universiti'.

So, Rob, all very best wishes of success in that endeavour and thank you for your commitment to the cause!

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 11:04, 7 January 2016 (UTC)

Some stroopwafels for you!

Thanks for helping me out during my first days at Wikipedia! I really appreciate your assistance :). Happy Editing! Maybelle. PigeonOfTheNight (talk) 04:21, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

@PigeonOfTheNight: Dear Maybelle,

Thank you very much! They're ... (munch-munch) ... mosht ... (munch-munch) ... delishoush!!!... (munch-munch-munch).

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 10:58, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

A belated thank you

Hi Pdebee, Thank you for your New Year wishes on my talk page. I had hoped to respond earlier, but with 5 grandkids to entertain during the said period, my computer was left sulking in the corner! I have had a map drawing frenzy since then, and have just taken breath. Therefore, may I wish you a Happy New Year in return, and I like the sentiments expressed in your Kindness banner. Summerdrought (talk) 01:06, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

Kate & Anna

I have no problem with using the ampersand in the article title, or in giving their name as a recording unit - clearly, to some extent they seem to have used the ampersand as a stylistic device professionally. But, it is also perfectly acceptable - mutliple reliable sources will confirm this - to refer to them as two people, where using the word "and" is appropriate. Thus, it is not necessary - indeed, is inappropriate - to always refer to them using the ampersand. Some flexibility and discretion would be helpful. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:27, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

@Ghmyrtle: Dear Ghmyrtle,

Thank you very much for your comment and interest in my efforts. I fully agree with you and, in fact, there were a few articles where the sisters were mentioned side by side outside of the context of their entity as a duo and, in such rare cases, I did indeed leave the 'and' instead of replacing it with an ampersand. But I am sure you would not have intervened if you hadn't concluded that I had been somewhat overzealous. I will therefore look again but would propose that you go ahead and revert some of the cases where you felt that I had lacked flexibility and discretion, as you say; I am as fallible as the next man, especially when engaged in such a mind-numbing task. However, once I got started, I felt our encyclopedia needed to be consistent when they were referred to as a recording duo, hence the large number of articles involved in this change. In any case, thank you once again for your interest in my efforts, and thank you also for your own contributions to our encyclopedia.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 10:49, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

That's fine, thanks. I won't make a point of looking through your edits, but if I come across any where I think you may have been over-zealous, I'll bear your comments in mind. Regards, Ghmyrtle (talk) 11:03, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

@Ghmyrtle: Dear Ghmyrtle,

Thank you for your closing comment. I will go through my edits again today and revert myself where appropriate, as per your earlier advice; thanks once again. With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 11:18, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

@Ghmyrtle: Dear Ghmyrtle,
 Done - Found eleven cases, now reverted to 'and' or re-worded. Thanks again for your advice, which I will keep in mind as I complete this task. With kind regards; Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 12:53, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Original Barnstar
	Congratulations on your A.M.A.Z.I.N.G work, your sensitive and kind demeanor, and your very interesting contributions. (I would be amiss not to mention your uniquely organized sandbox.) Natalie.Desautels (talk) 08:55, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

@Natalie.Desautels: Dear Natalie,

I feel deeply touched by your kind words, along with your generous thoughts in awarding me this barnstar in recognition; this means so much to me, Natalie, coming from such an accomplished and skillful editor as yourself. I very much admire the top quality work you have done since creating the article on Michael Laucke, with great mentoring from Checkingfax.

Your first year here has been excellent, and our encyclopedia is very lucky to have you as an editor; I am sure we can continue to expect great things.
Me, I will persevere with my gnomish tendencies () while keeping your kind words and thoughts in my heart.
Thank you for being my friend.

With kindest regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 11:49, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

@Natalie.Desautels and Checkingfax:

Pdebee.Merci également pour votre appréciation de ce petit geste. Vos compliments sont également très encourageants; je continuerai de faire de mon mieux, bien sûr, de bien répondre aux attentes! Je suis content que vous avez mentionné l'appui généreux de Checkingfax; sans son aide précieuse, je serais probablement encore dans la phase de développement! P.S. Je viens de terminer la version française de Michael Laucke, et je travaille sur sa version espagnole, ainsi que d'autres... À bientôt; merci pour votre précieuse amitié, Natalie --Natalie.Desautels (talk) 23:18, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

Renaming "Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons" to "Pierre Du Gua de Monts"?

Dear helpful fellow editors,

It seems to me that we have a problem with the article on Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons in that, as @Stormbay: pointed out on 1 July 2009 (here) the subject's correct name was "Pierre Du Gua de Monts", as corroborated by George MacBeath's article in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, summarized at this website (scroll to the very end to see the complete citation of the dictionary at that website.) I might be making a mistake, but this source appears reliable to me and I concluded our encyclopedia ought to take that into consideration.

After searching here (en.Wikipedia) for main space articles containing either spelling, I found that:

• the correct spelling of the name "Pierre Du Gua de Monts" is used in 11 articles, including the subject's main article, which was created on 4 April 2004 with a title of "Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons", even though the article's initial prose (at creation time) included the correct spelling of "Pierre Du Gua de Monts";
  
• the incorrect/alternate spelling of "Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons" is used in 32 articles, including the subject's main article;
  
• the issue is not helped by the fact that the incorrect/alternate spelling was also used, in 2007, by the local authorities in Québec City;
• there has also been confusion about the photo, first uploaded into Commons under the name of "Champlain", and then renamed to the incorrect/alternate spelling on 31 January 2014, although the correct spelling was used for the Category (Monument de Pierre Du Gua de Monts).
  

I tried to fix the main article's title yesterday by creating a redirect page, but couldn't complete the operation because there had already been a redirect page by this previous title before. It's only after looking into the history that I realized that there have been numerous edits attempting to resolve this issue of spelling the name. I should obviously have checked the history first, but now I don't know how this spelling issue could be fixed satisfactorily.

However, I messed up the redirect, by re-directing it to itself, and it has now been put on the list of speedy deletions.
So: mea culpa; I can only apologise for making the problem somewhat worse.

Please would someone with the right tools kindly fix this once and for all, such that any remaining redirect(s) is/are cleared and the title of the article is corrected to "Pierre Du Gua de Monts" or, alternatively, offer advice about the best course of action?

On the positive side, I would be happy to carry out any donkey work involving repetitive tasks, in many articles, to align all affected articles to a common spelling. However, I am reluctant to do any work at all without the support and advice of other editors.

So, thank you very much for any helpful assistance anyone could offer and, once again, please accept my apologies for compounding the problem, albeit with the best of intentions.
With kind regards;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 16:53, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

References

You should be placing this discussion on the article's talk page, not your own, in order to garner more discussion. Primefac (talk) 01:10, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

Ping

This didn't work, because you didn't sign and date at the same time. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 11:18, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

@Dweller: Thank you; that explains it. I do apologise for messing up your talk page. I'll ping everyone again (except you and Diannaa), properly this time, from here.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 11:30, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

No worries! --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 11:36, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

@Dweller: @Diannaa: @The Rambling Man: @Bencherlite: @Gerda Arendt: @Ched: @Cliftonian: @Lectonar: @Antidiskriminator: @Arrivisto: @Dontreader: @Go Phightins!: @Ritchie333: @FourViolas: @Mr. Stradivarius: @Doctree: @Hafspajen: @Joshua Jonathan: @Quinto Simmaco: @OlEnglish: @WereSpielChequers: @Guy Macon: @The Interior: @Liz: @Wikiisawesome: @Khazar2: @JRPG: @Tryptofish:
Dear colleagues,
This is to inform that, as agreed with Dweller, our 'Old-Fashioned Wikipedian Values' userbox now has its own userbox page (with updated talk page), and is now also proudly included in the Gallery. If you have any requests for changes, however trivial, please don't hesitate to ask.
Thank you for entrusting me with this most pleasant task.
My apologies once again to our friend Dweller, for messing up his talk page by forgetting that pings require a signature...
With kindest regards;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 11:56, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

Well, in return I've got User:Ritchie333/Userbox LBMW, User:Ritchie333/Userbox IAD and (my personal favourite) User:Ritchie333/Userbox Nosun which gives you this lot:

This editor believes in less bull and more writing.

This user ignores all dramas

This user hates The Sun and thinks anyone who treats it as a reliable source for a biography of a living person is stark raving mad.

Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 12:03, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

@Ritchie333: Thanks, Ritchie. Yes, I have often admired your 'LBMW' userbox, also as a salutary reminder to myself... . Thank you for taking the time to reply today...

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 13:23, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

(ec with Ritchie the fast:) Thanks, Patrick! Please understand that I pledge to the values but keep the number of user boxes small ;) - I have an infobox instead. - I use the attention to shamelessly advertise a Bach cantata that just hit the Main page, - so much for old values ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:05, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

@Gerda Arendt: Thank you, Gerda. I am in awe of your iron-willed ability to resist the lure of userboxes... . Well done on advertising such great music! Thank you also for taking the time to reply today; please keep well and joyful.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 13:33, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

If you're going to put unnecessary cats on a talk page, make one that's nice to look at

@Ritchie: while I only linked to my three boxes, you gave this page cats, probably not intentionally ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:08, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

Hadn't thought about that. Let me fetch my mop and bucket and clean the mess up. Here are some nicer cats. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 12:35, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

@Ritchie333: Thanks again, Ritchie. Please don't worry: cats are welcome here as long as they don't require herding... . I agree that this is indeed a very handsome feline specimen... .

Thank you once again for taking the time to reply today, and happy editing, as they say...

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 13:43, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

cat in a QAI-box

Here's a cat in a QAI-box, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:50, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

@Ritchie: WNO - great article, but missing a box ;) - Here's where I saw opera first, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:58, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

You'll have to thank Giano for coming up with the "Campaign for less bull and more writing". It also inspired User:Ritchie333/Why admins should create content. I freely admit I've been procrastinating quite a bit since I lodged those London street articles on the queue at WP:GAN and just doing admin / gnomish stuff; I feel quite depressed the most significant article work I've done today is finding a working source for Lady Victoria Hervey's "unconventional" opinions on the poor. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 14:16, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

My most significant article work today was at least starting Christe, du Lamm Gottes, the German Agnus Dei mentioned with the cantata on the Main page, but had no article until now, not even in German! Couldn't believe it. -How about: "Less bull, more cat"? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:28, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

• I love that Sun ' userbox! Is there one for The Daily Mail? "The Daily Mail. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious." --Guy Macon (talk) 17:31, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

I was thinking of something like "This user hates the Daily Mail and thinks any newspaper that claims using Facebook causes cancer is about as trustworthy as Jimmy Savile in a Catholic girls school".... Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 20:29, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

Thanks so much for the "Old-Fashioned Wikipedian Values" userbox! I just added it with great excitement, and it looks fantastic! Now, if I could only remember what those values are! LOL Just kidding! This section on your page is a riot, with the cats and the thing about The Sun! Definitely the Daily Mail deserves a userbox, too! Many thanks again, and have a fantastic weekend! Dontreader (talk) 01:11, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

@Dontreader: Thank you for your enthusiastic kind words, although all thanks for the creation of the userbox must go to Diannaa; all I did was to alter it a tiny bit prior to including it in the Gallery, where it will be more visible, thus giving traction to Dweller's initiative. But thank you for your thanks! I know what you mean about the way this latest section developed with various asides; it's what happens when a group of people get together, with parallel conversations going on all at once; or when musicians rehearse a piece and, during an interruption, one or more of them will start playing something entirely different, like a folk tune, or a theme from a musical, or something else really silly.

Please keep well and joyful, and have a pleasant weekend also. It's Mothering Sunday here in the UK, so we'll be seeing the family, which will be lovely.

With kindest regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 10:44, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

By popular demand, I give you : User:Ritchie333/Userbox Daily Mail :

This user hates the Daily Mail and thinks any publication that claims "using Facebook causes cancer" is about as trustworthy as Jimmy Savile in the Cheltenham Ladies' College.

Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 15:04, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

@Ritchie333: Well, I daresay Guy Macon should be delighted when he finds out...

Thanks once again for all the entertainment, Ritchie!

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 19:18, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

@Gerda Arendt:@Ritchie333:@Fylbecatulous:
I have only just discovered the following userbox, which I thought might appeal to you...
My apologies if you'd already seen it.

This user's cats have their own userbox.

With kind regards;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 08:01, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

Yes, appeals. Advertising today Delores Ziegler, - when I mentioned Harnoncourt in the hook, he was still alive. Link to music on my talk, by 4meter4, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:20, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

Thank you. Properly applied on my page ツ One can never have too many ubxes or cats. Fylbecatulous talk 15:04, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

So thought this user. (For background look for "best remembered as a farce" in my 2015 user page archive.) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:27, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

@Gerda Arendt:, pinging with proper historical format for this section ツ Thank you, Gerda. Little Cat is now in my art gallery. I did look up your background. Fylbecatulous talk 16:52, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

Wonder why the soulful cat didn't engage on Pierre Boulez talk, meow? Compare Harnoncourt. Both died on a fifth. One conductor happened to also have composed ... --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:58, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

Precious

kind musical user box artistry

Thank you for quality articles on Irish music such as Way Out Yonder (Andy Irvine album), for inventive user boxes, gnomish care and a diligent Wikipaedium vitae, for spreading kindness and other values violently ardently in new fashion, - Patrick, you are an awesome Wikipedian!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:08, 6 March 2016 (UTC)}}

@Gerda Arendt: Dear Gerda,

I feel both honoured by your trust and humbled by your award. I will continue to aim to do my best, although I was not aware that I was perceived as doing anything violently, which would deviate somewhat from my Buddhist tendencies.

Thank you just the same, though, for taking the time to bestow such a meaningful award on me.

With kindest regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 20:46, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

PS: I didn't know who had been so kind, at first; so, after checking 'View history', I took the liberty of adding a signature matching the date/timestamp, since your new 'Precious' template does not support it internally. I hope you won't mind, and many thanks once again, dear Gerda.

Thank you, Patrick, and sorry if I picked a "wrong" word, what could I have said better? "with ardour"? "with passion"? Thanks for the signature, - I forgot when I wrote the template from memory ;) - I just got a bit slower recently in action for the kindness campaign which I didn't even know. Too much death. Pierre Boulez. In the family. My friend. Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Kindness is a good way out, I guess, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:47, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

@Gerda Arendt: Dear Gerda,

Thank you for taking the time to write again.
I feel sorry for all your losses and send you my condolences. Our family has had a major loss in November and we're still coming to terms with the immense void. But she continues to live in our hearts, and she would have been the first to remind us that "all meetings have partings"; I can hear her now, telling me not to be sad, but to remember the many good moments we shared. I used to call her "Your Sublime Radiance"—however teasingly—for good reason... She gave so much love and support to so many people around her that I can still feel her presence.

As you know, such pain abates, however slowly, as time passes; I wish it will lessen for you also, Gerda. And yes: loving-kindness is a good way to channel our thoughts, intents and actions. So, good luck and very best wishes to you and your family, as you learn to adjust to the new situation.

Perhaps a good word might be "diligently"; if you looked at the way I contribute, say, in my current project on Slim Gaillard (or the earlier Andy Irvine project), you might conclude that I work slowly but in a focused way, as a completer/finisher. But the wording is entirely your decision, of course, and please don't feel you need to change anything: your lovely intent and thoughts are what matters, and I remain most grateful and touched by your award. Thank you very much once again, dear Gerda.

With love and kindest regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 23:33, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for sharing! I try to keep family out of this site, so will be quiet on that part. I admired the work of both Boulez and Harnoncourt, the latter actually being distant family (so distant that we never met in person). The friend however was right here. The last thing he did here was protecting an article in the case of an edit war over a hidden message, - perhaps "ardently" is the missing word, above? He blocked himself after that, but we stayed in touch by email. His death came as a shock. He was the only one to send something like this. ("Thank you for stepping forward for what's right and for everyone!") --Gerda Arendt (talk) 23:56, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

Thank you, Gerda. For me, this was also the very first time I mentioned something personal here; I just felt it was appropriate and, perhaps even useful to someone who'd also experienced recent losses. Also, it was all one-way, and I didn't expect you to reveal any personal details. For the little you've sent about your friend, I agree that he was special and it must have been a shock, as you say. All very best wishes once again for the weeks to come, and thank you, dear Gerda, for everything you do in support of our encyclopedia, and for our community of editors. If you think I might ever be of some assistance to you, then please don't hesitate to ask; my commitment to you is that I would always do my best.

And, finally, I agree with you fully that the word "ardently" sounds right.

With kindest regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 00:15, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

Congratulations!

• 
• 

A fine milestone to achieve, Pdebee, and one that I know can seem like it'll take forever to reach, until you're there! I'd say the occasion requests a gift of fine Akvavit and cake! Herein dwells the greatest dictionary ever composed! (talk) 22:04, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

@Wilhelmina Will: Dear Wilhelmina Will;

Thank you very much for sending me those delicious goodies!

I don't remember experiencing chocolate cake washed down with Akvavit before (would one ever be in a fit enough state to remember, after such a hedonistic indulgence? ), so there's room for some experimentation here ...

Just don't expect any Wiki contributions delivered at your breathtaking, Wilhelmina Will-esque rate from me, after that! In fact, I don't think I could ever match your work rate under any circumstance!!

When I'm back from my Wikibreak, I'll turn your generous gifts into userboxes to add to my collection of awards. So, thank you very much once again for taking the time to bestow them on me.

Until next time, please keep well and joyful! ... And don't work too hard!!

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:45, 12 March 2016 (UTC)

Acadians are not Métis

Hi,

I'm curious to know your rationalization for conflating Métis with Acadian? These are two separate peoples with very very distinct histories. As a Métis person from western Canada, I do not appreciate this error. Have you read Dr. Andersen's recent book on the subject? http://www.ubcpress.ca/search/title_book.asp?BookID=299174387

best,

BohemianMaid (talk) 21:47, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

@BohemianMaid: Dear BohemianMaid,

First of all, welcome to Wikipedia as a registered editor!

I can see that the above edit was your very first contribution to the encyclopedia and I am sorry that it should have been made on the basis of some disagreement. I am hopeful that this can be resolved, which is certainly my personal aspiration. Thank you, in anticipation, for your cooperation as we strive to develop and reach consensus on the point you raised. Please be assured that I have no personal preference or attachment about this specific topic; Wikipedia editors are expected to exhibit a neutral point of view, and to refrain from what is called here "original research".

Therefore, and in a spirit of constructive engagement, I would like to propose that we consider two aspects to this.

• First, the simple matter of the deletion of prose in the earlier edit, which I reverted here, solely because the editor did not provide an explanation for removing prose that was underpinned by four citations. Generally, it is good practice to provide an edit summary to any editorial change applied to a Wikipedia article. Therefore, I restored the original prose simply for that reason: no explanation was given for the deletion of prose underpinned by no less than four citations. (For more details, see section Achieving neutrality, which states: "As a general rule, do not remove sourced information from the encyclopedia solely on the grounds that it seems biased. Instead, try to rewrite the passage or section to achieve a more neutral tone.")
• Second, the subject matter itself, which was discussed at length—although in a slightly different contect—a few weeks ago, here. If you wish to make changes to the article, then please consider reviewing the various points discussed in that earlier exchange, where InVerrem and myself attempted to address a comment made by an earlier IP user, to the effect that: "Metis is a cultural and political group in the Canadian mid-west. You may say that some Acadians (a small number) who were majority French had mixed origins with Natives. They were also mixed on similar levels with Irish, Basque, Dutch, Portugese and English."
  When you have read our earlier discussion, I am hopeful that you will appreciate the dilemma we faced.

If you wish, and subsequently decide, to enrich the article with quotes from other sources, such as the book you mentioned, then it is entirely your prerogative to do so, and the best approach would be to build on the discussion that editor InVerrem and myself have already held at the article's talk page.

Finally, as you may have noticed, I am currently on a Wikibreak and don't have much time to devote to Wikipedia. However, if you decide to open a discussion at the article's talk page, then I am hopeful that other editors interested in the subject article will join you there, with a view of discussing the best way forward. I hope you will enjoy opening a discussion in this way—perhaps by creating a new section at the article's talk page, like you have done here at my personal talk page—and then working with other editors to improve the article for the benefit of our readers; I sense that this is clearly your intent and I wish you success in that endeavor.

In the mean time, I have peppered the present response with internal links that I hope will assist you as a new editor.

If, on the other hand, you already knew all this, then please forgive me for pointing out the guidelines which we normally outline to new joiners.

So, thank you for considering the suggestions I made in this reply. Above all, I hope you will become a regular contributor to the encyclopedia, since it is clear to me that you appreciate the need for citing sources. I will contact you again on my return, and please accept my apologies for not being able to spend more time to work with you on this topic at the moment.

With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 23:11, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

Joseph Brody

Hello Pdebee. Please undo your prod nomination for this redirect. As stated in WP:PROD, prods can only be done for articles, not redirects. (In fact, they are only for mainspace articles, lists and DABs). An option you might consider is to open a request at WP:Redirects for discussion. Thanks, EdJohnston (talk) 16:27, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

@EdJohnston:Dear Ed,

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction, and please accept my apologies for causing you unnecessary work.

Instead of deleting this redirect page, I might as well re-use it to create a stub for an article on 'Joseph Brody' the composer, as suggested at the Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion page you mentioned above. However, please can you confirm that I can simply remove the #redirect tag and proceed? It seems too simple and obvious; surely, it can't be as easy as that?
Thank you for your time, patience and advice.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 16:50, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

P.S. As I was typing the above, our colleague @Boleyn: has transformed the redirect page into a DAB page (for which my thanks ), thereby resolving the initial concern that way. Now, I (or another editor) will be able to create the page for the composer 'Joseph Brody' without the earlier redirect page being in the way. Thanks once again to you both. Patrick.

Yes, the DAB page seems to be the best solution. If you want, you can continue with your plan to make an article for the composer. The name Joseph Brody (composer) is currently unused. If you will need some time to gather the material, you could create Draft:Joseph Brody (composer) and work from there. EdJohnston (talk) 17:02, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

@EdJohnston:Dear Ed,

Thank you for your prompt reply and your suggested approach. Also, and at your convenience, please would you kindly confirm that, if our colleague @Boleyn: had not transformed the redirect page into a DAB page, I could simply have removed the redirect tag and proceeded with creating the page for the composer? The Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion page clearly seems to suggest such an approach (the usual "be bold"). Thank you, Ed.

With kind regards;

Patrick.

Probably it would have been OK. Since it was a confusing situation, it was good that you got input from an experienced person before continuing. If you wanted to take over the name Joseph Brody for an article on the composer, you would be saying that the *composer* himself is the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC of the name Joseph Brody. Which might take some evidence. EdJohnston (talk) 20:41, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

Happy Easter!

Egg-xactly what the day calls for, of course! Herein dwells the greatest dictionary ever composed! (talk) 23:03, 27 March 2016 (UTC)

Have a great day, Patrick!

How to change the colour in the header of a Navbox table, please?

Dear helpful fellow editors,
Please would one of you kindly add the necessary code— in the sample below right—to change the background colour (behind the word 'Caption') from the default 'violet' to '#EEE'? I have looked at various templates but can't figure out what clauses to use, and how. Many Navbox templates display different colours, but their code is protected and can only be edited (or even viewed) by admins. I would therefore be most grateful for workable code to be added to the sample below.
Very many thanks, in anticipation of your helpful assistance!
With kind regards;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 16:11, 1 April 2016 (UTC)

My userboxes

Caption
(Above colour other than 'violet')

Take a look at the diff - hope that helps! Rotideypoc41352 (talk) 20:51, 1 April 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Latin music project

Hello Pedebee! First let me say thank you for your words of kindness on the the project page. Now then, while I won't as active on Wikipedia anymore, I just want to say welcome to the Latin music project. Since you noted that Cuban music is your main interested, I just wanted to let you know that we also have a Tropical music task force dedicated to music from the Spanish Caribbean. Again, welcome to the Latin music project. Erick (talk) 13:57, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

Howdy, Patrick

While reading a call to Natalie's talk page I followed some breadcrumbs and found this template suggestion: {{In use|[[WP:WWF|wikification]] by [[User talk:PigeonOfTheNight|PigeonOfTheNight]]|time=2:00 am, 8 January 2016, Friday (2 months, 28 days ago) (UTC−8)}}

I wanted you to know that there is a shortcut that you can insert that will build in the date. Plus, it will automatically announce who made the last edit.

{{In use|30 minutes for [[WP:WWF|wikification]]|time=~~~~~}} which will render this, and update with each edit:

Also, as I am the nominator of the Michael Laucke I wanted you to know that I have no problem with you direct editing the article. Some edits are easier that way: WP:JUSTDOIT. Nice work giving Natalie some pointers. We'all need all the help we can get. If you something that is on the GAR punch list, please mark that punch list item as done, partially done, needs discussion, comment, etc. See you around the Wikis. Cheers! {{u|Checkingfax}} {Talk} 00:59, 5 April 2016 (UTC)

@Checkingfax: Dear friend;

First of all, please accept my apologies for not acknowledging, until now, the above message, which you posted here five days ago. As you probably gathered, I am on a Wiki-break and busy elsewhere, while also logging in on a daily basis for a variety of fairly disjointed tasks. I have been meaning to respond to your friendly message but wanted to do so from the computer instead of the laptop, and also when I have some spare time. Here we go...

Secondly, thank you for pointing out this other template, which I didn't know existed but seems more compact than the other two I have been using, and therefore recommending. So, many thanks for sharing your knowledge in your customary, generous way.

Thirdly, thank you for inviting me to join Natalie's GA review as a fully-fledged participant. Again, being on a break hasn't helped much although, as you know, I did offer some suggestions—for the lead section—from my drafting sandbox and I was about to move on to the next section when, all of a sudden, the article reached GA status! I would still like to do that anyway, for the sake of completeness, and will then ping Natalie, plus your-kind-self, Corinne and Sainsf, when I have reviewed the next sections once again. However, it is quite possible that the article is now in such a great shape that there will be very little left to improve...

Finally, I'd like to offer a general apology, to the whole team, for appearing to behave like a Johnny-come-lately and in a seemingly half-hearted way! It's clear to me that my current Wiki-break has lowered my usual level of concentration and effectiveness. In any case, I am truly delighted for Natalie and the whole team that the Laucke article has now made it to GA! Very well done to all of you for this great achievement!

With kindest regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 14:08, 10 April 2016 (UTC)

Hi, Patrick. I am moved and humbled by your words. Welcome back! With my blessings, and with the blessing of the rest of the team, please put this template on your user page (including the four curly braces):

{{User Good Article|Michael Laucke}}

You earned it. Cheers! {{u|Checkingfax}} {Talk} 21:33, 10 April 2016 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
	An appreciation too little for your large heart! I wish I could be as kind as you! Sainsf <^>Feel at home 16:59, 5 April 2016 (UTC)

@Sainsf: Dear friend;

It is very clear to me that you already are! — Thank you also for taking the time to honour me with a barnstar, and for everything you do for our encyclopedia, and in support of your fellow editors.

With Mettā;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 17:05, 5 April 2016 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Teamwork Barnstar

Bonjour mon cyber-ami et collègue. I am just so delighted to send you this very well deserved Teamwork barnstar for your fantastic participation and kind help in achieving GA status for Michael Laucke. Besides your amazing anaylsis and suggestions for improvements, it was immensely rewarding. I would be amiss not to mention my appreciation for your kind demeanor and my admiration for your intellect. You also guided me to step back and see things from a broader perspective, which was of course precious. ...excited about the possibility of the next one. Time to celebrate with a nice croissant, as we French are wont to do . My warmest, heartfelt appreciation. Natalie.Desautels (talk) 22:03, 9 April 2016 (UTC)

@Natalie.Desautels: Dear Natalie,

Well, thank you very much; you are too kind, and I am not sure I deserve it at all, for reasons explained above. As I wrote there, I intend to go over the article one more time and then update your section in my drafting sandbox if there were any final suggestions I could offer for your consideration, also pinging Checkingfax, Corinne and Sainsf when done. However, as I said earlier, the article will now be in such a pristine state that I expect to have little left to contribute...

Until then, please enjoy your huge stack of croissants , knowing that I couldn't be more delighted for you!

With kindest regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 14:27, 10 April 2016 (UTC)

@Checkingfax, Corinne, and Sainsf: Hi again User:Pdebee. ...just taking a brief moment to send my appreciation and thanks for your very tasteful and refined edits you so kindly made a few moments ago. I was a bit perplexed because some of these, such a "Various composers", was already done. I have a feeling that some past suggestions were implemented out of chronological order and got inadvertently overwritten. ...thanks also for your keen eye and the nice tying together of sentences from short stubby ones. kindest regards, --Natalie.Desautels (talk) 20:45, 11 April 2016 (UTC)

@Natalie.Desautels: Dear Natalie,

Thank you! I have now replied to you at the ML talk page.

With kindest regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 21:19, 11 April 2016 (UTC)

Caitlyn Jenner

Hi, Patrick. There is no urgency to anything you can offer. Just pick away at it at your leisure. No need to consult me on any edits. Just do it. LOL.

As for Corinne re: Michael Laucke, she was part of the copy edit team that smoothed out the article over the past six months or so. She is a member of the Wikipedia Guild of Copy Editors and she informally made occasional edits to Laucke's article. Divot is a golf term for an unintended displacement of the sod when you make a golf swing. I did not mean to imply that your edits would leave any divots, but Corinne's specialty is seeing them and fixing them. She has a keen eye for minute detail. Thank you for all you do to improve the encyclopedia, for making it fun, and for your good manners. You are a gentleman and a scholar, and your mother trained you well. Cheers! {{u|Checkingfax}} {Talk} 22:50, 11 April 2016 (UTC)

Hi, Patrick. Update: Caitlyn Jenner was picked up for a GA review by editor Sainsf, it passed the GA review gauntlet and was promoted to GA the other day. Cheers! {{u|Checkingfax}} {Talk} 05:17, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

Michael Laucke article nominated for FA status

@Checkingfax: Hi Pdebee...been a while; I trust you are well! I'm delighted that the GA article on Michael Laucke, is nominated for FA status. Checkingfax and myself are the main contributors but, ah, one is never alone . If you'd like to share your viewpoint and help us advance, it's right here. Please feel free to leave comments as you please. warm regards, Natalie Desautels _{…as within, so without} 22:01, 14 May 2016 (UTC)

'Raidió Teilifís Éireann' and 'RTÉ'

Hello, Pdebee. You have new messages at Darranc's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Michael Laucke punctuation

Hi, Patrick. Would you be so kind as to make some direct punctuation edits to Michael Laucke? Jerome Kohl has raised some issues here and I am sure you are capable of fixing them directly. Cheers! (cc to Natalie.Desautels) {{u|Checkingfax}} {Talk} 05:14, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

@Natalie.Desautels: Bonjour, Natalie!

In haste: thank you for your vote of confidence, and I'd be delighted to assist. I've made a start and will continue this afternoon, as I have to leave now. As you noticed, I have also addressed more than just the commas, and am reviewing the current version of the article to see if re-wording or restructuring sentences can also help in improving its punctuation. As usual, I am applying piecemeal edits that can easily be reverted without affecting other changes.

More later!

Much love;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:56, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

@Checkingfax: Hi Pdebee, That's wonderful! ...nice to be in touch again. I really appreciated the fine edits you've done so far. The colon before a quote works very well. I especially liked the 'Combined two sentences that were making the same point' . These improvements seem obvious when already done, but it's not very easy to find them even though one might feel that something could be improved upon. These are small improvements that have a large overall impact. Ce fut un plaisir pour moi de voir ton retour chez nous, et j'apprécie beaucoup ton temps et, bien sûr, ton expertise. Chaleureusement, Natalie Desautels _{…as within, so without} 10:16, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

@Natalie.Desautels: (and CC to @Checkingfax:)
Re-bonjour, Natalie!
As you requested, I have gone through the whole article, including the 'Notes' section, in order to check all punctuation. There are three comments I would make:
1. Serial commas - I decided to re-instate serial commas, because of this specific case, where I felt we really needed the serial comma, otherwise the adjectives 'classical' and 'electric' would have seemed to qualify the preceding 'Spanish', which made no sense. Yes, I am aware that the enumeration makes it clear that we are talking about four types of guitars (I added 'types' in the prose to strengthen the point even more) and so, logically, we shouldn't need the serial comma. However, I added it because there were already some serial commas upstream in the article and, therefore, I decided to apply serial commas consistently and throughout the article. Having said all this, I just hope I have really been consistent, as I was also needed away from the Wiki today. In any case: you are the creatrix of this article and I will let you decide whether you want them or not; if not, then I will go through another pass of removing all serial commas. It makes no difference to me, so please don't hesitate to indicate your preference and it will be done with grace.
2. Other edits - As you have already noticed, I have done a bit more than check punctuation. In fact, it is this simple task of checking punctuation which has made me re-read the prose with greater scrutiny than ever before () and, as a result, I found several opportunities to re-word it in a way that I thought might improve the reader's experience. If there is anything you dislike in these changes, then please don't be bashful () and tell me exactly what you want changed. Better still, feel free to revert or "re-improve" (there should be such a verb...) any of my changes; I promise I won't mind...
3. Possible regressions in the prose - If I have done anything wrong, then please forgive me and simply go ahead and revert/change anything you don't like.
Finally, I didn't add any supporting comments in the article's talk page, but please feel free to crib any of the above, to add it as a summary to some other talk/project page if you deem it appropriate or necessary.
Enjoy the final stretch and, as ever, I send you my very best wishes of success with the heady heights of your current drive towards FA. (Wow, just writing this last sentence makes me feel so high I am having a 'mental nosebleed'... ).
With kindest regards, as ever;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 17:31, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

@Checkingfax: Hi Pdebee, Thank you so much for all these wonderful improvements. I have transcluded—I believe that is the proper term—your work to the main review page at Featured article candidates/Michael Laucke/archive1, and am eager to review everything later this evening. kind regards, as always, Natalie Desautels _{…as within, so without} 18:00, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

@Checkingfax: Hello Pdebee. Thank you so much; ...much appreciated. I have taken the pleasure to carefully study each and every one of your fine edits and found them all tastefully and deftly done indeed! Serial commas are now consistently implemented throughout, in fact, very consistently , and no further adjustment is required. The re-wording was excellent and I only reverted the SOCAN/Montreal Gazette sentences to point to the correct references. Finally, as you can see, I transcluded your comments to this Featured article candidates comments page. It remains for me to send my gratitude for your astute, meticulous, and skillful editing, 'et d'avoir passé le peigne fin'. If I can further be of help with your Québécois/French translations, or with other languages for that matter, you know where to find me . Toutes mes salutations les plus amicales et mes vœux les plus aimables, Natalie Desautels _{…as within, so without} 07:22, 11 June 2016 (UTC)

@Checkingfax: (CC @Checkingfax:)

Dear Natalie,

Thank you very much for taking the time to send such a nice message of appreciation. It's always a real pleasure to work with you, Natalie, and I feel honoured that you asked. I can see you're still very busy with re-balancing the notes & citations and I am pleased for you that you're making such excellent progress. All very best wishes for the last stretch!

Thank you also for your thoughtfulness in offering your knowledge and your time in support of my Québécois French projects. I really appreciate your generosity. Our special sandbox page is still active and I will contact you in due course, perhaps when the Laucke article has made it to FA (or maybe I should wait a little longer: until you've finished munching your way down the mountain of cookies/bagels/pancakes to celebrate said FA achievement! ).

With kindest regards;

ツ Patrick.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 17:35, 11 June 2016 (UTC)

Your personal message to Natalie here

@Natalie.Desautels: Hello, I don't want to offend by deleting your post or moving it to another forum without consulting you. However, your personal message to Natalie really should be deleted from Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Michael Laucke/archive1, and perhaps placed somewhere else if desired. That page is for reviewing the FAC article. Tks.  Lingzhi ♦ (talk) 06:08, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

@Lingzhi: (CC @Natalie.Desautels:)

Dear colleague,

Thank you for your comment. By all means, delete whatever you found to be of a personal nature in the subject section, which Natalie copied from the section immediately above this one. This "personal message", as you call it, was related to the FA review of the Michael Laucke article and the bulk of it was my report to Natalie about the changes I applied to that article, as per Natalie's request. Since my editorial changes have been applied and accepted by Natalie, my work is done.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:11, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

OK tks  Lingzhi ♦ (talk) 11:55, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Dear colleague,

Per WP:TPO: Cautiously editing or removing another editor's comments is sometimes allowed, but normally you should stop if there is any objection. If you make anything more than minor changes it is good practice to leave a short explanatory note such as "[possible libel removed by ~~~~]". ...

... please would you replace the deleted post with something appropriate? Otherwise readers might think that I never replied, which isn't the case, unless they 'View history'. Thank you.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 12:54, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Thank you for your help with my signature issues

[My first post to James (immediately below) was moved by me from the Robert Desnos talk page to be relocated here after James replied to it. I had initially posted it there because: 1) I knew that James was watching that page, and 2) two other editors (w.carter & Sainsf) and myself noticed that James' signature and pings were not working; therefore, I thought communicating with James via the RD talk page was the best method until we get his signature fixed. I apologise for using an article's talk page for other purposes than discussing the article itself (in violation of WP:TALK#USE, section Stay on topic.)
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 20:44, 18 June 2016 (UTC)]

@Jamesmcardle: Dear James,
Did you see the message posted on your talk page, about "Your signature and pings"? It would seem you need to check the Treat this as wiki-markup box in your Preferences, to get your signature to show in blue and your pings to work.
Also, your username has a lower case 'm', whereas your signature has an upper case 'M'... This might also be a reason why your signature does not seem to work well. Hope this helps.
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 07:12, 18 June 2016 (UTC)

Hi @Pdebee:, thank you for clarifying what was going on with my signature and username. I had seen the kind message about Wikimarkup from @W.carter: but I had checked the 'Wikimarkup' tick box, but had not noticed the conflict between my signature and username. Having changed my preferences I hope this is all sorted - trying pings here to test it out.

Much appreciation for your help, Jamesmcardle 11:09, 18 June 2016 (UTC)

@Jamesmcardle:

Dear James,

You're most welcome, although the name portion of your signature above is still not displayed in blue, which means that it's still not linking to your user page. If you wanted your signature to remain as shown above, then the entire text in your Signature: field (in your Preferences page) would look something like this (also allowing your talk page to be included in superscript):

[[User:Jamesmcardle|Jamesmcardle]]^{[[User talk:Jamesmcardle|(talk)]]}

For example, mine looks like this:

Patrick. ツ [[User:Pdebee|Pdebee.]]^{[[User talk:Pdebee|(talk)]]}^{([[User:Pdebee/Guestbook|guestbook]])}

I hope this helped a little more, since I really must earn the lovely barnstar you bestowed on me so generously!

Please let me know how you get on, and best wishes of success.

With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 17:25, 18 June 2016 (UTC)

Hi Patrick, thank you for your kind reminder. Hope the signature works properly now; appears I didn't save my preferences last time. With gratitude Jamesmcardle^(talk) 01:16, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

@Jamesmcardle: Yay! Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:19, 2 August 2016 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
	To kind Pdebee or taking time to sort an annoying little niggle with my signature! Jamesmcardle(talk) 11:11, 18 June 2016 (UTC)

Thx!

Thank you so much! :) -- Rcej (Robert) – talk 13:27, 10 July 2016 (UTC)

You're invited to discuss a merge proposal

Hi there,

As a recent contributor to the Betty Boo article, I thought you might be interested in contributing to the discussion at Talk:Boomania regarding a merge proposal.

Thanks, Ubcule (talk) 20:20, 10 July 2016 (UTC)

Thank you (21 July 2016)

I am very grateful, thank you @Pdebee:, My best, Agata Mierzejewska (talk) 14:02, 21 July 2016 (UTC)

Thank you (28 July 2016)

Thank-you Patrick for the warm welcome. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dr. Blarcom (talk • contribs) 16:43, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Hi Patrick, just wanted to say thanks for the warm welcome! I've always enjoyed making small corrections to Wikipedia now and then, and contributing a bit where I can. Knowing that there's a positive community supporting that effort definitely makes me want to contribute more!

So yes, thank you very much for the official welcome to Wikipedia's editing community :)

Best,

-Nick

nick yonge (talk) 20:50, 14 August 2016 (UTC)

@Nickyonge: Dear Nick,

Thank you for making contact; you're most welcome, of course, and please don't hesitate to let me know if I can help some more; I'm sure I won't have all the answers, but we can always enjoy learning together!

In addition to showing you how (in the present edit) to reply to someone from a talk page (using the {{replyto|Username}} template), I've also left you a bit of homework to do (), at your talk page, for creating your userpage. If you wish, I can assist you with this, although you'll most likely find you own way of personalising your userpage by looking at those of other editors. Again, I'm happy to assist if need be, OK?

By the way, did you notice our practice of indenting successive posts in talk pages, by adding a colon (:) each time? You can find more about that in WP:THREAD.

Finally, I wish you well with all your projects here at the Wiki, and thank you for your continued enthusiasm in contributing to our encyclopedia!

With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 21:39, 14 August 2016 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for August 22

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Your Welcome Wagon has arrived!

Thank you for your kind welcome on my Talk page ~ I just discovered it! I find Wikipedia very challenging. I have learned a lot, though, with the edit of this artist. I've been to Swansea. Wales is near to my heart; my paternal grandmother was born there. UserMusaVeneziana talk 18:24, 22 August 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by MusaVeneziana (talk • contribs)

Dear MusaVeneziana,

Thank you for your acknowledgement and, once again: welcome! You're quite right: Wikipedia seems a bit daunting at first but, believe me, it gets better soon enough. I would suggest you look at some of the links in the 'Welcome' template and let me know if you need any assistance, OK? For example, there's a very simple way of signing our posts, by ending our messages with nothing other than four tildes (~~~~). So, feel free to enter another message here, followed by four tildes, to test that it comes out right. I'm looking forward to hearing from you, at your convenience.

With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 19:05, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Signing

Dear Patrick, I do sign with 4 tildes but it comes out the way it does - red colored and with User attached! I clearly need to fix something. I would like my signature to look like that of Basilicofresco (as seen on my Talk page). I will try to get it right. UserMusaVeneziana talk 19:37, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Dear MusaVeneziana,

It's probably because a colon is missing between User and MusaVeneziana.

To change your signature so that it appears like our friend Basilicofresco's, follow these steps:

1. Locate the Preferences tab at the top of your screen and click on it;

2. Scroll down to the Signature section; there you will see the Signature: field;

3. Copy the following code into that field:

[[User:MusaVeneziana|<span style="font:small-caps 1em Verdana;color:green">MusaVeneziana</span>]] ([[User talk:MusaVeneziana|talk]])

4. Make sure you check the box for Treat the above as wiki markup.

5. Don't forget to scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click the Save button.

This should do it; good luck, and please let me know how you got on; thanks.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 20:05, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Dear Patrick, You are absolutely my King for the day (King of Hearts (1966 film). Thank you! MusaVeneziana (talk) 20:38, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Dear MusaVeneziana,

Yay! ... Very well done; I'm very pleased for you.

Now that you've got the hang of this, please consider tagging the (talk) portion of your signature in superscript, like mine; it makes it more discreet but that's obviously a subjective matter of taste and preferences. But if you're willing to repeat the exercise, here's the code:

[[User:MusaVeneziana|<span style="font:small-caps 1em Verdana;color:green">MusaVeneziana</span>]]^{([[User talk:MusaVeneziana|talk]])}

Good luck! (Of course, we now know you're quite an expert at this! ... )

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 20:57, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

I like the signature in the classical all-capital Roman lettering - in green. But I will check this other version you are recommending! MusaVeneziana^(talk) 22:09, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Patrick ~ I see, you finesse this detail - YES! I much prefer it. Thank you again! Now, if I can only figure out how to add an image and quotation to dress up my User page. MusaVeneziana^(talk) 22:13, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Dear MusaVeneziana,

Well Done! Looks really good!

Let's agree to work on designing your user page tomorrow. Do you have any ideas already?

I feel honoured to have been elected your King for the day; thank you so much! However, I am wondering whether this means you too escaped from the lunatic asylum, per the film you attached?

Let's speak tomorrow if you're available. Until then, please keep well and joyful. Goodnight...

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 22:42, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Thank you, Patrick. If it is not too much trouble, I would like to learn how to put this image (if allowed) by Botticelli of Simonetta Vespucci and a quotation. It would be useful to apply a template to the User page with two columns in the center (one for image at the left; my brief user description on the right) - one also column at top and bottom. MusaVeneziana^(talk) 23:41, 22 August 2016 (UTC) Image: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sandro_Botticelli_069.jpg

Dear MusaVeneziana,

You're most welcome; it's a pleasure.

Before I received your latest message (above), I saw your earlier attempt with the url, then quickly added the wikilink with the file format. Then, I saw your message and therefore shifted the picture to the left hand side, as you requested. I hope this helps for now. We can work on the rest later, as I need to go to bed: it's nearly 1:30am here in Pembs... But I enjoyed 'meeting' you today. More later... Goodnight.

With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 00:24, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

P.S. I just love your signature...

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 00:28, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

Dear Patrick, Thank for being such a wonderful, encouraging Wikipedian. I especially appreciate your assistance with giving my User page a more dynamic look! I plan to do more edits to several different Wikipedia pages; I realize now that I could do much more art related article editing - of artists in Italy and Japan. I will do that in the coming weeks when work lets up a bit. For now, I send you many thanks for your instruction and encouragement; a friendly wave to you from Ven... here on the west coast of California to Pemb.... on the west coast of Wales. MusaVeneziana^(talk) 01:27, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

Dear MusaVeneziana,

Once again, it was a real pleasure to be able to assist and I appreciate your expression of gratitude; thanks.

I very much admire the design you've applied to your user page: it's stylish and elegant, yet simple and understated; very well done! Please forgive me for adding the wrong picture of Simonetta Vespucci last night; I had simply done a search on her name rather than pick up the url you'd first used. However, I was pleased to see that you picked up from there very quickly and were therefore able to become self-sufficient, which is excellent.

When you next access your page, you will notice that I took the liberty of re-spacing the prose there, so that the last line of the paragraph aligns with the bottom edge of the picture. However, if you end up concluding this is too contrived, then all you need to do is hit the 'Undo' button and all my alterations will be removed and your original layout restored. But if you like it, then another idea that occurred to me was: you could remove one of the two blank lines between your two quotes, which would leave an extra line at the bottom, for you to add your gorgeous new signature (); what do you think? This way, not only would your page be truly personalized, but visitors could also contact you at once, by simply clicking on the superscripted ^(talk) tab. [Update at 4pm, today: I have now added your signature, as suggested above, because I realized that you might wish for it to be aligned to the right, which made the code a little bit trickier. Once again, this is your home, so you can always undo if you don't like the changes I applied, in which case I hope you will forgive me for taking these initiatives.]

Finally, did you notice how I gradually indented the successive messages we exchanged in this section? As you can see, this indentation is achieved thanks to the simple trick of adding one colon each time; this is one of the practices encouraged on talk pages, and is explained at WP:THREAD. Happy reading...

Well, that's it for now. All very best wishes of success in all your art projects here at the Wiki, and please don't hesitate to contact me again by opening a new section here if you wish, or by simply typing {{helpme}} in a new section on your talk page, and someone else will come to your rescue.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:21, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

Dear Pdebee, I try out your salutation!

Thank you for your finessing of my page and may I ask (dare I ask?) one more edit? If it is not too much trouble, could you please align the quote source names on the right side - with the Alberti on the right side of the second line of text - rather than underneath - since there is so much room; line up the last letter of Alberti with the last letter of proving - and the last letter of Nin with the last letter of are. If you can do this, I can then know how to align to the right - most useful! It might be nice to move up the MusaVeneziana, a bit, but if you think better to leave it as is - as a bit is not possible - and that it's fine there, that's fine with me. I see that you love music; I do too. I send you a tango. Many thanks MusaVeneziana^(talk) 03:48, 24 August 2016 (UTC) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bOhxGBRXAU

Dear MusaVeneziana,

First of all, well done on using the {{U|username}} template! You can also do this:

Dear {{U|Pdebee|Patrick}}, which renders: Dear Patrick ... (it's called piping).

Second, of course I'd be delighted to assist; dare away!

I tried a few things, but the <blockquote> made the task a bit more difficult, essentially because it does its own spacing. So, I initially removed it to have full control of the space. Then, just by chance, the first quote ended up fitting on a single line (on my 19ins desktop screen and also on my iPad) and it seemed that 'Leon Battista Alberti' looked better when located on the left than on the right, after trying both. I then did the same for the second quote and I thought your page looked good like that. However, if you should prefer these two names to relocate to the right hand side of the screen, then you'd only have to alter the two style="float: left;" clauses from left to right. However, please bear in mind that if you decided to do that, then – on very wide display screens – these two signatures will obviously appear close to the right edge of the screen, and thus very far away from the quoted text, which would appear far to their left.

One final point: I really like the fact that, in the layout that I provided today, only your signature aligns to the right of the page; to me, it says something like: "I, MusaVeneziana, designed this page". I daresay this might get diluted if the other two quoted names also aligned to the right of the page. However, this is ultimately your domain and you are singularly entitled to disregard my opinion on the subject.

Kindly let me know what you think? Until then, please keep well and joyful.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 10:36, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

P.S. Thank you so much for that lovely clip of Madredeus performing "Alfama", a lovely tango-based song! This is eerie: how could you have known that I absolutely adore Portugal and its culture? I have been there many times, including in the Alfama quarter. I play the guitarra Portuguesa and am learning Portuguese; yours was the best gift you could have imagined to bestow on me; thank you once again!!

In return, I am sending you a song I uploaded at my Youtube channel; it includes the word musa... :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL1lP1Olew0

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 10:36, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

Patrick, What a lovely song. Thank you! Have you heard the album Ainda that the "new Fado" group Madredeus (named after the church they rehearsed in) recorded for Wim Wenders? I like it, although Wender's film itself is not that interesting (but I do love his Wings of Desire film). I wish you would exercise your translating skills (if you have any) on the song Alfama. I think whomever uploaded the clip and added the subtitles in English did not get it right. If you feel like it and have time someday, I'd really like to see what you come up with.
You are quite a musicologist, Patrick, and musician. As I wrote on my Talk page (please see that, especially re: profile edits), I don't have a lot of time that I can devote to more editing now, but hope to do more in the future and stay in touch; you are a prince of a Wikipedian! MusaVeneziana^(talk) 06:40, 25 August 2016 (UTC)
And now for something completely different... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs06uZgJao8

Dear MusaVeneziana,
First of all, and in answer to your question: no, I have not seen the Wenders film you mentioned above, and I must thank you for the tip, as I will now order it in the very near future. I have the Wings of Desire in my collection and, of course, the Buena Vista Social Club film and all associated recordings.
Second, on the subject of correcting translations: before Google took over YouTube, it was very easy to communicate with other YouTubers, to exchange ideas and work on shared projects, such as song translations and general research. I worked with a few YouTubers in Bulgaria and Greece to obtain translations of old folk songs, and I have translated a few from French and one from Portuguese. However, YT was transformed, like almost everything else it seems, to run on mobile phones, which is a rather regressive and limiting user experience from a visual standpoint, for those of us who prefer to interface in a standard, desktop display screen environment. As a result, I decided to refuse ever to communicate via the (now very limited) YT interface, and have invited my YT colleagues to contact me directly at my Hotmail address. As a result, nobody ever bothered; so: end of creative life on YT!
Third, thank you for your compliment. I am not sure it is deserved, though; yes, I do play quite a few string instruments, largely because I have always been intrigued by what makes an instrument sound like it does (stringing and tuning), compared with others. I am also fascinated by how some instruments contribute significantly to the sound of their local music. The Cuban tres is a typical example: without this seemingly very simplistic instrument, Cuban son would never have existed; just think of what we would have missed!! I just love playing the tres! And people always want to know how it works...
Fourth, I quite understand your time constraints; please don't worry. In summary, I am really glad we fixed your signature and made progress on your user page; it was a real pleasure to be of assistance to you in that regard. I will now add a short message on your talk page, to close our recent exchanges there too, then I'll leave you in peace.
It was a pleasure to communicate with you, and I hope we'll do it again before too long, time permitting, of course.
With kind regards for now;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 22:58, 25 August 2016 (UTC)

Hello Patrick! Thank you for writing - I am not familiar with the Tres. Just to clarify: I recommend listening to the album Ainda by Madredeus rather than seeing Wim Wenders' The Lisbon Story. I meant to try to translate the brief lyrics of Alfama for me; not to edit the video on YouTube. I have always wanted to know the meaning of the song. Perhaps I will someday find a native speaker, to translate the song colloquially. You didn't mention the wonderful (I think) song by Neil Innes. It is poor quality but I think very charming. You may know that he was sort of an unofficial "seventh member" of Monty Python. I think he must have been influenced by Harry Nilsson; see this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQa_Ot7ss8 released in 1971, a year before "How Sweet to Be an Idiot." MusaVeneziana^(talk) 07:48, 26 August 2016 (UTC)

Dear MusaVeneziana,

Wow! You're still up! Thanks for writing in real-time! Sorry I got the wrong end of the stick about the Madredeus song "Alfama". No problem: I'll purchase it and translate it, then pass my English translation by my Portuguese teacher. I'll probably copy it into one of my sandboxes and will ping you so that you can pull it off there before I remove it. Please give me a few weeks, as I am always busy in real life. Please forgive me, but I haven't looked at your latest video yet, as I was busy finishing my latest article on Declan Masterson, which was quite protracted because of the paucity of sources. In any case, thank you for sending it and for taking the time to chat. All very best wishes for now; more later.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 08:04, 26 August 2016 (UTC)

Henry Hopkins - Talk pages

Hello Patrick! Do you ever wear a detective hat? I want to know if there ever was a page for Henry Hopkins (curator) - (see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hopkins ) There is no page and the disambiguation page re-directs to a gallery he once owned. He was the director of 4 different art museums and very important to the west coast art world. Can you tell me if he has had an article written about him? MusaVeneziana^(talk) 06:57, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

@MusaVeneziana: Dear MusaVeneziana,

Thank you for your query, above. Yes, there must have been an article on Henry Hopkins (curator) at some stage, but I can't tell you much more because it's been deleted, and such pages can only be viewed and/or restored by administrators. However, it is possible to request that a page be undeleted, although it might be problematic in this case, since the article was deleted because of copyright issues.

Here's the crumb trail concerning the history of that earlier article:

??:?? on ?? mth, year? – 'Henry Hopkins' article created by unknown editor;

21:52 on 20 Dec 2008 – 'Henry Hopkins' article moved (= renamed) to 'Henry Hopkins (curator)' by Jokestress;

21:59 on 20 Dec 2008 – 'Henry Hopkins' set up as a disambiguation page, also by Jokestress;

04:50 on 18 Jan 2014 – 'Henry Hopkins (curator)' article deleted by MER-C because of copyright issues;

20:47 on 21 Jun 2014 – Huysman Gallery article created by Calliopejen1;

11:45 on 26 Jun 2014 – Henry Hopkins (curator) page redirected to Huysman Gallery article by GiantSnowman.

There is a Wikipedia process for requesting articles to be created for the visual arts, but since there already is a page for Henry Hopkins (curator)—albeit an empty one that simply redirects to the Huysman Gallery—you could conceivably transform it into a biographical article on the man himself. My (unsolicited) advice, though, would be to draft its content into a sandbox first (for example: [[User:MusaVeneziana/My sandbox1]]), and then work on it with one or more editor(s) focusing on articles about the visual arts. You could consider using the talk page to invite potential collaborators, and perhaps one (or more) of the above-mentioned editors might be interested in participating in such a development effort. Then, when it's done, you would all be confident that the final draft version of the content would satisfy the required editorial policies and guidelines, and could therefore safely be added in one single edit into the existing article, which would then no longer be a simple redirect.

Please forgive me for such a lengthy reply, but I hope it will be helpful to you. I am sure our colleagues on copy will have their own views on how best to proceed, and I would invite them to propose alternative approaches. Thank you.

With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 11:37, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

P.S. Yes, I archived my talk page, because all of the earlier conversations had been closed, or so I thought...

Dear Patrick, It is very helpful for you to have included this brief historical outline of editors to the former Henry Hopkins article. I surmise that someone wrote the article pulling from sources word-for-word (plagiarizing) and the article thus received a copyright criticism. Henry Hopkins was a very important museum director and curator to the west coast art scene. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-me-henry-hopkins29-2009sep29-story.html At the very least, Hopkins deserves a minimal article such as the one written for Walter Hopps, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hopps although much more could be written about Hopkins. I would like to take on the task. I think it more than a bit sad that this brilliant man, HH, perhaps saw his article removed on his death bed. I am somewhat busy now; it would help if I could get a copy of the original article (if it is a good one) and fix all the copyright issues. I'd like to direct my limited time on Wikipedia to this project. MusaVeneziana^(talk) 13:56, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

@MusaVeneziana: Dear MusaVeneziana,

Thank you for your interest in rehabilitating the deleted article on Henry Hopkins (curator).

My recommendation would be for you to wait until our colleague MER-C, the administrator who deleted the previous content, has had the opportunity to read this exchange. I will leave a request at his/her talk page on your behalf. On the assumption that s/he might agree to undelete the previous content, then you could also consider asking Jokestress and Jen to participate in improving that old content in a consensual way, which is obviously best done in a friendly, cooperative and convivial atmosphere. Personally, I have not worked with either of these two editors before but they have a lot of experience and I am assuming that they share your interest in the visual arts, and might therefore be motivated to participate in this effort. Again, the fact that I used the {{U|username}} template in the present section will have given them a heads-up, and I am hopeful that they will respond here, when convenient.

Until then, please keep well and joyful, and thank you once again for your motivation to improve our encyclopedia in your area of expertise.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 16:20, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

P.S. You can still view our earlier exchanges here.

Thank you, Patrick. I know that you have only the best of intentions. By the way, the above link "here" does not function. MusaVeneziana^(talk) 16:42, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

@MusaVeneziana: Dear MusaVeneziana,

OK, that's absolutely fine. When I read I would like to take on the task and I'd like to direct my limited time on Wikipedia to this project in your earlier entry, I concluded that you wanted to proceed. Therefore, per your latest request, I will now not request the undeletion. I can only apologise if I have done anything wrong.

I remain available, if/when you require any further assistance.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 16:54, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

P.S. The link should work now.

Thank you for the update, Patrick. I now consider you my faraway White Knight. Please archive this conversation, if you do not mind. I feel I have bitten off more than I can chew right now, communicating publicly like this. You are writing to people on Wikipedia all over the world, I am just to you. I hope you understand. Thank you so much for restoring our exchange to me. I wanted to listen more to Malfada Arnauth, and couldn't remember her name, and the link was lost to me. For me, the best of all possible futures, would include listening to fado with you, someday, in Portugal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-Co5MNcPVY  :') MusaVeneziana^(talk) 17:30, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

@MusaVeneziana: Dear MusaVeneziana,

Thank you for your latest update. Yes, you are quite right: rehabilitating a previously deleted article is quite an undertaking, especially since your time is currently at a premium, as you said. I thought you did a very good job on the Charles Sherman article and was confident that you would have done the same for the new project; I also admired your enthusiasm about Henry Hopkins (). I hope you will consider coming back when you have more time, as your expertise in the art world is an asset to our encyclopedia. In the mean time, you could still contribute in smaller ways: by fixing typos, correcting dates, adding small amounts of prose and adding citations, for example. In any case, I know you have the potential to become an experienced editor, like so many of us eventually do.

As for my archives, you can visit them at the top of the present talk page: look for a thin box saying 'Archives' and 'show'; click on the latter and then on '2016', where I keep all discussions for this year.

Finally, for exchanges of Portuguese translations etc., I can be contacted by email: on my user page, go to my 'Usorcapsarium' () and open the 'Profile ツ' tab by clicking on 'show'; the last userbox says: "This user can be reached by email." Click on 'email' and you'll be taken to a page where you can send me one, but please beware that your email address will be visible to me if you do.

Once again: welcome to Wikipedia; I am pleased we fixed your signature and designed your user page. I hope you will decide to come back when time permits, for the love of building this magnificent encyclopedia. Until then, please keep well & joyful, and don't work too hard.

With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 19:57, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

Thank you, Patrick! MusaVeneziana^(talk) 22:47, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

You're most welcome, MusaVeneziana; as you requested, I will archive this section tomorrow. With kind regards; Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 23:00, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

S.O.S. Pdebee! I am completely at sea on finding this: 'Usorcapsarium' I hope that you will light me a candle, send a telegram, describe where on your humungous page, or take a screen shot. P.S. I thought that this was a cyclops emoticon until I noticed the code. MusaVeneziana^(talk) 01:54, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

MusaVeneziana; I do apologise for not guiding you more precisely. Here we go: when you visit my user page, stay at the very top and locate the bouncing Wikipedia logo on the right hand side; immediately under that is the rice paper-coloured quote box with the two lines from "Sway"; my 'Usorcapsarium' is right underneath that and it looks like a square box with 'drawers' and the word 'Usorcapsarium' appears at the top. This square box contains collapsible groups of userboxes in each 'drawer', hence usor, capsa and -arium in Latin. The first of these 'drawers' says 'Profile ツ'; click on 'show' and go to the very last userbox, which says: "This user can be reached by email." Click on 'email' and you'll be taken to a page where you can send me one, but please beware that your email address will be visible to me if you do.
Yes, the 'wink' template does look like a cyclops, doesn't it!

With kind regards; Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:31, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

Copyright violations cannot be restored. MER-C 05:43, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

Thank you for letting us know, MER-C. Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:10, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

Edits applied today

Dear Patrick, thank you sincerely for your help. There are things to learn while editing and you're making it a little easier. In relation to the article "Sweeny's Men" and "Irish Bouzouki" I am interviewing Dónal Lunny to correct these articles. The completed articles are to be sent to Andy Irvine (musician) for verification. Many citations used in the article come from a publication from Niall O'Callanain, (1997). The Irish Bouzouki; this publication has many errors. The photo on the page of "Irish bouzouki" is not an Irish bouzouki and have asked Dónal to get a photo of the original Peter Abnett bouzouki. He is travelling to Kildare today to get a photograph of the very first Irish bouzouki. Dónal has also indicated that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dónal_Lunny contains many errors. It is my wish to correct these errors. He has also asked that the photos "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dónal_Lunny#/media/File:394-0131_donal-lunny_hinnerk-ruemenapf.jpg" and "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dónal_Lunny#/media/File:Dónal_Lunny_Bristol_2012.jpg" be removed. I will be interviewing Dónal with a view to correct this article in due course. Regards, Ficheall (talk) 08:17, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

@Ficheall: Dear Ficheall,

Thank you for your message, and for making contact. As you might have noticed when you looked at the 'View history' log for these articles, including Dónal's, I did what I could to make them a little more encyclopedic. The challenge we all face, is the paucity of material from secondary or tertiary sources. In the case of Andy Irvine's article, on the other hand, there are several press articles (Frets and especially Folk Roots) and, of course, O'Toole's book on Planxty, which are in my possession and that I could therefore use as references when creating ref tags citing these sources, deemed reliable.

When I read that you are scheduled to interview Dónal, I concluded that you might be a journalist, and that your interview will therefore be published somewhere accessible to us all (including Wikipedia's readers), which would be excellent, as this is required for the verifiability aspect that I mentioned at your talk page late last night. Otherwise, and please forgive me for belabouring the point, the results of your interview would be considered original research obtained from a primary source (Dónal himself) and would therefore not be admissible on Wikipedia.

I apologise for sounding negative, but the basic point to remember is that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia; please see Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not, to understand this fully, and its implication for your interview.

In my case, for example, I have been in occasional contact with Andy about his article on the Wiki, which I have worked on improving since July 2013. However, if he tells me anything that is not verifiable through a secondary source, then I can't insert it in his article, however frustrating that might be. Also, his own website is considered a primary source (therefore not reliable) and I have been sailing close to the wind by using it as a reference about a dozen times out of the 191 citations currently in the 'References' section of his Wiki article.

On the positive side, I daresay there is much I could do to assist you and my offer stands. Please may I therefore suggest that, whenever convenient to you, we continue to liaise via our talk pages to agree a plan of editorial action. Then, I would recommend that we use each article's talk page to discuss the nitty-gritty of editorial changes that we agree to apply. This way, we achieve the consensus required for changes in content, and I can assist you in getting it right in compliance with Wikipedia's editorial guidelines. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you in advance for your contributions to our encyclopedia; for my part, I am looking forward to our collaboration.

With kind regards for now, and have an enjoyable interview with the great man himself!

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:30, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

P.S. You must have entered the four tildes (~~~~) twice, because your signature was duplicated; I took the liberty of removing the second one.

@Pdebee: Dear Pdebee,

Fair play to Dónal, he just delivered the prize photo. The Abnett bouzouki referred to in the article. i.e the very first Irish Bouzouki. Should I send it to yourself or upload it?

Tried uploading it - Didn't work.

PS. I'm being quite stringent with Dónal telling him I only want facts. "Would you find it in an encyclopaedia?" - that's my line!! He's listening so far!!

Picture is here: http://donallunny.weebly.com/uploads/8/5/8/4/85846228/first-irish-bouzouki-lunny-abnett_orig.png (First Irish Bouzouki - Commissioned and designed by Dónal Lunny and created by Peter Abnett)

I'll get an exact date tomorrow or next week. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ficheall (talk • contribs) 22:33, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

Regards, FICHEALL — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ficheall (talk • contribs) 22:13, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

@Ficheall: Dear Alex,

Thank you for your latest post, immediately above. As you can see, I have indented it by adding another colon to maintain the readability of the thread, as explained here.

I have asked our colleague Rob to assist you in your task of uploading the photo; my request to Rob can be found at his talk page. Please may I suggest that you wait for Rob to contact you, as he may be busy on other projects, or simply taking a Wikibreak? Thank you for your consideration.

It is good that you are mindful of the need for an encyclopedic tone; well done, Alex. Please may I ask if your interview will be published at some medium that our readers will be able to access? For example, if it is going to be uploaded at Dónal's website, but with your name as the author of the interview, then I believe we should be OK. All you'd need to do, when you come to rely on that material for the purpose of creating content for Wikipedia articles, is create ref tags with {{cite web}} templates using Dónal's website as a source; I will be available to help you create those templates if you need assistance at the time. But the text of the interview must show your name as the interviewer, as Dónal would be a primary source and, as you know, Wikipedia editors are not permitted to add content that relies on primary sources; nor, indeed, to add unsourced content, which is considered original research. Thank you for letting me know, whenever convenient.

Good luck with your project, Alex; I hope that Rob will agree to assist you with the photo, and I will guide you with the rest, OK? With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:29, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

P.S. To sign your posts, just enter four tildes: ~~~~

@Pdebee: Dear Patrick,

I've just done some investigations and the reason it won't upload is because my account is as yet unconfirmed. I just have to be patient. I'll try it again tomorrow. No need for hurry!!!

Ficheall (talk) 13:31, 2 September 2016 (UTC)Alex

@Ficheall: Dear Alex,

Thank you for your short message, above. It's good that you are in no hurry. Please may I recommend that you wait until Rob has contacted you? Uploading photos into Wikipedia is a very complex process, not because of the physical upload of the file itself, but because of the need to prove copyright ownership; the guidelines are very strict and I would strongly advise you not to underestimate the complexity of this task. Rob is an expert at preparing the documentation for uploading photos and he will be able to advise you about the exact form of words required in your specific case.

Finally, please believe me: if you were to go ahead and do this on your own, it is most likely that your uploaded file will be deleted within a few days. After that has happened, it will be much harder to complete the task, because of the precedent of your first attempt and its deletion.

Thank you very much for bearing this in mind: please wait for Rob to contact you.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 13:47, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

@Pdebee: Dear Patrick,

SUGAR!!! I have to stop being so enthusiastic!

Ficheall (talk) 13:55, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

@Ficheall: Dear Alex,

There's nothing wrong with your enthusiasm, please keep it up! The fact is: you are learning and I am really glad I'm around to offer advice and guidance. I have been editing for years but just the idea of uploading photos really gives me the jitters, because the guidelines are so strict and the copyright enforcement procedures are so fierce, here, and for good reason, I suppose, since copyright infringement is taken very seriously at Wikipedia.

On the positive side, Rob is the man for uploading photos successfully, and I am hopeful he will be willing to assist you when he's back (his last edit was about a week ago, on 25 August).

With kind regards for now; ("over and out", "10-4", etc... )

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 14:09, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

@Pdebee: Dear Patrick,

I'm seriously glad you're around!

Ficheall (talk) 14:28, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

@Ficheall: Dear Alex,

You're welcome! After we finished our latest exchanges, I noticed that you carried out the upload of the photo at Irish bouzouki, and that you had completed the documentation as the owner of the copyright; let's hope it will suffice, and that Rob will verify your approach when he's back, and advise you if necessary.

When you next check the infobox, you'll see that I have applied a few cosmetic improvements.

With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 14:40, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

@Pdebee: Dear Patrick,

I feel so stupid. After I said to myself - "be patient" - I started more investigations - discovered a whole new world - off I went - THEN I GOT YOUR MESSAGE

I THINK I SHOULD GO FOR A VERY LONG WALK.

Ficheall (talk) 14:44, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

@Ficheall: Dear Alex,

Don't be so hard on yourself, Alex... You simply got carried away; I can see that. I am just hopeful that those editors who police the recently uploaded photos will deem your documentation to be as required. Until then, please enjoy your long walk, but don't beat yourself up; it's done, it looks great and, if need be, Rob will sort you out, fingers crossed.

When you have the time, please let me know about where your interview will be published, for verifiability. Thank you for your patience with me on this...

With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 14:59, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

P.S. Think of it: you now know how to indent and sign your posts, and upload photos...

Original Research and Primary Sources

Dear Patrick, first of all, I would like to thank you for your most, kind and helpful assistance and explanations regarding the often complex underpinnings of the Matrix that is Wikipedia.

		The Friendship Barnstar
		for Stellar Wikipedian Friendliness MusaVeneziana(talk) 21:09, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

Dear MusaVeneziana,

Well, that's a very nice surprise! Thank you so much for taking the time to send me an award! I really appreciate it.

I am also very pleased to see you're getting the hang of advanced forms of editing templates here...

(More below ...)

By the way, I did not read much at all of the preceding conversation, but this sentence fragment leaped off the page at me, "...interview would be considered original research obtained from a primary source (Dónal himself) and would therefore not be admissible on Wikipedia." Now, this is something that I am aware of, but as I will be utilizing a primary source myself, the 856 page transcript of a 1995 interview with my article subject, all I can think of to do - is use information gleaned from the interview as a departure point for internet research - that I can cite. I wonder, though, how many of the more genealogical biographical information ( so and so's mother did this, father did that, etc.) one reads in articles is actually published somewhere? Would an obituary such as this one be an acceptable source? http://www.woodfuneralhome.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=218174 Thank you! MusaVeneziana^(talk) 21:09, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

About the transcript of that 856 page interview: was it published by a writer or journalist in a book or some kind of archive that's catalogued and therefore accessible for verification? In that case, it would obviously meet the verifiability policy. Let me give you an example: all the correspondence sent and received by Woody Guthrie has now been filed and catalogued at the WG Center; so, a letter sent to him can be used as a source thanks to the (relative) accessibility afforded by this cataloguing process, which makes the letter verifiable as a source. It doesn't mean that the content of the letter is true, but it is verifiable.

The point I was making in the earlier discussion also emphasised the same point from the opposite perspective: if the interviewer were to go straight out of the interview and simply typed up some content into Wikipedia straight from his notes, then that would amount to original research based on a primary source. However, if the same notes were used to write a book or an article in a magazine, or any other published medium accessible for verification, then it would be fine to use that published material because it was written by someone other than the subject and published as a verifiable, secondary source.

Obituaries are considered secondary sources, I believe. I have certainly used material from obituaries to create Wiki content underpinned by reference citations.

Thank you once again for the nice award!

With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 23:03, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

Dear Patrick Pdebee, Thank you for your swift reply regarding the oral history of HH. Most amazingly, I just found it online! To access the actual 856 page manuscript of the 20 hour interview of HH, one just needs to click on the 4th "View Content" - that is located in the upper left box, entitled "Text Content", here: http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0008zsk3&title=Hopkins, Henry T.&_ga=1.72892949.780845701.1472971399 I have just withdrawn (via online account) my Tuesday appointment at Special Collections Library at UCLA. So nice that I can access - and so can anyone reading my eventual article - the 856 page published transcript! And, I also located a second online archived interview from 1980, at the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution! http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-henry-tyler-hopkins-12844#transcript You could say I'm pretty happy right now. Research is truly like peeling an onion... Thanks for all your kind assistance. You have been such a great help! MusaVeneziana^(talk) 07:37, 4 September 2016 (UTC)

Dear MusaVeneziana,

That is fabulous news! I am so glad for you, that you will be able to quote from what seems to be an extremely useful resource. Here is a ref tag for the first link you supplied above; I have used the {{cite interview}} template. However, if you wanted to learn by creating such a ref tag yourself, then please feel free to ignore or delete this. Otherwise, here is the ref tag for the second link you supplied above.

Your discovery of these resources is definitely a giant step in the right direction; go for it!

With kindest regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 14:18, 4 September 2016 (UTC)

References

A kitten for you!

Thanks for the welcome message on my page. I am quickly discovering that Wikipedia is very friendly. This is great. Yes, I do plan to stay and play for a long time.

Amiwikieditor (talk) 08:04, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

Dear Amiwikieditor,

Wow! ... that was quick! Thank you for the kitten. It's clear you're a quick learner and you've already undertaken to revert vandalism and help other editors with guidance, while also fixing typos! It's great to have a new and energetic colleague here at the Wiki, and an additional caretaker at the Typo team!

All very best wishes and thank you for your contributions to our encyclopedia!

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 08:19, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

Just acknowledging that I have read this. Thanks for the welcome once again. :) Amiwikieditor (talk) 08:27, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

Hi Pdebee, I was wondering if you could help me with a query that I asked on Teahouse which no one has yet answered. Whenever you get some time. Thanks. Wikipedia:Teahouse/Questions#Style_to_use_for_numbers_in_Table_cells

Dear Amiwikieditor,

Thank you for your query. I will be replying to you from here, to make sure that someone with greater expertise on the subject can offer an answer from the Teahouse entry.

I have seen tables with numeric values aligned left, right and center (that sounded funny, didn't it? ). Personally, I would center them, except for sums that are accumulated in a "Total" cell, which I would align right.

About the '%' aspect, you could implement either of your suggestions: have a column headed simply with "%" and then show the numeric values in the cells, or each cell with "...,..%". Strictly speaking, of course, the numeric value should never exceed '100', despite the fad, in recent years, of printing horrors like "200%" instead of "2.0 times"...

I hope this helped somewhat, but please give preference to a more definitive answer from the Teahouse.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 19:48, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

Thanks Patrick for the response. I got a response on the Teahouse entry as well. Looks like there is no universal (or wikipedia) truth for this question and I have to define what I find best suited for the page I am working on. Maybe, this requires a project of its own or changes to wikipedia Manual Of Style someday. For now, I will at least bring consistency to the pages that I am trying to improve.

BTW, I must say, it is always so nice, the way you communicate. I really appreciate it.

Amiwikieditor (talk) 13:51, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Dear Amiwikieditor,

You're most welcome. Yes, I saw that someone had replied to you, in a way that leaves you the latitude to implement whatever you think will work best, esthetically. Go for it, and all very best wishes! Thank you for your kind words; I believe this project works much better when we do our very best to help each other, while engaging our kindness in the fullest possible way, and also a sense of fun.

All very best wishes of success in all your contributions to our encyclopedia.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 20:39, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Font size

Dear Patrick Pdebee, Thank you once again for your continued support and especially for sending to me the reference style for interview sources; you definitely went beyond the call of duty! So thoughtful of you! Now, if I may ask another thing here - re: my Wiki User Profile... I see in the Talk History where you wrote "(Quick test, to check font size of headers after Musa's removal of "big" tags.)" and "No joy; font size still too small. How strange..." Will you please send me a screen shot - large size, perhaps via email so that I may see what you see? Many thanks! MusaVeneziana^(talk) 18:37, 4 September 2016 (UTC)

Dear MusaVeneziana,

You're most welcome; it was easy enough to develop these ref tags and I figured it might save you some time. As for the font size query you asked in your latest entry above: I simply used the 'Undo' button on that earlier test, to reveal the level 2 ('== text ==') header. If I compare the size of the resulting header, with the size of a lvl2 header on your talk page, then I can see that it's smaller than it should be. Please check yourself, and let me know if you see a difference also, or not. As I mentioned at the time, this is something I've never seen before, and I can neither explain nor suggest a fix for it. However, setting the {{Helpme}} template (with a summary of the problem) on your talk page will alert someone to come and investigate.

More later... Must go and make a salad now.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 19:31, 4 September 2016 (UTC)

Hello, Patrick! Pdebee Re: what you wrote above, " If I compare the size of the resulting header, with the size of a lvl2 header on your talk page, then I can see that it's smaller than it should be." I do not understand what this means! But, I do remember that I changed some things on my user page after you worked on it - and one thing was to make the font smaller. The reason I did that is because the proportion of the font size relative to the image size - after your edit - seemed too large (to me.)

I am sending you a screen shot via email of what my user page looks like on my 13" MacBook Pro. On my vintage 24" matte screen iMac it looks the same - except the text stretches out far to the right and is less pleasing to the eye. It I could keep the text in the more dense paragraph (as in the screen shot, I would like that, but it is not so important. It's okay that the text stretches out to a less dense 3 or 4 line (height-wise) paragraph.

Anyway, I am not sure of your point, but it may be that you are accustomed to a larger font on a user page. I do know that I like my user page as it is. I prefer elegant but understated, if that makes sense... MusaVeneziana^(talk) 05:14, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

Dear MusaVeneziana,

Please forgive me for being less than clear; I can only apologise for confusing you further. Thank you for your patience with me as I try to explain what I mean.

First, let me explain terminology (and please forgive me if you already know all this ):

• 'header': this is the line of text that gives a title to a section; for example, Font size is the header of the present section;
• 'level 2 header': the 'level' indicates the degree of nesting of a header within the structure of a page (or any book or document, for that matter); for example, the header of the present section is '2' because, in the source code, there are two equal signs on either side of the text 'Font size': == Font size ==.

Note that the 'level 1' header, in this example, is the header of my user talk page:

User talk:Pdebee

Similarly, if I wanted to nest a subsection within this section, I would create a new 'level 3' header thus:

=== Font size subsection ===

Second, let's now focus on what seems to be happening in the case of your user page.

• Let's first look at your talk page ([[User talk:MusaVeneziana]]), where the 'level 2 headers' are displayed in the correct font size that you normally see on all pages. So, if you look at the size of the two headers there: How to Archive Talk Pages and Using a personal sandbox, then that is what I would have expected a 'level 2 header' to look like on your user page.
• However, when I look at your user page ([[User:MusaVeneziana]]), there is currently there only the level 2 header I added: Test font size of lvl2 headers. But, and this is the issue I raised initially in this earlier discussion, the font size of that section header is smaller (when I view it on my display screen) than it should be, even though the header is coded properly in the source, with two equal signs ('==') on either side:

== Test font size of lvl2 headers ==

Now, the reason I added when I view it on my display screen in the above paragraph, is because it is quite possible that there is a browser issue at play here, whereby my browser (Internet Explorer) might be displaying things incorrectly, but that this doesn't happen on your display because you use a different browser.

Therefore, please would you be kind enough to compare the sizes of the level 2 headers of your talk page ('How to Archive Talk Pages') with the size of the test header I added to your user page ('Test font size of lvl2 headers'), and then tell me in your next reply whether they are of the same size, or if the latter is smaller than the former?

• If you see it smaller, then you're seeing what I was talking about earlier, and the problem is most likely not confined to my own browser. In this case, I would suggest that we consider copying this entire section from my talk page to yours, then adding the {{Helpme}} template so that one of the lovely editors manning the Help desk can take a look at this.
• If there is no difference in font size between the two headers, then it is probably a browser issue, but the root cause might be something entirely different.

Thank you for sending me a screen shot of your user page via email yesterday; unfortunately, that image did not show the test header ('Test font size of lvl2 headers') I added, so I could not determine its size as you see it on your screen, even though this test header is still displayed now, as I write this to you. I am now beginning to wonder if it is displayed on your screen at all!

Finally, in your latest post above, you said: "But, I do remember that I changed some things on my user page after you worked on it - and one thing was to make the font smaller. The reason I did that is because the proportion of the font size relative to the image size - after your edit - seemed too large (to me.)" Well, I daresay that these changes you applied have made no difference, simply because the issue of the level 2 header being too small occurred both before and after you made these changes; in fact, at some stage I thought that it was your earlier use of the <big> tags that might have had an influence on this, but they made no difference either way.

More later, if/when you have the time.

With kind regards for now;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 10:59, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

P.S.: I have just now sent you two screen shots via email: one each of your user and talk pages.

You've got mail!

Please check your InBox.
Thank you! MusaVeneziana^(talk) 16:27, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

Dear MusaVeneziana,

Thank you very much! I'm leaving the present reply here, as an acknowledgement of your email and also to close the current entry, which I will archive in the near future.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 20:12, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

Dear Pdebee, Happy Sunday! You've got more mail! I'm feeling a bit like I've gone down the Wikipedia rabbit hole... MusaVeneziana^(talk) 16:47, 11 September 2016 (UTC)

Woman in Gold is just a redirect

Hello Pdebee. Recently you put some banners on the talk page of this redirect. I suggest that this does not make sense. The talk page should either not exist, or have a banner like {{Talk page of redirect}}. Thanks, EdJohnston (talk) 16:00, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

Dear Ed,

Thank you for your helpful comment; yes, this had occurred to me also, but I did not know of the existence of the template you mention, which I will apply immediately. So, thank you for taking the time to offer helpful advice, Ed, and please accept my apologies for causing you some unnecessary work. One is learning all the time...

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 16:18, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

September 18, 2016: You've got mail!

Please check your InBox.
Molto grazie! MusaVeneziana^(talk)

Thank you Pdebee

Hi Pdebee,

Thank you very much for the The Photographer's Barnstar. Uploading images is so much easier than writing the actual articles. SethWhales ^talk 21:16, 29 October 2016 (UTC)

Hi Pdebee,

Re: Cover images.

Not a problem at all. I will do my best :-) SethWhales ^talk 07:34, 30 October 2016 (UTC)

Hi Pdebee,

All done...but as I am no expert in this music you will need to tell me if they are not the correct albums covers for the article. SethWhales ^talk 08:52, 30 October 2016 (UTC)

If you have time, with the size of the Andy Irvine article and the amount of albums produced by him, it would make sense to produce a new article Andy Irvine discography. What do you think? SethWhales ^talk 09:00, 30 October 2016 (UTC)

Dear Seth,

You're a star, and a national treasure! Thank you so much for all your efforts!

I've just reviewed them and you're spot on: they were all the correct covers.

There is only one left to do from my earlier list: Live from the Powerhouse by his other band Mozaik. Very many thanks for fitting this one in as well, if/when you can.

Thank you also for you thoughtful suggestion, and yes: a separate article for his discography is currently in embryonic draft form already, although I've started with the harder effort of cataloguing his songs.

With my deepest gratitude for all you've done to help me and for the benefit of our readers;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:20, 30 October 2016 (UTC)

Live from the Powerhouse - Done...SethWhales ^talk 12:42, 30 October 2016 (UTC)

Actor

... to not make the discussion on the other talk page longer ;)

• We do have a page infobox actor, you can use it for recognition.
• Some of the fiercest infobox battles have been about actors, because some authors believe they should have no infobox at all. (If you don't know what I mean, check out Laurence Olivier.)
• I use infobox person for all people, ever since this memorable comment ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:10, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Kindness and wisdom you are!

Thank you so much for all your help on the "Úna O Boyle" page. I really though there was merit in all our work. I appreciate all of your wisdom. I will have a look at the suggestions and see what I can do. In the meantime I may have to tap into your wisdom once again. I have been given some Anthony Cronin edits to apply but they are not in any Wikipedia format so will have to rescript. I may need your wisdom and I really hope you don't mind me tapping in once again. I'll get to work anyhow and start beavering!!! AlexFicheall (talk) 20:24, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

Typo king. Another typo barnstar

You have documented over 230 different typos this year alone (each with multiple occurrences). Very impressive!

		The Typo Team Barnstar
		Top typo corrector for 2016 so far! Dig Deeper (talk) 02:34, 13 November 2016 (UTC)

Dear Dig deeper,
Thank you so much for your kind words and for taking the time to award me the barnstar above. I have just now visited your user page for the first time and it's heartwarming to discover another like-minded colleague, and friend.
My congratulations for your contributions to our encyclopaedia, and thank you for all you do in support of your fellow editors.
With kind regards;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:06, 13 November 2016 (UTC)

"Georgi Kornazov"; Or, Why I Cluttered One of Your User Pages and Then Disappeared for 6 Months

Heya Patrick,

Maybelle here. Just wanted to say that I'm sorry for filling up one of your user pages and then galloping off into the unknown. Real life has been getting in the way a lot (grimace), and I've only returned recently. I shall soon get back down to work on the Georgi Kornazov article, I swear.

But, in the meantime, you now have my pathetic excuse for leaving you hanging. Voilà. I shall now go drown my sorrows in soda water and stroopwafels. (shuffles off, sniffing guiltily)

Mademoiselle La Souris ^(Squeak!) 20:18, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

Dear Maybelle,

How wonderful to hear from you again! Welcome back! I am sorry to notice that real life was a bit challenging for you, but it has (and we have) a propensity towards change, and one always hopes: for the better. So, all very best wishes!

As for that article, please don't worry: it was waiting patiently for your return, and now you have; Yaaay!

When you're ready to resume working on it, please don't hesitate to ask for my participation if you need it; it will be a pleasure to work with you again.

Until then, I trust the sorrows and sniffles will abate very soon, as they were really and truly unwarranted.

Plus, it's a delicious treat to be able to read your matchless, humorous prose once again!

With kind regards, as ever;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 20:37, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

Heya Patrick!

I am also happy to have finally returned! Goodness knows it has been long enough . Unfortunately, it may be a while before I get down to some serious work on the Georgi Kornazov article, as I have just realized that A. Real life will continue being busy, and B. I seem to have forgotten some of my knowledge of wikicode during my criminally long absence (facepalms with evident zeal). However, my computer has been fixed, so now I will be able to add references and the like! :D (loud cheering)

Anyway, I hope to get down to work on the article soon, hopefully without annoying you with any questions

Toodles!

The No Longer Sniffling Mademoiselle La Souris ^(Squeak!) 23:53, 15 November 2016 (UTC)

List of photographs by Clive Barda

I'm not sure if adding the section header was the best way to get around the TOC issue. Feel free to change it as long as the TOC is right before the first section header. Cases like this one can be tough to find the right balance. Bgwhite (talk) 19:24, 22 November 2016 (UTC)

Dear Bgwhite,

Thank you very much for contacting me; I intended to leave you a message myself but you beat me to it. Thank you also very much for your patience with me, and for nudging me (twice) in the right direction.

My first error (of floating the TOC at the wrong place) was simply due to ignorance. Then, after you first relocated it, I read WP:TOC and managed to confuse myself by misinterpreting this sentence:

1. If floating the TOC, it should be placed at the end of the lead section of the text, before the first section heading.

In any case, your action of creating a new section header did the trick, although the box of the TOC is now slightly out of line with the section header. From a purely esthetic point of view, I liked it best the way I first had it, at the top right hand corner of the page, but I now understand the compelling reason for it to be positioned ahead of the first header.

One of the joys of Wikipedia is that we learn all the time; the other, is to be guided gently by helpful and supportive colleagues like yourself! So, thank you once again for everything you do in support of your fellow editors.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 02:15, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

Dear Bgwhite,

PS: WP:TOC is very clear about the TOC template being required before the section header, but I was wondering if it can alternatively be located immediately after it? I've just tested this in 'Show preview' mode, and it would position the small TOC box (in this case) neatly under the horizontal line of the section header. However, the guidelines don't mention anything about that, so I assume this would not be allowed; but, in case you know one way or the other, I'd be grateful to you for that clarification also, whenever convenient. Thank you, in anticipation.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 02:56, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

The way you have it now on the right side is fine. Generally, it's best to keep it on the left side. The two main exceptions are disambiguation pages and articles that are lists.

If the TOC is below the first section header, users of screen readers will not be able "to see" the TOC. It's as if the TOC is "invisible". If there is text between the TOC and first section header, the text becomes "invisible". I wish I could remember all the rules around here. I learn one and promptly forget one. Bgwhite (talk) 05:10, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

Help! Section linking does not seem to work.

Dear helpful fellow editors,
I seem to have a strange case of section linking not working, and I hope a kind soul will be able to look at it and advise me. I understand how section linking works, but after reorganizing my user page over the last few days, I created a new and very simple intra-article link which I can't get to work at all. Here is what I am trying to achieve, and you will need to go to my user page, which is where the problem occurs.
My user page has a main Wikipaedium vitae ツ section made of a series of collapsible tables, each containing a level3 section header with three level4 sections nested underneath.
In the Biography section, the first sentence reads:

For biographies of musicians, see Music (incl. biographies of musicians) below.

... and that section contains the lists of articles to which I have contributed edits, about music and biographies of musicians.
However, when I click on the link shown in the above (green) sentence, nothing happens and I remain in the Biography section instead of being taken to the section Music (incl. biographies of musicians) lower down. I have tried purging the user page after making changes, but it makes no difference.
In addition to the basic wikilink technique (currently coded in my user page), I have also tried the {{anchor}} template, and the {{section link}} template, but none of these three methods works. I am beginning to wonder if this problem might be caused by the simple fact that all these sections are included within {{cot}} and {{cob}} templates, but I haven't been able to find any warnings to the effect that "section linking does not work between sections imbedded within collapsible tables."
So, thank you very much in advance, for any helpful assistance anyone could offer, and please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused by my query, in case I have overlooked something really simple or fundamental, out of ignorance.
With kind regards;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 00:29, 24 November 2016 (UTC)
PS: I have also just noticed that, after posting the above message, clicking on any of the three links (Wikipaedium vitae ツ, Biography or Music (incl. biographies of musicians)) simply takes me to the top of my user page, but not directly to each of these three sections, as I would have expected. Thank you once again for looking at this, and shedding a bit of light...
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 00:40, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

You cannot tell a link to change the status of your collapsed boxes. You cannot end up at the "Music (incl. biographies of musicians)" because it's within a collapsed box which would need to be un-collapsed to even see the section heading.

What happens, at least for me, is that while the page is loading all those boxes are briefly shown as un-collapsed, and the link brings you to the exact position you wanted to link to. Then, as the page is fully loaded, the boxes all get collapsed, and since the boxes above the position you want to link to are then collapsed too, the link target is moved upwards (because collapsing the boxes reduces the amount of text further up on the page) - and you ultimately end up a little below the position you wanted to link to.

I do not think this can fixed. Huon (talk) 00:48, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

Dear Huon,

Thank you so much for your immensely prompt (!) and knowledgeable reply. I had intuitively suspected the collapsible tables had something to do with it, but now wonder if this is documented anywhere? In that case, please would you kindly add a link to the doc, so that I can study it from there? Thank you also for confirming that this cannot be fixed; however, this is not too problematic, because I can simply remove the links and anyone interested will have to go to the right place 'manually'. I really appreciate your very prompt and helpful assistance, Huon; thank you once again!

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 01:03, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

What is the name/colour code of 'Wikipedia blue'?

Dear helpful fellow editors,
I am in the process of reorganizing my user page and have decided to adopt the standard Wikipedia colour scheme, including the colour I would call Wikipedia blue. I have spent quite some time searching in Web colors and also in X11 color names for that precise blue, but I don't seem to be able to locate it.
The closest I found is #27408B, but it's slightly darker than Wikipedia blue, and #3A5FCD seems slightly lighter to me.
So, I would be most grateful if one of you helpful colleagues would kindly guide me to find the exact colour code for this blue.
Thank you very much in advance!
With kind regards;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 00:32, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

Try #0033cc, which is the normal link colour. Otherwise, you're probably best off doing palette matches on Google. Primefac (talk) 01:33, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

Dear Primefac,

Thank you so much for your very prompt and most helpful suggestion! It's exactly what I was hoping for and I'll apply it tomorrow (it's late here in West Wales). By the way, how/where did you find out that it is the normal link colour, please? Very many thanks once again for your kind advice.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 01:52, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

You're very welcome! I use Anomie's link classifier, and I remembered that it has a list of link colours. I'm glad I remembered that, because otherwise I'd have to dive into the CSS to find it. Primefac (talk) 03:16, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

Dear Primefac,

Great stuff! I didn't know of the existence of Anomie and his/her list of links but I am delighted you shared it with me, as it may well help me again in future. Also, I am quite glad neither of us had to dive into the CSS; speaking only for myself as a Wikignome, I don't much fancy swimming in strange places...

It's been a pleasure learning from you, Primefac, and thanks once again for all your great help.

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 09:43, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

If anyone is interested, here are other possibilities, which I found in List of colors: A–F (etc.):

• Absolute zero — Wikipedia blue.  Done
  
• Cobalt Blue — Wikipedia blue. (To my eye, this one seems the closest.)  ToDo
  
• Egyptian blue — Wikipedia blue.
  
• International Klein blue — Wikipedia blue.
  
• Royal azure — Wikipedia blue.
  
• UA blue — Wikipedia blue.
  
• Zaffre — Wikipedia blue.
  

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 00:16, 29 November 2016 (UTC)

wiki project album discussion

I started a discussion regarding the format of album pages here – and I'm looking for opinions. If you have anything, please add :)--Jennica✿ / ^talk 09:09, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

How to achieve 'category suppression' on my user page, please?

Dear helpful fellow editors,
I would like to suppress the display of categories—at the bottom of my user page—created by the userboxes I selected.
After reading Wikipedia:Category suppression, I tried adding the {{user other}} template at the top of my page but it didn't suppress the categories, which were still displayed at the bottom of the page. I have obviously misunderstood the purpose of this class of templates, as I haven't been able to find an example which said simply:

To suppress all categories displayed at the bottom of a user page, apply the following template: ...

This is obviously neither urgent nor important, but thank you very much in advance for any assistance, when convenient!
With kind regards;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 12:47, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

There is no way to directly suppress cats on a page (that I know of); you have to do them in the templates that are creating the categories. I've edited your WikiGnome templates to not include the category. If this is what you're looking for, then all you have to do is add the appropriate "nocat" trigger (for userboxes it's |nocat=, for others you may have to check the template itself). If this isn't what you're looking for, just re-open the {{help me}} with clarification. Primefac (talk) 15:00, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

Dear Primefac,

Well, it is most kind of you to come to my rescue, yet again! Please accept my apologies for imposing on you so frequently, but I suppose you're manning the Help desk out of choice?...

Thank you very much for your usual prompt and most helpful reply, and also for showing me how to do this by example. I was able to apply |nocat = yes to most of the remaining cases, except for the Userboxes category, even after applying the same code to all of my userboxes; how strange. I wonder what drives the displaying of this category, if it isn't simply the presence of one or more userboxes; maybe I missed one? ...

In any case, very many thanks once again for your kind and helpful assistance.

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 17:25, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

The only thing I can think of is that one of the userboxes you call has the Category:Userboxes code in it and |nocat= doesn't suppress it (probably due to poor formatting on the part of that UBX's creator). Primefac (talk) 17:38, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

Dear Primefac,

Thank you for the useful pointer. When I have more time, I'll try to locate the culprit...

In any case: very best wishes for a Happy New Year & Good Health!

With kind regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 17:45, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

PS: Woops... forgot the replyto template...

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 17:47, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

Just found it. [[Category:Userboxes|Bilingual|nocat=yes]] near the top of your userpage. You added the cat yourself! Primefac (talk) 17:55, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

Dear Primefac,

Goodness gracious me! How did you find it so quickly?! I am most impressed...

You are quite correct: as I was applying the code in bulk mode, I did not realize I also applied it to [[Category:Userboxes|Bilingual|nocat=yes]], as you say. Mind you, since I don't really understand how these things work, I would probably have (mistakenly) assumed that the |nocat=yes I added there would have cancelled it out but, evidently, that's not the case!

I am, as ever, most grateful to you, Primefac! Long may you man the Help desk!

With kindest regards;

Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(guestbook)} 18:20, 29 December 2016 (UTC)