PTL16

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Happy editing! 〜 Adflatuss • talk 05:20, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

Hello Adflatuss. Thank you for the welcome to the Wikipedia community and for providing the editing tips. The editing process is new to me so I have a lot to learn. I would like to add an article about Frederick Woodward Blanchard and I’m not sure how to do it so the links you provided will be very helpful. Thanks again for the welcome. PTL16 PTL16 (talk) 05:43, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

Here is relevant article: WP:BIO. Happy editing, 〜 Adflatuss • talk 06:36, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

Thank you!! PTL16 (talk) 08:27, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

FWB

Let's talk here instead. FWB sounds interesting to me; I don't have many sources, but I have about 20 years of wikipedia experience. You have lots of knowledge and lots of sources, no wikipedia experience to speak of, and a conflict of interest. I think if we put our heads together, we should be able to come up with an article for FWB, and possibly a distinct article for his headstone (if there are enough sources for that). Do you fancy working with me to get this thing done? --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:23, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

Thank you for reaching out directly. Yes, I would like to work with you and get this done. I’m working on several projects trying to provide information to multiple requests. It wasn’t my intention to become a regular contributor on multiple subjects. I was just trying to provide information on Mr. Blanchard that others have been requesting. I don’t have a desire to become a regular Wikipedia contributor, I was just trying get the information out in the most efficient way. How should we start? PTL16 (talk) 03:11, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

I've started to make a start - Draft:Frederick Woodward Blanchard. I've written a first-draft lead for the article, and collected a few very scrappy notes on things that might be covered in the body, and found a very few references. I must stress that I start from zero knowlege of FWB (but very much apprehend that he was the right man in the right place at the right time!).

I think what we need to do is to make a list of statements / assertions / claims in the Biography section of the draft covering the facets of FWB's life and endeavours which we think should be in the article; and then for each of them, identify a source, which will ideally be a book or a newpaper/magazine article. Prettymuch the rules will be, no source, no statement/assertion/claim.

The statements / assertions / claims can be as short as a note (as they are now) but need to be moved into the direction of sentences/paragraphs by adding context, so, dates, thumbnail sketches ... what does the reader need to know about this thing / what can we say about this thing.

For book sources we'll need title, author, publication date, page. For news sources, we'll need newspaper name, date, headline, page (if available), author (if there's an author credit)

If you have an electronic copy of F.W. Blanchard: First President of the Hollywood Bowl and are prepared to share it with me (tagishsimon@gmail.com) that would help; if so, I undertake to use it only for this project, not share it &c. (Ditto anything you have electronically.) If not then I need to lean on you to itemise the statements / assertions / claims because I lack your knowledge & your sources.

I am, btw, in the UK, so it's already rather late here and I'm probably done for the night.

So, by all means add anything you fancy to the draft page, make any edits you wish to, especially by way of

• mapping out the bones of the content of the article.
• providing details of the source which supports each assertion made
• providing dates, descriptive text &c

We do not need to worry much about readability at this point; essay plan and sources first, smooth writing second, probably.

I hope that works for you? Let me know. (and we can talk here, and/or in the draft article; either place is good.) thx. --Tagishsimon (talk) 03:55, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

What you have done so far is absolutely amazing. It’s much more than just a start. The outline you provided gives me the direction I need to pull things together on my end. I’ll get started on the list of tasks. I don’t have an electronic copy of the book but I will check with the publisher and they can hopefully provide me with one. The book was published in 2006 and I plan to update it at some point but in the interim I can provide you with some of the new information I plan to include. I have hundreds of newspaper clippings so I’ll start pulling the most important ones to send to you.I will also work on the list of statements and assertions. What is the best way to send you documents, copies of newspaper articles, photos etc. Should I just add attachments them to these emails? PTL16 (talk) 17:14, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

I'm happy to receive anything and everything as email attachents. I suspect if you photograph documents with your mobile phone, they'll be readable; or you may have a scanner, who knows. But to save you some effort, we probably need to distinguish between things I need to read, so as to add to the article; and things which merely provide a reference for an assertion, where you could provide just the bare details. However, for the moment, the ball is in your court, and you get to set the timescale and pace. --Tagishsimon (talk) 17:59, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

I do have a scanner for documents. I’ll be sending you some preliminary information this afternoon and then I’ll start categorizing subjects and events and send you the most important documents for each, along with the sources and references that correlate. For example, I may have 25 or more articles or book excerpts on Mr. Blanchard’s contributions to the Hollywood Bowl and they may all have basically the same information or assertions. I will send you the most important documents for each category first for your review and then you can let me know if you need more information or references. That way you won’t need to go through a lot of unnecessary items.

I’m excited about getting this done so I will be working as quickly as I can. For expediency, most of what I write will be in a very rough draft. I can tell that you work very quickly which I love and I will do my best to keep up with you. PTL16 (talk) 18:51, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

Excellent; thank you. Look forward to it. --Tagishsimon (talk) 19:28, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

This question will validate my lack of knowledge about the inner workings of the Wikipedia process. How do I attach documents to this email? I’ve looked for an attachment icon above the reply box and I don’t see one. I’m working on an iPhone and the “attachment” option I would normally use doesn’t seem to be available for this email system. I’m almost ready to send some documents. How do I attach them? PTL16 (talk) 21:19, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

If you're sending them to tagishsimon@gmail.com - that's a normal internet email account, nothing to do with wikipedia. I'm not a mobile phone user, but maybe type that email address in as a contact & do what you normally do? --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:27, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

I have been unblocked by Wikipedia. I have no idea why that happened but I’m back on now so I’m going to start filling in some of the family background information on the draft. I’m still working on getting an electronic copy of the book. It was published in 2006 and the publisher told me that the format may need to be reconfigured before they can provide it. Hopefully, that can be done sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I’m working on the list of statements / assertions & claims for the Biography section. Still trying to get familiar with the Wikipedia formatting & policies. I will definitely need to lean on your expertise. PTL16 (talk) 03:05, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

I just published what I worked on today. Still struggling with the format. There are several rough edits that need to be fleshed out. I’m working on that. I have sources for the detailed editing I did today but I’m not sure how to insert them into the article. Lots to learn. Is there a limit on the size of the article? Please make any changes/corrections. Let me know if what I’ve edited today is heading in the right direction. PTL16 (talk) 10:02, 6 November 2023 (UTC)