User talk:Firespeaker

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Welcome[edit]

Welcome to Wikinews

A nice cup of coffee for you while you get started

Getting started as a contributor
How to write an article
  1. Pick something current?
  2. Use two independent sources?
  3. Read your sources before writing the story in your own words?. Do choose a unique title? before you start.
  4. Follow Wikinews' structure? for articles, answering as many of who what when where why and how? as you can; summarised in a short, two- or three-sentence opening paragraph. Once complete, your article must be three or more paragraphs.
  5. If you need help, you can add {{helpme}} to your talkpage, along with a question, or alternatively, just ask?

  • Use this tab to enter your title and get a basic article template.
    [RECOMMENDED. Starts your article through the semi-automated {{develop}}—>{{review}}—>{{publish}} collaboration process.]

 Welcome! Thank you for joining Wikinews; we'd love for you to stick around and get more involved. To help you get started we have an essay that will guide you through the process of writing your first full article. There are many other things you can do on the project, but its lifeblood is new, current, stories written neutrally.
As you get more involved, you will need to look into key project policies and other discussions you can participate in; so, keep this message on this page and refer to the other links in it when you want to learn more, or have any problems.

Wikipedia's puzzle-globe logo, © Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia's puzzle-globe logo, © Wikimedia Foundation
  Used to contributing to Wikipedia? See here.
All Wikimedia projects have rules. Here are ours.

Listed here are the official policies of the project, you may be referred to some of them if your early attempts at writing articles don't follow them. Don't let this discourage you, we all had to start somewhere.

The rules and guides laid out here are intended to keep content to high standards and meet certain rules the Wikimedia Foundation applies to all projects. It may seem like a lot to read, but you do not have to go through it all in one sitting, or know them all before you can start contributing.

Remember, you should enjoy contributing to the project. If you're really stuck come chat with the regulars. There's usually someone in chat who will be happy to help, but they may not respond instantly.

The core policies
Places to go, people to meet

Wiki projects work because a sense of community forms around the project. Although writing news is far more individualistic than contributing to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, people often need minor help with things like spelling and copyediting. If a story isn't too old you might be able to expand it, or if it is disputed you may be able to find some more sources and rescue it before it is listed for deletion.

There are always discussions going on about how the site could be improved, and your input is of value. Check the links here to see where you can give input to the running of the Wikinews project.

Find help and get involved
Write your first article for Wikinews!

Use the following box to help you create your first article. Simply type in a title to your story and press "Create page". Then start typing text to your story into the new box that will come up. When you're done, press "save page". That's all there is to it!



It is recommended you read the article guide before starting. Also make sure to check the list of recently created articles to see if your story hasn't already been reported upon.

--Pi zero (talk) 14:38, 16 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Published. Congrats! The first article or few are generally the most difficult, as one is learning everything at once, trying to clamber up our initial learning curve; it's not at all uncommon for the first article (or more) to be a major learning experience but not make it to publication. Well done. :-)  --Pi zero (talk) 01:22, 19 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, @Pi zero:. I came out of the experience feeling like my efforts would be better focused on contributions to Wikipedia. Wikinews isn't quite what I thought it was, and I'm a little irked at how non-English-language sources are treated (though I do understand the reason). I'll try to keep an open mind about contributing in the future but it probably won't happen again soon.
No problem. Some folks try several projects to work out where they feel is right for them; Wikinews is most right for me, I've met folks for whom Wiktionary or Wikisource is home, and presumably every project has its natives. And some people have secondary projects, too (case in point, I'm also an admin on Wikibooks). If you know more now about Wikinews, and can make more informed decisions about when it's the right tool for the job, so much the better. Cheers. --Pi zero (talk) 04:38, 19 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Knock. knock.[edit]

A team barnstar for you! A total of seven news articles were published on January 18, 2017, including yous! Cheers.
Agastya Chandrakant ⚽️ 🏆 🎾 🎬 🎤 📰 10:46, 19 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]