Afterwriting

As a professional educator and writer my principal editing roles are fixing grammar, punctuation and style problems in articles. I believe that articles should be written in a straightforward and modern English style (not in a convoluted and outdated 19th-century style as so many articles sadly are). I have a low tolerance for the many editors who frequently misuse articles for promoting their personal opinions or their uncritical or ideological following of belief systems, as well as any kinds of hype, advertising, slander and blatant bias. I do not make too many editing mistakes and I am always happy to have any mistakes corrected if done politely and with reference to the Manual of Style instead of merely personal preference.

Some people with Wikipedia pages I have known or met

A. C. Grayling, Adam Phillips (psychologist), Alan Jones (priest), Ann Vriend, Ben Folds, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Blossom Dearie, Brian Cadd, Brother Roger, Bruce Kent, Bryan Dawe, Claudio Naranjo, David Farrer, David Silk (bishop), David Tacey, Derek Guille, Don Richard Riso, Donald Allchin, Eddie Maguire, Eddi Reader, Eli Jaxon-Bear, Enya, Frank Little, Frank Woods (archbishop of Melbourne), Garry McDonald, Geoffrey Blainey, George Pell, Glenn Shorrock, Graham Leonard, Huston Smith, James Hillman, Janet Seidel, Janis Ian, John Farnham, John Gorton, John Hepworth, John Hazlewood, John Longmire, John Macquarrie, John A. Sanford, Jon Faine, Graham Leonard, Helen Garner, Jim Keays, John Clarke (satirist), John A. Sanford, John Howard, Johnny O'Keefe, Jordan Peterson, Kenneth Leech, Kevin Andrews (politician), Les Murray (poet), Loudon Wainwright III, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Luka Bloom, Marcus Loane, Martin Thornton, Martha Wainwright, Matthew Fox (priest), Melanie Safka, Michael Brotherton (priest), Michael Leunig, Michael Palin, Michael Ramsey, Molly Ringwald, Nick Dal Santo, Ralph McTell, Robert Dann, Robert A. Johnson (psychotherapist), Robert Runcie, Rosalind Runcie, Rosemary Clooney, Rowan Williams, Roy Higgins, Peter Carnley, Peter Hollingworth, Spike Milligan, Taj Mahal (musician), Thomas Moore (spiritual writer), Tiny Tim (musician), Tom Paxton

This user resists the POV pushing of lunatic charlatans.

This user has pending changes reviewer rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)

This editor is a WikiGnome.

enThis user is a native speaker of the English language.

This user comes from Australia.

en-auThis user is a native speaker of Australian English.

This user supports changing the Flag of Australia.

Beware! This user's talk page is patrolled by talk page stalkers.

abcThs usre haz verry goode spelng.

IP addressThis user supports mandatory registration.

This user is a supporter of the
St Kilda Football Club
Oh how I want to be with St Kilda!

This user has visited 27 of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.27

This user comes from Victoria.

This user is a member of
the Guild of Copy Editors.

“,;:’This user is a punctuation stickler.

This user has been the victim
of an unintentional block.

A, B, and
A and BThis user prefers to use the serial comma only when its omission can be confusing.

əThis user is a Grammar Nazi.

linkspamThis user despises linkspam, and will terminate it on sight, as well as any other spam by the contributor.

This user despises vandalism and reverts it with extreme pride.

Today's motto... → Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans. Nominate one today!

This user reserves the right to completely screw up his own edits.

This user knows that his userboxes are disorganised but has decided that he doesn't really care.

This editor is an Experienced Editor and is entitled to display this Service Badge.

Some pages of helpful information to get you started:   Introduction to Wikipedia   The five pillars of Wikipedia   Editing tutorial   How to edit a page   Simplified Manual of Style   The basics of Wikicode   How to develop an article   How to create an article   Help pages   What Wikipedia is not

Some common sense Do's and Don'ts:   Do be bold   Do assume good faith   Do be civil   Do keep cool!   Do maintain a neutral point of view   Don't spam   Don't infringe copyright   Don't edit where you have a conflict of interest   Don't vandalize   Don't get blocked

If you need further help, you can:   Ask a question

or even:   Ask an experienced editor to "adopt" you

Alternatively type {{helpme}} here on your talk page and someone will try to help.

There are many ways you can contribute to Wikipedia. Here are a few ideas:   Fight vandalism   Be a WikiFairy or a WikiGnome   Help contribute to articles

Perform maintenance tasks   Become a member of a project that interests you   Help design new templates

Remember to always sign your posts on talk pages. You can do this either by clicking on the button on the edit toolbar or by typing four tildes (~~~~) at the end of your post. This will automatically insert your signature, a link to this (your talk) page, and a timestamp.

The best way to learn about something is to experience it. Explore, learn, contribute, and don't forget to have some fun!
To get some practice editing you can use a sandbox. You can create your own private sandbox for use any time. Perfect for working on bigger projects. Then for easy access in the future, you can put {{My sandbox}} on your user page. By the way, seeing as you haven't created a user page yet, simply click here to start it.