User talk:William Harris

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A barnstar for you!

		The Canine Barnstar
		For tirelessly completing the monumental task of reviewing and reclassifying all of the dog related articles on English Wikipedia (over 3800 of them). Cavalryman (talk) 12:07, 16 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Lessons learned from Corinne †

Lessons I have learned from User:Corinne, Assistant Coorinator, Guild of Copy Editors.

Be aware of the differences between American English and British English. There are very few differences in grammar; there are more differences in spelling and vocabulary. See MOS:ENGVAR, Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Spelling, and Comparison of American and British English.
As much as possible, try to write so that each statement flows logically from what precedes it; try to make the connection clear and don't leave it up to the reader to guess.
Focus on the clarity of the sentence – is it saying what it is meant to say?
After writing, go through and re-read. Remove all extra, unnecessary, or repetitive words.
The word "however" is overused. Often, the word "but" works fine, and sometimes no word is necessary. See User:Rothorpe for pointers on good writing.
Provide an explanatory phrase when needed.
Except for the first few words of a line, use the no-break-space template {{nbsp}} between a single letter or one- or two-digit number and what follows it. (However, within a template that uses curly brackets such as the quote template or the cite ref template, use the HTML   instead.)
Use present tense when something is current or on-going; use present tense for scientific truths or to describe a process. The present tense can also be used to discuss events/action in a work of fiction, and can sometimes be used to discuss historical events/action, in which case it is called "the historical present (tense)".
Use present perfect tense (have or has + past participle – have researched, has begun, has been documented) for very recent events or events that have not clearly ended, i.e., that may continue).
Focus on when to use "which" and when to use "that". "That" is used to introduce a restrictive, or limiting, adjective clause – information that is necessary to identify, or limit, the noun it is modifying, i.e., following . "Which" is used to introduce a non-restrictive adjective clause – extra information, information that is not necessary to identify the noun it is modifying. See English relative clause.
Be careful when using the pronouns "it", "they", and "them". Be sure it is clear to what or to whom they refer. If it is not clear, use a name or noun instead.
Be careful when using the demonstrative pronouns "this", "that", "these", and "those". Be sure it is clear to what or to whom they refer. It it is not clear, add a noun after them. For example, instead of writing "That was a turning point", write "That battle was a turning point." (When any of these words are followed by noun, they are called demonstrative adjectives.)
Keep the use of the present participle of be, "being", to a minimum. If possible, try to re-word the sentence to avoid using it. "Being" can be used in the right place, but use it sparingly.
When referring to something with different words in the same sentence (such as on boh sides of the verb be – am, is, are, was, were, will be, have/has/had been) or nearby sentences, make sure to match a singular noun with singular noun and a plural noun with a plural noun. Precede a singular countable noun with "a" or "an".
Use adverbs to modify action verbs – eventually finished, generally agreed, always won, often traveled/travelled – or adjectives – very difficult, really important, rather good, somewhat reserved. See MOS:HYPHEN about when to hyphenate and when not to hyphenate adverbs.
Vary the verbs; try not to use the same word over and over. For example, instead of "indicated", use "showed", "yielded evidence of", "pointed to", "suggested", "implied". The dictionary entry of a word in an on-line dictionary such as Merriam-Webster often includes a list of synonyms. The thesaurus entry for the same word will often supply more words with similar meaning.
Don't forget to use &nbsp

Vital articles

I have started a draft of the level 5 vital articles rewrite draft, User:Cavalryman/sandbox/sandbox 1. I think there is a great amount of room to expand species at the expense of many of the breed articles and almost all of the individual dogs articles (Laika is the only one I would include).

There are currently 16 spots to fill, but I would be happy to sacrifice some more breeds if more spots are required. What are your thoughts? Feel free to make some additions. I will present it at WT:DOGS when we have a solution. Cavalryman (talk) 10:21, 7 December 2021 (UTC).[reply]

Hello Cavalryman, I shall take a look at a listing of canid articles in visitor-popular order, and see what that turns up. Keep up the good work! William Harris (talk) 10:25, 7 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Cavalryman, my choices for inclusion in priority order are the following:

Red fox - Top importance with 54,000 views per month
Maned wolf - Top importance with 54,000 views per month
African wild dog - Top importance with 39,000 views per month
Dire wolf - Low importance with 39,000 views per month
Arctic fox - Top importance with 37,000 views per month
Fennec fox - Top importance with 36,000 views per month
Wolfdog - Low importance with 29,000 views per month
Canis - Top importance with 25,000 views per month
Dhole - Top importance with 25,000 views per month
Golden jackal - Top importance with 21,000 views per month
Red wolf - Top importance with 17,000 views per month
Coywolf - High importance with 15,000 views per month
Gray fox - High importance with 15,000 views per month
Vulpes - Top importance with 14,000 views per month
Caninae - Top importance with 13,000 views per month
Eurasian wolf - Top importance with 12,000 views per month
Arctic wolf - Top importance with 11,000 views per month

William Harris (talk) 09:59, 8 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Many thanks. Cavalryman (talk) 10:55, 8 December 2021 (UTC).[reply]

Cavalryman, for the "cascade effect", please see my sandbox under Wolf. Note that the Dire wolf, Maned wolf, and Red wolf should not fall under Wolf article (which is the grey wolf Canis lupus). All of these species fall under the Caninae, a living subgroup of the Canidae. Else, just list them at the same level - I cannot see what is being gained by cascading them. Let me know if you need some more. William Harris (talk) 09:59, 8 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

What do you think of this? I know Fox and Jackal aren’t exactly scientifically backed groupings but they’re commonly known. Cavalryman (talk) 11:14, 8 December 2021 (UTC).[reply]

That is quite a collection of biters. Fox and Jackal are phenotypically descriptive terms, and they have enough visitors to indicate people know what they are seeking. William Harris (talk) 11:19, 8 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Iranian Leopard name adding into article

I was told not to add the term until there were articles using the name commonly, though I found at least one using it, but it didn't count anyway. I also asked if it was appropriate if I as a Wikipedia published papers as a biologist and that would count, but the users seemed to misunderstand what I stated. What should I do? The conversation is here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Panthera_pardus_tulliana#Iranian_Leopard Firekong1 (talk) 00:29, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The issue appears to be that Iran is the modern name for Persia, and at naming time of this leopard Persia was in existence and therefore has name priority. William Harris (talk) 06:57, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Alright. Makes sense. But in the future, when the name "Iranian Leopard" is used more exclusively, then would it count for addition? Firekong1 (talk) 14:11, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I believe it would if it is used in multiple WP:RELIABLE sources - one mention does not make it a WP:COMMONNAME. William Harris (talk) 06:24, 16 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Alright. Then I'll write quite a few research papers regarding the animal and using the name one day! Firekong1 (talk) 03:59, 19 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Merry Christmas!

~~~ Merry Christmas! ~~~
Joyeux Noël! ~ Buon Natale! ~ Vrolijk Kerstfeest! ~ Frohe Weihnachten!
¡Feliz Navidad! ~ Feliz Natal! ~ Καλά Χριστούγεννα! ~ Hyvää Joulua!
God Jul! ~ Glædelig Jul! ~ Linksmų Kalėdų! ~ Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus!
Häid Jõule! ~ Wesołych Świąt! ~ Boldog Karácsonyt! ~ Veselé Vánoce!
Veselé Vianoce! ~ Crăciun Fericit! ~ Sretan Božić! ~ С Рождеством!
শুভ বড়দিন! ~ 圣诞节快乐！~ メリークリスマス！~ 메리 크리스마스!
สุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาส! ~ Selamat Hari Natal! ~ Giáng sinh an lành!
Весела Коледа!

Hello, William Harris! Thank you for your work to maintain and improve Wikipedia! Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 07:55, 22 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Spread the WikiLove and leave other users this message by adding {{subst:Multi-language Season's Greetings}}

Seconded! see you in three days :P--Licks-rocks (talk) 22:08, 22 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Many thanks, you too. I must leave now - wife demands it! William Harris (talk) 22:17, 22 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Merry Christmas

	Merry Christmas William Harris
	Hi William Harris, I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year, Thank you for all your contributions to Wikipedia, –Davey2010^Talk 17:50, 23 December 2021 (UTC)[reply] Share similar holiday wishes by adding {{subst:User:Davey2010/MerryChristmas}} to your friends' talk pages.