User:TrekFan/TalkArchive2011

have you ever
Have you ever seen TOS (The Original Series) of Star Trek? Just curious.--AnyGuy 14:51, January 16, 2011 (UTC)
 * Hi there, yes I have but I have to say it's not my favourite. Can I ask why? -- TrekFan Talk 14:56, January 16, 2011 (UTC)

Multiple Edits
If you could edit your user page in a different tab in your browser, and just leave it open until your done, you wouldn't have to keep adding pages one at a time as you make them. - 19:35, January 16, 2011 (UTC)
 * Hi there, I know and I usually would do that but the computer I'm using is incredibly unreliable and I don't want it to crash on me when I have lots of information unsaved. If it's going to be a problem, I'll try to keep my edits down to a minimum from now on though. :) -- TrekFan Talk 19:39, January 16, 2011 (UTC)

Sunday tends to be a slow day, so I don't think it will be a big issue. You can use your contributions to track things if something gos wrong, just in case. I've had to do that a few times when my computer took a dump on me. - 19:46, January 16, 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah, well I don't usually make this many edits at one time anyway. Just thought I'd kill a few red links today - and I always use the preview button! :) -- TrekFan Talk 19:53, January 16, 2011 (UTC)

Mystery greeting?
Hi, TrekFan.

I know your sign says you prefer to keep talk postings in one place, but I couldn't help asking for more info about why you greeted me on my talk page. Do I know you? Should I but am forgetting? It's been puzzling me the past few days. (No one posts on my talk page unless it's to correct/admonish me!)

Perhaps you can clear up the "mystery".....

14:32, January 19, 2011 (UTC)


 * Haha! I was saying Hi 'cos I don't believe I have seen you on here before. I've continued this on your talk page. -- TrekFan Talk 14:38, January 19, 2011 (UTC)

New Starfleet personnel
When adding these new people and items, please also add links to them on the episode pages that they are referenced in. That allows us to "build the web" a bit more, and makes it easy to follow things back and forth. Thanks. -- sulfur 19:26, January 20, 2011 (UTC)
 * I was going to. I'm working off the personnel assignment log images and getting the articles down first, then I will add the links to the episode article. And can I also suggest giving people chance to actually complete/amend any articles they are working on before you go rushing in thinking you know what's best? I noticed you rushed into changing Daviomeisi and then you realised it was correct in the first place? Allow me time to finish what I was doing and add the links, then you can go over it all and change what you like. -- TrekFan Talk 19:44, January 20, 2011 (UTC)

Inuse
Since the inuse template is generally only for use when you will have the edit window open for a prolonged period of time, to avoid edit conflicts, can you respond here to let me know when I can add some information to Jonathan Archer. - 23:57, January 25, 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah sure, no problem. I have like a dozen windows open atm while I gather all the reference material and place it into the article. I'm trying to add quite a lot of stuff to the relationships part and I want to be thorough. I'll try not to be too long and I'll post a message on your talk page once I've finished if that's OK? :) -- TrekFan Open a channel 00:01, January 26, 2011 (UTC)

No problem, just wanted to make sure. You can just put something at the end in the edit summary btw, you don't need to write a separate message or anything. - 00:07, January 26, 2011 (UTC)
 * OK, cool. I might do that then. Let you know when! :) -- TrekFan Open a channel 00:10, January 26, 2011 (UTC)

Astrophysics & astrophysicists
Hey

Really appreciate your help/advice/encouragement. I don't know if I did it correctly – if not, a poor admin will have to step in :-/ – but it was fun for me to collaborate w/you.

Keep up the good work! (helping shy newbies like me) 21:23, January 26, 2011 (UTC)
 * Hey don't worry about it. The way I see it is that this is a collaborative effort between lots of people, whether they have been editing for years or hours. You should never be afraid to contribute something you think should be there as long as it has a source in canon (and you're not spamming! lol). Only by this way will you ever gain the experience and knowledge of articles to help you improve in the future. Plus, there's always the article talk page should you need to discuss something you have added and any changes can be reverted so you're not exactly "ruining" the site. As for your comments, I greatly appreciate them and I hope we can work together some more on future articles. -- TrekFan Open a channel 21:30, January 26, 2011 (UTC)

Cool, thanks. I also updated all the links (per Archduk3's instruction). I'm extra cautious on article talk pages because of the note left on my talk page, warning me about my discussion on Talk:Fred Freiberger. It's left me cautious/timid about the whole thing, though I'm gradually getting used to it. You've been a big help, as has Archduk3. Hope to see you around again soon! 18:00, January 27, 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks, glad to be of help! -- TrekFan Open a channel 22:32, January 27, 2011 (UTC)

I've tried to list all the astrophysicists based on the "what links here" (after I changed each article from pipes to true links to astrophysicist, where appropriate). I could be missing people, and it'd be nice if you could take a quick look at it for any glaring/obvious gaffes. Thanks again. 17:45, January 28, 2011 (UTC)


 * Wow. As far as I can tell, that looks very thorough. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but if I think of any or hear of any being mentioned in any episodes I watch, I'll let you know. Nice work. -- TrekFan Open a channel 18:44, January 28, 2011 (UTC)

Deletions
If you find a page that needs to be deleted immediately, you can add to the top of the page, do not replace the content though, and add it to Memory Alpha:Pages for immediate deletion. - 23:10, January 27, 2011 (UTC)
 * Sure, no problem. I actually forgot about the deletion template. -- TrekFan Open a channel 23:12, January 27, 2011 (UTC)

Images
All screen shots from a Star Trek production need to have added to them, since images without a copyright template will be removed from articles and deleted, so we don't all get sued. - 23:45, January 28, 2011 (UTC)
 * Shoot! Did I forget to add it? Sorry about that, I don't usually forget to add the boiler plate to the images. -- TrekFan Open a channel 23:46, January 28, 2011 (UTC)

FA nomination: Nero, Number 2
Hey

Sorry I wasn't able to give a firm support (I only left comments – I could neither decide whether to support/oppose nor be certain whether my comments were applicable to a FA nomination. I may yet give a vote.).

I really do think you did a good job telling a compelling story; it seems almost none of the books/comics here even have summaries – a source of frustration for me, who doesn't have access to any of the licensed written works. My main issues were with the prose, but I'm a stickler on "wordsmithing". I think in addition to the comments I provided, someone should go through the article and do some minor "cleaning"/editing (it's hard to edit your own work). If you want, I could give it a shot, but I don't know how that affects the FA status. (ie, if someone were to edit the article while it was up for FA nomination, it wouldn't be "stable", which, as I understand, is one of the criteria) Let me know.

Anyway, thanks for your work on it. Maybe if we tweaked it a little it would gain FA status. It seems someone (you?) did a thorough job adding pictures, bg facts, etc. And contrary to the one oppose, I rather like the narrative, quasi-melodramatic style. (Though if I were writing it, I'd make it far duller and more formal.)

Finally, have you considered writing this up for ? I think their (see theirs: ) might make your retelling more suitable. (It seems MA tends to read more like a true encyclopædia, I think.) And a cursory glance at seems as though if could really use your touch – it's not nearly as detailed. Also, they're for the non-canon stuff anyway, so they might be more receptive to a detailed exposition of a non-canon work.

Just my "£0.02" ;) – You're British, right?

Sorry about the length. I'm trying to cut down, but it takes a good writer to combine clarity and concision!

19:27, January 30, 2011 (UTC)
 * Hey, no I appreciate your comments. You are right on a lot of things and I have edited a few to suit. I would appreciate it if you could have a quick run through it and edit any things you think may need changing. I noticed you said about the tense changing towards the end. I did that on purpose, as it was meant to imply that Nero had killed the guards during the five minutes ("Five minutes later, Ayel..."). The reason I didn't include more background of what has happened is because it's a series of comics and if you click on the navigation bar at the bottom, you can jump to #1 (which I also wrote!) and find out.


 * I really appreciate your comments and any edits you think would improve it, please do. And, yes I am British! Thanks for giving your 2p worth! (That's the denomination equivalent to cents, but I'm sure you know that already :p). --TrekFan Open a channel 19:33, January 30, 2011 (UTC)

Hi!

Just wanted to alert you that I made some edits to the article. I didn't have time to review them – on to the surgeon :-( – I was trying to implement a few changes I thought might be needed in a FA (see: ). I tried to supply an intro informing the reader what the article is about, as well as put in a "recap" subsection (that, if you decide to keep it, probably must be re-written: I haven't read the comics and was just guessing!)

I do think, though, that an intro describing the article (so the reader doesn't have to glean it from the sidebar, etc.) is important before the summary-narrative. I also think a brief recap, like how episodes did in multi-part shows, is necessary: isn't a FA supposed to be rather self-contained?

I could be way off in all this; please revert either wholesale or in parts if you find my cursory editing worsened things. It just represents kind of what I think is missing. It's still a good article that has my support, though (FAs don't have to conform to the "perfect article" thing!)

Hope I was helpful. Maybe you can just borrow/adapt a couple things (or none). Your call. Wish I could stick around to help longer! :-/

15:40, February 1, 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your comments! I too don't have time to go through it thoroughly but I will later tonight and leave my thoughts on the talk page. Thanks. -- TrekFan Open a channel 15:44, February 1, 2011 (UTC)

Hey

Just wanted to let you know: I changed to a strong support. And I was serious about it coming close to. You turned (and got others involved) a mundane article into something even I find interesting! (I haven't any comics and don't care much for any film, Trek or not.) I hope it passes. Also: please keep apprising me about stuff I can involve myself in/help out if I'm able – I've developed yet another especially severe (to go with my myriad more serious ones) that'll keep me lying around with my iPod on MA. I feel like I'm a mere organic pain collector... :-/ 20:26, February 2, 2011 (UTC)
 * No problem! Thanks for your comments. I thought it would be nice to get an unusual article featured (that is, if it passes!). And I'm sorry to hear about your problems. I can't begin to imagine how you are coping. -- TrekFan Open a channel 23:30, February 2, 2011 (UTC)

Non-canon tip
If you wish to save some time when you type a non-canon warning, you can put. There are a few other edithint templates, as well. --31dot 22:11, January 30, 2011 (UTC)
 * Cool, thanks for the tip! -- TrekFan Open a channel 22:13, January 30, 2011 (UTC)

USS Defiant
Please keep in mind that the link to "USS Defiant" is not the link to the ship from DS9. It is a disambiguation page. The ships from DS9 are USS Defiant (2370) (the first DS9 one) and USS Defiant (2375) (the second DS9 one). -- sulfur 13:34, February 18, 2011 (UTC)

Templates
So this is the second draft of my message to you, since you felt it necessary to grandstand. The original message seems fairly pointless in that context.

Here are the templates you should be using: Memory Alpha:Inline templates, Memory Alpha:Message templates. Failure to use these, after being told several times to do so, is just making work for other users. Also, if you needed to make a point, you could have used my talkpage, as you yourself pointed out. - 22:56, March 11, 2011 (UTC)
 * "Several times" - excuse me, but I haven't been told several times to use these templates. I didn't even know disambig templates existed until now. Previously, I'm sure they were done using :  . As for the second point, I am fed up of people placing comments directed at me or others in the edit summary, particularly ones that are sarcastic in nature. Therefore, I felt it necessary to place a comment back. If you, or anyone else for that matter, wants to discuss something, please use my talk page. Edit summaries are for detailing the changes you have made to an article, as I'm sure you're aware. --| TrekFan Open a channel 23:02, March 11, 2011 (UTC)

unsigned v unsigned-anon
Please use the second (unsigned-anon) when signing anon's talk page comments when they have not signed them. It acts differently than the first (unsigned), as it does not try to link to a "homepage" for them, but rather directly to their contributions. Thanks. -- sulfur 11:39, March 16, 2011 (UTC)

Re: Detective/PI merge talk
Why thank you; that's the most positive (at least recognized) contribution I've ever made here! :)

Looking at both articles, though, I think it'd take someone a little time to bring a merged Detective/PI one up to par – not something I'd dislike, of course.

Take care!

12:34, March 16, 2011 (UTC)
 * Hey, you convinced me! :) I'm sure if you do decide to bring it up to scratch, it would be a great article. --| TrekFan Open a channel 13:26, March 16, 2011 (UTC)

Colloquial names v credit names
You want me to do this on your talk page, so:

Use proper credit names, not colloquial names. -- sulfur 00:29, March 19, 2011 (UTC)

Destiny disambigs
I'm not sure you need disambiguation links for Destiny on each page, as they don't have the exact same title(Destiny). --31dot 21:44, March 19, 2011 (UTC)
 * Oh right. I thought I should add them just in case. You think I should remove them? --| TrekFan Open a channel 21:46, March 19, 2011 (UTC)

I might, only because if you were confused about which Destiny page you were looking for, you would type Destiny and end up at the episode and use that disambiguation- you wouldn't end up at one of the other pages. --31dot 21:49, March 19, 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah, good point. I hadn't thought of it like that. I'll remove them now, just give me a few minutes. --| TrekFan Open a channel 21:52, March 19, 2011 (UTC)

Do it whenever. Not worried about it. :) --31dot 21:56, March 19, 2011 (UTC)
 * It's done now. I kept the one on Star Trek: Destiny just in case someone searches for that thinking it's the episode article. I've removed the others on the novel pages. --| TrekFan Open a channel 22:00, March 19, 2011 (UTC)

Ten-Forward discussion
Hey, TrekFan.

I composed a response to your recent Ten-Forward post concerning edit summaries (an issue that arouses my opinions), and I was wondering whether you'd like me to post it there, here, or not at all ("let sleeping dogs lie"). I maintained a rather neutral position, though I agreed with you on some key points – but tried to see things from both POV. I had a couple suggestions to alleviate or even ameliorate things. Let me know what you'd like.

And posting a reply on my page (click to start a discussion) would be most helpful, for I'd then see the "new message" sign. Sorry about your recent troubles! :( 17:15, March 23, 2011 (UTC)

Nav template and Melora Pazlar
Hi!

(Sorry this got far too long. I'm working on that... :-/)

Hey, I'm sorry I couldn't throw my wholehearted support behind the considerable effort you made with the Starbase nav template. I don't have a problem with it, and it looks nifty. OTOH, the starbases are difficult to examine based on number/name alone; they need context. (Except, of course, Deep Space 9 and K-7.) It seems reasonable to simply link to the category as needed. But I wouldn't vote "delete" and do appreciate all the ambitious hard work you did. :)

Re that stubborn, intractable Elaysian, Ensign Melora Pazlar: I composed a rather long, circuitous response about my reaction to the text but declined to post it.. In sum, I think the text needs "wikifying" as well as some paragraph rewrites. Clearly more than one person wrote the text, for repetitious phrases "collide" at times (e.g. and IIRC, a couple "howevers" and "Commander Benjamin Siskos"). Also, IMO, enough prose problems (e.g., intrasentence tense/voice/case changes, awkward diction and flow, a few grammar bugs) exist to make it fall short of an encyclopædic article. I began to do some rewrites but ended up discarding them: I didn't want to make the article appear unstable in case you nominate it, and I hadn't the energy. (I can always post my suggestions and even rewrite attempts later, if you wish.)

But here's an example of my general advice: describing her serving in the "early 2370s" isn't great. We don't know how long she served/lived, so I prefer the more vague "Ensign Pazlar....began service in the late 24th century." Or something akin. And introducing her as "Ensign Melora Pazlar" eliminates the need for "held the rank of...", which sounds discordant (to me). Concision+precision=good, unlike my rambling posts! IMO, it needs general "tightening".

Still, two things are in its favour:
 * 1) Many FAs have as much or more wording woes – I'm just a stickler about such things. More important than grammar are clarity and brevity. I don't think they're actually valid FA objections – for MA, at least.
 * 2) The article has a lot of detail/info about this obscure character and virtually no disagreements on its talk page. Someone did his/her research, and it appears to be w/out controversy.

While I wouldn't necessarily support it, if it did fail, I could perhaps help with a PR rewrite. (Or a proactive one...maybe!?)

Anyway, good luck on both! Thanks for soliciting my opinions. Just my $/£/€0.02. ;-)

(I'm now exhausted – don't worry about any more long posts from me for a while!)

Take care way over there, across the sea.... 13:20, March 31, 2011 (UTC)


 * Response: Nav template and Melora Pazlar

New users changing avatars
If a new user shows up by changing his avatar, it doesn't mean that he is a Memory Alpha user. Also, if you feel the need to make a quiet welcoming comment on their talk page, please at least use the welcome information, as it shares information about MA layouts, policies, and so forth. You making a comment on his page means that the Wikia bot that "welcomes" people will never be able to take action to invite him. -- sulfur 10:46, April 10, 2011 (UTC)

Um, er, .... hello!
Hi, TrekFan!

Wow. Just checked my talk page and noticed it's been nearly a month since you left me a message. (*looks embarrassed*)

[Begin TMI]As you might have guessed, my April has been awful. I'm barely alive (thanks to ambulances, medical "tools" – you don't want to know!), but I have new, top-flight professor-surgeons who took over my case (from the already-upgraded and esteemed ones who took it over last fall). My life's been full with horrifying minute-by-minute survival, and I've learned that, 1. I should be able to achieve a semblance of "normal life", but 2. it won't be happening anytime soon (eight--twelve months in the very best case). Thus, b/c I've been reduced to little more than an organic pain receptacle/human vegetable and the subject of intense medical curiosity (maybe they'll use me as an example in a class of everything not to do to surgery patients!), as well as having to endure a schedule full of the most painful, unpleasant procedures – both daily at home and in the hospital – I've not been editing on MA lately. Tip: next time you have major surgery, get a second opinion! This is wasting away my 20s. *sigh* [/End TMI] :-(

Sorry I missed out on the Melora and template discussions. If there's anything I can do, let me know (I'll do it – if I can, that is...my mind is usually not this lucid.) I'd like to contribute/be useful.

Re your "Friends List": I'd love for you to restart that personal project. If anyone needs friends right now it's I, and it seems MA has become rather filled with rancor/debates during my absence. :-/ I would certainly like to see MA be a friendly place (we're all Trek-Fans, pardon the pun!). I had had a suggestion for adding a separate list of quasi-official Welcomers/Reps/"Arbiters-Ambassadors of Goodwill" to avoid placing such a burden on the admininistrators, who are otherwise the only official ppl here (and they're just folks endowed with special tools and neither necessarily need the added weight of doubling as the "face" of MA, nor does it overlap w/ their job description, IMO).

The last 'graph is just my "tuppence" or (£0.02 or whatever!). ;-)

Hope all is well with you, MA, and Trek! (At least out of this ordeal my bro got me a pristine copy of the first issue of TNG mag, an "antique" TNG board/trivia game, and a factory-sealed set of a huge set of Trek collectible cards, which is why I came here: to learn about them.) My new hospital doesn't have WiFi, so...

Sorry for my trademark giant wall of text/"mini-novella"! (Feel free to delete/remove it to my talk page.)

14:44, April 30, 2011 (UTC)
 * Cepstrum, first of all, I don't mind reading your walls of text. It's nice, to be honest, so stop apologising! :) It's so sad to hear of your worsening situation and really hope things improve for you. Why do bad things always have to happen to good people?


 * I won't talk too much about MA (you obviously have more important things to be concerned with), except to say that, aside from responding to the odd talk page comment, I am going to be taking a break from editing this site for a while. It's wearing me down if I'm honest! The nomination failed because of a small piece of information the majority of people didn't want in there (even though I removed it!) which I couldn't really understand, but hey! Such is life! The Melora Pazlar peer review is still going, though I haven't had any replies to that yet, so if your condition stabalises and you feel like making some edits, go right ahead.


 * I really hope those doctors know what they're doing and fix you soon. If you ever need anyone to talk to, even if it's not Trek/MA-related, then feel free to drop me an email. I know I'm just a stranger to you, but sometimes it's nice to talk to someone who isn't directly involved. At least, it has been for me, from past experience. Anyway, whether or not you take up my offer, my thoughts are with you and I wish you a speedy recovery. Qapla! :) --| TrekFan Open a channel 16:15, April 30, 2011 (UTC)

Input requested
Further input is requested here. Thanks. - 00:03, June 10, 2011 (UTC)
 * Done :) --| TrekFan Open a channel 00:22, June 10, 2011 (UTC)

Being considerate
Dear Liam, I've learned the "hard" way that some consideration has to be taken into account when making remarks on talk pages. Your very recent remark of "(...)more so than some episode FAs" might be misconstrued, as has happened with other editors (Me amongst others as you've noticed, thank you by the way for your support on my recent case). I'm definitely not taking exception to your remark, but others might...Sense of humor is a very subjective matter...As far as I'm concerned, keep up the good work!!!, Great Job all around--Sennim 16:01, August 12, 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Sennim. I simply meant that some episode FAs were nominated back in the day, when the criteria wasn't as strict, and so they won't be as detailed as some of the more recent ones, but thanks. I take your comments onboard! :) --| TrekFan Open a channel 16:03, August 12, 2011 (UTC)

TNG Companion
Hi there TrekFan. When citing books that have multiple editions, like the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, please make sure you cite the edition, as there are sometimes differences (something illustrated by the Dirty Pair note on exocomp). Thanks.–Cleanse ( talk 23:15, August 19, 2011 (UTC)
 * Oh, of course! Thanks for reminding me. I usually work from the Deep Space Nine Companion so forget when it comes to the TNG one. But thanks, I'll remember in future. --| TrekFan Open a channel 23:35, August 19, 2011 (UTC)

Speaking of the Companion, could you do me a small favour TrekFan? Could you check this edit? It claims to be from the TNG Companion but its not in the 2nd edition, as far as I can tell. This user has been adding a few edits like that, and I'm not sure whether its info that's only in the 3rd edition, whether he/she is adding information from another source, or whether its just made up. I've already left a message on his/her talk page but have gotten no response. You've got the 3rd edition, so you might be able to help sort this out. :-) Thanks in advance.–Cleanse ( talk 00:02, August 21, 2011 (UTC)
 * No problem - the bit the guy added is definitely not in the 3rd edition. I even checked the season intro pages to make sure. It only mentions what was already there, so he either made it up or it's from another source that he didn't bother to add. Looking at the note, it does possibly sound legit, so it may be just lacking a source. You want to put an incite on it or delete and move to the talk page? --| TrekFan Open a channel 00:45, August 21, 2011 (UTC)
 * I've also just checked his contributions to and  and they too are not from the 3rd edition of the companion. --| TrekFan Open a channel 00:50, August 21, 2011 (UTC)

Thanks a bunch for that. I'll just add an incite to for now, but I'll probably remove them all of them after a week or so if the user doesn't reply. I suspect that the user may be the same person as the one who was adding notes falsely attributed to the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion. Those also sounded plausible but simply not in the book. A couple of those notes, however, I strongly suspect were made up (see ) I can't specifically disprove these TNG ones, though. Thanks again.–Cleanse ( talk 01:08, August 21, 2011 (UTC)
 * No problem. Happy to help. --| TrekFan Open a channel 01:10, August 21, 2011 (UTC)

FA
Hi Starfleet Academy here, just come to say thanks for leaving the message. I will try to read the two articles in the next few days. The episode that yours is about, could have been a movie it has so much happening in it! Must be scary for you having 'your' article against the Wolf article. Good luck for FA --Starfleet Academy (live long and prosper) 07:26, August 21, 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Starfleet! Like I said, any comments you have would be greatly appreciated. Just post them on the nominations page. :) --| TrekFan Open a channel 15:15, August 21, 2011 (UTC)

I will make a comment on the page, even if I don't vote. :) --Starfleet Academy (live long and prosper) 00:48, August 22, 2011 (UTC)
 * Thank you! --| TrekFan Open a channel 01:15, August 22, 2011 (UTC)