User talk:Ken Gallager

This user is one of the 400 most active English Wikipedians of all time.

Proposed deletion of Providence, Texas

The article Providence, Texas has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

I checked on the Geographic Names Information System and there is no existing community with this name. They are in Angelina, Polk, Fort Bend, Floyd, and Denton counties.

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, pages may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the page to address the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion.

This bot DID NOT nominate any of your contributions for deletion; please refer to the history of each individual page for details. Thanks, FastilyBot (talk) 10:01, 6 January 2022 (UTC)

I researched the location of Providence and put some info on its talk page verifying its existence, as well as removed the PROD tag with reason in the edit summary. There hasn't been any other activity since then, up to this point anyway. --Ken Gallager (talk) 14:00, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

Hey there!

There was a consensus reached, which has since been updated in the MOS re:birth date. That for lists like the "Notable people" and otherwise where birthdate is included, to use the format of "born 19XX" instead of "b. 19XX" etc. I will update all of NH just as I have updated many other places. I no longer add new birth date information, per the conflict with that other user, but I just fix formats etc. Just wanted to let you know as you should see a lot of edits from me on NH today. Thanks! ♥Th78blue (They/Them/Their • talk)♥ 13:47, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

I was just starting to notice that. Well done, and thanks for the heads-up! --Ken Gallager (talk) 13:53, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

Red links

Your recent revert of my re-addition of a couple of links to Grant County, Oklahoma is rather problematic. The communities in question exist (or did at one time) and therefore are valid. Red links encourage users to write new articles and are thus important. Vsmith (talk) 13:36, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for reaching out. I agree with you about the value of red links in Wikipedia in general, but I disagree about their place in navboxes. My understanding of navboxes is that they are a tool to let the user see what other Wikipedia articles are out there for a specific topic, but not a place to simply list all subjects under a topic that might not have articles. It is true that there is not a blanket prohibition on red links, but I would ask that any red links you add be replaced with articles as soon as you can. Thanks, --Ken Gallager (talk) 14:19, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

Vandalism

Hello. An article (Oz Karahan) that you also edited is been vandalized nonstop by a user. The articles related to Cyprus are usually become a target by Turkish and Greek nationalists. I tried to explain to the user that what is happening is not right and all information must be sourced. But user Spartacos31 is violating Wikipedia:Vandalism and Wikipedia:Neutral point of view policies of Wikipedia. He insists that the person is "Turkish" while sources do not say so. And it is clear that English is not his first language since he does not understand the difference between nationality and ethnicity. I told him to write to the "Talk" page if he finds any source for edits he propose. All sources write that person is Cypriot but users insist that "there is no Cypriot nation, a person can be Greek or Turk". But in fact, even in the "Nationality" section of Cypriot identity card it is written "Cypriot". He started his actions on January 30th. Here is one example of what I wrote to him while he was vandalizing the content of the article:

"This is not a place for debate if terms like Cypriot, American, Belgian or Swiss define nations or not. There is a difference between nationality and ethnicity in the English language. But in reality, the articles must be supported by sources. And the sources in this article write that the person is Cypriot. If there is a source that says that the person is "Turkish", this edit might be discussed in the "Talk" page. Until then, the article will be returned to sourced version."

Also few examples for Cypriot personalities: Nicos Anastasiades - Marios Tokas - Ploutis Servas

And of course they are identified as "Cypriot" because that is their nationality. But as I told, the Cyprus related articles in Wikipedia often become a playground for Pan-Turkist or Pan-Hellenist ideologies.

This type of arguments also have been talked in articles of the important Cypriot personalities and decided that Cypriot term is reflects the nationality of the people of Cyprus. For example you could search the "Greek" word in the History page of the Nicos Anastasiades and see that several times page got vandalized with the same arguments of the but every time fixed by the experienced Wikipedia users.[1] If you have a close look at History, you could see that the use of both Greek and Greek Cypriot terms was not allowed in the lead and infobox.

The same user does same actions in other Wikipedias as well. For example in Turkish version of this article admins stopped him. This does not makes sense because with this mentality we have to change the "nationality" section of all people who are American, Belgian, Swiss or British. Let's have a look at the few Swiss personalities: Ueli Maurer, Harald Szeemann, Freddy Buache. Even though Switzerland is ethnically divided federation (Cyprus is a unitary state) non-of the Swiss people identifies as German, Italian or French as nationality. Not even Swiss German, Swiss Italian, Swiss French. Because it is absurd and not correct.

He insist on edit warring while I invited him to Talk page if he has source or argument. User's actions are against MOS:ETHNICITY. I do not know how to handle this anymore. That is why I wanted to write to you. Thank you. Pasedembo (talk) 08:32, 5 February 2022 (UTC)

The mentioned user Spartacos31 also just vandalised the article of Nicos Anastasiades along with Oz Karahan probably after seeing my previous message to you. Pasedembo (talk) 15:22, 5 February 2022 (UTC)

Lakes of the Clouds Thanks

Just wanted to say thanks for the Lakes of the Clouds edit and clarifying what I wrote. I wasn't sure how to word that as I knew the lakes were the highest but surprisingly there are no direct references to that other than the fact that there are no other lakes in any state in GNIS with a higher elevation. I came across that other reference but knew it was erroneous and didn't want someone to also find that. In any event, thanks for clarifying the link to GNIS. Dbroer (talk) 15:11, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

It's an interesting fact. The relative elevations of the two lakes are easily fact-checked by looking either at GNIS or at the USGS topo maps, so I wouldn't worry about the erroneous reference. I agree it would be nice to find another source that actually said "highest east of South Dakota", but I think the GNIS link should be sufficient for now. Thanks for adding the sentence! --Ken Gallager (talk) 15:16, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

US County templates

Hi Ken, do you know if the US County templates are updated and include all recent changes prior to the new 2020 Census? Thank you for your reply in advance. Regards, Dionysos1988 (talk) 13:48, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

Hi Dionysos - Last year I went through all the county templates and updated them to match the places that were listed in the Census' Gazetteer files, so it was complete when I finished. I don't keep the templates on my watchlist, though, so I don't know what changes have been made to the templates since then. Best wishes, --Ken Gallager (talk) 14:46, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

Hi Ken, thank you for your reply. Just for the record - I discovered in several cases, that the templates are not updated correctly. See f. e. Equality, Alabama in Template:Tallapoosa County, Alabama. User:Yellowcard created a list of places being first named by the Census Bureau in 2020. Maybe you can work with it. Regards, Dionysos1988 (talk) 11:09, 25 May 2022 (UTC)

At least for the example you gave me, the templates are correct and the article is wrong: the Equality CDP is only in Coosa County. Authors of unincorporated places articles often go by mailing address, which covers all the rural land between populated places and frequently extend into other counties, or sometimes just by personal feelings. You can check the locations of CDPs by using the Census Bureau's TIGERweb site. Best wishes, --Ken Gallager (talk) 12:20, 25 May 2022 (UTC)

2006 New England flood

Hi, was just wondering if you could add any images to the 2006 New England flood article? Thanks. Cooljeanius (talk) (contribs) 12:25, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

Thanks, Cooljeanius. Will make note to self .... --Ken Gallager (talk) 12:25, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

I saw your addition of one; thanks! Cooljeanius (talk) (contribs) 20:54, 24 April 2022 (UTC)

'Tidying' talk pages

Please do not edit others' comments on talk pages. I know you're coming at it from a good place, but it's not appropriate. See WP:TPO. Mark83 (talk) 18:21, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

@Mark83: Okay, I see your point. The problem was my removing blank lines so it would be easier to see who was commenting what. But you're right, doing it all at once makes it hard to see if actual comments were edited. (They weren't.) I do intend to go back in and make sure the unsigned comments are signed. --Ken Gallager (talk) 18:25, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

I appreciate the prompt reply. I know you aren't editing comments, but most of your changes are not "Examples of appropriately editing others' comments" per WP:TPG. Fixing indent levels is in the accepted edits list, but you are making larger changes than that, for example changing the order. You don't know for sure the intentions of where other editors wanted their comments. My advice is best leave alone unless the talk page is unreadable (or unsigned). Mark83 (talk) 18:32, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

Thank you for your comments as well. Sometimes it's very clear that the thread of the discussion has been lost because one or more editors just randomly inserted their comments wherever; sometimes it's less clear. I will keep your advice in mind. Ken Gallager (talk) 18:36, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

Why are you wasting time making massive changes to talk pages? Your time would be better spent on improving articles. As I said above, I have no doubt your intentions are good, but I am really uncomfortable about this continuing. Mark83 (talk) 11:16, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

I think you're the only one. I've also received thanks. I'm doing it because I occasionally seek out article talk pages to clarify a point that I'm concerned about. And when the talk page is a mess, as they frequently are at the beginning, the best way to sort it out is to go through the complete edit history and see if anything was incorrectly deleted or placed in the wrong position. I've taken your advice to heart and am making changes in smaller blocks so that the diffs are understandable, and I'm more conscious of when an editor intended their comment to be at a particular place in the thread. As you know, I am not editing anyone's comments, and I am staying conscious of WP:TPG. Best wishes, --Ken Gallager (talk) 12:31, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

Mount Pemigewasset

I see now ! was pretty close (same state anyway), but still wrong. Do you think it fits Template:Merrimack River under Landmarks? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:34, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Oh, you weren't even that far off in miles. It's just that Mt. Pemigewasset is in the developed part of Franconia Notch, while the wilderness area is in the valley of the East Branch, set back from all roads. I don't particularly like the Merrimack River template, because it covers a lot of things that in my mind don't need to be covered. Still, it certainly would fit into the current schema. Franconia Notch State Park is there, for instance. Thanks for the work you've been doing on the article! --Ken Gallager (talk) 14:40, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

If only I hadn't sort of stolen it from a newbie: Wikipedia:Teahouse#How_do_I_recommend_a_new_page?. I like my version better though. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:48, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

I'm very happy that you went ahead and did it. I was surprised to discover that it was a new article; I had assumed there already was one. --Ken Gallager (talk) 14:51, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

For Template:Mountains of New Hampshire, should it be under Fraconia range or Others (White Mtns.)? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 09:44, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

It's on the west side of Franconia Notch, so that puts it in the Kinsman Range, even though it's not on the ridgecrest. Confirmed in the AMC White Mountain Guide. --Ken Gallager (talk) 13:45, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

So edited and thanks. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:27, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

ArbCom 2022 Elections voter message

Hello! Voting in the 2022 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 12 December 2022. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2022 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:34, 29 November 2022 (UTC)

Happy New Year, Ken Gallager!

Happy New Year!

Ken Gallager,
Have a prosperous, productive and enjoyable New Year, and thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia.
— Moops ^⋠T⋡ 00:23, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

   Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year fireworks}} to user talk pages.

— Moops ^⋠T⋡ 00:23, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

Jimmerson Lake

Thank you for creating Jimmerson Lake and linking it to Lake James. I learned to water ski on that lake, although I no longer live nearby. It would be great if you would upgrade the article! Cheers! TwoScars (talk) 20:37, 7 April 2023 (UTC)

You're welcome! I'm not local to the area, but feel free to add material that enhances understanding of the lake and the surrounding community. --Ken Gallager (talk) 10:51, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

Editor of the Week

		Editor of the Week
		Your ongoing efforts to improve the encyclopedia have not gone unnoticed: You have been selected as Editor of the Week in recognition of {{{briefreason}}}. Thank you for the great contributions! (courtesy of the Wikipedia Editor Retention Project)

[[User:{{{nominator}}}]] submitted the following nomination for Editor of the Week:

{{{nominationtext}}}

You can copy the following text to your user page to display a user box proclaiming your selection as Editor of the Week:

{{User:UBX/EoTWBox}}

Thanks again for your efforts! ―Buster7 ☎ 14:05, 13 May 2023 (UTC)