Why can't I edit Wikipedia?
Your account's edits and/or username indicate that it is being used on behalf of a company, group, celebrity or other well-known individual, or organization for purposes of promotion and/or publicity. The edits may have violated one or more of our rules on spamming, which include: adding inappropriate external links, posting advertisements, and using Wikipedia for promotion. Wikipedia has many articles on companies, groups, and organizations, but it is considered inappropriate for such groups to use Wikipedia to write about themselves. In addition, usernames like yours are disallowed under our username policy.
- Am I allowed to make these edits if I change my username?
Probably not. See WP:FAQ/Organization for a helpful list of frequently asked questions by people in your position. Also, review the conflict of interest guidance to see the kinds of limitations you would have to obey if you did want to continue editing about your company, group, or organization. If this does not fit in with your goals, then you will not be allowed to edit again. Consider using one of the many websites that allow this instead.
- What can I do now?
You are still welcome to write about something other than your company or organization. If you do intend to make useful contributions on some other topic, you must convince a Wikipedia administrator that you mean it. To that end, please do the following:
- Add the text
{{ unblock-spamun|Your proposed new username|Your reason here}}on your user talk page. - Replace the text "Your proposed new username" with a new username you are willing to use. See Special:Listusers to search for available usernames. Your new username will need to meet our username policy.
- Replace the text "Your reason here" with your reason to be unblocked. In this reason, you must:
- Convince us that you understand the reason for your block and that you will not repeat the edits for which you were blocked.
- Describe in general terms the contributions that you intend to make if you are unblocked.
I am sorry to be slow in replying to your email, but I only check my email about once a day. I will see any reply sooner if you make it below here - you can still edit this page, and I will watch it.
I blocked your account because Wikipedia accounts must be for individuals only, who are personally responsible for them, and usernames that seem to be the names of a group or organization are not allowed.
Also, Wikipedia is very sensitive to the danger of being used for advertising and promotion, and because of our requirement for a neutral point of view we strongly discourage people from editing in areas where they have a conflict of interest. This is another reason why group or company accounts are not permitted. These considerations apply also to non-commercial organisations.
Adding external links is a very common way to try to use Wikipedia for promotion, and both automatic systems and human patrollers watch for it. Our policy on external links limits the types of link that we allow.
You are welcome to create an individual account if you wish, but first please read the policies Wikipedia:Conflict of interest and Wikipedia:Best practices for editors with conflicts of interest which would restrict you in making any edits to do with your Federations: basically, you would be required to suggest changes on article talk pages rather than to make them yourself.
Regards, JohnCD ( talk) 21:46, 2 October 2010 (UTC)
Why can't I edit Wikipedia?
Your account's edits and/or username indicate that it is being used on behalf of a company, group, celebrity or other well-known individual, or organization for purposes of promotion and/or publicity. The edits may have violated one or more of our rules on spamming, which include: adding inappropriate external links, posting advertisements, and using Wikipedia for promotion. Wikipedia has many articles on companies, groups, and organizations, but it is considered inappropriate for such groups to use Wikipedia to write about themselves. In addition, usernames like yours are disallowed under our username policy.
- Am I allowed to make these edits if I change my username?
Probably not. See WP:FAQ/Organization for a helpful list of frequently asked questions by people in your position. Also, review the conflict of interest guidance to see the kinds of limitations you would have to obey if you did want to continue editing about your company, group, or organization. If this does not fit in with your goals, then you will not be allowed to edit again. Consider using one of the many websites that allow this instead.
- What can I do now?
You are still welcome to write about something other than your company or organization. If you do intend to make useful contributions on some other topic, you must convince a Wikipedia administrator that you mean it. To that end, please do the following:
- Add the text
{{ unblock-spamun|Your proposed new username|Your reason here}}on your user talk page. - Replace the text "Your proposed new username" with a new username you are willing to use. See Special:Listusers to search for available usernames. Your new username will need to meet our username policy.
- Replace the text "Your reason here" with your reason to be unblocked. In this reason, you must:
- Convince us that you understand the reason for your block and that you will not repeat the edits for which you were blocked.
- Describe in general terms the contributions that you intend to make if you are unblocked.
I am sorry to be slow in replying to your email, but I only check my email about once a day. I will see any reply sooner if you make it below here - you can still edit this page, and I will watch it.
I blocked your account because Wikipedia accounts must be for individuals only, who are personally responsible for them, and usernames that seem to be the names of a group or organization are not allowed.
Also, Wikipedia is very sensitive to the danger of being used for advertising and promotion, and because of our requirement for a neutral point of view we strongly discourage people from editing in areas where they have a conflict of interest. This is another reason why group or company accounts are not permitted. These considerations apply also to non-commercial organisations.
Adding external links is a very common way to try to use Wikipedia for promotion, and both automatic systems and human patrollers watch for it. Our policy on external links limits the types of link that we allow.
You are welcome to create an individual account if you wish, but first please read the policies Wikipedia:Conflict of interest and Wikipedia:Best practices for editors with conflicts of interest which would restrict you in making any edits to do with your Federations: basically, you would be required to suggest changes on article talk pages rather than to make them yourself.
Regards, JohnCD ( talk) 21:46, 2 October 2010 (UTC)