Hi Trmwiki,
I see no one has welcomed you yet, so I guess I'll leave you the standard welcome template. (Feel free to delete if you don't like templates.)
Welcome!
Hello, Trmwiki, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:
I hope you enjoy editing here and being a
Wikipedian! Please
sign your messages on
discussion pages using four
tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out
Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{helpme}}
before the question. Again, welcome!
Zaereth (
talk)
02:15, 4 October 2011 (UTC)
I noticed your addition to the diffraction grating page, and it does sound like an interesting take on diffraction. I'm not sure I fully grasp the concept. However, if you don't mind, I may offer a bit of insight on improving the readability. This is not meant to be critical, but are merely suggestions based on my past experience.
It might help to separate the different ideas presented in the text into different paragraphs. For instance, the first two sentences would seem to make a good introduction paragraph. I would probably make the next paragraph break between sentence 7 and 8, and so on. Of course, because you obviously understand the material better than I, you may decide there are better places to break.
Try to avoid beginning sentences with conjunctions, such as "and," "but," "so," or "now," or phrases like "in short." It's just not necessary. I would also avoid explaining the punctuation. Most reader will understand the meaning of quotation marks. I'd try to avoid phrases like "of course" "we" or other things that put the writing in the first person rather than the third.
Look at statements in parentheses very carefully, and determine if the information is really necessary. Usually, just by placing something in parentheses, it indicates that on a subconscious level, you may think it interesting, but not really necessary. If not needed, simply cut, but if needed, then consider using commas, periods or conjunctions instead.
Other than those minor things, the writing looks very professional. If I were to make these changes myself, it would probably look something like this:
Once again, these are just suggestions, and you can feel free to ignore them if you like. If you're new, and I can help you out in any way, please let me know. I've been here long enough to be able to point you in the right direction. Zaereth ( talk) 02:15, 4 October 2011 (UTC)
Thank you so much! Yes, I am new here, and really appreciate your comments, many of which I've just now incorporated into the article. You've given me a great introduction to Wikipedia 'formalism', if you will. So thanks. I'll continue to edit over time, hopefully finding the time to include images in this particular entry to improve understanding. In the meantime, thanks again for taking the time to notice this and help me out! Trmwiki ( talk) 04:43, 4 October 2011 (UTC)
Hi Trmwiki,
I see no one has welcomed you yet, so I guess I'll leave you the standard welcome template. (Feel free to delete if you don't like templates.)
Welcome!
Hello, Trmwiki, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:
I hope you enjoy editing here and being a
Wikipedian! Please
sign your messages on
discussion pages using four
tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out
Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{helpme}}
before the question. Again, welcome!
Zaereth (
talk)
02:15, 4 October 2011 (UTC)
I noticed your addition to the diffraction grating page, and it does sound like an interesting take on diffraction. I'm not sure I fully grasp the concept. However, if you don't mind, I may offer a bit of insight on improving the readability. This is not meant to be critical, but are merely suggestions based on my past experience.
It might help to separate the different ideas presented in the text into different paragraphs. For instance, the first two sentences would seem to make a good introduction paragraph. I would probably make the next paragraph break between sentence 7 and 8, and so on. Of course, because you obviously understand the material better than I, you may decide there are better places to break.
Try to avoid beginning sentences with conjunctions, such as "and," "but," "so," or "now," or phrases like "in short." It's just not necessary. I would also avoid explaining the punctuation. Most reader will understand the meaning of quotation marks. I'd try to avoid phrases like "of course" "we" or other things that put the writing in the first person rather than the third.
Look at statements in parentheses very carefully, and determine if the information is really necessary. Usually, just by placing something in parentheses, it indicates that on a subconscious level, you may think it interesting, but not really necessary. If not needed, simply cut, but if needed, then consider using commas, periods or conjunctions instead.
Other than those minor things, the writing looks very professional. If I were to make these changes myself, it would probably look something like this:
Once again, these are just suggestions, and you can feel free to ignore them if you like. If you're new, and I can help you out in any way, please let me know. I've been here long enough to be able to point you in the right direction. Zaereth ( talk) 02:15, 4 October 2011 (UTC)
Thank you so much! Yes, I am new here, and really appreciate your comments, many of which I've just now incorporated into the article. You've given me a great introduction to Wikipedia 'formalism', if you will. So thanks. I'll continue to edit over time, hopefully finding the time to include images in this particular entry to improve understanding. In the meantime, thanks again for taking the time to notice this and help me out! Trmwiki ( talk) 04:43, 4 October 2011 (UTC)