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Hello! Welcome to Wikitravel. I would recommend to start with our Tips for new contributors if you feel like it. To specialize your experience you may want to consider editing your preferences. Please take a second to look at our copyleft and policies and guidelines, but feel free to plunge forward and edit some pages. Scanning the manual of style, especially the article templates, can give you a good idea of how we like articles formatted. If you're new to the whole wiki software look at the wiki markup to get an idea of how to use the wiki markup. If you need help, check out Wikitravel:Help, and if you need some info not on there, post a message in the travellers' pub.

Thanks for your contributions to Sydney, and for discussing the redistricting before plunging ahead, but please do make sure the district articles themselves are moved to match the links: this is a fairly tedious and painful process. Jpatokal 01:20, 12 January 2007 (EST)

[edit] Vadalism

Nice job on handling that vandalism, thanks --Nick 01:48, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

---

Hello Inas, nice to meet you =) As you probably guessed I'm a bit of a newbie as opposed to you who seems to be quite experienced with Wikitravel. Having done a bit of research I understand why you have removed my text on Darwin, you are totally right to do so. However there is more to this story! I hope you can help me get a good outcome. The incidences of text I have added were my original work, having had an on going working relationship with Tourism Northern Territory. My understanding is that in this situation my work is acceptable for wikitravel. You of course were not to know this. So you as the knowledgeable one! How is the best way for me in my situation to add content I have written for travel NT to wikitravel? Do I need to simply mention it, if so where? Or do I need some other license? Sorry to trouble you, really hope you can help. Thanks in advance, Lex.

[edit] Moving page? Tab not available to new account?

Inas, Thanks for the reply, I just created an account and don't see the tab for moving the page. I suspect the system waits a few days before providing that ability. I'll see if I can edit the redirect, but short of that I either have to wait or have someone switch it for me. Thanks again. 71.72.165.200 20:53, 27 October 2008 (EDT)

[edit] Sydney-YOUR WORK

Hiya, Inas! I noticed you've been working on Sydney and environs for a while and I see you are doin' a good job! Keep up the good work, I know how hard it is...any tips on how to keep up with all the districts and cleanliness? THANKS! Keep smiling, Edmontonenthusiast 22:18, 29 October 2008 (EDT)

[edit] sydneeyyy

hey, inas, i thought you might be interested in going to my user page and seeing your mention in "cities that are huge with consistent updateS" or whatever. if you feel, you can look at the rest of the page, and tell me what you think in my discussion, if not, just check that out. thanks, really! keep smiling, ee ^talk 18:11, 4 November 2008 (EST).

[edit] edmntn

Thanks for your edits to Edmonton lately! Keep smiling, ee ^talk 00:45, 14 November 2008 (EST).

[edit] good

Some good people on Wikitravel is on my user page, and you've been added. I think you definitely deserve it. Nothing special...lemme know If I'm missing anything. Keep smiling, ee ^talk 17:07, 16 November 2008 (EST).

[edit] sydney DotM

I nominated Sydney for Destination OF THE Month. Keep smiling, ee ^talk 21:26, 16 November 2008 (EST).

[edit] cities

Hey Aussie! I was wondering-[outside Sydney; of course] what city in Australia is your favourite [and why]? Keep smiling, edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 17:36, 17 November 2008 (EST).

Also, I did a Sydney CotM nom, and by the looks of it, it'd be next month! I'm not familiar with what exactly needs help, so you should go there and say specifically what is needed ;). Keep smiling, edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 18:37, 17 November 2008 (EST).

What city in Australia? Sydney is the largest, but certainly creaks around the edges with the amount of people who live there. Its got to be a great destination for travellers, though, lots of a attractions and facilities for tourists. You can spend days, and travel as independently or as guided as you wish. Great beaches, nice climate. Brisbane has better weather, usually staying up around 20 degrees over winter, whereas Sydney drops to the mid-teens over winter. You need to own a thick sweater in Sydney. Brisbane offers less to travllers than Sydney, but with the Gold Coast, and Sunshine Coast, just on the doorstep, the district is never short of things to do. Melbourne lives in Sydney's shadow a bit, and also creaks with the amount of people there, but a very accessible city, with the Dandenongs and the Great Ocean Road on the doorstep. You have to wear a jacket in Melbourne in winter, not just a sweater though. Darwin is a tropical city. Going to the beach or swimming during mid-winter. The long break is taken during mid-winter there. Alfresco dining all times of year. Every winters day is 31 and sunny. Wet and hot during the summer though. Perth has the beaches, like Sydney, and is at much the same latitudes, and climate. It feels remote to be there though. Sydney is already at the arse-end of the world, and Perth is removed from Sydney. You've done the weekend in Albany, and the weekend at the Margaret River. Great locations, but to go anywhere else is a serious undertaking. Being 5 hours closer to South Africa and 3 hours closer to Singapore, doesn't really position you next to anything. Adelaide, good in theory, but seems to lack something in practice. The green belt around the city centre seems more isolating than comforting. The city centre always seems to lack something. But the eineries at the Barossa Valley are close, and the tram to the beaches at Glenelg or out to West Beach make it easy to get away. Hobart, pretty quite city in Tasmania. Seems more historic than Sydney, with many areas better preserved. Cold in winter though, with some snow on the neighbouring hill. Can be cold in summer too. Well worth a visit though. Cairns suffers from having two high a tourist population to local population. Tourists really do blend into the larger cities, but not so to Cairns. Townsville is almost better, has the beaches, the rivers, and walks. Like Darwin tropical and warm during winter, but too hot and wet during the summer, and too many box jelly's to swim, and too expensive to get out to the reef on a regular basis. Where does that leave? Canberra - most people hate the idea of a planned city, and Canberra suffers from this, but it shouldn't. Nice cycling, walking, bushland, and monuments and museums like a Washington DC bonsai. --Inas 22:32, 17 November 2008 (EST)

Wow. Sounds very interesting. One day i'd like to take a month off and maybe go to Australia-but I hate flying and can't stand being on the ocean (barely can make the vferry from Vancouver to Vic). Maybe one day. Which city is best for shopping? Which city is best for just looking around? Which city has a more urban feel? I've always had the fascination of Perth...seems like a very happenin' place. If you like, (and er interested) I could give you the Canadian equivalent to what you have just said. It'd be ntresiting. Keep smiling, edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 21:00, 17 November 2008 (EST).

Hmmm, if you don't like flying and don't being on the ocean, than there may be better destinations for you! Perth has the Swan River going right through the centre, and and venues like Kings Park really take advantage of it. The city centre itself is pleasant enough, but built away from the river. A few nice tall buildings, and a nice square. Shopping is okay. Fremantle is worth well worth a visit too, just under an hour away. Albany is a nice few days away near the southern ocean. Are you afraid of flying, or do you just not like it for other reasons? There are courses you can do to overcome fear of flying. Do you think to we need a wikitravel travel topic on Fear of flying. There are some similar places in Canada to Australia. Vancouver is a bit like Sydney, built around the water, it is a bit smaller in scale though, and colder in the winter. Ottawa has some similarities to to Canberra, being a government centre and being chosen as a capital between two competing large cities, but Ottawa is a bit more of a city as well. Toronto and Montreal seem to me like no cities in Australia. Totonto really doesn't capitalise on its natural geography. Montreal is different too. The winter climate seems to form a different kind of city. Shopping is okay in any capital city, but Melbourne and Sydney probably provide the best opportunities --Inas 22:32, 17 November 2008 (EST)

Very interestin' talking to you. Yeah we should have fear of flying. I am afraid of flying-I've only been once and I was so scared-I cried both ways. Vancouver is very warm, rarely gets snow. It has palm and banana trees. Hmm...Vancouver is a very beautiful city. It is very vibrant, has that large park, the best aquarium, and heck-you can ski and go to the beach in the same day! Not to mention it has such cool architecture. Calgary is just a product of oil culture. If it werent for Turner Valley, Calgary would have a metro of 700,000 (500,000 less than today). That being said, it has a dull downtown due to all the office towers(nothing hapens after 7 o clock). 17 Avenue is very vibrant though and the Calgary Zoo is by far world class. Not to mention its by banff, drumheller, and waterton nearby. Edmonton is canadas hidden gem. It is dwarfed by Calgary ,for sure. Has bad reputation. But, its a great capital, has a thriving arts community, has festivals unlike any other city, a pretty damn good retail economy outside of the fat mall, pretty dense urban area (for it's size), the lush river valley that is unforggetable. Also its a major education, gas, and bank centre. Its nice that Jasper and elk island is nearby. It's really growing up. Man I talk lots of Eddy. Winnipeg is the kid that was bullied. It has such beautiful architecture and despite bad expreiences on Osborne Vill. it has some vibrant area. It is also a big museum city. Toronto has two sides-the nameless and the cosmopolitan. In a lot of ways, it is very bland and typical to an american city. In other ways, its very cosmopolitan-vibrant streetlife, grandarchitecture, the lake, numeros museums, Toronto Islands, and that big airport. It is a big hub. And theres the awesome CN with the best views of Torontos extensive urban style. Ottawa is that cute little city. Very low rise, but has some neat architecture. It also has the best museums and is great if yur political. It was set up funny cause it has a greenbelt but its suburbs are goin past it!Montréal is Canadas most international city. It is such a bilingual city and the only city with a downtown in Canada that is busy after 11pm ever y day of the week. It has the unforgettable Mont Royal. I like it but could never go cause of French. Quebec is very cool but very French and does not interest me. It does have a lot of history and the Carnaval there is spectacular. It is a great promoter of winter. Halifax is that littlebig place on the coast and despite its size has a vibrant scene, good fishing and then Cape Breton right there. Victoria is a very cool city though aint interestin to me. It is so dense (low rise) and growing so rapidly its so cool. Plus it has all the natural wonders of van island. The cottage country (Ont) is unforgetabble for if you like nature. Picture wonderful lakes and lush forests fill the area. The north is a very unique experience, unlike antywhere else. Of course, if your like me, youd stay in Yellowknife for the most part (HATE ISOLATION). Hope this helps! Leeme know if you have specific questions. keep smiling ,edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 22:49, 17 November 2008 (EST).

[edit] Parramatta

Good idea about the car yards. And thanks for your updates too - I agree the article is looking good; I'm looking for some good photos to add to the article. The problem is that many of the Wikimedia Commons ones are only GFDL. JRG 01:21, 24 November 2008 (EST)

I'm also working on Sydney Olympic Park - this will be a lot easier to bring up to standard. JRG 01:21, 24 November 2008 (EST)

[edit] Aus/NZ Online

Hey, I was wondering, as I am extremely curious, why do I never see as much coverage of stuff in Oceania as North America and Europe on the net? I mean, WT is a perfect example, you seem to be the only regular contributor to the continent. I was wondering, if you knew, why that is. As I am really really interested. Maybe it is because most of the websites are just having large amounts of North Americans and/or Europeans. But Wikitravel is very useful to everyone and has coverage of everywhere. Curious,that's all. Keep Smiling, edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 19:21, 24 November 2008 (EST).

Can't say I've noticed. Australia seems to have as many contributors as anywhere else on Wikitravel, relative to its size. As far as Oceania goes, don't forget there are only around 30 million people in all of Oceania, less than the population of Canada. Most live in Australia and New Zealand. Outside of Australia and New Zealand (which have high Internet penetration), the nations are developing and Internet penetration is still quite low.. Compare this to the over a billion people in North America and Europe... --Inas 20:13, 24 November 2008 (EST)

True and I know the remoteness of a lot of the islands. Guess I was meaning more of New Zealand and Australia and perhaps Papau New Guenia. Again, goes back to probably I visit websites more catered to Euro/NoAm crowds. If you look at [Skyscraperpage there is a lot of Canadian and American discussion but I have seen a lot of places with a lot of Europeans too. And also it is probably you're point you are probably looking at 13 million internet clientele in Oceania, where as there is probably 450 million in North America and Europe. I also see a lot of Asian stuff, so that pop thing is probably correct. But on WT, other than the newb JRG, you, I don't really see any other Oceania contributors in the past week, maybe I'm not looking to much but again most are either American, European, Asian, and to an extent, Canadian (though not near as many Americans or Japanese). Keep Smiling, edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 20:19, 24 November 2008 (EST).

I guess you are right. It would be nice to see the stats on edits by country etc.. --Inas 23:05, 24 November 2008 (EST)

Well If you go to List of Wikitravelers by location you can see-but most are last seen from 2005. Like the only active Canadians are Shaund, JimDeLaHunt, me, Padraic, and that's it. Keep Smiling, edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 23:22, 24 November 2008 (EST).

[edit] Top End

Thanks for your message, Australia's Top End does include parts of the Kimberley and Queensland, and generally I find people simply refer to it as the 'Top End' so I'll edit out 'Australia's'. It's sort of a tricky one because it is considered a region and single destination, which is strange. Thanks for your help with this Lex 23:10, 30 November 2008 (EST)

[edit] Welcome to the admin club

Your switch has been flipped. Take a look at Wikitravel:Administrator's handbook and start unclogging the toilets! Jpatokal 02:35, 3 December 2008 (EST)

Wow, Inas, congrats, one of the few people who deserved it, I mean, wow because you really deserve this. Good luck. edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 10:21, 3 December 2008 (EST).

[edit] hello

Hi, I think you could help, why does Peter constantly revert this from here [1] "Since this is obviously utterly talking about me, I should put in my words. I think this whole situation has been very rude. If you expect me or others to learn from thisyou need to respond. You can't just revert it, you need to explain and answer questions about it esp. if they are asking. It just seems like you avoid it. This has been handled horribly and banning me doesn't help-it actually makes me more mad *peter*. When people such as me are asking questions and wondering why people are doing this, you sould not DELETE it but reply to it because they are curious. ScorpionKing was very confused and all mr peter did was revert it all. Of course he is mad and is going to swear-he is new and all his work is gone without any conversation. And then when Stefan finds out why, he doesn't even share it, why? If you expect us to actually stop whatever it is, you could at least point it out to us instead of deleting and ignoring. That is very rude. Also, if we are trolling, we are not doing it for attention-we want answers...why is that so hard to actuallyy grasp?Sorry of abruptness. This is happening again-it is very rude because I don't get why all I want is a good reason. This comment should not be deleted Peter, or I should delete yours.edmontonenthusiast [ee] .T.A.L.K. 18:55, 7 December 2008 (EST). "

I just don't get it - if i had it explained i would be able to get it. edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 18:56, 7 December 2008 (EST).

[edit] i dont know

Can you please help me. Why do people continue to revert my edits. I continually ask politely but it is just reverted. Please, please, I would like to have this resolved, but I don't really know how. edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 21:50, 7 December 2008 (EST).

[edit] New Zealand edit

Apologies if you're planning on restoring this information later, but in this edit the information about departure taxes was removed from New Zealand. While the original information WAS in the wrong place, that information is fairly important and typically goes under the "Get in" section of the country article. -- Ryan • (talk) • 22:08, 16 December 2008 (EST)

[edit] You & Districts

Hi Inas, I think you could truly help me with the topic at the bottom of Talk:Edmonton because I just remembered recently that you have problems with the Sydney districts so you would be a great help here. This is cause you know it is hard to do new districts and stuff and you've been here awhile. Thanks alot. edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 19:40, 22 December 2008 (EST).

[edit] merry christmas

Hey Inas! Just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy your day and get great presents. I want to thank you for helping me figure out stuff and a few edits to Edmonton :)! All the best in the New Year. Happy holidays, edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 12:39, 25 December 2008 (EST).

[edit] Policy articles

Just wanted to say a big thanks for the work you're doing on policy articles. I think the navigation between them has been very awkward and a big weakness for the site. And also, nice ;) --Peter ^Talk 20:18, 7 January 2009 (EST)

[edit] Moved from Moved from User talk:Edmontonenthusiast

Moved here to avoid having yet another policy discussion on that page.

1. I believe your user page is currently contrary to policy on having abuse on user pages. Please make the changes required.
2. Your threats made to revert comments by others in revenge are clearly inappropriate.
3. Comments ended with "or I will crack", are clearly inappropriate as well as threatening and abusive. Please withdraw them. --Inas 20:34, 11 January 2009 (EST)

The threshold for what is considred "abuse" is fairly high, and there is precedent for users commenting poorly about other users on their pages - see the third paragraph on User:Jo for example - so there is no need for anyone other than the user in question to change a user page. However, any user who chooses to abuse others on a user page is essentially declarling that they do not respect the Wikitravel community, and thus should not expect to to be seen as a respected member of that community. -- Ryan • (talk) • 20:44, 11 January 2009 (EST)

[edit] GRRRRRR.. annoyed

You should have moved that stuff on the St Just in Penwith page to an Understand section rather than just deleting it. Seems a bit unfair after I spent the time writing it.

The text was clearly against policy on illegal activities either in the drink or the understand section. policy requires it being deleted. there is mention already of the drug trade in the stay safe section. if you disagree with the policy, and think desciptions of what drugs are available where should be on wikitravel, please discuss this on the appropriate policy pages. thanks --Inas 00:56, 31 January 2009 (EST)

[edit] New Australia map

Hey Ian, would you mind taking a look at the new Australia map. In particular, I'm unsure of the road map I drew—did I miss any important routes that need to be on there, did I mislabel any routes, and should I label any other important routes? Thanks! --Peter ^Talk 20:37, 11 February 2009 (EST)

Thanks! It's great to get so much criticism on a map, especially with roads—if I don't know the country well, I'm always pretty much in the dark when it comes to which roads to include, and which are primary/secondary. I've made a good deal of changes, and would be happy to hear any other thoughts of yours. --Peter ^Talk 15:34, 12 February 2009 (EST)

Thanks again—I'm really happy with how this one turned out. Australia's one of our better country articles, I'd say. Might you be interested in adding region descriptions to the region template? --Peter ^Talk 21:07, 12 February 2009 (EST)

[edit] Sydney/North West

Why did you merge the Hills District and Northern Districts pages? The merged area is huge and too much for one page. I was in the middle of working on that but haven't been on for quite some time, so I didn't appreciate coming back and seeing my work destroyed. Please don't do that again. JRG 07:34, 27 February 2009 (EST)

I disagree that we need to make big changes to all the categories each time. Pages inevitably grow when they are too big and spinoff pages are a natural progression of changes being made. Wikitravel is not a static book - it's a site that needs ot be constantly expanded. There is a lot missing from the North West article but I will try to expand it until it is way too big and a spinoff is desparately needed. It's disappointing that my changes can't be incorporated at this stage. I have reverted all my changes I think. JRG 21:39, 17 April 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Humpty Doo

Whoah! It never even occurred to me that Humpty Doo could be a real placename -- thanks for rescuing it. Jpatokal 00:54, 19 March 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Sydney Maps

Hey Inas

I've really enjoyed seeing how Sydney coverage has grown, along with my own Copenhagen and Shaund's Vancouver during the past months, and I hope one day to be using the great work one day, when I finally manage to save up enough money for the horrendously expensive plane ticket, and visit some of the wonderful Aussies I've met on my travels - and see the Opera house all of us Danes feel some sort of ownership towards. And hope we'll all make it wikitravel stars some day.

One thing Sydney desperately needs though, is a district map, as someone who's never visited, just looking at the district section makes me horribly confused, and honestly if I weren't another wikitravel freak, and were about to visit Sydney, I think I would look for information somewhere else (as is the case in London and Manhattan), which is a real shame with all the good information "hidden" away there. Has a consensus on the districts been reached? how is your mapping motivation? if you are not up for taking the time to creating a map (which I largely prefer), I'd be happy to try to help creating one. --Stefan (sertmann) ^Talk 20:04, 26 March 2009 (EDT)

Personally my favourite approach, and something which was fortunately easy to do in Copenhagen, is to go with a "what would (as a native) be the first thing popping into my head, if a tourist came and asked where a destination is" approach. e.g. where do I find the st. paddy parade? - "in southwest Chicago", where do I find the little mermaid? "It's on Østerbro", How do I get to China town, "it's in west end". Where is the Eiffel tower? "I don't fucking know, I've never been to Paris".

IMHO I do find that getting districts clearly defined, takes priority over the (improbable?) risk of loosing a contributor or two, as long as you give people a fair chance to give some input on the matter. We're are not that many regular users, and someone has to take a decision sooner rather than later. Keep in mind that something clearly defined and tangible makes it much easier for newcomers to contribute. If a casual user is confused as where to put stuff, he or she is just not going to bother, and that means we probably stand to loose much more contributions than the other way around. If you ask me, that JRG dude was an asshat anyway.

Taking that into account, gray undefined areas is a no-no - so keeping that first paragraph in mind, gulf up the grey area's in surrounding neighbourhoods, instead this time my advice would be to think, where is the Big jugs strip club? "It's nearest Parramatta, so go there and turn right at X street" and hence define the borders ny the most convenient named district.

Hope that makes sense --Stefan (sertmann) ^Talk 21:13, 26 March 2009 (EDT)

Okay. I won't procrastinate too much longer. I think most people in Sydney would locate and give directions to the nearest suburb they know, especially to anywhere south or west. They would first give the closest suburb, and if that wasn't known, a slightly bigger suburb further away, and so on, maybe with an associated compass direction, it would be unusual to use a district. Near the airport, west of Parra, out near Balkham Hllls, near Bondi, out by the National Park, out near Penrith, and so on. --Inas 00:53, 27 March 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Editing Panama Home Page

The recent additions and changes to the Panama page were designed after some of the European WikiTravel home pages. The Panama page, to me, was starting to read like Wikipedia, not WikiTravel. People have limited time, and short attention spans. The country page needs to attract people to the country, with bullets, that tell them right away; why go there? And if I go, what can I do? If I am interested in surfing, what region, and what company might satisfy this travel desire. Panama City and the Canal Zone seem to be the focus of this page.

I didn't remove any activities from the Panama page. Just the links to the tour operators promoting them. In fact, I expanded the activities section to mention the activities the tour operators were promoting. The activities are still there, along with the links to the local area guides if people want more information. Please add more info to the Panama page, but please temper the many embedded links to tour operatos and touting. Give the information to the traveller to be able to see the things they would like to see. If they would rather take a tour there, I'm sure they can find an operator willing to take them. If we list every tour operator in the Panama country level guide, it will be a directory of tour operators. Also, could I suggest getting an account, and declaring if you represent a particular tour operator or agency. Thanks. --Inas 20:11, 29 April 2009 (EDT)

I have added my profile. However, if wikitravel's design is to allow travelers to print pages, like a tour guide book, then detailed information, such as phone, e-mail, etc. should be allowed in. It should be one-stop-shopping, allowing the tourist to print the pages desired, without having to cross reference with a Moon or Frommer's guide, which does list all the info needed to plan and pre-book a trip.

The problem with the Panama home page was the focus on the City and Canal. The perception of much of the world about Panama is there is ONLY the city and canal. I will continue to enhance the Panama pages, as time allows; the best adventure travel is outside the city.

I would like to add some informational blogs (only 3 or 4) to the Panama page. I feel that the blogs would give travelers up to date info on: floods, earthquakes, restaurant reviews by locals, and park and trail closings, etc. Many of the blogs admin's don't have time to add the info to wikitravel and their blogs. I wanted to know if this was ok before I spend the time doing it.

[edit] Top Level Tour questions

I already report our operator's situation in http://wikitravel.org/en/Wikitravel_talk:Local_spam_blacklist#toplvltrr_dot_com Hope to get your reply soon. Thank you! Lily in Guilin, China

Hi Inas, I took your advice and present our case in the revalent page. But it seems some people still don't want us "alive":-( Please check http://wikitravel.org/en/Talk:Yangshuo#Tour_Guides and tell me whether what I said is right at the page. I am still fighing for our right with some people! Thank you! Lily

[edit] Sydney Airport Shopping links

Hi Inas,

I added links to the Sydney Airport Shopping website but they were removed. These are the official websites as built by the Sydney Airport Corporation. They contain a directory of all the shops available in each terminal, along with guides and offers for visitors to Sydney.

Would it be possible for you to add them back, or what other information would you require to justify adding the links?

Thanks.

Firstly, I agree the websites are useful to travellers (as are many others). I do, however, think they are in breach of our Wikitravel:External links policy. We want information to be in Wikitravel, and not just provide links to external guides. This is so people can use Wikitravel offline, and so we don't lose the incentive to get the terminal facilities information into the Sydney guide.

Secondly, there is already a link to the official Sydney airport website in that section of the Sydney guide. If people want to see the official guide, they can do so easily, including the shopping links. I don't see the need to have three links to Sydney airport sites.

Also, if you are interested in getting accurate and complete information into Wikitravel, please feel free to add it, or I would certainly appreciate any additional information, comments or criticism of the information that is presented there.

You are free to disagree with me on whether the links should be there, but you will have to gain some support for your position. Thanks --Inas 02:16, 4 May 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Community consensus

Can you get community consensus for my changes? JRG 03:56, 4 May 2009 (EDT)

Cool. I'm interested in the bigger picture, but I generally have no problems with the Districts apart from the fact that the "North West" area is way too big compared to others. JRG 03:41, 5 May 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Darling Harbour map

I like your Darling Harbour map. However the Sydney Ferries King St Wharf 3 stop is missing from the map. You may like to show that Parramatta River services depart from there and Pyrmont Bay/Darling Harbour/Circular Quay loop services depart from the Aquarium stop. JRG 08:30, 5 May 2009 (EDT)

[edit] SOP

• This response was based on this comment [2] now deleted.

Inas - seriously please, stop whinging. I didn't actually revert your edit- I changed it to another reading which is different from what both of us said. I believe in accuracy and reversion is fine when the information is wrong. If it's a matter of opinion like our district disagreement, then it is not ok and I have already apologised for doing it there. Sydney Olympic Park IS within Homebush Bay. The area around it also contains Newington, but the park itself is entirely within the suburb of Homebush Bay. That's what the GNB says (there's currently a proposal to change it, by the way, which is how I know). I've fixed it up and noted that both it and the neighbouring areas (including Newington) have attractions (I would include in this the riverside cycleways on both side of the river). Now let's get on with editing. JRG 05:45, 7 May 2009 (EDT)

On OSM it would be accuracy. Over there, feel free to ask me whether the suburb boundary goes down the centre of Louise Savage Pathway, or follows the western side. On Wikipedia we could validly discuss a whole heap of facts, including the proposal to change it at the GNB, which I would be interested to hear the latest on. But this is Wikitravel, and here, it is just pedantry. A traveller would neither know, nor care.

As to thing whinging bit, that is a bit rich, really, considering the dummy spit I copped from you a week or so ago.

And as for the editing, yes, I continue to get on with it. This is a sideshow. --Inas 06:33, 7 May 2009 (EDT)

What is OSM? JRG 09:50, 8 May 2009 (EDT)

OpenSteetmap [3]. We have ad a GNB names import for a while and have just imported the ABS suburb boundary data, so aligning suburb boundaries to road centres and features is a happening thing. The newington homebush bay boundary is an interesting one, it is on the other side of the inlet, and seems to align to the pathway, but there has probably been construction and realignment since the boundary was decided. imo. --Inas 19:33, 8 May 2009 (EDT)

[edit] http://www.citybaseapartments(dot)com - spamming?

Hope you're still around... Can you have a look at edits being made by the IP address 84.92.213.133 Seems to be adding to virtually all UK towns and cities a link to http://www.citybaseapartments(dot)com Seems like violation of policy to me, but there's probably too many for me to undo changes. Perhaps you have an easier way to undo those changes?

Ta, Nrms 07:02, 11 May 2009 (EDT)

No prob. I added it to the spam blacklist so there was time to do the reverts without more being added. Hopefully if the message has gotten though it can be unblocked. Nrms 07:29, 11 May 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Niagara Falls

I'm sorry you didn't like my caption on the picture, but the tone guidline does say "Humor and irreverence are welcome as basic components of lively travel writing". I was trying to be a little pithy. LtPowers 20:15, 11 May 2009 (EDT)

I really like the work you've done on the article, Inas. Good job! LtPowers 19:49, 14 May 2009 (EDT)

Hey, by the way -- is the current caption I've authored in Niagara Falls (New York) better? LtPowers 09:15, 26 May 2009 (EDT)

Thanks. I think I know what you mean -- lively, lightly humorous writing is difficult to write collaboratively, because everyone has a different idea of what's funny and what's going too far. Dry, encyclopedic writing is at least agreeably neutral, but it can be no fun to read at times. =) LtPowers 18:47, 26 May 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Could I ask you a favour...

Might take a few minutes still but I want to upload a few photos of Portland from Wikimedia Commons. Last time I did it, I did it incorrectly, so could you check the Shared to see if I filled everything out ok? edmontonenthusiast [ee] ^.T.A.L.K. 21:30, 27 May 2009 (EDT).

[edit] Andara_Resort_Villas

Mate,

just saw that you are editing and wanted to ask if you could speedy delete Andara_Resort_Villas because it is just an ad. I put an vfd on it but I'm not an admin so please use your magic buttons ;-) Thanks, jan 07:24, 3 June 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Copyedit

Sorry, I don't really understand this edit of yours? A "decorated" restaurant is not the same at all as a "tastefully decorated" restaurant, and abbreviating the word "kilometres" in a phrase bolded for emphasis is also awkward. Jpatokal 21:59, 3 June 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Sydney zones

I have replied to your correspondence on the sydney talk page. Thanks. JRG 00:06, 7 June 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Novi Sad

I don't really know anything about the city, but I had reverted a large deletion of content by an unknown user. Are you sure you meant to revert my reversion? The Get In section now reads:

"Get in international and domestic lines.

medjugradski taxi prevoz novi sad. www.mobiltaxins.com" ChubbyWimbus 22:03, 10 June 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Good work

Inas, I'm really impressed with the work you've been doing to semi-automate copyediting and de-touting. Keep up the good work! LtPowers 12:58, 16 June 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Wi-Fi or wireless internet

Yes, I do disagree. I think wireless internet is more widely used in that particular context (including by the hotel in that listing) than Wi-Fi, and I prefer words to jargon. Gorilla Jones 19:29, 23 June 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Poolad Kaf

No, I don't think it would. It's a small ski resort in a remote part of Iran, with all of two mentions on the entirety of Google. It's clearly not an article. I merged the info into Kars and advised the user who created it. Gorilla Jones 21:13, 23 June 2009 (EDT)

That's simply not true. The deletion policy says "Major attractions and geographical areas can and should be redirected, but articles about restaurants, bars, hotels, and other such commercial establishments should be deleted rather than redirected, in order to curb touting." Poolad Kaf is an extremely minor attraction — this would be the third site on the entirety of the internet to even mention it, and the first two mentions weren't anything of note — it's also a commercial establishment. Gorilla Jones 21:37, 23 June 2009 (EDT)

A rule of thumb is a general guideline, which the policy follows with a more detailed explanation, because the rule of thumb is insufficient by itself: a bar is a place, a hotel is a place, and yet those things are not desired as redirects, despite being permitted by the rule of thumb. So I don't know what you think I was trying to hide with my selective quotation. You keep raising this distinction about how ski resorts aren't as commercial as bars, restaurants, and hotels. Every ski resort I've visited has been keen for cash in exchange for their services, to no less degree than any other business; obviously, our experiences differ. In any event, it's clear this should have been listed at Votes for Deletion instead of deleted outright, given the amount of disagreement over the issue, so please proceed with Poolad Kaf however you see fit. Gorilla Jones 23:16, 23 June 2009 (EDT)

[edit] RDF expedition

I'm afraid the use of rdf on Wikitravel goes over my head—I don't have any programming background. Best ask someone else who does (User:Mark & User:Jpatokal come to mind off the top of my head). --Peter ^Talk 21:52, 23 June 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Hollywood Studios

Hi, Inas! I was wondering if you could let me know if you have any outstanding concerns about the Hollywood Studios article. I'd like to address any remaining problems but haven't heard from you on the subject in a while. Hope you're doing well. LtPowers 17:03, 23 July 2009 (EDT)

I've been out of 3G range, and WT isn't much fun with GPRS. I'll have a look. --inas 20:24, 26 July 2009 (EDT)

[edit] gaol

Hi, inas. Regarding this edit: My impression from reading up on the subject is that both "jail" and "gaol" are widely used and understood in the UK ("gaol" perhaps being more common in Ireland, and distinctly more common in Australia), with the "jail" spelling becoming widespread apparently due to the influence of Monopoly, of all things. =) LtPowers 10:16, 31 July 2009 (EDT)

Okay; my impression was that gaol was no longer a particularly British spelling, but I don't know from firsthand evidence or anything. LtPowers 21:35, 1 August 2009 (EDT)

[edit] New South Wales map

Is it just me or is the Sydney district of totally white like the background color? The legend in the article shows it should be gray... Texugo 01:50, 11 August 2009 (EDT)

It isn't just you. The regions that weren't defined when I drew the map were omitted. I drew the map to help the discussion along, but figured it may as well go on the article page in the absnce of anything else. I'll get back to the couple of missing regions when Sydney districts are mapped and done. The legend in the article and the colors were added after I created the map. --inas 02:38, 11 August 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Bombala

What I added is that okay? I came to you first since you created the destination. --71.254.111.88 00:36, 18 August 2009 (EDT)

Replied on your talk page. Create an account if you like, it makes communication easier. --inas 00:42, 18 August 2009 (EDT)

I really don't know anymore about Bombala or that State Forest I thought i could just help look up Bombala on google maps. and i found that state forest otherthan that i can't really contribute anymore sorry Inas. --71.254.111.88 00:44, 18 August 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Re: Psychologist discoveries..

That's fine; I was just making sure the paragraph flowed properly. Your most recent edit is fine. =) LtPowers 20:57, 24 August 2009 (EDT)

Thanks - and for finding the missing word.. --inas 21:00, 24 August 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Sydney ferries

Hi - I've been giving some thought to how best to feature Sydney Ferries and the harbour in their own article, along the lines of your suggestions at Talk:Sydney. I was thinking of an itinerary article for a couple of the key ferry services, starting with say, Quay -> Parra, and Quay -> Manly, but maybe progressing to a few others. The article would cover the trip from Circular Quay, contain a list of sights and stops to look out for along the way (with photos and a map, maybe), and reference the appropriate articles for the stops along the way, if people want to get off and look around. It could substitute for the commentary on a harbour cruise, and give people a day out on the harbour. I also could be quite unique, as I haven't seen it done before. It gives more focus to the ferries than just "you can take xyz ferry from A to B", type text. WDYT? --inas 19:25, 24 August 2009 (EDT)

Good idea. I have tried an itinerary before for Sydney including ferries but it's not yet finished. An in-article itinerary is more than permissible and would be a good way to fill out the page. I'll keep mine going because it is more than just ferry rides. JRG 08:02, 27 August 2009 (EDT)

[edit] sweeping

you may find {{subst:swept}} useful  :) – cacahuate ^talk 02:02, 28 August 2009 (EDT)

Useful indeed. Thanks --inas 02:31, 28 August 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Whitestoneinns

I think you're being a little harsh on User:Whitestoneinns's edits -- sure, his listings are touty, but that calls for blanking or rewriting the description, not the entire hotel. Jpatokal 07:53, 17 September 2009 (EDT)

I only reverted the entries containing first person pronouns. [4] It is a clearly set out part of our polocy, which is simple to follow, and fairly obvious. I noted that in the reversion. If Whiestoneinn, or anyone else wants to rewrite the entires to not refer to "our hotel", then the wiki thing makes that easy to do. If it was one person adding one entry for a hotel, I'm happy to go and edit it - like I did for around 30 others today. But this is mass additions, all touting in the same language. Does anybody here really have the level of enthusaism for de-touting required for that? Chances are he is getting paid or there is some commercial basis for adding the multiple entries. Really, why should we volunteer time to tidy them up for him/her. That is their job. --inas 08:05, 17 September 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Thanks...

Hi Inas - Thanks - I'm finding this a fun way to fill a few hours each night when I can't sleep! I've been reading various tips and instruction pages but it will take time for it to all sink in. I've even posted one question in the Pub which was answered very promptly. --Dave McCormick 4 am PDST, Sep 18, 2009

[edit] Queensland

Hi Inas,

Thanks for your comments on the Queensland edits. I want to update the Regions and Towns/Cities section with the content I used earlier. How do you recommend displaying this content? I am also editing the other sections of the Queensland page today, would love your feedback on this and how I can improve it.

Thanks again,

Kane

---

Hi again,

Great, thanks for the feedback. I will go over the regions section again and put it on the discussion board and get some feedback. Just a few other questions.

a) I have linked to existing internal pages witin Wikitravel but they still how up red as read links? How do I override the standard [[]] linking to make sure it goes to the correct page?

b) Are you familiar which the process to getting a state map with the colour coded regions?

Appreciate all your help! :)

Thanks,

Kane

[edit] Captain Obvious

Just FYI, Wikitravel:No advice from Captain Obvious was inspired or at least galvanized by your User page.

BTW, whereabouts in Oz are you based? I'll be in Melbourne for the next month or so and am planning on popping into Sydney one of these weekends. Jpatokal 05:27, 22 November 2009 (EST)