Help talk:Style guide/User pages

What about "fake" articles/mainspace copies on user pages?

Should these pages follow the Wikipedia guidelines? Here (look the sections above too).

I think the Guidelines section needs more specificity on this matter.

Giving the current guidelines, and the ones from Wikipedia, this is probably the best approach:

If the page looks like an actual article/has custom content (eg 1, 2, 3, 4, 5):

1. For user pages: Add the "User page" template, which includes NOINDEX.
2. For user sandbox pages: Add the "User sandbox" template, with a parameter for NOINDEX.

If the page is a mainspace copy (including other languages) (eg 1, 2, 3):

1. Delete
2. Blank the page, stating the reason in the edit summary/add something like this

Mgpt (talk) 18:54, 6 January 2024 (UTC) edited Mgpt (talk) 23:09, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

Personally I think they're harmless, I know that some editors such as ShadowMan44 create pages that mimic real articles to prepare for articles they think are going to be in an upcoming update. I don't see much harm in these as long as they are non-indexed. As far as I know, using main templates is also not against any rules (past or present), only categories. I believe there is also a notice in the works right now, specifically one that mentions it's a User page when you are in the User namespace.
| s | GrampaSwood (talk) (contribs) 19:06, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

I believe using this would be more effective than simply adding NOINDEX, or just a template for it, as we already have a template for /Sandbox "{{User sandbox}}" (could be linked on the Help page). I think the section needs more specificity on this matter, whether it follows Wikipedia guidelines or not. This is just my opinion. Regarding the item infobox usage, it says "This template must not be used on user pages." Mgpt (talk) 19:35, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

I think having to create the page, blank it, then retrieve it through the history is a lot more work for an average user. I think it's fine the way it is, there has to be a balance between easy-to-create user space pages and making it obvious that it's user space. I believe a namespace-wide template may be appropriate that shows it's a user space, but in the end preventing it from showing up in search engines is the best way to deal with it. As for Wikipedia guidelines, seeing as we have our own guidelines in place for User pages I don't see a need to follow Wikipedia's.
| s | GrampaSwood (talk) (contribs) 19:50, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

Made some changes Mgpt (talk) 23:09, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

The guidelines are fine. We are currently working on a method to prevent user pages from being mistaken for real ones, but this will take some time (and hopefully won't involve editing all of them to include new templates).

As for deleting decade-old user pages that don't follow the guidelines, I don't see any value in doing so unless they're causing some kind of trouble (i.e., appearing in a search instead of an actual article). They will be left as they are. — Tark 03:17, 7 January 2024 (UTC)