User talk:Boingo

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Mechanics

How do you mess with the colors/shading on a wiki table? I proposed something like that for this page. Boingo 07:49, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Same as on a normal HTML table, except that there are certain limitations to prevent problems (most notably, you can't set an image as a background unless you do so via sitewide CSS). Probably what you would find most useful is the background-color style. Have a look at any HTML tutorial out there and you should find some tips on HTML tables that you can put to use here. You might also find Help:Table useful. --GreenReaper^(talk) 08:05, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

I made my proposed changes. What do you think? Boingo 01:24, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Thought the colours were a little strong, so I tweaked them so that the text was more readable. You can do unordered lists using * at the front. --GreenReaper^(talk) 01:42, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

These might be stupid questions...

but I still would like to ask:

• Is it always unacceptable to add a link to [[[encyclopedia dramatica]] to a page (Looking something like this: [http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Aeris A satrical take on the 'Mary Sue' phenomenon]), or does it depend on the circumstances?
• What's the policy on using someone's real, birth-cirtificate listed name in their biographical article?
• What's the policy on using real life pictures in biographical articles?
• Since they're so short and they don't really have any prospects for more content, shouldn't the articles 'bisexual' and 'heterosexual' be merged into 'homosexual' to create 'sexual preference'?

Boingo 05:03, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

All content decisions are made on a case by case basis. However, ED rarely makes a good link, due to its habit of putting a highly negative spin on any subject that it covers (except for those which result in the glorification of drama). Its editors are also quite willing to make things up if doing so results in "lulz". For these reasons and others, linking to ED is strongly discouraged, and I would advise you to treat anything you find there with caution. For the specific example you give, there seems no reason not to just use an interwiki link to Wikipedia, which has a perfectly good article on the topic. We would not need to have a separate article as it is not a furry topic.

Our policy with birth names is to look at whether or not that name is being concealed in any way. For example, many artists actually go by their real names. Others use fan names alongside their real names. Still others make no mention of their real names, even on the websites containing their work. In the latter case, the use of the real name (if you know it) is probably not appropriate. Real names will usually be removed on request from the subject.

The same thing goes for real life pictures. If you know, or have reason to believe that someone would not want their picture on WikiFur, it is probably best not to put it here. On the other hand, many people do not mind, and it can be a useful means of identification.

Don't really have an opinion on the last. If you think doing so would make a better encyclopedia, you should do so. --GreenReaper^(talk) 06:24, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

I made the changes. I'd like to ask you some things about the sexual preference page.

• I wrote a snippet saying that some people think that sexual orientation is an artificial construct and does not really exist. But I don't know of any furries advocating that position besides the one person that I linked.
• I altered the colors on the table so it has the holistic, ying-yang style of intermixed pink and blue. I tried to lighten the colors a lot compared to my first try at it. How does it look now?
• I wrote a section saying that a cordial split exists among Christian furs between those who believe homosexuality is immoral and those who disagree. Is this accurate? Or do all (or nearly all) of the Christian furries accept homosexuality? The only anti-gay-marriage furry that I know of is Prince Jeremy.*
• I'd like to find citations for the theories saying since having a non-furry significant other and raising children may result in a fan having less time and money to devote to the fandom, gays are over-represented because they are less likely to be raising children and Others guess that gays are not over-represented, but that they are simply much more likely to be open about their sexual orientation among their fellow fans than they are in other areas of their life.
• One other theory is that the demographics of the fandom is reasonably close to the general population. It just happens that people who become furries (a 'coming out' of sorts) become more exposed to alternate lifestyles (which might result in a paralell 'coming out'). I considered adding this to the article, but I didn't because it seems overly speculative.

Boingo 07:32, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

*Based on his infamous "you all belong in concentration camps" comment. Boingo 23:44, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

I have made further edits. Some general points:

• If you are intending to move one page to another title, use the Move tab at the top rather than cut and pasting. Doing the latter breaks the edit history, and deprives others of the credit for their prior edits, which is required for GFDL compliance.
• Link to Wikipedia by using [[Wikipedia:Article name|text to display]].
• Per the style guide, only the first word of titles should be capitalized unless the word would normally be capitalized (like a name).
• Use a spellchecker. :-) If you use a recent beta of Firefox it will have one built in.

To answer your questions:

• The table looks fine to me.
• I suspect there are some who are less than enthused about it, but I do not know for sure. You could always ask the community of Christian furs (or see if the question has been asked already). Jeremy would be an outlier for most purposes.
• I'm not sure you can really get a citation for that, but you could give examples of involvement in such activities. For example, very significant proportions of the leadership at conventions and other furry events are gay, including key members of (at least) the top five event by attendance, as well as the larger ones overseas. I should note that leadership in this area is not exclusive - as far as I know, there is no "anti-breeder" bias - but if you look closely it is a very clear trend. It might be because gay community members are more interested in organizing communal events. I don't know.
• Possible. I think the current situation is a combination of this effect and others. Again, more research is required. --GreenReaper^(talk) 21:43, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I apologize for messing up the move (I only did it once before in my Wikipedia days). I didn't realize how to use the Wikilink code until I was about halfway through editing the page; I'll use it the correct way in the future.

• I suspect there are some who are less than enthused about it, but I do not know for sure. You could always ask the community of Christian furs I've read a lot of furries' livejournals but I don't have one myself (and- to be honest with you- I really do not want one, especially after reading several "if I see him again, I'll rip his f*cking throat out" posts.) Has Kendricks been editing on Wikifur recently? Could I ask him on his talk page?
• Jeremy would be an outlier for most purposes. I don't know what you mean by "outlier".
• as far as I know, there is no "anti-breeder" bias - but if you look closely it is a very clear trend I don't know what "anti-breeder" means. I'm a compete noob, so I don't know the furry lexicon (Please resist the urge to choke my neck with your mind as you type your response).
• Possible. I think the current situation is a combination of this effect and others. Again, more research is required. I see. I think the theories section does a good job of describing every viewpoint. Boingo 23:15, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
• I edited the page so that the praises and criticisms of the Kinsey reports now have exact citations. The only major omission that I can still see is that the article doesn't talk about transgender furries (and/or furries with fursonas of the opposite gender)- but I don't know if this should be mentioned at all. Boingo 00:32, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

• No worries about the formatting/move issues, we're all learning here. :-)
• An outlier is a data point which does not "fit the curve" (and which is typically discarded)
• "Breeder" is slang term used by some homosexuals for heterosexuals, and by some "child-free" couples who dislike children in general for all parents. I intended more the former than the latter, although there have been one or two comments that suggest that a minority of the general furry population disagree with the idea of bringing children to conventions. The bit about the "trend" was not intended to apply to that part of the sentence, but the previous line.
• The issue of gender identity (as opposed to sexual preference) probably deserves coverage, but perhaps not on that page, as it is a different issue. There are individuals in the fandom who exhibit trans-gender behaviour, from the level of experimenting with roleplaying characters (changing gender along with species is a relatively small step) to considering full-blown gender reassignment therapy. My belief is that this are is largely male-to-female, but I could not even hazard a figure (the fact that the fandom is largely male skews this, of course). --GreenReaper^(talk) 01:13, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

I agree that gender as an identity is a topic for a seperate page. As far as the Christian furs topic goes, I don't really know who to ask (or if I can ask, since I don't have an LJ). Boingo 01:31, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

I would e-mail Kendricks to ask him about it, but I'm rather paranoid about making wiki related e-mails ever since someone (details ommitted for privacy). I would post on his talk page about it, but he hasn't been editing for a while. Boingo 01:36, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

There are Christian groups online - forums, LJ communities, mailing lists. It might be worth asking them, or individual members of them, if you think it is important. --GreenReaper^(talk) 16:50, 3 January 2008 (UTC)