User talk:Hillcraft

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Welcome![edit]

Hello, Hillcraft, 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:

Please remember to sign your messages on talk pages by typing 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 {{help me}} before the question. Again, welcome!

You should be aware, though, that Wikipedia has very strict policies about the addition of promotional material. I have reverted your additions to Longboard (skateboard) on that basis. For a subject to be included at Wikipedia it needs to be notable (see WP:N for details), which usually means it must have received significant coverage in reliable sources. At first glance, the article Brakeboard will likely need more independent reliable sources to be considered notable.

Facebook, for example, is not generally considered a reliable source. I'm a member of the Skateboarding WikiProject, a group of editors who spend time editing skateboard-related articles. I'm happy to help if I can. I'm even happy to help add material to the longboard article if we can do it in a non-promotional way with some good sources. Feel free to leave a message here or on my talk page. I'm Australian, by the way. Cheers, Stalwart111 04:55, 24 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

By the way, as a good indication of how you might move the Brakeboard article forward, have a look at Freeboard (skateboard) which is another "alternate" skateboard design. Like the brakeboard, there's one company that dominates the market, run by the inventor. The article is about the design as a concept, the history of the invention and the company all in one. Stalwart111 05:24, 24 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Re: Brakeboard skateboard brake[edit]

Well, there's also the skatebrake from California which seems to use a cable-brake (like a mountain bike) with a handle that stays in your hand while you ride. But it certainly isn't notable at the moment. The general convention is to have a page about the product with mentions of various brands (like Freeboard), until those brands become independently notable. In this instance, the Brakeboard would seem to be the only notable brand so the article is about both. On WP:PROMO, there's nothing to say the board can't be mentioned in other articles, we just have to be careful how it is mentioned and make sure any mentions are supported by reliable sources. At the moment, your priority should be identifying reliable sources to verify the various claims in the Brakeboard article and to establish notability. I added a couple but there's not much out there. If we don't add some more, there's a good chance the article will have to be deleted. Press releases, Facebook, the company's own site, forums and blogs are all considered unreliable. We need newspapers, magazines, books and things like that. Stalwart111 07:52, 24 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

There's also something by a company called POGO? Stalwart111 08:02, 24 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Stalwart111, As you have probably checked, the Brakeboard entry has been on Wikipedia since about 2006, just after the ABC New Inventors program. It's web entry is still there. The Yellow Pages entry of that year has long gone. (Brakeboard won the WA competition.) Yes, we know about the cable brake system and have had some discussions with the inventor. Brakeboard's claim are:

1. first footbrake and

2. first internal (to the wheels) brake system.

Most other systems rely on rubbing something onto the outside of the wheel. The current entry is basically an update to the original. Apart from lots of encouraging emails and mini reviews, this one is on Youtube: here. I'm not sure if this counts as an external reference. Anyway, let me know what to change. regards, Hillcraft (talk) 08:54, 24 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Generally, blogs like that aren't considered reliable sources because they don't have the sort of editorial oversight you get with newspapers and magazines. The trick is going to be finding some things that fit into the criteria at WP:RS. While I understand the article has been here for a while, longevity of product or existence here is not a notability criteria unfortunately. Just need to find those sources. Stalwart111 09:16, 24 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Brakeboard rewrite[edit]

Hi, OK Thanks, I'll try to rewrite Brakeboard in the same format as Freeboard. I noticed that they are allowed to include their own web site in References. Are photos allowed? Hillcraft (talk) 09:31, 24 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, photos are fine, but avoid making it look like a brochure - it is an encyclopedia after all. I removed the one of the shop front. You can use the site as a reference for factual stuff but it doesn't contribute to notability. It is already included in external links so just be careful about adding it too many times. Stalwart111 09:52, 24 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Wow. Thank you very much for re formatting the Brakeboard entry. Tomorrow I plan to add a few dates to the History section. Hillcraft (talk) 15:40, 24 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds good! Stalwart111 22:28, 24 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Hi mate, I've undone part of your change (though it is logged as my having undone the whole thing). You picked up on the incorrect name which is fine, but I've left the "controversy" part in because that's the basic premise of the source in question. Without it, the article doesn't really reflect the source. I think, from memory, that source was added because there wasn't much out there. Simplest fix is to replace it with another source and remove that whole bit. Got anything else usable? Stalwart111 11:28, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Brakeboard 2014 update[edit]

Hi, I've added some text for 2014, and made a few small changes and a review reference. I am also trying to add three new photos, but haven't got the technique right. They are in Wikimedia commons. eg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Brakeboard_complete_2014-15.jpg

Historically it would be nice to keep the three original photos with the added "2013-2014" to each caption. I am a director of the company, and these changes have been made with agreement of the other two directors.

Btw, we are very happy with the number of Wikipedia hits that Brakeboard is receiving. It is even exceeding the "Longboard" page hits at the moment. It gives great credibility.

John Hillcraft (talk) 06:56, 31 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hi John, I've made some changes to your changes (which I'm sure you'll be comfortable with). I've included just two images - one from last year and one from this year. I think it's fine without the wheels which (while specialised) don't look any different and don't tell us much about the item (again, with my "encyclopaedia hat" on). The extra review is great - more of that sort of thing will put notability beyond doubt. I've removed the tag from the top of the article on that basis.

While having the agreement of your colleagues is a great thing, remember to consider the consensus position of the Wikipedia community. It's the only way the article will remain here long-term. Things are supposed to get credibility and then get a Wikipedia article. If you suggest too enthusiastically that a product has become credible because of Wikipedia, others may take a dim view. Keep up the great work! St★lwart¹¹¹ 06:09, 1 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, many thanks for sorting out the format and photos. It looks fine. Be assured, we feel privileged to have a Wikipedia entry. Brakeboard is one of the few all Australian designed skateboard products. Any further updates we hope will be in form of more reviews and/or news items. Regards, John Hillcraft (talk) 09:02, 1 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds good. Internally, try to work on relationships with some of the bigger magazines to get some coverage we can cite. Cheers, St★lwart¹¹¹ 01:51, 3 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Hillcraft from fellow WikiProject Skateboarding member![edit]

A sick Harold Hunter wallride for you!

I'm Wil540 and I am a member of WikiProject_Skateboarding like you and I also run an independent digital history project focused on skateboarding called the Skateboarding Digital History Project.

Unfortunately, the Rick McCrank article has been nominated for deletion. Please contribute if you feel opinionated on the nomination: Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Rick_McCrank_(2nd_nomination) --Wil540 art (talk) 14:49, 17 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]