Editing Help:Discussion pages

"Talk" or "discussion" pages (they go by both names) are used to discuss issues related to articles in a way that is less visible to the public. Talk pages are a good place to include material that supports an assertion but should not be part of an article, or to make a conjecture when you don't have enough evidence to edit the page.

== Talk page practices ==
In general, if you are adding a new "topic" to a talk page, it should start with a headline, and you should sign it. If you are responding to another person's topic, you should just add your comment below it, and sign it. Here is an example of a brief addition to a talk page, with an appropriate headline above and signature at the end:
<pre>
== Phone call of 2009-10-28 ==
I spoke briefly with Mr. Shlabotnik on the 28th when he
called the office to ask about seeing his page on bb-ref.
We had no birthdate or place for him, so I asked him and
he told me. I confirmed with the newspaper archive and 
added with the reference on the page. He also told me his
secondary school, which I added without confirmation. --~~~~
</pre>
The last six characters are a signature, which will translate to two dashes, followed by your username and the date and time you left the note. There is a signature at the end of this sentence. --[[User:GarverP01|GarverP01]] 13:28, 3 November 2009 (EST)

== Examples of good talk page use ==
=== Additional information ===
Sometimes when there is very little information on a player (likely an obscure one), we can get meaningful help from email or phone conversations. It is good practice to include a note on these conversations in a talk page to explain why you made the changes you did. See [[Talk:Alan Dwyer]] for an example.
	
=== Proposed changes  and inconsistencies ===
If you've found some conflicting evidence that suggests that an article should be changed, but don't  consider it strong enough to make the change, you can put it in the talk page. For example, if two usually reliable sources disagree on whether a player played college ball his freshman year, or where he was born, you might note the disagreement on the Talk page. 
	
A special case of a proposed change is one that involves technical work. For example, if you are fully convinced that a player's use name is incorrect (and thus that his page is likely misnamed), but aren't comfortable making the change, an explanation in the talk page is a good place to address this. You should also add the needs-review template in the player's page text.

=== Dispute resolution ===
If you:
* Made a change that was rejected by an administrator
* Roll back a change because you feel the evidence is not sufficient
* Disagree with an assessment or other content of a page

The talk page is a good place to note this.