Help:How to use discussion pages
From SABR Encyclopedia
Every page in the Encyclopedia has a discussion page. If you're looking at a page (including this one) you can see a tab at the top that says "discussion". Clicking the tab will take you to the discussion page.
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Why do they exist?
Discussion pages exist to allow editors to collectively discuss aspects of an article, and also to provide a place to store information that you might not be sure is right to include in the main article.
A discussion page always stays with an article, even if it changes names, and has a history just like any other article, so you can be sure that information you put there won't be lost.
What to add to a discussion page
There are several types of information appropriate for a discussion page
"I think this is wrong"
If you think you see a problem with an article, but you aren't sure, the discussion page is a great place to start the process of getting it fixed. This is also true if you know there's a problem, but are worried that just editing the article may not communicate your reasons for making the change. Bringing it up first on the talk page and discussing it with other editors first can make it easier for your edit to get approved in the end.
The talk page is also the appropriate place to bring up errors in a player's career or biographical information, which for many players you will not be able to edit at all. By alerting the people responsible for maintaining this data, you can let them know that it needs to be fixed.
Random facts
If you have some information you'd like to share, but aren't sure how it fits into the article, you can leave it on the discussion page. If it is useful to another editor later, it may be used in the article. Treat this much like you would adding information to an article, and include your source.
Unverifiable information
If information is unverifiable, it probably does not belong in the main article. But if it is of interest, include it in the discussion page with the caveat that it can't be verified. There are many types of information that fall into this category, and no rules about what you may or may not include on a talk page.
How to add it
For the most part, any information added to a discussion page should be added under a new heading, and you should sign your additions. What you type into the edit box may look something like the example below, which I might add to the Joe Shlabotnik discussion page:
== Managing career error? == I notice that Shlabotnik is listed as coaching for the 1965 Waffletown syrups. I asked Joe about this when I met him, years later, and he told me that while he consulted briefly for the team, he never had an official job in organized baseball after he was fired as manager in 1964. I don't have the team record book to check this fact. --~~~~
The code --~~~~ at the end will insert a signature, with your username and the time you made the edit. This makes it easy to see who is adding to the article. In a discussion with someone else, the standard practice is to leave one blank space below the other person's last comment, then add your own.
