Wikipedia:Help desk

Welcome—ask questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia! (Am I in the right place?)

• For other types of questions, use the search box, see the reference desk or Help:Contents. If you have comments about a specific article, use that article's talk page.
• Do not provide your email address or any other contact information. Answers will be provided on this page only.
• Check back on this page to see if your question has been answered.
• For real-time help, use our IRC help channel, #wikipedia-en-help.
• New editors may prefer the Teahouse, a help area for beginners.

Ask a question

January 6

(+436) positive/negative numbers in brackets after article names in my watchlist.

I've noticed that the article names in my watchlist now have numbers after them. Can anyone explain what they are for? --Brideshead 00:02, 6 January 2007 (UTC) Sorry Disregard, just found the answer above. Thanks --Brideshead 00:05, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Watchlist

On "My Watchlist" each page on the list of edits that your list has compiled is followed by a number, green for positive ones, red for negative. I cant seem to find what that represents. Is it some form of rating system or what? --Ferdiaob 00:09, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Please see Help:Watching pages#What do the colored numbers mean? -- Kesh 00:26, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

It shows the increase or decrease in the number of bytes as a result of that edit, in case you didn't look :) SGGH 11:33, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

surveying land

If I am buying an acre of land on a steep hillside how is the measurement figured? Will it be measured horizontally or vertically?

The Help Desk is for asking questions about Wikipedia. Please try the appropriate section of the Reference desk. Thanks. --Tkynerd 02:11, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Land area is measured two dimensionally and does not change based on the relief of the land. The price per square foot can however vary. For example, an acre of hilly, ocean-view land may allow for more building sites with views. It could sell for more than one acre with flat land that permits only one house with an ocean view.Mattnad 05:18, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Sorry to add to this pointless question, but what happens if the land is vertical? If the measurement is 2-d horizonal then I presumeably get an infinite amount of it for my money? :P Jubilee♫clipman 17:49, 10 December 2008 (UTC) PS feel free to remove this pointless addition...

Sock Puppet Tags

I have a question. Can ANYONE place a sockpuppet tag on another user's page, or is that something only an administrator can do? What is the proper procedure to follow if you suspect someone of being a sock puppet? Also, if someone who is NOT an administrator places a sockpuppet tag on your page, can you remove it? Thanks for your help! Cleo123 02:23, 6 January 2007 (UTC) (edit conflict)

Anyone may place the tag, however you must be certain they are a sock puppet. Otherwise, you may be accusing an innocent editor, which leads to drama. If anyone places a warning on your User talk page, it's bad form to remove it yourself. A false accusation can be cleared up and the admin/user who placed it should remove it themself. If not, you can archive older comments, including the warning template.

Basically, talk with the user who placed the tag and work for a resolution to prove whether or not the tagged editor really is a sock puppet or not. If a resolution cannot be made between the two users, a request for comment may be appropriate. -- Kesh 02:40, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Edit war with someone who won't talk back.

I'm somewhat new to Wikipedia, and am having an edit war, mainly on the Angel (Lilo & Stitch) page, with someone who won't respond to my requests to talk to them. It is getting on my nerves and I'm afraid my angry responses are breaking policies, which I REALLY don't want to do.

The person, who doesn't have a wikipedia account, keeps adding questionable/incorrect information to the page, some of it which doesn't even need to be there. For example, the person keeps adding the character (who is an alien who doesn't speak English) to the "fictional Scott" catigory and adding a line saying that she has a "soft Scottish accent". This person also adds "like Stitch's" to ever single line I write in which I say that the character has retractable claws, even though the character Stitch does not have retractable claws (He has claws like a dogs and I have never seen them retracted in all of the media I've seen. I've tried to ask the person for a citation to show that they are, but with no results. And even if it was true, is it even necessary to add to the end of the sentence?). The incorrect statement about Stitch's claws are on other pages as well, but I haven't fixed them all yet. (Oy, am I talking to much for this help desk page?)

The REAL issue, though, is that this person absolutely REFUSES to speak to me. I have tried leaving comments on the talk page, comments within the text that the person is editing, and comments when I save the page. They go completely ignored, and the person continues to re-add the incorrect information that I deleted. I know I shouldn't assume that I'm completely correct, but I'm pretty sure that I am and would be perfectly fine with being proven wrong with solid, citable data (I'm a scientist, after all). I tried to make a compromise by adding a dispute tag to the top of the page, but the person keeps deleting it. That's the last straw.

How do I solve this dispute without allowing the incorrect information to remain on the page? Miriam The Bat 02:38, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Per Wikipedia:Resolving disputes, you've already attempted to contact the user. Step two, Disengage for a while is relevant. You don't want to break civility rules over this. Step back, and take a breath. After that, since this user apparently refuses a dialogue, next would be a Request for Comment. This asks other editors & admins to look at the situation and mediate a resolution. Since the user refuses to talk, mediation seems unavailable at this point. An RfC would bring attention to the matter and hopefully resolve it. -- Kesh 02:48, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. I've already posted a request for comment on the Media, Art & Literature request-for-comment page on December 24th, but didn't get a response. Did I post the request too soon or on the wrong page? Miriam The Bat 02:54, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

It may have simply been overlooked. Try again, and mention it on the Talk page for your article. Keep in mind, people tend to speak out on subjects that interest them, so with niche articles (like a single character) it can sometimes be difficult to attract attention to RfCs on them. -- Kesh 03:04, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

I'd also mention that some of this behavior sounds like vandalism. Use warning templates sparingly, but they could be handy and correct usage can help document his acts and lead to administrative action in the future. Xiner (talk, email) 03:16, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Question from Heather

Where do I find out if you have valid creditionals to present your information and why?

Heather Williams (email removed)

Hi Heather! Anyone can join Wikipedia and edit the articles here. Just sign up (at the top of the page)! -- Kesh 03:34, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Hi Heather. If you are actually asking about Wikipedia's bonafides as a source of information, we recommend that, if you are using our information in an official capacity, you verify the information you find in our articles through other sources (check the cited sources in the article first). Anchoress 03:38, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

You may be interested in reading Wikipedia:Who writes Wikipedia. Canderson7 ^(talk) 03:39, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Fad Predictions

I manage the 2000's fads page, and a while ago before a major clean-up there was a fad prediction section where people could add things they believed to become fads in the future, but it was deleted and it was stated there shouldn't be a fad prediction section. The same type of section was just created a little while ago and i want to know if maybe it could be kept or moved.--Technofreak90 04:03, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

WP:NOT. Specifically, the Wikipedia is not a crystal ball, as well probably as the stuff about it not being a social networking site or forum. The section shouldn't exist. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 04:12, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Help! I don't know how to deal with a flood of deletion requests!

I just noticed a user has nominated 12 separate articles for potentially pointless AfD discussions based on, what could charitably called a unique rule interpretation. I don't want to assume bad faith, but I also don't feel like debating in detail with a somewhat difficult user. Is it a violation of assuming good faith to point out the edit history of the user (almost 20 AfD noms in three days, all of which are controversial and on related topics)? I don't want to start an edit war, but this seems to me a clear case of policy abuse. Wintermut3 05:05, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

• Update: I posted a message to the user's talk page, and they seem to be more reasonable at this point than they appeared at first blush, though I still have issues with the massive nom flood, some of them are also clearly warranted on a second look. But any advice as to how to approach mass-noms using cut-and-pasted rational and the fallout from this would still be appreciated. Wintermut3 05:21, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
• Suggest they put very similar articles in a mass-nomination on the same AFD nomination subpage next time. Ask them to withdraw those you think aren't warranted. - Mgm|^(talk) 13:32, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Gothic Revival Article

There is a Gothic Architecture Revival article on Wikipedia but it doesn'e mention any of the Latin American Gothic structures that were built in the late 19th century and early 20th. I posted the name of a very famous Costarican neo-gothic church called "Iglesia de Coronado" some weeks ago but it got deleted. Why did this happen? There is even a big article on it at this website:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iglesia_de_Coronado

Please let me know if it's impossible to include this one or any other church in the article.

Respecfully,

Guido Sanchez —Preceding unsigned comment added by Subtilior74 (talk • contribs)

Well I searched "Iglesia de Coronado" but it apparently never existed. There was nothing in the deletion log that said that it did. By the way are you sure that that was exactly the name, since wikipedia is like that. As for another thing, if the article was in just Spanish on this wikipedia, it would most likely get deleted. — Arjun 05:35, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

I took a different tack. In fact, Subtilior74, you seem to have edited the Gothic Revival architecture, adding a new external link. And, it is still exactly where you left it. However, linking to a foreign language page isn't usually considered very helpful. It would be better to add information to the article or even translate the Spanish article. The church is mentioned in List of Gothic Revival architecture, so the link you have added is fairly redundant. Notinasnaid 12:13, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

microbiology

im a biotech student .. can any one say whats the conditions required for growing 1.nitrifying bacteria 2.denitrifying bacteria 3.sulphur bacteria... (pH,TEMPERATURE,INCUBATION TIME)

The Help Desk is for getting help with Wikipedia itself. Please try the appropriate section of the Reference desk. --Tkynerd 06:30, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

customer care

Please give me definition of customer care for cellular call centres.

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. — Lost^(talk) 08:15, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

• You don't need the reference desk. Try customer care or customer service and apply that to whatever you're calling them for. - Mgm|^(talk) 13:30, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Not Bad for a Girl

here is my contact info: (rm email)...why does it keep deleting?

Not Bad for a Girl (An Analytic Approach to the Functions of Music and Gender Deconstruction) is an 88-minute feature film documenting some of the more noteworthy harder core female bands from the early 90s. It stars L7, Babes in Toyland, the Lunachicks, and Hole, featuring interview and performance footage from each band and bandmember. It was produced on a shoestring by Dr. Lisa (psychologist/ musicologist) and Kyle C. Kyle (musician/artist), and it shows. Cobbled from a variety of video sources (primarily hi-8) and transferred to 16-millimeter film, Not Bad for a Girl ascribes to the fiercely independent school of filmmaking a la "Hoop Dreams" and "Hype."

Tina Silvey executive produced NB4AG, which played at independent theaters, film festivals, museums, university women's and critical gender studies departments and popular culture departments. It enjoyed a surprisingly successful international run playing the festival circuit including: LAIFF, NYIFF, AtlantaFF, ChicagoFF, San FransiscoFF, Boston U., U.S.C., New York's Hallwalls, HawaiiFF., MontrealFF, London, the UK, Germany, Portugal, France (CreiteilFF), MelbourneFF and SydneyFF AUS, and more, winning awards such as Best Director and Best Independent Film. Horizon Films picked it up for domestic theatrical distribution.

Given Lisa's psychological background, the interviews loosely paralleled her doctorate on music, exploring creativity, madness, and gender issues attempting to locate the line where a potentially new female identity can be defined in a society that had been somewhat less than welcoming. The cast is rounded out with Rock for Choice special guies Joan Jett, The Mudwimin, Silverfish featuring Lesley Rankine (Ruby), Jula Bell (Bobsled, Bulemia Banquet), Calamity Jane, performance footage and interviews from the 1rst Annual Riot Grrrl Convention in Washington D.C., and Rock 'n' Roll High School for girls in Melbourne Australia (Hecate/Litany and more), as well as various fans along the way.

Not Bad for a Girl is available on DVD, as an academic book, the original posters and more and can be obtained by contacting Dr. Lisa or Kyle C. Kyle at SpitshineProductions.com, NB4AG.com, and AlchemyandMotion.com.

The article Not bad for a girl was deleted for being non-notable (=nn), by User:Jaranda see [1]. If you wish to query the deletion either contact the Admin Jaranda yourself and explain why the article subject is notable or request Wikipedia:Deletion review. Cheers Lethaniol 11:53, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Lost Article?

A while ago I remember seeing a article List of very serious episodes which showed a alphabetical list of television shows along with the very special episodes description. But now I can't find it after searching for it. May you please help me with this situation?

Signed, BCnumbah1

It is possible the page has been deleted (from the title, it sounds like a very subjective inclusion criterion, so difficult to be encyclopaedic with). However, there has never been a page under the exact title List of very serious episodes - could the title have been slightly different, or some of the words been capitalised? Trebor 13:17, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

It was probably List of very special episodes, which was deleted after Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of very special episodes. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 15:13, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

renaming an existing page

Hi - I created a page, "Charles dexter phelps," simply as a redirect page. However, it really should be capitalized, since it is a proper name. Now I don't know how to rename it "Charles Dexter Phelps" -- can you help me?

• All you need to do is click move at the top of the page and then write where you want the page moving to, I hope this helps. Asics 14:59, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
  • Okay great - this worked. BUT it no longer automatically redirects. Instead there's an interim page where one can click through to the proper page. (If you search "charles dexter phelps" you'll see what I'm trying to express.) Is there any way to clean that up so it just goes straight to the proper page?
    • There was a double redirect - i.e. the redirect was pointed at another redirect. It's been fixed. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 15:15, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict) The move created a double redirect, which I just fixed. In the future, you can edit the page and change the text next to #REDIRECT to change to the proper page. –Llama man^{sign here} 15:17, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

• • • • • • Thank you everyone - 209.247.21.173 20:55, 6 January 2007 (UTC)thirdcamper

My signature doesnt appear to be working when I use it

Hi my signature isn't working on some talk pages I am using Asics 14:55, 6 January 2007 (UTC) but it isn't signing my name (knowing my luck it will work on this page). Is there anything I might have done that stops it from working, and if so how do I fix it? The signature part on the toolbar should make the signature yet after I have submitted the content, it does not change to a signature --Asics 14:55, 6 January 2007 (UTC) Thanks, Asics. p.s. even if it works on this page can you explain why it isnt working elsewhere. (see the end of Talk:Barnsley F.C.)

The reason it didn't work there is that you used a nowiki tag to prevent a template transcluding, but did not close it, so everything thereafter was "nowikied" and your signature was not put on the page. Hope that helps. Trebor 15:17, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

L. Ron Hubbard's marriage information

I must tell you that false information about L. Ron Hubbard's marriages has been submitted to his entry. I can show you official documents to prove what I am saying which is, I'm sure, more than the person can do who sent in the information currently showing on the site. If I sent you this proof, will you be able to prevent the false information from reappearing? If so, what e-mail address can I use for the attachments? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnalexwood (talk • contribs)

Only reliable sources are acceptable as documentation of the facts in Wikipedia articles. If your evidence is currently only in a form that you can submit by E-mail (and I'll note in passing that Wikipedia does not have any centralized authority that can accept documentation in this manner anyway), it does not meet the reliable sources criteria. However, it sounds as if the person who updated the marriage information on Hubbard's entry also did not include any reliable sources. Your best course of action is to raise the issue on the article's talk page. --Tkynerd 18:01, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Central Park and Wallasey UK and New York NY

In the article about Wallasey, Merseyside, UK, there is reference to Central Park, which does exist and is excellent.

However, the words "Central Park" are a Link, - which send to you Central Park New York.

How do I go about reporting this error, or how can I sort it myself.

Gerry Jones (rm email))

Basically, the question is whether or not the Central Park in Wallasey is sufficiently notable to warrant an article of its own. If so, the article should be created (and named "Central Park (Wallasey)" or something similar), the article Central Park should be moved to Central Park (New York) (which is currently a redirect), and then a disambiguation page should be created, named "Central Park." If the Central Park in Wallasey is not notable, the link should be removed from Wallasey. You can do that yourself by editing the article (use the "Edit this page" link at the top of the article page) and changing [[Central Park]] to simply Central Park. My own guess -- and I want to emphasize that that's all it is -- would be that the Central Park in Wallasey is not notable (in the specific Wikipedia sense; see the link above) and does not warrant its own article. --Tkynerd 17:54, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Signature

How can i create those cool signatures people have instead of the boring one I've got? I mean with different colours and different parts of the name linking to different things i.e. User page for first half, and talk page for second half of the name. Thanks, Asics 18:12, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

There are some tips at WP:SIG. If you know html, then its easy. If you dont, then the easiest thing is to copy someone else's signature changing the name to yours — Lost^(talk) 18:16, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Just as a warning, keep your sig under the 200 character limit, also do not use images in your sig. — Arjun 18:23, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

I like mine, which is easy to write. Xiner (talk, email) 18:25, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Here's some advice. If your sig is longer than mine, its probably too much. — Dark Shikari ^talk/_contribs 22:30, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

After putting on the colour, I can no longer click on my name to redirect to my user page. Can someone kindly put up the source code? I tried the "a href" html code but doesn't work. OhanaUnited 03:18, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

OhanaUnited, you have to link it for it to be a link. --antilived^{T | C | G} 22:26, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Edit Lists

How do I edit Lists like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mac_OS_X_instant_messengers ? Because when I clicked the edit button I could only edit the Category, but not actually add more programs. Mercury Messenger is missing in that list. Help Please :) (Me-pawel 19:50, 6 January 2007 (UTC))

That isn't really a "list," it's a category. Lists are just articles that happen to list some stuff. Categories are specifically meant to group similar articles. Pages are only added to categories when you add a [[Category:______________]] line to the article pages themselves. For instance, to add Mercury Messenger to this category, you'd edit the article and add [[Category:Mac OS X instant messengers]] (usually to the end, or near it). Then it will appear in the Category page. Larry V (talk | contribs) 19:59, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank you! You helped me a lot ;) (Me-pawel 20:33, 6 January 2007 (UTC))

Almost sorted my signature

I nearly sorted my signature but it does not seem to be working, I know i'll have done something wrong but what? I have it on Template:Asics, and should look like Asics^Talk but when i put the teplate in as {{Template:Asics}} nothing happened, and was same with [[ ]] instead... it just looked like this... {{Template:Asics}} 20:11, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

I don't know much about signatures, but can't you put this code directly in your Preferences and check the Raw Signature box? Also the template should be in your user space, not Template. Xiner (talk, email) 20:17, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

You can't use templates in your signature; for more information see Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages#Transclusion of templates. Use regular wiki markup instead. Larry V (talk | contribs) 20:20, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

How to delete a user subpage

Is there a way to delete a user sub page I am no longer in need of? Lerner

Yes place {{db-user}} on the page you want deleted and an admin will delete it shortly. — Arjun 20:13, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

You'll need an admin to do that. Fortunately, admin I am, so I'll get that done for you. Larry V (talk | contribs) 20:16, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Tagging image after receiving permission to use

I wish to upload an image of a published fanzine front cover for a relevant article on Wikipedia. Subscribers to the fanzine can access an online version, and within this version is a high-definition online image of the issue's front cover (not a scan or photograph but what appears to be the original computer design). This is the image that I wish to use. I have informed the team behind this fanzine about my intentions to use a copy of the online image for Wikipedia and have received an email from the editor granting me permission to do so, yet I am very confused by the information on Wikipedia's Image Use Policy and image tagging.

Can I upload this image? How should I do it - Should I save a copy of the online image and upload it, or should I use a screenshot of the image as it appears online, save it as a new image and upload that file, stating its source and that I have received permission? And how should such an image be tagged?

Thanks,

Ncadc2004 21:47, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

You can't use that picture. I don't remember the relevant policy, but images with permission to use only on Wikipedia can't be used. It has to be fair use otherwise, and you're indicating it isn't. -Amarkov ^blah_edits 21:50, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

So in other words, would they have to allow the image to be used freely by anyone for me to use it on here? Ncadc2004 21:53, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Yep. Wikipedia policy is that the image must be made freely available for reuse anywhere. -- Kesh 22:12, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

OK, thanks for letting me know. Makes more sense now! Ncadc2004 22:16, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

• It could be fair use if it had a proper fair use rationale and was only used on the article on the fanzine (if that is even notable), but that's only for low-res images. - Mgm|^(talk) 23:06, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

create user page

how do i create a user page?--Falcon866 22:07, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Just go to User:Falcon866 and create it like any other page. Prodego ^talk 22:08, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Have a look through the links at Wikipedia:User Page Design Center and Wikipedia:WikiProject User Page Help to help you out, and look at other user pages to inspire you. Keep it simple at first, and please bear in mind the guidelines at Wikipedia:User page Adrian M. H. 18:16, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Removal of article

One particular article refers to living persons by last name and first name. In order to protect their privacy they would like the article removed. How is that done?

• If there are already enough references to verifiably create an article about a living person, they no longer have privacy in regards to their name to begin with. If there aren't enough references available to make such an article, the article should be deleted. — Dark Shikari ^talk/_contribs 22:29, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

• What is the article? Prodego ^talk 22:31, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

January 7

Australian Government Copyright conditions

I recently discovered a prominent Australian botanist does not have an article about him doing a quick internet search I located an image I would like to use. The [image]is here, it noted this condition regarding the image Use of images for non-commercial web sites is allowed on condition that credit is given to the Australian National Botanic Gardens and these words are hotlinked to our home page. The copyright and public access page is [Here]. I would like to know if these conditions would allow publication in a Wiki article as I am a little uncertain even after reading the wiki guidelines on Image uploads, or will I need to email the copyright holders? Many thanks --Matt 00:20, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, but that doesn't qualify. Images which are not otherwise fair use need more than just permission for non-commercial sites. -Amarkov ^blah_edits 00:22, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

As far as I understand, some commercial sites republish Wikipedia content, so like Amarkov said, this wouldn't work. Xiner (talk, email) 00:28, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Further, while it's possible to require that proper credit be given to the person/organization who created the photo, no restriction can be made about who gets to re-use the photo. The non-commercial clause for that photo is what makes it invalid for use on Wikipedia. -- Kesh 00:30, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Many thanks to all the answers I understand more clearly now --Matt 00:39, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

How do you re-name an article

Hello, I've created an article Ian wallace (footballer) but I've very stupidly spelt Ian's surname with a lower case 'w'. How to I rectify this? Thank you. The BGC 01:17, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

You can use the move tab to move/rename the page under the new title. G.He 01:19, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I've moved it for you. DoomsDay349 01:20, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Many thanks guys, but what's the 'move tab' - sorry Wiki-Thicky here! The BGC 01:28, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

On the top of the page, there are several tabs, like "article" and "discussion". To the right you'll see one named "move". DoomsDay349 01:34, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for this DoomsDay349 but I haven't got that link. On most articles I get Article, Discussion, Edit this page, History and Watch but no Move tab. Do you have to be a special user? The BGC 01:40, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Oh, yes, I forgot. I think you have to be around for three or so days to move articles, it's a vandalism deterrent. Forgot about that, when did you join? DoomsDay349 01:41, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Ah Ha, I joined less than three days ago! Mystery solved. Thanks for the welcome on my talk page by the way! The BGC 01:45, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

You're welcome; feel free to contact me with any more questions. DoomsDay349 01:46, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I do have another question actually. I'm now trying to make my Ian Wallace (footballer) page link from the Ian Wallace page. Although the entry for my page is there (I didn't do this) it doesn't show on the actual article and editing the page makes some of the other entries disappear. And what do the --> or !<-- tags mean? The BGC 01:49, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm not too sure what you mean about those tags, but I've fixed the Ian Wallace page regardless. DoomsDay349 01:55, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Never mind, you're a star anyway! The BGC 02:02, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Aww shucks, thanks :) DoomsDay349 02:03, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

<!-- and -->tags are comment tags. For example, if you click edit and look here, There is text you can't see from the actual page if you know what I mean? Click edit, and look here. It's used to leave comments for other editors but without readers being confused as to their meaning etc. — Deon555^talk_desk^{sign here!} 03:10, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Edit counts

How do I find how many edits any particular contributor has? Is there a list of the biggest contributors? Backspace 03:03, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Edit vcount tools: Interiot's tool2 and Interiot's wannabe kate tool (the second one is easiest to use). There is probobly a list of the most contributors, but I doubt its accurate. I would be guessing they would be in the region of 50k edits though (excluding bots with several hundred thousand). Viridae^Talk 03:06, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

(after ec) See WP:EC. There are links there to edit counters (Wikipedia:Tools#Edit counters) and under the heading Statistics there are lists of highest contributors (Admins, Non-admins, Wikipedians etc) — Deon555^talk_desk^{sign here!} 03:08, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

dubious fair use

I have found some dubious fairuse-tagged images I want reviewed, but I don't know where to take them. Is there a live process anywhere that handles this stuff? — coelacan talk — 03:47, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I believe there is Wikipedia:Possibly unfree images, but I am not sure it is what you require. Yuser31415 04:07, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, Yuser31415. That did help me find {{rfu}}, which solves part of the problem, pertaining to pictures of living people. I'm also looking at some book covers that are probably not being used properly. I'm trying to find the fair-use rationale for book covers at the moment. But once I find that I'm still not sure how to report it. =( I asked a similar question at WP:AN#eleven month backlog and got no response yet. — coelacan talk — 04:37, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

You'll probably find all the info you need at WP:FU; if not, report the covers on WP:ANI and an adminstrator will review them. Cheers! Yuser31415 04:48, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I might have found something specific. WP:IFD has a copyright violation option. I'm not certain what the difference between that and WP:PUI is or should be though. Thanks for your help so far, btw. — coelacan talk — 05:06, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

bad link change asap

the 110th congress link on the mainpage links to the following comment "lol wikipedia sucks" please correct that

Long since fixed. That piece of vandalism was there for just a short time before being reverted. Any editor can change a vandalized version of the article back to the last good version. Newyorkbrad 05:47, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Edit Summary

Is it possible to add an edit summary after saving?--Benstown 05:43, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

No. Edit summaries can't be changed. However if the edit summary contained a privacy violation or something else really bad then an admin can delete it. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 05:45, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

No, once you've saved the edit it's too late to add an edit summary to that edit. You can do another edit to the same article and note in the summary for it what you did to the prior edit as well. If you find yourself forgetting to enter a summary, and you're a registered user, you can set your Preferences to prompt you for an edit summary when you click on save and the summary is blank. Newyorkbrad 05:46, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

[3x edit conflict!] I don't think so but you can turn on a feature in your preferences which will alert you if you forget one. Go to preferences (top right corner) and click the editing tab. It is the bottom check box. This way if you forget to make an edit summary it stops it from saving and asks you for one, but if you click save again it saves without an edit summary. I hope I've helped. James086^{Talk | Contribs} 05:49, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! Benstown 08:25, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Image licensing question

I'm not sure what license a portrait photo of myself falls under. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks. Jackytar 05:50, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

If you took it yourself, you can license it however you want. See Wikipedia:Image copyright tags for more information. --Rory096 06:04, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

It depends who owns the copyright and how they have licensed it. Normally copyright rests with the person who took the photo and not its subject, however copyright can also belong to the person who commissioned the photo. You should check the terms of the contract with the photographer. Wikipedia also has a page called Wikipedia:Media copyright questions where you may get a better answer. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 06:06, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Delete an account

How do i delete my account?Mellikay 7 05:58, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

You can't. You can, however, just stop using it. --Rory096 06:04, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

What Does &nbsp ; Do?

A response on my help page would be very nice, thanks.100110100 06:01, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

&nbsp ; is the non-breaking space. --Rory096 06:07, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

about bharatanatya and natyashastra in general

how to the information

You might find what you are looking for in the article about Natya Shastra. If you cannot find the answer there, click here to post your question at that article's talk page. If that doesn't solve your problem, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They'll be glad to answer questions about anything in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. - Tangotango (talk) 06:16, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Credibility

To whom it may concern,

Please read this entire note before differing me to the FAQ section. I am a new user of Wikipedia and recently made certain changes to an article that I believed to be less than credible. Upon viewing that article the next day, I found that the most important change that I had made had been reverted. I worry that the author of this article will be adamant in refusing to delete certain segments about the article in question and rather than begin the whole agonizing process of working things out, I am trying to decide whether continuting to edit Wikipedia is even going to be worth the trouble. Here are the details:

The article in question is entitled, "Adamic language" and the particular section is called, "The Adamic language in Mormonism." This is the paragraph that I had changed:

"Mormon temple ceremonies, such as the prayer circle, once used the words "Pay Lay Ale"[2] which the church believed were Adamic words meaning "Oh God, hear the words of my mouth." The untranslated words are no longer used in temple ceremonies and have been replaced by the English version.[3]"

My problem with this paragraph's credibility is in relation to the credibility of the sources. All written or otherwise recorded details of Mormon temple ceremonies have always been kept under lock and key by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because they are considered too sacred to be spoken of outside temple walls. The Church has never allowed the general public any access to the details of these ceremonies nor have any copies of these proceedings ever been allowed outside the temples or official church archives unless in transit between such places. Also, all witnesses to such ceremonies are required to make a verbal contract that they will not ever discuss these details outside of the temple before they are allowed to witness the ceremony. No recording devices are allowed into the ceremonies either. Because of this, any source that divulges these details is a source that must either do so either from memory alone (the ceremonies can be over 2 hours long, I might add) or from hearsay alone. In addition, a short research session into the backgrounds and publications of these sources will show that in general, they tend to be sources who are overwhelmingly biased against all things related to the church. Anthropological studies have shown that this kind of bias, also called ethnocentrism, will almost always skew the facts that are presented in such would-be anthropological publications, thus harming their credibility.

Of course I do not expect you to research all of the statements I have just made. Rather, I only ask, hypothetically assuming that my facts are correct, would it be according to Wikipedia's policies to remove details of Mormon temple ceremonies, past or present, from Wikipedia articles given that the credibility of their sources is seriously in question (as they are ALL based on either hearsay or testimony of those who make ethnocentrically biased, and thus skewed, statements about Mormons)? If so, I propose the said research to be done and for this process of bad information removal to quickly begin. If not, I worry that Wikipedia may not adhere to the highest standards of neutrality and credibility possible and with this being the case, continuing to edit Wikipedia would prove to be an ultimately fruitless effort on my part.

Lastly, if Wikipedia does not find it suitable to remove all details of temple ceremonies from its articles, I would request at least that a conspicuous disclaimer stating that all said details may be inaccurate due to the absence of entirely credible sources be added to each article section containing any temple ceremony details.

Thank you for your time. I eagerly anticipate your response. --Newmitos 07:00, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I read your whole note and agree that merely verifying that a source said something is not enough. The source must be a reliable one. Please reference this policy/guideline pair in making any decisions about this.—WAvegetarian•(talk) 10:36, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

If I may chime in, I think the presumption -- that any otherwise reliable source that writes about the details of LDS religious ceremonies must, inherently, either have obtained the information by hearsay or else be biased against the church -- must be rejected. Information is not necessarily unreliable simply because it is (1) intended to be kept secret, or (2) derogatory (not that this particular example seems derogatory to me, but I get the feeling the OP considers it derogatory). If the source can be shown to be biased, then it is not reliable; otherwise, if it meets all other criteria, it is. --Tkynerd 23:34, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

adding external links

I wanted to add some links to a global cultural non profit project that contains information about different countries and cultures and is a combination of experiential learning and knowledge sharing. There is a lot of useful information on the project's website about maori culture and New Zealand but the link I added was deleted. Could you please tell me if I did something wrong. Obviously placing information on your website gives promotion to many products but in this case this is not the aim. The aim is to let people know and make it easy for them to access additional information and as I said the project is non profit and free access anyway.

I will be really thankful for your guidance and help thanks kefir

Our guidelines on external links can be found here. In general, discussing disputes regarding the content of articles on the talk page of the relevant article is a good thing.—WAvegetarian•(talk) 10:30, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

What Does <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;"> Do?

A response on my talk page would be very nice, thanks.100110100 07:59, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Replying on user talk. Luna Santin 08:02, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

+ and - numbers on watchlist items

On my watchlist, beside each watched page is a positive or negative number in brackets. What does the number mean? Thanks Finn 08:20, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Those numbers indicate the number of characters added or subtracted from the page. Larry V (talk | e-mail) 08:22, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

GFDL attribution question

Hello, I would like to know what are the proper ways someone can attribute GFDL content from a wiki (like Wikipedia) on another wiki. Someone (who claims they are GFDL expert) has alleged that the attribution requirement can be fulfilled by simply leaving an edit summary with the URL of the content. The Wikipedia policy page on copyrights (and citing Wikipedia) says that a live link to the original article has to be placed on the page with something like "This article incorporates text from the Wikipedia article on (name of article) [live URL]" or something like that. So what I want to know is there more than one way to fulfill the attribution requirement (on wikis) or is that the only way (the WP policy page)?

Also, I would like to know if someone wanted to redistribute WP content in print, for example if I have a company and want to publish a print version of Wikipedia (not all the articles of course!), how would the attribution be fulfilled? For every article I would have to attribute the primary contributors? Is there a page somewhere with details on this? Thanks much. Khodavand 09:11, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

While we can't give specific legal advice, Wikipedia's interpretation of the GFDL can be seen at Wikipedia:Copyrights. Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks are what the web based copies of the project is called. The only legal document is the text of the license, which you may interpret as you will. —WAvegetarian•(talk) 10:27, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm. Okay, so is there any specific 3rd-party website that shows legal opinions on this issues? Because I have searched and there is no "straight" answer and I emailed GNU weeks ago with this same questions and I never heard anything. And their website only shows the text, no clear legal interpretation of it. Khodavand 10:40, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

• A better way is copying the edit history. You don't know if or when the original might be deleted. - 87.209.70.231 12:32, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

to find a london or uk zip codes

How to find uk or entire london zip codes by wikipedia search?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.162.196.179 (talk • contribs).

The UK uses postcodes. There is an overview at List of postal areas in the United Kingdom. London prefixes are: E, EC, N, NW, SE, SW, W, and WC. There are approximately 96,021 individual postcodes in London. However, to get the entire list of postcodes you need access to the Postcode Address File which is a proprietary database. You can search it online. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 13:11, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

For a particular postcode you could go directly to Royal Mail and plug in the address that you're looking for. Backspace 19:00, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Arrows

Seeing as their are arrows that go left and right, are there arrows that go up and down? --Imdanumber1 ( Talk | contribs) 13:56, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Do you mean images? If so, there is Image:Arrow down.svg, but if not, you may want to clarify. -- Natalya 14:38, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

How to delete a blank article

I have accidentally created two articles - one with the title mispelled and blank. How do I delete the wrong version?

You can tag an article for speedy deletion if you created it by accident with {{db-author}}. I presume you mean Gino d'acampo so I did it for you. James086^{Talk | Contribs} 14:33, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Unable to view images any more

I used to be able to view images on Wikipedia (e.g. the featured article picture on the homepage) but now all I get is a box with a red cross in the corner. Even the editing icons appear as red crosses.

When I right-click I have the option to "show picture" but nothing happens. Also, the "save picture" option is unavailable.

I use Windows XP with IE6, standard default settings. All other webpages seem to load pictures fine.

Could anybody offer me any advice?

I think it's your browser. I would advise updating to IE7 or Firefox 2 but you may not want to, I don't know. You could try force refreshing while on a Wikipedia page (press Ctrl and F5). This is a more thorough refresh which clears your cache of that page. There's not much else I can think of, especially if it's only Wikipedia. James086^{Talk | Contribs} 14:45, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

For some strange reason it has sorted itself out. Thanks for your help anyway.

Actually, I don't recommend updating to either yet. They have a few baby bugs that need to be ironed out. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:43, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Well, what about Firefox 1.X? you can install all kinds of Wikipedia stuff and it has few bugs. T. Kewl the First 01:33, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Question on content criteria restrictions

Hello,

I have a question on your content criteria restrictions. Specifically, for musicians, do you have minimum published work requirements for a band's entry to be posted? I thought I had heard at one point that a band had to have released at least one or two CD's before they qualified to be a Wikipedia entry. Is this correct?

Thanks, Sam —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.126.128.32 (talk • contribs) 14:50, January 7, 2007.

Hi, Sam. You can read about Wikipedia's guidelines for musical groups here: WP:BAND. Thanks for your interest. Canderson7 ^(talk) 14:55, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

My watchlist

Hi everyone, I feel slightly embarrassed about using the help desk, considering I've been here nearly 7 months, but this is really bugging me. Does anyone have any idea why my watchlist would refuse to load when everything else does? I've tried on Firefox and Internet Explorer, restarted my computer several times and refreshed and refreshed but still nothing happens. I've also noticed Special:Special pages doesn't have Watchlist on it (at least not for me). As this is my most important page, does anyone have any clue why it's not working for me? Thanks in advance. --Majorly (talk) 13:47, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Hi, it appears this is a common problem affecting some users today. It's being discussed in the #wikimedia-tech channel on IRC, so it should get fixed soon, if not already fixed. Cheers, Tangotango (talk) 15:45, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

software for off-line editing, formats as WP would

Is there any Windows software for editing off-line that will format the article the way that Wikipedia will? Bubba73 (talk), 16:28, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Western Civilization 5th Century

What countries comprised the western Roman empire at the collapse of Rome in 476 A.D.? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Deb5266 (talk • contribs) 17:21, 7 January 2007 (UTC).

Have you tried the humanities section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit 17:24, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

bllod pressure

1) What is condider normal bllod pressure?

2) What is consider high?

3) What is consider low?

4) When should a person consult a doctor (low)

5) When should a person consult a doctor (high) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.19.244.130 (talk) 17:32, 7 January 2007 (UTC).

Please ask the Wikipedia:Reference_desk or or at the blood pressure article's discussion page. Xiner (talk, email) 17:38, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, Wikipedia does not give medical advice, and you should be aware that medical articles may contain information that is not accurate or safe. Notinasnaid 20:57, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

blood pressure

Please see answer above. Xiner (talk, email) 17:50, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Diary (heading added)

Hello,

Can u direct me to a location where I might start a "DIARY". I am a "newbie" here and wish to use your services for my own edification and peace of mind. Can you assist and direct me?

I thank thee.

lotusseekerLotusseeker

Wikipedia is not the place for that. You might wish to try LiveJournal, Blogger, or any of a number of other blog services on the Internet. (A blog can be simply an online diary, if that's what you want.) If you want to keep a private diary, don't do it on the Internet; you'll need to find software you can run locally for that, and I don't know of any (except that you could use any word processing software to keep a diary locally). --Tkynerd 18:48, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Teh

Can you please restore history for Teh? It's screwed. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Alucardracula (talk • contribs) 18:49, 7 January 2007 (UTC).

Could you clarify how it's messed up, and what history you want? Thanks. Xiner (talk, email) 19:14, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Formatting text around pictures

I can't remember how to format the text to do what I want around a picture. I remember how to change size and how to switch right/left, but I can not remember how to make a section of text following a picture not get wrapped (indented, etc) around the picture. Isn't there an editing command to make the next section of text start after the bottom of an image, instead of next to it? --After Midnight ⁰⁰⁰¹ 19:01, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

You can use the template {{-}} (I think that's the right one!), which should make the text appear below the image. -- Natalya 19:43, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

BINGO. Thank you. --After Midnight ⁰⁰⁰¹ 19:46, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

How to correct a movie article? And how to fix a signature?

How do I correct the movie article for Night at the Museum? I already asked how long the article should be, and realize it is too long. When I try to shorten it, my edits keep being reverted by people who want the article to be a substitute to seeing the movie. Is there a way I can let them know this is wrong and not to revert the edits? I think I saw it once. It was a template at the top of the page that states in red that "This article should not be a substitute for seeing the movie." and something like stop making it longer...

Also, I cannot get my signature to work. Do you know how I can fix it? When I sign the four tildes, it looks like this: [[User:Babygator23|<font color="green">~Gatorgirl623~</font>]] 20:14, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Okay, for your sig check the box that says "raw Signature", and that should do it. — Arjun 20:21, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I've looked for the film template you describe, and don't see one anywhere. (I checked the general templates page and also WikiProject Films for relevant templates.) Perhaps it's been taken out of use. That being the case, your best bet is probably to revert the other people's changes, and the first time you do so, bring up the issue on the talk page (assuming you haven't done so already; I haven't looked to see). Don't forget WP:3RR. Happy editing. --Tkynerd 20:28, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

"Missing" Article

Why is it if I'm signed in and search for What's Up? [2], an article I created, I get the response there's no Wiki article with that title, but if I'm not signed in I can access it with no problem? Thanks! SFTVLGUY2 20:25, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

The link you've posted is to secure.wikimedia.org rather than to en.wikipedia.org, which I suspect could be part of the problem. Type "en.wikipedia.org" (without the quotes, of course :-)) into your browser's address bar, sign in as usual, and then search for the article. --Tkynerd 20:31, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the suggestion - it worked. Out of curiosity, why was only this particular article affected? I was able to access all others I created with no problem. Thanks! SFTVLGUY2 14:11, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Compare selected versions - sometimes too wide

When I go to the history of a page and do "compare selected versions", sometimes I get two neat columns that easitly fit on the screen. However, at other times the result is too wide to fit on a screen and I get scroll bars. The width varies. sometimes the left column is so wide that I can see very little of the right. Is there a way to guarantee that it will whow two colums without scroll bars? Bubba73 (talk), 21:00, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I think this occurs when you have super-long URLs. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a cure. Xiner (talk, email) 21:04, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Requesting further information - how?

Briefly - if I feel that an article is incomplete, but haven't the resources / desire / time to add to it myself, are there any bracket-tags that I can use?

Specifically, I'm working in the Indianapolis Colts entry, which, like most sports articles, is an absolute mess. Every single niggling detail of the 2004 and 2005 seasons is mentioned, but several important parts of the team's history (the early 1990s, for instance) are delegated to passing mention (not even a sentence's worth).

I can't really stand the Colts and can't fathom myself sitting down to flesh out this era, but would like to add a tag so some Colts fan of the future will know to expound a little.

Thanks in advance! --Action Jackson IV 22:29, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

See if any of these would suit you. :-) BTW, that page says that {{Expansion}} goes at the top of the talk page, but I am used to seeing it at the top of article pages, where it is also more likely to be noticed. If you want to use that template, I recommend perusing its talk page (which I haven't done myself) to see if there is any related discussion. --Tkynerd 23:28, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I can not get this person banned.

I have repetitively tried to get 24.63.203.132 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RDNS · RBLs · http · block user · block log) banned for vandalizing an article I've been working on (adding incorrect information), but have failed every time. It feels like this person is trying to harass me, because they have ignored all of my attempts to have a discussion with them (talk page, users talk page, comment for article edit, and hidden comments within the article), and have not given me any citations for the information they are putting in. The person repetitively reverts the article after I remove the false information. I have given the person warnings and followed the procedure to the best of my ability as a new editor, but all of my ban requests have been thrown out. The first time, the request was thrown out because someone thought the vandal had stopped, the second time (less than half an hour ago), it was thrown out because someone considered it a content dispute. I've been told by other users that this person's actions were considered vandalism and I followed the procedure, and it hasn't worked. How do I get this person banned? I can't stand being in an edit war, but I don't want this person to be satisfied with getting their vandalism to stay on the page. Miriam The Bat 22:56, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Go to the administrator's noticeboard. Be sure to provide diffs! Cheers! Yuser31415 00:17, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Picture doesn't show up

Hi there! I'd like to put this illustration in an article somewhere Image:CH4mo.png - but it does not show up. Is it because it is too big? Is there a way around it? Thanks in advance. --HappyCamper 23:21, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I've scaled the picture down and uploaded it as Image:CH4mo2.PNG, which shows up when I test it. Try it and get back to me if there are still problems. Let me know on my talk page if you have any questions or want to discuss anything. delldot | talk 00:22, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

My first-ever edit disappeared

I added a source to "Republic of Letters" about a month ago. Today I went back to add another source, and found that the material I placed on the page was gone. I checked the "history" page and saw nothing to indicate any activity had taken place since I added the source. What happened? Bmwilcox 23:28, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Are you talking about this edit? It looks like they just moved the info into a "references" section, which makes sense to me, since it is a reference. If it's a different edit, then it did indeed disappear, since it doesn't show up in your contributions, and that's very baffling indeed. Let me know on my talk page if you have any questions or want to discuss anything.. Thanks for editing! delldot | talk 00:01, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

January 8

Suspected plagiarism

The history section from Proskauer_Rose is copied from a page at Proskauer Rose LLP. Is there a tag used for suspected plagiarism of text? The entire article reads like a brochure, but I found a tag to note that issue. Professor marginalia 00:27, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Hmm, the link doesn't seem valid. Xiner (talk, email) 00:34, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

I fixed the link. --Kainaw ^(talk) 00:46, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Kainaw! [note: I spelled the wikilink wrong too] Professor marginalia 00:52, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Copyright violations for information on how to deal with these type of problems. BigNate37_(T) 00:57, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Er, it looks like Prodego (talk · contribs) has reverted the article to a non-copyright infringing version.[3] BigNate37_(T) 00:59, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I did. Prodego ^talk 01:01, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Problem solved! Thanks everybody. Professor marginalia 01:50, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Pakistan Chrome Mines Ltd

On the Pakistan Chrome Mines Ltd article some of the words are jammed in after the link on my screen. No other Wikipedia article or page displays like this. If I copy and paste from the page, the paste as one word, like this: miningcompany, chromiteand, and magnesitemines, however if I go to edit the page this isn't the case on the editing frame (mining company, chromite and magnesite mines--although now I realize I won't know until I post if they do it here. What's going on? Can someone fix this? Okay, I previewed and they don't show the links jammed together with their following words. KP Botany 01:11, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Right have fixed it - it was as simply as a missing |} which was needed to make the table complete - Cheers Lethaniol 01:24, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

I tried putting that in, but it didn't do it for me. I should be insulted. Thanks. KP Botany 02:19, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Confused copyright question

Note: I'm recopying this from the misc. reference desk. Hi, I have read Wikipedia's FAQ on copyright, but I am still confused. I found an online book that is copyrighted by its author. I would like to use some of it's information for an article. The website states:

Permission is granted for an individual to make only a single electronic copy or paper copy for personal reference purposes. Permission is not granted for an individual or institution to make more than a single copy, or take part in any arraignment where a third party is either paid or charged for a copy or the reproduction of one. Nor is permission is granted for distribution of any of this material (in whole or part) from any Internet site (other than the author's site of fraser.cc). Inquiries should be made to the author if you wish to make other than a single copy for personal use or to distribute any of the material from your own Web site.

Am I not allowed to put any of it's information in an article? Even if I reword it? Even if I properly cite it as a source? Thank you for any help.--Bobo is soft 01:23, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like you can cite it as if it were any other book. Of course, if the book isn't credible or whatever, then it may not be accepted as a source. Xiner (talk, email) 01:29, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

You can not copy heaps of info from it as said here:

Nor is permission granted for distribution of any of this material (in whole or part) from any Internet site (other than the author's site of fraser.cc).

But you can cite it definitely and give a link to it. In terms of rewording no - you can use small bits for quotes (but not entire paragraphs) if you cite them as such. Or you could paraphrase what is written (i.e. a conclusion) and cite that). Hope that helps Cheers Lethaniol 01:29, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

• Ok thank you, the book is very credible. Also, what if the book itself uses footnotes of other sources. Do I use the initial book as a sources, or do I cite it's specific sources. Also I'm still not clear on what I can cite and what I can't. I don't plan to copy any big chunks at all, but rather just take specific facts and reword them. What's your take on my situation?--Bobo is soft 01:44, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Ideally, you should track down the book's sources, read them yourself, and cite them. If you haven't read the original sources, you shouldn't cite them, but the secondary source. Matchups 04:08, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Specific facts or statements - can be quoted or reworded or encompassed into the flow of text just make sure you cite - WP:CITE and WP:CITET maybe helpful. Cheers Lethaniol 11:31, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

a stupid question about AFDs

Hello. I have a slightly stupid question about AFDs. I opened a AFD on December 30th, and i've relisted it on the January 2nd AFD list. The January 2nd list is considered "old", however there are still discussions that haven't been dealt with. Is it part of wikipedia that AFDs are ignored, or is there something that Admins are waiting for, or have you just not gotten to them all, or what? Do i have to keep relisting my AFD before a decision is reached? I'm not trying to be rude, i'm just very confused. dposse 01:27, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

It'll be closed soon. Xiner (talk, email) 01:30, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Old discussion can be found here WP:AFD#Old_discussions that still need to be closed - do not relist - let the discussion finish Cheers Lethaniol 01:32, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

thanks. dposse 01:35, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Reverting vandalism using popups

I installed popups a few minutes ago, but for some reason, I'm not getting the "revert" option that is present in Image:Revert popups.png. I'd appreciate any help in the matter. Black Falcon 01:39, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Are you visiting a page's edit history page, and moving the mouse over the various links there? Xiner (talk, email) 02:04, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

No, I was trying in the article mainspace. Black Falcon 02:26, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

If you're not getting the popup at all when you hover your mouse cursor over a link, do a forced refresh on your monobook.js. If you are, hover over any page link, wait for the popup to appear and load, move to the actions menu, and you should see the revert function listed when that menu gets populated. BigNate37_(T) 02:14, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

I am getting the popup and there is an "actions" link inside the popup, but when I click it, I am simply moved to the top of whatever page I'm on. How long should I wait for the menu to get populated (I tried 30 seconds, do I need to wait more??)? Black Falcon 02:26, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

If you want to revert vandalism (assuming you are using Mozilla Firefox) than go to the diff that is not vandalism and hover over it and then go to actions and click revert. — Arjun 02:45, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

No, I use IE. Also, the only options I now have are "actions" and "popups", both of which simply take me to the top of the page. Black Falcon 04:01, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

The actions word needs to be hovered over to get a menu to appear. If this isn't happening, that's a problem that I'm not qualified to solve—you certainly don't click the word actions though, you need to hover on it to make the menu appear which allows you to choose the option you want. BigNate37_(T) 02:30, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

saving edits

I have had the frustrating experience of losing edits. Just now, after completing a contribution to "Coniston massacre" I hit the save page button, & was given the preview page instead & asked to log in again. After this I can't find my work anywhere. What is the procedure to save stuff as you go? Thanks, John Price —The preceding unsigned comment was added by JohnHarmonPrice (talk • contribs) 03:38, 8 January 2007 (UTC).

Do you use AOL? Xiner (talk, email) 03:46, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Some advice: before you save anything, always copy the contents of the edit box to your PC's clipboard (using Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C). Then, if anything goes wrong, paste the clipboard into a text editor, save it, fix whatever problem you're having, and then use the saved content to edit the article again. --Plek 16:10, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Minimal English

Recently I've run into a number of articles written by individuals who obviously have only the barest knowledge of English, such as this one. My question is, should these be nominated for deletion, and if so, under what policy? Clean up would be beyond my abilities. Thanks Citicat 03:41, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

If it's just the language, the article should get the a {{cleanup}} tag. If the subject's not notable, you can definitely nominate it for deletion. Xiner (talk, email) 03:46, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Word Pronounciation

Is there a section to hear a word pronounced?137.159.121.164 05:20, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

• No, if we have a sound file of that, it's included in the article. - Mgm|^(talk) 05:39, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Am I going insane or what?

I could have sworn that when I sign my posts with four tildes, my username in the resulting signature becomes a link. It doesn't seem to do that now. Was it always like this, or what? .V. 07:18, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

It should default to linking to your userpage. Try checking your "my preferences" at the top of the page, and make sure the "Raw signature" box is unticked. Trebor 07:36, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Huh, how about that. .V. 07:46, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Original research?

I've got a question about the page Ryaniverse. It has an Original Research tag, but it doesn't seem to appear for me on the current view. I noticed it when I went back to look at the history, and while browsing through the history it appears even in the most recent version. Is there a reason for this? Maracle 07:40, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

• Ok, I just figured out that the OR banner only appears for logged in users. I guess what I really would like to know then is if there is a page that explains what does or doesn't appear based on whether you're logged in (ie, what does the average user that doesn't have an account see?) Maracle 07:42, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Actually, Wikipedia:Purge explains why this is happening. Being not logged in, you see a version of the page which is cached on the server side. BigNate37_(T) 07:44, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

How to I liven up my signature?

I've noticed that plenty of editors have really nifty signatures that contain links to their talk pages. How do I do this, m8s? .V. 07:54, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

The option for raw signatures needs to be turned on, and in the box above it you enter a custom signature. Be sure to include links, i.e. [[User:.V.|.V.]] ''([[User talk:.V.|talk]])'' would produce .V. (talk). Be sure to read Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages#Customizing your signature. BigNate37_(T) 08:21, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

It may help to work out the signature in a sandbox before you actually copy the code into the box (in preferences). Also don't think you're alone if it says "Invalid raw signature, check HTML tags" cause every time I change mine, that message appears and I end up spending about 15 minutes trying to find a tiny error ;) James086^{Talk | Contribs} 08:32, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

editintro

The "input box" feature used to semi-automate repetitive tasks has an "editintro" parameter that lets you put a message above the edit box on the target page for further instructions. I noticed that the ask a new question by clicking here link on the main reference desks tries to do something like that by linking to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Entertainment&action=edit&section=new&editintro=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/How_to_ask

It would be really great to get this working.. is there an editintro-type functionality that can be passed through a link? --froth^{T C} 09:12, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Only on new pages at the moment (so it won't help on the Ref Desk; look at the 'preloaded debate' link on any use of the AfD tag to see how it's coded). There's been a request (bugzilla:5175) to the developers to make it work on existing pages as well, but it hasn't been coded. --ais523 11:04, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

break user box

Hi there, I would like to take a break from Wikipedia for a few weeks and I am just wondering where I could get a banner saying that I am taking a break to put on my talk page/user page, preferably I'd need one where you can set a date as to when you are coming back, | know that there are retirement banners but I need this pone please to let people know I'm taking a short break from Wikipedia. Thanks

Tellyaddict^Talk 12:47, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Find the templates here Wikibreak#The_wikibreak_templates - Cheers Lethaniol 13:00, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

1605munro

1605munro is the project nam of Buenos Aires-born, Berlin based audio artist Andrés G. Jankowski

Would it be useful to provide specially nice pictures of rel. seldom alpine flowers to be inserted in the botanical description of the genus/species ? For instance I have noticed that in the description of the orchidacea "Cypripedium calceolus" the enclosed picture is not particularly instructive. If somebody think this would be useful, please tell me how to do it (I have no experience in editing Wiki). --Friendly monster 13:37, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

If you have such pictures, under a suitable copyright licence, feel free to upload them (there's an 'Upload file' link in the toolbox, probably on the left of the screen). The copyright is the most complicated point to deal with, and one which often trips up new users; if you take the photos yourself, or own the copyright, you should licence it when uploading the picture under an acceptable copyright licence (public domain, CC-by-sa, and GFDL are three common licences; you can read their articles to find out more about them). Be aware that any picture that you upload should be licenced with a licence that allows redistribution, creation of derivative works (so anyone can edit your picture), and commercial use (the pictures could be used elsewhere than Wikipedia, even by companies for profit). --ais523 14:25, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

User Name (s)

Interesting User_Name article.

First, a side-bar: The user TheTransHumanist is quite stunning. Is there a link to how that is done?

I wanted to ask about user names.

My question is about the fact that I have a famous name, widely recognized.

The username I have here (as temp to post this without IP address), hints at it.

Any advice at what I might select for a "real" name, in that light?

I don't have a pseudo in mind (thus far).

Is there a link to a list of name examples? (Good, Bad, Ugly, Indifferent) DrivesFastTurnsLeftandRight 14:03, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

First, custom signatures are explained at Wikipedia:How to fix your signature and Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages. You can have a look at the code just by editing any section with the signature to look at in and seeing what's in the edit box.

Second, Wikipedia:Username explains the possibilities for usernames. There is some debate about whether it's better to use a real name or a pseudonym. If you do have a 'famous' name, be warned that you'll probably need to provide proof that it is your name, or it might be blocked. As for choosing a pseudonym, my experience is that the name will work best if it has more or less the same structure as a real name, and give a clue to your gender (unless you mind people referring to you as 'it' or just guessing). I know my own username doesn't follow these guidelines; most people created their usernames before they became really familiar with Wikipedia. As for a list of examples, I recall there was one not-very-complete list, but I can't remember the link and don't think it would be very useful anyway. If you look through the page about changing usernames for the 'changed from' names, you'll get a list of bad examples, anyway. If you need some inspiration, you can go to Special:Log and have a look at the new-user log to see what sort of names new users are creating right now. Hope that helps. --ais523 14:19, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Recent Changes

When viewing a Recent Changes page for a WikiProject, it only has the talk pages because the projects listings are on the talk pages. I'm wondering if it is possible to view changes to article in namespace of the same list? --Borgarde 14:56, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

I don't think so. One way might be to make a list of the articles somewhere (presumably on a subpage of the WikiProject), and then using 'Related changes' on the list. --ais523 15:00, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

editing category pages?

hi, how do you add people to category pages? i want to add Alan Cumming to this page : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_people_from_Scotland but i don't know how to do this. anyone help? thanks :) Geeness 15:04, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Categorisation#How to put an article into categories. BigNate37_(T) 15:22, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Moving from sandbox to an existing page

Sometime ago I created the Humanitarian Principles page. I have been working in my sandbox to improve the page--mostly creating footnotes. How to I make the transfer from the sandbox to an existing page. In the case of the Hum Princ I have the whole page in the sandbox. Can I just copy the whole sandbox page and paste in the posted page (or will it look like I have wiped out the former page with a new page?) Can I do it section by section? Or shall I just add the changes I have made? Is this a good way to work on existing pages? --Joel Mc 17:34, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Cut anything from your sandbox that is not related to the article, then use the Move page function at the top of the page to move it to the article name you want. Xiner (talk, email) 17:39, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Nah, a page already exists at the target. A copy and paste will be fine, it'll only look like it's changed the things you actually have changed; it won't "notice" that you've deleted it all and readded most of it back the same. It's an alright method for experimenting with ideas, but if lots of contributors are working on an article (which isn't the case here), then don't copy-and-paste over all their changes - incorporate your new work into the current version. Trebor 18:32, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the help, I just copied and pasted.Joel Mc 20:16, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

I can't edit with this one IP!

The IP I used, 71.224.19.29, doesn't let me edit. It started about a month or two ago. I can edit once, but then, it goes to Preview of the page, and says roughly "Your edit can't be saved due to a loss of session data. Log out and log back in." Since its an IP, I can't log out. What's going on? If you can't fix it, thats ok, but does anyone know why? P.S. I'm obviously using another computer. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.67.231.46 (talk) 20:32, 8 January 2007 (UTC).

Perhaps you could try setting up an account? It usually happens only briefly, though, when the servers have a hiccup. Xiner (talk, email) 20:38, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

It's a good idea to get an account anyway, however, it probably won't fix this particular problem. It happens to me sometimes too; I don't really understand why. What I do instead of logging out is I just click "Save" again until it finally works. This always works for me, usually on the second try. — coelacan talk — 20:41, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Nah. It's my school's computer, I can't. It is strange, I can go to articles that are questionable, or I can get blocked from a page that has nothing bad about it. Besides, I have an account. But I can't sign in at school. It's cookie level is programed to medium by the administrator. -69.67.234.135 20:46, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Nominating a good list

Hi there,

Is it possible to remove a self-nominated list away from the nomination? I would like to withdraw the application, and would like to make several changes to the list before nominating it again.

--Smcafirst or Nick • Sign Here • Chit-Chat • Contribs at 21:11, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

If the nomination looks headed towards no action, then yes. Xiner (talk, email) 21:19, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Article on "Left Party.PDS"

Hello! I'm one of the editors of the current article with that title, but it will have to be replaced in June when the "Left Party.PDS" and the "Labor and Social Justice Party" merge to form a new party called simply "The Left." It will be the fourth largest party in Germany and in the German parliament.

The current "Left Party.PDS" article is a bit tangled as a result of many edits and disputes, and the article on "Labor and Social Justice Party" is more than a year out of date. The articles also have syntax problems from changes posted by users who are not quite fluent in English. My plan is to write a new article after the merger, borrowing, of course, from the existing two articles, but also simplifying the text and removing many accretions that are no longer topical.

Is this okay? Is there a way I can post the draft for peer review before I publish it? I feel it will benefit from comment before I post a final version.

Thanks for your help.--langohio 21:26, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

I'd start an article at The Left (Germany) and post a note on the talk pages of the old parties. Xiner (talk, email) 21:39, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

search terms vs. article text

I would just like to know about optimizing an article for searches. If a user does a search for something, is the only way an article would appear in the results is if the search term(s) are in the article text? For example, if there is an article on tobacco cessation and someone searches the word “smoking” or “quit smoking” but those words aren’t in the article, it won’t appear in the search results, right? I tried categorizing the article in a “smoking cessation” category, but it still doesn’t appear in the search results if I use the word “smoking” as a search term. What else can I do? Csmbc 21:48, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

You could just set up a redirect. Don't go overboard though as someone else may delete it. I'm not sure it's worth the trouble worrying about search results as the time lag and other issues just don't seem to make it worthwhile. Xiner (talk, email) 22:12, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Gum

No - it does not exist. Thanks for posting. --Charlesknight 22:04, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Pictures of episodes that haven't aired yet.

The episodes from 24 (season 6) were leaked onto Bittorrent a week before any of them premired on tv anywhere on planet earth. People are now trying to put pictures of events that are huge spoilers of those leaked (and technically illegal) episodes onto the page. Do the pictures violate fair use or WP:C on wikipedia because they have not aired yet and were gained through ill-gotten means? dposse 22:06, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

I'd stay away from that stuff until it airs. Xiner (talk, email) 22:14, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Can the pictures be deleted by a Admin as violating the rules? dposse 22:16, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

• You're totally right. You can't claim fair use on pictures that weren't legally obtained. - 131.211.210.10 09:31, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Bracketed numbers in my watchlist

What do the bracketed numbers that appear after the timestamps in my watchlist mean? e.g. the (+146) and (-6) below.

1. (diff) (hist) . . Hubbert peak theory‎; 03:46 . . (+146) . . 75.35.221.32 (Talk) (→Movies)
2. (diff) (hist) . . OPEC‎; 03:24 . . (-6) . . 209.188.169.34 (Talk) (→Membership)

Ordinary Person 22:23, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

It's how many character were added (or removed) in the diffs. —Mitaphane _talk 22:49, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Question - can people dictate what is on here?

What is the Wikipedia policy regarding peoples desire not to have articles/links on here? If someone doesn't want an article, must we go along with the request? I had an earlier example of this previously with the Brook Mahealani Lee article (see [4] and [5]). Yesterday there was the case of a Miss Tennessee titleholder who does not have an article, but whose red-linked name was de-linked by an editor because he "had had a telephone conversation with her and she didn't want to have an article" ([6]). I restored the redlink, but was sent this message by that editor.

My gut instinct on this is that people shouldn't be able to dictate what is on Wikipedia in this manner, but I have been unable to find any reference to this in policy. -- PageantUpdater • talk | contribs | esperanza 23:07, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Nobody can dictate whether they wish to have their biography on Wikipedia; technically per WP:COI, they wouldn't be allowed to anyway. Besides that, who's to say this alleged phone call isn't a hoax? Yuser31415 23:23, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Note that WP:COI is a guideline, not a policy. The official policy concerning biographies of living persons can be found at WP:LIVING. Basically, treat such an article as you would any other (i.e. with care), and avoid WP:LIBEL. Hope this helps. --Plek 23:28, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

• There's always AFD. Titoxd^(?!?) 23:58, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

If they proceed through legal channels, it becomes an issue for WP:OFFICE. Aside from that, they cannot dictate whether or not there is a Wikipedia article about themselves. -- Kesh 03:11, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Esperanza

I am a Wikipedian who was a member of Esperanza. Recently, I have not been checking the status of Esperanza and can't find it. Did it shut down completely? The Updater 23:37, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

It got dissolved; see WP:Esperanza and Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Wikipedia:Esperanza. Veinor ^{(talk to me)} 23:40, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Metric vs. U.S. units

This is not a question more a surgestion, to use feet and inches as well as metric system so as people can more easily understand information.

Thanks

The relevant Manual of Style section already recommends this. If it is not being followed, feel free to add the conversions yourself; just make sure they're accurate. --Tkynerd 23:48, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

January 9

Talk pages.

When starting a new topic in a talk page do you add it above or below the current topics (newest first or last)? I've seen both ways used. Is there a guideline somewhere or is it just go with however its already running? Lando242 01:10, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

The "+" link at the top of the talk page will add a new topic at the end, consistently. I always use that link unless there's a good reason not to, so that's always what I end up doing. --Tkynerd 01:14, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, it's almost always at the bottom, unless otherwise specified. delldot | talk 02:43, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Can I do an article about a Project I'm working on?

Hello, I'm currently working on a cover-album of "The Dark Side of the moon" by Pink Floyd, and I wanted to ask, if it is appropriate to do an article about this Project or if this is considered a misuse of Wikipedia.

The Project is called "The Dark Side of the Net" and is a collaboration of various musicians all over the world, connected via internet, to cover Pink Floyds' "The Dark Side of the Moon"

Thanks in advance

Typhoon84 02:27, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

No. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and not free webspace - if you're looking to host a wiki, you can do so by downloading MediaWiki and sticking it on a server. --Wooty Woot? contribs 02:31, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Well, I guess that answers my question, thanks Typhoon84 02:39, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Just wanted to add that if and when the project becomes notable under Wikipedia's definition, an article would be appropriate, but not before. --Tkynerd 16:10, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

As Tkynerd said, if the project has had multiple, non-biased, independent project-centered coverage in newspapers, magazines, or well-known websites (not blogs, etc.), then it might pass notability muster. User:Zoe|(talk) 18:00, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Biographies of living persons and the facts that can be in an article

I seem to remember a discussion, if not a guideline, that said something along the lines of "If a person does not want certain aspects of their life written about on Wikipedia, specifically their date of birth, then we have to abide by their wishes" Does anyone know what I'm thinking of? I've looked around but I can't find any reference to this. I know the two sides of the issue were discussed, at least, somewhere here. I just can't remember where. Dismas|^(talk) 03:24, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Well, you are right. Please see this page. Xiner (talk, email) 03:28, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks! Dismas|^(talk) 03:54, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

how to edit in wiki

how to edit in wiki — Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.187.119.190 (talk • contribs)

If you edited this page, you already know how to edit. Be bold, feel free to ask questions, and have fun! Yuser31415 06:41, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

• You'll probably find Wikipedia:Tutorial and Wikipedia:How to edit a page useful too. - 131.211.210.10 09:26, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Use of trademark symbol

When, if ever, should we add the copyright © or registered trademark ® symbols after a proprietary name within the text? In much printed and online matter, they are often used unnecessarily - for instance more than once in a single document.

Surely if the text is describing the ownership of the copyright by company XYZ, we cannot be open to any charge of diluting the owner's rights?

My example was the Hacky Sack page. Earthlyreason 08:55, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

• We're an encyclopedia. Using their name here will not effect their ownership. Use it at most once in a document, but don't if you can manage. I think it is covered in the WP:MOS. - 131.211.210.10 09:25, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, and yes, MOS sensibly says to avoid using the trademark symbols except where necessary to distinguish a trademarked name from its generic equivalent. [[7]] Earthlyreason 11:01, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Content on the discussion page of an article

Posting questions first for ease of intergration into any FAQ-like database.

1. Is there a way to flag content on a discussion tab for examination or peer review in order to get a feel of the general consensus regarding the proposed changes?

2. Are there any sort of rules, informal or otherwise, pertaining to what is included on a discussion page (i.e. the inclusion of personal opinions as opposed to the obvious trolling/flaming behaviours)?

2a. Are there any universal taboos about content on discussion pages even if they are not rules per say, offical or otherwise?

3. Is there a better place than the discussion tab to ask for assistance in regards to finding a citation that is proving difficult to track down or has been forgotten while the info it conveyed has not?

4. (Slightly Off-Topic) Is it safe to presume that internal articles are not always sufficent to be used as a source?

Reasons for Questions

I am new to contributing and as such am hesitant at the moment to make any substantial changes to most articles, limiting myself to small changes such as the addition of the Convair B-36 being the only plane modified to carry the T12 Cloud Maker and the likely orgin of the term baffles as it pertains to submarines. Still, even with these two I am unsure of the quality of the edits (took for granted siting an internal article would count as a citation for the fact about the T12 bomb and the way I cited my source on the baffles page.)

So for the most part, I have been adding comments to the discussion tabs about possible inclusions or changes which lead me to look for any sort of guidlines regarding this. I noticed that some discussion tabs have a letter grade refering to the quality scale and I am unsure if this pertains to the discussion tab itself or is merely were such grades for an article are located. Also, several instances have been suggestions based on personal knowledge void of sources that makes me wish to get a peer review about it or a popular consensus. Finally, I have added my own personal thoughts on matters on these pages that are based on my own feelings on a subject that not only is based largely around opinion but can also get lengthy. My contribution to the sniper discussion for example is as based as much in fact as I can make it but admitedly the majority of it is debatable. It is also made rather ambiguous as to whether such contributions are desired as that particular one follows a comment barely breaking a single line and followed by a bolded sub-heading proclaiming how ridiculous some of the proceding comments are. In between the two is my comment that is roughly 4 and a half to 5 paragraphs long. So for the sake of intergration into a faq like database I will post my questions clearly at the beginning of this query.

--Helioglyph 10:18, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Let's take these in turn.

1. If you add content to a Talk ('discussion') page, and nobody challenges it or responds, it's normally safe to add it to the article after a while (one of Wikipedia's guidelines is Be bold in updating pages); if there isn't a consensus, someone will disagree and revert (change back) your edit, and then you can discuss the matter on the Talk page and there will be a discussion. For more information on this process, you might want to read the essay 'Bold, revert, discuss', which discusses how this method can be used even for controversial changes. Of course, if nobody disagrees, then your change will stay.
2. The official guidelines are at Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines. Due to the nature of Wikipedia, it's quite likely that any unofficial taboos would be mentioned in the guidelines anyway.
3. Apart from the talk page, the {{fact}} tag can be added on a part of an article which you think needs a source, or which you want to challenge the verifiability of; for instance, "This sentence is unsourced.". --ais523 10:52, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
4. Wikipedia doesn't allow itself (or any other wiki, for that matter) to be used as a source; similar articles might, however, provide their own sources which are relevant to the article you're interested in, which you could then consult and reference in the article.

Other points you made: the ratings refer to the articles, and exist to help advise WikiProjects identify where to focus their efforts; and the situation which you described with the subheading is probably undesirable, but not worth fixing. Hope that helps. --ais523 10:52, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes it does, thank you very much. I failed to find the Talk page guidelines page you linked so that alone is of great help.

Helioglyph 12:30, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

NAME CHANGE

HOW DO I GO ABOUT CHANGING MY SON'S LAST NAME FROM HIS MOTHERS LAST NAME TO MY LAST NAMEOKIESTEELERS 11:05, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. Also, you might like to turn your caps lock off if you want to receive a reply there. Cheers, Tangotango (talk) 11:06, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Writing in all capital letters is considered the internet equivalent of shouting. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:12, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Bestian Order of Aestheteka

I am writing to enquire why the Bestian Order of Aestheteka entry - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aestheteka%2C_Bestian_Order_of - is up for deletion. We are a legitimate group. The several hundred members that has been 'questioned' would quite like to post their comments concerning whether the page should be Kept or Deleted, but thereisno option for them to do so, unlike the several other Satanic groups which youhave also decided to delete. we are registered in the Slovak Republic as a company entity. our teachings are legitmate and are published in the form of two books - both by Crystal Dreams Publishing in the United States - and by Aestheteka itself elsewhere. As for legitimate links - there were several links to discussion groups, forums and otehr internet entities, due to our globally located membership, yet these have been deleted from the reference page. As for the legitimate existence of the Bestian Order of aestheteka, just do a google on 'aestheteka' and youwill see how substantial both our membership and our coverage is. Please advise - it is hardly non-discriminatory for the refernce to be deletd if its members and adherents cannot comment.

See Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Bestian Order of Aestheteka. The reasons given for deletion are that there are no sources (so the article is not verifiable), and no independent coverage (so there is no way to tell that the subject is notable). If you want the article to be kept, your best chance is to find sources independent of the article itself (coverage in newspapers, discussions about it in journals, that sort of thing), and to add them to the article. You can comment on the deletion at the link I gave above, or by following the 'this article's entry' link on the deletion notice, but your comments are likely to be ignored unless you give a reason based on policy; you'll need to answer the verifiability and notability concerns. --ais523 12:53, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Also note that having a Wikipedia article may not be the best idea if there are no sources, as people could write negative comments about the organisation in the article and they would be visible to the whole world after a Google search, and without sources there would be no proof that the comments weren't true. --ais523 12:56, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

That "coverage" is illusory. Yes, there are over 9000 hits for the word, but if you exclude Wikipedia and its mirrors, aestheteka -wikipedia, there are less than 1000. Most of the "coverage" is generated by an active campaign of Google-bombing Wikipedia and other sites where a "listing" can be posted by anybody. Jefferson Anderson 21:01, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Image shows on source computer only...

Hello,

I'm new to editing. I recently uploaded a picture with a caption to an article here at wikipedia. When I checked the article away from the computer that I did the editing at, the image didn't appear in the article. I uploaded the image to wikipedia and followed the instructions for uploading, so I'm hoping someone here can help.

So, the image appears in the article when I view the article from the computer I uploaded the image from, and the picture doesn't appear when I view the page from any other computer. I'm sure I made an error during the upload stage...

The article is "Dustin Diamond" of Saved by the Bell fame.

Thanks,

- J —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hempdiddy (talk • contribs) 13:27, 9 January 2007 (UTC).

The image appears for me. Try visiting the article and bypassing your cache (Control-F5 on many browsers; follow the link for instructions for your browser). On the other hand, you did make a mistake uploading the image; you marked it as free use, when the picture comes from a copyrighted website. The only way you could use the picture would be if you could demonstrate the picture to be fair use (see Wikipedia's fair use criteria); so you must provide a detailed rationale according to the criteria or it will be deleted in 7 days (otherwise the image would be a copyright violation). (If you decide that the image doesn't meet the criteria, you can place {{db-author}} on the image page to request its deletion.) --ais523 13:37, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

What Does <br /> Do?

A reply on my talk page would be great, thanks!100110100 13:49, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

(Replying here; will copy the answer to 100110100's talk page) The tag <br /> creates a newline at that point, as you can see from the heading on this question (the original question was 'What Does <br /> Do?'). --ais523 13:52, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

It's known as a self-closing tag that is used in HTML markup to format text in the manner described by ais523. You can read more about its use at http://www.w3schools.com/, which is a nice introduction to HTML basics. When you use it in an edit box, Wikipedia adds it to the markup that is created. - Adrian M. H. 16:25, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Status change when logging in

I remember seeing somewhere that there is a way to change your status when you log in, rather than have to edit your userpage(s). Does anyone know where I can find this? Thanks. | AndonicO ^{Talk | Sign Here} 15:40, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Never mind, I've got it now. | AndonicO ^{Talk | Sign Here} 20:29, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Making Wiki!

I want to place a write up of our company history on wikipedia.com. How do I get started? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by KevinAFL (talk • contribs) 15:41, 9 January 2007 (UTC).

First, one minor niggle; Wikipedia's a charity, not a company, so its web address is wikipedia.org (not wikipedia.com, which just redirects here). Writing about your own company is discouraged (see the page about conflicts of interests), because it's hard to stay neutral. One other problem is that many companies aren't notable enough for inclusion in Wikipedia; see the notability criteria guidelines for companies. If you still want to write the article, though, Wikipedia:Your first article is helpful; also read through the Introduction and Tutorial if you haven't yet, as they'll teach you the basics of editing Wikipedia. --ais523 15:46, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

You should also bear in mind that no article is "owned" - once an article on your company exists, anyone (who follows Wikipedia guidelines) can change it, including your competitors. Above all, Wikipedia is not a promotional tool. Notinasnaid 16:11, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

non commercial images

Do we have any helpful pages that explain to a non-Wikipedian why we can't use non-commercial images? Specifically I'm trying to explain why we can use {{cc-by}} and {{cc-by-sa}} but not {{cc-by-nc-sa}}. Is this already written up in a simple way that I can point to? — coelacan talk — 16:02, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Apparently, this is 'per Jimbo': [8]. He didn't reference any policy discussion in the mailing list post I've linked. --ais523 16:17, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Aye, but it has to do with GFDL compatability. All GNU licenses stipulate that commercial distribution is permissible. This is part of the "four fredoms", specifically "The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2)."

It doesn't appear that we have anything more explanatory on Wikipedia than WP:ERP#An explanation so I might just pass that link on. — coelacan talk — 16:26, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Have a look at User:Fastfission/Noncommercial. Quite nicely explained — Lost^(talk) 16:20, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Oh, great! Thanks, Lost. — coelacan talk — 16:27, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Other user is changing information on our page to false info - how we stop this from happening?

I work for GGP, the developer of the Bridgeland Community in Texas. Due to trademark issues, we cannot call the community Bridgeland, Texas and must use the proper name Bridgeland Community. We have a visitor to our information page on Wikipedia who has changed the title name from Bridgeland Community to Bridgeland, Texas and we would like to ensure that this person does not do it again, as there are legal liabilities involved. Is there any way to do this?

Thank you.

There may be no gentle way to say this, so I will have to just come out with it: you do not have an information page on Wikipedia. It is not your page: you do not own the articles to which you contribute. Above all, companies and communities have no special rights over articles about them, indeed it is often considered best if they do not contribute to these articles at all, except to point out errors or make suggestions on the talk page. See Wikipedia:Ownership of articles and Wikipedia:Conflict of interest to start with as some background on Wikipedia policies. Since it is in no sense a part of or controlled by your company, there can be no legal implications to you if Wikipedia's article name happens to be changed. Indeed, if a place is in Texas, it is recommended that the article says so to avoid ambiguities. So you need not worry about changes to the name of the article. Notinasnaid 16:36, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

While I agree with Notinasnaid about ownership and conflict of interest, I disagree with the idea that the article's name is somehow irrelevant. The name of an article should correspond to the name of whatever the article is about, period. If this place is called Bridgeland Community, then the article about it -- assuming, BTW, that there really should be one -- should by God also be Bridgeland Community. (Although in this case, I would recommend following Wikipedia's conventions on article naming for geographic places in the US and using Bridgeland Community, Texas.) --Tkynerd 17:03, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Submit Mountain Photo(s)

I note that the page on Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak) has no photo of the mountain. I am now in the process of developing a film from photos taken during the 1958 first ascent and would be happy to contribute color/bw image(s) but my slow computer, DSL and brain have thwarted my effort to discover how to do so. Any help/suggestions would be welcome. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.209.142.21 (talk) 17:52, 9 January 2007 (UTC).

There's a Upload file link on the left. Xiner (talk, email) 17:56, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Please refresh your page after submission. Occasionally it may take minutes for changes to show up. Xiner (talk, email) 17:58, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Image help

I'm trying to add this image to the infobox on the Debra Messing article, but no matter what I try, the preview won't show the image. Am I adding it wrong, or is there something wrong at Commons? (If you wouldn't mind, please respond at my talk page). ShadowHalo 18:21, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Linking up entries in different languages

Hi, I translated a site from English to Italian, how do I link them up so that on the bar on the left there are all the languages like normal? Thanks, Aaron Hydroargenium 19:20, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Just insert in the bottom of the page [[en:English page name]] and [[it:Italian page name]], each preferably on a separate line. Baiji has a lot of examples. And thanks for your contribution! Xiner (talk, email) 19:23, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Hmm, obviously on the English page you don't need en: and ditto for it: on the Italian page. Xiner (talk, email) 20:13, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! I hope to do more. It's awesome that I can practice Italian, learn about random subjects, and help Wikipedia all at the same time. 81.208.83.250 21:29, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Hi, there Waipawa (in NZ) is 65km south of Napier (not Hastings as you states), or 42km south of Hastings.

what day is it?

Why my account made in pt.wikipedia.org doesn't work in en.wikipedia.org?

I've created an account in wikipedia in Portuguese (since I'm Portuguese), but it doesn't work in the English version of the wikipedia, so I had to create another account with the same name but in English. So now I have two accounts with the same name, which is stupid. Is there any option for me to have just one account and manage to edit pages in English and Portuguese? Thanks... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Crazy Murdoc (talk • contribs) 19:56, 9 January 2007 (UTC).

Currently we do not support unified logins. Sorry for the inconvenience. Xiner (talk, email) 19:58, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Ok man, thanks for the reply Crazy Murdoc 20:13, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Great, now I have also another account in wiki communs... It should be unified... Crazy Murdoc 21:41, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

The devs are working on it, it should be done pretty soon. See m:Help:Unified login. Prodego ^talk 22:48, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm glad that they'll do it... Good job ;) Crazy Murdoc 10:39, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Allure Magazine

I need to know how to add a NPOV header to the article on Allue magazine - it appears to be an advert for the magazine. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.140.240.2 (talk) 20:01, 9 January 2007 (UTC).

In this case the best tag for Allure (magazine) may well be {{advert}}. Just add it before the first line. It would be as well to add it to your watch list so you can assist if the editors have any questions about applying Wikipedia policies. Notinasnaid 20:05, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Categorization of an article whose subject went by several names

Hey all! At WP:SHIPS, we're having a discussion about categorizing ships that have served in more than one navy, under different names. As an example, take USS Kephart (DE-207), which served in the US Navy and then was sold to the Republic of Korea to serve in their navy. The article is in Category:Republic of Korea Navy ships, but of course it shows up as USS Kephart.

So what's to be done about this? Possible solutions:

1. Just ignore the problem, which makes Category:Republic of Korea Navy ships less useful
2. Create a redirect for the new name (Kyong Puk (PF-82)) and put the redirect into Category:Republic of Korea Navy ships, which means that USS Kephart will not have a link to Category:Republic of Korea Navy ships
3. Create a redirect for the new name, categorize the redirect, and then manually put a link at the bottom of USS Kephart to Category:Republic of Korea Navy ships (see USS Serene (AM-300) for this solution in action)

We could really use some outside input! Is this a problem that other Wikipedians have run into? If so, what did you do about it? In some cases it's possible to split the article in two, like USS Mississippi (BB-23) and Greek battleship Limnos (same ship, two navies), which resolves the problem nicely. However, in other cases the only information about the second navy is "USS x was sold to y and renamed z".

If this isn't the right place to post this, please let me know. Thanks! TomTheHand 20:26, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

You can keep everything in one article, under the name most people will search for it as (the USS name), and put the Korean Navy history in a section of that article. Then create a redirect that links to that section, and categorise the redirect. I think it is correct for USS Kephart to not have a link to the Korea Navy ships category, as it is not a Korea Navy ship. The important thing is to make clear at all points that this is the same ship, just refitted with a different name. Let ma have a closer look at this. You could also try Wikipedia talk:Categorization. Carcharoth 23:23, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

OK, what I did was:

• All the US Navy ship articles are now removed from Category:Republic of Korea Navy ships and instead placed in Category:United States Navy ships transferred to the Republic of Korea Navy. It's a long category name, but very clear and understandable.
• All the Korea Navy ships transferred from the US Navy now have their own redirects, which are categorised at Category:Republic of Korea Navy ships. I used the new 'anchor links work for redirects feature' to link the redirects to the section of the US Navy ship article, as most of the ROKS ships transferred from the US navy don't have articles yet.

Have a play around and see what you think. If/when the ROKS ships get their own articles, the redirects can be updated accordingly (they would be turned into the new article). I'm not sure how many ships the Republic of Korea Navy got from the US Navy under that security agreement, but if they are all listed, and there are lots of normal ROKS ships to write about, then Category:Republic of Korea Navy ships transferred from the United States Navy could be created for people browsing by Korean name and wanting to find that subset of ROKS ships. But for now, that category would largely duplicate Category:Republic of Korea Navy ships. One small point, not all the Korean names are uniform, as I don't really know enough about ship naming conventions, so that might need a little tidying. Carcharoth 01:10, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Com 215 Written Communication

I need three little messages for an Informative & Positive messages as if I was talking to someone important. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.40.244.66 (talk) 20:33, 9 January 2007 (UTC).

Perhaps you should try doing your homework. This page is for help on using the wikipedia. You might want to try one of our reference desk for information related to your assignment, but don't expect anyone here to do your homework for you. —Mitaphane _talk 03:58, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Reference problem

I have been "wikifying" the references to Daniel Rodriguez article. I didn't write the article, and the creators didn't know how to do anything, so left a big mess. Anyway, I managed to format 34 0f the 36 references with no problem, but two of them refuse to wikify themselves! The ref #s are 26 and 34. I have tried everything, from using cite web/news templates, to doing it manually, and nothing works. I'm at the end of my rope and would appreciate some help with it. Thanks a lot. Jeffpw 20:33, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Ok, I fixed the refs (hopefully got the details right) using Template:Cite web. Hope that helps. Trebor 23:11, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank you so very very much! That was driving me batty! Jeffpw 23:13, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Search

How do i advance search?

Please see Wikipedia:Search. Xiner (talk, email) 21:55, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Template:PD-Soviet

Hi, I'm from the Hebrew Wikipedia. We too have the above license. I understand it was canceled in Commons. We have several pictures with this tag, most of them from your this wiki. What should we do with them? Thanks, Yonidebest 21:25, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Probably delete them unless they're public domain for some other reason; the legal situation of such images appears shaky at best, and both Commons and the English Wikipedia have deleted or retagged the images concerned. If your wiki allows fair use, you might be able to make a fair use claim on the pictures. If the pictures are still on Commons or the English Wikipedia, you might want to check to see which licence they have been changed to and do the same. See Template talk:PD-USSR for more information. --ais523 09:35, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Which Southern State owned the most slaves?

Please help me!!! I cannot find clear info! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.233.187.133 (talk) 21:49, 9 January 2007 (UTC).

Hi. Please ask such questions at the Reference desk. This is for Wikipedia-related questions only. Thanks. Xiner (talk, email) 21:52, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Recreation

How do I get a page to link to its history? See

You have [[special:mytalk|new messages]]. ([[Special:Mytalkhist|last change]]).

Gets

You have new messages. (last change).

But It does not link to my talk hist.

Darkest Hour ^{Ж Ж Ж Ж Ж} 22:57, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict, without the "edit conflict" screen) While there is no link to the history in the usually "new messages" box, there is a script written by Topaz that lets you change the box to whatever you want it to say. (I came up with the idea, by the way :)...unless someone else did and didn't mention it). See User:Topaz/Wikiscripts and User:Topaz/usermessagechanger.js. –Llama man^{sign here} 20:48, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Well I don't think that you can link it to your talk hist, if you were it would be through an external link. But I personally would not advise you to put that "you have new messages" on your userpage since it will greatly confuse the newcomers, greatly. See it through the eyes of the newcomer. Arjun 23:08, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, you have to use an external link. Copy the full URL and single-bracket it ([]). Xiner (talk, email) 23:10, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

political map of nothern europe

do you have the map of nothern europe that is already filled in?

I'm not sure about the question, but Wikipedia:Reference_desk would be the place to ask. Xiner (talk, email) 23:07, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Is Image:Northern-Europe-region-map-extended.png what you're looking for? User:Zoe|(talk) 23:09, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Questioning Nuetrality

How does one go about questioning the neutrality of an article?

Thanks, -Vince Petaccio —The preceding unsigned comment was added by VincePetaccio (talk • contribs) 23:51, 9 January 2007 (UTC).

Check out Wikipedia:Verifiability. Xiner (talk, email) 00:04, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

If you have concerns that an article is not WP:NPOV, the best course of action is to raise these concerns on the article's talk page. --Tkynerd 00:06, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

You might also try to bring it to the attention of the Wikipedia Neutrality Project if there isn't too many people who frequent the discussion page. —Mitaphane _talk 03:54, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Need article-namespace sandbox

Is there anything like a "sandbox page" in the main namespace (article namespace)? I'm debugging a template which uses ParserFunctions to cause it to appear differently depending on which namespace it is in. Of course, I'm having trouble with the conditions when it is placed in article namespace. I could not find anything at About the Sandbox to help me. I could create a page named something like Page for testing templates which use ParserFunctions but if there is a better alternative, I'd like to use that. :) Thanks! —DragonHawk (talk) 23:59, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

To my knowledge no article namespace sandbox exists. Perhaps there is some place you could request to create such a page for testing purposes to have it speedied shortly after. DoomsDay349 00:30, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Darn, I was hoping I was just missing something obvious. Well, thanks for the quick response. I'll see if anyone at the pump has any ideas. —DragonHawk (talk) 04:30, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

You could always create a subpage of the article or even make the article (because not many would see it, probably only new page patrollers), then leave a note on the talk page explaining the situation. James086^{Talk | Contribs} 04:33, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

January 10

Advertisment

How do you add the message that an article reads like an advertisment? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.142.39.222 (talk) 01:53, 10 January 2007 (UTC).

Use the {{advert}} template. — Kieff 01:58, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

If it's really blatant advertising - that is, "it would need to be fundamentally rewritten in order to become encyclopedic" (WP:CSD), and there's no version to revert to that doesn't have this problem, tag it for deletion with {{db-advert}}. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 02:50, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

/

how do u use wikipedia?

Short question, impossibly long answer. Although "Just click 'edit this page' at the top, be bold and jump in" would do for some. For a better introduction to editing though, try Wikipedia:Introduction and the Wikipedia:Tutorial. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 03:10, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Hmm...I think this is kind of ironic since the text on the help page that links says "Help desk for asking how to use wikipedia". Yeah basically click the edit this page and be bold! Arjun 04:09, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

You can type an article name in the search box on the left and get a good deal of information on the subject. .V. (talk) 05:33, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Keys for ~/¬ and @/" switching around

For some reason, recently a couple of the keys on my keyboard have been switching around when I use Wikipedia, apparently at random times. To type " (quote marks) I should be pressing shift-2, but sometimes it switches to 'shift-, the button two keys right of 'L', which should produce'@'. The ~ (tilde) should also be shift-#, between /@' and the enter key, but it keeps switching to the key left of '1'.

I think this may have something to do with American keyboard layout (mine is UK), as I used to have an Amiga where the '@' and '"' were the opposite from what was printed on my keyboard as well. I think this started happening around 17th December, because I first noticed it when I went home for Christmas and used my parents' computer, and assumed that was the problem - however, I'm back at uni now and it's still happening. I have no idea what causes the keys to switch - sometimes I just try to write quote marks or my signature, and find I'm writing '@' or '||||'. Then as I've started using 'the wrong button' it switches back the way it should be and I'm typing '¬¬¬¬'. Anyone know?

I can't swear that the fault is with Wikipedia, as I don't use this computer for any other writing atm, but if it isn't then I don't know why my parents' computer did it as well. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 03:09, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I can't see how a particular web page would change your keyboard layout, but have you checked to see if you have two or more keyboard layouts installed? (If you're running Windows XP, you can check that in Regional Options in the Control Panel) Maybe you're accidentally pressing the key combination that switches the layouts around... Cheers, Tangotango (talk) 03:16, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, on an American keyboard the button two spaces to the right of L when combined with shift produces quotes, and the number 2+shift creates the @ symbol. It's likely an issue with that. Then again, if you've gotten liquid into your keyboard it can screw things up (I've done it). DoomsDay349 03:18, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Your regional settings are probably set to American. Go to Control Panel, Regional and Language Options, Keyboards & Languages, Change keyboards - and select the UK one. I'm using Windows Vista so the exact menus may be different - but that should solve yer issues. --Sagaciousuk ^(talk) 03:21, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

My keyboard was set to UK when I looked, but I'm putting money on Tangotango's idea. Is the key combination in question Shift-Alt-something? Since my parents' computer had Firefox 2 installed, which requires you to use Shift-Alt for Wikipedia shortcuts, maybe that made me start inadvertantly switching layouts - even though I have 1.5 here, I haven't dropped the habit of pressing shift (since it works either way). I've removed the US keyboard layout from the list, hopefully that'll fix it. Thanks for your help. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 03:55, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I had a similar problem (I couldn't log in cause my password used @ and I couldn't find it on the keyboard) and it turned out the keyboard was set to UK. When changed back to US the keys produced what they had labeled. I think you may need to add the US keyboard layout back to the list in order to correct it. James086^{Talk | Contribs} 04:06, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I've had this (or a similar) problem before. The quote sign (") and apostrophe sign (') both went haywire. Rebooting fixed it. Carcharoth 04:13, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Moving AfD to the OLD page so deletion can be processes

how do I do this ? does it have to be done by an administrator ? tx

As long as the AfD has been correctly entered in the logs, it's moved automatically after 5 days (which is the length of time an AfD should be open). Even if it hasn't been entered in the logs, or has been malformed, there are at least two bots (DumbBOT and Bot523) that are capable of reporting the error so it can be fixed by hand (DumbBOT also fixes some AfDs itself). So don't worry about this; it'll be handled automatically. --ais523 09:25, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

'how to participate'

how to participate —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.111.235.40 (talk) 09:50, 10 January 2007

If you're looking for information about how to participate in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Introduction and Wikipedia:Community Portal. --ais523 09:53, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Reporting Errors

The page titled United Kingdom is completely incorrect. The text is actually about the contraceptive condom. I tried to report this, but in order to do so I would have to learn how to use complex templates and the general methods of congtributing and editing Wikipedia - which I have no wish to do, and suspect most browsers of the web also have no wish to do. Can you not provide some simple means for casual browsers to report glaring errors such as this one? Can you also arrange to fix the problem. Incidentally I was trying to find a general article on the UK, and NOT information on condoms. —The preceding [[Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages|unsigned]] comment was added by 213.123.185.154 ([[User talk:213.123.185.154|talk]]) 10:23, 10 January 2007 (UTC).

It's fixed. as for the reporting, most pages are watched by a number of people so vandalism is reverted pretty quickly. You must be an amaaazing fast reader as the page was altered at 6.55am and reverted by an anti-vandal bot at.. 6.55am. So it must be just a fluke you saw that version. --Charlesknight 10:33, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

It's been fixed now. There isn't really a process for reporting one-off vandalism of this kind, because it's easier to fix it than report it; see Help:Reverting and Wikipedia:Cleaning up vandalism for more information. --ais523 10:35, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Adding talk to my signature

How do I get my signature to display "talk" at the end, so that people can go straight to my talkpage. --Charlesknight 10:37, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:How to fix your signature and Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages for more information about customizing signatures. In your case, the signature would be [[User:Charlesknight|Charlesknight]] ([[User talk:Charlesknight|talk]]); you can enter this into the 'signature' box in Special:Preferences and tick 'Use raw signature'. --ais523 10:41, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

(after edit conflict) Go into your "my preferences" at the top of the page and edit the signature box. You'll need to enter the raw code (so tick the raw signature box) and pipe the links to your userpage and talk. So something like [[User:Charlesknight|Charlesknight]][[User talk:Charlesknight| (talk)]] would display as Charlesknight (talk). Hope that helps. Trebor 10:43, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Bad Internal Link

I recently hit the Random Article button and ended up with an article about Glowin' Moses at the bottom of the article it lists band members one of whom is Michael J. Adams, the band was formed in the 1990's. However this last link takes me to someone of the same name who died in 1967. My question do I just deactivate the link or should I post a notice somewhere about the link, and what is the correct Wiki name for this occurrence? thanks --Matt 12:27, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

• You want to disambiguate that link and have it point to Michael J. Adams (musician). You can use the pipe-trick to have that last part not appear -- like this: Michael J. Adams. - Mgm|^(talk) 12:31, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
• Thanks for that makes sense however it is getting murkier another band member link points to another dead astronaut I think I am going to Google the band and see what I come up with --Matt 12:35, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
• Well they seem legit just some name disambiguation needed--Matt 12:40, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

servers

how many servers power wiki? is there a page that shows the servers?

• Which wiki? Wikipedia isn't the only site running on wiki software. http://www.wikimedia.org and Wikipedia:Servers may be of help to you. - Mgm|^(talk) 13:48, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

How to edit top section?

I want to edit the first paragraph of a page, but when I click the first edit button, it brings up the second section. How does one edit the first section? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ncsteele (talk • contribs) 13:21, 10 January 2007 (UTC).

• like this look at the URL on the top of your screen after you click--66.65.185.43 13:22, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Click any section edit button. Change the "section=1" bit (the number varies depending on the section), and replace it with "section=0" and reload the URL. Carcharoth 21:04, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Living Person category

I edited a page (Diana Peacocke), adding a link to the 'living person' category. Do I now go to the 'living person' section and add her manually in there somehow, or does this happen automatically?

Et In Arcadia Ego 13:22, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

It happens automatically, as long as you added [[Category:X]] instead of [[:Category:X]] The colon before "Category" makes a link like this Category:X, instead of actually adding it to the category. Hope that helps! | AndonicO ^{Talk | Sign Here} 13:43, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Accidental duplicate page creation

Dear Sir/Madame,

I made a mistake of creating duplicate pages with different names ([Radio student] and [Radio Student]) instead of moving a page which is what I actullay wanted to do :-(

How can I now delete the obsolete [Radio student] page?

Thank you for your help!

Goran Tomas

I added the speedy deletion tag to the page.

--Goran Tomaš 13:26, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Clarification of correct process to follow for this correction

Can someone look at this entry I just added to Wikipedia:Images and media for deletion/2007 January 10 in respect of the image Image:Dudley.jpg. Theres been an overwrite of a legitimate image by a copyvio image, obviously not intentional.

I'm not sure what the appropriate way to fix it or even where to report it for untangling. Can someone address it properly and then explain on my talk page what needed doing, for another time? Thanks. FT2 ^{(Talk | email)} 14:17, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

 Done — BigNate37_(T) 15:11, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

HELP ME

i AM A MANAGER FOR SMART TECHNOLOGIES AND AM VERY INTERESTED IN FINDING MORE ABOUT YOUR SITE. i HAVE 18 CONSULTANTS WHO NEED TO SHARE FILES OF 9MG-100 MG SPACE PRETTY CONSISTENTLY. i WOULD LIKE A REPRESENTATIVE TO CALL ME AT MY HOME NO. WHICH IS (personal information removed). i NEED TO KNOW HOW TO UPLOAD AND DOWNLEAD AND ORGANIZE FILES EASILY. THANKS MUCH Marie DAriotis —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Marie111 (talk • contribs) 14:36, 10 January 2007 (UTC).

That is not what Wikipedia is for. Please look at this page and this page. --Tkynerd 14:54, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

If you are looking for a way to do this on your LAN/intranet or even internet in the same way that we keep the encyclopedia on the internet, you want to get the MediaWiki software. There are arguably better systems around for doing such things, but WikiMedia may work aswell. What Tkynerd is saying is that you can't store these things on Wikipedia, which is true—you can only create a similar system and maintain it yourselves. If that's what you wanted to do, feel free to read the MediaWiki article. BigNate37_(T) 14:59, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Disabling EDIT

hi...the article that i made is being sabbotaged by someone...and i'm concerned, can you please tell me how to disable the EDIT in the article.,..thank you and God bless... James obejas 15:42, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

You are probably thinking of requesting page protection. However, that is used to deal with heavy IP vandalism and edit warrning, which is not occuring, so it's not recommended to reuqest page protection. If you are having problems with continued vandalism, you can report them at WP:AIV. More importantly, however, you should make sure that your article is considered notable by Wikipedia's notability guidelines, otherwise it may be speedily deleted. Let me know if you have any questions. -- Natalya 15:51, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

• If the information they're adding isn't accurate, you can remove it and ask for reliable sources that back up the statement. If that's not the case, they're not sabotaging. Anyone is allowed to edit entries and no single person owns an article. - Mgm|^(talk) 16:58, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I have reverted your edits to Genotyping. You can't have a section of an article for your own use. If you disagree with something in the article, discuss it on the article's Talk page at Talk:Genotyping. User:Zoe|(talk) 18:06, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

James obejas's edits appear to consist of original research, which is not allowed on Wikipedia. -- Kesh 04:36, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

What's up with the search feature?

Something changed with the search box (left pane) in the last day or two. Previously, if it didn't find an exact matching article title, it used to immediately provide a list of "close matches". That was ideal. Now it gives nothing, except the option to Google search. Why did this happen? It's a real step backward. It's costing me time. Thanks. —Dfass 16:06, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

The developers had to turn it off because there were serious performance problems yesterday afternoon UTC. I suspect that it'll be turned back on some time in the next week or so, but I don't know for certain. --ais523 16:12, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, although I wish Google Search, being more accurate most of the time, were the default. Sorry for the inconvenience. Xiner (talk, email) 16:14, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for filling me in. Appreciate it. —Dfass 21:05, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Notiable Bands

I have a question. What does a band have to do in order to become a "Notiable Band" and not get their page removed?

153.91.67.223 16:47, 10 January 2007 (UTC)mdhus

Here are the notability criterion guidelines for musicians and music. They're probably a good guide. --ais523 16:50, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:Notability. There must be reliable published sources unaffiliated with the band that focus on the band, such as books, magazines, and academic journals. —Centrx→talk • 16:50, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Edits do not appear

I have edited, previewed and saved the page The edits do not appear on line The page (which is a school page) makes use of something called a Template:! (protected) Is this what is preventing the edits from appearing

If so how do I edit such a page? If not why else might the edits not be appearing?195.137.123.94 17:18, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like the page is semiprotected. Only registered users may edit those pages. Sign up for an account now! :) Xiner (talk, email) 17:26, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

It is likely that the page falls under Wikipedia:Semi-protection policy - hence anon-IP addresses or recently created user accounts can not edit the page. Cheers Lethaniol 17:27, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

trouble discussing or reporting fact error.

I tried to make a posting in the talk section about an error about the polorization of light.

Light can be polorized along three axis, not just the two or combination of the two mentioned in the two articals about the polorization of light (also photons polorization)

When I went to post, I got an error message, also when I tried to respond, the email response note said the response was going to be sent to "nobody" and when I tried to submit that note to "nobody" I recieved another error. what am I doing wrong?

John aka snowflakeuniverse

Usually, you can just press the Back button in your browser and resubmit the edit. We've been experiencing technical difficulties in the last two days. Xiner (talk, email) 17:56, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

using images from postage stamps

An Images Copyright Question Please:

What is the advice and general experience of using images from postage stamps? See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapper_bridge

This has an attractive and entirely appropriate image of a clapper bridge. It has not been flagged as having any potential copyright problems, so is it regarded as public domain - in the UK, in the USA and Commonwealth?

The reason I am asking is that I am thinking of editing some other bridge articles with good images that I am aware of, some of which are on stamps.

Thanks, Dendrotek.

Dendrotek 17:46, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Stamps are copyright and can only be used with a fair use claim. Generally, the only place a stamp can justify a fair use claim is in an article which discusses the stamp. Definitely not a source of free illustrations. The image has, in fact, been uploaded with a completely incorrect license. Notinasnaid 17:58, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I see the image is on Wikipedia commons, where it cannot stay, but I don't know the procedure for getting rid of it from there. Notinasnaid 18:04, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Please read Wikipedia:Copyrights. Whether an image has been flagged is no indication of its copyright status, which depends on the jurisdiction in which the object is located and where the uploader is located. Xiner (talk, email) 17:58, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

• I've posted a deletion request on the commons. - Mgm|^(talk) 18:14, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

It will be a pity if it is deleted really, since it is a good illustration. But I understand about the "Fair Use = only discussing the stamp."

Perhaps I shall try to find another clapper bridge picture that does not have the copyright problem. But should I only edit it in when the old one goes?

Cheers, Dendrotek 16:57, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

As an aside, if you can find when that particular stamp was first issued, fifty years from that day {{PD-BritishGov}} will apply and you'll be free to upload the image onto whatever medium Wikipedia occupies at that time. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 07:40, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

A few questions..

Firstly, would I be okay to split the category Schools in Blackpool into Junior Schools and Secondary Schools?

I don't think it's necessary. It'd be overcategorization.

I can create more articles for the other schools, but will they be suitable as slightly extended stubs (see the ones currently there now and they are very small and im suprised havent been nominated for deletion for being so small..people have done that to my stubs in the past) or will my new stub articles get deleted? (i will add over time and try and include as much info as possible)

You could create one article that talks about each school until a section is large and notable enough for its own article.

Anyway.. If so..shall I create one for sixth form colleges in blackpool as well?

Be bold.

Or does this not fall under the context of 'schools'?

Is there a category for English colleges?

Also, where shall I place ones like Arnolds School, and Baines, which have an incorporated junior, secondary and sixth form?

See above.

Any answers to any of my questions would be greatly appreciated Fethroesforia 17:51, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Another question..If a school..such as Montgomery High School currently has a wikipedia page of that name, should it be redirected to an identical article but at the schools current official name (Montgomery High School - A Language College and Beacon School)?? Fethroesforia 17:56, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

All content should be transferred if it's the same school, to one article. Xiner (talk, email) 18:07, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank you..but which article name shall i use as the main poage and which as the redirect?..the shorter one of the official name (seems obvious question really) Okay..so i wont sub categorise the category:) oh..umm..i am not sure about those categories..but there isnt one for such education schools in blackpool. Fethroesforia 18:12, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

The short answer is: Articles are located at the name the most often take in English. So whatever the school is usually called is best. Hence South Korea is where the article is located, not at Republic of Korea, which is a redirect. WilyD 18:28, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Okay..especially because many schools round blackpool have changed their names (become specialised) but they are referred to by lder, simpler names Fethroesforia 18:31, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

One last question, under List of schools in the North West of England, theres are schools not mentioned, that are commonly thought to be in Blackpool (millfield high school i just placed..and royles brook primary school to name two) but are technically..outside of the Blackpool boundary and outside of Blackpool Council control. So..basically..what do i do? include in the Blackpool section for ease of use? Fethroesforia 18:25, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Is there an article on Blackpool articles? Local people may have a better understanding of the issue. Perhaps you could add a "See also" section? Xiner (talk, email) 18:53, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

How do I capitalize a proper name in the title?

How do I capitalize a proper name of a new page I am creating about a person in the main title? THank you

If you've already created it, click the "move" button at the top of the page to move the page to the correct location. If you haven't created the page, then just type in the correct capitalization when you search for the name. Xiner (talk, email) 18:15, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank you! There is not move at the top of my page though...

Yeah about that to move pages your account has to be older than 4 days. What is the name of the current article, and what do you want it to be named. I will do the moving part for you. Arjun 19:32, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Done. Article was Andrew Morawski. FirefoxMan 20:28, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!! Esimones 03:59, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Adding new Content

How do I go about adding new content that has yet to be covered by Wikipedia. In my case it would be a company profile.

You may want to read this first. Keep it as objective as you can, and verify all your claims. Xiner (talk, email) 20:03, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I would read the welcome page and Wikipedia:Tutorial for how to go about it. Also, here are some pages that you might find helpful:

• The five pillars of Wikipedia
• How to edit a page
• Help pages
• Tutorial
• How to write a great article
• Manual of Style
  Let me know on my talk page if you need any help. delldot | talk 20:36, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Name disambiguation problem

I want to start an article on a political scientist named "Jonathan Fox". Here's the problem: there is another Jonathan Fox who is also a political scientist. After creating a disambig page titled "Jonathan Fox", how could I go about pre-disambiguating one J.F. from the other? I can't use the titles "Jonathan Fox (political scientist)" or "Jonathan Fox (academic)" as they applies to both Jonathan Fox's. Does WP have any specific guideline? Black Falcon 20:13, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Use a middle initial as well, if you can find one. Otherwise, find something to distinguish them. Are they of different nationalities? Carcharoth 20:59, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

OK, thanks; I was actually able to find a middle initial for one of them. Black Falcon 21:12, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia in the Yoruba Language

I would like to start Wikipedia in the Yoruba language. How do I proceed?

Thank you.

tyO

See How to start a new Wikipedia for details. -- Adrian M. H. 21:21, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Unless you have followed the link and created someone has already made one here [9] Cheers Lethaniol 21:39, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

How to Dispute something already listed on WP

HI - I am working on editing and writing the Jewellery Designer category. In this category, I am slowly going through each person to see what their credentials are. ON this score, I found: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylver_Logan_Sharp - and I think this person should be removed from the Jewellery Designers Category and left solely in music. She is not of note in this category. How do I go about disputing the merit of her notability in this category?

Thanks, Archiemartin Archiemartin 21:27, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Well, if you fear it will be controversial, discuss on the articles talk page. If you don't think it'll be a problem, then be bold and remove it yourself. DoomsDay349 21:30, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Of course, you could be bold and just go ahead and change it, even if it's controversial, as long as you present your sources/case properly. Xiner (talk, email) 21:33, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Embedding or uploading video into wikipedia

Is it possible to upload or embe video in relevant wikipedia articles —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hal2007 (talk • contribs) 22:04, 10 January 2007 (UTC).

• Simple answer: No. — Dark Shikari ^talk/_contribs 22:08, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

However, Animations in the gif format are. Maybe that is what you are looking for. Arjun 23:52, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

conspiracy theories in an article

Someone is using Wiki to put forth his or her conspiracy theories in the article about the federal reserve system of the USA. The person is linking his own biased documents etc. How can I report this / can somebody do something about it?

If you are certain that the subject is being put across in a misleading away, be bold and edit the article. If you think that might be controversial, post on the talk page first and have a discussion. Or you could post on the user in question's talk page, explaining why you think their documents are biased and should not be used as sources. Trebor 23:07, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Requesting an Image

I would like to place an image request for a certain article, but im not sure where to locate the template, or tag, or w/e it's called, is there a list of them somewhere? Or could someone direct me to where it's located? Buzzfly 23:15, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

To request a photo place {{reqphoto}} on the articles talk page. But check Commons as there may be some free images there for use. Arjun 23:50, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Picture--Photobucket

I'm sure this has been asked plently of times, but are we allowed to use photos from Photobucket? If so, is there an easy way to upload the pictures? Thanks! MusicGirl21 23:49, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Only if they are using a free license (which is very unlikely). Wikipedia doesn't use images directly from other sites (they are all uploaded to wikipedia) so we don't Leech (computing). WP:IMAGE —The preceding unsigned comment was added by James086 (talk • contribs) 01:58, 11 January 2007 (UTC).

Section editing

I'm not seeing any section level 'edit' buttons in the article childbirth. Can some one point me where to go to learn how to fix that? Thanks! Professor marginalia 00:03, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Try purging your local (ctrl-F5) cache, and if that doesn't work, make sure you have the edit section links turned on in your preferences. Prodego ^talk 00:27, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

It was my cache! Thanks, Professor marginalia 00:42, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Strike through use

I am curious to know in what circumstances would Strike-through text be used and why I cannot imagine its use in an article. I recently saw a question posted here where the entire text was struck through. --Matt 02:09, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

It's used more frequently in talk pages, but probably rarely (if ever) in articles, unless it was to demonstrate a specific logo or something of the like. -- Natalya 02:26, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Strike-through is generally used to withdraw text that the poster has realised he either shouldn't have posted, or didn't need to. In the case you might be referring to ("Accidental duplicate page creation"?) it seems like the poster figured out the problem by himself, and used strikethrough to show that he didn't need help anymore.

Some people also use strikethrough to correct mistakes in their post, particularly when it's too late just to edit the post completely, because someone has already replied. For example:

“ James Jones said no such thing! Where did you get that idea? --SomeEditor

Please read more carefully, I was referring to Jaime Jones, not James. --OtherEditor

Sorry, my mistake. --SomeEditor

”

Similarly, personal attacks or other incivil language can also be struckthrough when it's too late to just edit it out. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 02:44, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Many thanks Everyone --Matt 05:11, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

January 11

Image quality problem

I have used Wikipedia for a good while but have rarely worked with images. Today I uploaded an image and placed it in the article Nigel Payne. On the image upload page, the image looks exactly like it does on the source site, but in the linked article the image is too big and blurry. I can't figure out how to resize it and couldn't find anything in help. Help here? SmartGuy 03:18, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

The problem lies in the Template:Infobox_Celebrity box. It's designed to display an image at 220px. That's larger than the source image so it gets pixelized when stretched. Can you find a higher res source image? Alternatively, you can copy the template's source code and change the value of 220 px. Mitaphane _talk 03:24, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Straight away I can't find a higher res image with clear copyright or fair use status. I'll try messing around with the template later, thanks. SmartGuy 03:47, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Editing section zero

I had modified my profile page, or whatever you call it, so that I had a tab at the top of articles to edit section zero. As of a couple days ago, this tab has dissappeared. Does anyone know why this is? Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 03:37, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

You could try the updated version at Wikipedia:WikiProject User scripts/Scripts/Add edit section 0. I assume you are talking about your User:Dismas/monobook.js, I did hear someone complaining about something breaking in their monobook.js a couple of days ago, something to do with a change in MediaWiki somewhere I suppose.--Commander Keane 04:48, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I meant monobook.js. I couldn't think of the word to save my life... Anyway, I'll try the updated version, thanks! Dismas|^(talk) 05:21, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

What's wrong with my signature?

I get the "Invalid Raw Signature" error message, but it works properly in the sandbox...

This is the code. Can you please tell me what's wrong with it?

<span style="color:hotpink">'''_{- [[User:Miriam The Bat|Miriam The Bat]]} ^{([[User talk:Miriam The Bat|Talk]])}'''</span style>

Edit: changed it slightly, still doesn't work.

Thank you. Miriam The Bat 04:32, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

It is <span ...> text </span>, not <span style="..."> text </span style>. The actual tag code is the span part. The style is a parameter within the span tag; as such, when closing tags you always use the tag name, with no parameters. I have debugged your signature code, and it saves in my preferences with no errors. Here is the raw code:

^{[[User:Miriam The Bat|<span style="color:pink">Miriam The Bat</span>]] - [[User talk:Miriam The Bat|<span style="color:hotpink">Talk</span>]]}

Which produces:

^{Miriam The Bat - Talk}

I hope this answers your question. If you have any additional questions feel free to inquire. Have a wonderful day, and happy editing. Kyra_~(talk) 04:45, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. I ended up fixing it myself by changing it to a font tag (I don't know why I didn't think of it first) but now I understand where my mistake was. _{- Miriam The Bat} ^(Talk) 04:49, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

I suggest to you (and, well, everyone) to avoid using the font tag and use CSS in one way or another (the span tag will do) instead. BigNate37_(T) 19:11, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Report a user

How do I report a user for inspection by someone who may temporarily ban the user?--WhereAmI 06:39, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

If you are referring to a user who is vandalizing, and they have received the appropriate series of warning templates and have vandalized after the final warning, then you would go to Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism and add their name their using the template that is within the comments. So, for example, if user JohnDoe had vandalized after a final warning template, then you would put * {{vandal|JohnDoe}}, and then a short explanation of why you reported them. There are also separate noticeboards for WP:3RR violations, suspected sock puppets, and many more, so be sure to select the one that pertains to your issue. I hope this answers your question fully, and if you have any more questions, you are welcome to ask me or here if you wish. Have a great day, and happy editing. Kyra_~(talk) 07:02, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

If you find yourself reporting vandals a lot, you might want to know that you can use the shortcut WP:AIV for Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism. --ais523 09:12, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

using LaTeX to create articles.

Hello.

I would like to write some articles for Wikipedia in my field of work, but I have a technical problem of mathematical symbols - I wouldn't like to learn you language of notation. I use Latex in my work. Can I give you a latex text to compile on the cite? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Yshtok (talk • contribs) 08:37, 11 January 2007 (UTC).

• You're in luck. Our formula syntax uses a lot of LaTeX. See Help:Displaying a formula for help on how to format formulas. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:49, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Missing article on "Queen's Scout Award"... where did it go?

Searching for "QSA" or "Queen's Scout Award" used to bring up a page detailing the Queen's Scout Award, a Scouting award obtained in the UK and several Commonwealth countries similar to the Eagle Scout award in America.

However I can find no trace of the page anymore. Searching for "QSA" now links to a page called "Quaker Social Action" and searching for "Queen's Scout Award" fails.

Where did the "Queen's Scout Award" page go? Can somebody please bring it back?

Thanks. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.111.188.198 (talk) 11:30, 11 January 2007 (UTC).

It's still there: Queen's Scout. It's just that Wikipedia's search function is down at the moment. You could help the search function out by creating a redirect, but you would need to create a username in order to do that. --ais523 11:34, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Next time, use google, and type in "Queen's Scout Award Wikipedia". It's better at finding Wikipedia articles than we are, just that it's usually out of date. | AndonicO ^{Talk | Sign Here} 11:37, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

"site:en.wikipedia.org Queen's Scout Award" should work even better. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 13:37, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

I found the problem. QSA used to be a redirect to Queen's Scout. Somebody threw in an extra link to Quaker Social Action instead of changing the page to a proper disambiguation page. Later someone thoughtlessly removed the original link. Try searching "QSA" now ;-).Circeus 17:43, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Mdash in article names?

In the name of article War in Somalia (2006–present) is included an mdash -- that makes problems with printing or storing it locally in other Windows versions than plain US-english. Could one please correct that? --213.155.224.232 12:09, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

I've changed it to a hyphen, and corrected all the double redirects accordingly, per this request (you can't move pages, because you don't have a username). If anyone wants to change it back, I recommend they get an admin to mass-rollback my double-redir-fixes. --ais523 13:09, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Is there a problem with using m-dashes in article titles? I think just about all of the Canadian Parliamentary constituency articles have m-dashes in their titles. User:Zoe|(talk) 17:12, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Is there an official WP policy on this? --213.155.224.232 19:49, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Found it: At WP:MOSDASH is mentioned: Hyphens and dashes are generally rather avoided in page names (e.g., year of birth and death are generally not used in a page name to disambiguate two people with the same name). (...)If hyphens and dashes are needed to write a page name correctly (e.g., Piano-Rag-Music, Jack-in-the-box, Nineteen Eighty-Four), prefer simple hyphens, and avoid hair spaces, even in the odd case of a range forming part of the title, e.g., History of the Soviet Union (1985-1991). --213.155.224.232 20:35, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Good job finding it, yeah it is an Manual of Style thing. Arjun 20:37, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Well, we're going to have to do something about all of the articles at List of Canadian federal electoral districts. User:Zoe|(talk) 22:39, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

hi

What is the meaning of computer? What is the four basic components of computer?

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. You might also want to try reading computer. --ais523 12:24, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

• This sounds a lot like a homework question. Try reading the article on computers and then come back if you don't understand something. I'm pretty sure you will find the four basic components in there. I'm not sure what you mean by "the meaning of computer". - Mgm|^(talk) 12:31, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Email obfuscation

I add a picture taken by a friend and I gave their email address without obfuscation it by writing dot for . and at for @. The page with the email address is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RealityCheckpoint.jpg#Summary

I tried to change the email address but now its in the File History section.

Help! how do I get rid of it and save my friend from spam?

Thanks in advance. JP —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Joosypigeon (talk • contribs) 13:31, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

The only way I can think of is to have the file deleted, then reupload it with a different summary. If you add {{db-author}} to the page, an admin will come along and delete it, and you can reupload the file. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 13:35, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

I've tagged it with a customized {{db}} to request its deletion and reuploading. --ais523 13:43, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Unexplained deletions of posts on discussion pages

Twice now posts have been deleted from discussion pages and the edit history shows that I did it. Neither time did I do anything that should have had this result, at least as far as I know. Is this a common bug in the Wikipedia program or am I making a common mistake? SmithBlue 14:21, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Most likely, you're going to the page via the history or a diff, and your timing's sufficiently unlucky that you open an old version of the page just after a new one's been saved. As this is the method used to revert an edit, the software removes the previous edit. You then add your comment and save, and apparently nothing is wrong (because reverts can't lead to an edit conflict). In order to stop this happening:

• Use the 'edit this page' button or a section-edit link if you're editing a page, not the (edit) links on a diff, and
• Check for a warning above the edit box that tells you you're reverting (it looks like this:

You are editing an old revision of this page. If you publish it, any changes made since then will be removed. You may wish to edit the current revision instead.

and will be quite obvious on many, but not all, browsers). --ais523 14:36, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks - I'm lucky this is virtual or I think I'd eventually be lynched if I kept up doing things the old way. SmithBlue 14:51, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Quicky

I'm editing List of United Kingdom locations and some of it's children articles. I have split the Ha-Hh article into two articles, but I need to change the little banner at the top of all these related articles to reflect the new division. I do not know how to do this. --Acewolf359 16:59, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

If you edit a page with the banner on and scroll right to the bottom of the page (past the box of characters), you'll see a list of all the templates used on that page. You can click on one in the list and edit it from there, and it will change on all the articles that use it. --ais523 17:18, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

prefix

In the word preserve is pre- a prefix?65.70.71.125

No. It's a derivation of preserve as in to preserve something. For future reference, questions such as this belong in the Reference Desk: the Help Desk is about solving Wiki-related issues. Adrian M. H. 17:08, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

WP:AN/I programming question

After reading through a post by user JzG,[10] I sudenly wondered; is there a flaw in the way we post at AN/I board? What would happen if someone create another account or posted annonymously purposelly impersonating an administrator? For example, let's take my friend JzG. If I user:CyclePat decided to start a new thread called User is Sockpuppeteering and needs block but impersonated my friend by signing at the end his name. I decided to test the theory by doing the first step and starting a new tread (On my user talk page).[11]

The rest of the comments on this subject can be found on my User talk page. --CyclePat 17:04, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Impersonation of an admin would have been a serious offence (if you hadn't gone to the trouble to make it clear what you were doing). The signature in itself doesn't cause anything to happen. If a user did maliciously impersonate someone on WP:AN/I, it's likely that someone would notice (because the user who actually made the edit is displayed in history and on watchlists), and the edit would be marked as having a fake signature (more or less like happened on your user talk page). --ais523 17:16, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Protection

How do I request protection for an article? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Saintjimmy777 (talk • contribs) 17:20, 11 January 2007 (UTC).

Go to Wikipedia:Requests for page protection (WP:RFPP). --ais523 17:23, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Historic Photos in NA Kew - Copyright Experiences?

Historic Photographs in UN National Archive Kew. Relating to this page & discussion - please see:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Cornwall_Railway_viaducts

This well-drafted artcle that is currentluy bare of illustrations, but I know there are exellent ones in the UK NA Kew. Do any editors have experience of using these? Are there likely to be great Copyright difficulties? They are likely to be more than 70 years old, and orginally possibly copyright of the GWR. Now curated by the NA, of course, who will have their own rules.

If there is a possibilty of using them, I am willing to do the legwork.

Goodbye, Dendrotek 17:23, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Harassment

An inappropriate comment was place in my talk page, most likely by an admin. It was unsigned, and said "Stop being a d***." How do I track down who did this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Saintjimmy777 (talk • contribs)

Why do you think it was most likely an admin? Notinasnaid 17:28, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

You click on the 'history' tab of your talk page, which lists all the editors who have been on that page. The 'diff' links let you see the individual edit. Strangely, you seem to have added the message yourself, probably by mistake, so you're probably safe in deleting it again. Hope that helps! --ais523 17:30, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Oh, sorry for that. My buddy knows my password to this account. He must've done it as a joke. Thanks for your help.

In that case, I'd recommend changing your password (via Special:Preferences). If more than one person knows a password to an account, it can lead to problems with copyright when it's not certain who made an edit. --ais523 17:39, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Puerile behaviour reflects badly on you when it looks as if you were responsible, and is not appropriate on Wikipedia (or anywhere else, IMO), so you should certainly change your password and - in this instance - delete that comment. Adrian M. H. 17:43, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Page protection

How do I go about protecting a page from anonymous vandalism? In particular, this page: Tenderloin, San Francisco, California

An individual regularly attempts to sneak in a link to his commercial website (tenderloin.net). This person inserts the link and then makes other edits to hide his sneakiness. It's sort of a chore to clean up all the time, and I think locking this page for anonymous edits would be a good idea. Please help =)

You want to request semi-protection; the page for protection requests is Wikipedia:Requests for page protection (WP:RFPP). Hope that helps. --ais523 17:58, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

However, an article won't usually be protected because of only one link. Warn the user by posting {{test3}} or one of the other warning templates, and if it persists contact an admin to have the user temporarly blocked. Bjelleklang - talk Bug Me 18:00, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

The problem is that it's not a user, per se ... just an IP address.

It's hard to get a semi-protection just to stop one user. If he persists, get him banned. Xiner (talk, email) 19:03, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Alright, it was denied ... but thanks anyway =)

Can't colonize a cat

In User:SebastianHelm/watchlist/lk, I have several links like [[‎:Category:War crimes in Sri Lanka]]. I would expect them to show up as normal links, but instead they show up only in the header, as if I had not put a colon in front. What's wrong? (See history for a couple things I tried in vain.) — Sebastian 18:42, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, that's weird. Could it have anything to do with the fact that pages in user space act differently? CfD pages contain tons of such links without problems. Xiner (talk, email) 19:33, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

I found the problem: There were some hidden characters before the colons. The way I found it was: I copied the text in notepad, saved, and then it asked me if I wanted to ignore the Unicode characters. When I reopened the file, it showed question marks before the colons for most of the cats, and after the colon for the one cat that was displayed correctly. Not sure what these characters were, though. — Sebastian 21:04, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Two very different questions..

1) I am under the belief that a wikipedia article on a certain amateur song maker is an autobiography..it isnt written by one but the original creator of the article has the same name as the article. also one of the links is to myspace. anything i can add the article (i couldnt find a tag)?

2) Is there a way to be notified when an article is changed..like one that is often changed so i can see them easily..like an expanded watchlist (which i dont find too useful)

many thanks Fethroesforia 19:03, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

• Uncontraversial articles that should be deleted can be tagged with {{prod|reason for deletion}}. Otherwise, you can bring it to WP:AFD. WilyD 19:09, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

{{Autobiography}} also exists as a maintenance template. If the biography has no assertion of notability at all (as autobiographies often do), {{db-bio}} may be used to tag it for deletion.

I don't really understand 2) - showing when an article has been changed is exactly what the watchlist does. Could you be more specific about what you want? --Sam Blanning^(talk) 19:11, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

If you want to see every change to some articles, rather than just the most recent, then you could make links to them on a page (possibly a user subpage) and use the 'related changes' function of that page. --Cherry blossom tree 19:37, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Editing

How do I add a superscript referencing a web page?

If you're asking about how to cite a source after a sentence, have a look at WP:FOOTNOTE. A variety of templates for citing different kinds of sources are also available at Template:Cite. Trebor 21:32, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

The simple answer is to put your URLs in <ref>...</ref>, but yeah, to be more helpful to other editors, read those pages. Xiner (talk, email) 23:02, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Nightmare

Hello. I have been working on an article called Portrayal of Women in Comic Books. After making an edit, I found something horrible. If you scroll down on the page, the font size gets smaller and smaller. I do not know how this happened. Your help is desparately needed!!! Maple Leaf 21:44, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Look for problems like this one

<blockquote>'''Odin:''' "Now rise God of Thunder. In thy heart of hearts, thou knowest godhood was not for one such as she." <ref>”A World Gone Mad”, Journey Into Mystery, Stan Lee, 1965 </blockquote> <ref>”To Become an Immortal”, Thor, p .12, Stan Lee, 1967 </ref>.
Two ref tags, /blockquote inside the reference. Notinasnaid 21:56, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

• Erm, isn't writing Women with a capital letter a WP:MOS violation? I think it should've been called Portrayal of women in Comic Books. - Mgm|^(talk) 23:19, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
  • So is writing Comic Books. Portrayal of women in comic books is where it should be at. And there it is! Zunaid©® 09:20, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Signitures

How do I make one of those signitures that can link to my talk page and look diffrent than normal ones? Thanks--ASDFGHJKL 23:10, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Read this page, but you can always hit the "edit" button and copy the signature you like, then change the names from that person to yours. Xiner (talk, email) 23:13, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

(after confict):

Have a look at WP:SIG#Customizing_your_signature, basically you just use regular wiki markup like you do when editing, and paste it into the box at Special:Preferences :) — Deon555^talk_desk^{sign here!} 23:15, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Don't use images! Arjun 23:22, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

As of - template or similar?

Is there a template or something to mark facts "as of (date)?"Garrie 23:23, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Wouldn't it be simpler to just state the date and not worry about the formatting problems associated with templates? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Xiner (talk • contribs).

I understood (maybe wrongly!) that it's purpose was to help track down time-sensitive facts which may need to be re-confirmed periodically. Hey, if I knew what I was talking about I wouldn't be here!Garrie 23:53, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Generally, that's only necessary for internet links used as sources. In which case, the reference link at the bottom would just have that info appended to the description. There's no special template for it. Take a look at the Wendy's References section for an example. -- Kesh 01:15, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, I hope that's what I remember seeing... at least you seem to have confirmed, I haven't been doing anything wrong!Garrie 01:54, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:As of. PrimeHunter 02:06, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Deleting history

Is there a way to delete my history? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.15.67.23 (talk • contribs).

Generally, admins do not do that. Xiner (talk, email) 23:29, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Assuming you are talking about the history of an article, this is vary rarely done. See Wikipedia:Oversight. Dar-Ape 23:33, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Admins however are generally happy if you are the author of a revision to delete just that specific revision. It's similar to oversight, except oversight hides the revision from everyone. Admin-delete-restore hides it from editors only (admins and above can still see it on demand) — Deon555^talk_desk^{sign here!} 23:38, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

January 12

Problem creating an article

I want to create an article for the Greek organization "The Tabard" - but when I try to create a new page, an edit page for the already existing (but totally unrelated) article for "The Tabard" comes up, since it has the same name.

I was hoping it would lead me to a disambiguation page, or that I might be able to find "The Tabard" as a red link so that I could create the article from an existing link, but I couldn't find one.

How do I create an article entitled "The Tabard" about the organization, without overwriting the existing (unrelated) article?

Create a "The Tabard (Greece)" page or something similar, then place a "See also" disambig link at the top of the current page. If you feel your organization is what most people mean when they use the term, you may want to negotiate a move on their discussion page. Xiner (talk, email) 00:11, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

What on Earth?

I've got the "new messages" bar despite the fact that they are, in fact, old messages which I have seen several times. I know about clearing the cache (which I have done, both with control+shift+R and manually, through the options menu [I'm running Firefox]) and yet the little orange bar keeps bugging me. What's going on?--69.144.234.146 00:49, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Are you seeing this on only your talk page, or your watchlist as well? If the former is the case, then it may be a fake banner that has been placed there (check the diffs). Adrian M. H. 21:09, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

My too. I've got the "new messages" bar, and I've read those messages, AND they're for an IP address that isn't mine! -- 12 January 2007 (UTC) (why isn't this anywhere to copy and paste from?!)

Answering one of my own questions... the IP address that gets logged isn't the IP address of my machine; it's a machine in the same subnet as our router, which appears to be in a completely different xxx.yyy.zzz network. At least, the IP address of my computer aaa.bbb.ccc.nnn, and the IP address two hops up in the traceroute is a machine called router1.example.com, with IP address xxx.yyy.zzz.ppp, where what is getting logged is xxx.yyy.zzz.qqq. Jibber jabber.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.132.187.240 (talk • contribs) 20:08, January 12, 2007 (UTC)

Removal of warning templates

I placed a warning template onto an editor's Talk page earlier today, after the editor made a rather blatant and racist edit to a page. This editor has since removed the warning from their page and, after I reverted & asked them not to do it again, they removed it a second time with no explanation.

I know there's no set policy on this, but is there anything else I should do? Or should I just let it go? -- Kesh 00:49, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

It would be helpful to know who said user is, but generally you should give them a warning for removing the other warnings (there's a template for it, but I don't remember what it is), and if they continue, report them to Administrators against vandalism. --69.144.234.146 00:56, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

You may want to watch the user. If it's a one-off, then no harm done. If the person persists, you can ask for AIV then. Xiner (talk, email) 00:57, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

The warning-removal-warning templates referred to above ({{wr}} etc) were deleted, and there is no real consensus about what to do about warning removals. Plenty of discussion can be found at Wikipedia:Centralized discussion/Removing warnings and other places. Instead of the warning removal, you should probably focus on subsequent acts of vandalism or policy violation. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 01:08, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice, folks. The user in question doesn't seem to be a rampant vandal, but I'll keep an eye out. The strange thing is that I'm seeing the same racist vandalism from various accounts to this one article (Evil). I'll just check the user's edits periodically. -- Kesh 01:19, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Up-loaded Ogg Theora video does not run

I have recently joined Widipedia and created an article containing up-loaded .png images and an ogg video clip. However, the video does not run. I can view animations in other articles but they are .gif animations, which are no longer being allowed for up-load (please correct me if I am misinformed). Do I need an ogg-friendly player on my PC to see it run or should the clip run off of an application hosted on the wiki server - that is, is the problem with my syntax, perhaps the file itself or missing software at my end? I have searched all the faq's and related help topics I can find. Thanks for any help you can offer. Tano 01:24, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

File:Wiki sk8 6.ogg

caption

See Wikipedia:Media help. Yes, you will need to install an OGG video player to actually see the video itself. -- Kesh 03:17, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the info. Regarding installing an ogg player (mplayer for example) - when I go to the mplayer website they say that you should be in a developer environment with compilers and other development tools loaded on your computer in order to install their player. I am not one of these (the ogg file that I am working with was converted from an avi by a helpful friend). These are not user-friendly installations and so, I submit, the vast majority of Wikipedia users will not have access to ogg animations as they browse articles. Does this concern wikipedians? Can you confirm that gif animations are no longer permitted (except grandfathered ones) or up-loadable to Wikipedia? Tano 15:49, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Try VLC media player which runs on most systems.Geni 15:54, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for the recommendation - I will certainly try it. Tano 20:31, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Tracking an IP

There's a user who persistently removes speedy delete tags, recently another user whose only contrib is to remove the warning appeared, likely sockpuppet, but I want to track the ip to make sure. Is there a way to do so? DoomsDay349 01:25, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

If it's a registered user, you have to file a complaint and a steward will be able to do a lookup. If it's an anon IP, your only recourse is to get it banned through something like WP:AIV. Xiner (talk, email) 01:30, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Argh... well 99% chance that it's a sockpuppet, so I don't think I have much to worry about. DoomsDay349 01:36, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Not a steward, a checkuser. Also you could request a check here if you should ever need to in the future. Prodego ^talk 02:09, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

debugger

how do I delete the debugger?

What debugger are you referring to? -- Kesh 02:15, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Signitures...Again

Sorry, but I used the pages that I was given and everything went smoothly. I put it onto my prefrences and it looks like this with it as my signiture.

• --''[[User: ASDFGHJKL|ASDFGHJKL=[[User talk:ASDFGHJKL|Greatest Person Ever]]+[[Special:Contributions/ASDFGHJKL|Coolest Person Ever]]'']] 02:00, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

But when I just paste paste the signiture somewere, it looks like it should, like this

• ASDFGHJKL=Greatest Person Ever+Coolest Person Ever

Thank you. ASDFGHJKL 21:00 (EST), 1\11\07

Did you check the box that says "Use raw signature"? Xiner (talk, email) 02:07, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Nope, I didn't think of that. Thank you. --ASDFGHJKL=Greatest Person Ever+Coolest Person Ever 02:17, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

That is the most POV signature I've ever seen. ;) -- Kesh 03:19, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Article written like advertisement, but other editors blocking tag and personally attacking rather than fixing

The Learjet 35/36 article is written as a list of personal specs on the plane. The article's editors admist that this is so, however the article is not titled "List of spec of Learjet 35/36," but rather has pretentions of being an article about the jet. I tagged it with a "this article reads like an advertisement" tag, as it does. However, this tag was removed and a group of editors contacted each other and are currently pretty much ganging up on me to keep the tag off the page. I would like the tag replaced, so that someone who understand the general purpose use of Wikipedia and knows about Learjet 35/36s, or someone willing to do the proper research, will rewrite the article to better fit the Wikipedia intentions. I have put specific comments on the talk page. I tagged it, it was reverted, I explained my reasons and asked for the tag to be replaced, instead I am being attacked. What am I supposed to do now, admit defeat and allow a list of jargon-laden specs written for potential buyers of the airplane to pass for an article? Advice would be appreciated. KP Botany 03:29, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Which part of the article do you believe reads as an advertisement? -- Kesh 04:01, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

The whole article was an advertisement, although it's being changed, but not particularly well. One editor admitted it was simply a list of specs, not an article, another who is more experienced in airplanes than I am (I'm not) admitted that it simply looked like it had been copied from the Learjet site. So, that it's an advertisement is not at issue, what's at issue is that instead of being corrected, discussing corrections, dicussiong the issue, the article, the talk page has turned into a special uses page for taking potshots at me for having the gall to tag the article. Now I'm accused, essentially, of acting in bad faith by tagging the article to begin with. If tags are meant to be placed on articles that need attention from editors, maybe someone could warn us new folks around here that they shouldn't be used, and delete them from all the Wikipedia articles? I believe the tag should stay up until the article reads like an article, and other plane articles are just as bad, some worse, and they need tagged and corrected. KP Botany 14:44, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Without researching the History in-depth, it really depends on when you were adding the tag. Also note that simply listing the specs of, say, an automobile as an entire article does not constitute said article reading as an advertisement. If the article contained phrases such as "the Flumph 250 Roadster's innovative automatic handling sytem offers smooth cornering," that would be 'reading as an advertisement'. If it simply says, "the Flumph 250 Roadster includes an automatic handling adjustment system, which improve cornering over normal shock absorbers alone," that would just be a statement which needs citation.

As it stands, the article doesn't need the tag now. There's a couple statements that need reworded and/or citations, but the tag would be inappropriate. It may be that you re-added the tag after someone made the effort of removing the advertising-like phrases, and they objected to that. -- Kesh 21:11, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

No, I didn't, I replaced it before hand. And that still isn't the point. KP Botany 22:04, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Skip it, it's a jargon-laden completely unusable article written as a technical specifications brochure, but that appears to be what Wikipedia wants. KP Botany 22:24, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Christian magazine deleted by professed atheist.

An article on a very important magazine contributing to Christian living and discussion - WHOLE Magazine - was deleted by professing atheist.

There was sufficient information and logic to support the inclusion of the article. I have done some investigation of my own. Other magazines similar in circulation, premier and notability have been submitted without controversy. The difference in the magazines is in the content.

How will this issue be handled? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lillietrotter (talk • contribs).

It appears to have been deleted three times by three different admins. If you disagree with the deletion, and can make a strong case for it indeed being a notable publication, and not a conflict of interest (i.e. you are not yourself personally involved in the magazine), I suggest taking it to Deletion Review. By the way, the deletion reasons given had nothing to do with the religious belief of the deletor -- please be cautious about making ad hominem assumptions. Hope this helps, Antandrus (talk) 04:51, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Where do Templates come from?

If I want to question the content of or suggest a change to a template, where would I go to do that? Specifically the Template:Biome includes Riparian as an Aquatic biome, but I believe it is more properly a Terrestrial biome. Also, I think the template could be improved by listing the various Biomes in order (according to whatever scheme) rather than the present (what appears to me to be) random order. Thanks! -- Newbie Mpwrmnt 06:29, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Go to Template:Biome and you will be able to discuess this on the template's discussion page - or just make the changes yourself. --Kainaw ^(talk) 06:34, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Ha! That was easy! Thanks! ~ Mpwrmnt 08:16, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Subject / headlines on Talk Pages (or the lack thereof)

I have noticed that if you are the first person to make a comment on a Talk Page, the instructions say to just type in the box below, etc. But if you do that, your comment will not have a Subject / headline (unless you manually enter it with the ==x== function). However if, instead of following the instructions, you simply click on the + next to edit this page, the Subject/headline box automatically appears! So I guess my suggestion (and I don't know where else to propose it, hence I come to the lovely people on the Help Desk!) is that "we" either change the instructions to tell people to click on the + next to edit this page, rather than just typing in the box below, OR change the format of the page, so that it automatically includes a Subject/headline box. I KNOW that can be done, because when you click on Click here to ask your question about using Wikipedia, as I just did, the page that comes up DOES have a Subject/headline box! As always, thanks for your help! ~Newbie Mpwrmnt 07:33, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Userpage

How to set up a user page?

• Create an account, log in, click the top left-most link and edit like you would any other page, keeping in mind Wikipedia:User page. I recommend you don't start one until you've committed some time to the project, otherwise your setting up a userpage might be seen as an attempt to use Wikipedia as a free webhost which is forbidden by WP:NOT. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:28, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

study in finland

i want to study in finland

Good luck, have fun. Viridae^Talk 09:34, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Bit chilly, but the people are nice. Adrian M. H. 21:13, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Latest IT trends

Hi

How can I come to know about the latest trends using Wiki? How are the topics covered? for ex. if my search goes for programming, how would wiki help to me to access the latest developments goin on?

Thanks

Shekhar

(Deleted; not a request for help) Xiner (talk, email) 15:43, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

help

an HouseOfScandal are having a dispute over Party and Play he keeps on gutting my edits, not letting me change any wording, he says im "fucking up the article" and he removed content w/o using edit summaries very well.qrc2006/email 13:48, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Civility could help a lot here; I've posted at both user talk pages. -- Natalya 13:59, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Turning parts of the same string into both an external and internal link

Hello,

I'm new to editing and have run into a funny little gotcha which is probably something I'm:

(a) Not supposed to be able to do; or
(b) Too stupid to figure out.

In a new article I'm busy creating, I'd like to have the following text:

RFC 2832

That's easy enough. But now, I'd like for (only) the "RFC" part of that text to be an internal link to the existing Wikipedia article called "Request for Comments", and at the same time, for the whole string ("RFC 2832") to be an external link pointing to http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2832.html.

Hope this makes sense. If so, what do you suggest the best way would be to handle this? I'd really like to link to both the "RFC" part, so the reader can understand what an RFC is, as well as to the whole string, which is a page that exists outside of Wikipedia, but I don't think just duplicating the same thing is the best (and hopefully, only) course of action.

Thanks for your help!

P.S. I've noticed, upon previewing before I save this, that "RFC 2832" is automatically turned into an external link, pointing to http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2832, interestingly enough. How does that work?

Xhantar 14:28, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Your request would look like this: [[Request for Comments|RFC]] [http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2832.html 2832], which looks like this: RFC 2832. (There's no way to express in HTML the linking of the word RFC to two different places, and anyway it's not clear what would happen if you clicked on it if it could be linked like that, so it's linked internally and the 2382 to be linked externally). As for the automatic external link, some strings set off the code like that; the best-known example is probably something like ISBN 01-234-5678-9 (I just made that one up, it's probably not a real book). --ais523 14:37, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, ais523. That makes perfect sense.

You've also inadvertently answered another question (they just don't stop coming, do they!) when I looked at the markup of your reply: How to include a "code sample" on a page, using <nowiki>.

<nowiki><nowiki></nowiki>...hmm, this is fun! :P

Cheers, have a great day. --Xhantar 15:02, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Template "link"

In an edit I saw this added at the end of the article: {{Link FA|zh}}, just above the interwiki links (here). I've tried in vain to figure out what it does. Any clues? Notinasnaid 14:45, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

It triggers a bit of coding in MediaWiki:Monobook.css that causes the bullet on the zh interwiki link to change into a star instead. --ais523 14:51, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. It's now blindingly obvious that my problem was looking at Template:Link rather than Template:Link FA. Notinasnaid 14:57, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

help finding an article

About a month ago, I saw part of an article (while doing a search not on wilkipedia) about someone who stopped by the Erinsville General Store for some pulled pork sandwiches. I tried to read the article but had to get an account first. After a few failed attempts for some reason we could not get an account. I decided to revisit that article today...I set up n acount with no problems but cannot find that article. It is driving me nuts; I have to find out what the rest of the article says. You see, I am the owner of the store in the article and would love to see comments. Is there any way to locate this article?? Thanks for your help

That sounds a bit non-encyclopedic. The only reference I find is Erinsville, Ontario [12]. Look in the article's history. Perhaps the bit's been reverted? Xiner (talk, email) 15:18, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

theatre origination

(Directing questioner to correct forum. Xiner (talk, email) 15:37, 12 January 2007 (UTC))

Sarah Dash article

Hi -

You put a box on top stating that there were no references for the article. I added sources, but I can't get rid of that box that says "This article lacks references."

Can you help? Thanks.

Hi. Please see the history for that page for my response. Thanks. Xiner (talk, email) 16:21, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Changing a Title - Move function

I cannot find the 'move' button to edit the title on the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology page. Please help.

Thanks!—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mgherty (talk • contribs) 16:39, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Your account is too new to move pages. The "move" button should appear in two days or so. Until then, you may request moves here. Happy editing, Kusma (討論) 16:46, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

To be precise, you'll become 'autoconfirmed' (and therefore able to rename pages and edit semiprotected pages) at 18:48, 14 January 2007. --ais523 16:51, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

New article

Hello, i'm new here and i would like to write a new article, but i don't were to do it. I'll hope you could help me. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jamila513 (talk • contribs)

You'll probably want to read Wikipedia:Your first article for some general tips, and then Help:Starting a new page. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:27, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

When you get to the specifics of writing a good article, if you happen upon any users that have specialist knowledge in your chosen subject, you might like to ask for help on their talk page. I'm sure they'll be glad to assist you. Also have a look at Wikipedia:WikiProject to see if there are any relevant WikiProjects where you could find assistance or collaboration. Adrian M. H. 21:19, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Tanarus

I created this article for the computer game Tanarus [13] If I search for "Tanarus" it redirects me to this page [14] Should I put a link on the 2nd link to the article I wrote like is done here [15] ? Or do something else? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kcpdad (talk • contribs)

Yep, that's exactly what you should do. If you want more information, you can read about disambiguation top links. Let me know if you need any help, or have any questions. -- Natalya 18:22, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

How do I center a text?

I'm writing a userbox and would like to have the text centred. Been searching but can't find a code for that. How do I do it? Thanks Crazy Murdoc 19:07, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

The good old HTML code <center>...</center> will do. Xiner (talk, email) 19:13, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks man, that worked...Crazy Murdoc 19:25, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

John Vanderleest

The fact that the article on John Vanderleest was erased is ridiculous. I demand that it is brought back, for the fact that it is all true.

Please go to Wikipedia:Deletion review. Thank you. Xiner (talk, email) 20:05, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

"True" it may have been - having not seen it, I can't comment on that - but was it notable and well sourced? No-one can simply "demand" that an article be reinstated. Adrian M. H. 21:28, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

• "John was first elected to his dual position when he was only 9 years old" sounds quite hoaxy. To give it a chance of of being undeleted, you need a source to back that up. Otherwise the article isn't verifiable. If you can verify, I find that quite notable, but other opinions may vary. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:29, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
• For reference, the AfD is here. Looks pretty clear-cut to me. -- Kesh 01:06, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

How do i make propostion on wikipedia

Is there a discussion page wich is dedicated to propositions to improve wikipedia? Z E U S 20:00, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

State it here. Someone will direct you to the relevant place. Xiner (talk, email) 20:06, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

I was willing to make the proposal that , since english is the most edited language , it would be approriate to synchronise the english language with all the other languages. This can simply be done by indicating with a banner in the discusion page that this article could need some syncronisation with other languages. This is also true for article that are already present in the other language but that lack the amount of information or isn't updated as much as in the english version of the article for instance. And finally , this proposal is also true for the contrary , articles that are more developed in other languages could get this banner in order to improve the english language if it isnt specified. In that banner itself , a langue ,or more could be specified for synchronising , or even no language could be specified in the case that this article is only in the present language. Assistance with tranduction software is also another way of translation , as long as the user puts attention to the translation and makes sure that the article makes sense. Z E U S 20:21, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

I'll admit I'm too lazy to search but I've seen templates like that. As for listing pages available in other languages, check out the left column on the page Baiji and the code at the bottom of the page (or Wikipedia:Interlanguage links). Xiner (talk, email) 21:10, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Right, it sounds like a template would be just the thing for that. It's not automatic but, then again, it shouldn't be. "Better" is a subjective term. So, the template may be worded so that, "(Article) on (language) Wikipedia may have more information. Please help translate this information if you can!" It would, of course, need to be worded in the correct language for that Wikipedia. -- Kesh 21:24, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

I knew it's there; The last one looks good. Xiner (talk, email) 21:44, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

In this case , can i create another template .Am i allowed to create templates? Z E U S 22:04, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Sure can. It's a bit complicated, but you can read up on it at Help:Template. -- Kesh 22:18, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Page keeps getting deleted - help?

I keep reposting the same topic Re: Pump music as nobody has talked about it, but it keeps getting deleted? Help? Thanks

Please read Wikipedia:Deletion review. Thanks. Xiner (talk, email) 21:52, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

• There's a deletion criterion that allows the deletion of reposted material that was previously deleted. If I had to guess I suspect the problem was verifiability. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:06, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Song or single?

Is it ..example (song) or example (single). they are used interchangably, such as Mutter (song), Mutter (single). I know i should probably use the non redirect page but annoys me that theres a link page for songs and the (song) and (single) is used randomly Fethroesforia 22:41, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

...(song) is the standard title on Wikipedia, and for good reason. A single can later be released on an album, or already be on one. And really, it's a song, right? Xiner (talk, email) 22:45, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Right:) the one i currently see..is as you say (song) but some..i think Schtiel might be one..where it is (single) for some reason..anyway..thank you :) Fethroesforia 22:48, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Be bold. When you see that, move it. Xiner (talk, email) 00:29, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

In fact, Schtiel (single) redirects to Schtiel, which is even better because if there's no confusion that Schtiel refers to a song most of the time, then the simplest name should do. Xiner (talk, email) 00:31, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Dreamgirls

Good Day,

I am a writer, editor and researcher. I have written many articles. I put a external link in Dreamgirls the film to my blog in which I am the writer/author.

I link has been removed. Why was my link removed? There are external links there from other blogs and even myspace. So why was my external link removed? Would you know? Please response. Thank you very much.. Yes and mines would be considered to be a fan blog and I am a writer. Here are the external links that are there right now and mines was removed.

Official DreamWorks/Paramount Dreamgirls feature film website Dreamgirls at the Internet Movie Database Official Dreamgirls profile at MySpace Dreamgirls reviews at Metacritic Dreamgirls at Rotten Tomatoes Dreamgirls at Box Office Mojo Dreamgirls fan blog Dreamgirls trailers at Apple.com Dreamgirls reviews at Spill.com Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamgirls_%28film%29"— Preceding unsigned comment added by Uniqueinvest (talk • contribs) 18:37, January 12, 2007 (UTC)

Blogs are not considered verifiable sources of information. Of the links you list, the "Dreamgirls fan blog" is the only really objectionable one I see. The rest are either official pages or notable review sites. -- Kesh 00:25, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Per policy one fan site is allowed. See WP:NOT. I'm not here to discuss which one deserves to be picked, though. The article's talk page may be a better forum for that. Xiner (talk, email) 00:28, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Ah, I had overlooked that in WP:NOT. Thanks! -- Kesh 00:37, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

January 13

Image Uploading

I've never uploaded an image before, and I want to upload this for an article I've written. Can someone tell me what licenses I'd have to put on it? It's located here. Thank you. DoomsDay349 03:02, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Is anyone there? Has anyone been monitering the page for the last couple of hours? There's been no response...DoomsDay349 03:54, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Your comment was posted less than an hour ago. Be patient! A lot of Europeans are in bed by now, and Americans are either going to bed or just off work and having dinner.

For the technical details on how to upload an image, see Help:Image. As for the licenses, it has to be freely available, but I don't have a link handy. I'll keep looking. -- Kesh 04:01, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Heh, sorry. Has it only been that long? I guess I'm used to faster replies. That's what you get for spoiling me! :) I was creating a really boring article in the meantime, endless bibliographing, if it's any excuse. I know how to upload it, but I'm unsure of what to tag it. The subject in question (Nancy Varian Berberick) owns the picture, but I'm not quite sure on the tag. DoomsDay349 04:04, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

No problem. Here's an article on Wikimedia Commons, which is where most folks upload their images. Keep in mind that any image uploaded to Commons or Wikipedia itself needs to be either released under a free license (examples given in the article) or have explicit fair-use rationale given. It's always safest to use images released under a free license, so simple permission from the copyright holder won't work. Unless they're willing to release the image with one of the free copyright licenses, you're best off finding another image or creating one of your own. -- Kesh 04:09, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

So where does this creative commons thing come into play? I noticed some other authors in the same genre are under that tag. God, images are very confusing. DoomsDay349 04:12, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Creative Commons licenses are some of the free licenses available. Basically, pictures, movies, etc. released under CC are freely available for other people to use. There may be a few restrictions, but Wikipedia wants everything to be as free as possible. -- Kesh 04:32, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Note that the various versions of {{cc-by}} and {{cc-by-sa}} are the only creative commons licenses considered free enough for upload to Wikipedia without a Fair Use rationale. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 06:45, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

I've contacted the author and am awaiting response. DoomsDay349 04:36, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Linsang

Is there anyway of requesting a picture for a page and if so how? TeePee-20.7 03:46, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Best thing to do is to post the request on the article's Talk page. The trouble is going to be finding a freely available one. -- Kesh 03:58, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

What do you mean by finding a freely available one? — Preceding unsigned comment added by TeePee-20.7 (talk • contribs) 23:18, January 12, 2007 (UTC)

Basically, the image has to be Public domain or licensed for free use, using things like GNU Free Documentation License, Creative Commons, etc. Basically, whoever created the image has to release it as freely available for anyone else to use. And most stuff on the Internet is not. See Wikimedia Commons for more info. -- Kesh 04:29, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

So what your saying is if someone does find an image of a site they have to ask the owner of the site or whoever posted for permission to use it?, like they can't copy and paste. --TeePee-20.7 04:42, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, basically, see Wikipedia:Image use policy. To request a picture take a look at this template and its talk page. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 04:47, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank you! I've been looking for those in all the wrong places. Your link-fu is strong. -- Kesh 04:50, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Quote: "like they can't copy and paste". I hope you don't actually do that. You're talking about other people's I.P. and in most countries, the law provides for the owners of such material to sue you for misuse. As a website designer, that sort of behaviour really annoys me. It's basically theft. As for Wikipedia; if you upload copyrighted material, Wikipedia becomes jointly liable, and it does not have a pot of money for making settlements. Adrian M. H. 12:41, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia largest website?

Is Wikipedia the largest website (by virtue of real disk space size and/or number of pages) on the Web? DragonRouge 08:02, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Since there are sites which use a copy of Wikipedia, and add more stuff from other places, it doesn't seem that this can be possible. In terms of disk space used, I suspect Google may take some beating. Notinasnaid 08:39, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

can this link be translated from italian to english?

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Aura

ty in advance

benni @ (email removed)) -- 08:54, 13 January 2007 (UTC)76.175.253.226

What you might want to do is bring a copy over to Wikipedia as-is and apply the Template:Notenglish template. That will add it to , which will hopefully attract enough attention to get someone working on it. Note that if no one does so within two weeks, the article can be deleted, but it's at least a place to start if you don't speak Italian yourself.

If you do speak some Italian, be bold! Even if your translation is spotty at best, it will at least get the article started on here. You can then put Template:RoughTranslation on there, and see if someone can help fix it. -- Kesh 23:20, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

conspiracy theories in an article 2nd attempt

I wrote: Someone is using Wiki to put forth his or her conspiracy theories in the article about the federal reserve system of the USA. The person is linking his own biased documents etc. How can I report this / can somebody do something about it?

Answer was: If you are certain that the subject is being put across in a misleading away, be bold and edit the article. If you think that might be controversial, post on the talk page first and have a discussion. Or you could post on the user in question's talk page, explaining why you think their documents are biased and should not be used as sources. Trebor 23:07, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

My answer: I did edit the article but the person always changes it back. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.218.153.176 (talk • contribs).

Please see Wikipedia:Resolving disputes. The issue has been brought up on the talk page of the article, see Talk:Federal Reserve System. Discuss it there with other editors and if resolution cannot be obtained follow the steps described on the resolving disputes page. -- Rick Block (talk) 18:04, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Moving a Talkpage only

Is it possible to move a talkpage without moving it's corresponding article page? The talkpage at Talk:Linksys iPhone is from when the article was at iPhone and mostly discusses the Apple iPhone. This is because the iPhone article was about the Apple iPhone and then was edited to be about the Linksys one. The previous iPhone article (Linksys ver) has been moved to Linksys iPhone, taking the talk with it. I would like to move the page Talk:Linksys iPhone to Talk:iPhone/Archive but without moving the article. JP Godfrey (Talk to me) 12:20, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

I would suggest explaining the situation and that there was considerable discussion, on the talk page of iPhone, with a link to the old talk page. In other words, on the new talk page, state what's happened and have a link to the old talk page. Perhaps there is a template for this? I'm not sure. James086^{Talk | Contribs} 12:33, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

For the moment, until the naming dispute is resolved, we need to keep the Talk page for the Linksys iPhone with the Linksys iPhone page. Also, those discussions were with the article they're linked to now, so moving the whole page probably would be inappropriate. If there's discussions about the (then future) Apple iPhone on that page, it might be worthwhile to do a copy&paste archive into the Apple iPhone article's Talk page. See How to archive a talk page. -- Kesh 23:04, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

link a e-mail

how can i link a e-mail? --Maestrotaku 14:53, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

In general, e-mail addresses should not be used in Wikipedia. In what context would you want to use it? Notinasnaid 15:23, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

how long does it take...?

thank you for the opporotunity to be a part of Wikipedia. I dont know if i am doing everything wright, i tryied to upload images and try again, how long does it take to upload to be aproved for these images? and what if one is too big, will you let me know..? thank you Sincerly Catherine Manna...House of Israel music

There is no approval process (though unsuitable material may be deleted): images once uploaded are immediately available. Yours are there. I do see a some ppssible issues, looking at Image:Proverb maple leaf.jpg. This identifies a source, http://music.download.com/houseofisrael. However, I have visited this page and cannot find the original of this picture to check the copyright. You have also written "fair use", yet the license you have chosen is ", the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License". You will need to clarify this, or the image will be deleted. I we can help you if you explain more about it. Finally, though, it isn't obvious which article you plan to add these images to, since you haven't yet edited any articles. Maybe we can help you with that too. Notinasnaid 18:15, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

A bot account that isn't a bot?

I worry I am artifically inflating my edit count through mass WikiProject banner tagging and newsletter delivery. Would it be OK to create an account called Devbot, but to edit entirely by hand and AWB? I'm useless with scripts and find it helpful to go through everything personally, as it flags up other issues that need fixing. I don't want to mislead anyone, but I don't want to have hundreds of repetitive contributions either. Dev920 (Have a nice day!) 19:32, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

You would need to read through the guidelines pages (there are more than one) about user accounts and sock puppetry, which I have not been able locate at this time, but you may well be able to create a second user account, as long as you give it a clear description on its user page, outlining what it is and is not used for and why it was created. That way, it should be clear that it is all above board and not an attempt at sock puppetry. If what you want to achieve can be done with a bot, you may be able to enlist the assistance of a bot expert - perhaps place the {{helpme}} template on your talk page. Adrian M. H. 20:10, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Cool. I guess even if it is named a bot name it still counts as a sockpuppet, so I'll mark it as such. Dev920 (Have a nice day!) 22:38, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

What you're looking for is Bot policy. Just mark on the "bot" user page that it's not a live bot, but used for automated editing with AWB, then link it back to your own account. -- Kesh 23:07, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Doukhobors

I have made revisions to this section, but when I closed it down and went back to access it, the changes disappeared. What do I need to do ensure the changes remain?

PS: How do I log in?

It seems like you are viewing an old version of the page - if you are using Mozilla FireFox, press CONTROL + Reload Button (at top) and you should see your changes appear as they are presently.

To log in, use the "log in/create account" button at the top right hand corner of the screen; of course, you need to create account if you have not already.

For more, see Help:Logging in.

Regards,
Anthonycfc ^{[T • C]} 20:01, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

how to receive the old Vmf Autosave if i have formated my copyrighted file of the map

hello there is my problem

i have formated my cpu and formated the maps too in my hammer.. so i dont have vmf .. but juste the BSP WITH COPYRIGHT ..

so i want to know if valve can send me the old autosaved files .. because there is online connection to join SDK i think there is too a save programm for all the users ..

or a method to decompile a copyrighted map ..

plz help i need to upgrade my online map !

Sounds like you're wanting to talk to Valve Software. This page is for questions about Wikipedia itself. -- Kesh 23:10, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Could someone block this user?

Garycocker...he left an obscene message on my tlk page and his edits have been vandalism to pages (usually right-ist political pages) i hope an admin is around to ban this person..(could not find an apporpriate tag to put on his talk page either) Fethroesforia 21:12, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

List it on WP:AIV. Trebor 21:20, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Where to go to ask for comments

RfC's are for conflict situations. How about if you just want feeback on a page? Sethie 22:40, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

In that case, you're looking for Wikipedia:Peer review. -- Kesh 23:11, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank you! Sethie 23:47, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Contents Box

I noticed many pages have a "Contents" box. I don't see any info about how to add it. Is it automatically generated" If so, what triggers the generation?

It's automatically generated once you create the fourth section on the page using = symbols. -- Kesh 23:12, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Starting a WikiProject

I would like to know how a WikiProject can be started. I would like to start one for the Sonci the Hedgehog series and articles. GrandMasterGalvatron 22:45, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Wikiprojects are essentially user-made. You can read more about how to get started here. -- Kesh 23:13, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Date Error

Looks like we've got a problem with the dates here. The last date header is still just January 10th. Not sure who to notify of this one. -- Kesh 22:59, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Fixed by hand Cheers Lethaniol 23:57, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Mod Please Delete Article

Some one please delete this article[16] because there is another one.

Have redirected instead -see WP:redirect Cheers Lethaniol 01:05, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

14 January

wiki links on my userpage

I would like to put a link on my userpage to 'Articles with unsourced statements' and another to 'Help: Contents/links' everything I have tried so far has not worked, and I know someone out there is going to tell me it is easy just do this. Is there a dreaded list of the full names of internal pages and their shortened link titles Many thanks --Matt 01:02, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You want Category:Articles with unsourced statements for the first. Note that you have to put the ":Category:" part in front. This means the page is in Category space, instead of article space (aka "mainspace"), so it won't show up when folks do a normal search for articles. Same with the latter: Help:Contents/Links is in Help space, so you have to put the "Help:" in front. -- Kesh 01:14, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Hm. Okay, the category isn't working. I'll have to look into that one. -- Kesh 01:16, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Okay, not as nice, but this can work in a pinch. I'm still not sure why it's not working in the first spot... -- Kesh 01:19, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You have to put a colon before the name of the category or you'll include the page in the category instead of providing a link. --Sopoforic 01:22, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Aha! That's what I forgot. Thanks. -- Kesh 01:25, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank You Kesh and Soporific got it working now --Matt 01:44, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Current date!

Hello, I'm working on a WikiProject called Curent Local City Time (WP:CTT) And I'm having trouble with the date at the Ottawa article. The date says the 14th of January, when in fact we are still the 13th. Are there any specific instructions for date and time? --CyclePat 01:28, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

What date are you referring to? Note your date/time right here. These things are going to show up on UTC, to keep a standard for everyone. And right now, it's the 14th in England, where that standard starts. -- Kesh 01:44, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

I imagine it's the time that he put at the top of the Ottawa article, right under the disambig link. It needs manual updating through a purge though, so I'm not sure that it's a good idea. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 01:51, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Note: I just removed it. See diff. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 01:54, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

login won't stick and cookies are enabled etc

I read your article carefully about login problems and still can't get my login to stick.

I signed up, created an account, and was sent an email enabling me to confirm my membership.

I seem to log in successfully using the userid and password. The banner at the top shows me logged in.

But as soon as I go to any page, including returning to the page I hoped to edit, I am told I must be logged in, and the top right area shows the "Sign in / create account" button. Refreshing the page does not help.

I have tried using both FireFox and MS IE 7.

Cookes are enabled on both.

My firewall is ZoneAlarm and en.wikipedia.org is a permitted site, including enabling of mobile code.

I have run out of options in your help files.

Any other ideas on things to try?

Thanks!

What kind of connection are you using? Some folks on satellite connections have problems with this. In any case, try logging in through the secure login link and see if that helps. It's slower, but more stable. -- Kesh 01:45, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Kesh,

Thanks - I am using HughesNet satellite access. That may be the problem, then.

... a little later - it worked! Using the secure login link kept me logged in and permitted me to edit pages under my login. Thank you very much for the help! This Help Desk works!

How can I get other editors or admins to monitor a discussion?

I feel that another editor is over-reacting to my reversion of a section he added to the Primal Therapy article. I felt it was poorly sourced. I think that my only mistake was to not carefully explain immediately all my reasons for reverting it. Since the editor in question admitted he would be further researching sources I suggested leaving it on the talk page until he had finished that research. I won't take such an easy out in future. In the meantime, it seems that I unleashed the furies and would appreciate it if some less involved people with experience in such matters would monitor the discussion on the article's talk page where I put the reverted section. GrahameKing 05:30, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Bar charts and Javascript in article namespace

Is it possible to use js on article pages? If so, would you please point me in the right direction for guidelines. Alternatively, is there an exisiting template for generating bar charts in articles? Thanks you.

—  Jim Dunning  talk  : 05:55, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Image tagging

I have contacted an author about using her photo, and she has sent me one and stated "Feel free to use it on the wiki." It was a photo taken of her by a friend in a coffee shop. Should I put it under creative commons, public domain, or what? Thanks. DoomsDay349 06:29, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You shouldn't upload it. One, you have to be able to prove that there is permission, and two, even if you can, Wikipedia only permission isn't allowed. It has to be public domain, free licensed, or fair use. -Amarkov ^blah_edits 06:31, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

I can prove there is permission...I can show you the emails. But I understand. Isn't there tagging for images released to Wikipedia? DoomsDay349 06:35, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

OK, she has explicitly states "I agree to release this photo into the public domain." Now, then, I can show you a record of the conversation if you need proof. Any way to prove this, tell me and I can. DoomsDay349 06:56, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

David Sekiguchi

David Sekiguchi is one of Japan's latest phenomenons. With his new hit singe "Can you guess" he has become the leading artist as far as record albums are concerned.

Do you have a question? —Keakealani·?·!·@ 07:16, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Thomas Bollinger Photographer

Thomas Bollinger Photographer b. August 3rd 1964, Washington D.C Education Parson's School of Design , The New School for Social Research Dubbed one of the last of the photographic cowboys by a recent critic of his work,

His body of portraits range from Tongan Princesses having tea in the South Pacific to Marine One and The President at the White House. Bollinger's portraits and landscapes grace Fortune 500 collections and private collector's homes worldwide. Pop Artist Peter Max has recently done a series of paintings based on and combined with his portraits. Starting off with a fine art education, years of printing for gallery and museum collections, and combined with his love of adventure travel and ironic satire his work is a rare glimpse of the frenetic heartbeat of contemporary society.

External Link:

[17] Official Site for American Photographer Thomas Bollinger

This page is for asking questions about using Wikipedia. You seem to be in the wrong place. -- Kesh 07:42, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Maybe not so much about using WP..

Does anyone have any input on a page I'd like to create but I'm not sure about it: Eye Color Generator. See the following: ECG. The current page of ECG on wiki links directly to Calgary Science School Which is only the school that the generator designers attend. I don't think thats the best place to link, but eye color doesn't do either. Any suggestions/comments? Please let me know on My Talk Page, otherwise I probably won't see it, as I'm no good at monitoriing my watchlist. Thanks, Ard0 ^{(Talk - Contribs)} 07:59, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You probably should not make a page for eye color generator. See WP:WEB for details. Also answered on talk page. --Sopoforic 09:23, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Category Links

I want to link William D. Francis to Category: Australian botanists How do I do it? thanks--Matt 09:06, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Just put [[Category:Australian botanists]] at the bottom of the article. --Sopoforic 09:17, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks again I was using the wrong sort of brackets--Matt 09:26, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Now William D. Francis is appearing in [[Category: Australian botanists]] but under surnames starting with "W"--Matt 09:33, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You needed to pipe the category link. For reference, this is what I am referring to [[Category:Australian botanists|Francis, William D.]]. Essentially what that does is it sorts the page under the correct letter, which in this case is the first letter of the last name, instead of the default sort action which is the first letter of the article name. Have a wonderful day and happy editing. Kyra_~(talk) 09:53, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the info and repair job, some days are all cruise and other days seem to be full of bumps--Matt 10:09, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Summary

How can i get summary on typhoons in Wiipedia?

Since we are an encyclopedia, we have information on many things already written. Please see typhoon. Notinasnaid 09:24, 14 January 2007 (UTC)