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

March 20

?!?

How do you make Wikipedia your homepage.

           Thank You

Shashi Bala Shrivastava

In your browser settings, change your default homepage to Wikipedia.org Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 02:26, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

The procedure depends on your browser. If you have problems then say which browser it is. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:31, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Article Singh

Hello Wikipedians, I would like to inform that article Singh is gaurded by users that are not allowing others to contribute. Singh is an Caste among Hindus, and due to past conflicts and politics between Hindus and Sikhs, Users are not putting up Hindu. Many users tried to put up Hindu and it always gets reverted. What should be done? Singh is an Hindu caste even before Sikhism was born. How can we put that up and make it remain ? --GauthamSingh (talk) 02:39, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

You must provide a verifiable source for those claims on that talk page for that article. -- Kesh (talk) 03:04, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

using wikipedia to advertise

520theking (talk · contribs) is trying to plug his rap career —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sickero (talk • contribs)

It has been proposed the articlebe deleted [1]. Thanks for letting us know. Pedro :  Chat  11:27, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Usage of hexadecimal colours in wikimarkup tags

I know how to change font colour but only to colours with HTML colour names. How do you use hexadecimal colour codes in wikimarkup to change font colour? Thanks! ----WPholic 11:35, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Colours. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:06, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Template markup

Is there a way to markup a template so it generates my sig every time I subst it? --ÐeadΣyeДrrow (Talk | Contribs) 11:45, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Many of the Welcome Templates automatically include your signature when you subst them. You should be able to find the code in these templates. Raven4x4x (talk) 12:07, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Raven. I couldn't think of a template to use as an example off the top of my head --ÐeadΣyeДrrow (Talk | Contribs) 12:09, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Total number of articles in categories

I wasn't sure where to ask this. Categories now seem to be able to give the total number of articles in them. This is great! However, why don't the "Wikify by month" categories show this total number? (For example, Category:Wikify from November 2007.) Also, is there any way of parsing this number onto a page? If it is at all possible, this would make updating the {{Wikification progress}} template much easier. Feel free to move this post if there is a more appropriate venue. Cheers. – Liveste (talk • edits) 11:55, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Great question and one that I have no idea how to answer. Try asking over at WP:VPT where they deal with the tech side of Wikipedia. Cheers Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 13:26, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

One of my hobbies is trying to figure out how to search for obscure stuff like this. So I'm going to share my record of trial and error for this one. One way to find out about changes to the MediaWiki software is to search the wikis where people tend to post this kind of thing (this turns out to be a dead end in this case, but bear with me). See the handy search links in the examples in Template:Google custom#How to search entire sites:

• Search Meta-Wiki with Google
• Search MediaWiki.org with Google

Searching MediaWiki.org for the keywords: category count finds this page:

• mw:Release_notes/1.9

which mentions:

• (3687, 7892) Add distinct heading for media files in category display, with count.

Bug 3687 looks like it might be somewhat related. Anyway, once you find the first result that seems to relate to a question, you can do further searches with better keywords. For example, we might try searching through the MediaWiki release notes, which we can do with {{Google custom}}:

• Search MediaWiki.org Release notes with Google

Searching the release notes for "category" finds a number of results, with multiple instances of the keyword "category" per page, so you have to browse to them and do a Ctrl-F search in your browser. I don't see right away that this finds the exact answer to the question, but this is how to look for stuff. It might be easier if all the answers were in one handy place, but they usually aren't. Of course lots of stuff comes up on the Help desk, so we can always search that too: Search Help desk for: category count. It looks like people were asking how to count the pages in a category fairly recently, so this must be a new feature. Ah, but then I thought about the first answer to the question above, and I got the idea to search the Village pump:

• Search Wikipedia:Village pump for: category count

which leads to:

• Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive 20#Category membership counting

which documents the request for this feature and its addition. Wow. --Teratornis (talk) 17:53, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

User:Erwin85 created a tool on the toolserver to do this called CategoryCount. He's also created a bot that will parse this and display it on a page for you as at User:Erwin85/CatCount. Nanonic (talk) 18:20, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

i can't edit a page

I want to edit a page but i can't find the edit this page. The guide said it would be at the top of the page but i can't see it there it's just skiped. From Theragergoeswild929

Likely the page has been protected from editing for some reason. Which page are you speaking of? --ÐeadΣyeДrrow (Talk - Contribs) 12:39, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

If the page is protected, instead of "edit this page" you may see "view source", which means you can't edit that page (but you should be able to edit almost all pages). You should also see other tabs, such as "history". Hey, I guess you managed to edit this page! --Coppertwig (talk) 12:56, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

See more at Wikipedia:Protection policy. If it's only semi-protected then you can edit it when your account becomes 4 days old. You can make suggestions on the article's talk page after clicking the "discussion" tab. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:04, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Quiz

I created the animal quiz but I get a cold response. How can I get more people to know it? Also, can someone help me to "beautify" the quiz?--Mark Chung (talk) 12:58, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

You could try making an advertisement. This is probably the wrong place to look for people to help at your portal. Why not try asking at the talk page of another animal-related portal...? --Camaeron (t/c) 13:16, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

You could add it to Category:Wikipedia games. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:58, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Given that Wikipedia is not a place to host games, I don't think you're going to see a lot of support here. -- Kesh (talk) 14:04, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

You could put it in portal space, such as Portal:Fish/Quiz - that gets a lot of activity.

RFA Tool

Who/whom maintains this tool? Vivio Testarossa^{Talk Who} 13:21, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

If you mean the tool on Wikipedia talk:Requests for adminship it is maintained by User:SQLBot. If you mean another one please provide a link as there are multiple RFa "tools". (see also this one). --Camaeron (t/c) 13:26, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Correction I mean the one that generates the the ouput used by this. Vivio Testarossa^{Talk Who} 22:54, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

That tool is maintained by User:Tangotango. Also see this. —Travis^talk 22:57, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

im not able to see telugu font in my system

Respected sir,

My name is kesava reddy. im from anantapur dist... with the orticle in 3-02-08 EENADU SUNDAY MAGAZINE, i came to know about this site and i felt very happy... and i opened in my system........ but i m un-able to see telugu font in my system..... i also gathered all the information about one famous temple which is near to my village im eagarly waiting to upload that information into this site..... so plese... kindly help me how can i able to see telugu font in my system..... my system having all latest configuration

your sincerely kesava reddy.b

You may not have the font installed on your computer. If you are running Windows, you can install a font by downloading it off of the internet. Once it is downloaded, you can move it into the 'fonts' folder on your computer. That should let you see a font that you have not been able to see before. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask :) FusionMix 14:38, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

about project

i have to prepare a project on software testing.please give relevant information

Wikipedia will not do your homework for you. -- Kesh (talk) 15:03, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

See {{dyoh}}. Then while you are doing your own homework, you may find our software testing article useful. --Teratornis (talk) 17:05, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Created Articles?

Resolved

Is there a way to see which articles you have created? _{WEBURIEDOURSECRETSINTHEPARK} ^talk 16:37, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

See WP:WPEC. --Teratornis (talk) 17:06, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Here is one tool here. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 18:17, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

It says I don't exist or don't have any edits. Just trying to be helpful.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 18:20, 20 March 2008 (UTC).

It is case sensitive. make sure your name appears exactly as it does in your signature. Worked for me click here. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 18:28, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

about expecting a normal child after getting married in relatives

I have married to my mother's second sister's son and we are married for 2 years now and i m 24 years old and my husband is 30 yrs old, now as we are planning for a child, how much is the risk of having child and can we have a normal child inspite of married in relative?

will there be any possibility of having ab normal child or child with any defeciency?

waould like to know the how much percentage chances are there of defeciency or ab normal child?

please do reply as i m very much in need of proper guidance related to this.

n dont want to spoil the life of the one who would come and see a new life

Would appreciate a quick response.

Thanks in Advance.

Sincerely,

XYZ

This question would be better suited at the Reference Desk under science, however, bear in mind that we cannot offer medical advice. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 18:53, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Medical disclaimer. Then you may find information about where to seek professional help by reading the genetic counseling article and following links therefrom. --Teratornis (talk) 18:56, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Lupin's anti-vandal tool and Twinkle have disappeared

Resolved

They're still in my monobook.js but I can't use them. By which I mean that the tabs and toolbax links have disappeared. I also had a special side box that showed me a list of new pages and that's gone too. PLEASE HELP! George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 20:18, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

In fact, nothing in my monobook.js works. I'm using the monobook skin but none of it works! George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 20:25, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Are you using an older browser that doesn't support JavaScript? Try purging as well. Xenon⁵⁴ 20:28, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Using latest firefox with all the required plugins and I've purged twice, still no luck. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 20:33, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

It maybe because you added some new items to your monobook. That happened to me several times. To fix this, you need to click refresh several - and I must say again several times. - Milk's Favorite Cookie 20:39, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Since you made some changes recently, try reverting to the version from a few days ago. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 20:40, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Refreshing about 5 times has worked. Thanks! George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 20:42, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

• FYI, you can also turn on Twinkle in the Gadgets tab of your preferences. You might want to do that and take it out completely. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 20:43, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I did at first but it then added every page I used it on to my watchlist and really annoyed me. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 20:59, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Creation of a sourced article in the place of an unsourced one that was deleted and protected.

Resolved

Dear Helpful Admin,

There is an article topic that I would like to create. However, the article space in question has been protected to prevent its creation. Looking into this, I found that a previous version of articles about this topic lacked multiple sources and was hence deleted. I have written a prototype article which is suitably and reliably sourced and have requested the protection to be removed, however my request was immediately downturned and in fact treated with hostility and accusations of trolling. So I would like to enquire as to the correct course of action here? Under normal circumstances I would be bold and recreate the article listing my sources as per wiki guidelines, but I can't do that because the space is protected. So I could try a DRV but if I do that, I need it to refer to my prototype article and not to the previous article which lacked sources. What should I do?

Thanks,

LoserNo1 (talk) 21:29, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm sure there's something like WP:AFC for registered users somewhere, I just can't remember where. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 21:40, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

You’ll need to file an unprotection request at WP:RFPP. —Travis^talk 21:49, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Many thanks for your helpful comments, but perhaps I could have made my question a little clearer. I already tried filing an unprotection request at WP:RFPP but this was immediately declined and I was accused of trolling, presumably because there have been previous attempts to recreate the former, unsourced article. As unprotection requests were ineffective, and a deletion review would refer to the previous, unsourced article that was deleted, is there a procedure whereby I can present my newly written, sourced article for creation?. Thanks. LoserNo1 (talk) 22:10, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I suggest that you create the page in your userspace. For example, if the name of the article is ExampleName, then create a page with the name User talk:LoserNo1/ExampleName. Then you can show it to people. Then you can try again at RFPP or at DRV, giving a link to the version of the page in your userspace so that people can see how well-sourced it is. If the page in the mainspace (regular page names) gets unprotected, then you can move or copy the information to there. If you like, you can put a note on my talk page with a link to the article in your userspace and I may have suggestions for improving it, which you might want to do before presenting it at those noticeboards. I wish you good luck! --Coppertwig (talk) 22:23, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I was going to suggest just what Coppertwig did. Create the article in your userspace and your RFPP or DRV case will be more viable. Cheers —Travis^talk 22:35, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for all your help. I will do as you suggest now. LoserNo1 (talk) 23:03, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Bad sites for referencing

Resolved

Is there a list on Wikipedia of sites not allowed/recommended for use in referencing statements made in articles? -- Matthew | talk | Contribs 22:06, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Read up on reliable sources for what is generally permitted or frowned upon. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 22:10, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict) :Please see WP:RS - Milk's Favorite Cookie 22:10, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I've read that, but I know I've seen on Wikipedia a list of "bad sites". -- Matthew | talk | Contribs 22:13, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Nevermind.. I was thinking of the list at WP:BLACKLIST -- Matthew | talk | Contribs 22:17, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Contibution

Hi,

How can I contribute an article for wikipedia? Like for example, I want to write a short story about my fave editor? Thank you

Wikipedia is not the place for stories. If you mean you want to write an article: create an account, make sure the page doesn't already exist under another title, search the title of the page you want to create and click the 'create this page' link. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 22:49, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Your fave editor on wikipedia? you are not allowed to write about that. All wiki pages have to be notable. However if it is your fave newspaper editor, perhaps you can, depending if the newspaper is natable. God damn if i knew the shortcut to "how to edit wiki" i could really have helped you, sorry. Is there a word for people who try to help others and do it incompetantly? thats what i seem to be. Willy turner (talk) 22:52, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Side comment to Willy turner: see Wikipedia:Help desk/How to answer for information on how to look up stuff like this. The various Help desk volunteers have documented their methods for helping others somewhat competently. It's not just a matter of knowing all the answers (not many people actually know all the answers), but knowing how to look up the answers. --Teratornis (talk) 01:49, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Hey, I've got it sorted out now... Thank you!

Wikipedia does, however, have WP:Essays. Take a look at that link Mac Davis (talk) 00:17, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Is it considered OK to remove any unreferenced material from an article?

Perhaps predictably, the page i have in mind is the "war on terror" page. Am i within my rights to remove all unreferenced material immediately without discussion? Yes, discussion may be nice, courtious etc, but am i breaking any Wiki policies , rules, or guidelines if i remove any unreferenced material from any article without discussion? Bearing in mind as im sure you are aware that it is difficult/impossible to have a 'discussion' with some people on certain issues.(esp if they are completely uninformed/ignorant on the issue in question) Not meaning to sound too much of a dick, yours sincerely, Willy turner (talk) 22:46, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

No, under WP:BOLD, you are fine. But do be prepared to possibly be challenged about it. seresin | wasn't he just...? 22:48, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

And i can delete unreferenced material 3 times every 24 hours yeah? Is that what the 3 revert rule means? If I provide a link to your advice will it even achieve anything? You can read for yourself what i wrote on the talkpage. I dont care what they say, so long as it has credible references. Im in the right arent i? Willy turner (talk) 23:00, 20 March 2008 (UTC) Wanderer i am just about to read your point Willy turner (talk) 23:00, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I thought was intended to avoid the kind of bloodbath unrestrained deletions would lead to. Wanderer57 (talk) 22:56, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes i could try plastering the page in 'citation needed', however i would bet they will be deleted. Willy turner (talk) 23:03, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

The 3 revert rule is more for when you challenge another person's edit. If someone makes an edit, and you change it back (revert), you can do that up to 3 times in a 24 hour period. Generally, by the time you get to 2rr, you need to talk it over with the other party and find out why they're making that change. Most folks will be reasonable, but if they won't, it's not worth breaking 3rr over. -- Kesh (talk) 23:24, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

(ec)Do note that I was by no means suggesting you take that course of action. Discussion and allowing time to fix things is always the best course of action. However, it is technically allowed for you to make such edits under our policy on being bold. But just because you can do it doesn't mean it's a good idea. seresin | wasn't he just...? 23:25, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Verifiability. There is no ban on removing any type of unsourced content, but removal without tagging (for example with {{fact}}) or discussing first ought to be reserved for certain circumstances, especially negative claims about living people, and claims contradicted by a reliable source. Some other cases where I may do it:

• Claims which appear implausible and I don't find any support with Google.
• Claims where I guess I would have been able to verify it with Google if it had been true (because it seems like something online sources would have reported in findable places).
• Claims which are contradicted by unreliable sources and not supported by any source I can find.
• Claims added by a vandal or an editor I know has a history of adding false unsourced claims with similarities to this one.

PrimeHunter (talk) 23:27, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Here is the course of action I would recommend. First, place the "citation needed" tag on the material that concerns you, and raise the issue or issues on the talk page. That shows your willingness to work constructively to resolve the situation. If, as you suspect, the tag is deleted without any discussion on the talk page, you are then justified in removing the unsourced material. However, this commits you to discussing the issue(s) on the talk page (which you should probably put on your watchlist). That's sort of the "Wikipedia way" of doing things, since the preference is generally to handle conflict by working toward consensus. --Tkynerd (talk) 23:59, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Tyknerd has given a recommendation of proper conduct. If you feel that the content in question is blatantly and completely false (not your opinion that it is false), I would say you can go ahead and remove it, while adding a topic to the talk page. Mac Davis (talk) 00:15, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

March 21

The Bolles-Brendamour Company

I recently acquired a bicycle headtube badge with this company's name on it. It was a sporting goods business in the 1920's and '30's in Cincinati,Ohio. I am looking for more information on the company and the bicycles they sold. I would imagine the bikes were built by Schwinn or another company and rebadged when sold at the sporting goods store. Anyone know of or have ever seen a bike with the Bolles-Brendamour name on it?

The Help desk is for questions about Wikipedia itself. Try the Reference desk instead. Good luck! --Tkynerd (talk) 00:03, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Editing a page

Hey i want to add a person to notable alumni list for South Pasadena High School but don't want to have it considered vandalism . do i just write it in there or do i need to show something to prove it

It would probably be best to add some documentation showing why the person is notable (unless it's obvious), and that they did go to the school. Best, --Bfigura ^(talk) 00:40, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Merely adding a name to an article such as you intend should/would never be considered vandalism. Remember to be bold. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 01:03, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Quite correct. Add sources if you have them, or can get them easily, but otherwise, don't worry about it. Cheers, --Bfigura ^(talk) 01:06, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Many non-notable people are added to lists of "notable" alumni of schools or inhabitants of places, probably often by themselves or their personal acquaintances. If they don't have an article or a verifiable assertion of notability then they are often removed quickly. And many names are so common that you cannot even guess who it's supposed to be. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:23, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:WikiProject Schools which among other things says: "Notable alumni — Provide a bulleted list of notable alumni with a short description to explain why they are famous. Alumni without their own Wiki articles should always have third-party references." PrimeHunter (talk) 02:29, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Problem bolding

I am having a problem bolding the name Stewart Shining in his article.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 05:03, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

You had an extra apostrophe with Sports Illustrated. --CWY2190^TC 05:06, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

copyright tag for mug shot

what kind of copy right tag would i need for a booking photo from jail ?

05:23, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

{{Non-free fair use in|name of article }} probably. More help can be found here.— Ѕandahl 05:32, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Incorrect. Many images taken by government employees are considered to be in the public domain. See Image:Larry Craig mugshot.jpg for one example.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 05:46, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

I don't mean to contradict but I believe that is not always true see Image:Waynegacy.jpg. Sorry to say I ran across this one awhile back and noticed the copyright tag.— Ѕandahl 05:51, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

I suspect that when the booking Police Department can be clearly identified, we can make a case for the image being in the public domain. Here are a few celebrity mug shots with Public Domain tags:

• Image:Nicole richie mugshot.jpg
• Image:Hilton mug shot.jpeg
• Image:John_Gotti_2.jpg
• Image:James brown mugshot2.jpg

--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 06:00, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

The first two (Nicole & Paris) are from the L.A. county sheriff's office which releases to the public domain , Gotti is a federal mugshot, Brown, the source is about.com. Perhaps someone who is expert on image policy could say for sure and we don't know which image the user is asking about.— Ѕandahl 06:18, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually we do a page on that Template:Non-free mugshot.— Ѕandahl 06:25, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

its the mugshot of jonsboro shooter mitchell johnson after his latest arrest.Sickero (talk) 08:59, 22 March 2008 (UTC) its on the page already

Delete an article

i created a page defining a term "Straight Bat",now its put up for Speedy Deletion. Should i be deleting(if yes,how) or will the Admins do it?

I don't know anything about Cricket, but the proper thing to do would be to merge the article into the appropriate Cricket article, such as batsman, and then replace Straight bat with a redirect (#REDIRECT[[Batsman]]) Mac Davis (talk) 07:06, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

I have proposed to merge Straight Bat into Batting (cricket). Straight Bat is tiny so I only mentioned it on Talk:Batting (cricket) for now and not on Batting (cricket). PrimeHunter (talk) 16:53, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Lost (TV series) page move

Due to a sockpuppet/vandal, the Lost TV Series article has been moved to a nonsense type of name article. I don't know how to change it back to its proper name. ----Ðysepsion † ^{Speak your mind} 06:28, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Somebody please let me know what the hell is going on over there, after it's over. 07:08, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the alert. The vandalism has been unwound, the vandal blocked and the article semi-protected (just reporting, not by me).--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 10:56, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

My external link gets deleted by another user for his own selfish gains

Dear Sir/madam,

I have a question here to clarify on the inclusion of an external link on a page of Wikipedia. The user who deleted my link to my webpage claimed that the page in question is generic and filled with ads. The ads are adsense ads and related to the content. The content in that webpage is unique because the procedure described in the article was taught to me by a top ENT specialist who helped me recover from my illness. So I would like to share this with all who may visit Wikipedia on the related topic.

Is there a regulation in Wikipedia which says that relevant original content sites which happened to have adsense ads on it cannot have an external link placed?

This user who deleted my link did so for his own selfish interest because he has included his/her own generic website link also filled with adsense ads. It is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. So I too retaliated by doing the same, i.e., deleted his/her link as well.

If it is against the TOS of Wikipedia, I rest my case and will not insert my link anymore. However, if it is not, then I would like to find out how I can stop this vandal from deleting my link time and again.

I would be very happy if you could clarify if I have done something against the TOS of Wikipedia.

Warmest regards,

Marcus— Preceding unsigned comment added by Sgomnipotent (talk • contribs)

Our guidelines for external links are pretty strict; neither your link nor several of the others that were there met these standards, so they've been deleted. Wikipedia is not a directory of links. Generally, neither you nor anybody with a financial interest in a website (yes, that includes AdSense ads) should be adding links to that website; we call that "spamming" and don't take kindly to it. --Orange Mike | Talk 15:19, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

History on NAFTA creditng stating NAFTA was the #1 priority under Clinton's admin. changed

The history on NAFTA has been recently changed. Seems the changes were made very quickly when Senator Obama raised issue with Senator Clinton's political campaign rhetoric that she oppossed NAFTA. A few days ago the history stated NAFTA was the #1 priority in Clinton's administration. The language has been conveniently changed and I would like to know how readers can locate "who" changed the "language" within the past several weeks and "how to reinsert the language" or the process in "debating" the change with the person "who" changed the history of NAFTA in a convenient manner after the information had been on site for years.

I would like to how acquire a reprint of the language as it stood prior to the recent changes.

The fact that changes were "quickly" made and the #1 priority language in the original document indicate the changes are strictly political expediency as can now be documented with the release of Mrs. Clintons log book.

Thank you.

Thank you.

If you want to know who made what edit to the article, you can click on the History tab located at the top of the page. You will see all edits made to the article there. When you click 'diff' on the left, you can see what was changed in a specific edit. Aecis^Brievenbus 15:15, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

I looked at some old revisions of North American Free Trade Agreement and didn't find a claim that NAFTA was the #1 priority in Clinton's administration. The examined revisions said the same as the current: "In the United States, NAFTA was able to secure passage after Bill Clinton made its passage a major legislative priority in 1993." PrimeHunter (talk) 16:34, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Skrewdriver article

this article seems to have a biased point of view, that of a white nationalist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sickero (talk • contribs)

The band had a biased point of view; the article seems to do a pretty good job of impartially describing what they stood for (scummy though that may have been). --Orange Mike | Talk 15:24, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

User Name

How can i change my user name, whilst still being seen as the author of any pages i have created?

See Wikipedia:Changing username. Dismas|^(talk) 11:42, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

changes to page

hi,

i made some changes to the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Verhofstadt stating a more realistic image of this person. yet, i do not see the changes. (21 march 2008, from this ip).

how can i make this permanent, since most information on the page (as it was) is simply half-truth. many of his "good" things (eg: "generation pact") are in fact verry, verry bad and this should be stated. under verhofstadt we lost most of our prestige and wealth, things that we feel today. as 24% of the population can not pay their medical expeses (and others).

what did i do wrong? i simply try to get the truth out there, since this guy is really, really NOT who he seems to be on the current wikipedia page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.243.25.190 (talk)

<email deleted for privacy>

You edits were reverted per WP:NPOV and WP:OR. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 12:55, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Hi, please sign future edits by typing four tildes (~~~~) after your post. As articles can be edited by anyone on Wikipedia. Edits are only permanent until they are edited again (if you get what I mean)...It seem your edit contained too much of your own point of view. For wikipedia guidelines on this subject see WP:POV. Happy editing --Camaeron (t/c) 12:57, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

From Wikipedia:Verifiability: "The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth. "Verifiable" in this context means that readers should be able to check that material added to Wikipedia has already been published by a reliable source. Editors should provide a reliable source for quotations and for any material that is challenged or is likely to be challenged, or it may be removed."

Your edits might have been true but that is almost irrelevant. What matters is whether the facts are referenced and verifiable through reliable sources. If you add true facts without any reliable sources then your edits likely will be removed. If someone else adds facts that you know are false, but are supported by references to reliable sources, then you cannot delete them. So go find reliable sources for all of your edits and add them as references. Sbowers3 (talk) 13:56, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Also note Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons which is especially strict about unsourced negative claims. Do not add them again. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:19, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Edits

I made some changes to an Article, but I was wondering if I really need to put a "reference" next to it. It really looks ugly having all those (litte tiny numbers), next to it. after the sentence. please respond.!!! Thank you!! Dwilso (talk) 13:14, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Information put into an article must be verifiable. We evidence that by putting in citations to reliable sources. Those "ugly little numbers" are the price we pay for verifiability. --Orange Mike | Talk 13:21, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

It might help if you gave a diff of the article in question, so we could give some more specific advice. If you have introduced new facts to the article, then yes, you should cite a source. If you do not, somebody may well put a tag on it. If you do not have a source you can cite, then you might want to consider doing that yourself if there is any possibility that the fact could be disputed. On the other hand, if you have not introduced any new facts, that is, you are copy editing for style, readability etc., then there is no requirement for references. Note that it also acceptable to add a reference at the bottom without it appearing "in-line". For instance, if you have used a source for general background and it is not specific to any one sentence. SpinningSpark 15:28, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Oggcodecs: Help in getting this to work.

I have carefully read all the instructions on how to get WikiPedia to play the sound files.

I've cleared out the earlier file for the Ogg executable and downloaded the stable executable file...

oggcondecs_0.71.0946.exe

...then opened the file and watched as it was installed. All of which looks perfectly normal each and every time I've tried to do this over a couple of years.

The thing is how does one get the WikiPedia sound files to play?

I've just double clicked on what looks like the proper blue link on the screen. When I do that all that happens is that I am directed to the install the above file again.

I feel sure that where I'm going wrong is something too simple for words and have avoided sending this cry for help on this matter for that reason. However, I give in. It has me beaten and I need some directions. My computer o/s is XP + SP2 and has all of the latest upgrades. While I'm no expert in IT matters I don't have bother installing applications and such.

I use Real Player and all of that works fine.

Regard, Harry Sigerson.

VLC media player. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 20:30, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Download it here: [2]. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 20:31, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Edit reverted

I wrote on this book what was printed on the back of the book itself and apperantly this was a problem why? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Johan1954 (talk • contribs)

Do you mean you created an article that repeated what was on the back of this book? If so that's a copyright violation, and since you wrote it, a potential conflict of interest. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 15:05, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

The article 79 Park Avenue (novel) was speedy deleted because it was seen as blatant advertising for the book. If you disagree with this, you may request a deletion review. If you need help with this, you can leave me a message on my talk page. If the subject is notable enough for a Wikipedia and you can write a neutral article showing how the book is notable, you can be bold and create a new article. But if you are indeed the author of the book, as Wisdom89 suggests, it would be best to wait until someone else comes along to write an article about the book. Aecis^Brievenbus 15:12, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

The "article" was a simple repetition of the back-cover blurb from the paperback edition; that's certainly going to be spammy enough to trigger deletion (and of course, it was a copyright violation as well). --Orange Mike | Talk 15:15, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

italic font problem

For some reason, all type in an italic font on Wikipedia appears on my screen using letters which appear 2 characters earlier in the alphabet. e.g. the word 'editor' appears as 'cbgrmp'.

I'm using an Apple Mac OSX (v10.4.11).

How can I correct this? Thank you.

Column3

• Seems like a browser issue. However you can ask over at WP:VPT which deals with technical problems. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 17:19, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes thanks - was using Safari, but seems OK using Firefox. I'll check out font encoding on Safari.

Share marketing

Hi I want to invest share, In which company share is best and tell me something about share market.

This is the help desk for using the encyclopedia Wikipedia. We have encyclopedic articles like stock market but we don't give investment advice. And anybody with Internet access can reply so I wouldn't trust my money with the answers anyway. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:03, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

This page is for offering assistance to users with basic wikipedia operation. You may want to try your question at the reference desk. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 16:01, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Policicy changes at methodone clinics.

Dear Wikipedia, <personal plea removed>

Very Sincerily, Thomas Urso <email removed>

I am sorry, but Wikipedia is not a place to promote your views, and the Help Desk is for asking questions about using Wikpedia only. -- Kesh (talk) 16:06, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

H. P. Grice not listed as "Alumni of Corpus Christi", Oxford

H. P. Grice not listed as 'Alumni of Corpus Christi', Oxford.

Dear Editors of Wikipedia,

I'm researching on H. P. Grice and would think his 'pride and joy' was to have been a Scholar of Corpus Christi, Oxford. However, the wikipedia entry does not mention this. I wonder if you could redirect this to someone who may be able to add that information?

Thanks,

J. L. Speranza, Esq. <personal info removed> — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.28.29.129 (talk)

What is the exact name of the page you would like to be changed? Corpus Christi College, Oxford#Notable former students and fellows lists Paul Grice = H. P. Grice. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:44, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Adding An Article to a Disambiguation

I want to write an article on something but there are multiple articles with the same name and I have no idea on how to add a new article to those disambiguations. Please help me.

~AnGel~ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Angellust (talk • contribs)

• Create the article and name it with an identifier ie John Doe (singer) or John Doe (artist). Once the page is created it can be added to a disambiguation page for the name. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 17:22, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

If you say the wanted name and what the subject is then we may be able to give more precise advice. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:47, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

mouseover problems

I am not sure if my monobook has been corrupted. Now, when I do a mouseover on footnotes it no longer enables me to read them. Instead, I see links like Midway Airport#cite_note-Mdcfshot.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 18:44, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

I guess that by "my monobook" you mean:

• User:TonyTheTiger/monobook.js

since nothing else at Special:Prefixindex?namespace=2&from=TonyTheTiger looks promising. I have no idea about the problem you report, but you could try these general troubleshooting steps:

• Try logging out and see if that makes a difference.
• Try reverting User:TonyTheTiger/monobook.js to an earlier revision.

--Teratornis (talk) 19:16, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

My monobook was recently corrupted and refreshing several times fixed it. Try that. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 20:27, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Try clearing your web browser's cache --h2g2bob (talk) 23:07, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

, clicking that might fix it. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 16:04, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Translation of sources

Resolved

If a source that is wanted for an article is not in English, say it is a German magazine or a Spanish newspaper or a Russian book, does it have to be available in a translation in order to cite it as a source?

If so, who counts as a "reliable source" for a translation?

Thanks, Wanderer57 (talk) 18:58, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

We assume good faith in translations. The standards, otherwise, are as for an English-language source. --Orange Mike | Talk 19:12, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

See WP:RSUE. --Teratornis (talk) 19:22, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Visitors

Resolved

How do i find out how many people have visited a certain page?

You could use this site as it records Wikipedia's article traffic statistics. AngelOfSadness talk 19:38, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Top contributors to this page

Resolved

Per link, the Help desk has had 104973 edits to date. Here the top non-bot contributors by number of posts:

1. MacGyverMagic 2963
2. Teratornis 2410
3. PrimeHunter 2312
4. Fuhghettaboutit 1380
5. Notinasnaid 1121
6. Dismas 1065
7. Ais523 1010
8. Lostintherush 937
9. Hersfold 807
10. Leebo 664
11. Rick Block 658
12. Adrian M. H. 623
13. Kesh 575

Compare to:

• Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 August 17#Top contributors to this page

--Teratornis (talk) 20:21, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm coming for you! PrimeHunter (talk) 00:21, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

I had considered suggesting you need a wikibreak. You know, take some time off, recharge your batteries, and let me get a few hundred edits ahead. Actually the above rankings overstate my tenuous hold on second place since I have more edits marked "minor" on the Help desk than you do. All seriousness aside, I'd like to commend all the Help desk volunteers for making this thing work. I also thank all the users who wrote the help pages and other tools we use to answer questions. Even though the Help desk is still somewhat difficult for very new users (a little bit of wikitext editing is necessary just to ask a question), it looks to me like we do a pretty good job of answering even the most obscure questions rather quickly, and that's very good for the project as a whole. --Teratornis (talk) 02:40, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Holy crap, I'm actually in the top 20? -- Kesh (talk) 02:46, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Mystery: New article is first search result in Google, now result does not appear at all.

Greetings,

Our article came up first in Google searches, now it does not come up at any ranking. It's completely gone.

I realize this question has to do with a Google search result, but I'm wondering this:

Can the way an entry is edited impact Google's treatment of the article?

We created a new article for Fay Chung.

Within 24 hours, a Google search for "Fay Chung" resulted in the article above coming up first.

Now, it does not come up at all. Anywhere. It disappeared. Even if wikipedia.org is searched specifically using "site:wikipedia.org", her entry does not appear. Other entries with her name do, but not hers.

Now, there were some edits back and forth on her name, and other edits, naturally, but is there something we did that might have caused Google to ignore it completely?

I'm posting a similar question at Google.

Thank you!

69.86.112.236 (talk) 20:21, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Hi, nothing wrong with the articles, google has several search algorithms, so when you made it, they used algorithm X, now a few days later they changed to algorithm Y which is maybe more sensitive to new articles, in a few days or weeks, most if the algorithms will accept the new article, best thing is to be patience. CheersMion (talk) 20:28, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. Seems reasonable. But I'd understand better if the article dropped 10 places in the search. But it's simply gone.

Please don't name, rename or edit articles to get better Google placement - and don't formulate them to advertise for politicians who are on election in a week. I have removed some of the unsourced advertising [3] but the article still seems far from Wikipedia:Neutral point of view. It doesn't have a single negative word about her and could use work from somebody who knows the topic better. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:54, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

OK, thank you. There also may be an answer to my question in there, but I'm not sure. The article was coming up first in a Google search for "Fay Chung", so the edits had nothing to do with getting better Google placement. Primehunter takes us to task for naming/renaming for better Google placement. Whether that was our intent or not, if Google also thought we were trying to get better placement, would it penalize us by eliminating the search result entirely? If yes, does anyone know for how long it's banished? Thank you! --Pelety (talk) 19:13, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

I currently get the article in Google on Fay Chung Wikipedia but it's either missing or way down without Wikipedia in the search. I don't know why and I don't speculate about Google hits on pages I edit. That you do gives a hint that you want people (like Zimbabwean voters maybe) to see this piece of political advertising instead of other information when they search information about her. That's not really the idea of Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:18, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

problems with reflist. citations at University of California, Riverside

Resolved

Hi, I don't know if I can describe this problem correctly, but I added some citations to this article today, and when I click the in-text cite link it redirects me to another reference in in reflist. Refs 80, 105 and 106 are giving me this problem specifically. As far as i can tell, the refs are formatted correctly. Please help. Thanks, Amerique^dialectics 20:25, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

That's puzzling. I looked at WP:FOOT to see if it has any clues. WP:FOOT#Style recommendations warns against using ref tags within transcluded templates. I notice that the {{Infobox University}} in the article has a bunch of footnotes in it. You might read the warnings in WP:FOOT#Style recommendations and follow the links therefrom to the illustrative examples, and see if any of that applies to the University of California, Riverside article. Be aware that when it comes to markup problems, the problem that you see on a page is not necessarily close to the actual markup code problem. That is, an error on one part of a page can manifest itself in some other seemingly unrelated part of the page. Tracking down the exact location of such an error can sometimes be maddening. You might need to copy the article to a user subpage, and try simplifying it by cutting out sections of the article until the error goes away. That is, if the references that generate incorrect footnote numbers in the article work correctly on a user subpage that contains only, say, a few sections of the article, then you can be fairly sure nothing is wrong with the footnotes themselves. Something else on the page is messing them up. For example, maybe those footnotes in the {{Infobox University}}. --Teratornis (talk) 21:22, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

WP:FOOT#Style recommendations seems to be talking about references that are actually within a template, rather than references one passes to a template. Either way, you might try making a subpage copy of the article, and see if deleting all the templates from the subpage copy causes the remaining references to number correctly. --Teratornis (talk) 21:31, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

ah, yes ... now that you all remind me, have seen that very problem before, and Gimmetrow (talk · contribs) knows how to fix it ... will ping him. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 21:44, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Not sure now ... that other problem is described here. That's not the same error at UCR. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 21:47, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

I give up; I left a note for Gimmetrow (talk · contribs). The first broken ref is number six, in the infobox. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 22:03, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

It appears to be a global issue, the report at the village pump is here. -- ReyBrujo (talk) 22:25, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

I just fixed a pile of formatting errors in the ref tags and they seem to working fine now (the names in ref tags should be quoted). Take a look and see if you are still seeing errors. - AWeenieMan (talk) 22:46, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

There was a bug in the code, which is now fixed, so everything should be working again -Steve Sanbeg (talk) 22:50, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Many thanks to all who responded. Amerique^dialectics 20:57, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Vaccine controversy

Resolved

I edited this page adding to the the headings of safety and individual liberty. I have sources for all information added and cited these sources as well. They are now gone in less than 4 hours. Please advise.--Amberhenderson63 (talk) 20:29, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Your edits were probably reverted. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 20:33, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

They were reverted by User:Hardyplants with the edit summary 'are you sure this is what the refs say????' Algebraist 20:44, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Your edit was incorrect. The government settled the case, but did not agree that the vaccine caused her autism. They agreed that the vaccination likely aggravated a pre-existing condition (encephalopathy, if I remember correctly). The autism developed later as a symptom of that condition. -- Kesh (talk) 22:32, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

How do you get a picture deleted?

need to know how Talk

Which image is it that you want deleted? - Milk's Favorite Cookie 20:41, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Tag it as MfD using a relevant template. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 20:42, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

              HN99CcarasC 4xCleanGrl.jpg

It should be deleted shortly. - Milk's Favorite Cookie 20:44, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

• you agree it should be deleted

Why should it be deleted? It's been IfDed with the reason 'Has no reason to be on wikipedia', but it's not on Wikipedia. It's on Wikimedia commons. Algebraist 21:19, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

well wikipedia owns all of them, and I need help and this was the only place I knew to get help> I am a new wikipedian

Wikipedia does not own all of them (they're owned by the Wikimedia Foundation). If you want help on commons, you could try the commons help desk. Algebraist 21:47, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Editcountitis

Resolved

Is there a way to see who has the most edits on a particular article? Clarityfiend (talk) 20:55, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes. See WP:WPEC. Algebraist 21:10, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

The WikiDashboard is the one your probably want - see the results for Barack Obama, for example, here. I believe the data is slightly out-of-date, though. x42bn6 Talk Mess 03:35, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

WikiDashboard seems to be very much out-of-date, at least as far as Casablanca (film) is concerned, but it confirms what I suspected. I am the edit king of that article. Thanks. Clarityfiend (talk) 04:49, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Watchlist preferences

Resolved

Hi. Could someone please ask the developers to modify the watchlist preference "Add pages I create to my watchlist" so that only article pages are watched? Most of the time I "create" a user talk page when I leave a comment for a new user, and I don't want to watch them. Thanks. Imagine Reason (talk) 21:47, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Hi there. To request changes to the MediaWiki interface in Wikipedia, you can leave a note at Wikipedia:Village Pump (technical). Developers check it often to see what they can do to help. Cheers! -- ReyBrujo (talk) 22:49, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Ferdinand A Brader edit

I've been building the article on Ferdinand A. Brader.

Somehow, he has become a "European artist"

Although he was born in Switzerland, no works by him done in Switzerland or any other part of Europe are know.

Only works he did after imigrating to the US in or around 1870 are know. He worked in the states through 1895 than seemingly vanished.

How can I get him listed as an american artist?

Thanks,

Darwin

[[Category:American artists]] is what you should add him to. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 22:53, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Ferdinand A. Brader was added to Category:European artist stubs by placing {{Euro-artist-stub}} in the article. See also Help:Category. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:10, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

(ec x 2) Hi there. The article is categorized that way because it includes the {{euro-artist-stub}}. I am not sure, but I think it is classified that way because he was born in Europe, regardless of where he may have produced his works. Maybe you could edit the talk page of the article, creating a new section (just like you did here) to ask if it is fine to use the {{US-artist-stub}} instead of the European one. However, as I said, I am almost sure it is due his place of birth and not his adopted country. Cheers! -- ReyBrujo (talk) 23:11, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

List of accounts?

Resolved

Is there a list of account names? I'm curious (on sock-watch, actually).Gladys J Cortez 22:40, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Special:ListUsers could be. -- ReyBrujo (talk) 22:43, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Also, the user creation log is at Special:Log/newusers --h2g2bob (talk) 22:55, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks!Gladys J Cortez 23:15, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Edit page info not showing up on main article

Resolved

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_entomology:_schools_and_organizations

This page has all the information on the edit page, but when looking at the main article it jumps from the middle of one paragraph to the middle of another and does not show any of the content in between. Is there something wrong with the way the edit page is formatted, or any other suggestions to get the missing info on the main article. Lauren Kalns (talk) 22:42, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

A reference was broken (started but did not end). Already fixed. -- ReyBrujo (talk) 22:48, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

confirmation email again

Resolved

I could not get back to edit my question from the other day.

WP claims to send the confirmation email, but it has failed on two systems (including Yahoo). It is not in the spam filters, and I do not believe it was sent. I tried generating it multiple times from my preferences. Can I have an address to contact someone who can "git er dun"? Zaqry (talk) 23:20, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Are you sure you set up your email in your Preferences? There's no one else who can change it for you.

If it is set up correctly, it can sometimes take a couple days for emails to reach you. It's not the most reliable communications method in the world. -- Kesh (talk) 23:31, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Your former post is at Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 March 17#confirmation email where I wrote that I got a confirmation mail immediately both at a Hotmail account and my normal account. If there is a spam filter or other problem blocking the confirmation mail then it may also block other mails. One of the ideas of the confirmation mail is that people can only set an address where they at least once were able to receive mail and react. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:12, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

As I said the confirmation email is not in the spam filters (would not resemble spam anyway). It is supposed to be sent immediately. I don't believe it is being sent. There is one place to tell where to send it and it appears very clear how to set it up. I will check one more idea. For now, I don't believe it is being sent.

Ok, its resolved. The first email system had an unknown problem, and I think the switch to yahoo requiring an intermittent save step that I did not notice.

Glad it worked for you! Also, please remember to sign your comments by typing four ~ symbols at the end. -- Kesh (talk) 13:04, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

March 22

Point system

Resolved

What is the deal with the point system Poohman0 (talk) 01:32, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

What are you talking about? Nothing444 01:33, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

On the watch page it has numbers next to your edits Poohman0 (talk) 01:36, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

It's not a "point system." What the number means is how many characters were altered in the edit. If the numbers are red, it means most of the change was in removing characters. If the numbers are green, it means more was added to the article than taken away. -- Kesh (talk) 01:40, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

oohhh. Thanks for telling me. Nothing444 01:45, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

It would be kinda cool though to have a point syestem Poohman0 (talk) 01:57, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Not so much. As soon as you implement a point system, people start competing. And that means bad edits that have to be fixed, or people "buffing" their score by making edits, undoing them, redoing them, etc. -- Kesh (talk) 13:45, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Template problems

Hello. Using the same template another image has. The thing is mine is getting disgarded. Can you explain.

Thanks, Electric Japan (talk) 11:02, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, give me a link to the template, and I'll see if I can fix it. Nothing444 12:00, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Assuming the OP is talking about Image:Mummysghost.jpg, it was tagged as orphaned fair-use. I've fixed that, and provided a rationale, but it still needs source info. Electric Japan: Where did you get this image from? Algebraist 13:07, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

(To explain to others, he means the Fair Use Rationale template.) Orderinchaos 14:20, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia Edition

Just wondering, is citing sources from another Wikipedia language edition allowed? Say, I would like to cite my sources from the French Wikipedia. I think it's not, is it? -- Felipe Aira 13:12, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

No, I'm afraid not. It would need to be in English so that all English Wikipedia readers can understand what is in the article. Thanks. AgnosticPreachersKid (talk) 13:14, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

I would like to clarify. I am asking this because of an FAC at the Tagalog wiki. I asked for her sources for the biography of the article in question (Teresa Teng). She says that she got it from this Wikipedia. What is all I am asking is: is citing sources from another Wikipedia, regardless of language barriers? The Tagalog wiki is not really that established, that is why it is de facto that we temporarily follow English wikipedia policies until policies of our own come to creation. -- Felipe Aira 13:36, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a reliable source, but the sources it cites ought to be. Thus the Tagalog 'pedia can copy the English one, citing the same sources. Sources in the same language as the article are recommended but not actually required (on en). Algebraist 13:56, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

I have actually used a reference in Third University of Rome that was Italian. But some Wikipedians speak Italian, right. Or shouldn't I have done that? Nothing444 14:55, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

IMHO, no. If someone wants to read the article that doesn't speak Italian, what happens when he or she wants to read the reference? :) AgnosticPreachersKid (talk) 15:02, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

See WP:RSUE. Hut 8.5 15:09, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

As Hut 8.5 points out, foreign language cites are allowed. However, they should not be used as the primary references, as it's difficult for readers to verify the information presented. This is especially important in biographies, where any statement that can be construed as harmful to the subject really, really needs to be clearly cited. -- Kesh (talk) 13:49, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Resolving proposed merger of several articles involving Blue-green article

Resolved

While Wikisurfing I stumbled across the Blue-green article. Back in September 2007, there was a proposed merger of several color articles into this one. Reading the fairly-detailed discussion page, it's obvious that the consensus is DO NOT MERGE. Could someone please resolve this by removing the merge tags and archiving the discussion. I don't know how to do that and I'm not sure I have the privilege ... may require an admin. Thanks. Truthanado (talk) 15:10, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

If there is consensus on the discussion page, you may remove the tag yourself. There is no rule that prevents you from doing so. Cheers. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 15:12, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

I've gone ahead and removed it as it appears that the last comment regarding the merge was months ago. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 15:13, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

What about the other articles that were suggested to be merged into this article? Here is the tag that lists the other articles:

{{Mergefrom-multiple|teal (color)|aqua (color)|cyan|turquoise (color)|aquamarine (color)|bondi blue|electric blue (color)|Robin egg blue|date=September 2007}}

Okay if I just go ahead and remove those tags? Thanks. Truthanado (talk) 15:19, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Yep. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 15:52, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Semi-Protection request

Resolved

Could I get Cone Mills Corporation semi-protected for 24 hours, since apparently there is vandalism starting now that it has just been selected as a DYK and its on the Main page. I noticed Reese Witherspoon is also being vandalized by the same people. Thanks. --Doug ^talk 18:33, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Hi there, please request protection at WP:RFP. Thanks, --The Helpful One ^(Review) 18:58, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

I cannot get picture to insert

Hello, I have tried for 2-3 days but cannot get the picture to load on this page ( a biography):

Suzanne Olsson

Could someone please insert the picture for me? Or help me?

Thank You.

Kashmir2 Kashmir2 (talk) 18:47, 22 March 2008 (UTC) Added from Wikipedia talk:Help desk The Helpful One ^(Review) 18:54, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Hi there, please state which image you would like to be added to the article in question. Thanks! --The Helpful One ^(Review) 18:55, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Indeed you must tell us, because looking at your edits to the article, there are none where you attempt to place an image. You have. however, added external links a number of times. Was that your attempt to add the images? By the way. please be careful when you are adding material that you don't unintentionally blank other material, such as maintenance tags and categories, as you have.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 19:06, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

I would guess it's Image:Sue2001.jpg, which Kashmir2 uploaded recently. -- Kesh (talk) 13:53, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Please tell us if the material is copyrighted, so we know if we can upload it. You must tell us or we cannot help you. Nothing444 19:30, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Nashi pear - what it is NOT good for

Resolved

Hi

I use the Wikipedia as the first source of reference. So, reading up on nashi pears, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashi_pear, it struck me that the article sets off by stating what the fruit is NOT used for. That led me to try to interpret why single out pies and jams and whether or not such limitation indicates a apecific cultural background, which would be contrary to Wikipedia's general thinking. Do "East Asians" as discussed in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Pyrus_pyrifolia make much use of other pears for such purposes to justify this angle? Regards, --Rui ''Gabriel'' Correia (talk) 19:35, 22 March 2008 (UTC) PS: When does one use the "discussion" on a page, rather than discuss things here?

It starts by explaining what they are not used for as a point of comparison, I don't think it was meant to single out any cultural background and I'm sorry that you interpret it to be that way. Any Wikipedia user can rewrite some or all of an article at any time to make the tone sound more inclusive, although you might want to discuss any major changes at the discussion page first. Let me know over at my talk page if you have any questions. Mister Senseless™ (Speak - Contributions) 20:14, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

uploading

How do you upload a picture unless you create it?

What kind of picture do you want to upload? If you click on the Upload file link in the box on the left side of the page, you can choose the most appropriate category for your image, which will in turn give you instructions on what you must do for that kind of image. It is possible in some, but not all, cases, to upload an image of which you are not the creator. The Image use policy covers the important information. --Kateshortforbob 23:35, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Rollback image

Resolved

How do I get that tiny rollback image in the corner of my page? I was just given the privileges and I want people to be aware of my authorization. MalwareSmarts (talk) 21:41, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Add {{Rollback}} to your user and/or talk page. --CWY2190^TC 21:42, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Ad help

I have made a wikiproject ad, no. 133. It wont load on my userpage. I need it to, though. Nothing444 22:30, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Check these instructions on how to upload your image and add it to the ad banner. Since the template is based on a system variable, there is no way to guarantee your banner will be displayed at any given time. If you'd like your ad permanently displayed on your userpage, you will need to add it manually as you would any other image. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 00:57, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

March 23

I think my article is broke!

Hi, on HMS Cardiff (D108) if you click on [3] and [5], it doesn't go down to the reference section. And if you click on [8] it takes you to reference number 3. Ryan4314 (talk) 01:14, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

It's not your article and it's probably a couple of broken refs. I've not got time to check but I hope I've helped. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 23:52, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Not really... Ryan4314 (talk) 01:14, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

I checked the first ten references in HMS Cardiff (D108) and all the links appear to be working for me. See #problems with reflist. citations at University of California, Riverside above for a report of a similar problem. --Teratornis (talk) 23:56, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

HMS Cardiff (D108) also works for me currently, but earlier many articles had problems like you describe, when there was a problem in the software. If a page still has the problem then try purging it by adding ?action=purge to the URL. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:05, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Yup, "purging" it did the trick, cheers pal. Ryan4314 (talk) 01:14, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Correct use of template for a "cited in" circumstance

So, I've talked to librarians all over the United States, and tried to contact people who were at the conference (including the author) where this paper was presented and no one has a copy. I originally saw it cited in this paper and I was thinking I'd eventually find it, but since it seems like I never will I'm wondering how I should do a "cited in" reference using the templates. Is there a recommended way to do it? Or should I just do like so:

• Kennedy, Mellen (1990). Psychiatric Hospitalizations of GROWers. Second Biennial Conference on Community Research and Action, East Lansing, Michigan. cited in Kyrouz, Elaina M. (2002). "Chapter 4: A Review of Research on the Effectiveness of Self-help Mutual Aid Groups". In White, Barbara J.; Madara, Edward J. (ed.). American Self-Help Group Clearinghouse Self-Help Group Sourcebook (7th edition ed.). American Self-Help Group Clearinghouse. pp. 71–86. ISBN 1930683006. Retrieved 2008-01-06. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)

-- Scarpy (talk) 00:06, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

trouble adding album cover to exsisting article

i uploaded a album cover but can not get it to link to the albums existing page

Baconwagonman (talk) 01:54, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

What picture was it? What article was it? Also, I see that three of the pictures that you have uploaded have been tagged as without a copyright notice, so supply one quickly or they will be deleted. Jake the Editor Man _(talk) 10:09, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Academia Estadounidense de la Lengua Española

The title of our Academia is not Academia Estadounidense de la Lengua Española but ACADEMIA NORTEAMERICANA DE LA LENGUA ESPAÑOLA.

I have tried to edit it, but I was not able to do it.

Dr. Gerardo Piña-Rosales Director, Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española

<removed email and phone number>

I have moved Academia Estadounidense de la Lengua Española to Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española. Only registered accounts at least 4 days old can move pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:30, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Category Template creation

I'm trying to create a template here to help with categories at the wiki where I edit. I'm having a problem trying to figure out how to make the "categorize as" bit optional - i.e., I have an article named "Quicksilver Style", but want it to show up in the boss category as "Geryon".

When I tried last to implement this function, it made the "categorize as" bit mandatory, and all articles using the template had screwy code show up unless I added the piped title.

Ideally, I would like the template to work so that

{{enemy|3|boss=yes|chardevil}} would show the "Bosses", "Devil May Cry 3 Bosses", "Characters", and "Devils" categories, and file them under the article's name, while

{{enemy|3|boss=yes|chardevil|Geryon the Timesteed}}

Would show the same categories, but in those categories file it under "Geryon the Timesteed".

If this question is innapropriate for the help desk, could you direct me to the correct place to ask it? Thanks.Not even Mr. Lister's Koromon survived intact. 02:46, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

I meant to say that you are at the wrong place. Sorry. But you still gotta check out the 'pedia Nothing444 04:38, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Tellya what? you go see Wikia support. They can probably help you with this. Nothing444 04:39, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

To make a sortkey optional, use the page name as default, not the empty string.--Patrick (talk) 08:28, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

If you need more help, the general location for questions about wikis running the MediaWiki software is mw:Project:Support desk. This Help desk is for questions about using the English Wikipedia, although we do get a lot of questions that are actually about MediaWiki. We sometimes take a stab at inappropriate questions anyway. --Teratornis (talk) 20:27, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

How is it that some businesses get selected to be listed in Wikipedia, and others do not?

You say this site is supposed to be non-commercial yet I see many businesses cataloged on your site. It seems that Wikipedia has a double standard in regards to approving which businesses or individuals can advertise on its site. You may not call it advertising, but lets face it, thats exactly what it is. Based on what I see it appears that there is a noticeable degree of racism inherent in the gatekeepers who decide what can stay listed on Wikipedia. So I would like to know how can one effectively get his or her business, idea or whatever valid undertaking listed on Wikipedia just like Ralph Lauren, Jay-z, Paramount pictures or any established business that Wikipedia allows to be cataloged. Do you have to be an established business before you can be listed? Is this the suppressive model that Wikipedia has adapted to keep its racist foot on the necks of would be and small businesses trying to grow and expand. Basically how, who and what is the process that Wikipedia employs to make these decisions? It would be wise to answer this question in a very intelligent manner. No response will be viewed as an affirmation of Wikipedia's editors incorporating racist practices in its selection process of what gets listed, and I will make it my business to publicly expose this fact about Wikipedia. I have the means.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Sonofptah (talk • contribs)

There are many rules that apply to notability and allowance for inclusion; it is not just at the whim of any (so-called) racist editor.

I refer you to a number of Wikipedia policies: please read Wikipedia:Notability (WP:N) and Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies) (WP:COMPANY). Wikipedia is not a Soapbox demands that articles should be written objectively and unbiasedly. If you have found an article which is not objective or unbiased, please tag it with {{POV}}; or if you think that it is non-notable under these guidelines, tag it with {{Notability}}. Thank you for helping Wikipedia if you do that.

Now as for the actual decision? Normally this occurs at an AfD (Articles for Deletion) discussion, a fully democratic vote that any user can participate in. While it is true that Wikipedia has a systematic bias because the majority of its users are American males, this is clearly not racism.

I would also suggest that you have a chat with Jimbo Wales, especially before you exploit Wikipedia in the media. Jake the Editor Man _(talk) 10:06, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

First of all, you're looking for a different word. You don't mean "racist"; you mean biased or an equivalent. So you want a full explanation. Your tone leaves a great deal to be desired, and your threat is ill-mannered especially when asking people to invest time in answering your questions (not to mention laughable), but I'll bite. There are a number of policies and guidelines that articles need to meet. Such as that they must the verifiable, written from a neutral point of view, must not be original research, and should be on notable subjects, usually defined as being the subject of substantive treatment in reliable source.

For deletion purposes, there are three ways articles are deleted. Articles which don't meet any speedy deletion criteria if they are noncontroversial to delete, may be proposed for deletion. Anyone can remove the proposed deletion tag, including the creator and this ends that process. If the tag is not removed during a five day waiting period, the article may be deleted after that time. If not deleted through speedy deletion or through proposed deletion, we decide whether to delete through discussion at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion.

One of the touchstones of such deletion debates is the verifiability and notability of the subject. Notability, as I've already intimated, does not mean what someone unfamiliar with our policies might think using a vernacular interpretation, but generally refers to whether the world has taken note of the subject by writing about it in reliable sources. After all, this is an encyclopedia, a tertiary source by definition, so our articles must be written from already published sources. For purposes of businesses, we also have a subject-specific notability guideline at Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies). An articles for deletion debate stays open generally for five days, during which anyone can voice their opinion. It is not a vote, but an attempt to reach consensus based on our policies. Any business that has been the subject of treatment in multiple reliable sources and which sources are cited in the article will almost never be deleted by this process.

I suspect, however, that what prompted your post, is an article you were invested in on a company that was deleted though our speedy deletion criteria. These are strictly construed bases under which an article can be deleted immediately if it meets the criteria. The only one specifically related to businesses is blatant advertising; that is, pages which appear to exclusively promote some entity and which would need to be fundamentally rewritten to become encyclopedic. Most article which are deleted by this criteria are truly blatant: they contain promotional language, reading like they were written by someone attempting to sell the product instead of neutrally providing facts about the company, never contain criticism, list contact information for buying a product or signing up for the service and so on. If you actually tell us the name of the article that was deleted that brought you here, I'd be able to tell you better why it specifically was deleted.

Finally, note that the fact that there are crappy advertizing articles that exist here which should be deleted, in no way is an endorsement of similar articles. Because of the volunteer nature of Wikipedia and the thousands and thousands of articles that are submitted everyday, lots of crap slips through the net. I suggest you read our Wikipedia:Business FAQ.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 10:46, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

This type of question comes up frequently on the Help desk. If you need more information after reading the above and following all the links, you could review some of our previous answers to questions about what businesses can have articles on Wikipedia: search the Help desk archive with Google for: wikicompany. This site, the English Wikipedia, is one of the top ten most popular English-language Web sites in the world, with 47,483,015 registered users, and 6,829,946 articles, so you can imagine lots of businesses want to have articles here, and therefore Wikipedia users have documented all the policies and guidelines that control what we can do here. --Teratornis (talk) 20:22, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

See WP:Notability Nothing444 22:07, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Inserting a picture

Resolved

HI there

I am finding it impossible to insert a picture to a page. I have tried following all the online instructions but not having any luck. I have uploaded my picture but cannot insert it. The page is about my partner, John Hicklenton, someone has added a photo and we would like to change it. The photo I uploade was called JH at SXSW 2008.jpg

Please advise

Many thanks!

Lokiland (talk) 14:53, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

• The image uploaded was "JH at SXSW 2008.JPG" with JPG in capitals. I have fixed the link in the article so the image is displayed on the page. --Snigbrook ^(talk) 14:59, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Hard copy references

I have a hard copy of a letter-to-parents by a school district. I cannot seem to find it online anywhere. I'm not sure what the copyright issues would be by scanning it and uploading in order to use it as a reference in another article. Maybe Wikipedia has policy against this, regardless of copyright issues? (Note: No I am not some disgruntled student looking to make trouble. Heh.) -- Wguynes (Talk | contribs) 16:02, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

When you say use it as a reference, do you mean upload it as a picture, place its image in the article, and then refer to or cite to the text of the letter in the article? As far as I know, this can't be done. All written material is copyrighted by its author. So, without the school district's release of the material into the public domain or under a free license such as the GFDL, uploading the material would be a copyright violation and I don't see any way the material would fall under fair use. Using it as a reference is also problematic. We only cite to published references, which includes written sources and well as those that are broadcast to the public, such as television shows, radio shows and the like. This does not mean we need the material to be immediately available to everyone. Another words, sources do not need to available online and they certainly do not need to be uploaded here for their use. Indeed, reliable books only available in, for instance, a college library, make fine references. I don't think though that the sending of a letter to school district parents constitutes "publication." So the only way I can see that you can use the material as a reference is if a reliable published source out in the world either quotes the text of the letter, or otherwise treats it.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:46, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

You certainly have addressed the copyright issues that I was concerned about; for example about scanning the letter and uploading it. However, your insistence on what meets the definition of a "published source" has me a bit surprised. I would think that a letter from a state agency, which was was intended for, copied (i.e. "published"), and handed to all parents of a public school would fit the definition. I feel that you are narrowing the definition even further to only news agencies and professional journals. Is there documentation on Wikipedia that defines "published" more specifically that I may read to clarify my confusion? -- Wguynes (Talk | contribs) 20:58, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Im confused

i am a brand new user of Wikipedia.i made the account today in hopes of my brother and i both being recognized outside of our town for the comdey skits we do.i created a page about him, and everything is valid,and i have sources for it.i just barely know how to use this site so im confused on what im supposed to do.What do i do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Andrews nipples (talk • contribs) date

Hello. Unfortunately you've mistaken Wikipedia for another type of site. There are many sites where you can write whatever you'd like about yourself and others and publish that material; social networking sites, such as Facebook and Myspace, and wikis, such as http://www.wikibios.com/. This place, however, is an encyclopedia, and though not quite the same as a paper encyclopedia, you can think about it is some measure as the same. Do you think you or your brother could have an article in Encyclopedia Brittannica? Well this place is not much different. Article topics need to be already written about in reliable secondary sources out in the world to get an article here. So my advice, if you want to publish this material, is to visit one of those other sites and no longer attempt to post this material here until your brother has achieved notoriety not just in your school and among your friends, but has been written about in general readrship newspapers, books, magazines and the like.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 18:02, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

You can make a userpage with some details about yourself. This will be accessible via your signature. This would be outside the article namespace and would, therefore, be prefixed with the word User:. For example, yours would have to be User:Andrews nipples. It is basically User:Your username. George D. Watson (Dendodge).Talk^Help 20:37, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Talk page archiving

Can someone help me figure out why my talk page isn't archiving? Maury (talk) 18:15, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Your archiving Bot seems to have been deleted...on request of the User who owned the Bot.--Camaeron (t/c) 18:44, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

If I were you, I'd try user:MiszaBot. But I, personnally prefer cut and paste. Nothing444 19:16, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

old format of searching

i far prefer the old format odf searching....where if the search words have many hits....the number of hits are shown......

..and without the pesky context sentences below the article title...please help

Well, if you like this I would reccomend Google. Nothing444 22:01, 23 March 2008 (UTC)