Wikipedia:New contributors' help page

Wikipedia:New contributors' help page

What would you like to do? Ask a question Do something Ask a knowledge question that you cannot find the answer to in the encyclopedia. (e.g. Did Leonardo da Vinci build a working flying machine?) Learn about how and where you can help Wikipedia (information and resources on the basics needed to comprehend, comment on, and contribute to Wikipedia) Ask a question at the Teahouse about using or editing Wikipedia that you cannot find the answer to in the Frequently Asked Questions. (e.g. How can I fix this problem with this article?) Create an article now (see Your first article before you start) Ask a question about a practical problem you have that is not related to using or editing Wikipedia. (e.g. I was cheated by a builder. Please Help.) Request that other editors review your new article   Ways to get help If you place {{helpme}} on your talk page, a helper will visit you there as soon as possible! Join the #wikipedia-en-help IRC channel for real-time chat. New to IRC? Click here to be connected instantly! The template below outlines Wikipedia's help pages and can be viewed at the bottom of most related pages. (Click "show" on the right to expand the template)

• Shortcuts:
• WP:NCH
• WP:NUH
• WP:N?
• WP:NCHP

Mickey Sparks

Mickey Sparks is a magician in New York City. He has accuried a small time cult fandon from his work in bars outside of colleges and around with friends. He will be making his first stage appearence on Nov. 29th 2009 at Rouge Magic and Funshop in Queens New York at Evenings of Wonder.

Mickey's Stage act is to be 7 - 10 minutes long with a few interesting twists as he incorperates Art and music into his style of show. He has been working on close up magic and brings some of that to the stage but this is an entirly different venture for him.

Many friends rack their brains on how Mickey is able to pull of such amazing illusions right before their very eyes. This new stepping stone seems to be more of a leep of faith for Mickey.

He grew up watching every special David Copperfield ever did and aspired to be just like him.His act if a far throw from ones of Copperfield but shouild be a sight to see as more is expected from this magician.

MagicManiaNY (talk) 04:57, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

How do I upload my file?

How do I upload my file? I find the sustem exremely cumbersom, Is there now where a step by step guide to take met to the end? My contribution is there and I need it to appear on the encyclopedia now. Thanks in advance Wernerbooysen (talk) 07:44, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

I see you created Wikipedia:User:wernerbooysen. You should have typed that into your userpage which is at User:Wernerbooysen (don't worry, I moved it there for you). Then to create the article, type it into .458 Express. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 09:30, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Actually, you need to move your user page to .458 Express. Note that Wikipedia deletes thousands of articles for failing to comply with WP:Notability. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 10:58, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

I would advise that it not be moved in its present form - it will almost certainly be nominated for deletion for not being notable. Instead, I suggest that Wernerbooysen reads a few of our guidelines and policies first, and then works on the article in user space: WP:YFA, WP:N, WP:V, and WP:RS are good places to start. – ukexpat (talk) 13:17, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

New article not coming up in Google search

Hello. I just created a new article for William Seale today, Sept. 25, 2008. I can see it if I navigate to Wikipedia and search for it. However, it does not come up in a Google search. I have looked at the first 15 pages of the search results and could not find it. Is there something I should do to make it come up? Thank you. Whhapubl (talk) 14:59, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Google can have a lag of a couple of days. Give it a while before it "knows" this new article is there. Scottydude _review 15:14, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

How to add a page when there is a page with the same name

I wanted to add some pages about japanese modern artists. I started with PINKMAN, but there is already an article for an American in a pink suit called: Pinkman. How can i add a page about PINKMAN the artist when there is already a page about a different person with the same "name"? Please reply to my talk if possible. Tigerjapan (talk) 15:20, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

• First move the current content of Pink Man to Michael Maxfield (you'll have to tag Michael Maxfield for deletion "reason: Make way for move"). Then Write your article at the location Pink Man, don't forget to include a {{Otherusers|Michael Maxfield}} template at the very top of the page. If you want to write an article called Pinkman (not Pink Man), please let me know and I'll take you though that. If any of this dosn't make sense, don't hesitate to ask me Theterribletwins1111 (talk) 15:42, 25 September 2008 (UTC)
  • P.S., are you sure your artists real name is Pinkman? surely he must have a "real" name? Theterribletwins1111 (talk) 15:43, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

(ec) Actually, the existing article name is Pink Man. The article Pinkman is just a redirect so could be edited to be a new article. However I suggest you call your page Pinkman (artist). The Pinkman page should be turned into a disambiguation page with links to both articles.

Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. SpinningSpark 15:53, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Also note that copy and paste moves as suggested by Theterribletwins1111 are counter to guidelines and can lead to big problems for admins to fix to keep edit histories in the correct place. – ukexpat (talk) 15:56, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Before your note I had altered my comment to suggest a move instead, thanks Theterribletwins1111 (talk)

How to improve wikipedia articles page rank on google search engine,

Hi, I would like to know how I can improve my wikipedia articles's page rank on google search engine

Please help. Do i need to add any templates or meta tags? If you how do I do this?208.215.25.131 (talk) 17:22, 25 September 2008 (UTC)cherry

Hello!

You mean some sort of a google bomb? You might want to see PageRank to understand how it works and how it can be achieved.

If you can't do the above, then simply waiting will increase the ranking as more and more sites (mostly mirrors) link to that article.

Cheers mate!

Λuα ^{(Operibus anteire)} 17:29, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Do you know if I can add any meta tags/keywords to improve my wikipedia articles siterankings, currently google ranking is 0, is there anything preventing the article from being ranked? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.215.25.131 (talk) 17:35, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

No, you can't directly add meta tags and keywords to Wikipedia articles. What page, specifically, are you interested in? If it's new, it might not have been indexed yet. Algebraist 18:02, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

I am talking about the following page "Britannia Driving School article on wikipedia"208.215.25.131 (talk) 18:04, 25 September 2008 (UTC)Cherry

Apologies in advance if this is bitey. If you are contributing articles just to get the page ranking up on Google then you are contributing for entirely the wrong reason -- that sounds like promotion, not creating an encyclopedia. This is not a popularity contest. – ukexpat (talk) 19:08, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Britannia Driving School has been indexed by Google, and is currently twenty-seventh in the results for the search term "Britannia Driving School". What's the problem? Algebraist 19:14, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Dont apologize. When I type in the wopds, sometimes the article shows up on google and sometimes it wont. So I wondering it has something to do with the ranking. I am not too familar with the concept so I was wondering why this was happening.208.215.25.131 (talk) 19:14, 25 September 2008 (UTC)cherry

Template error

I was attempting to create a new template but somehow messed up the current template MountaineersRunningbacks which now has the page name FightingIrishrunningbacks and so it gives we an error when I try to access and correct it. 75.41.135.46 (talk) 17:37, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

I've reverted your edits to {{MountaineersRunningbacks}}. To create a template titled FightingIrishrunningbacks, click here. Algebraist 17:56, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Except that unregistered users can't create templates. You can create an account, or submit the template to Articles for creation. Someguy1221 (talk) 17:57, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

PLEASE,-I WANT TO CHANGE USERNAME :رياض الرفاعي TO RIYADH . THANKS

Please fill in the subject box above, then REPLACE ALL OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS with your question, and don't forget to sign by leaving the following four tildes (~'s) in place which automatically formats to your signature once you click "save page" below. رياض الرفاعي (talk) 21:27, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Take a look at WP:CUN. – ukexpat (talk) 21:48, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Don't bother, they will just tell you to do it manually as you have only 1 edit. Simply create a new account, and discontinue using your current one Theterribletwins1111 (talk) 09:24, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

difference between pseudocode and algoritm

Please fill in the subject box above, then REPLACE ALL OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS with your question, and don't forget to sign by leaving the following four tildes (~'s) in place which automatically formats to your signature once you click "save page" below. 220.227.40.114 (talk) 12:19, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

You didn't replace the instructional text with a question so it's hard to know what you are asking. We do, however, have encyclopedia articles on pseudocode and algorithms. Please note that knowledge questions shold be asked at an appropriate section of the reference desk. There are separate sections for computer-specific questions, mathematics-specific questions and for miscellaneous questions; this page is for questions about using Wikipedia.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:39, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

reporting an entry with bad information

I'm a newbie and am not sure how to report a false entry I found: From the entry "social science" someone has put in the ridiculous comment: "It comes from a person called Jim Castady 1800 years ago[citation needed]" It needs to be struck. Cathy Davidson (talk) 15:35, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

I've removed the erroneous information. In the future, feel free to remove any obvious mis-information. That's the great thing about Wikipedia: anyone can edit! If you have any other questions, feel free to drop me a line on my talk page. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 15:44, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

hello

Hello, my name is Harry. I am curious as to what the role of of House of Commons is? Could you please send me some information about the House's functions and features?

P.S. If you don't mind could give a detailed e-mail about what is happening in England? For example, construction sites, new government regulations and policies? I also want to know who Doug a former patient at Greystone Park Pyschiatric Hospital in the United States of America in the state of New Jersey? Please send me that person's e-mail address so we can chat!!!!! Please!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!

Sincerely, Harshad —Preceding unsigned comment added by 28harry (talk • contribs) 18:31, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

You might find what you are looking for in the article about House of Commons. If you cannot find the answer there, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They will be glad to try 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. Algebraist 19:37, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

For general UK stuff there is always Auntie Beeb or the British Government. – ukexpat (talk) 20:54, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

re: placing a bio on a recording artist in wikipedia

How do I place a bio on myself to put in wikipedia......... Where do I begin?

Crosby Tyler —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.172.115.193 (talk) 05:35, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Well, let's start with the conflict of interest guidelines, as a starter. Essentially, it's never a good idea to write your own biography on Wiki - if you meet our notability guidelines, someone else is likely to create a page about you anyhow. For that bio to be kept, you'd have to meet our specific guidelines for musicians, based on reliable sources proving that notability.

You'd also have to be registered to create an article. Hope this helps. Tony Fox (arf!) 06:05, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Adobe User

I recently lost my Adobe Flash Player. And I was wondering if Adobe Flash Player was a free product. This doesnt involve uploading it on wikipedia. I just need to get at info that required these program in order to read. I'm just wondering if it causes money or not to upload the latest version. CHANLONG (talk) 10:24, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

This is a place to ask questions about using Wikipedia - you should really have asked this at the Computing reference desk. However, I do happen to know that Adobe Flash Player is a free download. There's detailed information about compatibility etc in the Flash Player Support FAQ on the Adobe site, here. Karenjc 19:03, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Thomas Willis

Thomas Willis !!!

Thomas Willis was born on Aug 16th Thomas Willis (talk) 19:15, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Good for him. Does he have a question about using Wikipedia, which is what this page is for? Karenjc 19:25, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Merton Football Club

Merton FC, the oldest amateur soccer club in the Borough, is celebrating its 98th season. From humble origins in 1910, the club has grown steadily and is now firmly established with 7 regular senior teams playing on Saturdays. We also run a womens side and a youth Sunday side. It is notably a lot of people having a great deal of fun and making lots of friends.

Merton FC went straight into the Southern Amateur League, which started three years before the club. For the first 30 years of its life, the club shared a pitch with Merton Hockey Club on the John Innes Recreation Ground in Merton Park. A first and reserve team were fielded along with a third side known as the "Strollers" who played friendly games away from home. The "Strollers" were older, senior players who needed to be as good at drinking and socialising as they were at football to qualify for the team. This was, so as to enable them to obtain and keep the best available fixtures.

During the Second World War, Merton managed to field one regular home side. Any member who was in the services was always offered a game to make his stay at home more enjoyable. The club played some memorable games at this time, often against professional clubs. One of the regular fixtures was against the Scots Guards from Pirbright Barracks. On one special occasion, they turned up with their band, bagpipes, kilts and all, providing Merton with its biggest crowd for years.

The Southern Amateur League boasted some good teams until the 1940's with the likes of Cambridge Town and Ipswich. Merton always used to play these clubs away because they had enclosed ground and could charge admission fees. Merton could not afford to bring these clubs to London and pay their fares out of a crowd collection at half time, which would typically raise 50 bob (£2.50). On one visit we beat Ipswich 4-0 just before they turned professional.

In the 1946/7 season the first team were Division 1 Champions, clinching the title over Easter with two crucial games, beating Hastings 3-2 and Eastbourne 5-1, the resulting celebrations caused the coach journey back to London to take more than eight hours. The Amateur Football Alliance has provided some memorable games for Merton, among them an away game against Old Chesterfieldians, which we lost 5-4, the same Merton player scored all four goals but still got some stick on the way home for not scoring more.

Merton Council helped the club improve their ground and at the end of the 70's the club itself spent £3,500 on improvements with the labour provided by the players in their spare time.

Merton's other claim to fame is that Efan Ekoku once of Wimbledon FC played for the club in the season 1987/88, also representing the league and AFA side. Alan Pardew, who is a local lad, trained us for a couple of seasons before he became famous.

In the 1988/89 season, the 1st team won the division three title and the Surrey AFA Senior Cup.

1989 was a sad year as the club lost its President Bill Cox who died suddenly in December he had been with the club since 1932.

We have been quite successful in recent years. 2004/05 the 2nd team winning their respective league, 2005/06 the 1st and 5th teams winning their respective leagues and 6th team gaining promotion. 2006/07 the 4th team gained promotion. 2007/08 the 3rd team gained promotion. We now have 6 of our 7 teams in division 2.

One of the provisions of the SAL is that all players are to be provided with a hot meal and socialise after every game irrespective of which team they play in.

In 1990 the clubhouse at our spiritual home John Innes Recreation Ground was set ablaze by vandals, and was rebuilt in 1992 and opened by the Mayor of Merton.

In 1999 the club moved to its present home at Joseph Hood Recreation Ground, Martin Way, Morden where we can accommodate 3 home teams each week and provide better facilities.

Merton FC is a self funded amateur club run by hard working volunteers and are always looking for sponsors and new club members from the local community —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kernow7 (talk • contribs) 15:12, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Moving an article from your subpage to make it available through Wikipedia search

Hello! I am finished with editing an article. Now I want to "post" it where everyone who is interested can see it. How do I do that? (I tried to discern how to do this by searching the HELP information, but I could find the answer to this question). Thanks Jean Tisserand (talk) 19:20, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

• Go to the user subpage and, in the tabs on top of it, click on "move". Then type in the name you want for the article, fill in a summary, and click "move page". Bart133 ^{t c @ How's my driving?} 19:32, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

If you are the only contributor then you can also copy the source to a new page like James G. Stewart. In order to satisfy the GFDL you must move it if there are other contributors. Moving preserves the page history. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:46, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

By the way, after you move it, you may want to edit your userpage. If you use the move button, it will replace your user page with a redirect to James G. Stewart. Just delete the redirect from your page, to avoid confusing other users. Bart133 ^{t c @ How's my driving?} 00:51, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Message to leave edit summary?

Is there a template message I can leave a user who never has left an edit summary? Mjpresson (talk) 14:34, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

You can try {{Editsummary}}. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 14:36, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Or {{Summary}} or {{Summary2}}. Scottydude _review 14:37, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

(more) However, the template is pretty bare-bones. You may want to leave a note on the user's talk page instead. Hope this helps. TN‑X-Man 14:38, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

And there is also {{Uw-editsummary}} which has additional parameters. – ukexpat (talk) 16:46, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Smiley Faces

Smiley faces our just circles with eyes and mouths.They make all kinds of smiley faces.Some are so adorable.While I will write more soon=) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kittymitty51 (talk • contribs) 19:51, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

This is a page for questions about Wikipedia and getting started. Is there something with which we can help you? TN‑X-Man 20:07, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Smiley and Wikipedia:Emoticons may interest you. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:16, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

As may {{ikon}}. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:33, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

inserting footnote in tables

I've searched but couldn't find the answer, so sorry in advance if this is posted somewhere. But, how do you insert footnote notations into a table entry, without messing up the table? I'm trying to add footnotes to this page Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball seasons

There are 2 seasons where other coaches coached briefly during Phog Allen's career and I wanted to put clickable footnotes for those years, but couldn't figure out how without messing up the entire table.

Thanks for any help!

Kmanblue (talk) 20:54, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

I have added <references/> so inline references are displayed. See Wikipedia:Footnotes. What are you doing to mess up the table? Footnotes should work the same way inside and outside tables, but they may cause table cells to become larger. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:10, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

When I tried to add a footnote tag, the table would terminate at the tag and not show any of the data after my footnote tag. It looks like someone else just typed in "*" and a "**" without making them real clickable footnotes after my effort.

Kmanblue (talk) 21:42, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Based on your description I guess you didn't close the reference correctly. A reference starting with <ref> must end with </ref>. If it doesn't end like that then the software thinks the following text is part of the reference. This is not specific to tables. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:16, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks PrimeHunter! I don't know how I missed the </ref> not being there! But one last question is, how do you put references in the Notes section? The 2nd Note on that page needs a reference to the URL it came from. Again, I've searched in the Wikipedia:Footnotes page, but didn't see it before becoming utterly lost. Thanks for any help from anyone! Kmanblue (talk) 01:17, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

References created with <ref>...</ref> are automatically displayed whereever {{reflist}} or <references/> is placed. This will usually be below a manually created section heading called References or Notes. Currently Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball seasons#References contains {{Reflist}} while the Notes section uses another type of reference system. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:31, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I've found that I had to put the References section AFTER the Notes section in order for a reference in the Notes section to show up in the References section where {{reflist}} is located. Thanks for all the help! Kmanblue (talk) 02:37, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

The way it's formatted now is confusing - there are numbered notes and numbered references, using the same numbers. – ukexpat (talk) 04:08, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Changed the Notes to letters to avoid confusion with numbered references. Kmanblue (talk) 04:51, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I think you understand all the necessary inline citation coding now. However, for future reference, you might find {{Refref}} a good cheat sheet.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:00, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I should have said that {{reflist}} or <references/> only display references placed before that point. I changed the note notation on the page a little. [1] was bad formatting. Remember readers have different browser windows and line lengths. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:48, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for all the help and cleaning up my sloppy coding! Now I know what "*" on the left will do. ha ha Kmanblue (talk) 21:02, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

The author of Wikipedia

76.174.225.241 (talk) 02:10, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

What is the author of Wikipedia?

Thamks

If you want this information in order to cite Wikipedia then see Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. Otherwise see Wikipedia:Who writes Wikipedia and Wikipedia:About. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:18, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

dispute, conflict of interest

I am not new to reading wikipedia but i am new to editing, correcting, and all your codes for the various actions. However, today i once again read your biography of Charles Gordone. i find that it was last modified on 14 august 2008. i find no user name but it is rather clearly written by susan kouyomjian who claims to be gordone's widow. this has been going on for ten years during which i have not made any efforts on the internet to resolve this dispute or conflict of interest or copyright law violation. i am holding back on writing a new entry or editing her rewrite of history. i would like to get assistance from an editor about how to breathe a little air into this entry which has numerous errors of fact, omissions which can be substantiated with letters and legal documents. i do not know her email and have NOT been in direct contact with her since my huusband's death in 1995. please help me. Jeanne warner-gordone (talk) 04:44, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia content should be purely factual, and appropriately referenced from verifiable published sources. It should not be a battleground for opposing parties to war over versions of some particular story. Wikipedia is not about proclaiming "the Truth", but about stating those facts that can be verified. Please accept my apologies if I have read this wrong, but this appears to concern a controversy between two people, both of whom regard themselves as a spouse bereaved by Mr Gordone's death, and who have different views about how the details of his life and work should be recounted. To start with, both those people have a potential conflict of interest and should be strongly discouraged from editing any Wikipedia article about him. Any material they do choose to add must be neutral, factual, and supported by reliable sources. Unpublished letters and legal documents would not normally be acceptable sources for Wikipedia, because they cannot be confirmed as genuine and consulted by a reader in the way that a published source can be.

We can have no idea whether any of the article's previous contributors is Ms Kouyomjian, although the article's talk page does tend to imply that she has been consulted about it. The article is partially sourced at present, but would be better with more sources, and with its existing sources converted to proper inline citations. If you feel unable to edit the article because of a conflict of interest, but wish to suggest corrections or improvements that are supported by reliable published sources, you can do so on the article's talk page. I'll leave you some useful links on your talk page to help you with the basics of editing and navigation here. Karenjc 12:34, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Please help with best next step

Recently there was false information in Wiki about our company. In efforts to correct this, we completely rewrote our entry, unaware that we were not upholding the spirit and etiquette of Wiki. Long story short, our entry is now flagged as conflict of interest (among other things) and we'd like to fix this in good faith. We're newbies to this process and would like to know the best next step would be. Revert to old page and make edits correct false information? Wait a few days? Post this as a discussion somewhere? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks DomRes (talk) 12:22, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

First of all, thank you for your proactive attitude. Many people go off on rants when they run against Wikipedia's rules and guidelines; your approach is greatly refreshing.

I would first point you to a few of Wikipedia's rules and guidelines covering this sort of situation. FAQ/Business is probably a good place to start, and remember that the most important principles to keep in mind here are to write with a Neutral point of view and to verify all the facts in an article. Since you are representing the company, it's going to be very difficult for you to edit neutrally, so my recommendation would be to leave the article alone. Wikipedia articles progress over time to an improved state (as users edit and improve them), as will yours. If you spot incorrect information in your article, leave a message on the article's talk page pointing it out, with a link to a source backing up your claim (verifiability again). Resist the urge to "improve" the article to make your company look better, stick to the hard facts (ideally you should leave the article completely alone, but...). If you spot a serious problem with the article, take a look at Wikipedia:Contact us/Article problem/Factual error (from enterprise) for some steps to take.

As for the article's current state, I would leave it as it is. Editors have access to the article history if they want to find information which you changed or removed.

I hope this answers your question - if not, feel free to ask for further clarification. — QuantumEleven 13:23, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I strongly suggest that you change your user name. As it is now, and based on your current edits, it is likely to be considered in breach of Wikipedia's user name policy as being a promotional user name, and liable to be blocked from editing. – ukexpat (talk) 16:13, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

What type of documents do receptionist use196.32.34.10 (talk) 13:36, 30 September 2008 (UTC)'s

Please fill in the subject box above, then REPLACE ALL OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS with your question, and don't forget to sign by leaving the following four tildes (~'s) in place which automatically formats to your signature once you click "save page" below. 196.32.34.10 (talk) 13:36, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

You didn't replace the instruction text with a question so the only thing we have to go on is the title you gave your post. First, please note that this page is for questions about using Wikipedia; knowledge questions can be asked at the reference desk. In any event, a receptionist's duties can vary wildly even in jobs in the same type of industry and would certainly be different across different fields. Some common documents may be typical such as maintaining a rolodex, often electronic today, some type of way to record messages such as a message pad and so on. For such a general job with such a variety of possible duties subject to field and the pecularities of the individual situation, it is impossible to be any more specific.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:43, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

And remember, if this is a homework question, we don't do your homework for you! – ukexpat (talk) 16:16, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Repeated personal names

Just wanted to check what the convention is:

If an article is about John Smith, his full name goes at the start of the article.

When we want to use his name again, later in the article, is he: "John", "Smith" or "Mr Smith"? (And the same for women ?)

thisisace (talk) 23:45, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies)#Subsequent uses of names. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:11, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Adding new article

Hello there. How can I add an article here? 125.60.173.37 (talk) 09:22, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

You will need to first register an account, which has many benefits, including the ability to create articles. Once you have registered, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. Algebraist 09:49, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Editing query

Someone has added wrong information to a page about me. I have logged but don't know how to correct this mis information. Please help. Claregate (talk) 12:24, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

To edit a page, click on the "edit this page" tab at the top of the article. However, I should warn you of WP:COI (it's generally unacceptable to edit articles about yourself). But if the incorrect information is unsourced, you can remove it per WP:V. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 12:34, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

I understand that it must be strange to see incorrect information about yourself on this website. You may want to look at WP:Biographies of living persons/Help for ideas on how to proceed. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 13:08, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Nigerian Press and Bakassi

What are the major roles Nigerian press played over Bakassi issue since 2006. 195.166.237.254 (talk) 14:39, 2 October 2008 (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 is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:42, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Please stop reposting the same question. This desk is for help with using wikipedia. Knowledge based questions like yours would receive answers at the Reference desk. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:48, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

I saved my first articel and it doesn't show up.....

I finished my first articel yesterday and saved it. It still doesn't show up...I can just see it on my user page when I am logged in. Can somebody help me????? (~'s) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Modjolife (talk • contribs) 13:39, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

You need to move it into WP article namespace. Note that there's already an article called Modjo. See WP:Disambiguation for dealing with this. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 13:47, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

The user space page has recently been deleted as advertising per WP:CSD#G11 and the user blocked for spamming. – ukexpat (talk) 14:47, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Appropriate article, or neologism?

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this, but I was wondering if anybody had any thoughts on the creation of the article Conviction politics - I haven't created it yet, but I think it would be helpful. I don't want to bother writing an article only to have it deleted, so I was wondering if anybody thought it was WP:Neologism. Thanks! Bsimmons666 (talk) 20:22, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

You would need to be sure that the phrase is in regular use and has references available in reliable sources to affirm that it's not a neologism before the article would be acceptable. Tony Fox (arf!) 06:13, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

This term 'Conviction politics' has received quite a bit of use by the mainstream media (Google News) so I would say go on ahead. - Icewedge (talk) 06:31, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Awesome thanks. Bsimmons666 (talk) 14:14, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Might be a good idea to create it as a user sub-page first: User:Bsimmons666/Conviction politics. – ukexpat (talk) 17:01, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Adding to an existing entry

My name appears on your site when entered in the search under the entry for my play Calabi-Yau. Would it be possible to hyperlink my name in your Calabi Yau entry to my website? If so, how do I go about this?

I would also like to add production photos to the entry? Would you be able to provide step by step instructions on how to add a jpg of a photo?

Many thanks,

Triceretops77 (talk) 05:15, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

You can provide the link in the external links section. As for the images, the images you are going to add must comply with the Wikipedia Image use policy. You'll find Wikipedia:Images and Wikipedia:Picture tutorial helpful as well. Cheers. Chamal ^Talk ± 07:45, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

patogens

a pathogen is the route a disease travels to make you sick69.95.255.23 (talk) 12:00, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

There is more info available on pathogens in this article. Did you have any questions about using Wikipedia? TN‑X-Man 12:49, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Also, if you have a question related to this topic, try the science reference desk. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 00:48, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

CAN I ADD APHOTO TO THE HMS ACATES SITE

Please fill in the subject box above, then REPLACE ALL OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS with your question, and don't forget to sign by leaving the following four tildes (~'s) in place which automatically formats to your signature once you click "save page" below. 90.203.75.169 (talk) 16:43, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

In order to upload a file, you must register an account (which has several benefits). After registering, you must be an autoconfirmed user, which simply means having an account for four days and making ten edits. After that, feel free to upload images. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 17:34, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

If the image is your own work, you should consider uploading to Commons so it is available for all the Wikipedia projects. Commons has no autoconfirmation requirements. – ukexpat (talk) 20:00, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Creating a Page

how do you create a new page??? EasternSports (talk) 18:17, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

See WP:YFA for help on your first article Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 19:34, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

speed deletion

How is it my page, which hasn't even been up for five minutes gets deleted. By some jackwad named BONG WARRIOR? Are you kidding me? I haven't even begun to fill it in with content yet, (how could I in the five minutes while I was reading the site docs.???

That is rediculious. What? do people sit around waiting to see new pages get added and then delete them? How lame is that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stephanie sweet (talk • contribs) 18:24, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes, people look at new pages and delete them, because a huge portion of the new pages we get are junk. Rather than insulting other editors, how about giving us some indication of why you belong in an encyclopedia? Friday (talk) 18:27, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

As Friday says, No Personal Attacks are alowed on wikipedia. Please read Wikipedia:BIO and A7 before you attempt to reintroduce the page. If you still think it was sutibal go here, and ask for the page to be restored, explaining why it was significate, cheers Spitfire^Tally-ho! 18:33, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Michael Paul Hoffecker

Michael Paul Hoffecker was born on January 4th, 1980 in Willingboro, New Jersey. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Neojerzey (talk • contribs) 23:43, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

But does he have a question that we can attempt to answer? – ukexpat (talk) 16:49, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Photos Available for Gene Russianoff and John Liu (and other NYC City Council Members).

I have photographs of city council members that I've taken when covering press conferences. I created an account in order to upload them but I'm not an admin. I'm not heartbroken about that. If you want the photos contact me and let me know how to get them to you. I have literally hundreds of political photos - some of which may be useful. All are GPL'd. You have my email address so if I don't hear back I'll assume there isn't any interest. Thanks. Thomas Good (talk) 01:23, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Hi Thomas, and welcome to Wikipedia. It sounds like photos such as these would be very useful. You'll be able to upload them yourself via the "Upload file" link on the left hand side (you don't have to be an admin). However, I'm not entirely sure whether you have to wait a few days and have a certain number of edits under your belt to be allowed to upload. (Can someone else advise on whether people have to be autoconfirmed?) Also, you have specify a suitable licence (and I'm not an expert on that side, so again, can someone else advise?). Hope this helps.--92.41.160.18 (talk) 04:47, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

4 days and 10 edits are required before you are autoconfirmed. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 15:13, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

If they are your images, I would urge you to upload them to Commons where they will be available to all the Wikipedia projects. Commons does not have autoconfirmation requirements. – ukexpat (talk) 16:47, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Help! I created a page and it's already marked speedy deletion!

Help! I just tried to complete an information page on a book and it's already marked for 'speedy deletion.' I think it's because it's an 'article' instead of a 'stub,' but I have no clue how to change it. Could you help me? This is in regard to the "Necessary Heartbreak" page.

Also, if possible, I'd like to add an book fact box to the right hand corner of the page - similar to how Joyce Carol Oates does on the side of hers. How do I go about doing this?

With many, many thanks,

Conniesmall (talk) 14:49, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

I have declined the speedy deletion. Please note, however, that the article is still eligible for proposed deletion or a deletion discussion. The best way to ensure that your article is kept is to review this guideline and include reliable sources that support the book's notability. Has the book won any awards or been at the top of a bestseller list? If your article does get deleted, I can create a sandbox for you where you can work on the article before putting it out for the world to see. TN‑X-Man 14:54, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Use of my own copyright material

I've had material in a Wikipedia entry I've created deleted because it duplicates text in another website – which is in fact one that I created and hence my copyright. How do I deal with this?Radavenport (talk) 16:43, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Take a look at WP:IOWN for guidance. – ukexpat (talk) 16:48, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Adding webites for additional information

For the Enigma Artist page I wanted to add 2 web site so anyone needing more information on artist, music, discography, history, etc. could go to if they wished.( EnigmaMusic.com & EnigmaSpace.com)Delrock99 (talk) 17:54, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

This would probably be more appropriate for the discussion/talk page of the artist. It would be appropriate to add to the External links sectionWisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 00:50, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

adoption

is there any way someone can help me get adopted?OneLastTime93 (talk) 18:18, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Well, I'd be more than happy to adopt you. Check out this page. Drop me a line on my talk page if you're interested. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 18:26, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

being biassed?

I am wondering why Obama's page on here has a feature which will allow you to listen to the whole page, but McCain's does not. I think if you offer one representative the ability to have his page on audio, then the other one should have the same. Why isn't McCain's site on audio? ~~Chris~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.216.55.131 (talk) 13:31, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Because no one has yet recorded it and made such recording available. It is not bias, remember we are all volunteers here so if you feel strongly you could always record it yourself, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Spoken Wikipedia. – ukexpat (talk) 14:31, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

speedy deletion

I had an article that I thought was noteworthy and will soon become more noteworthy being tagged for speedy deletion. I then asked them to hangon and typed why I thought it should stay in the talk page. My question is who rules on it and when? The speedy deletion is still on the site - when will they delete it or let it be?. LEC36 (talk) 13:47, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

An administrator will look at the article and your rationale for keeping it and make a decision. Even if it is deleted, that decision can be reviewed, or the article can be undeleted to a subpage of your user space so you can work on it further. – ukexpat (talk) 14:26, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Review my article please?

Can I get a couple editors review and comment my article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Hydrangea_Blue/AutoQuotes) on my user page before I move it to the main article space? I don't like speedy deletion. Thank you in advance! --Hydrangea Blue (talk) 18:04, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

I still don't think it meets notability requirements - you need significant coverage in reliable sources to establish notability. Neither of your references are reliable sources as WP uses that term. – ukexpat (talk) 18:39, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Folks' interpretation of the speedy deletion criteria can vary, and if you are seeking a cast-iron guarantee that your article won't be deleted, then you won't find that here or anywhere else on Wikipedia. Having said that, to my mind the current version of your article is not blatant advertising and it asserts notability ("widely used as an industry standard "), so it does not meet the criteria for speedy deletion. However, if the article were nominated for the AfD process, then the quality of the sources which demonstrate notability (a higher threshold than the speedy deletion criteria) would come into question, and it might be deleted because there was insufficient evidence of notability. Gandalf61 (talk) 12:18, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Many thanks for the inputs. --Hydrangea Blue (talk) 20:09, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

By the way, can I try to repost it? If so, how to repost an article that's been deleted?--Hydrangea Blue (talk) 20:43, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

It's not clear to me why it was deleted. I will ask the deleting admin. In any event, you can ask for the page to be restored to your user space where it was before or you can just recreate it in the same place. – ukexpat (talk) 21:48, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Oops, I see it was moved to the main space and the resulting redirect was deleted. – ukexpat (talk) 22:11, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Can you tell me how to move user articles to main space? I notice TenPoundHammer has done it for me. I would like to learn the steps so I don't have to rely on admin to do it for me in the future. Thanks!--Hydrangea Blue (talk) 22:33, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Use the "move" tab at the top of the page. See also Help:Moving a page. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:52, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Simon Cadell

Simon Cadell wrote a book about the life of Jesus between when he was a small boy who amazed the rabbis at the temple and when he began to work his miracles. Does anyone know the title of the book? 81.110.169.226 (talk) 19:27, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Try at the WP:RD, but rememeber, we can't do any homework for you. cheers Spitfire^Tally-ho! 10:07, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

search direction question

If you put "As I Lay Dying" into the search function it directs you to a page about some band, not the novel. This seems very inappropriate to me - any serious source of knowledge should not give some random band preference over one of the more famous American novels. At the very least it should lead to a 'disambiguation' page, but right to the band, that is a joke. How can this be changed / is it appropriate to change something such as that? P7njsl (talk) 05:01, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

• I have changed the page As I Lay Dying from a redirect to a disambiguation as there are at least three articles needing to be disambiguated. 05:35, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Article re: Robert L. Rishchynski

I have a question.

I am helping on the Robert L. Rishchynski campaign for Parkdale-High Park. If you look at the Parkdale-High Park page there were two references to Robert. However no page - I simply added the page.

Now the page is being questioned for Notability.

However, if I look at other candidates for Parkdale-High Park, one exists for another candidate who has never been elected and does not show any notability questions --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorne_Gershuny. Nor does it have any references etc.

Can you please advise why Robert's page is singled out in this way and Lorne's has not been?

I modelled Robert's from Lorne's and added a picture.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

11:58, 9 October 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Polakl (talk • contribs)

New - I don't understand - is the question notability. But I have explained above. Robert is the Green Party Candidate in Parkdale-High Park. There were references to him already in the Parkdale-High Park article. Please advise what I need to do.

--Polakl (talk) 12:16, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

FYI - I have added some references to the article. Hopefully this will assist in your review to show notability.

--204.92.92.4 (talk) 12:34, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Please see WP:POLITICIAN for information on the notability guidelines for politicians. There needs to be independent third party sources to support the notability of the person. There are over 2.5 million articles on Wikipedia and while we strive to hold them all to the same standards, the timing for reviews and improvements is not the same for all articles. The fact that other stuff is on here is not a valid argument for allowing other articles. I hope that you will continue to improve the article and add additional sources to support his notability. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 12:57, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks very much for the feedback. I'll look at the notability guidelines for Politicians and continue to expand the article and references based on that.

--Polakl (talk) 16:14, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Special page

Hi, when you click special pages on the toolbox, why is it that some of the features listed at Help:Special page are not available? For example there is no special:mypage or special:mytalk. I find this to be particularly frustrating because as an IP i am always changing and would like a quick way to see my contribs. I cannot do this and i dont know why mytalk or mypage is not available. Can someone add it on? Thanks 220.239.56.131 (talk) 12:22, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Not to pass the buck but I would suggest asking at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical). I am not sure why the decision was made not to allow those links for IPs but they should know over at the VP. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 12:46, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

A quick way to see you contributions is to add http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Mypage to your browser's bookmarks.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:48, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Well, if you're using a shared IP, then you won't have a permanent talkpage or userpage, simply because your IP address changes. You can't check your contributions either, since all of them are not made my a single IP address. If you are planning to edit Wikipedia frequently, then you should consider creating an account. Please see Wikipedia:Why create an account? as well. Cheers. Chamal ^Talk ± 12:56, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Please remove this page.

Dear Wikipedia,

I have tried to upload information about myself a year ago and was told by you on a a page that I should not do it.

I do respect your policies and am willing to abide by your rules and have done so since your reply to me. However, your page that informs me is still up on the internet for the last one year. This is embarrassing for me as lots of people will continue to read this message. May I ask that you kindly remove this page on me on the Wikipedia website from the internet permanently, as soon as it is possible for you to do so? I have given all of you respect by not uploading any more info on myself since then, kindly extend to me the same respect by removing this page.

The page line is :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Julian_Cheah

Thank you.

Julian Cheah. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.53.171.113 (talk) 04:01, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

You are allowed to blank your user talk page in this case. You can log in, click "edit this page" at the top of User talk:Julian Cheah, delete everything, make an informative edit summary like "blanking, I will not write about myself again so this is no longer relevant", click "Save page". (It might be reverted if you don't log in or don't make a good edit summary). See also Wikipedia:User page#How do I delete my user talk pages? for a way to request deletion of the page so the former contents are no longer visible by clicking the "history" tab. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:05, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

I blanked the page for you, but there was nothing on it to be embarrassed about. Even experienced Wikipedia contributors get requests on their talk pages to remove or change things they have added. It's normal for new users to get messages like this, before they learn what the site is about. --A Knight Who Says Ni (talk) 13:31, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

when I search for my article nothing is found

I created a new article yesterday Nurse-Family Partnership, and when I do a search it doesn't find my article, do I need to do something else? Nfpartnership (talk) 19:43, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

• When I look at your contributions I find no new page. The chances are that it was deleted or you only think you created it. What I want you to do is think really carefully to rememeber the exact name, and then I can look it up in the deletion log, cheers Spitfire^Tally-ho! 19:51, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
  • If you can't find it in the Deletion log I can only advise you ask an admin to look at your "deleted edits" to distern if you have made a page which has then been deleted. if it turns out you have, then please don't reintroduce the page. however if you havn't. Then all you can do is write the article again Spitfire^Tally-ho! 20:04, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Article on Carter Heyward

I wrote an article on Carter Heyward (American theologian). I know from the Watchlist page on my user account that someone's already edited it, but it doesn't come up on a google search, even though I wrote it six week ago. Anyone know where it is, please ?--MicahSixEight (talk) 19:53, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

• your contributions Reaval that you have either never made the page, or that it has since been deleted, I find the latter my likley, however it dosn't seem to be showing up in the deletion log. do you rememeber the exact name of the article? Spitfire^Tally-ho! 19:58, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
  • If you can't find it in the Deletion log I can only advise you ask an admin to look at your "deleted edits" to distern if you have made a page which has then been deleted. if it turns out you have, then please don't reintroduce the page. however if you havn't. Then all you can do is write the article again Spitfire^Tally-ho! 20:04, 10 October 2008 (UTC)