Wikipedia:Help desk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Help index · Help desk · Help chat (IRC) · Reference desk · FAQ · Editor's welcome · Tutorial · Cheatsheet · Glossary · Any questions?
| Skip to today's questions Skip to the bottom Special help services Archived discussions (searchable) How to answer |
|
Welcome to the Help desk
|
| Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) |
|---|
| Please leave feedback to help us improve this page |
|---|
[edit] December 6
[edit] Contact
I would like to have my email removed from a number of pages in wikipedia. The email will (probably be visible) in the history, and when the removing (the text). (So I might need an oversighter.) Is there an email I can contact, or help otherwise?174.3.102.6 (talk) 01:53, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- See Wikipedia:Requests for oversight. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:59, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] How the person in coma will recure?
My friend had brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen for too long.Now she is in coma from last four years.Will she recure from this?How do i help her?Pls help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shashank shinde (talk • contribs) 13:05, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
We cannot offer medical advice. Please see the medical disclaimer. Contact your General Practitioner. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 13:19, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] New articles
In project pages there are links to pages named New article announcements. I observe that these pages are not regular article pages. How are the links to new articles added to these pages ? Nedim Ardoğa (talk) 13:19, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- Some WikiProjects have a bot looking for new additions to categories covered by that project. For example, the page history of Wikipedia:WikiProject Mathematics/Current activity shows it is updated by User:Jitse's bot. There it says it relies on the work of User:Mathbot, who lists all the mathematics articles. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:48, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- See User:AlexNewArtBot for a bot used by many projects. It can use other things than categories to search for relevant articles. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:57, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] HTTPS with HTTP content mixed
Please fix that type of mixed content, thanks. (see here) --84.44.153.128 (talk) 15:54, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- You would be best to post this request at the Village pump. Magog the Ogre (talk) 16:14, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- This is a rather eternal point. Those elements are hosted on a different server system (media servers) and the media servers currently do not yet have a secure interface. It is on the TODO list, but unfortunately, that's a rather large list. :D —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 16:21, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- Where to see this TODO list if it is public or how long does it take? --84.44.153.128 (talk) 16:22, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- It's been on the list for over 3 years. I think that says enough. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 16:23, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- bugzilla:16822 and bugzilla:18496 and slightly related bugzilla:5440 —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 16:26, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- It's been on the list for over 3 years. I think that says enough. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 16:23, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- Where to see this TODO list if it is public or how long does it take? --84.44.153.128 (talk) 16:22, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- This is a rather eternal point. Those elements are hosted on a different server system (media servers) and the media servers currently do not yet have a secure interface. It is on the TODO list, but unfortunately, that's a rather large list. :D —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 16:21, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Inserting messages in article namespace
Is there a policy for writing non-encyclopedic messages, good faith or not, in articles? For example, in a section of an article, putting, "Someone plz fix this section, it looks like it's been written by an 11-year old" or "I removed the stub template, there's nothing more to write. ~~~~" Just curious. If there is one, please provide a link. C Teng [talk] 18:27, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- There is no 'policy' on this explicitly, but they should always be removed, made invisible with <!-- --> or moved to the talk page. Cenarium (talk) 18:39, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] adding
hi dear i want to add article in Wikipedia but don;t know how please advise me
|
A Wizard is available to walk you through these steps. See the Article Wizard.
—Thank you.
|
- 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 Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. An Article Wizard is available to walk you through creating an article, but you will need to create an account to use it. if you don't wish to do so, you can submit a proposal for an article at Articles for Creation. Xenon54 / talk / 19:50, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Name conflict
I just created a new article on an organization that is incorporated as Magic, Inc. Unfortunately this is already in use for the article on Heinlein's book. And although it is frequently called simply Magic, that would be even more confusing. So I have put the article for now at Magic (organization). I would like to propose that Magic, Inc. be moved to Magic, Inc. (novel) and Magic (organization) moved to Magic, Inc.. I think that would be clear? But I thought I should ask before being that bold.
Once it's clear where the new article is going to be, it obviously needs to be added to the Magic DAB page. I think General Magic, Inc. should be too. Thoughts? If the moves seem wise, I'd be delighted if someone did them while I hit the hay; I am late for bed. Yngvadottir (talk) 21:09, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- Hi, I think there might be some challenge tothe notability of the page you added. That aside, you'd need to show that the organisation was the intended result of searching for 'Magic, Inc.' much more frequently than the novel. The full details are at WP:PRIMARYTOPIC. You might raise it at the requested moves page if you thought the criterion could be satisfied. --AndrewHowse (talk) 21:49, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- My personal take on this would be that I would consider Heinlein's book to be the primary use of the phrase "Magic, Inc" (the novel was published in 1940, the organisation incorporated in 1979; I feel more people would be looking for the book than the organisation if they were to type it into the search book). There is also the fact (as AndrewHowse says) that such a suggestion may well be challenged - the organisation's article has existed for just under 2-1/2 hours, whereas the book's article has existed since August 2004! Is there any reason why the organisation's article couldn't be titled Magic, Inc (organization), and a hatnote added to the top of the Magic, Inc article referring to the organisation. In fact, I am going to be bold and do this! -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 22:18, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- Update:
- Magic, Inc. (organization) is the article name (with Magic (organization) as a redirect to it - and with a hatnote about the Heinlein novella)
- Magic, Inc. (the novella article) has a hatnote about the organization
- I trust this helps -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 22:30, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- Update:
- My personal take on this would be that I would consider Heinlein's book to be the primary use of the phrase "Magic, Inc" (the novel was published in 1940, the organisation incorporated in 1979; I feel more people would be looking for the book than the organisation if they were to type it into the search book). There is also the fact (as AndrewHowse says) that such a suggestion may well be challenged - the organisation's article has existed for just under 2-1/2 hours, whereas the book's article has existed since August 2004! Is there any reason why the organisation's article couldn't be titled Magic, Inc (organization), and a hatnote added to the top of the Magic, Inc article referring to the organisation. In fact, I am going to be bold and do this! -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 22:18, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
-
-
-
- Thanks, I think it does, although obviously redundant, it separates it from the fictional organization (actually I'd never heard of the novella, and while newspapers seem to use "Magic, Inc." for the California organization, both long articles that I found use "Magic." The name conflicts (with General Magic as well) complicate searching, which may be why the notability is being challenged; I see it just got AfD'd. But on the title issue, I don't think there is an easy answer when a fictional work has exactly the same name as a legal name of an organization. Yngvadottir (talk) 05:15, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
-
-
[edit] search results give wikipedia.org link, but clicking doesn't link to article, but instead asks me to save the file
In the past few months, some Wikipedia.org article links found while searching for a subject will not open a Wikipedia page; rather, it asks me to download a file, of unknown file type. This happens about 10% of the time I try to click on a Wikipedia article link from Google. The latest, today, was a search for "nacirema" which gave me the link "en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacirema
I have tried to save the file, but it will not open with any program. Thanks for your help —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.104.171.166 (talk) 22:54, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- Several people have reported this problem when clicking on a Google search results page in Internet Explorer. Google attaches something to the link which can apparently cause problems in the communication between Wikipedia and your browser. It should work if you manually copy the url to the browser address bar instead of clicking the link. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:18, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] reviewing an article
How do I review a new article? MJCope (talk) 23:37, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- What kind of reviewing? If you refer to the article rating on the talk page of many Wikipedia articles then see Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Assessment FAQ. This is the first edit of your account. Maybe it would be good to become more familiar with Wikipedia first. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:52, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] December 7
[edit] Lansing crusaders
How to process this new page? It's external link is a mirror of Wikipedia that is used as a source? I think I'm missing something or this page has been deleted before. I marked it patrolled before I figured out what was up. PirateArgh!!1! 03:13, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
The article seems to describe a high school football team. Usually, high school football teams are not themselves notable enough for an independent article. Since the entire thing is unreferenced, you could simply remove all of the text and WP:BOLDly redirect it to the appropriate article on the high school itself. --Jayron32 03:21, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
-
- Scratch that. Its not about a high school team, its about a "semipro" football team (read: amateur), and likely could be prodded or AFDed as a non-notable sports team. Having a winning record is not in itself notable. My church softball team won its league the past two years, doesn't mean it gets an article. --Jayron32 03:26, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- Just for the record, an article at the correct capitalization was deleted via prod in May 2007. That article's what the mirrors picked up, apparently. Deor (talk) 12:17, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Citing legal documents
I'm wishing to cite legal acts. When using the citation template, what parameter(s) would I use to insert the chapter, section, and subsection? Furthermore, would the publisher by the government that published the document, or the department of that government? - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ τ ¢ 03:27, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- Have you looked at the entries at Category:United_States_law_templates? I've not looked at them (and I've not got time to at the moment), but one of those might help. If not, let me know and I'll look into it tonight (UTC) -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 13:53, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- I found some at Template:United_States_legal_citation_templates, but they seem specifically for US law. Is there Canadian or international versions? - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ τ ¢ 19:27, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Inserting an image
I have loaded a new image to replace the old but the old image is still showing on the page. Why can't we delete old images and why is it so difficult to insert a new image on the page??? I don't have the time to read through pages and pages of garbled information explaining why - just a simple answer in response will do Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hetha Griff (talk • contribs) 04:36, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- have you cleared your browser's cache? (if you specify what article you're talking about, preferably with links to the article and to the new image, so we know what we're supposed to be seeing, that might make it easier to help) Sssoul (talk) 05:57, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- okay, it appears you're talking about the Ray Vanderby article, and this image: [1], which is what's showing on the page, but too small to be a very effective illustration. i hope some image-literate denizen of the help desk will now find it easier to assist you Sssoul (talk) 06:08, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- ps: i've replaced the "gallery" parameter you were using with the plain old [[image]] style, and it looks better to me now. is that the effect you wanted? Sssoul (talk) 06:18, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] source problem in college
hello, i am a college student and my professors say that wikipedia is not a real source, why is that? i do not understand why, is it something simple or because some information could be false? either way its outrageous because this encylopedia has everything and has helped me over the years in numerous ways. if theres any explanation for my professors not accepting wikipedia as a viable source please come forth, because it is very confusing.
thank you,
jim —Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.152.23.35 (talk) 06:53, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- Hi there Jim,
- Your professor is right. Wikipedia is not a source. The reason for this is that anybody can edit it. Not only can the "source" change in the time between you using it and your professor reading it, but it could have been vandalized before they read it, and before someone could revert it.
- However, what wikipedia Is, is a summary of sources. In articles that are reliable, the information should be cited. The citation will more often than not be a real source. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ τ ¢ 07:04, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- To get a little bit deeper into it; if you take information from Wikipedia, it IS a source for that information. What the professor meant of course, is that it isn't a TYPE of source that he accepts. There are many types of sources, and much like your professor, Wikipedia doesn't accept all of them either. There are reliable vs unreliable sources, transient vs. fixed sources, primary, secondary and tertiary sources. Wikipedia is a tertiary source of a transient nature, and it's reliability depends on how well it sources the information it provides. Your professor is looking for sources like those we use in Wikipedia. Mostly reliable primary and secondary sources of a fixed nature. Note that a source is almost never forbidden in academics, they are only forbidden in certain usecases. (If you research Wikipedia, you are likely to have to use Wikipedia as a primary source). Knowing when to use which source of which type is a skill you should be developing in college (and this is all stuff that your professor should be teaching you, instead of a random person on Wikipedia). —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 14:51, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- See also Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia#A caution before citing Wikipedia and Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:57, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
-
-
- Never cite Wikipedia in a paper. Because, as explained above, it is a transient tertiary source that anyone can edit. However, what you CAN do is use Wikipedia to FIND other sources. The information on WP is only as good as its sources, anyway. Use WP to point you to the sources and then use the sources. Think of this way: I might ask a friend to recommend some books on a topic and use those books. But I don't cite my friend in my paper. Professors want to see scholarly sources such as books and journal articles. These are peer-reviewed, meaning they are reviewed by other academics. News and magazine articles are also often cited. For more information, see WP:RELIABLE. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.222.216.24 (talk) 16:34, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- One of the commonly cited reasons for not allowing Wikipedia as a reference is that anyone can edit it. This actually is an amalgam of two different issues. First, the fact that anyone can edit it means that if you simply provide the straightforward link to the article, the text almost certainly has changed when the next person looks at it, possibly in a substantive way. This objection can be overcome, as knowledgeable people know how to link to a static version. The second aspect is that anyone can edit it, so you don’t know whether the person who wrote it knew what they were talking about. In some cases, they might be deliberately spreading misinformation, although it usually caught in a relatively timely fashion. This objection isn’t as easily overcome.
- However, in my opinion, the main objection to using Wikipedia as a source is exactly the same reason Encyclopedia Britannica should not be used as a source in a serious research paper – it is a tertiary sources rather than a primary or secondary source. Wikipedia is a great tool for someone writing a paper, but if they are serious, they won’t take a single word from the WP article, instead, they will read the article for a nice summary of the subject, then track down the cited sources. Those sources (generally speaking) should be acceptable as cited sources in a college paper, but now you can write the summary in your own words, and you can do a synthesis of various sources (not allowed in WP) and original research (again, forbidden in WP).SPhilbrickT 18:21, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- Never cite Wikipedia in a paper. Because, as explained above, it is a transient tertiary source that anyone can edit. However, what you CAN do is use Wikipedia to FIND other sources. The information on WP is only as good as its sources, anyway. Use WP to point you to the sources and then use the sources. Think of this way: I might ask a friend to recommend some books on a topic and use those books. But I don't cite my friend in my paper. Professors want to see scholarly sources such as books and journal articles. These are peer-reviewed, meaning they are reviewed by other academics. News and magazine articles are also often cited. For more information, see WP:RELIABLE. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.222.216.24 (talk) 16:34, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
-
- Another reason to not cite Wikipedia as a source is that it is an encyclopedia. In general, you shouldn't cite encyclopedias when doing adult-level or even high-school- or middle-school-level research or papers. Yes, there are exceptions, but generally teachers frown on it.
- For what its worth, most articles in Wikipedia and other encyclopedias cite sources. Assuming the sources are reliable, these are what you should be using, or if these sources are secondary or tertiary, consider following their bibliographies back to primary sources and use them.
- One major exception: If you are writing about Wikipedia, about and article or other page in Wikipedia, a Wikipedia editor, or something else, then edits found in Wikipedia edit histories can be used as primary sources. However, be sure to cite the edit, not the page. You can find edits of a page by clicking on the "history" tab of a page. The most recent edit, which is probably the one you want, is at the top. Consult with your instructor or school librarian for more information on the appropriateness or inappropriateness of using an encyclopedia as a source. Likewise, if you are writing about the Encyclopædia Britannica, you may cite it as a primary source, e.g. "Encyclopedia Britannica has 2 articles about fish on volume 2 page 23" with a citation of E.B. v. 2 p. 23. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 01:51, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Voluntary translation of a German wikipedia page to English
Dear Wiki people,
there is a short german Wikipedia page about a village in Hungary called "Szirák": http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szir%C3%A1k. I would like to offer to translate this page into English. For the time being, the information in the German page is sufficient, although as the village has an intersting history, I would be able to expand upon it in both English and German.
I am an English native speaker, but I have lived and worked for over 30 years in German speaking countries and I now live in Hungary, so I am familiar with both the language of the article to be translated and the subject matter.
Unfortunately, despite reading all the FAQs etc.l, it is still not quite clear to me as to how I should do this.
1) As the English page does not exist, do I have to create it first? 2) Do I then use the translation template to make sure that the copyright is attributed correctly to the German page?
I look forward to getting your response.
I am already registered with Wikipedia as a user
Psymmo (talk) 13:11, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- Yes, you must create the page at the English Wikipedia. Create it at Szirák or Szirak and make a redirect at the other. Maybe you have already seen Wikipedia:Translation which mentions {{Translated page}}. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:28, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- (e/c) Hi Psymmo. Yes, create the page with translated text and I suggest using a similarly situated page here, such as Diósjenő, for examples to use for some matters such as what infobox to place and how to format in place of the foreign. Then create a talk page for the article and place there {{translated page|de|source page title|version=123456789|insertversion=987654321|section=name}}. See the template link for how to find the information to fill in in the parameters provided. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:39, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Cherokee Studios - wtf!?
I asked this on the talk page of the article, but I'd appreciate someone taking a quick look at it now to be sure I'm not going crazy. Is it just me, or does this article contain a massive portion of Wikipedia policy (for no apparent reason) sandwiched with an odd spam-like article? There has to be some purpose I've missed, surely, and if anyone can enlighten me as to its purpose that would be great. SMC (talk) 14:16, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- {{WP:ARTSPAM}} was stuffed in there, causing it to transclude the guideline. I would presume the editor meant to add {{cleanup-spam}}. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 14:23, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Saul Ewing Page
The logo on the page is incorrect. Is this something that I can change or should I send you the image and you post it. I can't find where to change the logo. —Preceding unsigned comment added by SaulEwing (talk • contribs) 15:04, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- Only autoconfirmed accounts can upload images to Wikipedia. One of us can do it if you give a url. Is it http://www.saul.com/images/misc/print_logo.gif? PrimeHunter (talk) 15:25, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- As for where to do it, clicking the logo on Saul Ewing leads to File:Saul Ewing logo.png where autoconfirmed users have a link saying "Upload a new version of this file". PrimeHunter (talk) 15:44, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
-
-
-
- OK. The logo used on their website pages is from http://www.saul.com/images/bkg_header_logo.jpg but that is of poor quality compared to the one I found at http://www.saul.com/images/misc/print_logo.gif. I guess you converted the latter to png. Maybe SaulEwing should tell the company webmaster that the p in jpg stands for Photographic and the format is poorly suited for other things. See jpg#Typical usage. And before somebody says "but jpg compresses", note that the linked jpg is 3 times larger than the gif version. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:26, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
-
-
[edit] Text search in category and its sub-categories
Does anyone know of a way to search the articles in a category and its subcategories for a text string? Using the standard Wikipedia search tool, I could search like this: "America incategory:Foo", but that won't search sub-categories of Category:Foo at the same time, which is what I'd like to do. Using the text-search function in AWB is limited to 1000 hits. I could, I suppose, search each subcategory in turn using the standard search tool, but that would be very slow. Thoughts? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bencherlite (talk • contribs)
- Whoops, forgot to sign this question earlier... Any ideas, people? BencherliteTalk 21:59, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit]
Hi there, I'm trying to get together a small group of people to try and improve the information about Oxfam on Wikipedia (both the main article and other articles connected with it). I get the impression that WikiProjects would be the best place to organise this but I'm slightly confused about all the different categorisation within that.
Would the WikiProject on 'Organizations' be the best place to start or would Oxfam and related information be better placed under a different parent project? Should I be adding myself as a participant to that project then adding tasks related to Oxfam?
389melanie (talk) 15:24, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- Oxfam seems a too narrow topic to get its own WikiProject, and it doesn't have enough similar articles to set up its own guidelines. Perhaps it would be best to simply ask for interested editors on a relevant WikiProject talk page, for example Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Organizations or Wikipedia talk:WikiProject International development. Some WikiProjects have task forces but Oxfam also seems narrow for that. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:39, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
-
- OK, will try that. Thanks! 193.133.69.201 (talk) 13:17, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] How to store a document for reference material
I have a word document that I would like to use as a reference. But, it is not on a web server. Is there a way to store a document and then use it as a reference in an article? GloverEpp (talk) 16:25, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- Has the word document been published before in a reliable source? Has it appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, or a major newspaper or magazine, or been published in a book released by a major university press or reputable publishing house? If none of these, then it cannot be used as a citable reference in a Wikipedia article. If it HAS been published before, then you would cite the original publication. It need not appear online, if you have the bibliographic information for the journal or book, you could simply cite it per standard MLA or similar formats. --Jayron32 16:35, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] what's the easiest way to
go back and read an old help desk question I submitted? found diff of my edit but need to see all subsequent responses. archives seem an unnavigable mess. even for like a 2 weeks ago item... too much searching blindly! helpthx. n-dimensional §кakkl€ 17:52, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- Use the search at Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives which is linked from the top of this page, enter in the title of the question you asked (I think a wizard got offended), et voila - Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 November 23#I think a wizard got offended. Nanonic (talk) 17:58, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- You could also go to your user page and click 'What links here', filter it to only show results from the Wikipedia namespace and - you get this. Nanonic (talk) 18:00, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Missing article
I've already butted heads with several administrators who seem to favor deleting articles rather than making information available on Wikipedia. I will continue to rant about the abusive article deletion policies on Wikipedia. It makes me cautious about spending the effort to create an article. Scattered throughout Wikipedia articles are literally hundreds of references to what I would think should be called "United States Olympic Trials (track and field)" or "United States Olympic Trials (athletics)" but all of them are dead. Comparable articles for other, lesser sports do exist on Wikipedia. About six months ago I started to create a simple generic article to initiate this subject, then after an hour found a superior article already in existence. I tried to then link that article into main articles where this information should be found. Well those links can't be found, the main article can't be found. Its all gone again. All I can imagine is someone with administrator credentials does not want this kind of article to exist and has once again destroyed information. The true scope of this article should be quite lengthy, which frankly, I don't have the time to generate and sub-reference. Before I go about creating another article to start to fill this void, I want to find out why such an article does not exist and why previous attempts at the article have apparently been deleted. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Trackinfo (talk • contribs) 18:29, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- If you go to Special:Log you can select the Deletion log in the drop down and then enter the title of the page you say was deleted. It'll show when and why. --AndrewHowse (talk) 18:55, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
-
- I haven't found the title of a deleted page. There are many articles with red links to articles that never existed. I'm not American but think the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships function as Olympic trials in those years. As an administrator I can see deleted contributions but your account has no contributions to deleted pages about this. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:59, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
-
-
- The Olympic Trials are a separate event that occur only every 4 years, and serve as the National Championships for that year, since 1988 at least. Its part of many complicated things that need to be explained about an obviously prominent event. No, I never completed the article because I found another article that did contain the information. However, either through bad labeling, that article is difficult to find; or by deliberate deletion that article no longer exists. That fact that is continues to not exist tells me there is something more deliberate than mere omission on the part of a Track and Field community that has many experts willing to write on this recurring significant subject that itself certifies notability for many athletes in the sport. I can see a need for tables of results from these events throughout history being appropriate for Wikipedia. It could take several experts some time to mechanically post the depth of this subject that should be explored. Obviously other people have made attempts to mention it. After all these years, why is it missing? Who is blocking it? And on a deeper level I ask rhetorically, why are some of these abusive administrators allowed to do things like this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Trackinfo (talk • contribs) 05:29, 8 December 2009 Trackinfo (talk) 05:30, 8 December 2009 (UTC)(UTC)
- Administrators should try to follow Wikipedia:Deletion policy and other policies and guidelines. If you disagree with a deletion then you can discuss with the deleting administrator and if that is unsatisfactory then take it to Wikipedia:Deletion review. It's hard to say what happened here when you don't know a title of a page or the name of an editor who may have edited or deleted it. There are many possibilities which don't involve administrator abuse, for example that a page was redirected by a non-administrator, or some of the content was removed by a non-administrator, or a page was deleted by an administrator within policy in response to a request which was made and supported by non-administrators, or that the page still exists but hasn't been properly linked to other articles and eludes our searches, or that your memory of the content of the page or seeing it at Wikipedia is inaccurate. I have not found signs of such an article after searching different things in the deletion log and elsewhere. I'm not jumping to the conclusion that abusive administrators have been at play to destroy valuable information about Olympic trials against the will of the editor community, but I'm an administrator so you may think I'm just defending my own kind. Many editors complain about administrator actions but they often disagree about which actions are wrong. Administrators are supposed to follow consensus and policies which were made by consensus where all editors can participate. When a given complaint is discussed it often turns out that most non-administrators support the actions of the administrator. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:37, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Are we possibly talking about Foot Locker Cross Country Championships? Because that's still there! --Orange Mike | Talk 22:02, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Looking through your contributions, I see you did some work on World Masters Athletics and Masters athletics (track and field). Alternatively, take a look through all the differences for each edit and see if anything jogs your memory; I'm thinking you made a link somewhere to the missing page. I tried this for a few edits but didn't see anything relevant to your question (however, I did notice you wikilinked several dates and years - something that is discouraged in the Manual of Style here and here). Astronaut (talk) 05:48, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- Are we possibly talking about Foot Locker Cross Country Championships? Because that's still there! --Orange Mike | Talk 22:02, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Administrators should try to follow Wikipedia:Deletion policy and other policies and guidelines. If you disagree with a deletion then you can discuss with the deleting administrator and if that is unsatisfactory then take it to Wikipedia:Deletion review. It's hard to say what happened here when you don't know a title of a page or the name of an editor who may have edited or deleted it. There are many possibilities which don't involve administrator abuse, for example that a page was redirected by a non-administrator, or some of the content was removed by a non-administrator, or a page was deleted by an administrator within policy in response to a request which was made and supported by non-administrators, or that the page still exists but hasn't been properly linked to other articles and eludes our searches, or that your memory of the content of the page or seeing it at Wikipedia is inaccurate. I have not found signs of such an article after searching different things in the deletion log and elsewhere. I'm not jumping to the conclusion that abusive administrators have been at play to destroy valuable information about Olympic trials against the will of the editor community, but I'm an administrator so you may think I'm just defending my own kind. Many editors complain about administrator actions but they often disagree about which actions are wrong. Administrators are supposed to follow consensus and policies which were made by consensus where all editors can participate. When a given complaint is discussed it often turns out that most non-administrators support the actions of the administrator. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:37, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- The Olympic Trials are a separate event that occur only every 4 years, and serve as the National Championships for that year, since 1988 at least. Its part of many complicated things that need to be explained about an obviously prominent event. No, I never completed the article because I found another article that did contain the information. However, either through bad labeling, that article is difficult to find; or by deliberate deletion that article no longer exists. That fact that is continues to not exist tells me there is something more deliberate than mere omission on the part of a Track and Field community that has many experts willing to write on this recurring significant subject that itself certifies notability for many athletes in the sport. I can see a need for tables of results from these events throughout history being appropriate for Wikipedia. It could take several experts some time to mechanically post the depth of this subject that should be explored. Obviously other people have made attempts to mention it. After all these years, why is it missing? Who is blocking it? And on a deeper level I ask rhetorically, why are some of these abusive administrators allowed to do things like this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Trackinfo (talk • contribs) 05:29, 8 December 2009 Trackinfo (talk) 05:30, 8 December 2009 (UTC)(UTC)
-
[edit] Uploading Photos/Logos
Hi, I'm creating a Wikipedia page for a company, and would like to upload their logo to the page. Unfortunately when I go to upload, I get a message that says I'm an unauthorized to do so. Is there a way (besides making the required number of edits) to upload a photo? My account has been active since June. Thanks! Cb711 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cb711 (talk • contribs) 19:44, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- You can request that your account be autoconfirmed at Wikipedia:Requests for permissions. – ukexpat (talk) 19:49, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Lyrics question
I translated the Finnish Wikipedia article fi:Ebdo Mihemed into English as Ebdo Mihemed. Now Helsingin Sanomat published part of the lyrics, as a comparison of the original Kurdish lyrics, the soramimi into Finnish, and the real meaning of the original Kurdish lyrics translated into Finnish. If I can dig the issue of Helsingin Sanomat containing the lyrics up, can I publish a four-fold table of the lyrics, containing the original Kurdish lyrics, the soramimi into Finnish, an English translation of the soramimi, and an English translation of the real lyrics, or would that constitute a copyright violation? JIP | Talk 20:39, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- Adding lyrics is considered to be copyright infringement in most cases and should be avoided. Lyrics of commercial songs are most likely copyrighted to the original writer. Very old songs in the public domain ("The Anacreontic Song"), well-known songs that probably are copyrighted but no one cares ("Happy Birthday To You") and most - if not all - national anthems, and covers or remixes of any of those songs (provided they use the exact same lyrics) are probably exempt from this rule. Xenon54 / talk / 21:28, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- The middle one is a BAD idea, and the third is also not a great recommendation. Unless something is a) old enough for all known copyrights to expire, or b) have been expressly released as copyright-free, the default position is to assume that copyright exists and the material cannot be used. Being so "well-known that nobody cares" is not a legally defensable fair use claim. Furthermore, copying lyrics wholesale, even if they are in the public domain, makes for bad encyclopedia writing. Even if there is no legal hurdle, there are clear stylistic reasons why simply repeating the whole lyrics of a song isn't great in a Wikipedia article. --Jayron32 21:47, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- Jayron is spot on. Indeed Happy Birthday to You is very, very much under copyright and people do care - both in the EU and a number of other regions. Unless 100% sure assume copyright and do not post on Wikipedia. Pedro : Chat 21:50, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
- The middle one is a BAD idea, and the third is also not a great recommendation. Unless something is a) old enough for all known copyrights to expire, or b) have been expressly released as copyright-free, the default position is to assume that copyright exists and the material cannot be used. Being so "well-known that nobody cares" is not a legally defensable fair use claim. Furthermore, copying lyrics wholesale, even if they are in the public domain, makes for bad encyclopedia writing. Even if there is no legal hurdle, there are clear stylistic reasons why simply repeating the whole lyrics of a song isn't great in a Wikipedia article. --Jayron32 21:47, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] December 8
[edit] Toolserver Acct
I'm having difficulty creating a toolserver acct request as per the instructions. — CpiralCpiral 01:20, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- I just created an account with no problems at all. I assume you went through here? -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 02:01, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
Yes and no. Your's works for me to create some kind of account somewhere. Who knows what I did. Thanks; but the documentation I seek help with says use http://toolserver.org/accountrequest, and the rest of the documentation correctly describes a summary field, which your answer lacks. You offer https://wiki.toolserver.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&type=signup&returnto=Talk:Account_approval_process but with no procedure for getting a toolserver account approved, the process of which contains the summary field lacking in your pointer. Thanks, but please see the original question. — CpiralCpiral 00:23, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] A possible homework question
Two surveyors with two-way radios leave the same point at 9:00 A.M., one walking due south at 2 mi/hr and the other due west at 3 mi/hr. How long can they communicate with one another if each radio has a maximum range of 1.80 miles? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lpeaks (talk • contribs) 06:05, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- On Wikipedia you should Do your own homework but you'll need to apply the Pythagorean theorem to this one. --Teratornis (talk) 07:31, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- I can give the answer: They can't communicate with each other at all with the radios, as the question makes no mention of the radios having batteries or being charged. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 09:31, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Likewise, it makes no mention of their inability to yodel long distances, use semaphore flags, carrier pigeons, or other means of communications. It also doesn't rule out the possibility of them having non-2-way radios. OK, I'm being silly, Teratornis beat me to the punch with a serious answer. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 01:41, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- I can give the answer: They can't communicate with each other at all with the radios, as the question makes no mention of the radios having batteries or being charged. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 09:31, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] How to dispute fairness of an entry?
I want to put a heading on this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatic_Research_Unit_e-mail_hacking_incident
...stating that it may be "inaccurate in or unbalanced toward certain viewpoints," as this article is headed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democide
I would also like to *remove* that heading from the latter page. How is this done?
Thanks...
P.S. - I find Wikipedia's information on how to edit and contribute to be unnecessarily complicated, and it took way too long to find the best place to send this message. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.245.22.104 (talk) 07:02, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Responding to your postscript, what do you mean by unnecessarily complicated? Can you point to any manual on Wikipedia which contains unnecessary instructions? Note that Wikipedia has 11,166,160 registered user accounts. This is not a site designed with the needs of any particular person in mind. Wikipedia's users write all of Wikipedia's manuals, so if you find instructions in our manuals, you can be sure they were put there by users who needed them. The problem is we have millions of users with many different needs, so our manuals reflect that complexity. If you know a superior way to design a user-editable encyclopedia, by all means build it and knock Wikipedia into second place. --Teratornis (talk) 07:37, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] draftspace to mainspace
im really confused... i have moved my document into the userspace.. how do i get it on to mainspace? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tina.mari.larsen (talk • contribs) 07:41, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- You would move it once again dropping the "User:Tina.mari.larsen/" from User:Tina.mari.larsen/Fairbridge Western Australia and using just the name of the article when ready Fairbridge Western Australia. This will move the articles history along with it. KindlyCalmer Waters 08:07, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- I suggest naming the article Fairbridge Western Australia Inc. and also adding it the the disambiguation page Fairbridge Calmer Waters 08:10, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
-
-
- There is no need to include "Inc" in this article's title - there is no other Fairbridge Western Australia article so no need to go against the naming convention for companies that "Inc", "Ltd", "PLC" etc should not be included. – ukexpat (talk) 14:09, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
-
[edit] Optimization of Search for "AIMS"
Checking Wikipedia for AIMS I realized that "AIMS = association of international management search" is found when you search for "AIMS". In the same search "AIMS International" is not found. Most correct would be if you searched for "AIMS" and had the search result "AIMS International" at the position of "AIMS". How can we manage this?
88.79.129.42 (talk) 09:12, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- I have added AIMS International to the disambiguation page. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 09:35, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Watch list and languages
I have wiki pages I want to watch in more than 1 language. In my case, some in English, some in Dutch. So far I have found that I need to switch language in order to access the watch list with the articles from/in that language. Is there a way to maintain a single watch list, and not a watch list per language? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gsandberg (talk • contribs) 14:00, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Help:Watching pages suggests using the multi-wiki watchlist at http://toolserver.org/~luxo/gwatch/login.php . Nanonic (talk) 14:04, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Captcha
Hello,
I am trying to edit a page but keep getting the captcha come up, how do I edit the page and get round this? I have put in the word and clicked save but it just goes round like a loop and the edit I have made does not get saved. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Honey1979 (talk • contribs) 15:22, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- I see you have edited Paul Hervey-Brookes several times since posting here. Is your problem solved? Your acount should become autoconfirmed when you have made 5 more edits to any page and then some restrictions will be removed. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:31, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Lost page
I created a page about motorcycle insurance and when I search for it, nothing comes up. I realize that there is a review process but how do I know if and when my page was approved/disapproved? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Blancour (talk • contribs) 17:19, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Dairyland Insurance Company was deleted for being both non-notable and unambiguous advertising. You received a notification of this on your talk page at User talk:Blancour. --Mysdaao talk 17:23, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- No, I created a generic motorcycle insurance page yesterday. I know why the Dairyland Insurance page was deleted. How do I know if my generic motorcycle insurance page is acceptable?—Preceding unsigned comment added by Blancour (talk • contribs) 20:33, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Your account has no saved edits at the English Wikipedia between 24 November and your post here. On 24 November you created Dairyland cycle insurance, SentryWorld and Dairyland Insurance Company. They were all deleted the same day. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:23, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- No, I created a generic motorcycle insurance page yesterday. I know why the Dairyland Insurance page was deleted. How do I know if my generic motorcycle insurance page is acceptable?—Preceding unsigned comment added by Blancour (talk • contribs) 20:33, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
I didn't sign in to make the page. How will I know if it's approved or not? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Blancour (talk • contribs) 22:30, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- If you weren't logged in, you couldn't create a new page. You may, however, have put an entry in at Articles for creation. Looking at recent AFC submissions, I suspect that the page you made was Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/motorcycle insurance, which was declined because it appeared to by copied from another website. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 22:53, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] "This article is written like an advertisement
I've been edting an article that was indeed written like an advert and it has that warning at the top about its 'advert-like' quality. I've tried to make it more neutral (successfully or not I don't know). How can I ask for it to be reassessed in terms of its neutrality? —Preceding unsigned comment added by MyselfonSaturday (talk • contribs) 17:27, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- There is no formal process for this. Any user may remove maintenance tags at any time. You are free to remove it yourself, as long as you explain why you are doing so in the edit summary or on the article's talk page. However, if you wish to discuss it with others first to be sure there is consensus that the article is neutral, there are a few options, which are described at Wikipedia:NPOV dispute. You can ask the user who added the tag for feedback on his/her talk page on whether the article is neutral now. The user who added it is HaeB who added the tag with this edit in November 2008. You can also ask for feedback on the article's talk page at Talk:Mumsnet and wait at least a few days to see if anyone objects. You can ask your question at Wikipedia:Neutral point of view/Noticeboard to see if users there think the article is neutral now. You can also do all three at the same time. --Mysdaao talk 17:46, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] what to do with really long citations
Hi, what should be done to improve citations like number 2 at this article it is really really long? Off2riorob (talk) 17:29, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- I've formatted it using {{Template:Cite Web}}; whether it qualifies as a reliable source for the fact it's attached to is another question. Gonzonoir (talk) 17:36, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Thanks, ill have a look to see how you did it, the article is short of supporting third party citations and I think it was added in desperation, but that is another issue, many thanks. Off2riorob (talk) 17:39, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] How do I put an admin who is doing a bad job up for review?
Everywhere has too many requirements. One venue only the admin themselves can put themselves up for review, the other requires a current dispute issue with 2 involved editors. Where can I simply report an admin who shows no understanding of what it means to be an admin (And who is abusing their rights when they have a conflict of interest with me)? - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ τ ¢ 19:28, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- I would begin by discussing it with the admin themselves on their talk page. If this does not work, either mention it at WP:ANI - and provide diffs to show the problem, or go to Wikipedia:Third opinion (or one of the other Wikipedia:Dispute resolution venues) -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 19:34, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Facebook Problems
i am on face book i am having problems getting into my farmville and vampire wars and mafia can you help me retreive my games thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.60.53.97 (talk) 19:31, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our roughly three million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 19:34, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Image upload isn't appearing properly
I have a corporate logo I'm trying to upload for inclusion on a new page and for some reason it's not appearing correctly. The colors don't appear the same in the thumbnail, but when I click on it, the correct colors appear. What am I doing wrong? KDR 20:00, 8 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kdrichards (talk • contribs)
- The colors look the same (or at worst, slightly different) for me. Could you please describe further what the problem is? (For interested parties, the image is File:Optimer Corporate Logo.jpg.)
- You should probably look over the criteria for using non-free content, as the image is a copyrighted logo. Your image doesn't meet several of those criteria - specifically 3b, 7, 10a, and 10c.
- A quick explanation: 3b is "is the picture as low-resolution as possible?"; 7 is "is the picture used in any articles?" - see Help:Image for information on how to do this; 10a is "is the webaddress of the source of the image listed on the image description page?"; and 10c is "is a fair use rationale written for each article the image appears in?". Not meeting these criteria, especially criterion 7 and criterion 10c, will lead to the image being deleted. I understand that the area of copyrights and image uploads is complicated, so please do come back here if you have more questions. Xenon54 / talk / 20:18, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Pictures
There aren't any pictures on Wikipedia! Even your trademark logo(globe puzzle) isn't there! It's just a blank space! Help! Sara378 (talk) 21:48, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Browser and OS? Do you see pictures elsewhere on the Internet? Xenon54 / talk / 21:53, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] my userpage
i need help making my user page i would like to add a table and some pictures please help me!!!--RIVER 21:49, 8 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rio44 (talk • contribs)
- Read Help:Table and Help:Image, then feel free to come back here if you still have questions. Xenon54 / talk / 21:53, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
- Wikipedia:User page design center may be interesting if you want to get really "crazy". --Jayron32 23:34, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] December 9
[edit] donations
I use Wikipedia extensively and greatly appreciate it. I both want and need to make a contribution but won't until I understand the 7.5 million dollar need. Where does this dollar figure come from and how often will you be needing these kinds of funds? An explanations garners a contribution. (perhaps a link on the persistent banner requests...) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.243.26.4 (talk) 01:03, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- It comes from the Annual Plan drawn up by the Foundation (see the FAQ here). I think if you click through the banner links, you'll find more detailed information. Some other common answers to the fundraiser are here. Hope that helps, Best, -- Bfigura (talk) 01:11, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
-
- Can I also add to Bfigura's excellent answer that this is an annual fundraising event - although the Foundation accepts donations at any time - and that this fundraising means that Wikipedia (and the other Foundation projects) do not need to have adverts to fund themselves. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 12:41, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Firefox won't remember me as a user
Starting several hours ago, FireFox will not remember my login, although I check "remember me for 30 days" and I have FireFox set to remember passwords. IE doesn't have this problem. I have also done the buffer refresh, but I still have the problem. Does anyone know the solution? Bubba73 (the argument clinic), 02:00, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- Not sure but if you aren't running the latest version, just upgrade and if it's a Firefox bug, that might well take care of it. Also, whenever I have some unexplained anomaly—something that was functioning one way and suddenly isn't with no discernible change on my end—I find rebooting takes care of it ¾ of the time.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:04, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
-
- I'm using the latest version of Firefox. The problem just started a few hours ago. Bubba73 (the argument clinic), 02:07, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
-
- After a reboot it remembered me, thanks. Bubba73 (the argument clinic), 02:55, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Archiving a talk page
How do you archive your talk page? MMS2013 02:39, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- There are multiple methods; see Help:Archiving a talk page. Intelligentsium 02:46, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Question about adminship
What is the minimum age required to become a Wikipedia administrator? - Samwb123T-C-@ 03:08, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- There isn't one. However, some people have opposed adminship requests because of their age (note that age is not required to be disclosed at any point to use this site). The admin age range of which I am aware goes from 15-50+. TNXMan 03:12, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- Off the top of my head, it goes from 12–70. –Juliancolton | Talk 03:14, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) There is no age requirement and administrators don't have to tell their age. Wikipedia:Guide to requests for adminship#What RfA contributors look for and hope not to see says:
"...
- Young age: If you are a teenager or younger, many people will oppose based simply on your age.
However, many RfAs have succeeded despite some of the above." PrimeHunter (talk) 03:13, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
Thank you. Samwb123T-C-@ 03:20, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- Age isn't the issue. Maturity and good decision-making are. If your level-headedness and apparent maturity leave people surprised when they find out you are not an adult, then it won't be an issue. On the other hand, if you are an adult and your lack of level-headedness and apparent immaturity have people surprised you are over 18, that will be a problem. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 03:29, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- Since you're not required to reveal your age, it will only be a problem if you don't act mature. I support administrators who I know make good decisions. That is what matters. - Mgm|(talk) 09:28, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
-
- As Mgm says, most editors do not know how old admins (or indeed any editors) are - they look at how the editor acts. If they act in a mature way, they are more likely to stand a chance of being an admin. If they act in an immature way, they have little to no chance. I know of a couple of admins who are below the legal Age of majority in their home countries, but if you look at their contributions, you would never guess it. Conversely, I've seen a couple of admins (and a few more well-established editors) who I know are legally adults in their home countries, but who act like immature children. (No names, no pack drill) -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 12:56, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] can not find article
I submitted an article for Wikipedia. I added it on Friday December 4. I still have not seen it posted or found any other trace of it. It was a Bio of David J. Marcou. I needed help with the editing and formatting. I did not find it in the deletion log. I would like someone to let me know the status of it. I wrote the article myself and find Wikipedia to be very confusing to new contributors. My experience with it so far has turned me off about using it anymore. I am not sure this is even the right page for this purpose. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kayak paddler (talk • contribs) 04:46, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- You did not submit the article with the account you are currently using. It is not in either you contribution list or your deleted contributions. The edit above is your only edit with your current account. It also appears that there has never been an article on David J. Marcou or David Marcou or David marcou. It is possible you forgot to hit the save page button. Articles should become visible immediately after their creation. Unfortunately you may have to rewrite it. I'm sorry you are finding Wikipedia difficult, try this page for advice on your first article: Wikipedia:Your first article and feel free to ask other editors for help. --Leivick (talk) 04:52, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- You might also find the Article Wizard helpful. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 11:38, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Where to now
For the last couple of days I have been discussing the speedy deletion of some fair-use images with admin Rama (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · moves · rights) (in particular, see User talk:Rama#File:Nakheel Tower.jpg). I had pretty much reached a agreement to try creating my own replacement images. However, another editor has now raised the same basic question with the same admin (see User talk:Rama#File:Chicago Spire.jpg) and has pointed out that by creating our own images, we may well be violating the copyright on the design. I would like to bring the issue up for discussion by a wider audience but I'm unsure where to take this - WP:RFC perhaps or WP:ANI or somewhere else? Astronaut (talk) 05:22, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- Personally, I do not think admin intervention is required, as you want a more open discussion about the issue - so ANI isn't the best place. I would suggest that you start by placing a question at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions - if there is no response in a while, then perhaps start an RFC on the subject. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 13:06, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Deprecation
Over the past year or so I have read many statements that a template or a parameter has been deprecated. I have been unable to find any background, discussion or support for any of these deprecations. Is there a procedure to deprecate a template or a parameter and I have yet to find it or is this designation just a fancy way for an admin or a programmer to ram through a personal dislike of a template or parameter. As you can probably tell, I strongly suspect the latter to be the case. JimCubb (talk) 06:19, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- I assume these things are discussed somewhere. Do you have a specific example? Astronaut (talk) 06:22, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- As a rule, a deprecation of a template is discussed either on the talk page of the template or at Wikipedia:Templates_for_discussion. The deprecation of a specific parameter should also be discussed at one of those two venues as well. As Astronaut and Jayron32 say, if you give us a specific example, we can give more reasoned advice. Generally, the decision to deprecate a template or a parameter is not that of a single editor - it will have been discussed somewhere. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 13:10, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] copying files to other language wikis
Hello, I want to copy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_Liberty,_NY.jpg to simple.wikipedia.org. How would I go about doing that? Riffraffselbow (talk) 09:55, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- On the picture page you linked to, you can see the image is on the Wikimedia Commons. Images on that site can be used across all Wikimedia projects (including simple Wikipedia) without the need for copying. Just link to it like you would with any other image. (If another image on simple already has the same name, you need to rename or move it so calling the file will get you the Commons image.) - Mgm|(talk) 11:57, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Image links
How can I create a small picture at the top of my user page that links to one of my subpages or talk page? Also, how is it possible to create a welcome template? Mr. Prez (talk) 11:58, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- (edit conflict)
[[File:File_name.jpg|link=Where ever you wish to link to]], I don't think this will work if you try and thumb the image, although I'm not sure, regards, SpitfireTally-ho! 12:03, 9 December 2009 (UTC) - For thumbnails, put the link in the caption, like so:
[[File:Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi 1925.jpg|thumb|The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_page Wikipedia] Main Page]]. - I'm not sure what you mean by "create a welcome template." If you mean use an existing one, sure, there are several to choose from, see {{welcome}} and other templates listed in Category:Welcome templates. If you want to create your own welcome template, just copy one of these to a subpage of your user page, then transclude it as you would any other file:
{{User:Mr. Prez/mywelcometemplate}}. Note: Most existing welcome templates should be substituted, like so:{{subst:welcome}}. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 12:12, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] template coding help please
A bit of re-writing up markup at Template:WikiProject Scientology seems to result in the ArbCom warning no longer appearing on article talk pages. As this warning is required by ArbCom ruling ("A note concerning these restrictions shall be placed on the talkpage of each of the affected articles."), could someone who can make sense of all that markup fix it so the warning appears? Thanks, BanyanTree 12:28, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- It's only broken on those pages where it is encompassed by {{WikiProjectBannerShell}} it seems. I think this was broken when {{WikiProjectBanners}} was converted to {{WikiProjectBannerShell}}. I'll inform the maintainers of that code. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 13:09, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Vandalism
How can I stop someone constantly vandalising our School's Wikipedia entry 200.122.177.46 (talk) 13:14, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- Tell us the name of the article.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:20, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- I'm guessing British School of Costa Rica. Dear school administrator, this is a link to an RSS-feed of the history of that article. You can use it to monitor changes to the article in question. Both IE and Firefox can subscribe to these kinds of feeds. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=British_School_of_Costa_Rica&feed=rss&action=history —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 13:27, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Sandbox?
May I please have a sandbox? Heh... I'm new at this and don't want to mess up an article. Or where to even ask this at. Thanks --Leila Gallmeyer (talk) 14:57, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- You don't need us; if you click on this link: User:Leila Gallmeyer/Sandbox you can create your own. I'll leave you some useful info on your talk page in a sec. --Floquenbeam (talk) 14:59, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
- yay thanks --Leila Gallmeyer (talk) 15:00, 9 December 2009 (UTC)