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Help Page Patrollers are a group of Wikipedians who patrol the help desk and help users who have placed the {{helpme}} template on their talk pages. The patrol is an optional service. Patrollers can come and go, and there is no official sign up process.

Regular patrollers may add {{User HPP}} or {{user help desk}} to their user page:

This user is a help page patroller

This user volunteers at the
Wikipedia Help Desk.

What helpers can do

Make sure all messages are formatted correctly,
Answer questions,
Check the Help Me Category and answer questions from users,
Check archives

Patrollers

Add yourself with

#~~~ (Joined ~~~~~)

and if you are not using the userbox, add yourself to the Help Desk Patrol Category.

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December 2

Open All Hours table looking odd

Hi

OK first time posting here so go easy!

Was trying to edit this page to add a character to the cast list:

Open All Hours

The only thing is that the cast list table is looking all off. The cast list goes right past the episode paragraph and definitely doesn't look right. If you look at the page, you'll see what I mean.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Snoopygray (talk • contribs) 08:03, 2 December 2008

I've had a look at the page and I can't work out what's wrong with it. Any idea how I can fix this?

Should be fixed now. Thanks for bringing this to our attention! GlassCobra 22:11, 1 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) When you (I assume that 82.206.170.146 is you) tried to add the entry to the table, you removed the |} which marks the end of the table. I have undone your series of edits to fix the table, so if you want to re-add the entry try to keep it in this time, ok? For more on tables, you can read Help:Table. For more on editing in general, there's Help:Editing, Wikipedia:Your first article, Wikipedia:Editor's index to Wikipedia, and Wikipedia:Five pillars. All of these are good things to read before you really dive into editing (except for the index, which is more of a handy reference page). Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 22:14, 1 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is there anything else that I should be doing?

This user keeps putting the same image back into an article. The image is tagged for deletion. Is there anything else, besides giving vandalism warnings, that I can be doing? Dismas|^(talk) 03:13, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I blocked User:Reality Maker for 24 hours for edit warring. His refusal to take the matter up for discussion, and his use of highly incivil language in his edit summaries were compounding factors in his block. Any admins reading this can feel free to review my block as apporiate, but this editor needs to take the matter up at talk pages and not to edit war. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 04:18, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with the block but not with the vandalism warnings. The user's edits were dismimprovements but they not vandalism; vandalism is intentional disimprovement. This user was just stubborn. —teb728 t c 04:50, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, I agree with TEB728's assessment. One should not use templates if the templates don't apply. They exist for the convenience of leaving a repeatable message; but if the message does not apply, we should not use the templates. There is no reason not to just type the warning out yourself if none of the templates work. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 12:55, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Writing and Making an article

how do i create an article on here. i can't seem how to figure out how to make one.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Xxnightmarexbeforexx (talk • contribs)

See Your First Article for some helpful tips. May I recommend that you don't create any new articles for a while? Give yourself a month or so to play around with existing articles and get to know Wikipedia, both the culture and the technical aspects of editing, BEFORE diving off and creating a new article right away! --Jayron32.talk.contribs 04:12, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

When an article's name has changed for a different category

How do you handle a case where, in my case, a TV show's name has changed over time. It is listed by that name in TV Shows of the 1950's, but the name had changed by 1960. So its name listing in the 1960's TV Shows catagory is not really correct, since it apparently must be the same as the article's name. Is there a pipetrick or some way to modify the name displayed in the newer category?

Thanks! RadioBroadcast (talk) 04:32, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just do the following in the subsequent articles: [[Article name|alternate name]] which will display only "alternate name"... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 04:50, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can move the article to its new name and start the new article with: "X formerly known as Y).- Mgm|^(talk) 05:38, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you want it to actually appear in a category under a particular name, I think the only way is to create a redirect under the alternative name (which would probably already exist as a legitimate search term) and categorise the redirect page. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 05:41, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Deleted Page

I was wondering if you could get me the text from the deleted pages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masters_%28Group%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Plan. I made them as a joke to my friend a while back and we were talking about them and wondering what I had written. Thanks.-SaigonTheDon (talk) 04:41, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

As they were hoaxes the answer is probably "No". – ukexpat (talk) 05:30, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I know it is possible to get the text back, I am just asking if someone can get me the text back because it is of personal value to me. It would not be used again and I would like to just have the text. Per the deletion policy it says you are allowed to receive the text of the deleted page on your talk page.SaigonTheDon (talk) 05:47, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It says administrators have the prerogative to restore text that may someday have value to the encyclopedia. It is a limited right to restore good-faith, but currently substandard, attempts to improve the encyclopedia. Admins in general don't restore material if it has no potential to be used to improve the encyclopedia. Since you admit that the material was a joke, and has only personal value to you, there is little compelling reason for us to preserve it. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 12:52, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think he's just asking for a copy, not for them to be actually restored. If he has an email address associated with his account then any admin could simply email him the text. Ioeth _{(talk contribs friendly)} 18:52, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

An RfA

What should a user need to successfully pass an RfA, in general? -- MISTER ALCOHOL ^T ^C 05:17, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Administrators' reading list. – ukexpat (talk) 05:32, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also, see examples of successful and unsuccessful RfAs for an idea. — neuro^(talk) 17:18, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

server information access fail. please ask help desk

server information access fail. please ask help desk—Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.95.164.171 (talk • contribs)

Do you have a question? Algebraist 08:49, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

About Wikimapia

Please tell me something about wikimapia, how it functions, whether it's a part of wikimedia group or not.

WikiMapia uses the same Mediawiki software that Wikipedia and many other wikis use, but they are not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation. See our article on WikiMapia for more information. GlassCobra 10:28, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And see our article about the Wikimedia Foundation. --Teratornis (talk) 20:39, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a sandbox-type-thing that has footnotes when a reference is cited?

Is there a sandbox-type-thing that has footnotes when a reference is cited? The Sandbox does not seem to support citing reference like a real article does. There are no corresponding footnotes and nothing happens when I click on the superscript number. The same thing for a user subpage. I am as yet unable to find a way to see whether the cited references are appearing and linking as I expect them to.Veecort (talk) 13:37, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(Edit conflict)Footnotes work when a reference list is added to the page. This is done under a section ("footnotes", "notes" or "references" etc) with the template {{Reflist}}. The reason the sandbox doesn't work with footnotes is probably because you haven't added the reflist template; after it's added, footnotes will automatically appear under that section. See also Wikipedia:Citing sources. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 13:44, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

photos.

Hello...

My user name is soitiz and I have been using the sand box as practice (been saving for the real artical as can't be doing with re typing it) but I am having problems up loading photo's, I'm not actualy uploading photo's I will be using in the actual artical but I did not think that would matter as its the sandbox, any way I took the photo's myself so I own all copy right and they are not lewd photo's in the slightes they are of a party that I did so I dont understand, I have been trying to work this out for days now an it's got to the point were I now need HELP!! So any help will be much appreciated.Also beffor I loged on and learnt about useing the site properly I had a bit of stuff deleted due to spamming (I did not understand the full meaning of the word till then) and basicly he deleted anything to do with soitiz, there was a part in the acid tehno section refering to how the free party scene went slowly up north (which is true) went a bit like this techno free party scene is slowley moeveing up north withe crews like NTA (northen techno allience) and soitiz doing parties all over sheffield and manchester.SOITIZ is run by a good friend of mine who hia know hung up his promoting parties to setting up a site www.soitiz.info (which is whate the write up is about) to promoting techno over the web by a non profit site just letting peole know up to the day (mostly) everything new that is to do with techno (basicaly a techno info tool).Any way I realised what spamming ment after being bloked for 24 hours (even tho every link I put up directed you to the correct part of the site i.e. minimal techno, acid techno etc etc as you have sections on all these styles of techno so I thought it would be relavent (nence how i learnd what spamming ment...lol..).Any way I was hoping you cold or get some1 to retreive it as I would be extreemly greatfull as the post was not actualy about soitiz the forum it was the original party crew so when my mate who runs soitiz saw it on your site he was WELL CHUFFD to say the least and I got it deleted due my not understandig wikipidea fully, hence why it would be great if you could retreive the data..

Thnaks..

Ben... AKA soitiz - Soitiz (talk · contribs)

It looks like you're currently trying to link to the images directly from your hard drive. You need to use the Upload file link in the box labeled toolbox along the left side of your screen. --Onorem ♠Dil 14:04, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(Edit conflict) Hello there. Uploading media is done through an interface called Special:Upload, which is disabled for new and unregistered users. If you wish to upload photos here, you may do so after four days and ten edits with your account. However, if they are free, and you own the copyright, I ask you to upload them at Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia's central free image depository. You only need to create an account to upload images there, so you don't need to wait for four days. :) Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 14:08, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

He is already autoconfirmed, according to this. He should be able to upload now. Chamal ^talk 14:25, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, I read account creation date incorrectly, oops. :) Thanks for pointing that out, PeterSymonds (talk) 14:34, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Help deleting a page

I'd appreciate it if an administratior would please delete Jubilee USA (television program). I have moved this page to Jubilee USA (TV show) to make that page name consistent with the disambiguation names of other TV shows, so the first page is no longer necessary. ThanksRadioBroadcast (talk) 14:28, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The redirect can be kept as it documents a page move. There are no issues with that redirect, so it won't need to be deleted. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 14:35, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also when moving pages, please make sure you don't create double redirects - they do get fixed by a bot eventually, but better not to create them in the first place. – ukexpat (talk) 14:38, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Using requests for comment in an Arbitration Enforcement case

I'm involved in an arbitration enforcement case which really needs the opinion of uninvolved editors, on the subject of a topic ban for a user with potential conflicting interests. I know that requests for comments can be used in article talk pages as well as user talk pages, but is it appropriate to do so for arbitration enforcement sections? ←Spidern → 14:41, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Spidern, the process you are dancing around is called User RfC (WP:RFCC) and it has very strict requirements as the hurdle to start one is set necessarily high. However I should mention that WP:AE has more than enough eyes on it and if there were any real issue in the case you mention then action would have been taken. It is a non-issue for points I bring up over there. Also, I know that you are new here but please be aware that this and, to an extent, this, looks a bit like "forum shopping" (WP:PARENT), i.e. I am not getting the result I want in forum A, let me try B, C, etc. IMO, a User RfC in this case is inappropriate as a URfC is junior to an arbitration, which is our most senior dispute resolution forum. The case you mention has already been decided in arbitration, nothing new has come up and if you think something new has come up then it will be addressed at WP:AE, nowhere else. --Justallofthem (talk) 04:58, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

captcha

I'm interested in knowing which captcha extension you use for creating an account. I can't find any that work with my setup (server) and version of Mediawiki (1.6.10)

According to Special:Version we use mw:Extension:ConfirmEdit. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 16:14, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Login Problems

Hello, Thank you for your response. I did try to reset the password but it says my account was never set with an email address...which is not correct because I put an email address on for it.

Thank you!

Have you tried resetting your pass? — neuro^(talk) 17:17, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What is your username? (email it if you don't want to reveal it in public). That will help us investigate further. Thanks, PeterSymonds (talk) 17:28, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

My username is jerushamichael.

The account is not locked, but you have not set an email in your preferences. Therefore the software will not be able to send you another password. I'm afraid the only alternative is to get another account, sorry. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 19:12, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Volatile Works

Hello - I am wondering if it is possible to remove the tags at the top of the page entitled Volatile Works. The page was created in good faith with little experience of Wiki-Ethics. Now that I have gone over the guidelines and revised the page to include sources from third-party publications, as well as footnotes, I was wondering if the tags can come off? In the future, Wiki-Ethics will be maintained at all times. Thank you for your time.

Marioscido —Preceding unsigned comment added by Marioscido (talk • contribs)

IMHO it's not ready for the tags to come off though I did change primarysources to refimprove. It still reads like an advertisement and needs to by copy edited in to comply with WP:MOS. I made a start, but it needs more work. – ukexpat (talk) 19:51, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. The lead section begins with some rather stilted art-crowd cant which would probably confuse a general audience as I had to work a bit to decode it. It may be fashionable in art circles to invent new words for ordinary things, but when writing encyclopedically we choose words that are understandable to the most people. Please read WP:LEAD and WP:PEACOCK (in particular, the purpose of an encyclopedia is to inform the readers quickly, not to impress them with flowery language but to let the facts about the subject speak for themselves), and study the examples of Wikipedia's best work in this topic area: Wikipedia:FA#Media. Wikipedia's featured articles have come through the heaviest scrutiny and provide concrete examples of what it means to comply with Wikipedia's complex and sometimes abstract policies and guidelines. Note that the User:Marioscido account has but 118 edits, which is a bit light for creating new articles from scratch, especially about subjects with a possible conflict of interest. This is not to discourage anyone from trying, but simply to point out that because Wikipedia is unlike anything most people have used before, considerable experience is often necessary to understand what to do. By analogy, I have absolutely no experience with filmmaking, so one can imagine my first attempt might be wide of the mark. But the only way to master Wikipedia's do it yourself craft is to read the friendly manuals, study the work of experts, listen to criticism (always in abundance here), and keep trying. It's easier to learn Wikipedia by editing existing articles which are also being edited by other more knowledgeable users, so one can study what the other editors do to one's own edits, and rely on the other editors to provide most of the structure. It's much harder to create new articles from scratch, because then one has to understand every single component of what makes up an acceptable article. --Teratornis (talk) 20:20, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I have taken the liberty of posting your excellent reply on the article's talk page. – ukexpat (talk) 21:37, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sound sample box

User:Tezkag72 and I are about to nominated Tragic Kingdom as a featured article. However, what's happened recently is the sound sample box has pushed the text down. The text used to just fit around the box. Now it looks awkward and I want to get it back the way it used to look. It might even just be my irritable computer/internet. Could someone please ~~hit it with a hammer~~ try to fix this problem as I have no idea what's wrong? Thanks. -- _{Escape Artist Swyer} ^Talk _{Contributions} 21:29, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

When researching your problem I noticed that the {{sound sample box align right}} and {{Sample box end}} are now deprecated (superseded) in favour of {{listen}} so using the new template may fix your problem. – ukexpat (talk) 21:43, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

December 3

Journalistic

What's the template that should be used if an article is written in a journalistic style/obviously copied from a news source? Or should it just be deleted or something? Petero9 (talk) 00:05, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Template:Copyvio. You can use that template or any of the ones in the see also section according to your need. If it is a blatant copyright violation it must be deleted under WP:CSD criteria G12. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 00:30, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How??

How do you set up a wikipedia page for someone? This is not easy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.201.10.75 (talk) 00:14, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please see Your first article.

Ensure that you have an account and you are logged in. If you don't have an account, create one
Make sure the subject is notable enough to have their own article
Find references
Make sure no article on the subject exists under a different title by typing the subject into the search box to the left (←) and clicking 'Search'
Type the page name in the search box to the left (←) and click 'Go'
Click 'Create this page'
Create the article, including all your references, making sure you adhere to the Manual of Style and our article layout guidelines
Be aware that Wikipedia deletes thousands of new articles for failing to adhere to our policies and guidelines. New articles by new users are at extra risk of deletion, due to new users' unfamiliarity with our rules. Consider gaining experience by editing existing articles before attempting to create new ones You might also want to read WP:BIO. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 00:25, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Templates not updating?

User:TonyTheTiger made some edits to a whole bunch of cities, to add references to Template:CA_cities_and_mayors_of_100,000_population, which all was fine. But I noticed that the text being displayed for those links, for instance at the bottom of Sunnyvale,_California contained poor English ("in the California", for instance). So he fixed that text on the template. It displays correctly on the template page now, but not in any of the references on the cities' pages (look for the blue external reference at the bottom of any major CA city's page referring to 100k population). Why didn't these get updated as part of his change? Is there a lag involved because of pages needing to be rebuilt? Jokeboy (talk) 01:10, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If templates are trascluded, you need to WP:PURGE your browser cache, so your browser loads a fresh copy of the template. - Mgm|^(talk) 01:19, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- That the page needs to be purged is not a proper solution because this is a problem for persons who do not have cached versions of the page stored. This is a different problem unrelated to purging. See my thread above on the same issue.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 01:39, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Mgm gave the right link to WP:PURGE but described it wrong. Purging is not about the browser cache. It is about Wikipedia's own cache. Purging an article fixes the problem, but don't purge all those articles for this detail. The articles are placed in the job queue when the template is edited and they will automatically be updated at some time. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:32, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oops. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:40, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

- - - Great, that worked just fine, as expected. Now a related question. Is there a way to do a mass purge of all pages that refer to a common template? Or is the only option to wait until the servers update all of the pages on their own? Having to go and manually purge fifty pages just because of a minor template update is annoying. Jokeboy (talk) 08:18, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- You could see if there's a bot that does it, although I'm not sure how exactly to look for it User:PurgeBot does not exist. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:40, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Restore logs

How come when searching through the logs of admins, there is no option to search for restore logs? Every other log can be searched except this. Can one be made? 137.154.73.31 (talk) 02:01, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Do you mean the log of page undeletions? They're listed in with the deletion log - for example, "15:42, 3 December 2008 Skier Dude (Talk | contribs) restored "Image:The Hudsucker Proxy Movie.jpg" ‎ (2 revisions and 1 file restored)". Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 05:53, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

electrical field

what is blackout? what are the causes of this blackout? how to prevent blackout?

Have you tried the Science 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. Algebraist 02:13, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You could simply try searching for Blackout which gives you several meanings to investigate. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:42, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Citation Question

When citing a book that is on Project Gutenberg, should I cite it as a book or as a web site? Horselover Frost (talk) 05:49, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

since it's a book, i'd cite it as a book, no matter what it's about. Sssoul (talk) 07:34, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'd cite whatever it was you used. If you used an online version, I'd cite the specific version I used, since digitized copies of a book can contain errors the original didn't have. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:43, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hayley Williams

To whom this may concern,

Hello, my name is Marvin Smith and I am an avid fan of the band Paramore. The lead singer, Hayley Williams does not have a Wikipedia page, instead it gets directed to original Paramore page. I believe that she deserves her own page because she is a rising star in the music industry being rated the "Second Sexiest Rockstar," in the new Guitar Hero game and has a prominent role on the hit film Twilight's Soundtrack. Is there any I start a new page because I have recently opened a new account. This has been bothering me for a long time.

Regards,

Marvin —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fueledbyhayley (talk • contribs) 02:03, 3 December 2008 — Fueledbyhayley (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.

see Chamal's reply here: WP:Help_desk#How.3F.3F Sssoul (talk) 07:42, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Citation Needed

Several awards listed on the Mr. Rogers page say "citation needed," nearly all of which could be taken care of in one fell swoop. The problem is, well, me. My computer skills are...Actually, I don't have any. I tried to add the link several times, but had too quit because my brains tried to make a break of it out of frustration. I don't know if this request is something I'm allowed to make. If it isn't, apologies...blame my squishy brain.

The web address for the link is:

http://cdn.emmys.tv/awards/halloffame/hofarchive.php

Can I ask if somebody could pop over to the page and add the citation? I read all the instructions (more than once, sadly)but I'm not kidding or trying to be disingenuous. I'm about as computer literate as a baby three day before birth.

Thank you kindly- GoingBonkers (talk) 07:31, 3 December 2008 (UTC)Shannon a.k.a. Going Bonkers[reply]

I've fixed the reference you were trying to add; the simple way to do this is to add <ref> abc </ref> around what you are adding as a reference (with the abc part being the actual reference). I also added some other information to it, which is usually done but not required, such as the access date and publisher and so on. WP:Cite has more information on this if you want it. AlexiusHoratius 07:48, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The three basic instruction pages you need are WP:FOOT, WP:CITE, and WP:CITET. Mastering footnotes on Wikipedia is not simple. Could we make it simpler? Maybe, but nobody seems to know how to make Wikipedia simpler to build while maintaining Wikipedia's status as one of the world's most popular Web sites. Becoming the best in the world at just about anything skill-based is rarely simple. For example, it was not simple for Michael Phelps to win all those gold medals. He has a lot of talent, but he also had to put his whole life into his training for the past N years. Similarly, it is not simple to become a musical virtuoso, nor to start the company that becomes the next Google. If Wikipedia ever does manage to make it simple for new users to create featured articles, that would probably imply that computers had passed the Turing test and humans were on the way to becoming obsolete. Assuming you are human, you should probably be glad that learning to edit on Wikipedia is still difficult. Once computers are smart enough to make this job truly effortless, I doubt computers will still have much need for people. --Teratornis (talk) 21:21, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

access of links

I am a student at Northern Arizona University. I am on finals week here and am trying to review for a anatomy final. I tried to access some links, diagrams and pictures that said i must request in order to view. They were in the restricted place. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

It would help if you gave some article titles, but based on what you said, I suspect you're talking about redlinks - articles or other material that hasn't yet been created. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:46, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Another possibility is that the questioner is {{Astray}}, perhaps confusing Wikipedia's article about Northern Arizona University with some Web site associated with that subject. A university Web site could well have the kinds of access restrictions the questioner refers to. On Wikipedia we don't have any "restricted places" when it comes to article content. There are some restricted features that only privileged users such as administrators can see, but this has no relation to article content. The behavior the questioner describes does not sound like Wikipedia, it sounds more like a university site. --Teratornis (talk) 21:36, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Changing from an anonymous edit to my user name

Hi - I changed this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Tobin but didn't realise I wasn't logged in (I'll blame Google Chrome :)

I would like to change the anonymous edit I did into my user name. Is this possible?

Horrgakx (talk) 11:02, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The only thing I can think of would be to undo the edit and redo it while logged on. Seems really unnecessary though. Unless you're referring to an edit on a talk page which you haven't signed while logged on. If that's the case, just log in and sign after what you typed. Best, Zain Ebrahim (talk) 11:40, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You may not want to do that. Occasionally, an editor will be logged out without recognizing it and post to a discussion, thus their IP shows as their signature. After the editor realizes this, they may log in and replace the signature. This may not be a good thing, as WikiScanner now trawls the database looking for these replacements and logs them at Poor Man's Checkuser. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 12:11, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

language link

there are two articles that are the same but one is in english and the other in spanish.. how do i make the english/spanish link appear in the language box of each article? thanks Johnwilen (talk) 11:22, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I trust you mean that one article is on the Spanish Wikipedia while the other is here on the English Wikipedia. Assuming that, you would go to the Spanish version, click on the "edit this page" link, scroll all the way to the bottom of the article and put in [[en:ARTICLE TITLE]] (replace the "ARTICLE TITLE" with the actual title of the English version's title. Then go to the English version and do the same except this time, you'll use "es" instead of "en". For more on this, see Help:Interlanguage links. Dismas|^(talk) 11:15, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

thanks!! Johnwilen (talk) 11:22, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Dutch names

How to pronounce(IPA) the Dutch mathematicians Jan Arnoldus Schouten&Albert Nijenhuis(in Schouten-Nijenhuis bracket)?--刻意 12:52, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You'd probably be better off at the Language section of the Reference desk. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 12:58, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your suggestion.--刻意 13:26, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

how do i reference a journal cited in wikipedia

I am writing a paper which calls for me to reference the DSM-IV-TR for the definition of the word conduct disorder. This journal (DSM) is not avail online and I don't have access to a copy of it. Wikipedia references this journal in its definition of conduct disorder. How to I properly cite in my paper that I'm using Wik's reference to DSM? Must use APA style.

Take a look at WP:Citing Wikipedia. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 16:12, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Have you checked your library? If they don't have it they may also be able to request a copy of the pages you need. RJFJR (talk) 19:12, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Our Conduct disorder article does a rather sloppy reference to the DSM-IV-TR. Someone who has read WP:FOOT, WP:CITE, and WP:CITET should edit the inline reference to follow the proper Wikipedia footnote style. The reference you refer to appears to be:

The diagnostic criteria for Conduct Disorder (codes 312.xx, with xx representing digits which vary depending upon the severity, onset, etc. of the disorder) as listed in the DSM-IV-TR are as follows:

There is also a DSM-IV Codes article. Evidently you are asking how you should cite the DSM-IV-TR codes 312.xx section which gives the diagnostic criteria for Conduct Disorder, using APA style. Are you writing this paper for schoolwork? If so, you should ask your instructor about whether you can cite Wikipedia - many college professors mark students down for citing encyclopedias. Since the DSM is such a major work, it must be in almost every large library, so if you can't find a copy of the codes 312.xx section online, you could look it up in the paper copy at your library, see it with your own eyes, and cite that. Also see our APA style article. You might get some help by Googling:

DSM-IV-TR citing with APA style

That finds a bunch of clues, including:

The Writing Center » How to Cite and Reference the DSM-IV-TR

--Teratornis (talk) 21:01, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I look forward to the day when the APA embraces copyleft, puts the DSM under the GFDL, publishes it online, and adds a new disorder to the DSM: the propensity to hoard information, which is clearly antisocial behavior. The APA currently suffers from this disorder. --Teratornis (talk) 21:41, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Rollback

How do you add a request for Rollback? Hairy Perry 16:06, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Requests for permissions has all of the instructions. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 16:17, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Alternatively, you could approach any administrator. Up to you. —Cyclonenim (talk · contribs · email) 16:18, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't understand the instructions on what to do, could somebody help me, please. Hairy Perry 17:35, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sure, which part are you getting hung up on? TN‑X-Man 17:36, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The whole thing, I go to add the request, but it says I have to fill stuff in and I don't kow what its talking about. Something about copying and pasting that line I got that much, but what to fill in there I'm not sure about. Hairy Perry 17:39, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

@HairyPerry: You did it quite well not even a month ago. :) You can add your request now just as you did it then. —αἰτίας •discussion• 17:48, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The one I remember putting in, it wasn't quite like that, I didn't have to make a template or anything, I just put in my re2quest like everybody elses. Hairy Perry 17:50, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Simply add:

  *{{Usercheck-short|HairyPerry}} ([[Special:Userrights/HairyPerry|<span style="color:#002bb8">'''assign permissions'''</span>]])
YOUR REQUEST ~~~~

here. —αἰτίας •discussion• 17:58, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nevermind I got it, Thanks, Hairy Perry 18:00, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The instructions in the comments of the page had been messed up a week or so ago. I went ahead and fixed them so this won't happen again. Ioeth _{(talk contribs friendly)} 18:54, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wiktionary

Since Wiktionary is a sister project to Wikipedia would a link to it be considered an internal link or is it a separate entity? Copana2002 (talk) 17:25, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I guess it's technically an external link (as it links to a different website), but it falls under the same Wikimedia umbrella. So . . . both? For the record, you can type [[wikt:Sophisticated|definition of Soophisticated]] to produce definition of Sophisticated. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 17:43, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I would consider it an external link, since we have special boxes for wiktionary links that are supposed to go in the external links section. - Mgm|^(talk) 19:49, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Printing issue

Hello,

I am trying to print out the page that I made for the company I work for "CleveMed" and when I do print it out, the 2nd and 3rd page print out blank. I printed it yesterday and it was fine. Here is the page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CleveMed

Username is Dmalicki.

Thank you!

On the left hand side of every article under toolbox you will notice a feature titled "Printable Version". Click that and then print the page you want. Hope this helps!--intraining ^{Jack In} 17:59, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I have nominated it for speedy deletion as blatant advertising pursuant to WP:CSD#G12, so you may want to print it sooner rather than later. – ukexpat (talk) 18:11, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Deleted Page

I try to create Calgary And District Cricket League, and every time I do that its deleted, Its not advertisement of any type, is information for people, its a Sports thats been played in Calgary since 1908. I am not promoting any profitable thing. can I know why is that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nadeem.altaf (talk • contribs) 18:36, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It has been deleted twice, neither time for being advertising: first in August 2007 as a copyright violation, second in September 2008 under WP:CSD#A1 as not providing sufficient context for the reader. If you wish to re-create it, please read WP:YFA, WP:N, WP:RS and WP:Spam to get you going. – ukexpat (talk) 18:56, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The article to which he is referring is actually Calgary & District Cricket League which was G11ed earlier today. Ioeth _{(talk contribs friendly)} 19:00, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ooops, I was looking at Calgary and District Cricket League... – ukexpat (talk) 19:11, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Deleted article

Hello,

I noticed that a page I created was deleted due to blatant advertising after I clearly made the article out to be NOT advertising related. What would you recommend me to do for the recreation of the page to get it posted properly? I want to be able to use the same name of the article as well, "CleveMed".— Preceding unsigned comment added by Dmalicki (talk • contribs)

It was nominated for deletion by me and deleted by OrangeMike. I also note that it was actually created by User:Jerushamichael. Even though it was not intended to be advertising, it read as if it was written by the company's PR agency. I would suggest that you re-create it as a user subpage first and have it reviewed by a few editors before it is moved to the mainspace. I have created a subpage for you at User:Dmalicki/CleveMed. Also please read WP:YFA, WP:CORP, WP:Spam and WP:RS. – ukexpat (talk) 19:17, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And read WP:WWMPD. --Teratornis (talk) 20:19, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It is possible that this firm is notable enough that it should have an article; but the deleted article was not that article. And the persistent efforts of this user (Dmalicki, formerly Jerushamichael before getting locked out; see query several paragraphs above this one) to have their name changed to CleveMed indicate a deepseated conflict of interest and a failure to understand our COI rules. --Orange Mike | Talk 14:51, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Adding images to articles

I'm sorry to ask so many dumb questions. I uploded 2 images that apparently did make it here. My questions are about getting the images into my article. Do I hit the part that says image gallery on the edit page? How would I type the command in for an image simply called Image: Slide 15? I tried to use the form that other images use, but the caption comes on, but not the image. Thanks Jim Jimmarsmars (talk) 19:44, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I see one of the images at Image:Slide15.JPG (note no space between "Slide" and "15" and JPG in caps), using similar logic, Image:Slide14.jpg appears to be an unrelated image. Did you get any error messages when you uploaded?. – ukexpat (talk) 20:00, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I did not get any error message.

OK further research reveals that they are both on Commons. The problem is that there is already a file on Wikipedia called Slide14.jpg. The problem would probably be solved by renaming both images with more descriptive names. – ukexpat (talk) 20:17, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I wanted to rename but did not know how or how to get to where I they could be renamed. Thanks Jim Jimmarsmars (talk) 20:26, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You received a welcome message on your Commons talk page with a number of links one of which deals with renaming. In any event, you have to re-upload the images, but make sure that on the upload form, you put the name you want to use in the "Destination filename" box. When they have been re-uploaded, you should then go to the old image pages and tag them for deletion using Commons' {{bad name|correct name}} template, replacing the correct name text with the new file name. Hope this helps. – ukexpat (talk) 20:54, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you find yourself asking a lot of questions as you try to do things on the English Wikipedia or on Commons, that means you haven't spent enough time reading the friendly manuals here or on Commons. The instructions for virtually every task you can need to do on these sites are in writing somewhere. It's normal to have a few questions, but to make much headway on a do it yourself system like Wikipedia (or Commons), you have to figure out how to answer most of your own questions, which means figuring out where to look up the answers. The first step is to read a lot of our manuals so you get a general idea of the jargon we use, and where things are. Then study the search tools we use to answer questions on the Help desk. Reading the manuals is analogous to sharpening the axe before you chop down the tree. The more time you spend sharpening the axe, the less time you spend chopping the tree. If it feels like you are trying to chop down a tree with a brick, then you need to stop trying to do things, temporarily, and spend a few days reading the manuals. That's what everybody who can answer your questions has done. Also read Flow (psychology). To achieve the pleasant sensation of "flow" (where you know what to do, and everything is clicking), you must first invest considerable effort to develop skill, by studying the manuals. Without skill there is no flow. --Teratornis (talk) 23:43, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I might add that tasks relating to images tend to be harder than tasks relating to text around here. I only recently locked horns with Moving images to the Commons, for example, and it wasn't the easiest thing to learn on Wikipedia. One problem is that I don't see any sort of sandbox for images where a person could test the various tools and procedures. The only way to learn how to manipulate images is to actually manipulate real images, so every mistake one makes will tend to "count." This reflects an underlying principle of computing: it's much easier for computers to deal with symbols than images, so our tools and procedures for processing text are just a whole lot better. For text operations, we have sandboxes and tutorials, not to mention that you can look at wikitext to see what other people did, but for images, it's a lot harder to get started. --Teratornis (talk) 23:56, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Request for Work on Article

Where do I make such a request these days, now that the "expansion" list has been archived and more or less deactivated? Minaker (talk) 22:39, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Work by who, and on what article? Are you requesting that someone gives you work to do on some article that you don't know about yet, or do you want to ask someone else to work on a specific article you have in mind? Those are two different ways to interpret your question. On Wikipedia, needs tend to outnumber doers by a wide margin, so if you are asking for suggestions about work you can do, you'll have better luck than if you are looking for someone else to work on something that for some reason you are unable to do yourself. Wikipedia is primarily a do it yourself system anyway, so asking other people for extensive help tends to have a low percentage of quick success, although in the long run almost everything that really is important will probably get done. See WP:DEADLINE and WP:SOFIXIT. If there is an article that needs expanding, and you don't know how to expand it yourself, perhaps the simplest strategy would be to look for other articles that you do know how to expand. Pick the low-hanging fruit first. I've found lots of articles that are lacking sources, for example, and often good sources are but a {{Google}} search away. If you know how to make footnotes using citation templates, you can easily go around improving countless articles on Wikipedia. --Teratornis (talk) 00:07, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You might have success at WikiProjects related to the article you have in mind. At least you'll find like-minded people there.- Mgm|^(talk) 00:35, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Teratornis, to answer your question, I am looking for someone to expand the article on angels (my reasons are on that article's talk page). I can't do it myself, since I don't know enough about the subject. MacGyver, thanks for the tip. Minaker (talk) 06:23, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Much of the fun of Wikipedia is expanding articles one starts off knowing little about. Very little of what you see on Wikipedia is material that the authors could have written extemporaneously. What sort of research did you try for your question? --Teratornis (talk) 21:15, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I disagree that one should expand an article on a subject one knows little about. I'm not saying "never" but in general that doesn't seem like a good idea, leading to lots of opportunity for erroneous or incomplete information. I didn't do any research about the subject, to be honest with you. I just know that it's a relevant subtopic and deserves inclusion. Minaker (talk) 22:20, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

WP:NPW

Hey. Whenever I try to use WP:NPW I am not able to log in and this message is displayed “Login Failed, please check your username and password, and that you are connected to the internet.” always. I do have the latest version of WP:NPW as well as the latest version of .NET Framework. I'm also on the list of approved users. Can anyone help? :( —αἰτίας •discussion• 22:48, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Probably best to ask for help at User_talk:Martinp23/NPWatcher. —Noah 00:24, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Adding images and refrences to sources outside of wikipedia

I'm in the middle of writing an article about Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker!, and the pages explaing how to upload images and make references to outside sources i find very difficult to understand! Can anyone give me a step by step guide to doing these things? Thanks! S.3e.37 (talk) 23:11, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've added a template to your talk page which you may find useful; check out the tutorial under "Getting started." Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners also explains the basic of the referencing process, and Wikipedia:Citing sources/example style gives you some examples. Before uploading any images, make sure to thoroughly read our image use policy. In a nutshell, it says that you can only upload pictures which are in the public domain, taken by you yourself, or released to the public under certain, specific fair use policies. If you're not sure about the copyright status of your pictures, ask for help from a more experienced editor prior to uploading them. You can also check Wikimedia Commons for photos which others have already uploaded, or search the Attribution License and Attribution-ShareAlike License sections of flickr commons. I'd recommend you sign up for a Wikimedia Commons account and upload your pictures there; there's a fairly straightforward upload form.

Bear in mind that writing an article from scratch is the most difficult way to ease into editing Wikipedia, but if you're committed, great! Continue browsing through the various manuals (there are some good links three posts above this one) and, if you find that your head is spinning, consider being adopted by a more experienced user who can help you along. --Fullobeans (talk) 00:20, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) Are you trying to write a new article entirely from scratch? That is a hard thing to do on Wikipedia. The number of things you have to know literally fill a book (Wikipedia - The Missing Manual). The easiest way to approach Wikipedia is to start by making small edits to existing articles, so you don't have to learn everything all at once. But if you are determined to write a new article, which roughly amounts to running before walking, and then fend off the deletionists, and you don't want to buy the book, you will need to read (at least) these friendly manuals: WP:LAYOUT, WP:LEAD, WP:FOOT, WP:CITE, WP:CITET, WP:RS, WP:V, and WP:NPOV. Learning and understanding all that material well enough to create new articles that "stick" typically takes months, even for smart people. It's much easier to tackle the steps separately, for example you could read WP:LAYOUT and then look for articles that don't comply with it. There are some new-ish articles that have the standard sections in the wrong order, for example (with the "See also" section after the "External links" and so on). Then you could read WP:FOOT, WP:CITE, and WP:CITET, and learn how to make footnote references. There are lots of articles that have various ad hoc reference styles, which you can improve by editing them to proper footnotes with citation templates. Images are a whole additional nightmare of complexity, with difficulties of licensing, and whether and when to move images to the Commons, etc. It isn't humanly possible to grasp all of this stuff quickly, say in one day, unless you are smarter than anyone I've ever met. If you are that smart, I would like to hire you. I'm sure I'd think of some way to make money off of anyone who could learn this stuff in one day. Actually, I would just tell that person to make me rich, since he or she would know better than me how to do that. Of course if anyone was that smart, they would be smart enough to know better than to work for me, so this is purely hypothetical. --Teratornis (talk) 00:32, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

December 4

Changing information referred to between double brackets

I am going to create an article about a Patrick O'Brian novel. I would like to add the box above the categories that contains other titles, but first I need to add this novel to the list. I don't know how to access the titles. There are double brackets (these: "{") around the following text: PatrickOBrianWorks. Can anybody tell me how to make the double-bracketed text display the box contents so I can edit it? Thank you. Hammerdrill (talk) 00:04, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds like you want to edit the {{PatrickOBriansWork}} Template? What novel do you want to add? —Noah 00:08, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to edit the template you can go to Template:PatrickOBriansWork and just edit it. But please be careful editing templates (use Preview!) as any change you make affects multiple articles. —Noah 00:12, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) That's called a "navigation box" or "navigation template." See WP:NAVBOX. You will have to edit the {{PatrickOBriansWork}} (note the correct spelling) navigation template. If you can't figure out how to do that, tell us the name of the novel you want to add to the navigation template, and someone here can add it for you. Another option is to add a comment to Template talk:PatrickOBriansWork stating specifically what you would like to add, and someone else who watches that template can add it for you. If you mess up the template, you can mess up every page that transcludes it, so this is kind of a high-risk thing to try if you have not done it before. Just be ready to revert your changes if you screw it up. Or better yet, test your edits by copying the template to a user subpage such as User:Hammerdrill/Sandbox where you can experiment with no risk. --Teratornis (talk) 00:15, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fundraising Notice

Just a quick one: It seems to me that the software has been changed so that it is no longer possible to cover this up with a div. I know I can disappear it so I don't have to see it, but it would be nice if I could cover it up on my user and user talk pages.

If I am wrong in thinking this is no longer possible, do feel free to correct me :) Brilliantine (talk) 01:29, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can remove the notice by enabling "Suppress display of the fundraiser banner" in the Gadgets tab of your preferences. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 01:32, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I know (as stated in my question) just wondering if there was still a way to stop other users from having to see it on my User and User Talk pages :) Brilliantine (talk) 01:35, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh yeah, stupid me :) Sorry, but I can't help you there. Chamal ^talk 01:50, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Help with database dumping?

I was wondering if someone could help me, or point me to someone or somewhere that could, convert a database dump to multiple, non-treed base-raw html pages. I've already followed the somewhat bland instructions at Wikipedia:Database but never get quite the results I needed. I have http://download.wikimedia.org/enwiki/20080724/enwiki-20080724-pages-meta-current.xml.bz2. I want to convert the uncompressed code (using ANY program) to multiple html pages. The equivalent of going to every page and clicking save:as... Am I missing something? Lostinlodos (talk) 01:57, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You may want to ask at Wikipedia:Village Pump (technical). Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 02:20, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Using WikiMapia Images on Wikipedia

I have searched the help desk archive and I can't seem to find anything on this. Can we screen grab Wikimapia images to use as satellite images of bays, urban areas, parks, geographic features, etc? How do they relate to WP policies and copyright? Nick carson (talk) 02:35, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The images on Wikimapia are from Google Maps. At the bottom of Wikimapia you'll see a link to terms of use, which provides statements such as:

"Google Maps is made available for your internal use only and may not be commercially redistributed" and "You may not delete or in any manner alter the copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights notices appearing in map information, including photographic imagery" and " "Google Maps is provided under license by... and subject to copyright protection and other intellectual property rights owned by or licensed to..."

All this means to me that the content is completely incompatible with the GFDL and thus we cannot use it on Wikipedia as free content and using it would be a copyright violation. Of course, there is always fair use, but I don't think maps, which can be made or sought from other sources would likely qualify (though I should qualify by saying that this is not the heart of my Wikipedia expertise).--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:48, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In short, no, because the images are not licensed under the GFDL and I'm quite sure they wouldn't qualify for fair use. But if you can find them, imagery from sources such as NASA or the USGS should be copyright free, you could try that. Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 02:53, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I mean, these are images of people's houses, trees, roads, lakes, rivers, rail lines, how can a copyright be applied to such images without them being subject to fair use? Moreover, how can NASA images come under fair use but Google images not? they're of exactally the same subject matter taken in exactally the same manner. Nick carson (talk) 01:54, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

bracket templates

How do I create my own tournament bracket templates? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.176.183.54 (talk)

It depends on what you're trying to achieve, the easiest thing to do would be to see if one has already been created in Category:Tournament bracket templates that you could use. If not then you can look at the code of some of those and adapt it to your needs. Nanonic (talk) 03:52, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A problem on a discussion page

What exactly is going on here-[1]? There seems to be a misguided person here. Any ideas on what to do of the mess?--Leif edling (talk) 03:13, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The mess on Talk:Euler's theorem does not follow the Talk page guidelines. It looks like a paste of some material from the Italian Wikipedia by an unregistered user. The original copy appears to be here:

it:Wikipedia:Vaglio/Eulero

If you want to see that in Google English, use the {{Translate wikipedia}} template I recently created:

Translate it:Wikipedia:Vaglio/Eulero to English

Interestingly, the page doesn't seem to make any sense on the Italian Wikipedia either. Could be an example of WP:NONSENSE. I doubt anyone (who matters) would mind if you deleted all that stuff and replaced it with {{Maths rating}} and {{Talkheader}} templates. If the user who pasted that material had a user page, you could userfy the material there, but if someone can't be bothered to create an account before putting garbage on an article talk page, I wouldn't see the need to feel any more concerned about that person's "work" than he or she is. --Teratornis (talk) 04:24, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's been deleted. See Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines for information about when it's acceptable to meddle with other editors' talk page comments. You should of course use great discretion when editing others' comments, but if it's a case of obvious vandalism, nonsense, etc, be bold and remove it yourself. Cheers! --Fullobeans (talk) 04:32, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Bot operating

How to RUN the bot, this account will be an bot?? Roded86bot (talk) 06:09, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Beats me, but have you seen WP:BOT and WP:MAKEBOT? --Fullobeans (talk) 06:43, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

On second thought, assuming you are the same person as 140.128.148.217, you may want to hold off on the bot and start reading through the links on your talk page to learn how to contribute constructively to Wikipedia. Remember that all your edits are recorded permanently in both the page history and your user contributions, so you should think carefully about your edits before you save them. --Fullobeans (talk) 07:14, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I have reported the user name to WP:UAA, because IMHO it is misleading, masquerading as a bot account when it is not. – ukexpat (talk) 15:39, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

User name now blocked. – ukexpat (talk) 20:26, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I want and wish wikipedia to open paying for advertiment, and wikipedia will be have more revenue to resolve currect financial crisis. 140.128.148.217 (talk) 06:43, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Perennial proposals#Advertising. -Optigan13 (talk) 06:46, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think Wikipedia itself is suffering much of a financial crisis. The fundraiser is an annual event and to me it looks like we're pretty much on target at the moment. The Goal only needs to be reached somewhere early next year. - 131.211.211.5 (talk) 08:09, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's time Wikipedia is sold off to a business (like google) that has the financial and technical capability to support this project. Wikipedia is held back a lot in it's current form.--intraining ^{Jack In} 09:05, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is a non-profit organization for a reason. Selling it to a company would mean NPOV would be down the drain. Look at the mess that is Google knol. Everyone is posting like crazy to earn money. Duplicate articles galore and no cooperative editing. I don't want Wikipedia to turn into that.- Mgm|^(talk) 11:03, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The sale of Wikipedia does not necessarily mean that policy's will change, What I mean is that change's we want to make but are currently restricted by weak servers (lack of funds) will be made. An example is the symbols in the edit function now have to be copy and pasted instead of just clicking it like it used to be.--intraining ^{Jack In} 11:13, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia always slows down before new servers are installed. It's no more than logical. The site still grows and until the new servers are installed, the existing ones will be strained. As for the "symbols in the edit function" What are you talking about? - Mgm|^(talk) 12:05, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

When you click edit this page the symbols are located under the edit summary, They look like this, Symbols: ~ | ¡ ¿ † ‡ ↔ ↑ ↓ • ¶ # ½ ⅓ ⅔ ¼ ¾ ⅛ ⅜ ⅝ ⅞ ∞ ‘ “ ’ ” «» ¤ ₳ ฿ ₵ ¢ ₡ ₢ $ ₫ ₯ € ₠ ₣ ƒ ₴ ₭ ₤ ℳ ₥ ₦ № ₧ ₰ £ ៛ ₨ ₪ ৳ ₮ ₩ ¥ ♠ ♣ ♥ ♦ m² m³

Characters: Á á Ć ć É é Í í Ĺ ĺ Ń ń Ó ó Ŕ ŕ Ś ś Ú ú Ý ý Ź ź À à È è Ì ì Ò ò Ù ù Â â Ĉ ĉ Ê ê Ĝ ĝ Ĥ ĥ Î î Ĵ ĵ Ô ô Ŝ ŝ Û û Ŵ ŵ Ŷ ŷ Ä ä Ë ë Ï ï Ö ö Ü ü Ÿ ÿ ß Ã ã Ẽ ẽ Ĩ ĩ Ñ ñ Õ õ Ũ ũ Ỹ ỹ Ç ç Ģ ģ Ķ ķ Ļ ļ Ņ ņ Ŗ ŗ Ş ş Ţ ţ Đ đ Ů ů Ǎ ǎ Č č Ď ď Ě ě Ǐ ǐ Ľ ľ Ň ň Ǒ ǒ Ř ř Š š Ť ť Ǔ ǔ Ž ž Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū Ȳ ȳ Ǣ ǣ ǖ ǘ ǚ ǜ Ă ă Ĕ ĕ Ğ ğ Ĭ ĭ Ŏ ŏ Ŭ ŭ Ċ ċ Ė ė Ġ ġ İ ı Ż ż Ą ą Ę ę Į į Ǫ ǫ Ų ų Ḍ ḍ Ḥ ḥ Ḷ ḷ Ḹ ḹ Ṃ ṃ Ṇ ṇ Ṛ ṛ Ṝ ṝ Ṣ ṣ Ṭ ṭ Ł ł Ő ő Ű ű Ŀ ŀ Ħ ħ Ð ð Þ þ Œ œ Æ æ Ø ø Å å Ə ə Greek: Ά ά Έ έ Ή ή Ί ί Ό ό Ύ ύ Ώ ώ Α α Β β Γ γ Δ δ Ε ε Ζ ζ Η η Θ θ Ι ι Κ κ Λ λ Μ μ Ν ν Ξ ξ Ο ο Π π Ρ ρ Σ σ ς Τ τ Υ υ Φ φ Χ χ Ψ ψ Ω ω [] Error: {{Lang}}: no text (help) Cyrillic: А а Б б В в Г г Ґ ґ Ѓ ѓ Д д Ђ ђ Е е Ё ё Є є Ж ж З з Ѕ ѕ И и І і Ї ї Й й Ј ј К к Ќ ќ Л л Љ љ М м Н н Њ њ О о П п Р р С с Т т Ћ ћ У у Ў ў Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Џ џ Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я IPA: t̪ d̪ ʈ ɖ ɟ ɡ ɢ ʡ ʔ ɸ ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ ʂ ʐ ʝ ɣ ʁ ʕ ʜ ʢ ɦ ɱ ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ ʋ ɹ ɻ ɰ ʙ ʀ ɾ ɽ ɫ ɬ ɮ ɺ ɭ ʎ ʟ ɥ ʍ ɧ ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ ɨ ʉ ɯ ɪ ʏ ʊ ɘ ɵ ɤ ə ɚ ɛ ɜ ɝ ɞ ʌ ɔ ɐ ɶ ɑ ɒ ʰ ʷ ʲ ˠ ˤ ⁿ ˡ ˈ ˌ ː ˑ ̪ Do these ring a bell? As for your server installing comment I think you do not really know what you are on about!--intraining ^{Jack In} 12:12, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What do you mean? The clicking still works. Chamal ^talk 12:18, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well I and many many other have to copy and paste, I read in this help desk a while ago that the cause is weak java servers or something like that I will try to find the question and get back to you.--intraining ^{Jack In} 12:22, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe browser differences? I'm using Firefox. Chamal ^talk 12:24, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am using Firefox too, It even says Copy and Paste next to the symbols.--intraining ^{Jack In} 12:30, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I'm baffled. It works fine for me now, and always has. These symbols: ฿ÁΏЂףصɦ were all inserted by clicking on them. Chamal ^talk 12:37, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am also baffled. I thought everyone had this issue - I need a beer.--intraining ^{Jack In} 12:46, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It seems those characters are a browser issue. The reduced menu where you need to click the sort of symbol you want before clicking the actual symbol does not change the symbol bar for me. - Mgm|^(talk) 12:55, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

About the advertising on Wikipedia issue, see Wikipedia:Advertisements and especially Wikipedia:Advertisements#Income from search tools on Wikipedia pages. --Teratornis (talk) 21:26, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Quick way of adding articles to your watchlist

Is there any quick way to add certain articles to your watchlist without having to click the watchlist tab on the article? For example if i wanted all the articles in a certain category on my watchlist this would really help. Is there anyway quick way to do this? Maybe a script perhaps or is it just a very long process? Thanks, advice appreciated Monster Under Your Bed ^(talk) 10:44, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

All I can suggest is that you edit your raw watch list.--intraining ^{Jack In} 10:57, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks but theres got to be an easier way. I am sure someone can make something up to speed it up. If there was a link on a certain cat. to add all the pages within the cat to your watchlist that would be great. Monster Under Your Bed ^(talk) 11:15, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please read the above question for your answer:).--intraining ^{Jack In} 11:17, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Install navigation popups as a gadget in your user account (Preferences --> Gadgets, check the appropriate box, save, and clear your browser cache). You will then be able to add to your watchlist using the popup interface. – ukexpat (talk) 15:43, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

edit tag is unavailable!

Hi there I have made my very first Wikipedia edit, adding an original image file to the article on (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migraine_aura) Migraine Auras. The edit link for the main body of the page, where I would like to have placed my image, is directing me to the "see also" section. Each edit tag on the page seems to be linked to the section below it, resulting in no edit tag available for the top section. I have put the .jpg in the "see also" section but it looks funny there and I would love to put it at the top of the page where it belongs. Can you help me? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.211.3.106 (talk) 12:33, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You have probably clicked on the wrong edit links. The edit link for the whole page is on the top of the page (the edit tab). Use that link if you want to edit this section. There isn't a edit link to the first section (lead section) unless you're a registered user and have enabled that in your preferences. Edit links for every other section are in line with the section header, aligned to the right. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 12:40, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Question about removing false/unverifiable/defamatory information

Hello,

I'm the President of a small company that has a Wikipedia entry (Legitscript). Our entry has been vandalized with some inaccurate and unverifiable (because it's inaccurate) as well as defamatory information twice over the last couple of days. We removed the false and defamatory information, which simply cited accusations in blogs as the basis for facts.

Two questions: 1. The page now says that major edits to the entry (our edits) were put up with someone that doesn't have a neutral point of view. That's true, but our understanding is that it's permissible to remove false, unverifiable, etc. information about yourself or your own company. What is the best way to approach this? Surely, we aren't required to refrain from removing false information about our company. 2. Is there a way to prevent continued vandalization to the page? We certainly don't have any problem with anyone editing the entry with verifiable facts, but of course want to be able to remove information that is inaccurate (and being inaccurate, unverifiable).

Thanks very much. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jchkayaker (talk • contribs) 13:07, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The notice at the top of the Legitscript directs you to the conflict of interest guideline. Read this, and it will let you know what you should and shouldn't do with this article. Take a look under Defending interest - notice that it says that anyone (even a conflicted editor) may and should remove unsupported defamatory material from an article. If you think the article is being persistently vandalised and you want to ask for assistance, you can place a short note on the administrator intervention against vandalism page. User:ukexpat seems to have taken an interest in the page, so you could also leave a note on his talk page. Gandalf61 (talk) 17:17, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Banned

What will happen if i get "banned", not only may not edit any pages, what other sitition will happen? JustbeBPMF (talk) 13:47, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See the Banning policy. A ban may apply to an area of Wikipedia or even the whole project. It could also be temporary or permanent. Chamal ^talk 13:52, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Your mean is all language version of Wikipedia won't able to edit? JustbeBPMF (talk) 13:54, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think what Chamal N was referring to was a topic ban versus a site ban. For example, an editor can be banned from editing Palestine/Israel articles or Scientology articles. Or an editor can be banned from the entire site. This only applies to English Wikipedia, however, as other language Wikis make their own decisions. TN‑X-Man 14:03, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. I should have made myself clearer. When I said "Area of Wikipedia" I meant it could be an article, or a topic area. Chamal ^talk 14:10, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The obvious thing to do is not get banned so you never have to find out... - Mgm|^(talk) 14:23, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also see the blocking policy, as "blocking" means something different from "banning" on Wikipedia, and people often confuse the two. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 01:21, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

IPs signing posts

Why do IPs almost never sign their posts? 89.242.164.133 (talk) 17:50, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The large majority of IPs I've encountered do not make very many edits. While they may have experience reading Wikipedia, they may not have much experience editing Wikipedia. Signing posts (along with wikilinking, templates, etc.) is something that usually takes a few tries before you remember to do it automatically. TN‑X-Man 17:56, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia editing skill follows a Pareto distribution - most Wikipedia users merely dabble, and have little editing skill; a small fraction have modest skill; and a tiny fraction have read the friendly manuals in depth and developed advanced skill. It's hardly surprising that most unregistered users would not have learned (or feel bothered to follow) the Talk page guidelines, because registering an account and signing one's talk page comments are both acts that show consideration for other users, and indicate that a user has made some progress in learning Wikipedia. When we establish an identity (or even a consistent pseudo-identity) by creating an account, signing our talk page comments, and leaving useful edit summaries, we help other editors by informing them about who we are. It's very difficult for people to coordinate their efforts and (especially) to resolve conflicts when they aren't able to associate identities with the people they are dealing with. The reason for our unease is our inability to predict the behavior of people whose track record is inaccessible to us. (IP addresses can change or be shared, so the edit history of an IP address may be incomplete, or downright misleading.) When you know absolutely nothing about another person, you can't be sure whether they will like what you say to them, or feel deeply offended. Humans have emotional brains which weigh these factors for us, which is why we might feel nervous about getting on an elevator with a complete stranger, but we feel at ease around our friends. While there are some unregistered users who read the friendly manuals and contribute productively, there are many more whose failure to register is part of a larger mindset which fails to "get" Wikipedia. Thus it should not be surprising that a larger fraction of users who log in to edit will be similarly courteous to other users in other ways (such as by signing their talk page comments). However, there are exceptions, such as a few users who create accounts specifically to increase their vandalism damage potential. --Teratornis (talk) 19:55, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Editing a Page.

Hello,

I wanted to add a fact to the BILLY GIBBONS page, but cant figure out how to do it. Is there an editor I can send the info to for consideration? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Billygibbonsproject (talk • contribs) 18:22, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You should be able to edit the article by clicking on the "edit" tab at the very top of the page. Please be sure that any facts added are supported by reliable sources. You may also want to discuss your addition on the article's talk page. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 18:27, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

extensive rewrite of existing article

Wikipedia has had an article about my work for a while now (Matthew Stadler), but it is inaccurate and out of date. I tried to correct it through a small number of line edits, but many of my edits were rejected because my sources were not acceptable. I worked on the edits so they are properly sourced, and that work turned into a complete rewriting of the article. This rewrite is is much longer and more detailed than the existing article.

My question: what are the best next steps to take so that this rewrite can be posted and cause the least amount of problems or work for Wikipedia volunteers? —Preceding unsigned comment added by MatthewStadler (talk • contribs) 18:33, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Because of your conflict of interest your best option is to post a message to the article's talk page declaring your conflict and noting how the article needs to be improved and see if any editors will assist with the edits. – ukexpat (talk) 20:30, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also see: WP:BLP and Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Help. The latter page contains instructions both for you (the subject of the biography) and all the other users who edit the article. We also need to clarify what you mean by "this rewrite" and "best":

Presumably by "this rewrite" you refer to something you wrote with something other than Wikipedia. For example, maybe you wrote a document with Microsoft Word and have it as a local file on your computer. The more specific you can be about what you mean, the more easily someone can give you specific advice. Perhaps the most practical way to make your rewrite easily available to other Wikipedia editors is to:
1. Transcribe (perhaps by copying and pasting) your rewrite to a user subpage such as: User:MatthewStadler/Sandbox (on Wikipedia we use the term "sandbox" to refer to a page where we make practice or test edits). If you need help with this, let us know.
2. Leave a comment on Talk:Matthew Stadler explaining that you have a user subpage containing your suggested rewrites to the article, with a link to it. Again, if you don't know how to do this, let us know and a more experienced user can handle it.
As to "best," I'm guessing you probably really mean "optimal." The "best" way to work productively with other Wikipedia editors is to learn as much about Wikipedia editing as they know, but that would require you to do a lot of work, which might not be worth your time if you only care about correcting one article. Wikipedia is perhaps the most efficient system ever devised for remote collaboration, but it is so different than anything most people have experienced that it takes a lot of work to master. If you would like to become an accomplished Wikipedia editor, you'll need to read lots of help pages (and/or read the book Wikipedia - The Missing Manual) and edit lots of different articles, over a period of months or years. Your contributions show your first edit under this username was in 2007, but you haven't made many edits yet. How much do you want to learn about Wikipedia? The "best" way to proceed depends on your answer to that question.

--Teratornis (talk) 20:42, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Page version control on userpage

Someone appears to be excercising version control over my userpage without my consent and apparently against basic policy and courtesy. I didn't know we had version control implemented, and though its a wonderful idea, its application to own userpage is not welcome. I'd like it corrected. -Zahd (talk) 19:55, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What do you mean by "version control"? Have you read WP:UP#NOT? --Teratornis (talk) 19:59, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I was mistaken. Must have been a caching issue. Thanks anyway. The content isn't the relevant issue. -Zahd (talk) 20:05, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict)It appears that User:Spotfixer has been editing your user page. You can see on his talk page where other users have warned him/her about this. However, as Teratornis mentioned, please review what userpages are not. TN‑X-Man 20:06, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I just blanked the user page again -- the content was clearly inappropriate per WP:UP#NOT. – ukexpat (talk) 20:34, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to express opinions on your user page, a compromise method is to put up some userboxes. Jimbo Wales doesn't like them, but at least userboxes generally take care to qualify themselves with "This user believes/likes/does X" rather than to make unprovable truth claims such as purporting to speak directly for God. Saying "I believe (in some doctrine)" is very different than saying "(Some doctrine) is true." On Wikipedia, our standard for truth is much stronger than someone's mere personal assertion, which is useless anyway because billions of people around the world assert all sorts of contradictory things. When people develop the bad habit of asserting things they cannot prove, it's one step from there to Religious war, because when two people believe incompatible things and view the other's opinion as blasphemy, their only two options are to avoid each other, or try to settle their differences with force. Wikipedia avoids this type of stupidity by requiring all users to agree on a specific truth standard (see WP:V and WP:RS). The truth we all agree on is to document who asserted what, not to determine which of the unprovable assertions were true. --Teratornis (talk) 20:56, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The statement on my userpage does not violate the clause "extensive personal opinions on matters unrelated to Wikipedia." Likewise the statement is an apologetic statement, not a polemical statement that the policy prohibits; nor is it "attacking or vilifying groups of editors or persons," as it is merely stating a concept of absolute discernment. -Zahd (talk) 22:07, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

OK tell me what is "apologetic" about this: There is a God, and He hates abortion. The sad truth is that in this world of Godless "freedoms," even a single word in support of an actual abortion can cause one to be destroyed in the hellfire, or condemned to hell. This is the way He sees it. IMHO you are pushing your anti-abortion beliefs in an inappropriate manner. – ukexpat (talk) 22:15, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(undent) Unverifiable assertions are perhaps the weakest possible form of apologetics, which is why some folks who have nothing more to back up their supernatural claims have a bad habit of beheading people who don't accept their unverifiable assertions. If I claim the Flying Spaghetti Monster exists, I have not given FSM doubters any reason to change their minds, and neither have I made the claims of FSM proponents any more believable (adding more people who make an unprovable assertion accomplishes nothing; see argumentum ad populum). You should brush up on critical thinking, and if you have any well-sourced, useful material to add to an article such as Existence of God, please add it. And if you think you'll be able to wikilawyer your way to placing these kinds of highly divisive unverifiable claims on your userpage - and nothing else - then I can assure you that you will lose this argument just as many others lost it before you. You might find another wiki such as Conservapedia more welcoming to your point of view. --Teratornis (talk) 00:07, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I understand your atheism. -Zahd (talk) 00:14, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Editing (deleting) an ostensibly promotional link in an article CLETE BOYER

I am very new to editing, but I looked up the article for my favorite baseball player CLETE BOYER and clicked through the references. All of them were OK except reference #7 to something called ETERNAL IMAGE (which, when I clicked the link) sent me to a commemorative products site (urns, baseballs, etc.) I believe this violates policy and has nothing whatsover to do with the article.

When I tried to edit it all I see is: ==References== {Reflist} I don't see anything I can edit. Can you help?

In other words, there is nothing to edit. Can you help me? Thanks, Web20librarian (talk) 21:19, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The code for the footnote is at the place the footnote link appears, not in the references section. See Help:Footnotes for more info. Algebraist 21:22, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

linkspam now deleted. – ukexpat (talk) 22:10, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, Algebraist!

printing an article

I don't seem to be able to print the exact article I am viewing "History of Religion in the United States". Something else about the subject prints. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.196.85.125 (talk) 21:57, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Did you try printing the printable version of the page? Click on the "printable version" link in the toolbox on the left hand side of the page. – ukexpat (talk) 22:07, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Joke categories on Book of Proverbs

Hello, there are some joke categories on the Book of Proverb page, like "Articles with unsourced statements since November 2008 Now there's no way you know this on your own..." and "Articles with unsourced statements since November 2008 There are? The state them, scholars like to write books so they can be referenced... :)". I can't figure out how to fix this. Could somebody please help? Thank you. LovesMacs (talk) 22:23, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Someone's been using {{fact}} in a rather strange way. Fixed. Algebraist 22:27, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See [2] for the explanation. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:42, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"Save page" times out for logged-in user (proxy IP blocked for anonymous)

It seems my internet provider (Virgin Media) are experimenting with transparent proxies. My proxy was blocked for vandalism (anon-only). I can log in normally (after solving a Captcha) and access my watchlist. But whenever I click "Save page" nothing happens – except that if I wait long enough, in the end I am offered a file index.php for download.

My solution is to log in on the secure server. Is this a known problem? --Hans Adler (talk) 22:59, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Hans. Go to your account preferences, click on the "editing" tab and untick the box that says "use external editor by default". If that does not solve the issue, or it's already unticked, please advise and wait for further help:-)--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:07, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. It's already unticked – otherwise using the secure server wouldn't have solved the issue. I am not really helpless, but others in the same situation might be. Therefore I would like to report this problem to whatever is the right place. But I am not sure if it's a configuration problem with en.wikipedia, a mediawiki bug, or even a known feature. --Hans Adler (talk) 23:47, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds like a caching issue. Try bypassing your browser cache on the non-secure server. I doubt it's a MediaWiki bug or a configuration problem; if it was, a lot more people would be reporting the same problem. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 01:15, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

December 5

Date when first published

I want to know on what date was this article first published: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug)

I'm doing a report for school and my sources have to be from 2004 or sooner. Any ideas? Thanks : ) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.203.218.7 (talk • contribs) 00:33, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

According to the article's revision history, the article was first created at 17:39, 8 February 2005 (UTC), and the article was last edited at 07:01, 3 December 2008 (UTC). Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 00:53, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also take a look at the many links under References, External links, and Further reading at the bottom of the article. Quite a few of them are from after 2004, and your teacher will probably jump for joy if you write a report without referencing Wikipedia. --Fullobeans (talk) 01:09, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Have a look at the Cite link in the left bar of the site, which every article page has. It gives you the information you need to cite Wikipedia in the most used formats. Fullobeans is right, though, it's better not to cite Wikipedia and use the sources we used to make the articles instead. - 131.211.210.70 (talk) 08:40, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

defaultsort

With all the notifications on talk pages now over the sortkey issue and pages being auto-populated in Category:Pages with DEFAULTSORT conflicts, is there a central discussion or article on the problem somewhere and a quick breakdown of what must be done to the relevant templates to fix this? Nanonic (talk) 00:41, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please let me know if you find it! As far as I can tell, the problem arises when an article contains {{DEFAULTSORT}} and the talk page contains two or more templates with listas parameters and one of them is either empty, or contains a different sort from {{DEFAULTSORT}}. Frankly, I don't understand the point of the listas parameters in talk page templates - the {{DEFAULTSORT}} sorting should apply for all purposes. – ukexpat (talk) 01:34, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

As I understand it, it’s another way to solve the problem in this proposal. I think the listas parameter is a bad idea; we should wait instead for the proposal to be adopted: that (and maybe a single DEFAULTSORT per page) will remove the need for listas. —teb728 t c 01:54, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

help.

I attend Hargrave Military Academy, and I have been inducted into a secret "group" of the best cadets. The man who started this club is a senior and will be leaving next year. I would like to create a page of our "clan" in memory of him. How do i create a page on wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hobbsa92 (talk • contribs) 00:49, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately, your club may not meet Wikipedia's notability requirements. Read WP:ORG to see what constitutes a notable organization, and WP:NOT to see what's generally deemed unacceptable. I'd also recommend that you familiarize yourself with Wikipedia by editing other articles which interest you, before you start building articles from scratch. --Fullobeans (talk) 01:04, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If the group is as you say secret, there is no way it could have the substantial coverage in secondary sources necessary to establish notability; so any article on the group would be speedily deleted. —teb728 t c 01:39, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If I may volunteer my 0.02 here: the web site http://www.facebook.com/ seems to be very flexible, in terms of allowing stuff that (in the opinion of a given observer) might not be considered very notable. There, is it fairly easy to create a fan page, or a "group", (which can be either open to all, or somewhat exclusive regarding membership), etc. Would it be too restrictive to require, that each person in the club, might have to have their own page on facebook? (If they don't "already" have one, they are easy to create.) This is just an idea. It seems like, that might meet your needs. I hope this helps, --Mike Schwartz (talk) 02:41, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Rollback?

This is mainly a non-constructive editor, please eval for rollback. Mjpresson (talk) 01:21, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That is an IP so is is technically impossible to assign them rollback. For future reference WP:RFPERM is the correct place to bring such requests. Icewedge (talk) 02:59, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

advice, please: How do I tag an article for possible "re-naming"?

Today I started to ask (/"put") this question at "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_talk:Biography_articles_needing_attention"; but there I found, when I started to edit, that it said [quote:]
<< "Attention Talk pages in this namespace are generally not watched by many users. Please consider visiting the Help desk for a more prompt response or reviewing the Categorization FAQ for quick tips." >>
(!!)
So I decided to put it here instead. Sorry if this is the wrong place.

This is about an article ["re-naming issue"] that is not "YET" a Category_talk:Biography article, but might "become" one, in the future. For an explanation, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Austin_Bay#Could_we_re-name_this_.28already-existing.29_article.3F
and in fact, see all of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Austin_Bay .

I asked about this (potential future) "re-naming" idea, more than a week ago, and apparently I was asking in the wrong place, because it appears that no one (who can advise me about how to properly tag the "body of water" article Austin Bay for possible "re-naming") has read the question (or, if they have, they didn't answer) ("yet").

Any advice? Thanks, --Mike Schwartz (talk) 02:31, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I responded at Talk:Austin Bay. :) --Tkynerd (talk) 03:24, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How do I add a picture of an album cover and the other things in the square of information?

Can you please tell me how to add the picture of an album cover as well as edit all of the other things in the squares on the top right hand side that include information about the album? This is driving me NUTS trying to figure out...I've spent an hour getting THIS far. Lord save me!

AxRox (talk) 03:16, 5 December 2008 (UTC)AlexAxRox (talk) 03:16, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The squares at the top right are infoboxes a type of template. On the article you were recently editing, Snakebite (album), the template is generated by the code below which can be found at the top of the article when you open it for editing.

{{Infobox Album | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Albums -->
| Name        = Snakebite
| Type        = Studio
| Artist      = [[Whitesnake]]
| Caption     = ''Snakebite'' (US sleeve)
| Cover       = Snakebite.jpg
| Released    = June 1978
| Recorded    = April 7-13, 1978 at [[Central Recorders]] ([[London]], UK) / April 10-19, 1977 at [[AIR Studios]] (London, UK)
| Genre       = [[Hard rock]], [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]], [[blues-rock]]
| Length      = 36:51
| Label       = [[Geffen Records|Geffen]]
| Producer    = 1-4 by [[Martin Birch]], 5-8 by [[Roger Glover]]
| Reviews     =
* [[Allmusic]] {{Rating|2|5}} [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:rlf6zf0heh8k link]
|
| Last album  = ''[[Snakebite EP]]'' (1978)
| This album  = ''Snakebite'' <br /> (1978)
| Next album  = ''[[Trouble (Whitesnake album)|Trouble]]'' <br /> (1978)
 | Misc        = {{Extra album cover 2
 | Upper caption  = Alternate cover
 | Lower caption  = ''Snakebite'' (Original UK sleeve) {{deletable image-caption}}
 | Type  = studio
 | Cover       =
 }}

Changing different fields will change the values in the boxes. In the case when a field is not self explanatory, refer to the documentation at Template:Infobox Album/doc. Icewedge (talk) 03:29, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There is also Wikipedia:FAQ/Editing#How_can_I_add_pictures_to_pages.3F for this, which can be reached through the FAQ link at the top of this page. (Although, it needs one more click.) — Sebastian 03:37, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Categories don't display on a particular page

For some weird reason, the categories in Building insulation won't display. I had been using HotCat, and thought that might cause the problem, but it still persists when I uninstall it. — Sebastian 03:37, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Unclosed ref tag. Fixed. Algebraist 03:39, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, you again! Thanks! I recently started using WikEd, and so I guess I relied too much on its syntax coloring, which appeared to look good to me. — Sebastian 03:59, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

John Kennedy test

early in the space program President John Kennedy developed a test to qualify those with an ability to encounte the unknown. The test was done and devoleped by 11 universities world wide. The test development I believe cost 20,000,000.00 The firt person to pass this test became the head of the space program in houston, tex. actually he was the only person at that time to score 100 percent. The nickname for this exam. was the John Kennedy test.. My question is. What was the real name of this exam. Is it true the goverment tracks those who score very high. If so was I the 2nd person 25 years later to score 100 percent. I was told so in 1985 by a doctor at dallas diagnostics, in dallas,tex. Please reply to <removed to prevent spam> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.14.1.252 (talk) 04:42, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. Algebraist 04:46, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Can a Category be redirected?

I just noticed that Category:Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Category:Buffyverse both exist. If one is redirected to the other, will its members be carried along? —Tamfang (talk) 05:57, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:CAT#Redirected categories. --Silver Edge (talk) 06:00, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Copy and Paste Symbols

How come I need to copy and paste the symbols instead of just clicking them like I used to?--intraining ^{Jack In} 07:35, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Archibald Bell Jr

If I want to do an article on Archibald Bell Jr, is "Jr" the correct way to spell it in the heading? Sardaka (talk) 09:38, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I found these two articles, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Ken Griffey, Jr. which suggest that you should create Archibald Bell, Jr. also see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (common names) which have a example on James Earl Carter, Jr. suggesting that it is the corect way of doing it (even though it is wrong in that example). --Stefan ^talk 11:19, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

My Home page

how do i make my homepage (User Page)? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wwe.fana (talk • contribs) 09:49, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking - I see you've been editing your user page for the last few weeks. What do you want to put on your userpage? See Wikipedia:User page for more general information on user pages. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 09:56, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

New template grammar

This is probally a somewhat odd request, but could anyone have a look at the grammar of the Duplicatepage template, which i recently created? I have a tendency to make grammar/spelling mistakes in pages where the wording is not completely my own choice (IE: Where the sentences should follow certain guidelines). Thanks in advance! Excirial^{(Contact me,Contribs)} 10:32, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How about: "Hello. An article you recently created has been found to be an identical copy of another page. If you intended to point a new article title to an already existing article, please use a redirect. Otherwise, please add {{db-g6}} to the top of the page to have it deleted. Thank you." Xenon 54 11:09, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

where do I go to complain about the way Wikipedia works?

... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.171.169.155 (talk) 11:06, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

@@ Line 559: / Line 559: @@
 If I want to do an article on Archibald Bell Jr, is "Jr" the correct way to spell it in the heading?
 [[User:Sardaka|Sardaka]] ([[User talk:Sardaka|talk]]) 09:38, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
+:I found these two articles, [[Dale Earnhardt, Jr.]] and [[Ken Griffey, Jr.]] which suggest that you should create [[Archibald Bell, Jr.]] also see [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (common names)]] which have a example on [[James Earl Carter, Jr.]] suggesting that it is the corect way of doing it (even though it is wrong in that example). --[[User:Stefan|Stefan]] [[User_talk:Stefan|<sup>talk</sup>]] 11:19, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
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