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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:

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What helpers can do

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

Add yourself with

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May 2

Contribs

How may one find out the number of contributions they have made? Thanks, Zrs 12 (talk) 00:43, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Various ways. When you're signed in, look at "my preferences" and your "user profile" page there has a list of edits, including deleted edits. This link gives you a more detailed breakdown of your editing pattern, but not including deleted edits. WP:KATE has other edit-counting tools. Bencherlite ^Talk 00:47, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(ec)[1]--Kerotan ^{Leave Me a Message} Have a nice day :) 00:48, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See: WP:EIW#Count. --Teratornis (talk) 01:03, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Lake Qaraoun

Done Can someone that understands Hebrew copy the image here http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%AA%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%94:Qaraoun_Lake_1.jpg to Commons and then add it to the Lake Qaraoun article? Thanks, Spencer^T♦^C 01:02, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Anyone? Spencer^T♦^C 21:29, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, I'll try. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 21:41, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, Spencer^T♦^C 00:30, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

References

If two different sections are being backed up by the same reference do you post that reference twice? It looks kind of messy in the reference section on the bottom. What's the wikipedia policy on this? Sima Yi (talk) 01:29, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Give one ref a name, by adding name="NAME" in the <ref> tag, making <ref name="NAME">REF CONTENT</ref>. Then to use that ref again, post <ref name="NAME" />. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 01:31, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And don't forget the "/" in <ref name="NAME" /> —teb728 t c 01:37, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks a lot guys. I appreciate your help. Sima Yi (talk) 02:28, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is there something in place for this?

It seems to me that some articles will be non-neutral one way or another because they're referenced primarily to articles of one opinion. And since they're referenced nobody does anything about it. This section is what I have in mind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet#Human_Rights

It's clearly against China but since it's well referenced it's left alone. I've been seeing this in other articles too, but not as extreme usually.

Superstarwarsfan (talk) 03:48, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And the question is? Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 03:50, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And by the way, those are clearly anti-China, pro-Tibet websites that they are referencing. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 03:52, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The question is "Does Wikipedia have something in place to prove somethings not neutral even if it's referenced?" Superstarwarsfan (talk) 03:54, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Don't think so, but WP:Verifiability#Questionable sources does say that the references do need to be to reputable, neutral sources- pro-Tibet websites can't possibly be reputable/neutral. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 03:57, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You would think so. Yet theres a good size debate going on about this section thats been going on for a while. When I brought it up again one of the first things that happened is that the section got even more references. Is there anything that can be done? Superstarwarsfan (talk) 04:06, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

True, but as long as the sources are considered reliable (in terms fact-checking, etc.), it's not necessarily a huge problem. Human Rights Watch is probably reliable, even if they're not neutral on Tibet issues. --Bfigura ^(talk) 04:02, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think you'll find Wikipedia:Neutral point of view#Undue weight of interest.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:06, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think I might be missing something. While I agree that the wording of that section clearly has POV issues, I don't think that "China doesn't have the best human rights reputation" is really a minority viewpoint. Although this is probably getting away from the point of the HD --Bfigura ^(talk) 04:35, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Let me try to illustrate my point better. I'm just making this up to explain myself better. Let's say that on the article for George Bush there are 5 references. But 4 of those references are from reliable anti-Bush sources. The George Bush article would thus be anti-Bush and not be neutral because most of the references have one viewpoint. Do you see what I'm trying to say? Superstarwarsfan (talk) 04:12, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That's why WP:NPOV and WP:VERI are separate. You still must maintain NPOV and not place WP:UNDUE weight, as well as reference it. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 04:14, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think I agree with Calvin here. The article has to be kept neutral (by not assigning undue weight, and by not used biased wording), and all the info still has to be verifiable via reliable sources. --Bfigura ^(talk) 04:39, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also see WP:EIW#Contro. --Teratornis (talk) 08:12, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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

Hi,

There is an error in the article. The figure below on the following page is incorrect. The correct figure is in Millions not Billions

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

Net income ▼ $49.000 billion USD (2007)

Regards, Abdul Azeem <email removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.53.216.151 (talk) 06:19, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, I'm rather sure it's billion. If you are sure it's million, change it yourself! It is a wiki... Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 06:29, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A quick Google search found this: Earnings: Motorola Handset Sales Down A Third In 2007, No Short Term Fix which says:

For the full year 2007 Motorola saw sales of $36.6 billion (down 15 percent year-on-year) with a net earnings loss of $49 million.

--Teratornis (talk) 08:10, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed. It may have been vandalism by an anonymous editor after checking the history; I've reverted to before the contributor's edits. For future reference, I believe it's (nearly?) impossible to have net income greater than revenue, especially if net income is derived from the difference when taking revenue and removing expenses from it. Gary King (talk) 08:50, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia Static HTML Dumps

Hello to everybody I'm Roberto From Italy. Does someone know why the Wikipedia Static HTML Dumps for download is not available in all languages? The current is the 2008-02 but is stopped on the last days of January 2008. What happened? Regards Roberto Gerlando —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.103.207.169 (talk) 09:37, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No idea, but as a wild guess, I don't think it was very popular, since if they wanted to, they could easily continue keeping it updated. On a side note, the database dumps have been failing to backup properly the past few days. Gary King (talk) 09:53, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Closing XFDs

Are there any instructions anywhere about how to go about closing XFDs? Not being an administrator, I can't go about closing ones where the outcome is/might be delete, but I would like to help out by closing some of the still open XFDs that are definite keeps (i.e. no delete votes and passes WP:SNOW keeps). Thanks! StephenBuxton (talk) 11:34, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sure. See Wikipedia:Deletion process and Wikipedia:Non-admin closure, cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:07, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that! I had a little trouble initially, but I think I've got it sorted now. Could you please check that I've done OK with Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/John Otto (park ranger)? Thanks! StephenBuxton (talk) 12:34, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm leaving for work now so I have little time to examine but on a quick look I think you should revert yourself and let someone else close that discussion. You should never close any XfD that you participated in, as you did in this discussion. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:09, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

He's right. I've re-opened the debate. Also, you have to leave it for a bit longer than a day to gain consensus. Thanks for trying though! weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 13:19, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Right-oh, I'll remember that in future. Thanks for sorting it out. I did close another one that I didn't participate in, it had been open for more than 5 days, looks nicely notable and only has keep votes (albeit not that many). Did I do better that time? Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Aterballetto_productions. StephenBuxton (talk) 14:16, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, that's a bit better. Usually it would be better to let an administrator close them though, some users aren't too keen on non-admins doing it, except for cases five days old with 10 keeps and no deletes. Thanks for helping, mate. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 14:57, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Leonidas

I DON'T CARE ABOUT ALL THIS AND ALL YOUR GUYS FORMALITIES AND I WISH I COULD JUST EMAIL IN AND SAY SOMETHING but you have a link under Alexander the Great that goes to Leonidas and it says Leonidas taught him but Leonidas died over a hundred years before alexander was born —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.47.186.59 (talk) 15:56, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for pointing out the error - Kittybrewster ☎ 16:39, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I left a comment at Talk:Alexander the Great. This should get fixed pretty quickly. I suspect we do not have an article on this Leonidas, thus it will just get unlinked. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 16:46, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Feedback wanted on editing

Resolved

So I'm basically rewriting the entirety of Metal.

What I'm going to do is, since the whole article's unsourced, is just rewrite the whole damn thing from scratch. I have about 3 textbooks regarding metals. Is this enough sources to write a great article? I can go to the library and get some more books if it isn't enough. I'm ultimately trying to get Metal to FA, but GA would be acceptable too. Someone please tell me if I'm doing a good job. Ziggy Saw dust 16:06, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you'd like, you could share your progress on Wikipedia:Requests for feedback. I don't have time to review the article, but I'll just say that 3 textbooks, while a good start, probably won't have all of the variety of information that could possibly be discussed regarding metals. They may cover a good deal of it, but FA is about complete coverage. That's just a general comment, without knowing which textbooks you have. Leebo ^T/C 16:37, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You could also go to editor review. Mister Senseless™ (Speak - Contributions) 02:56, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a way to watchlist additions and removals to a category?

Watchlisting a category page doesn't tell me when things are added to or removed from the cat; is there some way to watch for this? - Dan Dank55 (talk)(mistakes) 16:21, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, only the editable part of a page can be watched; there is currently no way to watch the content of categories. See this page for further info. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 16:27, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks kindly. - Dan Dank55 (talk)(mistakes) 16:47, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Can I get a two-fer? Does anyone know of a tool that helps in creating wikilinks? What I have in mind is something that would create the link WP:Help desk#Is there a way to watchlist additions and removals to a category? on this page, by reading the title of the editing box and the section title at the top of this edit screen, or better yet, simply copy it to my clipboard, so that I don't have to. - Dan Dank55 (talk)(mistakes) 16:50, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ooh, asking a lot ;) No I don't think that exists. What you could do is copy the relevant section of the URL before you click edit, and then paste in the [[]] brackets. I'm sure a code could be written though; you could request it at WP:User scripts. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 16:58, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's not as simple as a watchlist, but using AutoWikiBrowser you could create and save a list of articles from a category, and then compare it to the category at a later time. This would actually tell you precisely the articles that have been added or removed from the category between saving the list and checking it again. Someguy1221 (talk) 17:31, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(undent) I too wish for a simple way to copy and paste wikilinks in one step. For pages with sections that people are likely to cite frequently (such as sections in WP:NOT and WP:FAQ, and some entries in WP:EIW), we can manually create shortcuts and display them with the {{Shortcut}} template. See for example WP:BFAQ#CORPWIKI, which links to a particular business FAQ entry, and is easy to copy when you are viewing the entry. You don't need two separate copy and pastes to get the page name and the section heading, since we put all that in the shortcut. --Teratornis (talk) 22:03, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Robotics question moved to WP:RD/S#Robotics. PeterSymonds | talk 17:13, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Eye Spy Publishing LTD

Regarding Eye Spy Publishing LTD.

The main paragraph is inaccurate and does not reflect the content or reputation of the magazine. The paragraph below: "The magazine claims to obtain its information from different intelligence group sources worldwide. In light of its entertaining nature it is debatable whether the information obtained by Eye Spy is reliable and accurate. Eye Spy has featured articles which discuss and analyze 'James Bond' style spy technology on a perfectly serious level."

Whoever wrote this obviously didn't research the magazine, or even read it. The editors include:

David Bickford - Senior Intelligence Consultant, Former MI5 and MI6 legal director (9 years) and current board member. Michael Smith - Associate Editor, Defense Correspondent 'The Sunday Times' UK, Colonel John Hughes-Wilson - Consultant, Retired Colonel on NATO's International Political Staff [Brussels], Nick Fielding - Senior Intelligence Consultant, Former senior investigative journalist 'The Sunday Times', Peter Jenkins - Surveillance Editor, Former Royal Marine Commando; President ISS surveillance company, David Hamer - Associate Editor, Vice-Chairman of Acquisitions, National Cryptologic Museum Foundation, National Security Agency, Kevin Coleman- Technology Consultant, Leading intelligence research specialist and training consultant, Daniel P King - Security Consultant, Retired NYPD Detective Anti-Terrorist Task Force, Jason Goldberg - Security Consultant, New York Anti-Terrorist Taskforce, Lynn Hodgson - Associate Editor Canada, Author on historical intelligence, Spiros Kopitsos - Hellenic Institute Strategic Studies, Former senior Greek Army officer, to name a few.

Eye Spy is subscribed to by every major intelligence agency in the world; by embassy staff in 54 countries, and used as a training tool in several military divisions. Eye Spy has maintained the highest standard and reputation for eight years.

The information is incorrect and an inappropriate representation of the company. In addition, the page for Eye Spy Publishing Ltd had incorrect company details; directors listed that have no - and never had - any association with Eye Spy, the company was listed as an electrical company - incorrect established date, which is important as Eye Spy was established and publishing prior to 9/11. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dmcd2528 (talk • contribs) 17:25, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. Can you can provide a reliable, third-party source that it is published reliably and not for entertainment? Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 17:35, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

change the default graphic on Wiki pages

I am the Site Admin , and one of the Wiki sysops, for a site in the DP (Distributed Proofreaders) community. We would like to replace the default graphic (you know the little MediaWiki flower in brackets) that appears in the upper left-hand corner of every one of our Wiki pages with a custom-designed graphic that says who we are. How do I do that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.138.9.12 (talk) 18:30, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You need to set $wgLogo. See http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Configure, specifically http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:%24wgLogo. For further help, please consult http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Support_Desk --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 18:38, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

We have a nice interwiki link prefix for that site: mw:Category:Configure, etc. Granted, it's easier to copy and paste URLs. --Teratornis (talk) 21:57, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Single braces - usage

I've seen in several places the usage of single {...}'s with a series of pipe-symbols in them, doing fancy stuff, for example the animation in Shallow water equations and almost all of User:Piotrus/Talkheader.

Where is this usage documented? I have tried to RTFM, honest, but I can't seem to find it. Thanks! Franamax (talk) 18:46, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, according to the guys on IRC, they're tables...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 18:52, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) It sounds like you're describing the wiki-markup format of tables. Leebo ^T/C 18:55, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Very cool image. The animation is included in the GIF.

The {| | |} stuff creates a table. In the water wave example, the table is just a box to put the gif into.

For creating tables see Help:Table. For creating gifs, I don't know. Wanderer57 (talk) 18:55, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ahh, tables. That is one impressively long help page, I'll be giving my sandbox a workout!

Followup question: are all the various CSS styles doumented somewhere (the class=xxx stuff), or do we just inspect MediaWiki:Common.css to figure them out?

Question for extra credit: Image:Shallow water waves.gif is a cool image, but how exactly did it get PD-licensed? The upload credits an author and links to a non-existent user page. Franamax (talk) 19:21, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Tables are a challenge but I think they are like child's play compared to CSS. I was asking recently about CSS. The answers I got are in the "CSS coding" section on my talk page. They would help answer your question, I think.

Image licencing makes CSS look like kindergarten, AFAIC. Wanderer57 (talk) 19:49, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I should add, the answers on CSS are from an expert. Wanderer57 (talk) 19:58, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(undent) See WP:EIW#Table for more about tables, and WP:EIW#Custom for more about CSS. Just in case your schedule is open for the next three weeks or so to read all that stuff. --Teratornis (talk) 21:54, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What the wiki!

Resolved

What in the name of Jimbo Wales was That! When I tried to edit it said Wikipedia was in read only mode, locked from editing! Did anyone else see that? DarkZorro 20:31, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, but it happens quite a lot when the database is backlogged. It's temporarily locked so the servers can catch up. Nothing to worry about, it's automatic and only lasts a few minutes max. :) PeterSymonds | talk 20:33, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah I was exaggerating. Thanx anyway- DarkZorro 20:39, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome. PeterSymonds | talk 20:51, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Moving an image to a new name

Resolved

i want to move this picture to "Image:Paparizou_mambo_scandanavian.jpg" but i dont know how to move it. If someone could either move it for me or tell me how to that would be great. I have the image saved so i could also upload it under the new name and have someone delete the other. Grk1011 (talk) 22:16, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Simplest way would be to reupload, and tag the old one as a duplicate using {{duplicate|Image:newimagename.jpg}}. -mattbuck (Talk) 22:42, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

okay, thanks. Grk1011 (talk) 22:46, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

how to revert move of the talk page?

I have found a form of vandalism which I don't know how to revert..User User:Chaza super man moved his talk page to the article Super smah bros brawl. How to revert this?

I fixed it, it took some admin stuff to fix and merge the histories, it should be ok now. « Gonzo fan2007 (talk ♦ contribs) @ 22:39, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

May 3

Collapsible tables

How do I collapse tables? In this article there are a number of tables like the "Pacific seas : Statistics" table shown. How do I collapse them, like "Pacific seas: Maps and descriptions" immediately below? --Geronimo20 (talk) 00:48, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Click "edit" to see how something was done:

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: left; width:600px;"

Umm, I already have the "collapsible collapsed" attribute set, but it doesn't seem to work. --Geronimo20 (talk) 01:14, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I added the header row indicator ! to a table in [2], as required in Wikipedia:Collapsible tables. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:16, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ahhh... Thank you so very much. --Geronimo20 (talk) 01:18, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Record labels

Wasn't sure where to ask this, but on Katy Garbi, I don't know what do do about the labels. She has always been signed to sony music greece, but has released under more than one of their labels. Some are saying it should only say Sony BMG, the most current, others say every label with the years in paraenthesis. There all Sony brands though, so which is best? Grk1011 (talk) 01:07, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'd say list them all. Sony BMG isn't an actual label, just a conglomeration of labels. There's nothing wrong with listing multiple labels in the infobox even if they're part of the same family. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells•Otter chirps)} 01:24, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The label is Sony BMG Greece, but idk whats best, i prefer each label with the years, but i wasnt sure since in this case its all the same company. Grk1011 (talk) 01:27, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I changed it to the way i like, is this good? Grk1011 (talk) 02:01, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

WikiCite like tool for Mac OSX?

Resolved

– found one, thanks, Teratornis

I used to use Wikicite to make adding refs *much* easier but I've recently gotten a Mac, rendering this tool useless. I'm aware of Zotero and I find that cumbersome and I've found the reference genertor tool to go down often. Is there a comparable tool to WikiCite for Mac users or is there any other useful tool to use? Thanks! TRAVELLINGCARI^{My story}_{Tell me yours} 01:56, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:EIW#Citetools. --Teratornis (talk) 03:59, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! Appears that User:Mr.Z-man/refToolbar will do exaxtly what I'd like TRAVELLINGCARI^{My story}_{Tell me yours} 04:42, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome. I'm thinking that someday, the answer to every Help desk question might reduce to a shortcut in the Editor's index. Probably not, but in this case, I didn't even have to look hard at the section I linked to, other than to notice it listed a decent selection of tools. I haven't used Wikipedia from a Mac, so I couldn't provide any personally tested advice. The Editor's index sure has a lot of stuff in it. If the answer to a question is not in there, it's a tough question. --Teratornis (talk) 07:18, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also, User:Manors is adding shortcuts to each entry in the WP:FAQ, so we can easily link to FAQ entries as well. --Teratornis (talk) 07:20, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

New Project

Myself and several other editors have been compiling a list of very active editors who would likely be available to help new editors in the event they have questions or concerns. As the list grew and the table became more detailed, it was determined that the best way to complete the table was to ask each potential candidate to fill in their own information, if they so desire. This list is sorted geographically in order to provide a better estimate as to whether the listed editor is likely to be active.

If you consider yourself a very active Wikipedian who is willing to help newcomers, please either complete your information in the table or add your entry. If you do not want to be on the list, either remove your name or just disregard this message and your entry will be removed within 72 hours. The table can be found at User:Useight/Highly Active, as it has yet to have been moved into the Wikipedia namespace. Thank you for your help.

P.S. - Sorry for posting this here, but I didn't want to post on everyone's individual talk page (I started to, but I felt like I was spamming everyone). Useight (talk) 03:03, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:ASSIST. --Teratornis (talk) 04:01, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And WP:PATROL. --Teratornis (talk) 07:37, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Bug Report

I tried to start a new section for Talk:St. Petersburg paradox‎, and was blocked because, in some previous section, a couple of links had been inserted (by some other editor) to a blocked site. The diagnostic squealed such theories as my computer being infected; it did not suggest that the link might be pre-existent. I had to edit the existing talk page, find the links and neutralize them, before I was allowed to post. —SlamDiego_←T 04:02, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You might get more response by posting this to WP:VPT. That's where the more technical users tend to hang out. --Teratornis (talk) 07:13, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

As per your suggestion, I have cross-posted thence. —SlamDiego_←T 08:31, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Graphical display wikipedia browsing

Okay, this may sound strange. But some of my friends and I were discussing our random strolls through wikipedia and how strange the chains end up forming along the articles we visit. I'm curious if anyone knows of any kind of software that can analyze your browsing of wikipedia and do a graph to show it.

I imagine it would analyze your history or maybe be in the background? I don't know, it's just something I think would be cool and figured that someone at some point had to think about it (and hopefully make such a piece of software) before.

Any help is appreciated, THANKS! Chris M. (talk) 04:31, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see anything in WP:EIW#Wikilink that looks immediately relevant, but you might find something there. --Teratornis (talk) 07:12, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Semantic web might vaguely relate to what you're talking about. For example, there is a Semantic MediaWiki. And here is an Internet web browser with memory enhanced hyperlink display, not that the little patent abstract gives a feel for what that really looks like. If you use Firefox, you might find something in List of Firefox extensions. --Teratornis (talk) 07:31, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Explain jargon

When I find some jargons in an article and I have no idea how to give it a proper link. What can I do to make people be aware of the jargons and encourage people to give it a proper link except add somthing on the talk page? - Justin545 (talk) 06:22, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Help:Link and Wikipedia:Build the web. You can link your jargon terms by putting [[ ]] around them. Always check your links by clicking on them, to make sure you have linked to the most appropriate article. If you are asking how to find the most appropriate article to link a jargon term to, see Help:Search. You can also ask on the Help desk or the Reference desk about specific jargon terms if you cannot find any good articles that define them. --Teratornis (talk) 07:07, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You might be able to find a wiktionary definition by using [[wikt:<the word>|<the word>]]...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 07:49, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Legal terminology: "without valid charge"

Is "without valid charge" sensible and NPOV legally? If charges had been ruled unconstitutional by a US Federal Court and then years later charges brought under law ruled illegal by the US SSupreme Court were withdrawn is it NPOV to summarise this situation with the phrase "without valid charge"? See [3] if you want more context. (And I'd would like some-one with legal knowledge to have a look at the whole article as we have a lot of legal information in it.) Being pointed in the right direction is as good as an answer. SmithBlue (talk) 07:43, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It sounds like "without valid charge" is a statement of the situation; the charges were made but were later ruled invalid (unconstitutional). Unless I'm misinterpreting what you're asking, I don't see anything non-NPOV about it. Mister Senseless™ (Speak - Contributions) 02:54, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Crime on wikipedia

When a crime has been committed on wikipedia, eg defamation, sedition, who would the authorities in any country charge or summon? Is it Wikipedia, or the specific editor. And if prosecutors or police needed to find out identity of the person editing certain articles, what are the procedures? Would they be able to trace the IP of registered wikipedian? Would the people in charge of wikipedia reveal the IP of a certain editor to public authorities (from US or overseas)? 203.109.44.108 (talk) 08:36, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Good question – I read about Wang Xiaoning and others only this week, where Yahoo! disclosed that person's id to the Chinese government. I'd like to know what position wikipedians are in as well. Luckily, though wikipedia is banned in China though what that means for access (say, via Hong Kong) is another thing. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:58, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can find some specific instances of police action resulting from activity on Wikipedia by searching the Wikipedia Signpost archive for: police. --Teratornis (talk) 16:48, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For a defamation example, see Seigenthaler incident. Paragon12321 (talk) 02:20, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. There was also this incident a few weeks ago with a vandal editing the Glen A. Wilson High school page. They threatened to kill 33 people, and warned editors not to remove it. An editor removed it, of course, and then came a second threat. This incident was reported to the administrators' incident noticeboard, when one editor called the local police. When the vandal re-inserted the threat, which contained a list of names, into the article, the IP was traced to a person who lived near the mentioned school. Later, the school was closed on the day of the threatened shootings, and the person who added it was arrested, and the list of names were oversighted. Just goes to show, things like this are taken seriously and swiftly, and yes sometimes police are called. Hope this helps. Thanks. ~A H 1^(TCU) 18:25, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for all the comments. I was looking for something more similar to the China case. Something along the lines of political repression. I come from Malaysia and we have this law called Sedition Act (Malaysia). It seems that the government have used this as a tool to silence critics and to scare citizens. So what if something has been written about the government accusing it of a conspiracy (something bad) which is based on strong rumours, but not so strong evidence (evidence not sufficient to prove conspiracy). Would wikipedia assist the government in tracking so called "criminal"? 203.109.44.108 (talk) 02:14, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This page is for help in using Wikipedia; it is not for general discussion. Is there some help you would like in using Wikipedia? —teb728 t c 05:34, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You might want to see our Privacy policy. Other than that, I don't think we can offer you any legal advice. Best, --Bfigura ^(talk) 05:38, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Advertising my commercial website(s)

I own and operate a medium-sized software company and wish to create a wikipedia article which describes the unique technology my company has created and now sells. Although some of our baseline products are open-source, most of them are not (we are in the business of selling enterprise software solutions and consultants).

During the process of creating the wikipedia article I would also like to to insert weblinks which list the URLs of my commercial websites, much in the same way this company has done:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_%28OLAP_database%29 Palo (OLAP database)

After having read the following article describing the business terms of use, I am not quite sure if this is actually permitted: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:FAQ/Business

In light of the fact that another company has successfully published a business/commercial article and the above terms of use seem to indicate that this is not possible, I am not quite sure how I should proceed with my plans to publish.

Any assistance in resolving this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely 62.143.81.234 (talk) 08:59, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There are a number of factors which apply when it comes to creating an article on your company. Firstly, it must constitute its own article, i.e. it must be a notable company. (See Wikipedia:Notability).

Then, is it fits this criteria, the article must not be an advertisement, and must not display point-of-view. That is the problem with writing an article about your own company - neutrality is a concern. (Please read Wikipedia:Neutral).

Then it would also be worth reading Wikipedia:How to write a great article, but you must only proceed is my first two points are met. Otherwise the article will be deleted. I hope that is of help to you. Lra drama 09:34, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's better to follow the advice in the WP:BFAQ page that you read, than to go by other stuff that exists. Pages like the WP:BFAQ represent the best thinking of highly experienced Wikipedia users on how things should be, whereas out in article space, you can find articles at all levels of compliance (or noncompliance) with our policies and guidelines. Anything not in compliance will eventually get fixed or deleted. It's sort of like choosing how to behave in real life, for example when a mob is rioting. Do you join the mob and loot the store? Or do you obey the law? In the long run, societies work better when people follow the law rather than the mob. That's where we are trying to go on Wikipedia, with mixed results as you have seen. Wikipedia has the problem (or strength, depending on how you look at it) that anybody can edit almost anything. Which means a lot of what you see at any given time is by people who didn't know much about Wikipedia at the time when they wrote it. But over time, there are more and more people who know more and more about Wikipedia's policies and guidelines, and they mercilessly edit anything which does not comply. So it comes down to whether you want your work here to last. The more you follow the policies and guidelines, the less other people will hack up your work. Also, if you want to advertise your company, you can do that freely on Wikicompany; see WP:BFAQ#WHY. --Teratornis (talk) 16:42, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How do you change the name of an article?

How do you change the title of an article if the title is not appropriate. For example, say an article is called The US of A but you want to change it to The United States. ItemSeven (talk) 13:56, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If it's an uncontroversial move, you can press the "move" tab at the top of the screen. If you can't move it because there's a page in the way (eg. by a redirect) then you can list it at WP:RM#Uncontroversial proposals, and an administrator can perform the move. Usually, though, you should start a discussion at WP:Requested moves, which encourages other editors to support or oppose a potential page move. Be careful, though; if you move a page, make sure you know what you're doing, as it can cause unexpected changes, especially if the title had already been agreed upon or conforms to naming conventions. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 14:02, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also see WP:MOVE and WP:EIW#Moving. We use the verb "move" to mean changing the title of an article. Do you have an actual article in mind? If so, what is the current title, and the title you want it to have? --Teratornis (talk) 16:27, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Project Quality Stats

Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Biography articles by quality log, Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Chicago articles by quality log, and Wikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team/WikiProject Illinois_articles_by_quality_log have not been updated in ten days. They are suppose to update every two or three days. What is going on?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 13:58, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know what's going on (the bot is working fine at the moment). I'll run the bot manually on the three listed categories, but I should think it'll be okay now (done the Chicago one already. Looking at the contribs, it should be doing its job). Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 15:39, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Look at the Chicago page above. It did not update.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 18:03, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It updated the individual pages, though; I watched it happen. It's probably best to report this on the project talk page. PeterSymonds | talk 18:06, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

From a management perspective, I need to see the list of changes. The tabular summary doesn't help me that much.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 19:34, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Want to make my new article template official

Resolved

Hey folks,

i recently created a official article template which can be found here. I now want to make it available for official use and want it to be added to the list of official article templates (for example: so that it appears on the list of twinkle's article tag templates.). Maybe one of you can help me to do this as it's not quite clear to me on how to do it myself. regards SomeUsr | Talk Contribs 15:21, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I suggest you add your request to Twinkle's talk page, as the script is protected (for obvious reasons). Also, you might want to add to Wikipedia:Template messages. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 15:32, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

thank you, will do that. ->

Done. can be marked as resolved. SomeUsr | Talk Contribs 15:43, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Notability?

Resolved

Hello. I have been wanting to write an article about the band Oliver Future for some time. (The bass player is a lifelong friend, and I really admire them, as well.) I am wondering whether you think they meet the notability standard yet before I undertake this. (I have read the notability guidelines). They have played the South by Southwest festival several years. Although their second CD, 'Pax Futura,' was self released, it was produced by Adam Lasus, who was impressed enough to offer his services for free, and was favorably reviewed by Esquire Magazine[4]. They were also profiled on NPR[5] and their song 'Signing Off' was selected as an NPR song of the day. They were the October 2006 'band in residence' at the Viper Room, and had another residency at Spaceland. Other prestigious venues they have played include the Mercury Lounge in NYC. They have received favorable notices in several alternative music publications, including Harp (magazine) and Under the Radar (magazine), as well as many local free papers of the Village Voice chain. While I didn't find detailed coverage of their music in their adopted city's LA Times, they were featured in a fashion spread[6] in that publication. They have also had a video highlighted on tvguide.com[7]. Before their departure to L.A., the Austin Chronicle called them the "best band in Austin" (sorry, the link to this article was unavailable). Lastly, the bass player, Jesse Ingalls, played on the well received Ben Harper CD 'Both Sides of the Gun.'

So what do you think; are they there yet?

Thanks for your help.Carlaclaws (talk) 15:47, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it appears to meet WP:BAND criterias 1 and 10. Although please read WP:Conflict of interest thoroughly, as well as WP:Your first article and WP:NPOV. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 15:53, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, have read these. I believe I can write an objective, purely factual article. Besides, these guys are pretty accessible to their fans, so it is likely that anyone who undertakes an article will consider at least one of them a friend.Carlaclaws (talk) 16:00, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, good luck with it, and let me know if you want me to look it over before it goes live. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 16:03, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The band's notability is one issue; the other issue is whether the band's article will satisfy all the deletionists. It's possible that the band could "belong" here, but the article about the band has to convince everyone that the band belongs. Wikipedia deletes thousands of articles for violating one or another of our policies and guidelines. Some of the deleted articles are about topics that could have articles that "stick," but the articles that people wrote were not convincing enough. So, that's just a word of warning before you pour hours of work into a new article. All that work could go poof unless you make enough effort to deletion-proof the article. I glanced through your contributions, and while you've obviously been around Wikipedia long enough to get the basics, even editors with quite a bit of experience end up watching their new articles get deleted (ouch!). You do seem to have your notability ducks in a row; do you know how to organize your reliable sources into footnotes? Are you familiar with the layout guidelines? I'm not trying to be a buzzkill, I'm just making sure you are ready to face the potentially cruel world of WP:AFD, which teems with people who seem not to have taken many sensitivity training classes. One way to avoid riling up the deletionists is to start your article as a user subpage first, then come back here and ask for us to look at it before you move it to article space. If you want to take that conservative approach, just click here and start editing: User:Carlaclaws/Oliver Future. --Teratornis (talk) 16:22, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia in other languages

I would like to know if it was possible to create a wikipedia in Portuguese (Portugal), the current wikipedia pt.wikipedia.org is for all Portuguese-speaking users, and it is mostly in Brazilian Portuguese... which is considerably different from Portuguese (Portugal). It's just that some things are hard to understand for people from Portugal... is it possible? thanks. SF007 (talk) 17:43, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Probably best to ask at m:Proposals for new projects, where interwiki projects are discussed. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 18:01, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Portuguese Wikipedia article says:

In 2005, a proposal to fork Portuguese Wikipedia and create a Brazilian Portuguese (pt-br) version was voted down by the Wikimedia community.

The sentence does not link to the discussion. That might be worth retrieving, so let us beseech the mighty Google: Search Wikipedia with Google for: fork portuguese wikipedia brazilian. That did not find anything, so I searched Meta-Wiki with Google for: fork portuguese wikipedia brazilian, and that finds the page:

m:Requests for new languages/Wikipedia Brazilian Portuguese

--Teratornis (talk) 18:28, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. On the English Wikipedia, articles are written in the local dialect of the subject per WP:MoS, so I don't see why you couldn't write Portugal-related articles in Portuguese-Portuguese and Brazil-related articles in Brazilian-Portuguese. Thanks. ~A H 1^(TCU) 18:30, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Business advertising details

Many franchises, brands, and products have memorable advertising which is typically described in a small portion of their Wikipedia articles. Is it wrong to mention Luis Guzmán's participation in Cabot Creamery advertising in the Cabot article? I did this and was, for some odd reason, criticized for Spamming and self-promotion. I also included a good reference for my information. Cale (talk) 17:57, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If it's notable for inclusion, and backed up, it should be fine. Would you mind pasting the proposed text onto my talk page, so I can suggest why it was removed? Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 18:02, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Strange merge of articles

Hi, For some reason this article Roger Wickson appears to merged with another bio, yet when one goes to edit it all seems normal. It's very strange and i've never seen anything like this before, so can someone please tell me what's going on here? Thanks Jamesmh2006 (talk) 18:28, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like somebody messed up the {{England-nonfiction-writer-stub}} template that the Roger Wickson article transcludes. --Teratornis (talk) 18:35, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes...took a minute to realise what was going on. In any case, everything should be back to normal. Not sure how this has been missed for three days, though. — Huntster (t • @ • c) 18:37, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The same user made a: similar mistake on another template. Another user fixed that template, but nobody explained to User:Drscharf what he or she did wrong, and then a week later User:Drscharf messed up the {{England-nonfiction-writer-stub}} template in the same way. Moral of story: instead of just silently reverting mistakes, take a minute to explain the problem to the user responsible, so the user doesn't go on repeating it. I'll leave a note on User talk:Drscharf to go along with the generic welcome template which is already there (but does not explain the intricacies of templates). --Teratornis (talk) 18:50, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The user appeared to be trying to make a new article about a writer, so I userfied the content: User:Drscharf/George Rousseau and added a little markup along with hints about what the new article needs. --Teratornis (talk) 05:55, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Query about archives

I'm trying to get a hold of some old newspaper articles about an article I am working on (Myst). Unfortunately, they all seem to be pay-per-view. Does anyone know of a way I can get these articles (e.g. [8][9][10] for free? Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs^(talk) 19:16, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, believe me, I've tried! :) The New York Times has a free article library here (as a British person writing about British topics that doesn't help me very much), but that's the only one I know. PeterSymonds | talk 19:19, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

We have List of online newspaper archives, which has many free article libraries listed, but not for the Washington Post. A good real-world library should have newspaper back issues; if you don't have access to one, you could try posting a request at WP:WikiProject Resource Exchange. Algebraist 20:47, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Questionable edits to license plate articles

Resolved

User:Yuck Flu By Road (User talk:Yuck Flu By Road) is making some weird edits I'm not comprehending. Can someone see what this user is trying to do? Spencer^T♦^C 21:18, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure. Would it be more appropriate to have that as an extra section in the article? I can't see how s/he's justifying the removal of the other content. PeterSymonds | talk 21:24, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. I left a note on his/her talk page. Spencer^T♦^C 21:25, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am going to revert the edits, I still can't see a viable reason...if they give a good reason, I'll self-revert. Spencer^T♦^C 21:27, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The user left this note on my page: Vehicle registration plates of New Jersey and several other similar articles have naccurate information and providing a link to a primary source is a much better option. Most of the license plate articles are filled with bad information, so it is best to link to the various state DMV sites which has the latest and most accurate information. This is not a license plate information webstite and linking to primary sources seems the best thing in these cases. Yuck Flu By Road (talk) 21:28, 3 May 2008 (UTC) (Their message italicized).[reply]

I think this violates WP:CENSOR, but I'm not sure, Spencer^T♦^C 21:30, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Um, right. Not sure about WP:CENSOR, but many of the articles are backed up with sources. Living in Britain, every year the number plates get upgraded (we've exhausted the alphabet now and gone onto something tricky), so I can't see why it wouldn't be different elsewhere. But the main point is that the sources are there, and that's what should be emphasised. PeterSymonds | talk 21:34, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yep, just give a clear explanation on the talk page exactly why, with a few policy links etc. PeterSymonds | talk 21:29, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Can you check the talk page of the user and look over what I wrote? Spencer^T♦^C 21:38, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Looks good. I'm in two minds about WP:CENSOR but the message is fine, particularly the emphasis on the sources. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 21:43, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, thanks Spencer^T♦^C 23:14, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Image not visible

I have uploaded this diagram Image:Constant k order 5.svg. I cannot see it. Why? If I download it from Wikipedia back in to my editor it looks normal. SpinningSpark 21:22, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I suggest posting at Wikipedia:SVG Help, where they handle SVG rendering problems. In the meantime, the PNG one could be used if it's urgent. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 21:30, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The SVG file links to an image, which can't be found. To be precise, the image is "My Documents\Wikipedia Articles\Electronic filters\Constant k order 5.png", as determined by looking at the SVG file in Notepad. This is why it does not display. To remake the image, as an SVG file, you need to trace it out with your vector graphics program, importing the image is not enough. Stwalkerster [ talk ] 21:31, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, thanks. I didn't realise it worked like that but its obvious now you point it out. SVG is text based so it's not possible to embed bitmap files od course. SpinningSpark 22:27, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

On the contrary (funny phrase). Bitmaps can be imbedded in SVGs just not linked. §hep • ¡Talk to me! 22:42, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Kazue Takahashi

I don't mean to violate the canvassing rule, but I am having trouble finding biography resources for an article I am working on called Kazue Takahashi on User:Kitty53/Test page 2. Is there an expert who can help me out, please?Kitty53 (talk) 22:24, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Looking for help improving an article isn't canvassing, don't worry - that only applies to discussions. You may want to try asking WP:WikiProject Japan or WP:WikiProject Biography for assistance, though - I'm sure they'd know some good places to look. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 22:28, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

talisman the board game

your links regarding the above mentioned game don't open please help —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ommadon22 (talk • contribs) 23:38, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try clicking on this link. Someguy1221 (talk) 23:40, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

May 4

uploading source files

I've created a graph in Grace that I want to use in an article. Why can't I upload the original source file so that it can be updated by somebody else in future? Or is there a possibility? --Cambrasa confab 00:51, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, you will have to export a picture of the graph, then upload that. MediaWiki supports .JPG, .PNG, .GIF, .OGG, and .SVG filetypes. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 00:57, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That's weak. Can't I upload the file in text format to a subpage of the article's talk page?--Cambrasa confab 01:02, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can, but only the filetypes above can be displayed, so it doesn't really do much good. Most people only want the graph, not the data. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 01:10, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Of course it does good. They can download the source file and modify it, and upload a new picture. How is this supposed to be a collaborative project if you can't even change the the graphs? Why should you have to reinvent the wheel every time you want to do a small update? --Cambrasa confab 02:22, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

SVG is an editable format that you can upload. According to the Grace home page, it exports to SVG. You might see if Grace can also open the SVG files it writes and let you edit them. That might be possible, since SVG is an XML format. See WP:EIW#Graphic for more stuff about graphics on Wikipedia. Maybe there are groups of Wikipedia users who share graph files more efficiently via some sort of back channel. Or maybe they use their user subpages for this kind of data. I have no idea, since I haven't investigated that, but it seems like an obvious thing for some people to do. If you think Wikipedia is weak with graphics, wait until you try working with maps. --Teratornis (talk) 05:46, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I might add that MediaWiki's inability to work with many file types (such as spreadsheets, databases, and presentation software) limits its utility in corporate wiki applications. Which is a bummer, because Wikipedia is great collaborative tool for text. TWiki claims to support more file formats and allow for collaborative editing on spreadsheets etc. I looked at TWiki a little, but it came as kind of an unpleasant jolt after I had gotten used to MediaWiki (different wikitext syntax, no talk pages, I don't think its default appearance looks as good as MediaWiki's monobook skin, the category system looks inferior). I guess when you learn one wiki software package, all the others will seem broken. Anyway, illustrations are an acknowledged deficiency on Wikipedia, so maybe the Wikimedia Foundation will chip away at that problem as time goes on. Wikipedia is very much a work in progress, so if you don't like something now, check back in a year or two. --Teratornis (talk) 06:03, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The problem there is that as you extend support for more file types, you start relying on app's outside the browser, now you wander into unknown territory and people can start injecting some really funky stuff into our hopefully 100% reliable site. Franamax (talk) 06:34, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia isn't meant for hosting files like that (WP:NOT). It's an encyclopedia, so we need verifiable facts. Another wiki might be better suited for files that folks can download and manipulate themselves. -- Kesh (talk) 11:40, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

uploading images

I have uploaded two images using my account. But, it is still not uploaded in the article related to it.

== Why is it soooo??????? == Please replay!!!!! waiting..... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kinkate (talk • contribs) 01:18, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Images do not automatically appear in articles they are associated with. You must edit the page you want the image to appear in, adding image markup to it. Standard image markup is [[Image:name of image|thumb|descriptive caption]].--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:17, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also, the image you uploaded has no copyright tag, and may be deleted if one is not added. Please see Wikipedia:Image copyright tags to learn which one is right for you. But I should say that fair use images as pictures of living people are not allowed per this policy. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 09:45, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A note to you, KinKate. You are unlikely to recieve very thorough, if any, answer if you continue asking questions like that. You should be grateful for help rather than complaining about waiting because you don't understand the website. Adam (Manors) 17:15, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How can I correct the page name "Image:Lotus79.jpg" to "Image:Lotus77.jpg" please?

Resolved

The photo that appears on the page named "Image:Lotus79.jpg" is that of a Lotus 77 rather than of a Lotus 79. The details below the photo say that it is a Lotus 77 but also say that it is a Lotus 79. How can I clean this up please? GTHO (talk) 11:47, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think you'll have to upload the file again, under the new name. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 12:03, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The only way to move an image is to upload it under the new title, and tag the old one with {{isd|Full name of image excluding the "Image:" prefix}}. Mister Senseless™ (Speak - Contributions) 18:17, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How do I ask for a third opinion?

There is as a dispute about Drug policy between me and user SSteinberg. He deletes sources and replace the source with a ^{[citation needed]}. More details on the talk page for the article.--Dala11a (talk) 13:03, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try filing a request for comment. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 13:17, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

... or Wikipedia:Third opinion. More generally, you might want to read Wikipedia:Dispute resolution. -- Rick Block (talk) 14:58, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I have tried to follow your advise but I can not see the that it is in the list of disputes. Syntax error??Dala11a (talk) 15:00, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The listings are updated automatically by User:RFC bot, whenever it runs (which seems to be about once an hour). -- Rick Block (talk) 15:16, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I looked at Talk:Drug policy. (For starters, it would help if participants would follow the Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines and add proper section headings above each discussion.) The dispute is difficult to follow, and the murkiness may be to some extent deliberate by both parties. It's typical, but not helpful, for disputants to attempt to argue in abstract general terms from Wikipedia guidelines and policies rather than in concrete terms specific to the disagreement. This is a style of argument in keeping with wikilawyering, and it rests on the unstated presumption that Wikipedia's policies and guidelines are so ingeniously devised that we can always apply them without regard to the specifics of a situation. However, this would only work if Wikipedia's policies were logically consistent, and they aren't (which is why we sometimes ignore all rules). If you want third opinions, make it easier for people who haven't been involved in the dispute to understand exactly what is in dispute. You should detail (perhaps on a user subpage) exactly who did what, and why, and who objected, and why. Please refer to the other user (Ssteinberger) by a correct username, so we can see who is involved. Third parties are unlikely to want to do much work just to understand what the question is. See Eric S. Raymond's How to ask questions the smart way. --Teratornis (talk) 21:57, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Link Blacklisting Filter

Resolved

The link blacklisting filter seems draconian. I wanted to clear up some punctuation/capitalization issues on the Kikuchi Dairoku page, but was told my edit had a blacklisted link. Neither had I added a link, nor was the questionable link in the section that I was specifically editing. In fact, the link has been there for years, unchallenged through many edits (perhaps the link's domain, lulu.com, is new on the blacklist), and is apparently on topic. I don't feel entitled to remove this link.

The blacklisting policy effectively freezing this page, and perhaps others in a similar situation. Surely the blacklisting should be designed to permit edits to sections that have no blacklisted links? Ezrakilty (talk) 15:18, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There's a discussion of this underway at WP:VPT#Bug Report. Algebraist 15:21, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In the mean time, I have removed the blacklisted link, so it should not trigger the spam filter any more. Feel free to save your edit again. Stwalkerster [ talk ] 15:24, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Category Bug?

Resolved

I'm just curious if anyone has an explanation for this. I was doing CAT:CSD patrol this morning. The Celestial Plot has been in the category for many hours. As far as I can tell has never marked for speedy deletion; it has no deleted edits and no deletion log entry, so it's a first time creation (so this is not some type of carryover from a past tagging); the page has no templates on it which could be piggybacking the deletion category (through lack of "noincludes") and I have purged the category page. Yet it remains in the category. Any ideas?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:46, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Doesn't seem to be there anymore... weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 15:58, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

One of the pages, HasSpoilers, was deleted today by Discospinster (talk · contribs) as a test page. It was transcluded onto the page, so maybe the category was transcluded when it was tagged? PeterSymonds | talk 15:58, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hmmm, but it looks like it was just [[linked]], not actually {{transcluded}}, so I don't see how any speedy deletion tag on it could ever place it into the category just by linking. Anyway, there is no issue here that need to be solved; I just have the curiosity bug.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:34, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

[11] It was. But at least it's solved now. :) PeterSymonds | talk 17:39, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

D'oh! Im sure that was it. Thanks!--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 18:28, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Album covers for band article

I would like someone to give me a link to the album cover use policy on Wikipedia. I would like to know if non-free album covers are allowed for to be used as identification of the band in band's infobox. --staka (T ・C) 17:38, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's detailed here: Wikipedia:Fair use#Images, under cover art. The unacceptable policies on album covers are here: Wikipedia:Non-free content#Images 2. Basically, identification is okay with a critical commentary, but decoration, eg. for a discography, is not okay. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 17:45, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Add language

Hi, how can I add a language in the “Main Page”. Namely Kurdish (ku). So if you can tell me how, then thanks a lott. Kawe2620 (talk) 17:48, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The main page only lists other languages that have at least 20,000 articles so as to avoid flooding the main page. According to their Statistics, they only have about 11,000 actual articles. See Template:MainPageInterwikis for more information. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 17:52, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

When can the count goes up. If an article begins with “ku.wiki…”, if it is correct. Why can table not be the same like an English page. I mean an “en.wiki…” page. Look at this page [[12]] and [[13]]. Or is the same drove? In any case thanks a lott. Kawe2620 (talk) 18:17, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Normal pages are different. For normal pages, you add [[LANGUAGECODE:OTHERLANGUAGEARTICLE]] to the end for the link to show up. On the main page, Template:MainPageInterwikis is transcluded onto the page. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 19:04, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also see Help:Interlanguage links, WP:EIW#Translate, and WP:EIW#Interwiki. --Teratornis (talk) 05:55, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Organization listed on Wikipedia

I work for a non-profit education organization. We want to post on Wikipedia. Does that mean we have to write an article about us to do that?

CAM —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.143.80.33 (talk) 17:53, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please read WP:ORG. Does it satisfy the notability guideline? If not, then probably not; remember that if we had every organization in the world, it would be manic! Also, please read WP:Conflict of interest; you shouldn't really write about topics that you are actively involved with. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 17:56, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you mean you want an account, just make one with any non promotional name...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 17:57, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, and it can't be a shared account either...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 17:58, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box (as shown to the left ←). Do NOT sign in articles. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 18:00, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Filing Wills and Living Trusts

Do Wills and Living Trusts have to be filed with the state? If they are witnessed and signed are the enforcable by the courts?“ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.186.158.5 (talk) 20:24, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

We cannot offer legal advice. Please see the legal disclaimer. Contact your lawyer....... Dendodge.Talk^Help 20:26, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box (as shown to the left ←). Do NOT sign in articles....... Dendodge.Talk^Help 20:28, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

article for deletion

How can I delete an article?

It is someone's idea of a joke, as far as I can tell. They have edited Olympic Games to put in a link to Computering.

Computering

Wanderer57 (talk) 20:30, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've deleted the redirect. In the future, our deletion policy gives directions on how to handle such cases. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 20:33, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You need to be an administrator to delete articles, but if you see an edit that is not appropriate then you can revert it see WP:REVERT. Harland1 (^t/_c) 20:38, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See also: WP:CSD. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 21:28, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Do I understand correctly that I (without administrator authority) could delete a newly-created article by reverting the edit that created it? Wanderer57 (talk) 22:28, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, you cannot revert an article creation. You could have reverted the edit [14] which added the link to Olympic Games, but that had already been done when you posted here. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:42, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

encyclopedia

what is the volume # and edition # for wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.61.138.76 (talk) 22:59, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There isn't one. If you're trying to cite one of our articles, you can type the title into the form at Special:Cite, and it will give you a bibliographic entry in several formats. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 23:01, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box (as shown to the left ←). Do NOT sign in articles....... Dendodge.Talk^Help 23:03, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

May 5

oops...

Resolved

I was making changes to one of my subpages, and accedently created a new template. Where can I go to get this deleted? Thanks! You're dreaming eh? 00:11, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Tag it with {{db-author}}...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 00:13, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Done by TenPoundHammer, deleted immediately...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 00:18, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Admin

. Have any admins ever been vandals before they became admins?
. There are many admins whose only interest in life is...well, their adminship. Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 07:52, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know of any, but please do not make statements like "...admins whose only interest in life is...well, their adminship". It can be seen as quite offensive, especially as adminship is no big deal and we're all working on a volunteer project. But anyway, rant over. :) Also, please note that this page is for asking questions about using Wikipedia only, and that this question should ideally go to Wikipedia talk:Administrators. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 08:00, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 April 15#Vandals who become good editors. PrimeHunter (talk) 09:34, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

GMT

Resolved

Why does Wikipedia use GMT? Why doesn't it use the timezone in which its headquarters are located? This is basically two questions, just so you know. Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 12:08, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It uses UTC, so the time in watchlists etc will be different in other time zones. We see it in GMT, but a North American will see it in the Pacific Time Zone or another (I think there are seven or something). PeterSymonds | talk 12:11, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) It doesn't use GMT, it uses UTC, which is not quite the same. UTC is convenient for a global presence, as time-zones are defined in relation to UTC, and it is independent of any move of headquarters. DuncanHill (talk) 12:12, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Explain weather Dev can rely on EC law to claim the seven-day study period he wants to take ?

Moved to WP:Reference desk/Humanities. Please remember that this page is for asking questions about how to use Wikipedia. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 13:17, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Why I can not post a link to Privatebanking.com portal on "Private Banking" page?

Dear Wikipedia,

I do not insert advertising or spam, I merely point out where to find more resources about private banking , similarly to Euromoney that seems to get special treatment from you.

Could you please explain why the Euromoney links are fine on the "Private Banking" page, and the link to privatebanking.com portal which is more relevant and unbiased is not OK? Do I need to pay 'donate' for the link?

Please let me know and I will pursue this further according to your advise.

Sincerely

PBsam (talk) 13:44, 5 May 2008 (UTC)PBsam[reply]

That URL has been blacklisted by the spam filter, usually meaning someone was spamming links to that site. You can request it's removal here if you wish. Nobody can add the link while it is on the blacklist. Stwalkerster [ talk ] 13:54, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. Euromoney is a news website about banking, whereas privatebanking.com is a financial advice website which offers a service. That's the crucial difference, and that's why the privatebanking.com link is unacceptable. Please see WP:EL for more information. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 13:52, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Dear Wikipedia,

I can’t agree with your assessment. Euromoney sells magazines, advertisement and a number of other services. The ads can be seen right on their landing page same as on privatebanking.com site. They do offer services in similar fashion as we do; hence if there is a difference it is that they offer a much larger palette of services than we do as Euromoney is a large corporation while we are a smaller company. We actually worked with Euromoeny with helping collect data for polls and promoting their seminars.

However; what we offer at no cost (and Euromoey does not) is the world’s largest database of private banking firms.

We believe that this is relevant to users seeking information in private banking and as mentioned this is offered at no cost whatsoever to the internet user.

To summarize, if you see no problem with Euromoney being linked there should definitely be no problem with a link to us.

Please I ask you to weigh these facts and reconsider.

Thank you.

PBsam (talk) 16:14, 5 May 2008 (UTC)PBsam[reply]

Shading columns in a table

I am familiar with shading rows and cells in a table. Are there commands for shading columns (at Jesse_Jackson,_Jr.#Election_Results)? I want it to look like Jim Bunning.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 13:51, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Problem with an edit I made at the science reference desk

Resolved

Hi, I added on to a topic I created on the science reference desk called "Power to weight Ratio". After saving, only the first sentence appears at the bottom of the section, and it's bordered by a light-blue, dotted line. When I look at the edit section, my whole post is there, but not in the saved edit. What happened, and can someone fix it, please? Thanks so much for the help! MoeJade (talk) 14:00, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, you'd indented with the spacebar; that's what created the problem. If you want to indent, use the colon :, and the more you want to indent, the more colons you use. For example:

:Hello ::Hello :::Hello ::::Hello (in columns)

renders:

Hello

Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 14:06, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

O.k. Thanks for the quick reply! MoeJade (talk) 14:28, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That's what we're here for. :) PeterSymonds | talk 14:31, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Account

Resolved

Dear Wikipedia, I think someone is using my account because they have been changing things in my name, I don't like getting blamed for what I haven't done. Please could you resolve this problem as quickly as you can. signed, Greanak (talk) 14:29, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Your userpage and user talk page is open to edits -- and vandalism, unfortunately -- from anyone. It doesn't mean your account is compromised, though. I'll keep an eye on it, but if you experience this again, either remove the content or undo it following the instructions in the link. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 14:57, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've blocked this account for vandalism. See the user's talk page if you're curious. The account may or may not have been hijacked, but whoever asked this particular question is the one doing the vandalizing, so this thread is just trolling. --barneca (talk) 15:01, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, okay, thanks Barneca. PeterSymonds | talk 15:02, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

MoS question - date range

Experienced editor here with a MoS question - is there a better venue to ask this? Let me know if so. Regarding this edit, where the editor changed the date range from "350-500,000 years" to "350,000-500,000 years". I've looked through the MoS for ten or fifteen minutes and can't find anything regarding this exact situation, either in the date section or number section. Anyone have any enlightenment for me? Tan | 39 14:51, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I have no concrete answer, but I should think the second one is correct. In the articles I write, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to list someone's date of birth and date of death like "1930–87", so I suppose in date forms the full form should be used. I suggest you go to WT:MOS and ask, but I'm pretty sure that's how it should be. PeterSymonds | talk 14:55, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I would tend to agree that 350,000-500,000 would be more correct as its unambiguous. 350-500,000 could mean "(350 to 500)-thousand" or "(350) to (500,000)" -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 16:16, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Featured Template

Resolved

I'm just wondering about this, because I havn't come across featured templates. So where can I find the highest standard for a template? TeePee-20.7 (talk) 14:56, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Templates aren't given a quality rating I don't believe... The only things that are: are articles, lists, portals, media, and topics. There's certainly no place to nominate a template for a quality rating, anyway. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 15:07, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeh I knew that because like I said I have never seen one which has been. But you still didn't answer the second part of my question. Is there a place where I can find the highest standard for a template? TeePee-20.7 (talk) 15:13, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, sorry, I thought you meant a list like WP:FA. In short, no, because there's no page listing the "best" templates on Wikipedia. You could ask at Wikipedia talk:Template namespace and see if they have an answer. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 15:37, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...or if I've got it wrong again, and you're asking how to create a good template, here's a good link to Meta: [15]. Sorry, PeterSymonds | talk 15:39, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh okay, well thankyou for your help. I also remembered another question I wanted to ask but I'm not sure if you would know it so hopefully there is someone in here that does. But the question I want to ask is: Do template or categories or anything else of similar nature also get reviewed in an article, when an article is being reviewed for feature status? TeePee-20.7 (talk) 15:47, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've written four so I should know. :) Basically the categories are checked, but not scrutinized. Obviously if there was a blatantly wrong category (eg. Category:Cars on Winston Churchill then there would be a problem. However, they aren't required to be alphabetised or anything. Templates are a bit like that too, and some editors object to too many templates (it's usually not a reason to oppose at FAC), but a balance is required, so they don't stand too prominently and thus taking something awa from the text. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 15:52, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh okay, hmmmm I wonder why categories and templates don't recieve so much scruitiny. I think we should have a quality system setup for them aswell. Oh well, something else for the wikipedia community to think about in the future! BTW congrats on the FAs! :D TeePee-20.7 (talk) 16:08, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:EIW#Feature. In addition to featured articles, the Editor's index mentions featured lists, pictures, portals, and sounds. "Featured" suggests something we would show off to the world; since templates are rather arcane technical features of Wikipedia, the general public might have difficulty appreciating a template's excellence of coding. A template might impress members of the small community of template coders, but I'm not sure how much it would do for Joe Websurfer. We do have some barnstars that acknowledge the technical skill of the people who code templates. Thus an indirect measure of template's "quality" might be the number of barnstars conferred on people who worked on it, but obviously that falls well short of a quality evaluation of our templates generally, since the conferring of barnstars is up to the whim of individual users. --Teratornis (talk) 16:18, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(outdent) Well, categories are just there for joining a set of articles together, so there doesn't need to be that much scrutiny. I agree about templates, though; I personally dislike them, especially too many of them, so maybe a "template review" can be established at some point. PeterSymonds | talk 16:11, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Aright well thanks for your help, adios. TeePee-20.7 (talk) 16:20, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

tuberculosis

what is the method of minimising resistance to treatment in tuberculosis?172.159.163.56 (talk) 16:27, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

@@ Line 490: / Line 490: @@
 :Aright well thanks for your help, adios. [[User:TeePee-20.7|TeePee-20.7]] ([[User talk:TeePee-20.7|talk]]) 16:20, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
+== tuberculosis ==
+what is the method of minimising resistance to treatment in tuberculosis?[[Special:Contributions/172.159.163.56|172.159.163.56]] ([[User talk:172.159.163.56|talk]]) 16:27, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

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