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:::Oops, this is more complicated than I at first assumed. I looked at the complicated {{Tl|WikiProject Cricket}} template, and it may be categorizing the [[Talk:Sydney Riot of 1879]] page into [[:Category:Cricket articles needing attention]] because [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Cricket/Review/Sydney Riot of 1879]] exists. The problem is not that the servers need to catch up, as I first blindly assumed would be the usual behavior, because you can see the category link at the bottom of [[Talk:Sydney Riot of 1879]]. If that category link is there, in addition to being on the category page itself, that means the template is putting that link on the talk page ''now'' because it wants to and there is nothing for the server to catch up to. I'm going to bed, so you will probably have to read the instructions for this assessment procedure more carefully and see whether there is some step that involves moving the assessment page off to an archive or something when you finish the assessment. I'm not familiar with how the cricket folks handle that. --[[User:Teratornis|Teratornis]] ([[User talk:Teratornis|talk]]) 08:59, 2 November 2008 (UTC)
:::Oops, this is more complicated than I at first assumed. I looked at the complicated {{Tl|WikiProject Cricket}} template, and it may be categorizing the [[Talk:Sydney Riot of 1879]] page into [[:Category:Cricket articles needing attention]] because [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Cricket/Review/Sydney Riot of 1879]] exists. The problem is not that the servers need to catch up, as I first blindly assumed would be the usual behavior, because you can see the category link at the bottom of [[Talk:Sydney Riot of 1879]]. If that category link is there, in addition to being on the category page itself, that means the template is putting that link on the talk page ''now'' because it wants to and there is nothing for the server to catch up to. I'm going to bed, so you will probably have to read the instructions for this assessment procedure more carefully and see whether there is some step that involves moving the assessment page off to an archive or something when you finish the assessment. I'm not familiar with how the cricket folks handle that. --[[User:Teratornis|Teratornis]] ([[User talk:Teratornis|talk]]) 08:59, 2 November 2008 (UTC)
::::Or it may be due to a redirect at [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Cricket/Assessment/Sydney Riot of 1879]]. —[[User:TEB728|teb728]] [[User talk:TEB728|t]] [[Special:Contributions/TEB728|c]] 09:39, 2 November 2008 (UTC)
::::Or it may be due to a redirect at [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Cricket/Assessment/Sydney Riot of 1879]]. —[[User:TEB728|teb728]] [[User talk:TEB728|t]] [[Special:Contributions/TEB728|c]] 09:39, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

== Sheet of music in Wiki ==

Does it exist a simple way of writing sheets of music in Wiki, similar as we can write mathematical formulas? Eventually, would it be possible to create something like that? --[[User:PAD|PAD]] ([[User talk:PAD|talk]]) 10:24, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

Revision as of 10:24, 2 November 2008

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See also

    Welcome—ask questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia! (Am I in the right place?)
    • For other types of questions, use the search box, see the reference desk or Help:Contents. If you have comments about a specific article, use that article's talk page.
    • Do not provide your email address or any other contact information. Answers will be provided on this page only.
    • If your question is about a Wikipedia article, draft article, or other page on Wikipedia, tell us what it is!
    • Check back on this page to see if your question has been answered.
    • For real-time help, use our IRC help channel, #wikipedia-en-help.
    • New editors may prefer the Teahouse, a help area for beginners (but please don't ask in both places).


    October 29

    Can't Login

    I created an account on 5 September. I have tried repeatedly to login with that name and password (and I know I have not made an error in either entry) and keep being told FUCK OFF AND DIE (okay, I'm loosely translating the error message from your braindead automaton). This sucks beyond belief! Username is "lawnchair" (or "Lawnchair", I've tried both). (email removed for privacy). Your site is the ONLY site I've had problems with regarding signing into an account. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.187.169.44 (talk)

    Capitalization of the first letter does not matter so lawnchair and Lawnchair is the same. User:Lawnchair started editing in April 2004 [1], so the software wouldn't allow you to pick that username here at the English Wikipedia. You must create an account with a different username. If your account was not created at the English Wikipedia then it only works at the language or wiki where it was created. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:43, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Seeing how you're acting, best read WP:CIVIL. Yowuza Talk 2 me! 14:29, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Download Image

    Hey I need some help! how do you upload a picture from your desktop to the site if you are making a page? thanks maximus15Maximus15 (talk) 00:53, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]


    Hi Maximus15. You need to use the link "Upload file" which is located on the toolbox in the left side of your browser window. Make sure that the file you are uploading is free (GFDL or similar) and provide the License information. You can also consider uploading your image in Commons if it is a picture that might be used in another wikimedia project. MaNiAδIs-τάλκ-GuεστBooκ 03:37, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Can't create article

    I have an article ready to go. It will be titled Sandberg, California. Unfortunately, you will find when you click on the link, you will be taken to an existing article on the Ridge Route highway in California. No, no, bad Wikipedia! I have a brand-new article all ready to go that gives the geography and history of this tiny town in Los Angeles County. How can I actually create the page and paste all my stuff in it, now sitting expectantly at User:GeorgeLouis/Sandbox? Itchingly, your friend, GeorgeLouis (talk) 07:09, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Sandberg, California is presently a redirect. To bypass the redirect, scroll to the top of the page you just got redirected to. There will be a link back to the redirect at the top of the article, and from there you can click the edit button. Or just click the handy link I've provided right here: click me! Someguy1221 (talk) 07:28, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict) Many thanks for coming up with what looks to be a good new article. Anyway, under the title on the Ridge Route article's page when you go via Sandberg, California, you'll see "(Redirected from Sandberg, California)" which is a hyperlink. Click on that link and overwrite the resulting page with your article.--A bit iffy (talk) 07:32, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    disaster management

    Discribe the role of participatory management and good governance with particular reference to South Asia.? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.97.119.150 (talk) 07:45, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    This forum is for question on how to use Wikipedia. You might get some help at the Wikipedia:Reference desk, but they will not do your homework for you. —teb728 t c 07:56, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    New page help

    Resolved

    Is there a page to find the new pages you have created. I need it for the survey. Thanks --Adrian 1001 (talk) 10:41, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Hello Adrian. It depends exactly which new pages you're looking for. If you want a log of Wikipedia's recent new page creations, it is Special:NewPages (please note that by recent, this is usually in the last hour at the longest). If you want a list of new pages started by a particular user, there's escaladix's tool (just type in the username and click "Envoyer"). Hope that helps. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 10:44, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    number of pages edited help

    ...and how about a page which tells you how many different articles you've edited (also for the survey)? --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 14:04, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    If you look at "My Preferences", it will tell the number of edits you've made total. Alternatively, you could use an edit counter for a breakdown of your edits. At the bottom of "My Contributions", you'll see a link that says Interiot, which is a common edit counter. The one I prefer is Wannabekate, accessible at WP:KATE. I hope this helps! TNX-Man 14:09, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Also, see PeterSymonds' excellent answer just above this one. Cheers! TNX-Man 14:10, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks, but that doesn't answer my question. I need to know how many different articles I've edited. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 14:21, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Does wannabe kate work for you? It shows a lot of edit info, but doesn't see edits done to pages that have been deleted. -- kainaw 14:28, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    It works, it tells me how many distinct pages I've edited, but it doesn't tell me how many different articles I've edited, which is what the survey asks. I think I can be pretty sure I've edited more than 500 articles, which is the survey's maximum, so I think I have the answer I need. I'm unlikely to be the last person wanting the answer to this, though, so if anyone knows how to find the number of different articles someone's edited, that would still be useful. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 14:51, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    How do I make suggestbot leave me alone?

    I signed up for SuggestBot a while ago, and now I don't want it any more. Does anyone know how to make it go away? WiiWillieWiki 15:14, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Remove your name from User:SuggestBot/Requests. DendodgeTalkContribs 15:17, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    VF IRC bots

    Where do the bots get their information from? (I mean... I know that ultimately it's the raw RC where it comes from but why does VF receive it from the bots not directly?) -- Mentisock 15:34, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    And another question... what's wrong with this? Why doesn't it want to sort the usernames in the category with {{PAGENAME}}? -- Mentisock 16:54, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Reference to North America

    When Wikipedia makes mention of North America as it did in the "Fall Out 3" posting, are they refering to the United States alone or is it the United States and Canada combined? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.82.126.100 (talkcontribs) 18:52, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    I may be wrong, but I believe that when video game release refer to North America, it refers to both the US and Canada. TNX-Man 18:56, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    North American energy independence refers to Canada, the United States, and Mexico, although proponents of the concept may have to reconsider Mexico, as Mexico's petroleum extraction is declining fast and Mexico will probably become a net importer of petroleum in about five years. In any case, if someone refers only to Canada and the United States, they should say what they mean rather than use a term like "North America" which can mean different things to different people. --Teratornis (talk) 01:09, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    posting pictures

    I need to post a picture on a page and I am having trouble with the copyright. Our office owns the picture and the rights to the picture, but I can't figure out how to get it on the page and keep it there. It gets deleted. Please advise —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nflcert (talkcontribs) 20:10, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Please look at WP:IOWN and follow the process set out there. – ukexpat (talk) 20:45, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikimedia

    If the questions can't be answered, please give some advice on whom to ask. Is it legal to copy an article or part of article in one wiki supported by wikimedia and then post it in another wiki supported by wikimedia that is lacking the information; so that other may then edit it to the wiki's rules and standards or to custimize it towards the wiki's needs of the article? Should the source be stated if this is legal(which wiki it was). If so, what are the restrictions of this? If not, how could you transfer information from wiki to wiki without causing an illegal transaction of information? If the information being transfered isn't verifiable, is it still legal?

    Please see Wikipedia:FAQ/Copyright#Can I reuse Wikipedia's content somewhere else?. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 20:53, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Your question would be easier to answer if you specified exactly which Wikimedia Foundation wikis you want to copy from and to. If you want to translate between the various language Wikipedias, see: WP:EIW#Translate. If you want to copy some content from, say, the English Wikipedia to, say, Wikibooks, see WP:EIW#Transwiki. --Teratornis (talk) 01:15, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    new article

    how do i make a new article Ubergod22 (talk) 20:45, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
    Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.
    If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. TNX-Man 20:50, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    October 30

    Filmography Box

    What's the code for a filmography box. i.e.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Tarkovsky_filmography

    The boxes there are ordinary tables. See Help:Table. Click "edit" to see how they were made. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:15, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    If you mean {{Tarkovsky}} at the bottom then click "edit this page" at top of Template:Tarkovsky to see how it uses {{Navbox}}. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:19, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Is there a default one that I can just copy and paste?
    A default one of what? You can transclude the {{Tarkovsky}} template into any page on Wikipedia, although it would only be appropriate in a few of them. See WP:NAVBOX for more information about how navigation boxes work. And did you mean "i.e." above, or "e.g."? "I.e." means "That is" and "e.g." means "for example". "I.e." would imply "I want to do (exactly) this" whereas "e.g." would imply "I want to do something similar to this." --Teratornis (talk) 01:24, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Cannot log in to my account with password you sent

    I am trying to log in to my account. I requested a new password, but when i use it it says that it is incorrect. What should i do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.29.195.10 (talk)

    What is your username? Is Help:Logging in of help? PrimeHunter (talk) 02:18, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    How to announce a guidelines proposal?

    I've recently started Wikipedia:Notability (restaurants) in hopes that we can get a better handle on the rather large number of restaurants which have pages here but may or may not have sufficient notability. I'm hoping to get some other editors input and guidance on this effort. Do you have suggestions on the best place to make this newly proposed guideline more visible so this is not a one-editor-effort? Thanks! --Kickstart70TC 04:54, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    You should start a section at Wikipedia:Village pump (policy). You can check the page/recent archives for some examples of how people list policy proposals. Darkspots (talk) 05:04, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Much appreciated, I've announced there. --Kickstart70TC 05:13, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    sending articles?

    Hello,

    I would like to know if there is a link that allows to send directly article to a friend?

    Many thanks,

    Katrobin

    Depending on what computer and software you have, you might be able to print an article to a PDF file and e-mail that to your friend. My friends who use Apple Macintosh computers like to gloat about how simple this is for them. However, assuming your friend is able to access Wikipedia, sending a link rather than the full article has these advantages:
    • When viewing the article on Wikipedia, your friend can follow links in the article to related articles.
    • Sending e-mail attachments is a bad idea in general, because this conditions people to click on the attachments to view them. Attachments are the prime vector for the spread of computer viruses.
    • E-mail passes through several computers before it reaches your recipient. Along the way, all sorts of things can happen to the content of a message. The best way to insure your recipient receives what you send is to send only plain text messages. Wikipedia article URIs are generally short enough to avoid getting word wrapped or otherwise "munged" in transit.
    --Teratornis (talk) 19:20, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Sources and AFD

    I've found that a lot of people drop articles on AFD (or for that matter speedy delete) when claims for notability are made without making any sort of effort to find sources at all. Such nominations usually end up in snowball cases of commenters finding more and more sources and eventually to the article being kept.

    Obviously, there are different sorts of cases, but the ones that bother me most is when editors only search English language sources for articles on non-English topics.

    1. Where should one go to get help referencing such articles?
    2. Would it be at all viable to force a local to search local sources before allowing deletion?
    3. Perhaps we should force the use of references in new articles by providing a separate box or not allowing articles to get saved if there are no link/book titles/citation templates or reference header in them.

    Please answer my first question. Comments on the other two are welcome so I can start to think up a policy suggestion. - Mgm|(talk) 11:09, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    When an editor creates or edits an article, it is their responsibility to ensure that the correct references are provided. With articles on foreign language subjects this means that the editor generally needs some understanding of whatever language the subject is covered in to provide said references. If you need help with an article on a foreign subject, that country's WikiProject would be a good place to ask.
    re 2), the answer is no. You cannot force anyone to do anything on Wikipedia. Why should another editor be forced to look for references for something just because the first editor couldn't be bothered to find them. Mjroots (talk) 11:35, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Because people claim it is not verifiable when it could be. Plenty of good articles are lost because of immediatism, when allowing such articles to be dropped off at appropriate WikiProjects for an additional few days could get input from people who WANT to provide references. - Mgm|(talk) 11:50, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Does that mean your answer to 3) would be yes? - Mgm|(talk) 11:48, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    The "immediatism" problem, as you put it, is covered in my first reply. If you create an article, they you must supply the references. If you do not, then the article is liable to the deletion process. The deletion of an article doesn't necessarily mean that it can't be recreated in the future.
    Of course it doesn't, but it does mean it will drop in a sea of articles that were deleted for the right reasons, making it impossible to find out if it is a viable candidate for recreation without a whole lot more work than what I'm suggesting. - Mgm|(talk) 12:32, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    It doesn't necessarily mean my answer is yes or no. What you suggest is a Policy issue, and would need much discussion to bring about. Mjroots (talk) 12:05, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    (undent) In general, before attempting to change something on Wikipedia, one must first understand as fully as possible why things are the way they are currently. Wikipedia seems to have an overall philosophy, if you will, of allowing anybody to do pretty much anything, and then clobbering what they do after the fact. That is, we seem to favor permissiveness followed by punishment, rather than trying to prevent people from being able to do the wrong things. The current philosophy is not perfect, but Wikipedia has become pretty successful with it. An excerpt from: User:Jimbo Wales/Statement of principles:

    • "You can edit this page right now" is a core guiding check on everything that we do. We must respect this principle as sacred.

    Speaking for myself only, I don't hold anything sacred, except the need to examine and constantly re-examine everything we might be tempted to consider sacred, so we don't fall into the trap of sticking with ideas that gradually become outmoded as conditions change. Appeal to tradition therefore does not impress me much. However, the opinions of Jimbo carry an enormous weight around here, and the idea that anybody should be able to do anything, insofar as is possible, seems very important to Jimbo. I get the idea that Jimbo doesn't like to see the kinds of creeping restrictions on who gets to edit what that naturally accumulate on Wikipedia in response to errors and abuses. Thus one would need some pretty convincing arguments to change Wikipedia's laissez faire approach to article creation. It's hard to generate convincing arguments about Wikipedia, because we lack such basic statistics as view counters on pages. For an argument to be convincing, it must be based on facts and data. For example, what would be the full impact of requiring editors to meet some minimal qualifications before creating new articles? All we really have are opinions, and many people mistake theirs for truth. Nobody has really looked at how all 48,081,642 registered users interacted with Wikipedia and how they reacted to various things they saw. Usability experts such as Jakob Nielsen insist that you can't just imagine how users react to a system, you have to physically observe them (and use eye tracking equipment and so on). Getting a handle on this is very difficult and expensive, and Wikipedia isn't set up at all to do it. Anyway, my reaction to the permissive nature of Wikipedia has been to think about how we can improve the efficiency of the damage control made necessary by the permissiveness. Bottom line: almost everything a person could need to know about Wikipedia is in writing somewhere already, so our main challenge is to figure out how to get the appropriate chunks of writing to each user when they need them. Hence my interest in the Help desk, and in helping to build search tools such as the Editor's index and {{Google custom}} which simplify the difficult task of finding the right chunks of instructions. I think developing better citation tools is important, because finding and formatting references is currently a pain and it takes a long time for new users to read and understand WP:CITE, WP:CITET, and WP:FOOT. --Teratornis (talk) 23:13, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    One way to qualify new editors to create articles would be by setting up an approval system similar to what we have for administrators. For example, before a new user could create a new article, they would have to pass an Editor review, just enough to convince interested members of the community that the new user has read WP:LAYOUT, WP:RS, WP:NPOV etc. and might create a new article that has at least a snowball's chance of not getting deleted. In the early days of Wikipedia, that would have been a bad idea, because the main need back then was to recruit as many people as possible to write lots of new articles. Many obviously notable article topics (such as Jupiter, Ohio River, etc.) didn't have articles in the early going. Fast forward to 2008, and most of the obviously notable topics have articles now. Among the remaining things to write about, the proportion of marginally notable or non-notable topics keeps increasing. Plus the expectation of quality keeps rising on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a lot fancier and more intricate than it was in the early years, when it started out as little more than plain text. New users who know nothing of the layout guidelines, infoboxes, navboxes, and other ways to dress up articles may inadvertently bias other editors against them by creating new articles that just don't look good, even before we consider the content. That is, as Wikipedia keeps growing in complexity and sophistication (i.e., in professionalism), the test edits of new users keep falling farther behind the standard. That's less of a problem when a new user makes a small edit to an existing article, but creating a new article from scratch requires a user to know a lot more than anyone could possibly know when they first show up. We'd like to find ways to gently encourage new users to start by doing the easy edits first, and save the hard stuff for when they are ready. Keeping it all noncompulsory might sit better with the Jimbo school of laissez faire. --Teratornis (talk) 23:31, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Getting preview screen

    I'm trying to edit my post at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Google platform but whenever I press "Save page" I get the preview screen previewing the page as if it were blank. The same happens when I try to null edit. Can someone please try a null edit so I know whether it's only me? Thanks, Zain Ebrahim (talk) 11:53, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    i did a null edit with no problem. Sssoul (talk) 12:06, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    How to become a registered user

    I planed to create a new article. I read the insrtions, it said a registered user can create a new article. how to be a registered user? --58.68.6.38 (talk) 12:11, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Special:CreateAccount. :) Looking forward to seeing your contributions! Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 12:13, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    At the upper right corner of your screen should be a link that says "Sign in/Create account". Click that link, and it will walk you through the account creation process. Once you have an account, you need to be autoconfirmed in order to create a page. All that means is that your account needs be shown to be an active account by making 10 edits to articles and be older than 4 days. Once that threshold is reached, your account will have full privileges to create new articles. Cheers! --Jayron32.talk.contribs 12:15, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    You don't need to be autoconfirmed to create pages. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 12:21, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Yep, only moving pages and editing semi-protected pages. PeterSymonds (talk) 13:07, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    And uploading images. TNX-Man 13:09, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    How can I download all my edits ?

    How can I download all my edits to store them on my computer or process them f. e. in WORD? wettig (talk) 13:49, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    You can go to the history page of the articles you edited and view each revision that you (or any other editor) has edited. You can then save these revisions to your computer if you want. Hope that helps, but I'm not sure if that's what you wanted. Cheers. Chamal talk 13:55, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Hi Chama1, thanks for your answer ! Could I do this also automatically ? Cheers from Germany wettig (talk) 14:01, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Not sure if this helps but here are your contribs. Here are user:Wettig's contribs at the German wikipedia but I'm sure you know how to get those. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:07, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    See Help:Export. If you want to process a copy of your edits locally, you'll need software that understand's MediaWiki's XML export format. The only software I know which does is MediaWiki itself. You could install a (free) copy of MediaWiki on your computer and import every page from Wikipedia that you edited. However, to make the pages look right you would probably have to install several extensions, and do other complicated things to set up your own local mirror of (part of) Wikipedia. This requires some pretty good system administrator skills. See mw:Manual:Wiki on a stick if you want to try it. Also see Personal wiki. --Teratornis (talk) 19:29, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Or you could read b:XML - Managing Data Exchange - that should tell you how to do it. Dendodge TalkContribs 20:23, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Now that's a handy link to remember. Learning XSLT is on my list of 50 things to do before I die, although the schedule seems to be slipping. --Teratornis (talk) 22:39, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Thank you very much, folks, wettig (talk) 09:43, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Adding to a page

    This is concerning the page for the Charles Bronson "Death Wish" movies. There is a rapper called "Deathwish". www.myspace.com/deathwishlives. Not sure how to add it. Thought someone would want to know though. Thank you. 69.136.223.196 (talk) 14:49, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Note that additions must be notable and have a reliable source. Myspace does not count as either. However, in order to add content to any page, just click the "edit his page" button at the top. GrszReview! 14:52, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    If the article meets notability, then you can create the article as Deathwish (rapper), then add the article to the disambiguation page Deathwish (disambiguation). --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 17:52, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Please also note that the addition[s] must have something to do with the subject of the article; in this case the movie. If I came across a reference to "Deathwish (rapper)" in "Death Wish (movie)" I would take my sockfull of nickles (quarters?) to it as being not relevant. Saintrain (talk) 21:57, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    uploading a free image

    For the Edwin Hawkins biography: I have a very nice pic framed (or unframed if preferred).

    Your instructions are so complex. How do I just upload it because everytime I click on "upload now" it won't allow me.


    Magi — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gibsonmagi (talkcontribs) 17:14 30 October 2008 (UTC)

    In order to upload files, you must be an autoconfirmed user, which simply means that your account has been active for four days and you have made at least ten edits. After reaching that point, you can upload files. Please don't let the instructions discourage you and if you have any additional questions, let us know. Cheers! TNX-Man 17:21, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict) Your account is still too new to upload images – accounts have to be autoconfirmed by being at least four days old and having made at least ten edits. Your account was only created today and has only made one edit so a few more days with a few more edits are required. Incidentally, it's a good idea to sign messages on talk pages by putting ~~~~ at the end, which generates a name and date stamp like this ---> BencherliteTalk 17:24, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Part of the complexity is in being sure that we can use the picture. A picture has to be licensed so that anyone can reuse it for anything. If it is a picture you took yourself, you can license it, but if it is a picture you found somewhere, we may not be able to use it. —teb728 t c 19:39, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Unfortunately for new users, the fact that Wikipedia's instructions are extensive is the whole problem. A human brain needs time and effort to absorb unfamiliar complexity. While it is somewhat fashionable to decry the complexity of Wikipedia's instructions, I'm pretty sure the instructions need to be complex. What Wikipedia does is inherently complex and unlike anything most humans have ever done before. (How could building the largest encyclopedia in history be simple?) Plus we have many users who constantly edit the cruft out of our instructions, so all that remains will be necessary instructions. Wikipedia is a do it yourself system, which means it is for people who are comfortable with learning on their own by reading lots of friendly manuals. That does not describe most people, who need personal instruction from actual teachers, which is why we have formal education and schools in the real world. Wikipedia in its current form simply is not for everybody. It is only for a type of person who is unusually self-reliant and determined, the kind of person who reacts to obstacles by trying harder, trying other approaches, and learning from mistakes, rather than quitting. (The kind of person who says along with Thomas Edison, "I have not failed; I have discovered 9,999 ways that do not work.") To User:Gibsonmagi (the original poster), the fact that you found your way to this Help desk puts you ahead of most people in terms of resourcefulness. Wikipedia has 48,081,642 registered user accounts, the vast majority of which have zero or very few edits. A very large number of people dabble on Wikipedia for a few minutes and then lose interest, without even attempting to ask a question. Wikipedia in its current form is probably unsuitable for most of them. You have already taken the next step, finding your way here and asking for help, which suggests you probably have the mental tools to master Wikipedia if you want to. But it will take some work. If you want personal guidance, I suggest you ask to be adopted. Also be aware that uploading images is not the best thing to try first on Wikipedia. The whole issue of image copyrights and so on can get very complicated. It's better to start by taking the tutorial and making simple text edits while you read the manuals and learn how Wikipedia works. If you want to read a structured introduction to Wikipedia, get the book: Wikipedia - The Missing Manual by our own John Broughton who also created the helpful Editor's index to Wikipedia. --Teratornis (talk) 19:56, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Page view counter for Wikipedia articles?

    I've searched Wikipedia but so far I haven't found an answer -- does anyone know if there's a tool which displays the number of times a page has been viewed (like the old fashioned web counter, You are visitor number XXXX since XXXX)? Thanks a million! --24.211.242.80 (talk) 22:24, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    There is such a thing installed in Mediawiki, but it's disabled on Wikipedia to improve performance. However, there are some pages that will give page view counts, listed at WP:EIW#Page_v. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 22:28, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    I think this is what you are looking for. Just type in the name of the article, select the month and it will give you a day by day break down of visits. It was created in December 2007 so it only goes back as far as that.--intraining Jack In 22:37, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Those look great. Thank you! Does anyone else think these are an extremely interesting and potentially useful measure that should be better-popularized? --67.159.87.196 (talk) 19:14, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Well, the Editor's index (which contains the WP:EIW#Page_v entry) gets a lot of views already, for example see how many people have linked to it from their user pages, from talk pages, and so on. The index has several thousand entries, and probably all of them are extremely interesting to respective groups of users. On Wikipedia, There is no common sense, which is another way of saying our users are extremely diverse. We don't yet have an efficient way to "popularize" one particular technical feature which would not be bothersome to the users who don't care much about it. That is, Wikipedia is more of a "pull" system than a "push" system. It relies on the user to go look for things, rather than trying to push things at you. Given that there are so many things the system could be pushing, you can see the potential problem with that approach. Ideally, we would like the system to be smart enough to figure out what each user needs and tailor the presentation accordingly, but that won't be possible until computers can pass the Turing test. In the meantime, Wikipedia remains a Do it yourself system that relies on good old reading the friendly manuals. If you find the stumble-across-stuff serendipitous discovery method inefficient, you might like to read a structured introduction such as Wikipedia - The Missing Manual. --Teratornis (talk) 19:20, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Some symbols not showing up

    I gave someone a vandalism warning on another computer. That one had Internet Explorer. This one has Firefox. Some of the symbols I remember seeing on that person's talk page don't show up here. I never noticed that certain symbols weren't showing up on this computer.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 22:49, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Some browsers you can see the symbols and in some others theres just a square box as a placeholder. More information can be found at Help:Special characters. Monster Under Your Bed (talk) 03:33, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    There's nothing, not even boxes.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 15:47, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    user page spam?

    Resolved

    ... i know about the {{db-g11}} template for adverts masquerading as articles, but is there a policy about adverts masquerading as user pages? User:Therandoms is the specific example i'm pondering here. thanks Sssoul (talk) 22:51, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    The 'G' stands for general - it can be used on any type of page. I've tagged the page you linked. Dendodge TalkContribs 22:55, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    thanks Sssoul (talk) 22:57, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    October 31

    Fixing a problem with a template

    Can someone please help me in regard to the 2008 NBA Finals page and link to the 2009 Finals in the template box on the right hand side? 2007 is there but i dont know how to add => 2009 just like the rest of the Finals years (eg. 2007 NBA Finals you can see < 2006 and 2008 >) I have asked others but to no avail, we are really stumped so hopefully it can be fixed up. Thanks Monster Under Your Bed (talk) 03:27, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    As you can see from the {{NBA Finals summary}} template page, that template adds the previous and next year sequence links automatically. The link for 2009 appears even in the totally blank sample template. Thus I think there should be nothing you have to do in an article such as 2008 NBA Finals to cause the sequence links to appear. That one of them is missing is probably due to some seemingly unrelated error either in the template code or in some parameter value that is screwing up the template. I will look at it. Which is no guarantee that I will see the problem. One approach to troubleshoot the problem is to transclude the {{NBA Finals summary}} template onto a user sandbox page, starting off with no parameters, and then add in the parameters you have in 2008 NBA Finals until you see the template break. You might find the input item that is causing the problem, if in fact there is one item that is breaking it. --Teratornis (talk) 03:48, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    OK, the bottom of the template has this code which appears to be trying not to display a link to a year which has not yet occurred:
     ... {{#ifeq:{{{year}}}|{{CURRENTYEAR}}| <!-- do nothing, so avoid redlink display --->| ...
    
    Evidently the "2009" shows up in the sample blank template because the year value is undefined, and the template coders did not default an undefined year to the {{CURRENTYEAR}} in that {{#ifeq:... expression. If I'm seeing this correctly, that means your problem will fix itself automatically on January 1, 2009. Can you wait two months? --Teratornis (talk) 03:54, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Thank You so much for figuring that out, and yes i think we can wait 2 months until the end of the year. So basically for the 2009 NBA Finals page, if someone creates the 2010 NBA Finals before January 1 2010, then it will hidden and so forth and so forth. I think that just about sums it up. SO basically wait until the current year to create the article :-) Monster Under Your Bed (talk) 04:01, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    As we see, the 2009 NBA Finals article already exists, albeit in a preliminary form since the event has not yet occurred. There is not yet a 2010 NBA Finals article. Since it is certainly possible that a page may exist for next year's NBA Finals for some portion of the current year, a smarter way to code the {{NBA Finals summary}} template would be to change this expression:
     ... {{#ifeq:{{{year}}}|{{CURRENTYEAR}}| <!-- do nothing, so avoid redlink display --->| ...
    
    to something that uses the #ifexist: ParserFunction to check whether the next NBA Finals page actually exists, rather than indirectly trying to guess whether it exists as a function of the year. Do you know enough about template coding to take a shot at that, or do you need someone to do it for you? It's not super duper difficult, but you should probably test it on a user sandbox page (such as: User:Da monster under your bed/Sandbox) to avoid blowing up all the NBA Finals articles with a broken test revision of the real template. --Teratornis (talk) 04:08, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Use this:
     ... {{#ifexist:{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}} NBA Finals|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}| }} ...
    
    That will work for one year in advance. It generates ... 2025 ... Dendodge TalkContribs 09:01, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Experts List?

    Is there in Wikipedia a list of editors who are experts in particular subjects? Suppose for example, I want to find someone who is knowledgeable about plant taxonomy.

    Thank you, CBHA (talk) 04:52, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Not sure if something like that exists, but why not try the respective projects to look for subject experts? Such as Wikipedia:WikiProject Plants, or its parent Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of life if you're looking for taxonomy experts. -Optigan13 (talk) 04:57, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    And look at the histories of articles and templates that exemplify expertise. If you see something that looks knowledgeable on Wikipedia, it had to be built by humans, and you can find their user names. You could also ask questions about a subject on the Reference desk and see if anyone answers expertly. --Teratornis (talk) 06:48, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Thank you both. Observations of contributions at the Reference Desks has led me to the conclusion that there are 4 or 5 contributors who are both omniscient and indefatigable. But it seems unfair to take all questions to them. CBHA (talk) 12:43, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    There is Category:Wikipedians by profession, Category:Wikipedian scientists, Category:Wikipedian biologists, but not categories for different fields of biology. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:40, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    I've heard the advice that if you want something to get done, ask a busy person to do it. If they are busy, that probably means they get things done. Or so the advice goes. In any case, it's perfectly fair to ask questions of people who clearly have the hobby of answering questions. If your sensation of guilt becomes overpowering, you can always assuage your guilt by various means:
    • Shower them with barnstars.
    • Donate money to the Wikimedia Foundation in their honor.
      • Donate your money to me. I will gladly serve as your surrogate guilt-er. (Is that a word? The person who feels guilty in your stead.)
    • Take the information they provide and use it to improve Wikipedia. Anything you do to improve Wikipedia pays your debt forward to other people who benefit from an improved Wikipedia.
    • Answer questions on the Help desk. Anybody can do it, because all the answers are written down and all we have to do is look them up. Most of the time. Soon you'll discover that answering questions is fun! We get to play know-it-alls and some people even thank us for it.
    --Teratornis (talk) 23:56, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Can't access edit page

    When I am logged in, I am unable to access the edit page using the tab at the top. Instead I get a pop-up box from Firefox saying that it needs to know what program to use to open a .php file. I tried Internet Explorer and the same thing happened. However, when I am not logged in, or when someone else is logged in as a different user, the edit page comes up with no problem. I can't figure it out. Please help.Leave Message orYellow Evan home or User:Yellow Evan/Sandbox 05:24, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Go to Special:Preferences, and click the 'editing' tab. Make sure that the 'Use external editor by default' option is unchecked. This should solve your problem. Raven4x4x (talk) 05:51, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    What proportion of edits on here constitute vandalism?

    I would like to know as i'm giving a presentation and I have chosen to talk about the growth of the online encyclopedia wikipedia! 79.75.150.189 (talk) 13:27, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Nice. :) What would you like to know? PeterSymonds (talk) 13:35, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Oh. xD it would help to read the header properly, wouldn't it?? Sorry! PeterSymonds (talk) 14:16, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    ... i'm guessing he/she wants to know what proportion of edits on here constitute vandalism. 8) but i don't know the answer. Sssoul (talk) 13:38, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    It's a good question. I think there will be several different answers, since people define vandalism differently. Is adding "hello" to an article vandalism? Is pushing a point-of-view vandalism? There's a whole range of problem edits which could be defined as vandalism. That probably won't help your project though. :-( TNX-Man 13:52, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Well, if it's any help, there's an average about 6-9 reversions of vandalism per minute. Sometimes it goes lower, or even up to 30s and 40s. This is not recorded anywhere, I'm just telling from my experience when using Huggle and by the statistics it gives. Cheers. Chamal talk 13:56, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    See Wikipedia:WikiProject Vandalism studies which has LOTS of data and analysis on this subject. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 04:34, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Also related to the above, Wikipedia talk:Don't protect Main Page featured articles/December Main Page FA analysis. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 04:36, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    It's about 10% (and another 10% for reverting vandalism). See User:Dragons flight/Log analysis#Revert rate. Hut 8.5 18:24, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Can someone delete this page...I am the creator of this page and I created it when I first became a wikipedian, it hasn't been worked on since August of 2008, it has only been tagged since. If you think this page has potential could someone maybe give me some suggestions, because I can't seem to find any sources or references. Thanks! HairyPerry 15:33, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Hello Perry,
    I've deleted it for you, since it meets the requirements of WP:CSD#G7. In the future, you can request deletion of articles that only you have worked on, and which you no longer think appropriate, by adding {{db-self}} to the page. --barneca (talk) 15:43, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Thank you...I'm sorry, still learning here, i'll remember to do that next time. Thanks and Happy Editing. HairyPerry 16:21, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Template help

    This is a template I work to expand on, but I want to have it in half, if it is possible (ie. kids on one side, rents on the other side, like two columns).

    Alex Wilder (one column)
    Karolina Dean (one column)
    Nico Minoru (one column)
    Gertrude Yorkes (one column)
    Chase Stein (one column)
    Molly Hayes (one column)
    The Wilders (second column)
    The Yorkes (second column)
    The Minorus (second column)
    The Deans (second column)
    The Hayeses (second column)
    The Steins (second column)

    Thanks in advance, A talk 19:30, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    So you're looking for this
    The table's caption
    Kids Rents
    Row 1 Alex Wilder The Wilders
    Row 2 Karolina Dean The Yorkes

    and so on? I'm not great at tables, so let me know if that helps. Also see Help:Table. Cheers! TNX-Man 19:38, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Yes! Your brilliant. Thanks, A talk 19:40, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    QUESTION: On the Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content#See Also page, using a section edit,

    why does this code work in "Show preview", but not after "Save page"? (Mugs2109 (talk) 21:35, 31 October 2008 (UTC) & 22:10)[reply]

    Related development

    Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

    Related lists

    Works fine for me - try purging Dendodge TalkContribs 21:44, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    It fails in the section edit diff given by Mugs2109. The reason appears to be the use of <li> in a template parameter earlier on the page. If that is removed then the box displays. The use of <li> is before the edited section so it would not affect a preview while editing the section. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:47, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    A suspected serial killer

    I was wondering how WP:BLP reflected on Arthur Leigh Allen. Thanks, Grsz11 →Review! 23:47, 31 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    What do you mean? Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons doesn't apply to a man who died in 1992. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Ah, very true. But are there any problems, can accusations of slander still be made? I mean, here we are stating that a man is possibly the Zodaic killer, and he probably is not. Grsz11 →Review! 00:52, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Other general policies like Wikipedia:Verifiability and Wikipedia:Neutral point of view still apply. I haven't examined whether they are followed. The Zodiac Killer may still be alive and BLP applies to all pages, so I suppose somebody might argue that BLP should be considered to defend the reputation of the unidentified Zodiac Killer against speculation of being Arthur Leigh Allen. But I don't expect that will happen. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:14, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    IAAL, and you cannot slander or libel the dead. – ukexpat (talk) 04:03, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    I never understood that. Must be so painful for surviving relatives that that isn't possible. How did they ever come to the idea that you cannot slander or libel dead people? - Mgm|(talk) 09:29, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    • I don't think this article is really problem. 1) The article is very upfront. It gives all the evidence that clears him right in the lead of the article 2) It's what the guy is primarily known for. - Mgm|(talk) 09:29, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Mgm, you might find this NYT article on libel protection for the dead of interest.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:28, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    November 1

    Selective censorship

    Wikipedia is not censored, but how about "selective censorship" - i.e., censored pictures that you have to wave your mouse pointer over to see. You can imagine why. OneWeirdDude (talk) 04:52, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    No, I can't imagine why. Could you perhaps explain in more detail why this would be a desirable feature? --Jayron32.talk.contribs 05:16, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    This is a perennial proposal that the community has repeatedly rejected. Darkspots (talk) 06:00, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    You can choose not to view the pictures if you prefer, though. Wikipedia:Options to not see an image will help you with this. Chamal talk 06:18, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    A problem ..

    If u go here: Wikipedia:WikiProject Malaysia/Collaboration, at the bottom of the page where the link to Kinabalu National Park appears, there seems to be something wrong there. That link should not be there. What appears there should be what is contained in this subpage: Wikipedia:WikiProject Malaysia/Collaboration/Nominees. Anyone can spot what went wrong? ќמшמφטтгמtorque 08:25, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    The Wikipedia:WikiProject Malaysia/Collaboration page needed a purge. Whenever you try to transclude something, and it doesn't show up right on the transcluding page, purge the transcluding page. --Teratornis (talk) 08:45, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Ah ic. Thanks a lot. ќמшמφטтгמtorque 08:49, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    This is a quirk of how the MediaWiki software works. It's an unfortunate problem that confuses lots of users as they begin working with templates (it confused me too). Normally the software gets around to updating such a page by itself eventually, but not fast enough to avoid confusing people. The ergonomic difficulty stems from the fact that the visual indication of the problem gives no clue to help you find the WP:PURGE page that tells you how to fix it. All you see is a page that doesn't appear to be transcluding what you think it should be transcluding. You see no hint that the problem has an actual name, and a simple solution. At the moment, the only efficient way to discover the problem is to fall back on human intelligence by asking a question on the Help desk. When we design computer systems, we would like to avoid falling back on human intelligence - the system should be able to answer any questions it raises. The whole point of computer systems is to automate repetitive work, so humans can continue to focus on new problems. In a larger sense, this Help desk exposes the remaining ergonomic defects of the combined system of the MediaWiki software and all the Wikipedia add-ons, by fielding many of the same questions over and over. These questions that keep coming up are the frontier for future software development, i.e., the software should answer these questions itself, when it creates them in the minds of users. We are taking small steps toward this, by creating methods for users to look up their own answers. --Teratornis (talk) 18:36, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    The tool that shows how many times a page was viewed

    ... So I was trying to find the tool that shows how many times a certain page was viewed from any Wikimedia project... but had no luck. Anyone here know the link to that tool? Thanks, – RyanCross (talk) 08:52, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    I think this is what you want: Wikipedia article traffic statistics Doesn't seem to be very accurate though. Note that it says the Main page has not been viewed on 21st and 22nd. Chamal talk 08:56, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Yep, that's it. Thank you, – RyanCross (talk) 09:01, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    I also did some research, and the answer to why it wasn't working on those two days is located at User_talk:Henrik#Stats_counter. – RyanCross (talk) 09:11, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    See the Editor's index entry for "Page views" at WP:EIW#Page_v. If you find another useful tool for counting page views, please add it to the list of links there. We want the Editor's index to be, as far as possible, a one-stop shop for looking up all the gizmos a Wikipedia editor needs. --Teratornis (talk) 19:05, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    How to Semi-protect a page

    I have a question. How semi-protect a page? Leave Message ,Yellow Evan home ,User:Yellow Evan/Sandbox,Hurricane Fausto (2002),Hurricane Hernan (2008) , Tropical Storm Dora (2005) or Tropical Storm Norman (2000) 14:37, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

    You can't. Only administrators have the ability to protect a page from editing. –Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 14:39, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    you can request page protection here: Wikipedia:Requests_for_page_protection Sssoul (talk) 15:01, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Also, looking over those pages, I don't see anything that would qualify them for semi-protection. The tropical storm pages aren't currently being vandalised, nor are they the source of an edit war or other dispute, thus there doesn't seem any compelling reason to stop IP addresses (or anyone else) from editing them... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 15:45, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Hernan and 2008 PHS has been vandalised a few weeks ago, and I am doing it to be on the safe side. see edit logs. Leave Message ,Yellow Evan home 15:50, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Pages are not semi-protected when they were vandalised weeks ago. See Wikipedia:Protection policy. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:51, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Fake poster in a film article

    Hi, User:Youngin211 is inserting again and again a fake poster in the Inglourious Basterds article. I warned him not to do this again but he is still inserting it. Could somebody help me? Thanks a lot! --Schizodelight (talk) 18:29, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    I've given them a final warning. GbT/c 19:07, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    He has inserted it again http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Inglourious_Basterds&diff=249063282&oldid=249035561 :( --Schizodelight (talk) 21:27, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Indef blocked for disruption. Take out those edits and there's nothing particularly constructive in his contributions. GbT/c 21:33, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    clarinet userbox

    Is there a userbox that says "This user is quite good at the clarinet for his experience/age?"--Archeopteryx (talk) 19:00, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Well, there's either User:Reaverdrop/Userboxes/clar-1, or {{User_clarinet}}. There may be others, but it's quite specific wording. Probably the easiest way to create it would be to subst the latter template onto your sandbox, change the wording to what you want, then copy it over to your userpage. GbT/c 19:03, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikiproject Birds

    What it the template for Wikiproject Birds that goes on an article's talk page? Schuym1 (talk) 22:49, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    {{BirdTalk}} - that's the one. Garden. 23:40, 1 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Numbers weirdly inserted into pages I edit

    A recurrent, but intermittent, problem has arisen on pages I have edited in the past 3 weeks. Numbers get randomly inserted (without my doing) into links on those pages so as to break the links. Note, I am editing the pages, but not the links when it happens, and it doesn't show up while I am editing. Please go to the end of my talk page when some concerned users have identified the problem and provided examples. I would appreciate some professional help. Please note I have run Spybot and Zonealarm without finding any malware. Could you reply on my Talk page, or should I monitor this one? Thank you. Bellagio99 (talk) 00:44, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    November 2

    How would I reference

    Something like this... Guideline 512? --Kuzwa (talk) 01:06, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    You could use {{cite web}} with the "format" set to PDF. If you just want to link to the PDF, use {{PDFlink|location|filesize}}. Xenon54 02:04, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Preferences broken

    I recently changed a Preference (unchecked "Hide my edits on Watchlist") and now can't change it back: when I try, I get the unrelated warning that my new password is too short (being blank because I'm not trying to change my password). —Tamfang (talk) 01:12, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    This was also reported in Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 October 27#Unable to edit account preferences. My preferences work and I don't know what causes your problem. Does anything there help? PrimeHunter (talk) 02:33, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Inappropriate user name?

    Just wondering ... Is User:157.228.x.x in accordance with Wikipedia:Username policy#Inappropriate usernames? It seems to be misleading in that it implies an anonymous IP editor when, in fact, it is a registered user. Truthanado (talk) 01:27, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Misleading is generally applied to names like "WikiAdmin" or "Steward222" when the user isn't either of those things. This user has been around since March, so if someone had a concern about their name they would have let them know by now. If you believe that the name still qualifies as misleading, the first course of action is to let them know of your concern (use {{uw-username|reason}}) and see if they're open to changing usernames. Xenon54 01:57, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Category problem

    The category name on the article Andhra Pradesh keeps showing up at the top of the page even after I remove it. Any help would be appreciated as I cannot figure out how to get rid of it. Copana2002 (talk) 01:59, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Fixed.[2] It was added by an infobox. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:23, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Category problem

    Although its "attention=yes" parameter is not currently set, Talk:Sydney Riot of 1879 is included in Category:Cricket articles needing attention. The parameter has been set in the past so this may be a problem around the attention category failing to release former members or something to do with the category update mechanism. BlackJack | talk page 06:41, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Try purging the talk page. If that doesn't fix the problem then you may have to wait for the servers to catch up and update the category page, which they should do automatically in due course. --Teratornis (talk) 07:27, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks. Purging didn't change anything so I'll leave it and hope the server catches up. All the best. BlackJack | talk page 08:17, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Oops, this is more complicated than I at first assumed. I looked at the complicated {{WikiProject Cricket}} template, and it may be categorizing the Talk:Sydney Riot of 1879 page into Category:Cricket articles needing attention because Wikipedia:WikiProject Cricket/Review/Sydney Riot of 1879 exists. The problem is not that the servers need to catch up, as I first blindly assumed would be the usual behavior, because you can see the category link at the bottom of Talk:Sydney Riot of 1879. If that category link is there, in addition to being on the category page itself, that means the template is putting that link on the talk page now because it wants to and there is nothing for the server to catch up to. I'm going to bed, so you will probably have to read the instructions for this assessment procedure more carefully and see whether there is some step that involves moving the assessment page off to an archive or something when you finish the assessment. I'm not familiar with how the cricket folks handle that. --Teratornis (talk) 08:59, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Or it may be due to a redirect at Wikipedia:WikiProject Cricket/Assessment/Sydney Riot of 1879. —teb728 t c 09:39, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Sheet of music in Wiki

    Does it exist a simple way of writing sheets of music in Wiki, similar as we can write mathematical formulas? Eventually, would it be possible to create something like that? --PAD (talk) 10:24, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]