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October 5

Image not showing

I put this image

into the infobox for Geoff Rickly, but it isn't showing. What am I doing wrong?--AdamSims1991 (talk) 00:26, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

When you typed |image = Geoff.jpg, that was an error. It is suppose to be |img = Geoff.jpg. I fixed it for you. This article explains how to use that particular infobox. Btilm 00:52, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Not to quibble, but templates are distinct from articles. Templates and articles are both "pages". In Wikipedia-speak. --Teratornis (talk) 01:49, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

'K, thanks.--AdamSims1991 (talk) 01:47, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

new words

Perhaps I am not looking in the right place, but I wanted to know if we could add new words. I was working on a thesis tonight and stumbled upon a new word. It is a descriptive word and would most likely never be used in normal conversation but I think it is a telling word. How can I add a new word to this Encyclopedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Delshoe (talk • contribs) 00:52, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well, it depends. If you made it up, probably not. If it is a word, you might want to consider putting it in the Wiktionary. Just out of curiosity, what is the word? Btilm 00:57, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia. We have articles on proverbs, idioms, and stuff like that, but all definitions should go to Wiktionary. Remember that nothing you made up one day should ever be included in Wikipedia, and any topic must be notable. Xenon54 / talk / 01:11, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Even so, if you stumbled upon it, as in research, Wiktionary will likely already have it. Intelligentsium^review 02:28, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This page is a user's work in progress page

I created a new page, but it is still labeled as a "User's work in progress page" rather than a new article. I tried moving it to the same title, but I still see the heading that it is a work in progress page. How does one officially launch an article or make it more than a user's work in progress. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Echo927 (talk • contribs) 01:00, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That's because it's a template. Templates can appear even as long as you use {{TEMPLATENAME}} to a page. But you will need to use them correctly. The template won't go unless you manually remove it, even if you move the page. -Porchcrop ^{(talk|contributions)} 01:09, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

But anyways, I have removed the template myself. Cheers. -Porchcrop ^{(talk|contributions)} 01:11, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

acid rain

How does acid rain effect taj mahal and how do they maintain and study the taj mahal. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.53.93.28 (talk) 01:31, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Taj Mahal#History briefly discusses the effect of acid rain, with some references. The Taj Mahal is made of marble which is largely calcium carbonate and thus is susceptible to attack by acids. --Teratornis (talk) 01:36, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The help desk is for questions on how to use Wikipedia. For Science-related questions, such as yours, please use the Science reference desk. Intelligentsium^review 02:26, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Adding all articles in a category to watchlist

Is it possible to automatically add all articles within a certain category to your watchlist - including new additions to the category? BlazerKnight (talk) 01:59, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No, that is not possible. But see here for something similar that you can do. ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 02:03, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I see. Thank you. BlazerKnight (talk) 02:45, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Transclusion of Recent Changes

Hi Help Desk. Do any of you know of a way I could transclude a Special:RecentChangesLinked page into another project page? Usually I would just put the page name between {{Curly-brackets}} but this page seems to need URL parameters... Pretzels^Talk! 02:35, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm.. {{Special:RecentChanges}} works for me. You can also limit the number of changes displayed like this: {{Special:RecentChanges/25}} ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 02:43, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ah. {{Special:RecentChangesLinked/Articlebase}} did the job, just about... there must be documentation for this somewhere though. Thanks! Pretzels^Talk! 03:33, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

For others' future reference: m:Help:Special_page#Transclusion Pretzels^Talk! 03:37, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, you were asking about related changes, not recent changes. Sorry :P ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 08:06, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

NoteTA

Do we have an English equivalent to this template? — C M B J 03:26, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Can you tell us exactly what that template does? Unless someone happens along who is fluent in Chinese we re basically restricted to something like Google translate. I see it is some kind of translation converter itself though I can't make out exactly what it does. Maybe someone else can but telling us if you know would be good.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:42, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Click the small ▼ on the very top right of that link. — C M B J 04:03, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Just more Chinese. Only the name of the page is in English. ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 08:09, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Special:abusefilter

What language is the filter written in? --Drogonov (talk) 08:12, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I believe that all MediaWiki extensions are written in PHP. Gonzonoir (talk) 11:15, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Infobox rant

Some time ago, I recall reading a short essay or humourous "rant" about infoboxes. I think it went something like: "I just took your article and ***** all over it". Would anyone know what I'm referring to? Thanks, decltype (talk) 09:06, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure it can be what you were after, but User:Speaker219/Sandbox is a hearty denunciation of infoboxes with quotes from no less authoritative a source than Green Eggs And Ham. Gonzonoir (talk) 10:44, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That's not it, but thanks anyway :) decltype (talk) 10:53, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Why can't I see my page?

I posted my page last week, it has been more than 4 days and it still does not appear. It only shows up when I log in. What do I have to do to make it public view for all to see? (User:NNSA CTOS/Counter Terrorism Operations Support (CTOS)) Please advise as to what I am doing wrong. 12:10, 5 October 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by NNSA CTOS (talk • contribs)

You created your article as a subpage of your user page. Did you mean to create it in the main encyclopedia space? Powers ^T 12:32, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As you created it in your user space (User:NNSA CTOS/Counter Terrorism Operations Support (CTOS)), it is not part of the encyclopedia yet. However, as this is not written in Neutral Point of View language, and sounds like advertising, I would suggest that you spend some time working on it. If it was to be moved to main article space (you do not have the required number of edits and time since the account was created), it would probably be deleted anyway. I am leaving you a welcome message with some useful links, so I suggest that you read those before working on the draft article some more. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 12:34, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The page is copied word for word from the website. I am unclear on the copyright status because of its government association.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:40, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The contact page for the website shows a .gov address, so I'd guess that would make it a government site, and probably public domain. No copyright notices could be found. However, this would be a question for those with more legal knowledge than I have! -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 20:32, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A bit stuck with uploading an image from a book

Hi. I am trying to upload an internal illustration from an art book for use in the article on the artist in question. I selected what appears to be the correct option in the first upload page (cover or other image from a book), but after that and the actual upload form I am presented with licensing options which exclude internal images from books (only covers are shown as an option category, with 'book cover' being the closest subcategory). However, this isn't a book cover, and it is notable that if I select that option the non-free use blurb stipulates that the image be used "to illustrate an article discussing the book in question", which the article does not - it's about the artist in question.

I have already raised this on the talk page for the upload page, but might not get an answer for ages. It seems to me that the upload form is missing categories that it should contain, at least if the first set of upload options that led me there is anything to go by. What should I do? LSmok3 (talk) 13:47, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Assuming the image you're trying to upload is a photograph of an original artwork, such as a painting or sculpture, then Wikipedia:Image use policy gives an overview of the situation. Images can't be uploaded unless 1) they are covered by an acceptable free license, 2) they are in the public domain, or 3) you can provide an acceptable fair use rationale for them. 1) doesn't apply here unless the art book specifically states its images are released under a free license (which it almost certainly won't) or unless the book is old enough to be out of copyright (e.g. published before January 1 1923 in the US). 2) won't apply even if the image is of a work of art that is itself in the public domain, because it is the photo of the artwork in the book that is covered by copyright, not the artwork itself. 3) - Yes, a low-res image of a book cover can be fairly used to illustrate an article about the book (because there is no alternative way of illustrating it) but not any other article, such as an article about the author - that's not covered by fair use. In short, there's no option on the menu to do what you're trying to do because it's not permissible under Wikipedia's image use rules. What to do? Well, if the original artwork is out of copyright and accessible to you you could take an original photo of it yourself and freely license it, or if you can find a suitable illustration by someone else that is out of copyright you could use that. Wikipedia:Public domain image resources points you to some useful sites, and WP:NFCI is a summary of the fair use policy around non-free images. Good luck! Ka renjc 21:23, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Really? There's no way to use a scanned low-res version of an image of an artwork from a book on that artist to illustrate an article about that artist, even where the artist has the copyright on the image, not the publisher? I'm amazed that doesn't constitute fair use. . . No, the artist is an illustrator and there are no publicly available exhibits to be photographed, and obviously I can't use an image by someone else to illustrate the work of this particular artist. A shame, an article on an artists seems a bit bare without at least some example of their work. . .

Also, I find it a bit misleading to be taken to that upload page which presents me with no option for an internal image from a book when the preceding page does. . . The pages are here - "A cover or other page from a book, DVD, newspaper, magazine, or other such source" - and then here - Licensing dropdown>Cover>Book cover. . . LSmok3 ^Talk 07:56, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Doed wikipedia need money?

Because there are ads on wikipedia talk pages now.Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 19:10, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ads for WikiProjects have been around for a while, but they are merely to recruit new participants. (I'm fairly certain that Wikipedia would not add ads without a community discussion and vote first.) In any case, Wikipedia is like the US's Public Broadcasting Service in that the vast majority of its funding comes from donations, and ads would only be added if the donations dry up. Xenon54 / talk / 19:21, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Can you give an example? It would be against Wikipedia policy to have commercial ads on a user page.--RDBury (talk) 22:26, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Twinkle trouble

I went to a user's page and tried adding a welcome template, but I click the tab and no menu loads.Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 19:14, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Welcoming users is not part of Twinkle. (If you have 2 questions, did it ever occur to you to include them in one post to save space?) Xenon54 / talk / 19:24, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes it is, I have a tab that says wel, and i know for a fact it is twinkle.Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 19:25, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ok I admit it i meant friendly. but still can someone please explain why it is doing this?Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 19:29, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You need to give us a lot more information...OS? Browser and version? Skin? Does refreshing fix the problem? Xenon54 / talk / 19:32, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The welcome tab only works in a user's talk page, not the user page. Zoo Fari 20:07, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Twinkle question

If a person forgot to sign, what option under warn should i use?Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 19:24, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Under "Single issue notices" you will find {{uw-tilde}}. DoktorMandrake 19:29, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see that option...Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 19:34, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There are two drop-down menus. From the first one, select "Single issue notices" then, in the second drop-down menu, select the third-to-last option, which should be uw-tilde. That being said, if someone did it once I wouldn't worry about it and if the individual is a repeat "offender," you can just write a handwritten note. ~ Amory (u • t • c) 19:40, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Font faces

Where can I find a list of font faces and font colours? I cut, pasted, and editied my signature from someone a while ago, bit I'd like to change it. ~~Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 19:30, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Both are virtually unlimited, but be aware that a font you specify will only display on computers that have it installed, while others will simply render it in a default font. For example, under Windows your signature renders in the proper font (Kristen ITC), but under Ubuntu it displays in Firefox's default font (Arial). Along the same line, the amount of colours are unlimited, but the Web safe colours (section "X11 color names") should display properly for virtually everyone. Xenon54 / talk / 19:50, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I don't understand, sorry! Here's a screen shot of this section from firefox. You can clearly see my signature rendared as it ought to have been. ~~Dr Dec (Talk)~~ 20:01, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

To see your signature like that, other users would have to have the Kristen ITC font installed - if not, it will display in the default font for each person's browser (for example, I see it in FreeSans). To answer your initial question, you can find lists of colours and fonts at w3schools.

Also, as a side-note, I would recommend using CSS styles, rather than the deprecated tag. For example, to produce this, use:

'''this'''

rather than:

'''this'''

DoktorMandrake 20:11, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I only saw five fonts in that link: serif, sans-serif, monospace, cursive and fantasy. Aren't there any more? ~~Dr Dec (Talk)~~ 23:03, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well there are more in the link. For example, under sans-serif it lists; Arial, Helvetica, Gill Sans, Lucida and Helvetica Narrow. You can name any font you have on your computer, and it will work for anyone who has the same font installed. You can also define a list of preferred fonts, in case the one wanted is not available, for example:

<span style="font-family: Junicode, Times New Roman, serif;" ...

will use the Junicode font if it is installed. If not it will use Times New Roman, and if neither are installed it will use the default Serif font on that computer. Hope that helps. Regards, DoktorMandrake 23:22, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How long until I can see edit/new discussion topic?

Hello, I am user name fps2009, and I am trying to submit a new discussion topic called Float Pool Systems. I gave a brief description and believe I followed the instructions. When can i "look up" Float pool systems?

thanks, Trent —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fps2009 (talk • contribs) 19:48, 5 October 2009

You created the article on a template talk page, which is not the right place at all. (Templates are pieces of code designed to standardise the appearance of articles, while the talk page is where you discuss the template.) See Your first article for instructions on how to properly make your article. Xenon54 / talk / 19:53, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

speedy delete?

I just got a speedy delete message. I saw a youtube video regarding postings about companys, like Ford. What can i do to get "Float pool Systems" accepted? thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fps2009 (talk • contribs) 20:24, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You created the article properly (that's good), but it didn't display the notability of the topic (that's bad). In order to have an article on Wikipedia, a topic must be notable. Notability is defined as "being mentioned in several reliable sources that are independent of the topic itself". The easiest way to establish notability is to find articles from a reliable news source, or something like that. Xenon54 / talk / 20:29, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

i think i understand, but this company has only been around for a few months, the topic and issues facing the healthcare industry in this area can be noted, but not specific to Float pool systems. What do you suggest? thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fps2009 (talk • contribs) 20:35, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If the company has been around only a few months, and does not have significant coverage in its own right in a number of independent sources, as described at Wikipedia:Notability, then unfortunately it is not yet a suitable subject for a Wikipedia entry. Only time and increased media coverage of the company can fix this problem, I'm afraid. Ka renjc 20:47, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It is highly recommended that any such article not be written by anyone affiliated with the company or as a promotional piece. You might wish to take a look at WP:COI and WP:ADVERT. The text that was deleted read like a marketing brochure and your username suggests an association with the company, which is why I am making these suggestions. // BL \\ (talk) 21:02, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

HELP ME

I need help, how do I make a link to a section?????? —Preceding unsigned comment added by BennyK95 (talk • contribs) 22:48, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Like so: [[Article title#sectiontitle]], replacing the italicized things with their corresponding values. Intelligentsium^review 22:52, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c) Use a hash sign (#), for example Wikipedia:Help desk#HELP ME. Xenon54 / talk / 22:54, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much! That helps a lot. - BennyK95 - Talk 23:04, October 5 (UTC)

One other point, perhaps obvious - if you go to the Table of Contents, and click on the section you want, the browser url will now have the section included in the right way, so you can copy the right part of the url and have the link. SPhilbrick T 13:18, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

October 6

Changing link color

How can I change links to a different color? And how can I make the links remain the same color even after I have visited an article? --William S. Saturn (talk) 00:58, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

To make a link a different color, use a pipe, and enclose the text with the proper tags; for example, [[Wikipedia|Wikipedia]] makes Wikipedia. The links changing color when you visit them is a browser setting and thus is in the territory of the Computing reference desk. Xenon54 / talk / 01:20, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Also, how can I make the background of templates black to match the black background? (I am using the black background with green text Gadget) --William S. Saturn (talk) 01:03, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Link color. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 02:00, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The article received a ^[why?] where it makes no sense

Hello!

I'm working on the Denzlingen article.

There was a 'Weasel Words' change by a bot, but in my opinion, I'm not using any weasel words. Maybe the bot made a mistake here.

--Blutkoete (talk) 02:15, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, the {{why}} was added by User:Auntieruth55; the bot just dated the tag. You could post at his/her talk page and ask for clarification, or you could find a source for the statement that most of the movement to the town was Catholic. --AndrewHowse (talk) 02:20, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

physics circular motion

Moved to the Science reference desk. ~ Amory (u • t • c) 04:34, 6 October 2009 (UTC) [reply]

Header notifications of article

I have noticed 2 additional notices on an article.I believe the notices of “conflict of interest” are slightly unreasonable, looking at the talk page, I couldn’t find any specific example or reason explaining this comment. the article is objective and all the facts that are stated in this article are referenced with reliable third party sources, so again don't understand this notice of conflict of interest.Angusf27 Angusf27 (talk) 07:38, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Which article are you referring to? If we knew that, we might be in a better position to help you! -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 08:43, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

One reason for suspecting COI on Purecircle is that you uploaded an image from their website claiming to be the copyright owner. Another is that it reads like a press release—so much so that I tried to find if it was quoted verbatim from their website. —teb728 t c 09:21, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I added a more complete list of issues to the talk page. The article is AfD material as it stands but hopefully improvements will be made.--RDBury (talk) 10:26, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

wikipedia on mobile handset

Can I have free access to wikipedia through my Nokia Handset 7210C? How can I have access through my mobile and what are things I need to comply to get and stay connected wtih Wikipedia? Please inform.

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.181.117.187 (talk) 09:01, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

you need activated internet on your phone. Then you just type it in as you normally would.Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 13:24, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If you can't use the full internet on your phone, you can use wapedia.mobi (Wapedia) or en.m.wikipedia.org. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 15:13, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Translating Chinese wikipedia articles into English

Hi guys. I'm a big contributor on wiktionary and have hardly touched wikipedia (although read it often). I would like to embark on translating some of the articles on the Chinese wikipedia into English, especially those that haven't got English articles. However I'm a bit stuck. I noticed if I go to edit the original Chinese article there is a huge amount of formatting and stuff that totally confuses me. I mean, I can deal with section headings, links, etc but haven't mastered how to reference properly. Does there exist a guide that shows one how to translate from a LOTE whilst retaining the original references, images, etc? The help pages I looked at were not very detailed. Cheers. Tooironic (talk) 10:04, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sure you already saw WP:Translate which is the basic guide for translators. Other than that the information is already in the various editing guides and yes it is a bit of a challenge at first but it's out there if you look for it. For example WP:CITE has most of what you need to know about references. If there are translation issues not covered in WP:Translate you might bring it up on the talk page as something that could be added. It seems that you're looking for a step by step guide with everything you need know for people translating wikipedia articles but I'm pretty sure that doesn't exist; there would be too much in it that is covered elsewhere and it's not a good idea to have a lot of redundancy since it can change rapidly. I know that doesn't help much but I hope it does a little at least.--RDBury (talk) 11:12, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

PS, have you thought about translating English to Chinese? English already has the most articles and there are many more Chinese speakers than English.--RDBury (talk) 11:15, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yep, I did look at those guides already. I guess I will just have to toughen up and learn all the formatting crap. Sigh. PS Like most professional translators I only translate into my native tongue (English). So I would only consider translating into Chinese for wikipedia if it was in collaboration with a Chinese native speaker. Tooironic (talk) 04:34, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Actually you would be collaborating with lots of native Chinese speakers. Anything you write on one of the Wikipedias is editable by any other user of that Wikipedia. You don't have to produce final copy on your first go. Lots of people edit on the English Wikipedia who are not native English speakers (for example see Category:User en-2). All the Wikipedias are works in progress. If something is so bad that it is unacceptable and unrepairable, we have lots of users who specialize in deleting articles. But of course this is a volunteer project, so work on whatever you like. If you tell us the subject(s) you want to edit, we can tell you where you might get help from other users. For example there is a Wikipedia:WikiProject China. --Teratornis (talk) 06:22, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

To learn the formatting "crap", see: WP:CHEAT, Help:Editing, WP:YFA, WP:LAYOUT, and WP:FOOT. Often the easiest way to start a new article is to find an existing well-formatted article that is similar to the article you want to create. Copy its wikitext to a user subpage (such as: User:Tooironic/Sandbox) and you can experiment at your leisure without worries about having it deleted while you are still figuring out what to do. --Teratornis (talk) 06:25, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How Do I submit an Article?

I've tried several times to submit an article and failed. What do I do?

Lovelace Lee III <email removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.230.167.75 (talk) 13:59, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A Wizard is available to walk you through these steps. See the Article Wizard.

Thank you.

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

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

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. An Article Wizard is available to walk you through creating an article, but you will need to create an account to use it. if you don't wish to do so, you can submit a proposal for an article at Articles for Creation. Algebraist 14:02, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How ?

Hey, I am new here in Wikipedia, although i search for information and various articles. I am trying to write an article which i can place in Wikipedia. Any idea how i can do it ? :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Imujie (talk • contribs) 14:12, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See the above link, article wizard. But the best idea is to make it on your user page untill its ready and then make it into an article. Press talk to the right to ask me any more questions!Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 14:17, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Writing an article for Wikipedia is harder than many people realize. Even professional writers find that the format and style needed for a good encyclopedia article are different than what might be appropriate for other venues. You could:

Get someone else to do it—If your only goal is to make sure that an article is added to Wikipedia, you can request that someone write an article on the subject.
Start by editing other articles—If you are interested in becoming an editor at Wikipedia, our experience demonstrates that it is better to start by improving existing articles, which will help you get a sense of how this place works, and then you will be ready to write your first article from scratch. A good place to visit is the Wikipedia backlog, where there are literally hundreds of thousands of articles needing help from editors. Find an article in a subject area you know, and add a source, or a reference, or simply help write it better.
Go ahead and try—If you do decide to write an article immediately, please read our policy on conflicts of interest, then read our guide to writing your first article, which will repeat some of the good advice above. Then please use the Article wizard, which will help you through the steps. I urge you to accept the option to save your first draft in your user subpage, which will reduce the chance your work will be deleted before it is ready.

PARTNERSHIP IN SIERRALEONE

Dear sir, AS a school in West Africa, Sierra Leone, will it possible to work in partnership with your school and great pen friends with the school pupils. Our school name is OBEZ MEMORIAL SCHOOL. Thanks Rev. Sengovah —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.54.30.6 (talk) 14:19, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our roughly three million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. Bencherlite ^Talk 14:21, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Tollund Man

Tollund Man has some vandalism on it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.89.120.182 (talk) 17:57, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The vandalism on Tollund Man has been reverted. Thank you for letting us know, however in future you can remove such obvious vandalism yourself, as this page is not protected. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:16, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How do I lower my Contents box so I can add a little more information to the introduction section of the article?

The contents box is in the way of me being able to finish my introduction. When I put the information in and hit "preview" my last paragraph shows up in a shaded section. Could someone please help me out. Thanks! Steve98.145.232.112 (talk) 18:40, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Which article are you talking about? The last article that your IP worked on was Conditional preservation of the saints on the 29th Sept - if that's the one, then you should have no problem adding to the lead section - it worked OK when I added a couple of paragraphs and previewed. If it isn't that article, let us know and we can look at it. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:59, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'm also unsure what your problem is but maybe Wikipedia:Lead section or Help:Section#Table of contents (TOC) are relevant. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:29, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Translating an Article from EN Wiki to Japanese

(Question moved here from RefDesk RefDesk) I have no idea where to place this question, as I spend most of my time on the RefDesks and don't explore the inner workings of Wikipedia, but I'll place it here anyway, and if it gets moved I'll follow it there. Anyway, the question is, how do I translate an article from English Wikipedia into Japanese? Of course, this will mean that the new article will need to be placed on JP Wikipedia. As I have had considerable trouble in the past in linking my two accounts (and still haven't managed to do it!) I cannot understand how it will work. Also, what about internal links on the original article? As those links will point to article on EN Wikipedia (many of which have no equivalent on JP Wikipedia) would I be linking back to the relevant articles on EN Wikipedia, and if so, how is that done? Simply placing and around the links would obviously not work. Lots of questions here, I apologize, and there will obviously be more when I start on the particular article which I have in mind at the moment, so if there is a tutorial-like article anywhere it might save you time to just point me in that direction. TIA! --KageTora - SPQW - (影虎) (talk) 18:46, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

have you read Wikipedia:Translate? -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 19:00, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

For more information about translation, see WP:EIW#Translate.
You could look for English Wikipedia editors who also edit on the Japanese Wikipedia. See Wikipedia:WikiProject Japan and Search Wikipedia with Google for: category user japanese. You can probably find some editors who have translated many articles. Maybe they can help you.
Citations: also see WP:FOOT.
Internal links: you can deal with them in several ways:
- Leave them as red links on the Japanese Wikipedia. Someone else may later write the articles there.
- Remove the links and just leave the link text as plain body text. This is how most articles on Wikipedia start off - with very few links. Other editors add links over time.
- Search the Japanese Wikipedia carefully for other articles that may serve as link targets. A direct translation of a link from English to Japanese may miss the relevant article on the Japanese Wikipedia.
- If you really want to link from the Japanese Wikipedia to the English Wikipedia, see Help:Interlanguage links. However, these are generally not appropriate for inline links. We generally like to restrict them to the box in the left column so the reader is aware that a link goes to a Wikipedia in a different language. Thus there would only be one interlanguage link from your article on the JW back to the original article on the EW. The internal links should stay internal.

--Teratornis (talk) 02:41, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Too Many Edits

Is there a warning template for users who are making too many edits to certain pages? ---Shadow (talk) 19:33, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's not necessarily a bad thing, but if it's gotten to the point where dozens of little edits (i.e. 10 edits in 5 minutes, all of which could have been taken care of in one big edit) are clogging up your watchlist, then a note to the effect of "Hey, your many edits are getting kind of disruptive. Here's the preview button, please do all your editing at once!" will probably suffice. Templates are only for widespread problems that are continually occurring, and I don't think one exists for this purpose. Xenon54 / talk / 19:46, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I thought there would be one since an admin told me the site frowns on it. ---Shadow (talk) 19:52, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There is {{Uw-preview}}. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:25, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If an editor is making many edits because they are making mistakes, the template warning may be in order, but otherwise, making multiple edits may be a good thing. I just read in Village Pump forum about someone who removed one block of material and added another block. The editor desired to revert the removal, but not the addition. It’s far easier to do that if the changes are in separate edits. As a general rule, if you can imagine that someone might disagree with some part of your planned edit, but not another part, it would be good to make separate edits. SPhilbrick T 23:26, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(undent) Are you thinking about the three revert rule? --Teratornis (talk) 02:43, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No, they are just making too many small edits on a page. They change part of a setence, and then 2 or 3 submissions later change it again. ---Shadow (talk) 04:09, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If somebody just wants to experiment, they could use a user subpage. --Teratornis (talk) 06:26, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Need help with table

Resolved

I have an article at FLC, Gwen Stefani discography. The last table of the article, "Music Videos", has slightly different colours in its cells; this was commented on at the FLC. I don't know how to fix this. Could someone with some table-fu help? Thanks, -- EA Swyer ^Talk _{Contributions} 23:36, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Looks the same to me. It may be because of the browser you're using, your browser settings, and any number of other factors not related to the actual page. As I see it, there is no difference. Intelligentsium^review 00:19, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Done The table was "zebra striped" - that is every other row was coloured a slightly lighter shade of grey than the default table colour. I have removed the custom colouring so that only the default is used - see here. DoktorMandrake 03:43, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

October 7

Permissions

Aren't administrators allowed to give themselves and their legitimate alternate accounts permissions? The log shows that a lot of administrators are giving rights to other administrators. Intelligentsium^review 00:37, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, they can (if they abuse this, they would lose the admin tools). As for there being a "lot" of these, looking at the log for the last month, I see 2 times where an admin gave another admin additional rights, and 12 occasions where an admin gave themselves additional rights (almost all of them adding the Edit filter managers right - which was made available on this Wikipedia in March this year.) -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 07:55, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Health care certification in US

Hi,

I am IT professional working in Healthcare company, I want enhance my knowledge in US healthcare business and want to pursue a career as a Business analyst in Healthcare insurance.

Can you please guide me about the certifications in US Healthcare system.

Thanks, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.138.173.246 (talk) 03:15, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Miscellaneous reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 07:59, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Question about merging contributions

I contributed to wiki without a login for a while now and just recently (finally) joined. I was wondering if there was a possibility of merging my old contributions with my newly created account. Thanks.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Stephen293 (talk • contribs) 03:22, 7 October 2009 (UTC) [reply]

Unfortunately, no, it is no longer possible to reattribute anonymous edits. Also, please remember to use ~~~~ to sign your posts on talk and help pages. Regards, DoktorMandrake 03:30, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Charlotte Beazley

Charlotte Beazley (which is me) is an actress in Australia and has been seen in The Sleepover as the main girl Miki (Frankie) and also in Country Road as the mai girl too as Elle (Roberta like in Now And Then) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sleepover31 (talk • contribs) 06:54, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'm assuming you are asking about how to create an article about yourself? Basically, I don't see that you are notable enough to warrant one yet. IMDB doesn't mention you, and the films/tv shows you mention have no articles on either Wikipedia or IMDB. There are also no mentions on Google News, Google Books, Google Scholar or Google Search about you. At the moment you do not meet the notability criteria for entry in Wikipedia, sorry. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 08:10, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In addition, once you do become notable, of if we missed something and you already are notable, it is highly discouraged to write an entry about yourself. See WP:AUTO. Once you are notable, someone will write an article about you (although they may take longer to get to it than you think proper). Once the article is written, we still discourage you form editing it directly, but, as you probably know more about you than anyone else, we do encourage you to post to the talk page and add facts and references to facts so that others can review them and add, if appropriate. Sorry, but one of the important goals of Wikipedia is a neutral point of view, which is inconsistent with people writing their own bios. SPhilbrick T 12:38, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hints, Staffordshire

Resolved

– Moved. Bencherlite ^Talk 14:00, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The entry Hints is just a redirect to Hint(disambig). Given that we have a page for the village of Hints, currently at Hints, Staffordshire, and this seems to be the only meaning of Hints as opposed to Hint, should I:

Set the redirect to the village, adding a hatnote
Rename the village as the simple Hints, also adding the hatnote
Anything else

Jan1naD - (talk) 12:44, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'd move the village to Hints, adding a hatnote to the top to point to "Hint". UK places tend not to have county names appended unless there's more than one with the same name. Bencherlite ^Talk 12:50, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved

– Thank you, Bencherlite, for the swap. Jan1naD - (talk) 14:01, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

New topic

This isn't the place for this discussion. Bencherlite ^Talk 19:16, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

I am a former employee of Google. During my work for that company I was instrumental in giving WIKI a bias so as to cause it to appear as a good result for encyclopaedic type queries. I have since come to deeply regret my role in aiding WIKI to become a more respected and expected result for Google queries.

Wiki, in its degraded state, simply does not merit such respect.

Wiki needs to wake up to the problem that the US Government, and most especially the Department of Justice has an active program to bias Wiki article content. There are people here working as "editors" who are salaried employees of the DOJ who are ruining Wiki. They are a cancer on Wiki. You need to dig them out ,throw them out, and never let them back in.

I will give you a perfect example -- the Wiki article on Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone. Even though polls taken after his death indicated that a majority of Minnesotans believed he was assasinated, there is no such mention of this fact in the article. Even though conspiracy theories regarding JFK are respected in the main stream and Wiki in fact has a separate topic regarding these conspiracies, any attempt to include conspiracy information such as the fact that US armed forces have magnetic pulse lasers which can both blind pilots and fry their equipment, is quickly deleted. I would not even personally bother posting any such information on this article because I know it would be quickly deleted.

My point is not to endorse these theories, but merely to point out that there is a immodest gusto to delete any such information which has a degrading effect on the quality and expectation of freedom from bias that serious users of Wiki are certainly noticing and being turned off by. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ivangrimm (talk • contribs) 13:43, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Without going into detail on the above claims, all I would say is that I assume you could provide some reliable sources of information on these allegations? Add them to the articles (using citations) and see what happens - the Minnesotans I have spoken to did not think that Sen Wellstone was assassinated - they think it was a tragic accident caused by human error. Of course, it could be that all the ones I spoke too are in on the conspiracy. That's the problem with conspiracies - those who totally believe them cannot be convinced. They say that the police, politicians, news organisations, web search companies, etc etc are all involved.

My advice to you, Ivangrimm, would be to just not bother, as whatever you add will either be deleted by government agents, or by us simple editors who only want to add information which is verifiably correct with reliable sources.

Incidently, the help desk is for helping with problems using Wikipedia, not telling us how tainted the Wikipedia system is. I'm not sure where the correct venue for that is, but it ain't here. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 14:06, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I am surprised in reading your profile that you, Phantomsteve, a primary school teacher such as yourself from Croydon, UK, even knows where Minnesota is located within the USA, let alone sits around all day talking with Minnesotans about this topic. I, for instance, don't know where Croydon is located and I have zero interest in UK politicians. I had no idea that people in Croydon are experts on obscure, long dead American politicians from Midwest American states. Who are you really ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.103.28.57 (talk) 14:42, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

After disagreeing with Ivangrimm's edits in August he also suspected me of being an American conspirator posing as European on my user page. At User talk:PrimeHunter#I respectfully disagree he wrote: "you compose your writing in a manner consistent with someone whose mother language is American East Coast English". Welcome to the cabal Phantomsteve. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:15, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Long dead? 2002 isn't that long ago! To be honest, I'm not totally sure where Minnesota is - America is one big area! But I've heard of it - I'd guess that I've probably heard of a lot of the American states - in the UK, we don't tend to be so insular as certain other countries, and hear/know about a lot of other countries - they tend to be mentioned in the news, and so do several states of the US! I don't talk with Minnesotans "all day" - I haven't spoken to any (as far as I know) in a long time, but I used to be a regular in chat rooms at late/early hours here in the UK, which made it evening/night in the US - and I recall discussions about a politician whose airplane crashed a few weeks before an election he was involved in. When you mentioned the above, I looked up the article - now, I might have the wrong person, even the wrong state (in which case, I apologise), but although I couldn't be sure of the timeline (I was in chat 2001-2003), the facts fit with what the article says. I am not an expert on this politician - it was only reading the article that it reminded me of what some people had said over the space of a few days way back then - that their Senator had been killed in a plane crash (hence, I'm assuming they were Minnesotans) and that I don't recall any discussions about it being other than a tragic accident.

Of course, it could be that in that time period, there was another Senator (or politician) who was running for office, who died in an air crash a few weeks before the elections - and that the one my online friends were chatting about was that one and not Wellstone. I am not in touch with any of them since MSN Chatrooms closed (was that 2005, 2006?) I am sure that someone could tell me if I am thinking of some other politician which would fit this description in the 2001-2003 time frame

It is a sad fact that many Americans have no interest in UK politics, nor interest in politics beyond the water’s edge, while Europeans, at least the ones I talk to are quite conversant with American politics. I’ve often felt there was a plausible answer beyond provincialism – an action of the US is more likely to have an economic impact, positive or negative on, say Croydon, than the other way around, but it is still true, I believe, that there’s a disparity in relative knowledge. I don’t find it at all surprising that a resident of England would have passing familiarity with the death of an American Senator.SPhilbrick T 17:39, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As to whom I am really - I am an ex-primary school teacher, in Croydon, South London, UK - just as my user page says. Whether you choose to believe that or not, I don't really care. Although you may choose not to believe it, anyone with the right authority (ie CheckUser) would know that I am on a computer in the Croydon area (I'm leaving it at that, as Croydon is a large area - with a population of 1/3 of a million people, an area of 33.6 square miles - that still keeps me fairly anonymous!). -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 15:32, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Oh and before Ivangrimm says "how can anyone know the area that precisely?", I didn't - I knew the population (although that might be out of date now), but I looked up the area. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 15:34, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Several observations -- Observation 1: people have written software which examines the ratios of Latin based English words to Anglo Saxon based words drawing on written examples of writing of people from known localities in the English speaking world, and yes, it is possible to identify the true location of people by the mixture of these words which they employ -- it takes tremendous mental concentration and knowledge of the English language to vary this mixture to mislead anyone. Observation 2: interogators know that the level of verbosity in a response to an accusation can tell you the truthfullness of that response -- responses intended to mislead are ALWAYS more verbose than responses which are short. PhantomSteve, thou doth protest too much. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ivangrimm (talk • contribs) 16:22, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

For future reference: several does not mean two, it means more than 2 (but not much more). Wiktionary's definition of several -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 17:09, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Let me add in closing this discussion, that Wiki even has an article about how they caught the DOJ interfering with WIKI and threw them out. I find it ironic that you try to label me as a conspiracy freak when you actually have a WIKI article about the very problem which I raise:

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/US_Dept._of_Justice_IP_address_blocked_after_%27vandalism%27_edits_to_Wikipedia —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ivangrimm (talk • contribs) 16:42, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

My short response: I don't care where you think I am, I know where I am. End of line. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 17:06, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please note that there is a difference between “Wiki” and “Wikipedia”. You appear to be new, and many newcomers make the mistake of not understanding the difference. SPhilbrick T 17:53, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Unencyclopedic edits that are nevertheless not vandalism

I feel silly having to ask this, since I thought I had a good grasp on WP policy, but I'm honestly not sure where to appeal for help with an editor who is adding un-encyclopedic walls o'text to an article and not responding to talk page requests to stop. The article in question is Beanie Baby, and a user who was first an IP and then user:Lovablehearts has been adding first-person, orginal-research-y commentary repeatedly, despite my efforts, first in edit summaries and then in a non-template message to the user's talk page, to convince him/her that the content is not appropriate for Wikipedia. I tried cleaning up their contribution and integrating it into the article where possible, but they undid those changes in favor of their full wall of text. A check of the article's history tells me that I've undone their edits longer than than I probably should have, and I'm not willing to carry on in that manner, so I need some sort of help.

These appear to be good-faith edits, so WP:AIV doesn't seem appropriate, and since it's just one editor, I suspect WP:RFPP isn't going to do me any good either. I'm not sure if this rises to WP:AN3 territory, and the only other thing I can think of is WP:3O, but since the editor does not seem to want to engage in discussion, I'm not sure how much good that can do. So...where do I go for issues like this? Please direct me and my question to the appropriate place to ask this, if here isn't it keɪɑtɪk flʌfi (talk) 14:15, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I wouldn't call repeatedly adding content after being asked not to good faith. Try Administrators noticeboard for incidents. Jeffrey Mall (talk • contribs) - 14:20, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with Jeffrey, the repeated aspect of the behaviour means it has stopped being good faith Report it to ANI as suggested, remembering to use links to diffs illustrating that this is repeated behaviour, along with diffs showing your commuinications with the editor. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 14:24, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Taken to ANI. Thanks, guys. keɪɑtɪk flʌfi (talk) 15:17, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

removing outdated tag?

I revised my article extensively, addressing all the issues in the tag (below). I contacted the editor but have not heard back. My question---can I delete this tag on my own? And if not, how could it be revised to reflect the current article?

This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve it by citing reliable sources. Tagged since September 2009. Its neutrality is disputed. Tagged since September 2009. It appears to represent a biased viewpoint inconsistent with Wikipedia's neutrality policy. Tagged since September 2009. It is an autobiography, or has been extensively edited by the subject, and may not conform to NPOV policy. Tagged since September 2009. It may contain material not appropriate for an encyclopedia. Tagged since September 2009. Simonfamily (talk) 15:26, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Short answer, yes, you can remove it.SPhilbrick T 15:56, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Longer answer - still yes, but I wish we did a better job of providing good advice. Many, many editors who see these notices assume they should address the concerns, and the original person placing the template will return and remove when the conditions are met. While some do that, many do not. One possibility is proposing revised language on the temples - maybe I'll work on that later. Back to specific advice - I think it is very helpful to add something to the talk page, e.g, I saw the request for thus-and-so and I did this and that, and I think I've now complied with the request. That way, no one thinks you are dismissing the original concern, or just trying a perfunctory response. It can be put back if the original editor or another editor thinks the problem still exists, hopefully with a specific response to the talk page comments.SPhilbrick T 16:01, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

OK, first let's get the terminology right - it's not "your" article! You may be the major contributor, but that does not make it yours!

Secondly, I'm guessing from your username that you are connected to Bill Simon? Although it is not prohibited, editing an article on a subject over which you may have a conflict of interest is strongly discouraged! It can be hard to write with a neutral point of view.

Thirdly, I will go through the points in the tags individually, and give you my take on them (please note that this is my own opinion, YMMV):

It does not cite any references or sources.

Although there are now sources given, these are not used inline (i.e. a specific statement in the article referencing a specific source)

Its neutrality is disputed.
It appears to represent a biased viewpoint inconsistent with Wikipedia's neutrality policy.
It is an autobiography, or has been extensively edited by the subject, and may not conform to NPOV policy.

These are all to do with the fact that it was written by someone obviously connected with the subject (see this diff] when the issues tag was put on the article).

It may contain material not appropriate for an encyclopedia.

I think this is probably refering to the "Tributes" section.

I am amending the tags, to mention inline citations being needed, about the possible COI, plus a quick tidy up (for example, the Manual of Style says that only his surname is used apart from when his full name is first given at the lead of the article). -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 16:11, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Correcting information in articles

I find some of the details of the Help Desk too confusing.

But I have noticed that with some of the data like e.g Disney releases, some of the information is wrong. I don't know how to correct it and everything is al over the place so what do I do to edit the page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lolly64 (talk • contribs) 15:55, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to edit information in articles, just click on the "edit" button and go ahead! However, I would make two recommendations: firstly, check the article's talk page - there may be a reason why the information appears incorrect; secondly, make sure that any information you add/change has reliable sources, and if possible use citations to show this. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 16:16, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Vertical space

Is there a way to have two images separated by non-zero vertical space? Have a look here at the second entry ("Scenes in and around the capital"). There are two pictures in the last column which appear as one. I would like to separate them somehow. bamse (talk) 16:09, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have added a blank line between the images, which seems to work. Gandalf61 (talk) 16:17, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the fast help. bamse (talk) 16:26, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

can i adda aprticular page to view it later ...like favorite types ? or if i have added it to my book i can only print it but hw can i view it again?

can i adda aprticular page to view it later ...like favorite types ? or if i have added it to my book i can only print it but hw can i view it again? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Advo.apurva (talk • contribs) 16:16, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes you can add pages to your watch list to view them later you can add the link of your pages to your userpage too --NotedGrant Talk 16:21, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

304-A 337 ipc section

what is 304-A 337 ipc section ? please tell me as early as possible —Preceding unsigned comment added by Neelambujji (talk • contribs) 17:17, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Wikipedia:Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. --DoktorMandrake 19:39, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Rules about using

Are there any guidelines/policies about using breaks ( ) in article prose? On an article I'm watching, someone keeps adding
to a few sections. Doc2B (talk) 17:18, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Since we are moving to HTML 5, the proper tag is  . Wikipedia uses HTML Tidy to convert various forms of the break tag to  , but articles may be reused on other sites where HTML Tidy is not enabled. Thus, we should always try to use proper HTML.

There is no specific prohibition on the use of the break tag. You would have to give us a specific example so we can evaluate this. If you need to separate paragraphs, an extra enter will do the trick. If you are quoting a poem or other text that should maintain breaks, you can wrap the content in <poem>...</poem> extension tags. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 17:50, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Here is the page where it is used: St._George's_University#The_School_of_Medicine and St._George's_University#2009_Tuition_costs. I had removed them before, but another user added them back. Doc2B (talk) 19:06, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There should be only a single vertical space between paragraphs. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 19:20, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Help with first article search on google!

I made an article a few days ago and that was nominated for speedy deletion and got deleted. My current page's name is TalkBack and it is running just fine. However, in my google search, the old article titled TalkBack, DawnNews still appears, and also Talkback and some other articles but not mine. Even when i type in TalkBack Wikipedia or TalkBack alone it does not show up and i know it should. Please delete the old article!!! please help!!! Urgent!!! HGhori HGhori (talk) 08:22, 7 October 2009 (UTC) 10/7/09[reply]

Question was posted in wrong place - moved from Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 October 4 --DoktorMandrake 18:23, 7 October 2009 (UTC) [reply]

As far as I can tell, TalkBack DawnNews was never nominated for deletion, and has been in place since it was created. Rather than delete it, I have redirected to the identical TalkBack article. However, please take into consideration the issues highlighted at the top of the page, otherwise it may yet be nominated for deletion. DoktorMandrake 18:35, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Also, note that Wikipedia does not have control over what Google does and does not list in its search results. Google has programs that scour the web and "indexes" new pages, but until one of the programs hits the page it will not appear in any search results. Xenon54 / talk / 19:01, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Help please

October 7th 2009 Good morning. Kindly would like to ask for your help since unable to open and read wikipedia files in Italians. System return to opening a small mask asking if I want to look for a readable format in the world wide web. Is that correct? do I have to effect some changing or up-dating my browser? which is currently Explor8 Thank you very much. Have sample of the mistake in a word file saved in case I can send an e-mail somewhere By now thank you very much —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.203.104.121 (talk) 19:13, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This sounds like a problem that has been mentioned before, which occurs when opening Wikipedia links in Google using Internet Explorer - someone else may be able to provide more information.

However, note that the various language editions of Wikipedia are run independently of one another. This is the Help Desk for the English language Wikipedia, and as such our ability to help you with a problem on the Italian edition is limited. If you are able to access their help desk, that would be a better place to ask your question. DoktorMandrake 19:27, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Translate French Wiki article to English

What is the most efficient way to translate an article in the French Wiki data base, e.g. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Nicolas_de_Clerville, to an article in English wiki? GloverEpp (talk) 20:44, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please see Wikipedia:TRANSLATE#How_to_translate. Regards, DoktorMandrake 20:47, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Why did none of my changes save???

I just spent over an hour updating my page and nothing saved when I selected the "Save page". Is there any chance that I can still find my "saved changes"? I did a comparison of versions and none of my changes show up. It even listed all my changes after saving, so then I tried clicking "show page" which proceeded to show the old page. I could not go back to at least copy and save my changes. Does this mean that I have to start all over again? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Michacha1 (talk • contribs) 20:46, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect that instead of clicking on Save page you clicked on Show Changes. Unfortunately, if you did not click on Save Page after that, there is no way to get your edits back. Your Contributions List shows only one edit before you posted here, a minor change to the My Phone article. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 21:35, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How do you put pictures in Wikipedia articles?

I have several pictures I would like to add to Wikipedia articles, but I don't know how to do it. Please help! ~~—Preceding unsigned comment added by CeresVesta (talk • contribs) 21:34, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Assuming the image already exists on Wikipedia (or in Commons), just use [[File:Example.png|thumb|alt=Example alt text|Example caption]] in the article where you want the image to be (it can be a jpg or other formats as well as png).

If the image isn't already on Wikipedia, just click on the Upload link on the left hand side of the screen (Under Toolbox) and upload it. Please make sure that you read the upload screen carefully - there are limits on the kinds of images that we can accept. Once the images is uploaded, use the [[File]] syntax given above. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 21:41, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

YOUR VOICE COUNT

I'm one of the few who knows nothing about using the wiki. I received an email thats says the reports I need to read have been uploaded to the W&I section of the Your Voice Counts WIKI. How do I find this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.160.251.242 (talk) 22:18, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6.8 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 22:21, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please note that the English Wikipedia is not the only wiki available; there are literally thousands of them, completely unrelated to us. Wikipedia is not even the origin of the term - that honour belongs to WikiWikiWeb. We have no special knowledge relating to other wikis and I, personally, have never even heard of the Your Voice Counts Wiki. Sorry, DoktorMandrake 22:28, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikiindex: for a list of thousands of wikis. However, a search there for your voice counts comes up empty. I also didn't see anything promising in the first few pages of a Google search. By the way, it is not correct to suggest that few know nothing about using "the wiki". The vast majority of people have little idea how to use wikis, as wiki techology is still new, at least on the time scale of social change. If you would like to actually get an answer to your question, you might try phrasing it a bit less cryptically. What do you mean by "the wiki"? What are "the reports"? What is the From: address on the e-mail you received? Have you dealt with these people before? If so, in what context? What does "W&I" stand for? --Teratornis (talk) 08:13, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

questions about creating new article

I want to create a new article an automotive accessories company and it is based on Walnut, California. I am not very sure about the notability and reliable sources. What do I need in order for my article not to be delete? —Preceding unsigned comment added by K2motor (talk • contribs) 00:08, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think two of the best places to look for answers on that subject would be at WP:NOTE or WP:CITE. - Regards, Gaelen S.^Talk ^• ^Contribs 00:14, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Deltion of picture

i am trying to delete my picture lifted ranger.jpg, it was a mistaken upload —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jeepcomanche1 (talk • contribs) 00:11, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I assume you mean File:Lifted Ford Ranger.jpg. Are you wanting to delete the picture entirely? If so, you can add {{db-self}} to the image description page to request deletion. This request is not guaranteed to be granted, but as the image is not in use, and the request is made in good faith, I see no reason to decline it.

If, on the other hand, you are wanting to return the picture to the version with the truck, you can click the revert link in the file history. DoktorMandrake 00:19, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Starting a numbered list at something other than 1

I want do do something like this:

==section heading one==

This is the first section. It has two items, numbered 1-2.

# first item

# second item

==section heading two==

This is the second section. It has three items, numbered 3-5.

# third item

# fourth item

# fifth item

How do I do this? #'s don't work, they produce numbers 1 and 2 then 1, 2, and 3. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 02:23, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Why not just manually type the numbers? You can indent with colons. So:

==section heading one==

1. first item

2. second item

==section heading two==

3. third item

4. fourth item

5. fifth item--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:46, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I would recommend the same thing. The only alternative I could think of would be to use HTML, but this would make editing more difficult for those not familiar with <ol> tags and the like, so it is probably best avoided. DoktorMandrake 02:52, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Help:List has HTML examples if you do want to go that route. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 03:15, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

When to use "et al" in a list of authors of a citation

Is there some guideline for when to use et al in an author list of a citation? In other words, after how many authors should it be used? Thanks. --Bob K31416 (talk) 02:48, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Although there is no consensus on using one particular style, APA style is considered to be widely accepted. From the APA Style article:

With three to five authors, the first reference to an article includes all authors. Subsequent citations in the same document may refer to the article by the principal author only plus "et al." However, all authors must be present in the references section.(Emphasis added)

Similar guidelines are given for six or more authors.

Regards, DoktorMandrake 03:00, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) Actually, no. As you're probably aware, the citation guideline points to a number of popular citation methods as being appropriate for use on Wikipedia. Depending on which you chose, you can take a variety of positions. In the APA style, for example, all authors must always be listed in the references section, with et al. only being allowed in in-line citations. In the MLA style, on the other hand, you can chose to omit all names but that of the first author for articles with more than three authors, or you may include all authors. What is consistent (as far as I'm aware) is that if you are going to use et al., you only name the first author. Someguy1221 (talk) 03:01, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

and the author's name or first entry (title if no author) is alphabetically sorted by the last names. FWiW Bzuk (talk) 04:38, 8 October 2009 (UTC).[reply]

When using citation templates, all authors should be entered so that the metadata is preserved. You can limit the number of authors displayed with {{citation}} by using |display-authors=. This is undocumented, but workd with {{cite book}} as well.

{{citation |last1=Imprimante |last2=Drucker |last3=Impresora |last4=Stampante |display-authors=1}}

Imprimante; et al., {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Want to Place a BIO for a professional athlete/trainer by his request

I have a professional MMA trainer that has asked for some assistance in creating a BIO page for him. He is mentioned in many other MMA pages & his name should have links to his own BIO page I'm sure but nothing has been created for him. How do I go about doing this and who approves, etc. the info? What do I use to upload the info (MS Word style or other more intricate html programs?)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hockeygal4ever (talk) 07:26, 8 October 2009 (UTC) Beverly aka hockeygal4ever[reply]

Articles are written in Wikitext (AKA, Wiki Markup), so text copied from Word or a HTML editor would not show as you intend. I recommend reading WP:How to edit a page and WP:Your first article before proceeding. Also, check our notability guidelines for biographies, particularly those for athletes, to see if it is appropriate to create an article about this person.

Note that all articles, but particularly biographies of living people, need to be neutral, and reliably sourced. Finally, as you are doing this at the request of the subject, you should also be aware of our guidelines for editing with a conflict of interest.

I apologise for throwing a lot at you, but if you would like to discuss this further, feel free to leave a note on my talk page, or join the Help Chat by following the link at the top of this page. Regards, DoktorMandrake 07:39, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) Well, first of all, you need to read the General Notability Guidelines and Notability Guidelines for Athletes. Assuming that he meets the criteria for notability, can you find reliable sources of information about him: "Wikipedia articles should rely primarily on reliable, third-party, published sources" (quoted from Wikipedia's Guidelines on reliable sources). Please note that a very common mistake is to copy text from a website - as a general rule, this is not allowed (very few websites have a copyright license compatible with this) - if a page is a copy from a website, it'll usually be deleted very quickly!

Assuming that this all shows that an article needs to be created, please follow the advice below. No one specifically approves articles - but if it fails to meet the criteria, any editor can propose for it to be deleted (see Wikipedia's Deletion policy, which gives reasons for deletions, how to avoid deletions and processes for deletion).

Please see Your first article. If you'd like help going through the steps below, try the Article Wizard.

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

If you have any other questions, either leave a message here or contact me. Regards, -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 07:48, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Editing Page Title

The name of the article I created is a proper noun, however upon creation I forgot to capitalize the second word in the name. How do I capitalize the second word in the article title? I have seen "magic words" that allow for lowering the case of a word, but none for capitalization. Also, the tag is not working for me.

@@ Line 427: / Line 427: @@
 : If you have any other questions, either leave a message here or contact me. Regards,  -- '''[[User:Phantomsteve|<font color="#307D7E">Phantom</font><font color="#55CAFA">Steve</font>]]''' ([[User talk:Phantomsteve|<font color="#307D7E">Contact Me</font>]], [[Special:Contributions/Phantomsteve|<font color="#5599FA">My Contribs</font>]]) 07:48, 8 October 2009 (UTC)
+== Editing Page Title ==
+The name of the article I created is a proper noun, however upon creation I forgot to capitalize the second word in the name. How do I capitalize the second word in the article title? I have seen "magic words" that allow for lowering the case of a word, but none for capitalization. Also, the {{DISPLAYTITLE}} tag is not working for me.

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Revision as of 08:29, 8 October 2009

October 5

Image not showing

new words

This page is a user's work in progress page

acid rain

Adding all articles in a category to watchlist

Transclusion of Recent Changes

NoteTA

Special:abusefilter

Infobox rant

Why can't I see my page?

A bit stuck with uploading an image from a book

Doed wikipedia need money?

Twinkle trouble

Twinkle question

Font faces

How long until I can see edit/new discussion topic?

speedy delete?

HELP ME

October 6

Changing link color

The article received a [why?] where it makes no sense

physics circular motion

Header notifications of article

wikipedia on mobile handset

Translating Chinese wikipedia articles into English

How Do I submit an Article?

How ?

PARTNERSHIP IN SIERRALEONE

Tollund Man

How do I lower my Contents box so I can add a little more information to the introduction section of the article?

Translating an Article from EN Wiki to Japanese

Too Many Edits

Need help with table

October 7

Permissions

Health care certification in US

Question about merging contributions

Charlotte Beazley

Hints, Staffordshire

New topic

Unencyclopedic edits that are nevertheless not vandalism

removing outdated tag?

Correcting information in articles

Vertical space

can i adda aprticular page to view it later ...like favorite types ? or if i have added it to my book i can only print it but hw can i view it again?

304-A 337 ipc section

Rules about using <br>

Help with first article search on google!

Help please

Translate French Wiki article to English

Why did none of my changes save???

How do you put pictures in Wikipedia articles?

YOUR VOICE COUNT

questions about creating new article

Deltion of picture

Starting a numbered list at something other than 1

When to use "et al" in a list of authors of a citation

Want to Place a BIO for a professional athlete/trainer by his request

Editing Page Title

The article received a ^[why?] where it makes no sense