Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)

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The technical section of the village pump is used to discuss technical issues about Wikipedia. Bugs and feature requests should be made at the BugZilla.

Newcomers to the technical village pump are encouraged to read these guidelines prior to posting here. Questions about MediaWiki in general should be posted at the MediaWiki support desk.

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IE update and gadget issues

Resolved

My employer's IT recently updated our browsers from IE6 to IE7 (yeah, a 'lil behind the times), but in doing so, most of my gadgets no longer work, especially popups, HotCat, and the RefToolbar. Since I've never had an issue with this on my home computer on IE7 or IE8, I'm guessing it must be that some of the settings may have changed, but I'm not sure which options to begin fiddling with. Both computers use Windows XP. Any idea where to start, like security and javascript? bahamut0013^words_deeds 17:19, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't know about those three gadgets specifically, but a lot of scripts don't work in Internet Explorer because the browser acts differently from all other browsers. Specifically, it does not count empty spaces as content (other browsers read whitespace as text nodes). Gary King (talk · scripts) 18:16, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, I can rule out it being the browser itself, since it does work on the same browser on my home computer, as I said. But I'm sure that the options and settings are wildly different, being a military system. I'm also pretty sure it's not my network, because they all worked fine on the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet before the update. bahamut0013^words_deeds 18:28, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Maybe a different JavaScript engine, or security settings that affect page display. And even if both your computers say they are running "IE7", it's possible for them to have different patches to IE7 or to Windows itself. — Richardguk (talk) 06:51, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Is there anything I can look at to verify this, or any specific settings you think I could try tweaking? bahamut0013^words_deeds 17:51, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Your best bet is to use a JavaScript debugger, which will tell you if the gadgets are returning any errors when they aren't working. I've never used IE7 before; it appears that it doesn't have a built-in JavaScript debugger, so you'll have to use some of the options available. Here's a decent page that should help you on your way. Gary King (talk · scripts) 16:24, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

NMCI pushed another update, and it seems to have resolved the issue (and created others, but that's a different matter). Thanks anyway! bahamut0013^words_deeds 19:40, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Images disabled, the semi-prot notice overlaps the GA note

Forgive me if this is the wrong place; feel free to point me somewhere else.

If I disable images in my browser - Firefox 3.0.19, Windows XP, monobook - and look at a semi-protected page which is a 'Good article', the text This article is semi-protected to prevent violations of Wikipedia's biographies of living persons policy. overlaps both the article title and the text This is a good article. Click here for more information. - I have uploaded a screenshot here. I'm using 1024x768.

Another user, on Firefox 3.6.6 on Ubuntu, using both Vector and Monobook, has the same effect; although at 1600 resolution it does not overlap the title part, but it does if they shrink the window.

A third user checked and saw the problem with Firefox 3.6.6 on Windows 7.

Again, apols if this is a known issue.  Chzz  ►  17:16, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

The topicon templates ({{Good article}}, protection icons, etc.) simply need alt parameter in the image wikicode, like |alt=Good article. Not sure if anybody will be willing to do the change though. — AlexSm 15:38, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia Topicon Problem

{{Autopatrolled}} and {{Reviewer_topicon}}, these two templates are transcluded in my userpage. When I open my userpage, sometimes the topicons seem like this: File:Mybug 02.png (the left light blue bar is the vertical scroll bar; I am using Mozilla Firefox) and sometimes like this one: File:Mybug 01.png. I have also applied it to other pages (ie my userspace and User:Alexanderps), but i have got the same result. Is there anyone having the same problem? How can I fix this problem? -- Amit6 (talk) 11:08, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm guessing you're referring to this version in monobook skin. The answer is in MediaWiki:Monobook.js (current version), which was created after this discussion: MediaWiki talk:Common.js/Archive 16#topicon_part_deux. It applies the fix to vertical position of these absolutely positioned icons. The 2nd screenshot is when the fix is not active: either you have JS off in your browser or there was no CentralNotice at the moment. Which doesn't make any sense to me, since that notice is not the only thing that can screw with the icons (watch/unwatch actions make them look as ugly). Imho you need to ask sysops at MediaWiki talk:Common.js to improve the code. — AlexSm 15:28, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

The problem is that people keep changing how centralnotice works. So the 'fix' is basically useless in most cases anyway. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 09:08, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

So, apply the fix on a permanent basis, dropping CentralNotice/wgAction checks and also removing addOnloadHook which makes icons "jump" after the page is loaded. — AlexSm 14:08, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

How I stay signed in

Referring to this question, I discovered that with Internet Explorer 8 I can stay signed in if I delete my history without "Cookies" checked.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 21:45, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Facepalm OrangeDog (τ • ε) 12:48, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, excuse me. I was advised to delete cookies, but obviously I have to do the opposite for this to work.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 14:31, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Have you considered a superior browser? –xeno^talk 14:32, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

There's nothing wrong with Internet Explorer 8. Changing browsers causes more problems than it solves.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 15:14, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't recall saying there was anything wrong with IE8 (per se), I just suggested a superior alternative for Wikipedia editing. –xeno^talk 15:15, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

EditCounterOptIn.js

An external website says that it can only present more organized information about a user's edits if the user opts in by creating a page EditCounterOptIn.js under the user page. When attempting to start that page, the heading says

Code that you insert on this page could contain malicious content capable of compromising your account. If you are unsure whether code you are adding to this page is safe, you can ask at the appropriate village pump. The code will be executed when previewing this page under some skins, including Monobook.

and then

Warning: There is no skin "EditCounterOptIn".

Is this cause for concern? Cephal-odd (talk) 05:59, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

No, not with the edit counter. Graham87 07:35, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

1) For the opt-in, you're not placing any executable code on the page - the tool is just checking for the page's existence, and 2) A .js page is used because .js and .css pages are protected from editing by default from anyone except the owner or admins so you don't have to worry about someone else inserting malicious code. Hope that helps explain it. —DoRD (talk) 13:25, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you both for the explanation. - Cheers, Cephal-odd (talk) 20:39, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

System errors

Something is amiss with the Wikipedia system.

When I clicked on the link to a diff in the edit history of 2010 G-20 Toronto summit, the page which was displayed was the unrelated Residual-current device? A short while ago, I clicked on another link which produced an anomalous result, e.g.,

• Residual-current device ≠ http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2010_G-20_Toronto_summit&diff=prev&oldid=3732922
• Busento ≠ http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_G-20_summits&curid=221667

In other words, the page displayed on the monitor and the http:// at the top of the screen are mismatched?

If this this not the place to alert someone, what is the better venue?--Tenmei (talk) 18:49, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

When I had finished with the above, I clicked on the links; and a new twist had emerged. Clicking on this hyperlink http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_G-20_summits&curid=221667 produced Bearded lady? --Tenmei (talk) 18:52, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

In all cases, it looks like you're missing a few digits off the end of the diff link. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2010_G-20_Toronto_summit&diff=prev&oldid=373292266 is a valid diff link for 2010 G-20 Toronto summit, and http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_G-20_summits&curid=22166706 is a valid link to List of G-20 summits (and http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_G-20_summits&curid=2216670 goes to Busento via the redirect at Busentinus River). Anomie⚔ 20:24, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Yep, that'd be the problem. Diff links must refer to the correct diff ID number to work, and if you have the right ID the article name listed in the URL is rather irrelevant. --erachima talk 20:57, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Watchlist bot exclusion

The user preferences panel gives an option to exclude bot edits from your watchlist, which is all well and good. However, is it possible to somehow exclude specific users from your watchlist instead? (I would ignore the archival bots and signpost distributor, specifically.) Ignoring all bots is not acceptable to me because I often have images watchlisted which I did not upload, and therefore would not receive the deletion notices for, but which I would not see bot deletion tagging for if I excluded all bots from my watchlist. Thanks. --erachima talk 20:57, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

You could periodically check for changes in file namespace only, with bots edit shown, and hide bots edit in your usual watchlist. — AlexSm 21:28, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Javascript could be written to do this, possibly modifying User:Gary King/hide pages in watchlist.js. –xeno^talk 21:32, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Maybe. That script is old and not really well written so a new one would probably have to be written. Probably not by me, though. Gary King (talk · scripts) 19:05, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Search engine choice

{{ISBN}} uses Special:BookSources to give a listing of various search engines and libraries for books. {{coord}} runs ~geohack on the toolserver which does the same for geomapping. Do we have an equivalent facility for text search? Something that lists general search engines and even better, specialized ones too, with a preloaded query? Franamax (talk) 23:13, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Content Based Searching

http://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1luPp50mVg6d1CXAs_Qrdn7f6eJZmAO5tBT2roVyL1o0&hl=en
http://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1vce2qdjCVVaEEN7ODssSBRjLU1DR0Cew_DkrdJaUESQ&hl=en

Can we use a content based search engine for document search in Wikipedia. The above link will guide you through a mathematical search engine, which uses a Principle Component Analysis to provide most appropriate results. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prashant.prashn (talk • contribs) 03:56, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

I suggest you make an attempt to make it scalable, and actually test it on real data (like a Wikipedia dump maybe). Theoretical papers on search are all well and good, but no-one cares if you don't have practical working code. OrangeDog (τ • ε) 15:24, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Template_talk:Infobox_comic_book_title#Non-italics_alternative

Can someone who understands templates, and maybe even nesting of templates, and the best way to do things help us add a field to opt out of italic titles? Thanks. If this request should go somewhere else, please say so. - Peregrine Fisher (talk) 03:57, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

An example can be found in the coding at {{Infobox comics team and title}}. However, given the reason for having the italics template in the the 'box is consistency, if an "opt out" is added, then it would really needs three things:

• A field name other than "opt out", "supress", or "italics off". Of the cuff, "2ndary_box" would be likely the best use.
• An associated tracking category - Category:Comics related articles with secondary infobx
• Clear documentation that the flag is for cases where the 'box is actually a secondary infobox, and not for turning off the comic book series only article because an particular editor dislikes the look. Also that there are composite 'boxes that should be used in place of 2+ 'boxes.

- J Greb (talk) 04:09, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Compare selected revision problems

I don't know if it's just me, but I can't compare revisions from a page history at the moment. I get the error messge You have either not specified a target revision(s) to perform this function, the specified revision does not exist, or you are attempting to hide the current revision.. It may just be coincidence, but I've just had the admin bit restored to my account [1] - maybe this has screwed something up. Any thoughts? (For info, I'm in classic skin running on IE6) —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) 12:51, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Are you clicking the button, or hitting "enter"? If the latter, it is related to Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive 76#After Revision delete, default action changed for pressing "enter" on history talk page and you'll need to press the button for now. If the former, maybe a better browser might help? –xeno^talk 12:54, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm pressing the button. I'll try it on Firefox tonight, but at present I'm stuck in the office where there's no choice of browser :-( —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) 13:28, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Ouch. Maybe this script might help as a workaround? –xeno^talk 13:30, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

importScript('User:Superm401/Compare_link.js'); //   turn "compare selected revisions" into a copyable link

• Bugzilla should probably be filed on this iff bugzilla:23747 going live doesn't fix it. –xeno^talk 13:38, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

• On another wiki I made the RevDel interface hidden by default because it's a bit distracting and not needed 99% of the time. Just a simple script in Sysop.js for all sysops. — AlexSm 16:42, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't have any problems under Firefox and IE8, so it's probably a browser issue. —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) 18:17, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Preference to mark all edits minor by default asked to be removed in bugzilla:24313

Per the above-linked bugzilla, and this discussion, this preference will likely be removed shortly (as users often set it and forget it, causing non-minor edits to be marked minor).

The preference will be reset to the default; those who used previously this preference could probably use a script to restore the functionality, if desired. –xeno^talk 21:30, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

This change will be occurring very shortly; in order to assist users who had been appropriately using this, is anyone available to write a simple script to restore the functionality? –xeno^talk 22:38, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

So was there a point to removing it if you are also after a script to add it back? -- WOSlinker (talk) 22:59, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

if(wgAction == 'edit') {
    addOnloadHook(function minorEdit() {
       document.getElementById('wpMinoredit').checked = true;
    }
)}

Several points. Firstly, the existence of a preference in the interface caused some problems by implying that using the preference was always allowed and could not be restricted. Secondly, editors who misuse a script can be restricted by having an administrator remove the script and protect their skin.js. Because there's no way to stop an editor from changing their preferences, the only way to stop abuse of the preference is by blocking. Thirdly, installing a script is a bit more difficult than checking off a preference, and requires the editor to view a message reminding them that they are responsible for the use of the script, so it there should be fewer editors doing so without thinking of the consequences. — Gavia immer (talk) 23:16, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for writing the script, WOSlinker. Gavia sums it up well above. I'm sure there were a few folks out there who were happily gnoming along without incident that may be put off by this bugzilla, so that's why I've requested the script. Much obliged! –xeno^talk 00:26, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

I haven't tried the above script yet, but, as is, won't it forget your current unchecked value on a refresh due to preview or showing changes? Mark Hurd (talk) 05:58, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't think so. The minor-edit checkbox retains its condition while showing preview and changes. Someguy1221 (talk) 06:08, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

I think Mark was asking whether the script would re-check the checkbox after pressing "Preview". I haven't tested it, but I don't think it will as it seems wgAction is "submit" in those cases, rather than "edit". Anomie⚔ 11:46, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

If it's checked when you click the "Preview" button, it will be checked on the preview page, because the form contents are always reproduced when you preview. If you had the script auto-check on the preview page too, then if you unchecked it and previewed, it would become re-checked, which is not the desired behavior. —Aryeh Gregor (talk • contribs) 20:08, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Here's something better. It remembers your last minor edit setting in a cookie. -- WOSlinker (talk) 08:20, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

if(wgAction == 'edit') {
    addOnloadHook(function minorEdit() {
       addHandler(document.getElementById('wpMinoredit'), 'change', minorEdit_change);
       if (document.cookie.indexOf("minorEdit=true")!=-1) {document.getElementById('wpMinoredit').checked = true };
    } )
}

function minorEdit_change() {
    var e = new Date();
    e.setTime( e.getTime() + (24*60*60*1000) ); // one day
    document.cookie = 'minorEdit='+document.getElementById('wpMinoredit').checked+';expires=' + e.toGMTString();
}

GeSHi clarification before I go to bugzilla

I tried to use the syntax highlighting code "<syntaxhighight lang="rsplus"></syntaxhighight> (for the R programming language, but it appears that rsplus is not supported in wikipedia. Can anyone confirm that "rsplus" doesn't work or let me know if there is a bug listed for GeSHi to update the languages on wikipedia? Thanks. Protonk (talk) 01:50, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

I get the same behavior you do - the docs say rsplus is supported, but trying to use it gives an error message that doesn't list it as one of the supported options. I can't find a bug report for this, so I'd go ahead and make a new one if I were you. — Gavia immer (talk) 02:23, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

• Listed at buzilla #24383. Here's hoping I didn't miss something obvious. Protonk (talk) 03:11, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

What's flashing by at the top of my watchlist?

For the past few days, some message has been appearing for a tenth of a second at the top of my watchlist, maybe twice a day. It's not in the page source. I'm still using monobook, so my wild guess is that they're trying to sell me on vector ... anyone know? Anyone know a url where I can see the message? - Dank (push to talk) 15:43, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

I suggest logging out, deleting all your cookies for all Wikipedia and Wikimedia sites (or just all of your cookies), and logging back in. It's likely a message that you've clicked "hide" on and forgotten about. Incidentally, I'm still using Monobook too and haven't noticed anything. --Deskana (talk) 15:47, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. In the past, the messages I've hidden in my watchlist have been visible in the page source; this one isn't. - Dank (push to talk) 16:07, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

I notice this all the time. What I do to hide it is, when I'm loading a page, I stop the page from loading before the message disappears, then I click the "Hide" link to hide the box. It usually hides the box for a few weeks before it reappears again. Yes, it is annoying. Gary King (talk · scripts) 19:36, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks Gary, I'll try that. - Dank (push to talk) 20:58, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

That would be Central and Local notices, Due to how they are loaded, they are done then hidden as appropriate (for example if they are no longer meant to be displayed or are hidden by the user), What you are seeing are the past "OMG! We are on vector now" messages. Peachey88 ^{(Talk Page · Contribs)} 01:31, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Changing class information in a template section

If mediawiki:common.css has coding such as this for a class:

table.bigbox{
   border: 1px solid #aaaaaa;
   background-color: #f9f9f9;
   color: black;
}

...and I create this template:

{{bigbox
| image       = {{{image|}}}
| headerstyle = background-color:#FFFFFF
| data1 = {{{helpmeplease|}}
}}

And with the "data1/helpmeplease" parameter I don't want:

border: 1px solid #aaaaaa;

What type of coding can I use to make sure there is no border?

I tried style formatting and nothing worked.

I hope I wrote this clearly, thank you so much in advance for your help! Adamtheclown (talk) 20:12, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Example
This is an infobox without border.

There is no Template:Bigbox, so I suppose you want general solution for all box meta-templates (like {{infobox}} or {{navbox}})? I'm afraid there is no single solution, but most of those meta-templates should provide a parameter to override the style. For example, in the case of {{infobox}}, you can use this code (the result is in on the right):

{{Infobox
| bodystyle = border: none;
| above = Example
| data1 = This is an infobox without border.
}}

Svick (talk) 11:18, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

User Subpage

Where exactly do I go to create a user subpage?--Woogie10w (talk) 20:45, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Somewhere like User:Woogie10w/Sandbox. OrangeDog (τ • ε) 20:57, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks--Woogie10w (talk) 21:09, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Skin stats

Are there publicly available stats on the popularity of the various skins among Wikipedians? If so, where are they? I imagine those figures could be quite interesting in light of the recent Vector implementation. Thanks for the help. —Anonymous Dissident^Talk 03:35, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Not publicly available, I do know what it looked like before vector, March 21st 2009 for en.wp. The figures from back then are here, because I once requested them. I'll try to ask for an update of those numbers. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 12:20, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

With the help of User:DaB., I now have some new numbers. I first have to explain something. The database is currently in a transition from one format of preferences storage, to another format. Because of this transition, these numbers are on the 269787 users who in the past months have made 'a' change to their preferences. The numbers probably also include all users who in the past had explicitly chosen the monobook skin in their preferences, these users have all been changed to vector. Users who had default skin and didn't change their preferences are probably not included in this data. As such it is very difficult to make any definitive explanations on this data, but it seems that about 34.000 users have chosen to go back to monobook. (16.000 users use modern skin). There are about 600.000 en.wp Wikipedians (people with more than 5 edits) in total. [2] The list with current known skin selections. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 13:00, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Is 600000 the right number? It looks like that came from column A in the first table on the page you linked, but that's accounts with at least 10 edits; column C might be more useful, which indicates that we've been trending about 40000 accounts with at least 5 edits per month recently.

It would be interesting to know skin statistics for "active" users, for some value of active (e.g. user_touched in the past few months, if the comment in tables.sql is accurate). For example, vandals and socks that managed to rack up more than 5 edits before being blocked years ago would be counted in those numbers, as will formerly-active editors who have left long before Vector. Anomie⚔ 13:43, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

I copied the stats to here: Wikipedia:Skin#Raw_skin_usage_data. Figure they'd be useful. Gary King (talk · scripts) 03:51, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

Moving to a lowercase article title

Hello. However it is that we are able to display articles such as iPhone with a leading lowercase letter, could someone please do that to Inext? - Richard Cavell (talk) 14:41, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

 Done - thanks to EmilJ. - Richard Cavell (talk) 14:45, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Diagram

I would like to make a diagram listing size ranges for Miniopterus bats from the data at List of bats of Madagascar#Family Miniopteridae. This would look similar to File:Subfossil lemur C14 ranges.svg. Is there a way to do this on-Wiki, using some intricate kind of formatting or the EasyTimeline extension, or do I need to create an image? Ucucha 16:19, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm not in favor of (ab)using <timeline> for other purposes, so I would suggest creating an image. SVG is probably the best format, because it's scalable and can be relatively easily edited. Svick (talk) 16:31, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Wouldn't it be possible to do this via some sort of table syntax, though? I would prefer that, because it would be easier to edit (I'm almost certain new species of Malagasy Miniopterus will continue to be discovered) and to adapt to other similar purposes. Ucucha 16:37, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

How to publish completed article

HOW ON EARTH do I publish my edited page?!? Or make the page "go live"? I cannot find this topic in ANY help sections, ANYWHERE. I've been looking for hours. It must just be ridiculously simple, obvious, and right in front of my face. I just want to move it from my userspace to become an actual Wikipedia article. This is very frustrating. Please help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by SportsScienes (talk • contribs) 16:53, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

International Sports Sciences Association has already been created. Ruslik_Zero 16:57, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Also see WP:Your first article. However, since the article already exists, you can edit the one above to include all the additional material in your draft. —DoRD (talk) 17:01, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Strange "redirect"

I was looking at a very long article, but if I went back to it the computer would have to scroll down to get back to what I was reading. However, it didn't do that. It jumped forward to an article whose link I clicked on earlier while looking at the very long article, and the back button was no longer blue, meaning it couldn't be used.

I've asked similar questions before but no one seems to have an answer for this. Sometimes with very long articles or emails the back button won't go back to them, or the forward button won't go back to them.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:11, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

And it just happened again. I used the back button several times and it wouldn't go forward again because THIS page is so long. I should also add I have IE8 and Vista.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:13, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Have you ever tried Firefox? I used to think Internet Explorer was the bees knees until I actually gave Firefox a chance. Never looked back. This is surely a browser issue, not Wikipedia's. –xeno^talk 20:15, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

If this is what I think it is, then it isn't specific to Wikipedia. What might be happening is that when you hit "Back", the previous page is a redirect that sends you to another URL. This then wipes out your "Forward" pages since you are creating a new series of pages, starting with the redirected page, which is essentially the same as you clicking on a link, at least for the purpose of this example. Gary King (talk · scripts) 20:19, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't like Firefox. I've had to use it at libraries. Also, making a major change at home will just make things worse for me.

I know there wasn't an actual redirect, but the behavior of the computer was like when there is one.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:30, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Some wikilinks redirect to a section in an article, which is the same as a redirect and would wipe your Forward history, too. Gary King (talk · scripts) 20:35, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

This is, again, a broswer issue but it's like when I click on "Back" and get something I've already backed away from. I wonder if there's a glitch in the function of IE8? Only this time, instead of scrolling down to the specific point in the Wikipedia article (which is sort of like a redirect), it sent me back to an article I had clicked on "back" from.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:55, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Template:Location map

I create new Template:Location map2 with ideas from de, ru, fr and uk wiki. This template works also with location map templates with y, x parameters, for example: Template:Location map China1, Template:Location map Canada1, Template:Location map Russia1, Template:Location map Africa1. May be it need to include code of Template:Location map2 to Template:Location map?--Амба (talk) 21:17, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

AutoWikiCite

I've written a tool in vb.net 2.0 that allows automatic/assisted {{cite news}} citations with the following websites:

• foxnews.com
• foxbusiness.com
• reuters.com
• nytimes.com (this one is broken)
• bbc.co.uk
• washingtonpost.com
• cnn.com
• latimes.com
• wsj.com
• informationweek.com
• time.com
• nypost.com
• businessweek.com
• usatoday.com/news/

The tool and its source are available at sourceforge. If you find it useful/worthwhile, please leave a note and I'll consider further development...Enjoy.Smallman12q (talk) 23:39, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Citation needed and paragraphs

The {{citation needed}} template is causing the paragraph following the one to which it is attached to run together. The bug is only evident when the second paragraph begins with a wikilink. For instance,

Poodles make great bacon sandwiches.

Animal cruelty should not be allowed on Wikipedia.

works fine. But,

Poodles make great bacon sandwiches.

Animal cruelty should not be allowed on Wikipedia.

results in the two lines being run together. This is not happening here on this page: it appears to only be a problem in the main namespace, which is very odd, but it is easily verified by pasting the above text in to an article and viewing it in preview. I have tried this in IE6, Firefox 3.5 and 3.6 - all with the same result.

I have no idea how to fix this. SpinningSpark 14:03, 17 July 2010 (UTC)