Wikipedia:Help desk

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April 1

HTML, or XHTML?

The page Help:HTML in wikitext tells its readers how HTML [sic] may be used in pages here, e.g. that a line break may be effected with the four keystrokes <br>. This comes as rather a surprise to me. I've commented in its talk page, but when I did so was told Talk pages in this namespace are generally not watched by many users. Therefore this note alerting people here about the matter. Please comment on that talk page rather than here. (I've crossposted this message to the Village pump.) -- Hoary (talk) 00:09, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I know nothing about the technical aspects of your question but have you considered making a request to move the page?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:15, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Yes, I considered making it and decided not to. Better (I thought) first to decide what the page should say and only then to decide how best to title it. But please agree or disagree there rather than here. -- Hoary (talk) 00:40, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Number of Wikipedia registered users?

How many registered users on Wikipedia? And further is known, how many still active. Regards, SunCreator ^(talk) 00:18, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

See Special:Statistics. Nanonic (talk) 00:42, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

There is a magic word for your first request. The number of registered users is exactly 48,057,129. TNXMan 00:46, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

The number of registered users stands over 14 million, but not all them are really active. Monterey Bay (talk) 01:45, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

If you're looking for counts of active users, you should check out stats.wikimedia.org, which will show you by month the number of editors making at least 10 ("active") and at least 100 edits ("very active"). Steven Walling 19:50, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Botswana LGBT-related films

1. I think The_No._1_Ladies'_Detective_Agency_(TV_series) should go under the category Botswana LGBT-related films since the pliot was a made for tv film and there is a gay character in the series and it also should go under Botswana-LGBT-related television programmes. Please say your opinion about this matter.

2. Does Wikipedia have the right to talk about celebrities personal lives? Does Wikipedia have the right to talk about celebrities personal lives? It seems that Wikipedia has become a gossip blog or something. It talk about people's personal live and half of it might not even be true. Is that what an encyclopedia is suppose to do? Thanks! Neptunekh2 (talk) 03:14, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

For those who want to tackle these questions, you should know that the user already created a category each for LGBT films of Botswana (or something like that, can't remember the exact title) and LGBT television series of Botswana. Both were deleted about a week to two weeks ago. Dismas|^(talk) 03:18, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

This would be better discussed at WT:LGBT. – ukexpat (talk) 12:38, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

1. Categories containing only one item are meaningless. Just because a character in a film or tv show happens to be L or G or B or T does not make it a LGBT film or show. By that logic every film or TV show where a pet or even a wild animal appears is an Amimal or Wildlife film/show. LGBT issues need to be a meaningful part of the plot/story for the film/show to qualify for such a category.

2. Yes. Provided the rules concerning WP:RS, WP:NPOV, WP:V, WP:MOSBIO, WP:B, WP:SOAP and whichever others are relevant, are followed. Roger (talk) 12:55, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Scraping & reusing statistics

I'm thinking about compiling some sporting statistics from wikipedia pages by web scraping. I'd use a script to collect the data from the tables on many pages, put these into a database of my own, and produce & host a website that allows users to browse the statistics in various ways.

What legal issues are there with doing this? Is the scraping allowed at all? Is providing a CC attribution disclaimer sufficient? Would I be allowed to generate revenue from the site (via advertisments)?

Cheers. Hopey dishwasher (talk) 08:44, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Many sites re-package Wikipedia pages with added advertisements; this is OK provided the conditions at Wikipedia:Reusing Wikipedia content are met. I think you may run into technical difficulties, though, since there may not be any consistent formatting for tables from one Wikipedia sports article to the next. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:00, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Okay. I reckon I can handle the technical problems, I just didn't want to put the effort in if it was just going to get taken down immediately. Hopey dishwasher (talk) 10:03, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Dates in history - main page

1234 – An Englishman lost the Battle of the Curragh in Ireland, at the same place where an Australian would lose the 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge in Scotland more than 700 years later.

This makes no sense..... How could an Australian fight at the battle of stirling in 1297? Was he an aboriginal who rowed a canoe to Scotland? I'm confused.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.129.145.221 (talk) 08:46, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

It's an April Fools thing. Mel Gibson is the 'Australian' who lost the battle (in the movie Braveheart).--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 08:49, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Help Wanted

I'm trying to revive WikiProject Espionage. I would like to know how to get it up and running again. Unfortunately, I don't know anything starting up a WikiProject and would like some help from some contributors. For example a talkpage that is archived, an assessment section, an assesment section with how many asessment articles counted by grade. That's all I can think of at the moment. Help would be appreciated. Adamdaley (talk) 09:32, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

happy with the templates for members and assessment for articles. Feedback would be appreciated. Adamdaley (talk) 22:13, 31 March 2011 (UTC)

I would like the following help if anyone isn't busy to help me with:

• An assessment template (for example only) which includes "C-Class" assessment.
• An assessment template that counts how many articles are at what assessment grading or unassessed with "C-Class" assessment.(WP:WikiProject Psychology/Assessment - To the top right of the page.)
• Discussion/talkpage auto archived by a bot every 30 days.
• A page with our goals, aims, participants, etc.
• Somehow become the head person of the WikiProject and have active and inactive member lists.

Any help would be appreciated. Adamdaley (talk) 03:29, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Guess there is "no help desk" people around. Even the en-wikipedia-help channel, they have done little over the last 5 days in the help channel. They and I feel ashamed of them. May as well ask a Monkey for help with en.wikipedia.org! Adamdaley (talk) 13:27, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

You might do better at the "Project pages seeking contributors" section in the Wikipedia:Community portal page. -- John of Reading (talk) 13:36, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Did you know....

You almost got me...great April Fool jokes. By the way, did YOU know that....the book, The Point, was written by Pore Cue Pyne? Happy April Fool's Day. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.87.32.64 (talk) 09:34, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Non-free book scan licensing template

Is there a license template for non-free book scans? The image in question is File:Pasteur_Model.jpg. I know there are such templates for screenshots of television series, like for example the one found on File:Enterprise_Forward.jpg. Is there a similar licensing template for book scans? Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 10:10, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I've looked through Category:Non-free Wikipedia file copyright tags without success.

(Disclaimer: for real expert advice ask at WP:MCQ or wait for another reply here) I think you may be out of luck here, because there are two sets of rights involved - one for the design shown in the model, and one for the actual photograph that you want to reproduce. Although this might be the only model that could be used to illustrate the design, it can't be the only photograph. And that's point one at WP:NFCC. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:38, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I've added a licensing template. However I am not sure it is the appropriate template for this image. Any further help is welcome. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 11:43, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I have created a new template for this purpose, which can be found at User:Toshio Yamaguchi/Template:Non-free book scan. This should work. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 14:54, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

If no one objects I will move this template into mainspace. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 15:08, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I moved the template into mainspace. It is now at Template:Non-free book scan. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 16:09, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I've asked the WP:MCQ experts to check it. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:28, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Query about subject chosen for a new article

Hi,

I want to include an article about a short film that was released in 2011 and has a imdb entry. Which category will such topic come under when creating a new article? Is there any specific guidelines for writing about short films? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Priyav62 (talk • contribs) 10:28, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

There seems to be a lot of good advice and recommended guidelines at WP:FILM. Also there are plenty of editors there who have expressed interest in articles about films and can possibly help you further. Good luck. CaptRik (talk) 12:10, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Cork ladies's footballers

The spelling of this category looks wrong: "ladies" (plural of "lady") needs possessive "ladies'", e.g. "ladies' clothing", clothing for ladies.Felix Folio Secundus (talk) 11:46, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Categories for discussion handles the renaming of categories. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:49, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Preventing the addition of interwiki links

Bots keep adding an interwiki link on Journey (1989 video game) the French Wikipedia article fr:Journey (jeu vidéo). But that's an unrelated video game by the same name. So how can the addition of that link be prevented? jc iindyysgvxc (my contributions) 11:47, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Probably the best course of action is to leave a message for the bot's operator at User talk:Myst. – ukexpat (talk) 12:43, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

(e/c) The method is explained in the last paragraph here - add the "bad" link yourself, but hide it inside an HTML comment. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:46, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

It is probably because the French article fr:Journey (jeu vidéo) has the Journey (1989 video game) as interwiki link. If they are unrelated that inter wikilink should probably be removed and that will probably stop the bot from trying to add it to the english article. GB fan (talk) 13:27, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Google Earth Geohack problem

I have a problem with the Google Earth co-ords (50° 28′ 44.96″ N, 3° 59′ 49.18″ W) for Ditsworthy Warren House. When I go through to the Geohack page and click on 'Google Earth w/meta data', it takes me to the house. When I just click on 'Google Earth Open', it takes me to a point marked 'Portland Lane Sheepstor' that is about 2.75km to the WNW. Help please! I don't understand how the same co-ords can take me to two completely separate places. How can this be corrected? Thanks 86.134.116.152 (talk) 13:10, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I'm not really sure that I understand what's going on, in part because I don't use Google Earth, but see this thread and the FAQ linked by Dispenser there. It's apparently Google Earth's problem, not ours. Deor (talk) 13:27, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Image Tag for Copyright

I am sorry to bug you about this but I have read through the copyright on images and the images I put up keep getting taken down. These are our photos and we have the right to use them. One photo is from another source but have permission to use it as well. What is the proper tag that I need to put around these photos so they stop getting taken down.

Thank you for your time.

Meewasin 16:08, 1 April 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Meewasinvalley (talk • contribs)

It's not quite as easy as adding a tag. You must follow the process set out at WP:IOWN to provide evidence of the necessary permissions. Note also that permission is required for all purposes, permissions limited to use on Wikipedia are not sufficient. Hope this helps. – ukexpat (talk) 17:00, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

User:Peaceworld111/Ahmadiyya-related vandalism statistics

Hi. I just want permission to carry on with a bit statistical with Ahmadiyya-related vandalism. If it is realized that this is in breach of the Wikipedia guidelines please discuss here or on my talk page. Please do not put it up for AfD. I'll put it up myself under speedy deletion if it is in breach to save time. As far as I'm aware it is not in breach. Thankyou. --Peaceworld 16:37, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Two Articles (clarification needed on whether or not terms from FAQ are met)

Good morning,

I work for a company called Data Management Inc. and would like to publish two articles through Wikipedia, but I have some questions on whether they meet the terms of Wikipedia.

1. One article is a business profile that describes what Data Management Inc. is, when it was founded, by whom, etc. I noticed that there are certain restrictions that must be met:

-The subject of multiple non-trivial published works whose source is independent of the company itself, OR -Listed on ranking indices of important companies produced by well-known and independent publications, OR -Used to calculate stock market indices. Being used to calculate an index that simply comprises the entire market is excluded.

Data Management did rank #425 on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 in 2006 (http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/TMT_us_tmt/us_tmt_2006TechnologyFast500WinnersBrochure.pdf). Would this qualify as "Listed on ranking indices of important companies?" There was also a local newspaper publication on Data Management done in August 2008 (http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/aug/07/local-software-company-thriving/?printer=1) as well as another that was written this year (unable to find the link - may not be available online). Would this qualify as "The subject of multiple non-trivial published works independent of the company itself?"

2. The second article describes the products and services that have been developed by TimeClock Plus since 1988. The article would cover our products, TimeClock Plus, TimeClock Plus Web Edition, and other companion hardware and software that is offered, as well as the service, TimeClock Plus OnDemand. It would provide a description of each to help anyone who is curious gain a greater understanding of what each of these are. I noticed that, for products or services, there are understandably certain restrictions that must be met as to not create spam on Wikipedia:

-Have been the subject of multiple non-trivial published works whose source is independent of the company offering the product or service, OR -Be so well-known that its trademark has suffered from genericization

Given that TimeClock Plus was mentioned in he newspaper article linked above, would that allow this article to qualify?

Please advise as soon as you are able as we would really like to add our company and products/services to this extremely valuable resource.

Thank you.

Daniel Williams

Quality Assurance

Data Management, Inc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tcplus (talk • contribs) 16:53, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Before we get into that, please read WP:SPAM,WP:COI, WP:CORP and WP:BFAQ. You are strongly discouraged from writing articles about subjects where you have a conflict of interest. If you still want to proceed, you should be aware that your drafts will be closely scrutinised and I would suggest that you use the articles for creation process to get started. On the substantive question, no, one article does not amount to the required significant coverage. Multiple sources are required. – ukexpat (talk) 16:57, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

One other point, Wikpedia does not publish "business profiles", it is an encyclopedia that contains articles about notable subjects. In view of that, WiikiCompany (which is not connected with Wikipedia) may be a better outlet for you. – ukexpat (talk) 17:04, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I'm sorry, my terminology is off. Not so much a business profile. Something along the lines of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tcplus (talk • contribs) 17:45, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Same comments apply. – ukexpat (talk) 17:50, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the quick replies. I really appreciate your help. I want this to be unbiased as well (strictly informative) and to fall within the standards set by Wikipedia, so that we are consistent with your other articles. I see that Microsoft, Google, and even companies that are not quite as large appear on Wikipedia and that is what prompted me to think of creating something similar for Data Management Inc. given it's growth and expansion. So forgive me if you answered this and I'm just not understanding. On the qualifier that reads, "Listed on ranking indices of important companies produced by well-known and independent publications," would our listing on the Deloitte Fast 500 in 2006 satisfy that requirement? Tcplus (talk) 18:07, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Deloitte Fast 500 may be enough for the article to survive speedy deletion but I am not convinced that it alone is sufficient to establish notability per WP:CORP. Again, I cannot stress enough that it really is not a good idea for you to create these articles in view of your COI - no matter how hard you try it is almost impossible to maintain a neutral point of view when you have conflict. Also, be careful when you say "we" - it's a hot button word that may lead others to think that your account is being shared by more than one person, and that is not allowed. – ukexpat (talk) 18:41, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Okay, that makes sense. The links were very helpful. Although I am affiliated (and I completely understand the concern there), I will finish writing both articles, limiting them to factual information (avoiding opinions), and submit both articles for review. You've been a great help and I honestly didn't expect as quick a reply as you've been giving me, so thanks, Ukexpat, for your exceptional assistance.Tcplus (talk) 19:11, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Glad I could help. Please also note the user name issue highlighted on your talk page. – ukexpat (talk) 19:37, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for bringing that to my attention. My account was created today so the Talk Page was not something I knew anything about. As to Daniel Case's comment (and thanks Daniel for your contribution as it has a pretty big impact on the fate of my articles), what do I need to do? Do I need to re-create an account under a name that has nothing to do with TimeClock Plus? It sounds like the user name I chose breaches a policy? TCPlus was just the first thing that came to my mind when I created my account (it was quick and simple) whereas TimeClockPlus would definitely sound more like a violation since the product is TimeClock Plus and not TCPlus. As far as the conflict of interest, if I submit this and it is verifiably unbiased (if Wikipedia is comfortable with it), is that grounds for it being approved? Daniel's point about regardless of the article's merit gives me the impression that biased or not, my affiliation with the company will likely kill any chance of the articles being accepted. Do I have a shot?Tcplus (talk) 20:17, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Couple of options: the easiest is, as you suggest, just to abandon the Tcplus account and create new account that complies with WP:UN; the other is to formally request a change of username at WP:CHU, but as you don't have any mainspace edits yet, it's probably not worth the effort. – ukexpat (talk) 20:29, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Image upload

How do I arrange for some images to be uploaded for an article I am writing if I am not yet a confirmed user? Gervasecb (talk) 17:25, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

The best place to request an image be uploaded would be on this page. TNXMan 17:43, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you! Gervasecb (talk) 18:02, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Contributing new photos

I am a Wikipedia contributor (text-only up until now) and I'd like to start adding photos to my articles. How do I do that? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Christopher.hardy (talk • contribs) 17:26, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

• If you want to add an existing image to an article, add [[File:File name.jpg|thumb|Caption text.]] to the area of the article where you want the image to appear – replacing File name.jpg with the actual file name of the image, and Caption text with a short description of the image. See our picture tutorial for more information.
• If you want to upload an image from your computer for use in an article, you must determine the proper license of the image (or whether it is in the public domain). If you know the image is public domain or copyrighted but under a suitable free-license, upload it to the Wikimedia Commons instead of here, so that all projects have access to the image (sign up). If you are unsure of the licensing status, see the file upload wizard for more information. Please also read Wikipedia's image use policy. I hope this helps. TNXMan 17:44, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Creating brief bio box

How do I create a box, like the one shown here on the right, to feature the highlights of a business?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Vineyard_%26_Winery — Preceding unsigned comment added by ASVwine (talk • contribs) 19:51, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

See Template:Infobox winery. – ukexpat (talk) 20:03, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

And if it happens to be a business other than a winery, you may want to choose one of the other infobox templates listed at Category:Business infobox templates. Deor (talk) 01:38, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

If you are planning to write about your own business, as your user name and first edit suggest, then please work through the FAQ page for organisations. This page will lead you through the Wikipedia policies on advertising, company notability and conflict of interest. -- John of Reading (talk) 05:52, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Can I change my Wikipedia font?

Right now with my current preferences the Wikipedia standard font appears to be Helvetica. Is there a simple way to change the standard font to, for example, Times Roman? (I tried some other "skins" but they change too many things. I like the default Vector layout, but would like to try changing just the font.) Thanks for help. --Robert.Allen (talk) 21:56, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Head to your browser's settings dialogue and change your default sans-serif font. Note that the font will change for every website that uses this setting. Xenon54 (talk) 22:10, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I use the Safari browser. My "Standard font" is set to Times, but Wikipedia text is displayed using Helvetica. Maybe the browser setting only has an effect if the font is not specified by the web page? In any case, I would like to change it for Wikipedia specifically. I thought perhaps there might be a way in my Wikipedia preferences to customize the CSS for the Vector skin so that my Wikipedia standard font would be Times Roman or something other than Helvetica. --Robert.Allen (talk) 22:31, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Sure, this should work. Go to Special:MyPage/skin.css and add this text (changing the font listed to your preference):

body {font-family: "Times New Roman";}
.IPA {font-family: "Times New Roman";}
.Unicode {font-family: "Times New Roman";}

--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:16, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Yes, thank you! This worked exactly like I was looking for, and I really like the look of it. However, all the font sizes are just a bit on the small side. Is there a way to increase all fonts by a small increment? Thanks for the help! --Robert.Allen (talk) 02:14, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. To increase the font, add:

#bodyContent { font-size:larger; }

--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 06:28, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks again! You are a gold mine of information! That's definitely larger, maybe too much. Based on the info you gave me so far, I searched and found Help:User style and saw that perhaps I could use a percent and tried this:

#bodyContent { font-size:90%; }

It seems to give a less drastic increase in size. (Obviously I don't know whether this is kosher.) --Robert.Allen (talk) 07:15, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Sure, that works, and you can know it's working by being a bit drastic, like previewing 150%, which should make the change obvious.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:22, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

I seem to have settled on 95%, which is good compromise for the various computers that I use. Thanks for all the help! --Robert.Allen (talk) 21:13, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

north pole

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

in this article is a photo of USS Skate at the north pole after breaking thru the ice, that is all well and good BUT.

photos are from http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08578.htm , the same source used for the pic in the article should not these photos be included also ? http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0857806.jpg http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0858411.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.58.83.17 (talk) 22:27, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Since the photos are so similar, just one should be sufficient for the article. You can discuss it on the article's talk page. BurtAlert (talk) 22:30, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

April 2

The_Seventh_Coin

Could someone do me a favor? Could someone write a summary for the Seventh Coin movie based on this summary: http://www.movieguide.org/reviews/movie/the-seventh-coin.html Thanks! Neptunekh2 (talk) 02:11, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

DAB Watchlist?

Is there a way to disambiguate my Watchlist? I just copied all The Simpsons and Futurama episodes from their table pages into my raw watchlist, and want to make sure I have episodes only and no dab pages...is it possible to use dab finder to help me out? CTJF83 02:37, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

The dab finder has "watchlist" at the right hand end of its source options - can you make that work?

As a plan B, you could use AWB. Make a list from the "My watchlist" source, then use "List > Save list" to save a text file containing wikilinks. Save that into a sandbox somewhere and run the tool on it. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:08, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Oh, I might not have been clear...the link you gave me searches the articles for DABs (which I will also use), what I meant to ask was can I search the articles I have watched to see if I watched any DAB pages? CTJF83 16:00, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

I've just tested plan B. I exported my watchlist from AWB into a text file and then pasted that into User:John of Reading/Sandbox. Then I've used the "Page" option of the dab finder and asked it to look at "User:John of Reading/Sandbox". It has identified five of those links as being dab pages. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:17, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

I don't have AWB...

I guess I can just wait and until someone edits the page, and see if it looks like an edit to a dab or an article. CTJF83 16:31, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Ah well. I only explored that option because you are listed as having AWB permission.

Plan C - grab your watchlist using Special:Watchlist/raw, think of a good way to surround each entry with double square brackets, and then continue with plan B... -- John of Reading (talk) 16:42, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

LOL, that is way too much work...would a plan D of you using AWB for my watchlist work? CTJF83 16:49, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

I can't see your watchlist. If you dump the contents of your Special:Watchlist/raw into User:John of Reading/Sandbox, replacing the existing content, then I'll have a think about how to add the square brackets. I'm going offline now, though. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:04, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Done...if it is too much work, don't worry about it, not a huge deal. Thanks, CTJF83 17:09, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Adding the square backets is pretty easy. Click the /R/ button in wikied, put ^ in top box in wikied and [[ in the bottom box and click the arrow circle on the left of that box. That will put [[ on the left end of each line. Similarly by putting $ in the top box and ]] in the bottom box and click the arrow circle. This will put ]] on the right end of each line.Naraht (talk) 17:19, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

In AWB? Can you do that and check if I have a any DAB pages on my watchlist then...since you know how to do it? CTJF83 17:22, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, Naraht, we're done. The 12 dab pages are now listed at the top of User:John of Reading/Sandbox. I wonder what was the right way to do this? -- John of Reading (talk) 17:52, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you very much! I appreciate it! CTJF83 18:01, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

You can add these 2 lines into the .js for your skin, Special:MyPage/skin.js.

importScript('User:Anomie/linkclassifier.js'); // Linkback: User:Anomie/linkclassifier.js

importStylesheet('User:Anomie/linkclassifier.css'); // Linkback: User:Anomie/linkclassifier.css

The colors will change on links based what they are. DAB pages will show up different then articles listed for deletion or redirects. DAB pages show up with a yellow background, this works in when you edit the watchlist also. GB fan (talk) 18:11, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

So much easier - the right tool for the job. -- John of Reading (talk) 19:12, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

LOL, ya a lot easier...well, at least John did all the work for me! Thanks for the work, John...CTJF83 19:45, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Running MediaWiki extensions when browsing en.wikipedia.org

Hi. I would like to run the extension http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:RemoveRedlinks when browsing en.wikipedia.org. How can I do that? Cheers, Drakefjustin (talk) 02:55, 2 April 2011 (UTC).

According to Special:Version, this extension is not enabled on this wiki. If you can give more detail of what you are trying to do, perhaps someone here will be able to think of an alternative. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:15, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Extensions are run on the server, not on individuals' clients. --ColinFine (talk) 14:46, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

ref tags/templates

I have edited a Wiki page, and as far as I can tell I have conformed to all the other reference tags and templates on the page -- but the page displays this message now, persistently:

Cite error: There are *ref* tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{Reflist}} template or a *references /* tag; see the help page.

Can someone please explain what I am doing wrong? I'd like the error message to go away. Thanks.

It would help if you told us what article you're working on. From your contributions, I'm guessing that you're talking about Joan Juliet Buck. I see no errors on that page. Dismas|^(talk) 03:45, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

The poster fixed it [1] after posting here. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:30, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

The error message links to a help page— please let me know if that page needs further clarification. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 13:06, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Times New Roman Page

A user keeps including some individual named Cameron S. Latham in the article but this individual had nothing to do with times new roman. The correct individual who should be recieving credit is Victor Lardent. Please check into the issue. The individual that keeps doing it has this i.p. address. 50.9.59.242 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikiking222 (talk • contribs) 06:17, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for bringing attention to this. I have undone the edit and warned the IP for deliberating inserting errors into the article. Goodvac (talk) 06:23, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

do ou have any industries in india

i want to work in pron industries so if possille then inform me at this mail (Redacted) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.184.140.231 (talk) 08:07, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

This page is only for questions about using Wikipedia.  Chzz  ►  08:35, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Sometimes I feel we need a {{LOL}} template... - ¡Ouch! (^{hurt me} / _{more pain}) 05:22, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Please somebody help me

I would like to request the website Examiner.com to be whitelisted. Is there somebody who can help me? Thank you!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gdagostino (talk • contribs) 08:32, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

See WP:WHITELIST. Dismas|^(talk) 08:54, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

I doubt you'd ever see the whole website whitelisted, its articles are user submitted with little to no editorial oversight; it's not a reliable source in nearly every instance. For the few exceptions, you can request a whitelist of that specific URL, if it really is one of the exceptions. Rehevkor ✉ 09:34, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Editing

Just wondering if I have to know how to use HTML coding to add to an article. Its just a couple of lines of plain text without links or any special character formatting. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.38.166.7 (talk) 10:20, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia uses its own type of markup. To learn more, you can have a look at Help:Wiki markup. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 10:26, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Just add what you want into the article. See the toolbar when you click edit. The "B" and "I" (bold and italic). Use the options in the toolbar if you need to. It's easy. Don't worry about screwing up. I'm pretty sure that everyone here learned by trial and error. Good luck.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 10:30, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

I left you a message on you talk page. It contains some helpful links to get started with editing. Best luck and happy editing. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 10:37, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

And Wikipedia:Cheatsheet. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 13:08, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Username disappearance

I created an account a few years ago with a straightforward username. I've just tried to log in for the first time since about that day and found that Wikipedia doesn't recognise that the username exists. Are idle usernames deleted? Should I simply create a fresh account? All advice appreciated; thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.45.217.209 (talk) 13:11, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

User names are not deleted. Note, they are case sensitive - make sure you get the user name exactly right. Have a look for it in Special:ListUsers - putting the first few letters into the box Display users starting at:.

If you cannot find the username (or cannot remember the password or get a password-reset via email), then yes, you'll have to create an account. Just be careful to stick to one user account - but if the old one is no longer accessible, it is fine to just "abandon" it.  Chzz  ►  13:15, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Rediscovering an old account is quite easy if you remember which articles you edited (low traffic ones are best for this). See the page's history and look for a familiar username. Zakhalesh (talk) 13:21, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you kindly; I'll try all that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.45.217.209 (talk) 00:17, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks again; I discovered that I was misreading a single character. I'm now signed in and have attempted to add a little discussion to a talk page and to sign it with four tildes; yet only my I.P. address appears (in the preview, anyway). Sorry to trouble you further, but could you take a stab at what I'm doing wrong? Thanks. (I'll put four tildes below.)

Signatorius (talk) 02:48, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

If your IP address is shown then your login is not registered. Help:Logging in has some tips on staying logged in. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:39, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

DNA trait

i have discovered a trait in my dna that is common to all people like me. Nathanael Carroll Horton. 335am sat april 2 2011 PST USA

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Zeroholahelloworldend (talk • contribs) 13:24, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Do you have a question about using Wikipedia? -- John of Reading (talk) 13:29, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Adding an External Link

Hope someone can help. I'm sure it is easier than I am finding it; all I want to do is to add an external link to an article. It is a link to a serious website which wil cpmpliment both the Wikipedia article and our work, but I have become lost as to the 'how'. Have got as far as a template page, but found no template! Any ideas? Andy T —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.6.39.35 (talk) 15:04, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

External links belong in a section at the end of the article, called ==External links==

They should only be added if they provide truly Encyclopaedic information that could not otherwise be added. See WP:EL.

The format for them is as follows;

* [http://www.iana.org/domains/example/ IANA Example website]

That will appear as;

• IANA Example website

 Chzz  ►  15:16, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

And especially see WP:EL#ADV. --ColinFine (talk) 23:43, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

how to create info page

My page is up for deletion I was trying to create an artist information page but can't find the options to do so could you please instruct how where to go to create a page for my band. Thank you Lfobbs (talk) 15:27, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

As advised in WP:FIRST, you should not create an article about your band. Wikipedia only has articles about well-known bands; if it is featured in newspapers and other reliable sources, then someone else will write about it. Chzz  ►  15:34, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

the message from the hacker .now is taking over my face book page

(Redacted)

my face book acc. was hack this afternoon,someone send me a emil from face book inc.say that something is wrong with my acc. need me to proof my name and password is not a fake one.now he is taking over my acc .name on my page now become (Redacted), i am very sure he is the hacker.please help me to take back my acc.my poker game acc had 27 m.218.186.17.250 (talk) 15:28, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

This is the Wikipedia help desk. We have no control over other websites; you should contact them instead.

This page is only for questions about using Wikipedia.  Chzz  ►  15:30, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Sino-Platonic Papers

I have made a number of edits to Sino-Platonic Papers and its Discussion page today but none of them have shown up on my Watchlist - whereas all my edits on other articles have. Could you please explain this to me? Many thanks, John Hill (talk) 15:48, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Are you sure that the article is on your watchlist? Go to the article and look at the little five-pointed star at the top right. If the star is white, then the article is not on your watchlist; click the star to watch the article. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:06, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

You might also want to check your My Preferences. Under the Watchlist tab are options to automatically add pages you've created, edited, or moved to your watchlist.--Obsidi♠n^Soul 16:21, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

If it's not either of those, maybe your watchlist is set to 'hide your own edits'? There's a button on the watchlist page you can use to change that.--Physics is all gnomes (talk) 17:05, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks so much, everyone, for your help. It turned out that the first suggestion about clicking on "the little five-pointed star at the top right" (which was white) has fixed the problem for me. I will also check out the other two suggestions just in case I run into problems with either of them in the future. And now I know a little more about WP and how to use it effectively. All best wishes and thanks again, John Hill (talk) 04:23, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

CRAZY GIRL SHIN BIA

In response to your proposal to delete my article on the manwha CRAZY GIRl SHIN BIA, I have found one other bibliographic source, which I have added to the entry, yet I cannot display it for some reason. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Glammazon (talk • contribs) 17:09, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

You're apparently trying to add it inside a comment. Also see WP:REFB for referencing help. Zakhalesh (talk) 17:10, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

And one of the external links (I don't know which) is on the WP:BLACKLIST. – ukexpat (talk) 13:42, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Attribution history

How does one provide attribution history to redirects from pages that have not been merged? How does one also provide attribution history to pages that are redirected elsewhere and have partial content on another page (e.g. "Foo" was merged and redirected into "Bar", but then "Foo" was also recreated with some similar content but subsequently merged and redirected into "Baz" instead.)? :| TelCoNaSpVe :| 20:46, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

You say where it came from, on the talk page. Use a diff. Say "Part of this page came from the article "Foo" http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Foobar&oldid=421190068 "

You can use Template:Copied if you want.

You should also state where something is copied from in the edit summary itself - but you can't do that retrospectively. So the best we can do is put an explanation on the talk page.

The point is, to provide a link back to wherever people can see the history of "who wrote what"; that is the requirement of the licence. Chzz  ►  20:59, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

The problem was that nothing was copied, even though it was asserted so. I could not find any instance in the history of the target article page that included the content supposedly "copied from the redirect", so we still miss some attribution. :| TelCoNaSpVe :| 21:18, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

If you tell us what specific pages this is about we might be able to help further. Based on what you've said, there's a possibility there are deleted edits that you can't see that contain the content copied from the redirect.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 07:24, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

The page that I'm currently looking at is Talk:Water Tribe, which seems to have a significant amount of history behind the article to warrant attribution. It was redirected to Talk:Universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender in http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Water_Tribe&diff=265801581&oldid=263459741 this edit], and on the talkpage of the redirected article you can find two instances of the {{copied}} template, used precisely for this purpose. However, that target in itself had also undergone a deletion discussion where the nominator decided to redirect that page instead to a section within a different article, that is, Avatar: The Last Airbender. But since there was nothing to appropriately copy to whatever was already covered in the section there was no {{copied}} template placed on the talkpage of the destination article. After that, the first of the two redirects ("Water Tribe") went through one AfD, one Delrev and yet another RfD to boot. Now I don't know where the attribution history for Universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender should go to, or whether Water Tribe should be attributed on multiple pages. :| TelCoNaSpVe :| 20:25, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Inter-language attribution

While deleting expired prods, I came across Frank Major, which definitely deserves to be deleted under the stated prod rationale. However, I declined it because the Turkish article on him is an obvious translation of our article, down to the odd </WikiPages> attempt at linking at the end of the filmography section. I'd like to get rid of this article, but I'd also like to allow Turkish to have a revision history; is there any way to do this, short of getting a Turkish admin to perform an import? Moreover, I'm not sure that tr:wp allows imports, since the only babel links at Help:Import are for Arabic, German, and French. Nyttend (talk) 21:47, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

By the way — if you're an admin and you figure out how to take care of the attribution history without keeping this article, feel free to ignore my decline and delete it as if nobody had objected. If you're not an admin, please tag the page with something such as {{db-g6|this deserved to be deleted as a prod, but was temporarily kept for an attribution problem that has been solved; see explanation at talk and [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=422043643&oldid=422041342 message at Help Desk]}}. Thanks! Nyttend (talk) 21:54, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

For attribution you don't need to have the full editing history, you only need to attribute the editors who have added any substantive content. A quick look at the page history seems to indicate only about 4 or 5 non-bot editors (plus a few IPs who mostly seems to have been reverted). I would suggest simply doing a non-substantive edit to the turkish page with an edit summary saying something like "Original content translated from english wikipedia and submitted by en:User:Fred, en:User:Fred2 etc". Boissière (talk) 20:43, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

April 3

Difficulty printing one specific Wikipedia article

I am not particularly computer literate, so there may be a simple answer to this question, if so forgive me for taking up your time.

Although I've always been able to print short Wikipedia articles in the past, there is one particular article that I have been unable to print for the past few days. There are no particular notices on the article to indicate that it dare not be printed. And I've been able to print other Wikipedia articles on both days, so the issue can't be my specific computer.

The article is about "HENNING VON TRESCHKOW", a prominent member of the German anti-Nazi resistance movement. Every effort I've made to print this article simply locks up my computer screen. Each time I've tried to print, I end up having to turn my computer off to get out of the lockup.

Oddly enough, the articles on other prominent resistance figures, "CLAUS VON SAUFFENBERG" and "CARL FRIEDRICH GOERDELER" for examples, print just fine.

Is there an explanation for the von Treschkow article not printing? Everything else that I have tried to print, in Wikipedia or elsewhere on the web, has been printing just fine. Does this possibly make any sense in the expert computer world? 71.181.239.32 (talk) 01:46, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

You mean Henning von Tresckow. It has a rating feedback box at the bottom. I wonder whether this is the problem. Can you try another such article, for example Alcohol laws of New York? Which browser do you use? Can you try another browser? PrimeHunter (talk) 02:13, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you "PrimeHunter" for your suggestions. My obstacle turned out to be the "rating feedback box at the bottom" of the article (as you suggested it might be). I completed the feedback box, transmitted, and THEN was able to print the article. (Thanks again for your help. I'm very impressed with your knowledge and willingness to help a novice like me!)71.181.239.32 (talk) 16:16, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. Glad I could help. I moved your latest post to the original section. Click the "edit" link to the right of a section heading to add something to the existing section. Others may get the same problem so it could be helpful for us to know which browser you have and whether Alcohol laws of New York gave the same error. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:57, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

The feedback section should be excluded from printing— I started a discussion on this. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 18:58, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Oh, Oh. I'm confused again. I am able to print the ALCOHOL LAWS OF NEW YORK without any problems (and without having to complete the "rating feedback box" at all). So far the only time I've experienced the printing problem was with the HENNING VON TRESCKOW article. I have the "Windows XP" and the "Internet Explorer 7" features that my nieces' husbands set up for me several years ago when I first got my computer. (As I've surely demonstrated by now, I'm one of those old fogies who doesn't really understand computers, but does his best to use them. WIKIPEDIA is a god-send for someone like me who enjoys history. And thanks again for being so helpful with my question on printing. I really appreciate your help.)71.181.239.32 (talk) 21:28, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the info. Internet Explorer 7 still has many users. Internet Explorer 8 is the most common version today. Internet Explorer 9 was launched 3 weeks ago. I don't know whether they would have avoided the problem. I realize a browser installation may sound daunting to "old fogies" but it's smooth in my experience. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:34, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

I just saw that Internet Explorer 9 does not support Windows XP. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:35, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Why is this article in this encyclopaedia?

Why is the article Law and Disorder in Lagos included in this "encyclopaedia"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.127.32.61 (talk) 02:15, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Because someone wrote it. --Jayron32 02:53, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

(Most helpful Jayron). Do you think there's a reason why it ought not to be included? Orphan Wiki 11:32, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Apparently the IP (who looks like vandalism only) thinks the subject is "shitish".[2] I'm not sure the IP is actually looking for help. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:47, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Commons filesize limits

Are there commons filesize limits? How can I find them for .ogv filetypes?--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 02:48, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

You could ask at commons. Their help desk is located at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Help_desk . --Jayron32 02:52, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Meta file Problem Uploading PNG

I keep getting the error message, "File extension does not match MIME type" when I am trying to upload a PNG file. It is an original file not being overwritten. I am using newest Firefox. I have permission from the author to use it. Why do I keep getting this error message? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Canadiandy1 (talk • contribs) 03:00, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

What destination filename are you trying to use? Does it have the .png extension? —teb728 t c 03:52, 3 April 2011 (UTC) I see the OP has succeded in uploading File:Hammock Camping Setup.png —teb728 t c 08:07, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

But "permission for the user" is usually not enough to establish that an image meets the stringent copyright requirements for Wikipedia. See WP:IOWN. --ColinFine (talk) 14:41, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Without an appropriate permission it is a copyvio and I have tagged it as such. – ukexpat (talk) 13:56, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Issues with images

I'm a longtime Wikipedia editor, and have uploaded a fair number of public domain images. I'm having a strange problem right now with images, and i wonder if i'm alone.

I first noticed the problem when i copied this image to a new article, and tried to resize it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gen_sherman_bell.jpg

It displays in articles at 200px, but fails to display above or below that size. The frame where the image should appear gives that soft checkerboard that you get when an image is transparent.

Then i uploaded this image, and it likewise displays sometimes, but not other times, depending on whether full size or thumbnail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Karl_linderfelt.jpg

I am noticing these problems in the latest Firefox browser, and in Internet Explorer 8.

I'm going to reboot, to see if that makes a difference, but in the meantime, does anyone else encounter these problems? I'm thinking it could be Wikipedia's image resolution calculation routine that is at fault. thanks, Richard Myers (talk) 04:56, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Reboot didn't help, still have same issue. Can someone follow up on this, please? Richard Myers (talk) 05:25, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Found this, seems to explain the problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_%28technical%29#Image_question

Richard Myers (talk) 05:43, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

brending

brendingArticle name (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) username (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · edit filter log · block user · block log) Replace this with a brief explanation of the situation

Hello - My name is John Zarlino Owner Cover Your Assets II, LLC An Ohio Company Video Phone Number <<redacted>>

I invented a new word on March 9th, 2011. brending. My little brother Marko called me and told me that he had a friend request on his computer and was confused. I informed him that a friend request is a process to link together on a popular software internet based software platform. My brother continued with his explanation of how he thought he was already my friend. It was amusing to say the least. The point is that some people don't understand the process or accept how the process of friending works. I took the process one step futher to help explain what users can do with the platform today. Are you really friending the person you already know or are you branding them to your slice of pie on the internet? Brending is the process in which you invite a person or business you already know to share your own semantic contribution for the AI crawlers. Hence, you brand your friend, brending.

I am a rookie at using this site and would like your advise on how to properly establish the word brending. Please advise.Jdzarlino (talk)

Citation Hello, I am responding to your request at the editor assistance board. If you have coined a new word that has only been used in your own work, I suggest you post the addition you would like to make to whatever article, along with the source, so that other editors can evaluate it. The concern is that some editors use Wikipedia as a means to promote their ideas. If other editors decide that your sources are reliable and that your changes are relevant, then they or you can add it. See WP:COI and WP:V for more information. Feel free to ask any more questions on my talk page. Danger (talk) 04:36, 22 March 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jdzarlino (talk • contribs)

Hello. Wikipedia is the wrong place for this for many reasons. First, Wikipedia is not a dictionary (though our sister site Wiktionary is). Second, Wikipedia cannot be used to announce new things that are not already the subject of substantive treatment in published, third party, reliable sources, This is because Wikipedia is an encyclopedia—a tertiary source rather than a primary or secondary source—that properly synthesizes already published material. In that regard, see our policy forbidding original research, which an article on this new and unpublished about word would be. In fact, there is a subsection of the "not a dictionary" policy I linked above just about how newly-coined words, often called neologisms, are invalid topics of articles. Finally, your stated objective of establishing usage of the word through this site is incompatible with our policy against promotion. I see you already know about conflicts of interest as your post above is copied from your post and response at the COI noticeboard. The advice you received to post the material in an article, quoted above, was unsound.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:33, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Does T:MI work when embedded in Template:Listen?

I have tried in Firefox, Internet Explore, Safari, Chrome and Opera, but I am unable to see the second image in the T:MI template embedded in a Template:Listen usage in both Timeline of the Presidency of Barack Obama (2009) and First 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency where I have added File:Address Before a Joint Session of Congress (February 24, 2009)-Barack Obama.ogv. Is there a way to stack these images?--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 15:41, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

I see the image, but I suppose "works" is a relative term. It's a mess; see [3]. I'm sure there is a way to stack them - anything can be done. If nobody else responds, I might play around later and see if I can think of an answer. Chzz  ►  17:07, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Oh, wait; this relates to an ongoing technical problem with thumbnails, Tony. See here. So...best to wait a day or something, hopefully the techs will fix things. Chzz  ►  17:15, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 19:06, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

That specific one seems to be working again now, I think. Chzz  ►  05:40, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Flags not showing up

A lot of flags are refusing to show up. Why is this? Velociraptor888 15:50, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

P.S. Please Answer

See Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Image question and Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Icons not rendering.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:57, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

See also the link provided by Chzz in the thread right above this one.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:28, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Although there have been some reports of 'fixes', I'm assured by devs that there are, as of now, still various ongoing problems with thumbs. And I imagine that'll be responsible for a good many problems reported. All we can do, really, is keep an eye on the tech blog. Chzz  ►  19:12, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Chestefield refs

The reflist in Chesterfield is refusing to show properly, even though I have tried to make it. Can anyone help? Rcsprinter_{See what I've done}^{Gimme a message} 16:44, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Fixed by closing an open ref.[4] If the end of a page doesn't show then the problem is usually right after the last part that does show. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:50, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

How to submit an article

I've created the content, hit 'save page' yet nothing happens. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Samswopeautogroup (talk • contribs) 17:37, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

First - before you do anything - you need to change your user name. User names cannot represent a company; see WP:CORPNAME.

As you've not really started, I suggest you scramble the password on that user account, and just make a new one.

Then - if you're editing about anything to do with a company, please read WP:BFAQ.

As to why it won't save...I don't honestly know. But you're probably best using the article wizard to create a draft article that others can review. If you have problems doing that, please ask again (once you've changed user name). Cheers,  Chzz  ►  17:41, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

The article Sam Swope Auto Group, LLC was saved; but it was deleted almost immediately, as it was promotional and non-encyclopedia. --Orange Mike | Talk 20:35, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Hangon tag

Quite many of our new users fail to use hangon correctly. Sometimes they delete the deletion template while placing hangon, sometimes the hangon is in the wrong place (which I take doesn't hurt apart from looking bad) and sometimes no reasoning for hangon is given. Wouldn't it be simpler to get rid of a hangon tag, instead directing the user to the article's talk page which admins should check before deleting in any case? Zakhalesh (talk) 18:13, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

I think this would be better posted at Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals) since it proposes to abolish the hangon tag. Goodvac (talk) 18:20, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Well, I'm not actually proposing it - just wondering why we have it, because there's got to be a reason for it (some technicality?). However, if no one has a good reason for keeping the hangon tag, I'll go ahead and propose it. Zakhalesh (talk) 18:22, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

The hangon tag tells them to post their reasoning in the talk page. Most users who create articles that are tagged for speedy deletion are new, and therefore are not too familiar with how Wikipedia works. Since some of them have obviously not read the notability guidelines, it is doubtful they will take the time to read how to correctly use a hangon tag. Since alot of the articles are eligible for speedy deletion anyway, I don't think we should completely change our policy for their convenience. The users that understand it will use it. BurtAlert (talk) 18:27, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, but instead of telling them to post a template that tells them to provide reasoning we could only tell them to provide reasoning, simplifying the process a lot. I'm going to propose, what's there to lose? Zakhalesh (talk) 18:31, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Maybe the tags help the admins? I have no idea. But go for it :) BurtAlert (talk) 18:40, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, I think there might be something technical to it. I think the deleting admins check the talk page in any case (at least they should, as it should be deleted at the same time in most cases). Zakhalesh (talk) 18:47, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

It's not technical. As far as admins are concerned, it just makes it much more obvious that the user is challenging it. But it also makes it clearer for the user. If they just post on the talk page, they might well decide nothing is happening - and complain elsewhere (here, their talk, AN/I, etc.) - the big bold "hang on" on the article gives them some degree of assurance that their request has been noted. Sometimes. It's not perfect, sure. And yes - this discussion belongs elsewhere :-) The pump, I imagine. Cheers,  Chzz  ►  19:16, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

The "hangon" tag, all by itself, will cause an article to be listed at CAT:CSD, in other words by replacing the "db" tag with the "hangon" tag, the article is still listed for deletion in exactly the same way; this was done intentionally as many new users do this, so there is no problem, in terms of mechanism, with either adding it or replacing the db-tag; the end results end up the same. --Jayron32 21:26, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Date sorting in tables

When listing entries with dates (day, month, year) in a table, what is the preferred layout of the date - and, to permit the table to be sorted?

By which I mean - "1 November 1901" or "1 Nov 1901" or "1/11/1901" or whatever.

I am asking specifically because I am wikifying the List of the Chief Justices of Patna High Court, and want to do it properly. Thanks,  Chzz  ►  19:40, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

(Actually, maybe it doesn't even need to be sortable; let me know what you think, regardless. Thanks again,  Chzz  ►  19:49, 3 April 2011 (UTC))

Isn't {{dts|year|month|day|BC}} the standard way to get this done? -- John of Reading (talk) 20:50, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

When creating sortable tables, there can be issues with how a column sorts. See Help:Sorting for a complete overview.

• Columns that mix alpha and numerical data will sort alphabetically— this can be resolved by using {{nts}}.
• When using general text with and without wikilinks, use {{sort}}.
• To sort dates, use {{dts}}.
• For sorting names in the format last, first use {{sortname}}. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 21:27, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Yeah; I can figure out how to do it - but which way should it look? What is the 'best' layout (ie, MOS or your opinion) for such a table?  Chzz  ►  21:35, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

What is the date standard in India? ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 21:37, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Did I mess up something?

I was editing under the heading of Sainthood on the John Coltrane article. After making about three edits and saving them to the page. I looked at the saved article and saw that the editing pencil for that heading was now gone and I could no longer edit under that heading and also the heading was different and now looked like this.. Bold text==Sainthood==. I am hoping I did not do something wrong and messed up the format. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.0.14.134 (talk) 20:17, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

The "==" signs for a heading have to be at the start of the line. But it's ok now; another editor spotted the problem and has fixed it. -- John of Reading (talk) 20:43, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

SCAMED

WHO CAN I CONTACT IN THE GOV OF INDIA TO REPORT BEING SCAMED

ED Sparks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.97.250.125 (talk) 22:48, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

This is the Wikipedia help desk. It is only for questions about using Wikipedia.  Chzz  ►  22:49, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Website for Mumbai's Cyber Crime Investigation Cell. Not sure where in India you live, so that's the best I could find... BurtAlert (talk) 22:56, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

April 4

Naming of article

Should the word Final in 2011 Cricket World Cup Final start with a lower case or upper case? My interpretation of WP:MOS suggests it should be lower case. However, many cricket and FIFA Final articles like 2010 FIFA World Cup Final all have upper case. Thanks! --Jovian Eye _talk 01:25, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:Naming conventions (capitalization). If all of "2011 Cricket World Cup Final" is considered a proper noun then I think it should be "Final". If only "2011 Cricket World Cup" is considered a proper noun, and "final" is just an addition, then I think it should be "final". I don't follow cricket but I consider a FIFA World Cup Final an event by itself with upper case "Final" looking appropriate, like all articles in Category:FIFA World Cup Finals. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:51, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Cricket finals don't have their own category but all 10 finals linked in {{Cricket World Cup}} are upper case. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:54, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

World cup final would be lower case since it does not refer to a specific event; 2011 Cricket World Cup Final is a specific event thus capitalized. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 02:30, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, I guess that answers my question. Jovian Eye _talk 04:34, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Problem with signature

It seems that whenever I sign my posts with the standard four tildes, my username is not linked in blue and instead appears as plain text. Moments later, the SineBot or one like it fixes it to "The Proceeding Unsigned Comment...". It should happen here, seeing as I will only submit this after previewing the result. Bbqsauce13 02:42, 4 April 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bbqsauce13 (talk • contribs)

And there it is. I really don't understand it. If anyone could help, it would be highly appreciated. Bbqsauce13 02:44, 4 April 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bbqsauce13 (talk • contribs)

In Special:Preferences be sure that "Treat the above as wiki markup" is not checked. —teb728 t c 02:50, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Ah, that would seem to be the problem. I'm not quite sure how that happened, to be honest. Thank you for your help. Bbqsauce13 (talk) 02:53, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Creating a button

Anyone have some code to make some clickable text take the form of a button (but without using <inputbox> which is no good for my purposes)?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:00, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Simplest way would be to use an image with the |link= parameter. You really need to tell us more. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 03:05, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

(edit conflict)

Click for a sausage:  ? —using just [[File:Glass_button_red.svg|14px|link=Sausage]]  Chzz  ►  03:06, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Ha, not that kind of button! A button like this one:

More specifically, I want to make the following link appear as a button and still work:Click here to contest this speedy deletion.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:15, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

How about something like Click here to contest this speedy deletion? —teb728 t c 03:43, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Good suggestion. I've used it and it's definitely better than just plain text.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:00, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

I made one; just screen-grab, crop, upload. (ie File:Button contest speedy.gif) - it won't resize or anything though. If you wanted that, you'd have to use css styles, I guess.  Chzz  ►  04:49, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Amazing effort Chzz but I don't know how to make that work with the intended link above. i.e.,

<center>'''[[File:Button contest speedy.gif|link=[{{fullurl:{{TALKPAGENAME}}|action=edit&section=new&preload=Template:Hangon_preload&preloadtitle=This+article+should+not+be+speedy+deleted+because...+}}]]'''</center>

does not produce a working link.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:07, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

{{#tag:imagemap|
Image:Button contest speedy.gif
default [{{fullurl:{{TALKPAGENAME}}|action=edit&section=new&preload=Template:Hangon_preload&preloadtitle=This+article+should+not+be+speedy+deleted+because...+}}]
desc none
}}

 Chzz  ►  05:25, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

You rock.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:44, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

WikiProject Dentistry -- Inactive??

Someone has listed this project as inactive since Nov 2010, but article talk page assessment boxes have only recently featured "this is now inactive," and when I deleted the tag from the project page, the "inactive" boxes have not reverted. Please help. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 04:31, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

To change the talk page assessment boxes, you need to undo the last edit to Template:WikiProject Dentistry. It may then take a few hours for the change to ripple through to all the talk pages. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:55, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanx! DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 11:38, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Simon Gales

I have tried to add the artists website as an external link as it has the series of "Focus/Unfocus" works that directly apply to the last paragraph of the article. I have had permission from him to do this and even to upload one of the Focus/Unfocus "Equator" images into the text (though I would prefer to do the latter later when I have read more about the rules concerning it).

Selag (talk) 05:40, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

For some reason, when you tried to add it, you also changed other parts of the page - adding ''Italic text''[5] and changing a section heading [6].

That is why your edits were reverted.

I have now added the external link [7].  Chzz  ►  05:45, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Editing

Madam, Sir, On the Wikipedia page on "Gavrilo Princip" <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavrilo_Princip>, his religion is described as "(none) Atheist". This is not thoroughly accepted and is offensive to atheists.

While trying to edit to correct it, I could not.

Therrefore I request for technical help.

Many thanks

RoyalHumanist —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.62.84.169 (talk) 06:52, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

I have changed the information box to match the book quote more closely. To edit the information box you can click the "Edit" link at the very top, where it says "Read / Edit / History" -- John of Reading (talk) 07:03, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

calibri font

Could you advise if one could have a letter prior to 2007 in a times roman font and have it printed out in 2007 in a calibri font (Inadvertently) Regards

Jpeg101 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.184.161.227 (talk) 08:13, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Computing reference desk. They specialize in answering computer 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. —teb728 t c 08:39, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

What do you mean by frequency of a circuit?

Frequency generally means number of oscillations per second.But how is it related to a circuit? I would be very much thankful if i get a brief explanation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mindreader007 (talk • contribs) 08:54, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Science 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. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:57, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Reading a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike article

what should ido to read a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike article —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.88.72.128 (talk) 11:39, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

I am not sure if I really understand your question. I guess you are talking about a Wikipedia article. Everything on Wikipedia is free to read. There arte no special requirements to read something here on Wikipedia. If this doesn't answer your question, please feel free to ask again. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 11:50, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Problems with reference desk (and other) pages

Per this, this and this, there are persistent problems with Reference Desk pages (and some other pages) being incorrectly edit-protected and/or out of date by several days. I haven't seen any indication that anyone in a position to address this problem is aware of it or looking at it, so I thought I'd mention it here too in case anyone cares... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.184.104.111 (talk) 11:51, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

I think it's already been mentioned at the technical section of the Village Pump. – ukexpat (talk) 15:57, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

The third of the OP's links is to VPT. Unfortunately no one is responding there. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:06, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Fair use of non-free book pages on Wikipedia

What is the right place to start a discussion in order to reach a community consensus on the following problem: I think that per § 107 of US copyright law the use of low-resolution images of book pages or parts thereof for identification and critical commentary on the book or its contents on the English-language Wikipedia, hosted on servers in the United States by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law. The current community consensus seems to be that images of book covers may be used for identification of a specific book. I don't think there is a consensus on the use of scanned pages from inside a book. Where can I start a discussion in order to reach a community consensus on this? Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 13:34, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

If you are asking about specific applications of Wikipedia's fair use policy, located at Wikipedia:Non-free content, then you should ask those questions at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. If you are looking to institute a change to said policy, then you may want to ask at Wikipedia:Village pump (policy). --Jayron32 13:52, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks Jayron. I will bring the question up on Village pump. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 14:00, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Disappearing Messages

When I go to my watchlist, there are messages at the top of page. They disappear before I can read them.

Please what do I need to do to get them to stay visible? I'm sure there must be a setting for this but I can't find it in settings. Thanks, Wanderer57 (talk) 15:35, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

The only way I know to get those messages back is to delete any browser cookies you have from "en.wikipedia.org". This worked for me just now. You will have to log in again after deleting the cookies. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:50, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

...but I've just realised that you can also read them if you change your browser settings temporarily to disable JavaScript. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:54, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Removal of "nofootnotes" and "Orphan" status.

I saw this added to the top of my article "A. J. Casson Award": This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2011)

I added the inline citations. Can I remove this "nofootnotes" myself now please?

Also, I hope I resolved the "orphan" issue as there are now 2 articles that link to the one in mention. How does that go away? Can I remove this as well? The Criteria section of Wikipedia help states: One or two incoming links may be sufficient as long as they are relevant.

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Artisforme (talk • contribs) 16:18, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

If you believe you have resolved the issues with the article, you may remove the tags. Also, just to make a minor correction, it is not "your" article. It is Wikipedia's article. See WP:OWN. --Jayron32 16:33, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

The templates on top of the page do not go away automatically. They are usually removed by an editor, if the issues they point out have been addressed. However in this case I think the templates are appropriate. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 16:39, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Interesting, I didn't get an e/c message here. I am curious why. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 16:42, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you Jayron32 - I am new to this and will not refer to it as "my article". Thank you Toshio - is there any reason why I can not remove the tags? I have two different opinions here. Who can do this? I am not sure who to ask. You mentioned "in this case the templates are appropriate". I believe the issues have been resolved. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Artisforme (talk • contribs) 17:32, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

I've removed the tags: the "no footnotes" tag no longer applies, and any editor who thinks the referencing still needs improving could add a tag more suitable for the current version of the article, e.g. "More footnotes" or "refimprove". The article is no longer an orphan by the usual rule-of-thumb, since it is now linked from 3 other articles. To answer your question Artisforme, yes, you may remove tags like these yourself if you feel the issues have been resolved, but if another editor feels the tag removal was premature they may reinstate the tags. In cases where tag removal may be controversial it might be best to discuss it on the article's talk page first, but I don't think that's necessary in this case, so I just went ahead and removed the tags. Contains Mild Peril (talk) 19:08, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Cannot move page over redirect

After a discussion on City of Bradford the consensus was to move to City of Bradford Metropolitan District. I cannot do this because it says the page exists. It is only a redirect page and I have done this successfully before. It has been on the list of requested moves for a while. Why can't I move it and what should i do? -- Q Chris (talk) 16:42, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

I guess the redirect page would have to be deleted before the article can be moved. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 16:45, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

You can list the page at Wikipedia:Requested moves and have the people there take a look at it. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 16:49, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

It has been listed there for some time. As I have said I have moved articles over redirects before, and I can't delete a page as I am not an admin -- Q Chris (talk) 16:59, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

This one needs to be posted at Wikipedia:Requested moves because the redirect has more than one entry in its history - see WP:MOR. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:03, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

I blanked the talk page then moved it.

Whoa! You've moved it to City of Bradford Metropolitan District) with a trailing round bracket. Better wait for an admin to sort this one out... -- John of Reading (talk) 17:10, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Ooops. sorry. Now moved it to have a . on the end - still wrong but better until an admin can sort it. -- Q Chris (talk) 17:14, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Semi protected pages and Internet Explorer 8

I've just updated to Internet Explorer 8 and discovered an interesting little quirk - I can't edit semi-protected pages. When I open a page the cursor appears for a split second then vanishes and the text box is locked. Attempting to type produces no response, other than to scroll down with the space bar. I can type into the page summery box, however. Has anyone else encountered this? Is there a fix for it? Cheers TheRetroGuy (talk) 16:57, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

The tech section of the Village Pump is the best place to ask this. – ukexpat (talk) 17:17, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

I just tried IE8 with a non-admin account and have no problems editing a semi-protected page. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 17:36, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Will repost at the Village Pump. Don't know why it's started doing this. I have no problems with Firefox or Google Chrome. If it can't be fixed I guess I'll just have to change my browser. Cheers TheRetroGuy (talk) 18:12, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Editing another editor's talk page comments

According to WP:Etiquette: "editing another editor's signed talk page comments is generally frowned upon, even if the edit merely corrects spelling or grammar." If I catch an editor deleting their previous comment (for the purposes of hiding that fact that he was using profanity in that comment) am I allowed to revert it, as I believe it should remain a matter of the public record? 99.231.176.65 (talk) 17:34, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Editing or deleting ones own comments is generally permissible, but frowned up on as it can make a discussion hard to follow. The generally agreed practice is to redact problematic comments, see WP:REDACT. However there are a couple of non-issues here, firstly profanity is not strictly speaking against the rules as long as it's not a personal attack or intentionally uncivil, secondly, the comments themselves are still visible in the page's history, so they're not really removing it from public record, only admins or oversighters can do so. Rehevkor ✉ 17:53, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

From WP:TPO Simply deleting others' comments on your talk page is permitted, so removing one's own comments from your user talk page is permitted in this instance. However, it is frowned upon to edit others' comments on talk pages not your own.   ArcAngel   (talk) ) 18:09, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

ArcAngel: they were on an article talk page, not a user talk page 99.231.176.65 (talk) 18:59, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

99.231, you are going to have to point us to the specific instance you are talking about; since speaking in vague terms is unlikely to be helpful. There's too many posibilities to say whether the specific event you had in mind is good or bad or indifferent. We can't speak in general terms in a way that will be reasonably accurate to a specific situation. --Jayron32 19:51, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

How soon after did they delete the comment? They may have realized they made a mistake and self-reverted. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. No, you should not revert it back. If you're filing a report to ANI, just link to the diff. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 19:55, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

what is the best way to introduce a "reliable source" in an article?

Dear Help Desk

Where do you insert a "reliable source" into an article that has been marked as "needs reliable source"? Should I put it in the beginning of the article? At the persons name? What's best? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bobeejay (talk • contribs) 18:35, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Whichever part needs the source (everything that may be disputed needs sources, particularly when it's about a person). See WP:REFB for referencing help. Zakhalesh (talk) 18:38, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Magic words for first character?

I'm looking for a way to do a certain operation with templates and I can't quite figure it out. If someone can help me that would be great; otherwise, is there a better place to ask?

Given an expression (say in {{{1}}}), return the expression without an initial minus sign.

What I'm trying to avoid is {{#expr:abs({{{1}}})}} which would turn "-1/2" into "0.5" rather than "1/2".

Ideally I'd be able to distinguish between

• Literal negative numbers
• Expressions that evaluate to negative numbers
  • ...of the form -foo
  • ...of some other form
• All other expressions

CRGreathouse (t | c) 20:04, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

I found the village pump (technical) where I have asked this question. CRGreathouse (t | c) 20:55, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Editing page as an authority

Hello! I work for an organization whose page on Wikipedia is outdated. I would like to edit the page with information that cannot be changed, or edit the page as an authority--is this possible? Thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.14.228.137 (talk) 21:17, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

You are free to update and expand upon the article, but make sure the information is neutral and well sourced. Other people will still be able to edit the article, however. See, WP:OWN. BurtAlert (talk) 21:22, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

It is important that you also read WP:COI and WP:ORGFAQ before doing this. Not only are you not an authority for that page, there are few people less appropriate than you to edit it.

Having said that, if there is information that you think should be updated, you are very welcome to explain this (and your connection with the subject) on the article's talk page, with the independent reliable sources in which one can verify the information. --ColinFine (talk) 21:39, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

When you speak of yourself as an authority, perhaps you mean you have information which is not published elsewhere. But Wikipedia has a policy of not including information unless it can be verified from published reliable sources. —teb728 t c 22:09, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

William Styron

The article on William Styron does not mention that he received the Pulitzer Prize 1968 for his novel "The Confessions of Nat Turner". Can someone update this article (as I am not interested in being an editor). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.126.224.125 (talk) 22:19, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Do you have a reference? Like...a newspaper article, or in a book, or something? If so, please put all details here - title, date, page, author, etc. - that's what we need; a reliable source. Thanks!  Chzz  ►  22:21, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

William Styron

Please ignore my previous comment. Styron's Pulitzer is mentioned, but not prominently.