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March 27

Contributing from a Business

Hello,

I have recently tried several times to get a Wikipedia account for David Gallaher. He is a knowledgeable and well respected member of the martial arts community and his knowledge on subjects such as heatlh and fitness are vast. However, prior to this account, after we attempt to create various articles or provide information in the account profile about David, the account is deleted citing reasons which essentially say that we are advertising David's Martial Arts school. This is not our intent; what we would like to know is how can we contribute to and create articles in a way that will not be considered advertising? It is difficult to separate the school or David's biographical information (one of the accounts was deleted citing that we were trying to promote David and in essence his school as well) from his articles because it is where his knowledge and training come from and how it remains applicable in every day life. How can we go about this?

Best Wishes, Synthia — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gungfuins (talk • contribs) 00:39, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

You seem to have a WP:COI and thus it would not be possible to write such an article by yourself. Hghyux (talk to me)(talk to others) 00:43, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

You could add him at Wikipedia:Requested articles/Biography/By profession#Boxers.2C martial artists and wrestlers, although there is no telling when it would be created. Any previously deleted article receives heightened scrutiny during attempts to recreate it. Dru of Id (talk) 00:56, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

You've used account when you mean article. I'm presuming you mean the David Gallaher with the Gung Fu Institute of Fort Myers, Florida, which sets off alarm bells with your user name. For words to avoid, see Wikipedia:Wikipuffery. Dru of Id (talk) 01:10, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

A good start would be to find the multiple independent reliable sources which discuss David Gallaher and which can establish hist notability. With those, it is possible to write an article about him, but everything in it must be referenced to reliable sources, and it must be written in a neutral tone, which is probably very difficult for you to do, because of your conflict of interest. Dru of Id's suggestion is probably the best one, but if you do the detective work and find the references that will make it easier for somebody disinterested to come along and write the article. If you can't find the references, then I'm afraid he is not currently notable by Wikipedia's criteria. --ColinFine (talk) 09:11, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I have just had a pretty thorough search for reliable, independent sources. This (which I can't read in its entirety) is the only valid source I could find; on its own it isn't sufficient to prove notability. It may well be that Sifu Gallaher simply doesn't meet the notability standards. Yunshui 雲‍水 09:36, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

no references

My page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Rice lacked references and was going to be deleted. i have put what i hope are appropriate references and external sources on. can you please confirm they are adequate and, if not, give a further indication of what is expected. Jumgrant (talk) 06:45, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

No. The telegraph and FT reviews just mention him in passing. The Observer has a couple of sentences about him, and would be a useful reference in conjunction with others, but in my opinion it is not enough on its own. You need to find independent reliable sources which have written significantly about him in order to establish that he is notable.

Also, the references need to be inline, attached to the particular facts that are being stated: see WP:Referencing for beginners. Since this is a biography of a living person, every piece of information in it should be referenced to a published source. --ColinFine (talk) 09:22, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

• Those references are fine to verify the facts they mention, but you also need to establish notability by finding multiple independant reliable sources about Mr. Rice himself. - 194.60.106.17 (talk) 07:25, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Nominating article for deletion

Hello, i need help in nominating article Veilig Rijen for deletion. TheGeneralUser (talk) 07:45, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Instructions are at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion. - David Biddulph (talk) 07:51, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I have seen the page already before, but i haven't carried out the Deletion process before and it would be very helpful if someone else who already knows the process could kindly do it and after that explain the process to me. Thank you. TheGeneralUser (talk) 08:05, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

You can use Twinkle, a useful program which, among other functions, can help you with the deletion process.--Hallows Aktiengesellschaft (talk) 09:27, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Category Request: Category:Alumni of the École nationale de l'aviation civile

Hello. The category I proposed, Category:Alumni of the École nationale de l'aviation civile, has been accepted. But there is still a problem. The category needs a clean up from Category Request: Category:Alumni of the École nationale de l'aviation civile to Category:Alumni of the École nationale de l'aviation civile, so the same but without the "Category Request: ". For the moment, it doesn't work when I had Category:Alumni of the École nationale de l'aviation civile to an article. Many thanks in advance for your help. Kind Regards. 78.239.175.7 (talk) 09:17, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

For information, it still doesn't work. The final name should be Category: Alumni of the École nationale de l'aviation civile instead of Wikipedia:Category: Alumni of the École nationale de l'aviation civile. 78.239.175.7 (talk) 09:37, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I created Category:Alumni of the École nationale de l'aviation civile. Please check that everything is ok, I did delete a few pages with the wrong titles.--Commander Keane (talk) 10:17, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I think everything is ok. Thank you very much for your help. 78.239.175.7 (talk) 10:19, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Religion, reference to United Reformed Church

Just for clarification. The United Reformed Church was an original amalgamation of Congregationalists and EnglishPresbytarians in 1972. There are Scottish Presbytarians but they are not part of the union. I believe the Churches of Christ followed later, but that needs confirmation from someone else87.115.139.168 (talk) 11:56, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Which page do you think needs clarifying? The "Origins and history" section of the United Reformed Church article begins "The United Reformed Church results from a union of the Presbyterian Church of England...", which seems to cover your point. -- John of Reading (talk) 14:08, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Somali National Demcoratic Reform Party. A newly founded reform-minded political party led by Dr. Khalif M. Duale

Sir, would you please edit in the above mentioned information in the Somali Political Parties list section — Preceding unsigned comment added by Khalifhadji1 (talk • contribs) 13:03, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia articles can only include information that has been published in reliable sources such as books, journals and respected news websites. A Google search for "Somali National Democratic Reform Party" only returns one page - this Help desk - so it seems that the new party hasn't been picked up by the media yet. -- John of Reading (talk) 13:59, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

About a created page

I have created a page List of Commercial Developments by Prestige Group but its not showing in the list of articles i have created..whats the problem in that ?? Thanks Sayowais 13:00, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

These lists are currently out of date because of a technical issue. Be patient - another few days and they should be correct again. There's more detail at Village pump (technical). -- John of Reading (talk) 13:52, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

proposed redirect

Is there a template with which to tag a stub to propose that it becomes a redirect? I haven't been able to find one.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:06, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I was unable to find a template for this, so I created a new one. It is at Template:Stub redirect. Is that like what you want? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 11:38, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Brilliant. Thanks.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 14:09, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Creating an article, unsure on title choice and if content can be seen as advertising

Hi,

my name is Glenn Ivar Husom and I am part of a group in a course at the University of Oslo where we are tasked with masking an article for Wikipedie with high likelyhood of surviving.

My group has chosen the topic "Tracking of third party webtrackers"/"Tracking of webtrackers".

Wedo however, have a few questions. For a title on such an article, would one of our two example work? And also, if one for example searches for "tracking" on wikipedia, Tracking(webtracking) appears under technology. How would our article fit under this?

And last, Ghostery and Collusion are two articles that deliver this kind of service. Ghostery already has an article on wikipedia, but Collusion does not, as far as we could find. What we want to know is if we can mention these two applications in our article without it beeing seen as advertisement for said applications.

We have been given good references by a person from The Data Inspectorate here in Norway, so we hope that will help the survivability of our article.

Hope you can help with any answers to our questions, and if you have any more tips, those will be most welcome as well.

Sincerely,

Glenn Ivar Husom — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.215.33.50 (talk) 16:21, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I would think Comparsion of web trackers may be what you are looking to create? You could set it up as a table comparing features, and if all the ones you can find are on the table, it wouldn't be advertising. Comparison of video converters is a sample of one.--Canoe1967 (talk) 22:43, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Asking a question in Japanese

Can someone who knows Japanese help me follow up on an usurp request? I just want to ask what the progress is, since there have been no comments since 6 March, and I want to know whether the usurp will be allowed or not. Cheers! — madman 16:25, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Clarification: I'd just like something I can copy and paste. Cheers! — madman 21:27, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I dropped a note on the talk page of a user who was incredibly helpful when I was writing an article on a Japanese subject. Can't guarantee he'll act on it or is around to see my post, but he is active.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:11, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

No progress. There is a transfer request on JP Madman's talk page under the date of Feb. 27, but no reply so far. The request says if there's no reply within a set period of time, the name Madman would be transferred to the requester. I do not know much about usurpations. I bet two ja speaking admins, User:Hoary and User:Nihonjoe would be your big help. Oda Mari (talk) 05:15, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Talking to Nihonjoe is an excellent idea and I shall do so; thanks! I was able to ascertain the above with the help of Google Translate, but I assumed that the set period of time has passed by now (I think I read somewhere on ja.wp that it was two weeks). Cheers! — madman 15:28, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Page written as advertisement and contains buzzwords

The Agility Logistics page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agility_Logistics) is marked as being written like an advertisement and containing a large number of buzzwords. I would like to correct this. Can you cite examples on the page so I have a better idea as to what to correct? Thanks. Pcr31415 (talk) 17:11, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Ultimately, the problem is the overall tone. For example: "From 1996 onward, Agility has grown rapidly through organic growth and acquisition of other logistics companies." In addition to being redundant ("grown... through organic growth"), this is essentially puffery. Here are a few other concerns:

• Much of the article is in the present tense. We seek to document what has happened, not what is or will be happening. Besides, much of it is referring to past events and logically ought to be in the past tense anyway.
• Many of the sentences are vague and possibly opinion rather than fact.

I'll echo this. For example, the lead states "the company specializes in emerging markets and 'challenging environments.'" Meaningless jargon like "challenging environments", and "offer solutions" should be avoided.
Best Wishes Ankh.Morpork 17:56, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Unless it's talking about the answer to an equation, or about a solute dissolved in a solvent, the appearance of the word "solutions" is one of the deadliest giveaways that what you're reading is promotional language and violates neutral point-of-view. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:28, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

• The controversy section is quite short, although it does not suffer from vagueness. It should ultimately be integrated into the main prose, but for the time being it really needs more detail.

If you are affiliated with this company, please read our guide to working within a conflict of interest. I think it will be helpful in the long run. --NYKevin @755, i.e. 17:06, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

How to post copy write material after permission has been granted.

Hi, how do I get allowed to post copy write material. I have permission from the company to use material from their website. How do I get permission from Wikipedia? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tingyo (talk • contribs) 19:56, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Follow the process set out at WP:IOWN to forward the permission. Note though that material from a company's website is likely to fall foul of our guidelines on neutral point of view and/or promotion.--ukexpat (talk) 20:22, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

• Please note there is a difference between copyright and copywriting. -- 194.60.106.17 (talk) 07:21, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Sortable table

How do I make the List of Merlin Award recipients into a "sortable" list? I also need help to format it as a table. Llama's Koala (talk) 20:05, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I hope that another editor will finish my work to make it into a sortable table because I don't have the time to wok on this right now. Llama's Koala (talk) 20:22, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

List of transclusions?

What is the best method to locate and list all articles into which a specific template is transcluded? Thanks in advance for all advice. Meclee (talk) 21:00, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Go to the page for the template and click "What Links Here". Or on a more technical level, you can do the equivalent like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:North-American_Interfraternity_Conference .Naraht (talk) 21:08, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

My Own?

Why am I not allowed to view my own deleted contributions? Interchangeable|talk to me 21:02, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

That is a power only given to admins. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:09, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I figured as much, but why is this power given only to administrators? What harm would there be if I saw all my own edits that have been deleted? Interchangeable|talk to me 21:10, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Well, one might be that if a newer user has an article they created deleted, they'd just be able to access the deleted article and more or less restore it quite easily. - Purplewowies (talk) 22:41, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

A user who actually wanted to recreate one of their articles that had been deleted would just rewrite it. And furthermore, if they did recreate it either by your method or mine, it would be speedily deleted under criterion G4 anyway. So that's not a valid rationale. Interchangeable|talk to me 22:53, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Eh, it was just a thought. That's why I put the "might" in there. - Purplewowies (talk) 23:12, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

What's more, you'd also be able to see other people's deleted contributions indirectly. Imagine if a rather high-profile article with more than ten thousand edits were deleted as a copyvio — such a page would likely have been edited by thousands of people, and all of them would still be able to view at least one version of a copyvio. Nyttend (talk) 02:22, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

CSD G4 is only for pages deleted after discussion (XfDs), that is, it is not applicable to anything that was speedily deleted or deleted as a result of proposed deletion. In any event, I think there are good reasons not to allow users across the board to see the content of deleted edits: copyvios; defamatory content; ability to repost crap and spam and those copyvios and attack pages fostered vastly; but I think it would be good if users could see a list of the pages they edited that were deleted.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:32, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I just want to see a list, similar to "My Contributions", of my deleted edits. I don't want to view the pages. Could that feature be created? Interchangeable|talk to me 19:01, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

You could ask at WP:VPR.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 21:52, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

etymology is lacking for many entries

etymology......good — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.38.191.197 (talk) 22:06, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

You want Wiktionary, not Wikipedia. —Jeremy v^_^v ^Bori! 22:08, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Twinkle rollback links

Anyone know if it's possible to get the twinkle rollback links (Rollback good faith - Rollback - Rollback Vandalism) next to pages on your watch list? Since the regular rollback doesn't prompt for an edit summary I prefer to use twinkle but it's always an extra page load. SÆdon^talk 22:10, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Twinkle rollback doesn't appear on watchlists, since they are not the original rollback tools. However, I'm not sure of this..... Dipankan says.. ^{("Be bold and edit!")} 15:50, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

changing false information on for King andCountry

Rebecca St. James brothers are Joel and Luke smallbone,not Joel and Luke St.James. How do I fix their Wikipedia page? 198.108.232.3 (talk) 22:25, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Done
Best Wishes Ankh.Morpork 22:28, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Posting on a talk page

I recently clicked on the "talk" tab of an article because I wanted to make a comment on the article's talk page. There were no existing user comments on the page and no instructions on how to enter a comment. So my question is: exactly how does one make a comment on a talk page -- what does one do, mechanically -- when there are no existing comments and yours is going to be the first?Redound (talk) 22:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Click on the New Section link at the top of the page. This will take you to an editing page where you can title and write your input. This is necessary whenever you wish to add a new section to the Talk page. See Wikipedia:Talk pages
Best Wishes Ankh.Morpork 22:47, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

It works just like what you did here! ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 09:20, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

We cannot see what Redound did but the box at top of this page has a link saying "If you can't find an answer, click here to ask a new question." Talk pages don't have such a link. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:49, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Popups anyone?

Resolved

Anyone else on here using popups at the moment? Whenever I currently mouse-over any link to WP:ANI, a very odd image is appearing in popups. Anyone else? Calabe1992 22:49, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Fixed at ANI. Calabe1992 23:22, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Uploading an image that is copyrighted

Hello,

I have a logo for a game, and wish to upload it to use it on the games page which I'm creating. I have permission from the owner (as I am a developer) to use the logo for this purpose, but I am so unsure what option to use. Every time I try to upload it the upload button stays blanked out so I have no idea what to do.

Thanks

Darkmantle90 (talk) 23:04, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

If I'm not mistaken, your account needs to be auto-confirmed before you can upload images. That means you need at least 10 edits (this part is done) and be a registered user for at least 4 days. I don't believe that second part has been accomplished. Dismas|^(talk) 03:07, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

You need to understand, however, that Wikipedia does not accept permission for use only on Wikipedia; acceptable permission must allow reuse by anyone for anything. If the copyright owner does not want to grant such broad permission, Wikipedia does accept images without permission under certain limited conditions. A logo used to identify the subject of an article usually fulfils those conditions. The point is that if you are using the non-permission route, don't talk about permission.

But before you spend a lot of time working on an article, however, please read Wikipedia:Your first article. If the game has not already received significant coverage in independent reliable sources, I'm afraid your article will be deleted. —teb728 t c 04:58, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

March 28

Problem with 'PUF' template.

There is a file which is erroneously described and attributed, and I have tracked down the original source, and am trying to add tag for Possible unfree file using the instructions for the 'Puf template'. However my attempts always end up as an invalid template (in red). Details are available on the file, etc., but (warning) this is a very long story. ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 00:42, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

While editing as the IP address 184.76.225.106, you've never edited a single file page; I'm guessing that you have a dynamic IP address. Please provide the name of the file (or the full URL of the file), because it will be a lot easier to answer your question if we can see what you've attempted. Nyttend (talk) 00:50, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I presume the image you are talking about is File:Genghis and Borte dividing appanages.jpg? If so, that file was uploaded to Commons, not Wikipedia, so you should follow their procedure for starting a deletion discussion. AJCham 01:05, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

For now my main problem is attempting to follow directions from (above) is failing to get results, and I am unsure if it is me, or a problem with the template, or a problem with the instructions. [Since there is never a problem with me, it must be the template!]

I managed to summarize the situation on the original uploader's 'talk page' -- would it be proper to link to that here? ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 01:11, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Oh, hang on, it was uploaded to Wikipedia first then transferred to Commons, but the original is still in place here. In that case you can use the PUF template, but would still need to address the Commons version if there is a problem. I suspect the problem you are having with the template is that you are trying to add it to the Commons file instead of the local one. AJCham 01:20, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

At User talk:Enerelt#Problem with image you link to http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Genghis_and_Borte_dividing_appanages.jpg That file is on Commons, where there is no puf template. The easy way to nominate a file for deletion on Commons is to click the “Nominate for deletion” link at the bottom of the left sidebar. You should have no trouble using the puf template on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Genghis_and_Borte_dividing_appanages.jpg which is a separate upload. —teb728 t c 06:05, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Ok, I've started the 'nominate for deletion' process, but I only added This image is actually a modern reproduction by a current artist, the source of this image includes "All rights reserved. Copyright 2012 © Exotic India" to the 'Reason for the nomination'. To include specific details, do I add it to the file's main page, or the 'talk page'. Also, I don't feel that I have authority to "delete" this -- I just want to sort things out properly; I have no relation to the artist, etc. -- Also, I am worried that this might be beyond my current abilities to do this without messing something up. And is the copy of the file on WP a separate deal, or will the process include both copies? ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 07:06, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I would put the details on the discussion page, Commons:Commons:Deletion requests/File:Genghis and Borte dividing appanages.jpg. Don't worry about messing things up: the discussion page is just a forum like this one.

The copy on WP is a separate deal: use the {{puf}} template on File:Genghis and Borte dividing appanages.jpg. After you add it, the template will give directions on how to complete the nomination. —teb728 t c 18:41, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I manged to follow all steps for both files except the following (semi-protected:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan):

• Add the following to the file's caption(s): Template:Pufc
  

Thanks! Your assistance is appreciated. -- This article is a mess, and it is rated 'Top priority' in three catagories. ~Eric F [edit3]~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 00:23, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

LISTENING TO A SONG

WHEN A SEARCH IS COMPLETE ON AN ARTIST ALBUM / SONG IS THERE A WAY OF LISTENING TO THE MUSIC OF THIS ARTIST THROUGH YOUR SITE You are not currently logged in. If you save any edits, your IP address will be recorded publicly in this page's edit history. If you create an account, you can conceal your IP address and be provided with many other benefits. Messages sent to your IP can be viewed on your talk page.

Please do not save test edits. If you want to experiment, please use the sandbox. If you need any help getting started with editing, see the New contributors' help page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.35.82.136 (talk) 03:19, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6.9 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck.--Hallows Aktiengesellschaft (talk) 03:31, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

No; it would be a copyright violation for Wikipedia to have an artist's songs up in full just to have them. - Purplewowies (talk) 04:00, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Span tags showing on titles

On the tiles of articles, span tags are showing. Any idea what's causing this for me? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.39.32.138 (talk) 05:42, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Have a look at Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 February 29#HTML tags in page titles - is that your problem? -- John of Reading (talk) 07:28, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Looking for good software to help me edit wikipedia.

Hello, and thank you for reading my question. I am looking for some good software that can help me edit wikipedia. If it could track people's edits, and tell me areas of the site that are in most dire need of editing or are disputed, that would be great as well. I see the village pump is wiki's main discussion forum—which part of this is for discussing specific articles, or trends? Looking at the discussion tab in pages, it appears there are seldom any prompt responses, and a lot of the pages even end at 2011. Xenharmonic (talk) 06:08, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

• See Wikipedia:Tools that contain various tools and tutorials intended to simplify, make more efficient, or provide additional functionality to Wikipedians.Moxy (talk) 06:14, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
• To find articles needing various kinds of editing, you could try some of the links at the top right of Wikipedia:Cleanup. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:33, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Query about the replication lag

At present, the replication lag between count tallies and the feedback appears to be very high - does any one have any idea why this is is? 08:07, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

There's discussion about this at the village pump Wikipedia:VPT#Toolserver_replication_lag RudolfRed (talk) 08:12, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Creating images with programs on my computer that use data from a Twitter post

Hi,

I created a couple of graphs showing some data about the Challenger Deep sub that went to the bottom of the ocean over the weekend. I used data from Paul Allen's Twitter page that announced depths throughout the dive then I created two graphs showing the descent and ascent of the sub as a function of time as well as the rate of ascent/descent. I created the charts in Mathematica and then took a screen shot of the graph and edited these images a little in Photoshop to put a nicer looking title than what Mathematica created.

Do I need to site the source of the numbers (Paul Allen's tweets) and also do I need to site Mathematica and Photoshop as programs I used to create and modify the resultant image? Is content created this way something that I can upload to Wikipedia without doing anything else, like getting permission from Paul Allen to use info from his tweets or from Adobe or Wolfram about the image I created and modified?

I was going to add these to the Challenger Deep article to help show the progress of the dive.

Never done this before so am just trying to find out what I can and can't do.

Thanks...

DeepYogurt (talk) 09:00, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Hi! I suspect other users will offer advice too, but what I'd say is definitely list your sources for the data in the description of the file when you upload it to Commons. I wouldn't bother about listing Photoshop, but since I'm unfamiliar with Mathematica I can't say whether citing it is part of the licence agreement. I doubt that it is, though. But as for citing the data sources: yes please! I tried to vectorise a phase diagram of a chemical compound a while ago, and couldn't find where the original author had found his data. Very frustrating. Sorry I can't answer the rest of your question with confidence. Regards, Brammers (talk/c) 13:37, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

You may wish to save as an .svg file as well. I think wikipedia is trying to use and convert to that format for graphs and charts, etc.--Canoe1967 (talk) 20:11, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Semi-protected article needs 'Cleanup' and/or 'Copy edit'

There is a semi-protected article that is in need of cleanup (or copy edit?); the talk page has many issues discussed. Could somebody with admin privileges take a look? Putting a 'cleanup' or 'copy-edit' tag wouldn't work (nobody could edit). What are the options? ~Eric F [edit]~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 09:33, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

All autoconfirmed users (at least 4 days and 10 edits) can edit semiprotected pages. You seem to be a regular contributor already and could have been autoconfirmed long ago. Why not make an account? It's easy and has many other benefits. The username Eric F is available. If the software will not allow it because it's too similar to an existing name then you can ask for it at Wikipedia:Request an account. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:18, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Paterson Mass Water flow meter

I have Mass Water Flow Meter (Fully Mechanical like a cabinet or tower clock) which manufactured by "Paterson Engineering Co. Ltd., Windsor House, Kingsway, London. In 1956, and reference no. of that meter is R- 1750. If anybody knows about this flow meter, please write. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.107.116.228 (talk) 09:37, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6.9 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. Yunshui 雲‍水 09:58, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Tony Stewart Picture

Main File picture of NASCAR driver Tony Stewart must be updated. The picture displays him in the "Home Depot" jumpsuit. "Home Depot" is no longer a sponsor for Tony Stewart. I would suggest a picture with either his "Office Depot" or "Mobil 1" jumpsuit, they are his current sponsors. Thank you for your help =) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.21.231.95 (talk) 12:14, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

If somebody has a more recent picture which is in the public domain, or which they are willing to release under a suitable licence, they are welcome to upload it to Commons and replace the picture in the article. But Wikipedia does not care about sponsors, and an older picture of him is perfectly acceptable in an article (it would be reasonable to edit the caption to mention that his livery was out of date). --ColinFine (talk) 12:57, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

You could ask those two latest sponsors for a public domain image and upload it yourself. Do you want a free stapler or a quart of oil for your efforts?--Canoe1967 (talk) 20:35, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

bayou blast and collapse

I got up to level 34 in bayou blast on facebook and had access to all the power ups today I went to play the game and I was put back to level 14 and lost access to most of the power ups very peeved.Alsao I had the high score and I came up as second grrrrr. On collapse you have that annoying 1 2 3 go we lose 10 seconds of our minute before we can start another grrrrrr. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.178.118.84 (talk) 13:58, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6.9 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. --Orange Mike | Talk 14:10, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Just in doubt.....

Hello, I'm a experienced user here. My sister, User:Dazzlingstar090 stopped editing as she is very busy and can't make out time. What will I do to the account? Should I request an indefinite block with autoblock disabled to any admin? Just in doubt.... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dipankan001 (talk • contribs) 15:11, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Why do you want to block your sister's account? I do not see any reason. Ruslik_Zero 17:03, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

If she wants to, she can put a wikibreak template on her page to notify others that she will not be around or respond quickly to anything. But that's really something she should do, not you. - Purplewowies (talk) 18:55, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I know that one should only use one's one account. She can't be editing due to workload in real life. Thanks. Solved, depends upon my sister. Dipankan says.. ^{("Be bold and edit!")} 06:42, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

• If she isn't around to edit. It's nice to leave a notice, but other than that, neither of you need to do anything. If her account was blocked simply for inactivity, it would take way too long for the account to be re-activated upon her return (if that ever happened). -- 194.60.106.17 (talk) 07:16, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

User Inputting False Information

On the page 2012 Telus Cup, there is a user who keeps putting in false information. Is there anyway to keep him from editing that page? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.161.251.159 (talk) 15:18, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Simply use the undo feature with a reasonable edit summary, drop him a warning. Or you might request a page protection if you like. Thanks. Dipankan says.. ^{("Be bold and edit!")} 15:21, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Stock Answers

I note that some respondents provide stock answers where appropriate, such as, "I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 3.8 million articles...". Where do these responses come from? What other information is helpful for someone who wishes to assist on the Help page?
Best Wishes Ankh.Morpork 19:38, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Help desk/How to answer. It's linked on "How to answer" below the box at the top. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:43, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

List of articles in List of categories without DEFAULTSORT or Sortkey

Let's say that List of Cosby Show Episodes was in the category Category:List of NBC shows Episodes. There is no reason why it should be put in there without either a DEFAULTSORT or a Sortkey. If it is, then it gets listed under L, where it should be listed under C. Is there anyway to find these either by running against a database or by use of a bot to fix them?Naraht (talk) 20:10, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't know a tool for this. I have fixed many cases manually after looking at the category page under a letter likely to be wrong, such as 'L' in your example. It would be nice with a feature to place code on a category page to instruct MediaWiki to ignore certain words when sorting, for example "List" and "of". PrimeHunter (talk) 15:08, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Diverse

Does someone else wish to try 'Diverse' in search and voice their opinion on whether the redirects and dab pages are set correctly?--Canoe1967 (talk) 20:18, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

using data

Are data (such as numbers in a table; e.g. Simpson's paradox) in Wikipedia considered to be text (and therefore would not need permission for use in a textbook that I'm trying to write)? Or is it necessary to ask a source for permission? Moshepollak (talk) 20:20, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Under my understanding, regarding the Idea–expression divide, is that data is an idea and so isn't protected by copyright, but the specific presentation of that data (the expression) is. So, data itself cannot be copyrighted, but the text, tables, charts, and graphs that report it are. I am not an expert in this field, however, so if you have questions you may want to ask at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions, which is a noticeboard for asking exactly this kind of question. Of a seperate concern, is that you should always cite the sources of your data. That is, even if it isn't encumbered by copyright, ideas still need to be connected to sources, lest you be guilty of plagiarism. In other words, even if you rewrite an idea in your own words, you still need to say where that idea comes from. See also Wikipedia:Verifiability. --Jayron32 20:25, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Request for feedback

I've written my first article, and I'm looking for some feedback

User:TomLuTon/SS Kaliyuga

TomLuTon (talk) 20:26, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

For a first article it looks pretty good. I suggest you hunt around for some more external references however, because it looks like you have just written it based on one book. The more verifiable references the better. It seems to have squeezed into notability -just. Having said that, I think it will soon be ready for becoming and article. --Aspro (talk) 20:38, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I made some contributions to the article's Talk page. ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 21:34, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Citing multiple non-sequential pages

If I wanted to cite, for example, pages 40 and 140 of the same book in the same reference, should I use "p." or "pp."? And if "p.", should it be repeated before each page number (e.g. "p. 40, p. 140") or is once sufficient (e.g. "p. 40, 140")? (I realise this is an issue of almost comical insignificance, but the uncertainty was getting on my nerves.) – hysteria18 (talk) 20:46, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Separate page ranges with an en dash (–); separate non-sequential pages with a comma (,); precede entire set of pages with ​pp. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 20:57, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

James Dean page

Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Hi, I've got a picture of the James Dean Memorial at Cholame, California, that I personally took back in May, 1988, that I'd like to put a link to on the James Dean Wiki page so others can enjoy seeing the mirror surface that used to be there. The picture is at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JamesDeanTributePostcard1988GF38.jpg . If someone can tell me how to add it to the James Dean page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dean , I'd appreciate it. Or, if someone can just go ahead and add the link to the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dean page, that would be great.

Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by WaltMaken (talk • contribs) 22:17, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Why is in in a frame? Surly the original image would do?--Aspro (talk) 22:31, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

It is a better picture than this one File:JamesDeanMemorialCholame.jpg that is used now. I agree that you should remove the gold frame, red frame and copyright text. They may look like spam to others.--Canoe1967 (talk) 22:35, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

(e'c) Seconded. It's great that you have donated the image to commons but I don't think it is usable right now in the article with the frame, the red interior border the writing and your copyright notice. Since you have released the image, if it was just the frame any of us could just crop and re-upload, but to crop enough to remove all the other extraneous elements would leave the image greatly compromised. Would you be willing to upload the photo ‎without the add-ons? Meanwhile, please see the top of Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Images for basics on how to add an image to an article.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:43, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Why should the copyright notice be removed? Licencing it under creative commons doesn't give up copyright. RudolfRed (talk) 23:46, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I meant the text on the image only. The image page can still contain the copyright info. If it is left on the image, others may think it is spamming the JD article with a photographer's name.--Canoe1967 (talk) 00:21, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Because it and the writing and the frame and the red border are all extraneous elements that are not part of the photo proper and are distracting and intrusive. I don't think anyone above was talking about whether the copyright symbol and following text was a violation of the copyright license of the image. An image's copyright status belongs on the image description page, not in the image. From Wikipedia:Image use policy: "Do not put credits in images themselves." "If you create an image that contains text, please also upload a version without any text." "Free images should not be watermarked, distorted, have any credits in the image itself or anything else that would hamper their free use." From Commons:Watermarks "Adding your name directly to the photograph when uploading is strongly discouraged. It detracts from the quality of photographs, and generally the thumbnails used on pages are so small the text is not visible anyway."--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:31, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the explanation. RudolfRed (talk) 01:16, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Ansel E. Talbert Information

Just fyi, my father was born on January 6, 1912 and he dies on October 7, 1987. I suppose no one cares at this point but me! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.218.81.244 (talk) 22:43, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

May he RIP.--Aspro (talk) 23:00, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

We are interested, but the problem is that we have no way of knowing who you are and whether the information you are giving is accurate: that is why we insist on information being verifiable.

I have added the date of death to Ansel Talbert, as it is mentioned in the obituary; but I have removed the date of birth, as it was unreferenced. But I have not inserted the birth date you provided, because that is also unreferenced. If you can find a published source which gives the birth date, you are welcome to add it to the article, with a citation to the the source. (But if you are contemplating doing anything more than that to the article, please read WP:Conflict of interest first). --ColinFine (talk) 23:35, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

I am going to add the birthdate as per Wikipedia:V#When_a_reliable_source_is_required with a citation needed template. It seems the IP did know the accurate date of his passing, so I will assume good faith that the other date is accurate, if not verifiable. This is a more sesitive approach than hinting that we have no idea when he was born.--Canoe1967 (talk) 00:31, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

March 29

File:Second Revolution Flag 2x3.svg

I do not usually challenge images but I believe that this image should be deleted because it may not have either a copyright tag or an acceptable fair use rationale. Even if {{Symbol rationale}} was added, it still may be rendered in too high a resolution. Also, I do not believe the source as given is correct. Can an expert look at this and make a determination. --RoyGoldsmith (talk) 01:13, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I doubt they can copyright it. It is just a minor modification of the Betsy Ross flag which is probably PD.--Canoe1967 (talk) 01:45, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

List notability and styles

This [[1]] has raised a style question with respect to listing a notable person in a list.

One editor feels that if someone is no longer practicing something they were notable for, they should be listed as "former". Their comment was:

"This dispute is simply about the word "former". Once a person is no longer doing what made them notable in the first place, they should have the word "former" (or something similar) attached to their description."

In this case it is a radio personality who at the moment is not on the radio. I feel that then style should refereence what the subject is notable for, not for what they used to be. Unless they we actually notable for being a "former radio personality". I don't see how that coud happen, but anything is possible I guess.

A very cursory glance shows that most lists in Wikipedia tend to follow my prefered syntax. Is there a style guideline which might be of assistance? I'd like to try finding one before asking for an RfC on such a minor syntactical issue. Fasttimes68 (talk) 04:14, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't find any coverage in the Manual of Style pages, but radio personality seems like an individual could do it again on any given day for the rest of their lives, like 'author' or 'commentator'. He's a 'Former radio host', but 'Media personality', as he is actively podcasting. Lists in tables can be more clear, see the Prior Experience column of List of current United States Senators#Members by state, but unnecessary on location pages. Dru of Id (talk) 05:17, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Mistake at "Marble Falls, TX"

Hello,

I was editing the current population of Marble Falls, TX, and the format was disrupted somehow. I was not able to resolve the issue. Could someone help? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.221.153.112 (talk) 05:54, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

 Fixed Replaced your )] with ]]. Dru of Id (talk) 06:05, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

How to make different versions in Wikipedia (Same Topic)

How do I create different version of the same topic in terms of language. For example I created a page in english version and I want to have it also available in german language for example without having to leave the english version page. I want it to be located on the left navigation of the page for the different languages. Do I have to create a page first for the german version and link it to the english version? how do I do that? Please advise. Visit this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGS_S.A. for the sample of what I want to attain. It has different languages to choose from without having to leave the main page.Sgssm (talk) 06:12, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes, you would have to create the German version first and then link the two with interlanguage links. Dismas|^(talk) 06:22, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

The necessary tools should all be available through Category:Wikipedia translation, its subcategories, and articles. Many interlanguage links are added by bots, with readers and editors as human quality control, reporting errors. Dru of Id (talk) 06:27, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I created the english version last week http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGS_Agricultural_Services and tried to create the german version http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGS_Agricultural_Services of it the other day but it was proposed for deletion. why is that so? Could someone tell what is the process for creating the different language with the same topic?Sgssm (talk) 06:40, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

My German isn't good enough to read their policies but it might have something to do with their standards for inclusion versus the English standards. Not all Wikipedias have the same rules as to what is allowed and what isn't. I'd ask at the German Wikipedia why the article is up for deletion. Dismas|^(talk) 06:44, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for your fast feedback and help. I've read this under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Translation/German/Translation_advice: "Interwikis Remember to code the bottom interwiki line "[[de:xxx]]" for the deutsch link. German Wikipedia bots edit its articles to backlink interwiki "en:" (within 5 hours); once "[[de:xxx]]" is added to an English article, the German article "xxx" is later bot-edited to backlink (with "en:") by various bots such as Alexbot or Grouchobot." -What does this mean? Do I have to put "[[de:xxx]]" at the bottom of my article in the english version? and replace the XXX with the name of the article I made in german version? For example: [[de:SGS Agricultural Services]]?? Did I get it right? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sgssm (talk • contribs) 07:08, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

That's right - add that to the English version, and the bots should notice this and fix up the German version. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:20, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks everyone for your help. I have already linked it to the english version. But I still have one problem. The page I created in german language has been proposed for deletion. What should I do? Sgssm (talk) 08:06, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

sorry to say the english version reads like a promotional page for the company and might well get nominated for deletion as well. MilborneOne (talk) 17:32, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I agree with MilborneOne. Some examples are:

• It may be appropriate somewhere in the article to mention the number of staff and the number of offices, but doing so in the WP:LEDE looks like promotional language
• "a complete range of services" is peacock language. --ColinFine (talk) 09:20, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Blue background?

Starting today, Wikipedia appears to have a blue background that stretches across part of every page. I've attached a screenshot depicting what I see. It's quite annoying; does anyone know how to get rid of it or what it is caused by? Thanks. Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/FBUPt.png 174.63.29.45 (talk) 07:51, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

It's almost certainly not a problem with Winkipedia. First thing to try is 'purge browser cache', second: reboot. ~Eric F184.76.225.106 (talk) 10:11, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Bypass your cache for how to completely clear the cache. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:53, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Cleared cache. Didn't change anything; this issue is specific to Chrome (tried Firefox and it was fine) it seems but I tried disabling all my extensions, full browsing history clear, etc. with no avail. Really odd. Anyone have any ideas? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 32.178.182.110 (talk) 15:45, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't have the problem in Chrome whether I'm logged in or out. If you completely cleared the cache under the Tools menu as described at Wikipedia:Bypass your cache#Google Chrome then I don't know what causes it. Does the blue disappear at any of these:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk?useskin=vector
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk?useskin=monobook
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk?useskin=vector
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk?useskin=monobook

monobook has a different page layout. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:06, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Hm, I'm getting the same problem in Chrome (but Safari was fine). Clearing the cache did nothing, but the two "monobook" links above showed the normal white background. "Vector" links still had the blue bg. Is that enough information to know what's causing it and how to fix it permanently? It's quite hard to read at the moment! 98.218.23.245 (talk) 01:32, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't know the cause or a general fix. It works for me in the current Google Chrome 18.0.1025.142 on Windows Vista. It also worked in 17.0.963.83 before I updated during this discussion. And it works in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera. Which Chrome version and operating system do you have? You can change individual pages to monobook by adding ?useskin=monobook to the url, but it's not preserved when you change page. Registered users can change their skin permanently to MonoBook or other options at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering. The default skin changed from MonoBook to Vector in 2010. Unregistered users always see the default skin unless they have ?useskin= in the url. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:32, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm using the most current Chrome (18.0.1025.142 as you have above) but on a Mac: OS X 10.6.8 to be specific. The blue background started just a couple days ago and wasn't associated with any software or other update on my end that I know of. Just now I did a complete software update to see if that changed anything but it's still the same, blue for no discernible reason. Googling the problem brought me to this webpage: http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=113711 . I'm afraid I can't make heads or tails of the coding discussion there but perhaps it will be helpful to someone here? Thank you to everyone who is spending time on this! 98.218.23.245 (talk) 04:24, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the link. I can now reproduce the problem in Chrome by changing the Zoom level to below 100%. Zoom can be changed up and down with Ctrl++ and Ctrl+-. It's reset to 100% with Ctrl+0. Zoom can also be changed by scrolling the mouse wheel while Ctrl is pressed down. Some people do this accidentally. Do you have Zoom below 100%? If so, is it on purpose? PrimeHunter (talk) 14:08, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Problem with images

When I click on an image, it actually opens in a new page. and when I again click on it to see its full view/resolution...it opens in a dark background. Because of this the black colour text is not visible... see this link.....

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Wikimedia-servers-2010-12-28.svg/2000px-Wikimedia-servers-2010-12-28.svg.png

Check the legends at the bottom of this page.. This not only happens for this image only, but for many images... Correct it soon — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sriram.aeropsn (talk • contribs) 08:06, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't know the answer, but I do know the next question to ask: what is your browser name and version? -- John of Reading (talk) 09:25, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

That image has a "clear" background -- you must have your default background set to black, therefore the black text cannot be seen. (It looks fine with my default white background.

Depending on your browser, the background color setting might be in the browser's options, or it could be a Windows 'Appearance' setting, or it could be (most likely) a non-default browser 'skin'. ~Eric F184.76.225.106 (talk) 10:42, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm suddenly noticing this effect when viewing clear-background image pages as well. Either there's been a change in the default in Wikipedia's Vector skin in a recent update to Firefox (I'm using v11.0 on OS X). DMacks (talk) 15:11, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

How does original research apply to images? WP:OI

File:Alemannic-Dialects-Map-English.png is very interesting, but it is very vague about its sources and cites lots of examples. Is this synthesis of existing arguments/data, or Original Research? --Quentin Smith 09:44, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Good question. I don't have the answer, but I'd suggest the principle problem with the image is it says its sources were German Wikipedia articles. Wikipedia cannot be used a source, it should be referencing the original source(s). Whether it is synthesis rather depends on whether it's saying something the original sources (whatever they were) don't. You'd either need to read German or know the subject to determine that. --Escape Orbit ^(Talk) 14:08, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

doi pointing to jstor

In a specific reference there is a doi and a JSTOR link. The doi however points to the JSTOR page, thus both links point to the same page. Should I keep the doi or the JSTOR link? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 10:46, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I'd think keep the doi. It's the intrinsic identifier of the article itself, not an identifier for the article in the collection of a certain provider. The doi is more useful for others to use when locating the article (bibliographic data other than just as a clickable link) and in the future the publisher could move it to some other provider. DMacks (talk) 18:40, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

The most recent Wikipedia Signpost issue is empty

Why is the latest issue of Wikipedia Signpost, http://www.wikipediasignpost.com/blog/?p=555 (or http://www.wikipediasignpost.com/blog/), empty?

(However, Wikipedia Signpost (showing the last issue?) seems to have the expected content).

--Mortense (talk) 10:48, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

The About page says it's maintained by HaeB so I would ask at User talk:HaeB. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:46, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

How do I enable automatic categorization of tagged pages?

I created Template:Stub redirect (see the section 'proposed redirect' above from March 27, where the template was requested). How can I achieve that tagged pages get automatically added to a category like Category:Articles to be redirected from March 2012 the same way as Template:Merge to adds tagged pages to something like Category:Articles to be merged from November 2011? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 14:26, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

It seems to work now. If you test it then note that the template must be in mainspace. This is automatically tested before placing the page in "Category:Articles ...". PrimeHunter (talk) 15:49, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Okay thanks. I don't have a page to test this right now, so I'll have to wait until I come across one where this would be appropriate. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 17:06, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

You can just preview. Categories are shown on preview. You can also use Special:ExpandTemplates to see the generated code on a given page. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:53, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I fixed the template markup and now everything seems to work as intended. Special:ExpandTemplates is a really nice feature I was unaware of until now. Thank you. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 20:12, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

How much "notability" does a biography subject need?

I'd like to create an article about a cartoonist who has worked for several decades and whose work has been featured in local and national newspapers and magazines, such as the New Yorker, USA Today, Good Housekeeping, etc. He has won many awards for his cartoons over the years, especially from the Maryland Delaware DC Press Association.

He is in his early 60s and will be retiring soon, not from cartooning, but from a side job he has held for many years. I'm sure he will continue to create his wonderful cartoons for as long as he can and I believe he has earned a Wikipedia article that acknowledges his contribution to the cartooning industry.

Since he is not exactly a household name, I am concerned about notability issues. Will there be a problem with this article being accepted?

Thank you. Teresar WV (talk) 16:39, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Does WP:BIO help?--ukexpat (talk) 16:43, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

In addition to what ukexpat has said, I feel you can create an article on him (what is the name of the cartoonist)? After starting the article, you can send me the article URL in my talk page, I'll add the article in my watchlist and will try to contribute in that article too (if you need). --Tito Dutta (Send me a message) 16:46, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I'll chime in:

• The fact that he has worked for several decades doesn't imply notability.
• The fact that his work has appeared (note "appeared" has a different meaning than "featured", which would mean the publication has devoted special attention or prominence to his work) may imply some notability. On the other hand, if I got a letter-to-the-editor published in several newspapers and magazines, would that make me notable? Being published doesn't necessarily imply notability.
• Winning several awards of national or regional scope would work though.
• And of course, if you can find reliable independent sources profiling him, that would help the most.

I suggest you draft the article in your own user space first. Just create an article User:Teresar WV/Cartoonist (replace "Cartoonist" with the man's name) and go from there. That way you can work on it at your leisure without worrying about it getting deleted. ~Amatulić (talk) 16:48, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I'll go with the list Amatulic offered. The most important one, IMO, is getting reliable independent sources. Also, the section on Creative people in WP:BIO talks about how he has influenced others. If he has, and this can be documented, it certainly is a contributing factor toward notability. --Tim Sabin (talk) 17:00, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Here are a few you may was to browse for ideas: Category:Canadian cartoonists--Canoe1967 (talk) 17:18, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Note, however, that you cannot use other articles within Wikipedia to provide sufficient notability. You may, however, use the references found there for your own article. --Tim Sabin (talk) 17:34, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you very much, everyone, for your responses. I'm still in research mode about the person in question, so hopefully I'll have worthy material to post. Looking at many articles - especially about artists and cartoonists - confused me because there are biographies of people on Wikipedia that are only a small paragraph with no considerable accomplishments of any kind. I still believe this is worth continuing and will try to do my best to create an acceptable entry. Teresar WV (talk) 18:07, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Please be aware that some articles "slip through the cracks". If they don't have any significant contributions, it may simply be that no one has looked closely at it. When someone, sometime does look at little closer, it may either get improved, or proposed for deletion.--SPhilbrick(Talk) 20:49, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

New to Wikipedia

How can I get started. I have information I would like to add — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ladygolf (talk • contribs) 17:27, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I've put a few links onto your user talk page. - David Biddulph (talk) 17:31, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

What do you wish to add? If it's a biographic article, see the section above on notability. If it's anything else, you still need to establish notability. Read up on things like "weasel words" and avoid their use. Stay away from fringe theories. --Tim Sabin (talk) 17:38, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

You may also wish to take other editors' comments with a grain of salt. Your best advice is in the wikipedia guidelines on your talk page. Most editors will advise and link to the guideline or policy they are advising on.--Canoe1967 (talk) 18:50, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

MediaWiki talk:Watchlist-details

Hi,

I have placed a request at MediaWiki talk:Watchlist-details. It has been there for over 24 hours without objection, but it has also not been responded to. Have I missed something? It is quite urgent that this is sorted out because the current wording is potentially misleading people about the nature of a community discussion, with consequent ill-informed opinions being expressed.

Yaris678 (talk) 17:37, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Done. For future reference, on a request like this you might add an {{Edit protected}} request to the talk page.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 21:55, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Cool. Thanks. Maybe the need for {{Edit protected}} should be mentioned at the top of the page and/or on Wikipedia:Watchlist notices. Yaris678 (talk) 14:08, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Old username on talk pages and changing username again

Hi, I have a few questions concerning my username:

1. I usurped my current username about five years ago. I changed my username for privacy reasons. However, my old username (as part of my signature) still shows on various talk pages. I know as a general rule, old discussions are not to be edited (so I've been putting off what I am thinking to do). I would like to edit those signature to change the username part (yeah, it will still be in the pages history, but at least it doesn't show up on the current pages). Would this be allowed?
2. I am thinking of changing my username again for SUL purposes. Am I allowed to change my username again?
3. Is it possible to request that my current username to be "returned" to the original user after my name change?

Thanks!--Joshua ^{Say "hi" to me!}_{What I've done?} 18:30, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

User name issues are handled by bureaucrats. Not sure how many regularly read this page. I'd suggest asking at the WP:BN or Wikipedia talk:Changing username--SPhilbrick(Talk) 20:43, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

names of fields of profession or study - capital letter(s) or not?

Hi, I wonder about the right spelling (starting capital letter or not) in cases like:

• He graduated in BIOPHYSICS from the Moscow Institute...
• He studied MOLECULAR BIOPHYSICS...
• He did research in MOLECULAR BIOPHYSICS under supervision of...

I did not find it in MoS. I suppose that if it is an official name of a study program at the particular university, then there is a capital letter. And in other cases? Galapah (talk) 18:45, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Hi, on Wikipedia we don't use all caps for emphasis; see WP:ALLCAPS. Bold and italics are used for emphasis. However, in your case here the fields of profession or study doesn't need any special treatment (normal small letters in sentence case will do); a link to the respective articles would suffice. --Joshua ^{Say "hi" to me!}_{What I've done?} 18:55, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I think if they are just fields of study it would be biophysics, if it were a named faculty it would be the Department of Biophysics at the Moscow Institute.--Canoe1967 (talk) 19:02, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks to both of you. (I used allcaps in order to avoid one of the possibilities.) The article on which I am working now is Edward Trifonov but I meant it as a general question as I think it should be added to the MoS.Galapah (talk) 19:08, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Well I think it is in the MoS. Joshua above linked to MOS:ALLCAPS, which is a subsection of Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters, and I think they together provide clarity on this issue.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 21:48, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Vincent Brian Wigglesworth page

Hello, I noticed there is no image for Vincent Wigglesworth on his page. Portraits by photographer Antony Barrington Brown are going on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London, and a portrait of Dr. Wigglesworth is included.

Here is a link to the version on the NPG's website: http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw216089/Sir-Vincent-Brian-Wigglesworth?LinkID=mp80918&role=sit&rNo=

I'm willing to volunteer to contact the Museum and ask permission to use the image and perhaps any others they would be willing to allow. I've never done that before but am willing to learn.

Thank you.

Cheers, Josie Babin — Preceding unsigned comment added by Spingus (talk • contribs) 19:06, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Non-free_content#Images. It seems the copyright is that of the photographer's estate. You could upload a small version under fair use guidelines without permission. You may wish to look for free content images first though.--Canoe1967 (talk) 19:18, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

(note)This image has a creative commons licence with atribution:http://jeb.biologists.org/content/207/1/1/F8.expansion.html--Canoe1967 (talk) 19:36, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

The JEB license for articles (I'm not sure that applies to this photo) is CC-BY-NC-SA, which is not free enough because of the NC. —teb728 t c 00:12, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

External Linking

Respected Sir/Ma'am

I have added few links of my website in the See also section on few wiki pages. These links are appropriate on the respective wiki pages.

I hope I'm not doing anything wrong.

Thanks

Dr Jaskeerat Singh. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.199.103.39 (talk) 19:18, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm sure an Admin will tell you that links in the 'See also' section need to have established some degree of 'notability'. You should at least make a case in the 'Talk' page for the articles as to why you think your links belong there. ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 20:00, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm not an admin but I will tell you that you should usually avoid indiscriminately adding links to articles, even if you think they are useful, unless they are serving to reference the text. This is even more important when you have a conflict of interest with the website. The see also section in an article should only be used for Wikipedia links to articles which are related to the subject. Some articles have an external links section, but these tend to be restricted to a few, where they are important (such as the official website of a football club). I'll review the links you added and let you know what I do in a moment. ItsZippy ^{(talk • contributions)} 20:12, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Hi Dr Jaskeerat Singh. I'm afraid I have removed the links from each of the pages you added them to for the reasons I posted above. There might have been scope to keep them as a reference; however, because they are blog posts, they do not pass Wikipedia's standards of reliable sourcing. Thanks for trying to help - if there are any areas of medicine which you could help improve, I would encourage you to do so. ItsZippy ^{(talk • contributions)} 20:17, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I forgot to say: If you disagree with my actions, feel free to start a discussion on the issue. I would suggest posting a comment on the talk pages of one of the articles. ItsZippy ^{(talk • contributions)} 20:18, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Translations within articles

I've been editing on WP for several years, but haven't ever come across these two related issues that I find perplexing. I'm editing the article Wen Miao (Taiwan Confucian Temple: Tainan Kong Miao) (really just trying to add sections to it). First, it translates all years into another calendar style (for example: "It was established in 1665 (19 years Yong Li)." This is done about four times in the article.

Second, much of the article is written using Chinese terms, then translates them into English. For example: "The Wen Chang Ci (scholars’ shrine) and the Tu Di Ci (land’s shrine) were built inside of the Ling Xing Men (a big gate)." I haven't counted, but this is done at least 70 to 100 times in the article, sometimes three or four times within the same sentence.

Are either of these styles acceptable? Thanks in advance for any assistance. JimVC3 (talk) 19:51, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I looked at a few of the names beside dates. One seems to match close. 1665 (19 years Yong Li), is 20yr after the death of a similar name Li Zicheng. In 1684 (23 years Kang Xi) seems to not relate to a birth or death.--Canoe1967 (talk) 20:31, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

(note) It was 23 years into his reign.--Canoe1967 (talk) 20:35, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

There is already an article about the subject at Taiwan Confucian Temple.--Joshua ^{Say "hi" to me!}_{What I've done?} 20:43, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Is one of those 'merge' templates in order then?--Canoe1967 (talk) 20:56, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Good catch Joshua. The articles are substantially the same. I'd recommend deleting the one I'm working on rather than attempting a merge and will tag it. Thanks for the help. JimVC3 (talk) 21:31, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

adding external links

We are a 60-year old non-profit archives with online published finding aids on people and institutions covered by Wikipedia. We wanted to add external links to these finding aids, but received a threat that we may be blacklisted for spamming. The links do not go to our homepage, but directly to the finding aid where detailed inventories of collection material on that person or institution can be researched. Are we able to add such links? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lyn Pederson (talk • contribs) 21:05, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I think threats are a no-no on wikipedia. You may have to discuss adding the links on each of the talk pages for the articles. If you get consenus or no response, you should be able to add them. If it is a good database I doubt it would be blacklisted. IMBD is used extensively, is not recommended as reliable; but it is not blacklisted.--Canoe1967 (talk) 21:25, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

For greater clarity for other editors, the archive spoken of, appears to be onearchives. It appears notable enough to have it's own WP article.ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives --Aspro (talk) 21:27, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Editing Wikitables

Hello, I would like to ask how to you get a "Wikitable" next to another one. For example in this article, in the charts and certifications section, the certifications wikitable is placed next to the charts table but in this article the certifications are under the charts table. How can I place them side by side? Thanks in advance. — Preceding unsigned comment added by WWETrishMickiefan (talk • contribs) 21:59, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

It's function of between these nowiki tags, which you can see spaced ordinarily in edit mode: ==Section== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} ===Subsection 1=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- |} {{col-2}} ===Subsection 2=== {| class="wikitable" |- |} {{col-end}} .

Just add additional tables next to the others for spacing, if desired, and drop the nowiki tags. Dru of Id (talk) 22:37, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

NJ Charter Study Commission

Finding the right place for this comment is too time consuming...........but your firt line says that only those under a Faulkner Form of Government can use the Charter Study option to change their form...........very wrong. Any form of government can use the Charter Study Option. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.115.170.37 (talk) 22:27, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Which article are you referring to, Charter Study Commission? —teb728 t c 23:55, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

If so, the best place to discuss questions about it is Talk:Charter Study Commission. --ColinFine (talk) 09:27, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Time format

I am trying to locate a Wiki policy on how to present the time in an article, 5PM,1700, 5'o'clock etc.

I believe the guideline you are looking for is MOS:TIME. —teb728 t c 23:58, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

March 30

'Listen' link

The embedded 'Listen' links used to work fine, but recently, using it opens a page with a media player. To get back to the original page requires pressing the 'Back' button. -- Very annoying.
Example: Mongolian pronunciation: [tʃiŋɡɪs xaːŋ] From Genghis Khan -- Is it just me? Or does this happen to everybody? -- Is it a problem with browser (Firefox), or WP? ~Eric F184.76.225.106 (talk)

Works fine for me in MSIE 9 under Vista. VLC Player comes up and plays the word without fuss. Click to close the little player window afterwards, or just click on the Web page to continue with whatever I want. Jim.henderson (talk) 00:35, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

For me it opens page: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/GenghisKhan01.ogg which is blank except for player. When done, I have to use 'Back'. It used to (and should) play in background as an OLE embedded object. ~E Falk 184.76.225.106 (talk) 00:40, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Looking for ancesters

Italic text' I read your article on Ed Asner. I am currently researching my ancestors. My grandmother's maiden name was spelt Asjner and came from Poland by was at the time Russia. She made a trip to New York in 1907 and always wondered whether she went to visit relatives. As she died very young not even my father knew anything.

As most people who came out of Poland and Russia changed their names. I wonder if Ed Asner's family dropped the "J" ? I am looking for anyway that you may contact him to answer my question. Our family came from Warta or Blaski as it has changed names according to the country in power.

Thanking you kindly, Mathilde Cobb {nee Scheps) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 120.146.65.235 (talk) 03:12, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

His IMDb page suggests their premium service may have contact info for his agent. —teb728 t c 03:34, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

These findagrave.com entries here are, respectively, his brother, mother, and father. No indication of the name origin or changes. Good luck. Dru of Id (talk) 03:42, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Template help!

I am coding User:Calliopejen1/Expand language sandbox to replace {{Expand language}} and all of its progeny like {{Expand Spanish}} with one standard template with a language parameter. The last step of merging them that I'm having trouble with is setting up a certain set of standard topic categories applicable to large languages, that may be added to as needed (say, Dr. Blofeld tags 1000 municipalities in Argentina with the template and the potential translator doesn't want to wade through all of them to find the other geography articles). Here is what I had that didn't seem to work so I removed it: [2]. Any better solutions? Feel free to edit in my sandbox. Thanks!!! Calliopejen1 (talk) 03:12, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

I've made an edit. I haven't tested it, but I hope the general idea is clear enough. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:53, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Great, thanks! That worked perfectly! Calliopejen1 (talk) 18:56, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Under Miss Minnesota USA

How do you add that Anne Marie Moore Miss Minnesota USA 2001, later became Mrs. Minnesota United States 2011 as Anne Marie Moore her married name? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.180.139.155 (talk) 03:57, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't follow. Her surname was the same when she was "Miss" and as "Mrs.", and both were 'Moore'? She married somebody also named Moore? ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 04:09, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

It's possible. It's also possible that she never changed her name. It's not mandatory. Dismas|^(talk) 04:20, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

When she was Miss Minnesota it was under her maiden name: Anne Marie Clausen. If I understand what you want to add -- you could add that she was later Mrs. Minnesota United States 2011 as Anne Marie Moore her married name, in the table under 'Notes' column. -- on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Minnesota_USA ~Eric F184.76.225.106 (talk) 04:24, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

The only problem is -- the only reference I could find for "Mrs. Minnesota United States 2011" is a flikr photo (which implies that she was there, but not necessarily the winner); and "Mrs.United States" for 2011 was MRS. FLORIDA - Shannon Ford. I'm not up on pageant terminology or whatnot; but I assume you are referring to her as being the Minnesota contestant in the Mrs. U.S. pageant. ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 09:56, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

image visibility

Hello -- I've asked for a duplicate image of a chart to be deleted, but now the one I want is not becoming visible in my article: AUI_symbols,_AUI_chart.jpg in the article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AUI_(artificial_language) though the markup is that same....?? Also I want to change the title of the article to aUI, The Language of Space (constructed language) but haven't found how to edit a title, it's not visible under the edit function. thanks, Andrea Weilgart Patten — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andiweilgart (talk • contribs) 04:52, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Is it appearing the way you wanted it to now? (There was a pipe ( | ) where there should have been a period). - Purplewowies (talk) 05:19, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Want feedback on new article

I would like feedback from other editors on an article I have been working on in my sandbox about Michael L Trope, a trial lawyer and previous sports agent and see if it is ready for prime time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:JoeyD2010/sandbox I would appreciate any feedback on the sandbox talk page. Thanks JoeyD2010 (talk) 06:21, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Looks good to me. I haven't read it in depth, but it's very well referenced, and appears to be well-structured. I would say move it to article space. If there are problems the New Page Patrol may pick them up, but I don't think it's under any risk of deletion. --ColinFine (talk) 09:31, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Article creation problem

I failed creating an article for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cook_%28oil_executive%29# There used to be a one-click article creation. Now it is a multi-step process with lots of advice and pages explaining what to do but I got lost at the step where I was asked to enter the article Name. I used cut & paste and that was it then. I got an error message. I then tried to file a bug report but was asked for a username and password so I couldn't file the bug report immediately. Here I am now trying to raise the issue hoping that some improvement is possible to get a one-click article creation solution again. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.224.11.67 (talk) 07:41, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes, that's not a friendly error message, is it? I suggest you try again, entering only Chris Cook (oil executive) in the "name" box. You can jump directly to the final step of the wizard using this link. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:53, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Error in Wikipedia

Hi,

I would like to bring your notice to an error in the page for "Roberto Mancini".

In the personal information section, it is mentioned that he played for Bologna in "1581–1782" and for Sampdoria in "1483–1497". The correct entries should be "1981-1982" and "1983-1987".

Please make the changes and also guide me in creating a new pages.

Thanks,

Rahul Pandey <phone # redacted> — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rahul8171 (talk • contribs) 11:39, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Reverted to pre-vandalism version. Dru of Id (talk) 11:45, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Best way would just be to click the edit button and change it yourself, but please make absolutely sure you have the correct dates first.

Ion Zone (talk) 15:58, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Ref sorting

hello,

see Wikipedia_talk:Citing_sources#Ref_sorting. Any help appreciated. Regards.--GoP_T^C_{N 13:02, 30 March 2012 (UTC)}

What is your question? RudolfRed (talk) 19:30, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

What is your answer? (you need to click the link with the left mouse button)GoP_T^C_{N 19:34, 30 March 2012 (UTC)}

Categorizing a template

Which of the template categories at Wikipedia:Template messages#Article-related namespace would be considered the most appropriate for Template:Stub redirect? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 14:38, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Noticeboard

Which noticeboard is the most appropriate one for reporting experienced users who have indulged in harassing other users and repeated unethical behavior like bad faith comments? Secret of success (talk) 14:48, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Probably the best idea is to follow the guidelines at dispute resolution. You could also open a WP:RFC/U. TNXMan 14:56, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

(edit conflict) The only one I can think of off the top of my head (having read but never used it) is WP:ANI (though the stuff I see getting reported there is usually pretty bad, so it's not a first step). You might also want to take a look at WP:DR. - Purplewowies (talk) 14:59, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Well, it involves multiple articles, so I think DR would not be really effective. Secret of success (talk) 15:06, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Wikiquette assistance? DMacks (talk) 16:04, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Non-factual polemic sources are clogging up Wikipedia

I really need to talk to somebody about something that has been bugging me for quite a while but I honestly don't know where to do it. For me it is one of the biggest problems on Wikipedia, it's a problem that, as much as I love Wikipedia, makes me feel very uncomfortable about trusting it as a reference tool. Here's the thing, the most controversial articles on Wikipedia are, quite often, either entirely made up of opinions lifted from popular uncited and unresearched polemics and other non-factual sources or, at least, give a lot of undue weight to them and cite them as thought they were leading experts in the field. And even when the evidence contradicts them on every level, they are still given precedence in articles, as thought they were preferred to the facts.

While I appreciate there is a place on Wiki for various opinions, I think we really need to take a good hard look at the weight and preference that seems to be given to them, particularly the ones that are not backed up by any evidence. Very often wiki articles are being spammed with polemical arguments and claims lifted from works written by people who have very, very, POV opinions on the subject and cite little or no actual evidence to back up their case. These sources are not peer reviewed, they are not by experts in the field, they are not in any way endorsed by experts (though they are often endorsed by friends of the author), they do not use much of any evidence (anecdotes don't count), and, most of the time, they are not in any way factual. And once they are in there, and no matter how discredited their opinions are are, it is almost impossible to remove them or replace them with factual sources. And when actual evidence is added it almost always gets added in as a small end-section as though the facts are not as important as popular rhetoric.

I'm not saying we should stop citing non-experts, non-experts can sometimes be as good as experts (if they really do their research) and their opinions can often be useful, even if they are only useful in so much as they state a public opinion that can then be weighed against the evidence. However, I am a bit fed up with sifting through endless Wiki articles plagued by one-sided arguments made by people who make no attempt to back up what they are saying. I appreciate Wikipedia has an established way of working, but in my mind this is something that really needs looking into, it is by far the quickest and most common way to turn an article into a POV mess and keep it that way. Ion Zone (talk) 15:55, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

In an encyclopedia of 3.8 million or so articles, this unfortunately cannot be completely prevented. Due to the way we are structured, this must be addressed one article at a time: there is no magic bullet, no global solution. It might help if you offered some examples of articles which you feel are exemplars of this problem, and outline what you've tried to do to address it. --Orange Mike | Talk 16:01, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

The biggest one I know of would be the Criticism of Religion page. I spent a couple of hours on one section a little while ago. If you removed the stuff that is just plain opinion you wouldn't be left with enough to fill a postcard, however any article citing the main offenders on that page would qualify here.

Ion Zone (talk) 16:13, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Need a second opinion

I started an article about the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums, an universitory preparatory school, which educated many notable scientists and politicians in Germany. The school does not charge any fees. I included this fact into the article, because I held the opion that this would be an interesting opinion as similar schools in other country typically charge high fees. Prestiguos schools in Germany often do not charge fees and students at statefunded schools typically outperform students at private schools. Yet many people from other countries may not know this. I know in other countries it often is the other way around. Another keeps deleting it, but has added the information that the school is operated and financed by the city of Hamburg (which is true). So my question is: 1. Do you think the information is relevant? If your are from another country and only learn that the school is financed by the city of Hamburg, would you understand that it does not charge fees? If you would understand, I think the article should stay like this. hope this is the right place to ask that kind of question.--Greatgreenwhale (talk) 16:34, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Could add both

Ion Zone (talk) 16:37, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

I would add both points as well. Just because it's financed by the city of Hamburg does not tell me that it is free to students. I wouldn't assume anything of the sort. I went to a state school here in the US and had to pay many thousands of dollars to go there. Dismas|^(talk) 16:40, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for your opinions.--Greatgreenwhale (talk) 16:50, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Question on Template:cite video

Is there a way to specify minutes after the citation to avoid using the same reference multiple times? For example, when citing reports, you can use this template {{rp|page=143}} to show page(s) number. Like this, this and this.

I'm asking because I want to use a documentary film as a source. (details) Mohamed CJ ^(talk) 17:55, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

See the |time parameter described in the template documentation at Template:Cite video.--ukexpat (talk) 18:01, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

I think you missed my point. If I want to use the same video multiple times, for different parts of it, normally I'd have to cite it about 10 times. However, I'm asking if there was a template for videos that works in the same way Template:Rp does for reports/paper references. Mohamed CJ ^(talk) 18:25, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Oops yes I did, apologies. I don't know the answer to that question.--ukexpat (talk) 18:32, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Problem

A user recently created an article that I was in the process of creating and stole all the information from my userspace to do so. How can I get it deleted? --KAVEBEAR (talk) 18:03, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Should we assume that this is about Julia Alapai? Most times, it's easier to give precise answers if we have examples to work off of. Without knowing what articles people are talking about, we' just making guesses. Dismas|^(talk) 19:50, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

There is no such thing as "stole" from your userspace. If you put information anywhere on this site, you agreed to the Terms of Use, and you irrevocably agreed to release your contribution under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 License and the GFDL. You agreed that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license; so you could ask that there be some sort of credit on the talk page of the article; but that's about it. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:29, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

That being said, if you were creating the article, it sounds a bit rude, and if he submits it for DYK credit, you may wish to start a discussion at WT:DYK.--Wehwalt (talk) 22:03, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Re: image visibility/title change

Hi -- my image of the chart is now visible, thank you! So now I just need to edit the title of the article...can't find where you do that? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andiweilgart (talk • contribs) 19:56, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

What article are you talking about? Is it possibly aUI (artificial language)? It helps if you don't assume we know what you're talking about since we may not have read or been part of your previous discussions. If you want to change the name of an article, the article must be moved to the new title. See WP:MOVE. Dismas|^(talk) 20:11, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

I think it is aUI (artificial language), but I don't see any reason to move that article from its current title, which seems to comply with WP:TITLE.--ukexpat (talk) 20:18, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Is the title it was moved to a better title or not? - Purplewowies (talk) 20:21, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

The OP seems to have figured it out. It's now at aUI, The Language of Space (constructed language) which seems quite awkward and wordy. Dismas|^(talk) 20:22, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

A weird case with interwiki

Hi! I created the art. Nature versus nurture in the Czech WP two weeks ago. Ever since I did that, bots have not been adding interwiki to other language versions of the article. As for the English article, I added the link by hand at last. But that hasn’t changed the situation. All the other language articles still remain to be without the Czech link. Why bots do not perform their work? --Solus ipse Inc. (talk) 20:04, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

It might have to do with the fact that there's a week-long replication lag on Toolserver (I heard it was causing problems with some bots). I created an article on Simple and a bot did add it to the en interlanguage links during the replag, though, so I don't know if that's the reason or not. - Purplewowies (talk) 20:18, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Re: image visibility/title change

Thanks! In the meantime I had figured it out and moved/changed the title. aUI, The Language of Space is the complete title of the language; the part in parentheses was there before, but I changed it to constructed....thought it better, functions as clarification, but one could leave it off if you think it's too wordy....?? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andiweilgart (talk • contribs) 20:32, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Linebreak prevention (in a link)

How can a linebreak be prevented between "C" and "+" when used in a link? Example: Interactive Disassembler - screenshot. --Mortense (talk) 20:44, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Is it fixed now? - Purplewowies (talk) 20:49, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes! This can be generalised - I thought nowrap was not working for links, but as you have demonstrated ({{nowrap|[[C++]]}}) it does if the link is put inside. [[{{nowrap|C++}}]] would not work. --Mortense (talk) 21:06, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

user channel- favourite

Sallam

does Wikipedia has a user channel or favorite, something similar to youtube channel or favorite webpage on any web browser, if you dont can you please add this service we would like to keep a record for the articles we read Abradj (talk) 20:50, 30 March 2012 (UTC) thank you

You can add articles to your watchlist, and be notified whenever they change. Or, your can bookmark your favorite pages in your browser. RudolfRed (talk) 22:10, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

I would like to delete my pre-2012 contributions

According the Help:User contributions page, you mentioned under the "deletion" section that "In some limited circumstances individual contributions (that is, specific edits) may be removed from public view by administrators using Revision Deletion". Since I'm not an administrator, I can't access this program, but I still would like to delete my contribution history from before 2012 (which were from 2006-2007). I feel it is outdated information that isn't necessary for other people to view or let alone "undo" (because it wouldn't be possible anyway; the information is so old). Could someone else (an administrator) please delete my 2006, 2007 contributions? I can't do it myself.