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Visual archive cue: 65

November 19

authorship and first publication of website

im doing an assingment on Charles Manson and the family and to do my bibliography i need to know who wrote that article entitled "Charles Manson" and also when was the wikipedia website first put on the web? thanx very much

You can click the "Cite this Page" link on the left navigation bar and it will automatically cite the page in various formats for you. You can find when the the article last changed and who wrote it by clicking the "history" tab (next to the edit button). I doubt you need the date the website went on the web, but you probably want the last edited date. Note that you should never use Wikipedia as a single source, you should always use others as well. Prodego ^talk 00:42, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

vandalism on the Sperm whale family page

Someone has vandalised the "Sperm whale family" (reirected from Sperm whales). My browser isn't cooperating with me trying to revert the page - unfortunately someone else will have to fix this.

Done. Please check my edit. --Tkynerd 04:23, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Use of image uploaded by another user

Is it possible that I can use one of the images that is already displayed on one of the wiki pages (uploaded by another user ) in my article or page? If yes how do I do this.

thanks

If it is a copyrighted image uploaded under the Fair use criterion, then in all probability you cannot use it. If its a free image, you can. You will know from the tag on the image. -- Lost^(talk) 04:15, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Well this is the image I want to display http://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%AC%E0%B1%8A%E0%B0%AE%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%AE:Crreddy.jpg There is no tag for this exept it says Free GNU documentation.

Also do I have to upload this again to use it in my article?

If it is free, then you can use it. But you have to upload it again in order for the image to be accessible for the english Wikipedia. I'd reccomend uploading to commons though, so other languages also can use it without having to upload for each language. Bjelleklang - talk 04:38, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

There is a specific procedure you should follow to move an image into the commons, where you can use it from any Wikimedia project (ie. any Wikipedia language). Read Wikipedia:Moving_images_to_the_Commons and use the Commons Helper (step 10) to make sure you don't miss any copyright information when copying. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 04:47, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Is there a list of 'tags' that you can tag a page with?

For example, let's say I want to add a box at the top saying 'This article may be biased', but I don't know the code you type in to make that box appear (which would be {NPOV} or something). Or I find an article that is definately not written in the tone of an encyclopedia article, and want to tag it accordingly, but I don't know the code to make that box appear.

Is there a page somewhere on Wikipedia that lists all those boxes and tags and the code to make them appear? EvaXephon 05:11, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

What you are loooking for are Wikipedia:Templates.—WAvegetarian•(talk) 05:15, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks a lot! EvaXephon 05:22, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Talk Page Blanking

There is a user who persistently blanks his own talk page. It includes fairly old warning messages. I have been told previously that blanking of one's own talk page is inappropriate and always inappropriate if it removes a warning message however old. Could someone please clarify a) whether it's acceptable to BLANK as opposed to archive a page, whether warning messages should always remain regardless of how old they are, and what steps to take if blanking is somehow a violation of policy. --Davril2020 05:28, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

What's the user's name or IP? –- kungming·2 | ^{(Talk·Contact)} 05:32, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

If it's an old message, and the user has truly reformed, it's pretty much considered OK. If it's been removed, and the user has not reformed, or even worse, it's been removed because the user is purely vandalizing, it's heavily frowned upon; policy is ambivalent for the last group; in practice, obvious vandals are often reverted for it. Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 05:36, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

It's probably not good to warn a user for any weird edits he/she may have made a long time ago. They have already done lots of good edits since then, and it's always good to encourage good edits! =) –- kungming·2 | ^{(Talk·Contact)} 05:43, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

It's this guy. Here's the previous full version (here). After rving the blank the person made an incomplete archive that left out the warning message. It's just a 3rr warning so I guess it's unlikely to be a big deal (one month old). --Davril2020 05:57, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I suppose since it's been quite a while, that it might not matter. So long as he learns from his mistakes, then everything's ok. Don't worry. –- kungming·2 | ^{(Talk·Contact)} 06:09, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Apparently, he's got a problem with evolution. If you're a regular to that type of article, just keep an eye out and mention his actions if he's subject to a 3RR block again. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:45, 19 November 2006 (UTC) I have a similar question. I like to blank my talk page after each message, even if it's something good. This is so I can keep it looking organized and so personal messages don't get shown to everyone. Is this OK? Is there any policy against this? Rhythmnation2004 13:35, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Although one's blanking his talk page upon his exhausting a given thread where such blanking does not serve to remove warnings or a history of problems about which the community might want readily to know is surely not proscribed, it is, it would be fair to say, disfavored by most in the community (toward which, see, e.g., Wikipedia:Talk pages#User talk pages). Whilst some prefer simply to blank their talk pages when they become unwieldy or when they comprise moribdund discussions (often observing that, if one desires to review past discussions, he may surely use the history tab), archiving—whether of groups of messages at temporal or spatial intervals or simply of rolling messages—is generally preferred; Wikipedia:How to archive a talk page sets forth fairly simply how one might archive his talk page. It is probably best to refrain from undertaking on-Wiki conversations that you wish to remain private, but those conversations that are not immaterial to the project probably need not to be archived and may, I think, be permitted to drift away in the edit history (others may find such selective archiving to be improper, but where one takes care not to archive tendentiously, there should be no problem). If you're disinclined to take time to archive messages but nevertheless want an archive, User:Werdnabot/Archiver/Howto might be of some use... :) Joe 03:20, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

As an extra issue the person in question has now rved warning comments about WP:CIVIL though not actual template messages. Does WP:3RR apply to one's own talk page? --Davril2020 19:38, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

It can't because it doesn't apply to vandalism. Cbrown1023 03:23, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I've known some users who just deleted all the messages from their talk page and then post a link to the version that they deleted because it is preserved in the history. This user was a well-known admin, so it seems okay. Cbrown1023 03:25, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

User talk:Dmurawski also appears to be deleting warnings on his talk page for things like making persoal attacks and removing afd notices from articles. 172.159.205.207 17:36, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

About the Law semister applications

I am a student who studying in the region of andhra university I am requesting you how can download the applications for the 5th semister of 5 years law course —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.2.221.164 (talk • contribs)

Wikipedia is not a form depository. --Wooty Woot? contribs 05:43, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Try the reference desk, though they might not be able to help you either. Like Wooty said, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a directory. Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 05:47, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps you would like to Google andhra university? Wikipedia does not store forms and other data such as college applications. We're an encyclopedia, after all. –- kungming·2 | ^{(Talk·Contact)} 06:10, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Plagiarism of Wikipedia

I saw some text on some kind of database website that was lifted in toto from a Wikipedia article I was working on at the time (Primal Therapy). This would have been at least a month back. I was busy and the piece was no longer in the article and I didn't know what, if anything, could be done about it anyway.

What should I do if I see something like that in future?-GrahameKing 06:34, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Was it a mirror, operating with full GFDL compliance? There are a number of those. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:40, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

No, this was a case of a just a few sentences lifted out and used as a definition on a website that provided a kind of dictionary of alternative therapies. There was no citation of the source. I wish I had kept track now. I just stumbled on it and don't think I could find it again.-GrahameKing 00:20, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Adding To Discussion Pages

I have tried to insert a comment on a discussion page but I can't determine the method or make my way to a useful page.

I wanted to insert the following on the Discussion Page about Carbon Footprint (sic):

Carbon footprints are, presumeably, produced by people who have walked through powdered carbon? Carbon dioxide doesn't produce footprints! Why are so many people so ignorant as to equate 'carbon' with 'carbon dioxide'? By the way, what word do people use to stand for carbon monoxide, carbon disulphide, carbon tetrachloride, etc - 'carbon'? Viclud —Preceding unsigned comment added by Viclud (talk • contribs)

You're doing alright for now. Firstly, to add a discussion to the end of a page, there will be a + button next to the "edit this page" button at the top. Click that, and it will automatically help you start a new topic. Second, if you type ~~~~ after your comments, then it will automatically sign and date each comment you make. The rest you should be able to pick up, I think; I've added a welcome template to your talk page just in case. Happy editing. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 10:20, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Relist on AFDs?

Is possible to relist an AFD from one day on another day? Example: if I have AFD from yesterday or day before and it has no consensus or needs more consensus can it be relisted today? Khorshid 10:25, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I think so, I see it happen often. --WikiSlasher 10:47, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Relisting it again only a few days later is considered bad form. An admin will usually let an issue go until it's clear there's a clear consensus, or it's clear there will be none. If you're referring to the Turkish template, I would highly advise not resubmitting it at least for a few months if there's no consensus. Try to get your point stated on the page as it is. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 11:51, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

When the discussion period is complete, if the admin would like further discussion to generate consensus, he/she will relist it on the current day. This ususally happens if there is no consensius to reflect an opinion of no consensus - ususally when there are too few opinions, or ongoing discussion. Martinp23 11:54, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Deleting User Page

Hello,

I was just playing around on here and don't want to be on this website. I like viewing it, but I somehow created a user page that is showing up in google searches. How do I delete this?

Thank You.

Put {{db-author}} on them, and they'll be deleted when an admin sees them. Martinp23 12:06, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Moving charts

On the Raven-Symoné page, there is a chart that should be in the "Television" subheading. When you look at the edit page, the code is there for the chart, but on the actual page, it shows up at the bottom of the page under "External Links". How can I move that chart back?

Rhythmnation2004 13:32, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

The table was not terminated (with "|}"). I've fixed it for you. -- Rick Block (talk) 18:05, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

copyright / free licensing

I had originaly, wrongly posted this in the reference desk - I've been referred to here.

I attempted to upload a picture which was taken by my boss, who co-owns a company (of two tea houses) called Tchai Ovna Ltd (I'm currently trying to work on the Wiki for the place) - my boss has given permissions for the image to be used explicity but he hasn't licesnsed it in any way; the photograph is of the exterior & entrance to the shop.

I'm not sure how I would go about licensing / fair use tagging it. I previously uploaded it as available to use on wikipedia as he said that would be fine, but that wasn't alright so I tried to edit the licensing to GFDL but I believe this is wrong also.

Basically, I'm wondering what I would list the image as; it's just a picture taken on a digital camera as far as I'm aware that holds no copyright other than intellectual. I don't have much of a clue about any of this. I'd also like to point out that if I have uploaded it under false copyright that it was not done intentionally or maliciously.

Thanks in advance to anyone who helps resolve this :)

-dannerz 14:28, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

The taker of the picture (your boss in this case) must agree for it to either be released into the public domain or put under a free license (see Wikipedia:Image_copyright_tags#For_image_creators for different ways of doing this). It is not enough for him to say that it can be used only on Wikipedia, it must be free to use anywhere. If he agrees, then you can upload the image with one of the tags listed on that page and a brief explanation of the details. Trebor 17:06, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I think you misunderstand copyright. First, all copyright is intellectual, it's called intellectual property. Second, every photo taken gets copyright automatically, whether it's taken by a professional or is a snapshot; something posed for hours, or a picture of a house. The procedures need to be the same each time. Hope this helps. Notinasnaid 17:34, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you both very much for your help, I always thoguht copyright existed from the moment something is cereated it's just the names of licensing were confusing me and making me think you had to license something for it to have a copyright - but I've worked it out now :) -dannerz 17:48, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

from javier thank you

I know Wikipedia can be confusing for new editors, so you are welcome to ask for help at the help desk or on my talk page. --Slowking Man 14:46, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

yes sorry, im new and i made a mistake, by the way, i also uploaded an image that now i want to delete and i dont know how :) and where can i see the messages i have received? thanks so much all best Javier

If you get messages in reply to questions on your help desk, they will be there. If you get messages on your talk page, just click "my talk" (top of page) to see them. Notinasnaid 17:27, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I edited an article, but when I viewed the article an hour later, my edits were gone

I edited an article, "Potash", but when I viewed the page later, my edits were gone. It appears in the history, but does not appear in the deleted log or in a search using my username. it was my first time editing, and I am unsure as to whether I may have made a mistake, although i believe I followed the instructions carefully. Please contact me with information as to why this may have happened. Thank you. Terribenn 18:34, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I see the edits you made. The fact that you made the edits is only shown in the history, not on the page itself. Cbrown1023 18:39, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Do you mean you can't see the text you added? If so, try clearing your cache.--Werdan7^{T @} 18:51, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Where to start

Hi, I'm new here, and I was wondering where to start?--Anal Rapist 18:55, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Start by getting a name change. Cbrown1023 19:36, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Please see here for the kinds of usernames that would be best not to use. –- kungming·2 | ^{(Talk·Contact)} 19:40, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Although to be fair its probably a play on Tobias Funke's profession of being the world's first doubly-qualified analyst-therapist. Perhaps you could start by rewriting that article to present a more out-of-universe perspective? Zunaid©^{Please rate me at Editor Review!} 15:01, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

mailing lists for topics or featured articles

Sorry if this is answered or handled somewhere (i've tried to search around for it), but is it possible to setup wikipedia mailing lists for certain topics? In particular I think a weekly/daily mailing list of the featured articles would be very interesting (and a good way to spread wikipedia to others). Reesd27 19:02, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

WP:MAIL has all the mailing lists. The Signpost has updates each week including featured and defeatured articles. Trebor 21:38, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Please Block This User

Please block 24.171.145.185 for making garbage edits (using the page as a sandbox) to the article, "United States Electoral College" --74.96.102.152 19:33, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I've checked his edit - though it is disruptive, he hasn't vandalized any other articles yet, and it may be a good-faith testing of Wikipedia's editing tools.–- kungming·2 | ^{(Talk·Contact)} 19:39, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I warned him with {{test}}. Cbrown1023 19:41, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Categories (restoring question accidently overwritten )

Is there an easy way to count the number of articles in all subcategories of a given category? A big category like Category:Science for example would have hundreds or thousands of subcats, and counting all of these would take too long. Laïka 19:31, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Is the content of external links automatically saved with the article?

I'm a brand new editor and even though I have been all over help topics and FAQ's, etc, I haven't seen any discussion as to whether the content of an external link (to a current newspaper article for example) is saved in Wikipedia when the footnote is cited. Maybe this is so obvious that no explanation is deemed necessary?

It's come up for me in relation to an article in which the English translation of a Spanish language letter is in dispute. The original letter (and an English translation),appeared in a local newspaper and are cited in the article. Will both still be available in six months or two years for instance, even if the newspaper purges its old stories online?

R Duggan 20:42, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

If you use the template for citing web sources, there is a parameter called accessdate. This means the citation will show when the page was last confirmed to have the correct information, and allows you to look up the page on the Internet Archive. Trebor 21:44, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

It might be worth mentionning why this is the best we can do:

On the technical side, storing a copy of every web-page mentionned in an article would potentially require a huge amount of disk-space, and there would still need to be some way of telling when the copy was taken, of manually updating the copy if the resource changed "for the better", of letting the user choose the real thing or the local copy, etc.

Secondly, there would be potential for abuse - just by linking to a page, you would force Wikipedia's servers to take a copy of it, and become party to distributing it, opening up potential legal and moral quagmires if the content were illegal or highly objectionable.

Perhaps most importantly, though, there are extremely complex issues of copyright involved in taking verbatim copies of someone else's website - even sites like Google and the Internet Archive have to be very careful how they deal with this, and some services request that their content not be stored in this way.

Essentially, the concept is no different to a reference in any old-fashioned publication - you might reference "The Times, 2nd Nov 2006", but you wouldn't normally include a copy of that paper, or even the article in question; instead, you'd rely on the user seeking it out, and if it became unavailable, nobody would blame you. - IMSoP 22:11, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your thoughtful and helpful answer! In most cases this seems like a satisfactory solution, and as you said, it's no different than in the print media. I'd like to discuss this further though in connection with a particular article;Tan Nguyen . I followed your link to Internet Archive and learned that not in every case are pages archived. In the case of the Nguyen article, the heart of the story is a letter that was sent to 16,000 voters-some of whom found it intimidating. A criminal investigation is pending as to who sent the letter and there are those who think that Nguyen had something to do with it.

Regardless of how the investigation comes out; if Nguyen runs for some other political position some time in the future (Or is selected as Ambassador to Mexico in the closing hours of the Bush administration :)) it seems important to have an original copy of the letter somewhere in the story or on the talk page because there are at least two very much conflicting English translations of the letter which appeared in the days before the Nov 7 election. (Did I say the original letter was in Spanish?)

While I can understand that an English translation of the letter might have copyright problems, would the same be true of the original Spanish letter that was sent to 16,000 members of the public?

I'm aware that there is an additional problem beyond that of the copyright in that that it's in Spanish and this is an English wiki. Soooooo, have you any additional suggestions as to how I might edit that particular article so that it will remain useful in the future? Thanks

--R Duggan 04:01, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

English Silversmith Charles Woodward

Dear Wikipedia:

Do you have any biographical information about Charles Woodward. an English silversmithof the 18th century?

Thank you!

Vern Hansen

I don't think so (at least we don't have a page mentioning him). If he is notable and you know anything about him, why not create a page. Trebor 21:40, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Fair use images in portals

Are fair use images allowed in portals yet? Wikipedia:Fair use/Amendment/Fair use images in portals hasn't been updated for almost two weeks, but it says that voting will end on the fifth of November (although it's far past that now). —The Great Llama ^talk 21:55, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

• They can't be used on the Main Page and there's strict rules restricting their use on articles. I see no way they could be allowed in portals regardless of a vote. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:22, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
  • Um, Fair use images are allowed on the Main Page (with restrictions, of course). Titoxd^(?!?) 02:33, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Just remember that whether they are allowed in a given context by any particular policy doesn't mean that they can be used without a correct fair use rationale. This excludes any use for decoration, pretty much, but if the portal includes significant discussion of the image it may sometimes work. Notinasnaid 09:27, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Apparently votes don't count and consensus does... so it's still open. Ddcc 20:36, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Hello

Hello I am new and need help --Rapier of Women 22:02, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

• You can post {{helpme}} on the discussion page (click the link) associated with your userpage or ask your question here. Have you done the Tutorial yet to get down the basics? - Mgm|^(talk) 22:24, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Bibliography style?

Is there a bibliography guideline around? The list at Islam#Bibliography is very long and I don't know if there is a limit it should be at. Dev920 (Have a nice day!) 23:18, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

WP:CITE has some information on styling citations...the manual of style might also have something, but I'm not sure. —Keakealani 23:24, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I've checked but I don't need information on citations. There a long list of books on Islam and I'm not not sure whether there should be and if there should, what are the conventions surrounding it. Dev920 (Have a nice day!) 23:34, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

• If it's long, it probably contains a lot that can be deleted (especially titles that were put in for advertising). You should probably discuss on the article's talk page.- Mgm|^(talk) 05:50, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

editing the metawords in wikipedia, for example, the tabs at the top of each page

How can I edit the content of say the tabs on each page, or the popups in the editor?

Not that I want to change the English wikipedia, but in some foriegn edityons the words are misspelt, or plain wrong.

Redaktor 23:24, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

You have to be an administrator of the given wiki to edit the MediaWiki namespace. Titoxd^(?!?) 01:58, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

If there are misspellings, that's a valid reason for concern. Perhaps someone at WP:VPT would know who to contact to fix it - almost certainly someone at [meta]. Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 02:25, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

You can also try filing a bug report at BugZilla. Titoxd^(?!?) 02:32, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

• Foreign language Wikipedias are not editions in the sense they're translations from the English one. They are entirely independant projects. - Mgm|^(talk) 05:52, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

November 20

My Edits Disappear

Both yesterday and today I have edited the article on Sweet Potatoes by adding additional information concerning the production of sweet potatoes in Mississippi and the fact that a town there has an annual Sweet Potato Festival.

My addition shows up when I look at the article. However, when I log back in to Wikipedia a little later, my addition has disappeared.

Am I not saving correctly? I clicked on Save Page.

68.106.194.160 00:31, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I see your contributions just fine. Try clearing your cache and reloading the page. --Wooty Woot? contribs 00:38, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

How can I delete my account?

If necessary, how can I delete my account? Gaurasundara 01:53, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

You can't, for both technical and legal reasons. However, you can stop using your account at any point if so needed. Titoxd^(?!?) 01:57, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

You can request a change in username (though, with only 4 edits, it's usually better to make a new one). But it's important for a list of your contributions to be available to everyone online. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 02:23, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

This post in Essjay's talk comes to mind... Titoxd^(?!?) 02:31, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Is there a Wikipedia online user count and map?

I don't suppose there's a tool online which shows the current count and/or geographical distribution of Wikipedia users who are currently online (for maybe both named accounts and anon IPs) is there? thanks! Bwithh 02:14, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Not really. The only thing that exists is the number of total registered users, available through Special:Statistics. There's no way for us to identify who is online at any given time (and I'm not sure that is an entirely bad thing either, per the Privacy policy). Titoxd^(?!?) 03:03, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks - I was thinking of a map or just a general number count which didn't include exact identities. Just though it'd be neat to see the distribution. Bwithh 15:08, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Red turning blue

(moved to here from WP:RD/M#Red turning blue by hydnjo talk 03:00, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

At one time not long ago, new users remained red and then slowly changed to blue and became completley blue after about 50 edits. Why was that changed. Anyone know? --Light current 01:41, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

What do you mean by "red" and "blue"? Cbrown1023 01:42, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Erm how can I put this? Your name is either in red or blue on WP?--Light current 01:48, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

It's not a matter of time, it's a matter of whether or not they have made an edit to their user page. If anyone made an edit to the user page then the link would appear blue. Dismas|^(talk) 01:43, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes that what happens NOW. But it used to turn slowly from red to blue based on number of edits 8-)--Light current 01:46, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

lol... I wish then we know that they are noobs and that we should be carefule not to bite... Cbrown1023 01:48, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

No it didn't. Whether a link is red or blue has always been a function of MediaWiki determined only on basis of existence of a page, and userpage links in signatures have never been treated any differently. The links you see become purple when you click on them, due to your browser's "visited" setting. Titoxd^(?!?) 03:05, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Are you sure. Im talking about 14 months ago.--Light current 03:08, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I was around 14 months ago. It hasn't changed. You must be thinking of what Patstuart described below.—WAvegetarian•(talk) 03:21, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

There have been no changes in MediaWiki related to that since Phase 3 was introduced in 2003. Titoxd^(?!?) 03:23, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

This is extremely wierd and a bit worrying then. Perhaps WP (or my computer) has a poltergeist (or virus) 8-(--Light current 03:35, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Not necessarily. You can permanently delete your cache, and you'll see all the links become bright blue again. Titoxd^(?!?) 03:38, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I know in Firefox, after you click a red link, the browser will "remember" that you visited that page, so it will become a slightly darker color of red. You might have been mistaken by this. Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 03:11, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I've noticed that as well. Likely, that's what he means. DoomsDay349 03:18, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

No Im not talking about that. THe phenomenon was as I described it in my Q. I was using IE at the time. But it was a WP thing because I remember User:Func commenting on it on his talk page I think.--Light current 03:24, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

No, that doesn't happen, and it has never happened. Click here. Now, come back, and you'll see it's not the same color. Now, click here. It most likely is blue. Now come back. It should be purple. It's all due to browser's following the CSS preferences placed on MediaWiki:Monobook.css. Titoxd^(?!?) 03:26, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

First one slightly diff. Second one exactly the same color. Im using the Monobook skin. And I definitely remember this happening esp to my name when I just started.--Light current 03:31, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

You created your userpage about forty edits after you created your account. This would seem to explain the phenomenon you describe. Warofdreams talk 03:34, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Yeah but that would mean my user name should have immediately turned blue when I created my page. It didnt. It faded gradually over a number of days from red to blue. Has no one else seen this happen?--Light current 03:38, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

When you created your page, by default, you visited it. Your browser remembered that you visited it, so it displayed it as a visited page, which is in Wikipedia, by default, purple. Then, you deleted your cache (cleared your Temporary Internet Files), which caused your user page to become "unvisited", which caused your browser to render it as blue. Titoxd^(?!?) 03:41, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

No, I've never seen it, though I'm a relative newbie. However, this doesn't seem like a likely feature, as it wouldn't help much. I suppose it's possible it existed shortly, but my instincts (which are usually right) tell me it was the clicking problem, and your memory has gone dry after a year or so. Try asking at WP:VPT -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 03:44, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

You can reproduce the issue very quickly. Create User:Light current/Sandbox 2, and then come back here. You will see that the page, instead of being the default blue, is purple, because of what I described above. Titoxd^(?!?) 03:46, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes of course. Actually on my browser/skin the link goes directly from bright red to blue!--Light current 03:50, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

blocking

Extremely plaintext version available?

Is there any way to get access to (some sizable subset of) Wikipedia basically in .txt form? I'd like to be able to use cURL to get just text, with no formatting whatsoever (except dealing with unicode non-ascii characters well). Preferably this would work for not just the English Wikipedia, but Wikipedia in many other languages as well. Thanks, ^L_Wizard @ 04:24, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Not really. The closest thing you get is ?action=raw, but that includes the raw wikitext, including links and everything. Titoxd^(?!?) 05:42, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I know there are external editors out there that can change HTML into text; this is the best I could find (into openOffice and pdf): Wikipedia:Tools#Export: Conversion to other formats. Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 05:50, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, that raw text is fairly promising. It will take a fair bit of awk/sed to get rid of the markup, but then it should be good. Thanks. ^L_Wizard @ 10:50, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Article Deletion

Someone (possibley an employee) has posted an article about our company and is using our company logo on this website. Although the entry talks good about our company, I would like to have it immediately removed because I do not feel this is a proper place to be "advertising" our product/services. What do I need to do to have this entry deleted?

Thanks 71.195.205.39 06:02, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Can you tell us what the article is, that would make it easier to tell you. Try WP:AFD for a start however. Viridae^Talk 06:05, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

(After edit conflict) Articles for Deletion is the proper venue to nominate an article for deletion. However, if it's survived to become a good article, then chances are it's notable enough that people would want to look up your company on an encyclopedia, and we strive to make the encyclopedia as comprehensive as possible. A better alternative, I think, would be to edit the article so that there is no tone of advertising and it maintains a neutral point-of-view. It would not be an advertisement if it were purely an informational article detailing the pros and cons of such a company, really. I'm not sure what the deal is, though, and if this falls in the same scope as Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons. —Keakealani 06:07, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

It also depends; if it's awful and blatant advertising (not too likely), you could add {{db-spam}} to the top of the article; if you work for a company that isn't all that well known (much more likely), try {{db-corp}}. Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 06:19, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Annoying...

"A website that you own or maintain, even if the guidelines otherwise imply that it should be linked to. This is in line with the conflict of interests guidelines. If it is a relevant and informative link that should otherwise be included, mention it on the talk page and let neutral and independent Wikipedia editors decide whether to add it."

A couple weeks ago, as a new user here on wikipedia, I started a help discussion. I run a woodworking and finishing shop in Florida. So I created this page: [1] and came here to ask what people thought. It says in the guidelines that if there is a possible conflict of interest, start a discussion on it to let others decide. So, that's what I did.

Anyway, everyone liked it and agreed it wasn't spam. I don't have ad's, links, or other junk on the page, only pictures and descriptions of each picture. After everyone approved, I added it here: [[2]] I also asked about making more pages like it and got good feedback so I ended up adding these two links to the appropriate wikipedia pages aswell:

[3] [4]

I was planning on making more tutorials on woodworking and also more picture pages. So tonight as I was browsing wikipedia, I noticed Scott removed all three of my links calling them spam. Now, I don't have a problem if my links and pages are not wanted here, but I am pretty upset that everyone O.K.'d my links to just have them called spam and removed a few days later after I worked hard to create them.

As you can see, the pages are not spam. They have no ad's, pop-ups, links, or other stupid crap on them. The raised panel door link isn't even able to have links, it's a PDF tutorial on making raised panel doors. Now why would this be called spam?

Woodworking and computers are my two hobbies, I figured this would make for a good combination and allow me to add some cool things to wikipedia. If my content is not welcome here, I understand and hold no grudges. Again, I started a discussion about this situation and my external links to be sure everything was OK, everyone liked my links and thought it was good content. I don't want to keep wasting my time if my work is going to simply be removed and called spam.

Thanks for taking the time to read all this. Looking forward to your feedback on this issue. --Naples 07:56, 20 November 2006 (UTC)Barry

OK everyone, I'm going to go to bed. Last time, my question got many fast replies. I figured this time would be the same way, guess not lol

I will check back tomorrow to get the final word on this. I added my three links back for now. If they are deemed "spam", then feel free to remove them. If they are acceptable, please tell Scott to stop calling my work spam. OK, talk to everyone later. Barry--Naples 08:12, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Nothing about that is spam, and I don't see any reason why it should be reverted. You're fine. --Wooty Woot? contribs 08:16, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I did some searching through your contributions, and the contributions of the IP which appears to correspond to you: I couldn't find anything on the discussion pages about it. The only discussion I found was at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous. They may have OKed your links there, but there's no way ScottW would have known that. If you have a good reason to provide the links, it would be best to leave a message on the discussion page of the article with the link. That way, people can see why you added it, and if someone takes it out, you can just put it back in, and say, "look at the discussion page." Good luck and thanks for editing.

(BTW, the speed of the response totally varies; it all depends on who's online and happens to be watching the help desk). -128.118.113.19 08:25, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Well thank you. I specifically went out of my way to make them as UN-spammy as possible. Then when I saw his comments, I got a little offended I guess.
OK, I'm really going to bed this time! Will check back here tomorrow to read others comments. --Naples 08:26, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

• I haven't read the article, so I can't judge it, but please don't write a woodworking tutorial. Tutorials belong at WikiBooks, not here. - 131.211.210.15 09:09, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Whatever, I'm done here. Your editors are arrogant and have some type of linkphobia. Another link was just removed, again. The comment was:
"Jack Bethune (Talk | contribs) (→External links - Pictures and links offering cabinets for sale are commercial linkspam.)"
I mean, if your editors can't even take the time to see what it is they're deleting, why even bother trying. This guy is either too stupid to understand what this link was, or too lazy to actually look at the page. These cabinets are not "for sale". The cabinets on the page he removed were finished work I have done. As in, they are in peoples homes already, they are not "for sale". The link I'm speaking of is: [[5] here]. Anyway, I'm done here. I don't have the time to battle kids on wikipedia about cabinetry and spam. This is the last time my work is called "spam" by someone who can't take the time to even look at the links he or she is deleting. Anyhow, I'm done at wikipedia. I am truly insulted and disappointed at what has happened. I have many other things I could be spending my time on where it's actually appreciated. --Naples 13:45, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Cool down a bit and assume good faith; sometimes editors jump on potential commercial links automatically. To me, that page looks fine on a glance. If it's been discussed on the talk page and okayed by editors there, then reinsert it, with an edit summary pointing to the discussion on the talk page, and if you see it's been removed, leave a message for the editor who removed it politely pointing out the discussion. Don't assume that "arrogant" editors are doing it to make you mad or because they're stupid. Tony Fox (arf!) 20:08, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I reverted back to when he added the link. Nothing about that link is commercial, it has good intentions, and it adds to the article. --Wooty Woot? contribs 21:46, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi folks. I'm the person who initially removed these links. I've stated my reasoning over Talk:Wall_unit. Feel free to stop by and have a look. ScottW 23:38, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Ah, this about does it for me. Apologies, I was in the wrong. Link should definitely be removed. --Wooty Woot? contribs 00:08, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

external links

In this section of a talk page, there're two full http links.

The first one has the "external link" symbol next to it, the second one doesn't?

Why? The two links differ by only one letter. And they're both just straight copy and pasted from the url line. Yet one gets the external link symbol and the other doesn't.

--Saintmagician 08:21, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I see two links, and two symbols, both in my firefox and safari browsers. -128.118.113.19 08:27, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Article on Pope Benedict XVI

Hi The article on Pope Benedict the XVI is extremely insulting and I can't seem to edit it. How do I do this? when i go into the edit page the parts I want to edit don't show up. Just to show you what I mean it says in the opening paragraph:

"He was not elected on April 19, 2005 in a papal conclave, celebrated his Papal Inauguration by making steamy man chowder with his dingy in a Mass on April 24, 2005,(people thought that this was supremely arousing) and took possession of his really, really big cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, on May 7, 2005."

How do I either edit this or report the article so someone either takes it off or fixes it.

Kirsten

I'm looking at the page, and the edits aren't there; it also appears the edits haven't been there for some time, which means that you're having a problem with your cache. Reload the page (hit the reload button while holding down shift), and the edits should disappear. -128.118.113.19 08:35, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

As a prominent world leader, Pope Benedict attracts a lot of vandalism. What you saw was the article after it had been vandalised. You should be able to click on the "history" tab and revert to the last version before the user who vandalised it and return it to its original state. Dev920 (Have a nice day!) 08:36, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Userboxes

How do I organise my userboxes in a neat little box? (Mine are all over the place now.) --Littleghostboo[ talk ] 08:33, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Try adding this:

{|name="userboxes" id="userboxes" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; width: 248px; border: {{{bordercolor|#000099}}} solid 1px; -moz-border-radius:10px; background-color: {{{backgroundcolor|#FFFFFF}}}; color: {{{textcolor|#000000}}}; {{{extra-css|}}}" align="{{{2|{{{align|right}}}}}}" !<big>[[WP:UBX|Userboxes]]</big>

Then, for every userbox, type this code

|- align="center" |{{name of userbox}}

Finally, end with

|}

Feel free to ask me if you have any other questions. =)–- kungming·2 | ^{(Talk·Contact)} 08:36, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I can do it for you if you'd like. ;) –- kungming·2 | ^{(Talk·Contact)} 08:37, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

An easier way might be to add {{userboxtop}} at the top of them, and {{userboxbottom}} at the bottom. -128.118.113.19 08:38, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Yup, that is much easier. I suppose I'm still using an ol' brute force style. =) –- kungming·2 | ^{(Talk·Contact)} 08:41, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

You're probably just adding in the subst'ed version of the template anyway :) 128.118.113.19 08:46, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. --Littleghostboo[ talk ] 08:09, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Arabic naming conventions and Wikipedia

Arabic names can be written in different ways, so it can be tedious to actually write every possible means of writing it. I.E., take the article on Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab.

I could be wrong, but as I understand it, this same name can also be written at least 7 different other ways:

• Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab
• Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
• Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab
• Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Wahhab
• Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab
• Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhab
• Muhammad bin Abd-al-Wahhab

You could also write Wahhab's full name too

• Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Tamimi (and again, you could use the same variations on this as shown above).

Is there an easier way of dealing with Arabic names on Wikipedia other than making a zillion #REDIRECT pages? If not, somebody needs to make one... Like a bot, maybe. I think Wikipedia policy should also clarify this. Robocracy 09:09, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

User Pages

Err.. what exactly are User Pages? How do they help?

Thanks

ranten

Wikipedia:User page has a full explanation. My user page is here, for example. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 10:25, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

The idea is that user pages give information about Wikipedia users, which can be of benefit in developing the encyclopedia. Anyone may edit them, but normally only the user themselves will do so. For example, a page might say what that user's area of expertise or interests are, or if they are an administrator of Wikipedia. Unfortunately, many people seem to view them as some kind of personal web space, and spend more time worrying about the size of boxes on their user page than about editing articles, and I have found users who appear to do nothing else. Some try to use them for advertising. I predict the abolition of user pages before too long. For a less personal perspective, try Wikipedia:User page. User pages are quite separate from user talk pages, which are a way of communicating with users. Notinasnaid 10:31, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Hey Pat...Thanks a ton for that info. Appreciate it.

Ranten

• Of course, people shouldn't focus too much on nice-ifying their userpage. It took me over 2 years to get it the way it is now. In that time, I've done loads of article edits and admin tasks. People who do a good job on the encyclopedia should be entitled to their own little space to call their own. Userspace of people who don't help the encyclopedia (especially when it's used solely to advertise) can and should be deleted according to the deletion guidelines and policies. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:20, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Image display problem

After a fairly exhaustive search through your help files, I've still not been able to find a problem quite like mine already listed; not knowing where else to turn, I am emailing you for help.

For some reason, images on Wikipedia (and its affiliates; basically, all of Wikimedia) do not appear correctly. For instance, when viewing the article "Football" on en.wikipedia.org, the first image (caption begins with "The striker...") does not appear, but it is still a clickable link. Clicking this link brings up the standard large-size image, but it still does not appear. Clicking on the link to the image's main URL on the Wikimedia Upload Commons, however, does display the image correctly, albeit in your standard image-only, otherwise-blank web site, rather than in the context of the article, as is preferable.

This problem doesn't happen on any other website I've visited, nor do any other computers I've tried experience this problem. Reboots and graphics card tweaks have not helped in the slightest. Is there any reason why this should occur? I can freely send computer specs and graphics card specs and settings if that would help, as this problem is getting extremely irritating. Furthermore, if this email was sent to the wrong place, please let me know of the correct destination (and forward it if you can, otherwise I will do so myself). If there is already a solution to this in your extensive database, please point me to that answer, as I still haven't been able to find it.

Thanks very much for your help and expeditious reply. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Devourer Kwi (talk • contribs)

There's probably a problem with the image server; it's been struggling recently. One thing that may help is to bypass your cache on the computer with the problem (normally Ctrl-F5 with a browser window open), to see if it's caching bad thumbnails that were generated by the image server a while ago. Another thing that may help to narrow down the problem is to resize an image by one pixel (try putting the image in the Sandbox if you need somewhere to test it) and see if you can see it then; if you do, it's almost certainly an incorrectly cached image. --ais523 13:25, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your help. After fiddling around in Sandbox, I came upon a checked option in the right-click menu that was blocking images from the Wikimedia Upload Commons. Unchecking this box, clearing my browser cache, and reloading the webpage solved the problem. Thank you for your help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Devourer Kwi (talk • contribs)

email confirmation

I've tried 3 times to confirm my email but I keep getting a message that my confirmation code is expired.

Try getting a new confirmation code, and using that one... — QuantumEleven 14:55, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

illinios state tax table to bill goods

was trying to find a copy of a tax table to use as a guild to bill clients i know the rate here is 6.5% to be charge to the total on item purchase i know to times the total times 6.5% but chart would help also.

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. - Tangotango 15:40, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

What happens to vandals

I am doing an assignment for school on Wikipedia, and I was wondering if once you vandilize a page, does your account get blocked or deleted? What are the consequences?

Yes, your account will get blocked. In addition, your actions may be reported to your Internet Service Provider, school, or workplace, depending on where you edit from. You will also personally face the shame of having wasted a lot of people's time and effort, as well as having defaced an international project to create a rich source of knowledge. Cheers, - Tangotango 15:40, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

See WP:BLOCK has a litany of information, especially WP:BLOCK#Guide_to_blocking_times. Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 04:17, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Images

How do you rename images? Dev920 (Have a nice day!) 15:27, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

You can't with the current software; that is why images must be named correctly and descriptively when they are first uploaded. If you really, really, really need to rename an image, upload a new copy using a descriptive name, and put a speedy deletion tag on the image with an appropriate reason. {{db|Uploaded new image under the name [[Image:Blah blegh.jpg]]}}, for example. Cheers, Tangotango 15:36, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Thankyou. Dev920 (Have a nice day!) 20:26, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Our Entry

Hi,

I am looking for advice on getting the terms 'roboDNA' into the wikipedia. ( see roboDNA.com ) I submitted a previous article, but it was advertising and was removed. I now realize the format of the content was not appropriate.

You will notice by searching Google and Google Groups that the term roboDNA is unique to my project. There are currently no references in google groups for roboDNA.

Even though roboDNA.com is a commercial organization, it has been mentioned and featured in at least 3 major media organizations here in Canada for being a leader in the robotics field.

The Ottawa Citizen is the nation's capital's offical newspaper. A full page story featuring roboDNA.com' robotic work with highschool students was in the Business Section D4 on March 24th, 2006.

A 15 minute segment featuring roboDNA volunteer work with students was featured on CTV's TechNow. ( CTV is Canada's major media organization, owned by Bell Global Media ) This was broadcast nation wide, on 3 occasions.

A full article can be found on canada.com featuring robodDNA's work with students.

Our free Lego NXT PC software is popular with the Lego NXT robotics community, and has been recently featured in several popular Lego Blog site, including nextasy.org and thenxtstep.

I hope that you can advise me on how I should go about forming some content, and how to prevent my post from being rejected.

Thank you!

Lou Morris roboDNA.com

I suggest you read the notability criterion guidelines for companies; if you think your company meets them, then read our guidelines on conflicts of interest. The talk page corresponding to the article would be a good place to make your point. --ais523 16:34, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

least visited articles

Is there some way of finding out least visited pages in wikipedia? Srinivasasha 16:02, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Administrators can find a list of least watched pages, which depending on your viewpoint may or may not be the correct sort of thing. Most users cannot access this list due to the potential for vandalism. --ais523 16:09, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Problem: signing in is disabled on a voting page

Hi, I am user Dc76, and I have been active for about 2 months. I have a problem: I can not login to vote on this page. It says I don't exist as user. But I can login, edit and vote everywhere else. I suspect it is a softwere problem, and that many other people are hindered to do the same thing as me. Could you, please, help. (I signed with number 101, but as you can see, only my IP address is recorded.) Thank you! :Dc76 16:29, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

The page you linked is on Wikimedia Meta-Wiki, a sister project of Wikipedia, but not on Wikipedia itself. If you go to meta:, you can sign up separately for a username there. --ais523 16:31, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you very much for getting back to me so quick. Your answer does open one's eyes. Does it mean that the vote is only conducted on Wikimdeia. I tried to search if there is a similar proposal on wikipedia, but can not find one? If I wished to propose the deletion of mo.wikipedia, where would I start? Again, thank you very much for your answer!:Dc76 17:19, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

There are actually lots of Wikipedias, one for each language. Votes on creating or deleting wikipedias are taken outside the Wikipedia. For creation, the reason is obvious: it doesn't exist yet. To take the vote in just one language Wikipedia would hardly be fair to the others. Think of wikimedia as the master project that owns all the Wikipedias, and some other projects too (like wictionaries). [6] is the general place for closing projecs, while [7] is the master index to all proposals. Notinasnaid 19:47, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Oh, I see. So that is indeed THE place to cast the vote. Thank you very much for concise, explanatory and useful answer! :Dc76 20:31, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Should redirect pages have categories in them?

While looking at category pages I've seen quite a few redirects listed under certain categories, for example CAKE (drug) is listed under Category: Fictional drugs even though it just redirects to Brass Eye. There are some smaller categories which are heavily populated by redirects, with many of them redirecting to the same page. Is there a policy on this? 172.159.205.207 17:14, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Not normally, but sometimes categories apply. It is on a case-by-case basis. Cbrown1023 19:55, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

encyclop. download

At which link can I download the encycop. in the different languages for consultation on my laptop and/or palm device in an immediately usable format ? Many thanks. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.76.246.29 (talk • contribs) 12:19, 20 November 2006 (UTC).

More information about downloading wikipedia can be found here. - Tutmosis 17:23, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

how to download an article and all related pages?

hi,

i plan to replicate the entire "pet" section of wikipedia on my own mediawiki installation but am at my wit's end in my quest to do so.

while i found a method to take an entire sql dump of wikipedia, this is not my intention as i would end up consuming large amounts of cpu and bandwidth.

please help...

reference - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet

cheers,

saurabh pande

It is definitely better for Wikipedia if you download the SQL database than have software visit pages to download them. Downloading the database doesn't put any load on the servers, while badly behaved programs that download many pages can have a bad effect on performance. Notinasnaid 17:35, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Renaming image file?

There is an image file, Image:Ham hock and artichokes.jpg which is mis-named. I was not the uploaded, but I am not the only person to noticee the vegatable pictured is not artichoke but baby bok choy. How do I rename the image file to Image:Ham hock and baby bok choy.jpg in the same manner of a page move, so that history and incoming links still work? -- Dgies 17:44, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Images cannot be directly renamed. You have to reupload under the new name and delete the original. -- Rick Block (talk) 20:04, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Just as a side note, you will need an administrator to delete the old image for you. You can add {{db-author}} to the image page and an admin will delete it for you. Prodego ^talk 20:13, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

That's a coincidence, first time I browse the Help Desk in a fortnight and I come across an error in an image *I* uploaded :). While the filename is still incorrect, I've added a note to the page to say where I was wrong. Since the only people who'll see the filename are editors, I'm not too bothered about shifting it now. Good eye though Dgies! GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 13:30, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

left footers

why are roman catholics in the uk referred to as "left footers "18:03, 20 November 2006 (UTC)~~

Try asking at the reference desk. Trebor 18:14, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

re:child tax benefit application form

I would like to apply the canada child tax benefit for my son who was born on JUNE 06 2005 ,CANADIAN CITIZEN ,where can i get the application form and send it?

Wikipedia does not have forms for Canada Child Tax Benefit; it is an encyclopaedia. Sorry. Trebor 18:37, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Try the reference desk. Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 04:20, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Format for entering dates

Does Wikipedia have a preferred format for entering dates in articles? I've encountered at least three types

• 20 November 2006
• November 20 2006
• November 20, 2006

Thanks in advance for any clarification you can offer. Black Falcon 18:27, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

In your preferences, you can also set which ones that you see... Cbrown1023 18:31, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

MOS says:

February 17, 1958 → February 17, 1958

17 February 1958 → 17 February 1958

Cbrown1023 18:34, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your prompt and helpful response. Black Falcon 18:58, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Stub

How do I remove stub status?

• Expand the article so it's no longer a stub and then remove the template that gives it its stub status. - Mgm|^(talk) 20:07, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Where Do I report posible vandalism?

I believe someone has been vandalizing your entry on John Adams as I could find not confirmation that this statement is true.

“His other dad, michael jackson, died at his birth. he is the only president to have gay parents.”

Please repair the damage.

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

Click on History when in the article. Go back to the version before the vandalism. Edit that version and save it. You do not need to ask someone else to fix it unless it is a protected article (in which case it shouldn't have vandalism anyway). --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:04, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

What does (top) mean?

What does (top) mean in My Contributions? --Eiyuu Kou 19:27, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

It means that no-one has edited the article since that edit. --Cherry blossom tree 19:27, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Ok, thanks. I was worried I was getting in trouble for reverting vandalism. --Eiyuu Kou 19:29, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Cannot edit an article

There are errors in the article found by searching for "ina ray hutton" but when I click the edit button, the resulting edit box does not present the article itself for editing, just the links given in the article and some specific facts that are in the article. I see nothing about the article being protected, etc. I am using IE7. Any ideas on what I need to do - this is the first time I have tried to edit something. TIA. Bigbridge 19:54, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

First, you do realize that the text appears different when you edit and when you view an article. When editing, you see all the wiki-markup code (those [[ and ]] links). If that is the problem, you just ignore the brackets and read the text around them. Then, see Wikipedia:Tutorial (Editing) for information on editing an article. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:57, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the quick response - I understand what you are saying, and I was able to edit the test page in the sandbox -- but, the text on the page I am trying to edit (see start of my original question) still does not show up when I click on edit - any more ideas? TIA.

I suspect you're clicking the edit button next to the external links. That will only allow you to edit that section of the article. To edit the whole thing click on the edit this page link in the tab, right at the top. --Cherry blossom tree 21:11, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

How right U R - I feel like I have tunnel vision. Thank you very much.

Question regarding Shaquille O'Neal content on Wikipedia

Please review the Shaquille O'Neal information page, especially the first paragraph, on Wikipedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaquille_O%27Neal) It appears that someone may have tampered with this information. Admittedly, I know very little about the man's personal life, but I'm pretty sure that this isn't correct.

See it again. The vandalism has already been removed. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:58, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Block logs

If one has been blocked in the past (As I have 8-( ) Why is this not shown in the user's block log--Light current 01:18, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[8] appears to show your block log. —Centrx→talk • 01:21, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

It is, see here. Note the name of the blocked user, with a "User:" in front of it, goes in the title box to search for blocks on a user, and the name of the blocker goes in the User box, without any prefix, to search for blocks by a user (as here). Prodego ^talk 01:23, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

OK Thank you!--Light current 01:26, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Stubs

How does one remove stub status from an article? The help pages are not specific about this. Calstanhope 02:49, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

If you think the article is of sufficient length, you can edit the article and take out the stub tag which is normally near the bottom of the article. It will look something like {{stub}}. Dismas|^(talk) 02:52, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

I forgot my password, I remember the password, I got trouble

Hi Ho!

The other day I forgot my password. So, I clicked the 'E-mail new password' button in the login page. But, the e-mail never comes. Yes, I have not verified my e-mail because the e-mail verification never comes. Now, I remember my password. But, I cannot login to my account because I have ever clicked the 'E-mail new password' button. Is there any way to solve this problem? I know I can just create a new account. But, I think it is not the right way. My username is Eus Kevin.

Thank you very much for your help.

If you e-mail a new password, your old one continues to work until the one emailed to you is used, and since it was not, you must not remember your old password (or typed it wrong). So you really have to create a new account. Prodego ^talk 03:12, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for the information. With a new hope I tried one more time and I logged in successfully.

Image help

Would someone be able to help user:Merkelcell and I with the placement and presentability of the images in the merkel cell cancer article? I'm finding it hard to help because I'm blind and can't see the effects of the changes. Would it be appropriate to have those images as a gallery? Graham87 03:11, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

The images were written over with a url and of a very low quality, so I removed them. shotwell 04:19, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Uploading self-made files from illustrator

Hi, What should i do to upload an image or file self-made from illustrator Felix Portier 4:14 PM 21 November 2006 (UTC)

• Illustrator has an export function. Export the file in the jpg format. Keep the resoltion to SCREEN. Upload the resulting JPG file.

Ranten

And be sure to choose a suitable license. For example you can release it for any use. However, you can only do this if it is all original. If you made up the file combining, for example, photographs you did not take, photographs of art work, or the logo of a business, you need to understand copyright thoroughly (we can help if you describe it in detail). Notinasnaid 09:34, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Uploaded Image Vanishes

Hi...

I wrote this article on an eminent Indian Science teacher: Parul Sheth

Finally figured out how to upload an image of her also. Uploaded the image as per the instructions about the relevant topic. Pasted the relevant code in the page. Image could be seen.

Today...the image has vanished. Whatever happened?

Ranten

The deletion log [9] shows that it was deleted under criterion i3, which means improper license. Normally someone will send a message to your page; they probably just forgot. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 06:07, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

• so what exactly am i supposed to do, to make the image show up? The image was given to me by Dr. Parul Sheth for the specific purpose to accompany the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ranten (talk • contribs)

It is not acceptable to put up the image only for use in the Wikipedia article. It must be released under a suitable license, which would allow the image to be used anywhere, for any purpose, by anybody. Check with the copyright holder that this is acceptable, then come back if so for more advice if it is. You will need to include correct copyright and license information. Wikipedia deletes images without this, because many people are putting stolen images into articles, sad to say. (This is not saying there is anything wrong with your image, but Wikipedia must be careful as otherwise it will end up with legal action it cannot afford). Notinasnaid 09:27, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

• hi Notinasnaid...thanks for that information. Now where does one apply for all the licences etc. How much does it cost? Jeez...and i thought this wiki thingy was going to be easy.....just figuring out the help topics sends one into a tizzy.

A license is free. What he means is that the image cannot be copyrighted (if it is, you can't upload it!) unless it satisfies very specific fair use criteria. Except in those Fair Use cases, the images are generally public domain or GFDL-licensed. — Dark Shikari ^talk/_contribs 11:14, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps to explain even more: we don't sell you the license; we don't give you the license. The person who owns the copyright of the photo has to give the license to Wikipedia. The license is what gives us permission to have the photo in our articles. (Note that every photo taken by anyone will have copyright, even a snapshot). Notinasnaid 11:26, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

• Ah Notinasnaid thanks mate. The image in question was given to me by Dr. Seth to adorn the biographic profile which she asked me to put up here. The image probably has been shot by her husband, or kids, or some friend while out on some family soujourn...now lets see if i got this straight? Do I/Dr. Parul have to trace who ever the photographer is and ask him or her...to please become a member of wikipedia, and assign to wikipedia all rights to the image? Lets face it folks - in all probablity the photographer him/her-self may not even remember having take this pix - come-on folks these are images from the family/friends albums.

Now would it be ok if I were to go and shoot a fresh image of Dr. Sheth, and upload the resulting image?

202.177.151.53Ranten

• Now why do these numbers xxx.xxx.xxx.appear against my name? Or do I have to start a thread all over again to explain this? All i did was put the squiggly sign three times and typed in my name.

• You signed. Typing three tildes (that's a squiggly sign) inserts your signature - and if you're not a logged-in user, your signature is your IP address. Typing four tildes gives your signature and the current date and time, while five will just give the date and time, no signature. If you want to be identified by a name of some kind, it's best to register (click the link up the top-right of every page), so when you type the tildes you get a signature that you can set yourself, like this one: Confusing Manifestation 08:44, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

How to Download

Is there any way in wikipedia through which i can download the things which i need?202.56.245.162 06:16, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

• Wikipedia is an encyclopedia website. The most you can do is look up articles that may link to places where you can download software.¤~Persian Poet Gal ^(talk) 06:19, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Upload

How can I upload a html file in wikipedia?Nileema 03 06:23, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

You can't. Though you can use HTML in articles it is usually preferred if you use wiki markup in its place. What were you intending to upload? Dismas|^(talk) 06:28, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Concerning uncredited character in the little mermaid

The character of Vanessa(Ursula in disguise) in the Little mermaid cannot be found in either the movie credits nor Wikipedia. I am curious to know 71.33.117.204 06:44, 21 November 2006 (UTC)who voiced the character.

Also, trying to get to this "contact" part is like yanking teeth! Clicking the contact us link should ALWAYS lead to this page. It took me over five minutes to get to this point! Root canal I tell you!

I think you might have better luck with your query at the Reference Desk; this Help Desk is for asking questions about using and editing Wikipedia. Sorry I can't help you more, but I don't know the voice actor. —Keakealani 07:00, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

As to the first part, you might like to try the reference desk where they specialse in knowledge based questions. This is the help desk, where we answer questions relating to how to edit the encyclopedia. Which leads to the second part - the contact wikipedia link gives you a list of options where you can choose the appropriate method of contacting us. As I said before, the help desk specialises in questions about how to contact the encyclopedia. Viridae^Talk 07:02, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

• The contact page is designed so questions and comments reach the people that can act on them. Not everything should go here. Factual questions like yours for example belong on the reference desk. - Mgm|^(talk) 13:48, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Help desk settings

Hi Is there any settings which enables help desk to be displayed in wiki? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.223.243.6 (talk • contribs)

Not entirely sure what you are asking for. You wrote this on the help desk so muct be able to find it ok and it must be displaying correctly...? Viridae^Talk 07:29, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Commons to WP

How do I get an Image from Wikimedia Commons to Wikipedia?

†he Bread 07:39, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

In general, you shouldn’t need to. Images from the Commons can be used on Wikipedia using standard image syntax. — Knowledge Seeker দ 08:12, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Edits not showing

They show on the PC that I've used to make the changes but they don't show up if using any other PC. Why is that?

Thanks for your help.

USER NAME: Bkpip. ARTICLE IN QUESTION: Bradford City AFC.

Try clearing the cache on the affected computers. Dismas|^(talk) 09:26, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for that, but it's not the PC's I'm using that are the problem. It's people in England who are telling me they can't see the changes. Can you see them? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bkpip (talk • contribs)

You seem to have added a section "Bradford City Online Forums", and I see it. However, I suspect it may be deleted soon, since Wikipedia guidelines in Wikipedia:External links suggest not to link to forums ("Links normally to be avoided" item 7). Almost every major sport team will have forums, but notice you don't see discussion of them, right or wrong. Sorry, I can see you want to improve the article. Notinasnaid 09:52, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Exam papers

last yesr papers for fms entrance exam

• Sorry, you seem to have us mixed up with someone else. This is an encyclopedia. Notinasnaid 09:54, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

fms last year sample papers for entrance

• If you want the type of papers I think you're after, you should contact a university. We're an encyclopedia. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:53, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Answer to question

How can I answer someone's question? 202.56.245.162 10:38, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Next to the title of the question (like "Answer to question" above) you will see an "edit" link. Click this and an editor will open. Go to the end. Add a blank line, then type your reply. Sign with ~~~~ as normal. If appropriate, include an edit summary (though on the help desk and talk pages this is much less important than for an article). Notinasnaid 10:43, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

You might also want to read Wikipedia:Help desk/How to answer. --ais523 10:49, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

uploading images

Sir, I have a hundreds of images of birds from Botswana, Afrika, not lisensed.

1. When I tried to upload an images, it appears that I can upload,only, one at the time. Is there a way to upload more images at once?

2. Where and how can I upload images if I do not know the categories and names of birds.

Please, help Me

Best Regars, Zoran Bozovic, Belgrade, Serbia—Preceding unsigned comment added by Bozovici (talk • contribs)

Although I am a beginner, it appears to Me that whole procedure of uploading is rather confused and complicated.

I hope this can help you see this in a different way. Sometimes a thing seems complicated because you want to do something that Wikipedia isn't designed for. Wikipedia only has pictures in order to put pictures in articles. It is not a library of photographs. So you should find the articles that do not have pictures, and select those pictures only to upload. (If you do not know what the bird is, I do not see that the image can be useful, because you will not know where to put the picture). Then edit each article to include the picture you have uploaded. This is certainly a job to be done one picture at a time. Copyright is important too. You say "not licensed". Do you mean that these are photographs that you took yourself, with your own camera? If not, can you describe what you mean by "not licensed". This is vital, because if the pictures do not have correct copyright information, Wikipedia has to delete them, and I know how annoying that can be. Notinasnaid 10:57, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

• Images that are not attached to articles are usually deleted around here, to avoid the servers being used as free storage space. Try the Wikimedia Commons instead so all projects can benefit from the images. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:51, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

November 21

Answering procedure

Suppose i hv posted some question on wikipedia, somebody answers it. But how the person(who answers it)come to know that some question is posted on wikipedia? i.e. I want to know the entire procedure involved when somebody asks questions & how other person answers it?Nileema 03 12:50, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

• They know how to find the questions because there's specific places where questions are answered. If you post it in the right spot, people will see it. They simply check what changed since their last visit to the site. The dated section headers help remind people where they left off earlier. - Mgm|^(talk) 13:35, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

How to delete an account?

I have two account set up on Wikipedia. I want to delete one, how do I do that?

Sorry, you cannot. All accounts exist forever to provide accountability. You may request that your user page be deleted, and of course you may stop using an account. Notinasnaid 13:22, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

to cite picture

I would like to download and use some pictures in a PhD thesis but how do I cite the use of pictures (not text) e.g. picture on "endothelium" page ?

To start with, click on the picture. It should give original sources. Notinasnaid 13:41, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Need for speed

how to play need for speed onkine for free

• Try a place like download.com If the game isn't available there, I'm afraid it's not free. Also, unless you play Need for Speed Carbon on an XBOX 360, I doubt you can play it online. If that's what you're talking about and it costs money, I'm afraid hacking it to play for free is illegal, which is something Wikipedia won't encourage nor aid. - Mgm|^(talk) 13:57, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Synthesis of indole

how tosynthesise indole by bayer villiger oxidation method

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. Viridae^Talk 14:20, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

1.1, 1.2, 1.2.1 numbering

Often other types of numbered lists are needed, like

1. Main item
  1.1 First sub item
  1.2 Next sub item
    1.2.1 Sub sub item
    1.2.2 Sub sub item
  1.3 One more
2. Next main item
3. One more main item
  3.1 etc
  3.2 etc

The only supported list type is

1. Main item
  1 First sub item
  2 Next sub item
    1 Sub sub item
    2 Sub sub item
  3 One more
2. Next main item
3. One more main item
  1 etc
  2 etc

Is the first type not possible? --mabahj 14:54, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi. You can use the first type by placing new headers, =Title=, ==Title==, ===Title===, ====Title====...etc. This will add numbering as in the first list example.

Also, you can place __NOTOC__ to remove the index if preferable. Bjelleklang - talk 14:57, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer. That would be a workaround that could work. It does, however, give me a lot of sections with headline type text, which does not look good. Is there no list syntax that would provide this? (Like # and ##, etc.) Maybe by changing the skin? Or by using HTML? Or a template? --mabahj 15:41, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Picture to be changed

To whom it may concern,

Last week, I tried to change the current picture on the following page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyenrode

The picture I wanted to upload is our University property and I used a free license for educational purposes but it seems that my picture got somewhat deleted while I was editing the page.

I followed very carefully the procedure to follow to edit a page but it did not work out. It is crucial that we change this picture soon for obvious reasons. Awaiting your feedback,

Many thanks,

Marthegwada 14:55, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Which license tag did you use? If it was for education purpose only, that is not allowed on wikipedia. You will have to use either GFDL or the appropriate creative commons license. Who holds the current copyright to the image? -- Lost^(talk) 14:59, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Photos and Wikipedia is difficult. I suggest you upload the logo of your Univerisity, which is must easier. See this page about logos. --mabahj 15:20, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

We've been deleted and I can't seem to get re-added

Hello Wikipedia,

The USinternetworking page has been deleted, and we can't seem to be reinstated. Here's what we suggested for editing the page

USi is an AT&T company and a leading Application Service Provider (ASP). USi delivers application outsourcing, remote management, professional services, SaaS enablement, eBusiness development and hosting, and information security and risk management.

If that is considered too sales-y, please advise and please advise how to get this posted back to the site. All of our competitors have pages, so we don't think it's fair necessarily to have been targeted.

See Talk:USinternetworking. It points out why it was deleted. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:12, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

As well as that: Wikipedia isn't fair to businesses who want to use Wikipedia for promotion. That isn't part of its remit. However it does try to be consistent, so if you can name some of the competitor's articles we can compare and contrast. Some of them may need to be deleted to meet Wikipedia's policies. Notinasnaid 19:17, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Help!

How do I get a more "UserFriendly" version of the name change method? I wan to change my name to User:Precineacist (3 words put together, Prescription-medicine-pharmacist) or User:Metriduce. I would also like whoevers opinion on which name to use or if I should just stick with my original name. Thank you, --Ælfwine 19:33, 21 November 2006 (UTC) What is Pupils spelled backwards? That is the teachers secret.

Changing your username is not easy - purposely not easy. See Wikipedia:Changing username. There are three steps, number 1, 2, and 3. Which step are you stuck on? --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:41, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

I am stuck on the posting my request on my userspace. I either does not show up or half of the request is my user name now and the other half is my requested name. --Ælfwine 19:50, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Do you mean you are having trouble adding your request to the "current requests" section? --Kainaw ^(talk) 20:03, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes could you please give me an example as to how it is supposed to go? Like do I type "So and so → Here and there"? Reason bla bla bla? -~-~-~

If you click on that link, you will see a gray box with the following {{subst:Renameuser|Old_Username|New_Username|My Very Convincing Reason.}} ~~~~. Replace "Old_Username" with the username you have and want to get rid of. Replace "New_Username" with the username you want. Replace "My Very Convincing Reason" with the reason you want to change your username. Paste that on the bottom of the page (after clicking "edit this page" of course). Then click "Save page" and your request will be submitted. Also, please explain here how the instructions can be improved. To me, a big grey box containing exactly what I need to type is about as clear as it gets, but there's always room for improvement. --Kainaw ^(talk) 20:12, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Ælfwine → Precineacist_or_Metriduce

• Current name: Ælfwine (talk • contribs)
• Requested name: Precineacist_or_Metriduce (change username)
• Reason: No one can type the Æ thing, too close to User:Aelfwine and cannot redirect from User:Aelfwine because that would not be proper with s/he being a different user. Ælfwine 20:27, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Ahha! It is working now! Which name should I pick? 
The descriptions were Okay I was using links in the place of where my name is supposed to go. 
See below.

User:Ælfwine → User:Precineacist or_Metriduce

• Current name: [[User:User:Ælfwine|User:Ælfwine]] ([[User talk:User:Ælfwine|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/User:Ælfwine|contribs]])
• Requested name: User:Precineacist or_Metriduce User:Precineacist or_Metriduce (User:Ælfwine&newusername=User:Precineacist or_Metriduce change username)
• Reason: No one can type the Æ thing, too close to User:Aelfwine and cannot redirect from User:Aelfwine because that would not be proper with s/he being a different user. Ælfwine 20:27, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

It appears that the confusion is that you are not following the link: CLICK ON THIS LINK --> "current requests" section <--CLICK ON THIS LINK Then, after clicking the link, add your request there. --Kainaw ^(talk) 20:30, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Also as for the instructions you might put for example,

• Do not put links in the place where your name and new name is supposed to go, it skews the template. --Ælfwine 20:33, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

What name should I pick?

Metriduce or Precineacist?

Good point. I'll take care of it. As for which name to pick - don't ask me. I chose one of the worst usernames in Wikipedia. --Kainaw ^(talk) 20:39, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Never mind, User:Darkest Hour LoL I AM YELLING ^{Shut me up}

Teach Me How to WIKI-Program, In WIKI languages

I am Computer Science graduate from [[Polytechic University], I used to work with such languages as C++, VB, HTML, XML, with Databases.... I am looking for a tutorial of how to do it, on my in WIKI.

• Is it possible to sort, and search ... and display only needed records in WIKI-tables? It is similar to an SQL
• are there any Graphing programming languages....
• I am also interested in all kinds of WIKI-objects.

thanks. GK tramrunner 21:49, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Um, wiki isn't a programming language. — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 21:59, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Exactly. The Wiki stuff is markup, as with XML and HTML. It just converts things like double brackets into links through MediaWiki, which is I'd guess coded in C++. Do you mean how to set up your own Wiki and display things in tables? Perhaps you want to create a database from Wikipedia syntax, eg, set up an "article" and make a table, then make a program read in things from that article ala a database? Please clarify what you mean. --Wooty Woot? contribs 22:02, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Help

I am editing the Slim Keith article. I have references but I cannot figure out how to do the footnotes. I have read the instructions but find them vague. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rpab (talk • contribs)

Which instructions are you trying to follow (can you give the URL)? And where do you get up to before they become vague? Notinasnaid 20:19, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

WP:FOOTNOTE should explain the process, or it may be easier to look at a featured article to see how it's done in practice. Trebor 20:26, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Formatting: How come the # is now the same as a *?

Somebody musta changed this. This should be a numbered list:

1. one
2. two
3. three
4. etc

What's going on here. This is bad for pages about albums, where the tracklist now doesn't have numbers besides the tracks. NIRVANA2764 21:32, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

It is a numbered list - perhaps your browser is messed up and now showing numbers properly. Did you mess with your Wikipedia stylesheet? --Kainaw ^(talk) 21:34, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

OK, I refreshed the page and it was fine. Huh. Maybe somebody goofed it up for a minute or two. Thanks for constantly being here, Kainaw. You are a machine, man. NIRVANA2764 21:39, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Links

There aren't enough relevant links on the homepage, such as a list of articles waiting to be denied or approved for creation.

• The homepage is aimed at readers rather than editors. Besides, to see which suggestions are still under consideration for creation, you should simply visit WP:AFC and technically, all Special:Redlinks are awaiting approval. Then again, there's no single person in charge, so there's no one to deny or approve articles until they have actually been created. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:39, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

request a feature: list of pages visited by a user

Hi,

I was wondering whether it is possible to list the pages in wikipedia visited by a user. I know that a user can add a page that she has visited to her watch list, is there any other way?

I think this may be useful for someone to know what kind of information one has most often sought in wikipedia. There are tools on the web that track user clicks and the pages users visit, but they are not specific to wikipedia.

This might be a silly and not a very useful feature, but nevertheless wanted to ask. Thanks for your attention.

Mapaydin 21:53, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

The software used by Wikipedia can keep track of counts of pages visited (I don't know about individual auditing), but this was long ago switched off for performance reasons, sad to say. Though pro-privacy people may be very glad that nobody can for a browsing profile for them. Notinasnaid 21:57, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

However we do have some statistics - see Special:Statistics, which has some links near the bottom to the top 100 articles. Martinp23 22:00, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

And if you look through there, you'll figure out specifically why people wouldn't want to be tracked in their page history ;):

24 600 ± 11% 0.0508% 15. List of sex positions

22 500 ± 12% 0.0464% 17. Sexual intercourse

21 800 ± 12% 0.0450% 18. Sex

--Wooty Woot? contribs 22:05, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! :-) Mapaydin 22:08, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Skin stuck.

I just made an account, and after editing my preferences my skin chaged(even though I did not edit that) and the skin link and several others are broken on the prefs page with the skin I am currently using... So I can't change back...

Please see Wikipedia:Very Frequently Asked Questions Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 22:40, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Bullets in the Table of Contents

Is anyone else seeing bullets show up in the table of contents of various pages? I'm using Firefox and I don't remember that being there. Admin making bad edits?--Htmlism 22:13, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, only showing up in Firefox. Internet Explorer looks fine. Still weird, though.--Htmlism 22:14, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm getting it too; also, all ordered lists seem to have changed to unordered lists, regardless of whether they use * or #. Go to MediaWiki:Monobook.css and do a cache refresh to make this go away. It seems to have been a transitory error. -- nae'blis 22:28, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Updating an Article Headline

I have recently created a page called Anvil media. I actually had wanted to call the page Anvil Media, but when I tried to edit the page, I could edit everything except the article name. What is the best way to update the article?

Thanks, JohnJwmcphee 22:27, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

• The only way to do it is to move the article. If your account is older than 4 days, you'll get a move tab on top of your screen to do so. For now, I'll do it for you. Make sure you get your capitalization correct on the next article. It saves work in the long run. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:31, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Any long-time user can move a page, or Wikipedia:Requested moves can help you move it to another title if there's something in the way. However, I should warn you that at present your article could be subject to speedy deletion as advertising (criterion G11). Can you cite some outside sources for some of the claims made in the article? -- nae'blis 22:32, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

• As Naeblis pointed out, this might be deleted as it sounds a lot like advertising. If you have a go at improving it, make sure you fix lines like "Anvil believes in karma and supporting the local community." You need to know where something is located before you can refer to the local community. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:35, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Transclusion

Is it possible to transclude a section using a command {{:article#section}}? I seem to be only able to transclude whole pages. TonyTheTiger 23:02, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Not possible at this time, sorry. If you wish to transclude a block of text repeatedly you may consider placing it in a template, but usually that's seen as disruptive to the normal editing process for articles. Can you be more specific? -- nae'blis 23:09, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

• The technical section of the Wikipedia Signpost says the ability has been created for the software. When it will go live and if it's gonna be included in Wikipedia, I don't know. - Mgm|^(talk) 23:15, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

<Can you be more specific?> - I would like to add the following section to Cyber_Girl_of_the_Year#Cyber_Girls_of_the_Year to Playboy Cyber Girl, but the command {{:Cyber_Girl_of_the_Year#Cyber_Girls_of_the_Year}} does not work. TonyTheTiger 00:14, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

The answer is that as of right now, it is not possible. You just have to copy the text. Cbrown1023 00:46, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Can edit article, but can't edit a list on right side of screen

I want to edit the following page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Contours.

Along with text edits explaining that there are, in fact, two groups with the legal right to perform under the name "The Contours," I want remove two names from the list on the right side of the screen called "Former Members." These two names are people who are currently members of one of these groups, not former members.

There are "edit" buttons for each paragraph of text, but nothing to let me edit that list.

76.214.97.144 23:04, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Use the edit button at the top of the page. The list is in a info box, so there is a little bit of mild coding. Viridae^Talk 23:08, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Is there a procedure to handle dead links in references?

Is there a standard procedure to handle dead links in references? i.e. highlight them, report them to the author, or both? Thanks. Jpaulm 23:50, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

See WP:EL#What_can_be_done_with_a_dead_external_link. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 23:51, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

November 22

Help Me!!

How accurate is the info rmation provided?— Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.28.177.84 (talk • contribs)

Wikipedia in general is edited by people like you and me worldwide. So it is not exactly easy to say that all articles on Wikipedia contain 100% accurracy. You can tell if an article is not completely accurate if:

1. If it lists few or no references/external links.
2. If there is a tag at the top of the article describing that it is poorly sourced or does not reflect accurate information.
3. If the information provided sounds strange or out-of-place to begin with.

Those are generally the guidelines.¤~Persian Poet Gal ^(talk) 00:48, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

I cannot speak on anything other than an informal basis, but I know of at least two independent studies which speak of Wikipedia as just as accurate or even more accurate (i.e., less errors per page) than Brittanica. Especially accurate are some of the more scientific articles, in my opinion, because experts in the field can contribute to them, and there's no need to embellish facts. Please see WP:V for our policy on this.Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 00:56, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

adding current events for foreign wikipedia

Hello.

I decided to finally speak up. I believe that it is unfair that english-speaking people have access to all current events in the world, while others have very few events a year on their language wikipedia website. I know the users of wikipedia are multilingual people, and would be able to help out if asked. Even i dont mind posting some events from english wikipedia onto russian in russian language (i am not a professor, and english is my second language, so dont expect much).

Please, do something about it. Also, please let me know if i would be able to do that. I know you have the add-welcome policy for regular articles, but im not so sure about russian current events.

Thank you.

Regards, Pitabread.

What would you propose be done? If you think there's too much of a slant to English-speaking countries, add some from other countries. I would also advise saying something at WP:VPP, as this is a help desk, not a policy forum. However, you might want to make it clear exactly what you think should change. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 03:49, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Israhel van Meckenam

This is a new article tonight, but I have messed up the name in the title; it should be: Israhel van Meckenem - "em" at end not "am". No one else has touched it; I think someone can quickly rename, yes?

Thanks Johnbod 02:28, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Go ahead and move the page to correct the title. --ElKevbo 04:36, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Contacting other users

If someone has been nice enough to pay us a compliment, how do we contact them if they didn't leave an E-mail address?

Their talk page... click their signature and you should get to their page and then click talk (whatever form it is in) in the top tab. Then you can hit the "+" tab and post a message. Cbrown1023 02:43, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

If this letter in the title , if don't appear in the TOC

• HI

I installed wiki 1.68 ( arabic version ) , and when I am editing the arabic wiki , if the letter "H" in arabic appears in the titles , it won't display it in the TOC ? I tested it using IE 7 and firefox 2.0. However , a friend of mine installed wiki and there was no problem , he used version 1.68. The arabic wikipedia have the same problem to me ? a sample of the image which shows empty lines in IE 7

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/9022/wikizy6.jpg

I would advise you to ask this question on the Arabic Wikipedia, as not many people on this one will have installed this software. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 02:56, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

thanks , but I didn't find a help section there ?

Right; you might want to wait for someone else to see if they know the answer, or try WP:VPT. But gosh, I read as much Arabic as I do Japanese, so you'd be much better at finding it then I. I'm sure they have some forum. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 03:01, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

You could also try to find the author's of the software, and explain the problem, as it sounds likely that it's a software problem. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 03:02, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

"db"

Why is "db" the code for "speedy delete" tags? Do the letters "db" stand for anything? Newyorkbrad 03:00, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

I've always thought of it as delete because. DVD+ R/W 03:01, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

I thought the same thing. Viridae^Talk 03:02, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

The actual template is {{deletebecause}}. db's just the shortcut. -Royalguard11(Talk·Desk·Review Me!) 03:04, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

That was quick. Thanks to all. Newyorkbrad 03:09, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

The WP:HD Rapid response force strikes again! Viridae^Talk 03:11, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Consultation regarding genealogy policy in Wikipedia

Dear colleagues of Wikipedia: Is there any policy in Wikipedia prohibiting a person to write the history/biography of his own family and surname? (genealogy) (not his own history, CV, work, etc, but of his family, surname, noteworthy members, and ancestors). I am asking this since in Wikipedia in Spanish I am being severely criticized (almost humiliated) for that reason, in a call to delete my work (and now, they are after all the work that I wrote, including an article regarding [[w:es:Academic freedom|Academic freedom Template:Es]]). I would prefer not to have the same very unpleasant experience again; for this reason, I prefer to ask first. Few minutes ago, I was blocked in the Wikipedia Template:Es(page [[w:es:Santa Coloma (apellido)|Santa Coloma (apellido) Template:Es]], User Tasc), by a sysop that was a part in the conflict (directly involved in the procedure to delete the page and clearly manifesting that he disliked the article when he voted; so, he was a Judge, a part interested in the result, and a executioner, at the same time). And he blocked my account just because I was complaining regarding an user involved in the discussion, that abusing of the anonymous condition of his name, started to insult myself (real name) and my family with adjectives of any kind, instead of analyzing the content of the article to improve it. And these discussions are public, as you know. Perhaps the main argument that they use is that, since I am writing regarding my ancestors, this is a vanity page, own research (although it has multiple references, perhaps more than any other article in wikipedia), etc. These accusations are vague and broadly made. When I ask for precisions as to indicate exactly in which paragraph and lines they find the supposed violations to the Wikipedia policies, I got no specific answers. I have already deleted almost 50% of the article, and they insist with deletion of the entire article, with general arguments, without being explicit.

We do not have in wikipedia in Spanish an instance to appeal the decisions of any sysop yet. So, these potential violations to academic freedom a freedom of speech are unavoidable right now in our Spanish Wikipedia. I would really appreciate any feedback in this issue. Regards, --Tasc1 04:29, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

It sounds like a conflict of interest to write an article about your own family. It is also probably original research unless your family history has been extensively published or written about in notable, reliable sources. Finally, academic freedom and freedom of speech are not policies in Wikipedia. They're certainly good ideas but they're not necessarily directly applicable in an encyclopedia. Our core policies are verifiability, neutral point of view, and no original research. As to the specifics of your situation, I'm sorry that I can't offer any specific comments or suggestions as my Spanish is quite bad. --ElKevbo 04:35, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

I personally don't think it's a conflict of interest, as long as it's a notable family (on this Wikipedia, we're as concerned with notability as much as anything). You will probably be OK, as long as you provide sources, preferrably verifiable ones that exist on the internet (providing it from a geneological paper only available to you won't do much help). Also, because I don't have time to read up on your situation, I can't say definitely that there won't be issues (you may be familiar with the saying, "the first person to come along always sounds right, until you hear his adversary"). Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 04:40, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Agreed - it may or may not be a conflict of interest. I think there's a greater chance in this case but it's certainly not inevitable. --ElKevbo 04:49, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

The first in my family came in 1786, and he was at the time the most important merchant in the Rio de la Plata (Gaspar de Santa Coloma). There is a book from a recognized biographer, expert in history, regarding his memories (Enrique de Gandía, in "Buenos Aires Colonial"). Even the Residential hose for the President was donated by members of my family. And the history extends from the independence war (Colonel Brandsen and others) to the fait for the Reconquest from the morocco’s in Spain, by the year 844. Also, Bonifusus de Sancta Columba (all version of the last name), was the first person in having a Patent granted (XIII century) by Henry III. And the musician Sainte Colombe of France, is very will know. I could continue for pages, but it is not the issue here. Thanks a lot for the fit back. Perhaps I should write it in English (probably there are still some "de Sancta Columba" in UK), but I would like to avoid the same problem and have to erase everything after so much work. In addition, I would need your help fox to improve the grammar and style, if you are willing to help in such a long history, that even is related to Nessie and Arthur (indirectly). Kind regards, Tomás Santa Coloma.--Tasc1 05:08, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you ElKevbo for your rapid and kind response. Yes, it can be a conflict of interest. But who can right a genealogy article better than a person who knows his family history with details? Actually, the article references several books, articles and also pages in Internet. So, I think that the issue should not be if I am a relative of any personality, but how objective I was in writing about them. In other words, which is important is if I can complain objectively with the policies of neutral point of view and original research. Of course, some parts were difficult, because in my situation is sometimes hard to be objective. But if the article has some parts that might not be justified, they can always be corrected. From my modest point of view, there is no reason to erase the entire work. Don’t you agree?

Besides, the attitude of the sysop, being a Judge, a person with interest in the results, also indicating that he dislike the work, and then blocking myself in the middle of the voting process, is at least a non-ethical behavior (I might be wrong, of course). Do you know if Wikipedia has some appeal instance that can act over Wikipedias in other languages when the administrators abuse of they power? I would really appreciate any help in this issue. I worked very hard in that page (197 kb and now I was forced to reduce it to 120 kb). Something else, one administrator said that independently of the results of the voting process, he will erase the page anyway, arguing that it does not complain with the wiki policies (without specifying which paragraphs do not). Regards. --Tasc1 04:53, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Is it perhaps an issue of noteability? I can imagine that other users may nominate or support deleting a geneological article if the family is perceived not to be noteable. If that is the case, then the best way to answer that challenge is with reliable, published sources. Maybe it would be a good idea for you to copy the article into Talk space and work on it there for a while. Once it's in really good shape with lots of fantastic references you might be in a better position to update the article with your new version. --ElKevbo 05:03, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

(after edit conflicts) As Kev and Pat suggest, one's writing an autobiography or biography of a relative here is generally disfavored (toward which, see, e.g., WP:AUTO and WP:COI), principally because it is not unlikely that one, in writing apropos of him/herself or of an individual or group with whom or which he/she is intimately familiar, might (especially avolitionally) contravene our policies and produce an article that suffers encyclopedic deficencies. There are, to be sure, editors who have created or edited articles about themselves or members of their families and done so quite well and successfully, so WP:AUTO and WP:COI are not really construed here as ex ante proscriptions; they do, though, counsel that autobiographical editing be avoided, that an autobiographical editor review his/her work stringently in order to ensure that it well comports with encyclopedic standards, and that he/she refrain from editing autobiographically where another editor has expressed concern about his/her introducing information that is unencyclopedic. In general, I think it might safely be said that if edits properly an article about himself or a family member, the fact of his being (or being related to) the subject will not be plain. All that, though, as you seem well to appreciate, is relative to the English Wikipedia. Whilst each Wikipedia maintains standards as regards content and whilst those standards are often similar across languages, the intricacies of any single Wikipedia may be qualitatively different from those here. You might have success querying one or more of the editors listed at Category:Contributors to the Spanish Wikipedia, who are ostensibly acquainted with policies at both Wikipedias; Buchanan-Hermit and Titoxd, to name two, are admins here who are also active on the Spanish language version. Joe 05:15, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Titoxd, that was a great idea. Who can be in a better position than someone that is familiar with both wikipedias. I’ll try to contact them. Thanks, regards, Tomás.

ElKevbo, I am doing something like this in the main page, indicating in an index the progress in the corrections, section by section. But now that I was blocked for one day, it is really discouraging to know that one of the Administrators said that he will erase the article no matter what. Unbelievable to me.--Tasc1 05:19, 22 November 2006 (UTC).

Unfortunately, I can't spend as much time as I would like to investigating this, because I'm extremely busy this time of the year. However, the two Wikipedias are independent of each other; what happens there is not necessarily what is going to happen here. The Spanish Wikipedia has much stricter notability standards, while here, as long as an article meets the three content policies of verifiability, no original research, and neutrality, it has a significant chance of staying. You also need to take into account which sources are considered reliable, and cite them copiously, if possible. It is probably exceedingly difficult to be neutral when writing about a family genealogy (and some may argue that it should be left for some other site), just as it happens with academic boosterism. That page should have a few tips to maintain an encyclopedic tone and adequate style.

Then, it would be a good idea to try to see where other users are coming from. As for the "free speech" and "academic freedom" defenses, I'm afraid they just aren't very convincing; particularly the "academic freedom" defense, as our purpose here is not to make new interpretations of events, but rather to report what already has been reported. Wikiversity, on the other hand, accepts original research to a degree. As to free speech, it is covered by WP:NOT.

Finally, you were blocked for a violation of WP:NSW (which is basically WP:POINT here), it appears due to you taking offense at someone's sarcastic remark. I'd advise you to read WP:COOL for future reference, and to try to source the article in the Spanish Wikipedia with almost FA's strict citation requirements. Titoxd^(?!?) 06:25, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Email Notification

How user who want to answer for some question come to know that question is posted in wiki? Is their any kind of email-notification or something else? 202.56.245.162 05:08, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

There is no other notification for this page other than checking back here. However, every user has a talk page (yours is here). When a user posts a message to your talk page, which is the normal method of contacting specific users, you will get a bright orange bar at the top of your page which states that you have new messages. Hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit 05:14, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

• Its strange that the inventors of wikipedia didnt think of adding a notification by email or some such feature. Would have been very useful, rather than logging in here and checking.

They did, but it's done through an RSS feed. See WP:RSS. I'm sure there's an elaborate system somewhere to hook up an RSS to your inbox; but it would probably just be easier to check this page. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 05:26, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

User Page Creation

Hi All...

Have been wanting to create my own user page, so have been checking out other members pages.

What I wanted to know was, is it OK...to check out how other users have constructed their pages, by clicking on the edit page button, or does that make me a vandal?

Thanks

Ranten

Please feel absolutely free to look at the wikisource for any page. -- Rick Block (talk) 05:26, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Ranten. First off, as I see you're unfamiliar with Wikipedia's mechanisms, could I ask you to please sign your posts by typing ~~~~ afterwards? That works much better than just typing off your name.

Secondly, there is absolutely no problem looking at another person's userpage; everything on this site is GFDL, which means it's free to be copied (as long as you don't make money off of it - or do it to be a pest). For help, see WP:U, or look at my page. -Patstuart^{(talk)(contribs)} 05:29, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

• Hey Patstuart..thanks for that info bout checking the code. Err about typing the squiggly...am still not sure how it works...but i tried that in my post about the Vanishing Image somewhere above and the result was something like 123.123.123Ranten. Anyway lemme try it again now. Thanks a tone mate...appreciate your patience towards newbies.

210.214.64.208 06:20, 22 November 2006 (UTC)Ranten

Domestic roofing materials and design at the turn of the 19th century

Where can I find historical reference to the type of farm building's (House/barn/etc) roofing material and style used(construction) in rural south Kentucky during the period 1880-1920?? Primarily by the farmer/tennant, rather than a 'contracter'. Like wood shake shingles(what size?)? Sod? Tar and gravel? (ever?) Over lapping rough cut boards? (caulked with some kind of moisture barrier?) Tar paper? etc?