Wikipedia:Help desk
- For other types of questions, use the search box, see the reference desk or Help:Contents. If you have comments about a specific article, use that article's talk page.
- Do not provide your email address or any other contact information. Answers will be provided on this page only.
- If your question is about a Wikipedia article, draft article, or other page on Wikipedia, tell us what it is!
- Check back on this page to see if your question has been answered.
- For real-time help, use our IRC help channel, #wikipedia-en-help.
- New editors may prefer the Teahouse, a help area for beginners (but please don't ask in both places).
May 27
Upload image
Hi. A friend of mine registered a new account on May 25 and he wants to upload a new version of an existed image. But why he can't see that button? Can anyone explain to me?? Thanks. AW 02:01, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- WP:UAL says: The rights of "registered users" are fully accessible to everyone who has held an account for more than four days. --Teratornis 02:12, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks. AW 02:27, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
multiple names
I'm making a page with biographical details. Ive created links to the various personalities, but some are already recognised and will automatically take me to the biography of a person with the same name. How do I make sure the link goes to the right person?—Preceding unsigned comment added by Jkorman2000 (talk • contribs)
- Please see Wikipedia:Disambiguation. Also, if you would like to mention the title of the article, I would take a look at it and see what can be done :) PeaceNT 03:18, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Try Help:Link, this may help you get started on how to link to and from articles. Stwalkerster talk review 15:23, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Creating Tables
How do you create tables or charts.
- See Help:Table for complete information about that. Hersfold (talk/work) 03:20, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Tables can be complicated, depending on how complex they are. Let me know if you'd like to have one designed, or if you're having problems with the syntax. tiZom(2¢) 03:25, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
Create an article?
How do i create my own article.
- This article gives you some things to think about before creating your first article. At the end of it, there are some other help links to assist you with the technical details of how to create an article. Good luck, and happy editing! --Tkynerd 04:54, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
untitled
Address: <address removed> Zip code: Date:27-may-2007 The sale dept(wikipedia)company. Dear sir I am a computer student of university in iran. I would like some information about your products and price list. would you send me information please. thank you. your faith fally. Elaheh Mansouri
- Products: online encyclopedia. Price: $0. Wikipedia doesn't sell anything. -Wooty Woot? contribs 07:23, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Wikipedia itself may not sell anything directly, but you can buy shirts, mugs, caps, wall clocks, etc., imprinted with the Wikipedia logo. See: Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 March 1#T-shirt. --Teratornis 13:00, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
How can I get an image on an article?
If I want to add image in article, what should I do?—Preceding unsigned comment added by Kapil Dolas (talk • contribs)
- Write something like [[Image:Example.png|thumb|right|Example image caption]] in the article. Also see WP:Image. ssepp(talk)
- Browsing your contributions, I don't find any images uploaded by you, so first, upload it, you might want to take a look here for detailed instructions. Next, please see Help:Image#Linking. Also, if you don't mind telling me the title of the related article, I would assist you in adding the image PeaceNT 08:40, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
Can't log in
Every time I want log in it says Incorrect password, although it's is the right one. I also can't get a new one by e-mail since I never typed in an e-mail address. Is there an option to get a password without creating a new account? Diabound00 08:23, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- If you didn't set an e-mail, there is no way to recover your password. -- John Reaves (talk) 08:25, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Try things like caps lock, and check the keyboard layout hasn't changed on your computer. Stwalkerster talk review 15:27, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Automatically adding a template to a set of user pages
Is there a way to automatically add a template to a user’s talk page? Over at WikiProject Iceland, we’re trying to find a way to automatically add our monthly newsletter to user’s talk pages. Perhaps there is a bot that can do this? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Max Naylor 09:10, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- I think I'd come at this problem the other way around: set up the newsletter as a template, then ask your members to transclude the template on their user: or user talk: pages. AndyJones 09:28, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- That would not notify users of a new newsletter. Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost is delivered to user talk pages by User:Ralbot. PrimeHunter 12:12, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
Switch articles please.. (UPN)
Article 'UPN' should be renamed to 'United Paramount Network'.
And 'UPN' should then point to 'UPN (disambiguation)'
I know these kind moves are tricky so I think an administrator should do it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Electron9 (talk • contribs) 10:11, 27 May 2007 (UTC).
- UPN#Viacom takes full control says :
- Viacom dropped the "United" name for its new network, opting to change the official corporate name to the three-letter initials, "UPN."
- If you still think it should be renamed then you can suggest it at Wikipedia:Requested moves. PrimeHunter 12:01, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Additionally...
- The defunct television network clearly is the primary English-language usage of the "UPN" initialism.
- More than 1,000 articles are linked directly to UPN.
- Redirecting UPN to UPN (disambiguation) would contradict our naming conventions.
- —David Levy 12:38, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Additionally...
- If there's more than one meaning, acronyms should point to an disambiguation page. Just because some commercial entity have flooded the public with their logo doesn't mean wikipedia should follow that. And articles that links to another should certainly specify the context of an acronym. Two wrongs doesn't make one right. In math one doesn't follow the majority, but what fits the equation. Electron9 22:20, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- 1. When one meaning is overwhelmingly the most common in the English language (for whatever reason), that's the one that we assign to the title in question. (To do otherwise would make it more difficult for most users to find the desired article.) If there are two or more other meanings for which we have articles, we link to a disambiguation page. That's what we've done in this instance.
- 2. I don't understand what you mean by "articles that links to another should certainly specify the context of an acronym." —David Levy 04:32, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Fulcanelli
I am a published author and expert on the subject of Fulcanelli. I edited the article slightly on May 26 2007 on Fulcanelli. Yet my edits were not there the next day. Why not? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jay Weidner (talk • contribs) <email removed>
- It seems they were removed in this edit: [1]. The edit summary indicates that your edits were 'identified as vandalism', but I don't think that is fair. I have alerted the person who removed the content of this discussion. ssepp(talk) 15:30, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Your edits were mainly self-promotional, though, and many Wikipedians see that as a red rag. You should read WP:SPAM and WP:COI before making any further edits which name-check yourself or your work. AndyJones 15:38, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- The Fulcanelli IP edits were made in the midst of a spamming spree,[2] for which I warned him on the talk page of the IP he used to make the edits.[3] - Kathryn NicDhàna ♫♦♫ 18:20, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
When I saved the changes, there were no changes saved!
I spent quite a while filling in plot details of the film On Borrowed Time, including a plot spoiler warning. I previewed it and it looked fine, and then I saved it, but there were no changes in the finished article. This is the first time this has happened I always use Mac OS X and Safari. I had an account, but I apparently forgot my user name so I just now created a new one I have edited several articles.
Thanks.
Wlegro —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wlegro (talk • contribs)
- I assume your edit was this by 76.81.9.239. It was reverted by User:Pilotguy the next minute.[4] Another editor has commented it at User talk:Pilotguy#On Borrowed Time. PrimeHunter 15:44, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
Thanks, PrimeHunter. I'm new at this, don't know coding, etiquette, and so on, so I just do my best in the time I have - I have no idea if I'm violating some rule even responding here this way and at this length. FWIW, I am a writer and editor IRL. Nice to have the mystery solved- the guy wasted no time, did he? - though I don't know quite what to do about it and don't see how to enter that nascent discussion. It's not hugely important to me - it's just that I had watched the movie again the previous night and was still caught up in it, and found the summary lacking. I see there's a huge controversy going on about spoiler warnings, which to me are a simple courtesy and nothing to get upset about. And some don't appreciate POVs in plot summaries - I can understand that. Thanks again. Wlegro
- Hello Wlegro. One of the basic policies of Wikipedia is to have no POV in articles, whatsoever. This is why your edit was problematic. See WP:NPOV. ssepp(talk) 16:13, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks, S_Sepp. Didn't know that, given how much POV I see throughout the encyclopedia. Is this a new policy (I've read lately about efforts to clean up Wikipedia), and is there a drive to comb through the articles and eliminate it? And why wouldn't an editor simply delete the POV instead of the entire edit? That's what I tried to do in my second attempt to expand the "stub" of an entry, as we are invited to do. Wlegro (William)
- It's one of the five basic principles of Wikipedia. Of course, it's not always easy to achieve. It's not uncommon for editors to remove edits when a POV pervades the whole thing in such a way that it's essentially unsalvagable <- definitions of that idea vary widely. WilyD 16:38, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) It has been this way from the start. There is always ongoing effort to improve wikipedia, in many ways. There are 'wikiprojects' to fix everything from typos to cultural bias. But because of the very large quantity of edits that happen, there is always much work undone. As for why the editor didn't just delete the POV instead of the entire edit: I think most editors would have just removed the POV. Perhaps this particlar editor only took a quick glance and didn't see the 'whole story' of your edit, or perhaps he didn't have time to remove the POV, and thought it would still be better to remove the edit in whole than leave it. ssepp(talk) 16:45, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks all for the education, and thanks S_Sepp for the header - looks much better. - Wlegro
- Wikipedia is the encylopedia that (almost) anyone can edit. Millions of people have created accounts, and perhaps comparably vast numbers have edited without accounts. However, probably only a few thousand people have much of a grasp of Wikipedia's staggeringly complex policies, guidelines, and procedures. The result is that only a tiny percentage of articles have achieved the top two ratings of featured or good. Thus, more than 99% of articles on Wikipedia need work; some people think this means Wikipedia is failing. (I think Wikipedia is failing to meet some of its stated aims quickly, particularly the bit about "an encyclopedia of the highest quality," but Wikipedia is certainly not failing to be popular, fun, and probably more comprehensive and generally usable than any other single reference on the World Wide Web.) When you browse to random articles, the odds are overwhelming that most of them violate some policies or guidelines, or have deficiencies in need of correction. These problems may be serious, yet untagged. Thus you should not use random existing articles as guidelines for what to do here. Instead, read the actual guidelines (at WP:POLICY and elsewhere). This is unfortunate, because most people tend to learn by imitating examples they see, rather than by consulting definitive documents. However, little by little, experienced editors can go around and fix things, citing the relevant documents as they go. Then others can learn what to do from them. --Teratornis 17:40, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- If you do want to use another article as a guideline, try finding a similar featured article or good article. Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 17:47, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
I appreciate the generosity you've all offered and the patience displayed. God knows how many times you have to repeat yourselves. I like the commitment I see here. Thanks. Wlegro 16:52, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
editing tamplates
how do I edit tamplates? —Preceding unsigned comment added by ArnoldPettybone (talk • contribs)
- See Wikipedia:Template namespace and Wikipedia:Template messages...--Cometstyles 15:09, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Ha, did you mean "templates"? :) Well, you may edit them normally as editing articles. However, if you encounter some templates which you can't modify, it's because they are proctected, and you may propose changes on the related talk pages by using the
{{editprotected}}
template. PeaceNT 15:12, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
Liscencing
What tag would I put on a photo I have created that allows it to be used in an article without allowing someone else to steal the image and make money from it? ≈ Maurauth (nemesis) 15:43, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- That is not possible. Wikipedia content (including all articles) is meant to be reusable in any way, including commercial. See also: Wikipedia:Image copyright tags ssepp(talk) 16:06, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Well, what liscence is there that says they have to credit you with the image? ≈ Maurauth (nemesis) 16:39, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- According to Wikipedia:Image copyright tags, both the GNU Free Documentation License and the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike require this. I think the prefered way to license is to dual-license under those two licenses, because that allows more flexibility in re-use (re-users can then choose either license). You might also want to consider uploading the image at Wikimedia Commons instead of locally at the English wikipedia. At the Commons it becomes available for use in any wikimedia foundation project. But of course you can also just upload it here. ssepp(talk) 16:55, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
List Question
Can you make numbered lists and not have them interrupted by pictures? What I mean to say is, I want to have a list, and have a picture or two between some of the numbers without the numbers becoming skewed, is this possible? Mr.KlicK 15:47, 27 May 2007 (UTC)Mr.KliCK
- Yeah, just put the image on the same line as the number (with a br tag if need be). for example
- a
- b
- c
- d
- e
- f
- g
- h
- i
- j
--User:Rock2e Talk - Contribs 16:03, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
Not exactly what I was looking for, but it'll get the job done. Thanks. Mr.KlicK 16:46, 27 May 2007 (UTC)Mr.KlicK
- If you want more flexibility for mixing various types of formatting with numbered lists, use an HTML numbered list. See for example: Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 May 3#Numbered lists and tables. --Teratornis 18:32, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
Correct website address for the MINUSTAH UN peace keeping mission in Haiti
Dear sirs, my name is othniel Etienne. I'm the webmaster of the website www.minustah.org , which is the correct address for the official website of this UN peace keeping mission in Haiti (instead of www.minustah.org/index-english.html which was an old link, as listed on this page : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MINUSTAH).
Thank you for the prompt correction
Best regards
Othniel
(E-Mail removed for security purposes)
- I've fixed it. In the future, you can fix things yourself by finding the edit link on the page, making the changes, and saving. If you would like to have someone else do the changes for conflict of interest reasons, then just request the update on the page's talk page. tiZom(2¢) 18:55, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
Iskenderiye
A few months ago (December 7th to be exact) a friend of mine thought he'd be funny and made a completely fictional article about me. It was, of course, deleted in a few hours and he never told me about it. I just googled my name and this page came up: http://www.iskenderiye.com/wp_encyclopedia/?p=29698 which contains, according to him, the exact article he made. Is there any reason anyone knows of why it would suddenly appear where after several months, and is there any way of getting rid of it?
- For general information about how this page got there, see WP:MIRROR. As to how to get rid of it, that would be up to the site operators, who do not appear to be affiliated with Wikipedia. Ideally, sites which mirror Wikipedia should periodically freshen their copies with the latest revisions of articles. However, the real world is not uniformly ideal. --Teratornis 20:04, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
columns
I've looked all over but I can't figure out: is there a way to make the text in a section flow down two (or three) columns? (I have a list of articles I started on my userpage, and it's getting a bit longer than looks nice.)Stevecudmore 20:01, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Examples: Ilities (using
<div>
tags); GPSBabel#File formats supported (using {{top}}, {{mid}}, and {{bottom}}). You can also use tables. --Teratornis 20:14, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
Thanks! Stevecudmore 21:06, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
QESTION
Wiy was JIVE made YOURs Exelensi Jeane van Dyk
- Not sure I understand your question. —Anas talk? 20:15, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- I don't even understand the "QESTION" but there is a JIVE article, believe it or not, and it summarizes the purpose of (that) JIVE's existence. --Teratornis 01:56, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Combining galleries and tables?
Is there a way to get internal borders in galleries, like tables have? Or if not, is there a way to create tables such that information can be listed vertically rather than horizontally? As in, everything I've been able to find for tables starts by creating the columns, then filling the table by row. Is there a way to fill the table by column instead? -Bbik 20:13, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- The {{top}}, {{mid}}, and {{bottom}} templates that I mentioned a few questions above might sort of work the way you are describing, but they do not exactly produce tables. Whether you can use those templates to do what you want depends on what you want. You might also try searching the help desk for: table column, and read everything about tables in the Editor's Index. That's all I've got. --Teratornis 02:05, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- I think one of the userspace links in the Index might be what I need, actually. I hadn't managed to find those couple pages in my searching. I'll fight with it later when I have a bit more time, but in the meantime, thanks! -Bbik 06:32, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Editing
Hello,
I'm a new editor, amd have done a few minor edits today and have ticked the 'Minor Edit' box. On re-reading the definition of a 'minor edit', I think that I shouldn't have ticked this box, as I have added to and slightly changed some articles.
Could you look at these please and make sure they're OK with you.
Sorry —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fanners (talk • contribs)
- It doesn't matter. It's bad etiquette to strike major edits as minor but we are all newcomers at one stage. Everything is OK as long as you avoid doing it from now onwards. x42bn6 Talk Mess 22:13, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
- Well, you provided nothing to look at. But the kinds of edits you describe don't seem to be technically minor. Under the Minor Edits entry, read this:
- If you accidentally mark an edit as minor when it was in fact a major edit, you should make a second edit, or dummy edit, noting that "the previous edit was major" in the edit summary. As a trivial edit to be made for this purpose, just opening the edit box and saving (changing nothing) will not work, neither will adding a blank space at the end of a line or a blank line at the end of the page—in these cases the edit is cancelled and the edit summary discarded. However, one can, for example, add an extra space between two words, or a line break. These changes are preserved in the wikitext and recorded as a change, although they do not change the rendered page.
- You'll have to judge whether you should make a second edit. Hope this helps. - Wlegro
- No one will mind a day from now, as long as you more or less get the idea of what a minor edit is, and more or less mark them properly in the future. Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 00:59, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Another option is to explain what you did on the talk pages of the articles in question, providing links to your diffs. Explaining your edits on talk pages is a good idea if a short edit summary doesn't explain it well. Mentioning that you are a new user is advisable, to alert experienced editors to check your work. Most new users have not yet mastered the staggeringly complex policies, guidelines, and procedures, so it's easy for a new user to violate something unwittingly — in fact, it's easy for an experienced user to make mistakes too (even after a year of dabbling on Wikipedia, I'm still running across new guidelines, recommendations, and procedures that I hadn't heard of before, not to mention the infinite regress of templates and so on). It never hurts to ask for a sanity check. Talk pages exist so we can talk about what we are doing to the articles, and focus more eyeballs on the problems. --Teratornis 01:50, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
May 28
Creating a page
How do you create a page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sillysox (talk • contribs)
- See :Help:Starting a new page and Wikipedia:Your first article. PrimeHunter 00:05, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Why is Wikipedia blurring thumbnail images?
I noticed that images become very blurry when you resize them to certain sizes. It only happens at the "thumbnail" sizes (i.e. 120px, 150px, 180px, 200px, 250px and 300px).
Here's an example:
Why is Wikipedia doing this? Bug or feature?
Boudewijn 00:24, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Most likely because one size is closer to the actual proportions of the image. If you just resize the width without resizing the height proportionally, you actually distort the image somewhat, even if it's only a pixel. Bjelleklang - talk Bug Me 00:52, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Only the width was specified. The height was set automatically. The original is 783x348 which corresponds to 249.75x111. It's also sharp at 252x112 and 251x112 (112 chosen automatically). The jpg file size is 9025 bytes at 249x11 and only 7360 byte at 250x111. 251x112 and 252x112 are around 9100 bytes. I don't know but based on these images it looks possible that the software chooses poorer jpg quality at certain sizes. PrimeHunter 01:33, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, it's sharp at any size except the thumbnail widths you can set in the 'Files' tab of My preferences. You say it chooses a lower quality, but I don't see jpeg artifacts here, it looks more like a deliberate Gaussian blur. Also, I checked the JPEG quantization tables: both are the same (same jpeg compression level). Boudewijn 02:57, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- It probably is a Gaussian blur, considering that MediaWiki runs ImageMagick in the image back end. Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 01:56, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- I have limited knowledge of images and you two sound like you know what you are talking about, so I guess you are right. My layman opinion is that the sharp image is "best" in this case, so it may be a good idea to avoid 250x for this image. PrimeHunter 02:11, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- It's not just this image, most JPEG images on Wikipedia are affected. There's even a very bad one on the Main page right now: today's "featured picture" looks like this while it could have looked like this. Anyway, I realize I'm in the wrong place, I'll go and ask the MediaWiki developers about this. Boudewijn 02:52, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- I have limited knowledge of images and you two sound like you know what you are talking about, so I guess you are right. My layman opinion is that the sharp image is "best" in this case, so it may be a good idea to avoid 250x for this image. PrimeHunter 02:11, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- It probably is a Gaussian blur, considering that MediaWiki runs ImageMagick in the image back end. Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 01:56, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, it's sharp at any size except the thumbnail widths you can set in the 'Files' tab of My preferences. You say it chooses a lower quality, but I don't see jpeg artifacts here, it looks more like a deliberate Gaussian blur. Also, I checked the JPEG quantization tables: both are the same (same jpeg compression level). Boudewijn 02:57, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Only the width was specified. The height was set automatically. The original is 783x348 which corresponds to 249.75x111. It's also sharp at 252x112 and 251x112 (112 chosen automatically). The jpg file size is 9025 bytes at 249x11 and only 7360 byte at 250x111. 251x112 and 252x112 are around 9100 bytes. I don't know but based on these images it looks possible that the software chooses poorer jpg quality at certain sizes. PrimeHunter 01:33, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
The effect is no longer visible for this image - I've purged commons:Image:Ducati muffler.jpg. The problem is that settings for thumbnail creation changed a few weeks ago to include a bit of additional sharpening, but thumbnails already in existence then have not been recreated. So if you find an image with this problem, purge the image page and it should be OK after reloading the image or the page with the image. --Dapeteばか 16:10, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- It's hard to find an image that does not show the problem. If the old thumbnails aren't going to be recreated automatically, does this mean we have to manually purge every single image on Wikipedia? Boudewijn 19:15, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Limburger
It looks as though the Limburger page was vandalized (linked from today's picture of the day)
- Someone's already reverted it. If you would like to learn how, see WP:REVERT and WP:VAND. *Cremepuff222* "As cool as grapes..." 01:15, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Signature
I'm having trouble making my signature. I want it to say "Cheers, JetLover Talk to me!" but it's all one link. How can I fix this? Cheers, JetLover 02:17, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Put [[User:JetLover|JetLover]] [[User talk:JetLover|Talk to me]] into the signature box and click "raw siganture". -- John Reaves (talk) 02:22, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Thanks! Cheers, JetLover Talk to me! 02:43, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Editting uneditable pages
How do you edit a page if the "edit" link is not there?—Preceding unsigned comment added by TigressofIndia (talk • contribs)
- See Wikipedia:Protection policy. PrimeHunter 02:50, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- You can make a request for unprotection at WP:RFPP or use {{editprotected}}. -- John Reaves (talk) 02:52, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- A final option is if the page is only semi-protected and not fully protected, to ask an editor who has had an account for longer than five days to make the edit for you. For clarification of "semi-proctection" and "full-protection" see WP:PROT --Random Say it here! 03:17, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- You can make a request for unprotection at WP:RFPP or use {{editprotected}}. -- John Reaves (talk) 02:52, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
To know about using wikipedia
59.95.110.133 03:26, 28 May 2007 (UTC)hi wikipedia, i am doing research about shopping mall.And about consumer behaviour towarts shopping mall. i am from India how can i get all information using wikipedia
- To find out what you want to know, try going to the following article Shopping mall. If that does not help you, trying a google search might. Hope that helps. --Random Say it here! 03:32, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- For example: Google:"shopping mall" consumer behavior; and the same search restricted to Wikipedia. --Teratornis 14:23, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Procedure for reverting vandalism
The following help page: Help:Reverting does not seem to address my question so I will raise it here. I have been using the following procedure to help fight vandalism but need to know if it should be altered. I use the Recent changes link and look for unregistered users edits. I then click on the diff link and view the edit making sure that it is the current version I am looking at. If it is vandalism, I click on undo link and scroll down to the edit summary box where I append the following: "rv vandalism" to the end of the default line which looks like the following Undid revision 134009056 by Devil deadman (talk) I have been leaving the minor edit box unchecked. Is the procedure considered appropriate and should the minor edit box be check or not?
- Personally, I do not check the minor edit box. You're procedure is actually nearly flawless. Nothing done wrong, I would just say that you may want to provide who's version you are reverting from, and who's you are reverting to. Also, after making the revert, place the appropriate warning on the user's talk page. There are some very useful tools that do most of this for you: Twinkle and Lupin's anti-vandal tool. You should check them both out. Redian (Talk) 04:56, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for the reply. Since I generally deal with unregistered users (IP address listed), they generally do not have a talk page and to take the time to create one seems to me to be a waste of time as the likelyhood of them actually reading it would seem to me to be very low. Dbiel 05:34, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- You should consider warning after reverting vandalism (unless the vandal is already blocked). It is a preventative action and doesn't take much time
;)
PeaceNT 05:51, 28 May 2007 (UTC)- But what good does it do to warn an unregistered user that does not have a talk page created and would probably never look at the warning if it were left? Unless there is some sort of procedure in place that would make use of multiple warnings found on the talk page.Dbiel 06:28, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Hi Dbiel. Actually, it is quite likely that the user will see the warning: the bright orange box saying "You have new messages" appears for IPs as well. Often, a single warning is enough to get the user to stop vandalizing, presumably because they are now aware their edits are being watched. In case vandalism persists, it becomes necessary for an administrator to block the IP address, and most admins will not do so until after warnings have been issued. You can read more about this at WP:VAND. Thanks for asking! -SpuriousQ (talk) 11:54, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Of course, I should mention this is completely voluntary; you don't need to warn if you feel it takes too much time. You might want to look into third-party tools that facilitate the vandal fighting procees, such as those listed at Wikipedia:Recent changes patrol. -SpuriousQ (talk) 11:59, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for the excellent replies. Dbiel 12:50, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Of course, I should mention this is completely voluntary; you don't need to warn if you feel it takes too much time. You might want to look into third-party tools that facilitate the vandal fighting procees, such as those listed at Wikipedia:Recent changes patrol. -SpuriousQ (talk) 11:59, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Hi Dbiel. Actually, it is quite likely that the user will see the warning: the bright orange box saying "You have new messages" appears for IPs as well. Often, a single warning is enough to get the user to stop vandalizing, presumably because they are now aware their edits are being watched. In case vandalism persists, it becomes necessary for an administrator to block the IP address, and most admins will not do so until after warnings have been issued. You can read more about this at WP:VAND. Thanks for asking! -SpuriousQ (talk) 11:54, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- But what good does it do to warn an unregistered user that does not have a talk page created and would probably never look at the warning if it were left? Unless there is some sort of procedure in place that would make use of multiple warnings found on the talk page.Dbiel 06:28, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- You should consider warning after reverting vandalism (unless the vandal is already blocked). It is a preventative action and doesn't take much time
- Thanks for the reply. Since I generally deal with unregistered users (IP address listed), they generally do not have a talk page and to take the time to create one seems to me to be a waste of time as the likelyhood of them actually reading it would seem to me to be very low. Dbiel 05:34, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, what Redian said, and note that you are not required to mark reversion of vandalism as minor edits, so no worries. You are doing perfectly fine. PeaceNT 04:59, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for the reply. The question is not so much as is it required, but is a vandalism revert condsidered to be a minor edit or not? Dbiel 05:34, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- ah, I mean that because there is no law, you can do either way you want. It doesn't matter. PeaceNT 05:51, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Personally, I mark vandalism edits as minor if they're something completely obvious as vandalism (e.g. "John Smith Likes boys!!!!11oneone!!!11"), but not if it's something there's even a slight chance of me being wrong about (e.g. someone changing a birthday, even if it goes against the cited source). Also, instead of "rv vandalism", you can shorten it to just "rvv" which means the same thing. If a user has gone past the fourth warning template (the one that says "final warning," you should also report them to to Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism, where an administrator can ban them. If you're only going to be looking for unregistered user edits, you can save time scanning and just use this link. Also, if you enjoy reverting vandalism, may I plug Special:Recentchangeslinked/Category:Living_people? Those pages are generally some of the most critical to keep clear since a)it can lead to charges of libel if inaccurate information stays on too long, and b)most incidents where Wikipedia suffers a hit to credibility (e.g. Sinbad, and Seigenthaler) are to Biographies of living persons. In any event, thanks for helping keep Wikipedia vandalism free :). --YbborTalk 14:42, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for the useful advise. Could I ask you or anyone else if they might be willing to comment on and provide any suggestion on how to better leave a warning on a talkpage. see the following example:
- Dbiel (Talk) 06:29, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Personally, I mark vandalism edits as minor if they're something completely obvious as vandalism (e.g. "John Smith Likes boys!!!!11oneone!!!11"), but not if it's something there's even a slight chance of me being wrong about (e.g. someone changing a birthday, even if it goes against the cited source). Also, instead of "rv vandalism", you can shorten it to just "rvv" which means the same thing. If a user has gone past the fourth warning template (the one that says "final warning," you should also report them to to Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism, where an administrator can ban them. If you're only going to be looking for unregistered user edits, you can save time scanning and just use this link. Also, if you enjoy reverting vandalism, may I plug Special:Recentchangeslinked/Category:Living_people? Those pages are generally some of the most critical to keep clear since a)it can lead to charges of libel if inaccurate information stays on too long, and b)most incidents where Wikipedia suffers a hit to credibility (e.g. Sinbad, and Seigenthaler) are to Biographies of living persons. In any event, thanks for helping keep Wikipedia vandalism free :). --YbborTalk 14:42, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- ah, I mean that because there is no law, you can do either way you want. It doesn't matter. PeaceNT 05:51, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for the reply. The question is not so much as is it required, but is a vandalism revert condsidered to be a minor edit or not? Dbiel 05:34, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Writing about a Fire Department
I registered and would like to write an article. I read the FAQs and getting started info, and it suggest not writing about your company. I am a firefighter for Sacramento Metro Fire Dept. in Sacramento CA and would like to write an article about the department. We are the largest FD in Sacramento County and the sixth largest in CA. The department has numerous specialties that it provides, and has a notable history, including being a part of USAR CA TF 7 which was part of the search and rescue effort of September 11th and Oklahoma City Bombing. I would like to write the article because I think that it is different then a normal company and would not really be advertising. But I also don't want it to get deleted. Can you help me? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Firebug10 (talk • contribs)
- First, make absolutely sure the article doesn't exist under a different name. The Wikipedia search function is quite lacking, I would recommend a Google search of Wikipedia. Just add site:en.wikipedia.org before your search terms. While you can write an article about your employer, it is generally not recommended. I would suggest giving a rough draft of the article at the Drawing board first. You may also want to review the neutral Point of view policy. Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 05:47, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Sacramento Fire Department exists already as a stub. Feel free to start filling it up with content, but be sure to provide reliable sources for everything you write (see WP:CITE, WP:CITET, and WP:FOOT for instructions on you cite your sources). One of the biggest problems on Wikipedia is that lots of people know lots of things (for example, you are probably an expert about your fire department), but not many people know how to find reliable sources for what they know. If you have some interesting facts to add to Sacramento Fire Department but you don't have sources for them, you can write your claims on Talk:Sacramento Fire Department and ask other editors to help you source them (read the talk page guidelines first so you know how to sign your posts). You might also ask at your local library for help, as often local libraries collect published content about topics of local interest. --Teratornis 14:36, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Indic Fonts' Small Text Size Display Problem
I am working on the Assamese Wikipedia and using UNICODE fonts in it. However the problem is that the default text size of the Assamese unicode is so small that in the articles in Assamese we have to add a BB or HTML tag like <span style='font-size:##.# pt'> to display the texts in a readable size.
However, the problem is with the system messages. If we add a BB or HTML code in the system messages, the code also gets displayed on the output pages. Anybody has any solutions to this problem?
Thanks for listening!! Priyankoo 05:51, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Just an idea: It sounds like it would be a solution to increase the default text size of Assamese unicode? I think technical requests like that can be made using the Wikipedia:Bugzilla system... ssepp(talk) 12:05, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Thanks ssepp!! Will try to go to the forum!!
Priyankoo 15:10, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
WHERE IS THIS PLACE. IS THIS A TOWN,COUNTRY,DIST.
1.ABIDIAN 2. ROMANIA 3.MONROVIA 4.LOME 5.LIBRIVILLE 6.UKRAINE 7.KANDALA 8.GARLAND 9.LAS 10.POINTE NOIRE 11.VITORIA 12.ITASAI 13.SINES 14.CLYNIA 15.DAMMAM 16.DJIBOUTI 17.DOUALA
- You can use Wikipedia to find the answers out. Simply type them into the search box on the left and use the information on the infoboxes. E talk 07:49, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Milage betwee the cities of China
How can i know the milage between the different cities of china
Kashghar-> Umumqi->Shanghai->Beijing
- Again, use the search box on the left and type each one in. Record the details and then compare at the end. E talk 07:50, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
admission
hello sir i want to get admission in ur college what is the procedure to get admission this year
- Wikipedia is not a college. It's an encyclopedia. E talk 08:01, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- If you mean wikiversity, everyone is free to join :). But I don't think they hand out any degrees. ssepp(talk) 09:20, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Contributions
G'day, is there any easy way to count how many contributions I've made with my wikipedia account? Cheers, Rothery 11:28, 28 May 2007 (UTC).
Why Wikipedia is editable
i have a big confussion that Why Wikipedia is editable ????? any one can change the precious information into garbage, so how can I trust the information I am reading right now is valid or not ???
- If Wikipedia weren't editable in any way, it wouldn't exist because nobody would be able to add to it. The minimal barriers to editing mean that anyone can edit almost anything. As the vast majority of editors are benign, and as it's as easy to undo a bad edit as to make a bad edit, the overall balance of edits means that Wikipedia tends to be trustworthy. I don't know of any specific statistics, but I would guess that easily fewer than 1 in 1,000 statements in Wikipedia are false.--A bit iffy 12:31, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- In my experience it is a lot more than 1 in 1,000 when I know the topic well, and there are probably still many errors I don't discover. PrimeHunter 13:09, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Also, there's quite a good, er, Wikipedia article at Criticism of Wikipedia which goes into some of the trustworthiness aspects of Wikipedia.--A bit iffy 12:39, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- That is why we cite our sources. It is hard to provide citations for garbage. Adrian M. H. 13:41, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Unless of course you have your own website and....cite yourself? By the point of course you join the professional scam artist league. PeteShanosky 02:44, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Improve articles links yellow tip.
Hi sir, good day!
Thanks alot for this greate site and helpful encyclopedia. I dont know if I am in the right place, but I tried hard to find a place for suggestions or improving Wikipedia. If its not the right place, then I would be thankful to removed it to the right area.
My suggestion is about the article links that are embedded in other articles context. Its usually include the yellow tool tip text, as the desired article title only! I think, for importance of time, its better if the tip contains the first small breif intoduction or main defination about the article subject; so that the reader may save time, if he/she needs only the main defination, rather than openning a new webpage!
Sorry for long talking, and thanks for listenning.
Yours always,.. A.H. <e-mail removed>
- Please have a look at Wikipedia:Tools/Navigation popups. They should do the same thing, and can be enabled by registered users. Bjelleklang - talk Bug Me 12:46, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Author
who is the author of this site?
- Anyone can be! Please see About Wikipedia. Bjelleklang - talk Bug Me 12:46, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- See: WP:VFAQ#Who wrote article X on Wikipedia?. --Teratornis 16:18, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Most of the time, this question has to do with people attempting to cite wikipedia. If you are doing so, try Wikipedia:citing Wikipedia. --YbborTalk 23:51, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- See: WP:VFAQ#Who wrote article X on Wikipedia?. --Teratornis 16:18, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Hit Counts
I'm doing research on English language learners posting on Wikipedia, and I want to report on hit counts of pages they edited or started. Is there any way to find out hit counts for pages? Is there any correlation between the number of page edits and page views? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.45.60.48 (talk • contribs)
- No, there is no connection between the two, other than that the number of views of each article is at least equal to the number of edits. As far as I know there is no way to find out the number of views, perhaps other than through the m:toolserver. Bjelleklang - talk Bug Me 13:27, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- There is probably some correlation between amount of page views and amount of edits, since these things are both strongly influenced by how well-known and 'popular' a certain subject is. But it is hard to research this, because hit counts are disabled for performance reasons. ssepp(talk) 13:34, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- See also Wikipedia:Technical FAQ#Can I add a page hit counter to a Wikipedia page? for a more detailed explanation. PrimeHunter 13:40, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Since you are doing research, see: Wikipedia in academic studies and Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2007-05-14/Academic journal coverage. Also research this: sign your posts on talk pages. Be aware that Wikipedia is but one of many wikis, and not necessarily the best wiki for arbitrary goals that differ from Wikipedia's stated goal of building a free encyclopedia of the highest quality. If your language learners can write encyclopedically, that's great, but if they just want to practice their English, they may do better on some other wiki. For example, you asked about page hit counters. The MediaWiki software that powers Wikipedia has page hit counters enabled by default, but on Wikipedia this feature is disabled. Smaller wikis generally don't have performance problems, so they tend to leave that feature enabled. Wikipedia has, by far, the highest public profile of any wiki; for example, millions of visitors come here as a result of Google searches; perhaps many are not yet aware that other wikis exist. However, not being aware of other wikis is not by itself valid reason to be editing on Wikipedia. Search WikiIndex for wikis with subject focus of interest to your language learners; some may have less stringent policies and guidelines than Wikipedia. --Teratornis 16:53, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Limited language proficiency users
I have been having language learners post and edit Wikipedia. Is there an official policy on how proficient a user needs to be to post? Would Wikipedia prefer these users write in their own language or the simple wiki site? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.45.60.48 (talk • contribs)
- Everyone is welcome, but please be aware that articles may be deleted. Starting in the natural language wiki could be a good idea in order to become familiar with how to use a Wiki, and also with common policies. Bjelleklang - talk Bug Me 13:27, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- There is no policy on minimal proficiency. As long as it is understandable and has good content it should be fine, other users can improve the English. ssepp(talk) 13:40, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- If a user is not yet capable of writing as well as an existing article has already been written, it would be best for that user to suggest his or her contribution on the article's talk page. This will attract the attention of other users who can judge whether the contribution is worthwhile, and edit it as necessary before integrating it into the article. If the language-learner must edit the article directly, he or she should at least explain his or her language proficiency level on the article's talk page, and request other users to review his or her edits. Note that to establish credibility with other editors, you and your language learners should create accounts and log in before editing, and learn to sign your posts on talk pages. The majority of vandalism comes from users who have not logged in; if your language learners write in broken English without logging in, they could easily make themselves seem like vandals to experienced editors, who naturally learn to stereotype rather mercilessly because vandalism is so common and relentless on Wikipedia. --Teratornis 14:13, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Saving an image as SVG
I understand that SVG is the msot preferrable format for uploading diagrams, etc. but how do I save an image as SVG, or convert it to SVG? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Redl@nds597198 (talk • contribs)
- See: Scalable Vector Graphics#Tutorials, Wikipedia:WikiProject Illustration, Wikipedia:Graphics tutorials. In general, if you start with a raster image, you or someone else will have to redraw it as a vector image. There is no generally capable automatic method for doing this conversion; it requires something currently labeled as "intelligence" to recognize shapes in an arbitrary raster image and convert them into outlines. ("Intelligence" basically means "nobody quite knows yet how some brains can do that.") --Teratornis 13:53, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
How to report abuse?
How do I report an abuse of Wikipedia (example, foul language).
- Do you mean WP:Vandalism? You can remove it yourself (WP:Revert) or you can mention it here and someone else can remove it. ssepp(talk) 14:16, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
posting new topic
i was just wondering what the guidelines were about posting a new article about a person or place
- The most important content policies are neutrality and verifiability. Addhoc 14:19, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- You should probably read Wikipedia:Your first article. If the article you write does not assert WP:notability it will probably be deleted. ssepp(talk) 14:21, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Cancel auto debit donation
Please cancel our auto debit of $ 10.00 per month, effective immediately. (personal data removed).
- Forwarded to donation mail adress of the wikimedia foundation. ssepp(talk) 15:48, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Article about companies
I recently posted an article about the company I work for, bsi insurance, and it was deleted. I'm thinking it was deleted since maybe they thought it was advertising. After that, I decided to look around and there are such pages for State Farm Insurance (and other insurance companies). Now I'm confused, why did this only happen to my page? If there was one little thing wrong I don't think it should have gotten deleted.... (I only talked about the history and the locations of the company) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.244.210.160 (talk • contribs)
- Please take a look at WP:ORG to check if your company meets the notability guideline. Also, as you mentioned this is the company you work for, please be aware of WP:COI. PeaceNT 15:37, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- I looked at what you said and I think this company deserves to be noted. Although it is not even close to the size of state farm, it is one of the largest brokers in manitoba. I took all my information from their website which I think is a notable source. Can you bring that page back or do I have to get a secondary source to remake it? (they will probably add the same sort of information) - USER —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.244.210.160 (talk • contribs)
- See Wikipedia:Why was my article deleted? to find out what the deletionists disliked about your article and to inquire about getting a copy of your article back for your use. A company's own web site is not by itself a reliable source for an article about that company (although I don't know if that's the reason why your article got deleted). --Teratornis 17:00, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- To answer your question about the existence of similar articles, that is covered by WP:WAX. It is quite common for editors ask "why delete this article when all these similar articles exist?" but you have to take into account why the other articles exist. Some of these articles may actually meet the requisite guidelines and policies to a sufficient degree to avoid nomination, but many others are victims of the backlog, indifference or lack of experience/knowledge on the part of anyone who notices them, or simply not being noticed at all. Adrian M. H. 17:25, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Reference List
Is it possible to hide a long ref list the way you can hide the contents list? Quakerman 15:38, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Trying to find something about this, I found this post: Wikipedia_talk:Citing_sources#Show.2Fhide_references. ssepp(talk) 16:02, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks! Quakerman 16:18, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
putting name in alphbetical order
Hello,
How can the name "Thomas Piercy" be put in the alphabetical list on the Clarinetist page? Thank you
- The article Thomas Piercy has been included into Category:Clarinetists incorrectly. If you edit that article, you'll see a list of categories at the bottom; the Clarinetists category entry should be formatted like the others to alphabetise it properly. (You can make this edit yourself.) Hope that helps! --ais523 15:57, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- See Help:Category. Another editor just fixed it by adding a sort key. You may have to refresh Category:Clarinetists in your browser to see Mr. Piercy in his proper place. --Teratornis 17:03, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Note that you can also specify the sorting order once for all categories with Template:DEFAULTSORT as I have done in [5] PrimeHunter 20:09, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- See Help:Category. Another editor just fixed it by adding a sort key. You may have to refresh Category:Clarinetists in your browser to see Mr. Piercy in his proper place. --Teratornis 17:03, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Message other users
How do you send a message to other Wiki users? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Miles Blues (talk • contribs).
- The easiest way is on their "talk" page. Just click on the user's page (by clicking on their name), click "discussion" and "edit this page" and leave your message there. (Remember to sign it with four tildes.) Quakerman 16:20, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thank you!Miles Blues 16:38, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- See Help:Talk page. --Teratornis 16:54, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- There is also: Wikipedia:Emailing users. --Teratornis 20:07, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- See Help:Talk page. --Teratornis 16:54, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thank you!Miles Blues 16:38, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Biography Page
Hello All, I am a new Wikipedia user and started off yesterday by editing spelling mistakes in various biography pages (sad I know, but have to start somewhere).
I had a look today and suddenly cannot open any of the index pages for biographies beginning with 'A, B C D' etc from the Biography page. These were all working fine yesterday, but today are in red and open 'There is no page with this exact name' pages.
Can someone please have a look and tell me if there is a problem, or if I am just doing something wrong. Many thanks MaryLou71 18:10, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Hi, do you mean this page? Category:Biography All the links are working okay for me. If you were talking about another page than please provide a link so we can take a look at it. Thanks. -- Hdt83 Chat 18:18, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Hello, thanks for the swift response. This isn't the link I meant. If you go to the Main Page and click on category 'Biography' on the right hand list you will see Categories 'People' and lower down - 'By Name' and an alphabetical list. When you click on A it should give you a list of all biographies for people where their name begins with Aa. This is not working for me. Am not sure how to add a like, so will attempt to paste one, but sorry if it doesn't work! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Biography
- 'people by name' was deleted per this deletion discussion: Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/List of people by name. The argument seems to have been that the list would be too large and too hard to maintain. I have removed the links from the biography portal. ssepp(talk) 19:06, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Thank you for that. I was a bit worried I had managed to break something! I read through the discussion and admittedly am a bit confused by the rationale, but at least I know why it doesn't work :-) MaryLou71 19:25, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
renaming Bob Berry
Can anyone please help me renaming Bob Berry to something like Bob Berry (ice hockey) or so. So that next we can create a disambiguation page for Bob Berry, and next create (at least one) more Bob Berry page(s)? It's no trouble renaming the page of course, but what about (all the large number of) the pages that link to it? Thanx in advance Dick Bos 18:16, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- On the top of the page, you'll see a button that says "move", click on it and follow the dircetions on that screen. See WP:MOVE for more info. *Cremepuff222* "As cool as grapes..." 18:24, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Sorry, I went ahead and started making changes. There actually aren't that many pages that link to it - but there are a few templates that appear on a bunch of pages. When we update the templates, then those pages are automatically removed from the list.
- I did Bob Berry (hockey player), to conform with some of the other hockey disambiguation pages that I saw. Then I realized that he's a coach too. So if you want me to change it to Bob Berry (ice hockey), just let me know. I've got AWB, so it's not too difficult.
- PS - make sure I didn't miss any. tiZom(2¢) 19:06, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
the show / hide thingy
Hi, can someone tell me how to make a show / hide bar (that drops down to reveal the contents) so that I can fit all the stuff on my user page into one screen? Thanks in advance. - TwoOars (T | C) 18:52, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Ser has the entry:
- Wikipedia:NavFrame - dynamic navigation (series) boxes (collapsible - hide/show)
- Studying that might tell you what to do (I don't know as I have not messed with this). --Teratornis 20:05, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Exactly what I wanted. Looks easy enough. Thanks a lot! :) - TwoOars (T | C) 20:15, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Main talk page?
Hi, i am a new user to wikipedia but i currently have an account on wookiepedia. I am just curious to wether or not on wikipedia there is a main talk page, like that on wookiepedia (it's called the senate hall).--Red*Leo 19:50, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- I think you mean the WP:Village pump. ssepp(talk) 19:54, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Also Wikipedia:Community Portal. For the list of everything you need to know about editing here, see: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia. --Teratornis 20:02, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Vandalism
It seems as though the word "porn" is placed intermittantly throughout the article on Rupert Murdoch where it does not belong.
There is no such thing as a Vice President of porn or a Cheif Executive Officer of porn.
See comments on his personal life.
- Thanks for the notification. I have reverted the article to a version without this vandalism. ssepp(talk) 20:16, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
Archived RFCs (Requests for Comment)
On a discussion page a user refers repeatedly to prior rfc's as dispositive of a disputed issue. I cannot locate the rfc's in question, nor even any on a related topic, though I did check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment, including the "Issues by Topic Area" box, and did text searches for likely rfc's, as well. Are there other rfc's, archived elsewhere? Is there a global search function for all rfc's, archived or otherwise? Do older rfc's resolve an issue forever and ever, rendering further discussion outlawed? Xenophon777 21:06, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- The wikipedia search function is pretty low quality. You might be able to find it using a google search of wikipedia, using syntax like this: [6]. ssepp(talk) 21:13, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Google search for URLs containing: Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment may be more precise. However, I'm wondering why you omitted the most critical items of information from your question:
- The identity of "a discussion page."
- The identity of "a user."
- The identity of "a disputed issue."
- By omitting these details, you prevent others from performing other kinds of searches, or considering the dispute from other angles, not to mention we are left to scratch our heads over the Elephant in the room issue of why you aren't simply asking "a user" to identify the "prior rfc's" he/she refers to, so you can read them. Is "a user" actually referring to these rfc's, or merely alluding to them? I'm not familiar with how rfc's archive. I have seen some discussion areas on Wikipedia that do not archive, in which case the normal search methods don't find old discussions that exist only in page histories (WP:VPT being an example of a page with this problem the last time I checked it; in what to me seems stupefyingly opposed to reason, Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive only stores old questions and answers for seven days after they "archive"). If you're looking for something like that, you'll have to determine the approximate date when it would have been on a particular page, and look at revisions of the page from around that time. --Teratornis 22:55, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- It appears that rfc's may not "archive" in a way that makes them visible to search engines or Wikipedia's own search function, if I can generalize accurately from this example: Wikipedia:Requests for comment/User names/Archive. That page merely has URL links to previous revisions from the page history, which means the rfc discussions have sunk into the Deep Web, unlikely to be Googled again. Until Google figures out how to index the Deep Web along with the visible Web. In the meantime, you'll either have to get lucky or get some clues to find the rfc discussions you seek. Or you could download the Wikipedia database and write your own Deep Wikipedia search functions with MySQL. --Teratornis 23:26, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Wikipedia has also requested that some things are not indexed by search engines. See robots.txt and our own http://en.wikipedia.org/robots.txt. PrimeHunter 23:39, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/robots.txt contains the lines:
- User-agent: *
- Disallow: /w/
- I think that means we ask all search engines to not index any history pages, diffs, former versions of articles, and certain other things. That seems reasonable to me. PrimeHunter 00:44, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Wikipedia has also requested that some things are not indexed by search engines. See robots.txt and our own http://en.wikipedia.org/robots.txt. PrimeHunter 23:39, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- It appears that rfc's may not "archive" in a way that makes them visible to search engines or Wikipedia's own search function, if I can generalize accurately from this example: Wikipedia:Requests for comment/User names/Archive. That page merely has URL links to previous revisions from the page history, which means the rfc discussions have sunk into the Deep Web, unlikely to be Googled again. Until Google figures out how to index the Deep Web along with the visible Web. In the meantime, you'll either have to get lucky or get some clues to find the rfc discussions you seek. Or you could download the Wikipedia database and write your own Deep Wikipedia search functions with MySQL. --Teratornis 23:26, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Google search for URLs containing: Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment may be more precise. However, I'm wondering why you omitted the most critical items of information from your question:
I would guess that the elephant in the room is to be found at Talk:Armenia. AndyJones 12:57, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
(N)POV
How does one report a bias article --Stonelance 21:54, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- Just add
{{POV}}
to the top of the article. ~ ΜΛGиυs ΛΠιмυМ ≈ √∞ 21:55, 28 May 2007 (UTC)- You may also see this list of more specific templates you might apply; it is often helpful to offer with each a suggestion on an article's talk page as to how problems might be ameliorated. Best, though, if you are interested, is to fix problems (consistent, of course, with WP:NPOV) yourself! Joe 03:26, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
(removed email adress)
Is there an email address on Frank Tate?
- The Help Desk is for asking questions about using wikipedia. In any case, we don't give out people's email adresses on wikipedia. ssepp(talk) 22:15, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- I recommend trying a google search for that sort of information. --Random Say it here! 01:17, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
FN49 page
I edited the page and it's all wrong,I don't know how to fix,thanksSafn1949 22:21, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- I have reverted your edit to FN49. I don't know the proper numbers but just didn't want to leave it in that state. PrimeHunter 22:50, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
- What seems to have went wrong is that you removed two closing brackets of a link: . This left a link which opened, but never closed. ssepp(talk) 22:54, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
May 29
famous quotes
who said "I TREMBLE FOR MY COUNTRY"
- Thomas Jefferson. Next time, ask questions like these at the reference desk. Sean William 00:55, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Another option is using a sister project of wikipedia, Wikiquote. --Random Say it here! 01:14, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Vandalisim
The Toshitsugu Takamatsu article has been vandalized.
- It looks like someone has fixed it. You can help too - see WP:REVERT and WP:VAND for details how. Hersfold (talk/work) 02:04, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Userprojects
can someone explain the concept to me?
Maddiekate 01:44, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- If you are reffering to Wikiprojects, yes I can. The concept behind wikiproject is simple, to help contribute to wikipedia in one way or another, by bringing together wikipedians interested in the same areas. For instance, Wikipedia:WikiProject Finance is devoted to providing accurate information on finance topics, and also further building the topics that already exist. Another type of project is a "wikipedia" related project such as Wikipedia:WikiProject Council. WikiProject Council helps arrange wikiprojects, and build new wikiprojects. Hope that helps. --Random Say it here! 02:12, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- What he said basically covers it. However, if you're interested in joining a Wikiproject, there's typically a link provided to there project page. Once there's typically a designated spot where you can sign your username and show your participation in the project. Is there any one in particular you were looking at or were you just curious on the subject? PeteShanosky 02:43, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- I was just wondering, it looks like a portal.Maddiekate 03:24, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- What he said basically covers it. However, if you're interested in joining a Wikiproject, there's typically a link provided to there project page. Once there's typically a designated spot where you can sign your username and show your participation in the project. Is there any one in particular you were looking at or were you just curious on the subject? PeteShanosky 02:43, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Publisher of Wikipedia
who was the publisher of wikipedia .com?
- As it's not a print source, I don't think you can name a "publisher" as such. If you read the FAQ, there are a large number of "editors", or looking at it another way if you want to consider the publisher to be the one making the information available then I guess you'd say the Wikimedia Foundation, who owns the servers Wikipedia runs on. Confusing Manifestation 05:04, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Oh, and incidentally, wikipedia.com is just a redirect to wikipedia.org, the main site :) Confusing Manifestation 05:05, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Citing an article with Special:Cite says the publisher is "Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia". –Sebi ~ 05:45, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Oh, and incidentally, wikipedia.com is just a redirect to wikipedia.org, the main site :) Confusing Manifestation 05:05, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
new article
I am not being able to load artucle which I have written with reliable source . Could you please guide me Aloke Kumar 06:03, 29 May 2007 (UTC)Aloke Kumar
- What is the name of the article? - Mgm|(talk) 08:17, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- If you mean the article you put on your user page, it seems to be partially copied from here, in which case you would not be allowed that text here, since the website does not seem to have a GFDL-compatible license. I also wonder if there is sufficient WP:Notability. And I don't see the source you meantion. You could make it an article by typing the name in the search box, clicking 'edit/create new page here' or something, and then copying the text, but I think it might be deleted. ssepp(talk) 08:26, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Was this literally copied from a book by Swapan Das Mahapatra? ssepp(talk) 08:31, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Afd page not agreeing with me.
I recently added an article to the AfD page, and I followed all the directions, but it still won't look like all the other nominations. It is the article for D. Welser Carroll. Can someone help me figure out what's wrong? Banpei 06:40, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- The afd was fixed by User:CaliforniaAliBaba. Article got speedy deleted per CSD A7. PeaceNT 06:51, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
title of menstruation article
I need a title for my article which is on menstraution and pain.
- I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you looking for the articles on menstruation and pain? ssepp(talk) 08:17, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- I think the user is asking about the pain some women go through whilst menstruating ("period pains"). Also of use might be Menstruation#Physical_experience or Premenstrual Syndrome. Neil (►) 10:42, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
COPYRIGHT
Hello, On a web forum we play a game of 'link the photo'. This consists of, as the title implies, linking one photo to another by title,content or general relation. i.e. From Sylvester Stallone to Sylvester the cat to Tweetie Pie and so on. The question, therefore, is as we copy pics from Wikipedia a lot, are we breaking copyright?
- Most, but not all, images on Wikipedia are licenced under licences that allows you to copy them freely; in most cases, you have to preserve the author information and the licence. If you left-click on an image, it will load a page describing what its copyright conditions are. If the image is 'public domain', you can do anything you want with it; otherwise, the description page will tell you what the copying conditions are. If the image is described as 'fair use', you probably can't copy it without breaking copyright (which is one reason why the use of fair use images is contentious). Hope that helps! --ais523 07:40, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- If you are looking for photos, check out Wikimedia Commons. All of the media there is under a free license. There are usually terms to the license that you must comply with, like crediting the creator, but you are free to use all of it.—WAvegetarian (talk) 08:23, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
can i download
can i download the encyclopedia?
- You can download individual pages by using your browser's save functionality. E talk 08:43, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- There is a link on this page to download the 2006 selection of Wikipedia for SOS children, I think it's free.--User:Rock2e Talk - Contribs 08:55, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- There are also database dumps somewhere, I'll have a go at finding them.--User:Rock2e Talk - Contribs 08:56, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- here--User:Rock2e Talk - Contribs 08:57, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- There is a link on this page to download the 2006 selection of Wikipedia for SOS children, I think it's free.--User:Rock2e Talk - Contribs 08:55, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- There is also the download page for the Version 0.5 selection here.—WAvegetarian (talk) 08:59, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
sport
what are the advantages & disadvantages of organizing a sporting event ?
- This sounds like a homework question. You could ask at the Wikipedia:Reference Desk, where they might point you in the right direction to do your own research.—WAvegetarian (talk) 09:11, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Reading Sport and following links therefrom looks like a good start. --Teratornis 15:03, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
how to search any topic
— Preceding unsigned comment added by Naveenkhokho (talk • contribs)
- See: [7] ~~ Vagish T CV A 09:35, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- See also: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Sea. If you refer to Web search rather than just Wikipedia search, then read Web search, plus Search engine, Deep Web, Vertical search, Google Search, and all the articles they link to. If you can't find something on the World Wide Web, ask on the Reference desk. If all else fails, consult a reference librarian or consider hiring a consultant with expertise in the subject area. --Teratornis 15:00, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
how to find essay written by a particular writer
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.161.15.28 (talk)
- [EDIT CONFLICT]
- I do not know how this would be possible. I do not know what your question mean but here is what I interpret it as:
- Who wrote article X on Wikipedia?'
- Answer: Any article on Wikipedia is written by multiple editors, not just one. If you click on the "history" tab on the top of the article, there is a list of all contributors to the particular article. If you want to cite a Wikipedia article, see Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia.~~ Vagish T CV A 09:45, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- If by "essay" the questioner means an "essay on Wikipedia", the questioner would need to know the "particular writer"'s username on Wikipedia. Then it is just a matter of browsing to Special:Contributions/username and looking for that user's essays. If the user has a high edit count that could be a problem. A better method might then be to ask on the user's talk page for a link to the essay.
- On the other hand, if by "essay" the questioner means an essay anywhere, then the questioner could use a search engine to search the World Wide Web. If the "particular writer" has been published in a dead tree edition, the questioner might go to a library and ask a reference librarian. --Teratornis 14:55, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- You can also find essays by searching the index by prefix - select the User: namespace, type in the user name, and it will bring up all subpages of that user's userspace. Confusing Manifestation 22:45, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
I want to know the full forms of English shortforms GPS and GPRS where can I get it.
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 164.100.80.37 (talk)
Just go to the GPS and GPRS articles. GPS is Global Positioning System and GPRS is General Packet Radio Service. Searching is your friend. Please type the name into the search box on the SEARCH navigation bar to the top left of the page, or use Special:Search. ~~ Vagish T CV A 09:50, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Watchlist question - section updates
Hi I've got a watchlist to notify me of updates to pages that I'm interested in. The watchlist works fine, but it only shows me changes to the whole page. If there's a change to just one section of the page, it doesn't show up. I don't want to put a watch on every section of every page that I'm interested in. But I do want a change to any section to be listed on my list of changes watchlist. How do I do that? Thanks Peter peterl 09:46, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Well, it should show all changes to the page. Section changes are still changes to the page. You should go to Special:Preferences and click the Watchlist tab. And see if the following boxes are checked:
- Hide my edits from the watchlist
- Hide bot edits from the watchlist
- Hide minor edits from the watchlist
- If one of them is checked you will know why it doesn't come up on your watchlist. ~~ Vagish T CV A 09:55, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- The Watchlist explained!
- Logged in users have a Watchlist, found at the "my watchlist" link at the very top of every page.
- The Watchlist list allows you to monitor recent changes on selected pages. You can add a page to your Watchlist by visiting the page and clicking the "watch" tab. A page and its talk page automatically go on the list together, you can't watch just an article, or just a talk page.
- The Watchlist displays the most recent edit to each page on the list you have created, within the time period you specify. Information for the Wathclist comes from the recent changes table, so only goes back approximately 3 months.
- Options for the Watchlist are available at Special:Preferences, in the "Watchlist" section.
- A typical Watchlist entry looks like:
- The (diff) is a link showing the change that the edit made to the change. The (hist) brings up the history of edits to the page. The m indicates a minor edit (b indicates a bot edit, N a new page). Wikipedia:Help desk in the page being watched. 03:54 is the time the edit took place. (+509) is the number of bytes that the edit added to the page. Joe 321 is the editor that made the edit. "New question: How do I delete an article?" is the edit summary.
- See Help:Watching pages for more information.
- ~~ Vagish T CV A 09:58, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- And you can't watch individual sections, for the simple reason that it would be impossible to track them - if someone edits the entire page, moving the first section to the bottom, merging the second and fifth sections, and splitting the third section in two, and you were watching all of them before, which sections would you be watching after the edit and how would you expect them to be described? (Note that in certain special cases you could watch sections of a page, if those sections are actually separate pages that have been transcluded like templates - the Reference Desks work on this premise.) Confusing Manifestation 22:43, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Pangako Sa Yo - Episodes
Could you please mail me the whole series of the shortened story of the the soap - opera Pangako Sa Yo. The Soap is so interesting and I would like to have a copy of it's episode synopsis. I tried to get it through the Pangako Sa Yo web page, but all in vain: my e-mail adress is (removed)
Your efforts will be appreciated.
Thank you E.L. Amweenje — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gaugoros (talk • contribs)
- We have an article on Pangako sa ’Yo with a section about the entire plot, but we appear to have no episode synopsis. PrimeHunter 13:09, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Wikipedia Maps
Hey there, I'm trying to create a map like the one on the NATO page. I was wondering what type of program is used to create this, and how I could get a hold of it. Thank you in advance!
- You might want to contact the original creator of the image on the Commons, where the image is actually uploaded. From what I can see from the file history, you would want to talk to Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason. Hersfold (talk/work) 13:42, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- And see: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Map for a list of links about mapping on Wikipedia; for example, you might join WikiProject Maps. You might also want to search the Help desk archive for: map to read some previous questions and answers on this topic. --Teratornis 14:31, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
A User
Hi, what should I do about a user who is following all my past edits, and image uploads and challenging them? ≈ Maurauth (nemesis) 13:14, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Looking through your talk page it does seem like a user is following you - however, I will justify that by saying he is doing the right thing with regards to copyright issues and images you have uploaded. Fair use of people is a difficult subject, especially when those people are famous and 'free' pictures could be found. I would suggest reading up on our copyright policies a little more before uploading any more images.
- This isn't a case of 'wikistalking' as I see it, just a case of an editor, who has had dealings with you in the past, noticing that you are not properly following copyright rules. Sorry, Localzuk(talk) 13:27, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Well I've explained why they fall under the fair use rationale but he still keeps leaving messages that they aren't. ≈ Maurauth (nemesis) 14:10, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Because I feel your logic is incorrect. Let an admin step in and decide. Not a dog 15:49, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
A redirect muddle
An article has been repeatedly moved (generally for good reasons) over the past few days. "Civil unions in Oregon" became "Domestic Partnerships in Oregon" which then became "Domestic Partnership in Oregon". Unfortunately, it should really be "Domestic partnerships in Oregon" (small "p" in "partnership"); however, the page with the small "p" title already exists ... as a redirect to the current capital "P" page. What's the best way to move the existing page to the small "p" page without causing further chaos? --Jfruh (talk) 14:30, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Do you mean "partnerships" (plural) or "partnership" (singular)? Just now I see a redirect at Domestic partnership in Oregon but not Domestic partnerships in Oregon. (For future reference, you can avoid such problems when you ask a Help desk question by always linking your article titles, as I just did to your question text.)
Assuming you meant the former, you could do a content transplant:- Open Domestic partnership in Oregon and Domestic Partnership in Oregon in separate browser tabs.
- Click the "edit this page" tab on both articles.
- Cut, copy and paste the content from each article into the other.
- Edit the redirect text now in Domestic Partnership in Oregon to be:
#REDIRECT [[Domestic partnership in Oregon]]
- Save both articles.
Then Domestic Partnership in Oregon should redirect to Domestic partnership in Oregon, which should have the actual content.You would also want to click toolbox | What links here on all the articles that have been moved, so you can go around to all the other articles that link to articles that are now redirects, and edit them to link to the definitive article: Domestic partnership in Oregon. I think you can also request a bot edit to clean up any double or triple redirects if there are too many to fix by hand. See User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Bot if you need a bot to help with fixing any such links. --Teratornis 14:45, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Cut and paste jobs are very bad since the edit history is longer there. You should request the speedy deletion of the page that you want to move the article to. Then move it, so that the edit history is intact. ~~ Vagish T CV A 14:51, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Please do not move pages using cut-and-paste; it makes the muddle even worse. If you want to move a page but there's a redirect in the way making it impossible, place
{{db-move|name of page to move from}}
on the redirect, and an admin will sort it out for you. Hope that helps! --ais523 14:55, 29 May 2007 (UTC)- My bad. I struck my incorrect advice. Thanks for proving once again that "We are smarter than me." --Teratornis 15:06, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Please do not move pages using cut-and-paste; it makes the muddle even worse. If you want to move a page but there's a redirect in the way making it impossible, place
- Cut and paste jobs are very bad since the edit history is longer there. You should request the speedy deletion of the page that you want to move the article to. Then move it, so that the edit history is intact. ~~ Vagish T CV A 14:51, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- I feel I must apologize, as much of this confusion was started by me. I originally changed the article title from "Civil Unions in Oregon" to "Domestic Partnerships in Oregon." I'd never attempted a change like that and I fear that I made some mistakes along the way. I'm sorry for any confusion/frustration this may have caused. With the understanding that I'm outing myself as an in-the-dark Wikipedian, is there a standards or best practices site on Wikipedia that I can consult, so that I don't make these errors again? Again, sorry for all the mess. Ronnotronald 16:23, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Egg on my face re: standards page; I was already there...Ronnotronald 16:31, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- If you want to read all the information available, the list of policies, list of guidelines, and manual of style contain most of the rules that have been developed; however, the rules evolve all the time and probably contain flaws. Messing up is normally easy to sort out, even in apparently complex cases like this, so just being bold, using common sense, and paying attention to any complaints is a perfectly good way to proceed (probably better than memorizing the policies). The FAQ is one helpful source of information for getting more general knowledge to help you avoid making mistakes with Wikipedia; reading through the other questions on this Help Desk is another good way. Hope that helps! --ais523 16:54, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Even more information is available in the Editor's Index, but as you can see from my erroneous advice above, references are only useful if I look at them before inserting foot in mouth. I would say as a general rule, whenever you are contemplating doing something on Wikipedia that you have never done before, it never hurts to ask for a sanity check on the Help desk, before you act. Getting some more eyeballs on the problem helps to make sure you didn't overlook something. But don't feel badly about making mistakes; that's how we learn. The worst good-faith mistake you can make would probably cause negligible harm compared to what the vandals do deliberately every day here. --Teratornis 18:41, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- If you want to read all the information available, the list of policies, list of guidelines, and manual of style contain most of the rules that have been developed; however, the rules evolve all the time and probably contain flaws. Messing up is normally easy to sort out, even in apparently complex cases like this, so just being bold, using common sense, and paying attention to any complaints is a perfectly good way to proceed (probably better than memorizing the policies). The FAQ is one helpful source of information for getting more general knowledge to help you avoid making mistakes with Wikipedia; reading through the other questions on this Help Desk is another good way. Hope that helps! --ais523 16:54, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Egg on my face re: standards page; I was already there...Ronnotronald 16:31, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- I feel I must apologize, as much of this confusion was started by me. I originally changed the article title from "Civil Unions in Oregon" to "Domestic Partnerships in Oregon." I'd never attempted a change like that and I fear that I made some mistakes along the way. I'm sorry for any confusion/frustration this may have caused. With the understanding that I'm outing myself as an in-the-dark Wikipedian, is there a standards or best practices site on Wikipedia that I can consult, so that I don't make these errors again? Again, sorry for all the mess. Ronnotronald 16:23, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Page moved over redirect; please fix any remaining links to the double-capitalization at your leisure. -- nae'blis 18:50, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Password Recovery
I lost the password to my account, but I did enter an email to that acount. Could I retrieve it that way? 69.157.0.239 16:16, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, if you entered an e-mail address and confirmed it, you can recover access to your account. Simply go to the log in, type in your username, and click "Email my password". Cheers, Tangotango (talk) 16:18, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) Yes. Enter your username in the log-in screen, then click 'Email new password' and check your email account for a message from wiki at either wikipedia.org or wikimedia.org. It'll give you a new temporary password; log in with that password, and you'll get a screen allowing you to change your password to something new that you'll remember. Hope that helps! --ais523 16:19, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Thank you very much. I lost my old account a month ago because of a similar issue, and unfortunately hadn't entered an email for it. At least I learned this time. Thanks again. 69.157.0.239 16:22, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Okay, it worked. The Clawed One 16:23, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Question about wikipedia article copyright expiry
I have a question about copyrights / Wikipedia, but the "other way around".
I'm not sure where to look, please point me somewhere.
When and how do the copyrights of wikipedia articles expire and transfer to the public domain, as copyrighted works should at some point.
Here is a scenario:
Knowledgable person A logs in to wikipedia and offers useful information in an article B.
No-one else changes article B. Article B is just fine the way it is, and lots of people read it.
Years later, person A dies.
Now one would expect the copyright of person A which they hold on article B to expire at some point. How can that point be established. It might be very hard to track down the identity of person A.
- See User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Cop for all about copyrights on Wikipedia. As you may have noticed from the text that appears below the edit window when you typed your question, "you agree to license your contributions under the GFDL." That means the text in Wikipedia articles is not under the type of copyright restriction you seem to be thinking of (which would apply to most printed works). --Teratornis 18:46, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
I can't remember my Password
I can't remember my password for the life of me. You see, I changed my password I don't know how long ago, but I've stayed signed in and thus never used it. Now I can't remember it. This is ironic, because I was just about to change my password to something more secure, and activate e-mail notification for forgotten passwords. The good news is that I am still logged in. Is there anything I can do (as apparently changing the password and activating e-mail notification require my current password)? Am I doomed? --LuigiManiac 18:08, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Are you using a Web browser that remembers usernames and passwords? --Teratornis 18:47, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- I am using Firefox, but I said not to remember it in case someone were to get at my computer. In hindsight, probably isn't needed when my computer is in my room. I guess I'll have to find some way of ensuring this cookie doesn't get deleted. --LuigiManiac 18:54, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Okay, so when my cookie inevitably gets deleted, then what? Should I make a new account now, or wait to see if I remember (which I probably won't. as my password isn't what I thought I changed it to)? --LuigiManiac 23:39, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- And you don't have email enabled now? I fear you may be SOL... but you MIGHT be able to talk to someone at the CheckUser/developer level, and if they can verify that you're still who you say you are, they may be able to somehow get the software to send you your password. No promises though; you really ought to have set a way to recover it. :( -- nae'blis 03:08, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- I must have forgot say this was resolved here. I tried to confirm the e-mail again not long after I said that last comment here, and it worked. Weird. I must have been doing something wrong, but I'm not quite sure what. Anyways, I now have a shiny, new, and more secure password, written down in several places so I don't forget. Sorry about worrying you. --LuigiManiac 14:48, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- And you don't have email enabled now? I fear you may be SOL... but you MIGHT be able to talk to someone at the CheckUser/developer level, and if they can verify that you're still who you say you are, they may be able to somehow get the software to send you your password. No promises though; you really ought to have set a way to recover it. :( -- nae'blis 03:08, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Okay, so when my cookie inevitably gets deleted, then what? Should I make a new account now, or wait to see if I remember (which I probably won't. as my password isn't what I thought I changed it to)? --LuigiManiac 23:39, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
pages I've created
Hello! Is there an easy way to get a list of pages I've created (excluding redirects, but including categories + templates)? Thanks! Lugnuts 18:31, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Go to Special:Newpages, type your username (Lugnuts) into the Username box, then choose the namespace you want. You'll only be able to display one namespace at a time with that, but it'll be much faster than weeding through your contributions. Hersfold (talk/work) 20:47, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Note, this doesn't cover all your page creations as it doesn't list any for me even though I have created quite a few, but quite a while ago.-Localzuk(talk) 20:50, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Yep, I've tried that and it only goes back a couple of weeks. Oh well, thanks anyway! Lugnuts 07:17, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Note, this doesn't cover all your page creations as it doesn't list any for me even though I have created quite a few, but quite a while ago.-Localzuk(talk) 20:50, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- I think User:Interiot can help you out. - Mgm|(talk) 09:00, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for this Lugnuts 11:37, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Tiffany Teen article
What happened to the Tiffany Teen article? Why would it have been removed? Request by Tiffany?
Silly sad machine 18:42, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- See here for the deletion review, which turned a no consensus AfD into a delete. --LuigiManiac 18:46, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Also, see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tiffany Teen for more info on why this was deleted in the first place. tiZom(2¢) 18:50, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Actually what you want is the second AFD: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tiffany Teen (Second nomination). -- nae'blis 18:52, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Also, see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tiffany Teen for more info on why this was deleted in the first place. tiZom(2¢) 18:50, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Incorrect Title-misspelling: Gyroscope (automobile)
I am requesting help. I incorrectly spelled a title: Gyroscope (automoblie). Trying to fix my problem, I copied the content to the correctly spelled, Gyroscope (automobile). I need help deleting the first. I think I should have done a MOVE on the original mistake, correct.--Drussel3 19:14, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, moving was the correct thing to do. I have deleted your copy, and moved the page there. Prodego talk 19:47, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
How is "relevancy" calculated on Wikipedia?
Can anyone explain to me how relevance % is calculated on Wikipedia? e.g., when i search for Social Laws i get different articles that have different relevancy ratings. Can someone advise. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Amaranand (talk • contribs) 19:30, May 29, 2007 (UTC)
- You can try looking at WP:SEARCH, but it doesn't look like it has what you're looking for. Most likely, relevance has something to do with how often your search terms appear, but in my experience that's a load of hogwash. The absolute bottom line is, Wikipedia's search engine sucks. You're much better off using Google or another external engine to search our site. The page I linked gives you directions how. Sorry if that doesn't really help, but I'm afraid that's pretty much the best answer you're going to get. :-( Hersfold (talk/work) 20:42, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Requesting a picture
I believe I have seen a template along the lines of "A photo would improve this article". Could you direct me to it, please? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hogyn Lleol (talk • contribs) 19:42, May 29, 2007 (UTC)
- Ta-da! {{image-reqphoto}} A complete list of cleanup templates can be found at Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup. Hersfold (talk/work) 20:36, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Many thanks! Hogyn Lleol 07:41, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
helpme
I am trying to create an article and I submit the images and text and it just dissappears into never-never land. I have gone through all of the help and how to pages, I followed the protocol, what am I doing wrong?
I'm trying to create an article desribing the works of an contemporary artist named Kevin Christman can you help?
- It looks like you edited Wikipedia:Introduction by accident instead of Kevin Christman. You can click on the red link in that last sentence to start editing. However, based on your username (User:Kevinchristman), it looks like you may be trying to write an article about yourself, which is generally discouraged (see WP:AUTO). Also, when writing about any person, it's important that they meet certain notability requirements (and I don't know anything about you, so I don't mean to imply that you don't) which are explained at WP:NOTABILITY. Also, please use ~~~~ (four ~'s) when writing on talk pages to sign and date your comments. Ingrid 22:00, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Accidentally overwritten image
Seems like this is an issue that would come up frequently, but I can't find anything about it in any of the FAQs or related help pages: What's the proper protocol when you find an image that has been accidentally overwritten by somebody else? The specific example I have in mind is Image:100_1541.jpg, which used to be a picture of the Fillmore Gold Line station in Pasadena, CA, but has been overwritten, I presume accidentally due to the digital-camera filename, with an image of downtown Miami. (The image is only linked to by articles about the Gold Line.)
Thanks Virtualphtn 21:27, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Click the (rev) button to restore the original image. Then reupload the second image under a new name if there is a use for it. Prodego talk 21:54, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- Which is exactly why images should be uploaded with a descriptive file name. - Mgm|(talk) 08:49, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
help me
I AM TRYIN TO LOOK UP WHAT OYSTERS EAT AND WHEN I TYOE IN OYSTER AND STUFF IT JUST TELLS ME STUFF I ALREADY KNOW.HOW DO I GO AND FIND WHAT I NEED?? THANK YOU FOR YOU TIME.
- You can try the WP:Reference desk. And please don't write in all caps. ssepp(talk) 22:09, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
- The lead section of the Oyster article says oysters eat plankton. The oyster article did not have the obvious link to Filter feeder in a couple of places, so I added it. --Teratornis 04:22, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Email notification on document changes in my watchlist
Hi there,
Is it possible to be notified by email anytime an article on my watchlist is changed?
Thanks,
Judee
- There is, but it has been disabled. There are hundreds of edits that occur on Wikipedia per minute, and if each page were watched by, let's say, ten users, the load on the email servers would be crippling. Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 23:59, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
May 30
Added content is not visible
I added some contents in an article, and saved the addition, but it does not appear when I re-visit the page, why? How can make the changes visible in the page? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Atsltc (talk • contribs) 11:38, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
I've looked at your contributions, but the only one is the one to make this post. This suggests that either (a) the edit didn't actually save (I'm not sure why), or (b) you made the edit while logged out, and it didn't appear. If it was the second, there are (at least) two possibilities. The first is that you made the change, and it was reverted, and the second is that the page needed to be purged, by going to the page and adding &action=puge to the URL. Could you give an example of an article you had this problem with so we can try and narrow down the cause? Confusing Manifestation 01:05, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Internet Chat
Hi,
I'm trying to find out what a certain internet chat might mean. Would you please tell me what "y web" means.
Thank you
Marian — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.72.12.198 (talk • contribs) 00:51, May 30, 2007 (UTC)
- You could try looking at the List_of_Internet_slang_phrases, but you should ask at the Reference Desk. The Help Desk is for questions about how to use Wikipedia. Hersfold (talk/work) 01:54, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Amazon Links?
What are the rules regarding linking to Amazon? If there's a book I cite as a source in a Wikipedia article, should I or should I not provide a link to that book on Amazon? Is there a better way to give the user information on how to find the book I'm referencing?— Preceding unsigned comment added by Illuminatedwax (talk • contribs) 01:06, May 30, 2007 (UTC)
- It's good to give the ISBN number. See Wikipedia:ISBN. PrimeHunter 01:18, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- No, unless the Amazon page itself is a source for a piece of information, you don't have to link it with every book. Instead, share as much info asked for in the {{cite book}} template. - Mgm|(talk) 08:47, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
I have a pdf form accidentally attached to my page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Jennifer_on_Wiki.pdf. It is the Jennifer_on_Wiki.pdf form. I can't get it deleted. Not sure why. It doesn't show up in the preview. Please help! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Timrieger (talk • contribs) 01:06, May 30, 2007 (UTC)
- This is an image page and not "your" page. Your real page is your user page at User:Timrieger (currently not created). Image:Jennifer_on_Wiki.pdf basically is the pdf file (it is not actually an image but it should have been). The rest is intended for adding comments about the file (one of the "comments" here is a jpg image). I suggest you copy the source to User:Timrieger and then request deletion of everything at Image:Jennifer_on_Wiki.pdf with {{db-author}} and maybe a comment to explain the situation. PrimeHunter 01:42, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- I moved the material on the page to Tim's userpage and I deleted the PDF. - Mgm|(talk) 08:45, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
I want to add some more articles.
Dear Sir, I want to add some more article on tourism and places of tourist interests with photographs.How to proceed,kindly direct. Yours faihfully, HD Chattopadhyay — Preceding unsigned comment added by Haridas Chattopadhyay (talk • contribs) 01:12, May 30, 2007 (UTC)
- I would suggest you start here. -- Kesh 01:45, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
orange
Is the orange the state fruit?— Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.192.33.195 (talk • contribs) 01:14, May 30, 2007 (UTC)
- It would help if you told us which state you were referring to. But it'd be easier to just look up that state using the Search feature on the left. -- Kesh 01:39, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Eva want some anwsers
why is israel in war?& how did thay git in it.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.226.85.119 (talk • contribs) 01:34, May 30, 2007 (UTC)
- Try starting with the article on Israel. -- Kesh 01:40, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
I have a question for you.
Hi. I have a simple question. Can i translate English articles into Serbian? Is it legal? Marian Lewis— Preceding unsigned comment added by MarianLewis (talk • contribs) 01:37, May 30, 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, it is legal. All text on Wikipedia is free to copy and reuse. I'm uncertain if there's a Serbian Wikipedia though. Someone else might have a link for that. -- Kesh 01:41, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Adding images
Hello,
I'm recently editing a section on your website about Arthroscopy. I wanted to add some pictures and didn't know how to go about that. If you could contact me whenever you have the chance that would be greatly appreciated. My wikipedia id: kammmio, and my email address is <removed email for security>
Thanks in advance! kamron
- You should try looking at Help:Images, which gives a full range of image syntax. Hersfold (talk/work) 01:57, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Just click on 'Upload file' on the left of your screen in the 'toolbox'. Follow the instructions there, keep in mind, all the images you upload must have the correct image tagging etc. Scottydude talk 02:00, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Locking article
How do you lock an article or part of it? I am trying to post a fact provided by a citation about a singer and someone comes in to repeatedly delete it and replaces it with statements that are not proven. How do I make the person stop?
Also, how do I contact that user of wikipedia who is deleting facts I posted and replacing it with unproven comments? What do I do if that person is not responding to me? Thank you.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Liz81 (talk • contribs) 14:10, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Looking at your contributions, I'm guessing you're talking about this edit to the Cher article? It looks like the editor who has removed the comment a couple of times has actually tried to engage some comment on the article's Talk page (also accessible by scrolling up to the top of an article, and clicking on the tab labelled "discussion"). If the discussion there does not prove fruitful, you may then want to take one of the options listed at Wikipedia:Resolving disputes, although I'd recommend aiming for one of the less drastic ones for something like this.
- As to locking an article, protection generally occurs in the event of high-frequency edit warring or vandalism involving several parties, and while this is an edit war, it's not quite on the same scale as, for example, Intelligent design. Confusing Manifestation 04:02, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Troublesome edit
Should the following edit in article Bryan Fletcher be deleted due to possilbe legal issues?
This link should be deleted or at least broken after this issue is resolved. Thank you Dbiel (Talk) 03:39, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Image trouble
I am working on a biography page for NASA flight director Paul Hill (Flight Director). I found an image of him that is Public Domain from a NASA page. I uploaded it to Wikimedia Commons here: [8]. When I put Image:Paul_Hill.jpg onto my biopage, however, I get a picture of Paul Hill a convicted murderer: Image:Paul Hill.jpg How do I fix this? —Gaff ταλκ 03:41, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Like this. :) — Nearly Headless Nick {C} 03:43, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- I think you misunderstood or I didn't explain clearly. I would like to have the image of Paul Hill from wikimedia commons for the biography. But when I put the code in, I get the image of Paul Hill that is uploaded onto wikipedia. I'm not sure, but it would probably be better to have the picture of the flight director rather than the murderer. lol. —Gaff ταλκ 04:22, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Oh right. Sorry about that. Don't worry about the resources, just mark the image you uploaded on Commons for deletion, and upload it once again, under a different title. — Nearly Headless Nick {C} 04:34, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Okay. Thanks! —Gaff ταλκ 04:36, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
References not working
On Capital punishment in the United States, references 11, 12, and 13 are not showing up. Can someone fix it? Rmhermen 05:16, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- I'll do my best.—WAvegetarian (talk) 05:20, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
question re linking to Wikipedia Pic of the Day on another web site
If someone wants to use Wikipedia's Picture of the Day on a different web site (with appropriate credit), what is the correct code/syntax to use on the other web site to link to that template/Picture of the Day? What would a person use to link to it on a blog site, like Blogger? BTW, I did search for an answer to this question but could not find one. Thanks in advance for your help. SummerFR
- Wikipedia does not allow remote loading of content, so there is no way to just grab the POTD and serve it to viewers of an external page, as far as I know. As for linking to it, you will want a link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:POTD/YYYY-MM-DD with some html script to make the YYYY-MM-DD come up as the current date. I don't code much beyond HyperCard and what I learned from Wikipedia so I can't be of more assistance.—WAvegetarian (talk) 05:53, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Forget the above. Wikipedia doesn't have a good way to do this, but the Wikimedia Commons does. The Commons POTD can be embedded easily. See this for the different ways to access it.—WAvegetarian (talk) 06:05, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Unlinked pic
This pic Image:Def_Leppard_-_Pyromania.jpg was used in the Parents_Music_Resource_Center article. I have since relinked it to the main photo at Image:Pyromania.jpg (brighter & clearer) used by the Def Leppard and all the other pages which refer to that album. How do I go about deleting the old picture since no article is using it anymore? Is it like a regular AfD? Banpei 06:01, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- You want WP:IFD.—WAvegetarian (talk) 06:06, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Unable to sign in
Hello!
I've been trying to sign in but either Wikipedia doesn’t recognize it or I forgot my password, which I doubt for I remember I chose the same password for both Portuguese and English Wikipedia.
Can you help me please?
Thank you
Ana Santos Silva
email: [removed for privacy protection]
User name: Analogica
IP address: ***.**.**.134 [see above]
- If you can't login, have Wikipedia email you a new temporary password. —WAvegetarian (talk) 06:33, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- I just confirmed that within the last 24 hours a password reminder has been sent to the registered email address for User:Analogica. Please check your email and follow the directions there.—WAvegetarian (talk) 06:40, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Hi Analogica. Go to Special:Userlogin, enter just your email address, and click "Email new password". If the email address you entered matched the one in the account details, then you should soon be receiving an email; which enclosed is your new password. Good luck! –Sebi ~ 06:36, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- I just confirmed that within the last 24 hours a password reminder has been sent to the registered email address for User:Analogica. Please check your email and follow the directions there.—WAvegetarian (talk) 06:40, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Deletion of account
how do you delete your account?
- Accounts with contributions cannot be deleted from Wikipedia since this would allow another user to create the account, and claim authorship of those edits. However, you may request your user and talk page to be deleted, as explained here. E talk 09:25, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- See also m:Right to vanish PeaceNT 12:24, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Change IP address to username in edit histroy
How do I change IP address to username in the edit history?
- You can't change that, as that is edits from your unique IP address. If you wish to prevent yourself from showing a IP address for edits, simply create an account. E talk 09:22, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- If it's a recent edit and you want people to know you made it then you can make another edit and say in the edit summary that the IP is you. PrimeHunter 11:37, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Goram and Vincent
Hi,
I created an article with this title. When I enter it into the search box on the main page and "go", it returns the "search" page with the article at the top with 100% relevance. But it won't "go" there directly. Why not?
Y
- It worked when I tried. Are you using proper capitalization in your search query? In other words are you using the exact article title (without any quotes surrounding the text)? - Mgm|(talk) 10:51, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- You may need to bypass your browser's cache. Mozilla/Safari browsers: hold down Shift while clicking Reload (or press Ctrl-Shift-R), Internet Explorer browsers: press Ctrl-F5, Opera/Konqueror browsers: press F5 I hope this helps. Stwalkerster talk review 16:06, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Use of "U"
When I am writing an article, should I write the British spelling of words, such as "colour" or "honour", or the American spelling, "color" or "honor"?
- It doesn't really matter, as long as is consistent you can use the one that you prefer--User:Rock2e Talk - Contribs 10:11, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- If the article topic is clearly linked to a certain location you should use the local variety of English. Also, remember there's more differences like: publicize version publicise. - Mgm|(talk) 10:47, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Please see also WP:ENGVAR. PeaceNT 12:24, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Editing Ref Desk
Hi, couple of times now Ive looked at the Misc Reference Desk and seen questions from say 27 May to 29 May. Ive clicked on the edit tab but only the 29 May portion of the page is available to edit. Is this a glitch or...? thanks Mhicaoidh 10:08, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- No it's not a glitch, the may 27th pages are kept in an archive and are Transcluded on to the page, to edit them, click on the right edit link and you'll edit those transcluded pages.--User:Rock2e Talk - Contribs 10:13, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
who works at a bus station
(no question text in section body)
You could start by reading Bus station and following the links in Bus station#See also. --Teratornis 14:32, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
WikiBreak Enforcer
How does one bypass and log into wikipedia once they have inacted WikiBreak Enforcer? Hyper flyin' 10:27, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- It says you could still edit as an anon, so not logging in would help. Still don't recommend it though as that would defeat the purpose of using it in the first place. - Mgm|(talk) 10:45, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Mammary intercourse
I want to complain about the image used in the above article.
This is Wikipedia not Pornopedia.
The article is sufficient and there is no need for a image.
Is there no policy about pornographic images ?--87.243.196.167 10:53, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Wikipedia is not censored, and other users have disagreed that an image is not necessary. -- nae'blis 12:57, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Use of leaflets
Hi! I've uploaded an image of a leaflet which is in the public domain, and is relevant to its article. Which copyright notice do I use for it please??
Sean Cooper 11:10, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Please see the copyright tags listed at Wikipedia:Image copyright tags/Public domain. PeaceNT 12:20, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Adding/Creating a new Section
How do I create a new article or page to Wikipedia? I attempted to follow the instructions to do so, but after what I thought was completion, when I searched for it, it did not appear.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Saouse 13:01, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Are you referring to this edit you made to the introduction page? Dismas|(talk) 13:03, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- See Help:Starting a new page and Wikipedia:Your first article. PrimeHunter 13:13, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
edit this page
The edit this page button does not seem to work for me. I can click the individual edit links on the page and edit the sections such as "external links" etc, but the tab on the top of the page trys to open a php file! why are they so different
- Which browser do you have? Stwalkerster talk review 15:18, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
I use mozilla 2.0
Dee kaee 21:17, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Category Lists
Hi! I'm looking for a way to grab a list of article names appearing in a category. Now, you're thinking that's simple, just open the category page, but I want to see ALL pages at once in a SINGLE column, like so:
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4
...etc.
If possible, I'd like to be able to do this to any category in a single step. I have looked into using api.php, but this does not seem to do the trick. Does anyone know how to do this? Thanks, Stwalkerster talk review 15:13, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Catergorizing a page
Hello,
I need to add a category to an article. Can you tell me step by step how to do that?
Thanks,
C
Hi there! All you need to do is add [[Category:Example]] to the bottom of the page. As you wanted a step-by-step:
- Go to the article
- Click the edit this page link at the top of the page.
- Scroll right down to the bottom of the edit box
- Type at the bottom of the edit box the following (replacing Example with the category's name: [[Category:Example]]
- Add an edit summary, like "Added category"
- Click the Show Preview Button, to check you edit
- Click the save Page button
I hope this helps! Stwalkerster talk review 15:39, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Veiled Political Activism
Some anonymous editor keeps seeking to make a political statement using the List of Protologisms page. The word in question is "Christi-insanity." The supposed meaning is more of a criticism than a bona fide word proposition. — Joe Webster 16:18, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- This is in the Wiktionary pages. — Joe Webster 16:24, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Wiktionary is a different project than Wikipedia. As the header at the top of this page explains, the help desk is for questions about editing Wikipedia. To solve your problem you will need to contact an administrator on Wiktionary.—WAvegetarian (talk) 19:52, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Blocking sock puppets of blocked user
User:Brya is indefinately blocked from editing Wikipedia.[9] She has created 15 sock puppets to get around this ban. 13 of her sock puppets were found with a check user request.[10] However, while reverting and checking the edits of the 12 socks at issue (one does not edit botany or taxonomy articles, Brya's problem areas, and my area of editing) another 3 sock puppets cropped up, two of whom are active editors. However, I cannot figure out how to submit a check user request for these additional sock puppets, because a check user case for her user name already exists, and re-editing that just leaves it in the completed requests page, instead of putting it where it belongs to get the additional sock puppets checked. I tried asking one of the clerks listed to help at check user, but he keeps saying weird things (like he suggested I use a letter G instead of F,[11] when it's a letter F, and when I said that I couldn't use G since it was an F he accused me of making a false declaration on a check user request![12], he also seems to think that blocked users are still editors, which they're not, that's the point of a block: to stop them from editing, and dispute resolution is about working with other Wikipedia editors).
This really can't be the only time that later socks showed up after initial socks were blocked. How do I go about these newly found users checked and blocked also, and why is check user so impossible to use?
Thanks.
KP Botany 18:30, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Note to help desk: I never accused KPBotany of knowingly submitting a false declaration. I merely informed her of the requirements of a code "F" for checkuser requests. Code F is for editors who are community banned (by ArbCom, Community Sanctions board, or Jimbo Wales). People may make code G requests.
Should the help desk recommend WP:AN? Or mediation? Or checkuser, using code "G" with the explanation of block evasion?VK35 18:43, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Mediate what? Don't you understand that there are TWO parties to a mediation, TWO parties, at least to dispute resolution? This editor is blocked indefinately from editing Wikipedia--that means she is NOT a party. What exactly would I mediate with nobody? You keep going off on extraneous issues, and I simply can't understand what you are talking about, and you did accuse me of filing a false report. I posted here to try to understand what is going on, so I can do it correclty--would you leave it to someone else to explain it to me, since I have asked this of you, and told you that I don't understand what you are saying? KP Botany 19:12, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- I'm not the best person to give you a detailed answer, but I believe what you do is initiate a new case as a continuation of the earlier case - you are quite right that this is not the first time later socks showed up after initial socks were blocked. See the Dereks1x series of cases for an example of how multiple cases are handled. (By the way, the first Brya checkuser used Code F successfully, so I don't know why G was suggested to you - I've read that some feel it shouldn't exist as an option, in fact. ) Hope this helps - if you don't get a more thorough response here, you might post a note for one of the checkuser admins on their talk pages. Tvoz |talk 20:39, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Oh, the example helped, they just put (2nd) in paranthesis after the user name for Dereks1x later socks. I did try to ask one of the checkuser admins, but he's the one who kept saying strange things and telling me to do things incorrectly, then telling me I'd get in trouble for doing them incorrectly!!! I generally get much better answers and simpler ones from the help desk. Thanks. KP Botany 20:54, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Help from adminstrators vis a vis totalitarian tactics
I am facing totalitarian bullies who are intent on blocking me from contributing credible sourced content that is bold but 'problematic' to their ideological and political agendas. I need help to assist me wherever they are using slander, misrepresentation and character assasination to shut me down. I also need help to make sure I am correctly abiding by wiki policies so that they have no genuine cause to censor or block me. I need someone to suggest good administrators who have a sophisticated knowledge of totalitarian tactics (as used on wiki) so that I can confront these bullies and insist that they discuss genuine concerns they have with me in good faith rather than resorting to shameless misrepresentations and pejorative warnings. Please suggest some good administrators who are able to spend the time on these subtle and difficult issues.Anacapa 19:06, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
The help desk doesn't really deal with those sorts of issues - you want to try WP:ANI. --Fredrick day 19:16, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Wikipedia abuse
Hi
How is abuse from anonymous users reported?
This page is under continual attack by anonymous users who simply disagree with the views of the online magazine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiked_%28magazine%29
A case for examining the neutrality has been made but the vandalism continues.
A
- You want Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism.—WAvegetarian (talk) 19:30, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- But you don't want to report the user or ip has made only one vandal edit. You want to warn the vandal appropriatly first, and then if they continue beyond three or four times, report them. To see a complete list of warning go to WP:WARN. --Tλε Rαnδоm Eδιτоr 20:25, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Aqueous humor
Under "Aqueous humor" the spelling is incorrect. It uses "humour" rather than "humor." I don't know how to access any of the various angles of Wikipedia, sorry.
Thought someone should know...
- British spelling is just as accepted on wikipedia as American spelling. ~ ΜΛGиυs ΛΠιмυМ ≈ √∞ 20:12, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- For future use see Manual of Style (spelling). --Тλε Rαnδоm Eδιτоr 20:17, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Changing a Disambig Page
Currently when users search for "System 7" they're led to a disambig page, which among other things, lists a toy, a part of a computer game, and a band. But overwhelmingly, I'm confident that people searching for "System 7" are most likely looking for the Macintosh Operating System (which is also the largest and most detailed article out of the disambig list).
How does one switch it so that a search for "System 7" brings up the Macintosh operating system page, rather than the disambig list, and then link to the disambig page from that article?
- I can do this for you if there is a consensus... E talk 20:13, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- How do I get a consensus? There is a little bit of discussion going on at Talk:System 7 (Macintosh)
- To find out what you want to know read WP:CONS. --Tλε Rαnδоm Eδιτоr 20:22, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- I'm reading WP:CONS correctly, I believe there is a consensus since after someone (possibly me unsigned, I don't recall) posted the suggestion on a talk page a year ago, nobody disagreed. In fact someone else seconded the idea. I think it should be carried out, and we can see if anyone wants to discuss it further?Dpaanlka 20:33, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- In the future, requesting that a page be moved can be done through Wikipedia:Requested moves. Dismas|(talk) 20:27, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Ok, I have followed the requested move steps and will wait a few days for consensus. Thank you!
- To find out what you want to know read WP:CONS. --Tλε Rαnδоm Eδιτоr 20:22, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Where do I go
Where can I go to find the word. I have the definitions for them but not the words themselves. Such as, " _______ is the process of accommodating different needs and viewpoints."
- Try Wiktionary, the free dictionary. E talk 20:51, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- Google is your friend here. I put the phrase above into google and came up with this power point presentation. http://www.sbac.edu/~estesor/documents/HonGovCh1ReviewCards.ppt A quick scroll through the slides reveals that the answer you are looking for is "compromise". Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 20:53, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- I recommend trying the following website. --Tλε Rαnδоm Eδιτоr 21:40, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
New page
How do I establish a page instead of an article? I wanted something more like 'Black Enterprise', Beyonce Knowles and Jive Records. How can I invent this page w/wikipedia.
- Please start a new section when you're asking a new question - it's hard to see that you're here if your question is tagged on under someone else's.
- You should take a look at WP:1ST, Help:Starting a new page, WP:NOT, and WP:MOS before trying to create a new page. Those pages will give you directions on how to make a new page and also some tips on how to prevent the article from being deleted.
- Note, however, that we already have pages for Black Enterprise, Beyonce Knowles, and Jive Records. You might want to look at them first. Hersfold (talk/work) 21:21, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- A page instead of an article? What do you mean exactly? ssepp(talk) 22:21, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Rednex
Hello. I am one of the producers behind music group Rednex and I have never heard of the claimed producer named Brian Reddyb. Neither have the others. I have deleted him two times, but he's still there. I don't know who is doing this. What should we do? Regards Örjan Öban Öberg.
- You could discuss the issue on the article's talk page. My guess is someone thinks you're committing vandalism - with a site like this, it does happens constantly, and it is sometimes hard to tell if someone is helping or hurting the project. You might also want to see our policy on conflict of interest. Hersfold (talk/work) 21:16, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- I agree that someone probably thinks you are committing vandalism. If it is a WP:HOAX, you should say so on the talk page, and provide proof that that is the case. --Tλε Rαnδоm Eδιτоr 21:36, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- We have proof of a hoax in our records. It was added by User:86.42.223.82 in this edit and the same IP claims that "Briyan Al-Reddyb" led a 1968 coup where Saddam Hussein participated.[13] PrimeHunter 22:57, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
- I agree that someone probably thinks you are committing vandalism. If it is a WP:HOAX, you should say so on the talk page, and provide proof that that is the case. --Tλε Rαnδоm Eδιτоr 21:36, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
dontations and suggestions for article
Hello,
afraid I am not computer literate enough to be a contributor, but I wanted to ask/suggest that under the driving under the influence article, it would be helpful to have a chart with how many drinks it takes (roughly) to "achieve" a certain BAC. Second, I would like to send a check as a donation - can you give me snailmail address (I am indeed ancient) and to whom to make it out to?
Thanks, Mike Nesemann email removed
- This is included at the article Blood alcohol. Possibly it should be linked more directly. The article needs a little work. To the left of this, under the Wikipedia globe you will see a series of links, including this one [[14]] which lists information, including snail mail addresses for donations. Thanks. KP Botany 22:33, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Donate via regular mail. Please make the cheque payable to 'Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.' To prevent theft, please do not send cash through the mail.
Our mailing address:
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