Help Page Patrollers are a group of Wikipedians who patrol the help desk and help users who have placed the {{helpme}} template on their talk pages. The patrol is an optional service. Patrollers can come and go, and there is no official sign up process.
I've found they are automatically created after 4 sections are made. If you want to do it manually you can use {{TOCleft}} or {{TOCright}} —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bvlax2005 (talk • contribs)
Hi. A few months back, I saw a page where users with access to paid sources could fetch articles for other users. I have forgotten where it is located however, and need assistance finding it. Thanks. RedThunder00:03, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sometimes articles are reviewed by outside sources. For example the articles on Bill Clinton and Global Warming were reviewed by university professors and the results were published. However this is a rare, voluntary thing. — Realist201:45, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Algebraist was saying that it is practically impossible for non-users of Wikipedia to review information on Wikipedia. Even if these people (e.g. professors) had never previously checked Wikipedia, they become users as soon as they review a Wikipedia article. A user is anyone who uses Wikipedia in any way, and is distinct from an editor (editors are a subset of users). — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 04:26, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
See WP:V, WP:RS, WP:NOR, and WP:CITE. Everything on Wikipedia that isn't widely known is supposed to cite a reliable source, many of which are online and reachable through external links. Therefore, the information on Wikipedia should be as reliable as its sources. If you see any unsourced claims on Wikipedia that look suspicious, you can mark them with the {{fact}} template. If you see something on Wikipedia that does not accurately reflect what the sources say, then feel free to correct the error. As far as reliability goes, Wikipedia's articles vary widely in popularity. Some articles attract very few readers, and some of those may contain errors that persist for a long time. (The relevant unit of "time" for a Wikipedia article might be the edit, rather than the clock time. An article which gets 50 edits per day is likely to mature faster than an article that gets one edit per month, although the skill and intentions of the editor(s) would have a huge impact.) Presumably, articles that attract lots of readers will also have lots of editors, who hopefully correct the errors. Wikipedia disabled its page hit counters, so you cannot easily tell how many people are reading an article (unless the various third-party sites which try to present this information actually work), but you can look at an article's history and see how many people have edited an article. As Wikipedia grows in importance, there may be collaborative filtering projects which attempt to rate the reliability of Wikipedia's articles and perhaps individual editors as well. --Teratornis (talk) 04:24, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
need help logging in - forgotten password/new email address
I can't remember whether I have already registered - I think I did a long time ago as my name already exists as an account but I can't remember my password - and any email address I gave originally is no longer in existence so a new password emailed to it is not going to be any help! It is important I can be identified when I put an edit up on the site I wish to correct. Obviously I'm slightly concerned that someone else is using my name (they may of course genuinely have the same surname and initial), but I think I did log on a couple of years ago and I want to keep the same user name. How can I get back in?
79.74.229.134 (talk) 01:30, 24 August 2008 (UTC).[reply]
If you can't remember the password or access the email, then you can't get into the account, so you'd better create a new one. You can redirect the old account's userpage to the new one and put an explanatory note on the new one if you want (after making sure the old account is yours, of course). Algebraist01:34, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
In the search bar on the left, type in User:YOURUSERNAME, replacing YOURUSERNAME with the one you want, and press enter. Cheers! TN‑X-Man02:10, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Wikicode box
Has anyone noticed that the box for special characters under the edit field is doesn't work now? You can still copy and paste the code, but half of the characters that used to be there (such as cryillic alphabet and such) are no longer available and you can't click the text to insert it anymore. Does anyone know why this was removed? Thanks, —Mizu onna sango15Hello!01:58, 24 August 2008 (UTC).[reply]
Yes, that's the one. I do not think it has anything to do with Js, though! Twinkle doesn't work for me, but only because I run IE and not Firefox. If I'm not the only one who's noticed this error, how can it be just because of Js? Thanks, —Mizu onna sango15Hello!02:19, 24 August 2008 (UTC).[reply]
Does something like Qui work? As long as your browser supports JavaScript fully it should work (security/script settings in IE might mess with it). Calvin 1998(t-c)04:05, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Does the spoiler rule apply to information that is not available to the general public as well as that which is currently available? Specifically, a piece of information on the Secret Invasion page is from an issue not scheduled to be released until 8/27. I was just wondering if that information is included in this rule because there is no way for most people reading to know about it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ryheeles (talk • contribs) 05:35, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Do you mean Wikipedia:Spoiler? If the information about the unreleased material is from a reliable source, then it can be included. It should probably be presented something like this: "Before [Issue N] was released, [Publication X] stated that [something] happened to [someone]". When the issue is released, the sentence should be changed to "In [Issue N], [something] happened to [someone]". — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 06:28, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I tried to open the article "Gelfand pair" in order to edit it.
It existed a month ago. However, now when I tried to open it it opens a dialog box to save a file "Gelfand_pair". This file has no extension and I did not manage to open it with any editor. Still, I could find the discussion page on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Gelfand_pair
Yesterday there was a box at the bottom of my and others' user pages with links to contribs, talk, edit count and stuff like that. I thought it was pretty convenient, but it seems to be gone today. Anyone know what I'm talking about or where it went? Grk1011 (talk) 15:22, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
(undent) If you want to add links to all your user subpages and their talk pages, just add this magic-wordsy code to your user page:
*[{{fullurl:Special:Prefixindex|namespace=2}}&from={{PAGENAMEE}} See all my user subpages] and
[{{fullurl:Special:Prefixindex|namespace=3}}&from={{PAGENAMEE}} all their talk pages]
My name is Dale Satre, and I am (or was) the beginning author of the Article "The Big Five"
[extinction event(s)]. I am going to embark to create an article about a book titled
Shooting at the Moon by Roger Warner. Is there any guidelines for writing about publications here at Wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dale S. Satre (talk • contribs) 16:42, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I left you a message on your talk page too but have a read through WP:BK, that should be of use to you. Also, don't forget to sign your posts with the 4 tildes ~~~~, —— RyanLupin • (talk)16:45, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Help with a box
am writing an article called Shooting at the Moon (book). If you follow the link, you'll find a grey box under a main box of text. I do not know how it shows up, but I do deem it unneeded. Any ideas how to erase it without deleting the text inside it?--Dale S. Satre 17:13, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
It was caused by the spaces at the start of some of the lines you typed. That's what leading spaces do in Wikitext, so don't use them if you don't want that effect. Algebraist17:15, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
posting picture to article
I am writing Shooting at the Moon (book). This website contains the picture of the book I want to post on the web page: [1]. However, i have a limited account, which prohibits me from doing such an action. Can an administrator post the the picture for me? (If copyright law prohibits this, I urge you to abort postage.) (Iam sorry if all my questions are starting to bug you!) --Dale S. Satre 17:58, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
This article has been scheduled for deletion. It should not be deleted as it contains factual, historic elements relating to an international celebrity. Thank you for your consideration —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ricksaphire (talk • contribs) 18:14, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It's been deleted already.
It didn't assert the notability of the subject.
Assuming you are the same Rick Saphire whose website is at www.ricksaphire.com, she's your client.
You shouldn't be editing articles relating to her, or Jerry Lewis, as you have a WP:COI. 18:52, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
Wikipedia download
I live in a place where there is no internet access. Is there a Wikipedia database available that can be upgraded occasionally? If so where can I find it and how much does it cost?72.11.175.79 (talk) 19:03, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
And FYI, it was never removed from the article, it was moved slightly. May I suggest using a more reliable source for your news? Algebraist20:26, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Good suggestion. The page history (which is visible to everybody) shows the text was moved in this edit with the informative edit summary "moving 2004 section into an intro section here, as he never campaigned for president that year". Your source claims it's missing in the Sunday 11 AM version, but that version is here and as anybody can determine in seconds by searching the page, for example for "McCain", the text is there (including the references). PrimeHunter (talk) 20:43, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
References!!!
I'm creating a page and I've added a reference but I can't seem to get the references below but it keeps on coming up as a black list please help
I understand now, so it won't work??? Jonni Boi 21:05, 24 August 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jonni Boi (talk • contribs)
The ukmix link is to a forum, which is not a reliable source, so should not be used as a reference. It looks like the reason given for it being blacklisted is "excessive linkage for a forum site", which is usually the result of one or more parties trying to linkspam the site into articles. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 21:21, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. Algebraist21:49, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Created a New Article...
Not all of the information I included from my research showed up but when I click edit it does show up. Can someone please help me fix this. The page is about American Actress and Dancer Katherine "Kat" Slatery.
All of the important information I researched is under edit.
A reference starting with <ref> must end with </ref>, and there must be an instruction telling where to display the references. See Help:Footnotes. I fixed this and some other things in [1] but somebody has suggested to delete the article. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:18, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
User:RFD brought up a comment on my talk page after I had tagged an article he had created as "may fail the general notability guideline for biographies." RFD stated that he believed bishops who had headed dioceses were automatically considered notable. I wasn't so sure about that, so I decided to ask you friendly people at the help desk.
Without being able to point to a specific guideline, my gut instinct is that bishops (and I'm assuming this refers to Roman Catholicism) are notable, but that's about as low in the church hierarchy that I would think notability extends. If that wouldn't work, a redirect to the appropriate diocese would be good as well. TN‑X-Man22:56, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Obviously your local vicar isn't notable, a bishop is a bit wobbly, but one who has headed a diocese (as long as the diocese is notable) is definitely notable Dendodge|TalkContribs08:54, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Question about stubs and other tags
I have recently added tags (such as a stub tag) to several articles I stumbled across. Now, my question is this: Is there some automatic script that adds the article to a list of stubs or something? I want to make sure these articles are noticed by those who can and want to edit them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 3Juno3 (talk • contribs) 23:40, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, articles that have {{stub}} on them are automatically listed. It will happen shortly, if not immediately. However, it may take a while for someone to expand it, so I encourage you to do it yourself. Mm40 (talk | contribs) 23:46, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) When you add a stub tag to an article, it is automatically placed in a category with similar stubs. For example, using {{writer-stub}} will place the article in a category with other articles about writers that are stubs. WP:STUB has a lot more details. You should be able to see the category at the bottom of the page to which you added the stub. Cheers! TN‑X-Man23:49, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Note that stub templates are placed at the bottom like [2] (usually before categories and interlanguage links but that makes no difference to the rendered page). PrimeHunter (talk) 00:12, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
On my watchlist, there are red and green fonts inside parentheses that say, like (-412) or
(+341). What are they?
They indicate how many bytes of data have been added or subtracted by an edit. Also, don't forget to sign your posts by typing ~~~~ after your question. Cheers! TN‑X-Man23:43, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
August 25
Q about Sex
Please excuse me if you find this rather peverse, but I was wondeing about something and could not find the answer on WP. Basically everytime I have sex with my girlfriend she goes to the bathroom straight after. What does she do in there? I mean when a guy ejaculates inside a woman, does the semen usually stay inside her, or do women go to the bathroom go pass out the ejaculate? I never really understood and i'm too scared to ask my gf. Thanks. Mike. 79.75.172.239 (talk) 00:05, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. Algebraist00:06, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Do you want to add an existing infobox (for example {{Infobox character}}) to an article, or do you want to create a new type of infobox? The reply by Teratornis assumes the latter which is much harder. If it's the former then say which article you want an infobox in, and we may be able to help much better. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:55, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Del image moved to commons
This image is both in Wikipedia and in Commons. Will deleting it from Wikipedia cause the commons image to instamagically be used anywhere the original image is currently in use? -- kainaw™02:40, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
That's the way I'd guess, but neither WP:COMMONS nor Wikipedia:Moving images to the Commons seem to come right out and say that. (It seems, however, that moving an image to the Commons would often test the very case you are asking about, and this seems to be a routine operation, so it's hard to imagine an answer to your question other than "yes.") An explicit answer may be hiding in one of the links under WP:EIW#Commons. If you don't get a satisfying answer here, you could ask on Wikipedia talk:Wikimedia Commons. --Teratornis (talk) 02:54, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As the wikicode for using images in an article is the same for images hosted on En WP and on Commons, my guess is that as soon as the WP image is deleted, the Commons one "takes over". – ukexpat (talk) 03:35, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, it appears that whomever moved it to commons did not move it properly. The SVG wasn't uploaded, just a png of it. So, now it can't create thumbnails. I wonder if I have the original SVG floating around somewhere... -- kainaw™04:17, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Off topic child support request for legal advice from an anonymous user
How do I cange my child support if I'M not making the same amount.What do I need to do to change my vistation day,to every other weekend,instead of the one I have now —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.94.69.60 (talk) 03:05, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
ATP (airline transport pilot’s license) equivalent degree
A year ago I did a Google search on the ATP (airline transport pilot’s license) equivalent degree and on your site I found very helpful information. I wanted to use those facts again, but… for one or the other reason I could not find it again. (I've done the search on Wikipedia.)
Maybe this is what you are looking for: Airline_Transport_Pilot_License? And that article does not mention anything about it being equivalent to a masters degree.
I added additional categories for the article page "Robert Mac" specifically United States presidential candidates, 2008, American stand-up comedians and People from Tucson, Arizona. His name appears alphabetized by first name whereas the others are by last name (there is not yet any entry in the List of People from Tucson, Arizona). How do I get his name to be listed by last name like the others?Mickmastor (talk) 04:37, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Fixed. Type {{DEFAULTSORT:Last name, First name}} (in this case {{DEFAULTSORT:Mac, Robert}}. If you only want to change how he is alphabetized in a single category, then it would be [[Category:1968 births|Mac, Robert]], but since this applies to all the categories he is in, we use {{DEFAULTSORT}}. — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 05:01, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Can you please add an article about the five fuwa like, one article for Beibei,another article for Jingjing, an article for Huanhuan, an article for Yingying and Nini? It is for my Beijing project. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lesleyrox (talk • contribs) 08:39, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Looking at the active musician website, and it's biographies for other artists, I suspect it's the other way around - they appear to be copying Wikipedia entries without giving the usual licences. Anyone else got a view on this? GbT/c10:25, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
(sorry for the URL - I don't know how to do Wikilinks yet)
Why doesn't this image appear on the page? If I make a gif, it shows up. Otherwise, the JPG doesn't seem to work. I've uploaded other JPGs -- most, but not all -- are just fine
It's not working for me after clearing my browser cache and purging the server cache. When I click on the raw image link here I get a message about errors in the image. – ukexpat (talk) 16:01, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This seems to be browser-dependent: it's fine in Firefox and Opera, broken in IE, and appears in black and white for some reason in Safari (all on WinXP). Should probably take this to the village pump, or somewhere where they know about jpgs. Algebraist17:02, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I heard that the linking is now "not encouraged", so now users are going everywhere unlinking all dates leaving most without commas and horribly incorrect. I think it was stupid to change that, I mean so what if only registered users can see it, they're the ones that wiki means the most to. What an inconvenience. ps, where whould I say this. Grk1011/Stephen (talk) 14:01, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
What's with the "insert box"? That's the box under the window where we type in changes and so on (where I'm typing this right now) and immediately under the bold face Do not copy text... warning.
It used to have a long list of symbols, including letters with macrons (which I use frequently since I contribute to several articles about Japanese culture), but not any more. Now it has a pull down menu and a list of a few symbols plus a lot of empty square boxes that don't give anything when you select them. Most of the pull-down menu items are just as bad, except for "Wiki markup," which has a list of Wiki markup symbols.
Does Wikipedia will pay royally pension on non-free (including fair use and other) media files as a compensionsion? it is a payment of using non-free media files such images or sounds etc. such like Public Lending Rights payment made by some libraries. Thank you.
Wikipedia should be know how many each files is being browsed or used like all other sites all over the Internet.
I want to change my user ppicture for Kareena (on sage) to my current picture. But I forget how I added teh pic. Can you help? Thanks, Kar —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.22.76.61 (talk) 15:28, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
What's the proper thing to do when someone is undoing automated vandalism fixes, such as at today's featured article Diary of a Camper? User OSx86 has been warned about such stuff before, but I don't want to get caught in an edit war. jeffjon (talk) 16:08, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Well, if they are vandalizing a page, restoring the correct version is not considered edit warring. You can report the incident to WP:AIV as well, if you would like an admin to review the situation. I hope this helps! TN‑X-Man16:15, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I am writng a restaurant-recipe book and would like to use some of the articles as food trivia in my book.
I have no problem stating in my book that Wikipedia is my source for this information; however, I want to make sure that I have the right to use these articles.
I realize that all articles may not be correct but I would be stating that "according to an article on Wikipedia website, the following is a history of the Po-Boy etc."
How do I create a "floating quote" of under 50 words?
Resolved
I would like to insert a quote of six lines which exceed the limits of the Rquote width (because each line requires a distinct line break not permitted by the Rquote parameter). Inaddition, I would like the quote to be aligned "right" very similar to the Rquote example HERE— with the exception of reducing the size of the quotation marks. Lastly, I would like my quote to be "floated" in a similar manner as the example of a "floating table" as seen HERE under the Heading, Floating Table. I have racked my brain for hours and I am in need of much help. Thank you. Hag2 (talk) 16:54, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
well, the above-alterations (i.e. text-align:left; and margin-left:20em) produce something on the rightside of my screen which is about 30%-close to what I require (i.e. I would like to move it farther to the right). If we threw a border around it and "floated it" so that another, larger paragraph would then read above it and below it and to the left, we would have what I require. Hag2 (talk) 18:26, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Gadget, Quotebox2 is good! I can work with that I think. Do you have any idea how I can create a set of quotation marks similar to the Rquote marks, but smaller, and maybe light grey? Hag2 (talk) 19:56, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I would like to know what the best way is to report vandalism, particularly new vandals.
In the past, I have reported this to specific Admins, but there has to be a better way.
For example, if a new anonymous user has just made a single contribution, which is an act of vandalism, I can reverse it, of course, but I would also like to report it. Is there an easy way of doing that?
See, for example, Special:Contributions/68.53.40.110. What is the Wikipedia policy in a case like that? Wait for repeated instances? How many repeated instances are required before an anonymous IP address is blocked?
I'm trying to determine the settings that allow me to track articles via email notifications. If that is not possible, I'd like to determine the best way to manage a wide variety of articles that I have contributed to or am interested in following on an ongoing basis.
It isn't possible. Well, it is but that function has been turned off due to the sheer number of edits that happen every minute. The servers couldn't take all that emailing. The best way to watch articles is with your WP:WATCHLIST. Dismas|(talk)19:54, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Anecdotal stories are not a reliable published source. This is not a forum, nor is it the place to discuss the article content. Please discuss this in the article talk page as noted. --—— Gadget850 (Ed)talk - 20:01, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
I'm using Firefox v3.0.1, and it's not showing any pictures on Wikipedia. I can see the thumbnails, but when I go to see a closer look, (and I click on it), it just shows the picture box (checkered) and a link to the page within the box. Does anyone know a fix to this problem, or is it a bug?
I am a Firefox user so I only know ways to achieve this in Firefox. There are 3 ways to do this: 1) The search box to the right of your address bar can be changed to search Wikipedia. 2)Create a bookmark to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=%s Go to your bookmarks menu and right click this bookmark and enter something into the "keywork" section. After you have done this you can enter "keywork John Doe" into your address bar and it would automatically go to the Wikipedia article. 3) There is a third-party extension for Firefox available here. Bvlax2005 (talk) 02:40, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
August 26
Default font
WHAT IS WIKIPEDIA'S DEFAULT FONT and how do I enable it?
I recently reinstalled Windows XP and my previous fonts appear to be in place. When I use Wikipedia however, the text is barely legible. This screen shot (and the two preceding it) provide good examples:
I know how to change the font in Internet Explorer 7 so every website displays the same one. I'd rather not do this because Wikipedia seems to be the only place I visit that's affected.
I don't see a problem. In [4] you say "I'm thinking either there is a bug with {{CurrentYYYYMMDD}}, or the subst suggestion on {{oldprodfull}} should be removed". The subst is required and not a suggestion. It ensures that the displayed date is the day the template was added, as it should be. Without that, it would be the day the template is viewed. Subst'ed templates often produce ugly looking code but the date is rendered correctly at Talk:YouAreTV. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:02, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I understand why it was substed. I was just wondering if the {{#switch:{{{1}}}|s=|-}}08{{#switch:{{{1}}}|s=|-}}24 result of this edit was a necessary side effect. Is it possible for the template to be adjusted so that when it is substed, the above bolded text does not appear, but still produces the same end result (the current date being shown)?--Rockfang (talk) 13:16, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It was a year ago, so I'm not sure, but at first glance I think I made it so that by using {{CurrentYYYYMMDD}}, one could insert the current YYYYMMDD as a string without the -s... †DBD09:25, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi. I just came to this site and heard anyone can edit it? Is that true? how can i prove my edit is factual, i mean otherwise anyone could write anything surely no? Thanks. Lee.
Yes, anyone can edit Wikipedia. However, information must be verifiable. You may notice on a number of pages, there is a list at the bottom page of references where a user can confirm the information seen in Wikipedia. Information that is not referenced can easily be challenged and removed by another user. Bvlax2005 (talk) 06:17, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Not necessarily, mostly information that could easily be challenged. "Google is a search engine" really does not need a reference for the sheer fact that it would be extremely difficult to challenge that statement. "Google is the second most visited site on the internet" could be easily challenged if there is no source to prove it. Bvlax2005 (talk) 06:49, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
ok thanks. all sounds a bit subjective to me, but i guess u just have to apply common sense. thanks anyway for answering my question. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.75.191.6 (talk) 06:51, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I have done some changes to Anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany. After making them, I was no longer able to see the images (alt text is in place). However I can view the images in their own pages or in the Preview screen. Is this a problem on my end, or is there some sort of bug in play? Can someone help to solve this? Thank you. Jappalang (talk) 06:53, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
For reasons I cannot track down, I have completely forgotten my wikimedia login's password. OK, easy so far, BUT...
I no longer have access to the original email address to reset the password on one of these accounts.
What would you need from me to change the default email on my account to something I can open to follow the new temporary password? Any help would be greatly appreciated. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.214.243.156 (talk) 07:27, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I would like to draw your attention to two articles published under the guise of a VTC introduction and that of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, a member institution, that contained a lot of inaccuracies and more importantly, smear of a serious nature.
While respecting the freedom of speech on your innovative mechanism, I would like to state in no uncertain terms that malicious smearing will not be tolerated.
Please go to www.vtc.edu.hk for the correct information.
Grateful if you could check the pages at issue and revert by 4 pm tomorrow (27 August 2008) as to how these can be resolved.
As much as I hate to say it, vandalism is a nasty byproduct of Wikipedia. However, in no way is it acceptable. Currently (as of 08:01, 26 August 2008 (UTC)) the article looks fine, however if the vandalism continues by the same user, you can report them at WP:AVI. Keep in mind that the user must be CURRENTLY AVTIVE when they are reported. Under "User-reported" click the edit link and there are instructions within the edit box on how to list a user for intervention. Bvlax2005 (talk) 08:01, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Also it looks like the vandalism was originally introduced by an anonymous editor seen here. I would assume that User:ThaddeusB reverted your changes in haste, incorrectly assuming the edits were vandalism. Although this is only an assumption on my part. Bvlax2005 (talk) 08:05, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fimo it states "According to a 2002 U.S.PIRG report Fimo contains polyvinyl chloride (PVC) mixed with phthalate"
At the bottom of the page, it says "FIMO is phthalate-free and is conform to the stringent European Standard EN 71 part 5 and bears the ACMI-Seal AP "non toxic"."
Clearly there is a contradiction here. If the latter sentence could be moved to the top so as to make clear to any potential customers that there is no phthalate in FIMO that would be great! When I try to edit the page this is not possible.
I did a little research and this site says that it does in fact include phthalate. I am by far no expert on the subject however. If you have a source stating that it does not contain phthalate then I would gladly change the article for you. Bvlax2005 (talk) 08:31, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Please do not include contact details in your questions. We are unable to provide answers by any off-wiki medium and this page is highly visible across the internet. The details have been removed, but if you wish for them to be permanently removed from the page history, email this address. Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this: . Do NOT sign in articles.Dendodge|TalkContribs09:17, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
how can a redirection be undone?
I'm really new to Wikipedia but keen to learn. Havn't found what I need on FAQ and other places so asking you experts.
Want to post some facts about a Smart421 but see that a redirection takes users to a page occupied by content relating to KCOM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart421
How can a redirection like this be undone?
I'll be in sandbox today to trial my content before posting.
The reason it redirects to the KCOM page is because Smart421 is owned by KCOM and does not have enough information/notability to justify its own article. To create an article on Smart421 go to the page first, and after it redirects you under the title "KCOM" is line stating "(Redirected from Smart421)". You can click this and it will take you back to the Smart421 article where you can edit it (and remove the line that makes it a redirect). I'm not an expert on either company, but if there is only a small section of information on Smart421 you might want to consider adding it as a section under KCOM. If you have any questions or felt I wasn't clear feel free to ask me on here or on my talk page! Bvlax2005 (talk) 09:49, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
(e/c) You can go directly to Smart421. When you try going to Smart421 and it redirects to KCOM Group, you should see "(Redirected from Smart421)" just under the article title ("KCOM Group") at the top of the page, you can click that "Smart421" to get to the page you want. — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 09:50, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You have 5 minutes to allow me access to the Barack Obama article so I can 'modify' it. If you do not, I will crush Wikipedia by hacking into all of the articles and deleting them all. You have been warned. --OuijaBorn (talk) 10:11, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
In the meantime, this account has been blocked for twenty-four hours to prevent their carrying out their threat to vandalize Wikipedia. --Orange Mike | Talk13:40, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, there's nothing like politics to get the blood boiling. It's amazing that Wikipedia can deal with such controversial topics without sinking into POV wars. It may be worth pointing out that as long as the U.S. (or any) government spends money, someone has to pay for it, either through taxation or borrowing. The United States public debt is large and growing, and one way to view deficit spending is an attempt by taxpayers to get something for nothing. Since there are no free lunches when it comes to public spending, taxpayers who consume more public goods than they pay for are essentially attempting either to pay for their consumption later, or to shift the cost onto future generations of taxpayers. At the moment, all but the wealthiest U.S. taxpayers consume more public goods than they pay for, although I've read arguments that the wealthy few enjoy the invisible benefit of a stable society that allows them to accumulate wealth, so it's reasonable to tax them disproportionately. That's probably a compelling argument if you aren't rich. What I find impressive is the great success of the U.S. Republican Party at persuading vast numbers of average people to vote in favor of borrowing from the rich at interest rather than taxing them so much, which essentially amounts to average people indenturing their children to pay debt service in the form of future taxes. I suspect Napoleon might smile. --Teratornis (talk) 17:05, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sponsorship: Marathon Runners - Energy Bar
The Marathon Club of the South African Reserve Bank is planning a Time Trial for the staff on the 1st of September. I wanted to put this request forward to the company "Energy Bar"
My request to you: Is it at all possible that you can supply/sponsor us with energy bars at the end of the 4km's run?
Advertisement and mentioning of sponsors will be done electrnically and on the Electronic notice board in the South African Reserve Bank's foyer.
I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6.8 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. GbT/c12:25, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Personal information redacted. Hi. This desk is for help on using the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. You seem to have read one of its articles and assumed it was affiliated with the company therein. Unfortunately, it's not. Sorry. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 12:33, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Where do best improve disclosure of the policies of Wikipedia in article deletion?
Being intrigued by Wikipedia, I spent a good deal of time and effort in a recent submission on Adiposopathy. It was complete with multiple supporting references. It was reviewed by who I believe is the writer of the currently published Obesity article. He did not agree with my article and suggested deletion to Cyclonemin (the Wikipedia representative). Immediately upon hearing this reviewer's objection, Cyclonemin stated: I'd support this being nominated over at AfD, would you like me to nominate it or would you like to do it yourself? This was hardly an objective assessment, and as one new to Wikipedia, represented a bit too enthusiastic zeal to delete the article. Being that the article had just been submitted, I would have thought the focus of Wikipedia personnel should have been on suggestions as to how to improve the article.
This became more understandable, when reading their "hard to miss," very public conversation:
Hey Cyclonenim
Will post the article on Adiposopathy for deletion. This is not a real medical condition. Will appreciate your comments.
On another note wondering if you could give my feedback on the obesity page? I am an ER doc whose hobbies include preventative health and science in general. Nice page by the way. You are good with graphics. --Doc James (talk) 23:12, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
My point is, Cyclonemin and Doc James clearly have a close relationship. That is a good thing, except when it results in bias against other Wikipedia submissions and authors. According to his Wiki profile, Cyclonemin states he is: A 17 year old student from Nottingham, United Kingdom. You can see a picture of me to your left! I will be applying Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry to study medicine in a few months (or failing that a neuroscientist). However, as of yet, i'm still a layperson studying at Bilborough College. I'm a Christian. Quite frankly, I love music and I play the guitar (acoustic, bass and electric) pretty much every day. I'm also pretty interested in parkour, photography and drama.
Thus, it is understandable that Cyclonemin values his relationship with past authors of Wiki publications, and wants to foster these relationships. However, Wikipedia should include on their main page that these types of relationships exist, and that currently published authors of Wiki articles - through their relationship with Wiki younger personnel - will naturally have great influence over deletion of future Wiki articles.
Just to be clear. I do not deny that my original submission could have been improved. All of us can improve. Although it had over 30 references, I offered even greater referencing if this would help. But when asked about this possibility, Cyclonemin suggested my best bet was to simply copy the article to my computer, as my article was likely to be deleted. This was not in compliance with the way I read Wikipedia's deletion policies.
The bottomline is this. I think all of us in academia are used to criticism. All of us are used to rejection. However, serious writers of serious articles in Wikipedia would benefit from knowing (before submitting) that deletion of their work may be substantially based upon the opinions of existing authors of existing Wikipedia articles, and the degree of their influence over impressionable Wikipedia staff.
I am inclined to say that this desire to delete your article does not stem from bias. I will admit that I am not medical expert, however it is extremely difficult to find information on Adiposopathy. Two users alone cannot delete your article (especially since neither of them are an administrator). Wikipedia is about consensus not voting. Your article has not been deleted yet and a discussion is currently going on at Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Adiposopathy. At this point I would recommend arguing your case there instead of deciding to blame it on bias. If you still feel that you are being treated unfairly I would recommend getting in contact with an administrator. Bvlax2005 (talk) 15:23, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The Wikipedia Main Page cannot explain everything that every potential user needs to know to avoid running into every possible kind of problem, because Wikipedia is one of the most complexWeb sites in existence. However, I agree it is regrettable that Wikipedia's user interface does seem overly encouraging to some fraction of, shall we say, optimistic new users who come to Wikipedia with strong assumptions about how Wikipedia ought to work. I myself had no idea that Wikipedia deletes up to several pages per minute, and I did not learn this until I had been stumbling around here for some months. (I have suggested before that the Main Page should include a count of deleted articles below the count of surviving articles which it currently displays, with a link to an introductory page that describes Wikipedia's deletion process.) In addition to being complex, Wikipedia is unlike almost anything that came before Wikipedia, and therefore almost everyone who sees Wikipedia for the first time forms at least a few incorrect assumptions about it. Wikipedia is a do it yourself system, which means everyone who uses it has to self-educate via the difficult methods of RTFM and trial and error. Since we cannot march all new users through a comprehensive introductory course, we have no way to insure that everybody who tries to edit here knows whatever they need to know to succeed at whatever type of editing they attempt. To visualize the scale of the problem, consider that Wikipedia is one of the world's top-ten most-visited Web sites. Imagine going to the headquarters of any of the other top sites (e.g. Google), sitting down at a computer, and editing away on the site without first talking to anybody else who works there. What are the odds that anyone could correctly guess exactly how to comply with all the policies of such a site, without asking any questions first? Wikipedia does actually make this possible, by having amazingly complete instructions, but the instructions are so voluminous that few people can learn them quickly, and Wikipedia does not require new users to demonstrate any understanding of the instructions before editing. (As Jimbo Wales mentions in his lectures about Wikipedia, since anyone else can edit anything we write, we have to learn how to write for our opponents - that is, we must figure out how to write something that everyone else who reads it will find acceptable.) Instead, Wikipedia expects people to make mistakes, and then to learn from more experienced users who correct their mistakes. It's not pretty, and other people have set up other wikis with different policies (e.g. WikInfo), but Wikipedia's approach has made it the most popular user-editable encyclopedia. If you would like a structured introduction to Wikipedia, and you like books, you could read Wikipedia - The Missing Manual. --Teratornis (talk) 16:26, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I might add that the notion that a cabal controls Wikipedia is something of an inside joke here. On Wikipedia, there is in fact a sort of a cabal, or rather many fluidly-forming cabals, consisting of everyone who knows the rules that pertain to particular issues. See Wikipedia:There is no common sense - Wikipedia is very rule-driven, so power accrues to users in proportion to their knowledge of the rules. Someone who reads and understands everything linked from the Editor's index would become almost omnipotent here. --Teratornis (talk) 16:32, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Since Wikipedia works by collaboration, Wikipedia editors are working together almost all the time. Any attempt to map the connections and relationships between editors would be impossibly complicated; it would be easier to map the family tree of a small city. When I imagine, after two years at Wikipedia, trying to post a list of editors whom I have worked with amiably, and might be likely to work with again in the future, I have to shudder a little bit. But it's true that the rules trump everything; anyone who can make a clear, cogent, correct appeal to the rules can get everything his heart desires here (assuming that his heart only desires things that are consistent with the rules). -FisherQueen (talk · contribs)01:21, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Some notes to your post. When you create a page, the top of the window says "Before creating an article, please read Wikipedia:Your first article". That page warns several times that articles may get deleted. Doc James has many edits to obesity but is not the creator or sole editor. Like most Wikipedia articles, it has many contributors. Click the "history" tab and the older links at the bottom to see the page history. Anybody can nominate an article at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion. Doc James actually created the nomination page [6] before making the post [7] that Cyclonenim replied to [8]. And the post was made at Talk:Adiposopathy. As far as I can tell, it was directed at anybody who wanted to discuss the article and not aimed at Cyclonenim who just happened to be the first to reply. You call Cyclonenim "the Wikipedia representative" and later refer to "Wikipedia staff", but Doc James and Cyclonemin are both volunteer editors, just like you and almost everybody else. I don't know whether they knew eachother before, but many editors get in contact with eachother to discuss articles and that is not considered a problem. After getting a second opinion (which is not required), Doc James completed the nomination for deletion. You and others can comment at the ongoing Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Adiposopathy. It is listed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/2008 August 24 and Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Medicine, so editors who monitor deletion discussions can see it and choose whether to comment. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:44, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The thing that really struck me about this complaint was that Adiposetech has worked on his/her Wikipedia article for one week -- and Doc James has only been an editor for about six weeks longer than Adiposetech. They're both quite new editors. I doubt that it's appropriate to say that Doc James clearly has a close relationship with anyone on Wikipedia at this time. WhatamIdoing (talk) 07:33, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Shortcut to citing
I am citing the same book multiple times, but different pages each time so I can't use <ref name=blank/>. Is there a shortcut to do this without writing the citation out over and over again? Copana2002 (talk) 14:37, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
OK, I found it here. You simply create a notes section in addition to the reference section and cite the page number within the text. eg. <ref>[[#Smi00|Smith 2000]]: 4</ref> Copana2002 (talk) 15:09, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the solution. I guess that's the best we can do at the moment, but it looks a little kludgey to me. Perhaps we should ask the coding gurus over at {{Cite book}} if there is a better way. – ukexpat (talk) 16:18, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I am creating a global account but someone has my name on the Polish wikipedia, one I will start using after I learn Polish on Wikiversity. This other Wikipedysta:Donek has not made any edits at all while I have made over 1000. Is it possible for me to acquire ownership of that userpage? P.S. I don't speak Polish yet so I cannot ask people on the Polish wikipedia. Donek (talk) 15:12, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There is no policy in the English Wikipedia for essentially stealing someone else's account (regardless of how often the person used the account). You must ask the user if you can have the password and start using the account. -- kainaw™15:24, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Is there a reason that all TOCs default to "collapsed" mode (that is, I have to click "[show]" to see the whole Table of Conents)? I have not noticed this behavior before. Is this new, or does it only apply to unregistered (or unlogged-in) users?
137.148.237.84 (talk) 16:35, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not noticing this behavior, but I am logged in. I tried logging out, but I still see the table of contents in an article I was viewing (which happens to be Hurricane Gustav (2008), if it matters), even after reloading the page. You could try searching the Help desk archive for previous instances of this problem:
I was reading through your encylopedia, and I noticed on the Jimbo Wales article that you refer to him as 'Wales is the current de facto leader of Wikipedia'. The term leader seems like a sociallist commnuist term does it not? Is Wikipedia a left-wing organisation? --LateKernelAmsterdam (talk) 17:14, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The term leader has a very broad use. For example, the President of the USA is sometimes referred to as the leader of the Western world. The word has no special link to socialist terminology, IMO. Wanderer57 (talk) 17:24, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia does not fit into traditional political labels. Wikipedia is a system for Commons-based peer production, which is a different kind of social organization than was able to exist before the introduction of the World Wide Web in general, and wiki software in particular. Since Wikipedia is so enormous, depending on which part of Wikipedia you observe, you may find analogies with many different forms of earlier social organization, including socialism and libertarianism. (See Blind men and an elephant.) For more information, read the links under WP:EIW#Community, WP:EIW#Research, and WP:EIW#Basic_Info. You may also enjoy reading:
The term "leader" is being used as exclusionary, not inclusionary. It means he is not an official. He is not elected. He is not appointed. He is not a dictator. He is not the owner. It is excluding a lot of other titles and leaving him with the ineffectual title of "leader". -- kainaw™17:30, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Can we have a Wikipedia election? I wish to be head of Wikipedia. If he wasnt elected, then that makes him a dictator because he took control of power without public vote. --LateKernelAmsterdam (talk) 17:32, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Are you accusing me as a sock puppet? I am not such thing, what makes you think I am a sockpuppet? And if Wikipedia is not a Democracy, then what is it? A dictatorship? --LateKernelAmsterdam (talk) 17:56, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It's a meritocracy. You've obviously been here before and appear to be editing solely to disrupt Wikipedia. Tanǀ3918:01, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
What is the purpose of the list of language equivalents that appears at the end of articles but only on the edit page? I just added the Arabic equivalent of abacá to the English-language article, but I don't know whether this list is meant to provide a translation for the article title or a reference to the equivalent article in the appropriate language Wikipedia. If the latter, my addition may be inappropriate. Fbarw (talk) 18:43, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It is a link to same article in a different language's version of Wikipedia. The same list should appear on the left hand side of the page when you view an article. Cheers! TN‑X-Man18:46, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
See WP:BFAQ. There is no monetary cost to editing on Wikipedia, but there can be other kinds of costs, such as the fact that no one owns a Wikipedia article, so an article about your company may contain both good and bad information about it, whatever people can reliably source. --Teratornis (talk) 18:59, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Removal of "Appearances In Popular Culture" from Dodge Charger page?
I recently spent several hours to add a area to the Dodge Charger page, and put in a new section. When I went today to add a new one I had just found, I found the section completly gone! I have seen nearly all other car pages have a "Appearances In Popular Culture" section, and none of them have been removed. I believe this to be important information, and it deserves to be there! But, why was it removed?65.26.158.208 (talk) 19:46, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I represent two comedians, Josh Blue and John Heffron, and need to change the content on their pages
Hello,
I have the approved bios and headshots for comedians Josh Blue and John Heffron. This is the only information they want to appear on the website besides the links to their websites. What steps do I need to take to make sure these changes happen? I need to make sure this happens as soon as possible.
I have witnessed a user remove several recently added paragraphs from an article, and create a separate article with that exact information. However, in the page history the user who copied and pasted the text is given credit for the writing. Is this alright? Is there anything that can be done about it? Does it comply with licensing policy? «Diligent Terrier[talk]21:03, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Copy-paste article creation is a GFDL violation, yes. (It's also done constantly.) There are two ways of dealing with it: the first is a history merge, which is messy and requires admin intervention. The other, which works well for simple cases (like spinning out a couple paragraphs by a single author when the article is new) is to just dummy edit the page and give credit to the original writer(s) that way. --erachimatalk21:33, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
History merges are not possible in terms of paragraphs. It does not comply with licensing policy unless they are the only people who have ever edited the said paragraphs. A null edit stating which text the article came from in the edit summary should be done, and a reminder about the licensing policies to the user concerned. Woody (talk) 22:01, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Collapse the TOC
I've been searching for almost an hour, and can't seem to find information anywhere outlining how to collapse a TOC or "Contents" box at the top of an article. Thanks in advance. — Hucz (talk) 21:56, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry for not being very clear, what I want is to be able to collapse it on default when loading the article. So that when the article had loaded, it's already collapsed and needs to be expanded. Thanks. — Hucz (talk) 01:09, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think this can be done and it seems likely to me that many users would be confused if the default state varied between articles. Where and why do you want to do it? PrimeHunter (talk) 02:05, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
That's different. Your other posts said article which in Wikipedia means the mainspace for encyclopedia articles. You have much more freedom on your user page. You could place __TOC__ (see Help:Section) inside a collapsible table collapsed by default, but it wouldn't be as pretty as having the TOC hidden by default. Below is sample code. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:20, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
For example, if the source has a "List of foo" and the "foo" you're trying to demonstrate notability is only mentioned on the list, that would be a trivial mention. Navin Johnson once tried to demonstrate his notability in a Steve Martin movie by pointing out that he was in the phone book, but this is a trivial mention (as well as primary source). SDY (talk) 22:50, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Just have a little patience, we are all volunteers. I started to fix it before your 00:11 post but Bvlax2005 saved first so I only fixed a few other details. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:29, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I fixed it for you. In the future remember to user the template {{subst:afd2 | pg=PageName | cat=Category | text=Reason the page should be deleted}} instead of merely listing the articles on the deletion discussion page. Bvlax2005 (talk) 00:16, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I was wondering if wikipedia will/ or is planning to add video or animate examples to the article pages,
ie: animation/video of planets rotating around the sun in the planet article, or video/animation of how an engine works, etc, etc —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.214.35.177 (talk) 23:51, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The joy of Wikipedia is that the question could easily be turned around: why don't you do it? There isn't an editorial board that directs tasks. If you had a specific request for this kind of animation, you might ask at the relevant project (WP:AST or WP:CAR), but the only practical way to make wikipedia better is just to dig in your heels and lend a hand. Just for the record, I think I've seen a couple of engine animations in articles, such as Otto cycle and Wankel_engine#Design. SDY (talk) 00:03, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I think Wikipedia has steered clear of adding a video option for a number of reason. The additional server/bandwidth strain would be insane, especially for a company that relies on donations for its income. How much will a video even help the content of an article? I don't believe video content can fall under a fair use rationale therefore finding non-copyrighted videos would be like finding a needle in a proverbial haystack. I do agree with you though that animated pictures (such as a GIF animated) might be useful in some cases, such as the rotating planet idea. However, I think that a full on video feature such as what is seen on YouTube is not in our near future. But who knows, maybe one day...? Bvlax2005 (talk) 00:31, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
We do have animations - see, for example, Engine - and we do have video - see, for example, Galloping Gertie. However, both of these require the video to be made, put in an appropriate format, and released under a copyleft license or in the public domain. While the number of images that meet those constraints is relatively large, the number of animations and videos is significantly smaller. As pointed out, if there's something missing from Wikipedia, feel free to fix the problem yourself. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 01:05, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, I think i would like to consider becoming an admin on here one day, but i fear my poor record on this site might count against me. Basically my first few edits on my account were vandalism, but from there I reformed and went on to make around 5000 constructive edits. However I also used to have a bad record for posting copyrighted images, but i stopped that now. The problem is I never leave edit summaries, and also I am really bad for making lots of small edits to the one article within a short space of time. For instance i have made over 500 minor edits to several individual articles. I notice most editors on here are not like me and make large changes in 1 or 2 edits but personally i like to make my large changes over several hundred edits and often over several days. Will this effect my chances of being accepted as a syop in future. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.75.209.42 (talk) 23:57, 26 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
In that case: 1- you probably shouldn't do that (sort of looked down upon, and it might be interpreted as a violation of WP:SOCK) 2- The main question being debated during an WP:RFA is whether you can be trusted with the tools and can be trusted to use them according to Wikipedia policy. Since it is a discussion, no one can really say for sure whether that will be an issue. A bad history, although it won't help, usually will be semi-ignored if your recent actions clearly state that you've learned or turned a new leaf. Calvin 1998(t-c)00:32, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Perhaps it would help to go to WP:ER, or do some admin coaching before you submit an RfA. Both avenues should be able to help you evaluate the constructivity of your recent edits. PerfectProposal00:49, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Calvin is right. But, he's also pointed it out in such as fashion that appears to agree with Wikipedia's policy called WP:DICK. 1 - You have the right to remain anonymous and hold many account. Having a sock is not specifically band. In fact, the creator of Wikipedia at one point, if not still, used sock puppets to remain anonymous. However, it's difficult to build, or as in the case of many administrators who have violated the community's trust (the illusion), the community's trust. 2 - Calivin is correct. Nevertheless, excuse the the vulgarity, you'll have to "suck a lot of ass" if you're any little bit as verbios as I and even then, you may see your RFC removed in shame. A word of advice... the only special about an administrator is that he has the end of a janitors mop. Where he puts it, sometimes isn't always pretty. WP:ER, is probably a good suggestion. But, I've noticed, people that become administrator are the one hungry for power and the ones that put on a good show by editing lots and lots of articles. Making the bold but good edits and clearly voicing there opinion (which more then often, concededly and surprisingly, makes good sense). p.s.: (Sucking up also helps. Writing messages like I just did, which can create fractures (and eventually requiring some sort of WP:CON) is also a good thing to try and avoid. Hence as Gandi may say "be humble"!) --CyclePat (talk) 01:17, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
August 27
Finding information within an old edit which may be delete
Hello, I remember using a resource which was called "A history of... transportation" (maybe it was modern, or motorized,) but anyways... at one point in time I had that source in an image. The image was in the article Steam tricycle,(Historical link) and it was File:A history of technology p424(coal bicycle).PNG. Anyways, I found the information I was looking for, but I was wondering if there was somehow we can search through the "text" that we've added (which is in our contributions)? You know what I mean, not just the edit summary of our contributions but the actual "edit" (ie.: the historical link[9])? Can we search the actual edit? It's obviously possible to look into the history of every edit, surelly there must be some type of bot that we could use to search? Similarly is there a way to search through the text (or as I call it "edit") we add to an article but then the article, or image, is deleted (such as the aforementioned image)? Can the first person responding to this please notify me on my talk page. Thank you. --CyclePat (talk) 00:52, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
1.) I had Vundo, but it is now gone. How can I assure that it won't come back so I can use Wikipedia in the most effective way?
2.) I have a 1995 Dodge Ram. It has a forced induction, charge air cooled 5.9 liter diesel engine with a manual injector pump. The cost of a gallon fuel for this vehicle is very high and I only get 25 miles per US gallon of #2 Diesel and about the same on heating oil. Is there any way to improve the efficiency of this vehicle so that my transportation costs can be reduced?
3.) I am confused by the notability guidelines in WP:NOTE. There seems to be disagreement about their meaning during deletion discussions. Is there an official clarification regard this matter.
2) The Help Desk is for questions regarding using Wikipedia. I would recommend either a Google search or seeing the Reference Desk for help.
3) Is there something specific that confuses you at WP:NOTE? It seems fairly clear to me, although I'm sure some of that came with experience. If you have a specific problem with it I might be able to be a bit more helpful. Bvlax2005 (talk) 05:18, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
On your third question, the notability guidelines are quite clear; how they apply to an individual article is not, as many articles put up for deletion are borderline or an unusual case. Also, there is some disagreement among editors as to how inclusive Wikipedia should be with new articles of obscure or questionable notability. See also m:inclusionism and m:deletionism. Pyrospirit (talk·contribs) 13:31, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Newbie Account: banned ?
Hello, i have been making good edits to wikipedia since the last few months now, only via anonymous! ... and people keep requesting me to open an account,.... and now that i have created an account, wikipedia fails to open up,.... i cant even read it,... requesting page times out.... i at the same moment of time can read wikimedia thru the various proxy websites available ... so its definately not my browser or my ISP!
the only solution is digging thru my cookies and deleteing the wikipedia cookie! ... then everything works,.... if i login again,... it works till the time im browsing,... if i restart my PC, the same,... no page will open, requesting page times out!
I've never heard of this problem happening to anyone else, so it is most likely an issue with your Internet connection or your browser. If your current browser is Internet Explorer, try switching to Firefox briefly and see if that fixes the problem. Also try restarting your modem (or whatever you use to connect to the Internet). Make sure that your security settings and/or firewall settings aren't blocking Wikipedia. If none of these work, I recommend you try browsing and editing Wikipedia through the secure server. Pyrospirit (talk·contribs) 13:38, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Why is the search facility on wikipedia so bad? If you don't know the correct spelling for something, or you don't type it exactly as the article is named on wikipedia then you can never find what you're looking for. I notice this facility was slightly enhanced when they added the dropdown which displays all the articles that match what you are typing into the search box, but still it could be greatly improved. Who is working on improving this? 79.75.129.4 (talk) 07:00, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The MediaWiki software does have a feature that suggests spelling corrections (such as what you might see on a Google search) however is currently disabled due to coding issues. If you do have problems finding a certain article I would recommend doing a Google search on the topic and include the word "Wikipedia" in your search. Bvlax2005 (talk) 07:13, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Recover account without password and without access to email
I would like to recover a wikpedia account but I cannot remember my password and I also cannot remember the password for the email account to which the account was assigned. But I remember the name of the wikipedia account and the name of the e-mail account. What can I do to recover this account? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.58.197.60 (talk) 08:26, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Simply put if you can't remember your password and do not have access to the e-mail associated with it you are out of luck. As mentioned above you can try to regain access to your e-mail, otherwise you would have to create a brand new account. Bvlax2005 (talk) 08:33, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Wow, what an unhelpful help desk. The Help Desk is for helping people, not for suggesting Google. And why isnt the Help Desk a desk? It is on a webpage. Shouldnt it be 'Help Page'? It is clearly not a desk, unless I turned my moniter on its back. --BlasternMinnesota (talk) 10:08, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I am trying to ask a question about who the painter of a portrait of Marchese di Astorga, Viceroy of Naples 1672-675 might be. I am finding it impossible to find out how to upload the image despite creating an account for myself. However I have managed to place the image on Commons, but how do I move it to a question page within Humanities (or a general question page)? Jblln1234 (talk) 13:46, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You can display an image in a similar way to linking to a page, by using square brackets. For example, [[Image:Marchese di Astorga]] (using the name of the image you uploaded). For the purpose of asking a question at the reference desk, it would probably be better to link to the image by putting a colon (:) in front, like this: [[:Image:Marchese di Astorga]], so that the image doesn't display (possibly slowing down the page) but people can easily go to the image in question.--BelovedFreak13:53, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
how do i get a page i made by accident deleted without getting a warning? i was trying ot make a sub page for old talk but accidentily made it anormally page--Andrewcrawford (talk) 14:00, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I just made an account and it has automatically been put into the global login system. How can I get out of this? I use the various wikimedia projects under a different name on each, and whereas before I would log into each individually, now when I log into wikipedia I am automatically logged out of all other wikimedia projects and logged back into them under the wikipedia global name. This is extremely frustrating as I then have to re log back into each project again and again. Is it possible for a user to be taken out of the global login system? 79.75.211.94 (talk) 14:35, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I would like to put a page up on the chatity I work for. I created an account called Chai Cancer Care and have created a page but can only search for it within 'Users' other charities have their own pages which are not User pages. How do I do this please? What have I done wrong?
(edit conflict) For a page to have an article on Wikipedia, it must first meet the notability guidelines. Regardless of whether your organization meets these guidelines, however, it might not be a good idea for you to create an article on it. Since you work for this charity, you have a conflict of interest when writing about it on Wikipedia. One of the most important Wikipedia policies is maintaining a neutral point of view in all articles, which can be very difficult for people with a close connection to the subject of an article.
You can still request that someone else create the article through Wikipedia:Requested articles. Or, you can write the article yourself, as long as you make sure that it is as unbiased as possible and uses reliable, independent sources to verify all information in it. If you cannot find reliable and independent sources, it almost certainly does not meet the notability guidelines.
Ok i've heard the story about sex, but i dont buy it. i mean how can it be possible that an egg and sperm makes a human being??? seems impossible to me so i was wondering whether there are any alternative theories as to how babies are made? Cheers. Dylan. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.75.129.4 (talk) 16:53, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Wikipedia:Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps.PerfectProposal17:13, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
To H.R.Manager
Dear Sir,
I would like to ask you if you have a employe named Le Mihn Thia in your bank or not,Thanks.
Waiting your reply
Dr.Sameh Aziz
—Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.233.187.45 (talk) 17:02, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Please do not include contact details in your questions. We are unable to provide answers by any off-wiki medium and this page is highly visible across the internet. The details have been removed, but if you wish for them to be permanently removed from the page history, email this address.PerfectProposal17:15, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over two million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If that is not fruitful, we have a reference desk, divided into various subjects areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:29, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It appears that when the dated prod was removed, a space character was left in front of the text in the first paragraph. By removing the extraneous space, the formatting was fixed.
Note: The prod was removed with no maintenance to resolve the issues that caused it being added. As a result, I've inserted {{notability}} and {{unreferenced}} tags to the article, which are issues which should be addressed to avoid someone choosing to submit the article for a more formal WP:AFD review. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 17:19, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Please see WP:RFA to learn more about the process. Expanding on what PrimeHunter said, as you have two edits - this one being one of them - I'd say you are unofficially 6 months and 4998 quality edits away from meeting most editor's minimal requirements. Instead, for now, I might read the five pillars of Wikipedia, and focus on making some solid contributions to the project. Tanǀ3920:01, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
how do you ban user ( why are users not allowed to ban other users )
There would be chaos in Wikipedia (well, more chaos than there already is) if any user could block another user. Administrators have received the trust of the community at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship. If they abuse the block tool or other admin tools then risk losing their adminship. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:28, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Your JPB entry says that the song Cassidy is about Neal Cassady, (true) and Ellen Cassidy, (FALSE) These lines, "Catch-colt draws a coffin cart.
There he goes now, here she starts: Hear her cry." Refers to the passing of Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac's Dean Moriarity, as well as Ken Kesey's driver
of the bus, Furthur, documented by Tom Wolfe in the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, as well as the birth of Cassidy Law, daugher of Eileen Law and Rex Jackson. A catch colt refers to an unregistered or undocumented colt. The coffin cart refers to Neal Cassady's death in Mexico at 42. Here she comes
refers to Cassidy Law's birth. Eileen named Cassidy because she loved the movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
My references for this include personal conversations with Cassidy Law, 3 December 1992, personal conversations with John Balow on numerous
occasions from 1971 until the present, the fact that I was there when the first two lines of the song were scribbled on a napkin by John and Bob Weir
while collaborating on Weir's solo album, Ace, and finally, I cite, Skeleton Key (A Dictionary for Deadheads) David Shenk & Steve Silberman. Main Street Books, Doubleday & Co., 1994; 388 pp. ISBN 0-385-47402-4, of which I was a contributing author.
Your directions for editing Wikipedia are verbose and convoluted. I'm a smart guy who reads very well. I still haven't figured out how to fix this
misinformation in your Barlow article myself. Help me.
(Nobody ever writes or calls anyway, and you can verify this information from Barlow as well googling his phone numbers and email address.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.117.69.179 (talk) 20:40, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If you wish to edit a page you can click the "edit this page" link at the very top of a page. From there you can make changed. However, all sources must be verifiable, which a personal conversation would not meet the requirements. Bvlax2005 (talk) 20:48, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Your criticisms of Wikipedia's instructions are too vague to be constructive. What instruction pages did you read, and what passages did you find "verbose and convoluted"? What is your standard for judging documentation? Can you point us to another do it yourself, collaborative editing project of comparable size which has instructions you consider to be better? (Wikipedia has 6,878,511 articles and 47,919,327 registered users.) While I agree that anything can be improved, I have never seen a system with Wikipedia's complexity which has better internal documentation. There are many simpler systems, to be sure, but none of them are among the top ten most popular Web sites. Simpler systems are generally less capable, and therefore they appeal to fewer people. Wikipedia is unlike anything which ever existed before, which means a new user must grasp a number of startlingly new concepts and (usually) overcome some false initial assumptions. Some new users find themselves lost in a maze of hypertext when they first look at the online documentation. If you want a structured introduction, you may like the book: Wikipedia - The Missing Manual. However, lots of people are able to learn Wikipedia just by reading (and re-reading) the online documentation, trying things, and above all being persistent. There are lots of smart people on Wikipedia, but not many of them can honestly claim everything made sense the first time they looked at it. --Teratornis (talk) 23:24, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hector Elizondo
You missed his appearance in Your Momma wears combat boots in which he costarred with Barbara Eden in 1989/90. The made for movie was directed by Anson Williams and was filmed at Fort Benning Georgia —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.178.169.24 (talk) 21:03, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I just came accross a very offensive image when looking up about cream pie on here. See Creampie (sexual act). Why does this article come up when search about cream pies. I think many people like me, and even lil kids will find it by mistake and be really shocked. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.75.232.238 (talk) 21:49, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Short answer? WIkipedia is an encyclopaedia, and is therefore not censored. Images are selected on the basis of their ability to inform readers about the content of the article concerned - for more information see this page. GbT/c21:51, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
And, for the sake of completeness, we do actually have an article about cream pies (of the non-sexual variety) which you can find here. GbT/c21:52, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I am not asking for censorship. I am concerned about people who may stumble onto the page and may be offended by the image. I know it is difficult to stumble onto such a page but I think journalistic ethics might play a role in a free online encyclopedia as it publishes material. Donek (talk) 23:08, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If i may comment, this sexual act is apparently something which happens internally so the image certainly does help to illustrate the act in my opinion and should be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.75.232.238 (talk) 23:16, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
See Wikipedia:Perennial proposals#Content warnings and WP:EIW#Censor. Wikipedia rejects the idea of placing content warnings on potentially offensive articles. However, I have previously noted that everyone is free to set up their own collaborative filtering site which could act as a portal to Wikipedia. That way, for example, people who discover that they share the same biases and sensitivities could collaboratively construct a system of ratings for Wikipedia articles (or the whole World Wide Web, for that matter), and have their browsers shield them from material that upsets them. This would also be helpful for Muslims who become extremely agitated when they see Muhammad cartoons and so on. --Teratornis (talk) 23:34, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I read once about a Soviet dissident who claimed his captors tortured him in the Gulag by placing him in a refrigerator, with a physician observing him, until he became hypothermic, whereupon they would remove him before he would die, warm him back up, and start the cycle again. After his release, he found himself experiencing symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder whenever he saw a refrigerator. To avoid subjecting such a person to emotional distress, Wikipedia would need to place a content warning on all its articles relating to refrigerators. But these warnings would clutter the site for all the other people who don't need them. This is why the most efficient place for content filtering is the client rather than the server, since the need for content filtering is highly subjective. --Teratornis (talk) 23:47, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Is it possible to move it further down the page so people do not have to see it immediately, but only if interested? Donek (talk) 00:45, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, you can move the image anywhere in the article, but other users could move it back. I have no idea what other users would do. There is some discussion on Talk:Creampie (sexual act) about previous images that had been in the article. You could mention your concerns on that talk page and see what the other editors think. Personally, I would lean toward moving the image down so it doesn't just blast right out at someone who accidentally stumbles onto the article, but the article is not very long, so on a large monitor the image would probably be visible anyway. (When I was a kid, I used to read the World Book encyclopedia, and it didn't have any images like that one.) --Teratornis (talk) 03:52, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Moving an image to Wiki Commons
Hi, can somebody tell me how I can easily move an image from wikipedia accross to commons? The image I wont to move is a free image and has been released into the public domain so there shouldn't be any problems there, but if it's gonna be too much hassle to move it accross then i wont bother. Thanks. 79.75.232.238 (talk) 22:51, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
i want to know how i can make a disambiguation of Triple-double. this articel is about baskertball, but tripple-double also means when a woman has 2 dicks in her mouth, 2 in her arse and 2 in her pussy. it's written about on wikipedia already. can u tell me how i can make disambiguations between these articles? ta.
Right. And in this case there is only a single dictionary-definition-like line about a rarely used meaning of "Triple-double" in List of sexual positions#Multiple penetration. Additionally, the page history indicates [16] that it can vary whether triple-double is mentioned at all, and a disambiguation link elsewhere probably wouldn't be removed if the mention is removed from the article again. Wikipedia is not a dictionary, so I doubt a hatnote to this rare meaning is worth adding to Triple-double at this point. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:28, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
New infobox
If I'm making a new infobox, can I make the template page, try it, and then self delete when I finish. I'm testing a new version of an infobox already in use. Grk1011/Stephen (talk) 01:12, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) Yes, assuming you experiment with a copy not transcluded in articles. Many things in templates cannot be tested with preview but requires a saved template. Only admins can delete pages but you can easily request that with {{db-author}}. You can also place a test template on a user subpage and include the namespace when you transclude it, for example like {{User:Grk1011/Infobox test}}. That way other editors are unlikely to suddenly edit it or use it in an article. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:26, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I am testing the template on a subpage, but I wasn't sure how to do that without the template existing so i made one with the same name as the one it should hopefully replace except with (test template) after the template title. Grk1011/Stephen (talk) 01:29, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Apparently, any page can be a template. It's treated as a page if you link to it (reference it) with square brackets, and it's treated as a template if you reference it with curly brackets. Therefore, you can create a test template as a subpage on your userspace: (e.g., User:Grk1011/testtemplate.) When you complete your test, simply blank the page: no need ask an admin to delete it. You can use it again later to test a different template, or you can move it into template space after you complete your test, all without the need for administrative intervention. -Arch dude (talk) 02:57, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
When I type Roe v Wade into the search box on the left-hand side bar it prompts me to download a document. It only happens on Roe v Wade, so I'm just concerned about what that file might be and I'm not willing to try it to find out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.18.247 (talk) 02:43, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
~Apparently it has to be Roe v wade to get the prompt to download the document. Typing in Roe v Wade takes you to the page as appropriate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.18.247 (talk) 02:47, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hmm... OK. First, you should sign your posts on discussion pages with four tildes (like this:~~~~), this will make a signature so we can identify who wrote the post instead of relying on the bot (automated program) that signs unsigned posts (just remember not to sign your contributions to articles!). To address the problem: what is your browser/operating system? And is the file named "index.php"? Thanks. Calvin 1998(t-c)03:10, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm actually not logged in right now, so you're still just going to get an IP when I sign it. It happens when I try to access the page through AOL's browser, and I'm on Windows Vista. No, the file is named Roe_v_wade. 03:10, 28 August 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.18.247 (talk) 02:59, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Is the problem reproducible? What happens if you browse to Roe v wade from a link? Some problems with Wikipedia can be sporadic things resulting from network problems. When I had my previous flaky cable modem, I used to get occasionally broken pages on Wikipedia. Do you have network connection problems? Are you using dialup or broadband or wireless? --Teratornis (talk) 03:56, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Adding new link to links at top of page...
All right, I know you can add links to the lefthand navigation and so on through your CSS, but what about for the links in the top righthand part of the screen- the "my talk - my preferences - my watchlist" part? The link to my userpage (at User:Alinnisawest) isn't really the link to my actual userpage, it's more of a cover page for a few things. My actual userpage is located at User:Alinnisawest/User Page. Can I put a link for that up in the top righthand links? (wow, I just explained that very oddly. If you have no idea what I'm going on about, just ask and I'll try to clarify it!) --Alinnisawest, Dalek Emperor (extermination requests here) 03:37, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You appear to be asking about the Joint Entrance Examination. This is the English Wikipedia, an encyclopedia with 6,878,511 articles. Wikipedia has no affiliation with the subjects of most articles here (except the articles specifically about Wikipedia). Therefore you should contact the organization mentioned in whichever article you may have been reading, perhaps IIT Guwahati. (Note to English speakers not from India who may be reading this: in India, to "give" a test means the same as to "take" a test in the United States.) --Teratornis (talk) 04:29, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As a warning, be careful when changing the names of articles. If it may be controversial you might want to discuss it on the article's talk page beforehand. If you are trying to fix a typo or something that may not be controversial, you can use the "move" button, which is found at the very top of the page. Bvlax2005 (talk) 09:40, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Your request is not entirely clear. If you want to be able to type in a title different to the actual title but still be taken to the actual article, this can be done simply by creating a Redirect. See WP:REDIRECT. Dolphin51 (talk) 06:22, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I have created some wiki pages and need to add some diagrams and graphs, which are in a word file, to help in the explanation of the topic but i do not know how to do this. Could I please get some help on how to do this —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ggd101 (talk • contribs) 13:04, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
First you need to upload the image. See Wikipedia:Upload. Then you need to add to the article to display it (my recoommendation is: find an article with an image and copy how that does it.) RJFJR (talk) 14:15, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Template:Infobox Dancer has no active discussion page and its most active editor has not edited in over ten weeks. No article linked to the templates seems to have figured out how to use about half of the parameters. How can I get someone to tell me if it is working correctly and how to use it. It needs a page showing how to properly parameterize each field and what the template would look like if filled in?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 14:02, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
how one can download some content from wikipedia of his intrest? i mean one can browse one article but if he like to download whole article in one step(not by browsing and download each and every page), what is the correct and recommended way/method? 202.125.143.75 (talk) 15:22, 28 August 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.125.143.75 (talk) 14:51, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
For medium numbers of articles, you can use Special:Export to get the articles in XML format; that's probably the easiest way, but you'll get the wikitext of the articles rather than the HTML version. For very large numbers of articles, there are periodic database dumps which contain all the articles in Wikipedia; these tend to be very large, though. It's also possible to retrieve articles programmatically by using web spider programs such as wget, but please don't download more than 1 page a second using this sort of program. --ais523 15:53, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
(We have stated a new Wikipedia thats is for MMA only, Mixed Martial Arts, it is called "Fightwiki" here is the web site http://www.mmalinker.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page and we were wondering if it would be OK to cross link some of our pages with yours. This not not spamming, but only another way to promote mma. The few times I have tried to put a link on "Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia" it was deleted with in minutes. I realize that many spam your site as do ours, so I am asking permission to cross link your Mixed Martial arts pages with ours. We have added many links to Wikipedia from our site. As I said, we are nothing but mma fans trying to help teach people about MMA.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Blacksheepdon (talk • contribs) 15:19, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Well, here we mostly consider spam and promotion the same thing. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not an advertisement and not a repository of whatever anyone wants to put here. You could mention Fightwiki on your userpage, and possibly add it to the external links section of the Mixed martial arts article. --Alinnisawest, Dalek Empress (extermination requests here) 15:22, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
(Sorry for the confusion, did not mean to compare our wiki to Wikipedia, and maybe I mis-stated my question, we are not trying to promote our site.But to only help educate mma fans, to us, it is only another resource to be used to help learn about mma.This is why I am asking permission, if the powers that be in Wikipedia do not wish us to cross link our site, we will not do so, but we would like to very much.Also if allowed, how should we word a link with out it seeming like spam, example, when I linked our site before I used the words,"For another indepth view into mma, see "Fightwiki", it was deleted with in minutes) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Blacksheepdon (talk • contribs) 15:43, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There are no "powers that be". That is a common misconception about Wikipedia. There is simply a user consensus. If the user consensus suddenly decided that every page in Wikipedia should have pictures of hedgehogs on them, then every page in Wikipedia would have pictures of hedgehogs in them. The issue you are addressing is covered in WP:EL. The consensus is that it is not acceptable to link to fan sites, spam sites, tiny wikis with 10-20 users, personal homepages, etc... Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. The links should go to pages that have content that is of similar type: not fan stuff, not some guy's incoherent rambling, not sites trying to sell you stuff. As for the particular case of linking to wikis, many people create wikis and decide that the best way to get users is to link to their wiki from Wikipedia. The consensus is against that. Instead, get users, make your wiki a respectable source of information, and then link to it from Wikipedia. An example of a wiki that is a respectable source of information is LostPedia. It has a lot of users, is updated frequently, and has built-in fact-checking guidelines. -- kainaw™15:52, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I believe the site will run up against WP:ELNO #12 "Links normally to be avoided ... Links to open wikis, except those with a substantial history of stability and a substantial number of editors.". That, combined with WP:NOT#REPOSITORY and WP:NOT#GUIDE will probably result in many who monitor for promotional content, spam, advertising, etc to view mmalinker.com as inappropriate for listing on Wikipedia at this time. Later, if/when it grows, that may change. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 15:54, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Actually I know of one legitimate way to call attention to outside wikis, and that is in the context of "outplacing" articles that get deleted from Wikipedia. (The term "transwiki'ing" means approximately the same thing, except some people restrict that to mean moving articles to other Wikimedia Foundation wikis. I like the term "outplacing" because it implies no restrictions on where a person might copy Wikipedia's rejects.) See:
WP:ALTOUT - lists some wikis the Wikipedia user community recommends. You could ask on the talk page about adding your wiki to the list. Don't just add it without discussing first, otherwise someone will probably remove it.
WP:AFD - when an article about mixed martial arts comes up for deletion, you could helpfully mention FightWiki as an alternative outlet. This can be quite helpful in a deletion discussion, because often the people who worked on an article may feel less "attacked" if they learn about another suitable wiki for their article. Then instead of watching their work go completely to waste, they can still have their article online somewhere.
Wikipedia:WikiProject Martial Arts or a subproject may recommend alternative outlets for articles in its subject area which fail to meet Wikipedia's criteria.
IIRC, at least a half million of those are currently blocked at any given time. Most of those are throw-away vandalism accounts, however. Hersfold(t/a/c)16:39, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
A good number of people also maintain more than one account (either openly or secretly), and many people may switch accounts. So the number of "users" isn't necessarily the same as the number of people editing. Calliopejen1 (talk) 16:44, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
how to change the page nameThe Eighth Ring 17:34, 28 August 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Theeighthring (talk • contribs)
Use the "move" tab at the top of a page to change the name of an article. Be careful, though- moving/renaming a popular page should always be discussed on the article's discussion page, first. --Alinnisawest,Dalek Empress (extermination requests here) 17:36, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I guess this is about your user page at User:Theeighthring. If you want a new user name then see Wikipedia:Changing username. If you want to create a new Wikipedia article (which a user page is not) then a page might be created at The Eighth Ring (which I see you just did), but here is some general advice.
Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over two million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If that is not fruitful, we have a reference desk, divided into various subjects areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck.TN‑X-Man17:46, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Help, just upgraded to Firefox 3 and most of this site is unreadable!
Not sure what is going on but about 90% of the text on this site is now unreadable ever since I upgraded to Firefox 3 on my Mac yesterday. I'm only having problems with a few sites so far so its got to be the site and not my computer at this point. If you have to reconfigure stuff for Firefox 3 users please do so ASAP as I'm also having the same problem with Safari, thinking I could go there and see your site instead. Thanks!! I use wiki often so this is a BIG problem! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.205.205.3 (talk) 18:05, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weird, I use Firefox 3 all the time (and I have used it on a Mac before), but see everything fine. There may be a problem either on your computer or with your internet settings. The fact that it happens in Safari too implies it's not the site's problem. --Alinnisawest,Dalek Empress (extermination requests here) 18:11, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It is definitely a problem on your end - I’m making this edit with FF 3 on OSX - because WP works very well with Firefox 3. —Travistalk18:16, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
A quick Google search turned up other reports of this type of problem (also appears to impact some pages of Slashdot and Craigslist - among others). I found this suggested solution: "disable the Helvetica Fractions font in Font Book". Please post back and let us know if this works (assuming you can read this text that's suggesting how to resolve the problem). --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 18:30, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, whoever reads this,
I want to upload a scan I took of the cover of my copy of the book entitled "Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire" for the article Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire. But, for one where do you go to upload anything, and second, is it legal to upload book covers under "Wikipedia Law" (Lol—I find that funny). I think that the article really needs the cover of the book, and luckily I have the first edition copy of it. I've checked the archives and the different help pages, but there is nothing definite about uploading book covers, as well as other things. To be certain if I can, should I contact the publisher? because there is a phone number given in the book for copyright information. There is a bunch of stuff I don't understand about the copyright information and uploading photos, but I just really want to know if I can legally upload this scan.
Thanks for reading.
Helixer (talk) 23:35, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, thanks. I guess I'll just upload it and hope for the best. How do you use that template? Or more generally, how do you use templates? But I guess that's not why this question is here. Thanks! Helixer (talk) 03:34, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
To use a template, you generally insert the text {{name of template|option 1|option 2}} into a page. For example, {{fact}} generates [citation needed]. There's more information at Help:Template and Help:Advanced templates, and more complication templates will normally have usage instructions on their page - for example, Template:Book rationale has some basic instructions. In this case, you would go to the page of the image you uploaded, edit the page and add that template, filling in the necessary parameters. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 05:30, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This page is for questions about editing Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. GtstrickyTalk or C02:05, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Does there exist a list of previously deleted articles anywhere?
Hello.
Does there exist a list of deleted articles anywhere?
I ask out of interest in finding out whether a specific article has already been deleted before for whatever reason. That way, without accessing any article content, I can review any discussion around the deletion, and then based on that decide whether I should just not bother re-creating it in the first place. That would be my preference if I don't have more information to offer than whatever warranted prior deletion[s] and would save unnecessarily repeating prior discussions.
(edit conflict) Well, there's a couple of options of which I know. There's the deletion log, which logs all of the deleted pages. Or, if you think the article in question has been deleted before by an articles for deletion discussion, you can type WP:Articles for deletion/PAGENAME in the searchbar on the left hand side of the page to see if brings up any results. I hope this helps! TN‑X-Man02:55, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Is there someone I can talk to or a website or page that deals with help on more advanced wikia editing?
e.g. internal scroll boxes, tabbed pages, more expert font techniques
Lovemuffin33302:59, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This is the Help desk for Wikipedia. Wikia is a separate of project Jimbo Wales. I'm surprised that Wikia itself would not have the manuals you need. Did you try {{Google}}ing?
I have never edited the Simple English Wikipedia. I was just exploring the new user navigation links that pop up on the bottom of a user's contribution page, checked my global contributions, and found a single edit by "me" to the Simple English Wikipedia with a bizarre edit summary. I assure you I did not make this edit, never used (or would use) an incomprehensible edit summary such as that, don't know what it means, have never seen this template before, and have a super strong, 16 digit password. I understand that sometimes when pages are transwikied an edit made on another project can migrate but I have never touched this template on any project. So, how is this possible?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:22, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hmmm. It occurs to me that this was prior to unified login. I thought if another user had an identical account, I could not have automatically usurped it; maybe I'm wrong about that and therein lies the answer?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:29, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Fuhghettaboutit was working on templates at the time.[18] I see how this edit could easily be forgotten 8 months later when it was viewed without the diff at the simple Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:09, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, thanks everyone. So it was a GFDL violating transwiki (full edit history not imported) which implied I created the template with that edit summary. I would have remembered creating the template, but not the language tweak at the end, which now demistifies the edit summary.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:20, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
EXE Sandbox
I am interested in developing while offline and being able to see things. However I'm using a laptop and wish to do so offline, is there any downloadable version of MediaWiki/Wikipedia that I can use to test realtime(or page by page) changes I make on an offline version? I figure it just needs to be able to parse the pages, but I'd simply like to know if it exists, since finding stuff about Wikipedia ON Wikipedia is hard to do, especially with so many Wikis out there, and with information about other things out here. Pyrofyr (talk) 04:54, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You may find something helpful at [19], in particular mw:Manual:Wiki on a stick, a specific installation for removable USB media. There are also Wikipedia database dumps located somewhere around here, if you're interested in particular in working with Wikipedia content, although you will probably also need to install most of the extensions listed at Special:Version for things to work properly (and there may be other things not listed there, I'm not 100% sure). Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 05:24, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If you want to actually mirror all of, say, the English Wikipedia, you would have to download quite a bit. But if you just want your own MediaWikiwiki to try fairly simple edits, you can easily install MediaWiki as your own personal wiki via the wiki on a stick method. Installing MediaWiki gives you a very bare-bones wiki, compared to what you probably take for granted on Wikipedia. Wikipedia has extensions, lots of templates, some customized CSS (see MediaWiki:Common.css), and at least one extra program running on the server (HTML Tidy) which actually changes the behavior of the parser (which means some types of complex template markup won't run the same without HTML Tidy). Finding stuff about Wikipedia on Wikipedia is actually easy to do; you need two tools:
Why thank you, the wiki on a stick seems like what I want. I'm planning on eventually starting up some projects on a wiki that's not made yet, so I want to get some practice and learn most of the more advanced things like toolboxes and setting up complicated templates, but I want to be able to do it in the car on my laptop and stuff, so I'll definitely try it out. Also thanks for the link to HTML Tidy, I'll try and check out extensions that would be worthwhile as well for sure. 72.1.81.226 (talk) 15:10, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Article on Robert Marsden
I initiated an article on the British actor Robert Marsden, entering into correspondence over editing and providing references, and attempting to improve my use of Wikipedia. I subsequently supplied a photograph, which appeared in the article this week. Today the article is missing when I searched for it. I am curious to know what has happened.
I'm assuming that by "backlinks" you mean "What links here"-type links. Is the topic addressed in any of the articles you list under "see also"? If so, go to those articles and wikilink the term (or whatever term those articles use for conception dreams, properly piped). --Orange Mike | Talk13:03, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I guess that's their copyright policy? Each Wiki in the Wikimedia system can set its own copyright enforcement policy, seeing as the official policy on this doesn't specify how to enforce it. In root, you can look at it as a legal issue. Under American law, a copyright violation is generally only penalized where it may undercut the copyright holder's profits. A copy of a copyrighted work in an obscure and non Google-able revision history, a work that is freely available online anyway, is unlikely to yield a viable lawsuit, and is unlikely to produce any lawsuit, in fact. So there is little point being paranoid and deleting every single CV revision. On the other hand, the complete works of some author, never published in digital form, can threaten his profits merely by existing in the history as someone might be linking to it. So certainly some CV revisions are worth deleting, but all is simply excessive. But if the Japanese Wikipedians want to follow that policy, that's their choice. Someguy1221 (talk) 09:17, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Fonts
Hi. I'm trying to write an article on a mathematics theorem but can't find the right font. I want a sort of curly D. Where to find a list of fonts that I can use in <math> mode? Thanks, Robinh (talk) 11:06, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Well, from the Main Page I guess the easiest way would be to click on help and then use this search which reveals the page Help:Displaying a formula. The Main Page and main Help Page are general considered tools for the reader not the editor. This means us editors learn things by doing exactly what you just did, asking around and experimenting. Happy editing! Scottydudereview13:52, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
How do I use this site to find out history about Mcleansville Nc, or is this site not used for history. We need to know who Mcleansville Nc was named after. If I'm at the wrong site will you please help me with were I need to be.66.233.162.12 (talk) 12:54, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Resolved
Please do not include contact details in your questions. We are unable to provide answers by any off-wiki medium and this page is highly visible across the internet. The details have been removed, but if you wish for them to be permanently removed from the page history, email this address. Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this: 
. Do NOT sign in articles. Dendodge|TalkContribs 09:17, 26 August 2008 (UTC)
Please see Your first article.
Please do not include contact details in your questions. We are unable to provide answers by any off-wiki medium and this page is highly visible across the internet. The details have been removed, but if you wish for them to be permanently removed from the page history, email this address.PerfectProposal 17:15, 27 August 2008 (UTC)
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