Wikipedia talk:About

Wikitrivia

noticed a number of entries recently sprouting a section called "in popular culture" and containing the most banal information about movies, non-ebrities, TV (mainly US specific), etc. Perhaps someone could create a Wikitrivia site and we could move all that stuff over there and keep Wikipedia for information. I am not saying that all such trivia should be banned, but when you get famous people and places having minimal factual information about them and maximal trivia and references about them, references to references, etc. then something has gone haywire!! 78.147.148.26 (talk) 11:34, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

Church Related Selections--- SuperEditors Please Note

I am someone who is interested in comparative religion and particularly interested in Protestant denominationalism. As such I frequently view entries on new and small churches. I myself am not a member of any small church, I am an Anglican. But as an observer I've noted that some entries for small churches are soon deleted while others remain unscathed. Following the discussions it seems that some "editors" rigidly apply Wiki standards so as to delete some entries while the very same standards are not applied.

For example, the "Church of Christian Mysticism" and the "Free Faith Fellowship" are both new small churches. Both had entries fairly similar in tone and approach yet the first remains on Wikipedia and the second was bounced off.

It is not a clearcut policy of NPOV or verifiability, it is a very wobbly standard in actual practice. I urge that the SuperEditors over and above the volunteer editors give this more consideration. Churches should be treated the same, and deleted, or retained on the same set of standards.

I read another entry about a small church which has an entry written from a point of view which is clearly that of a partisan. It remains on Wikipedia. In exploring the talk session I learned that this particular church is litigious in nature so the editors are afraid of editing or deleting the entry. So if a church has a lawyer on retainer it can command a self-serving entry in Wikipedia? Doesn't appear appropriate for a reference resource. LAWinans (talk) 22:23, 7 February 2008 (UTC) PHARMAVY COOOL\ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.78.64.102 (talk) 04:48, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Hello fellow Anglican. The issue on including articles or not generally turns around WP:NOTABILITY rather than NPOV or verifiability. However I would also concede that more recent additions get far more scrutiny than some of the long standing articles when policy was looser. Are you prepared to give examples? —Preceding unsigned comment added by BozMo (talk • contribs) 22:05, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Censorship?

In a couple of discussions I have seen people saying that certain info is classified so they removed it. In one case, an editor was asked to remove something by a branch of the US government/military because it was classified (he did remove it). I was certain that Wikipedia could not be censored by any government of any nation, but I'd just like to double check: should classified information (even if NPOV, reliably referenced and relevant) be censored? If so, which governments? My view was that if a government wished to censor some info, they could filter either the specific page or all Wikipedia, but they couldn't censor the content itself as it is an international encyclopedia, not specifically bound to the jurisdiction of any one government. If this issue is dealt with elsewhere, sorry but I spent an hour looking for it and couldn't find it. I may have just overlooked it. 78.105.191.12 (talk) 18:55, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, Wikipedia's servers are in Florida. So we must abide by the US law and Florida's law, otherwise we could be shut down.
But if the content is legal, and sourced, I see no reason to remove it. Puchiko (Talk-email) 21:24, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

I expected that to be the case but I thought it was possible the servers had been relocated to a place with loose(er) censorship laws. However, as they do come under US jurisdiction, I would like to know the extent of legally permissible censorship under US law (I am a student of law in the UK but know little about the US legal process) so that I am aware of this in the future. A specific example: If the US government deems something to be 'classified', to what extent can it legally censor that information without infringing freedom of speech? Could it force you to remove classified content? (I assume it would first use a sockpuppet to remove info, but if the article was fully protected, could they do something about it?)78.105.191.12 (talk) 17:06, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Under Wikipedia policy we only contain claims that are verifiable to published reliable sources so anything that is truly a secret is not in a published reliable source and can be deleted on that basis. There is no need or purpose in claiming something is "classified" and should be deleted on that basis. WAS 4.250 (talk) 04:35, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

"Anyone can edit"

I have begun to notice the seemingly countless times that the above phrase is mentioned in a trolling manner to support to try to say that Wikipedia is a cabal for not letting banned editors continue to edit. I propose a brief addition to the text to clarify that anyone can edit - unless they've been blocked and/or banned. The Evil Spartan (talk) 07:49, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually, seeing as it appears no one else is much watching this page, I'm going to make the change myself. The Evil Spartan (talk) 07:55, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm watching this page :P. I don't mind you adding that clarification though. Puchiko (Talk-email) 17:57, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Even someone blocked or banned can edit. How do you propose to stop someone from going to a library and editing; or getting a new internet service provider and editing? We can block IP numbers and we can ban identifiable personalities. We have no means of blocking or banning individual humans who are sane enough to edit constructively and peacefully. We can and do block IPs used by children who have no financial means of buying a different IP. We can and do ban crazy people who are incapable of disguising their insanity. WAS 4.250 (talk) 04:42, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Children also have means of using a different IP; such as using a school computer, going to an Internet café (they aren't that expensive, at least where I live), using their mobile phone connection, or using a friend's computer. Puchiko (Talk-email) 15:10, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Archiving

This talk page has 52 KB. This could cause a lot of technical issues so I think we should WP:Archive this talk page. I'd use the subpage method, cut-and-paste procedure. I'd leave the threads started in March 2008 still here, because they might still be active. What do you think? Note: If there are no objections by Wednesday, I will perform the archiving. Puchiko (Talk-email) 15:03, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Sounds good, Puchiko. Thanks. WalterGR (talk | contributions) 07:30, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

 Done Sorry for the delay. Puchiko (Talk-email) 14:03, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Active Wikipedians

In the introduction of Wikipedia: about you come across the following statment. "There are more than 75,000 active contributors" However, that is data from Sep 2006, it's pretty out of date... Anyone know where we might find a statistic that reflects data at least up to the beginning of 2008--Sparkygravity (talk) 11:51, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Why isn't the statistics for the English Wikipedia up to date? It seems that for all other languages but English it is updated. [1]

Non profit status in trouble

Based on the obvious political bias of Clinton, Obama and McCain, I don't see how the IRS can allow this organization to be considered a non-profit.

Wikipedia should not be a place to show biased information (or somehow forget to add "all" information) about somehow who is running of office.

Please keep all politics OUT of wikipedia.

Tomstewa (talk) 02:18, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

I agree with you, and WP:NPOV does too. There should never be biased information on Wikipedia.
However, from the information I've gathered at Non-profit organization, even politically biased organisations can be non-profit. See National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws for an example of a political yet non-profit organisation. Puchiko (Talk-email) 13:54, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Footnote 11 Dead

Sorry in advance for not fixing the problem myself. I am brand new to editing Wikipedia, and I am just beginning to learn all the editing rules. The dead link is:

11^ Bergstein, Brian. "Felon Became COO of Wikipedia Foundation", 2007-12-21. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.

Could someone replace it or make a note that it's dead?

Smed (76.26.151.95 (talk) 06:12, 25 March 2008 (UTC))

Spelling

recognised = recognized organisation = organization Rkinci (talk) 08:41, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

They are both the correct spelling, I always thought where ever the article originates from it should match that spelling, an article about the US should use the US spelling and articles about the UK should use their spelling etc. --Benpaul12 (talk) 23:59, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

No, actually. Wikipedia uses the UK/US spelling, not both. Im not quite sure which one, however pointing to this article one could assume it is UK english. Makes more sense anyway, as US english is only used in well, the US. Metagraph 11:17, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

I've yet to see an article in the "English" version of Wikipedia that isn't actually in American.~~

Last-Modified Date-Time Stamp

Why does the last-modified date and time at the bottom of a page not get updated when I post an edit even though the editing appears in an article and in its history? Eventually, the date-timestamp is updated, but that may be a week later, give or take. Immediate update would enhance Wikipedia's accuracy. If the delay is to permit internal review of a post before the public might rely on it, better methods would be (a) to show two date-time stamps with a uniform explanation (such as "The later date-time includes material not yet reviewed by certain editors.") (perhaps with only one stamp and no explanation when two stamps would be identical), (b) to block the post from appearing in public until approved and then the last-modified date and time should be immediately updated, or (c) to show the result of editing in a different color or otherwise make it stand out and, one time, edit the all-Wikipedia template to explain next to the last-modified date and time that the date and time do not apply to changes marked in that way. I recommend dual-stamping over blocking and blocking over styling, and over all 3 I recommend quick posting with immediate stamp updating. (I haven't checked whether Talk pages have a similar problem but the solution would be the same.) In the interim, for best accuracy about when the last modification was, I recommend the history page. Thanks.

Nick Levinson (talk) 18:09, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

It should update immediately. I believe this is a caching issue. Try purging your cache (In Firefox: click refresh while holding the shift key). Puchiko (Talk-email) 20:05, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

It's not a caching problem at my computer. The page content updates but the date-time stamp on the same page does not update. Caching would not permit update of part of a page but not the other part. I tried your suggestion in Firefox 1.0.4 (shift-clicking the Reload toolbar button) but it didn't make a difference. The pattern is that if an article is edited Monday and Tuesday, the Tuesday edit will appear with Monday's date, and if it's edited again on Friday it will immediately appear with Friday's edit but with Tuesday's date. And the history pages will have correct entries. Perhaps the problem is at Wikipedia's servers, or perhaps it's a misprogramming error. If it's intentional, it detracts from accuracy and should be reconsidered. Nick Levinson (talk) 20:00, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Archives 2 & 3 damaged?

Is something wrong with pages 2 and 3 of the archives of this Talk page? Perhaps content got deleted by error. There was nothing likely to revert to. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:About/Archive_2 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:About/Archive_3 (both accessed last Thursday). Or were they created before there was anything to archive there and so new archivings wound up on p. 4? Is that perhaps due to a feature or bug that should be reconsidered? Shouldn't what was meant for p. 4 have gone to p. 2 and (if the odd pp. 2-3 were to be kept) pp. 2-3 automatically pushed to be the last archive pages after all other archivings?

Nick Levinson (talk) 18:48, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Archives 2 and 3 never existed as proper archives, I'm not sure if they should be kept or deleted. There is no discussion there so they could probably be deleted. Archive 3 is a redirect, and not a useful one. --Snigbrook ^(talk) 19:10, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

I have tagged them for speedy deletion as test pages. --Snigbrook ^(talk) 19:19, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Reason for edit to "portmanteau (combination of words and their meanings)"

The best I can tell, about 3 in 4 Wikipedians misuse the word "portmanteau", although it's used correctly here. Part of the problem is giving the wrong definition in articles like this one, so I changed it to the right definition. (A better definition would be longer, but that would be too distracting.) If you want to use a word that doesn't need definition, "blend" is also a correct word here, and would also be fine in cases where "portmanteau" is wrong. Please see the dictionary definitions and discussion at the RfC at Portmanteau_word. - Dan Dank55 (talk)(mistakes) 22:15, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

El Salvador

I want to tell Wikipedia that the translation of the national anthem of El Salvador is wrong because El Salvador is He nor She. It may a big difference. Thank you for your attention —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.186.229.32 (talk) 22:22, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Edit it yourself. And get a screen name. --Ragemanchoo (talk) 04:10, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Registering for an account is optional. Puchiko (Talk-email) 20:27, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Testing Wikipedia Subpage in Talk Namespace

/Subpage -- please feel free to revert. JimD (talk) 06:18, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

What is the point of that? user:Yetmotega/1 Yetmotega (talk) 22:00, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Contact number?

What is Wikipedia's phone number? They're based in San Francisco, but I couldn't find the number online. --Ragemanchoo (talk) 04:12, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

See WP:Contact Us -Seidenstud (talk) 01:59, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Most popular page

One thing that I have always wanted to know about Wikipedia is what are the most popular articles. This may not be included for a certain reason, like the most popular is something sexual and not really worth mentioning. Any ideas? --Benpaul12 (talk) 22:31, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

The information is available at stats.grok.se. However, the top 1000 list hasn't been updated since February :( Puchiko (Talk-email) 15:50, 12 June 2008 (UTC).

Wikipedia:Parental_Advisory

I started this page today, with the intention of creating a useful guide for parents and those responsible for children, and how to best safely interact with Wikipedia - I'd like to put a reference to it in this page, and wondered if anyone had any thoughts on that? cheers, Privatemusings (talk) 04:09, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

okey dokey - being bold, and adding a ref now..... I think this is a good idea (obviously!) - Privatemusings (talk) 02:34, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

..and I've self reverted, pending an WP:MfD on this one - no rush. Privatemusings (talk) 06:29, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

..put it back now the MfD has closed as a 'keep', Privatemusings (talk) 02:38, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

9/11 articles

It's a fact that there exist Conspiracy theories and they HAVE to be mentioned in the articles! ([2]) I think wikipedia loses the freedom of information! I would keep on mention it! --83.77.49.203 (talk) 21:58, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Contextual and grammatical errors abound

"Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference Web sites, attracting at least 684 million visitors yearly by 2008."

A prime example of why serious thinkers choose not to use Wikipedia. Let us not mention the grammatical errors arising from those who porport to write in the Queens English! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.227.219.52 (talk) 20:57, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

I think you mean "purport", and "Queen's" Mcewan (talk) 20:34, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Employees

The paragraph about a past COO being a felon doesn't seem to match the style of previous paragraphs. What does it have to do with a section that is primarily a list of employees? Should it be deleted? Sultec (talk)

Reposting this section, assuming it got lost in editing out vandalism after I posted this.

Sultec (talk) 10:04, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

Spelling error

Could we change the year that all the new Wiki's were introduced? It currently says 2001, but i think it should be 2007. see the following - Under. Wikipedia History - In May 2001, a wave of non-English Wikipedias was launched . (should be 2007?) Wiked2222 (talk) 07:50, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

No, because it's true. They were launched in 2001. See de:, the lead paragraph, "Seit Mai 2001 sind so 803.545 Artikel in deutscher Sprache entstanden", translates as "since May 2001 803,545 articles have been created here in the German language". —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ 11:37, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Ooops, you are right, my mistake. Wiked2222 (talk) 08:53, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Using Wikipedia as a reference tool

I have deleted two claims because they do not appear to meet Wikipedia standards. The first of these is the following:

"Studies suggest that Wikipedia is broadly as reliable as Encyclopedia Britannica, with similar error rates on established articles for both major and minor omissions and errors."

The web page cited is an interesting graphical study of "history flow" on Wikipedia pages, showing (amongst other things) the rate at which pages grow and the persistence within them of text contributed by single authors. It does not, however, make any assertions about the RELIABILITY of Wikipedia, and nor does it compare it with the Encyclopedia Britannica. The claim is not therefore supported by the citation, and should not be allowed to remain on the page.

The second is the following:

"There is a tentative consensus, backed by a gradual increase in academic citation as a source, that it provides a good starting point for research, and that articles in general have proven to be reasonably sound."

"There is a tentative consensus" is a classic example of weasel words. A consensus among whom? And where is the evidence that it exists? This statement appears to be pure opinion.

Ninj (talk) 10:13, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Use Of the word "Abby"

Hello, I'm looking for the term/word "abby". As in a church. The relation. Thank's, Jason. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.177.170.167 (talk) 15:49, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Browsing the Wiki

I don't know if it is possible to browse through from A to Z. If it is, I could not find the buttons. If not, I believe that it would be a useful function, especially for those of us who are curious and like to read. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.39.30.95 (talk) 01:03, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

How do you post articles on Wiki? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Terrorsaur 0120 (talk • contribs) 08:15, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

See WP:EDIT and Starting an article. Please note that all new articles must conform to policies such as notability and verifiability or they will be deleted. This contribution you made to this page (which looks like an article you put in the wrong place) is NOT notable and will be deleted if you recreate it elsewhere - see WP:SOAP, WP:VANITY (WP:AUTO) and Wikipedia is not for things made up in school one day. Please also remember to sign your posts on any talk page by typing ~~~~ (four tildes) after them. —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ 09:46, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

the black stone

Removed duplicate of question asked and answered at Wikipedia:Help desk#Mohammed kaaba.jpg. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 10:23, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

How Halloween originated

Originated in Ireland, Briatain and France. Halloween comes fromthe name all Hallow Eve's which comes from the night from all Hallow's Day. Peoplewould dress up as different things to scare off the after life so they wouldn't take them to their side. They would try to scare people by burning big fires. Halloween is like New Year's Eve for the Celtic people.