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November 21

How to customize my signature?

I have always wondered how people were able to customize it to their liking rather than having the same blue text. Do you by any chance know how what I am trying to say here? Pickbothmanlol (talk) 00:57, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

There's an option to customize your signature in Special:Preferences.--Unionhawk ^{Talk E-mail Review} 01:00, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Further advice can be found at Wikipedia:Signatures. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 06:47, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Report vandal account

Resolved

 – Q0k (talk) 04:58, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I haven't really used wikipedia enough to know how to report someone for vandalism or how to fix it... so I was posting it here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Killiansullivan

Thanks ^_^

00:26, 21 November 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Navysealltblue (talk • contribs)

Warned user. For future reference, you should warn the vandal, and then later report them to WP:AIV.--Unionhawk ^{Talk E-mail Review} 00:37, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Name in template {{coord}}

I cann't figure out why the inline-name is displayed on the interactive map here, but not there.

The first (working) code is
{{coord|20.1601|-87.488|dim:200_region:MX-ROO|display=inline|name=Cenote Esmeralda}} (20.1601°N 87.488°W / 20.1601; -87.488 (Cenote Esmeralda)), whereas the second one is
{{coord|20|17.92|N|87|24.22|W|dim:100_region:MX-ROO_type:waterbody|display=inline|name=Cenote Nohoch Nah Chich}} (20°17.92′N 87°24.22′W).
I suspected problems with the DMS-notation, the dim- and type-attributes, and the name consisting of four words (instead of two). But a second version (which is identical to the working one - except the coordinates and the name, of course) again displays no name on the map:
{{coord|20.2987|-87.4037|dim:200_region:MX-ROO|display=inline|name=Cenote Nohoch}} (20.2987°N 87.4037°W / 20.2987; -87.4037 (Cenote Nohoch)). Any ideas? →Alfie^±Talk 01:31, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

The map at here returns a 500 toolserver error. Intelligentsium 01:41, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

How odd; it no longer does, but instead links to GeoHack...Hmmm... 01:44, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Never mind, I see what you are saying. Investigating... Intelligentsium 01:50, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

THX; I don't see a difference in the syntax I used. →Alfie^±Talk 01:55, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

I believe I have found the problem: The program used to generate the interactive map does not recognize that site, and so shows no name. See for example, 20.1601°N 87.488°W / 20.1601; -87.488. Even though I removed the name argument, the site is still labelled. The solution would probably be to get someone to edit the program to recognize that site. Unfortunately, this is only easily possible if WMF owns/runs that program. Cheers, Intelligentsium 02:37, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

You are right about the labeling issue. Two German users maintain the program (on meta); I will contact them. THX for the help. →Alfie^±Talk 03:13, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Which Cleanup template to use?

Resolved

 – Q0k (talk) 04:57, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Not for the first time, I've encountered a page like this one apparently written in non-native English (possibly via machine-assisted translation), with so many garbled words and phrases that a mere copyeditor like myself can't understand the meaning in order to rewrite clearly. I suspect the task requires knowledge of the source language for reference. Which is the best Cleanup#Style_of_writing template (or other?) to post? -- Deborahjay (talk) 07:36, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

I think one of the Wikipedia:Template_messages/Translation tags would be more appropriate. If it is a machine translation of another language Wikipedia's article, and you know which one it is from, Wikipedia:Copying_within_Wikipedia#Translating_from_other_language_Wikimedia_Projects may help as well. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 07:57, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

The edit summary of the article creation is "translated from Italian, please proofread". The Italian version at the time is here. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:02, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Ah, great - I hadn't thought to look at the initial edit summary. Good advice; thanks, all! -- Deborahjay (talk) 15:58, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

President of India

who is the president of india —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.198.103.179 (talk) 13:39, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

See India. Please take any future factual questions to the reference desk; this page is only for questions relating directly to Wikipedia. Xenon54 / talk / 13:43, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Inconsistency of autocomplete in search box

I recently created a new article: "Roger Sprung". However, I notice that the autocomplete function in the Wikipedia search box does not return this title. That is, when I begin typing "roger spr..." the list includes only the entry for Roger Springer, but not my Roger Sprung article. This is not the case with articles I published previously -- those for Stefan Jackiw and Martha Settle Putney, for example -- where the autocomplete works fine. Note that typing "Roger Sprung" in full in the text box and clicking Go does open the article. But I am puzzled as to why autocomplete doesn't find it.

RStephenK (talk) 13:45, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Give it some time and see. Wikipedia:Searching#Delay_in_updating_the_search_index. ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 13:56, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Roger Sprung was created November 3 and has been indexed by the normal search function when you click Go or Search. I don't know whether the search suggestion function can take much longer to update, or whether it is meant to always show at least one article when there is a match. It shows Roger Springer when I type "Roger Spr" and nothing when I get to "Roger Spru" or more. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:29, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, there seems to have been a problem with updates on drop-down suggestions, but it's been resolved now. Thanks for the report. --rainman (talk) 11:05, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Claim Anonymous Edits

A few hours ago, I had an issue with my computer not keeping me logged into Wikipedia. When I thought it was all working fine again, I noticed after making some edits that I was still logged out and had made my all edits anonymously. I have since corrected my computers problem but alas I have no knowledge of how or if its possible to claim my anonymous edits into "My Contributions" list.

Is there a wizard out there who can help restore order to my lost kingdom? lol

OH, if it helps, HERE are my Anonymous Contributions I wish to reclaim.

AnimatedZebra (talk) 14:22, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but it is no longer possible to reattribute anonymous edits. It used to be done, though. TNXMan 14:27, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Thankyou fellow Wikipedian! AnimatedZebra (talk) 14:51, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

See WP:LOGGEDOUT. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 19:59, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Citing an audio recording as a source

I've looked around all the referencing pages and couldn't find any advice on citing an audio recording, specifically a radio broadcast, as a source. I'm not too bothered about the exact citation style as Wikipedia accepts a variety of styles and I think the most important thing is to have as much information down as possible: station and airdate, URL where it can be replayed, time in the broadcast at which the quote appears, etc. What I am concerned about is that someone will come and take the ref out when the broadcast disappears from the web. Like many broadcasters, the BBC has a "listen again" feature by which you can find much of their broadcast material on the web after it goes out, but it usually only stays up for a limited time, often a week although in this case it's been a couple of months so perhaps they're leaving this particular production up for good. The article in question is Peter Bruinvels (a BLP) and the quote is one that I would certainly want to challenge if I saw it in an article without a source. If the radio broadcast disappears from the web at sometime the casual reader will no longer be able to verify the quote. Someone has already gone and removed it apparently because they didn't see it in the text on the page linked to and didn't understand that it appeared in the audio linked from that page. For sources such as this, which are technically verifiable but to the average reader are effectively ephemeral, what can we do? Is there some way that a reliable 'trusted' user can verify that the quote appears in the broadcast so that no one need be in any doubt if the audio vanishes from the web? Rovaniemi-5 (talk) 14:52, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

The reference has the url http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mpmm4#synopsis where #synopsis is a link to an anchor below the box with the "Listen now" link. If the reference requires clicking the button then I suggest omitting #synopsis so the link goes to the top of the page. See Template:Cite episode#Example of use for non-episodic broadcasts. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:16, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, you're right about the link having an anchor in it. I took the URL from the unformatted reference that had previously been removed and didn't catch this, so I'll fix it now. Thanks also for drawing my attention to {{cite episode}}, which I didn't see linked from any of the pages I looked at. Rovaniemi-5 (talk) 18:58, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

How much of the broadcast material is relevant as the source? If you could excerpt the relevant portion, you might try your luck with the copyright holder by following the procedure at Commons:COM:OTRS. That is, find out if the copyright holder will agree to release the relevant excerpt under a free license. The shorter the excerpt, the better the odds of getting the copyright holder to agree I'd think. You might also look at Wikipedia:Using the Wayback Machine to archive a copy "permanently". --Teratornis (talk) 23:30, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

christmas wish

i am trying to find the wish list for wtry98.3, please help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.224.115.92 (talk) 14:54, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our roughly three million articles, and thought that we were directly 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 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 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. TNXMan 14:56, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

• You might find what you are looking for in the article WTRY-FM. If you cannot find the answer there, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 16:08, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Submitting An Article

Hello, I am a new wikipedia user and I have not been autoconfirmed so I cannot upload an article I wrote. I would appreciate your help on it. Thank you very much. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Beowulfballadeer (talk • contribs) 22:52, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

What's the article about? Make sure it's not one of the forbidden things on WP:NOT. Also see WP:YFA and WP:AUTOCONFIRM. When you get autoconfirmed in a few days, your best bet is to start by editing the article in what we call a "sandbox" page: User:Beowulfballadeer/Sandbox. Then come back to the Help desk and ask for experienced users to evaluate your article. --Teratornis (talk) 23:36, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

If the article you are writing is not appropriate for Wikipedia, there are thousands of other wikis with different rules for content. We'll know when we see what you have in mind. --Teratornis (talk) 23:39, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

However, to the best of my knowledge, one does not have to be autoconfirmed to write articles. Intelligentsium 00:10, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Indeed. Beowulfballadeer actually created the article The truth about moviestars two hours before posting here. You cannot upload files (for example images) or move pages before being autoconfirmed, but you can create pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:45, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

November 22

New user

Hello:

I am brand new to Wikipedia and would like to create a page for someone? How do I submit an article for approval? I have the article written out but not sure what to do next. Please help me. Thanks

Lily —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jonathan David George (talk • contribs) 00:30, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Please read WP:MOS and WP:YFA for guidelines on how articles work here. You can go to the Creation Wizard or Articles for Creation if you're not sure if your article meets guidelines. Otherwise, just type the title of the article you want to create in the box below, and copy your article from your external text editor (I assume you have it in there) into the field after you hit "Create"

Intelligentsium 00:48, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

On your talk page, I see that you tried to create a page about yourself. This might be not very bad, but you should explain why this could be a notable/educational article. Just think what Wikipedia could be like if all people created pages about:

1) themselves

2) their home streets

3) their teapots

4) the colors of their tables

5) the sizes of their Caps Lock keys

...

In that case, Wikipedia would not be informative or educational. See also Wikipedia in brief --Q0k (talk) 04:37, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Is there an index of templates?

I am trying to find out how to fix this. See this talk page. It shows a failed GA (good article) but has finally passed GA. There are two templates at the top. Can this be combined and fixed? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Alamogordo,_New_Mexico Suomi Finland 2009 (talk) 00:46, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

For an index see Wikipedia:Template messages and Category:Wikipedia templates  Ronhjones  ^(Talk) 01:33, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Category help

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 16:09, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

How does one create a page in an existing category? (I know how to add an article to a category) For instance, the page [Category:Government buildings by country] has many countries listed, but what if another country needs to be added? How do you add it? C.Kent87 (talk) 02:12, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

You would create a sub-category (not a sub-page) such as Category:Government buildings in Foo (Foo being a country), then add it to Category:Government buildings by country. Intelligentsium 02:15, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Category pages are created in the same way as article pages. If you create a new category as part of a category system then you can first see the source code of a similar category, for example Category:Government buildings in Canada, and adapt it to the new category. You must save at least one character when creating a category page. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:24, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Thank you both, I will see what I can do! C.Kent87 (talk) 02:27, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Violation of speedy deletion prod policy

I removed a speedy deletion prod on Harry N. MacLean (the prod says anybody can remove it and that it can't be replaced). However my prod removal was reverted. If he wants the article deleted it should go to afd. I don't want to engage in an edit war involving a clearly defined policy. I need some help. Thanks.Americasroof (talk) 06:35, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I removed the restored PROD and left the editor a note. Cheers. Someguy1221 (talk) 06:41, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. Americasroof (talk) 06:47, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

.Americasroof - could you please comment on Tracer9999's assertion at Talk:Harry N. MacLean that you are Harry N. MacLean, so you are writing an article about yourself ? Gandalf61 (talk) 08:25, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I think you misunderstand: Tracer9999's claim is that User:Mawale is Harry N. MacLean (not Americasroof). —teb728 t c 08:50, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I see that now. And as User:Mawale claims on their user page that they are indeed Harry N. MacLean, this page appears to be a clear violation of WP:AUTO. I have nominated the page at AfD. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:40, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Frankly I think that's a bad Afd. The guy is clearly notable (literary award winner) and autobios are not automatically deletable per se. The article seems reasonably neutral to me. Lack of references is not a reason to delete.  – ukexpat (talk) 15:55, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Mobile version

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 15:51, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

When I browsed wikipedia on my iPhone it used to take me to a preformatted mobile friendly version. I can't seem to find a link to that version anymore and I may have disabled it by mistake. Is there a link to this version or a way to re enable it? The closest thing I have found is the wikipedia mobile website but that is far more basic than the one I was using. Thanks in advance for the help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.7.3.223 (talk) 09:24, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Have you been to http://en.m.wikipedia.org yet? That's the official mobile version, as far as I know. Xenon54 / talk / 13:22, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Also, have you checked Mobile Access:iPhone/iPod Touch? All the solutions there are read-only access, though. If you want to be able to edit, you'll need to use Safari. Incidently, Mobile Access notes Unfortunately, the mobile.wikipedia.org site is exceptionally buggy when viewed on various mobile devices, including smart phones Apple iPhone and Google Android derived phones. Mobile users will frequently find that the mobile version of Wikipedia does not work at all or redirects them to error pages. Such problems have been ongoing since May 2009, and as of August 2009 the mobile Wikipedia site does not work at all for most devices. Also, the large "permanently disable mobile site" link is too easy to hit, and a means for re-enabling the mobile site in case of accidents is not apparent -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 14:57, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

On your device, visit http://enwp.org/WP:emv and follow the link that is mentioned on that page. After you should be redirected to the mobile version again. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 18:50, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

thank you both! That's the one I was looking for. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.7.3.223 (talk) 18:53, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Publishing an article

Resolved

 – Article moved. – ukexpat (talk) 15:50, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Per Wikipedia's request, I sandboxed the creation of my new article and it suggested that later, it would be easy to move the page, yet the instructions mention specific functionality that my editing page does not have.

Thanks in advance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:TFX/Infinite_Lives_(documentary)

TFX

• The instructions for moving it are here. However, having had a quick look at your draft, I would suggest that it is not yet ready to move into the encyclopedia. It needs references from reliable sources to show that it is notable. May I suggest that you read

• Wikipedia's General Notability Guidelines
• Wikipedia's Notability Guidelines for Films
• Wikipedia's Guidelines about Reliable Sources
• Wikipedia's Guidelines about Independent Sources
• How to cite references

If you have any further questions about using Wikipedia, please feel free to leave them here! -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 10:06, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Understood, but there's no "Move" button anywhere in the article editor or along the top tabs. Maybe it's because I'm in the Wiki Beta? TFX (talk) 17:52, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure about that, but I can't think of any other explanations - your account is autoconfirmed, so that's not the problem. I know that I can see the "move" tab at the top. If you are sure that you want to move it, let me know and I'll do it for you: but please confirm that you understand my concerns noted above - if you still think it is ready to be moved, I am happy to do it for you. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:29, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Interesting, but I just don't see it. Hmm. At any rate, yes, if you could move it over, I'll tidy it up. I've drafted a few Wiki pages myself so I understand the concerns on notability. Thanks! TFX (talk) 19:10, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Uploading picture in doc format

How please? Kittybrewster ☎ 12:12, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Don't. Convert it to an appropriate format first. Algebraist 12:32, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

How? Kittybrewster ☎ 12:40, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

You're telling us that you've made a picture in Word and you want to upload the picture as a Word document. Word and pictures don't go together, and Wikipedia doesn't allow you to upload Word documents (and if it did, not everyone could see it), so this is a tricky situation to get out of.

If the picture is a shape drawing or diagram, then you need to use the Print Screen key, paste the result in Paint, and save it as a PNG (although there are better ways to go about creating a diagram, such as making an SVG in Inkscape).

If the picture is an actual camera picture, then what the hell are you doing in Word? Just find it on your hard drive and then upload the picture directly. Xenon54 / talk / 13:21, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Thank you. Progress indeed. I have uploaded it to wikicommons but it is coming out wonky on Charles Arbuthnot. Kittybrewster ☎ 15:40, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

There are two wonkiness reasons. 1) Infoboxes have their own code for placing images so I removed yours in [1]. 2) Most of the image file commons:File:Rt Hon Charles Arbuthnot.jpg is white with the portrait in the upper left corner, so you have to crop the image with an external image tool and reupload it. In addition, the image should be tagged with a template from commons:Commons:Copyright tags. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:52, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

See Cropping (image) if you are unsure what cropping is. Also, when the image is properly cropped the current imagesize = 400px in Charles Arbuthnot should be reduced. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:56, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Size of an article

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 15:49, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Minor question, How would one caclulate the size of an article? (DYK purposes?) Thank you very much for your time Ottawa4ever (talk) 14:39, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

There are two options. If you look at Wikipedia:Did_you_know#Selection_criteria, bullet point two, you should see them there. TNXMan 14:45, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks a bunch Ottawa4ever (talk) 14:57, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Where do I go to settle a possible edit war?

Somebody's removing links per WP:EL which I don't think is justified, saying the filmography linked to is a minor part of the person's work. In my opinion, it's not, it's half of what they've done... Anyway, to avoid an edit war, who do I ask to help settle this?----occono (talk) 17:25, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

You could try 3rd Opinions, or one of the other steps in dispute resolution. But 3O would be my first stop, assuming you've already discussed it and it isn't going anywhere. --Bfigura ^(talk) 18:37, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I'll do that I still feel like it tomorrow. I feel I might be too hotheaded about it now. (He was right about some other stuff we disputed, but the argument I was referring to here I still think he's wrong about, he seems to have a bias against people focusing their editing on one topic at a time, see my edit history if you really want to know what I'm on about....) Anyway, thanks very much!----occono (talk) 18:41, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict)A possible edit war can be hard to deal with! My first suggestion would be to discuss it with the editor in question on their talk page. If there is no response (I would make sure that when you think this, you check that they've been editing since you left your message - if they have, you can generally assume that they have seen your message!), or the response is negative, I would re-read Handling of edit-warring behaviors and then bring it up at Wikipedia:Third opinion -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:48, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, we discussed it. I might just forget about it, this is the reason I don't bother more with Wikipedia. He was right about some stuff but I can't be bothered fighting for the other stuff he unfairly reverted. (To be really petty, he seems to like RVing info a lot).----occono (talk) 19:23, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Talk:November 2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods

Anyone know why the WikiProject banner shells aren't autocollapsing? I tried copy and pasting a group of WikiProject banner shells from another article's talk page and on preview they don't collapse either. Maybe there is some template further down in the talk page that someone inserted or a dodgy signature. I'm stumped. Jolly Ω Janner 17:44, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

On Template:WikiProjectBannerShell, the default behavior is that the outer table is not collapsed, showing the summary of all the banners. You can override this by adding |collapsed=yes before the |1= clause, as documented at Template:WikiProjectBannerShell/doc#Optional parameters. --Mysdaao ^talk 18:15, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

It doesn't work. Jolly Ω Janner 18:32, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

It works when I view it. After your edit, the outer template is now collapsed when the page loads. --Mysdaao ^talk 18:37, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

When I view it in Firefox it works. In Internet Explorer it doesn't work. Weirdly, Talk:Climate of south-west England works fine in Internet Explorer. Jolly Ω Janner 19:02, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Image's discussion page

Hello, could somebody please explain to me what is the proper contest to be put at an image's discussion page? Do we have any written policies for that matter? Thanks.--Mbz1 (talk) 20:42, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

• Discussion pages (or talk pages are they are called) are just a place where people can discuss the article (or in this case, image). This discussion may cover perceived problems, ideas for improvements, etc (as a rule, most images do not have comments! if there are copyright problems, they will be nominated for deletion; if a better image can be found, someone will upload it in place of the current image). If you want to know more, you can read Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines or Help:Talk page. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 20:52, 22 November 2009 (UTC)
  • Thank you for the response, I'd like to ask you more specific question please: Is an image discussion page is a proper place to discuss an image's creator? Thank you--Mbz1 (talk) 21:17, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

That depends on what aspects of the creator you want to discuss. Talk pages are for discussing improvements to whatever is on the associated page. There are probably many aspects of an image's creator which are irrelevant to improving an encyclopedia, but some aspects would be highly relevant, such as for example if the creator has died then the number of years since his or her death would determine whether the image has passed into the public domain. See Commons:Help:Public domain. If you tell us what aspects of the creator you want to discuss, we can tell you where to discuss them. --Teratornis (talk) 22:13, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

why do I need active X enabled on internet explorer?

Firefox on my computer literally stops everything as soon as I open any form for editing on wikipedia and a fwe other sites. Thinking myself clever, I decided to use IE. However, wikipedia pages keep prompting me that since I have active X off, page may not display fine but it is just great. I hate having to click this and the only other site I've found with this problem is pubmed weg pages ( which doesn't matter since Iuse their API for everything and that actually works flawlessly on cygwin, their webpages also report stack overflow and out of memory problems of not rendering consequences ). so, I guess I can turn all that juink on but why is it needed as it doesn't seem to contribute anything and may just open up resource wastes or securityu problems? Most sites are fine, it is just a few that cause these problems.Everything is fine on Debian no prompts and generally displays ok (I would put debian here except this stupid laptop has to run some windoze only code for development). Thanks. Nerdseeksblonde (talk) 22:27, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Vertical Brackets?

Is there an existing template that shows bracketing vertically in the way Template:48TeamBracket shows it horizontally? Thanks. — Reinyday, 22:54, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

{{Familytree}}, perhaps? Intelligentsium 00:05, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Making Article Active

Hi There, I have written an article but it has not been published. Am I missing something? how do I make the article active? when I do a search it does not come up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Egyptiancotton (talk • contribs) 23:23, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

According to your contributions, the only article content you have written is on your user page User:Egyptiancotton about Canningvale. If you tried to create a regular encyclopedia article besides that, then a common cause is that you pushed "Show preview" instead of "Save page". You have to push "Save page" for edits to be recorded. If you want to move what you wrote already into the article space, then press the "Move" tab and type the title you want the article to have, or ask someone here to move it for you. --Mysdaao ^talk 23:58, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

November 23

I think a wizard got offended

Resolved

 – Mysdaao ^talk 12:58, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

I used an image on a user subpage that was probably offensive to someone who viewed it.

then suddenly there was like a block. (a little bit magical?) I could no longer use the image on the page.

so, is there an admin that can help or something? can someone just let me know what happened or why it was that they took some apparent action? are there some guidelines I should look at or what? I'm sure I can get a long and follow rules, if I knew the dealy. thanks. Skakkle (talk) 02:31, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

What image was it? (link to it using [[:File:Name of image]]). It is possible that it has been blacklisted, but we need to know which to confirm this. Intelligentsium 02:44, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I assume it's User:Skakkle/a? The page history shows that you have blanked it yourself a few minutes ago. But you can't use that image there; it's a fair use file, and can be used to illustrate a relevant article but not anywhere else (like userspace etc). Only images that are in public domain or released under free license accepted by Wikipedia (such as these) can be used on your userspace. You might want to read Wikipedia:User page as well. ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 02:55, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Skakkle is probably talking about File:Wiki-bukkake-2.png, which used to be on User:Skakkle/a before it was removed. Skakkle, that image was added to MediaWiki:Bad image list with this edit on November 14, which makes the image only display on pages it is specifically allowed on, and no others. Potentially offensive images like that one are placed on the bad image list to prevent users from committing vandalism by placing those images on articles that they don't belong on. It's not because of anything you did. No action was taken against you specifically.--Mysdaao ^talk 03:58, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Ah... I was talking about File:Piss Christ by Serrano Andres (1987).jpg which was the image that was on the page last. ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 04:10, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

thanks, everyone. very diligent all around. it was the listing on the "bad image list" that did it. keep on fighting the good fight whether that's being offensive, or fighting the potentially offensive, or just informing me about lists and whatnot. be easy. n-dimensional §кakkl€ 22:10, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Dashboard Problems

Resolved

 – Jeffrey Mall (talk • contribs) - 06:27, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

• User:Jeffrey Mall

I was wondering if somebody (preferably somebody with a web browser that isn't Internet Explorer) could take a look at my userpage and tell me if you can see this code "UNIQ5aa01b2a376181fe-imagemap-00000000-QINU" (or something similar to) next to my Rollbacker top icon. There should actually be a {{User:Arknascar44/Love Cabal}} in its place, this code only started displaying once I added the Dashboard to my user page. Jeffrey Mall (talk • contribs) - 05:13, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Yep, the weird code is there in Firefox and IE7. ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 05:24, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Ahh, any idea how to get rid of it? I've already tried moving the dash to another page, which worked for about 5 minutes and now the code's back again... Jeffrey Mall (talk • contribs) - 05:25, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Fixed. Jeffrey Mall (talk • contribs) - 06:27, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Where to ask process questions?

Hi -

I have the impression that this help desk is mostly for "how do I do this?" kind of questions, and is intended mostly for use by newer editors finding their footing. If that's correct, then is there a better place to ask (for want of a better word) "intermediate-level" questions, e.g. not about article development, but about Wikipedia processes, when I can't find the answers I need from the relevant "WP:" pages?

( At the moment I'm wondering about the timeline by which an ANI with a resulting SPI proceeds, from first submission, to archiving, to closure. I'd like to be able to follow it, and perhaps to comment upon it before it closes, but things seems to disappear, or get spread across multiple archive pages, which makes following the process difficult. I haven't been able to find any information on the relevant pages to help me figure out when closure is likely to occur, nor how long the intermediate steps usually take. )

Many thanks, Ohiostandard (talk) 05:31, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

My suggestion is to comment at the relevent ANI thread. Any comments made at the SPI case will only be seen by a handful of editors, and may or may not have much effect. SPI is primarly for attracting the attention of checkusers and/or really good sockpuppet investigators, and tends to get (as you note) closed rather quickly once a checkuser is run, or conclusive evidence makes the sockpuppetry obvious. Instead, an ANI thread gets lots of eyes from many people, so if you want people to actually read and respond to what you have to say, try ANI isntead. --Jayron32 05:38, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, yes. But I was never informed of the ANI, and was only sent notice of its resulting SPI fewer than 24 hours before it closed, by the accused user. This despite the ANI being initiated in large part because one of the suspected sockpuppets had restored text to a talk page, text that I had composed, and that the complaining editor had misunderstood and deleted previously. He based his ANI and SPI comments heavily upon that misunderstanding, which I had no opportunity to clarify. ( I had not reverted his deletion myself, btw. )

I'm fine with the outcome, but it's still distressing to me that since I don't understand the "flowchart" of the overall process, nor how long each step in the process takes, I lost the chance to contribute to it. ( I'd thought the SPI would merely send information back to the ANI, and assumed the ANI would be open for something like a week, like AfDs or PRODs, or whatever they're called. )

The SPI process appears to have been open for about 72 hours. Is that its mandated duration, or is its completion based on when SPI clerks have time to run a checkuser? But more important, how can I understand the specific steps and timelines of this and of other administrative processes, so I'm not left out of any that might refer to me in the future? Thanks in advance, Ohiostandard (talk) 00:56, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Carl Strehlow

I have written - my first for Wikipedia - a new entry for Carl Strehlow in .doc format. Can I remove the existing few lines? How can I copy my (Windows Office)document plus foot- or endnotes into the space? The indices vanished from the text when I copied it into the space. Thanks for help - Walter --Wveit (talk) 06:23, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

This website offers some methods to machine convert a word document to WikiMarkup. However, there is no native support for Word documents in Wikipedia. You may wish to see Help:Wikitext examples for more information on how Wikipedia pages are formatted. Someguy1221 (talk) 07:04, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Take a look at Word2MediaWikiPlus. – ukexpat (talk) 16:20, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I'M A REJECT!!?

I've been wondering about this particular issue for a while now.

Why do men have nipples? You can't use it to wear a cap or clean your teeth right?!? —Preceding unsigned comment added by NirocFX (talk • contribs) 06:59, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Science 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 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. Someguy1221 (talk) 07:05, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Stephen Jay Gould wrote an essay about this question.

• Gould, S.J. (1992). "Male Nipples and Clitoral Ripples." In Bully for Brontosaurus: Further Reflections in Natural History. New York: W. W. Norton. pp. 124-138.

--Teratornis (talk) 21:18, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Anons' Article Creation

Before anons were unallowed to create articles, was making articles and having only links to websites a problem?174.3.102.6 (talk) 11:43, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Articles with no content except external links were never allowed because they fall under criteria for speedy deletion A3. An article with no real content, whether created by an anonymous user or registered user, would be deleted quickly. --Mysdaao ^talk 13:04, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Was it a big problem? Were a bulk of these newly created articles such as?174.3.102.6 (talk) 13:16, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I don't believe articles with just external links was ever a big problem on Wikipedia. The reason that anonymous users weren't allowed to create articles was because of the Wikipedia biography controversy, where an anonymous user created a hoax article on John Seigenthaler. The change was made in December 2005, and you can read Jimbo Wales' announcement at http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2005-December/033880.html --Mysdaao ^talk 13:41, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Search

I wanted to read about the authors of 'Yes Minister' but all I had was one surname - Jay. Inputting this in Search prodoced nothing about Anthony Jay, nor did * Jay. How does one find articles where only a surname is known? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Segilla (talk • contribs) 12:12, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I typed Yes Minister Jay In the search box on the left screen and came up with Antony Jay as the third hit. I think you just have to be as detailed as possible. Any other easier thoughts out there? Ottawa4ever (talk) 12:27, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

What's wrong with following the link to Antony Jay in the lead paragraph of Yes Minister? Jan1naD ^{(talk • contrib)} 12:32, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

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.

If you hadn't know the program Yes Minister, there's usually a disambiguation page for the surname you're looking for, which can usually be found without searching. If you go to the article Jay on the bird, at the top is a link to the disambiguation page Jay (disambiguation). Sometimes a page like that has people with that surname listed on it, but in this case, it contains a link to a separate page, Jay (surname), listing people with the surname Jay. One of the people listed on that page is Antony Jay. --Mysdaao ^talk 12:51, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

"Common mistakes" section

I'm working in an article about a historical event, and I intend to add a section of "common mistakes" to it: things that are commonly thought to be some way, but where academic sources state it to have been different (there would be no original research or analysis involved, I have sources to cite that adress such specific topic). However, "Common mistakes" does not sound to me as a good section title. How should I call it? MBelgrano (talk) 13:58, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

"Common misconceptions" perhaps ? —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 14:06, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Common delusions, common errors, fallacies, common misapprehensions, common misconstructions, common misinterpretations, mistaken beliefs, common misunderstandings, or DJs suggestion, take your pick ;p, Spitfire^Tally-ho! 14:10, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

That depends. If the misconceptions are sufficiently widespread – as in the case of Christopher Columbus and the popular notions that a) he discovered America, and b) that he was defying the idea of a flat earth – then you might treat it as in Christopher Columbus#Legacy. On the other hand, in most cases it's probably best to address the matter parenthetically within the text, rather than creating an entirely separate section. (See for example Thomas Edison#Electric light, which implicitly addresses the popular myth that Edison invented the incandescent light by discussing previous patents and other inventors.) Note that if you wish to add extensive discussion about the 'common mistakes' themselves, you not only will need to provide sources that offer corrected information, but also reliable sources that support the claim that the mistakes are actually 'common' in the first place. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 14:16, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Of course, if those common mistakes were not adressed in my sources precisely as common mistakes, such a section would be unacceptable synthesis. The problem with adding such notes in the middle of the events is that they would disrupt the ease of reading: I find it's better to start with the undisputed flow of events first (X do something, Y reacts doing something else, Z happens as a result, etc.), and leave all the "X historian thinks this was good, Y historian that it was bad" and similar for later sections. MBelgrano (talk) 14:38, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

See List of common misconceptions. --Teratornis (talk) 21:14, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Contributions tool

Resolved

 – Mysdaao ^talk 16:08, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Is there a tool which isolates contributions by date (and namespace too, preferably)?  pablo_hablo. 15:11, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

You don't need a separate tool. When you are viewing your user contributions, there are fields at the top to select the namespace, year, and month to search for contributions. --Mysdaao ^talk 15:29, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I see fields there where I can specify month (and earlier) and year (and earlier) but not a range of dates (ie Jan-Mar 2007).   pablo_hablo. 15:41, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Since it automatically puts the contributions in order, put in the end of the date range you want. If you select year 2007 and month March, it will bring this up. At the top is your contributions during March 2007, and then your contributions from earlier by date. The date of each contribution is on the left side, so you can go through the list until the beginning of the date range, January 2007. There may be a tool that does it better in the list at Wikipedia:WikiProject edit counters. --Mysdaao ^talk 16:02, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks - I'll have a look at the Wikiproject to see if there is a more elegant solution.   pablo_hablo. 16:05, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

where i donate

I am from India, and i want to donate my contribution of Rs.10,000/= , I have no credit card,where i pay cheque or Demand draft. may please inform at <e-mail removed>.,Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.180.18.123 (talk) 16:39, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

You can give on the page http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Fundraising by credit card or PayPal. If you can't use either, there are other ways to give, such as by check, listed at http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give/en.

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. --Mysdaao ^talk 16:47, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

User warning levels following vandalism

Is it always necessary to start with a level 1 warning when adding user warning tags to talk pages? For persistent vandals who, for instance, may have just been released from a block, it would seem appropriate to start with level 2 or level 3 warnings if the new vandalism is sufficiently bad. —Zach425 ^talk/contribs 17:25, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

There's also {{uw-vandalism4im}}, which is an only warning type template. TNXMan 17:29, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Its generally advised to start at one and work your way up. However, it is completely at your discretion where to start, make sure that you are justified in starting above a level 1, and always try to work within AGF. A lot of the warnings have an "im" level 4, for example {{uw-vandalism4im}}, this type of warning can be used if you decide to start at a level 4, however, only do this in extreme cases. Kind regards, Spitfire^Tally-ho! 17:31, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

That's what I was hoping. While I try to stick to AGF, edits like [2] and [3] just don't seem to merit that assumption. And I have yet to see an edit extreme enough to warrant 4im, but it's certainly nice to have if it's ever needed. Thanks for the input! —Zach425 ^talk/contribs 17:38, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

A pleasure, I'm glad to see that you'll use the warnings responsibly, cheers, Spitfire^Tally-ho! 17:42, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

As an example of using a ...4im template, I watch some articles related to electricity. If someone were to add some information which, if believed, could get someone killed, and it seemed like the editor knew what he or she was doing, that would warrant a ...4im, and maybe even a block with no warning. --Jc3s5h (talk) 17:46, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Image copyright violation

This file is definately not own work of User:MastermindPrime. The image appears here, too, in the same image resolution. Do you have a special tag for marking such files for copyright violation? --High Contrast (talk) 17:49, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I can't find the image at the www.forum.hr site. In any case, how do you know the photographer didn't submit the image to both Wikimedka and www.forum.hr? --Jc3s5h (talk) 17:55, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

User:MastermindPrime has already made some copyvio uploads on Commons. There, he took images from the web and uploaded them on Commons stating they it was his "own work". Furthermore images from the russian Topol-M complex are very rare - most images come from professional news agencies or from official russian institutions. As a private person it is almost impossible to get into a situation where you can photograph this vehicle. In addition this vehicle has not been showed on any russian military parade. --High Contrast (talk) 18:10, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

You could try {{db-f9|url=URL of source}}, the "URL of source" should be a link to where the image originated from. See also CSD F9. Regards, Spitfire^Tally-ho! 18:38, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

The image was uploaded to that site on 3 November – two weeks after it was uploaded to Wikipedia. If it is an infringement it is from somewhere else, not forum.hr. AJCham 02:51, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Of course the forum is not the copyright holder. Could be a scan out of a book etc. But this file is likely not from the uploader. --High Contrast (talk) 07:42, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

I changed the name of an article, but it is not showing up when I use the search box

Resolved

I changed the the title of an article. Feodor Zakharovich Zakharov is the proper transliteration for the name of the Russian painter, Фёдор Захарович Захаров, so that is the new name of the article. (The article used to be called Fiodor Sakharovitch Sakharov).

But the name is not properly showing up in the search index. If you enter Feodor or Zakharovich in the search box, it works fine. But if you enter Zakharov in the search box, the article does not show up. I can't figure out why.

Would appreciate any help. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Davidlew9 (talk • contribs) 18:07, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Looks like its working fine to me. The Ajax search suggestions in the search box will only appear if you start writing the beginning of the title, so if I wanted to find a page called "Wesley Jakes", and I typed "Weas..." the search box would suggest "Wesley Jakes", but if I searched "Jakes" then "Wesley Jakes" would not be suggested. Unless of course there was a redirect page from "Jakes" to "Wesley Jakes". Hope this makes sense, in anycase, the article which you mentioned seems to be working fine. Regards, Spitfire^Tally-ho! 18:51, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Zakharov is a disambiguation page. Links to any Zakharov article need to be added there manually - I have done this for you in the case of Feodor Zakharovich. I have also removed him from the Sakharov disambiguation page, where he was listed. Sakharov contains a "See also" link to Zakharov, so anyone looking for him under that spelling should still be able to track him down. Karenjc 19:00, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

You guys are the best. Thanks so much for clearing this up, and educating me in the process. Davidlew9 (talk) 19:26, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Provide link to Wiki Strategy Project??

I forgot to bookmark when it was up on top a couple months ago (and forgot the name so couldn't search) and in intermittent attempts to find it through main and other pages could not. Just finally found it linked on another topic at Jimbo Wales user page. Perhaps to encourage participation it could be found somewhere higher up the browsing tree? Thanks. CarolMooreDC (talk) 18:33, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

You can find it through the Editor's index to Wikipedia by following the link to Wikipedia:Alternative outlets. If you put a link to the Editor's index on your user page, then you get a very broad and shallow browsing tree. A link to the Editor's index appears on Help:Contents which is linked in the "interaction" box in the left column in the monobook skin. Thus StrategyWiki is only three clicks away from every page, but of course this is not exactly obvious since the Editor's index is rather long. The problem is that Wikipedia has 48,228,888 registered user accounts, a similar number of unregistered editors, and many times that number of readers. StrategyWiki may be important to you, but many other users would not have much use for it, and a prominent link to StrategyWiki would get in the way of links to other pages they consider important. Wikipedia users are incredibly diverse and everybody would like to see a different set of links at the top. With current technology we are stuck with a one-size-must-fit-all system. If you get to know the Editor's index, however, you can find almost everything a Wikipedia user needs to know that relates to Wikipedia itself. --Teratornis (talk) 21:37, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for response and link. Will study it for all it's many uses. :-)

Seeking music

i am looking free backing music to the song stand by me by ben e king —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.13.223.126 (talk) 18:53, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I have added a header to distinguish your question from the one above. This help page is for asking questions about using Wikipedia. You may have better luck by asking your question at one of the reference desks, probably the Entertainment desk in this case. Follow the blue link, and post your question at the bottom of the page, remembering to start with a header and to sign your posting with four tildes, like this: ~~~~. This will create a signature and a time and date stamp automatically. Good luck, Karenjc 19:08, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Or, you could just buy a guitar, or a piano, and learn 4 chords - you'll be all set then to play millions of songs!   pablo_hablo. 20:42, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Template for Census data?

Is there a preferred means for presenting census data? I am looking at the data for a small Louisiana town at the US Census Bureau. Is there a simple means of displaying this information on the city's article? For example, is there a template that would readily receive it? GloverEpp (talk) 19:27, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

• Some useful templates could include

• Template:US Census geography
• Template:US Census tract embedded
• Template:US DemogTable
• Template:USCensusPop

Hope these help -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 20:18, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

A Person With Two Names (beyond AKA)

I would like to improve an article about a deceased person, Anthony Spinelli, specifically adding information about an earlier portion of his career where he used a different name. He was actually born, Samuel Weinstein, but early in his career as an actor and producer, he used the name Sam Weston (specifically producing and acting in an important feature film, One Potato, Two Potato). Later, he became well known in the adult film industry as a producer under the name Anthony Spinelli. What is the best method to deal with this? Should I create a new article titled Sam Weston which links, not redirects, to the existing Anthony Spinelli article? Or, should all of his activities be incorporated into one article? There are valid references to both names. Yunchie (talk) 19:43, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

All information about him (biography-wise) should be complied in one article, I'd keep the article at its current name, since that's the most plausible search term, and redirect Sam Weston to it, you could then bring up the name change within the article (although I see it already mentioned). In any case, the biography should be all one article. Regards, Spitfire^Tally-ho! 19:49, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

good day

im unregistered user of wikipedia, and im created a new (BETTER) version of this file: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Klement_Gottwald_(Bundesarchiv).JPG please, uploade it http://img69.imageshack.us/i/klementgottwaldbundesar.jpg/ many thanks --77.48.153.172 (talk) 20:30, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Hi - thanks. The image we currently have has the following note: "This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project. The German Federal Archive guarantees an authentic representation only using the originals (negative and/or positive), resp. the digitalization of the originals as provided by the Digital Image Archive." I am not sure what the policy is on uploading a "better" version of the file. I would suggest that you make this request at the picture's talk page or the Common's Help Desk -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 21:55, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I was adding changes to the website for a Client and now my page has been deleted.

moved from WP:RD/C -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:14, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I was adding changes to the website for a Client and now my page has been deleted. Can may page be put back up so i can load the original content? —Preceding unsigned comment added by OakInteractive (talk • contribs) 21:59, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I guess you're referring to Messina Hof? That article has been deleted, twice, on the basis that it appears to be advertising a non-notable business - WP:ADVERT is the relevant policy. It's also generally inappropriate for you, as an agent of a business, to edit an article about that business - the relevant guideline is Wikipedia:Conflict of interest. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:11, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Article is at Afd and has been tagged for G11 speedy deletion. It will almost certainly be deleted and protected from re-creation. – ukexpat (talk) 22:51, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Proper Referencing

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 22:52, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I have added a production credit to In a Silent Way. This credit is not present on the actual album, but is referenced by a newspaper article about the photograph on the album, cited in note #3. My question is, is this an adequate reference? It is detailed as to date, page, etc., but since it is 40 years old, there is no internet link to the actual article. Should I include somehow a scan of the actual article clipping in the citation, or is the reference to the source adequate? Additionally, I would like to include an image of the back cover of this album but am not sure where it would be appropriate to place it in the article. I am primarily interested in establishing notability for a new article about this photographer, which created the image for the initial production of this album. In much later releases, a different photographer's image was used. Advice? Yunchie (talk) 22:18, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Sources used on Wikipedia don't have to be available on the internet, so the citation is OK. Also, scanning and uploading the article to the internet may constitute a copyright violation, especially if there is an archival service that offers the article for a payment. I don't really know about citing the back of an album, so I'll let someone else try to answer that part. Someguy1221 (talk) 22:21, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

(ec)You've cited a reliable source (a newspaper) and given plenty of information to allow someone to verify the source (the date of publication, and the page). That's more than enough for someone with access to a library's newspaper archive to recover the article and check it. While it's nice that sources are available on line, it's not a requirement. Regarding your second point, I don't think an upload of the back of the album is necessary (not really is a scan a very reliable resource). It'd be much better to cite a third party source crediting the photographer; you can also cite the sleeve notes for the album (or the little copyright or credit notice that credits the photographer) without scanning the album itself in. Note that such third party refs serve two purposes: firstly the support your claim that X did indeed do Y, but further they also support a claim that X is himself notable. And much of the essence of notability isn't that X took such and such photos, but that X is celebrated/noted/widely-hated for taking such-and-such photos. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:27, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, the reference (#3 in the article) does exactly that. It is actually an article about the fact that the photograph appearing on the album's back cover was taken by this photographer (a former staff member of that newspaper). That this image was personally sought by the artist himself lends to your broader essence of notability, but a fact that is more difficult to cite. Thanks for your valuable input. Yunchie (talk) 22:49, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

HELP!

Please help. I have created an article but it has neot been published. When I do a search, the article does not exist. How do I publish it. I have also uploaded an image in commons and it hasn't been applied to the article. This has become quite trying. Help very much appreciated.--Egyptiancotton (talk) 22:59, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

See reply to your earlier question above. For image linking, see WP:IMAGE. – ukexpat (talk) 23:06, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Marathon Maniacs

I'd like to write an "article" about a running club for full- and ultra-marathoners ... called the Marathon Maniacs (http://www.marathonmaniacs.com/). Their membership is nearing 2,000, with folks from all over the world.

Is this topic appropriate for Wikipedia? I believe that the Oregon Project, a team of elite runners funded by Nike, is included in the Wikipedia. Thanks for the help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Marathonmaniacs (talk • contribs) 23:03, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

If the team was notable, they would probably already have an article. You shouldn't write the article in any case, since your username makes it obvious you have a conflict of interest. Xenon54 / talk / 23:05, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

See also WP:CLUB. – ukexpat (talk) 23:11, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Question having nothing to do directly with Wikipedia

Several weeks ago, while browsing through Wikipedia and related pages, I came across a Wikipedia-like page that would accept puported proofs for Goldbach's conjecture. Not having a proof (or even a "proof") at the time, I moved on to other pages, and later signed off and left Wikipedia. So, having forgotten how I ever got to that page, I would now like to know how to return there. Was it in Mediawiki? I don't know, and Mediawiki has no Help desk. Could anyone be so kind as to help find the page that accepts puported proofs to Goldbach's conjecture, or has it been deleted?Bh12 (talk) 23:21, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Goldbach's conjecture still exists. Check out the external links section: I think you might find what you need there.--Unionhawk ^{Talk E-mail Review} 23:29, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict) If it was "purported proofs", I presume that there were no references to reliable sources. If it was on Wikipedia, it would probably have been deleted. The Goldbach's conjecture article doesn't have them? I presume it isn't Goldbach's weak conjecture - although perhaps you were thinking of Landau's problems, Vinogradov's theorem or Chen's theorem? You could also look at this Wikipedia Search for "Goldbach's conjecture" which might give other possible articles. Sorry, I am not a mathematician, so I can't help any further. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 23:33, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

But for future reference, we do have mathematicians, amateur and professional, who are willing to help you with such problems at the Mathematics Reference Desk. Intelligentsium 00:24, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

November 24

People flagging new page

I have tried to create a page twice for Joseph E Prince. It has been flagged twice! The last time the comment was that we were creating a "non existant" film. Liberation Saturday was premiered at the 2008 nSan Diego Black Film Festival. Photos at liberationsaturday.com and cam be verified at imdb.com, the most widely used data base of fims on the internet.

This is ridiculous!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Deedee485 (talk • contribs) 03:03, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Liberation Saturday may not meet our guidelines on notability (importance or significance) for inclusion, and therefore actor Joseph E. Prince is not notable per guidelines on actors. You may ask the deleting administrator (User:PMDrive1061, according to the page logs) to userfy the page into one of your user subpages so that you might work on it undisturbed, until you can make it to an acceptable quality for inclusion. Please also read Notability, YFA, and WP:NOT. Intelligentsium 03:16, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

P.S.: IMDb is not considered a reliable source. All articles must be verifiable with properly cited sources, to prove any claims of notability. This is especially important if the subject of your article is a living person. Intelligentsium 03:19, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Wiki main page bias towards an individuals home country?

Hello All, I have the Wikipedia main page as my home page as I like to start my day with 'Today's feature article', 'Did you know...', and 'On this day...' but what I have been noticing is a large quantity of content and articles with Australian subject matter. I do live in Australia, but I'm more interested in a world focus, not just Australian history and news. I was wondering if the Wiki software recognises that I am living in Australia and gives me more Australian content for this reason, and is there a way that I can switch that bais off? Thanks in advance. MST —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.24.203.240 (talk) 03:49, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

What exactly are you seeing that is Australian? Grsz¹¹ 04:12, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Nothing out of the ordinary. But there are 20 million Aussies, and a world population of 6 bn+. So seeing Aussie content regularly made me wonder if there was a bias towards giving people more content from their country of origin. —Preceding unsigned comment added by MST762 (talk • contribs) 06:06, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

I can't speak for any bias (real or perceived), but everyone who looks at the main page sees the same main page. There is no change in appearance based on the viewer's location. Someguy1221 (talk) 07:16, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Uploading an image

A link to an article is no longer in existence. It is an electronic version of a newspaper. Luckily i have the image on my PC. How do i include this in the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lag3rman (talk • contribs) 05:32, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

It probably can't be included, as unless the newspaper edition is very very old it is most likely copyrighted. Uploaded it to Wikipedia (or to another website, and having Wikipedia link to it) would constitute a copyright violation. It's not necessary that sources used on Wikipedia be available online, however, so a citation to an out of print and offline newspaper article is fine. But it's good that you have an electronic copy; if anyone questions the source, you can email it to them. Someguy1221 (talk) 07:23, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Editing

A few months ago, I returned from a long block, and I haven't really made that many edits since then. What's a good way to find edits to make? And what's a good way to make a lot of edits? jc iindyysgvxc (my contributions) 09:42, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

• Well, Wikipedia isn't about making a lot of edits! It's about developing an encyclopedia. If you want suggestions about what you could usefully do, here is a list of tasks which need doing - articles which need to be wikified, updated, rewritten using the Manual of Style, cleaned-up, have information verified, be written in neutral language, be expanded or created. There's always a lot that needs doing! -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 10:21, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

No more pictures

My Wikipedia no longer displays pictures, I may pressed the wrong button while setting a picture as a background. How do I unblock pictures. Cpilot (talk) 12:17, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Question about Actor/Actress articles.

I am trying to create an article on Brooke Anne Smith, but I do not know what exactly I'm supposed to put in besides Filmography in regards to making the Article and keeping it from being deleted? Namely, what are the contexts that would make the subject identifiable, and what is "enough"? I'm asking because a previous article for her was deleted due to it not having enough context to identify the subject. As for why I am thinking of creating one, I just felt that it didn't seem right that she wouldn't get an article when other actors/actresses have. I mean, I can understand if absolutely nothing about her is known (like Suzetta Minet, for example), but there is a few stuff that is known about her. Weedle McHairybug (talk) 12:23, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Your first article gives you a pretty good overview on what to take care for and you can use the article wizard as well which takes you through creation step by step. Regards SoWhy 12:36, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Further to SoWhy's response, I should point out that the key thing to consider in deciding whether Smith should have an article is: how notable is she? Google News Search reveals 14 hits, but only half of those mention this one, and even though are one-sentence mentions. IMDB has an entry for her here which mentions 7 things she's been in, mostly one-episode appearances. Unless you can find information about her in reliable, independent sources, she may not yet be notable enough for inclusion in Wikipedia. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 12:43, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Should I add article about PADsynth or not?

Hi to all. I would like to add a short article about PADsynth [4], an synthesis algorithm invented by me. I am aware about "No original research" policy and this is the reason why I ask you here.

Despite of this policy, I believe that are some reasons PADsynth Wikipedia article.

Here are the reasons:

• The algorithm was implemented in many software synthesizers, like "WhySynth", "PADpal", etc. If you want links to these software as evidence for this, I can provide it.
• I found many positive comments on forums and blogs about this algorithm.
• I believe that this algorithm is very simple to understand and very useful to be learnt.
• I don't have the intention put on wikipedia the full description with examples, because I already did this on Wikibooks[5].

Please tell me if a short article about PADsynth is suitable for Wikipedia. Thank you.

Paulnasca (talk) 13:01, 24 November 2009 (UTC)