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    February 4

    Naming/page history issue

    Resolved
     – Copy/paste move mess has been fixed. – ukexpat (talk) 15:44, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    At IPAB the talk page is mis-named and the page history for IPAB has been lost in a move, it appears. Can someone point me to instructions on how to fix it? Or fix it themselves? Thanks. Jesanj (talk) 02:35, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    IPAB is a redirect to Independent Payment Advisory Board; the history is there. I created a parallel redirect for Talk:IPAB. —teb728 t c 08:36, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    It's worse than I thought: On 8 January someone apparently did a copy move of Independent Payment Advisory Board to Independent Medicare Advisory Board, effectively splitting the history. Apparently the correct title is Independent Payment Advisory Board; at least that is where the recent history is. So it needs admin attention to merge the history. —teb728 t c 09:03, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    {{adminhelp}}

    I now see what happened: The move was a real move, but another editor copied the article back over the redirect and replaced the moved article with a redirect. So it needs admin attention to merge the history from Independent Medicare Advisory Board at Independent Payment Advisory Board. (I just moved the talk page back, solving that part of the problem.) —teb728 t c 09:35, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for pointing this out. I am dealing with it. It may take a little while. JamesBWatson (talk) 09:57, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

     Done JamesBWatson (talk) 10:06, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    How to mark a BLP article.

    I'm doing new page patrol and am tagging a BLP article (Rudy Hubbard). I noticed that wikipedia isn't recognising it as a BLP article, i.e. when you edit it you don't get the BLP warning above the edit box, and I'm guessing IP editors aren't blocked from editing it. How is this enabled? I've added a BLP template to the talk page and also added it to category:Living People, but neither of those work, in fact the category looks like it shouldn't be used that way so I'm guessing I'm doing this the wrong way round. Thinking about it, it doesn't really make sense for this to be done by wiki markup within the article as it would be too easy to circumvent, so is there some admin function I need to request or a board I need to post on? Thanks --ThePaintedOne (talk) 11:24, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    It's triggered by Category:Living people, which I have fixed in the Rudy Hubbard article. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:35, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Ah, just a typo on my part! Thanks for the assist.--ThePaintedOne (talk) 11:46, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Adolf Hitler

    Using AOL - every time I try to open the page on Adolf Hitler, AOL closes down. Using Windows Explorer - I can open the page, but it does have a hiccup on opening.

    melvyn —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.149.107.99 (talk) 11:50, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Have you tried to use another web browser? mabdul 11:59, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    I suspect it may be connected with the fact that the length of the article is 236KB (of Wikicode). —teb728 t c 12:03, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    I doubt that since there is no note at Wikipedia:Browser_notes#Internet Explorer or only in the case of a really old IE with an really old Win-version (9X?)/PC with very less RAM. mabdul 15:12, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Action Research in Education

    what is Action Research in Education? How can we do or conduct in Elementary education and secondary education? What are its pros and cons and how can we solvre or implement properly in the schools? Please answer with great deal.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.204.57.25 (talk) 14:07, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 3.5 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. - Please note also that Wikipedia won't do your homework for you, but might (of course) be a useful tool for you to use in your research. David Biddulph (talk) 14:13, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    City of Leeds School entry says it reads like an advert.

    Resolved
     – Tag removed and replaced by relevant tag~!

    The entry is very short and factual, and it has been reduced to the bare bones, I think the 'advertisement' tag should be removed.82.3.199.155 (talk) 14:34, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    your article about cremation and Islam

    I realize that this this is a very LEFTIST blog, but why do you put Islam first in your article? Islam has only been in existance since the 7th century, yet you list it first, above Judaism and Christianity?

    Why is that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 169.145.3.21 (talk) 16:33, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

      1. Wikipedia is not a blog but an encyclopedia.
      2. It has no political affiliation (this is not to say that none of the millions who have edited it have such affiliations, but these are not reflected in any editorial policy).
      3. Islam is not inherently favoured by or affiliated with political leftism.
      4. The ordering reflects the way the article has been created incrementally over time by numerous editors. There is no editorial agenda in the ordering of the subsections in Cremation#Religious views on cremation. If you would like to propose another order, feel free to do so on the article talk page. Or you can even boldly reorganize it yourself, explaining your rationale in the edit summary (and, if you choose a chronological order, keeping in mind that several of the Asian traditions described in the article are older than the Christian and Jewish ones you mentioned). Gonzonoir (talk) 16:46, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict) Well, this is an encyclopedia, not a blog. Are you referring to Cremation#Religious_views_on_cremation? I haven't examined it in-depth, but my guess is that Islam is listed first simply because it has the shortest explanation. Placing it at the bottom or in middle may cause it to get lost in the clutter. TNXMan 16:49, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    What difference does the order make? And why would the age of a religion matter? Age doesn't make a religion any more likely to be true, or false, or better, or worse. Appeal to tradition ("if it's old, it must be true") and Appeal to novelty ("if it's new, it must be true") are both fallacies, which is to say that the age of an idea has nothing to do with whether it is true. --Teratornis (talk) 03:33, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Citing

    How do you reference a webpage? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jmoxie (talk • contribs) 16:48, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    The best way to do this is to use the {{cite web}} template. Just fill out the fields you know and place it between a <ref> and a </ref> in the article. TNXMan 16:50, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    For the details, see WP:CITE, WP:FOOT, and {{Cite web}}. --Teratornis (talk) 03:13, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    up and coming new band

    hi. I have read through the posts and links and while there is ALOT of information, I am still unsure about the answer to my question. I work with an up and coming new band. We would like to be included in Wikipedia. Is this what is considered an "article" and do we write it ourselves? thank you, Linaz Martine 17:45, 4 February 2011 (UTC)~

    <redacted> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.221.206.66 (talk) 17:45, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Start by reading WP:BAND and WP:UPANDCOMING. --Orange Mike | Talk 17:48, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Thank you. I "think" this means that we create the article ourselves. I will look through the links you gave me. Next week. After the Packers win the Superbowl. L18:02, 4 February 2011 (UTC)~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.221.206.66 (talk)

    Better to say, I think, that it means nobody should write it until the criteria at WP:BAND are met, or else it'll probably be deleted. And that once those criteria are met, it would be much better if somebody unconnected with the band wrote the article, because it's difficult for somebody who is connected to write neutrally about the subject. --AndrewHowse (talk) 18:18, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Since you work with the band and talk of them as "we," you should also read WP:COI. —teb728 t c 22:26, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Getting ride of extra info for sports team info box

    I'm trying to make an info box for my softball team. I'm using the MLB info box and only want a few things to show on the page for the team. However, info that I removed keeps showing up. It appears as shown even after removing info that I do not need:

    Collapse info box
    padding
    Oakland Horseside
    2024 Oakland Horseside season
    Retired numbersWally Thompson - 11
    Colors
    • Navy Blue, Yellow, White
         
    Name
    • Oakland Horseside (1971–present)
    Other nicknames
    • “The Hide”
    Front office
    Principal owner(s)Keith Salminen
    ManagerKeith Salminen

    The Cap logo & Team Logo I plan on adding in, but everything else that doesn't have info in it I want to remove. What do I need to do or what other templete do I need to use? Thank you.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Rfa149 (talk • contribs)

    Try using {{Infobox baseball team}} instead. --Mysdaao talk 21:08, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Your sports team? Have you read and familiarised yourself with our policy on conflicts of interest? Rehevkor ✉ 21:10, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    More urgently, read WP:ORG and demonstrate in the article that Oakland Horsehide Softball Club has received significant coverage in independent reliable sources. Otherwise the article will be deleted soon, and anything else you do will be lost. —teb728 t c 23:41, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Please edit the page.

    I dont find a source and cant understand why and how can u uplaod a pic of Hazrat Imaam Hasan on the below mentioned page. That time and even today, no source exists which can actually state that this is the pic of Hazrat Imaam Hasan. So with the kind request please remove the PIC.

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

    As a content issue, the best place to discuss it is on the talk page of the article.--SPhilbrickT 22:35, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Is already discussed at Talk:Hasan_ibn_Ali#His Picture. mabdul 23:23, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    coded encrypted words

    OK I have looked everywhere for this answer but to no avail. Here is the question. Why are some words on the wikipedia "coded" or encryped? Most of the words that are coded seem to be like a title to a movie or title to a song. The article is intact, but several key words are coded or encrypted. For instance, if I look up the actor Michael Cain.. I will see that he was in the movie SLUTH. BUT.... wikipedia displays the word "Sluth" as "jckbq" (in italics). Now... I can mouse over that garbage and hold, and a bubble will pop up stating that the translation is SLUTH.. but why, oh why does it do this??? Sorry to bug you guys, but it drives me nuts.. my email is.... JUST KIDDING. I read your warning! lol (although I am not entirely sure that if you answer this, where I can find it! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.79.69.16 (talk) 23:12, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    You are not using wikipedia directly by typing in the address bar http://en.wikipedia.org/ ; you used a translator (maybe by google) that tries to translate some words in other languages, and the original text are in the bubbles. maybe you use a wikipedia version in another language. mabdul 23:27, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    I guess you mean Sleuth (1972 film). "jckbq" has no vowels and doesn't sound like any language to me. Maybe your browser has problems displaying italics. Movie and album titles (though not songs) are usually in italics in Wikipedia in accordance with WP:ITALICS. Can you read these two sentences: 1) Here is "Sleuth" not in italics. 2) Here is the same word "Sleuth" in italics. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:13, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    February 5

    DISPLAYTITLE

    Hi. How can I add extra parts to the title using the {{DISPLAYTITLE}} magic word? I know that using <span style="display:none;"> could hide parts, but what the code to add new parts? 119.235.2.251 (talk) 02:01, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Be more specific about what you want to do, and where you want to do it (page name? is it on Wikipedia, or another wiki?). Wikipedia:Page name#Changing the displayed title describes what you can do on Wikipedia, and it does not sound like much. --Teratornis (talk) 03:25, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    For example, I want to change my userpage title from the default User:Example to something like User:Example ABC. How do I do that? I am quite positive this is possible... 119.235.2.213 (talk) 03:59, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Unfortunately I must inform you that it is not possible with {{DISPLAYTITLE:...}}. This magicword only works to change the formatting of a title, and cannot add or remove text from it, because the title, if copied, must still be searchable back to the page. The <span style="display:none;"> trick is a hack that the developers, when they implemented {{DISPLAYTITLE:...}}, probably did not foresee (or they would have disallowed it). While it is possible with some creative CSS to hide parts of the title, it is not possible to add new parts. You can, however, change your username if you really want it that badly (follow the instructions at WP:CHU carefully). Keep in mind that changing a username is not something that can be done and undone on a whim; choose your new name wisely, should you opt to change, and plan on keeping that name for a long time. Intelligentsium 04:08, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Right. mw:Manual:$wgRestrictDisplayTitle is the default true at the English Wikipedia. I don't know about other wikis. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:55, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Veiled Chameleon

    I'm curious as to if the c in Veiled Chameleon should be capitalized or not. Albacore (talk) 02:19, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    No, it should not. Common names of animals use sentence case, with a few exceptions. (See WP:FNAME for details.) --Danger (talk) 02:32, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Actually WP:FNAME gives the example of Southern boobook which is a redirect to Southern Boobook (the latter seems to be canonical). It looks like we have a lot of similarly titled articles, see for example Crested Lark, Crested Tit, Crested Porcupine, Variegated Flycatcher, etc. Also see WP:FNAME#Capitalisation of common names of species which says the various WikiProjects decide whether to capitalize the first letters of second and following words in animal names. --Teratornis (talk) 03:44, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Yeah, the current exceptions are birds, primates, lepidopterans and odonates. --Danger (talk) 04:07, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Special:Contributions bug?

    I am confused by Special:Contributions/71.6.14.2. It says the IP address is currently blocked, but the log entry it shows is a 1 week block back in 2006. Is it bug or what? —teb728 t c 06:25, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Looks like a bug to me. It's a fairly new feature of the MediaWiki software. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:06, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    So how do I report it? —teb728 t c 11:15, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Poking around further, I think this might be an example of Bug 23059. It would take a high-powered admin to verify this, though. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:42, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    And I have lifted the non-existing block, which according to bugzilla 23059 wasn't supposed to work. Hmmm... decltype (talk) 15:52, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    EDITORS

    HOW DO I CONTACT THE ENTIRE LIST OF WRITERS OR EDITORS WHO HAVE PRODUCED A SPECIFIC ARTICLE ?

    PAUL BENEDETTI

    74.233.33.147 (talk) 06:29, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Do you mean a specific Wikipedia article? You can click "View history" near the top right corner of your screen, and browse the list of contributions, on that page there's a part that lists some "external tools", one of these is "Contributors", click that for a full list of whose worked on the article.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 06:37, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    If you go to an article, you'll see a "View history" tab at the top right. Click on that and you'll see all the versions of the article as well as who created them. You'll have to contact people individually though. There is no system to contact every one of them at once. And please, STOP SHOUTING. On the internet, using ALL CAPS is seen as shouting. And doing so unnecessarily is seen as rude. Dismas|(talk) 06:37, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Follow the directions I gave, that little tool will show all the contributors on a single page (if there are less than 1,000).--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 06:44, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Please don't try to contact the entire list of contributors, only those who have made a substantial numbers of edits to the article you have in mind. The Wikipedia community includes many editors who make one or two small corrections to hundreds or even thousands of articles; they are unlikely to be experts in the article's subject area. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:10, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    (WP:AGF?) Maybe 74.233.33.147 is using a mobile or a similar shiftless input device, as I would suspect with other recent all-caps entries here on Help Desk. Whether such a low-quality device is appropriate for editing here is a different matter.
    And please note that I don't want to accuse Dismas of BITEing of ABFing. I see Dismas's reply as a warning that all-caps is widely perceived as shouting, not necessarily that it actually is. User.Zero.Zero.Zero.One (talk) 17:31, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    normally I needs to start a discussion on the talkpage of the article. Mostly editors that are active and have contributed more than a minor edit or have interested in this subject will have the article on their WP:watchlist. mabdul 13:01, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    How can I create my own wiki?

    This is my little brother's account and he was wondering how to create a separate wiki. I have tried to get him up and running with WikiPages and WikiMedia but it's very hard to install and isn't even good format. He says that he remembers clicking on something a year or so ago and it gave him the option of creating his own wiki (Wookiepedia as an example). Now I can't find that button, and neither can him. Can you tell us how to create a wiki? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.84.57.199 (talk) 10:27, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    If you have problems with installing a MediaWiki wiki, then you can try wikia.-- ♫Greatorangepumpkin♫ T 10:32, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Personal discussions with subject as verification

    Hello, I am a bit confused on how to correctly provide verification when the information has been provided to me by the subject through personal conversations and that of extremely close relatives . i.e My cousin Joy Adamson, author of Born Free, I am trying to verify some information about my late cousin (deceased Joy Adamson) and also am trying to provide better citations for another subject(living person) so that my edits are not deleted. Thank you very much! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Litzi17 (talk • contribs) 10:28, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Please read WP:COI and WP:CITE before. mabdul 10:58, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    And also WP:V. Information should be cited to a verifiable source, i.e. one that anyone can go look at whether it be on the internet or in a library. Your personal conversations with relatives and friends are not verifiable. Dismas|(talk) 11:01, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Content in Wikipedia must be based on published reliable sources. —teb728 t c 11:12, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Vandalism?

    Are these recent edits vandalism? http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jamaat_al-Muslimeen&action=history Gobbleswoggler (talk) 10:35, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Maybe. Maybe not. It may have been a well intentioned anon IP who thought that they could copy the FAQ found here directly into the article. Should it be removed? Yes. And I've done just that. Thanks for pointing it out. Dismas|(talk) 10:46, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]


    Trouble with Louisiana Senate photo

    I uploaded this photo and I'm trying to attach it to the legislature template on Louisiana State Senate I've never had a problem like this before. The photo for some reason or another will not display itself.--Jack Cox (talk) 11:37, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Looks like you've got it to display now, yes? Deor (talk) 11:46, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Linda Christas College

    I am a student at Linda Christas College, in my third year.

    I have been told that Wikipedia has no editorial board but finds a way to continually reject a listing for the College.

    The reason the rejections cannot be reversed? Well, there's no editorial board, of course.

    Wikipedia has requested contributions from the College, and yet, has on numerous occasions rejected the College.

    We have major community professionals on the Board, but evidently, if they are on the Board, that disqualifies them as third party verifications.

    Some students in the past have joshed with Wikipedia because of the obtuse behavior of Wiki editors. One of the most innovative and hopeful new approaches to education in the world, and Wiki editors continually rule against including the school. Must all be graduates of traditional "think inside the box" kinds of folks.

    Wikipedia has no editorial board, and, therefore, rejections and deletions of articles are done by, well, no one. But, at least the anonymous editors are consistent. One look at the history and, WOW. These guys deserve what they get.

    You have asked how to attract more friends to Wikipedia in your introductory materials. My first suggestion would be not to take 5,000 families and trash them by asking them for financial support, and then negatively working them over by anonymous editors. 5000 families representing the 5,000 students attending Linda Christas College who will not forget the anonymous way in which the College has been treated.

    Just in case you have anyone who would like to reverse the real travesty that is the "no editorial board" rejections of Linda Christas College, our Provost's name is Dr. Ann Voisin. Her e-mail station is [details removed].

    Please don't pretend that you are wanting to improve Wikipedia (as in the intro when I opened my account) when large swaths of the population are eliminated by, well, no one really. Just anonymous editors who really need to do something else with their lives.

    Insulted by Wikipedia in Virginia

    Adelard Smithson, Class of '12 Linda Christas College — Preceding unsigned comment added by Adelard55 (talk • contribs) 12:02, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Hey, I thought you said your name was Lara DeSoleil. ―cobaltcigs 12:12, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    The deletion can be reversed if it can be shown that multiple reliable sources have provided significant coverage of the college. ~~ GB fan ~~ 12:14, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    The hours Linda Christas proponents have spent here, railing against Wikipedia editors' various failings with regard to their institution, would be far better spent by (a) providing us with the citations we need to support an article or (b) persuading the reputable independent media to write or broadcast something about the college's achievements, thus creating coverage we can cite and removing the current obstacle to an Wikipedia article. I suggest you ask your principal to explain tertiary source, if the article itself is unclear. Please try to understand: it is not Wikipedia's fault that the media has not yet given substantial coverage to this institution. When it does, we'll be right here. Karenjc 13:18, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Don't you think, as you've acknowledged in your question, that the fact that multiple different editors keep telling you the same thing is very telling—even more than if a unified "editing board" existed and gave you a unified answer? That answer would not change if we had an "editing board" because it is our policies for inclusion that you keep coming up against (and cannot meet); not the people you keep blaming and insulting, rather than taking on what they are telling you.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:25, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Perhaps it's time to drop the stick? I can see near dozens of AfDs and they all came to the same conclusion, non-notable, self-promotional and spam. The accusations towards editors and Wikipedia itself will get you nowhere, neither will sock puppetry or meat puppetry. You have exhausted near every avenue of good faith available to you. Rehevkor ✉ 16:03, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    IPv6

    Are Mediawiki wiki's ready (specifically Wikipedia) for IPv6? How will anonymous edits be handled? --XRDoDRX (talk) 14:40, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    See Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive 83#Wikipedia IPv6 deployment.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:46, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Please, take a look at the external links section in article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dai_Bai_Zan_Cho_Bo_Zen_Ji. Wiki is not a forum to promote one's dharma talks and websites. Should it be erased? Isn't this spamming? Spt51 (talk) 15:19, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Personally I'd strip all but the first link (the official site?) and a consensus can be gained on the talk page on which of the others, if any, are worthy of being kept. Rehevkor ✉ 15:31, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Contributions

    How do I add my previous contributions under a miscellaneous IP address to my new account. Johnny Boulton (talk) 15:29, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    This is not possible, a previous response such a question may be of some assistance though: Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 July 2#Transferring IP edits to a username. Rehevkor ✉ 15:35, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Making myself a contributor to a portal

    Good Morning,

    I have recently set up a wikipedia account, and tried to add myself as a contributer to the mathematics portal. When I did this I accidently added or modified someone elses information, and I do not know how to correct this error. I would like to contact the person who's profile information I goofed up, and add myself as a contributor to the mathematics portal. Can anyone explain to me how I would go about this? Any information that anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated. you can contact me at [details removed].

    Thanks in advance,

    Russ VanderHorst — Preceding unsigned comment added by Russellvanderhorst (talk • contribs) 16:47, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    That was a tricky editing task to start your editing career here - I've fixed it for you. There's no need to apologise to anyone; mistakes can easily be undone or corrected.
    At Wikipedia we don't use emails much; I have removed your email address from your question to protect your privacy. I've also left you some introductory links on your talk page. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:10, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    We prefer to use talk pages to communicate rather than email where possible. Email is best for private two-way communication. Wikipedia, on the other hand, is a many-way public collaboration, where any number of people now and in the future may need to understand something we do now. Therefore it is usually best to communicate on public talk pages, so everything we do remains transparent to all other Wikipedia users who our actions might affect. This creates a slight initial learning hurdle for someone who is new to Wikipedia, as talk pages here do not work exactly the same way as other communication tools most people are likely to have used before coming to Wikipedia. Fortunately, everything you need to know is in the friendly manual. --Teratornis (talk) 18:31, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Don Johnson Heartbeat (song)

    Heartbeat is a 1986 song by Don Johnson. It was released as a single and included on the album of the same name. It became an international hit, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and charting highly in many European countries. It was also ranked at #90 on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever by Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio, who commented, "Fame must have messed with [Johnson's] head, because Ol' Crockett really thought he could pull this off."[1] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.46.236.76 (talk) 17:21, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Do you have a question? ~~ GB fan ~~ 17:28, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    I compared your post to Heartbeat (Don Johnson song) and found a single difference: You correctly say "100 Worst Songs Ever" where the article incorrectly said "100 Worst Songs Even" before my correction.[1] If you posted to point out the typo then it's simpler to correct it by yourself. Just click the "Edit" tab at top of the page, change the letter and click Save page. Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia anybody can edit. If you post about a problem here at the help desk then please explain the problem, for example: The article "Heartbeat (Don Johnson song)" says "100 Worst Songs Even" instead of "100 Worst Songs Ever". PrimeHunter (talk) 22:32, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    user page layout problem

    How can i have on my user page User:Penbat:

    • user boxes in the left hand margin and nothing else along side it
    • then followed by barnstars on the left-hand margin and nothing else along side it
    • and then followed by the text in the left hand margin directly below ?

    so everything is stacked vertically along the left hand margin. --Penbat (talk) 19:36, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Is this what you wanted?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 20:23, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    yes that looks nice. Thanks, What is {{clear}} by the way ? Just to polish it a bit further, how can i limit the width of the barnstars so they are both the same widths ? --Penbat (talk) 20:36, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    {{clear}} puts everything below the clear past everything above it, ie so formatting isn't messed up with like userboxes on the left, and barnstars on the right. Per your request here would put barnstars next to userbox, and make them the same length. CTJF83 20:44, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Thx guys. i wasnt sure whether to put the barnstars alongside the userboxes but now think that looks best and incidentally seems to force the barnstars to word wrap to the same widths anyway. --Penbat (talk) 21:00, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    No, the width is from here.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 21:35, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    i noticed that edit but with the previous edit, the widths seems to work out Ok anyway as the text wraps. At least they do on my screen.--Penbat (talk) 21:58, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Hmm, on mine (Firefox on a mac), that has no effect on the widths.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:46, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    I am firefox on a PC. It may be more to do with screen resolutions. Anyway i have kept your edit in so presumably it covers different screen resolutions and still works fine for me. Just checked and my screen resolution is 1024 by 768.--Penbat (talk) 23:16, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    • Just wanted to make a note here, for those who may not be aware of it, in addition to general help questions here, there's also a questions page for help specifically to do with userpage design, which btw, could use more people patrolling it. -- œ™ 00:47, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Userbox template code

    I created User:UBX/Multiple music artists, but I don't quite have the experience with templates to make it the way I want it to be. I would like it to have up to 10 parameters for music artists, which I could do fine (and will finish doing later), but I can't figure out how to get the "and" to crop up before the last artist/band specified regardless of whether or not a user fills in all the parameters. How do I code the template to where the "and" appears before the last parameter regardless of whether 3, 6, or 10 parameters are used by a user? Ks0stm (T•C•G) 21:18, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Template {{Fb r header}} copes with a variable number of unnamed parameters; it does this by requiring an extra, named, numeric parameter to tell it how many there are. Any use? -- John of Reading (talk) 22:18, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Doris Miles Disney

    My aunt was Doris Miles Disney,mystery writer, and I have have written an article about my memories of her. How do I add it to the brief summary now shown on her page? Thank you, George Tolve — Preceding unsigned comment added by Georgetol (talk • contribs) 23:02, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Hello George. I see you have already contributed to the article. Unfortunatly personal memories are beyond the scope of an encyclopedia such as Wikipedia. In the future if you have something to contribute to the article you can suggest it at the talk page. Rehevkor ✉ 23:10, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Just to add a little more to Rehevkor's explanation, the reason your memories of your aunt are outside Wikipedia's scope is because Wikipedia is a tertiary source. Every fact published here must be capable of being confirmed in material that has already been published somewhere else, in a reliable source. Personal anecdotes, unpublished memories and the like don't qualify, no matter how close the contributor has been to the subject of the article, because they can't be checked or confirmed. As Ms Disney's nephew you have a potential conflict of interest, which means you're discouraged from making changes to the article (particularly if those changes are in any way controversial), which is why Rehevkor suggests you discuss them on the talk page first. However, plain factual changes, supported by citations to good reliable published sources, would be unlikely to cause concern. Wikipedia:Neutral point of view explains the site's policy on the neutral and factual presentation of information. Karenjc 14:25, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm trying to find a way to get a template to link to all its contents and appear on the respective pages, but I wanted to know if there was a faster way to get it to work take Template: Florida House of Representatives for example, I would like to find a way to the make these links attach to their pages without having to manually go and add them to the respective pages.--Jack Cox (talk) 01:35, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    There's nothing for it but to edit each page. If you're going to do a lot of this, you might consider applying for permission to use AutoWikiBrowser. This which would allow you to make each edit with fewer clicks and keystrokes. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:22, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Isn't there any bot that can do this? I do believe that I can remember that any bot on request will do such tasks (in case the Jack hasn't enough experience with AWB)... mabdul 12:38, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    February 6

    Alexandra Powers

    Hi! Would it ok to upload a photo of Alexandra Powers from this link: http://www.fandango.com/celebrityphotos/alexandrapowers_p57553 or this link: http://www.whosdatedwho.com/tpx_47108/alexandra-powers/photo I think her page needs a photo. But that's just my opinion. Thanks! Neptunekh2 (talk) 00:21, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    I would imagine, since the subject is still alive, they would fail the WP:NFCC, as a free alternative could feasibly be produced. Rehevkor ✉ 00:26, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    how i enter the new information in wikipedia ?

    Hello Wiki !

    i want to enter the new information in wikipedia , but i dont know that how i can do it ?

    Regards, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.102.30.50 (talk) 01:28, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Try looking at Wikipedia:Introduction and Wikipedia:Tutorial.--Bbb23 (talk) 01:57, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Suggestion for WP

    Hi,

    My suggestion is to have definitions of the words used in links to other pages. For instance if I look up scientific matter like quantum physics I, as a layman, end up more confused than when I started. The links may lead to other pages that explain, for instance, fermions, but the original page may be much easier to read when high lighting over hyperlinks also displays a brief definition of the word in question.

    Thanks for your time,

    Roy —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.82.68.20 (talk) 03:23, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    If you create a free account then you can enable Navigation popups under "Gadgets" at Special:Preferences. This displays the start of the linked page (which will often contain a definition or introduction) when you hover over a link. Hovering over fermion gives me:
    "In particle physics, fermions are particles that obey Fermi–Dirac statistics. They are named after Enrico Fermi. In contrast to bosons, which obey Bose–Einstein statistics, only one fermion can occupy a quantum state at a given time."
    I can then hover over each of the displayed links while still remaining on this page. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:05, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Summary style

    I haven't been able to find an answer to this, when doing an article in summary style, what length should the summary section be?

    In the Burger King article I have the History of Burger King section summarized with 5 relatively short paragraphs. Each paragraph summarizes a section in the spin off article, which is not yet finished but is at 58kb as it stands now. I think the summary is an appropriate length because it summarizes a pretty long article in a rather small section, while others have commented that the summary has too much detail.

    So, what is the proper standard? Is there one? --Jeremy (blah blah • I did it!) 08:49, February 6, 2011 (UTC)

    Circular reference for Hibernate Query Language (HQL)

    HQL and Hibernate Query Language (used as links in many articles) redirect to Java Persistence Query Language; section Hibernate Query Language in that article has some information. In that section there is a link to Hibernate (Java) (section "Hibernate Query Language (HQL)"). In that section there is a link to Hibernate Query Language (HQL) - that redirects as described in the beginning of this paragraph.

    Thus, there is a circular reference. How can it be resolved? One way could be to decide the section in Hibernate (Java) is THE place for HQL (it seems to be the most natural place when there is no separate article for HQL). The section in Java Persistence Query Language could be dissolved into some other section as a passing mention and the content merged with the content in Hibernate (Java). The redirects (HQL and Hibernate Query Language) should then point to Hibernate (Java) instead of Java Persistence Query Language. What do you think?--Mortense (talk) 09:56, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Hi. Java Persistence Query Language could be merged into Hibernate Query Language section that is in Hibernate. Steps for the merge can be found in WP:MERGE. ~ Elitropia (talk) 10:28, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Isn't a merge a rather drastic step to take? --Mortense (talk) 11:35, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Well, not in this case. JPQL is based on HQL and HQL is provided by Hibernate. The section of HQL is existing in both articles in JPQL and Hibernate. From the merge page: "Reasons to merge a page include the following: unnecessary duplication of content, significant overlap with the topic of another page, and minimal content that could be covered in or requires the context of a page on a broader topic." Also, we don't directly take the step, we propose it first as it is told in WP:MERGE. But, mine is just an offer of course, since you asked about the ideas. If you think this is drastic, the other solution could be that the link of HQL in Hibernate could redirect to Hibernate Query Language in Java Persistence Query Language instead of the main article itself. But still confusing. ~ Elitropia (talk) 11:52, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    It wasn't intended as a rhetorical question, I just have mostly done copy-editing up to this point. --Mortense (talk) 12:14, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    On the other side, you can always start a discussion in the talk page of these two articles which is best to do. Then the watchers of these articles could provide opinions, too ; ) ~ Elitropia (talk) 12:01, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    You mean merging is difficult? I carried it out once. You only follow the steps in the merge article. If it comes to that point with these articles you mention, I could look out, help. But as I said earlier, discussions on the talk pages also would help to get more opinions. ~ Elitropia (talk) 12:42, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Protecting Page.

    Sir

    I am unable to protect my page Rattan Hose from Editing. Please let me know in simple detail.

    Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Slaich2000 (talk • contribs) 11:07, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Simple detail: it cannot or will not be done. This website is designed to allow anyone to edit pages. You explicitly agreed to that when you entered the page text and clicked "save". DMacks (talk) 11:19, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    The page Rattan Hose has been deleted as it appeared to be advertising or promotion for the company. You state at your user page "Rattan Hose in an Indian Company and needs the information to be protected against outside public to avoid external editing". But I'm afraid it doesn't work that way – this is Wikipedia, and with very few exceptions, any page can be edited by any person. No-one owns a page. If you want to re-create the page, you should first read Wikipedia's guideline on conflict of interest, and then I would suggest you use the article wizard which you can access from this page. Adrian J. Hunter(talk•contribs) 11:25, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Foreclosure

    Hello, I got a letter from the city council I will have my house foreclosed, I have no money to pay my debts. What can I do? I don't want to end up homeless. Suzette Marguerette Peters, Bethesda, MD. Tlph. [details removed] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.109.111.7 (talk) 11:40, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    We cannot offer legal advice. Please see the legal disclaimer. Contact your lawyer. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:47, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Agave. A plant with many uses.

    Has anyone in the Wikipedia familly any experience of any variety of Agave used in Bioenergy development? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.15.197.135 (talk) 11:46, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    There's a mention of Bioenergy in the Agave article, so you could start by reading the works mentioned in footnote 7. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:51, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Ronald Reagan Aritcle

    I'm not sure how to let you know when there is a spelling issue in an article. In the Ronald Reagan article there is a line with what I think is the wrong word.

    Reagan joked, the producers "didn't want them good, they wanted them Thursday.

    Isn't this supposed to be thirsty? If Thursday is correct then I think more context needs to be added because it doesn't make much sense.

    Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.138.185.225 (talk) 14:24, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    The quote's sourced to this Washington Post article, and Thursday seems to be correct. The context seems clear to me - the producers didn't care whether the B-movies were any good, they just wanted them to be made extremely quickly. I'm not sure how producers could want a movie "thirsty". Karenjc 14:33, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    I read the image use policy but didn't understand it, so am asking for a "copyright for dummies" explanation please. If you take a photo of a painting or a sculpture, is it okay to use this on wikipedia?--Physics is all gnomes (talk) 14:26, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    When was the painting "published" (first authorized edition placed on sale, sold, or publicly distributed by the proprietor of the copyright or under his authority)? Was it prior to January 1, 1923? When did the painter die? Was it more than 70 years ago?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:38, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    I don't have a specific example in mind I'm afraid. The context was that I was advising an editor at WP:Requests for feedback about this article: Bobbi Mastrangelo. I wanted to suggest adding some pictures, but then realised I was totally confused about what would be allowed. --Physics is all gnomes (talk) 14:43, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    This stuff is not easy and not easily distilled to simple rules. As best I understand it (and you might want to get a second opinion at WP:MCQ) if the painting is of US origin, and is in the public domain, then a photograph of the painting is not copyrightable under the doctrine of originality of expression (at least in the U.S.) and so you can ignore the fact that it is a photograph of a painting, and just look to the copyright of the painting, if any. Turning to that inquiry, if it was published (and with paintings I believe the language I quoted above regarding publication is the applicable standard) prior to January 23, 1923 in the U.S., then it's public domain. If you don't know the publication date, then you have to look to the artist's date of death--more than 70 years ago for the U.S. (more than 100 years ago for many other countries). The inquiries to determine whether a work is public domain are different if the country of origin is different. See :Commons:Licensing. Take a look at {{PD-art-US}} and its talk page for more on this. If the work is not in the public domain (or not freely licensed and with a license compatible with ours), then you have to turn to fair use—using copyrighted media under a claim that the use is fair under certain circumstances, despite copyright persisting. See WP:NFCC for more—another area that has many complexities. That's about the best I can do and I can't guarantee that everything I have said here is correct in all particulars.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:11, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Regarding the specific artist, now that I've looked at the article, since she's still alive and all of her works are post 1923, they are all presumed copyrighted. So in order for us to use them, they would need to have been released into the public domain by the copyright owner or be compatibly freely-licensed. If not, fair use is the only route.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:29, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for your detailed response :) --Physics is all gnomes (talk) 15:59, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    You're welcome.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:39, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    information about bluetooth devices

    i want bluetooth devices information which have a capacity of 50-100metres to send rays from it and with device cost. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.108.203.170 (talk) 15:17, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Have you tried the computing section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps.Template:Z38--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:19, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Burki

    REPORT User:Qwyrxian SITE: BURKI REASON: This is my tribe and much of our history is oral passed down from one generation to the next. This user has decided to become the policeman of our site having no ties to our tribe which begs the question: why is this person determined to delete info that can easily be verified on " notable personalities" on google? The two Olympians true don't have their own Wiki pages because not everyone wants such publicity. But all one has to do is google them and 1948 Olympics Pakistan and they pop up. The song clearly identifies Pir Roshan and yet it is also deleted. Why? I completely understand the need for accuracy and also recongize the importance of historical accuracy. This page is the only way to reach our tribe members across the globe and educate them on their lineage/family. Yet, Wiki "ambassadors" take it upon themselves for reasons one can only imagine to act dictatorial and thus limit the ability to disseminate information. Precisely what your site does not appear to aim for. I respectfully request that such self appointed "editors" be not givern carte blanche ability to act dictatorially (if this is indeed some sort of power trip) and thus successfully limit the transmission of free and accurate information. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Virginiacity (talk • contribs) 15:51, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm sorry, but any material added needs to be cited to independent reliable sources. Wikipedia is not a primary source, but rather, a encyclopedia that has articles based on secondary sources. I apologize if I've misunderstood, but it seems that your issue is someone removing your research from Burki. TNXMan 16:05, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Further to my message on your talk page, I've now looked at the article in more detail. We honestly don't want to remove the ability to disseminate information, but as you will understand, given that anyone at all can edit wikipedia, we need to be able to check that the information is true. Hence every claim, especially about living people, should be backed up with a reference from a reliable source (see guidelines on what's considered reliable). If you can provide these sources, then the material can be added back in. If you're confused about how to format the sources, then send me a message on my talk page copying and pasting the links, and I'll help show you how to add them. --Physics is all gnomes (talk) 16:36, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    But please bear in mind that Wikipedia emphatically does not exist to disseminate information on behalf of any individual, group or organisation. It is not here to help you "reach our tribe members across the globe and educate them on their lineage/family". The article named Burki is not "your site". Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, containing articles about notable subjects. You are most welcome to contribute, but if you add information to it without providing sources, it is at risk of being removed again by any other user. That's how Wikipedia works. Karenjc 18:29, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    I don't really have much to add beyond what is posted above. Note that it's not really me editing dictatorially,, its the rules and policies themselves acting dictatorially. It is actually a well-known problem that Wikipedia has systemic biases because it requires written sources, even though much information in the world is preserved orally or in ways that are otherwise don't meet our policies. Unfortunately, though, those policies do remain, and all I'm enforcing are the rules. Let's discuss this on the article's talk page; maybe some of the information does have written sources, but just needs to have those references properly formatted. I'd rather not just keep having to revert that information, because then the article isn't improving at all. Qwyrxian (talk) 23:42, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Something I've noticed...

    Why is it that so often when someone disagrees with another editor over the contents of a page, he/she acts like there was a worldwide conspiracy out to just get him/her? JIP | Talk 17:17, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    This forum is for asking questions about how to use Wikipedia. Perhaps you should try the reference desk, under the heading "Life's Paradoxes", subheading "Wikipedia". Another possible area for further research would be the heading "Psychology 101", subheading "Worldwide Conspiracies". If you disagree with my suggestions, [details removed].--Bbb23 (talk) 17:34, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    More seriously responding to JIP's philosophical question, I haven't noticed the phenomenon he mentions too much. More frequently, I've noticed that disagreements often become uncivil, unconstructive, circular, and disproportionately passionate. Too frequently, instead of discussing an issue, editors only argue. These arguments get out of control, and people say things they shouldn't and refuse to acknowledge any validity to others' points of view. Part of the problem is the environment of Wikipedia itself, which is mixture of democracy, anarchy, and very odd hierarchical bureaucracy. Exacerbating that blend is the fact that Wikipedia is an electronic medium, which allows for more misunderstandings due to sensory deprivation, and also permits people to more easily snipe at each other because one forgets there are human beings behind the user ids. Putting the final touches on this rather grim portrait, I find the endless policies and guidelines to be daunting, requiring immense amounts of time to absorb and attempt to put them together into anything resembling a cohesive whole. Maybe my flip answer was better. :-) --Bbb23 (talk) 18:08, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    It was :P But all good points. I've noticed it too - trying to reach NPOV does seem to descend disconcertingly often into "why do you want to suppress the free speech of jews/muslims/christians/conservatives/scientists/sceptics?" --Physics is all gnomes (talk) 18:44, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Oh, well, if you're going to edit those kinds of articles ... --Bbb23 (talk) 18:57, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    What is wrong with the pages?

    I've noticed that after I rolled the navigator bar to the right, the Wikipedia page I was looking at immediately zoomed out. Now, whenever I'm looking at Wikipedia, all the text is tiny and I can't read it. Can you fix this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tony414 (talk • contribs) 17:48, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Somehow your ctrl key was pressed at the time you used the scroll. There are a number of ways to fix this. You can hold down the ctral key again and scroll; you can hit ctrl+zero (resets to defaul size); you can ctrl++ or -, or you can go to your browser's menu and hit view → zoom → zoom in or out. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 18:28, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Image doesn't show

    I noticed on the page Aoba Island the main image from Commons doesn't show for some reason. Any help would be appreciated. --Turn685 (talk) 19:50, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

     Fixed The parameter 'photo_size' was missing. I added it and now the image seems to show as intended. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 22:58, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Showing navbox by default

    The Rugrats article has five collapsed navboxes. One is Template:Rugrats, which I think should be shown expanded because of its pertinence and the chief article's relative thinness. Is this possible? --zenohockey (talk) 19:56, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    I've tweaked the template so that "state = expanded" works. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:02, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    How do I check my messages?

    I'm sorry, I could not find the answer to this simple question. I have new messages. I clicked on everything on my account page to find them and couldn't. Couldn't find the answer to this anywhere. How do I check my messages? Thank you.Lonewolf1380 (talk) 20:22, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Click the link that says 'My talk' at the top of the screen. In your case, it was just a note saying that User:Silverseren responded to your comments on Talk:Noah Ringer. —Tom Morris (talk) 20:26, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    The "new messages" banner has a link to your talk page, and, for those cases where the last talk page edit is not obvious, a link to the diff for the most recent edit. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:04, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    FA in other WPs, FA in all?

    I'm trying to clear a backlog of Unassessed Articles in one of the WikiProjects in which I'm a member. I came across an article that was made a Featured Article, and it appears all Wikiprojects were marked accordingly. THEN, an editor added another Wikiproject banner to the Talk page, AFTER the FA status was approved, though the assessment on the new banner was left blank. Do I...

    • ...mark the unassessed WP as FA?
    • ...mark it B-class?
    • ...bring it to someone's attention?

    I'd hate to commit a breach of policy. Thanks. Boneyard90 (talk) 20:38, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    FA class overrides all. Just add it.--Wehwalt (talk) 20:42, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Roger. Moving to assess as FA. Thanks for the quick reply! Boneyard90 (talk) 20:44, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    It is not a problem. If we did not do it that way, there is no practical way the article could ever take FA status in those Wikiprojects, unless it was demoted and then promoted again. FA status overrides all Wikiprojects, since the standards for FA are prescribed by the community.--Wehwalt (talk) 20:51, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    OK, same question, but with GA and A-class articles. Boneyard90 (talk) 23:25, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    GA is similar since this is also peer reviewer by a neutral contributor from the community. A-stsus may differe between the projects...(at least that I do change at the time) mabdul 02:50, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Style guide reference for addressing the reader directly

    What reference can be used when an article addresses the reader directly? Example, from VIRUSfighter Server: "VIRUSfighter Server is an ... so you are always protected, without slowing down your server."

    There is

    • Writing style, "Do not address the reader directly." (from Wikipedia:Manual of Style (medicine-related articles))

    What is the right reference for this particular case? --Mortense (talk) 21:33, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Personally I'd use the {{advert}} tag for this kind of thing, or change it myself if I had time. Will see what more experienced editors say though.--Physics is all gnomes (talk) 21:46, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict) It's not, strictly speaking, a guideline, but WP:TONE covers this (second paragraph). There's a maintenance template, {{Inappropriate person}}, that editors apply to such articles when they don't have the time or inclination to rewrite the material themselves. Deor (talk) 21:47, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    I was expecting Inappropriate person to be about a person who is, well... It's rather less interesting than I imagined.--Physics is all gnomes (talk) 22:01, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Translate

    Dear Sirs I read <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre> both in English and Portuguese. This article is about an important fact in Polish history. I am of Polish origin and live in Brazil (our language is Portuguese). Since I found the English article much better and complete than the Portuguese one, I would ask its producer permission to translate it into Portuguese and edit it in Wikipedia. Can you help me? Thanks 22:02, 6 February 2011 (UTC)~ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ldmtka (talk • contribs)

    You don't need permission to do that, go ahead and translate it. CTJF83 22:05, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    You might want to see this page on the Portuguese Wikipedia. -- Bk314159 (Talk to me and find out what I've done) 22:07, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Rewrote an article, it appeared to be posted, but when I returned, the old original factually incorrect article was there.

    William Atherton (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

    I am trying to figure out what I did wrong regarding posting an edit of an article. It appeared in the preview page just fine, I went back and hit "save page." and it was there. When I just returned to the same page, the old version was back.

    Can someone tell me what to do?Cassidyboy (talk) 22:29, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    If you look at the edit history, you'll see that your changes were reverted several minutes after you made them. You said in your major change that you verified the rewrite of the article through the subject. That's not permissible generally - you have to cite to reliable secondary sources.--Bbb23 (talk) 22:33, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    (ec) It was reverted by User:Teapotgeorge, with an edit summary of "Revert unreferenced coi edits." Do you have a conflict of interest with William Atherton? Either way, all additions about living people need to be sourced, see WP:BLP CTJF83 22:34, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    I reverted your major edits because they removed all the existing references and Wikipedia relies on reliable secondary sources rather than unsubstantiated "facts" I would advise you to find sources first and then suggest the changes on the talk page as you have a conflict of interest. regardsTeapotgeorgeTalk 22:51, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    And I have reverted your edits again. Please read conflict of interest and WP:BLP before reinstating your edits. You claim your edits are correcting facts, but without reliable sourcing no one can tell whether they are or you are just messing with us. Astronaut (talk) 14:27, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    February 7

    Arabic translation

    I have a question concerning the accuracy of English to Arabic translation in an article. I'm fairly sure there are editors fluent in Arabic on the English Wikipedia. Could anyone offer me advice on how to find one? Joefromrandb (talk) 01:53, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    We have categories of the form Category:User lang [optional proficiency code] (where lang is the appropriate language code). The one in particular that you want is Category:User ar, specifically the subcategories Category:User ar-5 and Category:User ar-N. Intelligentsium 01:59, 7 February 2011 (UTC)][reply]
    (ec) Perhaps the WikiProject Arab world may also be a good place to ask. Rehevkor ✉ 02:00, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Much obliged. 66.87.8.148 (talk) 05:07, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Deleting user config subpages

    Is there any way I can delete User:Voyaging/huggle.css? I do not use Huggle any longer and as a minimalist have no use for the page. Likewise, I was wondering about User:Voyaging/monobook.js. Is this a page all users have, or is it possible to delete? Thanks. Voyaging(talk) 02:40, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    I imagine tagging them with {{db-u1}} would be the easiest way. Rehevkor ✉ 02:46, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Except templates do not transclude on .css and .js pages. It seems .css and .js pages can be added to categories; you can add [[Category:Candidates for speedy deletion by user]] to the page and it will be added to the category. You may wish to include a confirming note in the edit summary. Intelligentsium 02:58, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Did so, thanks! Voyaging(talk) 03:14, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Strangely broken AfD

    I was reading the February 4th AfD log, and directly under this entry: Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Log/2011_February_4#Martin_Joseph_Sheehan there is a very strange AfD page, since it has only a single comment on it. It is here Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Homicide Prevention, and was somehow created and included in the log by a user trying to state his rationale for removing a PROD, but it was done in such a way that the log page is broken, I think. It may have eaten another entry entirely, and it is badly misformatted. However, I don't know enough about how the log page includes individual pages to try to fix it without breaking something else.

    As an aside, I was also planning on taking the page in question to AfD, but I typically do that with a script, and I imagine it would choke horribly on the mess that has been left behind here. Can anyone help? gnfnrf (talk) 02:46, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Taken care of. Page deleted as housekeeping since the prod was removed by user, and I've removed its entry from the AfD log. There should be no trouble with nominating it for a real AfD discussion now. However, are you sure this is a good AfD target? Have you read WP:BEFORE? Right now I agree that the page reads more like an essay as the prod said, but it might be turned into an article easily by a person with some knowledge in the subject area.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:00, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for the help with the cleanup. As for the article, I did consider if there were any good alternatives to deletion, and my conclusion was that it was a hopeless synthesis of source information, and not salvageable. However, I'm in no rush, so I'll tag it and watch it for a while before taking any other action. gnfnrf (talk) 04:41, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Help with Citing sources and the message "This article uses the Cite.php citation mechanism"

    Hello, I am a new user to Wikipedia and have been trying to update an article that shows the message below in the reference section of the article: "This article uses the Cite.php citation mechanism. If you would like more information on how to add references to this article, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cite/Cite.php". I have read through numerous Wiki FAQs and tutorials on citing sources, but can't seem to find the answers to the questions below. Can someone please assist? Thanks... 1) Upon following the link to cite.php, it redirects me to Mediawiki. It looks like I should install the software, configure it etc... Is there way to properly cite a source in an article that uses cite.php without having to install and configure software? 2) If there is a manual way to update a footnote/citation that falls in the middle of the citation numbering list? In other words, if there are 5 citations listed in the references of the existing article; how do I add one that may fall in as number 3, and automatically change the citation numbers (in a cite.php scenario, so that number 4 becomes number 5 automatically etc...) I don't want to install any new software if I can help it.

    Please help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.113.195.187 (talk) 05:04, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    What article are you talking about? —teb728 t c 05:17, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    I think cite.php is the ordinary footnote mechanism, using <ref>,</ref>, and <references /> described at Help:Footnotes. —teb728 t c 05:42, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    If you wanted to help and update some Wikipedia articles, then you don't need to install anything! Use your reference and add it in the article text there it belongs to the ref - tags. mabdul 11:58, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Please provide the article name. The link to cite.php is not useful for normal editors. See Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 15:27, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Thanks for the help. The article is for: patent. There is also another one under: Provisional application

    St. Louis Rams

    I tried to edit the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams Hall of Fame members and I messed it up. I tried to add Les Richter who was a Line Backer/Kicker for the Rams. He played from 1954 t0 1962 and was inducted into the pro football hall of fame on 2/5/2011. Maybe someone can fix it. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.120.136.68 (talk) 05:35, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Is this what you intended? —teb728 t c 05:57, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    John Reid. Baron Reid of Cardowan. Sec of State for Defence 2005-2006

    When he was Sec of State for Defence and our troops were sent to Afghanistan. John Reid stated and I quote, 'that they would be in and out without a shot being fired' 5 years and 300 plus deaths later we are still there. I can find no reference to his 'in and out' statement anywhere in the Wiki report and I would suggest that it is included. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.109.93.203 (talk) 11:07, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Find a WP:RS for that statement, and you can then include it in the article. - David Biddulph (talk) 11:12, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Though do keep in mind that an article "should strive to treat each aspect with a weight appropriate to its significance to the subject" (per our policy on due weight) - Reid's biographical article should cover his involvement in the Afghanistan war proportionately to his wider career. It might be that this kind of material is better off in the article on the War in Afghanistan (2001–present). (You might get input from editors more knowledgeable on the subject if you raised the question at that article's talk page. Gonzonoir (talk) 11:20, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    not availability of language

    Hi there! I was trying some info, of course, I could get that but to my surprise, I could get the same info in Hindi language. How come wikipedia does not have hindi or tamil language support?

    Pl. tell me?

    Balaji Canchi Sistla Hyderabad, India — Preceding unsigned comment added by Balaji690 (talk • contribs) 11:21, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikipedia does have versions available in many languages including Hindi and Tamil. However the English Wikipedia has by far the most articles, so the information you seek might not yet be available in Hindi or Tamil. Roger (talk) 11:34, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Problem of external links in body of articles

    Hi, all! As I'm sure you all know, WP:EL prohibits inline external links from being added to the body of articles; they're supposed to be used only in the "External links" section of an article and, of course, in references properly enclosed between <ref> and </ref> tags. I assume the rationale for this is that readers have the right to know for sure when they're about to click on a link that will take them offsite. When I see inline external links I've been converting them to refs, usually; but does anyone know of a script or (semi?) automated tool for finding inline external links and converting them to proper refs? I just saw our Xkcd article, especially this section. The article as a whole must have 30 or more inline external links. Anyway, if there's no such tool, does anyone at least know of a cleanup-needed template one could appropriately post at the top of such an article, to at least alert folks who contribute to it or have it watchlisted about WP:EL policy? Thanks, – OhioStandard (talk) 12:19, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    "Prohibited" is not quite right; there are rare exceptional cases when it makes sense. The policy doesn't say "never", it says "not normally".
    I think the reason we avoid them, mostly, are because it's an Encyc, not a directory, and such links are often an excuse to get in a non-reliable source, or something that does not add to encyclopædic understanding of the subject (mostly, spam). Also, we want to build the web of articles, with wikilinks; if Bob worked at [http://www.example.com Example.com] then that company may or may not be notable. If it is very likely to be notable, then Bob worked at [[]] could indicate a "needed article", and encourage people to make it.
    The most common cleanup template would be {{External links}}, but there is also {{Cleanup-spam}}.
    See also Category:Wikipedia external links cleanup and Category:Wikipedia spam cleanup.
    I don't know of any tools that help; I've always fixed them by hand - checking them, moving them to == External links == when appropriate, or changing to refs, or removing altogether as appropriate.
    You might want to check out Wikipedia:WikiProject External links.  Chzz  ►  12:36, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Two accounts

    Having two accounts, in English and in Persian wiki, has a problem? How can I edit in Persian Wiki with this account? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.165.25.255 (talk) 12:39, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    See m:Help:Unified login; also when you are posting on a discussion page such as this, please remember to sign your messages, either using 4 tildes ~~~~ or the signature button above the edit pane. - David Biddulph (talk) 12:51, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    (edit conflict)

    If you do not already have a user account, and you make one, it will work on all language Wikipedias, and wikibooks, wikinews, and other Sister projects.
    I can just go to my page on Persian wikipedia, fa:کاربر:Chzz, and edit it as "Chzz" [2].
    If you already have an account, try Special:MergeAccount.
    See meta:Help:Unified login.  Chzz  ►  12:53, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Now-Commons date formatting

    Many imags that were tagged for the commons and have duplicates lack dates, and what I've found as I've added them manually, is that some of them actually do have dates, but they're still stuck in the Category:Wikipedia files with the same name on Wikimedia Commons as of unknown date. Let me give you two recent examples with the example File:Sandidge 1858.jpg; When the date is written out like this (|month=January|day=14|year=2011), the category shows as being on an unknown date. However, when it's done like this (|date=2011-01-14), the category date shows up. I suspect this may be a glitch in the tag. Can somebody fix this? ----DanTD (talk) 13:40, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Template:Now Commons (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs)
    The template hasn't supported the day/month/year parameters since August 2008, so all the files in the category that are newer than 2008 are merely wrong. I could edit them all? -- John of Reading (talk) 14:10, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    n Box Media Pvt Ltd

    nbox media — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nboxmedia (talk • contribs) 14:13, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Do you have a question about using Wikipedia? -- John of Reading (talk) 14:21, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Your page Nbox media Pvt Ltd has been tagged for speedy deletion, so may have vanished by the time you read this. Please read WP:SOAP, WP:CORP, and also WP:CORPNAME and WP:COI, and more generally WP:1st and also your talk page. - David Biddulph (talk) 14:31, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

    Editing TCNJ School of Engineering Page

    Dear Wikipedia, I have been instructed by the Chair of Technological Studies for the School of Engineering at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) to request a change to this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TCNJ_School_of_Engineering This page incorrectly states that Tech Studies offers a BA in technological education and a BA in math, science and technology. It should say that the department offers a Bachelor of Science in both degrees. For proof of this assertion please visit this page http://www.tcnj.edu/~engsci/tstudies/programs.htm

    Thanks for your time,

    ````` Peter Szafranski Web Media Specialist Armstrong 165 School of Engineering The College of New Jersey —Preceding unsigned comment added by 159.91.207.126 (talk) 15:32, 7 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

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