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Help Page Patrollers are a group of Wikipedians who patrol the help desk and help users who have placed the {{helpme}} template on their talk pages. The patrol is an optional service. Patrollers can come and go, and there is no official sign up process.

Regular patrollers may add {{User HPP}} or {{user help desk}} to their user page:

This user is a help page patroller

This user volunteers at the
Wikipedia Help Desk.

What helpers can do

Make sure all messages are formatted correctly,
Answer questions,
Check the Help Me Category and answer questions from users,
Check archives

Patrollers

Add yourself with

#~~~ (Joined ~~~~~)

and if you are not using the userbox, add yourself to the Help Desk Patrol Category.

List

Levonscott User talk:Levonscott User:Levonscott (Joined 07:38, 21 August 2011 (UTC))[reply]
StewieGriffin! • Talk 07:04, 4 June 2008 (UTC) I'm Back Founder of the HPP[reply]
RyRy5 (talk) (Joined 00:20, 31 May 2008 (UTC))[reply]
Hersfold ^(t/a/c) (Joined 21:41, 19 April 2008 (UTC))[reply]
Soxred93 | talk bot (Joined 19:57, 19 April 2008 (UTC))[reply]
...... Dendodge.Talk^Help (Joined 09:34, 20 April 2008 (UTC))[reply]
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Bauani (talk) (Joined 22:31, 20 April 2008 (UTC))[reply]
Kerotan ^{Leave Me a Message} Have a nice day :) (joined 06:27, 21 April 2008 (UTC))[reply]
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-- ShinmaWa^(talk) (Joined 19:47, 28 May 2008 (UTC))[reply]
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Active earlier this year, hope to regain that. Rudget (Help?) 13:23, 1 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
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:-) Stwalkerster [ talk ] (Joined 16:12, 15 June 2008 (UTC), but have been doing this for ages)[reply]
–thedemonhog talk • edits (Joined 18:13, 15 June 2008 (UTC); made twenty-three edits to the help desk page prior to joining the patrol)[reply]
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July 4

WP:AIV report

Is it ok for a user to remove a report made by another user, that is not about the person who removed it? For example there [1] there is currently a report for an IP that hasn't edited in 2-3 days. So what I am asking is it ok to remove it? If so, should I leave a note on the person who made the report's talk page? Thanks, Vivio Testarossa^{Talk Who} 00:42, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

One can add various forms of {{AIV}} to the report, I'm pretty sure removing it is OK if you say why in the edit summary. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 00:49, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Some reporters may be annoyed if the report is not handled by an administrator, and if you apply for admin then some users may view it negatively when voting. I suggest you wait for an administrator to deal with it. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:03, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If the IP has not edited for 2 or 3 days, then it's fine to remove it. Make sure you explain why, carefully, in the edit summary. If a reporter does get annoyed, then don't cause a fuss, simply allow them to resubmit the report - the reviewing admin will remove it as "stale" if there's been no activity for 2-3 days anyway. Neıl 龱 13:06, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Foreign links

I am about to redirect Prima ballerina and Prima ballerina assoluta to Ballerina (after discussing it with their main editor), but what should I do with the French and Russian(?) links? Clarityfiend (talk) 01:56, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you mean links in the French and Russian Wikipedia to the English Wikipedia then just ignore them. A bot or editor in that language will deal with them at some time and linking to a redirecting English page until then is OK. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:55, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

My Problem

Hey guys,

I'm trying to create an article on the up and coming band Plushgun and I ran into a problem when I used a link to Myspace blog in a reference for the band's first album. When I try to create the page I get a Spam filter notice due to the myspace link. Does anyone know a way around this? I have the rest of the article on my user page. Thanks and Happy 4th of July! Noneforall (talk) 05:22, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Myspace and pretty much the rest of Web 2.0 fails to meet WP:SOURCES criteria for a reliable source. Just browsing the web, I've come across at least one [other article], so it meets the #1 killer of band pages on Wikipedia, WP:BAND. Most of the other bands that want to cite Myspace as a reference don't. SDY (talk) 06:06, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Uhh.... that article's a press release, SDY, just for the record, so doesn't actually meet the guidelines. Tony Fox (arf!) 18:28, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The phrase "up and coming" might sound to some deletionists like a prediction of the future, which we don't do on Wikipedia. Since Plushgun already attracted a {{db-band}}, you might want to read WP:WWMPD for some advice on how to prepare for the worst. --Teratornis (talk) 04:24, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Photo captions again

Hi, I'm still having problems with pics/captions. I want to make a couple of pics smaller than "thumb", with a caption at the bottom, and placed to the right of the page. However, when I try this: Image:Echoprint.jpg|150px|The Echo press in the 1960s|right it makes the pic smaller, but removes the caption.

Also, does anyone know how to make this 20-mile (32.1 km) into a squared figure? When I put a 2 after the mile or km, it remains a large 2 rather than the sign for squared...

If anyone could help, I'd be over the moon! Thanks.--seahamlass 10:14, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For the image, use the thumb parameter:

[[Image:Echoprint.jpg|thumb|150px|The Echo press in the 1960s]]

For the measurement, use the {{convert}} template:

{{convert|20|mi|km}}

20 miles (32 km)

You mention square, so if you mean to measure area:

{{convert|20|sqmi|km2}}

20 square miles (52 km²)

--—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 10:42, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fantastic! They both work great. Many, many thanks.--seahamlass 10:50, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Extended_image_syntax for a full explanation on the paramaters for images. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 18:02, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Japanese

how to write/read in japanese langauage? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.2.208.237 (talk) 10:16, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, I doubt anyone here at the helpdesk has the time or the skill to teach Japanese. Go to the library and take out a book on the subject, or get lessons from a tutor or Rosetta Stone. Xenon 54 12:45, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Are you referring to writing Japanese characters in the English Wikipedia and displaying them in your browser? PrimeHunter (talk) 12:50, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

User discussion page won't archive

Can someone take a look at my talk page and see if there's anything obviously wrong with the archiver settings? It doesn't seem to be working, again. Maury (talk) 11:39, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Can you explain your problem in more detail, please? –thedemonhog talk • edits 19:02, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You have a lot of unsigned posts. I think the bot goes by the dates in signatures. Without dated signatures it doesn't know when to archive. —teb728 t c 20:23, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, unsigned posts get ignored by the bot, so you'll have to manually archive those. — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 11:07, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Low importance articles

I just ran across this page and it is the first time I have seen something like this: [2]. All the pages are talk pages for articles that may or may not be "important", depending on subjective preference. (As a pretty strict inclusionist I am not one to talk!) So I am just curious...what is this about? Why is this a category? Thanks. Saudade7 11:54, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Many WikiProjects use assessment— see Wikipedia:Assessment. Clicking on the link at the top of that category takes you to Wikipedia:WikiProject Philosophy/Assessment, which explains the assessment system for both quality and importance. If you open one of those talk pages, you will see that the article is rated by use of the project banner template. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 12:05, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Articles in Category:Low-importance Philosophy articles and others in Category:Low-importance articles are part of an importance classification scheme. It can be used to select articles for smaller versions of Wikipedia in other media like CD, DVD, print. See Category:Articles by importance and Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team. Editors can choose which articles to work on based on their importance rating (and I guess readers can use it to choose what to read). The rating is not an "official" part of the Wikipedia encyclopedia which is why it's placed on the talk page. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:11, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks everyone. Saudade7 19:18, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Connection

How can I stop my internet connection from disconnecting itself? Last time, I had an IP that I used for nearly two months; now, my connection keeps disconnecting itself, changing my IP. How can I counter this? 124.181.227.96 (talk) 11:59, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Your IP address is determined by your Internet service provider. Some are static and some are dynamic. If you want your Wikipedia edits to be connected then the best way is to create an account. That hides your IP address and shows all your contributions in one place like Special:Contributions/PrimeHunter. See also Wikipedia:Why create an account? for other benefits. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:47, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Link to User page

How do I create a link which will link to the user's User page? --Redaktor (talk) 12:57, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Write [[User:Redaktor]] to make User:Redaktor, or [[User:Redaktor|Redaktor]] to make Redaktor without User: displayed in front. If you mean something else then please be specific. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:07, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(Edit conflict. Haha.) The above information is correct. However, if this is for signing purposes, just add the four tildes which form your signature (and by default, this will link to your userpage). --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 13:09, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Redaktor. You can see the name of any page on Wikipedia at the top of the page. For example, this one is Wikipedia:Help desk, which you would link to with: [[Wikipedia:Help desk]]. If I want to make a link to my image page, which is User:Neil/images, I would write [[User:Neil/images]]. You can either type the name, or go to the page, copy the name, and paste the name to where you want it and put wikilinks ([[ ]]) around it.

If you want the link to your own user page at the end of something you write on a talk page, ie your "signature", it's four tildes, which looks like this: ~~~~. Hope that helps! Neıl 龱 13:11, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, but none of these answers my questions. Let me be more explicit. I want to write some text/code so that whoever reads it will be able to link from it to their own User page. Something like [[User:{{USERPAGE}}]] (which does not work). Thanks! --Redaktor (talk) 13:50, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That would be Special:MyPage. — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 14:07, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Many thanks—that's what I wanted to know. --Redaktor (talk) 15:35, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Special templates

Where can I find a list of all of the special templates that don't have a template page, such as {{CURRENTMONTH}} and {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}? I've been looking around and can't find any place where they are listed. --Arctic Gnome (talk • contribs) 15:05, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

They are not actually templates. See Help:Magic words. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:09, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Institute of Sport and Recreation Management

The organisation named above is not listed on wikipedia, it has been in existence since 1921, I would like to list it as an employee, how do I go about doing this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by ISRM (talk • contribs) 15:36, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Many things have existed a long time but do not meet wikipedia notability criteria for inclusion. Before creating an article about it, check you have sufficient sources, and that you can write it with neutral point of view. Also, look at guidelines on conflict of interest. -mattbuck (Talk) 15:50, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And also take a look at WP:CORP and WP:SPAM. I would also strongly advise you to change your user name. If you create an article about the Institute using that name, it will be considered promotional and you will almost certainly be blocked. – ukexpat (talk) 21:36, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Forbidden

'What I'm going to do when I get the message below :

" Forbidden You don't have permission to access /coursewares/khoahoc/sinhhocdc_a1/phan1/ch4.htm on this server.

Apache/2.0.49 (Unix) PHP/4.3.9 Server at www.ctu.edu.vn Port 80]] "

Appreciated for yor feedback. email removed —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.95.9.170 (talk) 17:02, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've removed your email address, as this page is often read by spammers. For your question, this is the help desk for Wikipedia. You'd be more likely to get an answer on our Computing reference desk. — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 17:34, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Computing reference desk. They specialize in answering computer 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.

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....... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 17:40, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That's what I said! ;) — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 18:02, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Definitely an echo in here...in here... – ukexpat (talk) 18:20, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Delete my account.

Please delete my account, or show me how to. Thanks, thebestkiano.

Due to the fact that Wikipedia content is licensed under the GFDL, all edits must be kept for attribution purposes, and so your account cannot be deleted. You do, however, have the right to vanish, which you can exercise by (1) requesting your user page (found at Special:Mypage) and/or user talk page (found at Special:Mytalk) be deleted, by adding the {{db-userreq}} template to them; (2) requesting to change your username to something that is unconnected with you (possibly a random collection of letters and numbers); (3) never logging in to your account again. If you do this, you are still free to register a new username if you wish to continue editing Wikipedia....... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 18:58, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A question on sourcing

Hey, help desk. I'm a little confused on how to do this myself, as I've seen it done differently in different articles, and am not sure which method is the best.

So I'm working on this article — black cat bone — in my sandbox, and have found a bunch of books that I can use as reliable sources. A couple of these books are so informative that I'd like to use them as sources for several different statements. For example, when citing Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro with regards to two separate statements, I was thinking of using something like this:

Magical traditions involving black cat bones, specifically, have been found in German-Canadian practice as well as in hoodoo; these German-Canadian magic-makers were not previously in contact with hoodooists, suggesting a European origin to the charm.^[1]

... insert other information here, citing different sources, and most of it unrelated to the first sentence ...

On the Sea Islands, a slightly different method is used: the bone that doesn't reflect in the mirror is believed to be the the magical one.^[2]

^ Newbell Niles PH. D. Puckett (January 2003). Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN 0766127788.

^ Newbell Niles PH. D. Puckett (January 2003). Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN 0766127788.

Basically, what I'm doing here is citing one book for several different, unconnected statements. Repeating the exact same <ref> tag just looks and feels really silly, though, and I'm wondering if I should be more specific. Should I add the different page numbers? Even briefly write down the quote from which I derived the information? Or is the stuff in my <blockquote> (above) the right way to go about it?

I feel like this question is super-confusing in its wording, so if you don't know what I mean, ask ... I'm not terribly sure on my phrasing in this case, unfortunately. Help is appreciated. —Switchercat ^talk_cont 19:16, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Switchercat. Your question made perfect sense to me. What you can do for two identical references is give the reference a name and then refer to it later, like this:

Here's a statement<ref name=list>The big list of statements</ref>

And here's another one I got from the same place!<ref name=list/>

Which gives:

Here's a statement^[1]

And here's another one I got from the same place!^[1]

^ ^a ^b The big list of statements

Note that you need the / at the end of the second instance of the ref, otherwise it'll expect a closing ref tag. Hope that helps. Olaf Davis | Talk 21:37, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, or if you want to use page numbers you can create a manual reference list that just includes titles of books, then use the footnotes for page numbers, giving something like:

Facts one^[1], two^[2] and three^[3] are my favourite facts.

Notes

^ Davis, p. 12

^ Davis, p. 60

^ Marx, p. 9

References

Facts, by Olaf Davis, 2008

The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx, 1848

Good luck! Olaf Davis | Talk 21:49, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes! Thank you, that's exactly what I needed to hear. Glad you could help! —Switchercat ^talk_cont 21:50, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Comment: Personally I find {{reflist}} with its column switches more flexible than <references />, but I guess it's matter of taste. – ukexpat (talk) 00:27, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Forward slash in article title

Hello. A week or so ago I created the article Real Fake Princess under that name, thinking that its actual name ,Real/Fake Princess, couldn't be used due to technical restrictions. Today I was visiting WP:NCTR, saw the wrongtitle template, and thought I could somehow make use of that in the article. Not being able to find any instructions, I created the page Real/Fake Princess as a redirect, thinking it would apply the wrongtitle template...or something. This clearly was not right b/c Real/Fake Princess seems to be working just fine as a redirect to Real Fake Princess. But WP:NCTR indicates the forward slash can cause problems, so, er, what should I do? --hamu♥hamu (TALK) 20:03, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Um, User:Dendodge took action on this article 30 minutes ago but my question here hasn't been answered. I'm asking not just to get it fixed but so I can learn. (Maybe user found it independently and not through here but I also received nothing on my talk page, etc.) --hamu♥hamu (TALK) 21:21, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, I don't mean to be a pest, but it's been a few hours now and I really don't want a nasty note from someone on my talk page or in an edit summary because I created a page with an non-allowed title. Can anyone maybe answer my question. (Sorry, I've just been jumped on way too often lately and am paranoid.) --hamu♥hamu (TALK) 01:36, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Changing the title of a page can be done by using the "move" tab at the top of the page. Moving automatically makes the old name into a redirect. More at Help:Move.

On the article namespace the slash does nothing. In other namespaces (Talk, Wikipedia, User, etc) it makes a subpage. {{wrongtitle}} is generally used where Wikipedia's software can't cope - for example using a pipe character or square brackets, which are used in the wikilinks. In those cases you'll be stopped by the software with an error message. Wikipedia has some guideline naming conventions which can be followed - basically don't use capital letters except for proper names. You can ignore these :) - changing the title is easy, so anything reasonable will do. --h2g2bob (talk) 02:29, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh okay, I was alarmed by the statement that a forward slash can create problems and was just sort of waiting to get yelled at, LOL. Seems someone came along and moved the article to the redirect I'd created; they probably wondered what the heck I was doing. :) Thanks for the info about what happens when you try to make a technically impossible article name -- I didn't know if anything would happen or not. --hamu♥hamu (TALK) 02:34, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I moved it, after seeing this question. It shouldn't cause any problems - especially as a redirect from the old name still stands...... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 14:24, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

looking for a name

Hi, I would like to ask for a name that is used when some "non-free" stuff is in some image, but it is so small that it doesn't affect the overall copyright of the image... I think it is similar to "minimal copyright use" (soo minimal it does not matter, not even legally) or something like that... the problem is that some guy at commons wants to delete an image of Xubuntu just because it contains some tiny logos... and I think that some tiny logos fall under that policy, something I once saw it on commons or wikipedia, but that can't remember the name... SF007 (talk) 20:33, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds like you're talking about fair use. Hope that helps. Olaf Davis | Talk 21:30, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, no... I know "fair use" very well, and what I am talking about is very different... but thanks anyway. SF007 (talk) 21:54, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, Olaf Davis is right. What you are referring to is a subset of 'fair use' called 'incidental use' (legally 'de minimis'). Incidental use, such as what you describe here, is a form of fair use where a copyright work appears "incidentally" inside another work. One commonly cited example of this is a picture of Times Square, where it is nearly impossible to take a photo without a logo, billboard, or some other copyrighted work to appear in it. However, the copyrighted works are not the subject of such a photo (Times Square is) and they only appear are part of the background, so therefore the photo's use of the copyrighted work is considered fair. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 00:50, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

yeah, I think it was something very similar to that, or even that... but I still can't find the page on commons saying an image that fitted that "description" could be used there... thanks... SF007 (talk) 01:10, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm. Sorry, I hadn't realised the fair use policy page didn't mention that specifically. Not sure where else to look... Olaf Davis | Talk 10:34, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Uploading Copyrighted Pictures With No Known Website Available

Hello. I have several Kingdom Hearts pictures that have taken me months to find and I wish to upload them onto Wikipedia so that others may be able to find them easier and use them. These are images that Tetsuya Nomura drew himself and it obviously states on the front that the picture is copyrighted to him as well as Square Enix. Again I would like to upload these images but I am afraid that they might break some law. I also do not have the links to any of the sites that I found them on, nor do I even remember the names of the sites. May I still upload these or not? If I can, how do I do that without a website link? 21:39, 4 July 2008 (UTC) Leggy

Images uploaded to Wikipedia must be either freely licensed/public domain (which those are not) or used under fair use. This is required for Wikipedia to comply with copyright law. For a valid fair use claim, you must state the source, so I don't think you could upload the images unless you can find the source. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 02:39, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Editing a Featured Article

Is it ok to edit a featured article? I edited the Chess article, including adding in a fact request to something that I thought needed one. Another editor came along and reverted all of my edits (there were about 6 I think). I thought most of them were quite reasonable, but they were all blanked. --ZincBelief (talk) 21:52, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Editing the featured article is encouraged. Have you discussed the reasons for the reverts with the reverting editor? Corvus cornix_talk 21:58, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No I haven't actually, but I left a small paragraph on the discussion page of the article. Maybe they will discuss it there. It's just that I would expect somebody to discuss why they reverted a change in the edit summary. If there are 6 changes I would expect them to leave a note on the talk page or something. Recently an admin twice reverted a change I made to a page, and then used a friend to revert a third and fourth time and issued me with a warning even though I had discussed it with them and explained all their reasons for reverting were obviously wrong. So I'm a bit paranoid now to be honest. Anyway this editor looks like he's nice--ZincBelief (talk) 22:06, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:BOLD, revert, discuss cycle. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 00:08, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Dispute Resolution

What is the next step in a Wikipedia dispute resolution process when you have reached a complete stalemate over content and have already sought a 3rd opinion, WP:MEDCAB, and request for comment? (This is asked in regards to Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2008-02-11 Parkour.) --S.dedalus (talk) 23:14, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Dispute resolution has details. I'd suggest formal mediation, then Arbitration, but that's for the parties to decide. x42bn6 Talk Mess 23:51, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

July 5

Skip to the top/bottom

Resolved

– Done on Talk Page

I noticed that on the bottom and top of the help desk, there are links that bring you to the bottom and the top of the page. On the top, there is a "skip to the bottom" link and the bottom has "back to the top" link. Can someone do that to my talk page? I think it could be useful. Thanks, RyRy (talk) 00:32, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Done on your talk page :p Gary King (talk) 00:40, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. :D -- RyRy (talk) 00:49, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Help with Action Buttons

What I am looking for is a way to modify something (internally) by using a hyperlink, button, etc. (basically anything I can interact with by clicking, not editing) so I can change a graphic (or something that will indirectly cause a graphic to change). I would think that the most obvious solution is a variable (or a template acting as one), but I don't know how to write to one.

I call this an action button because a similar feature is implemented in Microsoft Office. Graham (talk, contrib) 05:45, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Do you mean on Wikipedia? or on Office. If Office:

This page is for questions about editing Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps.. If Wikipedia: Check Help:Links StewieGriffin! • Talk Sign Listen 10:42, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If it has something to do with images: Check out Template:Click. StewieGriffin! • Talk Sign Listen 10:43, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, it has nothing to do with Microsoft Office (I just used that to indicate an example of its operation). And I don't mean Template:Click. I mean something like an image that I would like to cause another image to change (for example, given everything mentioned, when you press the red button [an image of a red button], the color of the square [another image of a square in several colors with different names] next to it changes to red). Graham (talk, contrib) 20:17, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Do you mean the example of User talk:WBOSITG?...... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 20:20, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure what on User talk:WBOSITG you are talking about. Could you explain? Graham (talk, contrib) 20:15, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

When you click a button - the colour sceme and text changes...... Densock .. Talk^{(Dendodge on a public network)} 11:34, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How to make page come up on google search

I have created a Wikipedia page for a writer. It still seems to be in stub form even though it has external links. But I don't know how create the external links sub section, so at the moment the links do not correspond to anything. They are in number form - 1,2, 3,4 on the page. The page also does not come up on a google search. Is this because it needs developing? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Feedmeorstarveme (talk • contribs) 11:59, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

p.s The page in question is for the playwright Jason Charles —Preceding unsigned comment added by Feedmeorstarveme (talk • contribs) 12:02, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I added {{reflist}} so the references now show. Google will catch up fairly soon, so don't worry about it. You need to worry about expand ding the article per WP:BLP. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 13:00, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I'm not sure if it worked as it is still in exactly the same state as before. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Feedmeorstarveme (talk • contribs) 13:13, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:FOOT and WP:LAYOUT. --Teratornis (talk) 06:37, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Signature

I usually see people signing other people's comments on Talk Pages. Can only Admins do this? If not, how do you do it? --71.225.85.57 (talk) 13:33, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, anybody can do this. Please read this section of this essay to learn how to do this. Lra drama 13:47, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Speedy Deletion Tags

Are there any templates that you can post on pages that have a 'Speedy Deletion' tag that say you agree with deleting the page? I know that that have tempaltes that say you disagree with the deletion, such as the 'Hangon' tag. --71.225.85.57 (talk) 14:21, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, and such agreements are kinda unnecessary. Either the article qualifies for speedy deletion, or it does not. Unlike an WP:AFD, there's no need to support or oppose the deletion (aside from the {{hangon}} tag). — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 15:04, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Unlike speedy deletions, there is a such an agreement tag for proposed deletions - it's {{Prod-2}}.--87.252.35.195 (talk) 17:20, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

trouble adding an image to an article

Hi - I tried to add an image to American Revolution by clicking on icon 'picture gallery', then putting in [[3]], plus a caption. NOthing happened. What am I doing wrong? Thanks. waldenpond (talk) 14:45, 5 July 2008 (UTC)Rosedora[reply]

Caption

It works for me... Just go to 'Edit' on this page and copy the code for it. --71.225.85.57 (talk) 15:24, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

User Pages

How do people have all these awesome userpages? Are there any pages that say how to make every single template? I don't know much Wikicode language, so it's hard for me. --71.225.85.57 (talk) 15:25, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You should have an account first before making a user page. Once this is done, you can see Wikipedia:User page for information on user pages. Likewise, if you need help on making your user page, you can visit the user page design center. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 15:49, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hidden text question

I've been adding citations to a few unreferenced articles lately, and I've noticed something strange on a few of them. When editing some of the shorter ones (~1-3 sentences), there is hidden text that says, "Long comment to avoid being listed on short pages", which is followed by a couple of lines of blank space before the hidden text is closed. To be honest, I'm not sure what "short pages" are or where there is a list of them, but this seems deceptive and unnecessary. Should this text be removed, or is this somehow useful? Thanks, GaryColemanFan (talk) 15:35, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See User talk:Necrothesp#long comment. -- Jeandré, 2008-07-05t16:11z

Excellent. Thanks for clearing it up. GaryColemanFan (talk) 22:08, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

diploma colleges in mumbai

which colleges are there in mumbai where i can do diploma in IT —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.115.71.10 (talk) 15:42, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Our List of Mumbai Colleges will be of interest to you. Xenon 54 15:48, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

CSS code to change monobook background

Does anybody know the CSS needed to change my personal background for Monobook from that book? (I haven't decided what to change it to yet though)...... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 17:11, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

why we cannot copy an audio cd to a hard disk?61.2.193.231 (talk) 18:43, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

why we cannot copy an audio cd to a hard disk?

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Computing reference desk. They specialize in answering computer 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....... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 18:51, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

About my IP

I logged on to Wikipedia earlier assuming that I would still be logged on but I was not so I made an edit and now my IP address is visible. I am uncomfortable having it out in Public Domain. Is there anything I can do??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Caribbean1 (talk • contribs) 19:10, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, sorry. Once you make an edit, it is recorded by Media-Wiki and cannot be removed because the GFDL says we can't. The only way you can get it removed is if you can prove it is enough of a breach of privacy to warrant oversighting. Xenon 54 20:05, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's not like some hacker is going to hack on your computer after seeing your IP. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.225.85.57 (talk) 21:28, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And how would they link the user name with the IP address? – ukexpat (talk) 03:32, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

By looking at his edit history. The user kinda exposed his own IP when he did that. This can be fixed by any administrator using selective deletion, but I'd start with Oversight first. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 08:14, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It is not about linking with the Username and IP address. I know that there was an incident on a Message board where the IP addresses are visible and they then posted Personal info of a user from their IP address. Caribbean1 (talk) 08:05, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Really? Explain. This may require some attention: giving out personal information is a violation of privacy and definitely warrants oversight. The way you say this, however, makes it seem like this is a past event that only occured once or twice; you shouldn't pull out your hair because your IP was posted once. For a little help, look at the artcle on IPs. Graham (talk, contrib) 17:51, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Detailed Template Question

I want to create a wiki template that will list a category's all pages like "See also" links. I want to give category name as parameter. This will probably like to give example {{listallarticles|Asia Countries}} . This template should give the result like

Basicly the names of articles in this category. How can I do this? Thank you.

The CategoryTree extension does something similar. The code is:

<categorytree mode=pages>East Asian countries</categorytree>

For example:

--h2g2bob (talk) 21:47, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oddball Image question

I recently uploaded this PD photo Image:Betsy1901.gif, but when I attempted to include it in Madera County, California, it only posts as a link. Help? Cheers,—Preceding unsigned comment added by Tillman (talk • contribs)

Went to have a look, but User:Fuhghettaboutit has sorted it. --Ka renjc 22:49, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c) I'm not sure exactly why but gifs don't seem to work well sometimes. I re-uploaded it as a jpg at Image:Betsy1901.jpg, credited you in the edit summary, and replaced the image in the article with it, which is now displaying fine (I had to make a new image page rather than replace it it in the same media file because the name had ".gif" as part of it, so it wouldn't allow a different extension).--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:49, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! Pete Tillman (talk) 16:18, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:29, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Closing proposed policies

I've been involved in two discussions, WP:Usage of diacritics and WP:Notability (aircraft). Both are essentially dead at this point. The first has simply died off after much hue and cry and there appears to be no consensus to implement it. The second has been mostly inactive because there have been no substantial objections to it. What is the process for closing these? Can I just be WP:BOLD? SDY (talk) 21:03, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can indeed just be bold. Given your description of the two it sounds like the first can be tagged with {{Rejected}} and the second with {{Historical}}.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:23, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Total nubcakealamode question

I was reading Wikipedia_talk:Good_article_nominations#Stuck_between_a_rock_and_an_en-dash, and I got confused (not an unusual event, mind you). Why does it matter when almost no-one can tell the difference? SDY (talk) 21:15, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

They're actually not completely indistinct; a hyphen and an endash have very different lengths. WP:MOS#Hyphens describes the specific uses of each. Someguy1221 (talk) 21:29, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

July 6

Moving the toolbox

Is it possible to move the toolbox above the navigation and interaction boxes? –xenocidic (talk) 00:10, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Possible, yes. Practical, no. The navigation and interaction links provide new users and the millions of visitors with the necessary links. Theoretically, the toolbox is only needed by regulars, who know what to do with it. The site should be aimed at non-regulars before regulars, and that's what those links do. What did you have in mind? Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 00:16, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I was more looking for a user script that would allow just me to move it, sorry for being unclear. –xenocidic (talk) 00:17, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh I see. :) I'll look into it. Sorry about that. PeterSymonds (talk) 00:19, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No problem, thanks in advance. I didn't find anything at WP:User scripts, but I thought I heard this being talked about a while back. –xenocidic (talk) 00:20, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

 addOnloadHook(function() {
    toolbox = document.getElementById("p-tb");
    if (!toolbox) return;
    parent = toolbox.parentNode;
    parent.insertBefore( parent.removeChild(toolbox), parent.firstChild );
 });

to Special:MyPage/monobook.js --h2g2bob (talk) 01:33, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent! Can the same be done for the search box? (Place it right under the toolbox) –xenocidic (talk) 01:45, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Added a script to Wikipedia:WikiProject User scripts/Scripts/Re-order menus --h2g2bob (talk) 13:52, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You are a god among men! Superb. –xenocidic (talk) 14:10, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Barnstars, awards

Hello all. How does one earn Barnstars or other awards? Is there a list of all barnstars that can potentially be awarded? OlEnglish (talk) 00:20, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:BARNSTAR for all the info needed. Theoretically, barnstars can be awarded for anything; generally for article improvement, helpfulness etc. The full list will be available at that link. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 00:22, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Need to "market" my template

I created a template called "Navbar" (see it at Template:Navbar) ad I want to know how to get other users to use it. All it requires is the Username, and it creates a link to:

The user's home
The user's talk
The user's talk/Emergency
A quick edit link
A purge link
Navbar/Change to suggest changes.

These links "float" at a fixed position at the bottom of the page, regardless of the scrollbars position. I am hoping users to come will add a background, create more links, etc. How would I tell others of this template? Also, how do I apply this template to every page on my user? Graham (talk, contrib) 04:24, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps include it somewhere at WP:UPDC ? ... By the way, I don't see how the "emergency talk" page would be better than leaving a message on the normal talk page - especially because leaving message at user talk subpages doesn't queue the "ZOMG NEW MSGS" bar. To put it on all your user pages, you'll need to {{transclude}} it on all your user pages. –xenocidic (talk) 04:26, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'll remove the emergency link. By the way, I can't find a transclude template, and I know I can just put the template on all of my pages, but I have a LOT of pages, and I don't want to do all of the typing. By the way, I might want to add a "subpages to this page" list of links, and I want to know how. Graham (talk, contrib) 04:45, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

My Navbar seems out-of-place in navigation aids. Should I really put it there? Graham (talk, contrib) 05:00, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You could always mention it at WT:UPDC. Also, it may be a good idea to have a parameter whereby you can set it to float at the top of the page. If you want I can implement this. RichardΩ612 Ɣ ɸ 06:26, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, I don't know how. I got that code off of a talk page for a user (I'll find it on request). It might be one of the div params...I might expirement, but you'll have to excuse the Navbar not working for a second or two... Graham (talk, contrib) 07:02, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You should probably let the user know that you've templatefied their creation (while not required, it is courteous). –xenocidic (talk) 14:54, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, the template isn't an EXACT copy, it is a copy of the two span tags (that originally held this image

). It was supposed to float at the bottom of wherever the tags were posted, like lifebaka's pages, who recieved the code from WBOSITG (weburiedoursecretsinthegarden). I changed the image to my Navbar, then templatized it once realizing it could help someone with their page. I was only hoping that it didn't need to be manually transcluded to every single user subpage, but, once a template is created, it is a simple copy-and-paste to every single subpage. Graham (talk, contrib) 16:57, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(undent) I don't quite understand the need to "market" a template on Wikipedia. If the template fills a need, people will eventually find their way to it. One semi-red-flag would be that if there isn't a suitable place to list or categorize the template, it might not really be addressing some widely-felt need on Wikipedia. If the template is useful in some context, I would say just use it yourself in that context, and let other users notice that you are using it. I've created several templates, mostly because I wanted to use them, but one of them ({{Google custom}}) has attracted some interest from other users. More recently, I made a similar template ({{Google scholar cite}}) as a front end for the Universal reference formatter, and I find it handy for generating citation templates and keeping track of the Google Scholar searches I have done. So far, I have managed to interest a grand total of two other users in the template, I think. But that's OK, it works well enough for me to justify the small effort I put in; I'm happy if the template doesn't get deleted. Plus, one of the users who likes the template is in a position to influence a number of students who edit on Wikipedia and need a citation tool to help them cope with Wikipedia's arcane footnote system. If you want to promote your template directly, I suggest searching various parts of Wikipedia with the example searches in the {{Google custom}} documentation (such as the Help desk archives) for questions from users who are asking how to solve the problem your template solves. You might have to get creative in your search keywords, because people are unlikely to ask directly for your template. They might ask instead about how to navigate more efficiently to their user pages and so on. Then you could leave messages on their talk pages. --Teratornis (talk) 19:12, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A very well put answer, Teratornis. I will do so. But I have one last question for someone before I do so: How do you like my {{Navbar}}? Be honest :) Graham (talk, contrib) 20:09, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Speaking for myself only, I'm having trouble seeing how I would need a way to get to my user page any more quickly than I can already get there from the link at the top of every Wikipedia page. However, I could see other uses for similar templates, such as a tool for Help desk volunteers that would link to all the useful searches in {{Help desk searches}}. It would also be cool to have a template that could display information about the user who posts a question, such as a link to the user's contributions. Often a Help desk volunteer has to look at a user's contributions to figure out a vague question. --Teratornis (talk) 00:16, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I would be surprised if a template could figure out what Help desk question I'm looking at, and identify the user who posted it, without requiring some sort of manual editing to feed it a username. To be useful, such a template would have to make such lookups easier than the current method of clicking around to get to the user's contributions. Someday we might have a tool for Help desk volunteers with links to every search tool that is relevant to answering questions on the Help desk, and drop-down menus for inserting standard response templates (like {{HD}}) and so on. --Teratornis (talk) 00:24, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you would look slightly below, you will see a similar question on how to identify this user. It is also for the purpose of this template.

I don't think anything on Wikipedia allows you to identify which section of the page you are viewing. Sorry. Graham (talk, contrib) 02:28, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

G.Shankar- Creating beauty out of mud in the shape of buildings.

article text removed —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vijay.poet (talk • contribs) 06:32, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like you are trying to create a new article on Wikipedia. Please read How to create your first article, and our notability guidelines. — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 11:17, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How do I create pages that only i can view?

Hi guys, Do youse know how I can create a page that only i can view —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bwfguy (talk • contribs) 06:39, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In short, you can't. To do so is rather against the purpose to the creation of an encyclopedia. All activities on this site should be for that goal. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 07:44, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c)On Wikipedia you cannot. However, you can create a subpage of your user or your user talk page which in the normal course very few people will have any reason to visit.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 07:46, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Another option is to install your own personal wiki. See mw:Manual:Wiki on a stick if you want to run the MediaWiki software as your personal wiki. If you are looking for some sort of ready-made Web hosting service that will let you make pages that you and only you can view from multiple computers, you could try Google Docs which does that and more. --Teratornis (talk) 18:45, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Help, someone is removing my material

Hello,I am new here, and have read, and complied with all of TOS regarding editing. How do I stop someone from deleting, and or rewording my material? Also, who has the authority to tell me "This is my last change", and how can this be revoked?

 Your response is anxiously welcomed

R. B. —Preceding unsigned comment added by ReubenBinyamin (talk • contribs) 09:13, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi ReubenBinyamin. The best way to stop your additions from being reverted is to check that they confirm to policy. In this case, the editors who've reverted you have referred to the neutral point of view policy, which you might want to read. Basically, saying that a site "accurately demonstrates [something] with strong merit" is making a value judgment about the site, which is not Wikipedia's place: we're just here to report information as published in reliable sources, not to judge it. Our readers can go to the site and judge for themselves whether it has merit or not.

As for telling you "this is your last change", I'm not sure what you're referring to (as I don't see that comment in any edit summaries or talk pages) - could you clarify? Best, Olaf Davis | Talk 10:23, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think he is referring to the comments on his talk page. (Possibly). Harland1 (^t/_c) 11:41, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Any sysop can tell you that they might block you. But saying this is your last edit is not a reasonable or entirely valid option. I'm glad you reported this here; you may want to consider reposting this at the Administrator's noticeboard. Graham (talk, contrib) 17:37, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The strongest thing I can see before he came here was a warning that his actions "may be considered disruptive" and "are going to be reverted". If I've missed something major please point it out, but if that is what you mean then I strongly advise against going to the Admins' noticeboard because they'll likely tell you that the editor in question was perfectly reasonable and polite in warning you against that course of action. Olaf Davis | Talk 21:25, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Abbey Building Society

I wish to know the Sorting Code for Abbey in Bradford. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.11.0.6 (talk) 10:33, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, this is the page for asking questions about Wikipedia, I'm not sure we could tell you what the sorting code is for a building society but why don't you try the reference desk? Harland1 (^t/_c) 11:43, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Did some research and you might find it here. Harland1 (^t/_c) 11:46, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How?

How do I become an 'Articles for creation' reviewer? --71.225.85.57 (talk) 12:12, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

First, you'd have to create an account. After that, you can just review the requests on WP:AfC and follow the instructions there. — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 12:36, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:ACCOUNT for information about creating an account. --Teratornis (talk) 18:40, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Menu bars

I saw on a user page a menu bar. It had an 'Adopt-A-User' icon on it. How'd they do this? I looked at all the menu bars on the WP:User Page Design Center, but I couldn't find any that had that icon. Why is this? --71.225.85.57 (talk) 12:31, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Those are userboxes, a list of which is available here as well as a lot of other places like Category:Userboxes. Some of them are hard to find. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 14:24, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) What you were looking at was probably a userbox. If you are interested in being adopted, type this on your userpage: {{subst:dated adoptme}}, or contact an adopter From this list: Wikipedia:Adopt-a-User/Adoptee's Area/Adopters. –xenocidic (talk) 14:25, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Signature

Hello,

I was wondering do we have to end post with that signature?

boffinboy 15:04, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

On talk pages and discussions (not articles), one should sign your comments with ~~~~. x42bn6 Talk Mess 15:13, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you still have a default signature, 3 tildes (~~~) will sign only your name, omitting the time. 5 tildes (~~~~~) will report ONLY the time. All tilde operations are always substituted; that is, when you save the page, they are replaced with your signature text and the tildes are removed. Example: I signed this post with four tildes. When you edit this page, do you see them still?

Graham (talk, contrib) 17:43, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Creating a new article, but another article has the same title.

I want to create a new article. Your help section tells me how to. The trouble is the article I want to create has the same title as a totally unrelated article, so the method you tell me isn't effective. How can I create an article which shares a title with another article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alecsleigh (talk • contribs) 15:14, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, first of all, what is the article about? Look at the word "Twilight". It could either refer to the time of day Twilight, or to many other things, such as the book, Twilight (novel), or to another book, Twilight (Warriors). Take the category/series, then put it in parentheses after the subject itself. IceUnshattered (talk) 15:19, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Because we technically can't have two articles with the same name, we disambiguate by placing, in parenthesis, the general category the subject falls into, using hatnotes or disambiguation pages when necessary. For example, Artemis Fowl (novel) and Artemis Fowl (series). The guideline page, with more information, is at Wikipedia:Disambiguation. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 15:25, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Create the page with a more specific name and add {{About}} to the existing version. For example, if you want to add a page about Trojan horse in computing, add Trojan horse (computing), and add {{About|the Greek myth|the computing term|Trojan horse (computing)}} to the top of Trojan horse. --h2g2bob (talk) 19:16, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

DELETE

How do you delete a page?, because there is this one page where there is no point of it having its own page and i'd like to nominate it for deletion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cilmino.1fan (talk • contribs) 16:38, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Only administrators can delete pages. To nominate a page for deletion, see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion for all the instructions. See also the deletion policy. Thanks, PeterSymonds (talk) 16:44, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

One can also use any db-... template to nominate an article for speedy deletion, but you must be sure the page is within the criteria for speedy deletion. Graham (talk, contrib) 17:59, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Javascript collection

Is there, by any chance, a collection of common scripts for the /monobook.js part of your user? I want to sample some programs, and, being a programmer, potentially create enough of my own. (Java is close to C++, which I use, but this JavaScript is a little lexically different). Graham (talk, contrib) 18:05, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Here. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 18:22, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Span and Div

Can somebody supply me with an extensive yet easy to understand article on how to use all the aspects of the Div and Span tags? Melab-1 (talk) 18:19, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Start with WP:EIW#Naviga, Help:HTML in wikitext#Span, and Wikipedia:Span tags. --Teratornis (talk) 18:31, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"Easy to understand" is different for everybody, depending primarily on their prior knowledge of related material, and to a lesser extent on their IQ. However, on Wikipedia, anyone can edit the internal documents, or write additional tutorial documents. If you find something in the internal documents hard to understand, odds are someone else does or will too, so if you can rewrite it to be clearer, or at least mention the unclarity on the document's talk page, you may help the next ~~victim~~ editor who tries to learn it. In other words, don't just experience problems on Wikipedia, but think about how to fix the problems for the next person. To the extent that Wikipedia is usable right now, it's because of all the little refinements and improvements people have accumulated thus far. --Teratornis (talk) 18:38, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm smart but still I haven't learned much about it but it's confusing so anything like my request would be fine. And when I "Easy to understand" I mean for someone who has basic knowledge of html tags and attributes like href for the <a> tag and basic knowledge of wiki syntax. Melab-1 (talk) 19:46, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also see Span and div. There might not be one single article on Wikipedia that tells how to use "all aspects" of div and span, since each one allows for CSS styles, so really you are asking about all aspects of CSS too. CSS is not something I'd expect many people to find "easy to understand" in its totality, but if you have some specific application in mind, someone might be able to explain how to do it in a way that is easy to understand. The Editor's index uses span tags to create name anchors for link targets on lines that are not section headings - that's one useful application that comes to mind. --Teratornis (talk) 00:08, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I mean like how to use some of those CSS style inside those tags. Melab-1 (talk) 15:38, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Alignment

How do you align text oran image image in the vertical cnter of a section or page? Melab-1 (talk) 18:26, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For images you just add [[Image:<filename>|center]] to align it to the center. I will have to check what to do for text. Anonymous101 (talk) 18:54, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For text you add textAnonymous101 (talk) 18:55, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What do you mean by "vertical center"? Normally when we center something, we center it horizonally, that is, we make it equally far from the right and left extents of the page. What you might mean by vertical centering is less clear, as many pages are taller than most user's displays, so the "vertical center" might refer to the vertical center of the entire page, or the vertical center of the portion the user is viewing. --Teratornis (talk) 19:18, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Vertical center of entire page. Melab-1 (talk) 19:36, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Frankly, I'd also like to know to get the vertical center of the view, fixed or not. (Sorry for schmoozing on your question, Melab-1.) Graham (talk, contrib) 19:54, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

One method that comes to mind to center things vertically would be to put the whole page into a table, although that might be an undesirable solution. I doubt it would be suitable for a Wikipedia article. There might be other ways. I'm not an expert on changing the page layout. Someone else could chime in here. --Teratornis (talk) 00:01, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Its okay. Melab-1 (talk) 17:19, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Formatting question

Hi, in The Aquabats article, there is a table listing the band members by album. One of the albums is called "Charge!!", and in order to make it work in the table correctly it is formatted thus: <nowiki>Charge!!</nowiki>. It is supposed to be a wiki-link, but I can't figure out how to make the exclamation points show up in the table if you add the [[ and ]] tags. Does anyone know how? DaRkAgE7 (talk) 19:38, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just type [[Charge!!]] Melab-1 (talk) 19:41, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Tried that, it just messes up the table. Something with the two exclamation marks. See User:Darkage7/Sandbox2 for a graphic depiction, and feel free to make test edits there if you need to. :) DaRkAgE7 (talk) 19:51, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, I figured it out. (I'm surprised my html skills didn't come up with it before) You use html markup for the "!"'s, thus: [[Charge%21%21]], that makes it work perfectly with the table. Issue resolved! DaRkAgE7 (talk) 21:49, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That's a better solution than my ugly workaround [4] to avoid consecutive !! by using a redirect. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:07, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia a host for fan fiction?

I have some concerns about the "articles" being created at User:SurvivorFANFIC. Most are identical to the Survivor articles on Wikipedia. Others are a mixture of recaps of Survivor seasons copied from the Wikipedia articles and the results of an "internet reality show". I'm not convinced that there is a need for copying and pasting entire articles into user space. I'm also not convinced that the "internet reality show" is notable, although this might not be a concern if it is in user space. I do think that terming it "fanfic" indicates that it is probably a violation of Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not a publisher of original thought or, as seen in an MfD, or WP:NOTWEBHOST. On of the comments in the MfD also pointed out that Wikipedia hosting fan fiction could be problematic per Legal issues with fan fiction. Is this something that should go to an MfD? GaryColemanFan (talk) 19:38, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried discussing it with the user? If so, and (s)he persists to do so, perhaps you should take this up at WP:RFC or WP:ANI. Cheers, --Mizu onna sango15/^Discuss 21:23, 6 July 2008 (UTC).[reply]

Discuss what? I'm not sure how to approach it, as I'm unsure if the pages violate Wikipedia policy. That was why I was asking here. GaryColemanFan (talk) 04:02, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A user's user space is not a free-for-all to post anything a person likes. As you mention, Wikipedia is not a webhost. If the pages are not for the benefit of Wikipedia, then they are against policy. In what way do those pages assist any article or project on Wikipedia? Simply explain this to the user and, if he refuses to listen, submit it to WP:ANI. -- kainaw ™ 04:06, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, those pages do violate policy and have already been put up for deletion here. Cheers. L0b0t (talk) 04:09, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How to determine who "this user" is

I am designing a User subpage that I would like to be content sensitive based on the current visiting user (for example, for me it would display an extra link, for a friend of mine it would display another special link, etc...). I was wondering if there is a {{USERNAME}} magic word or something to use in an #ifeq: parser expression. Graham (talk, contrib) 20:03, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, and believe me, I've looked. There is no magic word, or any code you can add (short of being a developer and re-working some of the Mediawiki code) to see who's looking at a page, who's edited it last, etc. Hersfold non-admin^(t/a/c) 03:12, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

However, feel free to submit an enhancement request on MediaWiki's bugzilla server. It seems like this would be a popular feature. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 03:53, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, I will submit a request. My only worry is that vandals might take use of this feature; then again, what harm will it cause that hasn't already been done? Graham (talk, contrib) 16:21, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, as the page you linked to says, the Bugzilla server is for reporting bugs. I've reported it to the Village Pump (technical). Graham (talk, contrib) 16:25, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How do I report admin abuse?

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

I posted an image and it got it tagged by an admin who asked me to cite the ownership. I corrected my addition and instead of trying to find out what I am trying to do and helping me, he deleted the image. My request for him to explain the reason for the deletion only resulted in him threatening to ban me. He stalks my posts for information on how to report him and recruits other administrators to berate me without due examination. It is my belief that his actions are not from a neutral point of view, that he is not open to assisting newcomers, and that he does not treat editors with respect. How do I bring his actions to the attention of other administrators? Jeffrey Pierce Henderson (talk) 20:06, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Report it at the Administrator's noticeboard. Graham (talk, contrib) 20:24, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hmmm...Check out this user's talk page...there may be more to the story than you think. User protected identity to avoid edit war

Yep Jeffrey Pierce Henderson started off being extremely rude, and then flippant and then a bit more rude. I wouldn't have helped him I would have blocked him as well as deleting his blatant copyvio. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 20:41, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wow. It would be very interesting to see the identity of the mystery poster. I would bet dollars to donuts they are involved in this matter. By saying “Check out this user's talk page” this person is assuming that people will judge before investigating the matter thoroughly. What an insult to everyone! There has never been an edit war. There is no basis for your secret post. Doesn’t it look as though some are trying to taint the jury pool? Why is this person following me around and hindering my requests for help? If my concern is invalid, then won’t it fail? Theresa Knott, what blatant copyvio? Can you elaborate on your accusation? It is my opinion that you don’t have the facts. Can you talk to me instead of person in hiding? I am the one asking for help here, not them. Why are you responding like I am not here? I have made many mistakes, but I don’t deserve the disparaging comments. Please tell me you are not one of those few Wikipedia administrators who have contempt for newcomers. Jeffrey Pierce Henderson (talk) 23:41, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Check my talk page. As I did yours. My remarks were based entirely on your behavior there which was bad hence the disparaging comments. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 00:15, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Point taken. I was very rude and that was wrong. Instead of trying to come up with why I was so infantile in my defense, I will focus on how to make sure I maintain a more positive perspective on others intentions. But your statement “blatant copyvio” is still confusing to me. What did I do that was a “blatant copyvio”?Jeffrey Pierce Henderson (talk) 02:42, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What does "Can you talk to me instead of person in hiding" mean? Please calm down. This page is for help. Mike P ^(WHAT???) 23:49, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is he threatening Theresa? 76.14.110.81 (talk) 23:56, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No one is threatening me. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 00:15, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am really level headed on this one. Finally, I have learned a little about staying calm. Wikipedia has been great for me personally because I have never needed to exercise restraint in my communication. Wikipedia has made me a better man! The person in hiding will be revealed. Sock puppet masters ALWAYS slip up. There are a small few admins who have latched on to me for reasons I totally understand. I am confident in my ideas, take my edits personal to my demise, and my attitude towards authority needs great improvement. I suspect it was one of these stalker admins who posted a comment in this thread and signed it User protected identity to avoid edit war. I assume only admins can do this. I would like an admin to look into the comment of the words “edit war” as just another way to hide in the shadows and toss malicious ideas at my posts. Simply put, the tactic by this admin in my opinion is a minor form of sock puppetry. There is no evidence of me ever being in an edit war with anyone. Instead of addressing me, the one praying for aid, Theresa ignores me and accuses me of plagiarism. “Can you talk to me instead of person in hiding” means please communicate with me, not the aforementioned mystery (admin?) poster. Jeffrey Pierce Henderson (talk) 02:34, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Would you shut up? OK, I DID THE SECRET POST so I didn't look like a spaz because I found out more details. IT WAS ME. I admitted so at Theresa's talk page. Geez, don't get so paranoid about someone doing that. Graham (talk, contrib) 02:37, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"take my edits personal to my demise" Reading this disturbed editor's talk page indicate a universal offensive stance against all that wp is all about.76.14.110.81 (talk) 02:45, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This is on his talk page: "There you go, JennySuck. Now after I squeeze the last load on your puss, I back hand you towards the door". 76.14.110.81 (talk) 02:49, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm closing this discussion. This is the Wikipedia Help Desk. Please take disputes to the appropriate places. Thank you. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 03:20, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

User Page Errors

Should you edit someone's User Page and correct an error (such as a spelling mistake) if there is one? --71.225.85.57 (talk) 20:29, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure of wikipedia's official position, but why take the time? A user page isn't encyclopedic content, and there's not really much reason to worry what someone else's user page says. DaRkAgE7 (talk) 20:34, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Go ahead. you may want to leave a notice on the user's talk page, though. A simple correction is sincere, but an overhaul of layout is vandalism. Try not to cross the fine line. Graham (talk, contrib) 20:36, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I personally don't feel that anyone should tell new editors that they can edit other people's userpages. Not being snarky, I promise. Mike P ^(WHAT???) 21:17, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I qoute, by copy-and-paste, "A simple correction is sincere, but an overhaul of layout is vandalism." I think it should be OK by some policy to proofread someone's userpage. If they don't like it, reverting is always an option. Staying cool but assertive, Graham (talk, contrib) 21:22, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Userpage says "In general it is considered polite to avoid substantially editing another's user page without their permission." OK, fixing a typo is not substantial, and some users may be grateful for the help, but you can't guarantee they won't just feel like you were having a go at their command of the language. There are plenty of typos out in articlespace crying out for your copyediting skills. --Ka renjc 22:25, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In short, you probably shouldn't. Some editors may feel offended by this, and/or take it to be vandalism (epecially for IP's). If you must correct an error, please be sure to leave a message on the appropriate user talk page to let them know of the changes you've made. Cheers, --Mizu onna sango15/^Discuss 22:30, 6 July 2008 (UTC).[reply]

I agree with this advice. I remember when I was a newbie a drive-by IP changed the manual numbering of paragraphs on my User page to #s. I'm sure he or she was being helpful, but to me it felt like a bit of unnecessary interference. AndyJones (talk) 07:48, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Menus

How do you make an icon on menu link to a certain page? The icons on my menu still link to those example user pages. How do I change this? --Raddude50 (talk) 22:47, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Copy the text at Wikipedia:User Page Design Center/Menus and subpages/Menu16 and change the links. –thedemonhog talk • edits 22:51, 6 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

July 7

Signature

I went to 'my preferences' and noticed there was a 'Signature' box. What do I put there? Also, where can I change the color and font of my signature? --Raddude50 (talk) 00:20, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Signatures. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:26, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ummmmm... It doesn't say what I put in the signature box... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Raddude50 (talk • contribs) 16:38, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The section of that article you want is here. I'll explain... Most people put links to their userpage and talk page while making it look more aesthetic. For instance, my signature (Scottydude _talk 16:45, 7 July 2008 (UTC)) has a link to my userpage and my talkpage. The advantage of using the custom box is that I can make the talk link a subscript by adding PLACE TEXT HERE and putting the link to my talk page in between. Hope this helps! Scottydude _talk 16:45, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How come my signature shows up like this? --:Kirby145: (talk) 17:08, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Be sure to check "raw signature" on your preferences page. Corvus cornix_talk 18:20, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Blocked images

I accidentally blocked all my images from wikipedia, how do I unblock everything? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.16.54.30 (talk) 00:23, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you're on Firefox, go to Tools > Options > Content > the second "Exceptions..." for "Load images automatically" > remove any "wikipedia" or "wikimedia" entry, such as "http://commons.wikimedia.org". Not sure if you can block images on Internet Explorer. x42bn6 Talk Mess 01:33, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think, in IE, it's the first option under 'Content' in 'Internet options' but I'm not sure...... Densock .. Talk^{(Dendodge on a public network)} 11:30, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Offline Editing of Wikipedia article

Just asking this here, already asked as a registered user on the Italian Wikipedia: I'm searching for a software/plugin/etc. that could help me editing wikipedia's pages and make it possible to use the "Show Preview" function of the Edit Page. This would help me avoid mistakes, but i never found anything useful: the alternative, using a notepad application, hasn't the preview function. Anyone could help me? You can find me with the username "Reborned" on the Italian wiki, Thanks --83.147.85.32 (talk) 02:16, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Auto-Wiki Browser is useful for making a lot of very similar edits to several pages at once (mostly maintenance type work). wikEd is also a popular tool which can be activated under the "Gadgets" tab in your preferences. Wikipedia:Tools/Editing tools has a full list of tools and programs which should be along the lines of what you're looking for. Hersfold non-admin^(t/a/c) 03:10, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia article using another Wikipedia article as a source

I was going to remove such a reference because it just seemed wrong, but I wasn't sure which guideline, if there is one, I would be quoting in my edit summary. Any idea? Thanks Louis Waweru Talk 02:28, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

WP:RS? – ukexpat (talk) 02:35, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Correct. Wikipedia is not considered a reliable source for other Wikipedia articles. It says this explicitly at WP:SPS. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 03:27, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you Ukexpat and shinmawa. I actually read those (oops) I guess I need to pay more attention when reading. Louis Waweru Talk 04:22, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

We need Wikipedia to pass the Turing test and begin paying attention to us. Someday MediaWiki will be smart enough to tell when an editor violates a Wikipedia guideline or policy, and provide the relevant detailed warning. For now, we must make do with unreliable human diligence. --Teratornis (talk) 15:21, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Um, what?

I was just in the Circus (company) article, and under the 28th game listed, you can see that it's blank, but when you edit the section, you can see ''[[AR: Wasurerareta Natsu]]'' listed there. Why does this not show up in the article? Further, when you edit this section, look at the end of this sentence; when this particular phrase is wikilinked, it does not appear on the page: [[AR: Wasurerareta Natsu]].--十八 04:26, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ah. The reason for that is that ar is the language code for Arabic, so links starting with ar: are assumed to be interwiki links, which show up in the sidebar rather than appearing as in-article links (I've "nowiki'ed" your example here for the same reason). The only solution I know of is to create the article at a different title, and pipe the link - for example, as AR: Wasurareta Natsu. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 04:48, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism - I've run out of time

I have to sign off this computer shortly but I've found some vandalism in the Utah article that claims "The Great Salt Lake, the major remnant of Lake Bonneville, is so salty from the tears of local residents upon hearing that there would be no Fry's Electronics retail store built in the valley." I've gone as far back in the history as 23 June but can't find where this, and who knows what else, was put into the article. Could someone track this down? Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 05:46, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The edits were made in revision 223179510, by user 24.10.243.154, should anyone feel like warning them about such vandalism. As for the vandalism itself, I've undone it. --DaRkAgE7 (talk) 06:05, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Still having trouble creating categories

I have created an article on Wikipedia. I am having trouble creating categories. When ever I put Category: CategoryName is becomes a link but there is no box. Also, when I try to add more Categories they appear on the page as Category: Name, Category: Name.

--61.129.99.234 (talk) 06:44, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia. You are actually VERY close. What you entered was this:

[[:Category: Branding companies]] | [[:Category: Companies in Shanghai]] | [[:Category: China]]

The preceding : and the space after "Category:" are what's breaking it. The preceding colon is used to make links show up exactly as they did, rather than adding it to the category like you wanted. Also, you don't need to delimit the categories by pipes (|). This is done by the software automatically. Try this instead:

[[Category:Branding companies]]

[[Category:Companies in Shanghai]]

[[Category:China]]

Hope this helps. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 07:09, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Using Wikipedia Content to Teach Marketing Courses in English

We are an online English teaching company. We teach various levels of English interactively and are planning to teach a Marketing course (in English), so that students can become familiar with English marketing terminology. We believe that your Wikipedia content is perfect for us to use. We also plan to integrate marketing case studies, video clips, voice, reading and writing exercises and exams online. I am not clear on if or how we can use your marketing related texts in conjunction with our website, unless we integrate it. I cannot understand the conditions you specify relative to our needs and would respectfully request a clarification of what we can and cannot do. Many thanks, 58.187.128.125 (talk) 09:47, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia's text is licensed under GFDL, so you can copy and modify it without attribution or limitation. Therefore you may copy any text you like and put it on your website. If teaching English, you might want to look at the Simple English Wikipedia, which is aimed more specifically at people who are learning English. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 09:50, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And see the links under WP:EIW#Reusing. --Teratornis (talk) 15:16, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The statement "copy and modify it without attribution or limitation" is very misleading (as in its not true). Use of Wikipedia's text, while exceedingly permissive, is not free of limitation or attribution requirements. Specifically, you are limited to the terms of the GFDL, which includes, under section 4B, a requirement that Wikipedia must be attributed if you modify the text. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 17:33, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

User Profile

How do I delete my user profile page? I want my article to show up when I google the company not my user page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Labbrand (talk • contribs) 10:00, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can place {{db-user}} on it. Please also consider Wikipedia:Changing username as it's problematic per Wikipedia:Username policy#Company/group names to have the name of an organization you write about. See alsoWikipedia:FAQ/Business. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:20, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What's going on with this article please?

Check out Robin McLaren. Seems like two articles merged into one. 79.75.217.175 (talk) 10:10, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The problem was with Template:UK-bio-stub, which was transcluded onto this page. Fixed now. - Trevor MacInnis (Contribs) 10:16, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Locking Down Sites

Resolved

– See below Alex Muller 14:30, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I represent both Chalvedon and Barstable schools and would like to "lock down" their pages (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalvedon_School & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barstable_School) and delete their history edited pages as they contain false and offensive material in them. I am unsure if locking a topic from being edited further is even an option on WikiPedia..?

Obviously pupils seem to have great pleasure in defacing the image of the schools on such a popular public website.

Any advice or information would be appreciated please. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.46.145.1 (talk) 10:24, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The situation has been looked into by a member of the Wikipedia society an has been sorted as best as is possible.

Thankyou very much Alex Muller. —Preceding unsigned comment added by AndyBaines (talk • contribs) 11:06, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi 217.46.145.1 (the Chalvedon and Barstable schools representative).

First, I'm not sure about the above message by "Alex Muller" because as far as I can see nothing's been "looked into by a member of the Wikipedia society" or "sorted as best as is possible".

Second, I've had a brief look at the history of the article and can't immediately see anything beyond the normal silliness that you get with articles on schools. So locking them down (termed "protection", and there are various levels of protection) is probably not warranted. However, if there's anything in the articles' histories that's libellous or revealing private information about individuals, then deletion of the corresponding edits could be considered. If you can identify particular edits that you feel should be erased for these reasons, please point them out - thanks.--92.40.193.196 (talk) 12:40, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just to clarify, User:alex.muller is an admin. After looking at the logs for the pages, it looks like Alex went in and did some selective deletion. My personal guess is that Alex is responding to an OTRS ticket. However, I can't be sure as there was no note with a ticket number left behind. This doesn't really change anything I said below, but it looks like the problem as already been resolved. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 13:57, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Due to restrictions of the GFDL, we can not delete the history of the page. However, in extraordinary circumstances, elements of the history can be hidden from view. If you truly feel that there are elements of the history that are libelous, there is a facility of Wikipedia called Oversight that exists for the sole purpose of hiding revisions. If such is the case, you may make a request by following the instructions at Wikipedia:Requests for oversight. Please be prepared to indicate exactly which revisions need to be hidden and why. As for "locking down the page", the policy that covers this is at Wikipedia:Protection policy. However, to be frank, neither page is anywhere close to meeting the threshhold of page protection as both pages are editted exceedingly rarely (approximately 1 edit per month average) and neither show the history of vandalism that is required to invoke protection. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 13:37, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In the general case, it is false to claim that the GFDL forbids history deletion. This is one of the more persitent myths, unfortunately.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 19:35, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just to clarify all of this - I've been through the histories of those two articles and removed the rubbish, so administrators can still see the whole page history if they want. Oh, and I'm not OTRS - I declined a speedy deletion of the articles which led to talk page posts. You can read it all on User talk:Alex.muller and User talk:AndyBaines. Ta, Alex Muller 14:30, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the clarifications, Alex. Much appreciated! -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 17:36, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Globe thing

How do I get a longitude and latitude globe thingy at the top of a page? Thanks!--seahamlass 12:16, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Use the Coor title series: {{Coor title d}}, {{Coor title dm}}, {{Coor title dms}}. Remember to plate them at the bottom of the article. Xenon 54 12:47, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I believe Xenon meant 'place' them at the bottom of the article. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 13:22, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I did. Another reason why I shouldn't edit Wikipedia just after waking up. Xenon 54 13:24, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

LINKING

Ive created a new page called Type dynamics indicator. i wanted to make it so the abbreviation TDI also linked to the page. how do i do this? im sorry if this is in the help pages but i couldnt find it or it wasnt very clear. Daniel —Preceding unsigned comment added by Danb14 (talk • contribs) 13:32, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Go to TDI, which is a disambiguation page, and add a link to your page at the bottom. Xenon 54 13:41, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c) In most circumstances, you would simply create a redirect to the page. However, in this case, TDI already exists as a disambiguation page. All you need to do in your case is add type dynamics indicator to the list of things that can be referred to as TDI. I hope this helps. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 13:42, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

histories

how far does the recent changes history go back? to 2001? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Krishoco (talk • contribs) 16:04, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Normally a maximum of 500 edits from 30 days ago. However, if you tweak the URL, you probably can. StewieGriffin! • Talk Sign Listen 16:13, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please explain "tweak the URL". I was to misunderstand that clicking "earliest" shows changes from begging of Wikipedia existance, but they differ for each article. I wish to view activity accross all of wikipedia in real time as Recent Changes offers, but I wish to see the logs from 2001 or as early as possible in virtual real time, to seem what activity was happening in Wikipedias early existance. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Krishoco (talk • contribs) 16:22, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Stewie means adding options to the end of the URL, like http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&from=20020101000000&hideminor=0. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Xenon 54 16:26, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, thank you. So what is the maximum time one can view the logs for? Are they deleted? It would seem a waste to loose such important information about the growth of wikipedia? Are they archived somewhere else for preservation? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Krishoco (talk • contribs) 16:30, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That link does not work. It gives todays changes. I wish to view past changes as far back as they go. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Krishoco (talk • contribs) 16:36, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please answer: how far back into the past does the Recent Changes log go? Where can I view the furthest back logs? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Krishoco (talk • contribs) 17:23, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

At this point, I think it is important to focus less on 'how' and more on 'why'. What exactly are you looking to do? It sounds like you are up to some serious data mining and this is fine. If this is the case, you might want to take a look at downloading the Wikipedia database and doing your data mining on your own computer(s) without the limitations imposed by working through the WikiMedia software. Specifically, I think you'd want the database dump called "pages-meta-history.xml.bz2". -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 17:48, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, thank you I will certainly check those out. To ask once more, how far back does the logs go? In looking around I find the length of a month quoted. Do the logs only go far back as a month or longer? This is recent changes I mean, not the page histories. I would like to no before I begin downloading. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Krishoco (talk • contribs) 18:37, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Need to contact administrator.

I have a serious issue that I wish to bring to the attention of an administriator but do not wish to place it in the public domian. Is there an email address I can use? 163.1.251.74 (talk) 16:34, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

At Wikipedia:List of administrators, there is an, well, list of administrators. You need to create an account with an email however, before you can use the Wikipedia email interface. « Milk's Favorite Cøøkie 16:37, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And once you've done that, go to the userpage of the administrator you wish to contact, and click E-mail this user in the toolbox on the left hand side of the page. Lra drama 16:38, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

My i butt in here. Do all administrators have to have an email address? is it a stipulation of being an administrator that one must provide an email address? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mud Flood (talk • contribs) 16:42, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm an administrator should you need one. In answer to Mud Flood's comment, not necessarily, but it is advised. Any user can shut off email in their preferences. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 16:43, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Depending on the issue, you can also consider Wikipedia:Contact us and in particular Wikipedia:OTRS. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:26, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Geography

Which planet is the lagest ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.207.18.107 (talk) 17:22, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In the Solar System: Jupiter (and the topic is astronomy, not geography). Have you tried the Science 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. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:29, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Link colors

What do the different colors for the links mean (blue, red, etc.)? Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.241.144.20 (talk) 17:33, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Link color. Your browser may display already visited links as purple. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:39, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Parser Function

How can I make a parser function displays my number of edits? Melab-1 (talk) 18:45, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

According to Help:Magic words there is no such parser function. But you may use [5] or [6]. I hope this helps you. :) Best wishes, —αἰτίας •discussion• 19:00, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Need help spelling

Can you tell me how to spell Cheryl Azabeth in blackfoot. Idon't understand theway to do it.

Thanks Joseph

Hello. I'm StewieGriffin! • Talk Sign Listen, I don't understand your question. StewieGriffin! • Talk Sign Listen 19:07, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This would be a question for Wikipedia:Reference desk. Thanks and good luck. Mike P ^{(wots all this, then?)} 19:22, 7 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Newbell Niles PH. D. Puckett (January 2003). Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN 0766127788.

[2] Newbell Niles PH. D. Puckett (January 2003). Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN 0766127788.

[list-3] The big list of statements

[4] Davis, p. 12

[5] Davis, p. 60

[6] Marx, p. 9

[1]

[2]

[1]

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 482: / Line 482: @@
 :Due to restrictions of the [[GFDL]], we can not delete the history of the page.  However, in extraordinary circumstances, elements of the history can be ''hidden'' from view.   If you truly feel that there are elements of the history that are libelous, there is a facility of Wikipedia called [[WP:OVERSIGHT|Oversight]] that exists for the sole purpose of hiding revisions.  If such is the case, you may make a request by following the instructions at [[Wikipedia:Requests for oversight]].   Please be prepared to indicate exactly which revisions need to be hidden and why.  As for "locking down the page", the policy that covers this is at [[Wikipedia:Protection policy]].   However, to be frank, neither page is anywhere close to meeting the threshhold of page protection as both pages are editted exceedingly rarely (approximately 1 edit per ''month'' average) and neither show the history of vandalism that is required to invoke protection.  <font style="font-variant: small-caps;">-- [[User:Shinmawa|ShinmaWa]]<sup>([[User_talk:Shinmawa|talk]])</sup></font> 13:37, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
+::In the general case, it is false to claim that the GFDL forbids history deletion.  This is one of the more persitent myths, unfortunately.--[[User:Jimbo Wales|Jimbo Wales]] ([[User talk:Jimbo Wales|talk]]) 19:35, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 ::Just to clarify all of this - I've been through the histories of those two articles and removed the rubbish, so administrators can still see the whole page history if they want. Oh, and I'm not OTRS - I declined a speedy deletion of the articles which led to talk page posts. You can read it all on [[User talk:Alex.muller]] and [[User talk:AndyBaines]]. Ta, <small><b><span style="border:1px solid #20406F;padding:1px 3px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;">[[User talk:Alex.muller|<font color="#20406F">Alex Muller</font>]]</span></b></small> 14:30, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

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