Wikipedia:Teahouse

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Longhorndaniel (talk | contribs) at 13:50, 22 June 2012 (New question: doo dads?). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Dear new editors, no question is too basic for our Q&A board. If you need help, just click the link below! And if you have some helpful advice for someone else, go ahead: be bold! Click the "edit" button to the right of their question and start the conversation.

doo dads?

how do i add the cool doodads(don't know what else to call them) to my personal page/site; as example; (This user is a fan of This Team); etc Longhorndaniel (talk) 13:50, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Easy photo question if you know what you are doing.

Hello.

I'm trying to get this photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Randolph_Street_Market_Festival.jpeg

inserted into this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Randolph_Street_Market

and it just gives me red type. Obviously I'm doing something wrong.

How can I fix this?

Thanks. Marilyn Nix (talk) 03:46, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Marilyn. I've gone ahead and fixed the problem. There was an extra period at the end of .jpeg. One thing I noticed is that you use a section heading for the article title, and subsections from there. You will want to have the introduction to the article start without a section heading, and what are now subsections be sections. (two equal signs rather than three). Hope that helps. Obotlig interrogate 04:03, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks so much Obotlig, have taken your good advice and fixed the sectioning, and will check my other pages to make sure it's right too. Really appreciate your assistance with the picture. Marilyn Nix (talk) 04:21, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Cartoon Character

I am trying to find out the name of a cartoon character that says...I WILL LOVE HIM AND KISS HIM AND KEEP HIM AS MY OWN. I don't know where to look or who to ask...Can someone HELP ME PLEASE? Thanks you, Maxwell50.53.56.90 (talk) 22:54, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Maxwell! Here at the Teahouse we answer questions about editing Wikipedia. But I'll give you a hint, that line was borrowed from a character in 'Of Mice and Men', a book by John Steinbeck. (You can also try asking at the reference desk, maybe in the entertainment section.
Hah! In fact, Wikipedia's article Of Mice and Men already answers it here. heather walls (talk) 23:56, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I am aware it is from the book but I am looking for the cartoon character that said it. If you can advise me as to where to look....I would appreciate it! Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.53.56.90 (talk) 00:06, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Allow me to repeat: Hah! In fact, Wikipedia's article Of Mice and Men already answers it here Also here heather walls (talk) 00:13, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I FINALLY FOUND IT! THANKS...It is tough being new and not know how to navigate. THANKS AGAIN! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.53.56.90 (talk) 00:44, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

approval for new pages

My new page has been up for approval for several days now - but I get no sense of how long I will need to wait. How can I find out?Oakbell (talk) 21:40, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hey, Oakbell, welcome to the Teahouse! Unfortunately, there's no way to gauge these things; it's all volunteer-driven, so reviews only go as fast as people can get to them. Articles for creation is also one of the most notoriously-backlogged places on Wikipedia; the sheer volume of articles to review is staggering, and new entries are being added constantly. So, I'm afraid all we can tell you is to be patient; it'll get there eventually. It sucks, but them's the breaks sometimes. Good luck! Writ Keeper 21:47, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

My "Notes" section became part of the "References" section

Hello, A few days ago I proudly completed my first Wikipedia article about "Rudy Buttignol."

At the bottom, I had "References" and then "Notes". Dividing up the sources in this way seemed to be appropriate.

Today I noticed that the info from the "Notes" section has been merged into the "References". Is this a better way of doing things?

Many thanks again.

sofiabrampton

Sofiabrampton (talk) 19:21, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hey there sofiabrampton. Welcome back. First of all, I must say that the article is great. And now, coming to your question, I don't see a reason to have a "notes" section seperately. If the information in those notes is truly notable, then the info goes right in the article itself with the sources/links in the references section(I think that is the case here). If the information is not notable, there is no point in having it here in the first place. But its just my opinion. :) Roshan220195 (talk) 21:38, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Coming to think of it, the issue may have been raised before and consensus achieved. The more experienced hosts who have been here a long time may be able to reply better. Roshan220195 (talk) 21:41, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

_____ Thanks for the input and for the commpliment, Roshan. I get your point and it makes total sense. When writing the article on "Rudy Buttignol" I had help from some Wikipedia editors like Theo, Benzband,David, Uzma Gamal and most lately Fuhghettaboutit. I really appreciate all of the help that I get so thanks again, Roshan, for yours. Let's wait to see if anyone else weighs in re the "Notes/Ref" issue. sofiabrampton Sofiabrampton (talk) 22:00, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Where do you see your question and answers?

Last week I started a wiki page for my aunt. Because she is still living and the information I added was from her I didn't really know how to "reference" it. Therefore, it is scheduled to be deleted. I asked how to "reference" information from the living person, and since I can't see my previous question or any possible answers I still don't know what to do. Lmayart (talk) 15:29, 21 June 2012 (UTC) Ok, sure now it's right at the top, but it wasn't last week! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lmayart (talkcontribs) 15:30, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hey, Lmayart, welcome back! Sorry about your question before; it was probably archived due to inactivity. If your question didn't show up at the top before, it's probably because it was posted at the bottom of the list, rather than the top, which is the way the other talk pages on Wikipedia work; there are some technical issues that can cause this (it's a cause of contention amongst the Teahouse members, so forgive me if I don't elaborate). Anyway, if I've understood your question correctly, you're asking how to use a private conversation with your aunt as a reference on Wikipedia. I'm afraid that we can't really use that kind of information as a reference. The thing is, if something hasn't been published, we can't be sure that it happened, so we can be sure that it's reliable. Our policy on verifiability requires the content of articles to be backed by published sources, because unpublished sources (like your conversation with your aunt), can't be verified by anyone else. I'm sorry if that's a bit of a disappointment, but you have to keep in mind that our information is only as good as the sources that back it up; we just can't take anyone's word for it. Thanks, though! Writ Keeper 15:45, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Lmayart. I had a look for sources using Google Books and News Archive seeking to find significant coverage in reliable sources on your aunt, the touchstone for determining topic inclusion. I was able to confirm some of the sketched details but did not find the significant coverage I was looking for. The simple fact is that the biographies of the vast majority of people on the Earth now and throughout human history are not "encyclopedic"; they are not notable as we use that word here to mean something very specific, and not quite as it's used in the vernacular. There are, however, alternative outlets where you can write about your aunt. See for example wikibios. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:09, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

user names on Wiki?

Hello everyone, Thanks for the warm welcome! Is there any way to change my user name on Wikipedia? I set it in reference to my two fave languages, but I'm thinking maybe something else would be better? Thank you in advance! WikiGnome2012 (talk) 14:00, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi EngGerm12. Changing username is a fairly simple process, especially if the username you want isn't taken. Could I suggest WikiGnome2012, it's actually free! To do it, just wander over to the change username page and follow the instructions. If you want to get a different name, which is already taken, there's a chance that's possible too, but there's a bit more complications then... WormTT(talk) 14:06, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sandbox questions: archive and new s-box?

Hi there, I've created my first article after working on it in my sandbox (The article's live.). Can I delete all that info from my sandbox now? If I do, will it affect the number of edits connected to my account? Second question, can I create several sandboxes? I'm a bit of a dipper. I work on several things at the same time, and I think this might make it easier.

Would appreciate any help you could provide. Cheers, --Charlie Inks (talk) 11:39, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Charlie, thanks for your question. I'll deal with the second one first - mostly because it's an easier answer... You can create as many sandboxes as you like. To do this, just go to any subpage that doesn't yet exist, under your userspace. User:Charlie Inks/Sandbox 2, User:Charlie Inks/My second article or User:Charlie Inks/A sandbox name which doesn't really matter but can be anything I want would all work. I've actually got hundreds of subpages for my adoption school, they just keep piling up.
As for your first question, yes, you can delete the information. Generally, when you put a new article live, it's preferable to use the move command to put it live. This keeps all the article history in tact, which is necessary for the attribution. If you're the only editor it's not a massive deal (though it will affect your edit count if you don't), but when there are multiple editors it becomes very necessary. To delete it, you can either blank the page and carry on, or put "{{db-user}}" at the top, which will mean a nice admin (like me) will come and delete the page. WormTT(talk) 11:48, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Worm, Wow - that was fast! Thank you! A followup question here. So if I delete all the work on the first article in sandbox and that affects my edit numbers, can I do it backwards? (I'm partly dyslexic so I'm trying to figure out how to explain what I mean here... :D ) Can I now, retroactively, cut and paste the edits from sandbox to the actual article so my edit numbers don't get lost in space? Thanks again, Worm. Cheers --Charlie Inks (talk) 11:57, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You'll need a friendly admin to help you out with that. Oh look, I can do it! If you let me know the article title and the sandbox title, I can merge the two histories, leaving the sandbox blank and the article with all your edits on it. WormTT(talk) 12:01, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Worm, Thanks so much for this! I did leave you a thank you on your talk page too :D Re merging the two histories, would you? That would be very much appreciated! The name of the article is Council for the Arts in Ottawa and the sandbox is Charlie Ink's. If you would give me a bit of time - say an hour? I'll switch the next thing I'm working on (It's already in the same sandbox) over to a new sandbox and you can do your magic! I really appreciate this, Worm. :D A Big Thank You --Charlie Inks (talk) 14:45, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

All tidied up for you. In future, don't forget to move your articles to the article space - let me (or anyone at the teahouse) know if you're unsure how to do that. WormTT(talk) 16:21, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've written my article, but what next?

Hello there -- I wrote an article, added references, periodically have updated it (and edited other stuff on Wiki, so I know how that works) but I don't know the next step. How do I submit it for approval? And so importantly (because I'm sorry to ask this; I feel very ignorant): how do I change the title of the page to the actual title of the article? It presently has my user name (Mhsprecher) which doesn't help the actual article much.Thank you very much for your patience with me during this process.Mhsprecher (talk) 20:17, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Mhsprecher, add {{subst:submit}} to the article. I'm sure one of the Teahouse Hosts will be happy to review it for you. I would, but I'm busy at the moment. I have also moved it for you (or will in about 10 seconds if you read this fast). Ryan Vesey Review me! 20:41, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks Ryan! You can now find the article here. heather walls (talk) 21:31, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks Heather, I really should have provided that. Ryan Vesey Review me! 21:32, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi -- next question -- where on the article do I put the submit tag/code? And what should it look like? Mhsprecher (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 21:47, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I apologize for note getting back to you earlier. You can add it directly to the top of the article. Ryan Vesey Review me! 03:00, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Updating article

How do I stop the censoreship of recently discovered new knowledge ,100 percent verifiable,on a article that needs updating?And why would a article be censored if the information is 1000 percent verifiable,true and factual?paitalona p.s. why do u HAVE to use those 4 thingy's??17:43, 20 June 2012 (UTC)paita17:43, 20 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Paitalona (talkcontribs)

Hey, Paitalona, welcome to the Teahouse. First off, it's not censorship. People are removing the material because it is unsourced, and material that is unsourced may be challenged and removed at any time. The burden of proof lies with the editor who adds or restores the material. This means that, since the material has been challenged, it must be directly supported by in-line citations to reliable sources before you can add it back into the article. If the material is verifiable, as you say it is, then citing these sources will be no big deal, so do it. And just so you know, the four tildes get replaced with your signature when you make a post on a talk page; this helps others understand who made a post, and when they made it. Thanks. Writ Keeper 17:59, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Jetset Magazine Article for Creation

I have submitted an article for creation about "Jetset Magazine" currently a much lesser known magazine from Colombia entitled "Jet-Set Magazine" has a page, and yet is far less credible. I have attempted to submit Jetset Magazine because it is one of my favorite exclusive publications, however despite having references from Forbes and other sources, the page was declined. Can somebody assist me with this articles approval.

70.184.104.106 (talk) 16:13, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hey, and welcome to the Teahouse! It looks like Wikipedians decided over at Articles for Deletion that your article does not have enough Secondary, reliable sources. Since I cannot view deleted pages (only administrators can do that), I can only give advice. Try to find independent sources that talk about the subject of the article. This could be The New York Times, CNN, BBC, or other news organizations. I hope this helps. -- Luke (Talk) 16:55, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sources

Hi Luke, I had sources from Forbes Magazine, Richdad.com, and Daymondjohn.com. Are those not viable enough sources? Also, how can I recover content that has been deleted, in order to make these changes?

70.184.104.106 (talk) 21:17, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Am I spamming?

I receive the following message: "Welcome to Wikipedia! It appears you are adding external links to many different Wikipedia pages in rapid succession. This is often a sign of people spamming Wikipedia. ..." It is true I'm adding external links in rapid succession, because I'm trying to add links from articles about Dutch parlamentarians to their personal websites. I think that kind of link could be useful. If it is considered a spam, I of course stop adding them. But if they aren't considered spam, is it possible to somehow switch of the message, which appears every time I'm trying to add a link? Kuuvalo (talk) 13:10, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Kuuvalo. The links are directed towards the official website of the subject, so you should be in the clear. -Cntras (talk) 13:20, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hey, Kuuvalo, and welcome to the Teahouse! What's happening here is that you're triggering the edit filter, which is an automated system that detects certain kinds of edits. It's a relatively naive system; I believe it runs mainly on regexes and the like. So, it can't determine the quality of the external link on its own; it will show that for any external link, no matter how germane. However, in this particular case, it only filters edits from unconfirmed accounts; once you hit autoconfirmed, which happens once your account is 4 days old and has 10 edits under its belt, you'll stop triggering the filter and getting the message. Hope this helps! Writ Keeper 13:22, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict)

For future reference, see WP:PROMO. -Cntras (talk) 13:23, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your answers! Kuuvalo (talk) 13:28, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How to find a lost wiki book

I created a wiki book(apx 85 pp)and was using it regularly. When I wanted to use it I would click on Create a book and go through the laborious process to get to my book. Cumbersome as the process is it would always take me to my book. Now I can no longer find my book. All I get is the opportunity to start a new book. Can someone help me find my book and hopefully explain a less complex way to call it up? Thanks, Art 98.230.173.64 (talk) 13:02, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi there! I've not really used the Book feature of wikipedia that much, but I thought I'd help you out with what I do know. Books are saved in one of two places, your userspace if you've got an account and are autoconfirmed (been around a few days), or under the Book: namespace. Now, assuming you used an account to save the book, it should still be in your userspace. There's certainly not anything under The list of books. If it's been deleted, and you know it's name, I could possibly help you find it, but it wasn't saved, I'm not sure if I can. WormTT(talk) 13:24, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Bilingual / multilingual users

Is there a forum (or whatever) for discussing problems particular to multilingual issues?

My immediate problem is not understanding the relationship between user(names) on different wikipedias. I'm "Imaginatorium" in English and 想像館 in Jaoanese, but when I write on ja.wikipedia my 'settings' page says:

Username: Imaginatorium ... Existing signature: 想像館(会話)

And says that the "User page" for 想像館 doesn't exist. I can create a different user page in Japanese of course, but I'm not clear how the 'signature' user can be different from the 'username' user...?

Is there a standard way to handle this?

Imaginatorium (talk) 08:30, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Each Wikipedia has its own username which is the original account name (yours looks like Imaginatorium) and the user page will have to be created individually for each language of Wikipedia your are editing in. Presumably you have set your signature on ja.wikipedia to be 想像館(会話) but the wikilinks for each of those should be to ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Imaginatorium User_talk:Imaginatorium (so [[User:Imaginatorium|想像館]]([[User_talk:Imaginatorium|会話]])). Hope that helps. Also you will want to add the special other languages wikilinks to each page to point to the user page on the other wikipedias - en:User:Imaginatorium and jp:User:Imaginatorium respectively. Obotlig interrogate 14:56, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Also I believe if you wanted the ja.wikipedia signature links to point to the en.wikipedia user pages, it would be:
[[:en:User:Imaginatorium|想像館]]([[:en:User_talk:Imaginatorium|会話]])
Obotlig interrogate 15:07, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How do I add the Reflinks tool (Toolserver) to my Toolbox menu?

Hello, I find this Reflinks very difficult to understand but I am determined to try.

As a start, would someone please tell me how to add the Reflinks tool to mt Toolbox menu?

Much appreciated.

sofiabrampton user:Sofiabrampton ````

Moved from the talk page. heather walls (talk) 03:14, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Sofia. Go to Special:MyPage/skin.js. Copy and paste the following code:
// Add [[WP:Reflinks]] launcher in the toolbox on left
addOnloadHook(function () {
 addPortletLink(
  "p-tb",     // toolbox portlet
  "http://toolserver.org/~dispenser/cgi-bin/webreflinks.py/" + wgPageName
   + "?client=script&citeweb=on&overwrite=&limit=20&lang=" + wgContentLanguage,
  "Reflinks"  // link label
)});
Save the page. Now clear your cache. It should now be accessible If you have any problems, please tell us.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 06:02, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Adopt-a-user

What's the relationship between this and Wikipedia:Adopt-a-user? ··gracefool 02:40, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi gracefool! Welcome to the Teahouse. We actually don't have a relationship, per se, with the Adopt-a-user program. The Teahouse is based around a many-to-many support system, unlike the Adopt-a-User program which focuses on a one-to-one support system. You can learn about our methodology on our research space on Meta here. I hope that helps, and if you'd like to learn more, feel free to let us know. Sarah (talk) 02:43, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Adding to Sarah's very good answer, I would say that though there is no direct relationship, that both projects are efforts to assist and support relatively new editors. In that sense, they are related. However, Wikipedia is an an enormous project, and John Muir observed that everything in the universe is linked to everything else. And he never heard of the Internet or wikilinks. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 05:29, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. I've added cross-pollinating links to Teahouse at Adopt-a-user. ··gracefool 05:44, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Awesome. Thank you :) And you might see some cross-over, I have had many a Teahouse guest ask about the adopt-a-user program! Would you be a good person to perhaps put new editor's in touch with about it? Sarah (talk) 06:24, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I'm new to the project, so I don't really know how effective it is. People wanting to be adopted can contact one of the adopters, I don't know that I can do much else apart from adopt a few people myself. So feel free to send one my way :) ··gracefool 07:41, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Well, I'd possibly suggest I'd be the person to get in touch about it (personally adopted the most people, my version adoption program has spawned another half dozen or so etc). However, Adopt-A-User's currently fairly defunct there's only one or two editors who are actively adopting - I am planning to reboot it this year, I'm just lacking the impetus to actually do it. At the moment, the Teahouse model is working very well for new users and I believe it's a better place to focus our resources. WormTT(talk) 07:50, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

My article needs to be "wikified(?)"

I am active in codependents anonymous and I noticed about six months ago that the article on the group was terrible. It hardly talked about the group at all. So I composed a new article and posted it and it is still there. But I don't know how to do things the wiki way (it took me half an hour to find this place to ask this question!).

Now there are notices on the article requesting revision to wikipedia standards. I do not intend to do other work on wikipedia in the near future so i would rather not spend several days to learn how to bring the article up to wikipedia standards. I think all the needed content is there in MLA style, I believe, but that does not meet your standards, I understand.

Is there someone who can help get this article into shape?

Thank you for your attention. I too work as a volunteer keeping our organization running and would like to focus on that work.

Sincerely,

John Rose174.60.152.81 (talk) 00:46, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi John! I am actually a coordinator of WikiProject Wikify. I will be more than happy to Wikify your article, but note that it may take me a few days and I may change much of the content of your article. If you have issues after I make changes. You are welcome to add them to the talk page and I will take a look. Thanks for your contribution! Ryan Vesey Review me! 01:08, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, your additions to the article were too promotional and violated our policy that articles need to be written from a neutral point of view. I had to restore the original content of the article. I suggest that in the future, you focus on making smaller changes and request your edits on the talk page. Ryan Vesey Review me! 01:19, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ryan, how could you go back to an article that does not address the subject of the article? And the reference to the "38 item scale" is just plain wrong as is the reference to a definition of codependency. This organization is careful to maintain a distance from professional tools such as definitions and assessment scales, so to restore that information is simply misleading to any readers. I state in my version that CoDA does not define codependency and I cite documentation to that effect. I fail to see your reason for accusing what I offer as biased. Everything comes from their literature except for personal observations clearly identified. Like 12 step groups generally, (except AA because of its size) there is simply very little independent documentation on CoDA. I know, I searched the web extensively and have the only book ever written on it, some 20 years ago. I came across a wikipedia principle that provides for personal experience when other sources are unavailable. Your action is contrary to the wikipedia goal of accurate information on the face of it. Have you read both articles? John Rose174.60.152.81 (talk) 02:03, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

DYK has arrived!

My very first DYK, Incident at Hawk's Hill, is now on the front page, thanks to Fuhghettaboutit, (and Ryan for passing it) and everybody here at the Teahouse! I'm so excited -- it's just a tad like giving birth, LOL. Thanks to all of you for answering my sometimes dumb questions. You're the best!!! Tlqk56 (talk) 00:10, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Congratulations! Cheers, Riley Huntley talk No talkback needed; I'll temporarily watch here. 00:15, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
It was a pleasure, Congrats.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:13, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Contacting the author of an article

Beginner's question: where,on the page, does the authors' user name appear?


Thanks

tweissberg 19:18, 19 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tweissberg (talkcontribs)

Hello Twissberg, at the top of the page you can see a button that says view history. There, you will see all of the authors. The earliest revision will generally be the article creator except for some of the oldest articles on the encyclopedia. Ryan Vesey Review me! 19:21, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict)Hey, Tweissberg, welcome back! That's actually a more interesting question than you might think. As Ryan says, the "easy" answer is to click on the "View history" tab at top of any page; it will provide to you a list of all the changes made to the page, along with the username for each edit.
But to the question within your question, there's not always a straightforward answer to "who is the author of a page?". Some pages are written mostly by a single user, so they could be said to be the author. Others are written by a whole bunch of people, or created by one and hugely expanded by another; in either of these cases, I'm not sure I would call any one person the "author".
Moreover, we have a policy here where nobody "owns" an article; and the copyright of the text is automatically and irrevocably released for anyone to use and edit, so it could also be said that there is no "author" per se.
Anyway, I hope that answers your question; don't mind my ramblings! Writ Keeper 19:28, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Writ Keeper, I hope you don't mind but I think it is important to say that it is "automatically and irrevocably released for anyone to use" if attribution is provided under the terms of our licenses. All material remains copyrighted, with the history providing the list of authors who owns the copyright, it's just that the copyright is a free copyright license.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 20:05, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Nope, don't mind at all. I considered mentioning the attribution/share-alike clause, but figured, "Eh, TMI". You're 100% right. Writ Keeper 20:09, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
You're right that it is delving into complexity but the problem of infringing reuse off Wikipedia is huge. I've personally sent at least 20 compliance notices and I wasn't even looking for it.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 20:13, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]


Thank you very much for this. I am looking for anyone with any interest in Apert Syndrome. Since the "Apert Syndrome" page is the page I made a correction on, I wanted to get in touch with the page's writers, to connect and see what their experience with or interest in the syndrome stems from. TMI: no such thing....

tweissberg 22:47, 19 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tweissberg (talkcontribs)

In response to your post on my talk page, I have made this edit. Please advise if this deals with the incidence rate issue to your satisfaction.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:52, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

editing references

How do you edit the references? I have a typo to fix in Deborah Anapol wiki. I wrote 1885 instead of 1995.Melanie Grimes 16:32, 19 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Melapatella (talkcontribs)

Hello Melapatella, and welcome! That's actually very easy. You can edit it just as you edit text normally. Edit the section where the reference was added and make your change within the reference you used. For example, if your reference says:
<ref>{{cite web| title=My Dog Has Fleas| author=My Veterinarian| date=June 19, 1885}}</ref>
and you want to fix it, just edit it to where it reads:
<ref>{{cite web| title=My Dog Has Fleas| author=My Veterinarian| date=June 19, 1995}}</ref>
Let us know if you have any problems! --McDoobAU93 16:39, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

When I click to edit the REFERENCES section, Only this shows up, not the text I want to edit. The words REFLIST. Melanie Grimes 16:49, 19 June 2012 (UTC)

Hi Melanie! The references section just uses a template to list the references. You need to edit the reference in the body of the article. The easiest way to do this is to click edit at the top of the page to edit the entire thing. Then click ctrl+f on your keyboard to use your browser's find capability. Typing <ref will help find all of the refs on the page. Specifically type it without the ending arrow so it will find named references as well. You could type My Dog Has Fleas and it would bring you directly to that one. Ryan Vesey Review me! 16:54, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
(e/c) Hi Melanie. When you are reading an article and see a references section near the bottom populated by a series of numbered citations, you might think that if you edit the page, you will see those citations typed in that section and be able to edit them. However, normally what you will see is code similar to this:

     ==References==

   {{Reflist}} or <references/>

The text of citations is actually in the body of the article, directly next to statements or paragraphs the citations support, using <ref>(citation)</ref> tags, which display as footnotes (e.g.[1][2]) when you are reading an article. The template code shown above in the references section colates and displays all of the citations within the article in a numbered list in which the numbers correspond to the footnote numbers in the text. By clicking on the ^ symbol next to a citation display, you can easily find exactly where in the body of the article the citation text appears in order to edit it. For more, please see Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:55, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

frustration

I have submitted an article twice and been rejected twice.

I don't know if the reviewers want more references or different types of references. And I'm afraid that maybe there just aren't any.

I'm frustrated.

Is there actually some guideline for these reviewers or are they just out to rain on my parade?

Yipper (talk) 15:20, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Note: reply on user's talk page.ʝunglejill 16:56, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I have replied on your talk page. Ryan Vesey Review me! 17:02, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Adequate References

I recently had an article rejected, which was referenced mostly by book reviews. If I am able to write another article in the future and reference it with things like news paper articles, press releases and 3rd party blogs/YouTube videos, would that be more acceptable?

I am ambitious in creating a new a fully referenced article. I am currently working on one that is majorly comprised of news sourced references.

Thanks! WriterChad203 (talk) 15:17, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, Writer Chad203. Welcome to the Teahouse! I'm kind of new here, myself, but I write mostly about kids books and authors, so I thought maybe I could help. You are on the right track with your article, as Kirkus is a VERY good source for establishing notability, and commonsense media is OK. The basic rule for a book is it has to have won a major award or be featured in multiple, non-trivial sources, not related to the book itself or publisher, author, etc. So you need to find a couple more references. The things is, you usually can't use blogs or YouTube or such for notability. You need to find a few more major newspapers or magazines that talk about the book. I know that can be hard, as a lot of them don't review books any more. But keep looking. Have you tried Publisher's Weekly? If you want to read more about book notability type WP:NB in the search bar and it will take you to a page that will tell you more than you probably wanted to know. :) Good luck, and in the mean time, look around for some other articles you can add to. Kids books need all the help they can get on WP! Tlqk56 (talk) 15:43, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! That's some really great and really helpful information. I appreciate it a lot! WriterChad203 (talk) 20:36, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

verification of facts

Hello ! I am new to the back end of Wikipedia but have enjoyed it as a reader for many years. I am wondering how facts editors put down are verified. If I write something inaccurate and a reader comes upon it, he or she will be mislead until the facts are corrected....How long would that take? What is that process?

Thank you

tweissberg 14:56, 19 June 2012 (UTC)

Hi tweissberg! You see, the reader may indeed be misled, but if the information is not verified, it will be removed pretty soon by somebody else. Some people may not believe it anyway if it looks dubious, but the number of cases where there is truly untrue content left there for more than a month, or even a few days, is very low. Our volunteers weed out false statements and/or request sources using [citation needed]. Seen that before? It's almost a trademark now. Rcsprinter (lecture) 15:37, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]


Thank you !

tweissberg 15:48, 19 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tweissberg (talkcontribs)

Hey tweissberg! That is probably the most important concern for Wikipedia. I don't know how quickly incorrect information is removed on average, but for articles that receive thousands of daily views, errors can be damaging even if they only appear for a few minutes! Wikipedia has a stricter policy for biographies of living persons because of this. Hopefully, as culture progresses, people will learn to question and verify everything they read, and as the encyclopedia progresses, it will become more verifiable. That is just a balance we have to maintain between allowing anyone to edit and wishing for accurate content. ʝunglejill 16:42, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank You JungleJill...I am going to try sending messages to the users that have responded to my question...tweissberg 18:54, 19 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tweissberg (talkcontribs)

Report possible abuse

I was looking at the article Wop May, about the pilot, and discovered that a link in the information box was to a commercial travel site, with no bearing at all on Wop May. I deleted it (edit) and searched the page history for the author. It appears when this author added his/her edit: 31.53.165.89. That person does not have a talk page. Is this something that should be reported, and if so, to whom?BThomascall (talk) 13:52, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hey, BThomascall, and weclome to the Teahouse! the response here depends on how recent the addition was. If it had been pretty recent (as in a few hours ago, or like a day at most), then you could give the IP user a spam warning on their talk page. An easy way to do this is by putting {{subst:uw-spam1}} on the talk page. In this case, you'd have to create the talk page to do it, but that's no big deal. If the user had already had a talk page, and it already had previous recent warnings on it, you could give a more serious warning by putting a bigger number on that template (so, if they already have 1 warning, you'd write uw-spam2, and so on). If they've already received a level 4 warning (which has the text "this is your last warning") in it, then the next step would be to report it to the AIV board, which is where admins can see what needs to be handled.
All that said, the edit was not recent, it was almost two months ago. So, there's no other action to be taken, as we can't be sure that 31.53.165.89 is still being used by the same person (due to a thing called a dynamic IP address). So, you did the right thing; good call! Writ Keeper 14:03, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Good work, Writ Keeper. Also, when I find a spamming/ vandalizing IP, I check their contributions and see if they've damaged any other articles. You can access the user's contribution when you are on their talk/user page, by clicking on the link "User contributions" in the menu on the left, under the Wikipedia logo. ʝunglejill 14:19, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
OK, thanks both of you, for the answers. BThomascall (talk) 15:05, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Acceptable Jargon?

In the Japanese Spitz article, I at one point refer to the breed "blowing its coat," meaning a major coat shedding that occurs once a year, in contrast with more modest shedding that can occur more broadly. Is that an acceptable bit of jargon, or should it be switched to shedding instead? I feel like shedding would be unclear, but I'm not sure how many people know about the term blowing one's coat. It may be unfamiliar to people without heavy-shedding dogs. Reinana kyuu (talk) 11:22, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Reinana kyuu, and thanks so much for your question. I've never actually heard the term before, so I wasn't sure what was best. Having done a little research, I think it should be fine, as long as you link the phrase through. Now, what I've done is set up an {{anchor}} on the page regarding dog coats Coat (dog)#blowing the coat. If you were to "pipe" the link through (so it looks like [[Coat (dog)#blowing the coat|blowing its coat]], anyone unsure about the meaning can go there. Of course, if you have time, I'm sure the Coat (dog) article and the Moulting articles could do with a little work! WormTT(talk) 11:36, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
You can also try to add a footnote explaining the meaning of the term (see Wikipedia:Footnote for a how-to), or just explain it briefly in () parenthesis. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 12:46, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hey, Reinana kyuu. Your question is certainly appropriate. Obscure jargon should be avoided, unless there's a Wikipedia article that explains the jargon. In that case, including the jargon may contribute to the reader's proficiency with the topic, and so I concur with the above suggestion. But in other cases, removing jargon can certainly be appropriate. :) ʝunglejill 12:54, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Image Alignment

I really should know this, but is there anyway of getting the lead DYK images to appear to the right of the relevant orange notification on my DYK page?--Gilderien Chat|List of good deeds 10:44, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Gilderien! I have taken a look and adjusted it with this edit. All you need to to is place [[File:Example.jpg|right]] (note that for centering you can use [[File:Example.jpg|center]]). Alternately, you can use [[File:Example.jpg|thumb]] to produce a thumbnail on the right, or [[File:Example.jpg|frame]] to produce a frame on the right. benzband (talk) 13:18, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, thank you very much. Is there anyway of centering it vertically with respect to the boxes?--Gilderien Chat|List of good deeds 13:23, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Family members (2)

 – -- Trevj (talk) 14:34, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wrote an article by cancalled by reviewer

I have written an article. This is regarding the Articles for creation/Vithiya- The Finance Club of DoMS NIT Trichy. I have read the notability guidelines and then wrote it will someone please kindly help me to figure things out. Anshumandutta (talk) 07:02, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I assume you mean Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Vithiya- The Finance Club of DoMS NIT Trichy. As the original reviewer notes, notability is a problem here. The subject seems to be a university club, departmental level. We rarely have articles on university departments, many dispute their notability, and a club within one is really pushing it. It may be notable, but the sources do not support this; the article uses one source, reliable, but it simply mentions the club existence. This does not provide enough independent coverage. I suggest you ask the reviewer to comment here more, if you have more questions, and you may also want to link this discussion from Wikipedia:Notability/Noticeboard (create a thread there, and ask people to comment here, by linking this discussion from there). --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 12:51, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Editing 1st paragraph of exisiting article

I wish to edit the 1st paragraph of an existing article to include a link to a new article I have created but cannot "see" the edit button for this 1st paragraph. The article I wish to edit is this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_House_Children%27s_Book_Award

The article I wish to link to is this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Federation_of_Children%27s_Book_Groups

How do I edit that first paragraph? (I can see the edit buttons lower down the page and have edited fine via them, but can't find a way to reach that very first paragraph...)

Zoetoft (talk) 05:48, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The side of the page edit buttons are for section editing. Click on "Edit" at the top of the page to edit the entire article. Alternatively, if you want to edit just the first section, click on one of the side edit links and then change the end of the URL to section=0 You can also add the section edit link to the first section by going to your preferences → Gadgets → Appearance, and then tick the box for "Add an [edit] link for the lead section of a page". Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:55, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
AH! Got it! I see the edit tab at the top rather than an edit link at the side... knew it would be something obvious. Thanks so much for quick response — Preceding unsigned comment added by Zoetoft (talkcontribs) 05:58, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, forgot to use 4 tildes at end of my reply... Zoetoft (talk) 06:01, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
You're welcome. By the way, before they made a major change to the interface some time back the button at the top said "edit this page"; we got a lot of these questions since that change, showing the old button was much easier to see.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 06:02, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How long for an article to be linkable?

I'm creating some articles on various places of geographical and/or historical significance in my region. One recent article seems to be live, but when creating internal links to it within another article, it says the page does not exist. Am I missing something or does it take some time for the article to appear as live within the system? wasrtsWasrts (talk) 05:07, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It should be immediately linkable. Which article are you referring to in particular? -Cntras (talk) 05:11, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hey Wasrts! If the links don't work, there's probably an error in their title. If you supply the link, we can point out the exact problem. ʝunglejill 13:03, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sure. The article is Chrome Island Chrome Island. I notice that the title doesn't capitalize "Island" - perhaps that's an issue? But this is one of my first articles and I haven't figured out how to change that. ==wasrts== — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wasrts (talkcontribs) 16:40, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That is a problem, yes; wikilinks are case-sensitive. So, Chrome island will return a result, but Chrome Island will not. I take it that "Chrome Island" is what the title should be? If that's true, then you can move the page to the correct title. The way you would do this is by going to Chrome island and hovering your mouse over the down-pointing triangle tab in the upper-right corner. A menu with an option called "Move" should appear; click it. It'll bring you to a new page called "Move Chrome island". Here, you can change the title of the article to whatever you want by typing it into the "to new title:" field; in this case, change "Chrome island" to "Chrome Island". (Be sure not to touch the "(Article)" part!) Once you've done this, you should fill out a short summary of why you're changing the title in the box below it (probably something like "fixing capitalization".) Finally, hit the "Move page" button, and you're done! Once you move the page, both Chrome island and Chrome Island will become functional links to the same article. Hope this helps! Writ Keeper 16:52, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I made that change. I'll track down the articles that should link it and try again. It's no fun being The Noob. ==wasrts== — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wasrts (talkcontribs) 16:57, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

A helpful link for that is the "What links here" feature, which is in the toolbox to the left of the window. Special:WhatLinksHere/Chrome_Island and Special:WhatLinksHere/Chrome_island will tell you what's linking to them already. Good luck!

PS: Yeah, being a noob sucks, but it gets better! Writ Keeper 17:00, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

And to correctly sign, that should be Wasrts (talk) 17:01, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Deleting an article I created.

Hey there. I wanted to inquire of different methods for deleting self created articles. Mahwishmir (talk) 04:38, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, Mahwishmir. You can delete your own article by blanking the content and adding {{db-author}} -Cntras (talk) 05:01, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Mahwishmir, welcome to the Teahouse! You are talking about Mahwish Bokhari yes? Can you use db-author when others have contributed to an article, Cntras? heather walls (talk) 05:43, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Depends on whether other users have made significant contributions to the article. That seems to be the case, so the answer would probably be no. Mahwishmir cannot use db-author. -Cntras (talk) 09:11, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Citing oneself as a source

I was a Primary Source Resource for an article on Robert Garrow - I was involved in the car searches that took place in his capture. How do I site myself as a person that was involved in the local searches? In the Robert Garrow page, I attempted to site myself as a Primary Source. I received errors. Thank You name redacted Castev2929 Castev2929 (talk) 03:26, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hello there, and welcome to the Teahouse. In answering your question, please note that we have no way to verify that you are indeed who you say you are in connection to this article. Tohis is not meant to accuse you of lying; on the contrary, it goes to our policy of verifiability, which is knowing that information posted here can be checked by others. Giving the benefit of the doubt, and assuming you are indeed connected, there also lies the problem of conflict of interest, which means the same thing here as it does in real life ... being too close to the subject to write about it in a neutral manner. If you have further questions or concerns, please feel free to leave them here and either I or another Host will respond. --McDoobAU93 03:33, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Castev2929, and thank you for your efforts to do the right thing. We have stringent standards here about biographies of living people. Any negative material pertaining to legal issues has to be cited to reliable, independent sources. If you were involved in these searches yourself, then surely you are not independent. You can comment on talk pages, but I recommend that you avoid direct editing of any page pertaining to areas of your direct involvement. Feel free to ask more questions. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 05:01, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What just happened?

I added some basic information about the specifiacations of this helicopter and then these errors came up did i do something or what?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-76 Shashenka (talk) 21:27, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Shashenka, this is a tough issue and I can't figure it out easier, I suggest undoing your edit and adding each thing one at a time to figure out what caused it. On another note, you could leave a note at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Aircraft or Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history. The second will have more watchers. Ryan Vesey Review me! 21:42, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
You may also want to look at who are the author(s) of Template:Aircraft specs and ask them for help. PS. And of course, check if the documentation page of the template or its talk won't have an answer to your question. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 21:55, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
If he does add them piece by piece, I should be able to figure out if there is something wrong in {{Aircraft specs}} it may be possible that {{Aircraft specifications}} is a better template. I will discuss it at the wikiproject later, if one should be deprecated. Ryan Vesey Review me! 22:00, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Yep, tables have some weird issues. I always use the preview button whenever I touch them. I undid your edit, I'm on my way to bed, but if I can figure it out quickly I'll fix it. :) ʝunglejill 22:35, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Found the issue - multiple conflicting entries were given for "range". You only have to fill the stats in for one unit of measure, and it's automatically converted to the other units of measurement. The previous range listed is 411 nmi, which translates to 761 km, and you wanted to enter 748 km. Other than that, your other additions are in place - I left the original range and you can decide which range is more accurate - just make sure no conflicting data is entered. ʝunglejill 23:09, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Unflagging/tagging

So I think I have made successful corrections to "Bpeace." When will the banner up top reflect this? Did I make appropriate fixes? Help is greatly appreciated!!!Kkl12489 (talk) 18:22, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, and welcome to the Teahouse! If you believe you've responded to the concerns made by the editors who posted the tags on Bpeace, be bold and remove the obsolete tags yourself. However, don't be surprised if another editor may not fully agree with your reasoning and decide to add it back. At that point, you should go to the talk page and discuss what you believe has improved or respond to what they think hasn't improved. --McDoobAU93 18:28, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi there, thanks McDoob for pointing out the be bold aspect! Kkll2489, I attempted to de-orphan that article (meaning you have to link it to other Wikipedia articles) and was able to add a few links, I also double checked your work and removed the tags. Great job :) Sarah (talk) 18:32, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
→ De-orphan means you have to link to it from other Wikipedia articles. benzband (talk) 18:36, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Gah, that's what I meant :) thanks ben. Sarah (talk) 19:04, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thought so, just didn't want to be rude by modifying someone else's post. benzband (talk) 19:06, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You guys are fantastic!!! Thank you so much for your speedy help and very clear responses! Kkl12489 (talk) 19:52, 18 June 2012 (UTC) Kathryn[reply]

I'm on my way out

This isn't a question, so, if you have a mind to delete it, I'm not going to object. Just letting all of the helpful people here know that it looks very much like I'm going to end up getting banned someday. My one dispute with another editor so far has required a lot of careful reading and thinking in order to evaluate comprehensively, and so far maybe one person has done that. Those in positions of power have done what has been universally done with me on the internet: jumped on one tiny phrase in a long discourse and treated it as if it were the entire discourse. Because of this unjust treatment I've been forced to take the risk of perpetuating a dispute, and, given the tone of responses I've received from people in power, of course the ruling is automatically going to go against me. So I just wanted to say thank you again for all of you who have been helpful to me and sorry that your efforts are ultimately wasted. I'll still stay on Wikipedia until I am forced to leave and continue to uphold my own standards of editing and learn more about how to be a better editor, and I'm going to put my eventual ban totally out of my mind. Guyovski (talk) 17:55, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Guyovski. I do not know the specifics of your problem but it is not easy to get banned from Wikipedia unless there is sustained disruption. Try working on different pages. There are plenty of things an editor can do.--Charles (talk) 18:11, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Great point Charles about working else where. Some of the best advice I was ever given by an experienced editor was "step back, and edit something you know nothing about." It helped me calm down about getting all riled up about subjects that are close to my heart. My escape is to write content about places I'd like to visit. What's yours? Sarah (talk) 18:14, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Guyovski. I see no indication that you are about to be banned. Perhaps you are making too much out of a relatively minor dispute? I suggest that you concentrate on being a productive contributor to the encyclopedia, and my guess is that the other stuff will take care of itself.Cullen328 Let's discuss it 18:57, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Guyovski. I took a few minutes to read a few of the interactions between you and Joseph, so perhaps I can offer a bit more specific advice. To quote the philosopher John Wilkins: there are no bad positions, only bad arguments. You made an unpersuasive argument about the slug used to describe a Holocaust denier; not too surprising as you've only been doing this a few days and the person you were discussing this has been at it for several years. And that's where the matter should probably have been dropped.
The more important issue was how you read Joseph's comment "....I'd question your objectivity and neutrality and – along with it – the level of bias present in your edits...." In this context, bias and neutrality have specific, well-deliniated meanings. You weren't aware of how those words are used here (as you've only been here a few days) and so you read them as an accusation of dishonesty. That's not an interpretation any experienced editor would have made.
So I'm going to give you a slightly different bit of advice: I think you should stop editing for a while and lurk instead. When I first started out here I read the usual policy statements, but it was reading old cases in wp:ani that allowed me to understand how those policies were applied to real disputes. From there you might want to branch out to the wp:third board, not to participate but to see better and worse ways of handling conflict.
After having gotten a better handle on the jargon and how it is applied I think you'll be well on the road to becoming a valuable and effective editor. I hope you stick with it.
Garamond Lethe(talk) 00:03, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
It actually seems that Guyovsky's assessment was quite accurate. ʝunglejill 13:32, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the link. I think "accurate" is the kindest description that comes to mind. Garamond Lethe(talk) 17:04, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How do you add an extra line for tables?

For example for vehicles fording depth or for planes and helicopters gross weight just examples but how do you add another line for those things to a table? Shashenka (talk) 17:28, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hey Shashenka! I think the simplest guide to tables is this page, and the information there is usually enough. Then there's this page, which really goes into detail about every kind of table. Another option if you're working on an existing table, is to try to imitate the format that's used for the previous rows, and use the "preview" button to check if you did what you wanted. I've noticed that tables have some weird issues sometimes, so if you need more information, you can give a link to the page that needs the addition, and I'll answer specifically. You could also try to create a new table, just as an example to understand how they work. When you edit a page, there's a button above the text window that adds a table - after you click it, a dialog box asks you to choose the number of rows and columns, then it adds the formatting for you, and you fill in the text. This wouldn't help with modifying an existing table, but it will make it easier to understand how they are formatted. Hope this helps, and please don't hesitate to ask for further information. Good luck!
btw, I changed "specifications" to "tables" in your question's title, so other users with a similar problem can find it easily ʝunglejill 20:38, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! Shashenka (talk) 21:06, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How to check on the progress of a new article.

Is there any way to check on the progress of a wiki submission? It looks like approval can be a slow process, but since it is my first article, I am a little excited, and want to follow it as it moves up the queue (from its starting point at 814th in line... !) BThomascall (talk) 17:07, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi BThomascall! Welcome to the Teahouse. I just took a look at your article and it's great! I approved it. Well done :) Looking forward to see it expand and your contributions continue! Sarah (talk) 17:43, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
p.s. there is often a lengthy backlog of articles that need to be reviewed. So, for the future, just be patient! But, you can always ping specific folks for their input and review, including those at Wikipedia:WikiProject Geology - you might even want to become a member there :) Sarah (talk) 17:47, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

No reference for quote

Hello, There is a quote in an article I've been WikiGnoming that seems to have no reference whatsoever on the internet. It is also a Latin quote with no translation mentioned. Another user believes that it should remain in its current state, until someone fixes it. I think that it should be removed, rather than potentially display false information. What would be the best approach? Silvrous (talk) 16:24, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Silvrous! Could you provide a link to the article in question so I can investigate this in depth? Ryan Vesey Review me! 16:30, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, thanks for your help. I am referring to the Iași article, Etymology and Names section. It's the quote by Ovid. Silvrous (talk) 16:50, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Fuhghettaboutit solved the problem. In the future you can add a {{citation needed}} template. If you doubt its reliability and it may be controversial make your intentions known on the talk page that you intend to remove it in a few days. If you do not doubt its reliability, my personal opinion is that it is better to include the information with the citation needed tag than to remove the material. Ryan Vesey Review me! 16:57, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
(e/c) Is this about Iași? In that case I have sourced the Ovid quote (which still could use a translation with a source for the translation). To answer your original question though, all quotations must be cited through an inline citation to a reliable source per the verifiability policy. However, unlike if this was material in a biography of a living person, for example, the material would not need to be removed immediately. A {{fact}} tag could be added and would have been called for in this case rather than simple removal. Then, if no action was taken after waiting an appropriate time, removal should then take place. That is my advice on best practice, but note that per WP:BURDEN, once you remove uncited controversial or challenged material, the burden is on those wishing to retain the material to source it.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:12, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
See also: Wikipedia:WikiProject Fact and Reference Check. benzband (talk) 17:14, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

which tree species are recently discovered??

pleeeease help me. its for my science project. WHICH TREE SPECIES ARE DISCOVERED RECENTLY?? Asheequa (talk) 14:51, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Asheequa! I'm afraid that the Teahouse is for assisting editors with Wikipedia, not for factual questions such as this. I would suggest asking at the Science Reference desk or WikiProject Plants. Cheers, benzband (talk) 14:58, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Need Help Editing New Article Please!

Hello,

I've been trying to upload this article a few times but have been unsuccessful. Can you edit this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Good_Neighboring_Campaign so that it can be approved. I've been receiving comments about how the article is not in a formal, neutral tone and uses peacock terms. So, any assistant is gladly accepted! Thank you!

Joshualee38 (talk) 14:48, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Joshua! I'm really sorry your article was declined - that's disappointing, I understand. One thing that you could do to help its chances is to find an outside source that talks about the Good Neighboring Campaign. Has it been mentioned in newspapers or magazines? If you want help with formatting the references correctly, or anything else with your new article, please feel free to ask here - we're happy to help! Keilana|Parlez ici 16:14, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The_Unsung_Heroes_(Band) could someone review this article and help save from deletion, feel free to remove Parts and edit to help improve chance of article being kept Hollyroouk (talk) 12:45, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Hollyroouk, and welcome to the Teahouse! You could also seek help at the Wikipedia:Article Rescue Squadron or any of the WikiProjects related to the subject of the article (you can look at the article's talk page to see if there are already any project banners). benzband (talk) 13:16, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The Unsung Heroes (band) was repeatedly speedy deleted (see log) and was therefore creation protected as a result. Hollyroouk is therefore clearly a sockpuppet of User201212, see Category:Suspected Wikipedia sockpuppets of User201212 Valenciano (talk) 13:23, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Film title has taken up one topic - but don't want to be rude! how to edit?

Hi there,

I wish to write about a subject that interests me - Gandha - it is the ancient practice of using fragranced products as part of hindu ritual. I have lots of information about it as a yoga scholar.

The problem is that there is a new (great!) Indian film called Gandha - and they have taken up all the space for Gandha - should i edit - or create a new page with the same name?

Thanks, SineadJaneMacC (talk) 09:55, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If there are multiple subjects with the same title, you can differentiate by adding a bracketed identifier. In this case, you could you create an article titled 'Gandha (ritual)' or 'Gandha (practice)' etc. -Cntras (talk) 10:50, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Jane! I have moved the article about the film to Gandha (film), so that Gandha is now a disambiguation page. As Cntras just said, you can create an article called Gandha (ritual) and then link to it from the Gandha disambiguation page. benzband (talk) 11:16, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! Will give that a go. — Preceding unsigned comment added by JaneMacC (talkcontribs) 05:32, 19 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Adding coordinates to a page

How do you add coordinates to a page? For example, University of California, Davis has the coordinates (latitude, longitude, etc.) included in its infobox and when clicked it mentions something about geohacks. I would like to know how to use a program like this to add coordinates to a given page. Thank you.TylerDurden8823 (talk) 08:37, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi TylerDurden8823, you can go to WP:GEO and take a look at the drop box labelled 'Quick Geographical coordinates how to'. -Cntras (talk) 08:48, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks Cntras that worked. Much appreciated! TylerDurden8823 (talk) 09:09, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Bureaucracy

Why is it called "the Bureaucracy?" That word has some pretty strong negative connotations. Is it a matter of reclaiming the word so that the way it is generally used changes? Guyovski (talk) 06:17, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Guyovski! I am puzzled by your question as i can't figure out what you mean by "it". If you mean Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not a bureaucracy. Otherwise, i'd be glad to help if only you could reformulate your question. Cheers, benzband (talk) 08:18, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Addendum: look up bureaucracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. benzband (talk) 09:34, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The word Bureaucracy is from the french bureau meaning office + -cracy meaning ruled by. Stuartyeates (talk) 08:27, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, sorry! I wasn't very clear. I thought I had seen a part of Wikipedia identified as "the Bureaucracy" but now I can't find the reference. I am pretty sure, however, that there is a senior Wikipedia position title called "Bureaucrat." All I'm asking about is why use that word when it has such negative connotations? Guyovski (talk) 15:58, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Do you Wikipedia:Bureaucrats? These are users who have been trusted with a special set of permissions to execute a number of specific tasks within the community. In the real world, a Bureaucrat is

"a member of a bureaucracy and can comprise the administration of any organization of any size"

and a Bureaucracy is

"an organization of non-elected officials of a government or organization who implements the rules, laws, and functions of their institution"

. benzband (talk) 18:45, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
See also meta:Bureaucrat. benzband (talk) 18:48, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There are a rather large number of titles associated with various Wikipedia functions. The Highest Lever is Founder. The lowest level is a Global Blocked User who is in addition blocked from account creation, editing their own talk page, or e-mailing other users.

One of those titles is "Bureaucrat", but it should be noted that the very first thing on the Wikipedia:Bureaucrats page is "For the "Wikipedia is not a bureaucracy" policy, see Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not a bureaucracy.

A list of Wikipedia titles involving special access is at Wikipedia:User access levels.

A partial list of Wikimedia (not Wikipedia) titles involving special access is at Wikimedia Special Global Permissions. There are titles not listed there, such as Developers.

There are titles such as "arbcom member" (Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee) and "medcom member" (Wikipedia:Mediation Committee) that involve careful selection, others (Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal) with less formal selection, and others (Third Opinion, the Dispute Resolution Noticeboard, or Wikiquette Assistance) where pretty much anyone is welcome to volunteer to help out.

In addition, there are informal titles listed at Wikipedia:Service awards.

A user can have multiple titles, for example, I am an Autoconfirmed user, a Reviewer, a Rollbacker, a Volunteer Clerk/Mediator at the Wikipedia:Dispute resolution noticeboard (Not to be confused with Medcom Mediator or Wikimedia clerk), an Editor / Grognard Mirabilaire], and technically I am a MediaWiki_hacker, but I only make changes on a local corporate Wiki, not a Wikimedia Wiki. --Guy Macon (talk)

not a stub

I just expanded an article. How do I get rid of the stub tag? Ranpayne (talk) 05:32, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you are confident that the article clearly exceeds the limitations described in WP:STUB, then be bold and remove the stub tag yourself. Hit the "edit" button and erase it. Thanks for expanding what used to be a stub. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 05:39, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

HA! That was easy. Thanks.Ranpayne (talk) 05:42, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Link spam on page Indonesia

How to report link spamming on pages Indonesia on Wikipedia (in history there are many link spammer)? Thanks. Dede2008 (talk) 03:35, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Dede! WikiProject Spam is a group of Wikipedians dedicated to removing spam links from Wikipedia. You can go to their project page and click the big red button, file your report following the instructions given in the edit notice, then click Save page. Cheers, benzband (talk) 10:14, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

giving a cookie

I'm really embarrassed that I can't find the answer to this question for myself, but I can't. I had occasion to give a cookie and didn't format it properly, and the person who received it doesn't know how to format {{cookie}} either. Is there a manual for formatting cookies? 67.71.2.203 (talk) 21:35, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The proper way to give someone a cookie is by adding {{subst:cookie}} to their talk page. You can view the manual/documentation by going to the template. If you create an account there is script that allows you to give barnstars and cookies easier, it is called Twinkle. If you have any more questions leave me a message on my talk page or reply here.
Cheers,
Riley Huntley   (Click here to reply)   22:51, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Proving a book was never published in Britain?

Hi, everyone. While researching an American book that won a Welsh award I keep finding references to the fact that it was "never published in Britain", which I think is fascinating. However, how could I verify that it's still true as of 2012? Here in the US I could get a reference librarian to help me, but is there a source for British publishing? Any idea how I could find it if there is? Thanks for any suggestions you might have. Tlqk56 (talk) 18:15, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

In theory, for any book that has been published in Britain copies should have been lodged at the various copyright libraries. You should therefore find references to the book in the COPAC library catalogue at http://copac.ac.uk. However, you couldn't use the lack of a reference in COPAC as a source. You'd need to use a secondary source that explicitly states that the book was never published in Britain. However, I'm puzzled as to how the book could have won a Welsh award if it was never published in Britain as Wales is part of Britain. Or do you mean that the book was never published in England? Dahliarose (talk) 18:22, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for responding, Dahliarose. The award in question, Tir na n-Og Award only requires that the book be published in English. A String in the Harp was a US book set in Wales. I guess I can't use my fascinating fact, as I can find it in several sources, but none of them are modern enough to prove it hasn't been published in the UK since they came out. Thanks anyway. Tlqk56 (talk) 20:56, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
It seems to me that your sources should be strong enough to say that it had never been published in Britain at the time the award was given. That should be good enough. After all, someone could publish it in Britain tomorrow, and we are writing encyclopedia articles that should endure over time. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 23:15, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
This is fascinating! Let me know if you come up with something, I think Cullen328 is correct. Knowing that it wasn't published in the United Kingdom at the time of the award is hugely interesting. Ryan Vesey Review me! 23:19, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
According to one book, though it was published in 1976 in the US and received the Welsh award for 1977, by 1995 it still hadn't "found a British publisher". That really surprised me, too. Think it's worth putting in that way? Tlqk56 (talk) 23:47, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Editor feedback

This question is for some of the guests as well as the hosts since the feature was created while I was away from the encyclopedia and is marketed to new users. There is a feature on Wikipedia, I forget what it is called, which allows new users to make remarks about their experience. I would like to figure out where I need to go to review those remarks and respond to those remarks. This would be particularly helpful in helping some editors who are having a bad experience. Is anyone familiar with this? Ryan Vesey Review me! 07:56, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I think you're looking for Special:FeedbackDashboard. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 08:02, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, Ryan. My name is Riley and I am one of the top feedback responders. When replying to feedback make sure to check the users contributions to see if they have made unhelpful edits or other things (and talk page if you are on the welcoming committee.) If you would like a list of templates that you could use, go to User:Riley Huntley/Feedback! If you have any questions or are struggling with a certain users feedback, give me a shout or message one of the other responders.
Cheers,
Riley Huntley   (Click here to reply)   18:01, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hey Riley, may i suggest your using {{tlsu}}s for the list of templates on your /Feedback page? Just thought it might provide useful links for visitors who don't know what each of those templates are. benzband (talk) 18:27, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Done, thanks for the suggestion! Cheers,
Riley Huntley   (Click here to reply)   20:50, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hey Ryan! It's also one of the tools we use to find new editors to invite to the Teahouse :) You can learn about that in the invite guide. Sarah (talk) 22:49, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks everyone for your responses, you're all great! Ryan Vesey Review me! 23:19, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

me again--on contacting administrators

Sorry I keep popping up in here, but I'm worried about a potential edit war over this [1]. In case one starts how can I get the administrators involved? Guyovski (talk) 02:27, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If an edit war was too occur, you could report it to an administrator at the edit war noticeboard. If you have anymore questions, dont be afraid to ask! Cheers,
Riley Huntley   (Click here to reply)   02:36, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. :) I investigated a bit and found a very useful article on dispute resolution. It was highly informative even if my Swiss cheese memory didn't retain most of it. But there might be another, unrelated issue. There appears to be a disagreement between me and a longstanding, highly experienced editor whose talk page suggests that he's been involved in some very nasty exchanges in years past, and has been disciplined for them. Am I permitted to take that into account in deciding when to seek dispute resolution? Guyovski (talk) 02:57, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Guyovski. When an edit war occurs between two editors, by definition both are at fault. My suggestion to you is simply do not fall into the trap of edit warring. Try your best to steer clear of conflict with editors known for "very nasty exchanges" and remember that nastiness can sometimes be contagious. I have 17,000 edits and have never had to go through formal dispute resolution, because I stay away from fights. Those who misbehave eventually get blocked or banned. Avoid those folks. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 05:09, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
This is not really tailored for the particular issue here (because the post you removed are quotes that are not attributed through inline citations, and thus patently properly removed pursuant to verifiability policy and here, WP:BLP) but more in the way of general advice. The best way I know to avoid edit wars is to slavishly follow the BOLD, revert, discuss cycle and to remember while you're following it that the article will still be there tomorrow, so if the other person's edit remains for a few days while the cycle is ripening, Wikipedia won't implode. If there is no response to a polite talk page post about the brewing issue, then you revert while specifically leaving an edit summary that speaks of the un-responded-to, talk page discussion. If reverted again, keep seeking to engage, and if there is no response, you can ask for a third opinion, start a request for comment or otherwise act without warring. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 06:02, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Here's something to consider though: blogs can be used as sources when they only mention claims about their author, and there's no doubt that the material is authentic. I had a quick look and posted my opinion on the talk page. ʝunglejill 07:17, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Jill is absolutely right. I deleted everything out of ignorance and because my judgment was clouded by paranoia about a potential edit war. None has occurred, but I lack the skill level needed to review the old version, check the bare link that was embedded in the article for reliability, and restore some of the missing content. I'm going to figure out how I can make hidden notes for myself on my talk page or user page and make a note to go back to that article once I have a better idea of what I'm doing. (I assume that I can just use <hide>material</hide> but, if not, I'll figure it out.) Thanks to everyone for their help. Guyovski (talk) 03:43, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Having a hard time adding a reflist in Ukrainian Wikipedia...yes, that's right!

Oh Teahouse! You are our only hope! I am at an edit-a-thon helping a new editor work on an article and we are trying to add a citation to Ukrainian wikipedia. The article is w:uk:Біочіп (biochip). You can see we're having a problem, it's basically adding a reference list. Anyone who can help..we'd appreciate it. We're both having a hard time :) (Sometimes even if you can't speak the language you can figure it out...but we can't). We wanted to add a footnote but we had to resort to just a reference list. Any help is appreciated. Thanks Sarah (talk) 22:24, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Sarah, I found the documentation for the reflist template in Ukrainian. It's here. From what I can tell with bad translation software, it seems that it's pretty much the same as en.wiki. Does that help? Keilana|Parlez ici 23:38, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Keilana! Huh, we actually tried to use the similar {{reflist}} and it didn't work. Looks like we just might have to wait for someone to clean it up for us who speaks Ukranian. thanks :) Sarah (talk) 22:45, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ways to learn Wikipedia rules and procedures

I have very spotty memory retention. Out of a 300-page book, I remember only two or three phrases that jump out at me. This made high school and college very difficult in the early 1980s. But I'd still like to be able to review the various Wikipedia rules and procedures and become familiar with them. So far I'm doing it on a case by case basis: as I need to know something, I either dig for it or ask someone. Is there a more efficient way? Guyovski (talk) 10:58, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Guyovski! I'm very glad that you are interested in learning the rules and procedures. The first thing that I can tell you is that a lot of the learning will come from experience. In order to remember important policies, guidelines, and essays you should create a list on your userpage. If you like, you could hide the list, or make it a scrolling list if you don't want to have the entire list showing on your page. (I could help you with that) A good example of an editor who has utilized a portion of his userpage for helpful links is User:BarrelProof. Look at the bottom half of his page. You may even want to use some of those links on yours. Ryan Vesey Review me! 14:40, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
On another note, I do run an adoption program and would be more than happy to take you on and help show you the ropes. You can take a look at it at User:Ryan Vesey/AdoptRyan Vesey Review me! 14:42, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, Ryan. I finally decided to put myself up for adoption. I had a look at your adoption page and it looks like you recommend traditional study methods and administer tests. Both high school and two years of college were hell for me because they used that precise approach. So, not intending to hurt your feelings, but I don't believe that we'd be a good fit. Another editor told me he used to adopt newcomers until one adoption went all to hell, dozens of editors wasted many hours of time, and the adoptee ended up being permanently banned anyway, so he doesn't want to risk adopting anyone again. But I've used the template and hopefully somebody will come along who's interested. All the best. Guyovski (talk) 03:50, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hey Guyovski! I found some articles that summarize the rules in a simplified way: Wikipedia:Simplified ruleset is an official policy. Wikipedia:Ten Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia and Wikipedia:8 simple rules for editing our encyclopedia are essays. Maybe one of those works for you. For me, the most difficult part is remembering the Wikipedia:Manual of Style. I use Ctrl-F to search through that article, but it still slows me down sometimes. I think Ryan Vesey's suggestion is great: keep a list of useful pages on your userpage. I have such a list on mine, but it's very short. Other than that, it depends what kind of learner you are. Are you an intuitive learner? If you spend a lot of time reading Wikipedia's best articles, at some point you might have an intuitive grasp of how to contribute. You could concentrate on reading articles in your field of interest. Also, here's a tip that took me a bit of time to figure out: to search Wikipedia project pages, place wp: before your search query. Good luck! ʝunglejill 14:54, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Took you a bit of time? It took me 1 year 3 months and 24 days. Thanks Junglejill! Ryan Vesey Review me! 14:58, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, Guyovski. You already have great answers to your questions, and I'm going to follow down some of those links Junglejill mentioned. But I guess I do something a little different, so I'll throw it out, too. I was overwhelmed with info at first and I hated the time I wasted trying to find something I'd read before. So I keep a set of files on my laptop, just for WP. (I use Onenote, but any word processing program that let's you organize files would work.) I keep the program open pretty much whenever I'm on WP. (It's set up just like a three-ring notebook from school days.) I save info for my articles in it, but I also have one just for WP, with tabs like WP editing, MOS style, etc. WP editing is divided into sections like: Categories, Layout, Images, Templates. These sections have subpages, so I can go directly to any bit of info I need. If I find something I can't use right away but want to save, I just copy it in my notebook and Onenote save the link automatically. It has saved me a lot of time, and I'd probably cry if I somehow lost it. LOL You'll find a system that works for you, I'm sure. Tlqk56 (talk) 15:16, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Guyovski! For a list of Wikipedia's policies (not guidelines), see the exotically named Wikipedia:List of policies. benzband (talk) 15:39, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks to everyone for putting so much effort into being helpful. :) I had a look at User:BarrelProof and believe from experience that lists of long documents don't help me much because I still have to search through the documents. The suggestion is appreciated, but I've tried that kind of thing before and it didn't work for me. Wikipedia:Simplified Ruleset does look like it could be extremely useful even if it doesn't cover every possibility a la Roman Law. I've bookmarked it in my Firefox so I can pull it up whenever needed. Taking notes would also probably help with memory retention (although I don't use Windows and therefore don't have access to OneNote). Other than that I'll be researching stuff as it comes up and hoping to remember how to do things--and the appropriate things to do--with enough repetition. Again, everybody's input is very much appreciated. Guyovski (talk) 17:51, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I'm glad you got some help. I do find taking notes, even on the computer, helps me remember. Believe me, you are ALWAYS welcome to come back here and ask a question -- and no question will be considered too dumb. (I know, I've asked some real doozies myself.) Tlqk56 (talk) 20:10, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How to go from sandbox to article

I wrote my first article, probably really a stub. I put it in my sandbox, worked out all the bugs, and hit 'save.' So far, so good.

But it isn't an article yet, right? It seems to just be my sandbox. The title of the page seems to be "User:BThomascall/sandbox" instead of what I am writing about, the Wopmay orogen.

So my question is probably "How do I create a title that will actually appear?"

BThomascall (talk) 18:18, 15 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hey BThomascall. The article looks great! What you need to do is move the file to the correct title. See Wikipedia:Moving a page for information on how to move it. In order to activate the "move" function, you need to be "autoconfirmed". Getting "autoconfirmed" is easy: it happens instantly when your account is 4 days old, and you have made 10 edits to Wikipedia. Looking at your contributions to Wikipedia, your account is over 4 days old, but you haven't yet made 10 edits. Just make a few edits to a few more articles, or perhaps play around with your userpage, and the "move" function should automagically appear for you, allowing you to move your article to the correct title. If you have any more questions, or need any more help, feel free to ask! --Jayron32 18:39, 15 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for a great answer. I am starting some edits now. And thanks for looking over the article and providing feedback. I really appreciate it. I'd like to ask another question: I'm mentioning a dollar amount in an edit. My wording is misleading, but I don't know how to fix it. I am trying to convey that the US government's contribution to a building project is going to be $400 million, but that the overall project is expected to stimulate the local (German) economy by a much larger amount, about one billion dollars. However, since many countries have a dollar currency, I tried to say that this reflects the value in USD, but then it comes across as though the US is contributing the entire amount. If you have any suggestions... Here is the actual phrasing as it now stands: "A new hospital would have several advantages over renovating the existing hospital and is expected to stimulate the state's building industry, with estimates of putting up to one billion US dollars into the local economy. In 2008, the proposal received approval for a $400 million project; the proposal is contingent upon congressional support for the funding." Thanks again for your help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by BThomascall (talkcontribs) 19:42, 15 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
What about something like "The U.S. is donating an amount of US$400 million, while other countries are donating additional amounts to bring the total investment up to US$1 billion" or something like that. Something that makes a clear distinction between the denomination of the currency and the source of the donations? --Jayron32 20:24, 15 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! I can now move the article, but it seems like it will take my sandbox with it? The instructions say that the old page, my user sandbox, will redirect to the new page. That's not quite what I'm looking for... BThomascall (talk) 14:26, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Once you've moved it you can blank the sandbox, which will remove the #REDIRECT [[ ]] code. benzband (talk) 14:31, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
This is a great support site! Thank you everyone! I have submitted the article, and it is 814th in line for review. — Preceding unsigned comment added by BThomascall (talkcontribs) 01:37, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

One more question, please. Is there any way to check on the progress of a wiki submission? It looks like approval can be a slow process, but since it is my first article, I am a little excited, and want to follow it as it moves up the queue (from its starting point at 814th in line... !) BThomascall (talk) 09:46, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Inconsistency in infobox fields running over onto two lines

In regard to infoboxes (tennis biographies in particular), I was just wondering why it was that half the time fields such as 'Australian Open', 'Highest Ranking', 'Current Ranking' etc run over onto two lines and sometimes they don't, regardless of how much info is filled in under these fields...? What can be done to make sure infoboxes look more like these: Magnus Larsson, Florian Mayer rather than these: Alejandro Falla, Onny Parun? Thanks. Asmazif (talk) 12:26, 14 June 2012 (GMT)

Hello, Asmazif, Welcome to the Teahouse. Unfortunately I don't really understand infoboxes that well myself. I played around with the ones you linked to a bit and couldn't figure out the problem. I did, however, find a Wikiproject here: WikiProject Sports. If you go there and ask your question on the talk page somebody might be able to help you. Sorry I couldn't do more, I'm just a beginner here myself. Tlqk56 (talk) 14:36, 15 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi. I'm not sure exactly what you mean. But you can use the <br /> tag to force a line break, if that helps. Maybe there's a wiki markup equivalent, but I've certainly seen this used in such situations and it's even documented at {{Infobox company}}. -- Trevj (talk) 15:10, 15 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the responses. Trevj - it's the field names themselves which sometimes run over, not the text entered to the right of each field (which is inevitable), so <br /> only works for making a new line when entering data. I'll look at the links you both sent though, thanks. I'm thinking it's a flaw with the actual design on the infobox, however, and it should possibly be proposed to englarge the length of the template, ala the golf infobox, which is noticeably bigger - compare Vijay Amritraj to Tiger Woods. Asmazif (talk) 08:30, 19 June 2012 (GMT)

next steps for Notability/Noticeboard?

Hi Teahouse! The Deborah Berke, Architect has been idle for several weeks; there is a comment from User talk:Waggers that says the "article you've written needs a fair bit of work, and you need to be very careful about conflicts of interest and advertising - but as far as notability is concerned I think you've done a great job at establishing that Deborah Berke has it." I am not sure if this comment means the article has passed the notability test, and I wonder if someone can elaborate regarding what kind of work the article needs? And what are the next steps? I wish to avoid a COI and am trying to follow all of the Wikipedia:Conflict of interest guidelines. I posted this question on the Noticeboard and on the User talk:Waggersuser page but so far have only seen this response: "oooooo im scared" (I'm not sure why or what that is about!) — Thank you Meredith at DBA (talk) 21:03, 14 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Meredith. You are dealing with several challenging issues. It is very difficult for a new editor to write an article about their employer, (Deborah Berke & Partners Architects in this case), and if you were just starting, I would advise against it. But now you are in the midst of it. The best advice I can give is to defer to the opinions of more experienced, disinterested editors, and several have been working on the article. When a single editor such as Waggers expresses an opinion, that is just one person's opinion. That being said, Waggers is a very experienced editor and that usually carries some weight. No one has yet challenged the notability of the firm, and others who participate in that noticeboard have moved on to fresher topics, so you should just move on as well rather than expecting some definitive opinion from the powers that be. That often doesn't happen.
You should be aware that a person's own writings do not establish notability, but only what reliable, independent sources write about that person. I believe that it is best, when listing sources to show notability, to select a smaller number of the indisputably high quality sources that clearly devote significant coverage to the topic, rather than a very long list of everything but the kitchen sink, which few editors will have the time or patience to study thoroughly.
The "oooooo im scared" comment was added by an anonymous IP editor and should be disregarded as graffitti or mild vandalism. If it was my talk page, I would remove it. Let Waggers handle it.
As for improving the article, just do your best to make the article better. I think that it needs more sources that discuss the firm itself in depth, as opposed to those briefly mentioning its various projects and awards. It would be good to establish why this particular firm is particularly notable, as opposed to similar firms of similar size and age. Many (but not all) editors believe Wikipedia should cover distinctive and unique businesses, rather than every business that has won the routine awards given out by trade associations in every field. So, in the case of awards, I would highlight those considered most prestigious among architects. I hope these thoughts prove useful to you. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 23:14, 14 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Dear Jim User:Cullen328, thank you so much for taking the time to comment on my question regarding how to go from the Notability/Noticeboard to writing a biographical article about a living person. Your points are terrific and helpful, but the article in question is a biography of a living person, not about a firm. The article is here: User:Meredith at DBA/sandbox and also on the Deborah Berke, Architect. Thank you again for your time and interest. Meredith at DBA (talk) 14:30, 15 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Meredith, most of what I wrote about the article about a firm also applies to an article about the individual who is principal of the firm. You still have a COI, since both firm and individual will be seen as your employer. You still have to meet notability thresholds, and it is still important to select the highest quality reliable, independent sources for your article, and to write, always, with the neutral point of view in mind. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 23:22, 17 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Isobel Waller-Bridge

Hello there. I recently created an article for an emerging composer, Isobel Waller-Bridge but it has been quickly nominated for deletion. One comment was that she has not worked much, but only done short films, when there is evidence on the internet that she has worked in theatre, film (as an arranger) and radio, and has had commissions from orchestras and ensembles. I created the page because i think she is an interesting artist. What's more, i feel guilty now that i've created this page about her and now there are these deletion nominations and proposals which she has nothing to do with! I read that the deletion proposals would be resolved within a week, but it has been at least one month now? I think the person/article is valid, particularly as there are a lot of people out there who have achieved much less and are present on wikipedia! I am grateful for 'Trevj' who has sourced more information about this artist, and i will happily keep updating the page when its appropriate. Any advice is welcome. Many thanks Noeline1984 (talk) 15:24, 14 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Noeline! The biggest issue with any new article is that there is adequate evidence that the subject of the article has been written about extensively in reliable, independent sources. That is, in Wikipedia, "notability" of a person is not measured by what a person has done, but what people have written about a person. If people have not written about Isobel's life and work, then the information that you might put into a Wikipedia article cannot be properly verified, an as such, there really shouldn't be an article at Wikipedia about her. If such sources do exist, then you need to make such source material clear. You may find Wikipedia:Notability to be a good place to get more information about this concept. Good luck, and if you have anymore questions, feel free to ask! --Jayron32 16:28, 14 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Have you also read the policy at WP:DELAFD (linked to from the deletion notice currently in place at the top of the article)? -- Trevj (talk) 08:44, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

resubmit page after donating content

Hello, I submitted a page that had copyright infringement and the author of part of the infringement agreed to donate the content with the Creative Commons License. Now the rewritten article is in talk:Heart Pine and I don't know how to resubmit it or if I shouls have it approved somewhere else first, sorry totally new hereSpringmata (talk) 01:52, 13 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. A question could then arise as to whether or not the donated content may be an infringement itself. Therefore, it's probably safest and easiest to rewrite the content, as already suggested. I hope that makes sense. -- Trevj (talk) 13:33, 13 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I did rewrite it and added that note on the heart pine page, but no one has responded, should I just go ahead and edit heart pine with the new content I wrote? Thanks Springmata (talk) 13:15, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It may be simplest for Writ Keeper to review and comment on Talk:Heart pine/Temp. It looks as though you've followed the guidance, but the article should use inline citations (see WP:INCITE) and would also benefit from some additional references. I'm dropping a note on Writ Keeper's talk page. -- Trevj (talk) 14:42, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I'll reply at the article's talk page. Writ Keeper 19:16, 18 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]