Help desk
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January 29

How can I cite references for a foreign recording artist?

The article for Kumi Miyasato was recently deleted. The reason given was no stated relevence. I re-created the article and modified the language to assert relevence. I also created a talk page for the article and made a case for her relevence. I was told to cite a few sources in Japanese media that covered her. I don't speak Japanese and have no access to any of the print media (though I do have lists of print media that covered her - as well as lists of public appearances and radio appearances). I have copies of some video interviews, but they come from YouTube. I can't translate them, anyway. What should I do? Tuxedo Mark (talk) 03:06, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps you could leave a note over on WikiProject Japan's talk page. They may have some ideas for english language sources you may use. --omtay 38 03:13, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

{{helpme}}

Helpme tags are not needed on the help desk. --omtay 38 04:02, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I have inserted a discussion of Custom Fitted Bras. It is Generic and does not

I have inserted a discussion of Custom Fitted Bras. It is Generic and does not mention the names of ANY of the brands or distributors of any of the custom fitted bras. This is in contrast to the page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassiere_measurements

which includes information which is NOT accurate when it comes to the fitting of the Custom Fitted Bras, or even some department stores for that matter.

The Custom Fitted Bras have been around since 1958. They have been sold at private fittings since then. Sometimes they are shown at "Bra Parties", much like Tupperware parties.

The Custom Fitted Bra is a special bra, unlike the traditional (useless) bras from department stores. It offers more support, in more sizes than ANY traditional department store bra.

Today there are approximately 8 or 10 brands still being manufactured out of some 20 or so.

The Custom Fitted Bras are the only type of bra recommended by "Self Magazine" (1987) as "Sports Equipment for Women", much like the Jock Strap is "Sports Equipment for men"

 Thus, I believe that This information belongs in Wikipedia.

--Ahbras (talk) 03:56, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hello there! It seems that you included your information on your user page, instead of an article page. If you have some information you'd like to add, please feel free to edit the proper page and insert it; however, please make sure that your information is verifiable and that you source and cite it properly. Thank you, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 03:58, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am new to this. I guess I dont know the difference between User Page and Article page. I am really trying to correct some misinformation on an existing page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassiere_measurements with a discussion of additional types of bras and sizing conventions.

--Ahbras (talk) 04:06, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That's ok, and thank you for trying to correct the misinformation. To change the contents of a page, you must edit it by clicking the edit this page button at the top of the page. For example, Brassiere measurements can be edited here. Also, if your changes are major, I'd suggest you bring them up at the talk page of that article so that other users may comment. Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 04:08, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Twinkle/Furme

So I had Twinkle/Furme on my desktop and was using it through Firefox. Now I've installed Firefox on my laptop and the tabs aren't appearing. How do I fix it? What settings should I be looking at? MBisanz ^talk 03:57, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For Firefox, you should be looking at Tools > Options, and then the Tabs menu (second from the left for me). I'm guessing that your browser is set to open links in new windows; if it is, just switch that over to tabs. Hope that helps, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 03:59, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Should've been more clear. I meant the Twinkle/FURME tabs on the Wikipedia interface. The Tab in FireFox work fine. MBisanz ^talk 04:03, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, my mistake. I'd suggest going to your monobook and clearing your cache. Since your browser on your laptop has technically never had Twinkle installed, all it needs is a cache refresh and it should be good to go. Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 04:05, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Did that before I came here, used keystroke Ctrl-Shift-R a couple times. MBisanz ^talk 04:07, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ctrl-F5 is completely clears your cache; try going to your monobook and doing that. Should solve your problems. Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 04:10, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Bingo, thank you very much! MBisanz ^talk 04:11, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No problem! Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 04:18, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

adding cells to a table

I'm working on the layout of a template, over in my sandbox, but I'm having a problem with formatting the text. In the cells B, D, G, J, O, R, and U, I want two columns in each, and have been using the {{Col-begin}} to try to get it to work. Unfortunately, no matter what width perameters I put in, the text in the second columns are not aligned with each other. I tried just putting extra cells in there, but then there's a border between them which isn't what I want either. How do I achieve the alignment? Thanks -- Matthew Edwards | talk | Contribs 04:52, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed and responded on user talk. --omtay 38 06:26, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

article cricket history of the veluwana college

veluwana college colombo srilanka

article

want include

history

cricket history OF VELUWANA COLLEGE

FIRST CAPTAIN OF THE COLLEGE UNDER 11 CRICKET TEAM AND FIRST CAPTAIN OF THE UNDER 19 CRICKET TEAM

NAME MAHASEN DUMINDA WICKRAMARATNE

     FULL NAME : WICKRAMAARACHCHIGE MAHASEN DUMINDA PERERA WICKRAMARATNE

You will need to first register an account, which has many benefits, including the ability to create articles. Once you have registered, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation.

Alternately, please see Wikipedia:Requested articles if you'd like to request an article made. Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 05:39, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How to create a new page for a name already exists but applies to a different person

Hello,

How does one create a page when the name already exists but applies to someone else? For example: Gorgopas - a Spartan general in the Roman-Spartan war has a page. However there was another Spartan admiral named Gorgopas in the Corinthian War a couple hundred years earlier. How do I create the page for the earlier Gorgopas which than allows a user who types in Gorgopas to chose which of the two he wants to read about?

Thanks

Hetlamm (talk) 05:33, 29 January 2008 (UTC)Hetlamm[reply]

The way to go about this would be to create a disambiguation page; however, as in this case there aren't too many articles of the same name, I'd suggest creating Gorgopas (admiral) and linking to the admiral page from the General's page. Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 05:39, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hiding the Navigation, Interaction,... column at left when reading an article.

I am a newbie, I admit, and i can not believe that i am not able to toggle this stuff off of the screen, at least when reading text. Thanks, Jokinjo (talk) 06:02, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hey there, welcome to the help desk! There may be user styles that let you hide it, but there isn't a way to toggle it off at will without changing styles as previously stated. Sorry, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 06:44, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Clicking "Printable version" in the Toolbox section of the left nav is a kludgey way to do it. You can even use the keyboard shortcut associated with that link (hover over it for shortcut). —Noah 07:57, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There are some skins at Special:Preferences where the links are displayed at the top or bottom, so the article uses the full width of the window. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:26, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm a new user, please forgive me

I am looking for specific information (I want to find out for whom St. Dominique is the patron saint, her bistory, etc.) and I don't know where to find such information on Wikipedia, or how to solicit such info from the users. If you could help me, I'd be very much appreciative. Thank you, D.P.Cuff —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.81.39.175 (talk) 07:59, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hello there! St. Dominique says that it is an colony, not a saint; however, the reference desk has volunteers that would gladly help you find the information you seek if it is not in that article. Please use the Help Desk only for matters related to using Wikipedia. Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 08:06, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(after ec):If you're looking for Saint Dominic, he (not she) is called Dominique de Guzmán in French. According to his article, he is the patron saint of astronomers and the Dominican Republic. If you need to find something another time, try the search function on the left, or ask the Reference Desk. --Evan Seeds (talk)(contrib.) 08:10, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I have used this index of patron saints to find information many times. Maybe you can find what you’re looking for there. —Travis ^talk 13:36, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Miss Hawaii USA

I was in the 1982 Miss Hawaii USA Contest voted Miss Congeniality and my name is Kahala Del Rey —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.25.241.164 (talk) 08:28, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Congratulations. Do you have a question about using Wikipedia? PrimeHunter (talk) 11:20, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

secure page protected by login

Can I create a secure page that could be used for private access alone. Secured by login/password ?

Is such a feature available in wiki ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.54.175.135 (talk) 09:23, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia does not have that. If you have your wiki with MediaWiki software then mw:Extension:PasswordProtected may be useful but I haven't tried it. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:02, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Technology _ Electrical

What is difference in Windmill Alternator and DG Alternator? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Khageshri (talk • contribs) 09:48, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

try the reference desk.--Kerotan ^{Leave Me a Message} Have a nice day :) 10:16, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The reference desk is located here. We also have an article on Alternator if that helps. Pedro : Chat 11:04, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Problems editing

I have edited a page which is in the form: http://..../Forename_Surname_(Occupation) After saving the page the address changes to: http://..../Forename_Surname_%28Occupation%29 No poblems so far. But after clearing cache from my pc and searching google I get directed to the unedited version of the page but if I try to edit this, the edit text is the post edited version. Any searches through Wikipedia always come up with post edited version but (after clearing cache) if I enter http://..../Forename_Surname_(Occupation) I get pre-edited. It doesn't seem to be just my edit either; the pre-edited version is months old. I've left it a week in the hope that it was just a search engine cache thing but its been over a week since edit and still getting the smae problem (on multiple computer's). Can anyone help before I go mad? Thanks. Havelock101 (talk) 11:01, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Which page is it? Does it happen both when you are logged in and out? Some ISPs cache pages. If that happened then it doesn't help to clear your own cache. But you can try changing the URL, for example adding a '?' at the end. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:10, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I guess it's John Reid (politician). I see the current version at both http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reid_(politician) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reid_%28politician%29. It's the same page with special characters replaced in the URL per Help:URL#URLs in external links. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:17, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your speedy reply. Yes that's the page. If I follow your link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reid_(politician) I get a different (unedited page) from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reid_%28politician%29 link above.

I guess it must be the ISP cache. Will I just have to wait for the ISP's servers to update? Thanks again. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Havelock101 (talk • contribs) 11:35, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe. Which time is displayed at the bottom of the window after "This page was last modified" on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reid_(politician). How about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reid_(politician)? with '?' at the end? PrimeHunter (talk) 11:55, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

On the unedited page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reid_(politician) at the end it says- This page was last modified 19:27, 13 January 2008

While the edited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reid_%28politician%29 gives today's date.

Does that indicate the ISP cache problem. The ? at the end does bring the edited version up, should I try to perminently alter the page URL to incorporate the ?

Thanks again Havelock101 (talk) 12:19, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It certainly indicates a cached page. If you have cleared the whole cache in your browser then it sounds like your ISP. Do not try to alter the Wikipedia page name to include '?'. Adding it here was merely a test to see what would happen for a URL which used '(' and ')', but was unlikely to have been cached. Now it may have been cached by your ISP although I suppose ISPs may choose to not cache URLs containing '?' because they are likely to be dynamic. So adding '?' when viewing a page may bypass a cached version when you want to see the current version. Another method for that is clicking history and then clicking the date of the most recent version (this requires that the history page is not cached). PrimeHunter (talk) 12:31, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks PrimeHunter you've been a real star. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Havelock101 (talk • contribs) 12:56, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

About payroll taxes

I need to know if you live in Pennslyvania do you have to claim taxes on a job that you made less than 400.00 for the year? I made more on my other job but this job I made less than 400.00 and I did not receive a W-2 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.3.20.2 (talk) 12:05, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Note that Wikipedia does not give legal opinions. Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:34, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Problem adding content to article

This is one big mystery to me. I cannot add certain content to a page without loosing the links to citations and external links. Every time I post the additional content the links disapear. I have left the material on the disscussion page if somebody can assist and maybe explain where I am going wrong. The page is at: Interpretation Act 1978 Ron Barker (talk) 13:22, 29 January 2008 (UTC) Thank you[reply]

[1] has an unclosed <ref>. Every <ref> must have an ending </ref>. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:14, 29 January 2008 (UTC) Thank you very much. Your help appreciated. Ron Barker (talk) 19:33, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How can I find the list of all users on Wikipedia?

As title. Is there any page shows all users on Wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Abhaac (talk • contribs) 13:23, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Special:Listusers, though it is a very long list. It has a search function at the top of the page if you are looking for a specific one. Woody (talk) 13:26, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) "Special pages" in the toolbox to the left has a link on "Users" to Special:Listusers. Note: There are 48,337,583 registered accounts. IP addresses with edits are not shown. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:27, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Trying to get a map to center on an infobox

Hey everyone: I've been working on {{Infobox_Paris_metro}} by adding a map of Paris to the bottom which shows the location of a particular metro station in the city. Now, I've got everything working well except one thing. On certain pages the map doesn't center in the box (Compare Opéra (Paris Métro) where it does not center and Louise Michel (Paris Métro) where it works fine). Again, the actual information is always displayed. The problem is mainly aesthetic and...well....to be honest....is driving me insane :) so, I thought I would ask here for any help which could be provided. Thanks in advance! Lazulilasher (talk) 13:54, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

articles i've created

I would be curious to see a log of all the articles I have created. Is there a way to do this? Calliopejen1 (talk) 14:57, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know of an easy way (hopefully someone else will). The hard way is to look at your contributions and check the entries for the text Created page on. It helps a tiny bit if you limit the search to the Article name space, but only a tiny bit since most of your edits will be in that name space. —Noah 15:49, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you have a Mac, Linux, or Unix you can modify this command to do it

curl "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?limit=1000&title=Special%3AContributions&contribs=user&target=Noah+Salzman&namespace=0&year=&month=-1" | grep "Created page on"

You will need to

swap out my user name
change the limit from 1000 to some smaller or larger number

Happy hacking, —Noah 16:01, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

COMMENT: It looks to me like that will only find pages with "Created page on" in the edit summary. In my case, at least, OS X didn’t find any of the pages I have created. Other than this tip, I am also unaware of any easy way to find this info. —Travis ^talk 16:23, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oops. I looked at the one article I created and made the mistaken assumption that "Created page on" was automatic text and not user created (silly, cause apparently I wrote that). You are right, there is sadly no auto-generated comment for the first entry of an article. So, the trick above would only work if you were very consistent in your article creation comment and, therefore, could grep for that exact text. Bummer. —Noah 16:50, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

olives

where do black olives come from?

is an olive a fruit or vegetable?

how much world production of olives come from the US? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.195.174.251 (talk) 15:17, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps.Jauerback^dude?/_dude. 15:17, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For that matter, have you read our article on olives? Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 22:01, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Where to request

Under what section do I post a request for an article about a specific car? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vvneagleone (talk • contribs) 15:23, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Requested articles/Applied arts and sciences/Transport#Road Transport, unless maybe the car is known for something specific. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:45, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

195.70.54.240 (talk) 15:54, 29 January 2008 (UTC). Writing an Article about Rageh Daoud without references

Dear Wikipedia Admin,

I wanted to write an article about Rageh Daoud, an Egyptian music composers, who composed for over 40 + movies (Egyptian and Egyptian), theatrical plays, TV series,...etc yet, i dont Have references about him enough to write an article, i have his CV, and some websites such as www.imdb.com, yet these sites dont provide sufficient info.

Im his son and i have his CV and a facebook group on him http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7045795895

Thanks for help in advance:)

Cheers

195.70.54.240 (talk) 15:54, 29 January 2008 (UTC).[reply]

Hi there! The first step you should take to create this article yourself is to register an account. After you have done this, take a look at the Introduction for information about editing wikipedia. Be sure the subject of your article meets the notability guidelines. Happy editing! --omtay 38 16:06, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For information on sourcing articles, read this; and since you're his son, please also understandour guidelines on conflict of interest. --Orange Mike | Talk 16:16, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

HOW DO YOU UNSUBSCRIBE

USER SUREWIPE

Surewipe (talk) 16:11, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Unsubscribe to what? Do you mean delete your account? That is not possible, but see Wikipedia:Right to vanish. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:20, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

medical laboratory

I AM DOING +2. i want to know about the medical laboratories. kindly let me know the same pl —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.104.114 (talk) 16:15, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. The help desk is a place to ask questions about using wikipedia. If you are looking for information, you may be interested in the reference desk. Best regards! --omtay 38 16:22, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) This is the help desk for the encyclopedia Wikipedia. I don't know what "+2" refers to (maybe something at some institution we have an article about?). They will probably need more details, but: Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:26, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

how do i make my user page appear on the search results?

I have created an account but it does not appear on the search results. Ineed guidelines —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jahnetttafari (talk • contribs) 16:37, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Your user page at User:Jahnetttafari has not been indexed by Wikipedia search yet. When that happens (may take a week or so), it can be found if you first click "Search" below the search box, and then click "User" at the bottom and use the search box there. Unless you change "Search" at Special:Preferences, only the encyclopedia articles are searched by default. Your user page would be very unsuited as an article. It is strongly discouraged to create an autobiography as an article, and there are many other problems. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:04, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

WORLD LANGUAGES.

202.159.225.168 (talk) 17:44, 29 January 2008 (UTC)Can a comparative analysis of world languages be made with regard to script,grammer,phonetic values,pronounciation and writing suitability? Would it be advisable to be guided by such a study for the cause of human values?[reply]

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. You may have better luck on the Humanities section of the Reference desk. -- Kesh (talk) 17:49, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

back up

i had alaptop, it had crash ,i not starting.what should i do. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Luckyarun (talk • contribs) 19:36, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. -- The Helpful One ^(Talk)^{(Contribs) (Review)} 19:38, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Reporting vandalism to basketball moves page

Under the Pump Fake heading on the Basketball Moves page, it appears someone added an objectionable last sentence. Just wanted to make you aware! My son is starting to learn about basketball (that's why I'm here), and probably would find this both funny and disturbing (he's seven years old):

A pump fake is a fundamental move in basketball, used to cause defenders to jump (known in basketball slang as "lifting" the defender), or be shifted off-balance. Its main applications are in the low post area, where a player is much more likely to have his or her shot blocked. Two well known practitioners of low post fakes are Kevin McHale and Al Jefferson. On the perimeter, it is useful in creating open lanes to the basket by "showing" the ball enough to entice a defender to attempt to block or steal it, allowing the dribbler to penetrate easily. Tracy McGrady is an excellent example of this, and often gains extra free throw attempts due to his skill in ball faking. J.J. Redick of Duke University and now the Orlando Magic was also a great pump-faker, which he used to draw fouls as well as create space between him and the flying defender for his forte, three-point shooting. Also used to get contact on the big floppy donkey dick.

128.174.27.190 (talk) 20:00, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for pointing it out - that was vandalism alright and I have removed it. Any time you see something like that, please feel free to remove it yourself. —Travis ^talk 20:07, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Make a page

Dear Wikipedia help desk,

       I am writing because I would like to make my own page on Wikipedia. How do you do that?

Dylan C. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chickachee (talk • contribs) 20:01, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Responded on user talk --omtay 38 20:09, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Can't find message.

I got an alert that there was a new message on my talk page, but now I can't find it. Is there a way to find old messages? [[D-free]] (talk) 20:13, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi there! You can always check the page history to see any changes that have been made. You get the yellow "new messages" box whenever anybody (other than you) changes anything on your talk page. It may have been that somebody changed something very small (perhaps their signature) and that triggered the box. Hope this helps! --omtay 38 20:17, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can get to your talk page from any page by clicking "my talk" at the top of the window. If you were logged out when you got the message then it would have been on the talk page for your IP address. If you still have the same IP address (can depend on your ISP) then you can log out and click Special:Mytalk. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:25, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Email Confirmation Issue / Fatal FAQ error

I've tried to confirm my email address at least three times since setting up my account, but have not received any email from Wikipedia yet.

I attempted to visit the "search the FAQ" link and only reached a "Fatal database error" page.

Hm. The FAQ isn't working for me either - looks like the toolserver might be down again. There's a local version at WP:VFAQ, but it doesn't answer your question.

Anyway, I would suggest making sure that your email is spelled correctly in your preferences. Sorry if you've done this alreayd, but best to start simple. Second, make sure that emails from wikimedia.org are on your whitelist, and that nothing is in your spam folder. It does take a few days for the email to come, so it's possible your email may not have arrived yet. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 21:21, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The mail should be sent immediately. I just tested the system and had received the mail when I looked for it after a few seconds. If you haven't received the mail after a day then it may be stopped by a filter before reaching your mail account. Try an email account elsewhere if you can. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:13, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Redirects to a category?

I just started patrolling Special:RandomRedirect and I've noticed that a lot of article-space redirect go to categories: for example Dialogues of Plato to Category:Dialogues of Plato. Is it supposed to be like that? I get confused when I click on an article link and wind up looking at a category. Should I leave them be or try to find more appropriate redirects into articles? <eleland/talkedits> 20:58, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know whether there's a guideline or policy on this or not; I looked around just now and didn't find anything. In my opinion, it's better to have a redirect to a category, like that, than no redirect at all, but it would probably be preferable in many cases to edit the redirect to point to an article, providing there's a reasonably relevant article. In this case, either Plato or (perhaps better) Plato#Narration of the dialogues seems like a good choice to me. I think someone ought to write a full article Dialogues of Plato. --Coppertwig (talk) 23:12, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What is Applicable to an entry and what isn't?

I am hoping that maybe I can get some clarification as me and another contributor have been going round and round with an entry for North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Basically the question I have is what should be consider applicable to be in a post or not. The group STS apparently tried to reopen the speedway and there are documented websites (with a link that I've included in my post) where it shows that the financial backer called the group kids and asked to no longer be associated with the group. This was published in the newspaper as well as several known racing websites.

The other poster removes the information stating that it was a personal attack and the person was arrested for fraud and that this has nothing to do with anything related to the speedway. I disagree that it has everything to do with why funding wasn't secured and the other poster has yet to provide any proof that the documented link that I've included was a personal attack or that the person was arrested for fraud.

Just hoping that maybe you could give me some insight.

Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.244.164.254 (talk) 21:22, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It appears you have only communicated through edit summaries at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Try using the article talk page or eachothers user talk pages. If that doesn't work out then see Wikipedia:Dispute resolution. I have told the other editor to not make unsourced claims of a fraud arrest anywhere, per Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:54, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can find the article talk page at Talk:North Wilkesboro Speedway, or by clicking "discussion" at the top of the page when looking at the article. Here are instructions on how to use talk pages. --Coppertwig (talk) 23:02, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The claims that are being made by the referring article were made by an individual as a personal attack against certain people in an effort to hamper the process of reopening North Wilkesboro Speedway. I am personally a member of the group STS that this person made many blatant personal and slanderous attacks against us in which was eventually to into a legal battle in which I am not able to discuss. The user "Stevie's Daycare" has for a matter of over a year then reposted and made repeated personal attacks on myself(which is also why they have chosen the name "Steve's Daycare) as well as others, using not only Wikipedia but other websites as well in which he/she has been banned from. The user was also at one point named "Land of Make Believe" here on wiki and was banned once before for making the same personal attacks. If anyone wants to contact me personally about this issue please do so. I am open to comments and questions.

If an administrator reads this please contact me I have the original emails that were sent between me and an administrator a year ago that took care of this exact problem once before. They also have been again notified as to the problem. Swilson2000 (talk) 17:19, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Entered a user name and a password to open an account but wiki still dosn't

Now Wikipedia does not recognize my password. I really thought I typed in the password correctly. I don't want to open another account with another username. Help!24.5.113.200 (talk) 21:24, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Help:Logging in. If you cannot find a working password and you haven't registered an email address for the account then you have to create a new account. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:27, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Any way to automatically identify existing articles in Wikipedia based on words and phrases in an article being edited?...

Resolved

– Redlinks/bluelinks were explained

For example, if "RCA" appears in an article being edited, and an article exists with the title "RCA" or "RCA" redirects to "Radio Corporation of America (RCA), that such associations can be highlighted, cross ref brackets applied, etc. to help to expedite the editing process. Otherwise, it sure is tedious to do it manually! Plus, as articles are renamed or deleted, links can become dead ends. Thanks! Bruce --Bkengland (talk) 21:44, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi there! I believe what you are talking a bout is a sort of "auto-linking" of articles within wikipedia. Something to the effect of, if I type "alligator" that it should automatically be linked to alligator. If that is what you are refering too, I think it is a great idea! However, there are a few problems. When linking in an article it is important to only make links relevant to context (linking to too many words is often called overlinking). As you can see from that example, too many links is not helpful at all. However, all of those articles do exist. No computer can determine what links are relevant to an article and, thus, the tedium is transfered to us editors. --omtay 38 21:56, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, on Wikipedia, there is pretty much an article for everything that is typed in context. Soxred93 | talk count bot 22:05, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, indeed, I've noticed that issue (e.g., "1984" being linked to an article about the year, definitely out of context!). That led me to believe that such referencing was the result of an automated tool of some kind being applied. Indexing tools tend to cause these kinds of problems as well, so I know what you are talking about. --Bkengland (talk) 22:58, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Manually linking them is not as tedious as you might at first think. Pretty much every word or phrase that you think worth linking will have an article. In my early days I used to search for a link before putting brackets around it. Now I just read through an article, spotting words that I think should be linked, then do a Show preview. Most of my guesses work out. Occasionally, there is a red link but that's not always a bad thing. I sometimes leave in a red link, sometimes take it out. Then I check that the blue links actually go where I think they go. Sbowers3 (talk) 23:05, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ah! Good tip! See, I didn't know that "links" displayed red or blue in preview depending on their status. This will help I lot, I think. --Bkengland (talk) 01:19, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just remember that a blue link only means that there's an article with that name, not that it's the right article for the situation - unless it's blatantly obvious what the article is about (and sometimes even then), it's a good idea to have a quick look at it. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 22:13, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Even if you are "certain" that the link is correct, check it anyway. I spend a lot of time correcting links to several disambiguation pages (as mindless therapy when I don't want to think much.) "Rugby", "violet" and "battery" are all obvious and certain, but wrong. -Arch dude (talk) 01:27, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

football players from the 1950's

has there ever been a football player by the name douglas cox in afl or nfl in the 50'sHunt7570 (talk) 21:57, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You are probably looking for the Reference Desk. This is for asking questions about using Wikipedia. Good luck! Soxred93 | talk count bot 21:59, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Uploading my article

I wrote my article 3 days ago on Richard B. Chase and it has not been posted yet..how long should it take? Thanks, Arthur Kelm —Preceding unsigned comment added by Arthurkelm (talk • contribs) 23:31, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

you wrote you article on your user page, which you can find here-Kerotan ^{Leave Me a Message} Have a nice day :) 23:46, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I would advise moving it to a personal scratchbox, as it is by no means ready for publication yet. --Orange Mike | Talk 00:22, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

As Orangemike says, it is better to work on your proposed article on a "working" page in userspace. "userspace" means a page whose name starts with "User:". In this csae we think you should create your proposed article at User:Arthurkelm/Richard B. Chase. This is a "sub-space" of your user space. Articles in a subspace are granted very wide latitude and are very rarely subject to any scrutiny until you ask others for comment. Once you think the article meets all of the criteria in all of our guidelines, you can come back here or to any other relevant forum to ask for comments. once you have a consensus, you can tehn move your article to mainspace by using he "move" button. Alternatively, you mayh simply create the article in mainspace. However, if you do this, your article is likely to be treated harshly based on all of our strange rules and guidelines. -Arch dude (talk) 03:22, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 January 29