Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 November 3

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

November 3

Pictures with no copyright status

I was unsure where to ask this..so I brought it here to see, could someone good with picture copyright have a look at this, User:Kdkwinana/sandbox Newish user seems to be uploading pics for his article without any copyright template. Off2riorob (talk) 00:00, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm not great on image issues, but I think I've tagged all the uploads (deleting one duplicate) and tried to explain the boiler-plate messages. Thanks for drawing this to attention. Bencherlite^Talk 00:25, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for looking, I am still unsure what is going on there, newbie enthusiasm? My copyright knowledge is not good enough to help him, but they all look like they have been lifted from somewhere and photo shopped in. Article that is being created has quite recently been deleted twice before for notability issues. Off2riorob (talk) 12:48, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Looking for an essay/policy

So, I'm watching an article of a book, and we have an editor who claims he's the author of an analysis/criticism book about the book whose article I'm watching. Frankly, he keeps insisting that because he's who he says he is that his book is notable. I know there's a policy or an article stating that we can't take people at their word about who we are, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it's called. Can anyone help? Anakinjmt (talk) 01:52, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Probably this one, but I doubt it will fly. I think the best explanation is that we have no proof that he is who he says he is and point him towards the book notability policy. TNXMan 01:56, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Whether the editor is the author or not is not totally relevant (although obvious there are conflict of interest issues), but the author of the analysis/criticism book needs to be notable in their own right, as per Notability Guidelines (Creative professionals). It needs to be verified that the author is regarded as an important figure or is widely cited by their peers or successors; is known for originating a significant new concept, theory or technique; has created, or played a major role in co-creating, a significant or well-known work, or collective body of work, that has been the subject of an independent book or feature-length film, or of multiple independent periodical articles or reviews; their work either (a) has become a significant monument, (b) has been a substantial part of a significant exhibition, (c) has won significant critical attention, or (d) is represented within the permanent collections of several notable galleries or museums, or had works in many significant libraries. to quote from those guidelines -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 02:10, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Hmm, good info. I'm pretty sure it's an essay I'm looking for. I'm fairly certain it was written in the wake of discovery that a Wikipedia user, who claimed he was a professor of something (religion, philosophy, or something like that) was actually a college drop-out. It made headlines in the news media and the user voluntarily resigned. Maybe that'll help narrow it down. Anakinjmt (talk) 02:23, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

You're better off with policies rather than essays! Essays are an editor's opinions, not a "this is what will happen" like a policy or a "this is what will usually happen" like a guideline. Essays can be ignored quite easily - Policies and guidelines cannot be without a very good reason. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 02:26, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Anakinjmt, you may be thinking of the Essjay controversy. Are you looking for an essay, or an Essjay? --Teratornis (talk) 03:06, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

That's the controversy I was thinking of. I thought that some policy or essay came out of it. Anakinjmt (talk) 03:25, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:There is no credential policy might get you somewhere. --Teratornis (talk) 04:36, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

(outdent) i'm not sure i understand the situation: this editor asserts that he's written a book and that therefore ... what? other editors need to acknowledge his superior expertise on the subject of the book? in that case WP:EXPERT might help. if it's more like he seems to be trying to promote his book, try WP:ADVERT and/or WP:ELNO. if he's saying he and/or his book deserve their own article then i guess the notability guidelines people have pointed out above would be the way to go, along with WP:RA, since he might indeed be "notable enough". Sssoul (talk) 05:41, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Ah, the credential policy is the one I was thinking of. Maybe if you saw the situation it would help. It's happening over at Talk:The Tales of Beedle the Bard. And apparently they've already had the debate with this guy previously, as there's a record of it in the archive. Anakinjmt (talk) 13:04, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

i looked at that discussion and don't see any problem. it looks like someone is pointing out a book that might serve as a reference, and (to avoid COI issues) is leaving it up to other editors whether to cite the book or not. which seems quite reasonable, so why not just thank the person for pointing out the availability of the free preview and move on? Sssoul (talk) 15:18, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

How do i move a page out of my userspace to make it live

Hi i created a page yesterday but starts with my user name User:Brendoran1982/'example' how do i change this so only the topic 'example' is the name for page and its live?

Brendoran1982 (talk) 02:14, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Your account is too young to move pages at the moment. However, even if it were not, the article you wrote would risk deletion as an advertisement. More specifically, the page seems to talk about the school in a way that the school might describe itself on its own website, rather than in a more neutral tone. A better way to write the article would be to find reliables sources that discuss the school (and were not published by the school), and use the content they contain to write the article. Readers who are interested in how the school describes itself will follow the handy link to the official website, but Wikipedia can't present that content by itself in good faith, as any school will describe itself as more or less amazing. Someguy1221 (talk) 02:20, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Hi Thanks for your reply, do you know how long it will take before my account becomes old enough to move content, guess it will give me time to try and create a page that gives the histroy of the school rather than promotion.

Thanks again —Preceding unsigned comment added by Brendoran1982 (talk • contribs) 02:26, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Your account will be Autoconfirmed after 10 edits and 4 days - you need one more edit, and 3 more days. However, I would strongly advise you to read Someguy1221's advice above. During the next 3 days, find independent, reliable sources that will give you information which can be written from a neutral point of view. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 02:29, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Incidently, unless it can be shown that the University of Western Australia Business School is notable in its own right, the information would be better off being merged into the main University of Western Australia article, subject to the advice given above. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 02:33, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

T mobile cell phones and contracts.

t mobile no longer has contracts. if i have a 3 line family plan with a 2 year contract and i had 1 year left when t mobile got rid of their contract can i cancel without a cancelation fee?

also, i want to upgrade to the mytouch 3g and i dont know when i can upgrade now without contracts.

please help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dyllybob (talk • contribs) 02:56, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our roughly three million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. GlassCobra 03:07, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

T-Mobile most certainly does still have contracts. You should probably call them to find out how they can help with your account. — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 00:03, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

Problem at State Street Halloween Party

Seems to be some kind of issue with the image in this article's infobox. Not sure if the problem is with the article or the infobox, though. Anyone else feel like taking a look? GlassCobra 03:10, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Fixed (after several trys) Template:Infobox Recurring event needed the image without file and the other parameters defined on separate lines. Cptnono (talk) 03:27, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Suppressing the table of contents

I am writing a short article and wold like to suppress the table of contents for now. Can someone tell me the code for that? Or drop by and take care of it for me at Chaetoptarus? Thanks. --69.225.3.198 (talk) 07:13, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

You can add __NOTOC__ anywhere on the article to stop it displaying the table of contents. Note that there are two underscores on each side. But it should not be removed from the Chaetopterus article, unless you want to remove it temporarily to help the editing of the article. ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 07:19, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I want to remove it while the article is under construction only because it is making looking at the article difficult on my graphics HD super-sized screen. I've never quite encountered anything like it, and can't seem to change the screen settings or dockings to make the article more readable with the toc sitting there. Thanks. --IP69.226.103.13 (talk) 07:27, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Military Medals

How can I go about getting my father in laws name and medals won listed along with the others? He was quite the hero and a graduate of the USNA. And was also a pilot with the Famed Jollie Rogers who was the Navy's stunt team before the blue angels Shellback1983 (talk) 07:30, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Are there reliable sources that discuss him, his life, and/or his achievements? These would include things like newspaper and magazine articles. Someguy1221 (talk) 07:43, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

As Someguy1221 says, you would need to be able to provide independent, reliable sources (which doesn't include family members) that discuss him - basically he would need to meet the notability criteria (as well as the notability criteria for people - please note that 'merely' having medals would not be enough to qualify for inclusion - as you'll appreciate, that would mean having lists of thousands of people - even though on a personal level that would obviously make the individual notable, Wikipedia has more stringent criteria!).

I would also read the WikiProject Military History Notability Guidelines - bascially they say a military person is notable if they are:

1. Recipients of a country's highest military decoration.
2. People who commanded a substantial body of troops (such as an army or fleet, or a significant portion of one) in combat.
3. Holders of top-level command positions (such as Chief of the General Staff).
4. People who are the primary topic of one or more published secondary works.

"Conversely, any person who is only mentioned in genealogical records or family histories, or is traceable only through primary documents, is probably not notable."

I would suggest that if you think he meets these criteria, leave a message on the WikiProject Military history talk page - the folks there can help you, as they include real experts in this area.

Finally, please note that although he may not qualify for inclusion in Wikipedia (either on the lists of recipients of medals, or an article of his own), this does not mean that we don't recognise his bravery and so on - however, we have to draw the line somewhere! For example, four of my great-great uncles died in the First World War, yet I wouldn't expect them to be in Wikipedia, as they are not notable in their own right - even though I am obviously very proud of them and remember them with honour. I remember one person who tried to create an article for one of the relations (uncle or grandfather, I can't remember), who was very hurt by the fact that the article was discussed for deletion (and in fact deleted) as it did not meet Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask here again, or contact me on my talk page. Regards, -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 08:41, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Sequential references

Is it possible for Wikipedia to abbrevaite series of references to reduce the space taken up by them? ie. instead of displaying ^{[1][2][3][5][7][8][9]} can Wikipedia display them as ^{[1-3][5][7-9]}  ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.84.86.130 (talk) 10:49, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Why do so many references need to be provided at a particular point in the article? Do you have a particular article in mind? Jan1naD ^{(talk • contrib)} 10:57, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

As far as I am aware, that is not possible. If that was in an article I was working on, I would choose 2 (at most 3) of them to use per sentence/statement. If all of those had the same information, any 2 of them would do the same job! Especially if they were being used for several statements - on the first one I might use [1] and [2], on the second one use [3] and [5], etc. In the case of those on User:Rdtest/Sandbox, I would use perhaps 3 on each of the occasions where there are multiple references, and place the others in a "Further reading" section at the bottom (after the refs, before the external links). I will leave a message for Rdtest about this. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 11:04, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

No- that would require a software change. It would also break the linking— how would you click on ^[2] to jump to the reference? That many references would rarely be needed for one statement; how many have the same basic source, such as the Associated Press or other news aggregator? ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 11:09, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Gadget, in this case, the first use of 9(!) references basically come from 2 sources, indicating that the treatment is applicable to different parts of the body - and 8 of them come from different chapters of 1 book. I left advice on the user's talk page about this, but if others want to add to that advice (and also that left by Adrian J. Hunter, feel free! If my advice is incorrect at all, let me know -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 17:02, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Repeat pages

I do not know where this information best goes.
Many of the pages for specific places are reduntant.
Here are five that I saw earlier; they have identical pages:

1. Town of Queensbury, NY: one and two
2. City of Watertown, NY: one and two
3. Village of Herkimer, NY: one and two
4. City of Batavia, NY: one and two
5. Town of Fort Edward, NY: one and two

I recently went through the page for every single city, village, town, and county in New York state (divisions of New York),
plus the list of county seats of New York, the template for each town of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and the template for each county of New York.

I found those five pairs of pages. I have no idea how many other pages of New York are doubled. I have not even done any other state of the US.
hello (talk) 11:07, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Lets look at Queensbury, NY. Your links are Queensbury,_New_York and Queensbury,_NY. You will find that the second is a redirect to the first. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 11:11, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

I can understand a little for the reason of redirects when users of difference countries/cultures may spell or define things differently.

But why have identical pages when only one is needed? What is being redirected?

Please explain the reason for a redirect between two pages when the only difference is an abbreviation that one has the other does not have. hello (talk) 11:18, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

The latter redirect is there for if people type in NY instead of the full name New York. As it is a redirect, it is not a copy of the article. When someone types in Queensbury, NY, they are shown the Queensbury, New York page. If this wasn't redirected, then someone might think we have no article about it, and created a second version! Again, let me re-emphasise that there are not two identical articles - there is only one (the 'New York') one - the other is a link to that. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 11:25, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Okay, I understand. This 'redirecting' is a simple way to let users find a page without looking up the correct page to begin with.

My understanding: one page is created. A redirect is made to this page. There is only one page, though the web page address says otherwise. Thanks!

I found the redirect link for all five pages. hello (talk) 11:37, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, you are correct. See more at Wikipedia:Redirect. Wikipedia redirects don't make URL redirection. Instead the content of the target is displayed at the address of the redirect. Click the "article" tab if you want to change the address to the target. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:42, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

{{DEFAULTSORT:}}

I see a lot of articles that use {{DEFAULTSORT:}} when the name is fixed (static) (it doesn't need to be sorted by something other than its regular name, such as is is needed for, e.g., "last name, first name"). Is there any reason to use {{DEFAULTSORT:}} when this is the case?--162.84.163.33 (talk) 13:44, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

According to Help:Categories#Default sort key, "There is no need to use it [i.e., the {{DEFAULTSORT}} tag] if the default sort key is identical to the article name," so I'd say that it isn't required in cases such as you describe. I have, however, seen users maintain that every article should have a {{DEFAULTSORT}} tag, regardless. I don't recall what their reasoning was. Deor (talk) 17:28, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

(Same person from different computer). Thanks for the information. I was confused by this because some featured articles even do this and it struck me as just superfluous code. I'd love to know the reason.--173.68.36.49 (talk) 17:50, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

The reason is extremely obscure and related to bugzilla:164. Categories are sorted with a binary collation, which means that uppercase letters appear separately from lowercase letters, and accented letters appear separate from them both. Therefore, you will often see "standard" sort keys where the first letter of every word is capitalized, and accents have been removed, in order to provide a more natural sorting order (added by bots). In almost all cases these keys make no difference, but it does no serious harm. Really though, it's about time bug 164 was fixed. • Anakin ^(talk) 17:55, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the further information. Okay, So I am satisfied that it really makes very little difference except in very specialized circumstances. I always remove useless code where I can such as |right in image code in articles (when I'm making other edits; I won't add to the server load just to remove useless code) but for the moment I'll just leave the sort key in place until such time as I learn that that bug has been fixed.--173.68.36.49 (talk) 21:07, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Nerdy vs non-nerdy and floating headlines

I've two items I'd like to take up after perusing an article "Comparison media players"

This article is apparently written for the nerdy reader, as it does not include such subject areas as: History, ie development of readers over time, modes of use, environments, motivation for development (other than monument creation), utility, ease of installation.

It offers no help in meeting the dilemma which the novice web user faces when offered a media reader download or is forced to agree to a temp installation of a Windows media player extension in order to access a site. In short it provides little help in answering the needs of a novice.

I am a novice, but it seems to me that every new media or content site seems compelled to offer a new and NOVEL media player. I can understand their need to profile themselves and attract viewers. but...... So the problem will proliferate, it is by no means a dead subject suitable only for nerdy musing.

Who then will make the effort to meet this need? Or does it exist? Are the younger generation educated adequately through word of mouth-----and the non-knowing older generation will soon die out?

Even if the latter is true, I still feel that the subject is interesting enough to provide the historical overview and review of current status to warrant the effort.

Lastly, the article consists mainly of looooooong tables of multiple columns. Why is there no feature, such that the column headings follow with the column data as one scrolls down the page? Wouldn't it the helpful? Or is it myself or my web program that is not up to date? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Idealist707 (talk • contribs) 13:53, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

The article Comparison of media players is just that - a list of every media player Wikipedia has an article on (and several it doesn't), along with a comparison of their most basic features. More detailed information, such as history and current development, is located in the specific media player's article (e.g. VLC media player, Windows Media Player).

As Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, not a tech support site, its articles will not be particularly helpful to users who are having trouble with the software. For this, I suggest you visit the Computing reference desk, where volunteers will try to help you with any questions you may have; if that fails, there is always the manufacturer's Web site. Xenon54 / talk / 15:35, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Adding photos

I want to add in a photo? I have no idea how, and I don't understand the text that comes up when I press the "Insert a Picture Gallary" icon.

Adding a photo to Wikipedia is admittedly much more complicated than it needs to be. If the photo is already uploaded to Wikipedia (or its sister project, Wikimedia Commons, where all non-copyrighted images should go), then you can simply add the following code:

[[Image:FILENAME.jpg|thumb|ALIGNMENT|CAPTION]]

Replace FILENAME with the name of the image, ALIGNMENT with "left" or "right", and CAPTION with text that will appear underneath the image.

It's a whole different can of worms if the picture is not already uploaded to Wikipedia; please clarify if that is the case. Xenon54 / talk / 15:46, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Actually, per WP:MOSIMAGES, "[t]he thumbnail option ("thumb") results in a default width of 180 pixels," and since "logged-in users can set a different default in their user preferences," if the thumb parameter is included, a size parameter should then not be used. GlassCobra 15:59, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Interesting...I didn't know that. Changed accordingly. Xenon54 / talk / 16:10, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Non-free logo

Could someone familiar with the non-free or fair use stuff please look at File:The Weblog Awards.png and tell me if I did it right? Is this allowable for use in the article, or will it be deleted unless I fix the wording? This issue seems complex enough that I'm not sure quite what I'm doing. ~YellowFives 16:04, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

You have a copyright tag, a fair use rationale, it's sufficiently low-res...looks okay to me. Xenon54 / talk / 16:08, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

I suspect that {{PD-textlogo}} will apply in this case and that thus no Fair use rationale is needed. {{trademark}} is likely to be needed however. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 16:12, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Thank you, Xenon54 and TheDJ. Wouldn't it be safer to just assume that it's copyrighted, though, and aim for fair use just in case? ~YellowFives 16:42, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

I would agree that fair use would be the way to go. The website has a notice ©2001-2009 Nikolai Nolan / Artwork based on Untitled III, ©2007 GreySheepDuo - I don't know for sure if the webbies logo is by GreySheepDuo, but eitherway I would guess that it is covered by one of those two copyright notices. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 17:05, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Need to shrink an image.

Also, I need to shrink this image to about 200 pixels wide, and trim off the bottom half of it, for use in a different article. How is that done? ~YellowFives 16:12, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

To remove the bottom half, you'd have to edit it and upload it. The resizing is no problem, as you can use [[File:name.jpg|200px]] to show it at 200 pixels wide. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 17:07, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

If you were looking for a free good tool to do this with, I recommend Irfanview, which can do a lot of basic editing stuff, and is freeware/donationware. Others will have their own opinions, of course. But Irfanview is fairly straightforward yet powerful enough for lots of actions. 24.250.216.51 (talk) 07:31, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Duplicate Automobile Title

I am trying to locate a website in order to purchase a duplicate car title for an automobile that I have and can't seem to find the title to? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.254.177.132 (talk) 16:29, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

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. GlassCobra 16:43, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Assuming that you are in the US, you could try looking at the results for this Google Search for "duplicate car title site:gov". Alternatively, as Cobra says, ask at the Reference Desk. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 17:12, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia (or its server) Blocks some IP Addresses ?

After a tours of quetions on the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Help_desk&oldid=322119934#Please_Help_me_with_imags_showing.21

I can't get any reasons about my probleme: (I can't see images on Wikipedia)! By the way, this probleme is general here, not only on my home PC, all of my freinds have the same probleme, and even in any cofenet.

My ISP says: some of IP's are blocked from Wiki to see som elements (e.g. Images)... And I only wanna know: is that True? Or my ISP sent my away?!

And if it's not, How long this probleme will stay?

Thank you for any help!

• -*-* —Preceding unsigned comment added by EBLA-bla (talk • contribs) 16:50, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Are interface images and icons missing too? Can you see this image ("Powered by MediaWiki") but not this image (Wiki.png)? (They come from different servers you see.) If you can't see them, what appears instead? • Anakin ^(talk) 17:01, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

It is possible that yours in one of those rare cases where an IP is hard-blocked, and even when logged in you are covered by that block. Have you tried looking at the talk page when you are logged out of Wikipedia? Is there a block message there? If so (and you don't need to tell anyone on the Help Desk what your IP is), read Wikipedia:IP block exemption which explains how to get your account ip-block-exempt, so that your account can be used - but I thought the block related to all activities, not just images. I don't think it's the problem here, but it's worth looking into. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 17:21, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

That isn't what hard blocking is. Hard blocking prevents editing from an IP or range including logged in users (but excluding administrators and those who have explicitly been made IP-block exempt). None of that prevents viewing Wikipedia pages. As for the image servers, they neither care nor have any way to figure out whether someone is logged in or not (there are no cookies sent to them, for example).

EBLA-bla, can you see this image (loaded via yet another different Wikimedia server). • Anakin ^(talk) 17:39, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the clarification, Anakin. I'd thought that was the case, but I can think of no other explanation (other than the OPs ISP blocking some servers for some reason, which the OP seems to think isn't the case, as the ISP said that it was Wikipedia doing the blocking!). Hence why I thought I'd misunderstood the hard-blocking effects. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 17:49, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Actually, it's possible some IP ranges have been blocked at the HTTP level (rather than MediaWiki level) due to too fast spidering. Our robots.txt mentions this possibility ("If you're irresponsible, your access to the site may be blocked") though I'm not aware of where any formal policy on it might be. That's why we need EBLA to report whatever appears instead of the images. It's peculiar that accessing regular pages is working normally. • Anakin ^(talk) 18:04, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

• -*-*

Thank you all for your Interest.

Dear Anakin

I can't see the first two images, but the last one, yes! I see a Turtle in the sea. What that suppose to mean? When pressing the (edit) in the top right of the post, I can see some of the reply icons but not all of them. for example: I can see this icon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/button_bold.png

But not this one:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c8/Button_redirect.png

Dear PhantomSteve

I read the IP block exemption page, its not for me. I agree with Anakin that it's only about editing a page and I wan't to do that.

I still need your help guys.

Thank you!

• -*-*

Nothing was meant by the turtle -- it was just an example. That was a different method of requesting images. (Unfortunately, I don't think there's a way to force all images to load like that. For one thing, it only generates scaled-down images.)

Can you really not see the "Powered by MediaWiki" logo, because that is from the same server as the button_bold.png icon. I was assuming that the problem was at the IP/DNS level.

For all the ones that don't work, what happens instead? Do you get simply blankness, or some error message by Wikimedia, or some error message by the ISP, or some error message by the browser? Try both IE and Firefox. Be specific -- it really helps in figuring out the problem. • Anakin ^(talk) 20:02, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

• -*-*

I really can't see the "Powered by MediaWiki" logo. Instead, I see a blank square or rectangle, with an (X) within, in its top left corner. No error messege neither in browser or from ISP. I've tryed IE and firefox, the prbleme is the same. This is a general probleme, meaning that's occured in my PC, the PC's of all my freinds, the PC's of all the cofenet here, nobody can see any image on WP in my whole town. This is not a simple case for me, I strongly need to see images in WP or I cannot understand 50% of its articles, this push me to go there and there, searching for any PC can show the WP images and I failed ... thats why my ISP taled me what they said.

• -*-*

• Wikipedia do not put blocks on some IPs seeing images. I think this is more a case of your ISP not being 100% honest with you. You say that nobody in your whole town can see images in Wikipedia - are you being completely accurate there (it must be a very small town if you have checked with everyone) - or do you mean that no one you know can see images? How large an area are we talking about (1 square mile, 10, 50, 100?) - I'm not asking for where you are, but an indication of how wide an area is affected could help. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 22:14, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Note: Please sign your comments on talk pages by including ~~~~ at the end of your comment, which will add your user name and the date/time. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 22:14, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

The fault must be with your Internet Service Provider, who are either idiots, or they've done a messy job of trying to censor Wikipedia somehow. It can't be a DNS or IP-level issue because that would result in a clear error message from browsers. Somewhere, some how, there must be a server that is sitting there intentionally serving images of rectangles containing X's. It's extremely strange.

As a temporary work around, you could try a web proxy such as VTunnel or Hide My Ass!. Not all websites work well through this type of proxy, but it should let you see articles and images okay. (If you want to edit through these you will need to log in -- they are open proxies, so anonymous editing is disabled to prevent vandalism.) I think the best thing to do, though, is to get your ISP to fix their problem, or at least explain it. • Anakin ^(talk) 23:51, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

A rectangle with a red X on white background in the top left corner is something Internet Explorer displays where an unavailable image should have been. Is it possible that all the people you know are missing images have the same ISP? PrimeHunter (talk) 00:23, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

He seems to say he gets the exact same X-rectangle in Firefox too, which is mystifying. EBLA, is that correct? (Also, IE does that mainly for images displayed inline in a page; if they're accessed directly, the X is reserved for when they're found but corrupt; if they're completely inaccessible it displays a normal error page.) • Anakin ^(talk) 01:34, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

• -*-*

Woooooooooo ... Thank you very much Anakin ! "I can see clearly now" all of the images. the web proxy was a great solution. Previously, I use a proxy software (U-Surf), WP refused this and show me a blank page within U-Surf, and that's why I ignored the proxy.

So friend, a half probleme has been solved now. Is this solution mean that my ISP is the origin of the probleme? If so, what can I do to let them fix it? EBLA-bla (talk) 10:48, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

It's more of a workaround to the problem than a real solution. Yes I think the problem is the ISP and not Wikipedia. You should contact them and ask them to explain what they mean by "some IP's are blocked from Wiki to see some elements". • Anakin ^(talk) 18:43, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

vandalizing

Greetings. My Wikipedia article is being vandalized by an anonymous contributor adding defamatory, derogatory and false remarks. When I undo that person's sentence (in the middle of a text not even related to his/her beef)it will reappear 2 or 3 days later. How do I block a specific person from damaging the article page? How do I report to whomever this person (has been posting negative comments -and removed by Wikipedia - on other sites as well)? Thanks for your help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Csibon (talk • contribs) 17:22, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

I assume you mean Emmanuel Serriere? Firstly, can I point out that it is not your article! I see the vandalism you mean: first by 206.53.153.200 (plus the next edit where the same editor corrected typos), second edit by user:Doggybuster.

I would agree that this is probably the same person, but as it is a two pieces of vandalism, the first on 31st Aug and the second on 31st October, I would say the incidence of vandalism is not sufficient to block them, especially since the IP has a total of 13 edits, of which this one seems to be the only vandalism, and Doggybuster only has the two edits. I have placed a friendly vandalism warning on Doggybuster's talk page. The other incident is too far back to deal with. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:02, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Note that this is a bit more serious than most vandalism cases because it involves definitely unsourced, surely controversial and defamatory, and possibly libellous claims against a living person. So please do come back here if it continues. Xenon54 / talk / 18:11, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Can I also point out that on the 1st, Csibon filed Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2009-10-30/Emmanuel Serriere -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:24, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Thank you so much for these responses. Yes I am the same person - Emmanuel Serriere - that filed Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2009-10-30/Emmanuel Serriere. I did this not knowing which avenue to take against that attack with derogatory comment. Since I have this dialogue possibility, please disregard the other. I will monitor that page more often. Question: is there a way to be alerted when someone changed something on a specific page? Emmanuel —Preceding unsigned comment added by Csibon (talk • contribs) 22:58, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Add it to your watchlist by clicking the "Watch" button on the top of the page. See WP:WATCH for more info. —Akrabbim^talk 23:30, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

re PROD template

Doing some deletions of expired prods today, I noticed that some of the articles which have been templated for longer than 7 days have the additional instruction, "The article may be deleted without further notice since this message has remained in place for seven days." in red lettering (eg. Guerra de Intxaurrondo), but others which appear to have exceeded the 7 day limit (eg. Noctifer) don't. Am I miscalculating UTC - entirely possible - or is there a template option/quirk here? --Kateshortforbob _talk 18:55, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

If 7 days has passed without the template noting it then it is probably because the page has not been updated since the 7 days passed. You can force an update by purging the page. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:14, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks PrimeHunter. --Kateshortforbob _talk 15:43, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

important account question

I have changed my mind, I do NOT want to use an account

I want this to be CLOSED, I have not published anything

why is so complicated, to do something simple

Thank you!

P. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eurogoldenboy (talk • contribs) 19:23, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

You can't close your account, per se, but you can simply abandon it through your right to vanish.--Unionhawk ^{Talk E-mail Review} 19:26, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

As Unionhawk says, it can't be closed or deleted. Mind you, there are only two edits on it any way - the one you made here, and the one on your talk page saying you want the account closed - so just walk away and ignore it.

The reason why accounts can't be 'closed' or deleted is that all edits (even where, as in this case, they are minor and cause no problems to anyone) have to be attributable. See "How do I change my username/delete my account". -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 19:52, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Further info: Due to the fact that Wikipedia content is licensed under the GFDL, all edits must be kept for attribution purposes, and so your account cannot be deleted. You do, however, have the right to vanish, which you can exercise by (1) requesting your user page (found at Special:Mypage) and/or user talk page (found at Special:Mytalk) be deleted, by adding the {{db-userreq}} template to them; (2) requesting to change your username to something that is unconnected with you (possibly a random collection of letters and numbers); (3) never logging in to your account again. The "right to vanish" does not mean anyone has the right to a fresh start under a new identity. Anyone who wants to continue editing should request a change of username instead so edits can be reattributed. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 22:18, 3 November 2009 (UTC)