Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 August 31

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August 31

where do I go on the site to write an article?

There is ample information about how to prepare to write an article, what to include, etc., but where on the site do I go to actually write the article and submit it? Please help...infojunkie 00:31, 31 August 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eanimal (talk • contribs)

There's an article wizard that you can use to actually start an article. --SoCalSuperEagle (talk) 00:36, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

What do you want to write about? Wikipedia deletes lots of articles by new users for violating our complex and often unobvious rules for content. See WP:NOT and the notability guidelines. The first question to ask is not "How do I write a new article?" but "Can Wikipedia have an article about topic X?" --Teratornis (talk) 06:36, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

And the second question is "Does Wikipedia already have an article (or a section in an article on a related topic) about topic X?" Deor (talk) 13:08, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

how do i embed a photo?

I'm not given the option to download a photo. How does it recognize where the photo's origin? In other words, how do I download a photo? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eanimal (talk • contribs) 01:21, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

To upload an image to Wikipedia, your account needs to be autoconfirmed - that means that your account needs to be over four days old from the first day you edited, and that you have made at least ten edits. Consider looking into editing some articles to achieve those ten edits; I've left a welcome message on your talk page that offers some help and links that you can check out if need be.

Once you are autoconfirmed, you should see a link in the "Toolbox" tab to the left that says "Upload file". Clicking on it will lead you to the beginning of the process of uploading images. You basically select an image that is stored on your computer, and then insert the relevant information (author, description, source, licensing, etc.) in the various fields provided. Note that the image must follow Wikipedia's guidelines to the uploaded; see Wikipedia:Uploading images for more information. The image you wish to upload must either be freely licensed/in the public domain, or must fall under fair use policy (fair use means that you are allowed to upload images that include movie posters, game covers, company logos, and that sort of thing). Also note that if the image is freely licensed, you should consider uploading it at the Wikimedia Commons - that's where most freely-licensed images go, as they can be used across all Wikimedia projects.

I know that this is a lot, but if you navigate the links and read on, that should really help. If you need further assistance, just ask. ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 01:32, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

editing

I saved my article on my user page and would like to edit it. However, the only portion that it is allowing me to edit is the reference section. How do I access the actual article? Thanksinfojunkie 01:51, 31 August 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eanimal (talk • contribs)

To edit the introduction of the article that isn't placed under its own section, simply click on the "edit" button at the top of the page, placed at the left of the search bar. This will let you edit the entire article at once. For convenience, you can also go to the "My preferences" link at the upper-right, then click on the "Gadgets" tab. Then scroll down to the "User interface gadgets: editing" section and enable " Add an [edit] link for the lead section of a page." This will produce an [edit] link for the lead section of the article and will treat it just like any other section. ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 02:05, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

telugu translation

I heard wikipedia telugu localization is done by some paid translators. where cxani get information —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.195.132.84 (talk) 05:38, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

There is a Telugu Wikipedia if that's what you mean. See the links under WP:EIW#Translate for more information about translating Wikipedia articles to and from various languages. I don't know anything about paid translators; on all the Wikipedias I have heard about, contributors are generally volunteers. However, occasionally a philanthropist will donate money to the Wikimedia Foundation to be used for specific purposes, so if somebody wanted to fund a translation project and hire translators, nothing would stop them from donating money to do it (if they had the money, of course). What is the word "cxani"? Is that a typo for "can I"? --Teratornis (talk) 06:41, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Disrupting

There is somebody who is systematically disrupting my editing at the discussion page of Cadmus. Please tell him to stop!!!!Aldrasto11 (talk) 06:36, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

I can't see any disruption, can you be more specific? Thanks. Dougweller (talk) 07:00, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

The only account that has edited that page after you has been User:Sinebot who has been signing your posts to that page for you. To avoid this, simply sign your posts yourself by typing four tildes (e.g. ~~~~). Dismas|^(talk) 07:20, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

please help me we have already established orphan home but economically lift up the possibiletes

dear sir please kindly inform me about details of orphanages and child care development. thanking you your sincerely, K.jacob email address: (redacted) I am awaiting soon for your kindly reply. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.246.144.32 (talk) 07:49, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia! The best place to ask your question would be on the reference desk, although you may want to clarify what exactly you would like to know. Might our articles on orphanages and child development (particularly the "references" and "further reading" sections) help you? — QuantumEleven 08:20, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

HIGH YIELD INVESTMENT PROGRAM-

How about the FALION INVESTMENT- which offers as high as 92 % interest- is it a legal internet investment company; ( FALION.COM)--119.82.252.53 (talk) 08:14, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

• Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 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 upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ _―Œ ^{♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣} 08:34, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Also see Ponzi scheme and Investment risk. --Teratornis (talk) 17:19, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Reference formatting in mephedrone

Could someone please advise me on how to reference different page numbers in a long source each time the source is used? I'd like to note the page number when reference 9 in mephedrone is used but WP:CITE is pretty confusing! I think I've seen a format where the first occurrence would have the full reference, and then future occurrences can just be a page number, but it also links back to the first reference. If someone could change it in the article and just add a random page number then I can go back and fill in the correct page number.

Whilst I'm here, could someone also take a look at THC#Toxicity and see if they can get the .gif to animate correctly? I think the problem is related to scaling as when I take "thumb" out of the code it rotates, but then I can't get it to have a caption. Thanks Smartse (talk) 11:00, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

With standard footnotes, you can reuse cites by use of named references, but each cite will be the same. You can add an in-text page number using {{rp}}. You may also be interested in shortened footnotes. BTW: That quote in #7 neds to be worked into the text; it is never appropriate to use a pull quote inside a reference. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 14:55, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

the good old format

After looking at 20 links, I still can't find the place to request my return to the old format. I must be pretty stupid, because this is the third month that I have to do it. It's REALLY annoying that you revert to your new default every 30 days, when I want to use the old format FOREVER. This is not good service! So please remind me how to do it, and if you have to continue reverting to the new format, at least put this information someplace prominent on the first page so I don't have to spend a 1/2 hour searching for it! The way I'm viewing this page now is the way I want to keep it. Where did it come from? Search box on the left near the top, please, ALWAYS. Thank you very much. 13:05, 31 August 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Conglo (talk • contribs)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Preferences. Click Appearance tab and set skin(likely MonoBook) as desired and save. Regards, SunCreator ^(talk) 13:22, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

At the top of any page, to the left of the links to your user page, talk page, contributions, etc., there should be a link named "Take me back". By clicking on it (or the "New features" link next to it), you can return yourself to the old skin. Deor (talk) 13:54, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Removing an incorrect link.

On the page related to the Usher of the Black Rod for Canada, a link to a wiki page is indicated for Col. Jean Doré. It links to a Quebec political figure of the same name, but they are not the same person. How do I remove the link? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.197.82.203 (talk) 15:19, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

I've fixed it, you can see how by clicking here. By adding (usher) it makes it a red link and therefore won't link to Jean Doré anymore, it still says Jean Doré though because I used a hatnote to hide the usher part. If there's a better way to distinguish them than "usher" then feel free to change it to something else. Smartse (talk) 15:35, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Actually that was a pipe not a hatnote. – ukexpat (talk) 16:44, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Note at top of article - should it be there?

Hi, whilst editing a related article, I came across an article (Shakespeare authorship question) with a large blue-box note at the top of the article, informing that the article is currently being updated. Is this correct or should it be on the talk page? Thanks for any knowledgeable advice. Jamesinderbyshire (talk) 15:27, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

That looks OK. Likely, the active editors of the article would like to notify users that they are working on a major rewrite, and discourage them from editing the main article as their efforts will likely be removed soon. There are templates such as {{Inuse}} or {{Underconstruction}} that notify users of similar situations; they are also placed in the article body. If those templates were placed on the talkpage, no one would ever notice them, especially new or anonymous users who may not know to look there. Xenon54 (talk) 15:35, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

OK, thanks for the info! Jamesinderbyshire (talk) 15:49, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

my username is not allowing access

i use 'pinkgenome' as my username. when i enter it, i am told it already used. i cant get an email sent to tell me the password. what is wrong? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.102.210.159 (talk) 17:32, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

The username Pinkgenome was created last year. Is this your account that you registered previously, or would you like to register this name? TNXMan 17:35, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

text from wikia

Hi. I'm going to use some text from http://tractors.wikia.com , I understand that I need to leave a message:

This article uses material from the "xxxx" article on the Tractor & Construction Plant Wiki at Wikia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.

But where? on the main page, or talk page. Also is there anything else needed? Sf5xeplus (talk) 17:42, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Use that message in the edit summary when you add the text to an article. That is all that is needed. --Mysdaao ^talk 18:54, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Done that at Priestman Brothers . Thanks. Sf5xeplus (talk) 19:10, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Resolved

Temporarily not online much?

Is there a template I could put on my userpage to tell people that I am temporarily not much online?-- 18:21, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

{{Wikibreak}} or you may find a more suitable one in Category:User talk header templates. – ukexpat (talk) 18:26, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. Oh, and sorry by the way. I do not know why, but I think my English is really messed up today.--Greatgreenwhale (talk) 18:30, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

There are a huge number of Wikibreak templetes at WP:Wikibreak, covering almost every possible situation. Equisetum (talk | email | contributions) 14:42, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

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

Need assistance at the above article's talk page. The uploading user is querying my speedy deletion nominationg of the page for WP:CSD#A7: non-notable website. The query is how to show the verifiability of independent bands, where they are ususally only heard about through social networking (I think that's what he's saying). With it comes the accusation that Wikipedia by virtue of its own policies is only supporting the big guys and not the little guys. I'm a bit out of my depth now and wouldn't mind some assistance from a user with more experience in this area. -- role^player 18:35, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Looks like it's been deleted. The creator can take it it to deletion review if they so wish. – ukexpat (talk) 19:34, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

this is checked Resolved - it is not resolved - my work is not on Wikipedia

mounting my information on Wikipedia

Resolved

: User page speedily deleted as spam and username spamblocked. – ukexpat (talk) 14:37, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

I entered my personal info so as to become a Wikipedia contributor. I wrote a Wikipedia page for the Alpha Tau Gamma fraternity in Amherst, Mass. I reviewed it. It looked OK. When I log out and log back in to type Alpha Tau Gamma, I do not find what I entered? Where is my text? Alphataugamma (talk) 13:37, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

It's here User:Alphataugamma but at the moment I'd advise you not to try to move it into userspace as it's likely to be deleted. You might want to ask the people here: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Fraternities and Sororities for advice. Dougweller (talk) 13:44, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

I am now at the Fraternities & Sororities section. Please look at what Dougweller says "It's here..." If it is here, I cannot find it. I have saved a copy. May my copy be moved into userspace? Why is it "...likely to be deleted..." 71.232.104.236 (talk) 20:00, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

The answer is in your post (links added): "User page speedily deleted as spam". Your draft article was seen by someone and classed as blatant advertising, then subsequently deleted.

The "Resolved" group of templates do not relate to the outcome of the discussion, rather they identify the activity level. For example, "Resolved" simply means the question is "finished" and does not require any more attention, while "Stale" means the opposite: that the question has not been answered or discussion has been left unfinished for an extended period of time.

You may try again with your saved copy, but most articles that are deleted as spam require heavy editing before they are even close to being acceptable. I suggest you read the notability guidelines for organizations; if your fraternity does not meet that (and most do not), then you should not bother trying again, as you cannot change whether a topic is notable or not, and articles about non-notable topics are always deleted. Xenon54 (talk) 20:18, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

By the way, in addition to the many problems with the article as posted, it was also a copyright violation of this text, and even if you own the copyright to that content, we couldn't use it (were it appropriate) unless you released it into the public domain or under a free license.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:02, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Hoax

Tazzella is a hoax; only exist here and in es_WP, and was created by the same author, who curiosly uploaded the same stolen photo as "own work" in Commons. In es_WP we have a template "destroy|reason", but I´m not sure if applys here. Does it? Or what must I do to ask for destroy it? Thanks. --Andreateletrabajo (talk) 23:22, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

If you think it is a hoax, you must have reasonable proof that it is such. After that, you could open a case against it(read the criteria for speedy deletion policy, it may barely fall under g3). However, there isn't much to work off of it here, so you may be out of luck.  A p3rson ‽ 23:38, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Actually, the burden of any challenged material is on the person who seeks to keep it to source it with reliable inline citations after someone questions its veracity. Also speedy deletion is not the only tool. In this case, though a G3 might possibly be acted upon, articles for deletion is an appropriate forum where any article can be taken to seek deletion on the merits, as opposed to speedy deletion, which, because it is deletion without discussion, is very restricted in its ambit. I have just done some due diligence (see WP:BEFORE) and have not found any source substantiating this topic, so I'm going to take it to AfD now.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:52, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Ok thanks a lot. I deliver this matter in hour hands. --Andreateletrabajo (talk) 00:11, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

You're welcome. See Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tazzella.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:20, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia logo

Where is the code that puts the Wikipedia logo at the top left of each page? How can one change this logo (in another language Wikipedia)? --Redaktor (talk) 23:47, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

It is a setting in the LocalSettings.php file - see this page on MediaWiki which explains it -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 13:29, 2 September 2010 (UTC)