Wikipedia:Help desk
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March 24
Reenactor Entertainment
The official Reenactor Entertainment Wiki suddenly disapeared. As CEO and founder of Reenactor Entertainment, I issue a concern over this. As I was updating the Wiki, it suddenly disapeared. This is much to me and my colleagues suprise, since it has been up for several years, and in 5 minutes the entire Wiki dissapears. It seems as though the most likely thing that happened was that your database was having issues and Wikipedia temporarily glitched and all or most of its pages were temporarily (or with a very slim chance) permenantly deleted. Reenactor Entertainment will be willing to work with Wikipedia in fixing this problem.
- Ah, no. That was definitely deleted by me, because the article failed to assert any notability. Also, you should not edit pages that you have a conflict of interest with, since you will almost always be biased. And I see the page as only being there for about five months (since 11 November 2006), not several years. Veinor (talk to me) 21:37, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) According to the log, it was deleted as it did not give any assertion of notability (see here for more details on the policy). If you disagree, you can nominate it for undeletion at WP:DRV. As you say you work for the company, I would not suggest that you rewrite the article yourself, per WP:COI. Mr.Z-mantalk¢Review! 21:38, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
- That article was deleted at 21:26, 23 March 2007, by administrator Veinor. He supplied the reason as "A7; no claims of notability". Take a look at Wikipedia:Notability, as well as WP:CSD (what the A7 refers to). Prodego talk 21:40, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
- Ah, no. That was definitely deleted by me, because the article failed to assert any notability. Also, you should not edit pages that you have a conflict of interest with, since you will almost always be biased. And I see the page as only being there for about five months (since 11 November 2006), not several years. Veinor (talk to me) 21:37, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
Reenactor Entertainment would be glad to aid Wikipedia in getting thier database back. If you do not have a backup of a previous time in Wikipedia, you may try This Way Back Machine.
- There was no sort of database loss. The page was intentionally deleted because it failed to assert that Reenactor Entertainment satisfied the notability guidelines. Veinor (talk to me) 21:42, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
- Side note: you should probably read the definition of the word wiki. If you want an official Reenactor Entertainment wiki, you can read up on how to start your own site using wiki software. There's nothing official about the page otherwise, because articles aren't owned by any particular editor, others would be allowed to edit it too here on Wikipeda. - Mgm|(talk) 21:45, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
User:xgmx As CEO and founder of Reenactor Entertainment, I must have been wrong as to the exact date that the Wiki was created, I assumed it was several years old since, I founded Reenactor in 2005. However it appears we didn't get noticed by Wikipedia until late 2006. <spam removed - Corvus cornix 22:25, 23 March 2007 (UTC)>
- As Mgm's side note above indicates, "Wiki" refers to a whole wiki site, not just one particular page on a wiki site. Please read the wiki article carefully. Wikipedia is an example of a wiki (a very large and popular one); there are thousands of wikis. If you want to start your own wiki, which you can control completely, see MediaWiki and b:Wiki Science/How to start a wiki. If you merely want to get your now-deleted Wikipedia article back up on some other wiki, you can search WikiIndex for a wiki which would welcome your content. There are wikis for almost every sort of content anyone would want to write, so you can probably find a wiki which will accept your article even if Wikipedia does not. --Teratornis 00:30, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- You could also look at Wikipedia:Alternative outlets for places where an article on your company would be acceptable. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 01:06, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
wikpedia programing code?
I would like to create some type of code that could be pasted into any category and cause the articles to be rearranged by distance from a particular ___location. Any suggestions about how I might go about this? Irate velociraptor 22:05, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
- Simply put, not possible. There's no way to do that in the underlying MediaWiki software. Veinor (talk to me) 22:06, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
- Not exactly what you asked for, but there seem to be ways to link the geographical coordinates in (some) Wikipedia articles to maps:
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Geographical coordinates#Visualization of Wikipedia articles with Google Maps
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Geographical coordinates#WikiMiniAtlas JavaScript plugin
- User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Map - for several map-related links of potential interest to editors
- --Teratornis 00:41, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Not exactly what you asked for, but there seem to be ways to link the geographical coordinates in (some) Wikipedia articles to maps:
HOW DO I DELET MY WIKIPEDIA ACCOUNT?
How do I delete my Wikipedia account? I want to delete my user name and password. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rampa Zinuru (talk • contribs) 13:09, 24 March 2007
- It isn't possible. Sorry. PTO 02:10, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Read Right to Vanish and also know that you can scramble your password (don't know how it's done but I know users who have done it). Anchoress 02:12, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- You can put {{db-author}} on your userpage and talk page to request that they be deleted. Scottydude 15:54, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
hello
i have a qusestion, installed pictures on araden , but now i want to delete them and they are keep turning up. whey is that/... please delete them for ever. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bhirmiz (talk • contribs) 14:21, 24 March 2007
- See Wikipedia:Images_for_deletion to request for their deletion. --Spebi 03:44, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
My Story disappeared
And I was wondering where it went, there is no log of it! And it was available on wiki search. What is going on with this system?
thanks, -Rodger Nugent —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rodger.nugent (talk • contribs) 17:23, 24 March 2007
- Perhaps it was deleted--$UIT 06:32, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- What was the article name? --Spebi 06:38, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- It most likely was deleted - have a read of Why was my page deleted? to find out more. -- Chairman S. Talk Contribs 06:51, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
photos
The photos in Wikipedia articles do not appear in my browser. Only a blank space with a tiny square with a red X appears. Is there something wrong with my browser? I don't have this problem with other websites.
- Did you try refreshing?--$UIT 07:26, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- And some block third-party sites for a webpage - i.e. if I put a Google image on my forum, it would be blocked - so you might want to add upload.wikimedia.org and commons.wikimedia.org to the whitelist. x42bn6 Talk 18:49, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Question about WikiTables...
Well, I decided to make myself in charge of the Comparison of portable media players article, and I always wanted to find ways to enhance it. Then, I came across another article with tables, Road to the 79th Academy Awards. I wanted to use that article's table format (List section). Can someone teach me to make that kind of table? (Ascending/Descending switches) --Jw21 (PenaltyKillah) 07:32, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- It's pretty easy to change to format. All you do is swap the line class="wikitable" with class="wikitable sortable". -- Chairman S. Talk Contribs 08:11, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks! Is there also a way to make those tables, which have columns and sub-columns, sortable too?--Jw21 (PenaltyKillah) 09:46, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- I don't think so, sorry. -- Chairman S. Talk Contribs 11:57, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks! Is there also a way to make those tables, which have columns and sub-columns, sortable too?--Jw21 (PenaltyKillah) 09:46, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Links
I'm confused about something:
- Is it really necessary to add external link in an article? What if, that notable article didn't have weblink? For example: Organization (University, School, Company), Place and other notable topic that doesn't have weblink. I found some University and school article that don't have website, but it's notable.
- Are organizations, place and other notable topics (except biography) website considered to be self-published website? Can I take information from its own website and write it in my own words?
- And also Can I use notable topics website as reference? For example: Using University/school/organization website as a reference in its own article? THANKS in advance.--203.202.246.133 08:45, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Here's what I consider to be the answers: 1) No, external links aren't required as long as you have sources (web or paper ones) to verify the information in the article. Entries don't have to have external links. 2) Any website a person or organization writes about themself is technically self-published. It's okay to take information from such places, but you have to have other sources to determine their notability, because no one is qualified or neutral enough to determine that about themselves. 3) I think this was already covered in question 2. - Mgm|(talk) 13:08, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- In general, it has been decided that accredited universities and schools are notable. This is because there are usually quite a lot of published sources describing them. If you can find no other source than the organization's website then it may not be notable. I would say that the organization's website couldn't be used to establish notability as it is self-published, but could be used a source for claims in the article and probably should be listed in the external links section. The relevant guidelines are Wikipedia:External links and Wikipedia:Notability.—WAvegetarian (talk) 13:09, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Vandal Removing Speedy Deletes
There is a situation where a guy is removing my speedy delete from a page he created. But he is using two IPs and a user account. It's only happened once so far, but what do you do if a guy is removing Speedy Deletes off of articles he created? And I'm 100% certain the article qualifies for speedy delete, if you want proof it is this junk Roy Kelly article. Twipie 08:53, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Reporting them as a vandal seems a bit WP:BITEY. You should probably make them aware you can't remove speedy tags. If that fails, you can tell them which rules it violates or put it on AFD. Mgm|(talk) 13:03, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Use the Template:uw-speedy user warning series (uw-speedy1.....to uw-speedy4) on their talk page. --TeckWiz ParlateContribs@ 13:54, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Thanks for that guys. And I called the person a vandal because the whole page was just a page filled with a whole bunch of swearing in CAPS. --Twipie 19:00, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Templates for Characters of Books
On an arcticle about a book character, how do I get a profile, like {{Inheritance Character Box}}? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Crazymagic (talk • contribs) 22:16, 24 March 2007
- Template:Inheritance Character box has lower case b. Click edit at Durza for an example of how to use it. If the character is from another book which has no template (make sure of that first), then you can create one, e.g. by copying and modifying Template:Inheritance Character box. It's probably only worth making a template if it's likely to be used several times. You can ask for help at Wikipedia:Requested templates. PrimeHunter 12:03, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
How do I keep my entry from getting deleted?
Hello. I have posted an article relating to an ecommerce site that I have and for whatever reason it has been deleted! Why did this happen and how can I help from getting my future articles erased? Sevonne 11:59, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- See Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted? for some helpful information. -SpuriousQ (talk) 12:05, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Also see Wikipedia:deletion policy and Wikipedia:criteria for speedy deletion thanks. Retiono Virginian 17:06, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Adding a URL link to a page
I'm the Editor and Publisher of the Website Digital Cinema Report and would like to add a link to my site to you section on digital cinema. How can I do that? Thanks. 68.193.92.186 13:49, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Wikipedia is not a directory. Before posting, make sure that your link satisfies the appropriate guideline. —Dark•Shikari[T] 13:50, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Issues re. "No original research"
A recent biography about a living person (from a first-time publisher) widely makes considerable use of highly biased web-based material from dubious sources.
It is acceptable to use such a source to inform a Wikipedia article? Revera 13:59, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Wikipedia has a policy of NPOV. If the article is neutral, that it's acceptable, but the NPOV links should be decreased or even removed. The Evil Clown Please review me! 14:08, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Of course, you mean POV links. If they were NPOV there wouldn't be a problem to begin with. (The N in NPOV stands for neutral.). - Mgm|(talk) 16:35, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Perhaps more relevant policies are WP:BLP and WP:ATT, particularly the section about reliable sources. A bio on a living person should not be using dubious sources and any poorly sourced contentious content must be removed. -SpuriousQ (talk) 16:51, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Why doesn't the MediaWIki software...
... allow for redirects to Special pages? Is there a rationale (like the rationale for not allow double or triple redirects), or is it simply a technical limitation that might eventually be overcome? Lenoxus " * " 15:42, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- I know some wikis that run off this software that do. I'm puzzled about this one, too. -- Casmith_789 (talk) 16:15, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- I'm fairly sure that special pages, at least here, are coded such that the messages like "redirected from X" don't show up. Problem with that is, it would be a big pain to have to clean up vandalous redirects to special pages, because there's no way to get to the redirected pages without handcoding the URL to stop redirection. -Amarkov moo! 16:20, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- The mediawiki can do redirects to special pages. I've done it myself with a mediawiki installation I host for friends. However, as Ais523 brought up, Wikipedia has to deal with a lot more vandalism. I bet Wikimedia turns off this option for the Wikipedia. —Mitaphane ?|! 19:03, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for the responses? So I guess correcting the redirects, if Wikipedia allowed them would for some reason take more trouble than other redirect correction? That's what I'm not getting. Lenoxus " * " 17:29, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
Preferences
How do I change my preferences for skin back to default. I am stuck in a skin I do not like. BullardJournal 16:58, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
You logon (if you haven't), and their is a link (my preferences, 3rd left on default). You click skin (2nd left) and you have a few choices, one of them Monobook, is the default. The Evil Clown Please review me! 17:01, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Use this link to open your preferences in the default skin, and select Monobook for your skin and save your preferences (it's the default). --ais523 17:08, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Copied article
Hi - I have a question about an existing article. I happened to notice that the "history" section of the article 102d Fighter Wing is a word-for word copy of the homepage of the same group. Is that ok? Is it bad? Should I delete it and rewrite it as a paraphrasing of the history? Not sure what to do. Thanks, --Bmk 18:39, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- You could tag it as a copy violation, but if you are able to rewrite it, then that is the most effective action. It could use some improvement anyway, particularly the sub-headings towards the end of the article. Adrian M. H. 18:48, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
ebu tribe
i am tring to find some information on tis tribe who reside in nigera — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.5.218.57 (talk) 06:07, 25 March 2007
- Your question is then better placed in Wikipedia:Reference Desk, the place to ask question about factual information. This page is for question about how to use Wikipedia. -- Ynhockey (Talk) 19:23, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Do you mean the Igbo people? Clarityfiend 21:25, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Image placement
How can I position two images so that they're side by side. Archway has them badly placed. Clarityfiend 20:44, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Where would you like them to be? (I ask in case it's not possible.) Adrian M. H. 22:05, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- I've tidied their position a little bit, but you may want to have a go at floating one of them so that they are side by side. It is possible, with a bit of tweaking, by placing one image in its own div. Adrian M. H. 22:09, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- It looks okay as it is now, but I was wondering if it was possible to have the list on the left, with one image in the center and one to its right, so the images wouldn't run on past the text. Clarityfiend 23:44, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- That would be too wide for smaller screens, unless you set the images considerably smaller, so the formatting would be thrown off. Smaller screens have to be catered for. Adrian M. H. 16:52, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Adding photos to a page
How do I add a photo to a page? Kyle Thomas 22:21, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- [[Image:nameofimage.jpg|thumb|250px|This is an image|left]] - The pixel size is both flexible and optional: you can use a smaller/larger size or not at all (though the default is a bit too small, I think). The "left" bit sets the image to the left and should only be used when appropriate, such as with multiple images throughout a body of text. Include a suitable caption. Adrian M. H. 22:29, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Oh, and I forgot to add that most images can be found on Wiki Commons, though some get uploaded only to this Wiki. Adrian M. H. 22:31, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- See Help:Images for some more basic instruction on inserting images in Wikipedia articles. -- Chairman S. Talk Contribs 01:53, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Lost Password
Hello - let me provide some constructive feedback - the UI for contacting someone to seek help on a lost password is very confusing and I could not figure out where to go so my apologies in advance if this is not the right place.
Some time ago - years - I created the login name of Qwiki but cannot recall the password. How may I retrieve it?
Many thanks,
Karl — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.56.197.60 (talk) 10:06, 25 March 2007
- You can only do so using the 'Email new password' feature on the login screen, and this means that you need to have set an email address when you had access to the account. If not, then there's nothing you can do and you'll have to create a new account. If you made no edits or log actions with the original account, you may want to fill out a usurpation request to rename the original account so that you can adopt the name, but requests are usually only granted to 'reasonably well-established users'. mattbr 23:28, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Archiving
How do I archive my talk page? I just want to archive my 2006 entries on my talk page. Thanks. --ASDFGHJKL=Greatest Person Ever+Coolest Person Ever 23:10, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- See WP:ARCHIVE and the cut-and-paste method. mattbr 23:31, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
.png to .svg help
I'm having a tougher time than I thought converting from .png to .svg! I downloaded like 4 programs, and none of them seem to work. Could someone who knows what they're doing either talk me through a quick conversion, or if you have a program, say so so that I can upload the images and you could do it for me. Thanks. └Jared┘┌talk┐ 23:56, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
- Another problem I am having is getting the images in the first place. There are 5 candidate logos in this pdf that I want to take out. They are in SVG now, so anything I do to them (like put them into photoshop) un-svg's them. Could someone help me get these extracted from the PDF? └Jared┘┌talk┐ 00:14, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- I don't know about SVG programs, but you should note that using SVG images of logos is discouraged (as described at Wikipedia:Logos) as this can infringe on fair use as the images are not at a low resolution. mattbr 01:12, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- It is very hard (almost impossible) to convert PNGs to SVGs because png is a raster graphics type while svg is a vector type. Converting between these (especially from raster to vector) causes severe distortion that is noticeable when magnifying the image. See Vector_graphics & Raster_graphics for more info. - Hdt83 | Talk 01:27, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Conversion is very difficult to achieve. You'd have to redraw them completely. 59.183.57.203 05:51, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Raster to vector conversion requires complex pattern recognition skills that humans are still able to do better than computers. The inability of computers to recognize arbitrary objects in a bitmap image is the basis for CAPTCHA technology. Which means if there was an automatic, robust PNG to SVG converter, we would need some trickier way to determine whether a remote user is a human. --Teratornis 11:31, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
March 25
Messages above watchlist
Who puts those messages above the pages in our watchlists? I would guess developers but I don't think they're that active. --TeckWiz ParlateContribs@ 03:22, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Any administrator. They just need to edit MediaWiki:Watchdetails. Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 03:24, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
I need help!!!!!
hi there, i´ve seen some customized signatures, with different colors, different kind of letter, and more cool stuff, can anyone tell me how to change the color and the kind of letter of my signature?!?!?! please, answer me in my talk page, thanks the sweet girl xoxo 03:35, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Go to this tutorial. Cheers. Real96 03:37, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
What's new at Wikipedia
Hey, Just wondering, is there somewhere I can see what is new at Wikipedia? By that I mean changes to Wikipedia itself, such as how it shows specifically the info regarding an archived page, orhow the left menu has been split up now. Thanks! Baseballfan Talk 03:54, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- The MediaWiki: namespace controls many aspects of a MediaWiki wiki's user interface. MediaWiki:Sidebar controls the left menu. To see what has changed with that page, view its history. Special:Newpages shows the new pages in any namespace, including the MediaWiki: namespace (select the namespace from the list). Special:Recentchanges&namespace=8 shows the recent changes to pages in the MediaWiki: namespace. I don't understand what you mean by "the info regarding an archived page." Please link to an example, like this:
[[the name of the archive page you are talking about]], so I can see what you mean. --Teratornis 11:26, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- I meant this: "This is an archived version of this page, as edited by (Talk | contribs) at 00:00 Month 00, 0000. It may differ significantly from the current version." Subtle changes to the appearance of wikipedia itself. The basic stuff is no problem. Seems like there isn't really a discussion about stuff like that, at least that isn't very prominent anyway. Baseballfan Talk 05:40, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
Spacing within points
- How do I get spaces between paragraphs within points?
If I start a new paragraph, the indentation is wrong.
- But if I use "<br>"
I don't get enough separation between paragraphs. Clarityfiend 04:00, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- If you have paragraphs, you probably shouldn't be using a bulleted list. Lists are for short things, not whole paragraphs. —Bkell (talk) 05:59, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Income levels
I was looking at the Ishikawa prefecture of Japan where it said that the (median?) personal income was 2,700,000 Yen. Is this annual income? If so, why doesn't it say "annual". Or is ther somewher on Wikipeida that I coul not find that says that all such data assumes "annual"?
Willywump 07:50, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Not sure which page you are talking about but it will be a good idea to clarify by asking on the article's talk page. — Lost(talk) 12:32, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Taking a wild guess here: Ishikawa Prefecture#Economy. That came up as search result number 2. The talk page is: Talk:Ishikawa Prefecture. --Teratornis 15:23, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Watchlist a category
Is there any type of script I can use to watchlist a category? I mean, not to watch the changes made to that particular category, but to check whether there are new articles being added to the category. S. Miyano 08:30, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Here you are — Lost(talk) 12:30, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thank you. I've copied the code into User:S. Miyano/catwatch.js. Please see if I did it right. S. Miyano 12:37, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Please see Wikipedia:WikiProject User scripts/Tutorial. You need to add the script to your monobook page — Lost(talk) 13:18, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Sorry, I didn't know. I've just added the script to my monobook as you said (here). Is it all right this time? S. Miyano 13:36, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Please see Wikipedia:WikiProject User scripts/Tutorial. You need to add the script to your monobook page — Lost(talk) 13:18, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thank you. I've copied the code into User:S. Miyano/catwatch.js. Please see if I did it right. S. Miyano 12:37, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Using commas around dates w/o interfering with date format conversion
Hi! Sorry to bother you, but I didn't see the info I need in the Manual of Style.
I know that we're encouraged to link full dates (month/day/year) so that they can be displayed according to the user's preferences. I use a comma after the year, as is correct in the American format: "He said January 1, 1989, was his birthday." Unfortunately, that's bad when it displays as, "He said 1 January 1989, was his birthday."
I'd like to ensure that the comma appears after the year in the American date format but not in incompatible formats. Is this possible?
Thanks so much for your help.
DoorsAjar 10:16, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Excuse my ignorance, but why do you need a comma after the year in the American format? -- Chairman S. Talk Contribs 11:00, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- A Wikipedia user gives references here. The Chicago Manual of Style also supports using a comma after the year. I believe the MLA style guide does as well, but I can't check that right now. DoorsAjar 12:06, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
User:124.185.157.217
User:124.185.157.217 has been making unencyclopedic (but not quite vandalistic) edits to many Harry Potter pages. I can't keep up, and need to get to work. Apologies if this is the wrong place for this post, but WP:AIV didn't quite seem right either. Matchups 12:12, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- You can report the non obvious vandalism edits to WP:ANI — Lost(talk) 12:31, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- I've done that, and things seem under control. Matchups 15:32, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Help, i need to know about wiki policy
whats wiki policy prevent user to add web site for ads? and whats that notablity all about? and please this page is too long already can people archive it?--Towaru 13:01, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- See WP:SPAM and WP:N. Both of these are guidelines and not actually policy — Lost(talk) 13:05, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- This page gets archived periodically. You can search the Help desk archives. The page is long, but you can start a new question at the bottom by clicking the tab at the top that has the "
+" character in it. Wikipedia's policies and guidelines are astoundingly complex, because Wikipedia is an encyclopedia about pretty much everything, so there must be guidelines to cover every conceivable situation; see: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia to look up whatever situation you want to know about. --Teratornis 15:29, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- This page gets archived periodically. You can search the Help desk archives. The page is long, but you can start a new question at the bottom by clicking the tab at the top that has the "
The Harry Potter VII article needs a serious revamp, but it is locked...
The entire article is disorganized.
The talk page is going well, but the article itself just sits there...neglected...can someone (not me, I'm new to this; someone with experience who isn't obsessed with HP7) edit it? Please!? It's a top-importance article, but is B-class. It could be so much better.Within the Veil 13:09, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- The article is protected because there is an ongoing dispute about it (I dont know the details) and possibly editors took to edit warring. Please suggest changes on the talk page of the article and if you think the dispute has died down please request unprotection here — Lost(talk) 13:12, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Registering User:Lil' Wayne
Given that User:The UPN Vandal was trying to vandalise pages by creating information under this identity, is it possible to register that username for the purposes of preventing it from being used?
If you want need diffs as proof to do this, there's more than one that can be dug up. --Sigma 7 13:24, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- The UPN Vandal has been indefinitely blocked and it cannot be used until unblocked. IPs are generally dynamic so cannot be blocked for longer durations. In case you want to register Lil' Wayne to prevent it being misused, please do so and place a notice on the userpage. Does that answer your question? — Lost(talk) 13:28, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Ryan Spirit of St.Louis
A "Sister ship" of the Spirit of St.Louis was owned by the Folk Candy Company of Portland Maine in 1928. How many Spirit of St.Louis Sister Ships were produced by Ryan? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.254.96.170 (talk • contribs)
- 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's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. — Lost(talk) 13:37, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Spirit of St. Louis#Museum display mentions a "large number of replicas". You might ask on the Talk:Spirit of St. Louis if anybody knows an actual count. --Teratornis 15:36, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Google Earth's Wikipedia layer linking
Which is the proper way of entering a place's coordinate, for it to be in included in Google Earth's Wikipedia layer? I've seen very different coordinate labeling templates on articles so this issue is a bit confusing for me.Kilroytech 15:53, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Use Template:Coor dms. — coelacan — 21:00, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Some references for the details:
- User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Map - a good place to start looking for everything to do with editing on Wikipedia
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Geographical coordinates#Google-Earth-Tool with the help of geonames.org
- Geonames in Google Earth
- Wikipedia in GoogleEarth (en)
- --Teratornis 21:40, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Some references for the details:
Deletion question
This is probably already answered in one of the many help pages, but I'll be lazy and ask anyway: are articles or files ever deleted irrevocably, or are they forever potentially undeletable? And if the answer is the latter, how do you save server space? Lenoxus " * " 16:20, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- All pages deleted through normal processes are retrievable. See Wikipedia:Viewing and restoring deleted pages by sysops. Images used to be permanently deleted but no longer. Also there was a database crash early in 2004, and all deleted revisions prior to that time are lost. I believe deleted pages are compressed, but you'll need someone more computer savvy than I to answer the specifics on that issue.--Fuhghettaboutit 17:13, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- I think this comment from Brion Vibber, Chief Technical Officer, answers your question. mattbr 17:49, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for the responses. "Subject to being cleared or removed AT ANY TIME WITHOUT WARNING" sound serious. Is there a system the developers/beurocrats have for proposing/officiating permanent deletion, or is it really as capricious as that sounds? Not that I would have too much of a problem either way, I'm just curious. Lenoxus " * "
How do i find portal subpages?
I'm reworking a long neglected portal, and occasionally have typed in a subpage expecting a redlink only to find that a page already exists and was just taken off the main page at some point in time. I'd like to find all these pages and either get them deleted or utilize them in the current portal. -ΖαππερΝαππερ BabelAlexandria 17:54, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Use Special:Prefixindex. Enter everything after the "Portal:" fron the name in the top box, and select "Portal" from the drop down box. Martinp23 17:59, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Alternate title for link in template parameter?
How do I place an alternate title for a link in a template parameter?
Suppose I have a railway station template with a parameter "___location" that automatically makes it a link. So I type:
{{railway station|___location=Utopia}}
Unfortunately, Utopia is a disambig page. I want the Narnia railway station's ___location link to go to Utopia, Finland but be shown as Utopia. In a normal wikilink, I'd write:
[[Utopia, Finland|Utopia]]
But how do I do it in a template parameter?
(The above wikilinks are for example use only. I'm fully aware that Utopia isn't really a disambig page.) JIP | Talk 18:07, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- I'm not sure and it would depend on the template construction. Could you be more specific? mattbr 18:17, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Specifically, I want the infobox in Kiikala (and other such places) to have a link to Salo, Finland instead of Salo, but still say Salo. Here's the infobox source code of Kiikala:
{{Kuntainfo| fullname=Kiikalan kunta| coatofarms=| status=municipality| map=| province=Western Finland| region=Finland Proper| district=Salo| citymanager=Seppo Koskinen| languages=[[Finnish language|Finnish]]| arearank=312th| area=245.35| arealand=240.12| poprank=359th| popdate=2003| pop=1,875| popchange=+ 0.8| popdensity=7.8| urbanisation=19.7| unemployment=10.0| website=http://www.kiikala.fi/ }}
Note the parameter "district=Salo". The Kuntainfo template has the following source code:
<nowkiki>{| class="infobox geography" style="width: 20em; font-size: 90%; text-align: left;" width="300px" |+ style="font-size: large; margin: inherit;"|{{{fullname}}}
| colspan="2"|
|- class="mergedrow"
| colspan="2"|
|- class="mergedrow"
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| {{{map}}}
|-
| Province || [[{{{province}}}]]
|- class="mergedrow"
| Region || [[{{{region}}}]]
|- class="mergedrow"
| Sub-region || [[{{{district}}}]]
|- class="mergedrow"
| City manager || {{{citymanager}}}
|- class="mergedrow"
| Official languages || {{{languages}}}
|-
| Area
- total
- land
| ranked {{{arearank}}}
{{{area}}} km²
{{{arealand}}} km²
|- class="mergedrow"
| Population
- total ([[{{{popdate}}}]])
- change
- density
| ranked {{{poprank}}}
{{{pop}}}
{{{popchange}}} %
{{{popdensity}}}/km²
|-
| Urbanisation || {{{urbanisation}}} %
|- class="mergedrow"
| Unemployment rate || {{{unemployment}}} %
|- align="center"
| colspan="2" | {{{website}}}
|}</nowiki>
Notice how the "Sub-region" row gets a value of "[[{{{district}}}]]", thus in this case "Salo". How do I make it go to Salo, Finland but still be displayed as Salo? JIP | Talk 18:29, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Great, thanks. "district=Salo, Finland{{!}}Salo" should work in that case, where {{!}} produces a "|" without affecting the infobox coding. mattbr 18:42, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Yes it works, see Kiikala. mattbr 19:10, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
year 2005 & yr 2006
I AM STUDYING LOGISTICS & WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE STATISTICS OF LIST OF BUSIEST PORTS IN TONNAGE /POPULATION IN THE YEAR 2005/2006 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.150.111.61 (talk • contribs)
- 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's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. — Lost(talk) 18:54, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Coming to America
plaese i want go to amiracca so i need have a job in english soiety
- Well, if you read and learn every document linked to from this page: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia, you could become really good at MediaWiki editing, and then you could probably get a job editing on corporate wikis. However, you could also do that job from wherever you live now, if you have Internet access, so there's no need to bother with physically moving to America. If you live in a developing nation, you could probably live better where you are by doing remote contracting work for western companies, because you would be paid in hard currency and continue to have your (probably) low local cost of living. Side note: maybe wikis are the technology that can make offshoring practical for small business. There is a lot of grunt work to building and maintaining a corporate wiki, and most people in a corporation already have other jobs, so they could use some help to get their wiki working. --Teratornis 21:48, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- The first thing I asked myself when I read your question is why you want a job in America so badly. It's hard enough to get a job and getting one in another country isn't any easier. To maximize your chances, though, you should probably make an effort to learn the language. Your question contained 5 errors in one sentence, which probably won't reflect well on you when you write a job application letter. - Mgm|(talk) 07:48, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
How to handle repeat references so that they do not show up twice in the reference list
I have edited the page on Anubias and added two references. Both get cited in the text twice and this results in a reference list with FOUR entries, both of them twice the same ones. How do I correct this? Crusio 20:25, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Use this code:
<ref name="name of reference"> blah blah blah rest of citation </ref> <ref name="name of reference"/>
- The second code will give you the same reference a second time. Hersfold (talk/work) 20:30, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Done for you. See Wikipedia:Footnotes#Citing a footnote more than once too. x42bn6 Talk 20:32, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Blacklisted websites
I had trouble unblanking a page because the spam filter found blacklisted websites linked in the page. It wasn't easy to find the problematic links, and I have been unable to find any list of banned websites to check against. Is there such a list?Professor marginalia 21:13, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- It's at meta:spam blacklist. — coelacan — 21:18, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks!Professor marginalia 21:28, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- The blacklist warning page you are taken to when you try to save a page with blacklisted links says something like "the offending link is http://www.spamcite.com". Copy the main link name, "spamcite" in this case (highlight, cntrl + c on most keyboards). Then when you go to the article past version, search for the text (cntrl + F on most browsers will open up a search box, hit cntrl + v to paste). You should have little problem finding the offending link(s), even if the article is huge. I think this will be much faster than checking links against a list.--Fuhghettaboutit 21:31, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- That's good advice. — coelacan — 21:39, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks. I looked for some clue to identify the website in the spamblock message and couldn't find it. I suppose I missed it somehow. I will try to recreate the problem in the sandbox to get the technique down. This is great because matching links against the list would take a long time whenever there are many suspects to sort through in the article.Professor marginalia 22:02, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Hmmm. It may be that there are different messages—maybe if there are multiple blocked links it doesn't list any. In any event, try saving this page for an example of what I was talking about. As you can see, you cannot save but are redirected to a spamblock page which says, in part: "The following text is what triggered our spam filter: http://www...".--Fuhghettaboutit 00:38, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks. I looked for some clue to identify the website in the spamblock message and couldn't find it. I suppose I missed it somehow. I will try to recreate the problem in the sandbox to get the technique down. This is great because matching links against the list would take a long time whenever there are many suspects to sort through in the article.Professor marginalia 22:02, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- That's good advice. — coelacan — 21:39, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- The blacklist warning page you are taken to when you try to save a page with blacklisted links says something like "the offending link is http://www.spamcite.com". Copy the main link name, "spamcite" in this case (highlight, cntrl + c on most keyboards). Then when you go to the article past version, search for the text (cntrl + F on most browsers will open up a search box, hit cntrl + v to paste). You should have little problem finding the offending link(s), even if the article is huge. I think this will be much faster than checking links against a list.--Fuhghettaboutit 21:31, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks!Professor marginalia 21:28, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Looking for a special picture concerning free images ...
Hello, everyone, I recently noticed that unfree images cannot be used in the templates with contain personal information on living people. I once stumbled over a placeholder image that says something like "Free images are not allowed her. Have a free one? Click here to upload it." or something like it, however I cannot find it again - it's gone! Anyone out there who could help me with that? Regards, --Plumcouch Talk2Me 22:29, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
AFD question
How do you nominate an article (that's been in AFD in the past)? I've looked at several pages, and I havent found anything on it. RobJ1981 22:30, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- On the three step set of instructions at WP:AFD, at the bottom of the first step, it says "If the article has been nominated for deletion before..." and there is a corresponding note at the bottom of the third step. Nothing special for the second step as long as you use the link provided by the {{afdx}} template. — coelacan — 22:52, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- There is one difference. In previous steps, use "PageName (2nd nomination)" instead of "PageName".--Fuhghettaboutit 22:57, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Deleting uploaded images
Hi, I was asked to move unlinked images to Wikimedia Commons. While it's easy to upload to Wikimedia Commons, I can't figure out how to delete already uploaded images from Wikipedia. Please help. - Anantashakti 23:22, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Per, WP:IFD, edit the image description here and add {{subst:ncd}} for images with the same name on Commons or {{subst:ncd|image name on Commons}} if the image has a different name on Commons. -- Rick Block (talk) 23:38, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
Gamma Phi Beta Sorority
The Offical Colors of the sorority are brown and mode not brown and pink. Brown and pink are part of a new marketing initative along with teh slogan connect, impact and shine. This intitative in no way changes the colors of the sorority. You can verify this information at www.gammaphibeta.org the sorority's international website.
Thank you, Tabatha Cyrus Alpha Alpha Chapter
How do I make lists?
Insert non-formatted text here I am trying to combine down the various minor characters in Jojo's Bizarre adventure into small lists of characters organized by parts, unfortunately it doesn't work the way I thought it would. any help would be appreciated.Tensa Zangetsu 23:52, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
- Use asterisks (*) to make bulleted lists and # to make numbered lists. For example,
*Stuff *More Stuff
gives:
- Stuff
- More Stuff
- and
#Stuff #More Stuff
gives:
- Stuff
- More Stuff
- See Help:List and maybe Help:Table for more detailed info. Mr.Z-mantalk¢Review! 23:56, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
March 26
how to use the wikipedia account?
I have sign up in wikipedia but dont knw for which purpose should i use my account? can I send e-mail from my account to my friend? plz guide me..
- Well this is the online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. It has little to do with sending email and more to do with writing and helping out with tasks that benefit the encyclopedia. If you'd like to help out and get involved, a good launching point is the Wikipedia:Community Portal. Regarding email, you can send email to other Wikipedians, but not to outside email addresses. We're not a free email host.--Fuhghettaboutit 03:22, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- The first thing to do with your account is to sign your posts on talk pages, by typing four tildes, like this:
~~~~. (This page is not technically in a "Talk" namespace, but by convention we treat it as if it is. On Wikipedia, we always follow the rules, except when we don't.) You might also make your user page. To learn what other Wikipedians do with their accounts, as well as to learn what a Wikipedian is, start reading User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia and the (many) pages it links to. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia about pretty much everything, so this is a very complex project. (It's quite possible that no single human has a solid grasp on everything going on here, any more than the President of the United States knows what every government employee or agency is doing.) You might also bookmark this Help desk page, and each day come back and read the day's questions and answers, following the links in the answers to read more details. That will give you a good picture on what is going on here, or at least a subset of such activities that people are asking for help about. If you want to send e-mail to your friend from Wikipedia, your friend will also have to sign up for a Wikipedia account. Ultimately your goal should be to edit some articles, making them better than they were before you arrived. If you have a particular interest, you might see if a WikiProject exists for it, and join. I also recommend the training videos for an easy introduction to what wikis are about. --Teratornis 14:41, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- The first thing to do with your account is to sign your posts on talk pages, by typing four tildes, like this:
Honorius and his likely Google company
Right now, if you Google "Honorius", Wikipedia's article Honorius (emperor) is listed with the following summary: "Encyclopedia article which recounts the life of this Roman Emperor in a negative light." "Negative light"? Not exactly the NPOV goal here. Also, I'm guessing that whatever robot/well-intentioned person/vandal is responsible for this has done the same thing for other articles. Who should be alerted, and in what way? Lenoxus " * " 05:58, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- I wonder how that happened. I'd expect developers to be responsible for Google summaries, perhaps contact those. - Mgm|(talk) 07:42, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- I am pretty sure that Google's summaries, which sometimes appear in place of a piece of text, are the editorial work of Google themselves. I just looked at the abstract given by Google for a site I am involved with which is (while accurate) not a form of words ever provided on the site. I cannot find a confirmation of this, but it may be worth asking on Talk:Google if anyone knows of it. Notinasnaid 10:42, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Google does not have resources to manually make descriptions. They get many descriptions from Open Directory Project, including this one which is from http://dmoz.org/Society/History/By_Time_Period/Ancient/Rome/People/Roman_Emperors/Honorius/ The "update listing" link there can be used to suggest a new description. The suggestion will (it may take some time) be reviewed by an ODP editor who decides what to do. PrimeHunter 12:51, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Johnny Clegg
I would like to know if anyone is able to help me meet Johnny Clegg. I've tried to meet him for more or less 9 years now. I've sent emails to editors of newspapers, magazines, tv shows and radio stations asking if they could help out. I've met one of his band members who tried to get me backstage to meet Johnny after a concert.People in France, Germany, America, Australia and South Africa have tried to help me meet Johnny. I've written letters and phoned, but nothing has worked. I'm 16 years old and keep getting turned down after concerts to meet Johnny Clegg. Please let me know if you can help me meet Johnny. Thank you.41.241.245.190 06:08, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- I'm sorry but Wikipedia is not able to help you with that. We are writing an Encyclopedia and just have an article about Johnny Clegg. PrimeHunter 12:41, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
A MISTAKE BROUGHT TO YOUR ATTENTION
If you are not the right editor for this item, please pass it on to whoever is. I just pulled up the subject "Doberman Pinscher" on Wikepedia and although there are several photographs of actual Doberman Pinschers, the first photo to greet the viewer is of a tiny breed of dog that looks like a Miniature Manchester Terrier. Until recently a photo of a magnificent Doberman was in that space. Is somebody playing a joke with your format or what? Please check this out and make the necessary correction. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.117.106.58 (talk) 07:10, 26 March 2007 (UTC).
- It looks like someone corrected the mistake. -SpuriousQ (talk) 07:22, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
I don't like spam.
Category:Quest Software and its 21 articles seem to be 100% spam, the product of a single user. Since I don't want to have to add a speedy deletion tag to that many pages, here I am. Clarityfiend 08:24, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- You could try contacting someone with access to AutoWikiBrowser. - Mgm|(talk) 09:11, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
updating spiderman 3
i just received new information that spiderman 3 will be released in Singapore on may 1 2007.I would really appreciate that you update the page on spiderman 3 saying that the movie will be released on may 1 2007 in Singapore!!! Thank you!!! I would have done this myself if the page was not semi-protected.This is just a gentle reminder!!! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Shaktis100 (talk • contribs) 08:39, 26 March 2007 (UTC).
- Spider-Man 3 currently only mentions release dates in Japan (world premiere) and USA (production country and largest commercial market). The Singapore market appears to have relatively low importance and may not be notable enough to mention. It can be discussed at Talk:Spider-Man 3#International release dates. PrimeHunter 12:28, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- The external links include International release dates which is probably not worth copying to the article. PrimeHunter 12:32, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Signing the time only
Three ~~~ signs your name, four ~~~~ signs the time aswell. How about only the time? How can this be done? Think outside the box 11:06, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Five tildes (~~~~~) generates the time part of the signature: 11:07, 26 March 2007 (UTC). --ais523 11:07, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thank you for that! I should have been able to work that one out! Think outside the box 11:25, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
ASAP
Sorry in the wrong place I bet. Thuis guys a Vandal 24.39.181.168 see Cars Film article etc could someboby warrn him or put a block in?--McNoddy 13:20, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- User talk:24.39.181.168 reports a 48-hour block. WP:AIV is a better place. PrimeHunter 13:43, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thank You for your help and speedy reply PrimeHunter --McNoddy 13:45, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Deleting searches
Hello,
How can I delete my past searches please so that they are not displayed under the search window/ Thank you.208.7.160.78 14:00, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Hehe, what are you trying to hide? ;-) Anyway, these are stored by your browser, not Wikipedia. Check your browser's documentation. -SpuriousQ (talk) 14:05, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- More notes about browsers and Wikipedia are here: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Bro. --Teratornis 17:34, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- You can re-set your browser, to its factory settings. This should remove all entries into your browser. Scottydude 20:21, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- More notes about browsers and Wikipedia are here: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Bro. --Teratornis 17:34, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Staying signed in ...
I am having no luck signing in on LOSTPEDIA.COM.
I sign in and my name appears in the header, however, when I navigate away from the sign-in confirmation page, my name "disappears," and it seems that I am no longer signed in.
How do I correct this?
Thanks,
67.142.130.26 15:05, 26 March 2007 (UTC)Lisakaymck
- Try using the 'remember me' checkbox and making sure you've got cookies set. If you're using a satellite ISP, there are known problems involving such ISPs and MediaWiki (Wikipedia has a workaround, but I don't think other MediaWiki wikis do.) Hope that helps! --ais523 15:10, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Adding an external link?
I have written an article that could be made the target of an "external link" from (in this case) the main article on the Mandelbrot Set.
However, I somehow feel that any such link would have to have a certain minimum quality and add value to the main article. I am very nervous about just adding the link myself, especially as there is so much good stuff out there already.
What is the procedure in this case? (I am a new user, apologies if this has already been asked and answered somewhere.)
The article in question is here:
http://www.tooby.demon.co.uk/Log/DidYouKnow.html#TheAmazingMandelbrot
The intention of the article is give someone with a non-mathematical background an insight into what is going on, not by ignoring the maths, but by trying to explain what the maths is really doing. Whether the article is successful in this, only other people can judge!
AirToob 15:11, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- You can discuss whether the link is appropriate on the article's talk page (in this case, Talk:Mandelbrot set). Hope that helps! --ais523 15:12, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Thank you! AirToob 15:17, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
External Liink Addition/Deletion
I recently added an external link (http://www.holylochmarina.homecall.co.uk) onto Holy Loch and Sandbank, Argyll and bute pages. The link is relevant to the area as it is what is happening right now. It can even be classed as a historic event as it details everything from the start to the present concerning the construction of the "holy loch marina" and will continue to be informative. If you consider the link innapropriate because it is
"Please do not add inappropriate external links to Wikipedia, as you did in Holy Loch. Wikipedia is not a mere directory of links nor should it be used for advertising or promotion. Inappropriate links include (but are not limited to) links to personal web sites, links to web sites with which you are affiliated, and links that exist to attract visitors to a web site or promote a product. See the external links guideline and spam policies for further explanations of links that are considered appropriate. If you feel the link should be added to the article, then please discuss it on the article's talk page rather than re-adding it. See the welcome page to learn more about Wikipedia. Thank you.. Wikipedia is not for the purpose of publicising your campaigns or causes, no matter how good. Notinasnaid 17:52, 25 March 2007 (UTC)"
and
"Please stop adding inappropriate external links to Wikipedia, as you did in Sandbank, Argyll and Bute. It is considered spamming, and Wikipedia is not a vehicle for advertising. Thanks. Notinasnaid 17:58, 25 March 2007 (UTC)"
then by your own rules both links to "river rocket" and "holy loch marina" should be removed also as they are both companies using your pages as a promotional exercise i.e advertising.
thankyou
belfrygirl
- An independent look at this may be a good idea since you are clearly not satisfied with the messages you have been sent. The correct site link is http://www.holylochmarina.homecall.co.uk . Relevant articles: Sandbank, Argyll and Bute; Marina; Argyll and Bute; Holy Loch; List of marinas; Dunoon. Relevant user contributions (from one or many people): Belfrygirl; 88.110.61.176; 88.111.144.168; 88.111.232.250; 88.111.175.197 . Notinasnaid 16:57, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Of course I am not happy with the messages I have been sent. I was told wiki is not to be used to promote a product, which both of those links that are allowed to be on there are clearly promoting their business ergo they should be removed also if my factual account of the construction of a marina from the points of view of the people being affected by it isn't even allowed to be listed and accused of being spam or promotion of a campaign then wikipedia must surely be guilty of not allowing both views to be considered. my point in all this is that both river rocket and holy loch marina links paint a picture of sandbank that is not factual. I look forward to hearing the independant review of this.
belfrygirl 19.55 gmt 26 march 2007
- It would be good to have some other opinions before I bring my interpretation of Wikipedia's policies/guidelines to this. Notinasnaid 05:59, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
Infobox shown partially?
Hello everyobody.
Could you take a look on the Goofy article, please? Well... does anyone know why some items of the infobox are not shown? After "aliases" there should be "relatives", "friends" and "rivals" (check by editing the article)... but I can't see them (under both IE and Firefox).
I asked in its discussion page first, but I had no anwer. Goodbye! --151.38.18.125 17:35, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- They are not valid parameters for this template. {{DisneyChar}} says there are only a few parameters you can use. x42bn6 Talk 17:38, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Additionally, if the parameters are not filled in in the source text then they will be ommited from the infobox. Scottydude 20:19, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Why do they omitted so many parameters in that template? I can't figure why... So, the only way to show that informations is to write them inside the article itself, right? --151.38.18.125 06:55, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- Additionally, if the parameters are not filled in in the source text then they will be ommited from the infobox. Scottydude 20:19, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Someone Help me
Don't know if i'm in the right forum but anyway, my Username is "Whatever", and i am trying to Log in and trying to get a new password cause i forgot it and I'm getting a:
Jump to: navigation, searchLogin error: Error sending mail: There is no e-mail address recorded for user "Whatever".
I don't want to create a (new) different username like i did once before, I operate on Mac 9.02, please help someone Help Me —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.237.186.38 (talk) 17:50, 26 March 2007 (UTC).
- Well, if you didn't register an e-mail address, you need to create another username. Otherwise, there's no way of knowing that you really are User:Whatever. Veinor (talk to me) 18:00, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Veinor; you know what, you might be right, I thought it had to do something with my rather vintage browser, can i still use the same Username? – 64.237.186.38 20:14, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- No, if you cannot access your user account than you cannot reuse its name in a new account. Sorry, Scottydude 20:18, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- … wow, quick response, thanks for the help, its unfair, shouldn't be like that, wasn't informed when I signed in, there are so many things in protocol, everyone got to know me already, but i could add a dash maybe. – 64.237.186.38 20:27, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- I added the fact you need an email address to retrieve passwords to the sign up page a few months ago.... - Mgm|(talk) 08:38, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- I just checked. It's still there. The page says: "You are not required to share your e-mail address, but providing one is the only way to retrieve a forgotten password." - Mgm|(talk) 08:43, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, Yes, sorry, wanted to keep myself stealth, e-mail address is going from now on!, thanks for info! • – 64.237.186.38 14:38, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
Humanity
What should one do to make her hair grows faster?Naomi Emilly 18:29, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- If this is a serious question you should ask it at the Reference Desk.Scottydude 18:31, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Technicality of articles
I recently read a complaint on the article Pethidine, which is a drug similar to Morphine. This anon user complained that the article didn't speak in laymens terms. I can't seem to find Wikipedia's stance on this matter. Where should an editor draw the line? Is accuracy technical, or laymens? Thanks much, Scottydude 18:35, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- I believe it's to allow as many people to understand the basics of the subject as possible. There is a template, {{confusing}} for this purpose. x42bn6 Talk 18:51, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Articles should be accessible to layman, but you need to be careful not to dumb it down too much. When writing keep in mind a reasonable well-educated reader with absolutely no knowledge of the field of expertise in the article. - Mgm|(talk) 08:36, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
HELP: I want to delete my account!
how do i delete my account... and all the history and my record from wikipedia..--Towaru 18:42, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- You don't. Ask an admin at WP:AN. -- Darkest Hour 18:48, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Accounts are not deleted, but you can request your user page to be deleted by adding {{db-owner}}. --KFP (talk | contribs) 18:51, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Bug in my coding?
<div class="NavFrame" style="background: white;">
<div class="NavHead" style="background: none;">↓</div>
<div class="NavContent" style="background: none; display: none;">{{User:Darkest Hour/Awards}}</div></div>
{|
|[[Image:Wikify logo.svg|50px]]
|style="width:100%" | <div class="NavFrame" style="background: none"><div class="NavHead" style="background: none">↓</div><div class="NavContent" style="background: none; display: none;">{{User:Darkest Hour/Awards}}</div>
|-
|}
Gets:
|
↓
|
I prefer the first one but both show [hide] when there is no content, when you click on [hide] it then says [show], when I click on [show] it finally shows my content. What did I code wrong? -- Darkest Hour 18:45, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- I can see the weird effect that you describe, but I can't see what might be causing it. Your code looks correct at first glance. Adrian M. H. 19:34, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Hmm. maybe:
<div class="NavHead" style="background: none;">{{User:Darkest Hour/Page header}}</div>
Gives:
I'm not sure what the problem was, though... probably some duplicate code, messed with it and this appears to work. Nihiltres 21:12, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Un-sweet. look at my user page, -- Darkest Hour 21:53, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Hmm... the code is now expressing itself differently than it was before. (edited my comment for clarity) But now, the code seems to be acting exactly as it should act, so try putting back your original code. Maybe someone made a small, faulty change to one of the nav code implementations, and reverted it just now. Nihiltres 22:44, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Deleting Entries from Wikipedia
Could you tell me if entries are deleted from Wikipediaif they do not receive enough hits? If so, how many hits do you expect on a monthly, yearly basis? Thank you —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kathy nealen (talk • contribs) 19:27, 26 March 2007 (UTC).
- Absolutely irrelevant. Pages are deleted if they do not meet minimum standards for notability, not popularity. Adrian M. H. 19:31, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- See the Current candidates for deletion and the Criteria for speedy deletion for examples of the types of articles that are deleted. GhostPirate 20:24, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
how do I place teams on sports brackets
I would like to know how to place teams on brackets to update them. If anyone can help with this please tell me.
2002champs 19:36, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Any specific page? The best I could find was [1] that uses {{Round16ext}}, using the commment Date-Place|Team 1|Score 1|Team 2|Score 2 as a guide. x42bn6 Talk 20:08, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
The Page I Would Like to know how to put teams on is 2006-07 ECHL season.
2002champs talk 23:00, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- To insert information into the brackets on 2006-07 ECHL season you must enter more parameters. To view how to use these parameters look at the template's talk page. For instance on Template talk:8TeamBracket you can see the parameters for this bracket. Hope this helps, good luck! Scottydude 23:27, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
New article
I am working on an operating system which does not have a web site and is not yet availible and is not mentioned on the web. Would it be possible to make a page for it without it being a candidate for speedy deletion?P2me 21:05, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- I believe so. You might want to put it in a sub page for backup in case it does get deleted. -- Darkest Hour 21:10, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- So you want to write about your product (COI), which lacks any reliable reference sources..... That would, and should, get speedily deleted. Create it in your own sandbox if you want to, but do not upload it to the mainspace until it warrants it. Adrian M. H. 21:25, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- See WP:COI. Nihiltres 21:38, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- I would definitely wait until it gets some external attention (reliable sources outside of your company and Wikipedia) before even considering a move to mainspace. If you don't think it will get attention, you may want to reconsider even starting it. Mr.Z-mantalk¢Review! 21:45, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- Wikipedia is not a host server for sites but a encyclopedia for notable topics. An article, written by you, would warrant speedy deletion until it is notable. Scottydude 22:41, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- I would definitely wait until it gets some external attention (reliable sources outside of your company and Wikipedia) before even considering a move to mainspace. If you don't think it will get attention, you may want to reconsider even starting it. Mr.Z-mantalk¢Review! 21:45, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
expiry of copyright
Is there a more specialized help desk for copyright questions on the English Wikipedia? (If so where? If not, here we go:)
I've gotten into a (so far good-natured) disagreement over copyright expiry with a potential copyright holder, and would like to verify that I don't misunderstand the copyright regulations as well as to get help for a dispute resolution that will leave everyone feeling okay.
The story: I've uploaded several images whose authors have clearly died more than 70 years ago (e.g., architectural sketches by Thomas Jefferson: example). Now someone from one of the Special Collections of the University of Virginia Library has asked me to add "Copyright, Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia" to the images. (I had contacted them with a question about the authorship of further images and had indicated which article I wished to use them for.)
My opinion: I replied that there seemed to be a misunderstanding--to my knowledge, copyright expires after 70 years; copies of two-dimensional works don't represent copyrightable material and thus are not copyrighted beyond the 70 years either; and derivative work of those copies (i.e. my edited, uploaded images) cannot be copyrighted either. Bottomline: I can't attribute copyright to the Library because the works are not copyrighted.
Status quo: I got a friendly reply, saying that the person writing to me was no copyright attorney and could not "confirm or deny with any hope of accuracy [my] interpretation of the copyright laws". And he reiterated his request that I add the line about the Library's copyright to the pictures.
My problem: I don't know where best to go from here and would appreciate any help and suggestions: Am I grossly misunderstanding something about copyrights? (I've even started looking up some legal texts, but don't see what I may be misinterpreting; and the interpretation seems to be common on Wikipedia.) If not, how do I find a good solution with the Library? I definitely don't want to alienate them (esp. not as Wikipedia is seen as part of this--the UVa Library is a great library, they have nice online resources and could still be a valuable resource for other Wikipedians). On the other hand, I've even heard something about it being illegal (?) to claim a copyright that doesn't exist [could someone fill me in with the correct facts and the terminology?], so Wikipedia obviously shouldn't claim something like that if it's not true. Besides, if the works are copyrighted, we're of course getting into trouble with the licensing...
My request: Again, any recommendations, explanations (are there controversies about the interpretation of the copyright laws which could explain the Library's stand?), anything would be very appreciated. Relatedly, I'd love to know the exact meaning of "Courtesy of..." - I've seen several authors used the Library's materials with that line underneath the images. Does it have any legal implication? Would it be "okay" to write that into the description of the images even if they were not (!) downloaded from the resp. Library? etc. etc. Thanks!!! --Ibn Battuta 23:07, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
- I can't help you myself, but maybe the people at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions will be able to. I suggest posting your question there, too. jwillburtalk 00:55, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks!! That sounds like what I was looking for! --Ibn Battuta 01:58, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- And if it is, indeed, copyright, of course it cannot be used in Wikipedia! Notinasnaid 06:01, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
sound bits
—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.125.142.133 (talk) 23:44, 26 March 2007 (UTC).
March 27
Search Query Spell Check
I strongly encourage Wikipedia to improve their search query spell check. If a user makes a very slight error affecting only 1 of the letters in the search the result comes up unknown. Instead, like all modern search engines, Wikipedia should be equipped with a spell cheker and offer suggestions if it seems that the input has been spelled incorrectly. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 167.206.128.33 (talk) 00:15, 27 March 2007 (UTC).
- The MediaWiki software does have such a feature but is disabled for performance reasons on all language Wikipedias. x42bn6 Talk 02:01, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
What do we do about vandals
Often, a user will be created and go on a vandalism spree as Grecofski just did (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Grecofski). We can go through and revert what he has done, but are there some immediate steps that can be taken to have him blocked?
Ordinary Person 00:54, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- Take them to WP:AIV--VectorPotentialTalk 00:55, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
mariah carey
I use wikipedia to crosscheck birthday info. Some SICKO has left a biography of Mariah Carey that is laden with 4 letter expletives which need to be deleted. Help.Spikerooski 01:02, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- The article was vandalized, it appears to have been cleaned up already. jwillburtalk 01:08, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
Infobox shenanigans
Hi! A new friend of mine tried editing an infobox, and while it looks fine to me, it apparently messed, causing the field below it to be indented. Any thoughts? —Signed, your friendly neighborhood MessedRocker. 03:36, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- Please bring this up at template talk:Infobox U.S. state. Most states have so many Representatives that including them in the infobox will cause layout problems. -- Rick Block (talk) 03:45, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
my username and e-mail are not being saved and confirmed.
i keep putting it in and right now i'm logged in, but if i close the window i can't log back on.— (email address removed to thwart spambots) angie lawrence 05:14, 27 March 2007 (UTC)ednlynn
- This happened to me a while back. Perhaps you can use the "forgot your password" function? This resets your password- perhaps that's where you're going wrong? CattleGirl talk | sign! | review me 08:08, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
There might be help found at Help:Logging in. If nothing there helps, you might also get help at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical). — coelacan — 09:08, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
Wiki
I've heard of being able to create a wiki, such as the one called Wookieepedia. I am interested in creating one devoted solely to the "fanon" of Star Wars, where people could contribute articles about common fan "canon" about Star Wars in fanfics, fanfilms, etc. How would I go about applying?
- You don't apply; the software is freely available for you to run on your own server. Wikipedia aren't in the business of running Wikis for other people, though. Notinasnaid 06:00, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- The wiki software in this case is MediaWiki, and you can reach it via http://www.mediawiki.org. You will need a web server, a database management system, and PHP. Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 06:34, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- See http://www.wikia.com I can't remember the name, but I'm positive you'd be duplicating efforts if you started one. A Star Wars wiki already exists. - Mgm|(talk) 08:30, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- It's Wookieepedia (http://starwars.wikia.com/), at Wikia. --ais523 08:34, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
How do I propose a section for deletion?
I think that a section in the Eminem article should be removed ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminem#Family ). How do I go about proposing that simply the section be removed? --Scotsworth 06:14, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- Propose it on the talk page of the Eminem article. Anchoress 06:20, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
Infoboxes
I'm a little new to Wikipedia, and I'm still wondering how to make Infoboxes. Can you tell me how to?
Supermiggelo 10:14, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- Most probably, you want to add an existing type of infobox to an article. The easiest way for pretty much all infoboxes is to copy the infobox from an existing article on a similar subject and to modify it (change only the bit after the = sign on each line of the infobox). Creating an entirely new type of infobox is also possible, but highly complicated; see Template talk:Infobox for details about that. --ais523 10:23, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
Categories
I'd like to link to a couple of Categories from my user page (to be able to go straight to them and keep working). However when I put [[Categories:whatever]] on my page, it doesn't show up. Can someone help me please? Cricketgirl 10:48, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
- Link to [[:Category:whatever]], with an extra colon at the start. The same syntax works for linking to anything without special processing (but it comes up with categories and images most often; the only other time it can come up involves links to versions of Wikipedia in other languages). Hope that helps! --ais523 10:52, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
Is it possible to create two different articles bearing the same title?
Is it possible to create two different articles bearing the same title? For instance, there are two great jazz musicians who have the exact same name. I want the name of the article to be the musician's name, but I keep on getting to the other musician's page. what can I do? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Icexcellence (talk • contribs) 11:04, 27 March 2007 (UTC).
- No, because there would then be no way to distinguish between them in links, and so on. The convention is to add a modifier in brackets after the name, for instance, Java (coffee) and Java (programming language) are two different things, and Java itself is an article about the island. Once you've done this, it's good practice to link the articles together by writing
{{otheruses4|what this article's about|what the other article's about|the other article}}on each article, which produces:
NPOV and Undue Weight: Is this a minor proposal? or a controversial one?
There is a major discussion going on about Wikipedia:Attribution right now. Despite that I have what I think is a minor proposal about rewording "Undue Weight" ... before rewording it though, I'd like to get feedback to make sure my proposal is indeed 'minor' enough to go ahead and change. What's the appropriate next step? dr.ef.tymac 14:04, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
wrong info
In the article "synthetic diamond" under the heading "synthetic gems" there is a false company web link that states that Apollo Cultured Diamonds can be acquired through "diamondscultured.com". This is absolutely wrong! We are not affiliated in any way with that link and would like you to remove it immediately. See the paste below.
Synthetic gems Adia Diamonds, Chatham Created Gems, Gemesis and Tairus all produce gems made through HPHT technology. They are grown in split sphere high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) crystal growth chambers that resemble washing machines. The device bathes a tiny sliver of natural diamond in molten carbon at 1500 °C and 58,000 atm (5.9 GPa). This produces a rough diamond which can be cut to down to a polished size close to half its original carat weight. Gemesis diamonds have an orange tint that is rare in natural diamonds. The yellow tint occurs when approximately five out of each 100,000 carbon atoms in the diamond crystal lattice are replaced with nitrogen atoms. Adia Diamonds produces diamonds in various shades of yellow and orange as well as blue and white (colorless). The blue color comes from doping the diamond with boron, rather than nitrogen, during the growth process. White diamonds must be grown in an environment free of nitrogen and boron, which makes them very difficult to produce. Yellow diamonds are more profitable because they can be made more quickly and cost less to manufacture than blue or colorless diamonds.
Another company, Boston, Massachusetts-based Apollo Diamond, uses the low-pressure technique of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to produce larger, more expensive diamonds with greater control over impurities. The diamond produced is a single crystal, as opposed to the polycrystalline patchworks formerly produced by CVD. This greater measure of control allows Apollo Diamond to produce diamonds of various colors, from pink to black. The ability to control the intentional introduction of impurities, doping, is necessary for the creation of diamond semiconductor devices. Apollo Diamond gems are currently available on their online store (diamondscultured.com) in the form of both loose stones as well as finished pieces of jewelry.
The mine —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.90.98.1 (talk) 14:37, 27 March 2007 (UTC).