Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 December 20

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December 20

Wikipedia background colour

The background colour of the main article section of wikipedia (on pages other than main article space) is a very light blue but the background colours of the category trees on categories is white, which makes it look a bit off. Also background transparencies on images dont look so good (although that is depending on the image). Other projects, like Commons, and other language wikipedias have the background as white, and they look better. Why is the English wikipedia background that light blue colour? Chris_huh^talk 00:39, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps readability or to distinguish the different namespaces? However, it will probably take a developer to change the colours. NF24^{(happy holidays!)} 01:11, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Actually, it's controlled by MediaWiki:Monobook.css (do a search for "namespace" on that page). If you look at the French Wikipedia, you'll notice a more drastic colour scheme (c.f. fr:Wikipédia:Accueil des nouveaux arrivants and fr:Renaissance (période historique)). x42bn6 Talk Mess 01:18, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict)You could change the "skin" used to display Wikipedia when you use it. Visit your Preferences to change the skin (it's the second tab). Astronaut (talk) 01:19, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, i found the line at MediaWiki:Monobook.css, it makes all non-namespace pages light blue, i left a message at that pages talk page. Thanks again. Chris_huh^talk 11:12, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Google Descriptions

If you do a Google search for a popular article, such as Charles Darwin, you'll notice that there is a short blurb describing the article. In this case it reads:

An article that covers Darwin's early life, his voyage on HMS Beagle and his work on the theory of evolution.

This blurb is not present for all searches and I'd be curious how to add one to a different article. For instance, I'm working on the Battle Assembly article for the Wikipedia Military History Project and while it's one of the top results on Google, the link description is just the first few words from the article:

Battle assembly/ assemblies is the new term used for weekend drills, unit training assemblies, or multiple unit training assemblies, according to Lt. Gen. ...

Thanks for the help. --Eplack (talk) 00:43, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I think it's something Google is doing, rather than anything we do here. --Orange Mike | Talk 00:56, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Google gets many of their descriptions from the Open Directory Project, including the quoted which is from http://www.dmoz.org/Science/Biology/History/People/Darwin,_Charles/. Wikipedia has no control over ODP but you can suggest a new description for an existing listing by clicking "update listing" at top of the ODP page. A volunteer ODP editor will review the suggestion at some time. In attempt to get an ODP entry for an unlisted article, you can to suggest the article to an appropriate ODP category. But suggestions can take very long to review and they are often rejected or rewritten by ODP editors. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:03, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks a lot Hunter.--Eplack (talk) 01:09, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia for the blind

I am Blind and I am new. I want to participate like everyone else. There is this bully out there named cliffC who is making everything very difficult. I am trying to give and all he wants to do is take away. can someone keep this guy out of my face... he is not helpful - he is a bully. --Trgwilson (talk) 00:47, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Let me get this straight: CliffC attempts to help you understand core Wikipedia policies and guidelines like WP:EL and WP:N and you turn around and call him a wiki-bully. I don't see how helping a new user grasp the (often complicated, in my opinion) workings of Wikipedia is disruptive in any way. NF24^{(happy holidays!)} 01:02, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Just a quick question. If you're blind, how are you able to use Wikipedia? (Just curious.)   jj137 ^♠ 01:15, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Depends on how blind the user is. "Legally blind" can range from severely impaired eyesight to total lack of vision. The former can benefit from increases to screen size and other visual improvements via software; the latter are restrected to text to speech programs and voice recognition to interact with computers. My guess is that this user is in the former group, rather than the latter. -- Kesh (talk) 03:55, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject Accessibility asks people with accessibility problems to tell about it at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Accessibility. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:36, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

We in fact have a blind administrator, User:Graham87. -- Rick Block (talk) 01:50, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

There are other ways for a blind person to use a computer besides text-to-speech software etc. Many people (even seeing people) can type on a keyboard without needing to look at it. It says "or a refreshable braille display" at Computer accessibility. --Coppertwig (talk) 16:32, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Nintendo

== I am wondering when you purchase the Wii Nintendo gaming system priced at around $250 from Nintendo what is all included? One or two remotes and are there any games included —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.66.82.23 (talk) 01:43, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you're talking about. This is the help desk for Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia. Perhaps you might wish to contact the providers of whatever console you're referring to? Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 01:45, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over two million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If that is not fruitful, we have a reference desk, divided into various subjects areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:53, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I am feeling helpful so I will go ahead and answer the question. The basic Wii comes with 1 Wiimote, 1 Nunchuk controller (this is used with the Wiimote in some games), and it comes with Wii Sports. Wii Sports has 5 different sports games on it: golf, boxing, bowling, tennis, and baseball. Wikipedia also has an article on it Wii. WebLoungers (talk) 13:43, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Questions in Reference desk

The instruction given for those who want to ask questions or provide answers in the reference desk section is to avoid controversy or debate . But this rule is sometimes violated, for instance in the answers to the question on what would happen to the Belgian monarchy if Belgium is split.I think it would be better to answer such questions by describing the different view-points on the issue and leave it at that without passing judgment on the views. ---- cutesonu —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cutesonu (talk • contribs) 02:34, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

You can discuss reference desk guidelines at Wikipedia talk:Reference desk/guidelines. If you want to discuss the way the help desk operates then I suggest Wikipedia talk:Help desk. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:44, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

There are times when a certain view is simply wrong. For instance, "Prof. Z states that Belgium's split would result in world peace. However, such a proposal is preposterous." Sometimes it's quite appropriate to call a point-of-view wrong. -- Kesh (talk) 03:59, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Is there a way to remove the (Other) Languages: headers

I never plan to read Wikipedia in a different language. I really want to remove the Languages: list found at the top of the page as in some of them its taking up nearly half my screen space. If not, I really think there should be an option to hide it. Maybe a GreaseMonky Script?

Thank You and have a Merry (Insert your favorite December Holiday Here)

Pschroeter (talk) 04:41, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

What page? For me, they show up under the toolbox menu - well out of the way. -- kainaw™ 04:41, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't know whether it can be hidden but it's placed differently for different skin choices in Special:Preferences. It sounds like you don't have the default MonoBook skin where it's in the left side below other boxes. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:44, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

You could hide it using a user CSS file -- the location of that file will depend on which skin you use to view Wikipedia (the skin is selected in Special:Preferences. For example, I use the "monobook" skin, so my user css is at User:Luna Santin/monobook.css. If you're using monobook, yours would be at User:Pschroeter/monobook.css (subpage name depends on skin, you see). If you add this line in, it should hide the languages: #p-lang: { display:none; }. Feel free to reply if you have any questions on that. – Luna Santin (talk) 04:53, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I guess you're using the Standard skin. First, if you wish, you can change your skin to an other, less intrusive one at Special:Preferences. If you wish to keep Standard, there is no way to remove only the languages. You may remove the whole "topbar" by adding the following to User:Pschroeter/standard.css:

#topbar: { display:none; }

If you're using the "Nostalgia" skin, it's the same drill, but at User:Pschroeter/nostalgia.css. I'm not 100% sure since I personally don't use this skin. -- lucasbfr ^talk 11:18, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

User deletion

Hello

How can I delete my Wikipedia membership, including my history?

Thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by Brucestaffxxx (talk • contribs) 04:44, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

You cannot delete your contribution history or account, but you can change your user name. See Wikipedia:Right to vanish. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:47, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

The fine lines between vandalism, POV edits, speculation, and good faith

Hi there. I started by searching the FAQ, and the seemingly millions of questions that have been asked before, but it will be easier (at least for me!) to just come out and ask.

I have been working on getting my edit count up to 1000 by using the Lupin spellcheck. (I want to eventually be an admin, and after I hit 1000 edits, I have other plans to make much more substantial, important edits). I make simple spelling corrections, add fact tags as needed, remove obvious vandalism... and then there's an ambiguous post I run across frequently. A good example I just encountered is, on a high school article (a great venue for vandalism and generally poor edits, I've found):

• Parkway South football has been in a slump these past years. Even though they had some good players. But the sports think and feel that they will turn there loosing streak around.

What do I do with this? I've read WP:N, WP:V, WP:POV, and a ton of other policies - and can't seem to come up with a good solution. Do I be bold, as some policies state, or do I take it to the talk page, where it will probably never be discussed, as this is most likely a one-off edit by an unregistered user? So far I have gone with the deletionist route, deleting the really obvious ones - always stating the reason in the edit comment - but if I think there's at least a modicum of good faith in the edit, I'll even state in the comment that if the editor disagrees, the talk page is a good place to discuss.

Thanks for any input on this at all. Even pointing me to a question already answered would help. Tanthalas39 (talk) 05:14, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

It's commendable to be assuming good faith on the part of the contributor, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't either remove or tag the offending content (in much the same way as someone may in good faith create an article that is guaranteed to be speedily deleted). If you want, remove the sentence to the talk page, so that if someone else is able to clean it up and source it before replacing it they can. From the sounds of it, though, your approach has been A-OK so far. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 05:38, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Agree with the above. Good faith has nothing really to do with this. Part of editing is cutting and we cut for many reasons that have nothing to do with the intention behind an edit. This statement can be removed on many grounds. It's ungrammatical and vague. It's unsourced and negative. It's a statement that will date quickly. etc. You make no express or implied statement whatever about the good faith of a contributor by removing content for any of these reasons.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:25, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I'd like to use Wikipedia software and tools to organize material for a book

I like the way it works. The idea of writing drafts, editing, making notes, creating and using "See also" and "External links" (never using the WP site) would be very helpful in the early research stage. Of course, the final draft would be copied to my word processing software for a last edit and to print it out.

If so, can I use it for free? (I'd be happy to make a contribution.) If it's copyrighted, I'd be prepared to pay a license fee. Can this be done, and if so, where and how? --JohnClarknew (talk) 07:02, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

The software used by Wikipedia is called MediaWiki. It's free software and it is available to download. See the MediaWiki home page for information and download links. Raven4x4x (talk) 07:53, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

You might want to have a look to Comparison of wiki farms, if you wish to create your own wiki. I personally tried http://www.editthis.info/ (using mediawiki) and http://wikispaces.com/ (not using mediawiki) and found them quite nice. Note that Wikipedia (the website) is not a webhost and can't therefore be used to host your drafts. -- lucasbfr ^talk 11:26, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Also see:

• b:Wiki Science/How to start a wiki
• mw:Manual:Wiki on a stick - how to set up your own (free) personal wiki with MediaWiki

Creating your own wiki to work on a one-off book project may be a bit of overkill, particularly if you lack the skills of a system administrator; you might also look for existing public wikis you might use. Privacy would be a concern with many public wikis, so carefully check the type of access control a public wiki would give you. You might also look at the MoinMoin wiki software. It's somewhat different than the MediaWiki software which powers Wikipedia. The Linux Documentation Project uses MoinMoin to enable their volunteer writers to edit DocBook documents (namely, the Linux manuals). DocBook is a markup language for generating books. If you used MoinMoin plus DocBook, you could do all your editing in a wiki, and get straight to printable output. That "fixes" one of the limitations of MediaWiki, that MediaWiki was never intended for writing books. --Teratornis (talk) 21:20, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, guys, for all your help and suggestions --JohnClarknew (talk) 18:13, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Studies

I am a student of mechanical engineering. How can wikipedia help me in my studies? I am from India. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.98.3.74 (talk) 07:48, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Hello! I think you should create an account. You can study the articles related to mechanical engineering. I think you should create an account and send me a message on my talk page. Masterpiece2000 (talk) 09:25, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

If you just want to cite the article, click the "Cite this Article" link on the left below the search box.--Eplack (talk) 14:00, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. Rt. 13:30, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Categories for Deletion

I created two articles, Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy and Coastal Forces of World War II. Blazoned across the bottom of each article is now a bold red message which warns:

"This template must be substituted. Replace ({cfm}) with ({subst:cfm})."

At the very bottom are two new categories:"Categories for merging" and "CfD 2007-12". There is no sign in either the edit history or the log of how these additions occurred or who is responsible. I have no idea where this came from or what I can do about it. Is this a sign that the cabal is now starting in earnest, or is there some less sinister explanation? --Geronimo20 (talk) 08:44, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

The problem was the way you tried to add the category 'Patrol vessel classes'. Instead of the proper syntax ([[Category:Patrol vessel classes]]), you instead typed {{Category:Patrol vessel classes}}. This means the category page was transcluded onto the articles. I have changed them for you. Raven4x4x (talk) 11:07, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

why candles are lighted on the birthday cake and why a cake is cut on birthdays

i like to know why a cake is cut on birthdays.when and where did it start.what are the reasons for it.why candles are lighted and then blown off .what is the significance Wg Cdr anand rao joshi —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.203.14.75 (talk) 09:18, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Try our Birthday cake article, but please note that question is probably better placed with the reference desk. This page is for help USING wikipedia. Astronaut (talk) 09:30, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Please see Birthday Cakes for further details. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 09:29, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia Gadgets

What's the page, where you can get new Gadgets, i've already got a few which appeared on the preferences but wouldn't mind knowing the page. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 09:26, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Only administrators can add new gadgets. But there are a lot of user scripts that can be imported by any user for their own usage. -- lucasbfr ^talk 11:28, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, however i already knew the page. But thanks for the help. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 11:30, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Vulgur writing

There is some vulgur writing on this page of Scarlet Fever.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_fever for example, Dirty Jews? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.250.44.162 (talk) 13:00, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

That is vandalism; Wikipedia receives a lot of this every day, unfortunately. I've reverted to the last good revision of the page, and will warn the user. Thanks for telling us. Qst 13:05, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

governer

who is the first governer of india —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.227.66.222 (talk) 13:24, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

You may be better off asking at the Reference desk (the Humanities section) which specialises in general knowledge questions. Alternatively, you could search for "governor of india" which returns the article Governor-General of India as its first result. --Kateshortforbob 13:44, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

File upload/link problems

I've uploaded an audio file to Stairway_to_Heaven#Accusations_of_plagiarism and as far as I can tell, copied the template & added entries correctly; however, this shows incorrectly on the page. Can anyone help? Thanks. --Rodhullandemu (Talk) 13:45, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

You had title= without a title. -- kainaw™ 13:50, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Much obliged! --Rodhullandemu (Talk) 13:56, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Dead external links in citations

Over the course of editing I've come across many instances were a cited link is no longer valid. I'll usually check out the site to see if the link moved or what not, but that is often not the case. Is there a template for broken links in citations? Because the person that cited this wasn't likely being malicious, they had no control over the eternal source. Thus I'd feel bad just deleting the citation and putting "Citation Needed." Thanks, --Eplack (talk) 13:58, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Wow that is some poor grammar on my part. I suppose it's too early for that :) --Eplack (talk) 14:01, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Dead external links. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:14, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Personal Opinion Insult

Is it possible for someone to remove a phrase from a description shown on the site?

I have just looked at Hythe, Kent, and the first line claims that 'everyone living in Hythe has 3 arms and is a little bit gay'. I hardly think this is appropriate - but I don't know how to remove / report it? Are there no regulations on who posts what?

Regards

A 2 armed hetrosexual who lives in Hythe ! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.223.145.171 (talk) 14:02, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

That was vandalism. It happens a lot. It was removed before you made it here to mention anything about it. -- kainaw™ 14:07, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

As for your questions - yes, you can remove any inappropriate phrase you encounter in any Wikipedia article. To do that, click the "edit this page" tab on the top of the screen, fix the text, and click "Save page". There are no regulations on who posts what, but improper posts are quickly removed. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 14:15, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Improper posts are usually quickly removed. You can help! --Coppertwig (talk) 16:13, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

why can't I edit the earth page?

why can't I edit the earth page? There's nothing on the page to say why it has "view" at the top, instead of "edit". Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.215.132.2 (talk) 15:35, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

If your talking about the Earth Article i've checked it and it's Protected from editing for a non-registered user, probably because of Vandalism done by IP Addresses, try discussing changes on the talk page of the article to see if any user could change info. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 15:40, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

In the top-left hand corner of the page, you will see a small padlock. The page has been semi-protected due to heavy vandalism. It is a high profile target unfortunately so it will not be unprotected in the near future. See its logs for its history. If you want to make an edit then go onto the Talk:Earth page and leave your request. Woody (talk) 15:43, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm a registered user, I just forgot to leave my tag on my first question. If a registered user can't edit it, who can? What determines who can edit and who can't? Thank you. 69.215.132.2 (talk) 15:47, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I just signed in, and I still can't edit. Voice of reason993 (talk) 15:49, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Administrators as far as I'm aware can edit semi-protected or fully protected pages but you'll probably have to go through the edit summary and request the changes. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 15:51, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Semi-protection also blocks editing from accounts less than four days old. This is helpful in preventing IP vandals who are thwarted from semi-protection from simply creating accounts and having at it. You can read more about protection at the protection policy page. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 15:53, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Does the fact that I'm a new user have anything to do with it? Will I eventually be allowed to edit semi-protected pages? How can I tell from looking at the earth page, whether it is semi-protected or fully protected? Thank you. Voice of reason993 (talk) 16:01, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

The page Earth is semi-protected, which means that anonymous or newly registered users can't edit it. You'll be able to edit all semi-protected pages after 4 days. A semi-protected page will have a silver lock symbol in the upper-right corner of the page; a fully protected page, editable only by administrators, will have a gold lock symbol instead. For more information, see Wikipedia:Protection policy. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 16:16, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. Why can't I edit [[1]]? I don't see any locks on that page. Thank you. Voice of reason993 (talk) 16:46, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

It says Note: This page has been semi-protected so that only established users can edit it. at the top of the edit, when you try and edit the article. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 16:48, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. How come there's no picture of a lock on the page, like there is on the earth page? Voice of reason993 (talk) 17:08, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Good question, the semi-protection might have expired however though i have left a comment on the article your wanting to edit relating to this topic. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 18:35, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

It was recently protected due to edit-warring ips. I have now added the template to the page. If you check the log of the page you will see why it was protected and by whom. The logs can be accessed from the top of the page history. Hope this helps. Woody (talk) 19:01, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

The reason you don't see the lock is that protecting the page doesn't automatically add the lock symbol, that is done by adding the template {{Pp-semi-vandalism}} to the page. Thus, if an administrator protects a page but does not add the template, the page will be protected but give no indication of the same.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 19:20, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

If you click the "history" tab at the top of the page you see the list of edits to the page. One of the recent edits, by user Luna Santin has an edit summary "Protected Three Secrets of Fatima: edit warring by dynamic ip [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed] (expires 01:18, December 23, 2007 (UTC))". That's how you can see that it has been protected. "autoconfirmed" users means users whose accounts are at least 4 days old. "edit=autoconfirmed" means that only autoconfirmed users can edit the page. By the way, another way to show a link to that page is to type this: [[Three Secrets of Fatima]] which looks like this: Three Secrets of Fatima. All you need is double square brackets and the page name. You don't need to type "nowiki". --Coppertwig (talk) 16:11, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Can't add wikilink

[[2]] I tried wot wikilink the word "kshetra" and it isn't working. Any help appreciated. Sethie (talk) 15:38, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Do you maybe mean kshatriya? --Orange Mike | Talk 15:56, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

You did it correctly, but it was later removed, with a note in the edit summary indicating that "Revert wikilink in quotes, see Wikipedia:Only make links that are relevant to the context#Quotations. If you follow that link, it will explain the other editor's reasonings. Hope this helps. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 15:56, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

(e/c) Hi Sethie. It worked fine. The word was linked. The reason the link was red-colored was because there was no article on that subject. Links to subjects that have articles or entries are blue; those that don't are red. However, I have now removed the linking because it is our general style consensus that words which appear inside of a quotation should not be linked. (Moon I removed the link after investigating upon reading this help desk post, so the liking issue preceded my removal which is what led me to suspect it was a red link issue).--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:02, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Oh. I should have looked at timestamps. :) --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 16:22, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

The same word appeared in the following paragraph outside the quotation, and could be linked to an appropriate article. I have linked it to Tirtha and Kshetra. —Random832 16:47, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks all! :) Sethie (talk) 01:33, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Anti vandal bots

Are there any anti vandal bots which don't use IRC here? Thanks in advance. Tbo ¹⁵⁷(talk) 15:53, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Out of the two anti-vandal bots that are working, ClueBot reports vandalism it finds to IRC. VoABot II does not mention IRC anywhere on its userpage. Hope I answered your question. NF24^{(happy holidays!)} 23:10, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

adding an article

how do i add an article to the encyclopedia —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.219.240.67 (talk) 16:12, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

To create a new page, you must first create an account. Then, you will be able to create a new page by searching for it and clicking the red link to the page title.

Before creating a new page, first check to make sure the topic is notable enough for inclusion in Wikipedia, as not all topics are significant enough to have their own article. Also, be sure to include reliable, independent sources for the article, so that it is verifiable. Finally, write the article from a neutral point of view, and click Save Page. This will immediately add the article.

For more information, see Wikipedia:Your first article. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 16:22, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

• See the frequently asked questions. - 131.211.161.234 (talk) 16:23, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

creating an account

how do i creat an account —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.219.240.67 (talk) 16:35, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Click here.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:39, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

writing an article

how do i write an article so that when searched for it can be displayed —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.219.240.67 (talk) 16:37, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

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

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

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. Once the article is posted, there will be some lag time before it is indexed and thus amenable to being found through the search button. However, it will be immediately accessible through the "Go" button, and will be quickly indexed by search engines such as Google.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:40, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

• Articles are displayed automatically in searches, you'll just have to be patient and wait for the search engine in question to pick it up. You can speed the process by making relevant internal links to other articles. - 131.211.161.234 (talk) 11:51, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

how to make an wikipedia

how to make an wikipedia . what are the steps . what should we do —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sheebajosef (talk • contribs) 16:58, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm not exactly sure as to what you mean. If you are talking about an article that is a wiki - that is, able to be edited by anyone - then you would need to search for a so-far-uncreated article. There, you can click the "Create this page" button, from where you will be able to edit the page.

• See also: Wikipedia: Your first article

If you mean that you want to create an entire wiki - that is, an entire website that anyone can edit - then you would need to take alook at that article. To be honest, I am unsure of how to do this, but most likely you would need to register the domain name and create the software at the new site.

Hope this helps! --tennisman 17:02, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

The most popular software to create your own wiki (which is used on Wikipedia) is MediaWiki software.   jj137 ^♠ 19:58, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

To create your own wiki, see:

• b:Wiki Science/How to start a wiki

There are several approaches: you can find an existing wiki that already does what you want; you can start a new wiki on a wiki hosting service; or your can choose a wiki software package and set up your own wiki on a Web server. See the above link for details. The MediaWiki software which powers Wikipedia is free to download, and is a very popular choice for wiki software, but it is by no means the only choice, and the different wiki packages have various strengths and weaknesses. You can easily test MediaWiki (or almost any wiki package) on your own computer by setting it up as a personal wiki. See: mw:Manual:Wiki on a stick. This will let you learn wiki administration before you face the complexity of outsiders accessing your wiki. Note: you should have the skills of a system administrator, or you should be willing to hire someone who does, or spend the necessary time to learn these skills yourself, if you want to set up your own wiki. --Teratornis (talk) 21:02, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

No categories on template page, but on transcluded?

In my namespace, I have a page for userboxes, these are then used on the main userpage. I don't want to use the <includeonly> tags because that makes it harder to edit. I don't want the categories that automatically come with the userboxes on that page, but I want it on the page they are being transcluded onto. Any help? Deflagro ^C/_T 20:19, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

You can substitute the userboxen on your subpage, then place the category in <includeonly> tags. Or, you could edit each userbox and place an optional parameter for placing includeonly tags around the category. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 20:46, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

See User:Willscrlt/UBX/categories for more about the last option. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:44, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

computer voices

can wikipedia articles in different languages be heard outloud? that would be a great benefit to those who want to learn. if this wonderful thing already exists, where can it be located? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.109.1.161 (talk) 20:47, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes. In some articles, you will see an icon in the upper right hand corner. If you click on it, you should be able to listen to that article being spoken.   jj137 ^♠ 20:52, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

See WP:EIW#Ability for more details. --Teratornis (talk) 21:04, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

See also Category:Spoken articles. If you look at the inter-wiki links under "languages" on the bottom left of that page, there are links to this category in other language Wikipedias. For example, there is a list of spoken articles in Spanish here. --barneca (talk) 21:10, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Why does my signature not appear as a link anymore?

Just recently, when I sign my name using the four tildes, it does not come up as a link anymore - my name just appears in plain text.

Can you please tell me why this is happening and what can be done about it?

Many thanks and season's greetings!

John Hill John Hill 22:54, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Go to your preferences, found at the top of the page. Make sure that Raw signature is not checked. That should solve your problem. Season's greetings. Woody (talk) 22:56, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you so much for your prompt advice. I am just going to see if it works now. John Hill (talk) 01:10, 21 December 2007 (UTC) It does indeed! How fantastic! Thanks for the Christmas present and best wishes to you throughout the New Year! Cheers, John Hill (talk) 01:10, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

website for non-profit event

I am looking for someone to post a website for a non-profit event to be held in three months. Our event is to be called; Claremont X-Games. It is to be open to he public, and is to benefit the Claremont High School Class of 2010. My broker, of a real estate co., is willing to pay any fees or costs, in exchange for advertising of our co. on this website. we currently have a website, and want to know how we should proceed. If you can help us please feel free to send me some info, or call me directly at <contact info removed>. Mike Ramirez We would need help from the ground up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.30.193.26 (talk) 23:42, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Sorry. Wikipedia is not a platform for advertising your event. NF24^{(happy holidays!)} 23:50, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

(slight tangent) I was a bit taken aback recently to see these reports [3].--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:51, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

...And I always though Reuters was a reliable source - I REALLY hope that's some kind of joke. Astronaut (talk) 01:15, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

I hope Jimbo was delirious that day:-( It will be a sad day even if it is launched [initially] to put "computers in schools in Africa"; down that slippery slope lies demons.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:39, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

(I know we're straying further off topic - sorry) I read somewhere that many Africans would rather have clean water, vaccines, schools, phones, and an end to wars and corruption, and so on; before they get computers. Astronaut (talk) 02:55, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Presenting a starving man with a choice between an iphone and a ham sandwich leads to predictable results:-)--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:26, 21 December 2007 (UTC)