Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 July 25

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July 25[edit]

Article titles in big bold letters[edit]

How do we put in a new Title without having to edit on another article that doesnt have the updated title? This question is for a Fairly new political party forming in the northwest particularly in the state of Oregon.

Thank you, and I will be looking forward to your comment back to solve this problem. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Shamoo2233 (talkcontribs).

Your question isn't especially clear. If you want to change an article title, you'll have to move it. Instructions can be found at WP:MOVE.

If the article is being written by the party, do note WP:COI and Wikipedia:Notability.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 01:35, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Based on the editors hijacking [1] of an unrelated article with similar name, the question probably refers to how to create a new article. In that case:
Before creating an article, 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 Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at 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.
I have reverted The Brotherhood (comic) to the version about the comic which is what should be at that name. The last version before my reversion is this which is unsuitable as a Wikipedia article. PrimeHunter 02:04, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The article was unsourced and put together, the 8 "Core members" of The Brotherhood have a grand total of zero Google hits on their names. This looks like either non-notable or a hoax. PrimeHunter 02:23, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Images and Articles[edit]

How can I submit a documented image and article? I discovered a natural phenonenmon on a piece of wood slice. The story hit the front page of the local newspaper and channel CW 39 news. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 4.231.157.219 (talkcontribs) 01:57, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your question. Firstly, I would like to point out that there's a possibility that the phenomenon you mention is not notable under Wikipedia guidelines (see Wikipedia:Notability). Nonetheless, for information on creating articles see this page and see this page for information on uploading images. --NickContact/Contribs 02:06, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sockpuppetry[edit]

Is it possible to sockpuppet from the use of different IP#'s all from the same location? I know that usually it's considered that from different accounts, but I'm not sure if it's the same for IP#'s. --Candy156sweet 02:17, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Technically, sockpuppetry refers to any case in which an editor edits from another name, but the sockpuppetry guidelines apply per person. Which means any editor found to have broken 3RR across however many IPs or accounts is in violation. The Rhymesmith 02:43, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) Sure. A single user can have access to multiple IPs from the same location or use open proxies to edit. If there's a similar editing pattern from different IPs, they may be sockpuppets or meatpuppets. WODUP 02:23, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Of course, it could be someone with a dynamic IP address. WODUP 02:32, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you very much for all of your information. It's greatly appreciated. --Candy156sweet 15:18, 30 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Image Question[edit]

This is a follow up question to my question posted July 23 under the listing 5.16:

The image I am attempting to replace isn't mine and apparently the "blue upload" option link to replace it isn't available to me because of this. Should I submit the image directly to an administrator for the fix, or is there something else I should try first?

Thanks :)

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking. As long as you have created an account you should be able to upload images. If you want a different image, you can always upload it to a slightly different name and then edit the page to use that image. Does that make sense? --JayHenry 05:11, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Merging[edit]

On many of the new Harry Potter related articles that have been popping up since the new HP book has come out are being proposed for deletion. Many of the deletion proposals have scattered "keeps", "merges", and "deletetions". I think people should try to come to a consesus so this doesn't go on forever. Should I just close down the proposal and count up the votes for merges, keeps, and deletions? Another question, many of the votes for "keep" in the deletion proposal are coming from IP address that have little or no edits that are pretty much created to vote aginst deletion of these articles; we souldn't really just discard their votes, but they really probably don't know much about Wikipidia's policies at all. Should these votes be "counted"? Thanks,  Bella Swan(Talk!) 03:10, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion is not a vote, and debates should run for at least 5 days in most cases. There are editors who know the relevant policies much better than you and will close discussions according to those policies. Please don't do it yourself. PrimeHunter 10:51, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks.  Bella Swan(Talk!) 13:35, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

chat rooms[edit]

how do i access chat room?[[Category:[[Category:[[Category:#REDIRECT [[#REDIRECT [[]]]]]]]]]]

There are no chat rooms on Wikipedia;Wikipedia is purly a free online encyclopedia. No chat rooms involved.  Bella Swan(Talk!) 03:44, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Take a look at Wikipedia:IRC channels. WODUP 03:45, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You need an IRC client. Simple as that. :) Peacent 15:01, 29 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Starting a new page[edit]

My company, DeLuxe Innovations, does not have a Wikipedia page. We are the largest exclusively N scale manufacturer in the model railraod industry. My former employer, Altas Model Railroad Co., does have a page. I tried to add a page but it was deleted as blatant advertising. How can I add my company to the industry section without it getting deleted? Thank you.Mrgigabyte 04:35, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I appreciate that you'd like an article about your company on Wikipedia. I don't mean to give you a reading list, but there are multiple policies that govern the creation of articles about companies. Firstly, your company must meet the notability guidelines found in WP:CORP for an article about it to exist. The article must also be written from a neutral point of view (policy at WP:NPOV). Finally, Wikipedia has a conflict of interest policy (WP:COI) that prohibits the creation of content by individuals who may pose a conflict of interest with the subject matter. As you are a member of the company, it's almost always considered inappropriate for you to create content about that company. If you can find reliable primary and secondary sources about your company, you could always request that the article be written at Wikipedia:Articles for creation. I hope this helps! --NickContact/Contribs 04:46, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
See also Wikipedia:Business FAQ. PrimeHunter 10:42, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Nick, you almost seem to imply that reading lists are bad things. While most people can probably think of some things they would rather do than plow through software manuals (for example, I might prefer a date with Petra Nemcova, where she pays, which would only be appropriate considering her net worth), the fact that almost everything a person could need to know about how to edit on Wikipedia is in writing (and generally written well) is a very large part of what makes Wikipedia suck far less than most of the World Wide Web. Since almost every instruction to handle almost every situation that comes up while editing on almost any subject is in writing, and is relatively easy to find, Wikipedia gains an almost incredible level of efficiency. Anybody who can read and follow instructions can easily self-educate enough to contribute productively here, while placing very little incremental labor burden on more-experienced users to train him or her. Experienced users can provide guidance in the form of links to manual pages, and this is a potent force multiplier. Of course the downside of Wikipedia's heavy reliance on written instruction is that anyone who is not able or willing to self-educate from reading manuals is unlikely to have the best possible editing experience here. But we also have written instructions for them, such as: Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted?. --Teratornis 14:42, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Blocked[edit]

I have been blocked for editing my article. Please let me know why this been happened. This is my page "Laser Technology" —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sahinfo (talkcontribs)

You have not been blocked. It looks like the article Laser technology was deleted because it was classified as WP:SPAM. I can't see what the article used to look like, but is it possible that the article you created was primarily an advertisement? --JayHenry 05:16, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I saw the article before it was deleted. It did look mostly like an advertisement. Someone had added the {{block}} template at the end of the article, which is probably why Sahinfo thought they had been blocked. DH85868993 05:36, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
By the way, it's not your article. See WP:OWN. --saxsux 13:49, 29 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Adding external links[edit]

I realize that Wikipedia does not want to be an expository of external links but as an expert in the field of agritourism, I feel that the 20 external links I have chosen meet the required standards and are of appropriate Wikipedia educational value. Would it be better to add such links to the Open Directory Project or can I continue here? I have a student working with me to transfer such external links from other tourism/travel related links I currently have on my academic webpage as well, some with more than 20 external links. I think these could be valuable additions to Wikipedia's 'Tourism Project' but I can and will cull certain sites accordingly during this transfer process. Please advise.D'Arcy 05:59, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Assuming they meet the required standards, include them where you think they would be best. If in doubt, mention it on the article's talk page. Ensure compliance with Wikipedia:External Links and you'll be fine.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 06:33, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

hey.....there s some problem in putting up the right title to the page i created.....[edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Puri.pallavi

well....if u ve seen the page it should be clear that the topic is my user name and not "embedded Advertising" please help me with it... regards pallavi --Dont assume. It makes an ass of you and me!!! 06:47, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'll reply on the user talk page. Shalom Hello 06:59, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Pallavi, to clarify, are you trying to create a new encyclopedia article called "Embedded advertising"? Because what you have actually done is to add some text into your personal user page (that's why it displays your username at the top). If you're trying to create a new article, see this page. A couple of points to note:
  • According to Wikipedia:Naming conventions, the correct name for the new article would be "Embedded advertising", i.e. with a lower case "a" in "advertising"
  • You may wish to consider whether the information you are adding is already covered by the existing Product placement article, and/or whether it might be better to add information to Product placement rather than creating a new article.
DH85868993 07:53, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Transpotation Advertising campaigns[edit]

Could you please help me with transportaion advertising campaigns in regards to long distance services targeting mines and processing plants.

The help desk is for Wikipedia-related inquiries only. If you wish to learn more about that subject, please direct your inquiry to the Miscellabeous Division of the Reference Desk.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 08:23, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

downloading wikipedia hebrew articles[edit]

Hi , I would like to download wikipedia articles in Hebrew. I didn't succedd finding instructions of how to do it. Please notice that encoding problem amy also be encountered. Could you help? Thanks in advance 132.68.36.197 07:56, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to download articles written in the Hebrew language, your best bet would be the appropriate-language Wikipedia, and their Help Desk.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 08:26, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I believe you want , the hebrew language wikipedia. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 08:36, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Start here: Hebrew Wikipedia. --Teratornis 14:43, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Downloads are available from http://download.wikipedia.org --saxsux 13:52, 29 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Lindsay Lohan[edit]

What is Wikipedia'a attitude to police mug shots ? Are they regarded as "free" photos ?

As Lindsay Lohan has been arrested and her police mug shot has been released to the public.

Can that photo be considered to be in the "public domain" and therefore "free" ?

Can it be used on Wikipedia as a free photo ?


Tovojolo 08:48, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You can search the Wikipedia: namespace for "mug shot" and for "arrest photo". That finds some discussion about mug shots, and some links to uploaded image files, such as:
The copyright information on the above photo suggests it is not a free image. From that image page, we find our way to: Category:Mug shots and {{Mugshot}}. --Teratornis 15:00, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You will have more luck asking this question at Wikipedia talk:Non-free content. Neil  14:49, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

2 years, you'd think I would know this...[edit]

I've never uploaded any images. Hard to believe, but I realized it when I went to upload one of my own photographs. I used the "my own work" page, filled in all the fields, explained that I own the picture, gave permission for use, etc. I know it was successful:

[04:38] <+MiszaBot> User User:ArielGold Uploaded [[Image:Amy Grant in 1998.jpg]] "I took this photo at Amy Grant's 1998 Behind the Eyes tour. I've never distributed it except to use it on my personal web site. It should be uploaded to Amy_Grant in the Infobox: musical artist."

However, the image does not show up on the page. It gives the size, height, width, etc, but nothing. I searched the talk page for image uploading, various help pages, but did not find anyone else who asked this question, so here I am, a veteran asking a silly question. :) Forgive me. Hoping someone can assist me ArielGold 08:48, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To add an image to a page, you must link to the image page, like this: [[Image:Amy Grant in 1998.jpg]]</nowiki. That will appear as [[Image:Amy Grant in 1998.jpg]]. In the case of the infobox, you want to change the line: <nowiki>Replace this image female.svg<!-- Only freely-licensed images may be used to depict living people. Please see [[WP:FU]] before adding an image here. --> with:

Image:Amy Grant in 1998.jpg

Enjoy! Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 08:55, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Matt, but I think you misunderstood. The issue isn't that I do not know *how* to add an image to a page, but that the image is not there at all. Check the image page, you'll see it shows the image size, but there is no image. :) ArielGold 09:02, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You mean you can't see the image when you go to Image:Amy Grant in 1998.jpg? It does appear for me, so this seems to be a technical issue. If the image does not appear what do you see? Do you see a box with a small red cross in it? I would suggest bypassing your cache when you are on the page and seeing if that fixes the problem.
However, there is another issue. You have not placed a copyright tag on the image page. This is very important, so you should read Wikipedia:Image copyright tags and add the appropriate tag immediately or else the image may be deleted. Raven4x4x 09:07, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I do not see the image. I've cleared the cache. I do not see a box with a small red cross. I've loaded the page in both IE7 and Firefox 2.0.0.5 and it is not there. I do see all other images on Wikipedia (it is not an issue that an add-on is blocking images.)


When I was at the upload screen, I did select the dropdown box that said "I own this picture" and there seemed to be nothing else to do. *shrug*. Thanks for the help. ArielGold 09:14, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Okay I put a tag, not sure if it is the right one, but the image still isn't there so I don't know what good it does, lol. ArielGold 09:20, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, when I right-click the image and look at Properties, I see the location of the image is http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ad/Amy_Grant_in_1998.jpg Notice the /ad/ in the path; this has been known to cause ad-blocking software to stop the image from appearing. I can't remember how to fix this though; I'll try re-uploading the image. Raven4x4x 09:36, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hrmm, it is strange that IE7 would block it as well, I have disabled the built-in blocker on it. If you would re-upload it, I'd very much appreciate it. ANd thank you very much, Raven! ArielGold 09:41, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]


I saw you re-upload it (IRC) but it is still not there for me. (refreshed cache, both browsers still) *sigh*. ArielGold 09:42, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No, that didn't change the path. I can't remember how this issue was fixed before; it's been a while since I've seen it. Plus I'm not even sure that is the cause of the problem. Perhaps post on the Village Pump: Technical. Someone there would probably have a better idea than I do. Raven4x4x 09:46, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Removing my account[edit]

My username is hunnam and I no longer want to be registered on Wikipedia, my reason is I am being singled out by editors and feel the attitude is disgraceful for being part of such a big website. I felt it was because on my colour that my sites were being removed while virtually exact sites were being left on.

I would like my account removed asap.

Well accounts can not be deleted as it goes against the GNU Free Documentation Licence which Wikipedia is built on, I'm sorry you feel that way about this community. — Rlest 10:04, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
See Wikipedia:Right to vanish. PrimeHunter 10:33, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Creating new entry where page name is already in use[edit]

Dear Wikipedia,

I have recently entered my details on the 'MICK MORRIS' page. I don't know (and couldn't see from your HELP guidelines) whether each new entry should have its own page or whether it is conventional to have more than one (different) entry of the same name on the 'Title' page. Have I done things correctly? My edit seems to be in limbo at the moment. Can you help, please?

Mick Morris

e-mail: [EMAIL REMOVED] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mainmam (talkcontribs).

Well it seems you added bold text into the article which could be considered as vandalism. — Rlest 10:56, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It appears you are trying to add information about another musician of the same name to Mick Morris. That is not how Wikipedia handles it. See Wikipedia:Disambiguation and Wikipedia:Hatnotes. He should only be added to Wikipedia if he satisfies Wikipedia:Notability (music) (which should be demonstrated with reliable sources), and then a separate page should be created. You added the text inside an infobox [2] where it's not displayed because the same infobox parameters are later assigned different values for the other Mick Morris. PrimeHunter 11:26, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Problems with references[edit]

I tried adding references as a first step in improving the Mary Susanne Edgar article, however, I can't seem to get them to show up rigth, so I must be doing something wrong. I read the help-pages, and even compared to how stuff is done on other similar articles, but got no wiser. Help appreciated !

I've fixed it and removed the reference which was making it faulty, more information can be found at WP:REF. Cheers, — Rlest 11:00, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

how can i post an article about something in wikipedia?[edit]

i want to post an article about a boy.but i dont know how to post it?please help me by saying step by step. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Timesnowjournal (talkcontribs) 10:53, 25 July 2007.

Well of what I can see it appears as if the person would be non-notable and not satisfy the biography notability guideline; please explain further the information so we can verify whether it would be notable or not. Regards, — Rlest 10:57, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
...but if you do decide to start an article, there's a useful guide to writing your first article. There's also a short Wikipedia:Tutorial that you might find useful. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 12:26, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Image moved to Commons - What next?[edit]

I created this image for the Burj Dubai article. It has since been flagged {{tocommons}} and {{NowCommons|...}} by other users, with the suggestion that the original can deleted. How do I delete the original from the English (and now Urdu) wikipedia, and how do I ensure it still appears on the Burj Dubai article in both languages? Astronaut 12:39, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You don't need to do anything. It was moved to Commons so that it could be used on all language Wikipedias - the image file no longer exists on the English Wikipedia, so there is nothing left to delete. The image will still appear in articles as normal, because it was moved to the same filename on Commons, which allows you to access images in the same way you do here.
In short, don't worry about it. It's all been taken care of. Hersfold (talk/work) 19:30, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, it has indeed disappeared from the English Wikipedia. The image is not flagged in the Urdu copy, so I left a message on the uploader's talk page (in English since I don't know any Urdu). Hopefully, he'll flag it and it too will be deleted in due course. Astronaut 20:09, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

cant' save page[edit]

Hi, recently i changed my isp after which i am unable to use save page button if the page is beyond a certain charecter limit, what should i do LegalEagle

Use the "edit" button on each section to edit them individually. Neil
If the individual sections are large enough then i am unable to save the edit, neither can i use the show preview button LegalEagle 16:12, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
How big does a section have to be before it fails? --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 12:25, 26 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

listing prob[edit]

Listing Organist...My wife is a well know organists in the USA. How do I get her listied in the organists from USA?

Read WP:BIO carefully to see if she meets the notability requirements for a biography on Wikipedia. Also read WP:COI; as the spouse of the subject, you may need to make an extra effort to write with a neutral point of view. If you think she's notable enough, you can either request that someone else write about her, or you can try creating an article about her yourself. But be aware that satisfying Wikipedia's complex and often unintuitive policies may be difficult for new users, and many new articles by new users end up getting deleted. The English Wikipedia already has 6,818,888 articles, the vast majority of which need additional work, so it is better for new users to spend time learning the ropes by editing existing articles, and then only later create new articles when they understand more about how Wikipedia works. That being said, lots of brand-new users create new articles anyway. The philosophy on Wikipedia seems to be: make it easy for new users to create new articles, and then delete lots of them. It's all very Darwinian - like the way in nature, insects and so on produce huge numbers of offspring, and only a small fraction survive to adulthood. --Teratornis 16:05, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Search[edit]

how do you serch for stuff on wikipedia

See Help:Search and User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Sea. I often use Google Search on Wikipedia. If you create an account, then you can save links to useful searches on your user page, like I did here: User:Teratornis#Useful searches. You can also browse to topics on Wikipedia from categories and from Wikipedia:Contents. --Teratornis 14:19, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Blocking Q[edit]

Can an admin block username creation from a certain IP? There's a blocked user who has created a sockpuppet (and will undoubtedly create more) to vandalise my userpage. ~Crowstar~crow calls 14:00, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

We can, yes. Please provide details to WP:AN/I, giving the usernames involved. Neil  14:45, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Question[edit]

I created a page called "Hearing Conservation Program". However, none of my references are showing. How do I fix that?

Thanks.

You missed out the <references /> tag at the bottom (this displays the references - you can also use {{reflist}}. Neil  14:45, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
For anyone else who's wondering: the page is actually at Hearing conservation program. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 14:53, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks to User:Echuck215 for creating the redirect - I don't know why I didn't think to do that. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 12:23, 26 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Transportation[edit]

Where do the engineer and the brakeman ride on a locomotive?

Good question. I don't see the answer in locomotive, brakeman, or diesel locomotive. You might try asking on the Reference desk. Or try Google:brakeman locomotive, which finds lots of hits, including the Story of a Volunteer Railroad Brakeman. --Teratornis 15:48, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

An uncompromizing collaborator[edit]

Hi!

I want to ask you, what is the best way to treat another user, who insists on his point of view about a historical person, despite his lack of evidence or references. The person in question is St. Sergius of Valaam, who was according to tradition the founder of Valaam monastery in Lake Ladoga, in 10th - 15th century. The monastery has been at times on Finnish territory, at times Russian.

The problem is that there is no historical evidence about him, just a tradition. As I am writing the history of the Finnish Orthodox Church, I have to stick to the historical evidence about him, which is nil. Even the Finnish Orthodox Church does not hold to the hypothesis, that he has ever really existed. The newest historical findings are that Valaam monastery was probably founded by a monk, Efrem of Perekomy, in 1389.

The problematic user, Petri Krohn, refuses stubbornly to accept this. I have tried to talk him into scientific historical writing, - no result. He has written a page about St. Sergius of Valaam without a single refence, - just the traditional story a bit elaborated by him. He has linked his page to the page of Finnish Orthodox Church, what a contradiction for the reader!

I am quite new user in Wikipedia, so I have no experience about this kind of trouble. What is the best way to deal with such a person? Tell him he is a vandal? --Tellervo 14:52, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I would not call a user with almost 900 edits "quite new." (To see "quite new," look at some of the other questions on the Help desk, especially the sketchy ones that make no sense.) But I'm sure everyone is new to something on Wikipedia, because this place is so endlessly complicated, and constantly growing more complicated. To your question: the answer to just about every editing situation is somewhere in User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia. See the "Content disputes" heading (a few dozen lines down from here). For example, you could start with: Wikipedia:Resolving disputes. --Teratornis 19:30, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Inquiry from Supposely Prince Fayad Bolkiah[edit]

My name is Helen Campbell from the United States and I do work for various companies over the Internet. I recently received several emails from supposely Prince Jefri Bolkiah requesting that I aid him in some real estate transactions. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that someone with his status would reach out to an unknown individual for help. This individual stated that he was being held a prisoner by his brother. I feel that this is a scam and that's why I am notifying you. The email that this individual sent me is [EMAIL REMOVED]. If you would like for me to forward the emails that this individual sent me, please let me know. This individual also has someone working with him, because I received a call on my answering machine requesting that I forward my cell phone number to the Diplomat that is working on behalf of the Prince. I am sure that if I receive correspondence from these individuals that other people in the United States are receiving the same information.

Helen Campbell

How do I create an information article?

Yes, it's a scam - see Advance fee fraud. You don't need to forward the emails to us or to anyone else; everyone gets these. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 15:06, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Advance fee fraud#Warnings issued by United States government gives an e-mail address to which U.S. citizens can forward such fraud e-mails (if they want to). The fact that this e-mail was accompanied by a telephone call seems to elevate it somewhat from the usual e-mail-only scam, so it might actually be worth reporting. --Teratornis 15:54, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Replacing an existing picture on a page[edit]

Lol - sorry, I must be an idiot. I still don't see how to replace an existing image (that was not placed by me) on a page with another one. I have asked twice here (Help desk questions on July 23 #5.16 and July 25 #7.4) and though the answers seem straight forward enough: "Click the "upload a new version of this file" link near the bottom of the image description page (below where it says "File History"). I cannot find this link anywhere in the file history section of said image page.

The image page in question is the one for the graphic on the main page listing for "Gamma World". I have tried uploading an updated image twice - wrongly using the general upload link along the left side of the page (as it is the only one I see). But of course these uploads are sent to a "blind" waiting area with no connection to the page I am trying to work with. However on THESE pages the "upload a new version" link DOES exist. I can only assume that means only the original poster can replace an image on a page??

I really am pretty dumb, I know it's has to be simple as pie (as editing text on a page is a breeze) - any help for an image editing idiot here? LOL! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Braun190 (talkcontribs)

Question: why do you want to replace the image? It looks to me that the images that you have uploaded are the same as the image that is already on the page (note that the low resolution is part of Wikipedia's fair use policy). To properly answer your question--I think that your account has to be more than four days old before you can overwrite images. —Jeremy (talk) 16:45, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Author[edit]

How can I find out who the author was for the article on organ transplant please? Thank you

195.158.99.149 16:55, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Click on the history tab at the top of the organ transplant article to see a list of all contributors. Astronaut 17:01, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Incorrect Seal[edit]

I am the graphics coordinator for the City of Port St. Lucie, Florida. The city seal on your site is not the official city seal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_St._Lucie%2C_Florida

I would like to replace it with the official city seal, but I am confused as to what copyright to assign to it, etc. Can you provide me with some assistance so I can upload the correct city seal to your site and delete the current one.

My contact information is as follows: Dan Perlmutter Graphics Coodinator City of Port St. Lucie <contact info removed> Thank you for your help.

(after edit conflict) Hi, you can upload the new seal using the Upload File at the left of the page and then copy and paste these templates and fill in the rest of the information

{{Non-free fair use in|Port St. Lucie, Florida}}
{{Non-free media rationale
|Description=Port Lucie City seal
|Source=
|Portion=
|Low_resolution=
|Purpose=only used to illustrate subject in article
|Replaceability=
|other_information=
}}

More information on Fair use can be found at WP:Fair Use. Once you have it uploaded, edit the article and put it where the old logo was in the infobox.CindyBotalk 19:11, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Note: the above directions only apply when uploading a completely new image. To replace the current version with a newer one, follow these.
In order to replace the current image, you will need to create an account if you haven't already. Once logged in, go to the image page here. Near the bottom is a light blue link that says "Upload a new version of this file"; click on that. You will be brought to an upload screen, where you can use the "Browse..." button to search your computer for the new image. The new image must be of low resolution in order to comply with Wikipedia's Fair Use Policies. In this situation only, do not type anything in the description box, or select a license. The existing description and license will be applied to the new image. For future reference, however, the proper licensing template would be {{Non-free logo}}, which is already on the image page. Hersfold (talk/work) 19:20, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
But shouldn't he still add the fair use rational template as the existing seal doesn't have one?CindyBotalk 19:28, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Adding my Company's profile[edit]

Hi,

I want to have my company's profile on Wikipedia. I went through Business FAQ & found out that "new articles are created when members of the community are interested enough in a topic to write them". My queries are as follows:

  1. Who are the members of the community?
  2. Can I become one?
  3. Would it be easy to have a prepared article (rather than having someone from Wikipedia write it) published on Wikipedia
Hello and welcome. The answer to question 1&2 is that we are all members of the community and you become one by just joining in—see Wikipedia:Introduction for how to get started. Regarding your company, please note that we do not publish profiles, we publish encyclopedia articles—these may include both positive and negative information about the article's subject (see our neutral point of view policy). We also do not publish articles on all companies, there are a set of guidelines for what is included and what is not; if you feel that your company meets the criteria set out in these guidelines then you need to make sure that the article you write shows this or it may get deleted. —Jeremy (talk) 17:33, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If the Wikipedia:Business' FAQ left you with questions, the FAQ itself should answer them, either directly, or with links from the terms a new user would be unlikely to understand. For example, instances of "the community" probably won't make sense to someone who just got here, so I'm linking them in that FAQ to: Wikipedia:Who writes Wikipedia. --Teratornis 19:08, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
While I'm sure it's covered in the business FAQ, I'll reiterate here that we also have a guideline on conflict of interest editing, which would be worth your reading before creating an article on your business. As to question #3, yes you could prepare an article yourself, either on another website or on your user page, and then get it copied to main article space, but it would have to conform to the relevant policies and guidelines, and be licensed under the GFDL, which means you agree to allow anyone else to use the content for any purpose and edit it as they see fit (within reason). Confusing Manifestation 22:42, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Name change?[edit]

I registered a few hours ago but I now have 2nd thoughts about my user name. Is it possible to change it to "Local667forOb" instead?Local667forObama 17:30, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Follow the instructions at WP:CHU. — Rlest (formerly Qst) 17:31, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
...but if you've only been registered for a few hours you almost certainly don't have a history you'd want to keep, so you're better off simply abandoning the old username and registering a new one. Before you do, though, have a read of the Wikipedia:Username policy - Wikipedia doesn't allow promotional usernames. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 12:17, 26 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Recently uploaded image not displaying[edit]

I uploaded a pic to Asmodai, but the image itself is not showing, and I've uploaded dozens and dozens of pics before without seeing this. Refreshed the page and purged cache, opened it up from another browser window. The image I uploaded before this one to Caim displays just fine. On Firefox the thumb text displays in place of the image, on IE there's a red x. In both cases if you click on the image it does go through. Is this a server issue? --BrokenSphere 17:52, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know why it happens, but it's happened to me and can be fixed by sizing it. On your article it displays fine on a preview at 220px.CindyBotalk 18:33, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Why does a band have to be notable in order to post a bio?[edit]

Notability is completely opinion based. Why did the band post that I put on get deleted? What can I do to keep it on? --Qwertycho 18:11, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Notability is not opinion based. Notability is indicated by the level of coverage a topic gets in proper sources. We have standards on what we do or do not cover because Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Friday (talk) 18:13, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
See Wikipedia:Notability (music) for notability guidelines on bands – Tivedshambo (talk) 18:16, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Of course notability is based in part on opinions; the fact that Wikipedia has any policies at all is because the people who control Wikipedia (e.g., Jimbo Wales) have opinions about what should and should not be here. (That's how every Web site works - there is always one person or a group of people who decide what can go on that site, based on their opinions.) Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to define a completely objective standard of notability, and practically speaking, not every article receives equal scrutiny, so even to the extent that the notability requirements are objective, they are not evenly applied. And then there's the problem that even if an objective standard of notability was definable, different editors would still interpret the standard differently in a given situation. In any case, Qwertycho should read: Wikipedia:Why was my article deleted?#If all else fails, try another wiki. There are lots of other wikis which specialize in particular topic areas (such as music) and may have more lenient requirements for articles. --Teratornis 19:02, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The notability guidelines are technically an "interpretation" of the verifiability policy, with a nod to the reliable sources and attribution guidelines - basically, the general standard of "multiple non-trivial references in reliable third-party sources" means that at least two (theoretically unbiased) media outlets agree that the band (or whatever) exists, and should provide some reliable information on it. Your average garage band that hasn't played a gig or released an album can only really be verified by members of the band itself, and given their obvious conflict of interest can't really be said to be a reliable source on the band. Confusing Manifestation 22:36, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Closing Keep AfD debates[edit]

I'm sure I've read somewhere that non-admins are allowed to close AfD debates, when there is an obvious consensus to keep. Can someone confirm this please, and preferably point out where I might have read this. Thanks. – Tivedshambo (talk) 18:18, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah the page you want to read is Wikipedia:Deletion_process#Non-administrators_closing_discussions. Non admins can make keep closures, but should really only do so if the result is unambiguous. Hope that's what you were looking for. Regards. Will (aka Wimt) 18:27, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks – Tivedshambo (talk) 18:33, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Note that Wikipedia:Speedy keep#Procedure recommends against non-admins closing as speedy keep. PrimeHunter 18:34, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I just created the template {{Sports in North America}}. It would be greatly appreciated if someone could make it collapsable. Thanks. The Evil Spartan 19:00, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It already is. The div class NavFrame is a collapsable table, with the default setting to "show". In order to make it collapsed by default, you'll have to re-write it according to the directions here. That page provides more information about the NavFrame element anyway, so could be useful reading. Hersfold (talk/work) 19:09, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Help with italics[edit]

I'm having trouble with typefaces. Certain words, I believe italic, come out in gibberish -- ie: qwt continued donations "mggr" ykmkrgkc "twppkpi#. I can't find a way to replace these fonts. I'm on a mac. Any advice?

I'm not sure what's going on. Can you read this? This is a test in italic This one is in bold Hersfold (talk/work) 19:33, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

i can read neither -- just gibberish. Although inside the box here, I can read, 'this is a test in italic, this one is in bold.

Category:Female serial killers looks unconventional - should I edit it?[edit]

I've never seen a category with a filmograhy, a bibliography and an external link on it. Are there any guidelines about how category pages should look? I'm sure these shouldn't be there. 172.189.153.165 20:07, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, that's odd. You could remove the content because it is nonstandard for a category page. Ideally, you should merge it to some other article, such as serial killer. Shalom Hello 21:58, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Editing question: copyrighted material[edit]

I have repeatedly edited the William McKinley page either to take down the plagiarized material in the assassination section or to cite the source of that material. Is there any way that the entry can reflect the borrowing therein?

The plagiarist continually reverts to a text that includes substantial portions of a century-old biography that is posted at http://mckinleydeath.com/documents/books/HUS2ch19.htm.

12.154.116.144 20:07, 25 July 2007 (UTC)Jimmy[reply]

If the biography is a century old, it's public domain. However, it would be polite to include the source. Corvus cornix 22:18, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
While the anon editor's point in that the information was lifted verbatim from the source is entirely legitimate, his or her conduct was unhelpful and even detrimental to addressing the concerns. First, the source had already been cited at the bottom of the page in the references.
  • first edit - deleted content and replaced with This source is unattributed--plagiarized--from http://mckinleydeath.com/documents/books/HUS2ch19.htm. BAD wikipedia!!
  • next edit - , deleted material and replaced with "deleted plagiarized content"
  • Last edit - The following contains once-copyrighted material. While the copyright has itself expired, the need to cite original authorship has not (this according both to the rules of Wikipedia and to those of creditable scholarship in the humanities).

I have since re-written the material. But the editor frankly should try to be more scholarly and less childish in trying to express issues with articles.Montco 02:35, 26 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for making sure that the change stays put. I agree that one of my edits was childish. I apologize.

Why, however, are no quotation marks (or block quoting) used for the quoted matter? This is not, as an earlier respondent says, a matter of politeness; it is, rather, a case of plagiarism. No matter the age of a source, or its status as "fair use," quoting without such signification is plagiarism.

Thanks. 12.154.116.144 16:12, 31 July 2007 (UTC) Jimmy[reply]


[Edited]

As it happens, the "source" cited at Wikipedia (note 2) is not the verbatim source to which I refer above. The 1903 history of the United States is not cited.

12.154.116.144 20:07, 31 July 2007 (UTC) Jimmy[reply]

templates[edit]

how do i make a template? specifically a cheer related one. such as

===[[Cheerleading]]===
====Skills====
[[List of cheerleading stunts]] •[[List of cheerleading jumps]] •[[Herkie]]
====Notable teams====
[[Cheer Athletics]] •[[London Rockets Cheerleaders]]

and other things... i don't know.Maddiewas here 20:30, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A template is just like any other page, only it appears in the Template namespace, so instead of, such as this page, Wikipedia:Help desk, it has a name like Template:Cheerleading. There's some more info at Wikipedia:Template messages and Wikipedia:Template namespace, although I would suggest that the best way to learn about template formatting is to find a good-looking template that already exists, go to its Template: page, and click on the edit link to see what its source looks like. Confusing Manifestation 22:31, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If you want to display repetitive information about lots of cheerleaders, it sounds like you should make an infobox. For more information, see: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Inf. I will leave a note on your talk page about this. I reformatted your question slightly so it does not generate spurious section headings in the Help desk. --Teratornis 01:03, 27 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

My entry keeps getting flagged[edit]

Hello. I have entered an entry for Rick Tramonto. It keeps getting flagged as being too advertisement like - but I don't understand how to fix it. I have edited and edited it, but to no avail. All of the information in it is factual, and can be proven - can you please help me? Thank you. 76.213.88.93 20:36, 25 July 2007 (UTC)Christina[reply]

I've removed the tag as it seems inappropriate. Do clean up the article- make it look smoother, and wikify. You also need to source more of it.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 21:25, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Dont understand GPL for what I want to do.[edit]

I'm creating an ecommerce site for NFL products. I want to use content from wiki on the site to give customers some info on nfl footbal. So let me know if I can do this: I want to include, say the first two paragraphs from a page in wiki on my site with a link back to the original complete document on wiki. Also, a link to the GPL. I also want to make internal links out of some of the words in those paragraphs to point to other pages on my site. Can I do this or is this a violation.

thank you,

JM

You are permitted to quote all or part of any article from Wikipedia as long as you provide a link to Wikipedia, acknowledging Wikipedia as the source. Many websites, such as Answers.com, do this routinely. Shalom Hello 21:55, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism I don't have time to go through and revert[edit]

IP address 144.36.169.226 has been doing a lot of vandalizing and I don't have time right now to go through and fix it all. Is there somewhere I can report this? (Note I had only just warned the user prior to finding all the additional vandalism, and no edits have taken place since the warning.) --Evil1987 22:17, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You can try WP:ANI or WP:AN, or WP:AIV; all will work. I'll do, it, though. --Haemo 22:18, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. If you are an administrator, you might want to also check whether Kent12 is the same user. --Evil1987 22:21, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not, but that wasn't really vandalism, most of it; he was nominating articles for deletion (probably poorly), but was an IP, and so couldn't complete the nomination. --Haemo 22:24, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
When I saw he didn't seem to follow through with any of the AfDs, and they all seemed to be on legitimate articles on notable subjects, I assumed vandalism. I guess I should have assumed good faith instead and dropped him a note. Anyway, thanks for your help. --Evil1987 22:32, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How to tag[edit]

how to tag Hihello4uus 22:57, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What kind of tag? Maybe Category:Wikipedia maintenance templates is useful. PrimeHunter 23:50, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]