Help desk
< May 7	<< Apr \| May \| Jun >>	May 9 >

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

May 8[edit]

Can I delete my account?[edit]

I was viewing Wikipedia the other day when I realised that, after making a Wikipedia account, I have no real use for it at all. Since I created my account, I have made no contributions to Wikipedia at all apart from my user page, which I deleted straight after making it because I decided that I didn't want it after all, and a page about myself which I also deleted because I decided that I didn't want a page publicised about myself. Since I have made no contributions to Wikipedia and my account is free of any violation made to the Wikipedia website (in other words I haven't done anything on the site illegal), can I delete my account? 172.200.60.196 00:24, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No, you can't have your account deleted, and this isn't a problem. You can always create a new one if you decide to come back, though. *Cremepuff 222* 00:29, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I can delete your pages for you if you want, just leave a message on my talk page. John Reaves (talk) 00:34, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Problem with my password[edit]

I have a question. There was a message when I hoped on My Watchlist page. It told me that I might want to change my password. But, every single time I try to create a new one using My Preferences, It tells me "Incorrect password entered. Please try again.". My original password is typed in ok and my new password is all lower case, which should be ok. Can anyone help me with this? Thanks. --ASDFGHJKL=Greatest Person Ever+Coolest Person Ever 00:50, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There's not much I can help you with here. Just make sure you have typed your current password correctly, and the two new passwords EXACTLY the same in each box. If that doesn't work, you may have to ask for help at the Village pump. *Cremepuff 222* 00:54, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also, make sure your password isn't the same as your username--VectorPotential^Talk 00:54, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps you want to check if the Caps lock, scroll lock, or number lock is /are on. ~ Magnus animum ∵ ∫ φ γ 00:57, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Question[edit]

i want to know more about dumb people(who are not able to speak)...i am not able o find a link in wikipedia —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prashantsharma chd (talk • contribs)

See Mute (disorder). You will find more links there — Lost^(talk) 01:32, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also see Euphemism#The “Euphemism Treadmill” to understand why polite people stopped referring to such people as "dumb," and one day will probably have to abandon "mute" as well. --Teratornis 14:52, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A Question of images...[edit]

I was reading the Wikipedia policy on images, and it said to not take any images from a website without making sure it's okay with them. However, does that apply when:

a) You actually made the picture in question (eg. you made it on your account from DeviantArt)
b) Got the image from a search engine (like Google or Yahoo!)
c) If the image in question is different from an actual screenshot/picture (eg. slight changes in scenery, characters, clothing, quality, etc...)

If the policy doesn't apply with c then:

d) Could copyrighted images be used under free-use policy if they were "modified" to some degree?

Thanks for your time and patience, "If...if is good" ^_^ 01:34, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Here we go:

a) If it is your creation, you may license the image however you want. See WP:TAGS for the full list of acceptable licenses.

b) Generally a bad idea to do. You would have to find the owner of the copyright as outlined in the usage policy.

c) Uh... that would probably be considered a Derivative work, and thus held under the same copyright as the original.

d) It would have to be edited so much that it no longer resembled in any significant way the original. So in short, no.

Hope that helps. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 02:04, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Search engine problem.[edit]

I know that this is a frequently asked questioned, and I did check the Frequently Asked Questions page, but I'm still not quite sure how to make my article, J.R. and Babe, show up in the search engines. It shows up in wikipedia's search engine, sure, but not such search engines as AOL or Google, and I'm really looking for that. When I edited this page, it was blank, but months before that...it was an active article, so I decided to fix it up. Is the fact that this article was once deleted or blanked the reason for the search engine issues that I'm having with it?. Please, I don't mean to sound like such a newbie, but can you help me out with this? Flyer22 01:34, 8 May 2007 (UTC) Flyer22[reply]

Search engines usually scan a website like Wikipedia every so often to update their information on it, so in general all you have to do is wait. Depending on the engine, though, it may help if a page it already knows about includes a link to the new page, so consider putting links to the article in other (relevant, of course) articles. Confusing Manifestation 01:39, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the helpful advice. It's just that I've been waiting for a few days now for my article to show up in the search engines. Granted, I was still editing the page at that time. I'll give it some more days to show up, like you suggested. If for some reason, it still fails to show up, well, then I'll seek help from here once more on this subject. Again, thanks a lot.Flyer22 02:05, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You started J.R. and Babe on May 5. Today is May 8. That's only three days, a mere eyeblink in Google time. Check back in a week or two and your page should by then top this search: google:"J.R. and Babe" or google:"J.R. Chandler and Babe Carey". In the meantime, compare the pages on Special:Whatlinkshere/J.R. Chandler and Babe Carey to the articles the great Google says mention the charming couple and be sure every article that already mentions them links to your article (which is presumably the definitive article on this subject). It looks like most of your edits have been to J.R. Chandler and Babe Carey, and there may be some existing articles that should link to your article but do not yet. --Teratornis 15:12, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Secure password[edit]

There is a message on my watchlist: Important! For your own security, please choose a secure password. See password strength or this guide for help in choosing a strong password. [dismiss]. Is it because my password was considered naïve? Or is it a standard reminder for users? Rjgodoy 01:48, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I can see it too. Someone must have put it up on the noticeboard - my guess is someone thought there might be risk of password hacks or something? Dunno, but you might try asking at the Technical Pump. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 01:59, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think everybody sees that until they click the '[dismiss]'. Veinor ^{(talk to me)} 02:02, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Recently two administrator accounts were hacked because they had a weak password. The message is probably an attempt to avoid any new cases. - 131.211.210.19 08:05, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Four admin accounts, actually. It's not because you may have a weak password, it's a standard reminder to all users to increase account security. CattleGirl ^{talk | sign!} 08:10, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Image Licensing[edit]

Is it possible to license images (taken by myself, of course) uploaded to Wikipedia on the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License, or a similar license forbidding commercial use of the image? Thanks! --Ali 02:10, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No, sorry-- wikipedia and wikimedia commons require that works be licensed in a way that allows commercial use and derivative works. However, if your image fits under a fair use rationale, you might be able to include it that way. Calliopejen1 02:13, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

User name help[edit]

Worlds YOUNGEST tv show creator EVER! I have a username similar to this can you please look for it in your database for proof/confirmation my e-mail(s) are:

but i only created it last week and i registered for wikipedia either last year or the year before and the 3 above are the likely candidates for the e-mail spot on the other name.

I haven't logged in a long time because before this protection stuff i was able to edit for free, so i didn't need to waist time logging in if i was going to beat the

ENTIRE WORLD to add something on a page that just became huge news.

Worlds YOUNGEST tv show creator EVER! this is my new account because i couldn't remember the EXACT case sensitive username, and password or even which email i used. vut could you e-mail me at that names e-mail along with the username and password thank you very very much. i know you may think i'm stealing it but i'm not call my cell phone if you think you need to have vocal proof(i don't know why you would though).

I bolded, and italisized the time i live in. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Worlds YOUNGEST tv show creator EVER! (talk • contribs) 05:23, 8 May 2007 (UTC).[reply]

The only one I could find at Special:Listusers is User:Worlds YOUNGEST tv show creator EVER! which your editing from right now. Please be aware that your user name is too long, you should just create a new account with a shorter name. John Reaves (talk) 06:11, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a way to change the mouseover caption for a link?[edit]

And a follow-up: how? --Xiaphias 05:36, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

<span title="Caption!">here is some text</span>	here is some text

Hope that's what you're looking for, or something like it. :) – Luna Santin (talk) 06:13, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That apparently doesn't work on links, though, because the link itself seems to override it. For example, Wikipedia should have a title that says this is a title. It's OK on plain text. Adrian M. H. 19:31, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Editing problem -- please help[edit]

I'm trying to add a poet to the Editing Category:Canadian poets page, but when I click on edit this page, it does not show the list of poets, but rather something else; there are no other edit tags to click, that I can see. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Normally, it's simple to edit a page. What am I missing here?

Thanks for any help offered.

Proteotopian

You need to add the category to the article rather than add the article to the category. Just put the category tag on the bottom of the article. --LaraLove^Talk/_Contribs 06:29, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I did do that. The category is at the bottom of the article, but following that link, the poet does not appear. I'm referring to the Jamie Reid article. -- Proteotopian

Jamie Reid (Canadian poet) does appear in Category:Canadian poets. You just aren't looking under "J"! Notinasnaid 07:51, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I've altered the article so he's listed by his last name. - 131.211.210.19 08:03, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much, all of you! -- Proteotopian

Hit Counter[edit]

Is it possible to get a hit counter for wikipedia? and if so where would I find one?

Thanks,

Klown hitman 06:35, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No. The feature to count how many times a page has been visited has been turned off for performance reasons. For more details please see Wikipedia:Technical FAQ#Can_I_add_a_page_hit_counter_to_a_Wikipedia_page?. You can, however, see how many people edit a page by clicking on the "history" page.

An alternative to see viewing statistics is WikiCharts, see Special:Statistics#Other_statistics. You can also see articles with the most edits at Special:Mostrevisions.--Commander Keane 07:00, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How to replace a photo[edit]

how do i replace an old photo with a new up to date one ? Jonny benway 10:41, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You can upload another image under the same name as the original. The old image should be replaced with the current one. Make sure the copyright licences match, or the new image replaces a free use version. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 14:48, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You could also upload it under another name and change the links in the articles. If it's free, upload it on the Wikimedia Commons. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:35, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Submitting a new page[edit]

How do I submitt a new page? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Shane63 (talk • contribs) 14:39, 8 May 2007 (UTC).[reply]

That's covered by the VFAQs that are mentioned in the "Read this first" header. See Help:Starting a new page, but first, you should familiarise yourself with some basic policies or you might be reading Why was my page deleted?. Adrian M. H. 19:19, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In general - searching for a misspelling[edit]

An example, how do I search for incidences of the misspelling sovereignity when all pages containing sovereign appear? --Brenont 18:48, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Very_Frequently_Asked_Questions#How_do_I_create_a_new_article? Hersfold ^(talk/work) 14:44, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That does not answer the question. Brenont want to find articles containing the exact spelling "sovereignity" (perhaps to modify it?). Wikipedia search also returns articles containing the far more common "sovereign". I don't know whether this can be avoided with Wikipedia search, but Google appears to do the wanted by default: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sovereignity+site%3Aen.wikipedia.org&btnG=Search. PrimeHunter 22:31, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There's multiple people who run bots searching for spelling errors. You can ask them if they have it included in their list. See WP:BOT. -Mgm|^(talk) 22:33, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

News events in articles[edit]

Can anyone advise on the latest additions to the Central Sussex College article about the YouTube video. Personally I think much to much detail has been gone into, but I feel unable to be entirely independent. My thoughts are that the 'event' could be summarised in one or two sentences, but the photos and detail removed. Am I being to censorious? Tafkam 18:51, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It could be trimmed to some degree, and have just one photo with the newspaper shots removed. It could be considered to carry undue weight. Adrian M. H. 19:17, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Richwoods, Missouri article is nonsensical, factually in error and slanderous.[edit]

As the Superintendent of the Richwoods School District, I am aware of at least 12 factual errors and made up lies in the article. Someone is having fun with this, but the information is in error. While I attempted to edit the errors, I'm not sure I was successful. My questions are:

1. Can this article be edited back to just the description of where the town is?

2. How can responsible members of the community write an accurate history and description of the community and not have someone come along and edit nonsense into the article?

Thank you,

John Westerman, Superintendent Richwoods R-VII Richwoods, Missouri

I removed the uncited and nonsensical material. -Wo o ty Woot? contribs 20:12, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To actually answer your questions, 1. Yes and 2. They can't. Or, to be more specific:

1. Anyone can edit articles on Wikipedia, so all you have to do (in most cases) is click the link up the top of an article that says "edit this page". In some cases (e.g. George W. Bush), you may have to make a little more effort since the page is protected to some extent. In particular, if someone has edited a page to include vandalism, but there is an older version of the page which is "clean", it is possible to revert the article to its earlier version.

2. As said above, anyone can edit. Which means that anyone can come in and do what they like to an article, including vandalise it. However, a large effort goes into watching out for vandalism in Wikipedia articles, since it is just as easy (if not easier) to undo vandalism than to cause it, since it just requires someone to notice the vandalism (and there are many ways to do that), and revert it. As Thomas Jefferson might have said were he alive today, "The price of a good article is eternal vigilance." Confusing Manifestation 06:50, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Incorrect date for The Sage School[edit]

Hello -

I am the Communication Coordinator for The Sage School in Foxboro, MA and wanted to update some information for the school's description.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sage_School

Katherine G. Windsor has been Head of School since 1998 not 1996. Can you please update or let me know who I should contact?

Thank you, Margaret O'Connor —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Moconnorsage (talk • contribs) 20:08, 8 May 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Okay, I fixed it. You can fix these sort of things yourself, though, just click the 'edit this page' button at the top and fix the date. I'm not sure the school itself meets our notability and reliable source policies though (for example, inaccuracies such as the ones above should be fixed without needing someone from the school tell us about it), so I have nominated it for deletion. You are welcome to share your opinions on the discussion page. -Wo o ty Woot? contribs 21:02, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Replace an article[edit]

How do I replace an article that I consider to be altogether misconceived and full of errors? I am an expert on the topic and previous editors clearly are not. I have solicited comments and modified my draft accordingly. The article in question is chemical equilibrium and my draft replacement is at user talk:petergans/draft. This article is of core significance with more than 200 links to it and I feel that it is important to get the science right. In my opinion the science is seriously defective in the current article, beyond redemption. Petergans 20:35, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The article looks OK but not suitable for a general reader - it's extremely complicated right from the beginning. You should do the following: read WP:MOS and WP:LEAD and fix it up as much as possible. Take it to WP:RFF and get general feedback on it, fix it up from there. Then I would open a WP:RFC to get a general consensus on whether the current article should be replaced altogether with your version. -Wo o ty Woot? contribs 20:45, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In your version, what happened to the other references that are in the current article? And what about the online equilibrium calculator? I agree with Wooty, it needs writing to make it more accessible to laymen. If something is wrong, it would help explaining it at the talk page, so people know why you're removing it. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:28, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Also, I don't think writing that article without mentioning "Atkins, P. W. (1997). Physical Chemistry. Oxford University Press." is a good idea. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:29, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Help[edit]

Help I need to getback to editing. I cant edit mainspace. whats wrong with mi powers? Free account! ʑ 21:22, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Did you get blocked? *Cremepuff 222* 21:25, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You were blocked indefinitely here for the message posted on your userpage in clear violation of our policies. Shared accounts are not allowed.--Fuhghettaboutit 21:29, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Image:Gin (Case Closed).jpg[edit]

Can you please help me with the right licene for that picture?
Thanks --D-Kuru (17:58, 8 May 2007 (UTC))[reply]

Done —Mitaphane _?|! 23:17, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Template contentions[edit]

Following reasonable success at resuscitating WP:CHICOTW, I am expanding my efforts into building up the assessment division of the project. I have recently had a bot tag articles within Category:Chicago, Illinois. Of the first 7000 or so articles identified by the bot two have been contentious. One of them has relented to having a {{ChicagoWikiProject}} tag. This leaves only Jon Corzine as problematic. It is my understanding that a talk page project banner template is for the purpose of assisting a project categorize relevant articles. For example, the aforementioned tag would place articles in appropriate subcategories of Category:WikiProject_Chicago. Thus, it is useful for helping to administer the work of project. 2 or 3 editors of Corzine's page, seem to have a problem with the fact that our bot is adding the template to pages in the subcategory Category:University of Chicago alumni. In a sense, (from my perspective) they are attempting to WP:OWN the page and set policy for a project in which they are not a member by removing the Chicago project's template. I admit at first I said they had the option of removing it, but since the only other party who was given this option chose to accede to our project template I thought they would too. Now, I have asked that they allow the project to use the banner and they have continued to remove the banner. Does a WP Project have a right to place its banner on reasonably associated pages or can non-members of the project insist on its removal when it is somewhat relevant. If this is not the proper place to ask this question where else should I try. I will be xposting this at Village pump policy. TonyTheTiger (talk/cont/bio) 21:30, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Lyrics in an article?[edit]

Are song lyrics allowed in Wikipedia articles? I'm asking because someone posted the English translation of "I Forget" from Serenada Schizophrana, and the only place that provides the translation for "I Forget" (legally) is the official Serenada Schizophrana website. --Releeshan 21:49, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Lyrics are not allowed if they are in copyright. Translation does not remove copyright status (though it may add an additional layer). Notinasnaid 21:50, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Unless the song is particularly old (from at least before 1923), adding the lyrics is out of the question. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:22, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

And even if the song is in public domain (such as by being from before 1923), I believe the best place to post the full lyrics would not be here, but on Wikisource. Confusing Manifestation 06:44, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

my link removed.[edit]

I have added a url to a musicians website. The musician is Kathem al Sahir. Our website has major musicians and artist from all over the world, on each of their pages there is biographical information that they gave to us. Video of them speaking about their instuments and musical career, as well as telling life stories that may have impacted them. The foundation of our website is live concert performances that have been recorded (by staytuned's professional film crew). So this is a educational website about music and dance. What I do not understand is why when I added this link on the bottom of the page it was removed? I read all of the guidelines and it seems to be a good fit. Before I try and add the individual URL's of our other artist can you tell me if their is some issue? I do not want to waste either of out time. Thank you. Alyssum <email removed> www.staytunedtv.com Staytunedtv 22:52, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

First of all, please read our conflict of interest policy. in genral you should not beaddign links to "your own" site. Then read Wikipedia:External links, particularly "Links normally to be avoided". Note "Links to sites with objectionable amounts of advertising.", "Links mainly intended to promote a website." Your site appears to be of marginal acceptability by these standards at best. Note that "fan sites" are generally discouraged. DES ^(talk) 23:00, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If it contains interviews with the musicians themselves, it might make a good source of information to add to the article. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:28, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

links in a table[edit]

I've noticed in a lot of tables everything is linked, even though they don't exist. For Example, in List_of_CSI:_Miami_episodes, the names of most of the writers, episodes, directors, etc. don't have an article. I'm wondering if there is some sort of rule or part of the formatting that says that if there are some links in a table, all applicable table entries need to be link as well, regardless of whether or not an article exists. It's rather interesting how some of the blue links lead to incorrect articles... 72.64.82.5 23:26, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That would be because of redirection. If you become a member, then you can create the page and it won't redirect. Thanks, Meldshal42

No, no, no, you misunderstand. I'm asking if there is some guideline that states if a few links in a table are valid, then all applicable entries (returning to the CSI example above, all the episode names or all the writers/directors) must have an internal link regardless or whether or not they exist. ([Again, the CSI example] more than 3/4 of the episodes don't have a corresponding article)72.64.82.5 23:52, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I see what you mean. Red links like that one are sometimes included to highlight the need for an article - in this case, the people linked to are probably notable enough to meet our guidelines, just nobody has bothered to make the article yet. WP:RED provides more information on how to deal with red links in certain situations. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 01:25, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ahh, thank you. That answered my questions. I have one more. What should be done about links that link to a different topic than what is meant (I.E. You link a person's name, even though there is no article for that specific person, with intent for there to be one in the future. However, the link goes to a different person of the same name who does have an article.72.64.82.5 01:53, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The best way to handle that is via disambiguation - so if, for example, the article titled John Doe was about a film director and you wanted to link to an article about John Doe the author, link it like this: [[John Smith (author)|John Smith]], and then follow the links on WP:DAB to disambiguate the two articles (once both articles exist, of course). Confusing Manifestation 06:41, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Bots[edit]

How do we start a bot? Do we have to be an admin or something? Thanks, Meldshal42.

I don't believe so. The bot policy lists what is and is not allowed in automatic accounts, and requests for approval is the place to go if your bot is ready to run. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 00:55, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you Meldshal42

Banned and need to play more[edit]

Hi..i had an account a while ago which was a subscriber, but stopped playing the game for personal reasons, then handed the account over to my friend and had him pay for it. Appariently he got banned and now i cant play anymore, and i want to start playing YPP again. Is there any way that i can get my computer 'untainted' because i wasnt the one that got banned

68.57.204.215 23:38, 8 May 2007 Thanks,sdsguitarist.

I believe you may be in the wrong place... just a hunch. 72.64.82.5 23:53, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia isn't a "game", and if you were blocked from an MMORPG then I'm afraid we can't help you. If you were blocked from Wikipedia, you should check the steps at WP:AFB for details on how to appeal the block.

According to the block log, you are not blocked on Wikipedia. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 00:53, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

From the numerous Google results for "YPP", the most likely one seems to be Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates, a MMO puzzle-based game. I'd suggest the best place to ask about it would be somewhere on the official site, or maybe on their own wiki (possibly the reason the original poster got confused), although I haven't actually looked at either to see what the policy is. Confusing Manifestation 06:38, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]