Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 February 27

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February 27

Inserting an image from Wikipedia Commons

I just uploaded an image into Wikipedia Commons and wish to insert it into an article. I thought I understood how to do this, but when I try to edit the article and hit Preview, the photo doesn't show. Just the words, Image:blah-blah-etc., show. Is it possible I need to wait four days? I just joined Wikipedia Commons to upload the photo. This is not the case with Wikipedia, because I have been a member for a couple of months. If anyone has any ideas it would ease my frustration! Thank you. Voiceperson (talk) 01:20, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

• Check the formatting of other commons images in articles. No need to wait, AFAIK. Johnbod (talk) 02:02, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Usually you can insert the image immediately. No need to wait for days. Just copy the image name from commons, eg: Image:Nice Photo.PNG and put it in the article like this [[Image:Nice Photo.PNG|right|thumb|A nice photo.]]. Just an example. ќמшמφטтгמ^torque 02:04, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Just write [[Image:Ryan Allen.JPG‎]] to display the image like I did here.

By the way, the name is Wikimedia Commons. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:46, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

See more about displaying images at Help:Images and other uploaded files. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:48, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

How do I edit?

How do I edit Mike Huckabee? 70.234.154.58 (talk) 02:55, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Create an account since Mike Huckabee is a semi-protected article, wait for 4 days and then you will be able to edit.--Kerotan^{Leave Me a Message} Have a nice day :) 03:23, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

The IP also posted at Wikipedia:New contributors' help page#Can't edit an article and has seen the replies there. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:25, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Long articles

What do you do if you feel an article is too long.Chessmaster3 (talk) 03:23, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Click "edit page" and add {{toolong}} to the top of the article, fill in an edit summary, and then save the page.--Kerotan^{Leave Me a Message} Have a nice day :) 03:26, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:Article size. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:30, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Fish Cuts eg; En Tresse, Delice

I am currently in a Level 3 Chef course and have been asked to find culinary uses for fish cuts such as En Tresse, Pave, Gougons can you please direct me to a good site/page to do so thankyou219.89.235.180 (talk) 04:17, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried the Humanities section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 05:18, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Wikimedia images used by media

Is there any template we can use to indicate that a photo has been used by the media? Something similar to that used in Wikipedia, whereby an article was quoted by the media: {{Press}}. I found this photo taken by wikimedian User:Johnleemk used in the article: here. There are also many other pictures used by media from commons. I know this question should be for Commons, so a similar question was posted at Commons:Help desk, but there was not much response. ќמшמφטтгמ^torque 05:47, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

All images in Commons are free, so they may be reused in the media, provided that licensing conditions like attribution are complied with. —teb728 t c 08:20, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Yes i know that. I just thought that there should be some kind of an indicatoin that an image has been used by a media organisation, like some sort of trophy/medal or acknowledgement. Like {{Press}}. Or is it not practical? ќמшמφטтгמ^torque 08:50, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

You would have to ask at Commons, unfortunately. They use different templates than we do, and while I'm sure they do have something similar, I'm not sure if it would be {{Press}} or something else. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 13:01, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

By the way, does anyone know when {{onlinesource}} should be used versus {{press}} ? Pee Tern (talk) 00:08, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Looks like Commons dont have any template on this. I think it is being suggested that a template be created. So far i found only something like this: Commons:Image_talk:Absinthe-glass.jpg. ќמшמφטтгמ^torque 04:51, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

I would guess the former is used when a wikipedia article is mentioned/cited outside the body of work by a media (eg: bibiography), while the latter is when wikipedia article is mentioned in the body of work (ie greater focus, eg. for comparison or critical analysis purpose). But i may be wrong. ќמшמφטтгמ^torque 04:51, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Withdrawal of picture permission

Hello. Mainly I was wondering what the situation is when someone withdraws permission for a picture they had previously uploaded to Wikipedia, as has happened with Image:smarties2008.jpg which User:RAYBAN no longer wishes to be available for use. Is there somewhere it can be listed for deletion? Or does this not happen? (And if anybody wants to have a look over at Smarties (Nestle) and offer some advice or calm words to any of us, I would welcome it. It's calmer now, but it doesn't feel like an optimal solution.) Skittle (talk) 11:47, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Strictly speaking, by releasing the image into the public domain they no longer have that sort of control over it -- it's legally free to anyone to use for any purpose, with or without permission. Practically speaking, the continued good will of contributors is a valuable asset; is there sufficient reason to ignore the author's wishes, regardless of whether we're obligated to do so? The image doesn't seem worth fighting over. – Luna Santin (talk) 12:06, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Indeed it doesn't, and there isn't really any goodwill to spare in this case :( Just wondering if there was something that was normally done, some procedure I could direct RAYBAN to, to avoid anyone accidentally using the image elsewhere and incurring wrath. Skittle (talk) 13:26, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

If he wants it deleted, he could pop {{db-author}} on the image description page, to file a speedy deletion request. – Luna Santin (talk) 23:04, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

From a strictly legal point of view, it may not be possible to release anything into the public domain. Also, since these licenses are not contracts, it may be that they cannot impose obligations on the licensor; in other words, as much as we may like these licenses to be irrevocable, it's possible that we can't force the licensor to irrevocably license his work unless we pay him for it. I am not a lawyer, though. —Bkell (talk) 14:06, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Economics

How business environment influences business managemnet? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.199.205.25 (talk) 12:21, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried the Humanities section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:49, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

load data dumps in a database

I a newcomer. Experimenting wikipedia community as a huge social network. Intending to get the data dumps and load them into a MySQL database.

Am wondering if someone can guid me through the simplest way.

As far as I understand the dumps are really huge. I download one but it is saved with an unknown format. I cant see its content. And have no idea how to create a database out of that data.

In the first step can any one help me on dowloading a dump (revision history pages) and see its contents. I just want to find out how different versions of an article is saved in a dump. Is it exactly the same as shown on the history page?

Highly appreciate any help

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.5.67.245 (talk) 13:50, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

I've never done it, but I can give you a few pointers. Wikipedia:Database download explains it briefly and meta:Data dumps explains it in lots more detail. The first thing is that the the files you downloaded are either .sql or .xml files, compressed with either .bz2 or .7z. You'll need a program like 7-Zip to uncompress them. I'm not familiar with the rest of it but I hope those links can help a bit. • Anakin ^(talk) 14:11, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Change mouseover text of a link

Is there any way of changing the text that appears when you hover over a link in Wikipedia, like when using the title tag in html links? Freestyle 15:16, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Okay, I found it out myself :) a link.. this seems to work in IE7 and Firefox. Freestyle 15:22, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

You might also want to check out the {{H:title}} template documented here. —Noah 00:33, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. That doesn't seem to work with links right now though. I suggested some code to be added so this template can be used for links too. Freestyle 10:55, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

removing warning box

Hi, I had a warning box put on my page at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Connection

saying that I hadn't cited enough sources or given enough references to be considered a noteworthy page. I believe that I've fixed that problem by now and would wonder if someone could please give me some feedback about this and what the isssue was in the first place, and remove the box, please.

Thank you,

--Beakymouse (talk) 15:23, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Will address on your talk page. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 15:47, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Text dump merger

Wikipedia's merging instructions do not provide the specific steps required for a "text dump merger," merely indicating that such a thing is possible. Could you pleas eidrect me to a listing of the steps involved in making that type of merger? Thanks! J.W. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JoanWells (talk • contribs) 16:10, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

• A text dump is taking all the info from one page and putting it on another. Go to the edit screen of the first page. Select all text, copy, go to the other page, click edit and paste it at the end of that page. It is a crude method almost never used. Most people pick and choose the parts to merge. If you would like help, share the names of the two articles and someone will assist you further. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 16:43, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Speedy Deletion

Hi, we keep trying to create a page for our company, TSE Sports & Entertainment. We don’t want to advertise it and we keep referring to other companies' entries such as IBM to see how everything should be worded on our page, but it keeps getting speedily deleted. Can you please help us out so that we can make a proper page? Our account of gotse was also blocked from making any more edits because of how many times we tried to change it to make it proper. Thank you 66.11.200.227 (talk) 17:00, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Just so you know, if you have a close connection with the company, you might have WP:COI. Conflict of interest is frowned upon here, and will usually end up getting deleted. If you want an article, you should find someone else who isn't affiliated much with the company to write it. Soxred93 | talk bot 17:09, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

WP:COI aside, take a look at WP:NPOV, WP:NOR, and WP:V and make sure you comply with these policies. It's best to have somebody else write the article for you in order to achieve the neutral tone wikipedia strives for in an article. You could do it yourself, but be mindful of that. Also, make sure you have reliable sources before you hit the save button. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 17:12, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

• Please also read Wikipedia:FAQ/Business. Thank you Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 17:17, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

When an admin deletes an article, he or she states the reason(s) for deletion. See WP:WWMPD for instructions on how to locate and understand these reasons. --Teratornis (talk) 19:39, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

The first time the article was deleted, it was because the article did not establish the notability of the company. The first page you should refer to is Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies). Conflict of interest alone is not such a problem and not a grounds for deletion since the article can be verified and edited once the basic content is in place, but if it doesn't meet the basic notability requirements you'll find it hard to supply reliable sources to verify the article. • Anakin ^(talk) 19:55, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Actually Anakin101, that's not true. The first time it was deleted it was for blatant advertising. The most recent time was for non-notability. Anchoress · Weigh Anchor · Catacomb 20:01, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Original poster: If you want, I'd be happy to help you try to bring your article up to Wikipedia standards, if it's possible. I'd suggest that you go to the talkpage of the most recent deleting administrator (check here: [1]), and a) ask to be unblocked, and b) ask for the most recent version of your article to be 'userfied', moved to your userspace so you and others can work on it. When you've done so, drop a note on my talkpage and I'll go take a look. Anchoress · Weigh Anchor · Catacomb 20:01, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Uploading text in Office format

I apologize but I've been looking for the answer to this for an hour and can't find it. I want to upload a file written in Microsoft Office, text only, to create a new entry (my bio as a published author). I can't figure out how to put that in another format, though I see that you have an Office translator. I can scan it into tif but you only accept jpg. Help! Thank you, linjentoo —Preceding unsigned comment added by Linjentoo (talk • contribs) 19:10, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

New articles by new users on Wikipedia have a very high probability of being deleted, because Wikipedia has a large set of policies and guidelines that tend to be extremely unintuitive for most people. Autobiographical articles in particular represent a minefield of problems. See WP:BIO and WP:COI. Before attempting to create a new article on Wikipedia, first you should learn to edit by helping to improve our existing articles. Wikipedia is free, but it is not a free lunch. The satisfaction you can derive from participating here is directly proportional to the effort you make to learn how this complex place works. For a scary overview of our complexity, see: WP:EIW. In the meantime, you might try WikiBios which accepts biographies about anyone. --Teratornis (talk) 19:51, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

You can't upload a Word document as is; it would only be a file in the file database, and not a proper article in the encyclopedia. You will need to copy and paste the text to an article, and format it using wiki mark-up (see Wikipedia:Cheatsheet for the most common mark-up).

However, first you need to make sure that the text is encyclopedic and suitable for Wikipedia. Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist. 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.

Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people and note that the conflict of interest guideline actually 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 an article before creation. Hope these links help. • Anakin ^(talk) 19:48, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

As you state this is a bio about yourself, I strongly suggest you do not post it. It is a conflict of interest to write articles about yourself, especially autobiographies. -- Kesh (talk) 23:06, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

How do I create a "contents" box?

How do I create a "contents" box? I'm writing an article, have created sections and subsections, but cannot bring up a contents box. Help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Normsch (talk • contribs) 19:25, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Hi there,

It should come up automatically, could you provide a link to the article in question? --The Helpful One ^(Review) 19:27, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

It comes up automatically only if you have more than 3 headings. If you have three or less, you can force one by typing __TOC__ in the edit window (that's two underlines before and after). --barneca (talk) 19:34, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Changing a title

Hello,

I need to change the title of an entry to properly reflect the name of a law firm. The law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath does not have a comma in its name, but its entry in Wikipedia is "Drinker, Biddle & Reath". I know how to edit the content of the piece, but not the title. Could you please remove the comma from the title so it reads "Drinker Biddle & Reath"?

Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stfuzz (talk • contribs) 22:28, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

 Done When your account is four days old (autoconfirmed in wiki-lingo), you can click the "Move" tab at the top of the page to move said page. Xenon⁵⁴ 22:33, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Template question

Is there a way to grab the name of the last contributor to a page? For example, if I were creating a StatusBot template and wanted to list the name of the bot that last edited my status page, is there a way to do that without manually editing the template? Xenon⁵⁴ 23:40, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

As far as I am aware, the only running StatusBot right now is User:EBot IV, which, unsurprisingly, has broken down like all the rest. Assuming you actually intend to use this for something else, however, I'd say no. The only functioning variables of this sort are listed at Help:Magic words and Help:Variable. Sorry. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 23:48, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Billboard 200 boxes

Hello, I am adding boxes on the pages of music albums that were number-one albums on the Billboard 200 at one time that show when that album was at the number-one spot. I am unsure whether these boxes should be at the bottom of the page or in sections about the album's sales and chart information, and I have not been able to find an answer to this question in the style manual. An example of a page with the box below sales and chart information would be 1 (album), and a page with the box at the bottom of the page would be Stadium Arcadium. Thank you.--Classicrockfan42 (talk) 23:52, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Well, that sounds like a complex question. You might check the talk pages for those articles: Talk:Stadium Arcadium and Talk:1 (album) to see their Wikiprojects. It seems they have Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums in common. Often WikiProjects will work out their own detailed style recommendations, which should be in the Manual of style but haven't always gotten there yet. --Teratornis (talk) 00:33, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

A third way that I have seen, and my preference, is to have the "number-one album" or "number-one single" boxes and boxes like them just above any artist template(s) that may be on the page. --Wolfer68 (talk) 09:48, 29 February 2008 (UTC)