Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 November 16

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November 16

Security hole?

I suspect that I have identified a security hole in Wikipedia. I hope I'm wrong, but if not, what's the best way to report it privately? Ma^t_chups 03:19, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

From http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Security: "If you have found or believe you have found a security bug in MediaWiki or on one of Wikimedia's web sites, please directly e-mail security@wikimedia.org with details.¶ We would be most happy to have a day or two to fix the problem and prepare a bug fix for third-party users before public disclosure, if possible." – Sswonk (talk) 03:27, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Dispute resolution question

I seem to recall a part of the dispute resolution guidelines that mentioned something about when person C saw an edit war brewing between persons A and B, that they could list the page on some list and the article would be locked until a consensus could be reached. Does this ring any bells with anyone? The article that I want to call attention to is Cytherea (person). Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 05:25, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Personal Pages

I am looking for a website to post my resume, can I post it under my name here on Wikipedia. For example I've considered starting it here C.Jones —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.3.14.177 (talk) 07:31, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

• Note: Wikipedia is not a blog, webspace provider, social networking, or memorial site -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 09:59, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

There are alternatives, see Wikipopuli and Wikibios. – ukexpat (talk) 15:58, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Please save Seongha Jeong

No matter how much I (and some others) have thrown assertions and evidence of his notability onto Seongha's article, nobody who's inclined to keep the article is going to its AFD page.

Can someone please do what it takes to improve the article enough for it to be kept? Thanks. --Let Us Update Special:Ancientpages. 09:37, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

I am going to respond at the AfD. Other editors may want to chime in on making the request here.Cptnono (talk) 09:43, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Two comments: firstly, this isn't really the place for seeking people to join in the AfD discussion - this Help Desk is for help with using Wikipedia. Secondly, the notability for this individual appears to be based on one article on a blog, and YouTube videos. I don't know about anyone else, but I will certainly pop over to the AfD and leave my comment - but it may not be what you are hoping for. (Notice that I say "may not" - I haven't looked up sources for myself yet, so it may be that I'll be pleasantly surprised. A quick search hasn't revealed anything yet) -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 09:44, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Remove Record From Special:Contributions

Is it possible to remove the record in you user's Special:Contributions pages which says that you've made a particular edit on an article in Wikipedia from once you've made that edit? If so then, how? If not, then will it stay there forever?

Bowei Huang (talk) 10:26, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

• Your contributions are generally there for ever! If there is a particular reason why you would not want a specific edit showing, for privacy reasons, there is a process called Oversight - read that article, which explains the process, as well as giving a link to the list of Oversighters. There has to be a very good reason for the removal of a particular edit from your contributions - for example "I made a silly comment" or "I was rude to someone" would not be sufficient - whereas something like "I put my telephone number on that talk page" would be, as this would be a privacy issue. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 10:46, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

You mean that my contributions will be there even after I die? Even after 100 years or 1000 years?

Is there any way to "hide" the special contribution records, if you can't remove or delete them?

Bowei Huang (talk) 22:35, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

None that I am aware of. – ukexpat (talk) 22:38, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Assuming Wikipedia lasts for 100 years, then yes, your contributions will be there. Wikipedia's license for reuse requires that all edits be attributed to someone, no matter how mundane they may be. As you have been told, the only way to have an edit removed from general view is oversight; this only happens in exceptional circumstances (for example, the "outing" of an editor, or the posting of libellous information) - and the edit will still be visible to the small group of oversighters. Xenon54 / talk / 22:46, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Citing old books, only have Library of Congress number

Hi! I am trying to utilize a cite template in order to cite three very old books. I have found them on the Library of Congress' website. Is there a cite template available for this? Basket of Puppies 11:50, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

• Just use the fields in the cite template that you can fill in - author, title, date of publication, publisher. Not all fields have to be used. It may be that other editors would be able to find more information, but generally for very old books, there will be no ISBN or other details, as ISBN didn't exist! -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 11:52, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

  You could use the "id" parameter as well: id=LoC xxxxxx -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 11:53, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Also, you can use {{LCC}} in the id= field.

Example: * {{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Fred |title= Olde books are good|edition=1st |year=1901|publisher=Smith and Co.|location=London|id={{LCC|A123.B45 C67 1901}}}} gives

• Smith, Fred (1901). Olde books are good (1st ed.). London: Smith and Co. LCC A123.B45 C67 1901.

Hope this helps -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 14:01, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Excellent. Thank you, Phantomsteve. BTW, do you know if a bot generates citation template exists for LoC numbers? Basket of Puppies 11:57, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

I don't know of one, but that doesn't mean there isn't one! -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 13:53, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

There is {{Loc}}, but it's not a citation template. – ukexpat (talk) 22:40, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

See the links under WP:EIW#Citetools for what is available. I don't know if what you want is there, or if it is, whether it works. --Teratornis (talk) 03:36, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

User Page (2)

I should like to remove some material from my user page. I get the following message--Sorry! We could not process your edit due to a loss of session data. Please try again. If it still does not work, try logging out and logging back in. I've tried that with no luck. What can I do, please? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prmwp (talk • contribs) 14:39, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Normally it means exactly what it says. Please log in again. Alternatively, have you recently changed your browser so as to not retain cookies? Jan1naD ^{(talk • contrib)} 14:47, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

I see you've now managed to do it. Jan1naD ^{(talk • contrib)} 14:49, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Done. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prmwp (talk • contribs) 14:50, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

HELP Please

I am attempting to create a new account in Wikipedia Bahasa Melayu (ms). It seems like all IPs from my school has been blocked. What happened to Wikipedia sysops there? 158.143.167.250 (talk) 16:02, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Hello. your question seems to be related to one of our sister projects. Please note that you are at the English Wikipedia, one of hundreds of projects hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. Each project is operated independently of one another, including Wikipedias in other languages. This page is a help desk for asking questions related to using this wiki, so we may be unable to assist in matters concerning other Wikimedia projects. You may have more luck trying to find help at the project in question. Best of luck. --Mysdaao ^talk 17:18, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Hi. I wouldn't have turned here if I could leave a message there. As I said all the IPs from my school were blocked. Can someone help please? 158.143.167.250 (talk) 17:25, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

What would you have us do? We are completely independent from ms.wiki. I think you'll get much more useful reaction if you:

(a) Re-read the block notice at ms.wiki, and follow the directions for requesting an unblock or creating an account. If it is similar to here, you may need to create it somewhere else, not at school

(b) If for some reason that doesn't work, read the ms.wiki help documentation and find the equivalent of the {{helpme}} template, and use that on the IP's talk page.

--Floquenbeam (talk) 17:40, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

table tennis

whether failing to hit the ball while serving in ping pong will render the service wrong —Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.152.151.184 (talk) 18:12, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Wikipedia:Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps.--Unionhawk ^{Talk E-mail Review} 18:15, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Disputed fair use

I have seen an article that uses an unfree image, with the requested non-free content rationale provided. However, I have reasons to believe that such rationale is incorrect (but only for that case; it is also used at other articles with the related rationales, and I don't dispute those others). Wich is the place or method to explain such things? MBelgrano (talk) 19:37, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

I would delete the image link from the relevant article and explain on the talk page why you have done so. – ukexpat (talk) 19:40, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

See the links under WP:EIW#Copy, a few lines down under the "Fair use" subheading. For example maybe Wikipedia:WikiProject Images and Media/Non-free shows promise. --Teratornis (talk) 03:39, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

File:Elisa22.jpg

Hi all. Please take a look at this picture's page. Its uploader seems to have problems with copyrights as he often uploads foreign images and claims that he is the author. This picture seems to have the same story. I don't know what template should I insert in this picture's page (think a sort of {{di-no permission}}). So.. help? :) --Gikü (talk) 20:19, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

If you are certain that the the uploader is not the author, then it is likely a copyright violation, and you should request speedy deletion of the image with {{db-f9}}. The best way to be sure that the image is a copyright violation is by knowing the URL of the website that the image was taken from, so add the URL to the request by using {{db-f9|url=URL}} when you add it to the page. --Mysdaao ^talk 20:35, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Looks like a screencap to me and, if so, is a copyvio (not falling under WP:FU). – ukexpat (talk) 20:55, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Ok, I'll put my quest another way: how can I ask the uploader to demostrate he is the author? --Gikü (talk) 21:35, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

On their talk page? – ukexpat (talk) 22:32, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

User talk:Otto8otto indicates some problems. The talk page is basically a big list of warnings about image copyright violations. The user uploaded many images with copyright problems, and does not appear to have edited his/her own talk page. The user has no edits in the Talk: or User talk: namespaces. The user never seems to leave edit summaries. This seems to be a user who has thus far shown no interest in engaging the Wikipedia user community, as in communicating with anyone. So I wouldn't be optimistic about getting the user to demonstrate he/she is the author of any particular upload. But you could try. --Teratornis (talk) 03:53, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Since vs. Since mine

What is the difference between those tabs?Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 20:37, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

The "since" and "since mine" tabs are features of Twinkle. When viewing a diff, "since" will show you the difference between the revision currently being looked at in history and the most recent version of the page, and "since mine" will show you the difference between the revision made from your last edit to the page and the current version. If you move your mouse over each tab, you'll its basic description. --Mysdaao ^talk 20:49, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

is twinkle to blame?

Whenever I view the since mine of an article my computer goes really slow. My computer is an apple (school's so don't know what type.) It is also a desktop. i am using Firefox version 3.0.Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 20:52, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

If it's been a long time since you edited the page, then it probably takes a while to go through all the revisions since then and generate one diff. The operating system or browser shouldn't be causing it: Javascript is independent of the operating system (i.e. it's browser based) and Twinkle natively supports Firefox. Xenon54 / talk / 22:40, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

How to remove a re-direct

Any article with the name "Goldscheider" automatically re-directs to Goldscheider ceramics. This is in principle wrong and unfair, as there are, and can be, other Goldscheider articles which should not be automatically re-directed just to Goldscheder ceramics. How can the re-direct be removed completely, please? Thanks Alexander Goldscheider —Preceding unsigned comment added by AGRR (talk • contribs) 20:54, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Just edit the page to turn it into a disambiguation page, modelled on one of the other "Family name" disam pages, and make sure it complies with WP:MOSDAB. – ukexpat (talk) 20:59, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Et voilà, you have Goldscheider as a surname dab page. Bencherlite^Talk 21:13, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

External Links

I attemped to update the external links for the "Lake Mattamuskeet" page, and now the external links have dissappeared. I moved to another computer and they still do not come up. How do I restore the box for external links. Thanks, Lewis Forrest —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lewis Forrest (talk • contribs) 21:12, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Should be OK now. You'd opened a references tag, but not closed it, which then swallowed everything afterwards. Bencherlite^Talk 21:18, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

(e/c)The page code was borked but has now been fixed. One point though, shouldn't the New Holland stuff be in its own article? And please use edit summaries! Thanks. – ukexpat (talk) 21:20, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Loan Enquiry

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Mario Turcarelli and I reside in Sydney Australia. I need to obtain a business loan of $650,000AUD to purchase a Franchise business in Australia. If you can help me; please contact me at <blanked> Kind Regards Mario —Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.64.122.3 (talk) 21:35, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our roughly three million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. TNXMan 21:38, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

How to sugest new photo names?

I wanted to sugest a file name change for a photo that had a strange numerical name, and it said that I should use the {{rename media|New name.jpg|Reason}} format. Where would I enter this line? Would I click "edit" on the "Summary" section right below and enter it there, or is there somewhere else I'm supposed to do this? I'm new to editing, and I want to help contribute information, and also help to clean things up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.224.221.9 (talk)

Put it at the top of the file information page, ie at the top of the edit box. – ukexpat (talk) 21:59, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Moved. Bencherlite^Talk 22:20, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Only Showing The 20 Latest Edits

Is there any way to change one's user's Special:Contributions page, so they only show the 20 latest edits instead of the 50 latest edits every time you click the link to it on the upper right corner of every page in Wikipedia once you're logged in to your user account?

Bowei Huang (talk) 22:39, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Under my preferences, go to the Recent changes tab, and change the number next "Number of edits to show in recent changes, page histories, and in logs, by default:" to 20. This will change the default number of edits to show of your contributions, but it will also change the default number of edits to show in page histories, recent changes, logs, etc. --Mysdaao ^talk 22:48, 16 November 2009 (UTC)