Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 November 26

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November 26

Facebook Link

I just posted a link on a band's wiki page to their official facebook page, and wiki immediately reversed the edit. However, on this band's same wiki page, there is already a different facebook link that has not been deleted. Anyone know what can be done to re-instate the official link? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dale Sheppard (talk • contribs) 02:07, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

I'm guessing that you're referring to the Men Without Hats article. (it's helpful to give us a link to the article in question instead of making people do investigative work to figure out what article you're talking about) Generally, links to FB, MySpace, etc aren't listed if the band has an official site which already has links to all these social networking sites. Basically, we don't need to spam the external links sections. WP:ELNO has more info on this. Dismas|^(talk) 03:15, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Understandable, Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dale Sheppard (talk • contribs) 05:47, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

I just noticed this line at the WP:ELNO: Except for a link to an official page of the article's subject, one should generally avoid... I am the administrator for Men Without Hats, and the link that I had inserted was to direct fans to the official Men Without Hats Facebook page. Also, If you look on the article at the moment, someone has posted a link to Facebook, which is their own personal link, and does not have anything to do officially with the band. Why is that link still up? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dale Sheppard (talk • contribs) 05:54, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

The other link is (was) there because the number of people who add inappropriate external links vastly exceeds the number of people who remove them. I've removed it now. Please take a look at Wikipedia's guideline on conflict of interest before making any other edits related to Men Without Hats. Adrian J. Hunter^{(talk•contribs)} 06:28, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

This totally makes sense. I do agree with this policy. Any changes that I make will follow these rules. My goal is to let the people know what the band is doing currently. Please let me know if I cross that line. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dale Sheppard (talk • contribs) 21:50, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

If that is your goal, then Wikipedia is the wrong place for you. Wikipedia is for letting people know what reliable sources have written about subjects. If a subject is in the news enough that its latest doings regularly get written up, then Wikipedia should reflect those up-to-date sources. If it does not get written up elsewhere, then its latest news is inadmissible. --ColinFine (talk) 23:51, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

I will not make any edits to the Men Without Hats article unless there is new published information from reliable sources that are at arms length from the band. I do fully respect the rules of Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dale Sheppard (talk • contribs) 21:29, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

Man, if only more publicity officers did. Riffraffselbow (talk) 18:10, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

delete image in gallery

How do you delete an uploaded image? I accidentally uploaded an automobile picture with the license tag. I replaced it with the license blurred out. But the original still appears in my gallery, now red-flagged as "NO LICENSE PLATES." I know & want to remove it. Mopar89 (talk) 02:40, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

I assume you are referring to your account Mopar89 (talk · contribs) on Commons. Use {{speedydelete|reason=self request}} to request speedy deletion. Goodvac (talk) 03:10, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Martyn Godfrey image needed

Hi! I think a picture is needed for the deceased author's article named Martyn Godfrey. Would it be ok to use this image from this link: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/martyn-godfrey/ Please let me know. Thank you. Neptunekh2 (talk) 05:21, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

I don't know the answer to this question, but I expect that those at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions will. Goodvac (talk) 05:35, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

The page you link to has a copyright notice on the bottom, so in theory they're claiming copyright over the content, including the image. In practice the copyright holder is probably someone else, though. There's a possibility of using the image with an argument of fair use, because the subject is dead and therefore no new photo of him can be taken to illustrate the article. Asking via Goodvac's link is the best way to go. Karenjc 12:27, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Lines through infoboxes

I see from the archive [1] that this question has been asked before, but without a helpful reply.
The article I am trying to improve is Henry McCullough where the section line under Biography cuts through the photo in the infobox. I initially thought it related to a recent change in the img_size= parameter, but Franamax has pointed out that the line appears/disappears depending on the pane width.
I am using IE8 and Vector, the most common browser and most common skin, so this affects many, if not most, readers.
Can this line be avoided or overcome?
Arjayay (talk) 09:20, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Have now asked at Village pump (technical) [2]
Arjayay (talk) 12:11, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

I have encountered this before too. I went off and had a look, got the idea that the "frame" Wikimarkup parameter might work, and tried it. It does appear to have fixed the problem in IE8, but I don't know whether what I've done is the correct fix, or whether it works in all browsers. I'll watch with interest to see what the technical types say. Karenjc 12:45, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Email from hotmail

I have received an e-mail from customerservice1011@hotmail.com requesting name, password of my account within 24 hours, otherwise my account will be terminated. Is this correct? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.12.129.75 (talk) 09:48, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

No! No reputable organisation would send you an e-mail asking for your password, and any communication from Wikipedia wouldn't be from a hotmail address. It's a phishing attempt; ignore it. - David Biddulph (talk) 10:00, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

See also phishing. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:58, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Also, if anybody with whom you had some kind of account did email you, they would do their best to prove that the mail was genuine by calling you by name, including your account number in the mail etc. Phishing mails are nearly always addressed to "Dear customer" or something equally anonymous. --ColinFine (talk) 23:57, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Birth year and age

What's wrong with the Birth year and age mechanism used in John Luther Long? John Luther Long, 1861–1927 (age 96–97) ... It's obviously suffering from dyscalculia. --Vsop.de (talk) 11:06, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Hi Vsop, not sure what went wrong exactly, but I changed Birth Year Age to Death Year Age and that seems to have fixed it as per (this diff). Darigan (talk) 11:22, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

{{Birth year and age|1927}} seemed to be doing exactly what it's supposed to do and returned age 82-83. That's how old someone born in 1927 would be now. If you don't understand what the function does, you'll find it at Template:Birth year and age. David Biddulph (talk) 13:08, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

I tracked down his birth date to settle the age.[3] Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies) says to only list birth and death, not age, in the opening paragraph. Age can be in an infobox but there isn't one here so I said it when his death was mentioned later. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:56, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

... and I've copied those dates into the persondata. David Biddulph (talk) 14:03, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

logging in

although I have registered for an account and been given an account number (#55774 November 23 at 21:33) I don't know how to log in in order to edit an article. Help, please. thanks. 92.25.219.182 (talk) 14:59, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

The log-in link is at the top-right of every page. Use the username and password you chose when you created the account. I wasn't aware of any "account number" (I have a "User ID", but it's around 5 million) but I'm sure it doesn't have any meaning to the average user. Xenon54 (talk) 15:05, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Are you sure the account number #55774 is for a Wikipedia account? You are at the encyclopedia Wikipedia and need a username and password to log in here, not an account number. The accounts created November 23 at 21:33 can be seen at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&offset=201011232135. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:43, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

How does a Wikipedia Editor Sign Up For Wiktionary?

Can you help make that process clear on how to add Wikipedia Sister Projects to our accounts?

```` —Preceding unsigned comment added by KatherineHepburnHeir (talk • contribs) 15:06, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

See Single user login. Essentially you go to Special:MergeAccount. Then, assuming there are no conflicts with users that have the same name on other projects, your name is now reserved for you across all projects. If you visit any other project, an account will automatically be created for you. Please be aware that this does NOT apply to all wikis, just those operated by the Wikimedia Foundation: Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikinews, Wikisource, Wikibooks, Wikiquote, Wikispecies, Wikiversity, and Meta-Wiki. Xenon54 (talk) 15:12, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Citation of Trademark Application (template desired)

I'm trying to use a Trademark application at the USPTO as a reference for a prior address of an organization. Does anyone know of any wikipedia templates that are useful for this? Note that a direct URL will not work, searches for Trademarks at the USPTO do not appear to generate a corresponding URL that can be reused.Naraht (talk) 15:09, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Postal addresses of organizations are usually NOT included in Wikipedia articles. I am uncertain why you need to include any postal address, especially an old one. Could you explain please? --Jayron32 16:24, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Okay, would changes in what city the organization was based in, for example BSA's move from being HQ in NYC to being HQ near Dallas, be appropriate to include/reference in this way?Naraht (talk) 17:47, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

It may be appropriate to indicate that the company headquarters is located in Dallas, that is broadly speaking, but such information is usually readily availible via the company's own website. It's fine, and in fact probably preferred, to use the company's own website to reference uncontroversial information such as the location of the company headquarters. However, the address listed on a patent application is probably very UNRELIABLE in this regard. One company may have many different addresses; the address on the patent application may be only ONE of them, perhaps the address of the specific office that is submitting the patent; it could even be the address for a subcontractor that is submitting the patent on behalf of the company itself, there's just way too many possibilities to make any definitive statements. It would be much better to use the company itself as a reference. (Some places at Wikipedia require independent sourcing, for example when trying to prove notability OR when a statement is particularly contentious. However, the really banal stuff like the city the headquarters is located in, who the CEO is, or stuff like that, is safe to reference to the companies official publications themselves.) --Jayron32 21:49, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

In that regard, I thought that as you said the organization website could be used for the current location, I was thinking about that for a reference for where a prior Headquarters was for the organization. (In this case it is an organization that would be unlikely to have subcontractors( But as you say, that has issues as well. Maybe the encyclopedia of organizations on books.google.com. Thank you.

House of hoenberg

If nobility titles were abolished by the Austrian Goverment in 1919 why are the Hoenbergs still referred to as Dukes,Princes etc?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.10.109.145 (talk) 17:50, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. Dismas|<sup>(talk)</sup> 18:02, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

caste surename

My name is pradeep roy ,i am an Indian my father is from west Bengal his name is Kamalash Chandra Roy and my mother's name is Nirmala nair. she is from kerala {India } but now it has changed to Nirmala roy.Our family has settled down in Karnataka [India].I just want to know where does our caste stand when compared with karnataken caste hierarchy.eg: rai,shetty,poojary etc —Preceding unsigned comment added by Remo85roy (talk • contribs) 18:19, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 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 upper right 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 18:19, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Source Verification

A webpage, this one in particular, is from what appears to be a reliable source. It is a stock and company tracking website and seems to have verified information. Is it an okay source for the Volcom article? Snychronization (talk) 19:42, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Business Week is certainly a reliable source, but whether it is appropriate or not depends on the information you want to reference. If you want to use it to reference financial figures, then go ahead. But if you're looking for basic company information, sites like that usually just regurgitate press releases, which are generally bad sources and they are not allowed to be the primary basis of an article. Xenon54 (talk) 19:46, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Alright, thank you for the help. Snychronization (talk) 21:14, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Size of text on page

For the past month, everything I view on the site is extremely small, making it impossible to read. This problem is only on Wikipedia, and not on other sites. What can I do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.5.15.151 (talk) 19:43, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia uses your browser defaults to set text size and font. Try pressing Ctrl and 0 at the same time - that may fix the issue. TNXMan 19:44, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

How can I speak to the Reviewer ?

Good afternoon.

I'm a first timer. And boy, even though I'm a college graduate from a top college, your process for simple communication is anything but simple.

I'm trying to communicate with the Reviewer of an article (Usb10) that was submitted and last reviewed Nov. 14th. I found the Reviewer ID and went to his page. Where in the world is the Reply button to ask or make a comment or answer his questions/concerns?

There must be 30 boxes of info on Usb10, but nothing as simple as .... click here to send a comment.

Please help. Thank you.

ps - With all the FAQ's, you still do not make "the process" very simple for new users. Where's the Dummies version? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Buchser (talk • contribs) 22:21, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

• Dear college graduate,

1. What article do you mean?
2. What reviewer?

And you can find the "Wikipedia for Dummies" here for example.-- ♫Greatorangepumpkin♫ T 22:27, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

• On User:Usb10s page you will find a tab at the top marked "Discussion" if you click on it it takes you to a talk page (link). When the talk page appears click on either the "New section" or "Edit" tabs and it will open up a window where you can leave messages for Usb10. MilborneOne (talk) 22:37, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

See more at Help:Using talk pages. I guess this is about Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/ReneBoisvert and the identical Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Rene Boisvert, both created by you. While examining them I discovered that everything was copied directly from http://www.boulevardequity.com/rbcv.html which has a clear copyright notice and a link to http://www.myersinternet.com/copyright/. I deleted them as copyright violations. But also note Wikipedia:Notability (people) which was linked from the review before I deleted the pages. You would have to demonstrate compliance with that by including multiple references to reliable sources independent of the subject. And the whole pages had an unsuitable promotional tone you would expect for a CV, as it actually was, but not from an encyclopedia. If you are the subject or closely associated with him then see Wikipedia:Autobiography and Wikipedia:Conflict of interest. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:59, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Seguvara missing !

I wonder why Seguvara ( communist leader )is missing in Wiki?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.172.40.108 (talk) 23:16, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Do you perhaps mean Che Guevara? Deor (talk) 23:35, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

There's a very tiny amount of info on Seguvara on the web. It says he was a Cuban communist "leader" who died in 1967 (born in 1928). No way to tell if even that is right. There are quite a few pictures/drawings of him, though, whoever he was.--Bbb23 (talk) 00:08, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

Those all (at least the ones I've looked at) seem to be references to Che Guevara, who was indeed born in 1928 and died in 1967. Deor (talk) 01:39, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

You're absolutely right, same picture, too, thanks! The ones I looked at didn't mention Che - or maybe I missed it. Wonder where Seguvara came from, some sort of mangling of Che Guevara's name?--Bbb23 (talk) 02:09, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

That's what I assume. Any sort of misspelling one can imagine will get Web-search hits. Deor (talk) 02:13, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

I dunno, when I did a Google search, I pretty much got hits only for the word Seguvara. Some of them were remarkably weird. The one that actually had some info was from answers.com (here), and it didn't even mention Che. Oh, well, I still feel a little embarrassed - I should have checked Che's information on Wikipedia.--Bbb23 (talk) 02:18, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

Is this common enough for a redirect? 69.142.154.10 (talk) 04:59, 30 November 2010 (UTC)