Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 September 11

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September 11[edit]

Dr. Leigh-Davis[edit]

17:21, 11 SEPTEMBER 2010 (UTC)
Please do not forum shop; this has been discussed at Afd and at Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)#Dr. Leigh-Davis - victim of racist attack on Wikipedia – ukexpat (talk) 01:51, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

    • ”” RE: White Professor, O.K.; Black Professor: No Way! –Dr. Leigh-Davis - Why won’t you let anyone post any information about a black professor, but you have all of these white professors with no credentials on Wikipedia? I have been trying to post in support of Dr. Leigh-Davis: a notation in OK! Magazine, a quote in The Washington Post, and a report in the Wall Street Journal. As all the news is stating, I was completely barred from posting anything. I wish to initiate arbitration. Please direct me to the link to start arbitration.

This proves racism:

      • White less credentialed professors-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Knight_%28professor%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Hurrell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_D._Peoples http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Cooper_%28literary_scholar%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elomar_Figueira_de_Mello http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Weiner_%28professor%29 12.164.240.193 (talk) 23:10, 10 September 2010 (UTC)Brian W.[reply]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Bot[edit]

Resolved
 – ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 18:59, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Is it at all possible to get a bot to put the template Template:The CW Television Network (The CW) in all of the linked articles? ChaosMasterChat 03:23, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A bot is not the tool you need. You need someone with WP:AWB. Or you could do it yourself by hand. There aren't that many articles. Using a bot would be like using a nuke to take out a car. Anyway, at the AWB link there is a page for requested tasks. Dismas|(talk) 03:30, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! :) ChaosMasterChat 18:15, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Paragraph reads like an instruction manual[edit]

Resolved
 – ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 17:12, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I can't find the section in the WP morass that advises against giving advice to the reader, as in:

Pyrotechnical line throwers are inherently dangerous as they contain explosives which, when triggered, propel a line forward. This equipment should be stored, handled and used appropriately. This equipment requires significant training in order to ensure correct use and to avoid accidents.

It's the second sentence I am talking about (although none of it is Sourced). Another example might be: "When you get to the first bend in the trail, turn right and walk 300 meters." Can anybody point to something in the WP:MOS that would cover these situations? Sincerely, GeorgeLouis (talk) 07:17, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Is WP:NOTGUIDE what you're looking for? -- Jrtayloriv (talk) 08:07, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, well, Wifione musical notes, as I mentioned in my question, the item had no sources at all. Sincerely, your friend, GeorgeLouis (talk) 17:07, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much, Jrtayloriv. I bookmarked it. Gratefuly, your pal, GeorgeLouis (talk) 17:09, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Article Disappeared[edit]

Resolved
 – ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 20:38, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A long while back I wrote an article on Vikrant Kapoor, acclaimed Chef of Indian cuisine (I don't remember my login details so I created a new account now), currently working in Sydney, Australia. For some reason the article disappeared. I only realized now, but it must have been a while. Why did this happen? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Santion (talk • contribs) 08:59, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you click this deletion log link you'll see a notice about the 2008 deletion of the page: "Doesn't indicate importance or significance of a real person: reads like an advertisement for the restaurant". Please see the criteria for speedy deletion and Why was my page deleted.
With a bit of digging around, I think your old username must have been L lenam (talk · contribs), but if you lost the password two years ago you might as well start again with your new name. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:19, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Dear Santion, kindly read the following articles to ensure that whenever you create any biography of a living person, it adheres to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines;
Please feel free to write back for any additional help. Warm regards. ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 16:41, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Template:Infobox view source tabs[edit]

Resolved
 – ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 16:35, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Quick question about viewing infobox source code. I'm sure someone else must have asked this question but I can't see it in the archives or the various help files. For some infoboxes you can see the source code via a 'view source' tab (e.g. Template:Infobox mountain, Template:Infobox lake). For others you can't (e.g. Template:Infobox waterfall, Template:Infobox islands). It's not clear to me where that difference is defined or how I would go about getting the setting changed for an infobox so that the source is visible other than leaving a note on the talk page or possibly the relevant project and hoping someone both sees it and can do something about it. What am I missing ? Sean.hoyland - talk 10:10, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Use the "edit" tab. It's only titled "view source" if the page is protected so you can't edit it. Algebraist 10:15, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, so the solution is immensely complex. DO'H! Many thanks. Sean.hoyland - talk 10:19, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Table within a template[edit]

Resolved
 – ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 20:34, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The background:

  • I want to make Template:PD-Austria have similar text to Commons:Template:PD-Austria. So I added the text portion: [1].
  • I'd like to make it conform to the appearance of typical en.wikipedia PD templates: meaning to use {{imbox}}.
  • However, I was unable to get the table at the bottom of the commons template ("Type of material", "Copyright has expired in Austria if...", etc.) to work inside the imbox. Is there a way to do this? Magog the Ogre (talk) 10:59, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Dear Magog the Ogre; firstly, congratulations on being our newest administrator. Secondly, have you tried
Type of material Copyright has expired in Austria if... Copyright has expired in the U.S. if...
Unpublished simple created prior to 1960 and never published within created prior to 1946 and never published within
Warm regards. ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 16:26, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Any way to center that? Magog the Ogre (talk) 18:51, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Private sandbox[edit]

Is it possible to make a "page" or something similar that works like a sandbox (I can use templates, wiki formatting) but only I can view and edit it?--Mikespedia is on Wikipedia! 12:32, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Sort of. You can make a page at User:Mikespedia/sandbox or some other similar name as a subpage of your own userpage. In general, people usually stay out of other people's subpages though they can edit them, they usually don't. See more at WP:SUBPAGE. Dismas|(talk) 12:37, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
If you draft an article in this way, just include text - don't add templates, categories, images or internal links to other articles. Add these only when you've transferred your draft article into the main encyclopaedia. Doing this means that nothing else in Wikipedia will link back to your sandbox, so unless people actually look at your edit history, it is very unlikely that they will notice your sandbox is there. Karenjc 13:18, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
If you don't want others to view it, I'd advise you to create the sandbox like Dismas and Karenjc told you, but instead of saving changes there, copy them into Notepad and save them on your hard drive. To see whether the page looks the way you want it to look, just copy the code from Notepad to the sandbox and hit "Preview". This way, you can include in the code all of the templates, categories, images, and internal links that you want, since of course others can't look at your hard drive. I almost never write articles in any way other than this, although I do it for convenience, not for secrecy. Nyttend (talk) 15:51, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

rookie question[edit]

Resolved
 – ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 18:11, 13 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I edited an article last week and added some sources, but the text I wrote is now gone and the article seems to have reverted to the way it was before I made changes. Did I do something wrong? Or did someone erase the changes I made in order to re-post the text they wrote? 16:07, 11 September 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jmembe (talk • contribs)

It looks like User:Amsaim reverted your changes with this edit. You may want to discuss with them on their talk page the reason for their edit. TNXMan 16:19, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Dear Jmembe, it'll be a good idea to read our quick help desk tutorial on what is meant by the history link on every article. Using this link, you'll be able to understand details of who changed the article, the reasons it was changed (which would be written generally in edit summaries), and it would also give you the links to retrieve any of the past versions of the article in question. Please feel free to write back for any additional assistance. Warm regards. ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 17:25, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the responses...I think I'll be able to get it sorted.

Best, Jmembe (talk) 20:48, 12 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

How to add an article[edit]

I have wrote an article, and am looking to add it. When I go to "Create a page," it pops up a box to open up "index.php." Then, it opens Notepad. How do I actually add the article to Wikipedia?

Kevin D Hensley (talk) 16:29, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Click on "my preferences" at the very top of this page. Click on the "editing" tab. Make sure "Use external editor by default (for experts only, needs special settings on your computer)" and "Use external diff by default (for experts only, needs special settings on your computer)" are unchecked. This should fix your problem. Please find below some standard article writing advice as well.

A Wizard is available to walk you through these steps. See the Article Wizard.

Thank you.

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 with which all articles should comply. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite 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 Wikipedia:Your first article. You might also look at 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. An Article Wizard is also available to walk you through creating an article. TNXMan 16:32, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
What is the article about? --Teratornis (talk) 07:45, 12 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Dotted line around a Sentence[edit]

Resolved
 – ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 18:56, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure what this means - I have edited a Wikipedia page and everything looks fine, except one sentence has a dotted line all around it. Does that mean Wikipedia has flagged that sentence? If so, how can I find out why? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Paradise Daytona Beach (talk • contribs) 17:35, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No, that simply means you've indented the line, like
this.
To indent a line, use a colon instead. TNXMan 17:37, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Have just fixed it. Haploidavey (talk) 17:38, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Centering a chart[edit]

Resolved
 – ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 20:24, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've placed a chart in Sugar Grove Petroglyphs to show the numbers of various types of petroglyphs. Although I've seen such a chart in many articles, the only ones I could think of were various Kansas county articles, so I copied the code from the townships chart of Gove County, Kansas. That chart is aligned to the left side of the page, and thus the one for the petroglyphs is likewise, but I'd like to have the chart centered; any ideas how to do this? I placed <center> and </center> tags before and after the table, but preview showed me that this would make things worse. Nyttend (talk) 19:56, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've edited it (numerous times without edit summaries, sorry). Does it look better now? The only thing I don't like is the lack of a blank line at the top. Might have to do with the clear parameter (which I removed), but I'm not sure. I may play with it some more. One of the problems is the previews don't always give you a precise view, and so I end up saving changes before I'm sure of what I'm done.--Bbb23 (talk) 20:18, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
That's perfect! I'm not familiar with ones that have such blank lines (although I'd welcome a pointer to an example), so it's really not a big deal for me. Regardless of what you think of your previews, they're better than the one I made; here's what happens when you take my original table and place the center tags as I said above :-) Nyttend (talk) 20:23, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I edited it once again to create a blank line before and after the table. Turned out to be simpler than I thought. I just had to put in two blank lines before and after in the edit box.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:15, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Wifione — I almost never use the Help namespace, so I didn't think to look there. Perhaps I'll remember that instead of coming here all the time :-) Nyttend (talk) 20:24, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
No no, come here and trouble us as much as you want :-) It's good to hear from you again. Take care and best. ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ ―Œ ♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣ 20:29, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
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