Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 June 18

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June 18[edit]

Request for Comment[edit]

Is there an RFC procedure when it comes to article mergers? Or do we just wait and see if someone floats by and happens to find the articles suggested? — Fly by Night (talk) 01:24, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You can inform the WikiProject(s) the article falls under in their discussion pages.-- Obsidi♠nSoul 05:29, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
See Help:Merging#Proposing a merger which explains how to propose a merge, and you are encouraged to discuss (or RFC) on the article talk page. There is a backlog list that some of us work through to specifically cleanup these merge requests. Tiggerjay (talk) 05:01, 19 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Horrible image appeared when clicked the link to info about the Wiknik event[edit]

Resolved

Hi, when I clicked from the initial Wikipedia page to go to this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiknic, a horrible image came up with swastikas, people being cut up, poop forced into their mouths, mutilation, etc. It was all really horrible... I think it said 'Enjoy some pain courtesy of Wiknik' The first time I saw it I hit the back button. Went to it again by clicking on the same Wiknik link, and eventually figured out how to click on some of the info behind it (of the real Wikipedia Wiknik webpage?) and then it disappeared. It was really a horrible page to see instead of what I thought I was going to. I am just letting you know in case there may be some hacking going on on Wikipedia that caused that. This link was up at the top of the page and appeared to be some sort of advertisement of the event. I was using a Mac when this awful image came up. Tried going to en.wikipedia.org using another computer I have, a PC, and didn't get it. But I had been clicking around on various Wikipedia articles on my Mac for about a half hour, so who knows how it got set up to appear suddenly like that? But the past few times I have clicked on the Wiknik link, it hasn't appeared again. Thanks, just hoping you can help anyone else avoid having to see it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.10.174.138 (talk) 03:00, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

There was no hacking. A transcluded template was vandalized for two minutes. The vandal has been blocked indefinitely and the template protected from editing by new users. Vandalism is an unfortunate consequence of deliberately allowing anybody to edit most Wikipedia pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:34, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thankfully though, vandalism is usually spotted and dealt with in a matter of minutes. Sometimes, seconds. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 06:10, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Wow, sounds really horrible. I am sincerely sorry for such a horrible image on this site, but unfortuneately, Wikipedia has to deal with such things daily, sometimes and usually consisting of major blocking and blockage of numerous IP adresses, Wikipedia accounts, and seldomly, but still possible, Wikipedia administrators and bureaucrats, sometimes causing collateral damage, and also long-term and indefinite blocking, due to Wikipedia being a site that can be edited by virtually anyone who owns or is in possesion of a computer. Despite these awful images, I hope you might be attending a Wiknik near you, I hope? Again I thank you for reporting such an awful thing to us. That's what the Internet does to people sometimes. Thank you all who have been helping this poor fellow in this awful situation.

Thanks for the info, and glad it was stopped so fast. Sounds like you guys are doing a good job... Cheers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.10.174.138 (talk) 16:51, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Translation[edit]

Resolved

Hi there, I am a new subscriber for your site. Lastday when I was searching for some information on your site i found your site really great. Also I found my searching topics in English but when I wanted to have that information in my own language(dari-Afghanistan)there was not. Actually i found my search in my own language as well but coparatively short. So, I started thinking to translate the articles and information on your website volunteerly and wanted to ask you the possiblity of publishing them once I finish the translation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hosainhirzi (talk • contribs) 05:57, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You can publish stuff from Wikipedia so long as you give proper attribution if I rememebr correctly. This isn't a spot to contact Wikipedia btw, all you will get are other editors. =p I think this is the wiki for Dari [1]. You are more than welcome to translate articles so as to add to the body of knowledge there. No permission is required. . Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 06:06, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
†Whoops, or maybe that is Farsi Wikipedia. They both have the same language code. :| Pardon my ignorance, but is there much difference between the two? Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 06:09, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
There is no difference between them, the only different between them is the names. persian is a general name for languages are spoken in Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan with different dialects. But when you want to specify the languages in those countries for Afghanistan we use Dari. Thanks for the info you had given me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hosainhirzi (talk • contribs) 07:04, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Ah I see now, that explains the language codes being the same. You are very welcome sir. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 07:08, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
@Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, I do not mean any offense to anyone, but the comment† that you posted here is slightly on the racist side. Remember, Wikipedia strives to create a neutral community for all users and Wikipedia. Just to let you know, this is NOT a block warning. This is only a slight reminder that all comments on Wikipedia should remain neutral and not turned toward ANY point of view. Thank you for reading, and again, this is only a slight reminder to not only you, but all Wikipedians and users out there. Thank you!


I beg your pardon? What exactly was racist? The statement that they have the same language code is factually correct. If you actually read the article on Dari, you will see the name for it is "Court Persian", and that the article is called "Dari (Persian)", and that both Dari and Persian do indeed have the same language code. Please review WP:NPA#WHATIS, as your accusation of racism could constitute a personal attack given the fact that it is baseless. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 11:25, 22 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I'm sorry I typed in the wrong section, goodbye. A comment by a person who has been editing Wikipedia since October 28, 2010. (talk) 23:15, 27 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Status hyphens and dashes?[edit]

Some questions related to hyphens and dashes:

-- SchreyP (talk) 06:19, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

July 16 or June 16? There is an all-out war over it that has been going on for quite some time. It's gotten embarassingly heated at times. I don't know any more on the subject though. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 06:30, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Oeps, you are right. It is July 16! One month too early to ask for the conclusion. It is going on that long, that I mixed this dates up. I'm sorry.
But my other question still holds. Does the moratorium include template title changes?
-- SchreyP (talk) 06:41, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Remove all images on prophet Muhammad PBUH .[edit]

The below link is a biography or prophet Muhammad PBUH .

Prophet Muhammad PBUM [2]

the images portraying him are false and prohibited .

i request the Wikipedia management to remove all those images .

Regards, Adil — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.147.191.80 (talk) 06:36, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Salaam, I'm afraid this has been discussed before, and it was decided that even though it is understandably offensive to followers of the Prophet Mohammad PBOHN, the images cannot be removed as per WP:NOTCENSORED. I hope you will understand this is not meant to disrespect Sha'ria law or Islam, but it is the policy here that content be included regardless of whether it is offensive to any beliefs. Peace be with you. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 06:40, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
There's more at Talk:Muhammad/FAQ, including some technical ways to make these pictures disappear when you view the article. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:33, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Hmmm, here is a question. If someone puts that image up or another one banned by the intended user's faith, with image tags on a talk page or usertalk, and it is clearly for the purpose of offending or trying to get a rise out of that user, is that covered under WP:CIVIL or some other behaviour policy? Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 08:46, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
From WP:CIVIL, "editors should always treat each other with consideration and respect". So, yes. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:51, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Of course, those images are NOT clearly intended to offend. The Mark of the Beast (talk) 04:37, 19 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
On a similar fork, I was wondering, since this has come up before both about this topic and some nude photography, that it might be useful to have a specific tag at the top of each page discussing that it may contain objectionable content to some viewers and a link to how to block such content. Tiggerjay (talk) 04:46, 19 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
You're not the first person to suggest that. It is literally the first thing listed at Wikipedia:Perennial proposals. It's not going to happen, since Wikipedia editors are not mind-readers, and cannot forsee what is going to offend everyone before they read it. Wikipedia is not salacious or gratuitous in its use of images, images are appropriate to the article they are in. I would expect to find pictures of the Prophet Muhammad in the article about him; I would expect to find pictures of naked people in the article nudity, etc. etc. There's no naked pictures in articles about Mickey Mouse or Queen Victoria or Chemistry. If you click on the article breast, you probably shouldn't be particularly shocked to see images of breasts. --Jayron32 04:58, 19 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

FA Topicon[edit]

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask interwiki stuff, but here goes: I want to import the FA Topicon ({{Featured article}}) to Sanskrit Wikipedia. Normally, for other templates, I do the usual copy-paste job, but for some reason, a direct copy paste doesn't seem to be working. Any help would be appreciated. Lynch7 14:37, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

To make it easier, this is the page where I added the FA Template, and this is the template itself. Lynch7 14:54, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Former Miss Gay Texas winners[edit]

I am Jodie lane , the first Miss Gay Texas in 1973, crowned in Houston by Norma Christi, I wondered why I and the former winners are not in your article? I am still in Dallas, and am semi retired... Jodie lane alis Joe Strickland — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.237.229.39 (talk) 17:10, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'm afraid that would require a source. Could you possibly link one? Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 17:29, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Which article are you referring to? If it is Drag pageantry then it contains a list of Miss Gay America but lists of all Miss Gay in each US state sounds excessive. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:38, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Articles[edit]

I would like to see each article have a creation date. Since technology evolves quickly, some articles are out of date. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.172.93.224 (talk) 18:01, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Some articles are edited every day so the creation day may not mean much. Click the "View history" tab on an article. If there is a link at the bottom saying "earliest" then click it. The page creation should now be visible at the bottom of the page in a line where "prev" is black and does not contain a link. See more at Help:Page history. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:31, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Every page has a last modified timestamp at the bottom. That is perhaps a more relevant indication of its up-to-date-ness than the date of its first version. —teb728 t c 20:01, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
There are templates you can add to out-of-date articles, displayed here. —Tommyjb (talk) 21:49, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Haggis Hurling[edit]

At the recent Milngavie and Bearsden Highland games, we believe the current reported world record for haggis hurling was beaten by over 34 feet. Lorne Coltart if Blair Atholl threw the haggis a massive 214 feet 9 inches. How can we post this as beaten world record? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.241.137.67 (talk) 19:42, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

If this event was recorded by media (or other reliable sources), you can mention this in the article Haggis hurling. However, you must provide a reliable source. Original research (i.e. 'word of mouth' or 'personal experience') is not acceptable as it does not comply with Wikipedia's policies on verifiability.-- Obsidi♠nSoul 21:29, 18 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
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