Help desk
< September 14	<< Aug \| September \| Oct >>	September 16 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

September 15[edit]

Daniel Moss
Daniel Moss
Notable credit	News

Saving articles[edit]

Is there a way to save articles for future reference?Boobainaz (talk) 01:59, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

On the left side of every article is a menu that is titled "Print/export". Under that, choose "Download as PDF". Dismas|^(talk) 02:09, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure exactly what you want. The above reply enables offline reading but can be cumbersome and doesn't show updates since you downloaded. An option for online reading is the watchlist feature which requires you are logged in. Watch a page by clicking the star tab at top. The primary function is to give a list of edits to the watched pages on the "My watchlist" link at top of pages. But it can also show the full alphabetical list of watched pages at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditWatchlist. You can add the link to favorites/bookmarks in your browser, or reach it by clicking "My watchlist" and then "View and edit watchlist". PrimeHunter (talk) 02:15, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Submissions[edit]

Hi,

I would like to submit info about a radio show host that isn't currently on Wikipedia. Can you tell me how to do this? Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by TrishaHoffman (talk • contribs) 03:38, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can make a request at WP:REQ RudolfRed (talk) 03:57, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Read the guidelines at WP:BIO to see whether this person is sufficiently notable by Wikipedia standards to have an article about them. If you think s/he qualifies, you can add their name at WP:REQ as Rudolf suggests, but that page is severely backlogged and there may be a very long wait. You could draft the article yourself, using the article wizard, and then either publish it yourself or, if you'd like some feedback to ensure it's acceptable, submit your draft at Articles for creation. If you are going to do either of the latter, you will need to make sure you have reliable sources for your article. - Ka renjc 15:46, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Edit warring at Sport in Australia[edit]

I have tried to be a peacemaker at Sport in Australia, with no success, and ended copping all sorts of threats myself. I tried to report the players, User:Afgtnk and User:144.132.28.156, at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Edit warring, but found that page too unfriendly. It's all just too hard for me. Can someone who perhaps is able work the system please just have a look at that article's history over the past two hours. I've given up, both editing and peacemaking. Help, please. HiLo48 (talk) 07:18, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's OK. Someone else with greater skill has completed the report. HiLo48 (talk) 10:39, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Timezones[edit]

I was wondering how users from different timezones see the time tabs. Lets say an Australian speaks to an American on a talk page, do they see the same time tab or different ones? Sorry if this question seems dumb. Pass a Method talk 08:45, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm in Sweden and I see the time of your question as 08:45 - and my guess is that you see the same time. Lova Falk talk 09:05, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

PS My time here is 11:05, not 09:05. Lova Falk talk 09:06, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict × 2) If I understand you correctly, all timestamps are the same - they are shown in UTC. However, there is a gadget in Special:Preferences that changes the time on signatures to be relevant to your current time (so that the timestamp at the end of your query shows up as 12:45 pm, Today (UTC+4) to me, but a bit smaller). A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 09:08, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

UTC alligns with British time. Since wikipedia is an American website, doesn't it make more sense to use American timestamps? Pass a Method talk 09:44, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately there are nine different US time zones, so that wouldn't please everyone either. Better to stick to the international standard. I'm in the UK, but even here Wikipedia time doesn't match local time, thanks to daylight saving. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:50, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Since when is Wikipedia an American website? Roger (talk) 11:13, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wikimedia Foundation is headquartered in the US. Pass a Method talk 11:24, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

UTC was developed by the International Radio Consultative Committee, part of the International Telecommunication Union which has active US support and participation[1]. I suppose Wikipedia could use one of the US timezones for its default timestamp, rather than the normal international standard, although it might have got a little confusing when the Wikimedia Foundation moved from Florida to San Francisco. See WP:ENGVAR for an example of how Wikipedia deals with another issue raised by its global reach, irrespective of where its servers and head office are located. - Ka renjc 15:38, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The word "global" in that post is the key one. And UTC, as well as being a global standard, is somewhere in the middle of all the world's timezones, so it's a fair compromise for everyone. HiLo48 (talk) 16:30, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Just a point of order: the earth is a sphere (or close enough to one), there is no middle, unless you count this one. UTC is entirely arbitrary, chosen because some stuffy, old, white guys set up an observatory there. But there's nothing "middle" about it, excepting that we arbitrarily define it as the center. Any point at all would do. We need some reference, and that one works as well as any other would, but it isn't because there was anything "in the middle" about it. It's in the middle because we say it is. --Jayron32 04:15, 16 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

United States time would make things very complicated for people outside the United States. Right now, I only need to ask myself one question: Is it summer time or winter time where I am currently located? If it is summer time, add two hours to the indicated time; if not, add one hour. If American time were to be used, I would also have to ask myself another question: Is it summer time or winter time in the United States? Different countries switch between summer time and winter time on different dates. For example, people in Australia can't agree with people in Europe on when winter starts, so the switch to winter time is on different dates, making it much more difficult to figure out the correct time difference. Most people don't keep track of when foreign countries switch between summer and winter time but generally know if it is summer or winter time in their own country. --Stefan2 (talk) 19:13, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There are several gadgets (see Wikipedia:Gadget for a full list) that help with this. There's one that installs a UTC clock on the upper right corner of every Wikipedia page. This is what I use. There's another gadget you can install that will change all dates and times to display in your local date and time. --Jayron32 04:11, 16 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The summer and winter time issue gets even more complicated in that some parts of the United States don't even have summer time.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 19:59, 17 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

"Humans and other animals"[edit]

Is there a WP guideline when it comes to the expression humans and animals or humans and other animals - or is it for the editors of every article to agree upon which one is used? For instance, "psychologists study humans and other animals". Lova Falk talk 11:22, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

As long as it is encyclopedic and grammatical it should be fine. Pass a Method talk 13:27, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Junk talk section[edit]

Hello, I was wondering if I can remove some of the talks in the talk page. Also, what are those talks that I can remove. TruPepitoM Talk To Me 12:00, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There is no Wikipedia policy forbidding you from removing any or all discussions or notices from your talk page. The only exception is the removal of any block notice or deletion tag. However, users are encouraged to archive their talk pages. For example, on my talk page I generally move discussions that have been inactive for one week to a separate page. PleaseStand (talk) 12:16, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'd just like to make it absolutely clear that deleting content is only allowed in your user talk page, not article talk pages or other users's talk pages. (Except of course in the case of clear vandalism) Roger (talk) 14:40, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can remove your own comments on any Talk page, so long as nobody else has responded to them. 69.62.243.48 (talk) 23:03, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Also, some sections of WP:Talk page guidelines might be helpful. - Purplewowies (talk) 23:25, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

For which type of enquiry Wiki pedia portal to use[edit]

Portal gives information on subject but what is the main feature foe which this portal to be used — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.223.135.156 (talk) 12:28, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

From Wikipedia:Portal: "Portals are pages intended to serve as "Main Pages" for specific topics or areas [...] they are meant for both readers and editors of Wikipedia, and should promote content and encourage contribution." Portals supplement the category system to help readers and editors find articles in their areas of interest. PleaseStand (talk) 12:56, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How to find out more about deleted articles[edit]

Yesterday I happened to see a new article written by a new editor to Wikipedia (I think, but can't remember for sure). The article was titled "Daniel Moss" and was proposed for a speedy deletion. I cannot swear to it, but I believe I added a small detail to it AND contested the speedy deletion on the talk page. Unfortunately this morning I cannot find any traces either of the article or my contributions to it.

Just wondering if there is a way to locate some information at all? Ottawahitech (talk) 15:19, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you search the name of the article and click the red link, the deletion logs of the article appears. You can see which admins have deleted the article in the past, what the reasons were, and when the deletion took place. You can also contact the deleting admin to find out additional information.

In this case, Daniel Moss was most recently deleted yesterday by User:Malik Shabazz under the WP:G7 speedy deletion criteria.

If you plan to re-create the article, I would take a look at the AFD from 2006 (Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Daniel Moss) to make sure WP:G4 does not apply. Singularity42 (talk) 15:25, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Only administrators can see deleted pages and edits to them. You edited both Daniel Moss (adding categories) and Talk:Daniel Moss (contesting deletion). The creator User:Newuserusername removed most of the content, only leaving a confused hatnote {{About|the journalist|Daniel Moss}}, your categories and the almost empty infobox to the right. I'm not sure about the intention of the creator. Deleting it as "One author who has requested deletion or blanked the page" may be questionable, but it was nominated with {{db-person}} after the content removal. That seems OK when it only said two words about the subject: "journalist" and "News". PrimeHunter (talk) 15:45, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The article deleted at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Daniel Moss was about another person. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:58, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for responding Singularity42 and PrimeHunter. I tried to respond earlier but got into an edit conflict. Since my connection seems to be really slow right now, I think I will let other questions simmer for now. Ottawahitech (talk) 17:51, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Renaming Alexandrine Tinné[edit]

Hi, could someone rename Alexandrine Tinné to the usual spelling Alexandrine Tinne. I would do it myself but a redirect page with that name is in my way. Thanks. Jan Arkesteijn (talk) 15:49, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can ask for a move at WP:Requested moves, specifically in your case the subheading "Technical requests". A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 16:57, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Can you just change it so that the redirect goes the other direction and then copy the content of the one to the other? RudolfRed (talk) 19:42, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

No. That would be a cut-and-paste move. Deor (talk) 21:26, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the link. RudolfRed (talk) 03:12, 16 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Mistake[edit]

Hi I was just surfing around on wikipedia and I saw that you could edit articles. So, dumb as I am, I go into edit and I delete half of the article. I have no idea what I was thinking, but I pressed save, and then I go back to the article. I shit bricks when I find out that what I did actually affected the real article. I'm so sorry about this, is there any way that the article could be returned to an earlier state? Because 3 pictures and a lot of tekst is missing. The article is called: Spanish synagogue in Prague.

Hi, and thank you for telling us! The good thing with WP is that you can always undo what you (or others) just have done. Click on the tab "history" - there you see the latest edits, and there you click on undo. It can be a good idea to experiment a bit before editing for real, and for that you can use the sandbox. On top of the page you can see the link that is called: my sandbox. Good luck with editing! Lova Falk talk 16:01, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The "My sandbox" link only appears if you have created a Wikipedia account and logged in with it, because only registered users can create pages (including userspace pages) themselves. In contrast, both unregistered and registered users can make test edits to Wikipedia:Sandbox. PleaseStand (talk) 16:29, 15 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]