Wikipedia:Help desk/Archive 51

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May 18[edit]

Speedy deletions[edit]

I tagged a page with the speedy deletion tag a while back and the creator of the page removed the template without comment. I know with {{prod}} that's taken as disputing the deletion, and {{AFD}} is the appropriate next step. Does the same apply with {{db}}, or can I consider the removal of the template to be naughty behaviour, and put it right back again and warn the user? --Hughcharlesparker 00:19, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • They're being naughty. The creator of a page that's been suggested for speedy deletion should not remove the template without explaining themselves, as clarified within the template itself; he or she should add {{hangon}} to the article and write a rebuttal on the talk page or at Wikipedia:Speedy deletion. Relist the article, and leave the message {{subst:drmspeedy}} on the creator's talk page. --Kwekubo 00:28, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • What article are we talking about? - 131.211.210.13 08:59, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Template / feature for expandable box?[edit]

Hi, in the standard TOC, there's a "hide" link which hides/opens the TOC (without reloading the page). I want to do the same thing (in my own Wiki) to make an info box which can be folded and opened in the same way. I'm sure I've seen a template or something on WP which can be used to do this... now I can't find it (I even scoured my watchlist ;-)... help appreciated! — Johan the Ghost seance 00:20, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Try using the code below:
<div class="NavFrame collapsed" style="border-style:none;padding:0;"><div class="NavHead" style="text-align:left;">'''Message...'''</div>
<div class="NavContent" style="font-size:normal; text-align:left">
<!--START HERE-->
===Title===
====Subtitle====
'''MAIN CONTENT'''
*1
*2
*3
Paragraph..........text...etc...
<!--END HERE-->
</div></div>

It will eventually look like this:

—G.He 00:34, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for — awesome! — Johan the Ghost seance 14:46, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

adding a subject[edit]

I want to add an entry to Wikipedia but I am not clear on how to start.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Joannebirtch (talk • contribs) .

To start an article, just type the article title in the search box. If it's already created, the article will appear. If it does not exist, there will be a link that allows you to start it on that page.—G.He 00:40, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Author of Wikipedia[edit]

Who is the author of the wikipedia website?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.19.157.197 (talk • contribs) .

Wikipedia is written collaboratively by contributors all over the web. There is no single author.—G.He 01:22, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The founder of WikiMedia, if that is what you mean however, is Jimbo Wales. He does not write articles, however. As mentioned above, WP is written collaboratively by contributors all over the web. GofG ||| Contribs 01:24, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Rollback priv's[edit]

(ref: above article entitled 'Need help with 'godmode' script, by Sam H'.)

I have thought about formally applying to have rollback priv's, but the page at WP:RFR is not active .. ?

Where should i apply?

Thanks

Deon

Actually, you can use 'godmode lite' to achieve an effect simillar to rollback. I'm not sure of the details, since I don't use that particular script. Because RFR is inactive, the only other way (besides godmode lite) to get access to rollback privileges is to be promoted to an administrator (see RFA). --Hetar 05:58, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, see I'm having heaps of trouble with Godmode lite not working, as per the above article (need help with 'godmode' script by Sam H)

Change of main title[edit]

I can find my contribution by Google using "Niche segregation" but when I try to open a Discussion page, the following appears:

"Editing Talk:Niche segregation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia We don't have an article called "Niche segregation" Search Wikipedia for Niche segregation - it might be called something else."

I assume the reason is that on top of the contribution there is another main title:"Niche restriction and segregation". How can I change the first to the second title (Niche restriction and segregation)? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 129.180.1.224 (talk • contribs) 16:30, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Actually, the article Niche segregation exists, but its talk page doesn't (because no-one's put anything into it). So when the page says "We don't have an article called ..." it's actually talking about Talk:Niche_segregation, but it's chopped off the Talk: prefix. You don't need to move the page (ie. change its title) to discuss something on the talk page, just go ahead and enter it. And remember to sign off with ~~~~. Confusing Manifestation 06:07, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

new entry[edit]

how do i make a new entry for a term i would like to define that does not already exist? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by CaLew9 (talk • contribs) .

Wikipedia:Your first article has all the gory details. :) --Hetar 06:01, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
(After edit conflict) Hi CaLew9. Instructions for starting a new article are explained at: Starting a new page. You might also look at Your first article and How to write a great article. Because of the way you worded your question, please note that definitions are not normally a proper subject of an encyclopedia article--a sister project, Wiktionary is more appropriate for that type of information. This is especially true for neologisms, that is, newly minted words and phrases. See generally what Wikipedia is not.--Fuhghettaboutit 06:02, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Talk pages[edit]

When someone leaves a comment or question on my talk page, is it customary to leave a reply in the same place, or on their own talk page? I know people do both, and I can see advantages and disadvantages in both methods, but I wondered whether there is a recommended etiquette. Thanks.--Shantavira 07:32, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

We have a help page on this: Wikipedia:Talk page#User talk pages. There is no single 'best' way of doing things - the best way is to decide how you are going to operate, and write this on top of your talk page, so that other users know where to expect you to reply to their comments. I tend to do reproduce the full conversation on both talk pages (mine and the other user's), but that's just my personal preference. — QuantumEleven 08:31, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I think you should reply on their page and your own page, so the conversation can continue, and so they can read it. Its likely they won't come back to read your reply on your talk page in many situations. -- Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 09:03, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm surprised by this practice. Duplicating comments wholesale requires more reading and makes subsequent editing harder. Synchronizing conversations on two pages is a pain. I would think that a simple "I've replied" comment with a link back to the original user discussion page would be much better. The benefits of avoiding duplicated databases or code is a lesson learned long ago, I thought. --NealMcB 14:43, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

list of topics[edit]

I look at the list of topics for example under Ecology. Most are blue, some are violet. Why?

I'm not completely sure what you mean by topics, but if you're referring to links to other pages on the Ecology page, blue links are links to pages which exist (such as links to Ernst Haeckel and biology), while 'violet' (they're actually red) links are to pages which do not (yet!) exist, such as physiological ecology and oceanic ecosystems. Red links exist as an inspiration for you to write about the topic - clicking on them will take you to a page with instructions on how to start a new page on the topic if you wish. Note that you need an account to start new pages (this is to try and reduce the amount of vandalism on Wikipedia). Hope this helps! — QuantumEleven 08:27, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • I'm a muppet - thanks for pointing that out! It should be oceanic ecosystems (written as [[oceanic ecosystem]]s). In either case, though, the page in question doesn't exist, so my point stands ;) — QuantumEleven 09:06, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
And actually, there can be three colours of links - blue links represent existing articles, red are the ones that haven't been created, and there can be purple links as well depending on your browser and WP preferences: links you've already visited, just like on any web page that doesn't override the default colour settings. Confusing Manifestation 13:13, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Watch List[edit]

I know a lot of Wikipedians use their watchlist and love it, however I've never managed to use it at all. Any tips on how to use it, or how you use it? Do you have to go back and check your watchlist all time? -- Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 09:08, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The key thing is to make sure you have the preference set to add each page you edit to your watch list. You may occasionally need to remove things from the watch list, but that's it. For me the watch list is always the first thing I visit in Wikipedia, unless I am looking something up. I usually keep it in a separate browser window, so I just have to refresh it when I want to know what's going on. Notinasnaid 09:50, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Personally, I watch pages because I am interested in the topic and want to follow the changes made to the articles, so that I can correct or improve upon them (if necessary), apart from any editing of said pages that I do independently of other changes made to it. Also, my watchlist acts as an impromptu bookmarks file, so for pages which I check regularly (the Ref Desk :)) I have an instant link. I know that for the latter I should just use my user page, but I'm too lazy and the "watch" button too convenient. :)
While I personally don't do this a lot, I know that people who spend their time fighting vandals can use their watchlist to check on changes to controversial / often vandalised pages, and nab the said vandal as quickly as possible.
I also keep my watchlist open in a separate brower tab/window and refresh it periodically to see what has changed. Note that I have a very reasonably-sized watchlist, so this might not work so well for those Wikipedians with 1000+ article watchlists... Hope this helps! — QuantumEleven 09:55, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Creating a new article[edit]

After reading Help: Starting a new page, I get the impression that it's only okay to start writing a new page after doing exhaustive research on the topic and being able to list extensive amounts of information. But isn't the point of an encyclopedia everyone can edit that one person doesn't have to do all the work? If I know enough to write a substantial amount about a topic (say, Boomas), but don't have the time to do lots of research and make sure I know absolutely everything, is it okay to start the article anyway and assume other people will add information they know? Edward Tremel 11:20, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know how you inferred that from Help: Starting a new page, but the way I understood it, when you start a new article with at least enough information to 1) establish the notability of the subject 2) provide enough basic information about the subject. See Wikipedia:Stub#Ideal stub article. If you know more, then by all means put it in! But, in any case, yes - the point of Wikipedia is that anyone can contribute what they know. So to answer your question, start the article with what you know, and when you find out more, feel free to add to it, as other will do as well.
Hope this helps! If you've got any other questions or want to discuss this, feel free to post here again! — QuantumEleven 13:02, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Addendum: the following pages might help you get some more good ideas: Wikipedia:Your first article, Wikipedia:How to write a great article, Wikipedia:The perfect article and Wikipedia:Guide to writing better articles. Obviously, not all will apply to the first edit - but it might be worth to skim this for some good ideas. — QuantumEleven 13:06, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Deleting uplaoded images[edit]

Just uploaded and image but have not yet inserted it into article. However there are mistakes in the image. How do I delete the image so I can replace it?

Martin

Just upload a new image with the same name and it will overwrite the old one. — QuantumEleven 12:58, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

excerpt from wikipedia database[edit]

is it possible to get a database excerpt where all TV stations in the U.S. are listed with their according brandings, channels, affiliations and call letters meaning? --194.121.90.163 13:34, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Try List of United States over-the-air television networks. - ulayiti (talk) 13:37, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No, I don't want the networks but the stations (like WAAY, WAFF, WAKA, WBIQ, WBRC, WCOV and so on). I don't want to look up every single station in wikipedia, it would take me days to do so.
Well, there are the categories such as Category:ABC network affiliates and so on... Dismas|(talk) 14:55, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, those silly things. ;) What's the deal with those anyway, what's wrong with actually having names for the stations like we do in the rest of the world? - ulayiti (talk) 18:38, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I believe List of television stations in the United States by call sign (initial letter W) and List of television stations in the United States by call sign (initial letter K) is the closest thing we have to what you're looking for. The lists are probably not 100% up to date, however, so take them with a grain of salt... Powers 15:04, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Difference between "Go" & "Search" buttons[edit]

Please let me know what the difference is between the "Go" & "Search" buttons in the search feature. Thanks!

Hitting Go will attempt to take you directly to that article, search will search for articles with that word in it. Mike (T C) 14:40, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
For more details, please see Wikipedia:Go button and Wikipedia:Searching. -- Rick Block (talk) 00:28, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How do I select and add topics/articleto my watchlist[edit]

--SDThib 14:38, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

When you are signed in there will be a check box below the edit window when you are editing articles that says "Watch this page". If that's clicked, the page will be added to your watchlist when you hit save. Also, you can click on the "watch" tab at the top of the article. It's up there next to "edit this page" and "history" and such... Dismas|(talk) 14:50, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Miles[edit]

How many miles (as the crow flies) from Cobourg, Ontario, Canada to Clydebank, Scotland?

3,222 miles (measured using Google Earth). — Johan the Ghost seance 15:31, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Another silly vandalism question[edit]

If a user has been given previous vandalism warnings within the last couple of days, didn't vandalize for a day or two, then resumes vandalizing, do I start over again with the warning templates or pick up from the last warning they received? If they received a test4 two days ago, should they be listed on AIV for blocking as soon as they vandalize today? -RaCha'ar 17:47, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

They have been warned. You shouldent give them a "get out of jail free card" for what they did a few days ago. Just resume the warnings from where you left off. --Actown e 17:54, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If it's a user account, then definitely resume where you left off. If it's an IP, it's trickier, as it may be shared by more than one person. Look up the IP to see if it's registered to a school or similar public place by clicking one of the 'WHOIS' buttons at the bottom of the IP's talk page. Also look at the contributions. If on May 15th, you see lots of vandalism to Napoleon, and then on May 17th you see lots of vandalism to Napoleon, you can safely assume it's the same guy. --Sam Blanning(talk) 23:06, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If there was a {{test4}} a few days ago then I'd be tempted to give another one now and then report to WP:AIV on the next vandalous edit.--Cherry blossom tree 23:09, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks everyone, that helps a lot.  :) -RaCha'ar 13:24, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Peer review[edit]

Does anyone know how to resubmit a peer review? I read the instructions, but I'm kind of confused about it. --71.105.11.148 21:20, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It involved moving a page, which can only be done if you have an account and have had it for about 4 days. If you ask on Wikipedia talk:Peer review (or here) someone might do it for you. --Cherry blossom tree 23:15, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Okay. So could you please resubmit the peer review in Tikal the Echidna? --71.104.187.202 00:24, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

User scripts[edit]

I added the helper scripts and the main script to my monobook page to get a "last" tab at the top of articles to show the last edit to the article. But everytime I hit the tab, it gives me the last edit to the Undefined article. Can anyone tell me what I screwed up? Thanks, Dismas|(talk) 21:54, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Have you installed popups recently? They could cause some strange problems, at least for me... Try removing them and trying again. Fetofs Hello! 23:12, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No, I haven't installed popups... though I have no idea what you're talking about, I haven't installed anything on any of the systems on which I've tried to use the script. Dismas|(talk) 19:00, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

May 19[edit]

Merge templates[edit]

Hi there. I just put some merge templates on the following articles:

Can someone check I did it all OK? I was particularly worried about proposing that Diaphragm shutter be merged into two other articles. There didn't seem to be a template for that, so I used two separate mergeto templates. The split templates didn't seem appropriate. I looked through the options of merge templates. Did I miss something more suitable? Carcharoth 00:05, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, that looks fine to me. Sasquatch t|c 00:17, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Articles in userspace[edit]

Is there a WP:<something> that explains what to do with a user who has mistaken his user page and talk page as an article? In this case, I've run across User:College of Toronto, User talk:College of Toronto, which mirror the article College of Toronto. (Which is copyvio, and the article has now been tagged, but I'm uncertain what to do about the userpage and talk page.) Thanks. --Stephane Charette 01:28, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That is quite bizare... I think the editor should be informed of his mistake on his talk page. Unless the user's name is User:College of Toronto? Either way, please, correct him. GofG ||| Contribs 01:37, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Problem solved. Someone else has gone in and deleted the userpage and left a comment in the talk page. --Stephane Charette 01:51, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Question[edit]

How do I remove an image I've uploaded, as well as a page I made?

--Charlie

If the image is missing source information or a copyright tag, then you can tag it with {{subst:nsd}} or {{subst:nld}} and it should be deleted after 7 days. If you want to be a little more thorough, consider nominating it for deletion at WP:IFD. It looks like the page you wanted deleted has already been nuked, in the future you can use {{db-author}} if you are the only the contributor for the page. --Hetar 02:46, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Digital photography and RAW[edit]

Hello all, I have recently been enjoying the art of photography, with a digital camera that was given to me as a present. I would like to ask you: How do I get to take photos in RAW format and keep them as such when downloading them on my pc ? I would like to learn editing in RAW format. Hope you can help.

Kind regards, Robé

PENTAX Optio-X 1 Gig mem. PC Win XPhome( SP 2) OS

I've added a heading to your question.
Have you checked the manual for your camera? It will tell you if the camera is capable of taking RAW format files. If you can't find your manual or have lost it, you can download it in electronic format. Our article on RAW may be of some use for you.
In general, such questions are better suited for the Reference Desk - why don't you ask it over there, that's where all the experts on subjects other than how to edit Wikipedia hang out. — QuantumEleven 06:13, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Photos[edit]

My girlfreind recieved this e-mail from a freind recently,

" There's someone on the Wikipedia online encyclopedia called Taxwoman who is passing off pictures of you as her! See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Taxwoman and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Taxwoman/articles for all the pictures."

The pictures are of my girlfriend, how can we get this person to stop this, and how can we remove my girlfreinds pictures from this persons profile. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Chrisselwood (talk • contribs) 10:36, May 19, 2006 (UTC).

Yeah! You wish. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.47.61.107 (talk • contribs) 12:03, 19 May 2006
If they really are pictures of your girlfriend (and your girlfriend is not User:Taxwoman - have you asked her? :)), you should leave a message on the person's talk page explaining the situation. Of course, I don't know the specifics, but it seems like a very strange thing to pass off pictures of someone else as you... — QuantumEleven 09:27, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

When is an article complete enough to create?[edit]

I have been working on drafting an article to create (2 actually, the second a list of characters article), and while it isn't quite complete yet, I'm going to be busy the next few weeks and don't know how long it would take me to finish everything on it. Should I submit what I have and edit in the rest when I can, or wait until I have everything done?

Feel free to submit what you have - no article is ever really complete, and certainly the vast majority of them aren't even close. Maybe when you come back you can finish it off, or maybe you'll find someone else already has. A good idea is to add a stub template - check out the list at Wikipedia:Stub to work out which one fits your article best. Confusing Manifestation 13:38, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Copyright / Fair Use Photographs[edit]

I'm somewhat confused by the Wikipedia policy on images taken with a digital camera. To what extent is one allowed to photograph a logo or otherwise copyrighted artefact? For example, is Image:LU Leytonstone sign.jpg really legitimate, given that it depicts the London Underground logo, which TfL are known to protect quite rigorously? Cheers. — SteveRwanda 13:21, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I am by no means a copyright lawyer, but it seems to me that photographs of signs like the one you link to above would be perfectly acceptable. I thought we had a specific pump or board to ask copyright questions, but the best I can find right now is Wikipedia talk:Copyright problems. Good luck! --Hetar 18:09, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia on IE[edit]

When I surf Wikipedia on Internet Explorer, I sometimes randomly get an error message saying "Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site "http://en.wikipedia.org/..." [URL of page I am trying to reach]. Operation aborted" Then IE says the page cannot be displayed, but when I click "back" it appears fine. It has done this when I have used Wikipedia on Internet Explorer on several computers, so I do not think it is just a problem on my home computer. Also, the error message only appears when I am logged in. I am wondering if this is a problem with Internet Explorer or Wikipedia?? SCHZMO ✍ 16:00, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I also have problems with this on IE6 on both Windows XP and Windows 98, and the error seems to occur on any website, not just Wikipedia. I'm assuming it's some sort of bug; I don't know if Microsoft have released an update for it. Andrew 22:56, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Category:Wikipedians who listen to Noise[edit]

Hello, I wanted to start my own Wikipedian Catergory but I don't exactly know how. How would you start your own catergory and include your own picture and such? Any info would be appreciated.

Aubin

Creating a category is as simple as adding a link to a category that doesn't yet exist. For instance, to create the "fluffy creatures" category, you would edit an article and enter [[Category:Fluffy creatures]] the same way as adding it to any other category. The Category:Fluffy creatures will automatically be created when the edit is saved. Remember that category pages exist to be a convenient cross-reference to related articles and other categories. A category page should contain a brief description of the purpose of the category. A prominent link to the most important article in the category is usually a good idea, but please avoid copying large quantities of text or images from an article to a category page. If a category and a page have a one-to-one correspondence, then the {{catmore}} template or a similar template is often the best solution.
Since it seems that the category you want to create is intended for the user space it should only be added to Wikipedia-specific categories.
More help and information at Wikipedia:Categorization. --Hetar 17:46, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

PCs Versus Macs[edit]

I now have an office with 4 PCs, and laptops using PCs on Office 2000 with an exchange server. I am considering switching everything over to Macs. I want to know what I will gain and what I will lose in capabilities and features.

There are a myriad of benefits and drawbacks from both sides of this debate, far more than we could ever list here. I recommend looking at our articles on Mac and PC as well as talking in detail to the people who would be selling/supporting your equipment. If you have specific questions I would suggest asking them at our science reference desk. --Hetar 17:39, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sandbox[edit]

How do I get to the sandbox?

You can visit the sandbox by clicking here. --Hetar 18:44, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Setting the world record for obtaining the most signatures in one day[edit]

We want to support our troops in Iraq by getting the most signatures in one day or one hour at 600 store locations in 23 states.

We will collect the signatures, tally the number and send to Iraq men and women.

We will also donate $25,000 to the Wounded Warrior Foundation to Support our troops families.

My question is is there a record that has already been set to collect the most signatures?

Question: What kind of validation or process do we have to have to get our record to Guinness World Record?

thanks Gloria Laster 205-949-9494--12.34.158.128 19:04, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried the humanities section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit 19:11, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How do I delete an article I have wrongly created?[edit]

I need to delete an article that I have recently created and whose content I later realized was not consistent to Wikipedia policies. How do I do this?

I would like to point out that I have searched a lot for this trivial information in the community portal and helpdesk resources, without success. Therefore, please also inform me where this information may be found. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Antonio Prates (talk • contribs) .

If you are the only contributor an article and wish for it to be deleted, you can add the template {{db-author}} to it. This tag informs an admin that you wish to have it speedily deleted. (See the speedy criteria here)--Shanel § 19:52, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Image use[edit]

I found an image a short while ago that I wanted to upload[1]; it's at the Veterans Affairs Canada site, which lists these terms: [2]. That seemed fine, so I went ahead and uploaded it (Image:MemorialCross.gif) using template:CopyrightedNotForProfitUseProvidedThat. But then I see this says "If this image was uploaded after May 19, 2005, it will soon be deleted without further warning."

So, what am I to do? Can this image remain? If so, what licensing/tag should I use? If not, why not?

Thanks for any response. Radagast 22:23, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No, it can't. Why you ask? Because Wikipedia licenses its content to lots of people, people who can use it in largely whatever way they want - including for commercial use. In fact, Wikipedia itself has some deals for which we receive funds by licensing our content to others (such as answers.com). All contributions should be licensed under the GFDL or a simillar "free" license. --Hetar 23:32, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Include or Exclude Vocations in Links[edit]

This seems to be inconsistant in Wikipedia articles and I haven't found an answer in the help pages yet! Which of the following is correct:

Perhaps (although I wouldn't know how to do this) if a policy/guideline doesn't exist for this yet it should be implemented. Even just to avoid duplicate pages being developed? Thankyou, DanielBC 23:44, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Hopefully the following is what you are looking for, from the Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies):

"Academic and professional titles (such as "Doctor" or "Professor") should not be used before the name in the initial sentence or in subsequent uses of the person's name. Verifiable facts about how the person attained such titles should be included in the article text instead. In cases where the person is widely known by a pseudonym or stage name containing such a title (whether earned or not), it may be included as described here.

For example:

--Hetar 23:56, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

May 20[edit]

How to strike text[edit]

Hi there, I was wondering if you could tell me how to strike text (that is, place a line through the middle of a sentence or comment that was placed on a user page, talk page etc). Thanks in advance. --(Mingus ah um 02:13, 20 May 2006 (UTC))[reply]

Place <s></s> tags around the text. Hope this helps. — TheKMantalk 02:18, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks again! --(Mingus ah um 02:57, 20 May 2006 (UTC))[reply]
Comment The HTML <strike> tag also works, though it is shorter to use the MediaWiki <s> tag.—G.He 04:06, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, <s> isn't a Mediawiki tag: <s> and <strike> are both HTML, though both are deprecated in HTML 4.01. · rodii · 04:44, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Forgotten username![edit]

Note: User copied this query from the May 13 section above Forgotten username!

I haven't forgotten my password- I've forgotten my username! There is an option to have your password sent to your email address- but why can't I use my email address in the same manner to be sent my username?

If you can remember one page that you have been editing in the past, the page history of that page should allow you to figure out your username. Kusma (討論) 01:03, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
Try other capitalizations. Usernames are case-sensitive like articles. - 82.172.14.108 08:48, 14 May 2006 (UTC)


Neither of these suggestions are adequate. The only pages I can remember editing recently only logged my IP address as my identifier as I could not remember my username and usernames do not seem to be case-sensitive. There are only three usernames that I typically use and I have tried all of them- lowercase and uppercase and they return either all lowercase or with just the first letter capitalized- and saying that the password is wrong. Like usernames, I only use two passwords generally...and no, they don't work. I have tried to have my "password" sent to the email address for each "username" but none of these have generated emails to my primary account. I find it very hard to believe that one potential username in particular is not mine, as it is my last name and it is a particularly unique surname. I would be astounded if someone else was using it as their username... So, again I ask, is it possible to use my email address in order to bring up my account? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.160.117.243 (talk • contribs) 03:57, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't think so. You can check to see if a user exists by using TDS's user ID mapping tool at http://tools.wikimedia.de/~tim/mapping. Just enter the username and hit "Submit Query". It should return an error if the username doesn't exist. However, if you still can't find your username, and you haven't made more than a few edits on your old account, I suggest you just go and create a new one. Tangotango 06:33, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Seeing New Page?[edit]

Sirs,

Curtis Knapp has entered a new w page. Title; Curtis Knapp. It comes up as; user:Curtis Knapp

But does not come up when Curtis Knapp is typed into w find or search box. Why and what step have we missed.

We are not computer smart, so if there is an exact place or button we are missing, please point us in that direction. Thank you. Curt

Your page has probably been moved into what we call the "User space", which is why the User: prefix appears in front of it. In order to have an article without the prefix you need to meet the requirements listed in WP:BIO. Also, please note that users should not write articles about themselves. For more information, see Wikipedia:Autobiography and WP:VAIN. --Hetar 05:31, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Flag icon help[edit]

Can the Iroquois Nation flag be made into a flag icon for a table? Also, I haven't be able to find a page on how one puts an icon within a table. I found out how by copying from another article. Does the icon code use ISO 3166? IOC codes? FIFA codes?

Also, is it possible to have state/provincial/regional flag icons (i.e., an icon for New York, Ontario, or Catalonia)?

Please leave me a note at my talk page. Thanks.

--Jason Childers —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Paploo (talk • contribs) .

Replied at User talk:Paploo. -- Rick Block (talk) 18:46, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Deletion[edit]

How do I delete Professional wrestling in Australia?

Why would you want to delete that article? It's a good article and is certainly much better than many other articles. If you really wanted to delete it, you would go to Wikipedia:Articles for deletion and nmominate it there. But you'd need a decent and valid reason for it to be deleted and I don't see one. Don't forget to sign your posts on talk pages by typing four tildes: ~~~~ -- Harryboyles 11:43, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I just looked at the talk page and found out that you said "I have nominated this page to be deleted as it is constantly vandalised by User:Normy132". Deleting a page just because it has been vandalised is not a valid reason. There are other ways to deal with vandalism. Wikipedia:Vandalism covers the overall topic and how to deal with vandals. Just think, where would we be if we kept deleting George W. Bush just because it is vandalised. -- Harryboyles 11:52, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Can anyone work out what is happening at this page? Its text has been replaced with a redirect to OzWrestling. AndyJones 12:07, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The subject seems to have gone through a hyper activity phase. The redirects now go from OzWrestling to Professional wrestling in Australia to Wrestling in Australia. To accomodate all levels of wrestling it said. I think it's fine now. -- Harryboyles 12:56, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Copyvio on Derek Jacobi article.[edit]

There's a definite copyvio issue on the Derek Jacobi article. Compare with this. The problem is that the page has been edited quite a lot since the copyvio stuff was added in, so a straight reversion would lose a lot of good work. Does anyone here have any thoughts on how this can be dealt with? In my own areas of interest I tend to just rewrite from scratch, but I don't want to take the task on with this article. AndyJones 11:46, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Blocking User[edit]

How do you block a user from seeing your edits or, just totally ingore what ever he/she post regarding you?

Because I have this user, and that user as been pissing me off now are days. Because he really really really wants me to flame him. I have warned his @ss many times, but he won't fuck offf!

What ever you gonna do, i suggest you do it now. Cuz no one will really like it, when I 100% pissed off!

  • I suggest you blind that user from seeing my edits
  • Block that user from seeing my edits
  • Block my account for seeing his post and edits

Because I have had it!

>x<ino 12:07, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
None of the three options you present are possible. Please try talking directly to the user, and if that fails, file a Requests for comment. Thank you. - Tangotango 12:15, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]


No! I suggest you find out something, just try and make a way, for him to advoid me or I should avoid him. Because the guy is just pissing me off too much, keep on watching my Contribution Pages and trying to see what I am doing.

>x<ino 12:20, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There's already an RFC open for this: Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Xino -- The Anome 12:26, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Can I speak to a m0d? I need to speak to a mod!

>x<ino 12:32, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No, everything you do here is public record. If someone is wikistalking you, you could do what Tangotango suggests, but given your track record and what's happening on your RfC, my guess is that you're not going to find a sympathetic ear. Try using some self-control. · rodii · 12:38, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Try being cool and civil. That way you will find help easily. -Ambuj Saxena (talk) 12:44, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Oh please that RFC that idiot created, I dunno what he is trying to prove. I was gonna say my part but I don't give a damn. Just some low life geek shit trolling on Wiki.

>x<ino 13:52, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Xino why haven't you been banned yet? Sonic Hog 22:31, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What's the name of this user? Shouldn't he be banned for this?Yanwen 03:03, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Image copyrights and manuals[edit]

I'm working on some articles on the technical bits and bobs of motion picture cameras, and I was wondering what exactly is the status of images contained within camera manuals which are freely available to download from the manufacturer's website? Is there a justifiable fair use claim? I've been able to use images of the camera as a whole through promotional images on the site, but I doubt that would cover manual illustrations and was wondering if there's another area of fair use that might cover it. Thanks much! Girolamo Savonarola 13:07, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Being freely available has absolutely no bearing on copyright. You retain all your copyright no matter how many copies of something you give away. I can't see fair use applying; technical details may well be jealously protected. What would the specific fair use rationale be? Why can't someone photograph the camera anyway? (If a free image is available, fair use should not be used). Notinasnaid 13:18, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
According to WP:FU, fair use relates to:
  1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
  2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
  4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The purpose clearly is educational, the nature of the work is in fact a freely and publicly downloadable technical manual, and the effect of dissemination will neither decrease profits on the manual (none) or the cameras themselves. As for the amount/substantiality, I only wanted to use a small handful (maybe 5 at most) from a manual well over 100 pages. So I guess my specific rationale is that the usage is educational and non-substantial and has no market effect on the actual product being sold. Girolamo Savonarola 13:26, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Doubts[edit]

I am at a loss on how to publish an article.I have logged in and submitted my password so I guess it´s all in accordance with your rules. So, please tell me how to go about getting my article published.Kindly be as clear as possible.

Wikipedia:Your first article should answer many of your questions. As well as Help:Starting a new page. Dismas|(talk) 13:13, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
My advice would be to wait a bit before creating a new article. We have lots of articles that need work. Pick one, spend some time improving and learn how things work a bit before creating a whole new article. If you're looking for ideas, try the list of open tasks. · rodii · 13:28, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Is speedy deletion possible for these images?[edit]

I've uploaded several bird photos, including image:Juniper_Titmouse.jpg, image:Blue-Gray_Gnatcatcher.jpg , and image:Blacktailedgnatcatcher.jpg. When I uploaded these, I assumed that since they were from the USGS website, I would be free to use them. However, I have since found that these images were used with permission from the photographers and are not to be used anywhere else without the photographer's permission. Is there any speedy deletion tag I can use for these images or do I have to list them at IfD? --InvisibleK 13:39, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Anything you upload and then want deleted can be speedily deleted as long as there have been no substantial edits by other editors - see WP:CSD G7, "Author requests deletion". Given this I've just gone ahead and deleted all three images. In future, you can add {{db-author}}. --Sam Blanning(talk) 13:51, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Help please (about the copyright)..[edit]

i've added a photo to one of the articles regarding the area i come from, the problem is that source should be provided for the photo. but i can't provide a source for the photo...


so please enlighten me...

what can i do to add a photo using an appropriate way?

& what if the photo i want to add is taken by my camera?

thank you...

If you don't know where the photo came from, then you don't know whether it's copyrighted or not, and consequently we can't use it Wikipedia. Simple as that.
When you upload a photo, in the 'summary' box in Special:Upload you should add where you got the information from. For example, if it came from a website, you should provide an URL to the picture on that website. If you photographed it yourself, all you need to say is "Photographed by myself". You should also pick one of the free licences from the drop-down box next to 'Licensing', probably 'GFDL (self-made)'. --Sam Blanning(talk) 13:47, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How do you delete your history on wikipedia?[edit]

If you could answer that question right away send the answer to s.stevenett@xxxxxxxxx.ca —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.157.46.45 (talk • contribs) 15:07, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

You can't; every edit anyone does here is permanently stored in the database. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 15:09, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
In compliance with the GFDL, every contributor must have their history preserved. You do, however, have the m:Right to vanish. - Tangotango 15:13, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How to delete history from my search toolbar from wikipedia[edit]

My list is to long and its hard to find things, answer the question from the search toolbar on the left side underneath wikipedia the free encyclopedia

please —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.157.46.45 (talk • contribs) 15:13, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm afraid you'll have to be specific there - the search toolbar in which application? Also, questions about individual software programs are better asked at the Reference desk. -- Tangotango 15:16, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm assuming you're using Internet Explorer - if that's the case, in the Internet Explorer menu, go to Tools, Internet Options, and on the Content tab, click on the AutoComplete button and click Clear Forms. Tangotango 15:23, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

digests carbohydratse in the mounth[edit]

digests carbohydratse in the mounth —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.205.181.44 (talk • contribs)

You might find what you are looking for in the article about Carbohydrate. If you cannot find the answer there, click here to post your question at that article's talk page. If that doesn't solve your problem, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They'll be glad to answer questions about anything in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. -- Natalya 15:42, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Amylase --Username132 (talk) 15:49, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Which Template?[edit]

Which is the appropriate template to say "for the full article on blah de blah, see blad de blah"? --Username132 (talk) 15:48, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think you are looking for Template:Main. -- Natalya 15:53, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Why not Template:Details? --Username132 (talk) 16:24, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You could use that too - it really depends on the situation. For example, at Carbohydrate, Template:Main is used when topics are discussed in brief in the article, while having a more in-depth article elsewhere. If you take a look at Template_talk:Main#Comparison_with_related_templates, it seems to differentiate pretty well between them. Overall, though, Template:Main seems to be much more prominent. -- Natalya 17:30, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Edit summaries on talk pages[edit]

In the Help:Edit summary article, it says in bold text that you should "always fill in the edit summary field." But it seems kind of pointless to fill in an edit summary every time you add your two cents to a talk page, especially when it's something minor like "I agree. I think we should do this." And the way the help article proceeds to discuss edit summaries seems like it's only talking about encyclopedia articles, not talk pages. On the other hand, it is never stated that you don't have to fill in the edit summary on a talk page. So should I, or not? Edward Tremel 17:15, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Edit summaries are critical in articles, but are only a good habit in talk pages. That is - it is preferrable to use them, but not terrible not to. A good idea is to summarize in a word or two your post (in your example, just "agree"), or if it is a short comment, just copying the entire comment iself. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 18:13, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

substituting {{welcome-anon}}[edit]

I have been seeing a strange result when I substitute the referenced template. Instead of substituting, the template changes to Template:Welcomeanon-meta and is unsubstituted. If you don't notice this by going back to edit, you go along your merry way without ever realizing that the template changed and was not successfully substituted. Any ideas?--Fuhghettaboutit 17:23, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What's "strange" about it? The code in {{welcome-anon}} is just {{Welcomeanon-meta|my talk page}}. If you find that counter-intuitive, you should probably change the template (for example, by changing it to {{subst:Welcomeanon-meta|my talk page}}, which will make it work when substed but not when transcluded). -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 18:06, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
What's strange about it that in my experience, templates are self-sufficient--the template appears for all intents and purposes to be an autonomous template that should be able to be substituted in a normal manner. In fact, the instructions on the template's talk page even recommend substituting it without any qualification that doing so will not work to substitute the template at all. Do you know of any other templates where substituting doesn't work, but instead replaces the template with another unsubstituted template? What is the purpose of the template if it doesn't function except to transclude another template, and in a manner that would not be obvious unless you look back at the page it was placed into in edit mode to see the action you meant to take failed? Of course, after noticing the problem, I will just use the meta template instead. That doesn't solve the problem with the template, which I'm sure others will have to stumble over in similar manner. --Fuhghettaboutit 18:42, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well, I would have suggested to ask the sole contributor of both templates, User:Terra Green, what was the idea behind them - But it appears he\she has left Wikipedia a week after their creation. So it would probably be best to move {{Welcomeanon-meta}} to {{welcome-anon}}, and possibly do some modifications (there is a parameter intended to give a link to one's talk page, but it looks too clumsy). -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 18:59, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

RVC[edit]

I've come across people using "RVC" as an edit summary when reverting vandalism. Does it mean anything, or it it a toyp for "RVV"? HenryFlower 19:40, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'll try and give the definative and authoritative explanation (@least for my usage): The "R" is almost always for "Revert", although "Remove" or "Redact" could be used in certain situations; occasionally "Replace" as well. The "V" is pretty universally "Vandal" and its permutations (Vandalism, Vandalisms, Vandalic, etc). The "C" can stand for "Content", "Contribution(s)", or, in the case of blantant vandalisms "Crap". There also exist other permutations (RUN for "Useless Nonsense", RSE for "Suspiscious" or "Spurious" "Edit"), S in a 4 letter abbreviation is like for "Series" (EG. "RSVE" is "Revert Series of Vandalic Edits"). The only one that isn't really abbreviated is "SPAM" (As in "RSPAME"). 68.39.174.238 20:05, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I know we have an article on Wikipedia slang, but I can't remember where it is at. Rmhermen 20:11, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia:Glossary. -- Rick Block (talk) 16:03, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How to deal with a probable copyright problem[edit]

The article on Jean Webster has been copied from specialcollections.vassar.edu/webster/webster_bio.html and I am not sure of the polite way of dealing with this. I left a message on the discussion page and on the talk page of the user who created the page re copyright , but no response. I notice that s/he has copied other articles wholesale too. I have read and tried to understand the help files, but just want to be sure there is nothing else I should do before going to the drastic step of deleting and applying the copyright viol tag. --Slp1 21:58, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

applying the copyvio tag is not a drastic step.Geni 22:11, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I agree. It's the next step. Go ahead. AndyJones 22:20, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Will do. Thanks for the reassurance --Slp1 22:58, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

May 21[edit]

How do I create a new Category?[edit]

I'd like to create a category for Irish singers. How do I do this?

As far as I know, make a link to it somewhere, (Like [[:Category:Irish singers]]), go there, write a description, save it, and then add pages to it and categorize the category itself, etc. 68.39.174.238 00:43, 21 May 2006 (UTC) PS. Make sure it doesn't already exist under a different name though![reply]
Wikipedia:Categorization will give you specific information on how to create a organize a category. -- Natalya 00:44, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Request[edit]

Where do I go to request articles for expansion?

You can add a request to Wikipedia:Requests for expansion and/or place the {{expand}} template on the articles talk page. --Hetar 02:04, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Contribute a Page[edit]

How do I contribute a page/entry to Wikipedia?

In order to create an entry you will need to sign up for an account. Once you have signed in, Help:Starting a new page has all the good details. --Hetar 02:01, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

accounts for multiple languages[edit]

If I want to edit and read articles in encyclopedias in different languages, do I have to make multiple accounts? Every time I switch to another language I get logged off. --Mrmrbeaniepiece 03:18, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, right now all of the different language projects require separate accounts. There are plans to change this in the future, but they are some way off. --Hetar 03:30, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Program Guide[edit]

Do you have a weekly, daily or monthly program guide available on-line? Would sure be nice. Thank you so much. Carrita Campbell [Emailed removed]

I think you must have us confused with someone else. We're not a TV or radio station.--Max Talk (add) 04:16, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How to find talk page?[edit]

I had a question about how to find the talk page.

The dates on the right hand side of the page for this page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persia

do not match up; that is the Zand dynasty and the Quajar dynasty overlap. Before I edited I was going to ask someone if this was fact and done on purpose or if it was a mistake. So I wanted to find the talk page for this article so I could ask someone who worked on it.

I don't know how to find the talk page. Could you direct me, please?

Also, if I shouldn't be posting here, I apologize. I'm a little confused.

At the top of the screen next to the "article" tab it says "dicussion", click on that. Or just add "Talk:" before the article name in the url. No worries. BrokenSegue 05:26, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What is a sufficient length of time for a merge vote?[edit]

The articles on immigration and emigration have been up for a merge vote for over a month; however, hardly anyone has voted. What is the generally accepted length of time to leave the templates up and when should the voting be closed? If someone could also provide a link to this policy, I'd appreciate that too, as I'm having trouble finding it, and Wikipedia:Merging and moving pages doesn't really indicate what a sufficient length of time is considered to be. I don't want to take the templates down and be accused of not allowing enough time, even though this doesn't appear to be a controversial issue. Thx --DavidGC 07:31, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The discussion time for moves is 5 days (see WP:RM) - I'd think merges should be similar. -- Rick Block (talk) 15:54, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, Rick. Five weeks (or thereabouts) should certainly be sufficient then, so I'll go ahead and remove the templates. --DavidGC 06:34, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How do you activate Discussion section?[edit]

Hello, how do you activate the "discussion" section on an article? All the articles I have created have a red "discussion" - I want to make it blue and activate it. Cheers, --58.169.45.26 08:50, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You can create a new dicussion (talk) page by navigating to the discussion tab and writing something in it. But only do this if you genuinely have something to say about the article - a red discussion tab isn't a sign of a bad article. -- Tangotango 09:18, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think an anon can create a new discussion page, can they? User:Zoe|(talk) 21:09, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I think they're only restricted from created content pages, and are allowed to create the corresponding talk pages.

Titoxd(?!? - help us) 00:13, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How do you create a new topic in a discussion like in a discussion about an album how do I creat a new disscusion topic so I can talk about a particular track? —Preceding unsigned comment added by The emperor penguin (talk • contribs) 20:50, 28 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Firstly, please sign your comments on pages like this with four tildes - ~~~~. To answer your question, if no talk page exists yet for that article then just click the 'discussion' tab and start typing. If the talk page exists already, then go to it, click the little plus sign '+', and add your comment (don't forget to sign it!). Note however that Wikipedia talk pages are only for discussion about how to improve the article in question, not for general discussion about the topic - to take your example, it would not be okay to write about what songs you like on a particular album and what songs you don't. There's tons of other places for that sort of discussion. --Kwekubo 21:15, 28 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Day of the week January 26, 1943 falls on?[edit]

Can you tell me which day of the week January 26, 1943 fell on? ````

A Tuesday DanielBC 10:11, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

(N) and (top)[edit]

While I know what a little m means next to an edit log (minor), what does the (top) mean next to my list of contributions? And I'm not sure - but I thought I saw a (N) somewhere, but I can't find it again - what does that mean? DanielBC 10:09, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The (top) means that that edit is the last edit made on a page: the current version. The (N) means that it's a new article. Harryboyles 10:41, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Cheers Harryboyles! Thanks, DanielBC

Categorising redirects[edit]

If something that has a name, but is not notable enough for an article, is made into a redirect to the best place to find something on that subject, is it OK to categorise the redirect? Two current examples are Gorcrows and Merlock Mountains. Both are redirects to the relevant article, but have been categorised to appear in Category:Mountains of Middle-earth and Category:Middle-earth plants respectively.

So is it OK in general to categorise redirects? I don't recall seeing this done anywhere, but I couldn't find anything about this at Help:Redirect. I've also asked this question at Village pump (policy). Carcharoth 12:53, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know if it's okay (or not okay, for that matter), but it certainly makes sense. Even though the articles are just redirects, they do refer to separate ideas. So when you look at Category:Middle-earth races, it lists Gorcrows, which is correct (as they are a Middle-earth race). -- Natalya 16:57, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion on this is at Village pump (policy). Please add any additional comments there. -- Rick Block (talk) 18:22, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Citing multiple paragraphs from the same source[edit]

In the article Rusumo Falls, the first two paragraphs of the Significant Events section both come from the same source (the Bradt travel guide page 197). I'm wondering how I'm supposed to indicate that. Is the footnote after the first paragraph sufficient to cover both, or should I put an identical one after the second paragraph? And is this actually legitimate under Wikipedia rules, or should I in fact be attempting to cite the second paragraph from somewhere else? Cheers. — SteveRwanda 16:04, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think the important thing is that there is a citation so, if you're using one source, go ahead and cite it again. An article with limited sources is obviously a bit more suspect than those with many, but it's useful to make that explicit for the reader. Note that, by using the new Cite format, you can refer both footnotes to the same note. - BanyanTree 18:10, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Help with establishing a source for my pictures so they won't be deleted[edit]

Could someone tell me if I did these right:

TonyJoe 18:36, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

They look good to me. --Sam Blanning(talk) 18:54, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
FYI, I put the {{reviewedfairuse}} tag on those pages as an added measure.—G.He 19:02, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • The template says fair use can be claimed when the image is used on articles that discuss the book. I don't think the Harry Potter article really discusses the books much, the image is just in a gallery. I think adding them to the articles on the books in question is better. - Mgm|(talk) 19:14, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
True, but the article does talk and list about the Harry Potter books... It probably would be more suitable for the images to be shown on the each of the book articles themselves, but it's probably also reasonable to at least show a low-resolution image of the book in the section where it talks about the available books related to Harry Potter.—G.He 19:25, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Quidditch" has two d's, by the way. · rodii · 01:50, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

My Contributions[edit]

I've helped edit several articles in the past, but know I'm considering creating an account. Is there anyway to link my past contributions with my new username?

--24.10.18.216 20:30, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, I don't think there is anyway to do that. Fetofs Hello! 20:51, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
How about this: register a user account, then provide a link on your user page to the user contributions page for your IP address. In your case, that link would be http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&target=24.10.18.216. Hope this helps. Nuge talk 21:25, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Changes to Watchlist[edit]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to ask, but I just took a look at my Watchlist and there are 3 items on there that I'm pretty sure I never added. All 3 are non-existent pages, although 2 are similar to a page that is on my Watchlist. The other page is called User:x/crap, where x is the username of an administrator here who I don't know. There's no way I would have added that page to my watchlist. Anyway, even though it's not a big deal, I'm just not sure how this could have happened. Do you have any idea? Maximusveritas 21:52, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It was probably due to a vandal. You proably had a page on your watchlist that was moved to User:x/crap. So that page was added to your watchlist. But later, an admin removed the vandalism and deleted User:x/crap. But the page was left on your watchlist (that's just how the software works). If you give me the actual page I can tell you for sure. BrokenSegue 22:10, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, thanks. You were right. I checked the deletion/move logs on those pages and that's exactly what happened. Thanks again. Maximusveritas 22:35, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

actor network theory: guidance please[edit]

I'm newish, but have been working on the 'actor network theory' entry from time to time. After a gap I've returned to find two major changes:

(1) a straightforward duplication of five paragraphs in 'Background and Context' (which I've now removed.)

(2) The removal of a longish subsection within 'Concepts' called 'The Heterogeneous Network'. I can't see why this would have been removed, and wonder if this is carelessness or small scale vandalism. But I would welcome guidance. Am I missing or misunderstanding something?

I'm sorry to take your time, but I don't want to breach Wikipedia etiquette through some misundersanding.

Castlerigg 22:35, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Funny, you don't look newish. A ha ha. Sorry. Anyway, the thing to do would be either raise the issue on the article's talk page, or look inthe history to see how the edits developed, and raise the issue on the author's (or authors') talk page. Either way, don't forget to assume good faith; they are probably trying to improve the article and you all just have to hash out a consensus idea of what that means. They may have issues with your edits that you hadn't considered previously. · rodii · 01:55, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I looked at the article's history a bit, and it seems like the redundant 5 paragraphs were probably the result of a simple editing mistake. If you're copying and pasting more text than will fit in the textbox, it's easy to get mixed up about how much text you're working with. I've duplicated passages that way before too. Add a little it of laziness about previewing and voila.
The big problem I see with that article in its currennt state is that the introductory section is just way, way too long--nine paragraphs before the TOC. I think the complexity there is overwhelming the article. I urge you to try to reduce the lead to one or two paragraphs--see WP:GTL#Lead section, which recommends no more than three. · rodii · 03:39, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Okay. Thanks for this. In due course I'll work on the intro, certainly, unless someone else does first. Castlerigg 08:43, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Rapoport's rule[edit]

Could somebody please help me with my Rapoport's rule entry: cleaning up the mess with multiple appearances of references in the Literature list. I spent about an hour on it without much success (Rohde et al. 1993, Rohde 1996). Also, there is an entry Thorson's rule but the links to it in Rapoport's rule are red and don't work. Why?

It took me a while, but I worked it out - you were using a typographic apostrophe instead of a typewriter one, which meant you were linking to a non-existant article. (For the difference between the two, see WP:MOS#Look_of_quotation_marks_and_apostrophes) Confusing Manifestation 05:43, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

May 22[edit]

How do I remove my contributions from Wikipedia. They are being vandalized and moved around. I want my works removed. Please tell me how..

Thank You Taut —Preceding unsigned comment added by NawashiTatu (talk • contribs) 05:22, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Once you submit content to Wikipedia, and it is worked on by other editors, there is no way to have it removed unless it violates one of our policies. Of course, vandalism is easily fixed and you can always reverit it. --Hetar 05:33, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
(via edit conflict) From the look of things, what you call being "vandalised and moved around" is actually an attempt to bring them in line with Wikipedia policy, which is certainly not grounds for calling for their removal. (In any case, you can't - the text on every edit page which says "You agree to license your contributions under the GFDL" basically means that once it's out there, it's not your call as to what happens to it.) However, from the look of things the article Tatu (bondage rope artist) is probably at threat of an AfD anyway. Confusing Manifestation 05:35, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

anfis[edit]

sir i wanted to give you an article regarding anfis but some of the contents are from different authors will there be any copyright issue or should i require to modify it

You must not copy any contents, for copyright reasons. This is usually needed for practical reasons as well. Original articles do not look like encyclopedia articles. So you must rewrite. Also, it is very important in your article to give references, that is to tell people what information you used to write the article. This allows the read of the article to check their facts, and to start further research. Is this ANFIS as in "Adaptive-Network-based Fuzzy Inference Systems"? Notinasnaid 12:18, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Creating a table[edit]

Need help on creating tables. borders, lines and columns and cells, the basics (oh and colour). Wikipedia Stubmechanic 12:04, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You will find everything you need to know at Wikipedia:How to use tables and at Help:Table. Hope this helps! Nuge talk 12:28, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Six Sigma[edit]

Six Sigma

There is a sort of edit war on between two users on the Six Sigma page. One user Slocum1946 keeps adding a book written by himself to the references section, while another user Bezlocu keeps deleting it. I am not sure what needs to be done in such a case as this is not exactly spamming as there is no link added. Can somebody please advise. ramit 12:37, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The References section has a specific purpose. It describes the information consulted to write the article. To resolve the dispute, one way would be to indicate what specific information in the article derived from the book in question. Better would be to use it in the form of a proper citation in the article. Notinasnaid 12:42, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There doesn't seem to be any discussion on the talk page, which is where any dispute should go first. And the users in question should be made aware of the three revert rule, which doesn't seem to be abided very carefully here. Nuge talk 12:50, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you. I will put info on the talk page as well as the users' talk pages ramit 12:53, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

problems uploading images...[edit]

Hello,

Every time I try to upload an image I get this erroe message:

" " is not a recommended file format.

What should I do?

Thanks

  • What is the file format that you are trying to upload? What does the file name end with? Notinasnaid 13:20, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Some operating systems (like Macs) don't automatically add the file's extension. You need to rename your file to include the extension, so the wikipedia software can recognize what you are uploading. - Mgm|(talk) 18:10, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Interwiki images[edit]

Can anyone tell me how to include an image from one language wikipedia to another. To use a local language wikipedia image I use the " [ [Image:Image name.jpg] ]" syntax. I have found an image relevant to my English article on the Dutch wikipedia, what do I need to do to display it in my article - "[ [Image:nl:Dutch image name.jpg] ]" doesn't work? -De Facto 15:36, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The separate projects don't share images, so you'll have to upload it once for each project. Please make sure you include the original source as well as the copyright information each time you upload the image. Of course, if the image is not fair use, you can upload it to the Commons at which point it will be accessible to all of the different projects via the same image name - as you were trying to do above. --Hetar 17:02, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your advice. The pictures that I wanted to use from the Dutch wikipedia were not put there by me, so I guess I need to download first, then upload. More work than I anticipated - such is life. -De Facto 09:45, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Picture resolution[edit]

Does anyone know how to reduce an image's resolution? --71.105.10.216 19:36, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If you mean the size it displays in an article, instead of [[Image:Example.jpg]] use [[Image:Example.jpg|200px]]. The '200px' is the width of the image in pixels, so the lower the number is, the smaller the image. See WP:XIMG (reference) and WP:PIC (tutorial) for more. If you want to reduce the resolution of the source image, you'll have to download it, edit it in an image editor like GIMP, then reupload it. --Sam Blanning(talk) 22:23, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, thanks. --71.118.84.247 04:28, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How can I create a new article?[edit]

How can I create a new article?

I recently editted Marymount University's entry and realized there is no information about the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM) who founded the series of Marymount Colleges in the states. I would like to do a write up on them.

Please read Wikipedia:Your first article. After that, Help:Starting a new page has the exact details of how to start a new article. Please remember that in order to start an article on RSHM you should have several reliable sources otherwise it will likely be deleted. Good luck! --Hetar 23:49, 22 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

May 23[edit]

Cheat Codes[edit]

Hey, how you all doing. I was just wondering if it was allowable to add Game Genie, Gameshark, or Pro Action Replay cheat codes to game pages. Are you allowed to do it? If so, do you add it into the game's page, or a new one, for example lets say I wanted to add codes for Pac-Man, do I create an article called "Pac-Man Cheat/Codes" or add it to the original page, or not at all?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Hucz

Not really. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, and there is a relevant policy that precludes the addition of the information you want to add. Our sister project, Wikibooks, used to do allow that, but it recently stopped doing so. Titoxd(?!? - help us) 00:11, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There is a wiki hosted by Wikia called CheatBase which caters exactly for the kind of thing you're looking for. This wiki can be found here. Hope this helps! Nuge talk 00:17, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the help guys. The CheatBase wiki looks good, but it's fairly small. Does it have increasing potential? And one final question, can I add a link to the page that links to a website with cheat/codes?

Thanks again. Hucz


Use of Extended Characters[edit]

Are there guidelines, policies about using extended characters of the alphabet for foreign names, such as those listed below the edit box (Â, Ş, etc.) other than being visible in Wikipedia? --Shafei 02:32, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think you're referring to this page? Wikipedia:Naming conventions (standard letters with diacritics) —Mets501talk 02:44, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikilink pointing to deleted page after deletion[edit]

Hi, if an administrator deletes a page, what happens to the wikilinks that point to the deleted page? Like, if page1 links to foo, but the admin deletes foo, what will happen to the wikilink on page1?

One of the pages I linked to is being considered for deletion. Do I need to manually remove the bad wikilink if the admins delete the page? Just wondering.

Let me know if you need any more information.

Bye --Starionwolf 03:37, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If it is deleted and should not be recreated, links to that page should be removed. BrokenSegue 03:42, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, thanks for the answer. I'll keep an eye on the pages in question. Bye --Starionwolf 04:41, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Questions[edit]

I have a couple of questions:

  • In a peer review, someone suggested that I should reduce the resolution of an image. Why is this important?
  • How do I enlarge a small picture with a frame around it? Everytime I make it larger and add a frame, it shrinks back to its original height.

Thanks in advance! --71.118.84.247 04:31, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

To answer the first question, go to most any article. Below the toolbox on the left will be a list of languages. Those language links will take you to the same article in that language. When you edit the article, they are generally found at the bottom and will look some thing like "en:George Bush" or "it:Sphinx" or whatever. Dismas|(talk) 04:55, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
To answer the second question, I'm guessing that the image's size is probably disturbing the layout of the article. Also, smaller images make life a lot easier for our friends who are still stuck on dialup. --Hetar 05:44, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
And for the third question, I looked at the picture you were trying to enlarge. I was able to get it to enlarge when I removed the frame or thumb paramters, but of course, that removes the caption. I would recommend removing the image entirely, because it has an awful resolution, and isn't adding that much to the article. Also, might I suggest getting a user account, as there are several benefits. --Hetar 05:54, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! --71.104.188.113 05:52, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia Mediation Committee[edit]

I'm looking at joining, but i need to know something:

  • What's the diff between the Mediation Committee and the Mediation Cabal?

Ta, --Deon555 04:41, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Basically, as the Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal says early on, the Mediation Cabal is a way to resolve disputes without dragging it all through formal channels. There's nothing official about the Cabal, they're just volunteers. The Mediation Committee has a lot more rules to it. If the Mediation Cabal doesn't work, the issue may still get brought to the attention of the committee. - Mgm|(talk) 10:36, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

pop up[edit]

Hi, I know there is a way so that when I mouse over any link, various options pop up. Can somebody guide me to the appropriate guideline page on how to do that please Lost 05:35, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

See here: Wikipedia:WikiProject User scripts/Scripts. About a dozen or so places down the list. Dismas|(talk) 05:40, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Lupin's Popups is probably the specific tool you are looking for. You can find it at WP:POPUP. --Hetar 05:42, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks much Lost 05:50, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Help Formatting? Anyone?[edit]

If anyone out there has time, I need help formatting article U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, all of the information is there, but the layout is terrivle and I cannot seem to fix it. Living Large 06:20, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Most of the layout problems should be fixed now, although I'm still uncertain about the placement of the second image. One of the problems was caused by the table not being closed properly. I also removed one stub, since we only need to use the most specific one. Might I be so bold as to suggest reading WP:MOS and Wikipedia:List of infoboxes for future reference. Happy editing! --Hetar 06:28, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]


How to become a translator[edit]

I was searching around the site and various FAQs, but I couldn't for my life find out how, if there is any way, to become some kind of translator. I know there exist some already, but just wanted to at least have that to contribute with. It would be rather neat to apply for an English-Norwegian translator ;) Oh and by the way, is this the kind of question that a {{help me}} in one's talkpage should be created for? Henning 07:19, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, so THAT is what it does. Henning 07:20, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
And it calls people watching #wikipedia-bootcamp to look at your message. See; WP:NUH for the kids of theings we'd like to see with a {{help me}} tag. -- ∞Wirelain 07:30, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
This question is fine for {{helpme}}, but the Help desk will work nicely too. Translators are very welcome. Wikipedia:Translation into English and Wikipedia:Translators available should get you started. There is also m:Translation of the week which is interesting.--Commander Keane 07:37, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you muchly both :) Henning 11:44, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No problem, but please; ~~~~. -- ∞Wirelain 08:39, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

About Links[edit]

Sir, 

Our College is listed under the University. UPTU

But the problem is that with AKG College. It is showing a HyperLink but not with our College.

Kindly do tell me what to do to make it link with the file.

And edit it afterwards.

Article Forking[edit]

What is the established way to fork an article and retain the edit history? I'm working on Clinical Surveillance and would like to take the clinical sousveillance material (the stuff at the bottom below the under construction tag) into its own article (and probably then nominate that article for deletion, as it's not that significant in the grand scheme of things and is going to be hard to edit to reflect NPOV).

  • The first line of the article says: "Clinical surveillance refers to the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data about a clinical syndrome that has a significant impact on public health, which is then used to drive decisions about health policy and health education.". That sounds important to me. Don't let the fact making something NPOV is hard convince you to take the easy way out. Forking out material on clinical sousveillance is fine, just leave a note where the material comes from. If you someone get the current article deleted, please request the histories to be merged instead, so people of the sousveillance article can see exactly where everything came from before it was put under the new name. Put source information (where you got the text from in the edit summary and on the articles talk page. - Mgm|(talk) 20:07, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

how to edit[edit]

dear sirs/madam, Thanks for making wikipedia a fascinating source of info. how do i contriute to wiki either in terms of text or photographs. Please let me know. regards,

For general editing try Wikipedia:Tutorial and also here Help:Contents Look at the pages from there. They are a good place to start. --Actown e 15:51, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Spamming ip[edit]

I just came across spam from 220.126.119.107. A candidate for blocking, but since I'm not familiar with the administrative structure here this was the best place I could find to ask for blocking the ip. If you have time, leave me a note on where to do this properly next time. Thanks! --chris 論 15:24, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Basically, WP:AN is the place for administrator intervention requests. This has several subpages, of which I believe WP:ANI is the one for this kind of request. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 15:59, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Law[edit]

what are those univercities which provides master course in law ?

The University of Helsinki does. Perhaps it would help if you specified an area. - ulayiti (talk) 15:50, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How do you centre text[edit]

Is it possible to centre text like you would on a word document? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.42.129.146 (talk • contribs)

Yep! You can use the syntax <center>Centered text</center> to produce:


Centered text


Just note the spelling of "center". -- Natalya 19:22, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
CENTER is invalid HTML, though. It works in all recent browsers, as far as I know, but if you care about standards you might use <div style="text-align: center"> Centered text</div> instead:
See?
It would be nice if there were wikimarkup to do this. · rodii · 12:29, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It isn't usual to centre text in Wikipedia. What do you want to use it for? See WP:STYLE. --Quentin Smith 16:25, 28 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

help[edit]

I have created a new article called The LOGOS Ministry. But it doesn't seem to actually be in Wikipedia. Every time I search for it, you tell me that no article by that title exists. So what have I missed - what do I need to do to contribute this article to Wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Auk (talk • contribs)

Don't worry - your article does exist! You can find it at The LOGOS Ministry. I would say that the reason it doesn't show up in the search is because the search function is only updated periodically, but the article appears to have been created on 14 March 2006, which is quite a period of time. That is somewhat puzzling. You can at least access your article by using the "Go" function (notice it is next to "Search"), because that will take you right to the article of that name. -- Natalya 19:26, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Isaiah[edit]

how would i find information such as this bible characters strenghts and accomplishments: weakness and mistakes; vital statistics —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ynthia (talk • contribs)

You will probably want to search for the articles on the specific character you are looking for. Otherwise, Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. -- Natalya 19:29, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Music Samples?[edit]

I know on some articles there are links to download 30 second samples of music. What exactly is the policy on this? Is permission needed to do this, or is it perfectly legal as long as it is simply a sample rather than a full song?


Media files are used in the Wikipedia in accordance with the "fair use" policy. See:

-- Reinyday, 19:48, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

How can I clear the history in the search box?[edit]

I'm a teacher, and while I was logged in, some kid typed in "sexual intercourse" while I was away from my desk. A great topic, for sure, but now when I want to search in the "search box", and if I type an "s", sexual intercourse pops up. As I'm often doing this while projecting to the class, it is a bit embarrassing!

How can I clear the history in the go box?

I think you need to clear your browser's cache. -- Reinyday, 19:40, 23 May 2006 (UTC)
This probably has to do with Autocomplete fuction of your web browser. This function can be disabled:
  • In Internet Explorer, Tools-->Internet Options-->Content-->AutoComplete (In the personal section) - from there you should be able to both disable it and clear the history.
  • In Netscape, Tools-->Options-->Privacy-->Clear whatever you would like to clear
I don't know the specifics of other browsers, but if you search Google for "Disable autocomplete in <whatever browser you use>, you should be able to get the answer pretty easily. -- Natalya 19:42, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

how do i create my userpage[edit]

and become a English-Spanish translator?

Missing Persons[edit]

How can I get a picture of a missing person on the air?

  • Please note the instructions at the top. This page is for help using Wikipedia. Your question is better suited on the reference desk. Here in the Netherlands, we have special television programs that deal with crime and missing persons. Contacting news agencies and people from such programs in your country is the best advice I can give, but without a specific location, I can't tell you much else. - Mgm|(talk) 20:14, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

List of users?[edit]

Is there a way of getting a list of users? I've been wrongfully accused by someone I've never had contact with, and I suspect they have me confused with another user. I'd like to check to see if there are other users with names similar to mine.

I think Special:Listusers will be most helpful. — Knowledge Seeker দ 20:33, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How to add / submit a link to Wikipedia...[edit]

I'm new to this idea... I'd like to add my church website to your listing. How do I do that? I have tried to figure it out, and can't see where to do that. Thanks for your help! --Cathedralofhope 22:14, 23 May 2006 (UTC) david[reply]

Before you take the time to create an article on your church's website, please take a look at Wikipedia:Notability (web), which details the notability critera for a website to be included in Wikipedia. -- Natalya 22:35, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • You seem to have us mixed up with some other site. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a link farm. If your church is listed, its website probably is too, but we don't accept lone links as a submission. - Mgm|(talk) 08:01, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Broken Signature[edit]

My sig's broken, can someone help pls. Thanks. --[[Deon555|Deon555 [[User_talk:Deon555|Talk to me (",)]] [[Special:Contributions/Deon555|My beautiful work]]]] 23:03, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not actually sure what it's supposed to look like, but at least here it looks like something:
Deon555 Talk to me (",) My beautiful work
Uses the syntax:
[[User:Deon555|Deon555]] [[User_talk:Deon555|Talk to me (",)]] [[Special:Contributions/Deon555|My beautiful work]]
Hopefully it's a start. -- Natalya 23:35, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Awesome thanks! I mite put a pipe or something between the 3 links tho.. --[[User:Deon555|Deon555 [[User_talk:Deon555|Talk to me (",)]] [[Special:Contributions/Deon555|My beautiful work]]]] 23:47, 23 May 2006 (UTC).[reply]
Fixed :) I'll work on it more later today, add colours and put the Contrib link back in. Ta, --Deon555|talk 00:24, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Here's a cool sig: — The Mac Davis] ญƛ. 01:46, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I want to propose to split an article?[edit]

I'd like to split the Riau Islands article: the Riau Islands, or Riau Archipelago is an archipelago south of Singapore with historical and cultural importance. But since 2004, it is also an administrative province of Indonesia. The problem is that the province includes other archipelago which have little to do with the original Riau Islands.

I'd like to propose to split: a short article/stub on the administrative province, and keep the current as the original historical/geographical/cultural archipelao. Is there any special procedure to propose this other than just the talk page? Thks Tlanson 23:43, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Since it is article specific, you should definitly bring it up at Talk:Riau Islands. Be sure that there is discussion before any action is taken, as page splits are harder to put back together. You can take a look at Wikipedia:How to break up a page for more information. -- Natalya 00:43, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

thks; however I fear this article won't attract many editors, is there somewhere to list it?Tlanson 01:27, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

May 24[edit]

Dealing with a problematic user[edit]

I'd like some advice as to how to deal with User:NoseNuggets, a frequent editor to pages related to American sports. I am familiar with him through Current sports events, where his regular edits to the page have seriously lessened the quality of it. He consistently puts his edits in the past tense, italic type and casual style, even though he has been told several times that current-events pages should be in present tense, roman type and headline style. New editors to the page see his edits and follow his style rather than the correct one. I have been told NoseNuggets' edits to other pages are also of low quality. His edits to Current sports events have improved somewhat -- they are less SportsCenter-ish than they were before.

In January, I created an RFC page to bring attention to NoseNuggets' conduct, but he more-or-less ignored it. I've also left messages on his talk page, to no effect. I tried posting a message to Wikipedia:AMA Requests for Assistance, but did not get any feedback. -- Mwalcoff 00:47, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dipute resoloution goes something like this:
  1. Try to talk to the user (WP:TALK)
  2. Open a RFC (WP:RFC)
  3. Contact an admin on the Admin noticeboard Incidents page (WP:AN/I)
  4. As a last resort, open an RFA (WP:RfAr)
  5. Complain to the Ombudsman if you don't like their decision (although its out of use) --Quentin Smith 19:16, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I want to know if there is there info on a converter for mnemonics[edit]

I have been searching for information on where I could change abstract words into picutures.(This is an essential part to mnemonics). For example, convenverter could be corn+van+turd (I guess this it how it would be. Sometimes I need better words for this, but a dictionary would help of some sort. Let me know if something is out there.

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. Tangotango 07:26, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

oj simpson query[edit]

I checked your info on OJ Simpson but couldn't find the answer to my question.

Was OJ Simpson on the board of directors of any media company, such as CBS or Viacom, prior to the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman? 63.43.112.8 02:21, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. -- Natalya 02:36, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

blocking the project space[edit]

OK, this is an odd one, I think. I have noticed that I spend way too much time in the project namespace and am irresistibly drawn to RFA and browing old policy discussions. Is there some way that I can change my monobook so that I either cannot access or cannot see content in the project namespace. The possibilities for increased Wikipedia productivity boggle the mind! - BanyanTree 02:24, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Does your browser have parental settings? Perhaps you could set them to block certain sections of WP. Gyre 03:45, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Hmmm... that's an idea. I'll play around with it. Thanks! - BanyanTree 13:20, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Problem in article but don't know solution...[edit]

In the wiki article on Fulgurites I noticed a factual inconsistency:

The article say the largest fulgurite ever found (implication: anywhere) was 9 feet long (in NJ), then goes on to say the largest fulgurite found in CT was 13 feet long. Would not the CT fulgurite be largest ever found--anywhere? If I knew the answer I would have edited the article...but I do not.

Sounds like you should go ahead and change it. Be bold! Gyre 03:47, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How to overcome the digital divide in Hong Kong[edit]

According to the Thematic Household Survey 2005 published by the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong, the penetration rates of PC and Internet of Hong Kong had reached 70.1% and 64.6%. Had Hong Kong become a digital inclusive city? What intiatives should further be done for improving the digital divide of Hong Kong?

Have you tried the Humanities section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. However, be forewarned that the people at the Reference Desk take extra precautions not to answer homework questions. -- Tangotango 07:25, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a protocol for external links to commercial sites?[edit]

Some pages I have seen show links to commercial sites off Wikipedia. What is the protocol for this? Is it allowed or not? Mfields1 06:11, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:EL. Dismas|(talk) 06:19, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

NPOV[edit]

What is the procedure when I find an article like this one, Philippine Ballet Theater that is clearly not written from a NPOV and is plagarized directly from this site http://www.culturalcenter.gov.ph/res-PBT.htm? -MarkBuckles 06:17, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, NPOV and plagiarism are two different problems - the latter is far more serious. Please see Wikipedia:Copyright problems for information on how to deal with copyright violations. I've tagged this article as a copyvio of the website you specified. As for NPOV, you can choose to rewrite it from a Neutral Point of View, or you can flag it with an appropriate template message, such as {{POV}} and {{POV-check}}. Please see Wikipedia:Template messages/Disputes for a comprehensive list. — Tangotango 07:23, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding PG Programs for Executives[edit]

Sir

I m nitesh srivastava working for BPL telecom , I wants to know abut PG Programs for executives & also for ITES profressionals,

thanks & regard

Nitesh Srivastava

Sr Design Engineer

BPL telecom Ltd.

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. -- Tangotango 07:17, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Peace Proposal for Jerusalem[edit]

How can I link the enclosed Peace Proposal for Jerusalem to the title on the page listing the peace proposals? There is no website that contains this proposal at present. Is there a way to put it in a Wikipedia link? All the religious leaders of the three Abrahamic religions in Jerusalem like the proposal. Thanks for your help. Ellen Rosser ellen.rosser@sbcglobal.net.

THE CITY OF GOD, A PEACE PROPOSAL FOR JERUSALEM


Jerusalem, the holy city, the Center from which knowledge of the one God spread through the world; the city of the prophets and kings—David, Solomon, Jesus, Mohammed; the city where Judaism, Christianity and Islam will come together in reverence for God, as the Quran states. And who owns Jerusalem? God. Who should govern Jerusalem? The leaders of the three religions for which it is holy. And how might that governance work out in practice? First, Jerusalem, God’s city, will be a separate entity, like Vatican City, which is surrounded by Rome but is a separate country. Second, Jerusalem will be run by an administrator appointed by the religious leaders of the three religions (henceforth called the Judeo-Christian-Islamic Council). The administrator will consult with the Judeo-Christian-Islamic Council on all subjects: tax rates, building projects, citizenship for non-Israeli or non-Palestinian religious peoples, the use of tax revenues, maintaining the mosques and their schools, the churches and their schools, and the synagogues and their schools. Third, since the Knesset is located in Jerusalem it will pay property taxes to Jerusalem as it continues to govern Israel. Comparably, the capital building of Palestine will be in Jerusalem, its president will govern Palestine from there, and Palestine will pay property taxes to Jerusalem. Fourth, the Judeo-Christian-Islamic Council will determine other matters such as making Jerusalem a place of God’s peace with no deadly weapons present, even for crime prevention. Moreover, crime prevention patrols will expel prostitution, obscenity, and immorality while emphasizing modest dress in God’s city. Fifth, the religious leaders will come to an agreement about rebuilding Solomon’s Temple, which will be located on or near its original site, which is not the site of the Dome of the Rock. Then each of the religions will have a beautiful building on its ancient holy site. Moreover, Solomon’s Temple will symbolize the convergence of the three religions to spread God’s truth around the world. Sixth, the Judeo-Christian-Islamic Council will consider building a great library in Jerusalem to house the holy writings and scholarship of the three religions, if funds are available. When the religious leaders govern Jerusalem, then God’s city truly will be a place of God, a light to the nations, and a center from which holiness can radiate to the world and inspire all to live according to God’s law and God’s peace. Then the three religions will fulfill their prophecies of bringing peace to the earth, and Jerusalem then truly will be the city of righteous peace. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.199.98.245 (talk • contribs) 07:04, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Hello, unfortunately, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not an indiscriminate collection of information. For the proposal to merit an article on Wikipedia, it must be notable and verifiable. If, as you say, this proposal is not mentioned on any websites, then it demonstrably fails these tests. My advice is to get this proposal very well known - several mentions in the media, for example - before publishing it on Wikipedia. Thank you. Cheers, Tangotango 07:13, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Infoboxes at the bottom of the page grouping sub-subjects[edit]

I'm just wondering if someone can explain to me how I create an infobox at the bottom of the page, grouping sub-subjects under a common theme. A perfect example is the infobox at the bottom of the "President of the United States" wiki where all the wikis for former presidents are grouped together. How do I create one of these? What are they officially called? And is there a help-page or something? --RingoStarr 08:43, 24 May 2006 (UTC) RingoStarr[reply]

They are templates - to put one at the bottom of the page, all you have to do is put the template tag on the page. For example, the three boxes at the bottom of the page are produced with the syntax:
{{US Presidents}}
 {{Uspresidentialelections}}
 {{Lists of US Presidents and Vice Presidents}}
You can take a look at Template:US Presidents, Template:Uspresidentialelections, and Template:Lists of US Presidents and Vice Presidents for more information. -- Natalya 10:56, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
A little side note, "wiki" refers to the type of software this site runs on, not the individual pages. --Max Talk (add) 06:40, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

IDGR needs mediation[edit]

Positions are deadlocked and there are contradicting notions how to go on [3]. I won't wage an edit war, so assistance would be very welcome. Foreigner 10:45, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't quite understand what the problem is...you prefer to put references on the talk page rather than within the article itself? There can't really be any discussion about those policies mentioned by SlimVirgin (WP:V, WP:REF, WP:NOR, etc); every article has to abide by them (at least here on the english language version). Being, as you are, a German and English speaker and familiar with the original article on the german wikipedia, you seem better equipped than most to include the references inside the article, as per WP policy. Nuge talk 13:28, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well, all right, i gave the source by Claus Wolfschlag as an external link now. Hope that's what she wants. But I guess it was just a pretence to prevent the article from being extended. We'll see what come next ... Foreigner 13:58, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Misspelling in article title[edit]

I have created a new page an made spelling mistake in the Title of the page-how doI edit this? Thanks! 

--Lisa-BFWMLisa-BFWM 14:45, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
See Help:Moving a page --Hetar 17:54, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Unwanted page[edit]

There is an article about me at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Simmons that ought not to be there; there is no reason an article needs to be published about me on wikipedia. I tried to follow the instructions to initiate deletion of the article, but several weeks later it is still sitting there. Please help.

Professor Simmons, the instructions to nominate your article for deletion were not completely followed, so the nomination was left hanging in la la land. Normally someone catches these things, but I guess in your case it slipped by us. At any rate, I have finished the nomination for you, and you can view it at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ryan Simmons. You may want to drop by there and provide a valid reason for deletion according to our policies and guidelines. --Hetar 17:48, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Login Trouble[edit]

I am unable to Sign in. I use the option to send a new password via email, but nothing comes in. 141.157.60.110 17:38, 24 May 2006 (UTC)neosavage[reply]

I would suggest a couple of things. First, check your spam filters or spam folders to make sure the message hasn't been flagged as spam. Second, I'm not sure how long you have waited, but you might give it a day or two, as sometimes email servers can do strange things. Finally, if you still don't have any luck, you can always create a new account. --Hetar 17:58, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Headline order[edit]

Is there a preferred order for headings (excluding the ones at the end)? Specificially, where should the "Cast" heading go in an article on a movie? The Fellowship of the Ring and Pulp Fiction have them at opposite ends of the articles... Thanks -Dar-Ape 20:15, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:WikiProject_Films says that the Cast section should be just above the External links and Notes/References sections. --Hetar 20:20, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
danke schön -Dar-Ape 04:16, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re: updating Births for May 6th[edit]

As some but obviously not all of you are aware Willie Mays "The say hey kid" was born on May 6th 1931. When I noted the error I endeavoured to correct it, however because the edit button within the births box is actually utilized for the deaths I edited the wrong section. I noted my error & was in the process of correcting it, when I was banned from the site for vandalizm(sp?).No harm, Mo foul. All I want is to have Willie Mays listed in the births for May 6th. If the person that 86ed me had looked at what I was doing, they would have realized where I was going wrong and that Willie Mays should be in births for May 6th and the whole thing might have had a more possitive outcome. Now I am stilll trying to get Willie Listed on May 6th. I just checked & he is listed. Now I can leave you to yours. I will you understand tell everyone of my unpleasant experience & won't use wiki for jack 'cause I can find better more complete information in a book or elsewhere on the web. Rob ot

Your choice, but you were informed of your mistake on your talk page, when you added it again you were given a final warning, and when you added it again, I blocked you. When people are making bad edits because they're new or have made a mistake, we try to correct them instead of biting them, but we did everything we could and you persisted in adding false information to our encyclopaedia. So you were stopped. --Sam Blanning(talk) 22:04, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Sam - I think the guy has a point. He was adding Willie Mays, who was born on March 6, but in the wrong section. If you scroll down the page so 1931 is visible in the births section, the nearest "edit" link is the "deaths" section. Not everyone knows about talk pages. -- Rick Block (talk) 00:36, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Before adding content, you should always check to see if you've got the right section. Section edit links are for the text below it. If you don't know which section edit to use, just use the edit link on tab on the very top. If something gets removed, ask what happened before re-adding avoids you making the same mistake multiple times. - Mgm|(talk) 11:57, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

contents box[edit]

How do I add a contents box to a page that doesn't have one?

If the page has more than 3 headings, it will automatically be added. To add one for a page with less than three headings, add __FORCETOC__ to add it before the first section (as per default), and add __TOC__ to add it at a specific position. See Help:Section for more.
From a style point of view, most articles long enough to need a table of contents will be split up into three sections (plus an intro) anyway. All should have a 'References' section (that's not to say all do), and most have an 'External links' section - that's two headings already. --Sam Blanning(talk) 22:45, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Social Choice and Individual Values[edit]

((help me)) 1. This is the title of a new WP article I wrote. How can I make GO connect to it if I use only lower case for the GO window?

2. I'd like to get review comments as to clarity and content on it before I put links in other articles. Should I just go to the Talk page of related articles and solicit comments on the Discussion Talk page for Social Choice and Individual Values? (It's about a book by the economic theorist Kenneth Arrow.)

Thx. Thomasmeeks 23:23, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  1. A redirect should do the trick. I already created one for you, but for more info check out Help:Redirect.
  2. Posting on talk pages sounds like a great way to get more feedback. I would also suggest Wikipedia:WikiProject Books as another good place to ask for feedback and see more details about this type of article. --Hetar 23:28, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

May 25[edit]

How do I find the deletion logs?[edit]

I created a page and it almost immediately disappeared. I assume this was because the article didn't belong in Wikipedia, perhaps rightly so. How do I find the deletion logs so I can find out why it was deleted? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.100.252.74 (talk • contribs) .

The deletion log is at Special:Log/delete. --Fuhghettaboutit 00:20, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
And to find it (or any other log), click "Special pages" in the toobox on the left, then "logs". -- Rick Block (talk) 04:47, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Deletion of Unnecessary Subpages[edit]

I created the page Ogre/Revision to work on and propose a new article for Ogre. Now that the main article has been changed, the subpage no longer has a reason for existence. Should we delete it? What's the usual procedure in a case like this? Thank you! --MarkBuckles 01:40, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Just use {{db|reason}}. --Hetar 01:53, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure what that tag means. Could you point me to an appropriate page or explain please? Thanks you. --MarkBuckles 02:05, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Sure, more details at Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion. Basically, an admin will look at the tag and delete the page for you. We use it all the time over at WP:UI when we finish with a subpage of images that we don't need anymore. --Hetar 02:23, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! --MarkBuckles 02:53, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Those damn vandals[edit]

Is there any way to report a repeat vandal to an admin? 210.0.200.163 is on a tour of destruction.

See Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism. BryanG(talk) 03:26, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

bus travel[edit]

kindly guide how to reach maidenhead (town centre)from heathrow terminal 3)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. — QuantumEleven 08:00, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Tech evolution linking... howto?[edit]

I've recently worked with bump mapping and I found out that several evolutions of the method do exists. Just to name a few, there's relief mapping, parallax mapping, steep parallax mapping and the last one seems to be parallax occlusion mapping.
Those things are basically an evolution of the technique.
I would like to build some kind of box in which it is made clear that for example, bump mapping is considered a "basic technique" with several specializations... which in some sense, supercedes the old method.
Something like the box at the end of 80386.
Unluckly, I still have trouble digesting how templates work. Where and how should they be created in particular? I think I could be able to edit it once it's there.

Please note that there's not only an "evolution". Other "species" also existed so it should look like 

x ---> y means "y is evolution of x" evolution can be better performance or quality
bump mapping ---> normal mapping ---> parallax mapping ---> parallax occlusion mapping
              |                   +-> horizon mapping?
              +-> relief mapping?

I'm also not sure how it should exactly be used... but other wikipedians will figure out I guess.

If you could explain me in short the template issue, I could try it out by myself. I keep getting lost in the help pages about this topic.

Thanks in advance! 83.176.88.231 06:39, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Marco Polo discussion[edit]

I would like to delete an argumet between Euganeo and I on the Marco Polo Discussion page. We have a huge difference in opinion on the origin of Marco Polo. I would like list unbias facts and delete our silly comments to one another. He keeps posting that Iam a vandal and keeps putting them back on. This needs to stop. Can you help and simply stop him posting old comments??? We only need to see facts/opinion/views not silly arguments and Attention Valdalism.

I have asked him many times to stop putting my ip number after edits, yet he keeps putting them back. The posts are not my view ...the views are from other people, i just thought they are of interest in the origin debate

Evergreen Montenegro 03:58, 30 May 2006 (UTC) Thanks[reply]

Posts at a discussion page shouldn't be deleted - definitely not for trivial reasons such as being silly. Let the argument remain in the page - That's what these pages are for. Start a new thread and work towards a compromise. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 11:14, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Generally in Wikipedia it is not considered proper to remove or edit comments in a discussion page, other than obvious vandalism. Not even to correct spelling, but sometimes to correct wild layout is accepted. It is also proper to sign all your posts, and proper for others to add a missing signature if you don't follow the expected standard of signing. If what you post is not your own view, you cannot hide by leaving off your signature; the history tells all: instead make it clear that you are quoting. Notinasnaid 11:18, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Evergreen Montenegro 03:58, 30 May 2006 (UTC) Thanks[reply]

Facts about greek history[edit]

Is it possible to send you facts about greek history? It is a long time I write day's events in "Info-Grèce.com", in french. I think they could have some interest, if translated, in greek and in anglo-american language, to be on Wikipedia. I am not enough keen in such translations. If agreed, how exactly to proceed? Of course I understand and agree to any loyal checking. Sincerely, Thomas Efthymiou.

Hi there! Have you read our article on history of Greece? Are there any facts which you think should be included and aren't? I browsed through the website you mentioned, and I have to admit I didn't find much about Greek history, more information on present-day Greece. If current events are what you had in mind, maybe you should consider Wikinews?
I have to admit I can see the translation being a problem - Wikipedia is more than just a haphazard collection of facts, so I don't think it would help a great deal if you just sent us 'facts', you'd need to integrate them into the articles yourself. I encourage you to try this even if you are not very confident! Don't worry about making mistakes, someone else will surely come along and correct your grammar should that become necessary. Also, don't hesitate to ask other users for help by leaving a message on their talk page (my talk page is here).
If you think that translation poses a problem for you, there is a Wikipedia in French, which I am sure would welcome your contributions greatly. Bonne chance! — QuantumEleven 07:59, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Account[edit]

Why cannot we have a single login for all the projects in wikipedia. For Ex, (wikinews,wikicommon,wikiquotes)

The developers are working on this. It should be available later in the year. Essjay (Talk • Connect) 08:59, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • All project use separate databases to store the articles and account information specific to that project, so it's simply impossible for one project to know you've signed up with another. The developers also need to find a way to get around duplicate usernames on the different projects to make it work. - Mgm|(talk) 11:34, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

two pages, one subject[edit]

there are two pages for the new zealand rugby union

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Zealand_Rugby_Union&redirect=no and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Rugby_Football_Union

the new zealand rugby union (NZRU) used to be the new zealand rugby football union (NZRFU) why would there be a redirect page, can I get rid of the redirect page and instead have both nzru and nzrfu point to the one place? S.ferguson 08:28, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm a little unclear on what the problem is. The New Zealand Rugby Union redirect is fine, it helps people find the right article. Or are you saying you want to redirect NZRU to New_Zealand_Rugby_Football_Union? There are instructions at Wikipedia:Redirect for that. Please ask again if your question isn't answered.--Commander Keane 09:13, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • No, you shouldn't get rid of the redirect. A redirect is used to make a specific term guide you to the place where the article is stored. So they already both point to the same location. In this case people who get to New Zealand Rugby Union, are guided to the article we have at New Zealand Rugby Football Union. This way we don't have to copy the same text to multiple locations and risk one of the copies getting outdated. Wikipedia:Redirect explains how this works. Please feel free to ask again if you need more information. - Mgm|(talk) 11:12, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Trying to remove internal (circular) link[edit]

I have developed a new article about the chemical Brassicasterol which currently is listed in an article called phytosterols and redirects to this page - how can I generate a new tag for brassicasterol and remove the internal self referencing link in phytosterols? I have already made a slight edit to this page replacing the with [[ but this is insufficient. Thanks

Visit brassicasterol (by clicking the link). It will redirect you to Phytosterol and at the top will say "Redirected from Brassicasterol". Click on "Brassicasterol", edit the page and start the article.
Alternatively you could go to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brassicasterol&redirect=no , edit the page and start the article.
Ask again if this is not clear.--Commander Keane 08:59, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Userboxes[edit]

How do you make userboxes?Wikipedia Stubmechanic 08:57, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Go to Wikipedia: Userboxes and scroll down to "designing a userbox". Harryboyles 09:58, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • You should know there's A LOT of userboxes around. Search first to see if there's a similar one, and consider sticking it in a userspace instead of the template namespace if it doesn't really serve a useful encyclopedia building purpose. - Mgm|(talk) 11:07, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Donating Article[edit]

How can i donate some of my assignment work as articles for wikipedia

  • Sign up for an account with the link in the upper right hand corner and start submitting articles. There's a few things you should keep in mind, though. Unless your assignment was to write an encyclopedia article, it's unlikely the text you have now is suitable. Make sure you cite your sources and adhere to the neutral point of view policy. Also, make sure that we don't already have a similar article under another name. It would be a shame if you duplicated work that was already done. If you want to submit to existing articles, you don't need an account, but it's still a good idea.
More information is at YFA (Your First Article help page). Hope this helps... - Mgm|(talk) 11:05, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Also be careful - if it's a research assignment that mainly collects information from other sources, it should be fine, but the NPOV policy mentioned above means you shouldn't try and put any opinions you may have formed in the article. On the other hand, if it's an assignment where you derived your own results, then Wikipedia:No original research kicks in. Besides that, just make sure you read the most important policies and then jump right in! Confusing Manifestation 12:20, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Make sure that you own the copyright - work produced for others is often their copyright, not yours and apparently even some universities try to claim rights over their students' works. Rmhermen 14:55, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

OTHER WIKI[edit]

I've joined a couple of other Wikis, some of which have a lot less resources than Wikipedia. I would like to know just enough to create e.g. templates and other things to make navigation easier, and to allow other users to customise userpages, etc. If anyont knows anything (e.g. PHP, MySQL, Monobook editing, etc) that would be a big help. Dessydes 12:56, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Not quite sure if this is what you're asking, but for help with operating your own wiki (or using another wiki) which uses the MediaWiki software, please see the MediaWiki Support page. Best, MCB 19:02, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Categories[edit]

If I put something into the "cell biology" category, does that mean that I should NOT also put it into the "biology" category? --Username132 (talk) 13:47, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That's correct. Only put things in the more specific category. · rodii · 14:00, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The exception is the "main article" of the entire category, if there is one. It should go both to the category itself and any relevant immediate supercategories. JIP | Talk 17:28, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Bulk upload of images to Commons[edit]

Sorry if this is a FAQ... I swear I read once somewher that it's possible to upload a big amount of images to Commons at once (create a text file blah blah blah) but I can't find the info anymore. I've got some 200 images to upload (municipality maps, mostly identical, same target category, same licensing), and manual upload one by one would be a pain (creation already was). Can someone point me to the appropriate HowTo page? Thanks in advance, Duja 14:36, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No expert in this, but do you mean this program? http://tiredbrain.com/wikimedia/commonplace/ Garion96 (talk) 14:51, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No (it (used to be) a feature of WikiMedia software itself), but will do :-). Thanks a lot. Duja 14:58, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Splitting a table[edit]

How can I split a wikitable into two page columns (as opposed to columns inside the table) to make for easier reading (and so that people will look past the first several rows)?

--Paploo 14:45, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You mean, so that it looks similar to this one or... ? Duja 15:03, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, similar, but I wasn't able to get it to work using the settings that was with that particular table. The table I'm working on can be found here. You can see why I'd like to split it. Please advise. Thanks. --Paploo 04:56, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I was just asking in order to better understand the question, not suggesting that particular method. I don't think you will gain much by splitting it (it's a bit wide already), but here you go: I'd just split it into two tables (easy to do), and then apply the "table within table" trick. Here's an example:

before: 

{|class="wikitable"
|1||Foo
|-
|2||Bar
|-
|3||Baz
|-
|4||Boo
|}

after: 

{|
|
{|class="wikitable"
|1||Foo
|-
|2||Bar
|}
|
{|class="wikitable"
|3||Baz
|-
|4||Boo
|}
|}

producing:

1 Foo
2 Bar
3 Baz
4 Boo

You can prettify it by specifying cellpading, cellspacing etc. for the outer table but you get the principle. See meta:Help: Table.

HTH, Duja 07:18, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Where to put an article which needs some help[edit]

I hit random article and found Women in the civil war (I assume they mean the American Civil War). It's really in need of some assistance - it could well be a school project that someone has submitted. i think it might also need a rename to point it to the specific civil war. I'm sure that there are plenty of people who know (anything) about the American civil war. Alternatively, this might be better placed in a social-history context. Where can I find them someone to refer the page to? Inner Earth 16:25, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Add the tag {{cleanup}} to the top to request it be cleaned up. There are more tags listed at Wikipedia:Cleanup resources. There is even Wikipedia:Cleanup Taskforce but they are rather backlogged right now. RJFJR 16:30, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Finding my talk page[edit]

While searching the article on life I found a comment that I had vandalized an article. I wrote an apology to Marysunshine and pressed save. Somehow I am unable to get back to Marysunshine, nor my talk page, nor the message I wrote. --Fritz 17:55, 25 May 2006 (UTC) Fandeasw Fritz 17:55, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You must have been confused about the comment that you had vandalized an article. Your talk page is currently empty. I also looked in the deletion log, and your talk page has never been deleted, which means that no one has ever posted on your talk page. You can view your talk page at User talk:Fandreasw. Marysunshine's talk page is located at User talk:Marysunshine. Please let me know if you have further questions! --Hetar 18:01, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • My guess is that you got that message when you were not logged on. If it wasn't you, it's probably someone else using the same IP adress, which is especially common when you use an ISP like AOL. - Mgm|(talk) 20:34, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Template:Current U.S. Cabinet[edit]

Seems messed up. See Harriet Miers#notes for an example. --zenohockey 18:07, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Looks normal to me, what exact problem do you see with it? --Hetar 18:11, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Wow...now it does. It must have been the computer I was using. Or I was hallucinating. Never mind, then... --zenohockey 03:47, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Image Request[edit]

I love the colored maps I find when searching different nations and states on Wikipedia I was interested to know if anyone can create or find a way to bring the State of Alaska and the Territory of Yukon together on one map. Kind of a supranational map for topics relating to North America's first-order administrative units. Any help I could receive on the matter would be nice or a direction I could go Emperor 19:36, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You might try Wikipedia:Requested pictures if you're wanting someone else to create it. If you're looking for help creating it yourself, I suspect many of the folks at Wikipedia:Wikipedians/Cartographers would be happy to help. -- Rick Block (talk) 02:53, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Polish link to fansite on English article[edit]

Hi, someone added a link to a Polish fansite on The Lion King. I'm assuming good faith, but I'm not sure whether to keep the link or to delete it. The link seems a bit inappropriate for an English website. The link exists on the Polish version of the article. Any advice on what I should do with the link? Feel free to respond to my question in the help desk. The link is at the bottom of the section called External links . Thanks --Starionwolf 21:38, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Most fansites are inappropriate for the external links sections, for more info see WP:EL. In this case, I would recomment removing the link in question. --Hetar 22:40, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, thanks for your advice. Cheers. --Starionwolf 22:58, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Big picture[edit]

At this article, there's a really big image at the top, causing squashing of all the text to the left (at least on 800x600). How can we fix it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_splicing

Also, how do I operate the help-me template? --Username132 (talk) 23:21, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I went ahead and shrunk the image some for you. I did it by changing its size from 500px to 300px (one of the paramters for the image). For more info on this check out Wikipedia:Picture tutorial#Resizing. Also, the help-me template should be placed on your talk page, simply copy {{helpme}} and paste it there and someone will drop by on your talk page to help you out. Hope that helps, and let us know if you have further questions! --Hetar 23:25, 25 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

May 26[edit]

Games no longer produced[edit]

I am searching for either a game/puzzle titled Mabogo/Mobogo the killer/bull

Have you tried the Humanities section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. MCB 01:07, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

chemical company logos/brands[edit]

I am searching for information on General chemical company. Michlin chemical company producer of Mr. Thinzit products

Have you tried the Miscellaneous section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. MCB 01:08, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

my page[edit]

how do i get to my page and talk page please help —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Rekh (talk • contribs) .

If you're logged in, you get to your page by clicking your login id at the top of the page. To get to your talk page click my talk at the top of the page. -- Rick Block (talk) 02:44, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Image from French Wikipedia/Wikipedia Commons[edit]

Hello, I want to make use of this [image] for an article but I'm afraid I'm a little unclear as to how I a) use images from another language of wikipedia, and b) search the library of images available at wikipedia commons, which this is apparently from. Thank you for your help - sorry I'm still really ignorant about all this. --MarkBuckles 04:40, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pages from the Wikimedia Commons are available for use on all Wikimedia projects under the same file name. In this case, you can simply insert [[Image:Poucet10.jpg]] (of course, add the appropriate attributes per the Wikipedia:Picture tutorial) in any English Wikipedia article. Cheers, Tangotango 10:46, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Adding a disambiguation entry[edit]

There's an entry on starling and on starling (architecture) but I feel a disambiguation entry on both would be helpful. How is this done? Please reply on my talk page if possible. Thanks! Wyatt Riot 04:43, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I put a message on both pages to notify readers of this occurance. However there are many situations like it and to do it, go to Wikipedia:Disambiguation. It lists a guide on how to disambiguate properly. Harryboyles 06:15, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

copyvio or "just" plagiarism[edit]

Is what's going on at Arlington, Washington a copyright violation or "merely" plagiarism? User:Alexvincent2 says he's a 13-year-old resident who's been adding content from Arlington Centennial 1903-2003: A Pictorial History of Arlington, Washington, but that it's not plagiarism because he's using a thesaurus (presumably he claims it is not a copyright violation either). This came up because a lot of the text he was adding looked suspiciously like it was from a booster book rather than the "pen" of a 13-year-old:

A century of growth and progress has changed the face of mankind. The horse and buggy were replaced by cars and the oxen drawn wagon with four by fours. Young men dressed in pinstripes, derbies and bowlers now sport baseball caps and khakis. Young ladies, emulating their mothers, with parasols and the best of day dresses now don sweatshirts and blue jeans. A main street, once bustling with stables, blacksmith and harness shops, a mercantile, markets and the grandest of hotels now boasts eateries, antiques, health food, electronics and auto shops. Despite superficial changes, Arlington's old buildings, much like the human soul, have preserved the character and dignity of what once was, and still is "Our Town".
Arlington's main street started out as Railroad Avenue, but due to the spectacular view of the Olympic Mountains, a change was voiced. Dr. W.F. Oliver, local pioneer physician and one of the founders of the Pioneers Association, and Carl Marsh, the Arlington Times editor, became the main force in changing the street name to Olympic Avenue. Dr. Oliver said, "It's a shame that with a view such as this from our main street, we call it Railroad Avenue instead of Olympic Avenue". Using Railroad was considered "a shoddy misnomer". No official documentation of this change has been found, but today all street signs, maps and references refer to "Olympic Avenue" not Railroad Avenue. Today, the main street of Arlington is the heart of the city. Here is where most of the town events occur.
On January 25, 1890, Al Gifford sold between 30 and 40 acres of land to J.W. McLeod for his pet project, "Arlington." The town site was platted and named, and lots went on sale on March 15, 1890. Haller City was older, but Arlington was platted one month earlier. McLeod named his town after Lord Henry Arlington, a member of the notorious "Cabal" cabinet of Charles II of England

Questions:

  1. If this is actual direct copying, it's obviously a copyvio, but how to prove it, since the source is offline?
  2. If he indeed used a thesaurus to change some of the words, it's still obviously plagiarism, but is it any longer a copyvio?
  3. What exactly would our policy be in this case? Can we delete plagiarized material?

Thanks-- --Lukobe 07:34, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Answers:
  1. Libraries are very helpful when it comes to finding books, you already have the title.
  2. I wouldn't get in a fit about the actual naming, just using a thesaurus to change words is not acceptable. One needs to write in their own words, rearrange sentences, leave stuff out, put own stuff in. It's still copying. What to call it is irrelevant.
  3. Yes, this is very much deleteable unless you can get someone to rewrite it. - Mgm|(talk) 10:25, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your answers. I am familiar with the concept of a library :) I thought the difference in terminology was important because I knew we had a policy that copyvio content was to be removed but wasn't sure about our policy toward merely plagiarized content. What you seem to be saying is that our policy toward plagiarized content is essentially the same. Thank you for clearing that up. --Lukobe 23:05, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

how to install in wiki[edit]

how to install and connect in wiki

  • Could you explain your problem or question in more detail, please? Notinasnaid 09:08, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    • To Notinasnaid - WP:BITE. You don't have to install anything to edit Wikipedia. Just click "Sign in/Create account", then click "create an account", then fill in the relevant fields and you're done! On the other hand, If you want to set up your own Wiki, then you have to install MediaWiki onto your host computer. In that case, don't post your message here. The help desk is for help on Wikipedia. for info on MediaWiki go to their support page. --Quentin Smith 19:12, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Not biting, just baffled. Glad you could understand the question. Notinasnaid 22:47, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Colours??[edit]

Hi I was wondering how do I edit a block of text such as "the boy fed the dog" or whatever, how do I make that text appear say... red?? Many thanks in advance :) --Sahafan 10:29, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

On your own web site, you'd add a suitable < FONT > tag. In Wikipedia, by and large, you wouldn't ... that isn't the style used. Notinasnaid 10:37, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The use of coloured text is not recommended on Wikipedia articles, as people view the wiki using various styles, and for compatibility with the dozens of websites that use Wikipedia content. That having been said, you can use the standard XHTML/CSS approach to colours, such as <span style="color:#EEE">Hello</span> and <font color="red">Red text</font> (the latter is deprecated). However, please do this only on talk pages. Cheers, Tangotango 10:41, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Why is that last tag deprecated? font makes a lot more sense. I've got no clue what a "span" is. - Mgm|(talk) 14:35, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
This is probably not the right place for a tutorial on styles in HTML/XML/etc., but the Cascading Style Sheets article is a good place for a summary of the "how" and "why" involved. Just in brief, the span tag defines the range of elements (text, etc.) that a style is to be applied to. This permits all sorts of magic and cool stuff to happen by allowing the user's own style to override the directive, or to determine what to do if the device rendering the page can't change to a red font (maybe it's a monochrome display, or it's a speech synth and not a display at all!). It's a little bit harder to learn and use than a simple font tag, but it really helps make the Web more flexible and general and customizable. MCB 01:16, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Just to add a little more: the tag being deprecated isn't a matter of opinion; this is the exact word used in the official HTML specification [4]. Notinasnaid 09:21, 28 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Lynching in the United States[edit]

Hi - I'm new to Wikipedia. The other day I added some information about the James Byrd killing to the page on "Lynching in the United States." Today when I looked at the page, part of the information I added had been moved to the James Byrd page. The information remaining on the "Lynching in the United States" page has citations listed at the bottom up until number 28. Although citations 29, 30, and 31 work when one clicks them, they are not listed at the bottom. How do I fix this? --171.64.84.140 10:38, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Taking these two points separately: firstly, yes what you say about your edits being moved has indeed happened. See this edit. Secondly, it seems that point 29 in that article isn't a footnote but an external link, which I think must be why the footnotes are only working as far as 28. AndyJones 23:05, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Interesting New Wiki Tool?[edit]

The more I go to edit a page from mistakes (spelling or otherwise), the more I find that I've missed something to edit after saving a page, or missed that particular word or sentance in the wiki code. It's kind of a joke after the "edit history" has my username displayed 3 or 4 times in a row. So hence my question: Is there a highlighting tool on wikipedia so that I can temporarily (just for me to see, like an overlay) highlight something which would in turn be highlighted in the edit box. It would be guaranteed to save time and the number of edits. Anyway, just a thought. --AQjosh 10:47, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, I suggest you use the Show preview button before clicking Save page. This will give you an accurate preview of what your page will look like once it is saved. Once you're happy with what you've edited, remember to click Save page as usual. -- Tangotango 10:54, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I think what he's looking for is the 'Show changes' button on the editing panel. It's below the edit summary, right next the the 'Save page' and 'Show preview' buttons, and will highlight exactly what changes you've made, just as the history page would highlight changes. It's a good habit to use this or the preview button before you're certain that your edit is correct - this, as you mention, will keep the history page a lot tidier. Hope this helps! Nuge talk 11:00, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Copy what yo want in a text file and then press Ctrl+F to find it in the text box, should work fine. Hope that helps too! Fetofs Hello! 11:15, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Problems with tables[edit]

Hi I was working on a table which had this article, Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!), linked to it, but because there was two exclamation marks (as this is part of the name of the album) then the table wouldn't work properly, can somebody help me out?? thanks in advance --Sahafan 12:30, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've fixed it by adding <nowiki> tags around it. Please see the page to see what I'm talking about. Cheers, Tangotango 14:06, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Volume[edit]

what is the volume of this encyclopedia —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.194.81.154 (talk • contribs) 12:53, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

To cite an article, go to the article and click "Cite this article" in the toolbox on the left side of your screen. -- Tangotango 14:07, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • A volume only applies to paper encyclopedias. Wikipedia isn't paper yet (and would cost a enormous amount of paper if it did). - Mgm|(talk) 14:38, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If you mean "How many pages are there in Wikipedia?", one of the inbuilt Parameters does that. {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} produces 6,818,609. --Quentin Smith 19:06, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

underlining[edit]

My PC has just started underlining all links. It did not formerly do so. How can I stop it doing so?--Anthony.bradbury 13:52, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This happens from time to time in some web browsers. Close all web browser windows and trying viewing this site again. This may fix the issue.
-- That Guy, From That Show! 14:04, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Oddly, I have exactly the opposite problem. Regularly, my browser stops underlining links in Wikipedia, to my annoyance, and restarting the browser fixes it. I guess browsers know best. Notinasnaid 18:11, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well, now we know where your underlines have gone--That Guy, From That Show! has them. · rodii · 23:09, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Refreshing the page does the job most of the time for me. G.He 23:35, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Normally I have several tabs open at once, so quitting the app would be a pain in the ass. I just log out and then log back in. It's still really annoying but it works. Dismas|(talk) 01:34, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Happens to me too. I find resaving the Preferences > Misc tab does the trick also. Rockpocket -talk- 07:51, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Links to pages containing no original content[edit]

A user tried to insert a link to his own page which is simply a compilation of news stories etc garnered from newspaper sites etc. As there is nothing of value in this site (and I suspect it's done simply to make money on a cash-for-clicks basis from advertisers), am I correct to delete it? Advice welcomed. For info, it's the link I deleted at 14:49 UTC on 26 May on Swansea_City_A.F.C.. - Stevecov 15:04, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think you are correct, see Wikipedia:External links. -- Rick Block (talk) 15:27, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Page that shouldn't be there[edit]

Someone wrote an article about me that shouldn't be there; that is, I haven't done anything to warrant an article and I don't know why it was placed there. It is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Simmons. I tried to initiate the process for deletion, but it has just been sitting there for several weeks. Please advise.

Well, it looks like it's currently undergoing an AfD, which should be completed shortly. For future reference, check out Wikipedia:Articles for deletion. In order to initiate and AfD on an article, you need to post an AfD tag on the article, create a deletion sub-page (which requires an account), and post it to the current deletion log page. Hope this helps. — TheKMantalk 16:32, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

OK, but this has been the case for numerous weeks now; how long before it's completed?

Actually, the first time you listed it for deletion you didn't complete the process, so it was left hanging in la la land. You'll notice that I completed the nomination for you on the 24th, which means that after that it has to stay listed at AfD for 5 days, and after that it can be closed by an administrator (usually done within a period of 3 or so days). --Hetar 18:22, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

jetpack[edit]

am trying to locate plans for a good pack over the internet and wher you might find cheap parts —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.142.52.63 (talk • contribs) .

how do i edit my top eight on my space?

You might want to use an internet search engine for your first question. For your second question, you'll have to ask a Myspace user. --Pilot|guy 23:00, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

show image only if it exists[edit]

Is there a way, using something like the [[image:some pic.gif]] syntax to show an image if and only if it exists? If it doesn't exist, I don't want anything to appear. For reference, I would like to add to a template the abilty to show a state's image if the file {{{state}}}map_doton_{{{city}}}.PNG if the image exists. Otherwise, just don't show anything at all. --Kainaw (talk) 22:54, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The following should work:
{{exists|page=Image:some pic.gif|then=[[Image:some pic.gif]]|else=}}
-- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 12:23, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Absolute Power Corrupts...[edit]

How do we know that Jim Wales wont use our hard work for evil? --Username132 (talk) 23:29, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If he does, we can all leave the project, and we can use all the articles in a new website under the terms of the Gnu Free Documentation License. -- SCZenz 23:32, 26 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
This topic came up at lunch today...
Q:"What if Wikipedia started putting ads on it?"
A:"Wikipedia would have almost no users in about a week. It would take that long for persistent users to ensure the ads are real and not a freak accident."
This is the same as Yahoo. It was very popular, but had too many ads. AltaVista has a great search engine, but junked it up. Google took over with a simple search page. They are getting very close to screwing it up with sponsored links and Google Groups results. Ask appears ready to take over. They've stripped a lot of the garbage off their site in the last few months. When it comes down to it, nothing on the Internet is permanent. Users will use whatever gets the job done with the least amount of annoyances. Add to that the fact that there's always an alternative on the Internet and it becomes hard to really "do evil" and not lose popularity quickly. Of course, AOL is a huge exception to the rule. When you spend millions of dollars every year telling people they are too stupid to NOT use AOL, then you lock in the mindless masses. --Kainaw (talk) 01:25, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

May 27[edit]

Watchlist email notification[edit]

It is indicated "From MediaWiki 1.5 , depending on preference settings, you get an email after a watched page has been edited by somebody else". Where do I activate email notifications for my watchlist? --Talar 00:14, 31 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

MediaWiki has that feature in it but it is disabled on Wikipedia. Why? Think of it this way, you have 1000 items on your watchlist, one of your watched articles is changed maybe once a minute. Multiply that times all the editors of Wikipedia and the servers would be even more flooded than they already are. Dismas|(talk) 01:30, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Could I configure a general (non-Wikipedia) page-change notification service that simply notices (once per day) there was _some_ change to the contents of my watchlist page, and then notify me of that? At least then I would know which days to go look at my watchlist page manually, and look for recent time stamps. For my modestly sized watchlist page, that would be valuable, and seemingly pretty simple. Of course, the page notification service would have to know how to log into wikipedia as me. Petershank 18:06, 17 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'd really appreciate a notification that I need to look at my watchlist. Max once per day. Ian Yorston 23:21, 25 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
See http://www.changedetection.com which gives the once-per-day notification. I use it to watch wikipedia pages. Ron 16:20, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
So how does that work with http://www.changedetection.com given that you have to be logged in to see your watch page? Jmyii 13:07, 19 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Dismas: no, you would not receive an email for every alteration. As 3.2 E-mail notification reads: ". . . you get an e-mail after a watched page has been edited by somebody else. This will not be repeated until you view the page." Hence, you will receive only one email per each page edited, not an email per editor. If anyone can help with this, please see My talk page under "glitches". Cheers--Mak Allen (talk) 06:15, 7 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, I was a bit off on the actual process of it. But the idea is still the same, i.e. it's way too much work for the servers. Dismas|(talk) 14:55, 7 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for your reply. Then why does 3.2 E-mail notification say the servers will send us the notices? Again, if anyone can help with this, please see My talk page under "glitches". Thanks.--Mak Allen (talk) 02:51, 9 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Me, the novice user finds no easy way to keep up with conversations on wiki. If you reply to this, I'll probably never know -- the whole conversation paradigm is lost on wiki.
Appreciate server overload, but still would be very useful to have e-mail notification for 1-3 critical pages. e.g. closely monitor your company/personal page in case of "attacks".

Just use "webslices" from internet explorer. That will notify you of changes to pages.BBrown 16:02, 22 December 2010 (UTC)

While it's not an email notification, your watch page does offer an RSS feed. This can work as a nice compromise as your email client may handled rss feeds too. -- FuturePrefect (talk) 18:17, 22 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

English Speaking Wikipedias[edit]

Hi, I was wondering if someone could tellme:

  • What are the English speaking WP's
  • Are there any relatively new English speaking WP's?

Thanks. --Deon555|talk 01:43, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

While the English Wikipedia (this one) is the main English-speaking Wikipedia, there is also the Simple English Wikipedia and the Old English Wikipedia. You can take a look at the list of all Wikipedias in all languages if that helps. -- Natalya 03:09, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Some people also think any wiki is a Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a wiki-driven encyclopedia hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation and is a trademarked name. Other people may host encyclopedia wikis, but only ones by the Wikimedia Foundation can legally be called Wikipedia. - Mgm|(talk) 09:49, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Changes to the Jeff Merkey Article[edit]

Has Jeff Merkey pledged a substantial donation to Jimbo or wikipedia? If so, I think it should be mentioned in Jimbos discussion of the changes to the Jeff Merkey Article.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Walterbyrd (talk • contribs) .

Is that verifiable? -- ∞Wirelain 05:18, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • As far as I can tell Jimbo isn't involved in editing the Jeff Merkey article at all. He only deleted the troll-infested talk page that accompanied said article. Regardless, I don't see what makes donations worth mentioning in a bio. - Mgm|(talk) 13:41, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

admission to m. phil[edit]

sir i m interested to take admission to master of philosophy inapplied chemistry in this college pls send me detail procedure for the same —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 220.224.31.187 (talk • contribs) 16:13, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Hello, we are an encyclopedia, not a college. If you were trying to contact a college or university, you will have better luck by searching for their contact details on Google or a similar search engine. Cheers, Tangotango 17:30, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Human strengths/weaknesses[edit]

please list human strengths and weaknesses...... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by FONSECA-ROBBINS (talk • contribs) 17:10, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Have you tried the Humanities section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. Tangotango 17:28, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Internetworking[edit]

1.What are the advantages in using SMTP when compared to DNS server? 2.How an ip address is assigned to SMTP and DNS server? How to differentiate the domains between the two servers? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.88.187.84 (talk • contribs) 17:18, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Have you tried the Mathematics section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. Tangotango 17:27, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, and SMTP is not a server... it's a protocol that facilitates mail transfer. Domain Name Service is what assigns IP addresses to a network. Sasquatch t|c 17:57, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Image:Movie_spy_kids_alexa_vega.jpg[edit]

Image:Movie_spy_kids_alexa_vega.jpg was overriden and should be reverted. --82.83.203.214 19:09, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed. --Hetar 19:41, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikified article "Spiral:_Suiri_no_Kizuna"?[edit]

I noticed the article Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna was tagged for 'wikification', but after looking at the Guide to Layout and Manual Style, it seems as if it's already been wfyed and they forgot to remove the tag, and I don't dare remove myself, not being sure it's done. Could you take a look at the page and let me know what the problem with the format is (if any)? Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Byakuren (talk • contribs)

Hi. I checked the article. While most of the sectioning, categories etc are consistent with WP:MOS, the reason that tag is on there is that almost the entire article is devoid of internal links, per WP:CONTEXT. Therefore i wouldn't removed the tag until it is been 'wikified' in this manner. Feel free to attempt to add appropriate internal links by encompassing appropriate words with brackets, e.g. [[appropriate word(s)]] . Hope that helps. Rockpocket 20:34, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I've attempted to wikify the article Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna by adding internal links, as recommended on the help board... Is it wikified enough to remove the wfy tag? Thanks! --Byakuren 19:20, 29 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Looks fine to me. Go ahead and remove the tag. If someone re-adds it, ask them what more they think needs to be done. --Sam Blanning(talk) 19:25, 29 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The reason for the tag has been OBE'd by Byakuren's contributions; as such, I have removed the tag. --Folajimi 20:03, 29 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

old user IDs[edit]

I contributed to Wikipedia years ago and was given a login name and User ID. Recently I dusted them off and tried to sign on again with no success. Apparently the login system has changed. Is there a way for me to maintain continuity with my old account, or do I just have to start anew? —Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:72.230.0.76

|72.230.0.76

]] ([[User talk:72.230.0.76

|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/72.230.0.76

|contribs]]) *When did you last use your account? The English Wikipedia was converted to MediaWiki (the current Wikipedia software) back in July 2002; that's more or less the only reason I can think of for login data being lost. If you last used your username and password after that date then they should still be functional - are you certain that you are typing them correctly? --Kwekubo 20:38, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

My last entry was probably before 2002, maybe in 1999 or 2000. From what you said, my information is probably lost and I just need to start over with a new account. I can live with that. My only regret is my old user ID was a very low number which with luck would maybe, just maybe, give cachet and inspire awe in my otherwise mundane postings. Oh well....

No border[edit]

I think i accidentally hit some hotkey, but not the wikipedia border is gone. There is no search box at the left and there is no header at the top. All I have is just the article surrounded by white. Everything that originally was in the box to the left of the screen is now all listed under the article. I do not like how it looks and I wish to know how to revert back to how wiki looks by default. Thanks. --Komrade Lenin 20:45, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Go into your preferences, then "Skin" then select Monobook (default). Sasquatch t|c 20:50, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It seems as if the stylesheet has been switched off in your browser. If this problem has persisted, what web browser are you using? jnothman talk 03:05, 28 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How do i make my article come up on a google search?[edit]

How do i make my article come up on a google search?

Thanks for the help!!!

It is my understanding that Google crawls through Wikipedia every few days, and new articles will show up in the search engine around that time. — TheKMantalk 21:16, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Google uses a technology called Pagerank, which can be manipulated to your advantage. If enough sites link to your chosen article with likely search terms it will recieve a higher PageRank in a Google search. This is called a Google bomb (see that article for more information). If you have a blog or personal website, you can do this pretty easily. Hope this helps! Nuge talk 23:41, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sockpuppets[edit]

Hey, I have a suspicion that several users may be sock puppets to one account, or at least multiple accounts to the one. I don't want to name names at this point, but they seem to dump accounts and move on, and I'm wondering if they may be used as sock puppets. The user doesn't seem to actively point out they are getting new accounts (they have added all their accounts to a single wikiproject) and I'm worrying if they may be used in a TfD dilemna which the user seems to be pushing on his own at present.

All the accounts share common one of two terms, one a name and another a three digit number, but a fourth one may have appeared, this one hasn't behaved in the same way, but has voted in TfD (it seems odd since the new user only has five edits, four of vandalism to a user page and another to the TfD, something that isn't the easiest thing for a newcomer to find or even understand). All the accounts seem to stop editting (or slowly stop) once a new account has been created (they are on their third, as well the standalone sock puppet).

The user is trying to do some serious POV pushing, possibly damaging hundreds of articles, and I don't want this to happen without fair consensus. If there is any info on what I can do about this, or where it can be officially reported, it would be deeply appreciated. Cheers, Highway Rainbow Sneakers 21:43, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There is no official place to report sockpuppets because technically, there is no policy against them. Have you read Wikipedia:Sock puppetry? It has plenty of useful advice and info on how to deal with them; in particular read Identification and handling where there are a few templates you can leave on user pages of suspected sockpuppets to warn other users of multiple accounts. Hope this helps. Nuge talk 23:56, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, Highway Rainbow Sneakers 23:57, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Novel information by the author before the book is published on Wikipedia.[edit]

Hello, I'm here because I'm not sure whether i can or cannot do this. I plan on writing a novel soon (not now because of schoolwork and the finals and such) and it occured to me that if I put up pages for various characters, locations, topics, etc. it would help me write it properly, reducing the instances of conflicting facts and it would be already there with complementary information by the author himself when (and if) it is published... I'm guessing it's not okay because I could simply write it down in a textbook or something but I feel I'd be slightly more comfortable using Wikipedia's format (categories, links to related topics, etc.) as well as letting some peole take out things that are entirely wrong (seeing how it's suosed to be Sci-fi and Science is an integral part of it... I shouldn't just make up impossible stuff). So, would it be wrong to use wikipedia for that? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by GabeMorris (talk • contribs) .

First of all, please sign edits with 4 tildes (~~~~). Second of all, we are an enclyopedia, not an extension of Microsoft Publisher. You could do a similar with spreadsheets, publisher and word docs. Good luck, Highway Rainbow Sneakers 23:44, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
In short, yes. But there's nothing stopping you setting up your own wiki and putting the pages there... Shimgray | talk | 23:42, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Indeed - you can use the software Wikipedia runs on - MediaWiki - and upload it to your own webspace for personal use. Make sure you read What Wikipedia is not before contributing here though. Nuge talk 23:49, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
So, what would be a good free websace using wikimedia? I, regretfully, have no access to nay mean of online ayment and/or webspace...GabeMorris 00:11, 28 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You appear to have some of the terminology confused. Wikimedia is the foundation that hosts Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikibooks and other projects; MediaWiki is the wiki software used by Wikimedia's projects and others. One free wiki hosting service that uses MediaWiki is Wikia. --Kwekubo 00:20, 28 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Goto WIKIA and apply there, is my advice, but for the record: Have you tried the Languages section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. --Quentin Smith 16:23, 28 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
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