Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 February 21

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February 21[edit]

Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running![edit]

Can the "Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running! " be moved up onto the line under sign in/create account (-10px?) or over left to the middle (500px?), because it is covering up templates like the help contents back, the semiprotect templates and many others and its really irritating. Thank you, 00:07, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

I suggest asking at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) - that's where the developers and technical folks hang out. (And please sign your questions by using four tildes, not five - if you sign with five, you leave only a date/time stamp, without a username.) -- John Broughton (♫♫) 02:26, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I can confirm that this is a problem for logged-out users; there is no problemn for logged-in users. The problem is that people are using the same space for two different messages. For the time being, you could avoid the problem by creating an account, although I agree that a better solution will need to be found in the long term. --ais523 10:19, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Talk page[edit]

How do i delete my old messages from MY TALK PAGE?

Akward Thing With Esperanza Page[edit]

Every time I go to Wikipedia:Esperanza, no matter how I get to it, I end up logged out. It doesn't bother me because it only happens there, and I don't feel compelled to edit that page anyway, but I was just wondering if that is a coincidence, or if the servers have been set up to do that automatically because full protection isn't enough. 声援 -- The Hybrid 00:53, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It's the cabal. No, seriously, it's a cache issue, see Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive 137#Constantly being logged out. This link should purge the page. GracenotesT § 01:20, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Technical question about editing/sizing an infobox[edit]

I recently used Template:Infobox performer for Brett Somers. The width of the box seems to be off. For example, it looks like "Birth name(s)" should fit on one line; it's just off by a few pixels. How do you edit an infobox template to adjust its size? Also, I'm not sure why this template offers "Date(s) of birth," in the plural (or Birth name(s), for that matter). How does you edit out the plural? Can you make such changes only on a use-by-use basis or can the template be permanently edited?--Vbd | (talk) 00:53, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I would be inclined to keep "Date(s) of death" in the latent plural if Lazarus were a performer, but that's not the case :) You can remove the plural by merely changing the text of the template, as Xiner did (he beat me to it!) Check out Help:Table for more information about setting tables with CSS and such. If you want me or someone else to adjust the table width, ask away. GracenotesT § 01:13, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Haha, Gracenotes, you did get one I wasn't sure about! Vbd, you found the template, all you had to do was press "edit this page", ignore the gibberish, and hone in on the "(s)"'s. Xiner (talk, email) 01:18, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Intergrading Wikipedia into Internet Explorer[edit]

To:Help Desk

Intergrading Wikipedia into Internet Explorer

I find that I much prefer Wikipedia as my source in finding a word, subject, event or person while reading articles. While in Explorer If “View” on the toolbar is selected then “Explorer Toolbar” can be selected. At the bottom of that column is “Research Options”. Select that and you get a list of reference books and sites that are used when you select “Look Up” while reading an article. While the resources listed there are all fine they in no way compare to Wikipedia. Would you please advise me as to how to add Wikipedia there as a source of information that Explorer would look to. I have already spent several hours searching through Microsoft’s site to no avail. I have sent them Emails without getting any reply.

I would greatly appreciate this, Thank You for your time and effort in this matter.

Praeda —Preceding unsigned comment added by Praeda (talk • contribs)

Hello, Praeda. This page lists a few options available for Internet Explorer. Hope this helps! —XhantarTalk 01:22, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Treatening remark[edit]

How do I handle IP that make treatening remark.

The comment in the edit summary, ".IF I EVER SEE A MALAYSIAN OR INDONESIAN IN THE STREET, I WILL BASHED THEM UP AND STRANGLED THEM.", is not a personal threat. Just ignore it. (If 58.106.xxx posts something to your user talk page -- and I'll give you very good odds that this will not happen -- please ask here, again, regarding what to do.) -- John Broughton (♫♫) 02:01, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
That particular user decided to remove the final warning template I placed on his talk page earlier today - that should be enough grounds for a block. I'm reporting him to administration now. Hersfold (talk|work) 03:45, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

how to make articles???[edit]

how can i make an article on wikipedia?? 69.168.138.250 01:59, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

welcomed user on his/her talk page Xiner (talk, email) 02:48, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

My Sig[edit]

Why is

[[User:Redskunk|<font color="red">Red</font><font color="black">Skunk</font>]][[User talk:Redskunk|<sup><font color="black">talk</sup></font>]]

not valid HTML? It works when put in the sandbox. RedSkunk 02:43, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Did you check the "Raw Signature" box in your prefs? Xiner (talk, email) 02:46, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah. RedSkunk 03:17, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Closing the font before closing the sup (around "talk") may help. If not, try putting the font outside the link. -- Rick Block (talk) 03:26, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I think the font thing is the problem. You may have to settle on one color per link as a result. Xiner (talk, email) 03:34, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
[[User:Redskunk|<font color="red">Red</font>]][[User:Redskunk|<font color="black">Skunk</font>]][[User talk:Redskunk|<sup><font color="black">talk</sup></font>]] Try that. It should separate the link, but allow the link to work with the colors. Hersfold (talk|work) 03:42, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

eXremeDB[edit]

I thought I'd prepared sufficiently to create a new page -- fooled around with the text in the Sandbox for a couple days, looked at the formatting of similar pages.

So I went ahead and created the page -- and now I'm concerned I've gotten in over my head.

You see, the article is about a software product called eXtremeDB -- and like so many pieces of technology, its spelling is 'funny' -- with the first letter lowercase, the second letter and the final two letters uppercase, and the first letter -- "e" -- as well as the "treme" -- in italics.

I did not research how to accomplish this formatting in the article title. What I've managed to establish, in my attempts to give it the proper name, is an article titled Extremedb, which then redirects to the page EXtremeDB.

Does this redirect eventually "melt away", with the only "surviving" page name being EXtremeDB?

I see now that I have to learn to use a special template in order to permit an article title that begins with a lower case letter. Several templates are described at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Redirects_from_other_capitalisations

Am I correct in understanding that I'll have to use one of these templates in order to establish an article whose title begins with a lower-case letter (I know there must be a way -- I see that iPod has gotten it done).

Do I need to wait a period, until the existing redirect "goes away", before I try this template-based redirect?

Is there any way to italicise some (but not all) of the letters in a title word?

Ted_nwTed nw 04:28, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You likely want the redirect (this lets people enter "extremedb" in the search box and get to the article by clicking the "go" button). To make the title look correct, add {{lowercase}} as the first line of the article. -- Rick Block (talk) 04:51, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
...and you can't include italics in the actual title (can't is probably too strong, but you really don't want to bother). -- Rick Block (talk) 04:56, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

WP:TWINKLE[edit]

I am currently using the latest version of Twinkle - my question is, how can I stop Twinkle from automatically adding every page I revert to my watchlist? --Nevhood 06:40, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Oooh, didn't know that -- see WP:TWINKLE#Configuration. Try this:
TwinkleConfig = {
        revertMaxRevisions              :       50,
        userTalkPageMode                :       'window',
        showSharedIPNotice              :       true,
        openTalkPage                    :       [ 'agf', 'norm', 'vand' ],
        openTalkPageOnAutoRevert        :       false,
        openAOLAnonTalkPage             :       false,
        summaryAd                       :       " [[WP:TWINKLE|]]",
        deletionSummaryAd               :       " [[WP:TWINKLE|]]",
        watchSpeedyPages                :       [ 'g3', 'g5', 'g10', 'g11', 'g12' ],
        watchRevertedPages              :       [ 'agf', 'norm', 'vand', 'torev' ], //<--- this line is what you want to change
        markRevertedPagesAsMinor        :       [ 'agf', 'norm', 'vand', 'torev' ],
        deleteTalkPageOnDelete          :       false,
        markWarningsAsMinor             :       true,
        markAIVReportAsMinor            :       true
};
You could try giving it an empty array (or []) and see if that does the trick. I don't know quite enough JS to say for sure, unfortunately. If you have trouble, let me know, and I'll give it a test run on one of my socks. – Luna Santin (talk) 06:58, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I tried it and it didn't work... What should I do? --Nevhood 07:07, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oops, never mind... it did the trick, thank you for your help! I just didn't bypass my browser's cache after I put the empty array in the configuration. --Nevhood 07:10, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

hello! my question: which types of disambiguation pages are supposed to be linked? for instance, Cheney is linked, but 300_(disambiguation) is not supposed to be, according to the edit.

Some anon users on Wikipedia have been determined to be a particular school. How does one determine this information exactly? I understand that you might find out which city in which country, but how do you narrow it down to a particular school?

IP Address Determination > Schools[edit]

Some anon users on Wikipedia have been determined to be a particular school. How does one determine this information exactly? I understand that you might find out which city in which country, but how do you narrow it down to a particular school? --Seans Potato Business 07:40, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Regional Internet Registry information. There's several available services that have that information, and which will locate an IP address back to its owner (or at least, its ISP). Titoxd(?!?) 07:42, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If you go to an IP's talk page with messages on (it doesn't work if the talk page is a redlink) and click on WHOIS at the bottom of the page, it will tell you information about the IP. Sometimes it can be traced down to an individual school, city, or organisation, sometimes you don't get any more information than which contintent the IP's located on. --ais523 10:21, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

British[edit]

What exactly is the problem that Wikipedia has with the word "British" ?.

There is no independent country called England, Scotland or Wales. There is one country called the United Kingdom and the citizens are called "British".

Self appointed Wikipedia geeks are going around replacing "British" with "English", "Scottish" or "Welsh".

Who gave Wikipedia the right to break up the United Kingdom ?

Does Wikipedia think it is more important and competant than 60 million British people ?

If Wikipedia feels it can break up the United Kingdom then the United States should also be broken up so that people are defined as Californians, Texans, etc - and not as Americans.

What is going on ?Tovojolo 11:16, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

For a start, in the sentance "Does Wikipedia think it is more important and competant than 60 million British people?"; you are assuming all UK nationals regard themselves are British. This is wrong (a recent poll showed only 21% of people from England labelled themselves British). The comparison with America is very misguided and ignorant, California and Texas do not have long histories as independant countries; England and Scotland were countries for hundreds if not thousands of years before parliamentary unification in 1707; and they remain today nations with their own culture, sports team, flags and so on. --Berks105 11:49, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
British refers to the people of Great Britain, which consists of England, Scotland, Wales and the islands like Isle of Wight. I don't have a problem with classifying people from Great Britain as British even though polls say that some do not classify themselves as British. This isn't important - if person A was born in Italy but raised in Germany, he/she may consider himself/herself German but that doesn't matter - that person is still Italian (assuming nationality is still held).
By saying that it isn't allowed, you are implicitly saying that the people are not British. If they aren't British (not "If they don't consider themselves British"), then be bold and change the infobox. If they are, then leave it there. x42bn6 Talk 13:13, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'd like to add a follow-on question, because I regularly see articles being changed back and forth between English and British (or similar changes). It seems to be there is unlikely to be a consensus, and having edit wars over this cannot be productive. It's rather similar to spelling differences: we try to avoid edit wars over "color" versus "colour", and have guidelines specifically to help avoid that. Is there any guideline in existence that is relevant to this point? Without one, I tend to take the view that changing an article (in either direction) is simply making a point and I will sometimes reverse it on that principle, especially when I see editors doing it across a block of articles. Notinasnaid 13:30, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Blocking[edit]

Is there anyway to block someone from leaving messages on my talk page ? --Tovojolo 11:25, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Again your attitude here is quite amazing. The idea of a talk page is too discuss problems. All you do is delete the messages and ignore the situation. Why not reply at my TalkPage with your point. By ignoring the problem we get no where. Wikipedia is not your personal encyclopedia and we have to discuss things we disagree on. --Berks105 11:49, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia is not your personal encycolpedia either. I happen to be British and proud of being British--Tovojolo 11:57, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Indeed, its not mine which one reason I tried to have a conversation with you. I am also going by general consensus on the British issue. --Berks105 11:59, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Please do not bring your personal conflict into this. While removing comments is frowned upon (unless they are personal attacks, for example), it is not breaking any guidelines or policies. Other than that, it is possible for sysops to ban users from talk pages, it's not a procedure; rather, it's an explicit warning not to edit it.
Regarding your fairly obvious problem with Berks105, that is a content dispute or something and isn't a reason to (I assume) block him from your talk page. Why not discuss it at WP:BLP if you are unsure or have a dispute with a user? Take these comments as a pinch of salt and if it becomes heated, then take it to WP:AN/I or something. x42bn6 Talk 13:07, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Let's do some clarification: often times it isn't possible to agree as to who is right or wrong regarding behavior; the best that can be hoped for is that both sides agree to follow Wikipedia rules such as WP:CIVIL and WP:NPA in their future postings. Wikipedia isn't a social group; editors who have had past differences should focus on improving the content of articles, not continuing to argue over past behavior.
In short, a back-and-forth on user talk pages about past behavior is generally pointless. Make your point (mention a policy, post a warning, whatever) and then get back to editing articles, please. Don't post again on someone else's user talk page unless they've done something new (and serious, not minor) that you object to, and not just an edit to an article that you disagree with (see next paragraph).
If you disagree about content, the place to discuss the disagreement is on the talk page of the article, not personal talk pages. That way, other editors (current and future) can see the discussion. Wikipedia:Resolving disputes lays out useful guidance and the process for resolving disputes; ideally, when both editors want to be constructive, matters can be resolved informally, particularly if other editors add their comments on the article's talk page.
And finally, no one "owns" their user talk page - no one can be "blocked" or "banned" from posting. On the other hand, repeatedly posting similar comments, excessive warnings, etc., on someone else's user talk page is harassment, and is also unacceptable. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 05:05, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Watchlist[edit]

In a Watchlist, for instance :

  1. (diff) (hist) . . Marilyn Monroe‎; 11:08 . . (-2) . . Downtownstar (Talk | contribs) (→Quotes - corr.)
  2. (diff) (hist) . . Scarlett O'Hara‎; 11:02 . . (+49) . . 219.104.30.124 (Talk)

what do the numbers (-2) and (+49) mean ? and what do they represent ?--Tovojolo 12:11, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(+49) refers to the number of bytes by which an edit changed the article. Negative means the article got shorter. See also Help:Recent changes. Hope this helps. PeaceNT 12:15, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Complaint[edit]

What is the process to follow if you want to complaign about a Wikipedia policy or complaign about another Wikipedia member for rudeness or bullying and intimidating language ?--Tovojolo 12:44, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

  • Wikipedia:Village pump (policy) is the place to discuss policy. Disputes with other members should be handled through Wikipedia:Dispute resolution. - Mgm|(talk) 13:12, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Two rather different things. If you feel a user is rude to you, the first thing to do is to ask them politely not to be, on their talk page. It is extremely important to be extra polite in such cases, because if it gets to a bad argument, both parties can end up blocked from editing: who started it does not matter. It is entirely in order to ask them to bear in mind Wikipedia:Civility and Wikipedia:No personal attacks. It is also often helpful to post a link to a "diff" showing where you consider they stepped over the line, because opinions differ and things may not be so obvious, especially when people are from different cultures to yourself. You can get the URL of a diff by using the page history, viewing the differences, and copy/pasting. Finally, I'd like to draw your attention to Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines, in particular that deleting things from your talk page is discouraged. I hope this helps, Notinasnaid 13:18, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Referencing[edit]

In the Aberdeen article there are both book and web references. Currently both types of reference are put in an overarching 'footnotes' field at the bottom using the {{reflist}} tag. Is there a {{reflist}} style tag that can allow seperation of the book and web references? I want to create a 'Futher Reading' section, but one that still references within the article and which is not just a list as in the Dundee article for example. Bobbacon 12:55, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"reflist" is simply a way of displaying footnotes; there is no way for the software to know that one type of footnote (books) is different from another type (web references) - so, to answer your question, there is no style tag to do this.
As for "Further Reading" sections, they are always bulleted lists; sorry. There is limited flexibility in what Wikipedia articles look like. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 04:53, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How does Notability apply to bands?[edit]

Yesterday I created a page for the band 10 Minute Warning and I went back today to see if anyone had changed anything/requested a change to find it flagged for deletion/merging due to the fact that it "doesn't assert notability". I understand that the band is not well known and that the article is far from perfect so I have no problem with the article being merged or removed if nessesary, but I would like to understand why this action is being considered.

I read the page on notability but it was obviously written with concepts or historical events and figures in mind and I'm having difficulty understanding how it applies to a band. The issue seems to be one of sources, specifically there are not enough, or they are not varied enough. But the article in question has no fewer/worse sources than others on similar bands, Green River for example.

I'm still very new to any kind of serious editing of Wikipedia and obviously I've made some kind of mistake with this article. I'd very much like to understand what the problem is in order to avoid a repeat performance in the future. Thanks. Danikat 13:02, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There is a specific page dealing with notability as it applies to bands: some of the tests are easy to apply e.g. "has had a charted hit on any national music chart." See Wikipedia:Notability (music) and remember that it isn't enough that the band be notable, the article must say so (by giving a sourced reference showing the notability guidelines are met). Notinasnaid 13:07, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, thats a lot of help. I'll get to work on re-writing the article. Danikat 21:56, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Photos, User Page[edit]

Are you free to put any photos you like on your own User Page ?

Or do Wikipedia's rules - regarding fair use - on Photos still apply even when the photo is only on your own user page and is not linked to anywhere else on Wikipedia ?--Tovojolo 13:04, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The rules for user pages, talk pages and other non-article pages are stricter. Fair use is not allowed at all. Only free images may be used. Notinasnaid 13:08, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Where can I find Wikipedia's rules on User Pages, Talk Pages and Non-Article Pages ?--Tovojolo 13:11, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also see:
And specifically:
Hope this helps. —XhantarTalk 13:19, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

downloading article as text/audio file[edit]

Hi, i want to download articles to drop on my iPod's Notes folder, so I can read on the move. Is there a way of saving articles just as text files. In firefox I am trying to do this with Save As text file but viewing in Notepad the HTML formating is still present. I thought there may be a text formating link? Thanks

138.40.144.27 13:29, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How about selecting the article text, copying, and pasting into your favourite text editor (Notepad will do)? Cheers, Tangotango (talk) 15:12, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia Blog ? Wikipedia Chat Room ?[edit]

Is there a Wikipedia Blog that would allow contributors to blog ? or a Wikipedia Chat Room using a real time instant messaging program that would allow for "live" debates ?

If there is not then there should be.

How do you propose new features ?--Tovojolo 14:12, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There isn't an official Wikipedia blog that I know of, but feel free to use your userspace to write about Wikipedia-related items. See WP:UP for more info about that. And yes, there is a Wikipedia "chat room", to which I frequently go. WP:IRC explains the different IRC channels for this (I personally use the ChatZilla client)... #wikipedia is the most active one. GracenotesT § 14:26, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
In general, you can propose new ideas at WP:VPR if it relates to how Wikipedia runs; you can propose them at WP:VPT if it relates to technical aspects of Wikipedia's functioning (bugs, sketching out feature requests). See WP:PG's section on how to propose a policy or guidelines, if that's what you're interested in. GracenotesT § 14:44, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Is this a free service and how do I become a member ? Thanks. Bill Wykoff

The problem with a "real time" debate is that the Wikipedia membership is all around the world. Real time debates could therefore be biased towards people in similar time zones. In my opinion, you've done the right thing by suggesting on your user page that there is a problem with Wikipedia's image policy. This is the start of the debate. However, when I responded on your user talk page, which seems to me the right thing to do, you deleted my message. It's not possible to have a debate in this situation (a debate in Wikipedia terms is one which serves as a lasting record of all participants views in the discussion), so I would ask that you reinstate all the messages that you have deleted from your talk page, to indicate a willingness to debate. Notinasnaid 15:37, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
By that argument, real time debates should not determine significant actionable consensus... an argument with which I agree. It's best to keep discussion where it makes sense to have it. GracenotesT § 20:01, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Help[edit]

Is this a free service and how do I become a member ? Thanks. Bill Wykoff

You become a Wikipedian by editing a page! Hey, welcome to Wikipedia. If you have any questions about how it works, this page covers the basics. You can get an account to have other users identify you better. GracenotesT § 14:56, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Also, wikipedia is free, in terms of cost and information. Chris M. 16:27, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

email notification of responses?[edit]

Is there a way to get an email notification when there is a response to a question?

thanks,

Huck

No, as it'd place a big burden on the servers, but you can ask visitors to your talk page to email you (just post a note on the top of the page). Xiner (talk, email) 15:59, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Image upload[edit]

Good morning. I've uploaded a file, thinking i can post it to the web page i created earlier, but instead it created an absolutely new page with the image. how do i delete that page with image and post it to the article web page?

thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kisulenka (talk • contribs)

If you are referring to this page, that's fine. When you upload an image, a page for it is also created in the Image: namespace, where its copyright status/tags and so on are displayed. I see the image has already been included in the Ezra usa article, by User:Cehe4ka. —XhantarTalk 16:56, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How do I delete this page with image? thank you! Kisulenka 20:43, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You can't, as the page Image:Ezra.JPG exists for that image, the way to delete that page would be to delete the image, but that clearly isn't your intention. Why do you want it deleted? Chris M. 21:09, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Edit button disappeared[edit]

HI The edit button has disapeared from the first section of this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euromoney_Institutional_Investor_PLC

How do i get it back?

Catherine

Works for me (Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC). Xiner (talk, email) 15:57, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How can I request that anonymous editing be blocked ?[edit]

I would like to request that a my subnet be blocked from anonymous editing as we have had problems with students posting bogus information —Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.66.202.116 (talk • contribs)

WP:RFPP. :) Xiner (talk, email) 16:07, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't want to have a single page blocked from editing I want to block anyone from my subnet that is not logged into the wiki to be blocked from editing anything in the wiki

Sorry, I was thinking it'd be kinda ironic. WP:AIV is the place to go. Xiner (talk, email) 17:20, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe I'm not seeing it but I looked around and just found how to report vandals. As a network admin I want to request that no one from my IP block can anonymously edit anything. I'm just trying to keep from having students mess things up but I want them to be able to access the wiki as a read only resource —Preceding unsigned comment added by Penmanor (talk • contribs)

You could explain your situation there, because admins man those pages and only admins can issue blocks. You can also try WP:ANI. I'd suggest a soft block, so that only registered users can edit the site. However, if you're dealing with, say, elementary school students, then a hard block could be useful. Xiner (talk, email) 01:18, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You should probably post it on WP:ANI. If you can, some sort of proof that you're the network admin would be nice. Say, WHOIS information backed up with something posted to the website of the organization that the range belongs to, or allowing an admin to send a confirmation email to the organization (and you responding). -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 01:27, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How to substitute an article[edit]

I know that {{subst:templatename}} substitutes a template, while {{templatename}} simply uses that template. I also know that {{:articlename}} uses an article, but I'm curious, how would one substitute an entire article into another article? Since {{subst:articlename}} doesn't work (as far as I could tell. Thanks! Chris M. 16:22, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

May I ask why you'd want to do that? You can always just do a copy and paste. Xiner (talk, email) 17:18, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Pending an answer to Xiner's question (I prefer not to step on toes), I will at least confirm it's possible to transclude and substitute articles. – Luna Santin (talk) 19:53, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Another wiki (strategywiki) has a situation with several small articles that would very easily be put into one simple article using a template that has this code:
<includeonly>== {{{1}}} ==
{{subst:Super Mario World/Enemies/{{{1}}}}}</includeonly>

But my {{subst: code doesn't do as I'd like.

I simply took the list of articles and used Word to change them into a series of substituting templates that would form one merged article out of about 20 or so. But my template doesn't subst as I'd like, so how would I do so? Chris M. 21:03, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Just as with transclusion, you would merely add a colon. {{subst::Article}} should do the trick, I believe. GracenotesT § 22:02, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Eh, really? Wow. That was simple... Thanks :) Chris M. 23:50, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Oops, sorry I forgot about this question. Gracenotes, you were too nice. Xiner (talk, email) 01:14, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Russian WP[edit]

Hello, I am registered user in the English part of Wikipedia, but I am also fluent in Russian and would like to contribute to Russian part of Wiki as well. When I tried to work in Russian part, Wikipedia did not recognize my login. Do I have to create a separate account for Russian Wiki, or do I need to adjust some setting?

Yes, each WP requires a separate account. Chris M. 16:35, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Welcome to Wikipedia! Not to quibble, but wiki is distinct from Wikipedia. Wikipedia is but one of many wikis. Wikipedia is the largest and most-visited wiki in the world, and for many of us it was (or will be) our first exposure to wiki editing. This leads some new users to use the term "wiki" as an abbreviation for "Wikipedia," which is technically incorrect and sometimes confusing. When editing Wikipedia articles, we should take care to use the correct names for things, or at least the most definitive names. One way to do this is to link any technical terms we use to their defining articles. When previewing our edits, we can open those links in new browser tabs, and verify that the terms mean what we think they mean. The ease of adding wikilinks allows us to communicate here with a level of precision and accessibility beyond what is attainable in everyday conversation. --Teratornis 18:52, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I was referring to each wikipedia, not each wiki, as there are separate WPs for different languages. I believe that's what they meant as well, although I could be assuming, :) Chris M. 21:12, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Please look at Wikipedia:Babel, Wikipedia:Pages needing translation into English, and Wikipedia:Translation, if you're interested in translating articles between different language Wikipedias. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 00:33, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Templates[edit]

Hello, I was wondering how do you make a template of a band. On the Girls Aloud article right at the bottom is has a template of all the songs they've done and everything. How do you make one?Oriana is cool 17:14, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, Oriana is cool;
That's a table, actually, and not a template. See Help:Table for all the wondrous details on how to go about creating tables. You can also look at the source of the Girls Aloud article (for that section) to see what its wikicode looks like in action.
Hope this helps! —XhantarTalk 17:26, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Name change?[edit]

I remember seeing some page that explains how you can request a name change to one that is already taken, provided that there are no edits attributed to the username you want to take. Unfortunately I lost this page and can't find any more information about it, could anyone point me in the right direction? --Xertz 18:04, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Usurpation -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 18:06, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! Exactly what I needed. --Xertz 18:12, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

HOW DO I ALIGN SOMETHING TO THE RIGHT????????[edit]

Ive been at it for several hours trying to get {{User:Darkest Hour/TAB}} to be on the right side of my userpage and it will not go there. I am using thes diffs but to no avail:

<align="right"> </right>
<valign="right"> </right>
<align=right> </right>
<valign=right> </right>

--Darkest Hour|DarkeBot 18:13, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

<div align="right">{{User:Darkest Hour/TAB}}</div>
or
<div style="align:right;">{{User:Darkest Hour/TAB}}</div>
-- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 18:16, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, well, I've added align="right" to your table at User:Darkest Hour/TAB; don't know if that's what you had in mind, though. —XhantarTalk 18:27, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Utopian society[edit]

My article is more relevent as any as it portrays the feelings many have felt for years about creating a utopian society, we are currently trying to set up a website and are pursuing a recrutement program that we hope to expand our influence, and are considering creating a new country, please email me if you have any questions <removed e-mail address>

N.B. <removed e-mail address> —Preceding unsigned comment added by Angelanarcy (talk • contribs)

Please see WP:NOT - Wikipedia is not a place for recruiting similar-minded people to do anything - we're here to build an encyclopedia. Sorry. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 00:31, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia might contain articles like How to Start Your Own Country, provided their subjects are already sufficiently notable to have been written about elsewhere. For intentional advocacy, please try another wiki. Wikinfo, for example, offers considerably more latitude than Wikipedia for expressing non-neutral points of view. --Teratornis 00:54, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Currency/Money tags and automatic conversion/inflation adjustment?[edit]

I'm sure this has come up in the past but I can't seem to find any of those previous discussions.

I was thinking that a lot of articles contain references to sums of money and many of those are historic. It would be great if there was a currency tag where the editor can input the amount, type and date of the currency and the wiki would automatically convert that to present day US/EU amounts while still displaying the original amount. This could be done pretty easily with a lookup table with inflation and exchange rates for various popular currencies.

Hmm... agreed, a lookup table would be handy for that. Unfortunately, wikis aren't good at making lookup tables (at least not the sort the page parser can read) -- if we do it on-wiki, it'd have to be done with an army of meta-templates. I probably know enough about templates to set it up, if I can get the methods down, although (funny thing) I don't know enough about currency exchange to know the methods -- I'd need at least a crash course in getting that done. However, this sort of proposal should probably be run past the community, before being implemented; the village pump is as good a forum as any (if nothing else, they may be able to direct you to any prior discussions, if they do exist). – Luna Santin (talk) 20:01, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

using {schoolblock}[edit]

How do I go about using {schoolblock} for a range of 50 ip addresses ? How can I restrict it so only my username can remove the block > —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pennmanor (talk • contribs)

To able to block, you have to be a administrator. Even if you were, there is no way you can restrict the block so only you can remove it. Trebor 20:36, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]


If I map my proxy server to a single address can I then go about blocking that address using the schoolblock ? What do I have to do to become an admin or can someone block the address for me ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pennmanor (talk • contribs)

The ability to block people would have such enormous potential for abuse that only administrators can do it directly. Becoming an administrator requires a long and fruitful editing career. Unless you have 5000 or so edits to your name you aren't likely to succeed in a nomination. Otherwise, you will need to contact administrators to request this. Try Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents, but bear in mind that blocking is considered a last resort, and so you need to make a good case: it isn't automatic. Notinasnaid 20:58, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) Pennmanor: You cannot block the IP address or range of IP addresses yourself; this can only be done by an administrator. The {{schoolblock}} template is usually put on the talk page of the IP address in question by said administrator, once the block is in place. I'm guessing the best place to request for this block to be implemented, is at WP:ANI—a "noticeboard" monitored by administrators who will be able to assist.
As explained by the template:
"If accounts need to be created at school for class projects, please have your teacher or network administrator [you] contact us (with reference to this IP address) at unblock-en-l from an email address listed on your school's website."
I hope this helps. —XhantarTalk 21:15, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

First article[edit]

How can you start your own article? I want to know how to make your own article. Thanks in the future. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moneytime123 (talk • contribs)

Have a look here. Trebor 20:34, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

User Sub-Page[edit]

How do you create a User Sub-Page ?--Tovojolo 20:48, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

On your userpage, create a link like so: [[User:Tovojolo/SubPageName]] it'll be red and look like User:Tovojolo/SubPageName. You can follow that link to a new page that will be a user sub-page. Chris M. 21:05, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
See Wikipedia:Subpages for details. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 23:48, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

creating a reference[edit]

How do I add a reference. I have updated sales data on the Nintendo DS article but cannot verify it users without a reference. I need to make one but I dont know how. Gartheknight 20:50, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Enclose your references with <ref>...</ref>. For more help, please see WP:CITE. Xiner (talk, email) 22:03, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Want to add history to Eglin AFB's Wikipedia dialogue.[edit]

On the Eglin Air Force Base page there is a subcategory for the 33RD Fighter Wing.It quotes the official motto.The unofficial motto is " The worlds largest distributor of MIG parts". This is posted on both ends of Nomad Way coming into & out of the Thity-Thirds area on Eglin AFB.It is a joke referring to them having the highest number of kills in the First Gulf War.The 33RD used to have 3 squadrons;the 58th,59th&60th.In 1999 the 60th was inactivated and the other 2 absorbed their planes and personnell. 12.77.148.43 21:13, 21 February 2007 (UTC) Pat Dwyer[reply]

Hello Pat, welcome to Wikipedia. If you have something to add to an article, go ahead and add it, but be aware of the requirement to cite published references. Merely knowing something to be true from personal experience is not enough here; you should also provide a citation. If you don't have a proper citation for the interesting bits you list above, you might mention them on the article's talk page and ask if anyone else knows of published references for them. --Teratornis 01:16, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Clip Art[edit]

Are Clip Art images, like those in Microsoft Word allowable for use in Wikipedia or are they copyrighted? Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 23:54, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

At most you can use them on MS articles under WP:FAIRUSE, and only if absolutely necessary to illustrate a point. Xiner (talk, email) 00:09, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
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