Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 July 1
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July 1
[edit]Self-promotion of website?
[edit]I presume there is some kind of name for this (link pimping?), but I suspect someone of littering their website through a bunch of wikipedia pages to improve their Google ranking. Is there some way to search for a domain name through wikipedia articles? (searching for "example.com site:wikipedia.org" only finds specific "example.com" listings, not a full stem search (ie. "*.example.com/.*"). Also, is there a wikipedia policy on this? ie. where does the line fall between adding relevant content and self-promotion? Thanks! Natebailey 00:32, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, there is a policy against it, which is called linkspam. It is at WP:SPAM. Sorry, but I don't think you can search for a specific name to fight. Reywas92Talk 01:08, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- The way to find all instances of a particular spam link is with linksearch. You can use a search function like *.example.com which will find extensions of the name.--Fuhghettaboutit 04:49, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for! :-) Natebailey 06:33, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
- The way to find all instances of a particular spam link is with linksearch. You can use a search function like *.example.com which will find extensions of the name.--Fuhghettaboutit 04:49, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Link to vote in Meta elections
[edit]Could someone please get me a link to the voting at the meta board of trustees election? When I click the link there, it stops me because I don't have 400 edits at meta, but I do here. The link was previously on the watchlist header, but now I can't find that. Thanks! Reywas92Talk 01:05, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Special:Boardvote is what you need, I believe. – Luna Santin (talk) 01:37, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
New Article (once again)
[edit]where do i go to to create a article page ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lil story (talk • contribs)
Freedom od speech, and lack of bigotry!
[edit]After the establishment of the joke Conservpedia, I just want to say Thank you to Wikipedia for being the information network without prejudice! You give information, not judgement as they do, and that is important!
Thank You
email removed Irene Ward
- You're welcome. Glad to help with this service. -- Kesh 02:31, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- If you like Wikipedia, then you should be thankful for the spin-off wikis such as Conservapedia, CreationWiki, Wookiepedia, Strategy Wiki, etc. Spin-off wikis tend to siphon off the decidedly non-neutral topic enthusiasts and promoters of particular points of view, leaving Wikipedia freer to pursue its stance of neutrality. If those other wikis did not exist, more non-neutral types would probably stay on Wikipedia and fight. Most people who harbor strong beliefs not conclusively supported by the facts experience the following two types of emotion:
- They feel distress when confronted with facts which contradict their beliefs (see: Cognitive dissonance).
- They feel positive emotions when surrounded by people who agree with their beliefs while systematically ignoring any disturbing facts (see: Groupthink).
- Therefore, almost anyone who harbors a strong belief not conclusively supported by the facts is likely to feel less comfortable (possibly much less comfortable) on Wikipedia (where many if not most belief systems are represented) than they will feel on a wiki catering to their particular beliefs. Since most people prefer feeling comfortable to feeling uncomfortable, over time this has the effect of encouraging authors who value their beliefs more than they value the facts to leave Wikipedia and edit elsewhere. That makes it easier for the remaining Wikipedia editors to keep Wikipedia focused on the facts.
- While one might deplore the existence of obviously biased wikis, their very existence represents a kind of concession on the part of people whose beliefs turned out to be insufficiently supported by facts to be generally convincing to the diverse community of Wikipedians. Since the facts are the only things the vast majority of people can generally agree on (for example, almost everybody accepts the fact that cutting one's own arm off is a bad idea, unless the situation is such that the alternative would be even worse - we can all agree on that sort of thing), a site like Wikipedia which tries hard to limit itself to facts will have the widest possible appeal. The various axe-grinding sites are unlikely to become as popular as Wikipedia, and they are unlikely to be as generally useful - because centuries of human experience have shown that beliefs based directly on facts (e.g., science) are more useful than beliefs not based directly on facts (e.g., religion, politics, etc.). As an example, we no longer sacrifice virgins to propitiate the rain gods, because careful analysis by meteorologists found no evidence that sacrificing virgins has any effect on rainfall (and the virgins themselves probably complained). Instead the biased wikis will tend to exist primarily for the entertainment and emotional reinforcement of people who already agree with them. --Teratornis 15:19, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- If you like Wikipedia, then you should be thankful for the spin-off wikis such as Conservapedia, CreationWiki, Wookiepedia, Strategy Wiki, etc. Spin-off wikis tend to siphon off the decidedly non-neutral topic enthusiasts and promoters of particular points of view, leaving Wikipedia freer to pursue its stance of neutrality. If those other wikis did not exist, more non-neutral types would probably stay on Wikipedia and fight. Most people who harbor strong beliefs not conclusively supported by the facts experience the following two types of emotion:
is this template broken
[edit]i tried doing {{db¦reason}} on a page and it seems broken
--Gustyfalcon 03:36, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- You placed a pipe | in the wrong place. It's {{db-reason|reason goes here}}. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kesh (talk • contribs).
- {{db}} redirects to {{db-reason}}. The real problem is that your symbol ¦ above and in your test [1] is not a pipe which should be |. Depending on your keyboard, you may get a pipe by holding Alt Gr down and pressing a key near backspace. Or you can click the symbol a little to the right of "Wiki markup" in the box you probably have below the "Save page" button when you edit. PrimeHunter 04:05, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Internal Links
[edit]I am working on an article. When I use a referance like (1), I want to link the refarance I have on the page. I am familiar with programming, so feel free to just give me code. I understand that using [[article#section will link to a section, but I want to link to a specific refarance. The article is Job costing. Thank You! MRME4 04:24, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- The code for what you want is <sup>[[ARTICLENAME#referencename|1]]</sup>, but that's not an efficient method since it will require you manually specify anchors, and there are several better standardized formats. Have you read Wikipedia:Footnotes? You can create a fully formatted reference section using <ref> tags by following its directions. --tjstrf talk 04:33, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Wow! Thank you for your help. I am new to Wikipedia and impressed by how robust and powerful it is. Thanks!
- Not a problem, I'm glad to help. The software isn't perfect, but it has a lot of neat features, with more being added all the time and. That's the benefit of open sourcing our software and debug processes. The downside is that difficult but not vital problems and requests take forever, since the devs would usually rather work on their favorite project rather than do drudge work. If you're really interested in programming, you might want to take a look at Wikipedia's Bugzilla database. --tjstrf talk 04:48, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- MediaWiki#Release history summarizes some of the more important feature additions. I too was highly impressed by MediaWiki the first time I looked at it enough to grasp some of what it can do. More than a year later, I'm even more impressed (although I'm not impressed with everything; see for example some admitted shortcomings in Help:Search). It's getting hard for me to tolerate many non-wiki Web sites any more, where they don't even let visitors fix typos and so on. However, be aware that on Wikipedia you are seeing not only the MediaWiki software, but also (probably) the most highly-developed and best-maintained implementation of it. If you try to start your own wiki by downloading and installing MediaWiki, you will quickly discover how much of the value of Wikipedia is in its large and dedicated community of users (called "Wikipedians"). Without a whole bunch of people to add content, write manuals, enforce the policies and guidelines, and combat vandalism, a wiki readily withers into disuse or turns into a mess no matter how sophisticated its software may be. The genius of the MediaWiki software is in how efficiently it enables the Wikipedia community to function. Accordingly, the key to replicating some of Wikipedia's success on another wiki is in recruiting a community to build and maintain it. Wikipedia has the key advantage of being an encyclopedia about everything which is verifiable, and that's a lot. Because Wikipedia covers so many topics, it attracts a very large number of contributors, and fortunately the very smart people who started the project figured out the right mix of policies and guidelines to allow the project to grow without becoming entirely deadlocked in Edit warring. Although it may still be a bit early to judge, I suspect Wikipedia may eventually be recognized as one of the most significant technological innovations in history, perhaps on par with the World Wide Web itself. --Teratornis 19:29, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
shiraz sistercities
[edit]Nicosia -Cypress
chongqing - China
Doshanbe - Tajikistan
- Do you have a question about Wikipedia? -- Kesh 05:02, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
User name
[edit]How do I change my user name?—Preceding unsigned comment added by Paulbat (talk • contribs) 04:57, July 1, 2007
- You've only got two edits besides this one, so I would suggest simply creating a new account and putting a redirect on your current User page to point to your new account. -- Kesh 05:00, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- The inconveniently named Wikipedia:Changing username page provides that function. It has to be done manually though, by a bureaucrat, so it's probably easier for you to just make a new account. (Bureaucrats are like admins, only with additional powers such as promoting admins, changing usernames, and a few other things. We only have like 10 of them or something.) --tjstrf talk 05:04, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Thanks for the help. I've created a new user. How do I create and add a "redirect"????—Preceding unsigned comment added by Paulbat (talk • contribs) 05:08, July 1, 2007
- Just put this text on your current Userpage:
#REDIRECT [[User:Newusernamehere]]
- And that should do it. -- Kesh 05:10, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Ok Kesh.... sorry I have no information re: tight muscles.... However.. re: redirect I'm really stupid here, where on what page do I put it???? It's ok to LYAO. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPs. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk"
- If you are Paulbat, then your user page would be at: User:Paulbat. However, you can see that is, at the moment, a red link which means you did not yet make a user page for your "Paulbat" account. Kesh was telling you to put the redirect there. You would do that by clicking this red link: User:Paulbat and editing it to contain the wikitext Kesh gave you above, except of course that you would replace "Newusernamehere" with your new user name. Since you did not tell us your new user name, we cannot tell you exactly what to type. --Teratornis 15:30, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Muscles
[edit]I need to know if you have any information about muscels being so tight that they rasie your hip upward—Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.127.85.221 (talk • contribs) 05:11, July 1, 2007
- Wikipedia is not a place to get medical advice. If you're just seeking general information, the reference desk is where to get that info. -- Kesh 05:14, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Ok Kesh.... sorry I have no information re: tight muscles.... However.. re: redirect I'm really stupid here, where on what page do I put it???? It's ok to LYAO.
- Visit Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science and ask your question there, just like you did here. No problem, I won't laugh. :) -- Kesh 05:45, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Granite Oregon Mayor update
[edit]I tried to figure out how to update an article but I am lucky if I get this thing turned on. Your article on Granite Oregon is outdated. As Mayor You have Pat Fielding. The presemt mayor was elected on Nov 7 2004 and took office on Jan 1 2005. and was reelected on Nov 7 2006 His Name Is Fred Neal Corbin. Thank you Fred
- You did pretty well at editting this page. I changed the facts for you. I couldn't find any facts as you as mayor, but you were the fire chief and elections were held. Don't shy away from editting, Be Bold and just click on the "Edit this page" tab at the top, remember that any changes can be reverted, so don't be scared. Tdmg 05:49, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Use/Mention
[edit]I tried to find the FAQ on this question, but I couldn't find it. I was editting the Castle Ashby article, and it started off "Castle Ashby is the name of a civil parish ..." However, I think they meant "Castle Ashby is a civil parish ..." Is this something that deserves editting? I know philosophers care a lot about this, but I don't know about encyclopedias. I'm going to change it, but I'd like some guidance. Tdmg 05:38, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Yeah, your version sounds much better. Be bold and fix it! :) -- Kesh 05:47, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
API for searching content?
[edit]Is there an API for searching content? I found the MediaWIKI API and Query API but those seem to only deal with titles, not with content at all. I was curious if there was a programmatic way to search article content? pw 06:01, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- WP's search engine is notoriously bad. Hopefully that's something they are working on. LaraLoveT/C 13:41, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- See WP:DUMP. Probably the most flexible programmatic way to search Wikipedia's article content is to download a dump of Wikipedia's database and run your own MySQL queries on it. (It is better for your own search speed, and everyone else's server response, if you run programmatic searches against your own local mirror rather than burdening Wikipedia's servers. See: mw:Manual:Wiki on a stick for a relatively easy method to set up your own local workstation mirror of Wikipedia.) I suspect but do not know for certain that many if not most of the serious Wikipedia researchers need such powerful search methods. However, before you go to that much trouble, investigate the options for searching Wikipedia with external search engines. Also see semantic wiki and structured wiki for other approaches to organizing wiki information for flexible retrieval. --Teratornis 15:41, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Also, if you give some specific examples of searches you want to run, we may be able to recommend specific methods. When you ask a question on the Help desk (or on any Internet help forum), it's advisable to state your ultimate goal as clearly as possible, rather than asking about something which is merely one means to an unstated goal (the means may then become a red herring for people who respond to the question). An API approach to searching Wikipedia may or may not be the best means to whatever goal you have in mind, but that's hard to know when we don't know what your real goal is. --Teratornis 16:28, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- See WP:DUMP. Probably the most flexible programmatic way to search Wikipedia's article content is to download a dump of Wikipedia's database and run your own MySQL queries on it. (It is better for your own search speed, and everyone else's server response, if you run programmatic searches against your own local mirror rather than burdening Wikipedia's servers. See: mw:Manual:Wiki on a stick for a relatively easy method to set up your own local workstation mirror of Wikipedia.) I suspect but do not know for certain that many if not most of the serious Wikipedia researchers need such powerful search methods. However, before you go to that much trouble, investigate the options for searching Wikipedia with external search engines. Also see semantic wiki and structured wiki for other approaches to organizing wiki information for flexible retrieval. --Teratornis 15:41, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Filing stubs
[edit]¬¬¬¬I have written a stub in the category 'Trinidad and Tobago People Stubs'. Whereas other articles in this category appear in the alphabetical listing by the name of the person, my article appears under 'T' - 'Trinidad and Tobago People Stubs',and NOT under the name of the person, in this case 'Peter Boyd'. Can you please explain how to get it listed properly? I have searched everywhere for this information and cannot find any instructions to this effect. Thank you.
- First, Template:Trinidad-bio-stub needs to be restored. (Apparently you moved it by mistake.) Then transclude the template onto your article - i.e., add {{trinidad-bio-stub}}. If the name still appears out of order, add {{DEFAULTSORT:Whatever}}, where Whatever is the name for sorting purposes. Shalom Hello 09:20, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fb/Yes_check.svg/20px-Yes_check.svg.png)
Getting Satellite Images
[edit]How can I see images of a particular place of my choice ?
- Try Google Maps Dep. Garcia ( Talk + | Help Desk | Complaints ) 09:10, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Wikipedia editors not eligible to vote in Board Elections?
[edit]Although I have 24,000+ edits on the English Wikipedia, when I go to the vote page I am told I am ineligible because I do not have enough edits. I am registered on Wiki Commons but have no edits there as I cannot figure out how Wiki Commons works. Does this mean that voting for board members is ruled out for editors on Wikipedia only? (I am probably asking this in the wrong place, but it is so hard to know where correct places to ask are. Please forgive me.) Sincerely, Mattisse 10:23, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Hm, you need to have registered before March 2007 and have at least 400 edits, those are the only requirements I'm aware of, and you've clearly met both of them. Are you following the link from meta, or another project, perhaps? If so, you'll need to go to a project where you do meet the requirements, and visit Special:Boardvote. – Luna Santin (talk) 10:28, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Voting is possible from all Wikimedia projects, incl. Commons and Meta, however you need to fulfill the rules Luna Santin outlined on the project you vote from. --Mbimmler 10:32, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- I a so very sorry but I do not understand what you are saying. I registered in May of 2006 and have 24,000+ edits. I am following the link at the top of my Watchlist on the English Wikipedia to get to the voting. When I do that I am immediately switched to Wiki Commons. If I do not sign in at Wiki Commons, I clearly cannot vote. If I do sign in, I am ineligible. The Special:Boardvote leads me to the same situation. Perhaps people like me are not supposed to vote? Sincerely, Mattisse 10:44, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- You definately should be able to vote. Just click on Special:Boardvote at the english Wikipedia and you should be redirected to a page on Meta. This page should say "Welcome Mattisse@enwiki!" at the top. It will then have instructions on voting etc. Does this happen for you? Raven4x4x 13:44, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Actually it isn't meta, it is an external site. There is a security warning you will need to click to open the page. Log in here, go to Special:Boardvote, wait 20 seconds, click to accept the security certificate, and then click vote. I believe you may also need an email set, but that shouldn't be a problem. Prodego talk 18:35, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Maybe I am misunderstanding your instructions, but I have done as you say above. I wait the 20 seconds, accept the security certification, and the click to vote. (I don't know what you mean by email set, but and email is entered for my Wikipedia account.) When I click to vote, I get the message that I am ineligible because of too few edits. Am I missing something here? (I'm not very technical). Sincerely, Mattisse 19:02, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
- Does the page you come to say "Welcome Mattisse@enwiki!" on the top? If it does you should definately be able to vote. Raven4x4x 02:04, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
- Maybe I am misunderstanding your instructions, but I have done as you say above. I wait the 20 seconds, accept the security certification, and the click to vote. (I don't know what you mean by email set, but and email is entered for my Wikipedia account.) When I click to vote, I get the message that I am ineligible because of too few edits. Am I missing something here? (I'm not very technical). Sincerely, Mattisse 19:02, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
- Actually it isn't meta, it is an external site. There is a security warning you will need to click to open the page. Log in here, go to Special:Boardvote, wait 20 seconds, click to accept the security certificate, and then click vote. I believe you may also need an email set, but that shouldn't be a problem. Prodego talk 18:35, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- You definately should be able to vote. Just click on Special:Boardvote at the english Wikipedia and you should be redirected to a page on Meta. This page should say "Welcome Mattisse@enwiki!" at the top. It will then have instructions on voting etc. Does this happen for you? Raven4x4x 13:44, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- I a so very sorry but I do not understand what you are saying. I registered in May of 2006 and have 24,000+ edits. I am following the link at the top of my Watchlist on the English Wikipedia to get to the voting. When I do that I am immediately switched to Wiki Commons. If I do not sign in at Wiki Commons, I clearly cannot vote. If I do sign in, I am ineligible. The Special:Boardvote leads me to the same situation. Perhaps people like me are not supposed to vote? Sincerely, Mattisse 10:44, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
¡¡Still Having Trouble with Images !!
[edit]I already know how to upload a file, but ¿¿how do tell its uploaded?? And how do i create my own signiture and templtes? user:naj da man
- Creating your own signature can be done by going into Special:Preferences and adding HTML coding into the Raw signature filed and checking the below it, if the tags are incorrect it will tell you this, if its suitable it wil save them for you once you click save. When uploading images via Special:Upload it will appear on screen when successfully uploaded so you can click the watch tab by the edit this page icon or you can see it at or Special:Log/upload. Hope this helps. The Sunshine Man is now Qst 12:33, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Spam
[edit]Do we report people who are spamming external links to WP:AIV? Recurring dreams 11:46, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- If people are spamming articles with inappropriate external links then you can warn them using the correct user warning templates and if they spam after there fourth and final warning they can be reported to AIV but the warnings have to be within a close period of each other. Regards --The Sunshine Man is now Qst 12:28, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- If you are interested in fighting spam then see Wikipedia:WikiProject Spam. PrimeHunter 12:31, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Question
[edit]I am a designer and builder of a few medical type components that connect to a PC via USB. there are many terms used on my sites that are not comonly used by the average individual. i was wondering if i have rights to use your link pages on my site? or what i have to do in order to add your links legally
sincerely,
Ab Baum.
- Hi. I think Citing Wikipedia would be helpful to you. LaraLoveT/C 13:39, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- If you merely link a jargon term to its Wikipedia article, I don't think you have to do anything special. That is, I don't think Wikipedia exerts any control over who may merely link to articles here. (Can any site exert such control? That is, does copyright protection extend to URLs themselves, apart from the pages they link to? If so, that would be news to me.) However, if you want to mirror Wikipedia content on your site, see WP:MIRROR and the pages it links to. If you want to cite Wikipedia as a reference, for example in your scholarly works, then Citing Wikipedia applies. I'm not an attorney, so consult one if you want to be sure. Also see meta:James explains law. --Teratornis 14:17, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
my talk page
[edit]Am I allowed to add images on my talk page? Spinkanini 13:20, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Yes you are, but only images which are under a free license (eg. GFDL) or public domain. Fair use copyrighted images cannot be used on your talk page. Will (aka Wimt) 13:26, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- OK, thanks. Spinkanini 13:28, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Problems updating Scott Hirsch entry.
[edit]I sighted references that I sourced the facts from but it still says no sources or references sighted. do i need to do something else to cite sources? I even provided direct links. How does this get updated and wickified? How do I insert a table of contents?
- I removed the template. Look over WP:MOS for guidelines on style. A table of contents will appear automatically when your article has a list of contents to display. Currently, you have no headings, thus no need for a TOC. Wikification is the linking of words to other articles, as I did above with WP:MOS. See WP:MOS#Wikilinking for more details. Also, the templates on the page automatically add the article to a list of articles needing each of those things stated in the templates. So if you don't make the necessary changes, someone else may come along and do it. However, those lists have huge backlogs so it may be a while. LaraLoveT/C 13:34, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- See WP:RS, WP:CITE, WP:CITET, WP:WIKIFY, and Help:Section#Table of contents (TOC). Almost everything you need to know about Wikipedia is somewhere in the manuals. However, Wikipedia is an enormously complicated project; the manuals are therefore long and you have to spend much time reading them if you want to contribute productively here. This is actually much better than in many areas of real life, where most of the necessary instructions aren't written down anywhere that we can find. You only have to spend a few months being confused on Wikipedia, whereas real life is confusing for up to 80 years or so. --Teratornis 14:05, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
RFA
[edit]Are anons allowed to participate in RFA'S? 81.132.77.133 14:00, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, with limitations. You can't participate in the Support, Oppose, Neutral, but anons are encouraged to participate in the discuission section. --Evilclown93(talk) 14:01, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Protecting a deleted page
[edit]How can one protect a deleted page to prevent recreation? I tried to do this on my personal wiki, but the protect button disappeared after I deleted the page. SalaSkan 14:45, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- There are three methods that I know of, see WP:SALT. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:06, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Cheers! SalaSkan 15:39, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
pages
[edit]how do you start your own page?
- See Wikipedia:Creating a new article -- Kainaw(what?) 17:01, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- If you mean your own user page, see Help:User page. On Wikipedia, "page" and "article" do not quite mean the same thing (all articles are pages, but not all pages are articles; set theorists will recognize that type of relationship as involving a superset and a subset). See: WP:WIAA. --Teratornis 17:18, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Also note that Wikipedia:Creating a new article is a copy of the generic MediaWiki help page: m:Help:Starting a new page; it focuses more on how to create a new article, and less on whether you should create whatever new article you may have in mind. Experience shows that many new users come to Wikipedia with incorrect assumptions of what belongs here. The result is that Wikipedia deletes up to several pages per minute. Be aware that many new articles by new users end up getting deleted. Articles which "stick" are subject to heavy editing by others. Therefore, before you spend hours editing a new article here, be sure you can write the kind of article Wikipedia wants, and you are comfortable with the idea that large numbers of people you will never meet can edit your work in ways you cannot control. If you aren't sure about your idea, ask us. --Teratornis 17:32, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- If you mean your own user page, see Help:User page. On Wikipedia, "page" and "article" do not quite mean the same thing (all articles are pages, but not all pages are articles; set theorists will recognize that type of relationship as involving a superset and a subset). See: WP:WIAA. --Teratornis 17:18, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
using WinZip
[edit]how do i use winzip or winrar?
- The Help Desk is intended to help editors use Wikipedia. For non-Wikipedia questions, see the Reference Desk. Shadow1 (talk) 17:17, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Start by reading winzip and winrar. If you cannot figure out how to use these programs by reading their articles on Wikipedia, follow the links from those articles which usually guide you to user manuals and so on. If reading the manuals isn't enough, ask on the Reference desk. --Teratornis 17:20, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Health care '08
[edit]I made an article for healthcare '08 then decided it would be better if I actually spelled it right so made the same thing for health care '08...so I would like someone to delete the first one.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kenziejoy (talk • contribs)
- Actually the proper way to rename articles is to follow the procedure in WP:MOVE. The idea is that we need to preserve the history of pages we rename. Hopefully an administrator will see this question and clean things up. --Teratornis 19:04, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
ethnicity of Jane Mago with the federal government
[edit]Who is Jane Mago with the Federal Government, and what is the origin of the name Mago?
- Try searching on Google or asking at the reference desk. We don't have an article on Jane Mago. Shalom Hello 19:32, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Protected image?
[edit]I'm trying to fix Image:Types_of_Carbon_Nanotubes.png which appears to have been corrupted in March 2007. I have the fixed image on my disk, but I have no idea how to upload it so that it replaces the old one -- neither on Wikipedia nor on Wikimedia Commons... The upload link seems to be missing on both sites, so perhaps the image is protected somehow? How could I request unprotection? --Ma Baker 19:58, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- First of all, the image looks perfectly fine to me. But if I'm not seeing what you're seeing, you should leave a note at the administrators' noticeboard requesting an admin to move an image to make way for uploading a new image. Someone whould be able to help you or to indicate that it's not necessary. Shalom Hello 20:38, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for the reply; the issue is that the lower 20% or so of the image is completely black so the lower tubes are truncated and their legends are missing. --Ma Baker 20:49, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- The image was hosted on commons, that's probably the reason why you couldn't upload it. I did the upload for you (and credited you in the licensing part, I didn't know how to do it) -- lucasbfr talk 22:59, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for the reply; the issue is that the lower 20% or so of the image is completely black so the lower tubes are truncated and their legends are missing. --Ma Baker 20:49, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Reproducing parts of text
[edit]How do I go about reproducing images for use in a book I am writing? Is there a special form which needs to be filed?
- This is the Wikipedia Help Desk, intended for help on using Wikipedia. Wikipedia does not hold copyright on any information or images on its site. If you would like to use an image, you should contact the source of that image. If the image is in the public domain, you are free to use it however you like. Many images here are under free licenses - you should consult the terms of those licenses to determine how they can be used elsewhere and who to give credit to. Hersfold (talk/work) 01:20, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
How to ask for editing RED ARMY CRIMES category articles help?
[edit]My English is not fluent enough. I would like to ask for editing help for the whole category articles, but my entry to help desk becouse of unknown reasons was blocked. Ttturbo 22:18, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- It was not blocked, and in fact is still visible on this page. -- Kesh 23:25, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, but when I've marked my page by {help} it was removed soon threatening to ban me if I ask again. Is it possible to ask for editing help for all category?
- Ttturbo 23:32, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- The help template is always removed when someone comes to help you. That's standard practice on Wikipedia. You were warned, not for asking for help, but for trying to push your own opinions and accusing other editors of crimes. -- Kesh 23:37, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- This was not true. I've asked for some editing help and information about redirecting, but help mark was removed without any explanations and threatening -please don't disrupt ant don't attack me accusing in not telling the truth!. Remeber please general warning about responsibility.
Ttturbo 00:37, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
- (reduce indent) This user has made some uncivil remarks in the past (example here). His article is currently under deletion, and he needs help editing with the article so that the article will survive deletion. In my opinion, this is a point of view related help. Miranda 02:21, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
- One of the accusations in the voting debate for deleting was poor language, and Miranda says -don't edit the article for deleting. So, Miranda continues disruptive personal attack against me - the author of category Red Army crimes articles.Ttturbo 09:50, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
Red Army crimes article is not fluent enough. Please, help.
Ttturbo 00:37, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
how can i delete my profile?
[edit]how can i delete my profile?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.153.232.98 (talk • contribs).
- If your mean your user page, you can log in and add the {{db-user}} template to the page. An administrator will be along shortly to delete it if appropriate. Your contributions to other pages cannot generally be deleted. -- zzuuzz (talk) 22:57, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
It seems this question is often asked, is it on the FAQ? Kevinwong913 Speak out loud! 23:55, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- A variation of this question is in the very FAQ -- zzuuzz (talk) 00:13, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
Alignment
[edit]Hi
How do I get an unbulleted but indented paragraph to align properly in a bulleted list?
- The obvious idea
- which is this
- Doesn't work
Matt 22:47, 1 July 2007 (UTC).
This works:
- A bullet,
another line - Another bullet
But the coding is weird:
*A bullet,<br/>another line *Another bullet
Can't think of anything else though... tiZom(2¢) 00:57, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
- The other way involves a colon and another indent:
- item
- item
- item
- item
- item
- item
- item
It does basically the same thing as your working example does - it puts a newline character into a list item. Your code is easier, and I think, is better HTML. -- zzuuzz (talk) 02:33, 2 July 2007 (UTC) -- zzuuzz (talk) 02:33, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
Positions vacant deepartment
[edit]We are a foreign company based in China Foshan City and wish to employ students recently graduated from your electronic marketing classes
Can you direct me where to look on any of your web sites
Thanking you
Bill Dryburgh
- This is the wikipedia help desk, we help users understand how to use wikipedia and it's functions. We don't have any electronic marketing classes as we are not a college or a university - therefore we don't have any pages that contain that information or any students. --Fredrick day 23:14, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
- The questioner may have been reading a Wikipedia article about a trade school of some sort, possibly mistaking Wikipedia's Help desk as the contact point for that school. Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that (almost) anyone can edit. Wikipedia has many articles about schools (among other things). Most school articles here should have one or more links that you can follow to find contact information for the school. Unfortunately I know of no way to determine which article the questioner might have been viewing, so unless he tells us the name of the school we cannot give him more clues about how to contact them. --Teratornis 06:04, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
- This is the wikipedia help desk, we help users understand how to use wikipedia and it's functions. We don't have any electronic marketing classes as we are not a college or a university - therefore we don't have any pages that contain that information or any students. --Fredrick day 23:14, 1 July 2007 (UTC)