Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 July 21

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July 21[edit]

Adding Categories[edit]

The Wikipedia Robot continues to tag the "Daniel K. Weber" page as "uncategorized." It is not intuitive how to add categories. I do not find a "how to add categories" line item in the FAQ's. I have attempted to add the categories you see listed at the bottom of the referenced page and the entry comes up as another form of tag. How do I create a category box? Please help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bozobigtop (talkcontribs)

To add a category, place [[Category:name of category]] at the bottom of the page. Another editor has done this on the Daniel K. Weber page, so you can see how it works there. Our page on categories gives more information on how to do this. I also placed a welcome template on your talk page, containing lots of links to help you edit Wikipedia. Raven4x4x 00:20, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

universities alla raound the wolrd[edit]

Dear Sir/Madam:

I am enquirying about the universities in suadia arabia, and universities all around the world, where can i find organisations within the universities taht offer genuis test, or offer degrees to thermal/therman students? I am in despertae need to communicate with other genuises, scientists. please forward information via email.

Regards, Alia El-Amer <Personal information removed>

This Help Desk is for questions about using Wikipedia. This question would be better placed on the Reference desk, or see our List of universities in Saudi Arabia. I have also removed the personal information you posted; it is not a good idea to post e-mail addresses, phone numbers and the like on such a public page. Raven4x4x 00:13, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Pseudo science/traditional medicine claims[edit]

I have noticed that the article on Bamboo charcoal is full of dubious claims as to its many "wondrous" properties. I am not sure how to deal with claims of a pseudoscience/traditional medicine nature - I put a "this is disputed" tag and asked about it in the talk section, but got little feedback. I am hoping you wiser folks have some input on how to fix the article. Observer31 03:29, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There are many options

  • Place citation tags on particular statements
  • Remove especially bold statements
  • Check the statements at the Reference Desk
  • Contact the appropriate WikiProject
  • Rewrite it in a more encyclopedic tone

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 04:25, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I would suggest immediately removing these dubious claims if neither you nor anybody else can find a valid source for them. The reason for this is that these claims could cause injury to those who try them, and Jimbo himself said that removing a potentially harmful unsourced claim is better than just adding a tag. --Qmwne235 22:35, 23 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

how to copy from wikipedia[edit]

how to copy from wikipedia —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.92.58.183 (talkcontribs).

What do you mean? Copy articles?

The Rhymesmith 04:58, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to copy the Wikipedia database, see: WP:DUMP. If you want to export articles to another MediaWiki wiki, see: Help:Export. If you want to mirror Wikipedia, see: Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks. If none of those are what you meant, see: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia which has so many links you are sure to find something useful. --Teratornis 03:22, 22 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

please if ihave namibia passportcanigoto canada without no visa[edit]

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 41.205.187.95 (talkcontribs) 08:48, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This is a page for asking questions about using Wikipedia, as it says at the top of this page. I would suggest you ask your local government office or Canadian embassy regarding this matter. - Tangotango (talk) 08:54, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

desin of ponds

how do i create a page[edit]

how do i create a page—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Paintpower (talkcontribs).

Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.
If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation.--Fuhghettaboutit 12:27, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Clear History[edit]

Is there a way to clear your history? I mean those drop-down things of suff you've searched before. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nickatnoon141 (talkcontribs) 14:00, 21 July 2007

Most browsers have a way to do this, usually under the "tools" tab at the top. If you told me which browser you're using, I might be able to help more. However, you might also want to consider the computing section of the reference desk, as this help desk is for help using Wikipedia. Charlie-talk to me-what I've done 14:05, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This question comes up frequently on the Help desk. Here is a Google Search of the Help desk archive for it. That won't find all instances of this question because each questioner words it differently, but you will find a lot of advice with just that one search. --Teratornis 03:15, 22 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Question re: recreating speedily deleted articles, Stack Bundles[edit]

I've read the Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Stack Bundles discussion and understand that the article as it was must not have been acceptable. I wonder if there's not room for somebody to come in and do it properly. I have previously worked on the page of a homicide victim, Lieth Von Stein, whose only notability was as the victim of homicide (though his case gained notoriety when it became the subject of two books and movies). Stack has plenty of press coverage. If anybody can shed any light on this for me--as in whether a page, speedily deleted, can be restarted and under what circumstances--I'd appreciate it. Even if it were open, I might not choose to create an article on Stack Bundles (I've only done cursory reading so far), but it seems like valuable general information. --Moonriddengirl 14:22, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Moonriddengirl. This is not a simple issue. First some terminology and structure to work from. The article was not speedily deleted. Speedy deletion is a specific process you can read about here which involves defined and narrowly-tailored criteria for deletion without debate. Articles that are speedy deleted are not subject to speedy deletion as reposts because no consensus was reached on the merits. Articles for deletion, by contrast, is debate on the merits of the article under various policies to reach a consensus. If an article is deleted after such non-speedy, debate on the merits, as this one was, reposts of the article are then subject to speedy deletion under the repost criterion I linked above, but only where the new article "is substantially identical to the deleted version and any revisions made clearly do not address the reasons for which the page was deleted." Okay, putting that aside.
There are a few competing policies at play here. Our notability policy requires citation to reliable sources which substantively treat the article's subject, and are independent of that subject. That is what we mean by notability here, not the dictionary definition. We also have subject specific notability guidelines which expand on the general criteria. Relevant ones for this topic are Wikipedia:Notability (music) and Wikipedia:Notability (people). Simple notability concerns must be balanced here against two other policies WP:NOT#NEWS and WP:NOT#MEMORIAL.
Articles which are created after someone's death and often because of the notoriety surrounding the death, may not work as an article. Where this comes up is that someone's death, especially as a result of foul play, ends in substantial newspaper coverage. Those are reliable sources, and at first seem to meet notability standards head on. It is a subject of ongoing debate whether flurry of newscoverage should be discounted; the subject is newsworthy, yes (and thus perfect material for our sister project, Wikinews), but does he or she suddenly become notable? The answer to that is only seen over the long term (which we can't know now); if ten years from now the subject of a murder is still written about, then we know. So, one way to think about it is: "could a proper article (i.e. an article meeting notability standards, citing to reliable sources, etc.) have been written about the subject before the newsworthy event? If so, then the subject is good material for an article, even if the impetus for creation postdates the newsworthy event. If, on the other hand. such an article could not have been written beforehand, it's probably not a good subject for an article afterwards if it is just newsworthiness that has been achieved posthumously.
So ultimately, my advice to you is to write the article only if you can and are willing to hunt down and cite to reliable sources in your rewrite tending to show that that an article properly establishing notability could have been written about him before his death. Otherwise, I don't see how you can address the concerns that resulted in deletion after debate, and if you don't address those concerns, this is likely to simply be deleted as a repost. Hope this lengthy post is clear, not too pablum-filled and helpful.--Fuhghettaboutit 15:49, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Disambiguation help[edit]

I need to create a new page for 'State of the Heart'. There's already an existing page by the same name. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Of_The_Heart

The source content for the new page can be seen here stateoftheheart.name

The Disambiguation help instructions are too complicated for me. Can anyone help in creating a new page with the title of 'State of the Heart'. If you add contents from the mentioned source, that would be great.

Thank you, on behalf of Maggi GraceNMHInc 16:11, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

When you go to create the new page, add a short descriptor after the main title to differentiate from the existing article. For example, State of the Heart (film). I'd do it for you, but I'm not sure where this source content is located. The page at WP:1ST might also provide some important help. Hersfold (talk/work) 16:54, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I believe he meant the website, http://www.stateoftheheart.name/. .name is a uncommen TLD, so most people don't know about it. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 04:35, 23 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

artiste participation[edit]

i am don l. osigue, and i want to feature my artiste, bongos ikwe in your festival next summer. how do i go about it?

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, not a festival or showcase. Apologies.

The Rhymesmith 18:46, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If you mean Wikimania, try to contact somebody directly involved in it. However, this will probably be completely unsuccessful. You could try to upload you recording to the Commons as an ogg vorbis file. --Qmwne235 22:39, 23 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Macromedia[edit]

what is macromedia studio. advantages and disadvantages of application packages. diffrence between word processing and application packages.

Direct your inquiry to the Computing division of the Reference Desk

The Rhymesmith 18:47, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Further reading[edit]

Some articles show at the bottom a "Further reading" and within there some more weblinks: although there is also a section called "Links". Is there any rule how to publish "Links" and links within "Further reading"? -- Josha52 18:40, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Look here.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 18:47, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The relevant guideline pages are: WP:LAYOUT and WP:SECTION. --Teratornis 21:04, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. -- Josha52 19:18, 23 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

forgot user name[edit]

can somehow i type my e-mail down then the user that mathes to that e-mail, gets e-mailed to that e-mail?

It would be difficult. Generally questions of this sort are addressed here.
Have a nice day.
The Rhymesmith 18:50, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This is a surprisingly common problem. If you can remember any articles you edited, you can look in their histories, which list all the edits and the users who made them. If you see your user name it may jog your memory. If you can't remember any articles you edited, you might find them in your Web browser's history. Did you make a user page? Did you put any userboxes on it? If so, you may have categorized your user name into some category. Did you join any WikiProjects? --Teratornis 16:49, 22 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Deleted pages[edit]

How do I go about reading deleted pages? There's no history button so I can't go to a previous edit and click "Last". ~Crowstar~crow calls 20:20, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Only administrators can read deleted articles. Garion96 (talk) 20:22, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Darn. ~Crowstar~crow calls 20:39, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

User Page Name[edit]

Are wikipedia users allowed to change their user page name? Like mine is User: Gdfanatic21594 but I want it to just be Gdfanatic21594. Gdfanatic21594 21:15, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The two examples you give are in different Namespaces. All user pages have the namespace "User" before the name. The name you give above would be an article of that title. For example there is User:Jimbo Wales and Jimmy Wales. First a user page then an article about the same person. As Mr. Wales is (amongst other things) the founder of Wikipedia, he is deemed notable enough to have an article. Most of us (most probably yourself included) are not. -=# Amos E Wolfe talk #=- 21:29, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Also see WP:WIAA and Help:User page for more about the difference between articles and user pages. --Teratornis 16:51, 22 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Searching Wikipedia[edit]

looking for artist elaine hamilton o'neal

If you paste "elaine hamilton o'neal" into the search box which appears on every page of Wikipedia, you will find the article on her.-gadfium 23:20, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Try Elaine O'Neal. — E talkbots 23:22, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Tables[edit]

Hello. At my sandbox, I am in the process of creating a new userpage. Now, at the bottom, the table doesn't seem to close off. I am wondering if someone familiar with wikitables may fix this for me. Thanks in advance, — E talkbots 23:18, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Done. --Tλε Rαnδom Eδιτor (ταlκ) 00:13, 22 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]