Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 August 2
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August 2
[edit]userfy a deleted article
[edit]Can I have an admin userfy Ian Hickson for me please, with history? I would like to make improvements to this page. thanks riffic (talk) 01:20, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
Done at User:Riffic/Ian Hickson. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 01:29, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- thanks. I see it needs a bit of work, I'll see what I can do. riffic (talk) 01:35, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Your efforts are appreciated. Best of luck, PeterSymonds (talk) 01:50, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
Special page
[edit]Is there, by any chance, a special page (or feature, etc.) that would allow one to find pages that are available in a certain group of languages? For instance, if I were looking for an article written in German, spanish, French, and Welsh? I wouldn't expect there to be, but I'd find it quite helpful if there was. Thanks, —Mizu onna sango15Hello! 03:24, 2 August 2008 (UTC).
- A special page on, say, the English Wikipedia wouldn't actually know what articles exist on other language Wikipedias. On the English Wikipedia itself, I'm pretty sure one would only be able to search for interlanguage links. Since editors have to manually add such links to articles, there is no guarantee of a one-to-one correspondence between interlanguage links and articles on other language Wikipedias. (There could be articles out there, but no links yet from the English Wikipedia; or there could be broken links on the English Wikipedia, unless someone or something is checking for interlanguage link rot.) You might be able to search for interlanguage links by using one of the methods under WP:EIW#Query. Also see WP:EIW#Translate. If you would tell us why you want to do this type of search, someone might know another way to reach your underlying goal. --Teratornis (talk) 05:01, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Thanks for the help, I didn't think there was. I'm mainly just trying to find out what Wikipedia articles are available in at least all of the following: Spanish, German, Korean, Italian, English, Japanese, Chinese, and French. It's mainly for curiosity's sake (I was experimenting with something a few days ago), so it's nothing important, but I was wondering if there was a way to determine this. Thanks, —Mizu onna sango15Hello! 06:33, 2 August 2008 (UTC).
- You might find something vaguely related at simple:Wikipedia:List of articles all languages should have. Also see Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Core topics. --Teratornis (talk) 16:28, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Many thanks. —Mizu onna sango15Hello! 22:16, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- You might find something vaguely related at simple:Wikipedia:List of articles all languages should have. Also see Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Core topics. --Teratornis (talk) 16:28, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Thanks for the help, I didn't think there was. I'm mainly just trying to find out what Wikipedia articles are available in at least all of the following: Spanish, German, Korean, Italian, English, Japanese, Chinese, and French. It's mainly for curiosity's sake (I was experimenting with something a few days ago), so it's nothing important, but I was wondering if there was a way to determine this. Thanks, —Mizu onna sango15Hello! 06:33, 2 August 2008 (UTC).
How to Merge a New Talk Page with an Old Talk Page
[edit]Hi. How do you merge a new article talk page with an old article talk page which has a different title? For example, I want to merge Talk:Indo-Canadians with the old Talk:Canadians of Indian descent. Sonic99 (talk) 04:22, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- I've never actually done this, but see the instructions in Help:Merging and moving pages. --Teratornis (talk) 04:54, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- The problem with two talk pages originates from a cut-and-paste move in March 2007.[1][2] I have posted a request to fix it at Wikipedia:Cut and paste move repair holding pen. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:28, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- I've merged histories of the two articles. The talk page histories can't be merged though, because there wasn't a cut&page move in the past, and there have been new changes to Talk:Indo-Canadians. I moved the old talk to an archive of the new talk page, so it's currently at Talk:Indo-Canadians/Archive 1. I hope this helps. --PeaceNT (talk) 14:00, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Thanks. That looks like a reasonable solution. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:39, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
Posts
[edit]I have recently made posts at Talk:Billi Bruno and Talk:Little Manhattan (film) that I would like someone to see (the more important probably being the Billi Bruno post). Is there a way to bring this to someone's attention? Hallpriest9 (Talk) 05:06, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- You should comment on the talk pages of the corresponding WikiProjects. In this case, it would be Wikipedia:WikiProject Television or Wikipedia:WikiProject Films.--T B C ♣§♠ (aka Tree Biting Conspiracy) 05:50, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
Is Sexual Assault Complainant Name Unpublished Personal Information?
[edit]Is the name of a sexual assault complainant, who hasn't given permission for their name to be published, considered "unpublished personal information" in the sense used on the page about requesting oversight? It seems pretty similar to linking a name and a pseudonym, an example of "unpublished personal information" given on that page.
Thank you,
Drama Lady (talk) 06:02, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- That looks very appropriate for oversight. I will email them. Someguy1221 (talk) 06:37, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Thanks! The history page has been cleaned up -- and edits made to the article which make it harder to put in the complainant's name. Drama Lady (talk) 04:43, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
Ariel washing powder
[edit]dear sir or madam ive just brought ariel washing powder but i do not have a scoop to measure it out. one time you got it in the box i do hope you can help me please my daughter said when she get her place will there be measure back in the box then mrs r oliver <removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.64.212.140 (talk) 06:05, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. Someguy1221 (talk) 06:30, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
misplaced
[edit]how do i suggest the correct location of a marker? the marker in question is in merrion square in dublin & the subject is "botanic gardens" which is on the north side of dublin, maybe 5 kilometres away. thanks. Patrick2808 (talk) 06:38, 2 August 2008 (UTC).
- I guess the subject is Irish National Botanic Gardens which contains no coordinates. In which work is the marker you refer to? In case you don't know what this help desk is for, here is a standard message:
- Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over two million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If that is not fruitful, we have a reference desk, divided into various subjects areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:56, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
Clearing of block log
[edit]I've been blocked a bunch of times when I was an experienced user, for breaking the three revert rule by reverting POV at the Egyptians, Middle East, and Negroid page. Now the users I was edit warring with have turned out to be tag-teaming sock puppets, so I was thinking that my blocks there might not have been justified, in hindsight. Could they maybe be removed from the log?
The users I edit warred with were User: Zerida and several of his sock puppets, and User: Muntuwandi. FunkMonk (talk) 12:16, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Block logs cannot be removed. In some cases a blocking admin will make a comment in the block log explaining that a former block was not justified. I have not examined the reverts but it doesn't sound like anything at Wikipedia:Three-revert rule#Exceptions permits your reverts. If the edits were by a banned user and you knew that then reverting multiple times would be OK, but not in the situation you describe. See Wikipedia:Dispute resolution and Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets for other options. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:37, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Just to clarify, I meant other options next time you are in a dispute, not options to deal with your old block log. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:40, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Hmmm, can't I get something else instead? Like a personal thumbs up from Jimbo Wales or similar? The reason why I violated the three revert rule so many times in my early days was (other than that I thought the previous edit was POV, of course) that I thought reverting simply meant pushing the undo button (English is not my first language). I have since discovered that it isn't the case, and haven't been banned for it since and probably won't in the future. FunkMonk (talk) 12:44, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Without commenting on the specifics of your case, a block for edit warring with editors who do not appear to be sockpuppets at the time is quite legitimate. Even Jimbo has a block log - you should just be prepared to explain it if there is ever a need to, and try and keep it clean henceforth. If you do nothing blockable it is unlikely to be looked at again. -- zzuuzz (talk) 12:48, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Ok, thanks for the answers. It was worth a try! FunkMonk (talk) 12:50, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- I suppose the ultimate "thumbs up" would be applying and succeeding at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship, but some applicants leave there with bruises instead. I don't know your editing record but many editors with old blocks have passed - usually not because the blocks were wrong but because they have showed they know better now. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:47, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Without commenting on the specifics of your case, a block for edit warring with editors who do not appear to be sockpuppets at the time is quite legitimate. Even Jimbo has a block log - you should just be prepared to explain it if there is ever a need to, and try and keep it clean henceforth. If you do nothing blockable it is unlikely to be looked at again. -- zzuuzz (talk) 12:48, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Hmmm, can't I get something else instead? Like a personal thumbs up from Jimbo Wales or similar? The reason why I violated the three revert rule so many times in my early days was (other than that I thought the previous edit was POV, of course) that I thought reverting simply meant pushing the undo button (English is not my first language). I have since discovered that it isn't the case, and haven't been banned for it since and probably won't in the future. FunkMonk (talk) 12:44, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Just to clarify, I meant other options next time you are in a dispute, not options to deal with your old block log. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:40, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
(undent) Why do you care if your user log shows some blocks? I.e., what specifically are you trying to do on Wikipedia, for which having been blocked in the past puts you at a disadvantage? --Teratornis (talk) 16:21, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
Expression error
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fb/Yes_check.svg/20px-Yes_check.svg.png)
On my screen, the articles on Palazzo Madama and Quirinal Palace show a ton of "Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "�"" in red font and spread all over the page, instead of co-ordinates. (Am using Microsoft Internet Explorer, no chance to change set-up at this computer, because it isn't mine). Any ideas what this is and how it can be mended? ---Sluzzelin talk 13:21, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Ah, Mentisock fixed it. Thanks! ---Sluzzelin talk 13:28, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
about searching
[edit]HOW COULD WE SEARCH FOR A PERSON,LIVING IN AMERICA FROM INDORE,M.P.(INDIA)? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.168.217.228 (talk) 14:13, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Category:People from Indore shows a few notable people from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, but I haven't examined whether any of them live in America. Is this about searching in Wikipedia? If not: Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:29, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Notable citizens of Indore shows more people. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:31, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
Problems with Images uploaded to commons.wikipedia by other users than the original poster
[edit]Another user re-uploaded an image which I had originally uploaded to en.wikipedia to commons.wikipedia causing my original upload to be nominated for deletion. After I confronted the other user with his action and asked him to delete his re-uploading of my photo to commons.wikipedia, the user refused to do so stating that it is within his rights to do it due to the GNU licensing which I have attached to my photo. Although the other user is formally correct, his action still does delete my original upload and consequently it will also delete the photo in the wikipedia pages in which it occurs (the other user also did not re-link the photo in these pages). It seems to me that re-uploading other people's images to commons.wikipedia without prior notice to the original poster nor giving the original poster a chance to move images to commons.wikipedia themselves, goes against common courtesy. Concerning this matter I have searched wikipedia for any guidelines but have not found any. Takeaway 15.16, August 2, 2008 (UTC)
- When the WP software loads an image, it looks locally, then in Commons. So— if the local copy is deleted, it will automatically pull it from commons. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 15:50, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Thanks for clarifying the way WP locates images. That's at least one concern less for me. I still think it's bad manners the way the other user went about the whole thing.Takeaway 16.16, August 2, 2008 (UTC)
- See User talk:Anan for the detail. This user may not understand what is "free" under wikipedia rules.--Anan (talk) 16:23, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- this user (me) understand about "free" under wikipedia rules, unfortunately the other user does not understand what "common courtesy" means. Takeaway 16.28, August 2, 2008 (UTC)
- On Wikipedia, there is no common sense, so there is probably no common courtesy, either. We do have WP:CIVIL and WP:CONSENSUS, but we also have WP:BOLD which essentially goes against asking for permission before doing stuff. (On Wikipedia, we have guidelines which can seem to be both for and against a bunch of things, reminding us of Albert Bartlett's quip about experts and their disagreements: for every Ph.D., there is an equal and opposite Ph.D.) Obviously, the less a person understands about Wikipedia, the less courteous their boldness may tend to be. One must cultivate plenty of sangfroid to survive on Wikipedia, where we do find plenty of users who make up in boldness what they lack in knowledge of Wikipedia's rules. --Teratornis (talk) 16:51, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- It's a pity that the user who boldly re-uploaded that one photo to commons.wikipedia didn't re-upload more of my photos. It would have saved me a lot of work. ;) Takeaway 18.00, August 2, 2008 (UTC)
- On Wikipedia, there is no common sense, so there is probably no common courtesy, either. We do have WP:CIVIL and WP:CONSENSUS, but we also have WP:BOLD which essentially goes against asking for permission before doing stuff. (On Wikipedia, we have guidelines which can seem to be both for and against a bunch of things, reminding us of Albert Bartlett's quip about experts and their disagreements: for every Ph.D., there is an equal and opposite Ph.D.) Obviously, the less a person understands about Wikipedia, the less courteous their boldness may tend to be. One must cultivate plenty of sangfroid to survive on Wikipedia, where we do find plenty of users who make up in boldness what they lack in knowledge of Wikipedia's rules. --Teratornis (talk) 16:51, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- this user (me) understand about "free" under wikipedia rules, unfortunately the other user does not understand what "common courtesy" means. Takeaway 16.28, August 2, 2008 (UTC)
- In the first place, the Commons image has been deleted at Anan’s request; so the immediate problem is solved.
- But I do not understand your objection. Was the copy Anan upload a modified version of your image? If he did modify it, you could have requested that your version be retained on Wikipedia: Duplicate Images with more than one creator are not deleted if the differences of the versions are significant. If he did not modify it, I do not see what the problem was. Perhaps you think it would require relinking the image, but that is not correct. If your copy had been deleted, Wikipedia would have seamlessly linked to the Commons copy: no one would have noticed the difference. Or perhaps you wanted your name on the Commons copy?
- Inasmuch as you have licensed the image under free license, why didn’t you (and why don’t you) upload it to Commons yourself? —teb728 t c 03:29, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
- I am a fairly new contributor to wikipedia and when I saw that one of the pictures which I had uploaded was suddenly up for deletion due to someone else re-uploading it (unmodified) to commons.wikipedia for no apparent reason, I became alarmed thinking that I needed to re-link etcetera (which I know now not to be the case). I therefore requested the other person to remove the re-uploaded photo. Unfortunately, the other person immediately took offence to my request and treated my request in a highly sarcastic way stating that they were allowed to do what they pleased with the image due to the licensing I had attached to it and that I couldn't do anything about it. If only the other person had understood my alarm of having a picture deleted instead of becoming sarcastic and fencing with rules and regulations, this whole entry in the Help Desk wouldn't have been necessary. I would also have gladly moved all my pictures (and not just the one) myself to Commons had that other person requested it of me and had told me of the benefits to the WP community.
- I am glad to see that the "Upload File" page has been modified since my last upload to expound the benefits of uploading files to Commons instead of to en.wikipedia. Takeaway 10.25, August 3, 2008 (UTC)
- I am sorry. I was wrong to everything
so please do not stalking me.--Anan (talk) 10:53, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
- I am sorry. I was wrong to everything
- It's a pity that you see this as me stalking you. What was just a request of mine, you have now turned in to an accusation of stalking. Wasn't it you yourself who followed me here to the Help Desk page? If anything, that would mean that you were stalking me. I didn't even mention your name here to begin with. Takeaway 11.11, August 3, 2008 (UTC)
- If the expression is not in your favour I will delete my words. So please do not come to me.--Anan (talk) 12:00, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
- Unjustly accusing people of stalking because you are not happy with their remarks would be considered highly offensive by anyone. Takeaway 13.11, August 3, 2008 (UTC)
Wikipedia Access from China
[edit]In mid-September, I will return to China to teach English at a university in Nanjing. For the past two years I have not been able to access Wikipedia from China because of the Chinese's censorship of the Internet. However, I understand there is a way of using a "proxy server" to get around/through the Chinese blocking. Can someone tell me how to use a proxy server to gain access to Wikipedia while in China? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.162.151.156 (talk) 15:36, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- See Blocking of Wikipedia in mainland China. Proxies will let you see Wikipedia, but you won't be able to edit by your IP. Whether you can go on as a registered name or not will depend on which proxy you use. Googling "proxy" seems to come up with decent results. Paragon12321 (talk) 15:45, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Curiously I block more open proxies from China than most other places. Wikipedia:Advice to users using Tor to bypass the Great Firewall contains all the links to the options available. -- zzuuzz (talk) 15:46, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- There was news that Wikipedia is not blocked in China at the moment (except for a few articles). It may just be during the Olympics though. Louis Waweru Talk 00:37, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
Blacklisted..
[edit]I have been unfairly blacklisted... please reveiw my comments on the effexor page.. i have made logical and reasonable comments. I am a responsible citizen and i am respected in not only my area of work, but also by professionals in counselling family who have lost people to suicide. whoever blacklisted me is a control freak not a responsible editor at wikipedia. this person needs to be reprimanded for this act of vandalism and arbitrary censorship. very disappointing . if you want to keep wiki a place of open information and democratic exchange of ideas, you need to stop this kind of personal attack.. i stand my my arguments and my behaviour ... it is well documengted on the effexor talk page... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Szimonsays (talk • contribs) 17:18, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- After reviewing the edit history and extremely lengthy discussions on the talk page I think I have a good idea of what is going on here. The information that you provided regarding the internet petition is repeatedly removed because it does not conform with the Wikipedia Policy regarding reliable sources. Scottydude talk 17:52, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Also, please know that Wikipedia is not a democracy. It is a compiled encyclopedia with established policies and guidelines. Mjpresson (talk) 18:24, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- For some insight into Wikipedia's organizational principles, see A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy by Clay Shirkey. Everyone approaches Wikipedia with at least a few preconceived ideas about how it should work, but Wikipedia is very different than anything most people have experienced before. Thus a smart way to approach Wikipedia is to empty one's mind of preconceptions, to the extent possible, and read the friendly manuals to see how Wikipedia actually works. A good place to start is Help:Contents. After you understand all that stuff, move on to the Editor's index. --Teratornis (talk) 19:53, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Also, please know that Wikipedia is not a democracy. It is a compiled encyclopedia with established policies and guidelines. Mjpresson (talk) 18:24, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
Counting Articles
[edit]Is there any way by which I can count the total number of articles that I have visited now- Possibly with their headings, date, time etc. ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jitagna (talk • contribs) 17:30, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- There isn't anything on Wikipedia that does that, although Special:Mycontributions lists all the edits you have made and which page/what time&date you did those edits. You could, however, look through your browser's browsing history and look for Wikipedia articles in there. Calvin 1998 (t-c) 17:36, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
Lorcaserin
[edit]Article: Lorcaserin
There is an editorial bias against Lorcaserin, and a general misrepresentation of the facts.
The article begins:
According to their published statements, Arena "believes" that lorcaserin is a selective hypothalamus 5-HT2C receptor agonist, and they "believe" that activation of this receptor promotes weight loss through appetite suppression. However, the science remains imprecise.
The use of the quotational "believes" indicates a lack of evidence. There is a great deal of evidence for the receptor selectivity. The proposed mode of action is well documented and well accepted in peer-reviewed literature. Further, as the article later acknowledges, weight-loss is demonstrated. This acknowledgment of the facts is followed by the statement: "Arena admits that upon discontinuation of lorcaserin treatment, all lost weight is regained." This is phrased in a way as to make the obvious, seem to be a cleverly exposed secret. Non-permanent changes are almost always non-permanent.
The article continues:
"Arena is taking care to demonstrate -- and announce to investors and consumers -- that lorcaserin does not cause heart valve damage as fenfluramine, a presumed 5-HT2B agonist, did. Arena stated that the Phase 2 clinical trials show that Lorcaserin "has no effect on heart valve regurgitation at 12 weeks", and yet their data shows possible adverse effects on the aortic valve:"
There is no doubting the fact that fenfluoramine caused a nearly 30% incidence of valvulopathies. The data shown does not support the conclusion that there is an increase in aortic valve issues. As a matter of fact, the chosen dosage for Lorcaserin, 10 mg, shows a reduction in this data set extraction. It would be dangerous to draw conclusions of safety from dosages beyond the recommended. Adverse effects from overdoses are common.
The final paragraph addresses the complete safety clearance for Lorcaserin by stating the data "did not meet the trial-stopping criteria developed by an independent Echocardiographic Data Safety Monitoring Board (EDSMB), and so the trial continues."
The paragraph continues:
"Although BLOSSOM participants will receive 18- and 24-month follow-up echocardiograms, these results will not be reviewed by an EDSMB. Two other Phase 3 trials ("BLOSSOM", and "BLOOM-DM") provide echocardiograms but they will not be reviewed by an EDSMB. BLOOM participants were pre-screened to exclude valvulopathy, but BLOSSOM and BLOOM-DM participants were not."
I find the persistent dwelling on the fact that the data no longer needs an external review, to be offensive. These studies approved and the data will be submitted to the FDA as part of a drug application. These well designed studies will thoroughly measure the heart effects of Lorcaserin, and the analysis of the data will be comprehensive and objective. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.208.216.169 (talk) 18:33, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- This should be discussed on the article's Talk page. Corvus cornixtalk 20:06, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Several items:
- On the Help desk, we don't normally edit other people's questions, but I added some blockquote tags to the paragraphs you quoted, so the question will format according to your likely intent. I also added a section heading to the question, and I changed Lorcaserin from an external link to a wikilink.
- On Wikipedia, we try to avoid writing things such as "I find the ... to be offensive." See: WP:CIVIL and WP:AGF. The proper frame of mind for editing on Wikipedia is sangfroid. In our writing, we try to focus on the objective facts (although we may shout and curse at our computers now and then); writing about our emotional states rarely gets us to consensus any sooner. The harsh reality is that distant strangers tend to ascribe lower importance to our emotions than we do.
- See WP:COI if you are personally connected in any way with the subject of the article. And see WP:BFAQ for general information about articles relating to business.
- See WP:EIW#Dispute for comprehensive instructions on how to handle content disputes on Wikipedia.
- The first step would probably be for you to raise your objections on Talk:Lorcaserin. See Help:Talk page and WP:DISCUSSION for instructions. When you make any
sort of factualpotentially controversial claim, provide reliable sources.
- The first step would probably be for you to raise your objections on Talk:Lorcaserin. See Help:Talk page and WP:DISCUSSION for instructions. When you make any
- You may wish to create an account if you want to participate in a content dispute. Other participants may relate somewhat better to a person who writes from a consistent username. (Unregistered users may get something of a bad rap on Wikipedia because the vast majority of vandals do not create accounts. So to maximize your chances of being taken seriously, you could create an account. I'm not saying that's how things should work, but that's how it seems a lot of people's emotional brains keep score.)
- In general, in disputes on Wikipedia, the side with the best understanding of Wikipedia's policies, guidelines, and procedures usually wins. Wikipedia has very extensive rules that have resulted from past disputes; most current disputes arise because one side or the other doesn't know everything about Wikipedia yet. Thus your odds of influencing the Lorcaserin article and having your changes "stick" are proportional to how much time you invest in studying how Wikipedia works.
- --Teratornis (talk) 20:22, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Several items:
Age
[edit]Is there (currently) an age limit for editing Wikipedia?--Thanks, Ainlina(box)? 18:41, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- No Anonymous101 (talk) 18:42, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Technically speaking, no there isn't. But the longer you edit you'll find that some editors prefer that you're at least fifteen before doing some of the more stressful tasks (such as adminship). But to edit in general, Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia anyone can edit, so go right ahead. —Mizu onna sango15Hello! 18:58, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Please note the "some editors". We have had 12-year-old admins. Corvus cornixtalk 20:06, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- You do not need to say anything about yourself (unless you're applying for the Wikimedia Board of Directors), so there's no way of knowing. --h2g2bob (talk) 21:01, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Since Wikipedia does not require users to disclose their ages, what matters most would be a young editor's apparent age (or mental age). At the other end of the age scale, Wikipedia might tend to discriminate unintentionally against older people by being so radically different than anything many people have experienced before. I'd suspect a lower percentage of old people than young people would feel comfortable with Wikipedia's paradigm shift. Just as we see a lot more teenagers texting each other than elderly people. When people get to a certain age, they tend to lose interest in newfangled contraptions. --Teratornis (talk) 21:07, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- You do not need to say anything about yourself (unless you're applying for the Wikimedia Board of Directors), so there's no way of knowing. --h2g2bob (talk) 21:01, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Please note the "some editors". We have had 12-year-old admins. Corvus cornixtalk 20:06, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
TEXT ONLY read?
[edit]Is it possible to get the pure text of a page? I mean without even the reference numbers of sources or of course images. Pure text. --Leladax (talk) 20:12, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- Don't think so. You can grab the wiki markup of course from "edit this page", but there's no tool that I know of to convert it to human readable text in the way you're thinking. Your best bet is probably to just copy and paste from your browser to a text editor, but the footnotes will still appear. -SpuriousQ (talk) 20:19, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- I think it would be a very good feature. BTW, that's what I did, I just copy pasted some parts. It is technically possible to be automated by parsing scripts, but it seems quite straightforward and more proper to be done by wiki coders. --Leladax (talk) 21:08, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- You might see TomeRaider. And since XML dumps of Wikipedia are available, you could in principle write an XSLT stylesheet that would output to plain text with
xsltproc
or Xalan. Another option might be a text-only browser such as Lynx (web browser). --Teratornis (talk) 21:15, 2 August 2008 (UTC)- Yes, I thought of those methods and I concluded if an experienced scripter of parsers can make it quite easily, why not have it as a wiki feature and next to the 'view for printing' feature. --Leladax (talk) 21:52, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- You might see TomeRaider. And since XML dumps of Wikipedia are available, you could in principle write an XSLT stylesheet that would output to plain text with
- I think it would be a very good feature. BTW, that's what I did, I just copy pasted some parts. It is technically possible to be automated by parsing scripts, but it seems quite straightforward and more proper to be done by wiki coders. --Leladax (talk) 21:08, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
(undent) It occurs to me you might check the links under WP:EIW#Research. Lots of people are researching Wikipedia, and someone might have generated plain text dumps to use as a Text corpus. --Teratornis (talk) 02:40, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
Uploading photographs
[edit]I have tried to add a photograph to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gilmour_%28director%29, but have failed to do anything but go round in circles trying to read and understand the instructions on how to do it. Except that I have uploaded it to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bill_Gilmour._July%2C_2008.JPG. I can’t get beyond that. Can anyone do it for me? As I took the photograph, I own the copyright and am giving it for free use. Other information derived from the camera is with the image. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alphasierra (talk • contribs) 20:15, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
- I added the picture to the article. I hope this helps you. :) Regards, —αἰτίας •discussion• 20:24, 2 August 2008 (UTC)