Help desk
< October 9	<< Sep \| October \| Nov >>	October 11 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

October 10[edit]

Persuasive Writing[edit]

I have added substantial information and sources to this page persuasive writing, and I would like to know if the "need more reliable sources" banner could now be removed from the top. Psmith006 (talk) 23:51, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Faster-than-light[edit]

Resolved

if a particle travels faster than light what happens? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.97.146.59 (talk) 03:54, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 03:58, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Tachyon and Faster-than-light. --Teratornis (talk) 04:45, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I request this account to be deleted under blant advertising and promotion[edit]

Resolved

USER:CASIPILLAI

Reason is, I did not realise that we are not allowed to promote our work therefore I am requesting you to delete my account permenantly. I am aware this site is not for advertising and I apologise for any inconvience.

I request this account to be deleted under blant advertising and promotion

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk" —Preceding unsigned comment added by Casipillai (talk • contribs) 09:30, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Casipillai. As Wikipedia is licensed under GFDL, accounts must be maintained for attribution purposes. Your account therefore cannot be deleted by law per the text of the GFDL. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 09:31, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Your userpage has been deleted for you, though. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 13:21, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"What links here" counter?[edit]

I'd like a method to quickly provide a count of backlinks from Special:Whatlinkshere. I found Wikipedia:Help_desk/Archives/2007_February_28#Counter_for_.22What_links_here.22, but I'd prefer something entirely on-wiki. Any ideas?--Aervanath lives in the Orphanage 10:59, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

wishes there was* I don't believe there is. I wasn't even aware of an off-wiki counter. :) PeterSymonds (talk) 11:03, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

can the evolution societal and cultural linked directly to th perception of the impairment associated to disability[edit]

can the evolution societal and cultural linked directly to th perception of the impairment associated to disability##### —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.173.88.59 (talk) 11:39, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Humanities 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 and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 11:41, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Although, I should warn you that the Reference desk doesn't like questions that appear to be homework unless you show that you've attempted it first yourself. You're likely to be berated for typing that question in its current form. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 11:43, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It also helps to type a grammatical sentence. What you typed above seems to be merely a phrase ("Can the evolution ... do what?). If English is not your first language, you may want to ask on the help desk of the Wikipedia in your native language. It also helps if you state the course title, so people can further decode your garbling of the assignment question. You may be asking about Social stigma and Evolutionary psychology. And don't forget to search Wikipedia, and search the Web with your favorite search engine. --Teratornis (talk) 17:38, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Photo upload[edit]

I have an article and a user page but cant find the location to upload photos? Please advise. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lin14 (talk • contribs) 11:52, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Your account is old enough, and you have enough edits, so you should be autoconfirmed (confirm this by checking your preferences, where your user groups are listed). The upload interface is Special:Upload, and a link should appear in your toolbox on the left hand side. Alternatively, if it's a free image, it would be better to upload at Wikimedia Commons. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 11:57, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How can I fix a typo in a title when a page move does not appear to have worked?[edit]

Resolved

The title for the Migration Museums page is misspelt as Migration usems. The same article appears on pages with the address http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_Museums and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_useums

I've read through the FAQs page on moving an article but when I looked at the history of this page it seemed another user had already tried that. Am I missing something or is this harder than it first looks?

Many thanks.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Hatter anon (talk • contribs)

Fixed - the article is now at Migration museums as the original page move intended (accidental typo, by the looks of things). Thanks for bringing this to attention. Bencherlite ^Talk 12:44, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like the problem was fixed, as the "useums" article has been deleted. To answer your more general question, the right to move pages is only granted to users that have achieved "autoconfirmed" status. That status requires 4 days experience and 10 edits in your contribution history. If you are not able to move pages, that is probably why. See WP:AUTOCONFIRM for more info. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 12:47, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...and if you come across a situation like that again, the page you need is WP:Requested moves. I've just moved the article again - it's now at Migration museum - the singular rather than the plural. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 13:10, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Green (Positive) and Red (Negetive) Number on 'my watchlist'[edit]

Resolved

Hi, I think this occurs for everyone but I don't know what it means. On 'my watchlist' next to each of my 'watched' articles and the recent changes, there is a number in brackets, the positive numbers are green, and the negative numbers are red, with varying highs and lows of numbers. what do these mean? Thank you very much. The Pharmacist (talk) 13:45, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It means the number of bites added or removed by the most recent edit. (I learned that here, Go Help Desk!) Grsz ^X 13:47, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think you mean bytes instead of bites. Although, if articles were cookies, editing would be a lot more delicious. :P TN‑X-Man 14:05, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

When a question appears on the Help desk, it's instructive to ask: why did the editor need to ask this question? In other words, why wasn't the answer obvious from the design of Wikipedia? When we browse to my watchlist, the following (perhaps too-)subtle hint appears:

You have 97 pages on your watchlist (excluding talk pages).

The word "watchlist" is a link to Help:Watching pages. It's easy to overlook because of the rest of the commotion on the page. However, remarkably, Help:Watching pages doesn't seem to explain the meaning of the red and green numbers (the page does not even contain the word "green"). For that you would have to read Help:Recent changes (which Help:Watching pages does link to, but from well into the page). The answer to this question is find-able from the page that raises the question, but finding the answer takes some work. One might argue that every editor is going to have to spend some time reading the friendly manuals, because Wikipedia is a do it yourself system, but from an ergonomic standpoint it would be nice if Wikipedia had some sort of "What's this?" popup-balloon help. Then when you see a feature that raises a question in your mind, you could right-click on it and one option in the context menu would be "What's this?", which would display a balloon briefly defining the feature, and linking to the manual page with more details. It might be possible to implement something like that with a Web browser extension. The current option is to expect every user to read the friendly manuals. --Teratornis (talk) 17:59, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Interesting. I never used the word "friendly" in that acronym. Hmmm... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 18:24, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

RTFM ~~lists~~ should list it as one of the possible expansions. I like to use the word "friendly" in a sort of you-know-what-we-really-mean in-joke kind of way. Wikipedia is, after all, one of the world's largest in-jokes. --Teratornis (talk) 19:04, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks very much everyone! The Pharmacist (talk) 09:13, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Music genres[edit]

what happend to the genres on the music pages such as Slipknot and Lamb Of God? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hellop115 (talk • contribs) 14:20, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure what you mean. Should a genre be listed or is the one listed incorrect? TN‑X-Man 14:24, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

well i mean the genres that used to be listed under the backbround information boxes aren't there anymore.Hellop115 (talk) 14:39, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I haven't read it, but you might like to look at Template talk:Infobox Musical artist#Genre field. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 15:16, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c)The genre parameter has been deleted from the {{Infobox musical artist}} infobox template because it was causing endless edit wars. Short discussion at the WP:VPT#An odd infobox problem with link to larger discussion. – ukexpat (talk) 15:20, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

oh ok i was just wondering thanksHellop115 (talk) 01:04, 11 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Template:Hidden[edit]

Can the template itself be centred if its width is less than 100%? By default it sticks to the left and float: center; doesn't seem to work. -- Menti sock 14:33, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure, but I don't think so. It looks like the main div can't be changed. Might be wrong, but I think you'd need to make it more like this. Notice the {{{divcss|}}}.

<div class="NavFrame collapsed" style="border:none;{{{divcss|}}}">
 <div class="NavHead" style="font-weight:{{{fw1|bold}}}; background-color:{{{bg1|transparent}}};
                             text-align:{{{ta1|center}}}; {{{headercss|}}}">
  {{{header|{{{1}}}}}}
 </div>

 <div class="NavContent" style="font-weight:{{{fw2|normal}}}; background-color:{{{bg2|transparent}}};
                                text-align:{{{ta2|left}}};{{{contentcss|}}}">
   {{{content|{{{2}}}}}}
 </div>
</div>

So then something like this would do what you want:

{{hidden2
| divcss = margin-right:auto;margin-left:auto; width: 50%;
| headercss = background: #ccccff; font-size: 110%;
| contentcss = text-align: center; font-size: 110%;
| header = Title text here
| content = Body text line 1<br/>Body text line 2<br/>Body text line 3
}}

Louis Waweru Talk 16:03, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"center" is not a valid value for "float", so it won't work. The standard way of using CSS to center a box is to create a container div with text-align (for Internet Explorer), and center the content div with auto margins, as follows:

<div style="text-align:center">
    <div style="width: 50%; margin: 0 auto">
        Content
    </div>
</div>

Now, since I'm not yet versed in Wikispeak, could someone translate the above construct into Wiki markup? MaxVT (talk) 19:54, 11 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, that worked! -- Menti sock 10:17, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

can someone do a wikipedia article on me and my music company[edit]

the menace is my name lil massive records inc. is my company —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jordanzzzzzzz (talk • contribs)

Do you mind providing some mentions of your company in reliable sources so that we can verify your notability? Please also see Wikipedia:Your first article. GlassCobra 19:41, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you think your company is notable enough, you can always request it at the Article request page. Instructions for how to do that ae on the page. StephenBuxton (talk) 19:57, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

WP:FAQ/Business is also a good resource to look at. 70.91.31.162 (talk) 20:01, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How to remove history data[edit]

I had problems uploading an image, it looked that the problem was with the jpg file, I tried with a different image, that has nothing to do with the subject, and now my problem is how to remove it from the history data of the image? Please advise --M00seo00o (talk) 19:56, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you wish to have your test image deleted, you can tag it for deletion by an administrator. The syntax for self-requests is: {{db-G7}}. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 19:58, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

when you tag for deletion, the box is shown for approx 5 days if nobody rejects, is that correct? But only it is going to be deleted why i requested, my concern is because I mistype the syntax {{db-G7}}for {{db-G7}}. Is there going to be any problem, is the entire article going to be deleted? could you help me, please

Well, no - if you tag something for speedy deletion under g7, then it's pretty much instantaneous (as long as you are the sole author, then an administrator will delete the image as soon as they get to it in the list of currently flagged speedy deletion candidates). Prod is the slightly slower method of deletion whereby you propose something for deletion, and if no-one's disputed it for a week then it can be deleted. Let me just see if I can track down which image it is you wanted deleted. _Gb^T/c 20:50, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm presuming that it's one or more instances of Image:Subregionsmap.jpg that you're wanting to delete? Which versions are you aiming to remove? _Gb^T/c 20:52, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I just want to keep the last version...the rest versions can be removed.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by M00seo00o (talk • contribs) 21:23, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There is no compelling reason to delete earlier reversions, as only the image most recently added will be visible in the article. Just like with article text. Unless there is a good reason to remove the edits entirly from the history (like they reveal personal information) then I see no real reason to remove them... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 23:58, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

My reason is because the other image (Generation by Fuel graphic, thas shows the one previous the last)is that has nothing to do with the subject, it is in certain way related, but should not be there, cause it was just used because apparently there was a problem with the jpg image that i wanted to upload, and i found that when i upload another jpg not knowing that the history will remain visible for public,,,, at least just remove the last 2 (the one in blank and the one that has a graphic that says Generation by fuel), please, thanks --M00seo00o (talk) 12:20, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What order do results from a prefix query come in?[edit]

Resolved

It almost looks like alphabetical order, but in [this query], Leopold I of Belgium comes after Leopold II of Belgium for example. --Rogerb67 (talk) 21:01, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

On the presumption that the "II" in Leopold II is two "i"s, then isn't that alphabetical order? Wouldn't leopoldiio come before leopoldio? _Gb^T/c 21:02, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It appears to be sorted by ASCII value (I don't know about non-ASCII characters). Part of the ASCII order is space, 0-9, A-Z, _ (underscore character), a-z. The question is how a space is treated. Spaces are not ignored as Gb's reply seems to assume. A space has lower ASCII value than other characters so it usually comes first in computer sorting, but in Wikipedia there is a special correspondence between spaces and underscores _ in page names. I guess a space is sorted like an underscore (this seems unfortunate to me). In [1] space is sorted between 'S' and 's'. This is consistent with space being treated like underscore and sorted by ASCII. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:45, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I like it! Thanks for the clear explanation. Space being sorted between Z and a seems to explain it. Regarding non-ASCII characters, it probably sorts in binary order - this is generally fastest. Thus the order will depend on the storage scheme chosen, presumably some UTF scheme. --Rogerb67 (talk) 23:33, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Moving article/list[edit]

Could an admin please move List of film noir to List of films noirs? Please see discussion attempt without any contradictions, counter proposals etc. for two weeks. Thanks, Ibn Battuta (talk) 21:15, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A move of that page shouldn't require an admin but you might try a procedure at Wikipedia:Requested moves to get more input first. Your section is not actually formulated like a move suggestion. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:53, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Actually I just checked the history of the target article and it has more than one revison, so it will have to be taken to Wikipedia:Requested moves... maybe someone more knowledgeable on the subject should check the article to make sure that this wasn't the result of a cut&paste move... NanohaA'sYuri^{Talk, My master} 22:02, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You are right, and [2][3] is a cut and paste move. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:09, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Question/Comment?[edit]

Something I have noticed lately is that the images in the IMAGE: namespace now have thumbnails of the images and pages that are deleted are now readily apparent when viewing the page... anyway, I was wondering when this was done? As from what I can see this was a BRILLIANT idea (it becomes easy to see and compare old versions of an image, and deletion is not obscure as it used to be. NanohaA'sYuri^{Talk, My master} 21:57, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That feature is useful on an image that had many updates, such as Image:2008 09L 5-day track.gif which appeared in Hurricane Ike. MediaWiki#Release history has this item listed for version 1.14:

File upload history pages now display thumbnails for every file version

You could direct your thanks to Brion Vibber, I suppose. Or just throw money. --Teratornis (talk) 03:02, 11 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

attention plz[edit]

KINDLY DO REMOVE THE PICTURE OF OUR HOLLY PROPHEHT MUHAMMAD (P.B.U.H)FROM THIS PAGE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Stone I SHEL BE THANKSFUL —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.71.4.234 (talk) 22:18, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia does not censor itself for the benefit of any group. Louis Waweru Talk 22:39, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you would like to hide the picture on your browser, see How can I hide the images using my personal Wikipedia settings?. —teb728 t c 23:19, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, for some reason I never though Muslims celebrated Christmas, or did Muhammad advocate other uses of holly than to celebrate Yuletide? --Alinnisawest,^{Dalek Empress} (extermination requests here) 00:42, 11 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]