Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 August 15

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August 15

Moving an article from user page to general accessibility

I created an article on my user page and would like to move the text so that the article is accessible to others. Can you tell me how to do this?

Thanks!

Christine Hamlin 00:40, 15 August 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Christinemhamlin (talk • contribs)

Please see Help:Starting a new page if you are considering moving the information from your userpage. 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. Please also take a look at WP:USERSUBPAGE.Cptnono (talk) 02:30, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

flicker page as reference

I'm working on expanding the List of Phi Beta Sigma conclaves and have found the dates for the 1935 convention in only one place, a flicker page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/phibetasigma/3541141443/). I'd like to find somewhere else with the information, though. Is flickr.com counted as a particularly bad reference? (i.e. bots that will remove it?)

Generally, user generated content (e.g. Flickr, Youtube, other wikis) is not considered to be a reliable source. However, Wikipedia guidelines are not set in stone (that's why they're called guidelines), and you are allowed to use common sense and make an exception if necessary. (Currently XLinkBot does not remove links to Flickr, so you don't need to worry about that.) Xenon54 (talk) 02:11, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Thank you. In this case the Flicker image is an image of a specific newspaper article presumably in the December 20th, 1935 Washington Tribune, so I think that it is better than most Flickr data. I did eventually track down the blog entry in the Phi Beta Sigma historical blog that includes the flicker page and as such, I'm including the Historical Blog page. Normally, I wouldn't include blogs, but bluephi.net appears to be *very* well referenced for a blog (a lot of newspaper clippings and official fraternity magazine pages)Naraht (talk) 02:38, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

If the Flickr image is of a newspaper article, then the reference is that article and you should cite that, and not Flickr. Also, an article from 1935 is likely copyrighted, and thus its use at Flickr is possibly a copyright violation, so you should probably not link to it (linking to copyvios is not allowed at Wikipedia). You can cite the newspaper article like any other print source, and there is no requirement that print sources be availible online. --Jayron32 05:26, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Help with clean up tag

Hi, I need some help with the clean up tag. I cannot seem to format it properly. I can get the first sentence right but the second sentence is incomprehensible. Is there a way to fix this whilst keeping the first sentence the same.

• P.o.o.r.P.h.o.t.o.r.e.m.o.v.i.l.s.t. (talk) 02:24, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

There's an existing tag, {{Too many photos}}, that appears to be what you want (unless {{Cleanup-gallery}} would work better). You may also want to check your spelling of too. Deor (talk) 02:45, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for that. I will use these from now on. P.o.o.r.P.h.o.t.o.r.e.m.o.v.i.l.s.t. (talk) 03:10, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

How can i browse wiki offline?

Is there any software or something can help me? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.54.131.69 (talk) 02:33, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

You can download a database dump. However, you will not be able to see any changes made to articles after it was created of course. ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 02:36, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

I recently saw a blog post about okawix - it may do what you want. There is also a newish feature called "Books", see Help:Books. I think you can pick a set of articles (yourself or from Wikipedia:Books) and get it rendered as a pdf so you can read offline. See Wikipedia:Books/Featured Articles for an example.--Commander Keane (talk) 00:54, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

There are some possibilities under WP:EIW#Download and WP:EIW#Redistribution. I don't know how easy they are as I have not tried any of them. Also see One Laptop Per Child and OLPC XO-1#Software. Evidently a subset of Wikipedia articles will be or is already available on a computer that third world children can get. --Teratornis (talk) 02:56, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

give information

If i would like to give information that wellknown in thailand can I give information to you or it must pay fee for post information

jimmy <email removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.9.202.21 (talk) 04:22, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

There is no fee for using or editing Wikipedia. But you are not supposed post information from your personal knowledge. Everything in Wikipedia is supposed to have been published earlier. And if you post something that is controversial or chalenged, you have to back it up with a reference to a reliable published source. (By the way, I removed your email address because we do not reply via email, and it is dangerous to post your email address in such a visible place.) —teb728 t c 05:18, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict with above response). Anyone may add any information to Wikipedia at any time. However, there are some general principles to abide by. Information should be given a neutral point of view and be verifiable, preferably by being cited to a reliable source. We cannot accept original research which has not been previously published, even if it is The Truth. However, if you have access to published information which is not currently at Wikipedia, feel free to dive right in and edit!--Jayron32 05:21, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

You may also like to edit on the Thai Wikipedia. Sometimes the other language Wikipedias have different rules from the English Wikipedia. For example, I think the Japanese Wikipedia is more accepting of anime articles which are considered "non-notable" on the English Wikipedia. The smaller Wikipedias are often struggling for more content and their user communities may be more interested in adding information than deleting it. The English Wikipedia is the largest and most heavily edited Wikipedia, so we attract a lot more cruft. --Teratornis (talk) 03:01, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Welcome, and thank you for offering to help. Since we are trying to build a reliable encyclopedia, we ask that you follow certain rules. specifically, Subjects of articles must be notable, and information here must be verifiable using reliable sources. If our rules seem to be too complicated, then don't worry: just write create a user subpage and write anything you want that you think might eventually be useful according to our rules, and then come and ask us here to help you with it. Since you know about Thailand, you might want to start by working on the Thai Wikipedia, and then translating articles to English. Alternately, you may choose to edit existing articles here on the english Wikipedia. If so, please cite your sources, even it the information you add is "common knowledge" in Thailand. If it's common knowledge, then you can surely find a citable source. If you cannot figure out exactly how to cite a source, then add a note on the talk page of the article the describes the source in any way at all, and ask for help to put it into a proper form. Go ahead and try: the worst that can happen its that soemone will remove your edit. If that happens, try to work with that editor, or come back here again. Good luck! -96.255.161.148 (talk) 13:21, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Browser problem?

All the gadgets I use in my preferences have suddenly stopped working/displaying (see below). I've been contributing to the encyclopedia for nearly 4 years and I have never been warned or blocked for anything naughty. Is it a Wiki server problem, or a problem with my browser? (Firefox on Mac - latest versions.) I have re-checked my prefs and the items are still checked.
Editing gadgets:

• Friendly, a set of tools for Firefox, Safari, and Opera that automates some of Wikipedia's more friendly, collaboration oriented tasks, such as welcoming new users.
• HotCat, easily add / remove / change a category on a page, with name suggestion [example]
• refTools, adds a "cite" button to the editing toolbar for quick and easy addition of commonly used citation templates.
• Twinkle, a set of tools for Firefox, Safari, and Opera that automates common tasks such as reporting vandalism, warning vandals, and requesting deletion.

User interface gadgets:

• Add an [edit] link for the lead section of a page
• After rolling back an edit, automatically open the contributions of the user rolled back.
• Change the "new section" tab text to instead display the much narrower "+". *Display an assessment of an article's quality as part of the page header for each article. (documentation)
• Moves edit links next to the section headers (documentation)
  

--Kudpung (talk) 04:41, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Are you trying Beta? hmwitht 06:08, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

RefTools stopped working for me sometime within the last couple hours. I have been trying to figure out if I did something wrong or not. Everything else seems fine though. Not using beta at this time.Cptnono (talk) 11:17, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

My page was deleted - the error message said it was deleted because other information was not found on google

I inserted information around a real person with real information on their life that is not available on the internet for we are just starting to put information up. The person is my grandfather, who was an artist. Please inform me how I can make sure this does not happen again. Thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ynestlen (talk • contribs) 06:43, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Anything included on Wikipedia should be based off verifiable sources (published works of importance). Take a look at WP:RELIABLE for further info. Also, original research is not acceptable (see: WP:NOR). Another disclaimer is: WP:NOTMEMORIAL since this is not a memorial site to anyone but is intended to be encyclopedic text. Everything should be fine assuming your grandfather meaes the guidelines for inclusion (WP:PEOPLE). I just threw several links at you so if you get confused just ask questions and read more links at: Wikipedia:Your first article. Have fun and happy editing.Cptnono (talk) 06:52, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

I have restored the deleted version to User:Ynestlen/Hermann Geiger (artist), where you can work on it further. You need to find references, either in print or on the internet, to back up what is being said about him. It can't just be your interpretation or opinion. Bencherlite^Talk 07:20, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Have any newspaper or magazine articles or books been published about him? If nothing has been published about him then he doesn't meet our standard for having an article about him. Sorry. —teb728 t c 07:57, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

I actually saw a several sources on a google news search. They were not in English but I assume they are about the subject. If someone has the interest to help it out there might be a worthwhile article here.Cptnono (talk) 08:03, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

If on the other hand he is not notable, WikiPopuli and Biographicon accept biographies of non-notable people. —teb728 t c 08:11, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

To clarify what others have mentioned - references for articles do not have to be online - however, they should be verifiable. For example, you could use a newspaper article that isn't online as a reference, and just state the paper, the edition, the author (if known) of the newspaper article, and possibly the page(s)/column(s). Although not everybody would be able to verify it, it can be verified by someone in the locality the newspaper was published in. Similarly, if the information can be verified in a published book (not self-published), which could be found in a local library, etc, then this can be cited as well. The important bit is verifiability - other people should be able to find the source if they look for it - usually in a local library. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 11:09, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

It is also important to restate that you or your relatives may have a conflict of interest (link) on the individual/article. This often leads to other problems such as the misunderstanding because you do not own the article (link), trouble with bias or taking the article too personal - remeber that you are simply a contributor. Tiggerjay (talk) 00:58, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Uploading photos but first i need to undergone 10 edit

Why is it i need to have atleast 10 edit activities before i can upload my photos. Does it mean any types of editting for any kind of an article to be considered as valid edit? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Privatesurfing (talk • contribs) 08:11, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Yes, any edits count. You also have to wait 4 days from the time you registered. But if they are photos you took yourself, you can upload them to Commons:Upload with no edits and no wait. But you have to license them under a free license. (If they are photos you took yourself, you would have to free-license them even if you uploaded them to Wikipedia.) —teb728 t c 08:19, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Deletion discussions

A user's user page and talk page are being used inappropriately, and I'm going to nominate them for MfD. Is there a way to have them discussed on the same page?

Yeah, just make one entry and list both the pages in your nomination. We usually delete both the talk and main pages for articles at the same time anyway, so it's not like this is any stretch of procedure. --erachima talk 10:55, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Okay, thanks. Kotiwalo (talk) 11:00, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

You can use the mfd template like {{mfd|GroupName}} and create a mfd subpage called GroupName where you can nominate related pages. Apart from that, it's just the normal procedure, which I think you are familiar with. ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 11:06, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Of course you have to replace "GroupName" with a more appropriate and related name. ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 11:08, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

I already nominated them under the user page's name, but the talk page is clearly mentioned. Kotiwalo (talk) 11:18, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Search function

Why, when I type "noosphere" into the search function, does it execute a program function that asks me if I want to find a program or save the file to my computer? I have been searching for many things through Wikipedia and this is the only search term I have found that acts this way. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.143.131.146 (talk) 12:12, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

It worked fine for me, so it isn't a universal issue.--SPhilbrickT 14:06, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

If you are intermittently prompted for a download, then there is a connection glitch. The page is not fully loading and your browser does not recognize it as a web page, thus it thinks it should be downloaded. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 14:07, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Rollback and Reverting: Difference?

What is the difference between rolling back and reverting? • S • C • A • R • C • E • 19:56, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Rollback feature. Rollback is a fast method to revert but there are rules about when to use it and it's only available to some users. "Rolling back" will sometimes but not always refer to use of rollback. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:17, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

I do not have rollback privileges and yet, when I go to an edit in the history I see...

[rollback (AGF)] || [rollback] || [rollback (VANDAL)]

On top. I use the red one very often and just used the lightblue one today. What does "rollback" mean in this feature? Reading rollback's feature, this sounds like the exact feature these can do. Here I reverted 8 edits at once by one user by using the blue button and here I used the red button. They are both from Twinkle because they add the Twinkle thing (TW) to the edit summaries • S • C • A • R • C • E • 22:29, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

They are Twinkle features but not the real Wikipedia:Rollback feature. See Wikipedia:Twinkle/doc#Difference between revisions. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:08, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

The feature your using is part of Twinkle, as PrimeHunter stated, and it performs the same "end result" that you receive with actual rollback permissions. There are some minor benefits of using the actual rollback rights, instead of the fake rollback via Twinkle. Rollback users process the function faster, both for the user and the servers. Twinkle performs this action in a automated process the long way by opening the page, making the changes and resaving it - resulting in the same effective "roll back" but in a slightly slower way; in all, nothing really to worry about.

Change the Name of Wikipedia Page

I require spacing in the infobox as at present it is displayed as "TheWonderfulSaintTitan" and obviously this should be The Wonderful Saint Titan

Is the only way to achieve this is to change my username from TheWonderfulSaintTitan to The Wonderful Saint Titan?

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by TheWonderfulSaintTitan (talk • contribs) 20:23, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

I have fixed the name in [1] but that's the least of several problems. User:TheWonderfulSaintTitan is the user page for your account. It is not an article in the encyclopedia and it shouldn't be with the current content if that's what you are planning. Writing an autobiograhpy on Wikipedia is strongly discouraged and your page is far from satisfying Wikipedia requirements like Wikipedia:Notability (people). PrimeHunter (talk) 20:43, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

The Title seems to have been resolved so I thank whoever is responsible for that aid.

However I have ented occupation as Painter, Sculptor, Illustrator and Filmmaker and other information and it saves but does not appear in this infobox artist with blue band??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by TheWonderfulSaintTitan (talk • contribs) 20:44, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Template:Infobox Artist has documentation about how to use the infobox. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:47, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

can't export new article to the web

Hi,

I am trying to publish my article on Wikipedia. I have done several edits but it does not come up in the search. How do I make it public?

Thanks, —Preceding unsigned comment added by HenryLizJames (talk • contribs) 20:52, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

You have created your article in userspace at User:HenryLizJames. If you want it to show up in the search you need to create it at Cheryl Machat Dorskind. Theleftorium 20:58, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

How do I do that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by HenryLizJames (talk • contribs) 21:42, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

With your last edit you became WP:Autoconfirmed. Now you should be able to WP:Move it. —teb728 t c 23:38, 15 August 2009 (UTC) Before you move it however, you might want to be sure you have established the subject's notability and provide references to reliable sources. As long as the article is in your user space nobody is likely to hassle you about issues the article may have. As soon as you move it to article space, it is open to scrutiny. —teb728 t c 23:44, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

creating signatures

I've just started trying to change my signature. I don't know a lot of html but i think what I'm trying to enter is correct. I just want different color text and background text for it. However, when I try to save it in "my preferences" it says to check the HTML tags that there is an error.

Lime

in

the

Coconut

that's what I entered

<table cellspacing=0><tr bgcolor=#006400 style="font-family:Tahoma;color:#7FFF00;font-size:24px;"><td>Lime</td><td bgcolor=#8B4513  style="color:#FFF8DC;">in</td><td>the</td><td bgcolor=#8B4513 style="color:#FFF8DC;">Coconut</td></tr></table>

I might be wrong, but have you tried using bgcolor="#006400" (i.e. quotation marks for the values)? -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 21:05, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

I wasn't totally wrong - the quotation marks are needed - but I can't get it to work even with that. Perhaps it doesn't like the table? -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 21:10, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

do you know of any other way to get background colors for the signature? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lime in the Coconut (talk • contribs) 22:21, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

How about using [[User:Lime in the Coconut|<span style="font-family:Tahoma;background:#006400;color:#7FFF00;font-size:24px;">Lime<span style="background:#8B4513;color:#FFF8DC;">in</span>the<span style="background:#8B4513;color:#FFF8DC;">Coconut</span></span>]] It yields LimeintheCoconut —teb728 t c 23:31, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Thank you very much! Lime in the Coconut 23:52, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Please reduce the font size. See Wikipedia:Signatures#Appearance and color. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:00, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

That is a bloody annoying sig. The green on green will not pass the visual test linked in the guideline. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 10:41, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Blip External Link Graphic in Infobox

There is evidence of a part of an external link graphic present in my infobox. i want the external link to remain of course but why is this graphic not complete or there at all?

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by TheWonderfulSaintTitan (talk • contribs) 21:33, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

If I understand you correctly, you want to display an image that is hosted externally without uploading it either to Wikipedia or Commons. That is not possible; the Wikipedia server software will display only content that is uploaded to Wikipedia or Commons. If you created the graphic yourself without copying from anyone else, you must license it under a free license—one that allows anyone to reuse it for anything. —teb728 t c 22:37, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

If you mean the little arrow to the right of an external link is not displaying properly then it's probably a problem in your browser. It often happened to me in IE7. I see the arrow in the box on your user page. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:03, 16 August 2009 (UTC)