Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 January 31
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January 31
[edit]Can you search for...
[edit]Commented out template descriptions? I mean that a lot of templates that are substituted have <!-- Template:Foo --> at the end. So if you could search for that, you could find out how many times that template has been used.--70.19.64.133 (talk) 00:17, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Search only finds visible test. You would have to download the 4+ GB database and search the raw data. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 22:56, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Userbox selection
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fb/Yes_check.svg/20px-Yes_check.svg.png)
Hello. Since I want to serve in the USAF, is there a userbox that says "This user hopes to serve in the USAF/military when he is old enough"? Thanks. :)--DocDeel516 discuss 00:21, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Picture problems
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fb/Yes_check.svg/20px-Yes_check.svg.png)
Hello. There is a picture on my user page; it is of a B-1B Lancer dropping cluster bombs. However, I want it centered and bigger. How do I do so? Thanks. --DocDeel516 discuss 00:38, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Making a good passage with EFS for English study station
[edit]Hi, I need your brilliant ideas. I am making an English Zone called English Fun Station. There is a study station, so I want to put a meaningful passage above the front board. Please give me your ideas. Thanks.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.248.152.58 (talk • contribs)
- School project? Sorry but we don't do your homework for you. – ukexpat (talk) 01:50, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Code for Infobox Ship
[edit]Why the Infobox Ship doesn't have its own code on its page like Infobox Aircraft? Aquitania (talk) 03:30, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- As the name signals, Template:Infobox Ship Begin is merely the first template to use in order to create an infobox. Its code by itself would just look confusingly like an error if it was rendered on the template page so it's in <includeonly> tags. Click the "show" links to see how the template is used. Template:Infobox Aircraft is a "complete" infobox template which produces an infobox by itself. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:47, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- But note that {{Infobox Aircraft}} is deprecated in favour of {{Infobox Aircraft Type}} which works in a similar manner to the compound ship iboxes. – ukexpat (talk) 03:54, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
ann coulter
[edit]I have seen recent interviews with her and I want to know if she was born a woman?? She really appears to have an adams apple?I am really curious as to me and my friends,they swear she was born a boy,and is transgendered,don't really mind just want to know. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.90.56.101 (talk) 03:34, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- there seems to be a Ann Coulter conspiracy theory going around, Who knows if its true?. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Koolkittie (talk • contribs) 03:39, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Well if anyone knows they are not saying so it is no more than a BLP-violating unsubstantiated rumour. – ukexpat (talk) 03:57, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- The "evidence" in the above link is so thin that it's not even worth the bandwidth cost. Then to further insult our intelligence, the author of that page includes a quote from Carl Sagan! I doubt that Carl would have been so sloppy with evidence, or would have wanted his name associated with such incautious speculation. (Sagan might have said: shut up until you have some real evidence, the kind that can stand up to peer review.) And what is the point of attacking Ann Coulter's sexuality? She has fully substantiated her beliefs in creationism, global warming denial, and any number of other positions at odds with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence. The anti-Coulterites need to read their Sun Tzu, and look for where their enemy has made herself vulnerable. Or better yet, learn to enjoy her, like when she opines that Jews need to be "perfected," or when she predicts that Heaven will be just like the Republican National Convention. (Alan Colmes, perhaps jokingly, insists that Coulter's act is a comedy hoax.) --Teratornis (talk) 20:31, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Well if anyone knows they are not saying so it is no more than a BLP-violating unsubstantiated rumour. – ukexpat (talk) 03:57, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- I think you missed the part of the weblog you accuse of claiming "evidence" where it said:
- The Gender Guesser software isn't definitive regarding Ann Coulter; it's a statistical predictor, not an individual one. It cannot predict an individual any more than a smoker's chances of getting lung cancer predict a specific smoker getting lung cancer.
- I think you missed the part of the weblog you accuse of claiming "evidence" where it said:
- Rather, the prediction is "in a room with 100 people that are all writing in this style, the majority of them will be male". (The Bayesian algorithm will give you an actual estimated chance, e.g. "75% chance of being male", based on its training data)
- For more information on how the algorithm works, read the paper (pdf) "Gender, Genre, and Writing Style in Formal Written Texts" by Argamon (Dept of Comp Sci, Illinois Institute of Technology), Koppel (Dept of Math and Comp Sci, Bar-Ilan University), Fine (Dept of English, Bar-Ilan University), and Shimoni (Dept of Math and Comp Sci, Bar-Ilan University).
- Read more than the first sentence in the post. You are accusing the author of claiming something he is not. -Burtonmackenzie (talk) 00:18, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
- OK folks enough, I am no fan of Coulter but these allegations about her gender/sexuality status or ex-status etc are irrelevant to this project if they do not have reliable sources, so let's just drop the discussion. I am sure there is a thread or two on Fark where the discussion can be continued if necessary. – ukexpat (talk) 01:36, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
Composing articles in the correct font.
[edit]I want to paste a text into a window to create an article. When I do this the text does not display well. Do I have to retype the whole text into a window, or can I past my text with perhaps a font that works in Wikipedia? Hefrost (talk) 03:48, 31 January 2009 (UTC)H. Frost
- I think the problem is that you were indenting the beginnings of paragraphs, Unfortunately, Wikipedia interprets this rather oddly, and makes the text display in a strange way. I've made this edit [1] which makes your text shew up properly. I'll also give you a "welcome box" on your talk page, with lots of useful links to help you contribute. DuncanHill (talk) 03:54, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- I've found that trying to paste from a word processor give me strange results as well. I usually copy from the word processor, paste into notepad (or equivalent text editor), remove the indents/tabs - then copy/paste to wiki box. — Ched (talk) 04:26, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Sentence placement
[edit]Hello. On the article on Near-Earth object, I added the last sentence to the first paragraph, stating the information the study concluded. Is such material presentable/credible? And if so, should the material be relocated? Thanks. :) --DocDeel516 discuss 04:51, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- As your question relates to content of the article, you should discuss it on the article's talk page where you are much more likely to get the attention of folks with an interest/expertise in the subject matter. – ukexpat (talk) 05:31, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Flabby categorization
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fb/Yes_check.svg/20px-Yes_check.svg.png)
Taken as one example Just Like a Woman (song) is shown in the following categories, "Bob Dylan songs," "Van Morrison songs," "Jeff Buckley songs" and "Nina Simone songs." Whereas the category should be "songs recorded by ....." with an additional category of "Songs written by Bob Dylan" for this song. There could (or is) also the possibility of "songs arranged by", "songs produced by" and other similar categories. I have also posted this to Category talk:Music for comments. --Richhoncho (talk) 06:24, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- You might be interested in this similar CfD discussion. - Jarry1250 (t, c) 10:29, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Categories on Wikipedia (with the present technology) are unlikely ever to be as flexible as a semantic wiki, which would allow people to perform all sorts of arbitrary queries based on multiple attributes of articles. Someone might, for example, want a list of all top 40 songs between 1975 and 1978 which were covers. It would be difficult to design a category scheme that could handle such queries. A category scheme is at best a compromise to group articles in the subset of ways most people might presumably want. Also see Cyc, an attempt to build a computer program that reads text documents and organizes their contents into an ontology that allows for fantastically complex information mining. --Teratornis (talk) 10:40, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Thanks guys for the answers, even though I have to admit Teratornis went right over my head! Although a nice bot program which would go through WP creating a 3rd category out of 2 existing categories would be nice. --Richhoncho (talk) 10:56, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Your response made me realize that I fixated so much on semantic wikis that I forgot all about CatScan which can do some category intersections. See WP:EIW#Cat for everything the Wikipedia community has documented about categories on MediaWiki. Also see WP:EIW#Query - in the greater scheme of things, it's probably easier for you (as an individual) to learn how to do the queries you want, rather than try to turn the battleship of Wikipedia's categorization scheme to get the queries that way. (The former involves only technology, which is inherently reasonable, whereas changing the category scheme requires convincing potentially large numbers of people to do your bidding - God help us.) This is, by the way, my backhanded way of saying describe your goal, not only your step when asking a question. Most people who ask a question are really only asking about the particular step they have gotten stuck on, on the particular path they have chosen to reach their real (unstated) goal. Also, nothing I write is over the head of anyone who clicks my links and spends the time it takes to read them. Only a linkless discourse can be over anyone's head. Exceptions of course if you are on your deathbed with just seconds to live, in which case you wouldn't have time to read far enough into the documents I linked to get the background. --Teratornis (talk) 19:28, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Y'all might be interested in the Wikipedia:Category intersection proposal. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 22:47, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
functions
[edit]do you help people in community to prevent malnutrition —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.70.242 (talk) 07:20, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Not in any sort of direct, organized way. Wikipedia is more about feeding minds than bellies. Wikipedia may indirectly improve living conditions for some people by making the sum of human knowledge (at least the parts we don't delete) freely available to everyone on Earth (everyone who has an Internet connection now, and maybe someday really everyone). Such progress as humans have made thus far has been the result of increased knowledge, and more importantly the increased sharing of knowledge. To the extent that knowledge enables some people to prevent malnutrition, and Wikipedia helps them obtain this knowledge, then one might say we help prevent malnutrition. However, if I was actually hungry, I would be rather hard-pressed to turn the information on Wikipedia into something I could eat. Another possibility is that you aren't asking about Wikipedia at all, but instead you read one of our 6,871,678 articles, and you have confused Wikipedia with the article's subject. For example, perhaps you were reading an article about some relief agency. If so, you will need to contact the organization you were reading about. --Teratornis (talk) 10:31, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
PAGE RELATING TO AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
[edit]The AUOL (American University Of London) was established in 1984 and this year 2009 it is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The confusion arose when in 1999 a gentleman by the name of Hussein Al-Zubaidi set up a company called the Advanced School Of Graduate Studies Ltd T-A (Trading As) The American University IN London.
It is this company "university" that was fined on the 13th January 2006 at the Highbury Corner Magistrates Court - London, under the Business Names Act and the Trade Descriptions Act.
Students Must be aware of the above information so as not to confuse the AUOL established in 1984 with this discredited company.
As far as we are aware at AUOL, this university has never dealth with, either directly or via affiliates with the state of Pakistan.
Whilst this university may not be offically accredited (neither are Harvard or Yale!) we are not a degree mill and our students must work hard in order to obtain their degrees. We our proud of the high standard of our academic content.
Professor M. Nimier <e-mail redacted> Andrenimri (talk) 11:54, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- I have removed the paragraph about the legal action as it did pertain to the American University in London. Woody (talk) 12:30, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Display an assessment of an article's quality as part of the page header
[edit]The "Display an assessment of an article's quality as part of the page header" option doesn't seem to work with my account. First I tried checking the box on the gadgets tab of my preferences. Didn't work. I cleared my cache. Didn't work. I turned the computer on/off, cleared all cookies and internet files etc. Didn't work. So then I copied and pasted something into my monobook.js that I saw on a link in the gadgets tab. Didn't work. can anyone help? Thank you very much Locke'sGhost 12:33, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- I assume you know what should happen? - Jarry1250 (t, c) 12:52, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- I in turn assume that an assessment of an article's quality should be displayed as part of the page header. Locke'sGhost 13:02, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Well, yes. Like the examples on the right on the [User:Pyrospirit/metadata|documentation]].
- It works for me, so it can't be totally broken. What browser are you using? Is your browser set to allow javascript? Are you using any kind of extension or plugin that might be blocking javascript from specific domains? Are you getting any javascript errors (tools/error console in FF)? Algebraist 14:36, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- I in turn assume that an assessment of an article's quality should be displayed as part of the page header. Locke'sGhost 13:02, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
No of transclusions
[edit]Is there an easy way to find out the number of transclusions a template has? I don't need a list of them, just the number. - Jarry1250 (t, c) 12:53, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Not sure if there's an easier way than going to the template, clicking on What links here, hiding redirects, hiding links and starting to count...! GbT/c 13:01, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- If the number is large, you may be able to reduce your counting effort by increasing the
&limit=nnnn
parameter at the right end of the Special:Whatlinkshere URL. Do you need an exact number or only an approximate number? If the former, why? --Teratornis (talk) 19:33, 31 January 2009 (UTC) 5000 may not be enough, unfortunately.- Per a BRFA, I need a reasonable degree of accuracy to determine when "milestones" (such as 5k, 10k etc) have been passed. Perhaps to the nearest 25 articles required - the more accurate the better. - Jarry1250 (t, c) 19:38, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- I'm not familiar with the WP:BRFA process, so I can't understand from your terse description exactly what template's transclusions you are trying to count. (Describe the goal, not the step.) However, in general, we know Wikipedia has lots of users, so it is rare to be the only Wikipedia user trying to solve a particular problem. Thus when approaching any task, it pays to first determine the current best practice. Maybe someone else who is doing similar things knows an efficient way to reach your goal; if so, then you want to find that person. If not, then maybe you can be the first to discover and document a best practice. Often on Wikipedia, people who work on the same class class of problems congregate around specific project pages. In your case that might be Wikipedia talk:Bots/Requests for approval, but I can't be sure since you didn't describe what you are trying to do clearly enough for someone who has never done anything similar to understand what you are trying to do. --Teratornis (talk) 20:29, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
- Per a BRFA, I need a reasonable degree of accuracy to determine when "milestones" (such as 5k, 10k etc) have been passed. Perhaps to the nearest 25 articles required - the more accurate the better. - Jarry1250 (t, c) 19:38, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- If the number is large, you may be able to reduce your counting effort by increasing the
sterile reverts
[edit]what are "sterile reverts"? I know what a revert is, and I know what sterile is, but I don't know how the two put together are meant in a wiki-sense. — Ched (talk) 14:14, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- I've never heard the term. Where have you encountered it? Algebraist 14:28, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- AN and AN/I boards. I read the Help:Reverting section, but still am not sure what it means. — Ched (talk) 14:40, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- There doesn't appear to be a definition anywhere. However, from looking at the way people have used the term it either means "a revert without an Edit Summary" or "a revert used in edit warring"... the latter use would, of course be sort of redundant. Why say "please stop the sterile reverts in your edit war" when you could just drop the word sterile and still convey the same meaning? —Noah 16:22, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- That is a peculiar usage. I can't tell whether it is a legitimate neologism, or merely synonym disease. ("Synonym disease" is my term for the bad habit of computer people to spontaneously create multiple jargon terms to mean the same thing, usually because they are too lazy to look up the canonical jargon.) {{Google wikipedia}} finds just ten instances on Wikipedia, none of them containing a definition:
- We wouldn't have this problem if people would always remember to link their jargon terms for the benefit of people who don't understand their cant. (As I did just there with the obscure word "cant".) People who edit on Wikipedia should remember that they are not having a private conversation. They are potentially communicating with an almost unlimited number of people, now and into the future. It hardly requires any effort for the writer to link a jargon term to its definition, because the writer presumably knows what he or she means. It's much harder for the reader to decode what the writer is attempting to say, because the reader does not start off knowing what the writer meant, particularly when the reader was not part of the original discussion. On Wikipedia, we are not just solving the immediate problem in front of us; we are also building up a giant structure of knowledge. It is very important to fit everything we add into that structure. We do that by learning to use the standard jargon, and always linking any words we use that require any sort of technical background to understand. Linking our jargon is also a great way to check whether we are using the standard jargon. If no page exists to document a widely-used technical term, then be bold and write one, or add an entry to Wikipedia:Glossary. --Teratornis (talk) 19:47, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- At first I thought maybe it was a typo or something - but when I searched the archives, I found it used several times (almost always by admins). Now it looks like I've got a "Stump the Experts" entry on my hands ;) .. oh well, it's not something that's important. I guess I'll just have to keep reading DYK (Did You Know) pages ... lulz. Thanks folks - I do appreciate your efforts on this. — Ched (talk) 20:15, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- You could try asking someone who uses the term where they picked it up. And for good measure ask why the (expletive) they don't link their jargon. It might be common on some other wiki. Wikipedia has borrowed some jargon from other wikis, I believe. Just for fun, let's beseech the mighty {{Google}} to cast a wider net:
- That finds 271 results; some are irrelevant punctuation variants, others are merely mirrors of Wikipedia pages, but a few might actually be other non-Wikipedia sites on which some people use the term. --Teratornis (talk) 00:04, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
- AN and AN/I boards. I read the Help:Reverting section, but still am not sure what it means. — Ched (talk) 14:40, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Link not showing
[edit]Why isn't the link in the title of Template:2008-09 Big Ten men's basketball standings showing on any of the pages it is transcluded to?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 14:45, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- I went to 3 or 4 articles & saw the link in each of them... Ling.Nut (talk—WP:3IAR) 14:48, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- When a template is edited it can take a while before the changes automatically propagate to pages transcluding the template. Purging the pages propagates it right away but it's usually better to just wait for the automatic update. WhatLinksHere can take weeks to update. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:13, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- I don't see it at 2008–09 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team for example.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 15:35, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- It's there now but I think it can take days when the job queue is long. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:44, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Is there an inter-disciplinarian list of titles, and if so , then also hypothetical combinations of such?
[edit]If hypothermia is a medical term for a temperature related threat to the body , and leg cramps during sleep, due to not being warm enough... would the name for this be HYPOTHERMIAL-NOCTURNAL CRAMPING ? Is there an existing dictionary for such a combination of words of a speculative or chimera like category? Thank you I am not sure how to create an account yet and not certain of the cost. <e-mail redacted> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.203.175.93 (talk) 16:03, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- 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. And there is no charge for creating an account, but it does have many benefits. – ukexpat (talk) 16:08, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Barack Obama page 1 million views?
[edit]According to the page view counter, Barack Obama got 913.2k page views on the day of his inauguration. Is this a wikipedia record? Also, I believe this excludes page views from redirects. For example, Barak Obama, a misspelling that redirects to the page at issue had 16.5k page views that day. Does anyone know what the total inauguration day total is including all redirects? I am thinking he might have hit a million if you count all the redirects.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 16:47, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Since Wikipedia does not track page views, probably you would have to ask the author of the external tool whether he (presumably it's a "he") keeps track of odd statistics like one day maxima. (And how does that tool get its data?) In any case, Barack Obama will be popular for only a few years before fading into relative obscurity, whereas articles like Penis and Vagina will always grab lots of eyeballs, which of course is no surprise to the sociobiologist who understands what is truly important to people, and why. --Teratornis (talk) 19:53, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Judging by this, Sarah Palin has him beat pretty badly. Admiral Norton (talk) 20:40, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- O.K. So we know it was'nt a record, but did he get 1 million?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 02:52, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
- Judging by this, it would take a long time to find that out. Admiral Norton (talk) 11:01, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
- When you hide links on that page, you see all the redirects. There are over 100 redirects.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 23:36, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
- Judging by this, it would take a long time to find that out. Admiral Norton (talk) 11:01, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
- O.K. So we know it was'nt a record, but did he get 1 million?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 02:52, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
- Judging by this, Sarah Palin has him beat pretty badly. Admiral Norton (talk) 20:40, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
freezing food
[edit]please explain why some foods have to be thawed first while others can be cooked from frozen —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.125.169.80 (talk) 16:53, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- 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. Algebraist 16:54, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
cant get past first 20 listed of a search.
[edit]hi I put in a search for whitemoor prison and get a page of 20 items come up however i am not able to click on the "next 20" as this box is not highlighted????
how do i view past this first set of options??
thanks ..simon. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fishermanfred123 (talk • contribs) 17:29, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- That's because there are only 18 results for that search. Algebraist 17:35, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- I would call that a defect in the user interface. "Next 20" should not appear if there are not another 20, or the grayed-out option should have "alt" text explaining why it is grayed out. A well-designed user interface should itself answer any question it raises. If a user interface needs a human to explain it to another human, it's broken. Since user interface designers cannot themselves anticipate every question their work raises in the minds of users, there must be a mechanism for collecting all such questions from users and feeding them back to designers. This Help desk is potentially the first step, but the designers may not be reading it. Granted, the number of questions might be so large that only a computer that passes the Turing test could answer them, but at least the designers should be aware of how much confusion they generate. --Teratornis (talk) 20:00, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Can't remove spam on a page
[edit]Look at this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Woodcock_(boxer). Someone has mysteriously attached an email to the bottom of it, and I cannot remove it. Will someone please do so. JohnClarknew (talk) 17:33, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- It was vandalism to {{UK-boxing-bio-stub}}, and is now fixed. Bypass your browser cache if it's still appearing for you. Algebraist 17:37, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
Can't login, lost password, no email received
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fb/Yes_check.svg/20px-Yes_check.svg.png)
The subject line pretty much summarizes it - I cannot login into my account because I have lost my password and no email is received (perhaps it's my email box making problems, it has done this before). So, what do I do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.87.2.219 (talk) 17:54, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- If you can't receive the new password email (remember to check your email client's spamfilters and suchlike), then you'll have to create a new account. Algebraist 17:59, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
What about my existing contributions (a few) and my existing username? I would like to continue using them. Can't I change my email with another one, where I am sure I will receive the password email? There are ways to prove that this is me, and not someone trying to use someone else's account... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.87.2.219 (talk) 18:32, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Sorry, but the only way you can change your e-mail is by going to Special:Preferences when you're logged in, and since you've made edits you can't usurp the old name. Xenon54 (talk) 19:31, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Actually, in theory, you could take the old username back by creating a global account on another Wikimedia wiki and then request usurpation at WP:CHU/SUL, but I'm not sure if it would work or be considered good faith in practice. Admiral Norton (talk) 20:37, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
I have already joined all my accounts into one. I guess I could keep trying different passwords I have used hoping to eventually get the right one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.87.2.219 (talk) 20:50, 31 January 2009 (UTC) It appears now the merging process has not exactly been successful - I have just managed to sign in into my regional Wikipedia account (bg.wikipedia.org) . Thanks for all your help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.87.2.219 (talk) 21:01, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
help on my article.
[edit]I want help on my article getting it edited and ready for being created into an article. Bhakim (talk) 20:00, 31 January 2009 (UTC)bhakim
- If you mean the draft on your user page, it still reads like an advertisement for the company rather than a neutral encyclopedia article. Take a look at WP:Spam. There is nothing in the draft that addresses the notability of the company as described in WP:Corp with references to support it per WP:RS. If it is moved to the mainspace in its current form, I am 99% sure it will be deleted as being spam dressed up as an article. – ukexpat (talk) 20:34, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Before spending any more time trying to put this article here, you should ask yourself honestly whether the company has significant coverage in reliable, independent secondary sources. If it does not, it cannot have an article on Wikipedia. I tried to Google it, and the only things I could find were places where the company’s products are offered for sale. You can’t use those as sources. —teb728 t c 01:50, 1 February 2009 (UTC) If you want more specific help than the links ukexpat gave you, you need to provide links to your sources. Identifying your sources are essential to your article anyway. —teb728 t c 05:17, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
Section not in TOC
[edit]Is it possible to add a section heading that doesn't appear in TOC? I'm asking it because I have an "Advertisement" heading on my talk page advertising a task force I've started, but I want the TOC to stick to the discussion threads. Admiral Norton (talk) 20:26, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- If all else fails, you could always make it look like a header, but not actually be one by copying the HTML directly. Actually, that sounds like quite a good idea... - Jarry1250 (t, c) 20:36, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Not making it a real heading also sounds good to me. It would mean not getting a section edit link but that sounds OK in your situation. Another possibility is to make it a lower level heading and exclude lower level headings from the TOC with {{TOClimit}} (applies to all headings on the page). PrimeHunter (talk) 21:02, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
I've already tried <h2></h2>, but it didn't work and making a lower level heading would change the appearance. However, I might try my luck playing with <span class=" "></span>... Admiral Norton (talk) 22:31, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
terencce macswiney
[edit]Chezy5 (talk) 21:21, 31 January 2009 (UTC)I am his relative and want to let it be known on the 'need to know family ' page. How to do it....am not too good on a PC!
- It's not clear what you are asking. Something to do with Terence MacSwiney? Please explain a little more clearly. – ukexpat (talk) 21:29, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- In case you don't know what this website is and was looking for something else, here is a standard message:
- Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 2.7 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) 22:10, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
most goals scored by a player in a single fa cup match.
[edit]the fact you have stated is in correct you say it is wilfred minter who scored 7 goals for st albans city,in fact it is ted macdougal who scored 9 goals when bournemouth won 11 nil in 1971 i remember because i was at this match. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.169.24.23 (talk) 21:37, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Can you find a reliable website or newspaper that back that up? We need some published material so people who weren't at the match like you can confirm you're right. - Mgm|(talk) 22:02, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- Thanks. I found a published source and changed it.[2] The 9 goals were already mentioned in Ted MacDougall. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:06, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
how to use wikipedia on a cell phone
[edit]i want only basics, where search is right up the top, no pics etc. is this possible. i've looked around & can't find out how to do it. thanx. 211.28.130.86 (talk) 23:56, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
- http://mobile.wikipedia.org/ is available, but still can be quite a bit on a phone. --Onorem♠Dil 00:01, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
- See Wikipedia:Mobile access for more. --Onorem♠Dil 00:03, 1 February 2009 (UTC)