Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 May 24

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May 24

What if I'd like to make a contribution/edit a page that is semi-protected?

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 16:18, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm talking about the "Poetry" page. Is there a way to make suggestions?

L —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lauragoldstein (talk • contribs) 22:54, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

You may request that an edit be made to a protected article by leaving a message at the article's talk page. To do that, simply click on the "Talk" or "Discussion" tab (depending on whether you're logged in or not) located at the top of the article you want edited and create a new section along the lines of "Edit request". Describe the edit you want made in your message, and then place the following template along with your message:

{{editsemiprotected}}

That template will place the article in Category:Wikipedia semi-protected edit requests so others will be able to easily see it and make the edit. Hope that helps. ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 23:02, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you, Super Hamster! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lauragoldstein (talk • contribs) 23:04, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

When a page is protected, there is a tab for "View source". If you click on it, it opens that page for editing so you can see the source markup, but you can't save. Protected pages show a notice at the top that include a link to "Submit an edit request." There is an ongoing discussion somewhere to change "View source" to "edit" now that this notice is in place. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 01:41, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Ooh, fancy, I wasn't aware of that. Do you, or anyone else, have a link to the discussion? I'd like to check that out. Thanks, ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 01:45, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

MediaWiki talk:Viewsource#Change View Source to Edit*. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:01, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you. ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 04:06, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

unable to access diffrent language in cellphone

Since the recent change in the wikipedia interface i am unable to change the language. e.g when i search for queen elizabeth in the english wikipedia and would like to change to the same page in hebrew wikipedia - it cant be done (the "language" option is un-linked) my cll is a nokia 6210.--Rzg (talk) 16:51, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Dictionary application for iMac

Why do articles no longer extend beyond their window, such that one needs to scroll, in the Dictionary application for iMac69.112.223.163 (talk) 00:56, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

This was also reported at Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 May 17#Mac OS X dictionary. Dictionary (software) is developed by Apple and may not be fully compatible with a new Wikipedia design. Maybe Apple will make a fix at some time but I don't have inside information. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:07, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Redirect

I would like to redirect Wikipedia (keyword) searches on "Chaim Koppelman" or "Dorothy Koppelman" or "Carrie Wilson" to the article titled "Terrain Gallery". Can someone tell me how to do that? Thank you. LoreMariano (talk) 01:14, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Redirect but note that the article Terrain Gallery has not yet been indexed by Wikipedia's search function (see Help:Searching#Delay in updating the search index). When that happens the article will be included in search results for the names even if there is no redirect. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:23, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Wow, that's great, I didn't realize that. So the whole article is full-text indexed? LoreMariano (talk) 01:33, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it soon should be (it's already above the normal delay). Wikipedia does not have keywords assigned to an article but there can be redirects directly to the article. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:46, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

i was wondering if you need any help

hi i am a system admin and run a lot of servers and was wondering is there some thing i can do to help out wikipedia —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.221.125.118 (talk) 02:00, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

There are many things that you can help with - please see here for more details. Chevymontecarlo 06:30, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Meta account

In this list, what do the "unattached" SUL status and the pink background mean and why can't I log in at Meta with the password that is valid fot all Wikipedias? Thanks. --Магьосник (talk) 02:27, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Try this: at Meta, go to my preferences, then click on the "Manage global account" link in "Global account status". Reply here if it doesn't work. —MC10 (T•C•GB•L) 04:25, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

I may not have formulated the problem properly. I am unable to log in at Meta anyhow, including by typing my username and password at meta:Special:UserLogin. When I do so, a box appears, which reads, "Login error. Incorrect password entered. Please try again." Just opening Meta while logged in here doesn't work either. Therefore, I'm unable to go meta:Special:Preferences. If you sort the table of the accounts named "Theurgist" by registration date, you'll see the account at Meta was registered very shortly before several other accounts were created automatically. So it must have been created automatically too, as a result of my browsing accros the wikis (if I'm somehow wrong, please correct me). But that very account is the only one with an "unattached" SUL status and the only one with a background colour other than the default colour of the table, and I don't know what that means. --Магьосник (talk) 07:08, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

The meta log [1] says "Account created automatically" so I don't know what is going on. Do you receive a new password if you click "E-mail new password" for the username at meta:Special:UserLogin? PrimeHunter (talk) 12:06, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

I did that and I was then already able to log in at Meta. I then clicked on the "Manage global account" link in my preferences. Everything's OK now, including the list (with the minor exception that with opening Meta, I'm not automatically logged in and I have to do it manually - but I don't think that's anything to worry about.) Thanks very much! --Магьосник (talk) 07:39, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

Disambiguation procedure/etiquette

I don't feel experienced/comfortable enough to insert a disambiguation page at "A People's History of the United States" to point out that historian [Charles] Page Smith wrote an eight volume history of the United States with the same name, published in 1976, four years before Zinn published his book. See the wiki "Page Smith" entry for details.

Can I recommend disambiguation to an experienced user?

sbw (talk) 02:34, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Is there an article on Page Smith's book? If so, I will make it. If not, you can make one on his book. (you can only disambungate if there is an article on that-not just mentioned on the author's)
~QwerpQwertus |_Talk_| |_Contribs_| 04:01, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Thnx. Makes sense. I'll do it as soon as I can. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sbwaters (talk • contribs) 00:38, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Edit box size?

I am having trouble making my edit box larger. No matter what values I enter into the boxes in my preferences>Editing>, it does not change the box size. Is there a reason for this? Can it be fixed? I am a fairly experienced user, but this is troubling me. Andrew Colvin | Talk 03:48, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Make the change, save, log out and then log back in again. If that doesn't do anything try clearing your cookies and cache and then try again. They're the two most basic things you can do before you can say that there's a problem with Wikipedia itself, in which case I hope someone else can help you, as I am unsure as well :( Chevymontecarlo 15:32, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Still dosen't work. Andrew Colvin | Talk 20:17, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

I can change the rows in Firefox but changing the columns has no effect for me. The browser's view source for the edit window contains <textarea tabindex="1" accesskey="," id="wpTextbox1" cols="X" rows="Y" style="" name="wpTextbox1"> where X and Y are the numbers I chose in preferences, but X has no apparent effect on the edit box. Both rows and cols work for me at http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_textarea.asp. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:02, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Hmmm... I keep trying stuff but nothing works. It used to a while back when I was editing wikipedia on my laptop and computer at different times, but I changed it back and now it wont change again. Grrr... Andrew Colvin | Talk 01:24, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Approving An AFC Request

Hello, I just did an AFC request for someone, but can't figure out how to get it off of the pending submissions list. The Article How do you do that? ~QwerpQwertus |_Talk_| |_Contribs_| 03:58, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

All you have to do is remove the template from the top of the article, as I have done. Someguy1221 (talk) 04:05, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Oh, thanks! I never tried that because it was preventing me from finishing it. ~QwerpQwertus |_Talk_| |_Contribs_| 04:17, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

PS: You may want to look at the Malicious Link Claim above, on this page. ~QwerpQwertus |_Talk_| |_Contribs_| 04:17, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

your page on the Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva

Dear Wikipedia I am a great fan of your site but I have just read your page on the Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and was disappointed to see the tone of it was 90% negative. According to your website nearly everything he's done is tainted in some way. I'm surprised because I've lived in Thailand 20 years and he's clearly the most progressive Prime Minister the country has had in that time. You may know that recently there has been political turmoil in Thailand and a group of protesters (the 'Red Shirts') backed by ex Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, hate Abhisit for political reasons. I ask you to beware of bias in this article for that reason, to review this article and check its info against other sources. I checked who actually wrote this article and saw many entries from a user named 'Patiwat'. I laughed when I saw this. I think someone's sneakily showing their true colours knowing most Wiki editors will have no Thai language skills and won't spot it. If you go to this site http://www.thai-language.com/dict or similar Thai-English dictionary sites, you' ll see it's a Thai word that means " to overthrow or revolt against a government". This is the rallying cry of the anti-royalist and vaguely communist, vaguely anarchic 'Red Shirt' movement!! Do you think a user with a name like that is going to give a fair hearing to the current Prime Minister?? At the very least I think you should put one of those warnings at the top of the page saying some assertions here are disputed. For example a) it says that in late 2009 'Abhisit faced rising public discontent with his government and near-constant rumors of a military coup.' this is quite a contentious statement with no explanation given. I was living in Thailand at the time and have no recall of anything like this. Any 'discontent' was solely from his political enemies the red shirts. b) it says 'Censorship worsened under the Abhisit government compared to the government of Thaksin Shinawatra' again a very contentious statement given that Thaksin was famous for trying to shut down newspapers who criticised him. Abhisit's censorship focuses on websites that criticise the king (a very sensitive matter in Thailand for centuries) and websites which incite people to riot and violence. c) the Sondhi Limthongkul assassination attempt was a very controversial business but this article manages to make a direct connection to the Abhisit governemnet in the first lines of its summary of the events; that to me smacks of bias. Abhisit had no involvement. I could go on and on. In general it seems that in this article whatever the Abhisit government says is just a 'claim' but anything against them is suggested as factual. Also you'll notice there's not one good thing he's done mentioned; check this for example : http://publicaffairsasia.com:12080/publicaffairsasia/FeaturesView.do?id=982. He's also done a lot to improve welfare, health and education for the poor in Thailand. Also note that for nearly all foreigners living in Thailand the international media coverage of the recent riots May 16-19 was very unfair, looking for a David and Goliath story against a big bad governement when it was no such thing. See this for example. http://www.livetradingnews.com/international-media-wrong-on-bangkok-and-thaksin-shinawatra-13710.htm If you still don't believe me, maybe you could contact the two English language newspapers in Thailand- The Nation and the Bangkok Post- and ask them if they think the Wiki article is rounded and fair. I very much doubt it. Kevin —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kevinpkavanagh (talk • contribs) 07:15, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Hello Kevin and welcome to Wikipedia! Wikipedia is a wiki, meaning that anyone can edit it, including you. We have many, many articles that are less than ideal, so if you see things that can be improved, please dive right in. Wikipedia editors are volunteers, meaning that problems often take time to get sorted, and we would very much appreciate you joining in. One place you might like to start it the talkpage for that article, at Talk:Abhisit Vejjajiva. You can discuss with other editors how you think it can be improved. Please make sure that any changes you make are backed up by references to reliable secondary sources, for example books and newspaper articles. Thai language sources are fine, as long as they're considered reliable.--BelovedFreak 09:11, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Editing page title

We would like to edit the title "Big Bus Company" to "Big Bus Tours" could you explain how to do so please?

Regards

John Butt <email redacted>Jwbutt (talk) 08:50, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Article titles can't be edited. The article must be moved to the new title. Dismas|^(talk) 08:53, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Please be aware that you have a clear conflict of interest, and you are strongly discouraged from editing articles about topics that you are involved with in real life. In this case, it appears that you work for the company. Also, given that the logo suggests the company is called The Big Bus Company, please gain consensus for such a move at the article talkpage, (Talk:The Big Bus Company).--BelovedFreak 08:57, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Reversed image?

Resolved

 – Still don't know what caused it, but it seems to be fixed now. TFOWR^propaganda 14:53, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Go to the Alaskan Klee Kai article, please. Then click on the image in the infobox. Notice how the dog in the image is reversed between the article and the file page? Why does that happen? Dismas|^(talk) 09:50, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

The image (File:WOWAKK-Kukai-Alaskan-Klee-Kai.jpg#filehistory) looks like it was edited to flip the dog around (facing the left), however the latest revision of the image still appears to be facing right. It gets murkier... clicking on the latest revision shows the dog facing left.

I saw something similar recently; in that case it was possible to revert back to an earlier version. In this case, though, I'm assuming that you'd prefer the latest, dog-facing-left version?

It might be worth posting on the Village pump (technical) if you don't get a helpful response here - the Village pump (technical) will attract more technically-minded editors.

Incidentally, that's one beautiful dog!

Cheers, TFOWR^propaganda 10:10, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the response. Though, I feel I should point out that it's not my dog. I just happened upon the article and the image. Dismas|^(talk) 10:23, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

No worries! I just checked the article and the image page and it all looks good now. I also posted at the Village pump, mentioning I saw the problem too, but that it seems to be fixed now. TFOWR^propaganda 14:53, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

I just checked it again and they're right, it's fixed. I don't see how it could be a cache issue as they suggested since I've never seen that image before and never read the article. Oh well. Thanks for the help! Dismas|^(talk) 21:24, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

oxygen

WHY DOES OXYGEN SUPPORT FOR COMBUSTION.....?WHICH SPECIAL FEATURE IN IT MAKES IT TO DO SO......? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Durga.prasad.22121993 (talk • contribs) 11:13, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

You might find what you are looking for in the article about Oxygen. If you cannot find the answer there, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. TFOWR^propaganda 11:25, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

But also note that we won't do your homework for you. – ukexpat (talk) 16:17, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Spoilsports! Quite right too - we never had the reference desk when I was a lad! TFOWR^propaganda 17:13, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Well we had it tough, didn't even 'ave computers when I were a lad, or pens or paper... – ukexpat (talk) 17:22, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Those little "who I am" boxes

I see a lot of people have these little boxes that sort of tell others who they are: I'm British, I'm 18, I'm a student, etc. Where can I find these little boxes, so I can put them on my page? Thanks. The Pebble Dare (talk) 11:55, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

They're called userboxes and you can find a directory of them at Wikipedia:Userboxes/Gallery. --Mysdaao ^talk 12:10, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

How do I publish my wikipedia article?

I've made an article in wikipedia however I can not find it in a search. Perhaps I didn't publish it fully? It still has my user name and the title of the article when I go to "my contributions", perhaps that is the problem? Appreciate any help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bdamora (talk • contribs) 16:27, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Hello you simply have to search for the page ..you will see there is no article with that name ... So you would place it in the red link --> AKE Group...However i dont believe the article is ready for main-space..Many things are need first like more references (see Wikipedia:Citing sources)...I dont want you to add it to main space and then it gets deleted (see Wikipedia:Your first article)...Moxy (talk) 16:59, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Notability is an issue, but there is a much bigger problem -- it reads like an advertisement and will have to be almost completely rewritten before it stands a chance of surviving in mainspace. – ukexpat (talk) 21:18, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Old user new question

Question for anyone that can answer... In the old layout of Wiki you had a choice to press "Go" and/or "Search" in the search bar..is there anyway to get the "Search" option back??..yes i could just revert...but i want to use what is the norm!!Moxy (talk) 16:53, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

To search for some text, type it in the box and then click the magnifying glass icon at the right. To show the old search screen, leave the box empty and click the magnifying glass. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:03, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Is my topic Encyclopediac in nature?

I'd like to create an article about a book I wrote. The book is regarding healthcare in American and discusses several suggestions for finding the best quality, affordable care with or WITHOUT health insurance. It's a very important book at this time and for the future of Americans. Although it is written by me, I feel that it is absolutely worthy and needs to reach more people. I'd be open to having someone else read the book and write the Wiki article so that it's not "self-promotion" but would like to have it up asap, which I would be able to accomplish myself. So....will it fly or be deleted? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jeheyns (talk • contribs) 17:18, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Two points: first, as it is your book you have a conflict of interest and should not be creating an article about it; second, we have notability guidelines for books at WP:NBOOK, if your book becomes notable, someone will write and article about it sooner or later. – ukexpat (talk) 17:25, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

If you believe your book does meet the notability guidelines linked to above you can request that the article be created at WP:AFC. Before you do so you should read Wikipedia's law of unintended consequences and think carefully about whether you want to request an article, given that you will have no control over the article's contents if it is created. Please also make sure you declare your conflict of interest if you make a creation request. You should note that any article written will not be promotional in nature, as Wikipedia has a neutral point of view policy.131.111.185.68 (talk) 09:33, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Have any reliable sources written about your book? so magazine reviews, journal articles that sort of thing? if not, then we would not have article about it. It's not enough that it exists, it has to have notability and if nobody is writing about, it's not notable for our purposes. --Cameron Scott (talk) 10:05, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

How do I get a cause put into your wikipedia page

Hi,

I have read up on your page of the Tiger Temple, and it is nice to see that you portray the pros and cons of the place. However, I do feel that there is a lot more pros and not enough to highlight the maltreation that is occurring there. I have personally been there and seen the place for myself, and it was upsetting. Hence that is why I started a facebook cause 'Ban the Tiger Temple' to further highlight the bad conditions. I would greatly appreciate it, if your medium could post an external link to the bottom of the information content to the Facebook cause.

Kindest Regards.

Here is the facebook link of 'Ban the Tiger Temple' http://www.causes.com/causes/200187 SonjaWilderness (talk) 18:10, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Facebook links are generally not considered appropriate and Wikipedia is not the place to promote your cause however worthy it may be. – ukexpat (talk) 18:16, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Facebook phenomena may be notable enough for mention but only if they meet our notability guidelines - i.e. having received significant coverage in reputable media sources independent of the subject. See for example Boobquake. Wikipedia is not the place to try to drum up this kind of coverage; see also WP:NOBLECAUSE. --Teratornis (talk) 18:39, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

the the

How does one search for the common typo "the the"? Regards, SunCreator ^(talk) 18:50, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Search Wikipedia with Google for: "the the" is one way. Note that Google search has some limitations. --Teratornis (talk) 19:05, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Also see links under WP:EIW#Search for more third-party search tools. --Teratornis (talk) 19:06, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you both. Regards, SunCreator ^(talk) 02:26, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Also take care because, sometimes The The isn't a typo at all... --Jayron32 02:29, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks also to User:John of Reading for pointing out WP:AWB has a Google option. Likely the simplest solution for AWB users. Regards, SunCreator ^(talk) 15:04, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Invite people to an article in your userspace that you created

Resolved

How can I invite people to improve an article User:Chemicalinterest/Chromium(VI) peroxide that I have in my userspace? Thanks. --Chemicalinterest (talk) 20:54, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

WP:Requests for feedback. – ukexpat (talk) 21:14, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

What if there's no red link?

Resolved

 – Questioner blocked; chances of the proposed article being worthwhile are low.

I understand that to write an article you have to search it and then if it doesn't exist you click the red link. But what if there's no red link? I want to write an article on Howrse, but when I search it all that comes up is: did you mean horse? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Motheate999 (talk • contribs) 22:45, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Underneath that it says: You may create the page "Howrse" with the red link you seek. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:52, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

It seems that Howrse is protected against recreation. If you want to create an article with that title, you will have to use Wikipedia:Deletion review. Feinoha ^{Talk, My master} 22:54, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict) By posting here, you attracted my attention and I then spotted your history of vandalism, including some edits that had not been reverted; you have now been blocked indefinitely for being a vandalism-only account. Bencherlite^Talk 22:56, 24 May 2010 (UTC)