Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 April 1

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April 1

HTML, or XHTML?

The page Help:HTML in wikitext tells its readers how HTML [sic] may be used in pages here, e.g. that a line break may be effected with the four keystrokes <br>. This comes as rather a surprise to me. I've commented in its talk page, but when I did so was told Talk pages in this namespace are generally not watched by many users. Therefore this note alerting people here about the matter. Please comment on that talk page rather than here. (I've crossposted this message to the Village pump.) -- Hoary (talk) 00:09, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I know nothing about the technical aspects of your question but have you considered making a request to move the page?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:15, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Yes, I considered making it and decided not to. Better (I thought) first to decide what the page should say and only then to decide how best to title it. But please agree or disagree there rather than here. -- Hoary (talk) 00:40, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Number of Wikipedia registered users?

How many registered users on Wikipedia? And further is known, how many still active. Regards, SunCreator ^(talk) 00:18, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

See Special:Statistics. Nanonic (talk) 00:42, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

There is a magic word for your first request. The number of registered users is exactly 47,327,291. TNXMan 00:46, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

The number of registered users stands over 14 million, but not all them are really active. Monterey Bay (talk) 01:45, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

If you're looking for counts of active users, you should check out stats.wikimedia.org, which will show you by month the number of editors making at least 10 ("active") and at least 100 edits ("very active"). Steven Walling 19:50, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Botswana LGBT-related films

1. I think The_No._1_Ladies'_Detective_Agency_(TV_series) should go under the category Botswana LGBT-related films since the pliot was a made for tv film and there is a gay character in the series and it also should go under Botswana-LGBT-related television programmes. Please say your opinion about this matter.

2. Does Wikipedia have the right to talk about celebrities personal lives? Does Wikipedia have the right to talk about celebrities personal lives? It seems that Wikipedia has become a gossip blog or something. It talk about people's personal live and half of it might not even be true. Is that what an encyclopedia is suppose to do? Thanks! Neptunekh2 (talk) 03:14, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

For those who want to tackle these questions, you should know that the user already created a category each for LGBT films of Botswana (or something like that, can't remember the exact title) and LGBT television series of Botswana. Both were deleted about a week to two weeks ago. Dismas|^(talk) 03:18, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

This would be better discussed at WT:LGBT. – ukexpat (talk) 12:38, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

1. Categories containing only one item are meaningless. Just because a character in a film or tv show happens to be L or G or B or T does not make it a LGBT film or show. By that logic every film or TV show where a pet or even a wild animal appears is an Amimal or Wildlife film/show. LGBT issues need to be a meaningful part of the plot/story for the film/show to qualify for such a category.

2. Yes. Provided the rules concerning WP:RS, WP:NPOV, WP:V, WP:MOSBIO, WP:B, WP:SOAP and whichever others are relevant, are followed. Roger (talk) 12:55, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Scraping & reusing statistics

I'm thinking about compiling some sporting statistics from wikipedia pages by web scraping. I'd use a script to collect the data from the tables on many pages, put these into a database of my own, and produce & host a website that allows users to browse the statistics in various ways.

What legal issues are there with doing this? Is the scraping allowed at all? Is providing a CC attribution disclaimer sufficient? Would I be allowed to generate revenue from the site (via advertisments)?

Cheers. Hopey dishwasher (talk) 08:44, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Many sites re-package Wikipedia pages with added advertisements; this is OK provided the conditions at Wikipedia:Reusing Wikipedia content are met. I think you may run into technical difficulties, though, since there may not be any consistent formatting for tables from one Wikipedia sports article to the next. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:00, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Okay. I reckon I can handle the technical problems, I just didn't want to put the effort in if it was just going to get taken down immediately. Hopey dishwasher (talk) 10:03, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Dates in history - main page

1234 – An Englishman lost the Battle of the Curragh in Ireland, at the same place where an Australian would lose the 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge in Scotland more than 700 years later.

This makes no sense..... How could an Australian fight at the battle of stirling in 1297? Was he an aboriginal who rowed a canoe to Scotland? I'm confused.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.129.145.221 (talk) 08:46, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

It's an April Fools thing. Mel Gibson is the 'Australian' who lost the battle (in the movie Braveheart).--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 08:49, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Help Wanted

I'm trying to revive WikiProject Espionage. I would like to know how to get it up and running again. Unfortunately, I don't know anything starting up a WikiProject and would like some help from some contributors. For example a talkpage that is archived, an assessment section, an assesment section with how many asessment articles counted by grade. That's all I can think of at the moment. Help would be appreciated. Adamdaley (talk) 09:32, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

happy with the templates for members and assessment for articles. Feedback would be appreciated. Adamdaley (talk) 22:13, 31 March 2011 (UTC)

I would like the following help if anyone isn't busy to help me with:

• An assessment template (for example only) which includes "C-Class" assessment.
• An assessment template that counts how many articles are at what assessment grading or unassessed with "C-Class" assessment.(WP:WikiProject Psychology/Assessment - To the top right of the page.)
• Discussion/talkpage auto archived by a bot every 30 days.
• A page with our goals, aims, participants, etc.
• Somehow become the head person of the WikiProject and have active and inactive member lists.

Any help would be appreciated. Adamdaley (talk) 03:29, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Guess there is "no help desk" people around. Even the en-wikipedia-help channel, they have done little over the last 5 days in the help channel. They and I feel ashamed of them. May as well ask a Monkey for help with en.wikipedia.org! Adamdaley (talk) 13:27, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

You might do better at the "Project pages seeking contributors" section in the Wikipedia:Community portal page. -- John of Reading (talk) 13:36, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Did you know....

You almost got me...great April Fool jokes. By the way, did YOU know that....the book, The Point, was written by Pore Cue Pyne? Happy April Fool's Day. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.87.32.64 (talk) 09:34, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Non-free book scan licensing template

Is there a license template for non-free book scans? The image in question is File:Pasteur_Model.jpg. I know there are such templates for screenshots of television series, like for example the one found on File:Enterprise_Forward.jpg. Is there a similar licensing template for book scans? Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 10:10, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I've looked through Category:Non-free Wikipedia file copyright tags without success.

(Disclaimer: for real expert advice ask at WP:MCQ or wait for another reply here) I think you may be out of luck here, because there are two sets of rights involved - one for the design shown in the model, and one for the actual photograph that you want to reproduce. Although this might be the only model that could be used to illustrate the design, it can't be the only photograph. And that's point one at WP:NFCC. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:38, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I've added a licensing template. However I am not sure it is the appropriate template for this image. Any further help is welcome. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 11:43, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I have created a new template for this purpose, which can be found at User:Toshio Yamaguchi/Template:Non-free book scan. This should work. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 14:54, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

If no one objects I will move this template into mainspace. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 15:08, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I moved the template into mainspace. It is now at Template:Non-free book scan. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 16:09, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I've asked the WP:MCQ experts to check it. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:28, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Query about subject chosen for a new article

Hi,

I want to include an article about a short film that was released in 2011 and has a imdb entry. Which category will such topic come under when creating a new article? Is there any specific guidelines for writing about short films? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Priyav62 (talk • contribs) 10:28, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

There seems to be a lot of good advice and recommended guidelines at WP:FILM. Also there are plenty of editors there who have expressed interest in articles about films and can possibly help you further. Good luck. CaptRik (talk) 12:10, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Cork ladies's footballers

The spelling of this category looks wrong: "ladies" (plural of "lady") needs possessive "ladies'", e.g. "ladies' clothing", clothing for ladies.Felix Folio Secundus (talk) 11:46, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Categories for discussion handles the renaming of categories. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:49, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Preventing the addition of interwiki links

Bots keep adding an interwiki link on Journey (1989 video game) the French Wikipedia article fr:Journey (jeu vidéo). But that's an unrelated video game by the same name. So how can the addition of that link be prevented? jc iindyysgvxc (my contributions) 11:47, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Probably the best course of action is to leave a message for the bot's operator at User talk:Myst. – ukexpat (talk) 12:43, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

(e/c) The method is explained in the last paragraph here - add the "bad" link yourself, but hide it inside an HTML comment. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:46, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

It is probably because the French article fr:Journey (jeu vidéo) has the Journey (1989 video game) as interwiki link. If they are unrelated that inter wikilink should probably be removed and that will probably stop the bot from trying to add it to the english article. GB fan (talk) 13:27, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Google Earth Geohack problem

I have a problem with the Google Earth co-ords (50° 28′ 44.96″ N, 3° 59′ 49.18″ W) for Ditsworthy Warren House. When I go through to the Geohack page and click on 'Google Earth w/meta data', it takes me to the house. When I just click on 'Google Earth Open', it takes me to a point marked 'Portland Lane Sheepstor' that is about 2.75km to the WNW. Help please! I don't understand how the same co-ords can take me to two completely separate places. How can this be corrected? Thanks 86.134.116.152 (talk) 13:10, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I'm not really sure that I understand what's going on, in part because I don't use Google Earth, but see this thread and the FAQ linked by Dispenser there. It's apparently Google Earth's problem, not ours. Deor (talk) 13:27, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Image Tag for Copyright

I am sorry to bug you about this but I have read through the copyright on images and the images I put up keep getting taken down. These are our photos and we have the right to use them. One photo is from another source but have permission to use it as well. What is the proper tag that I need to put around these photos so they stop getting taken down.

Thank you for your time.

Meewasin 16:08, 1 April 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Meewasinvalley (talk • contribs)

It's not quite as easy as adding a tag. You must follow the process set out at WP:IOWN to provide evidence of the necessary permissions. Note also that permission is required for all purposes, permissions limited to use on Wikipedia are not sufficient. Hope this helps. – ukexpat (talk) 17:00, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

User:Peaceworld111/Ahmadiyya-related vandalism statistics

Hi. I just want permission to carry on with a bit statistical with Ahmadiyya-related vandalism. If it is realized that this is in breach of the Wikipedia guidelines please discuss here or on my talk page. Please do not put it up for AfD. I'll put it up myself under speedy deletion if it is in breach to save time. As far as I'm aware it is not in breach. Thankyou. --Peaceworld 16:37, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Two Articles (clarification needed on whether or not terms from FAQ are met)

Good morning,

I work for a company called Data Management Inc. and would like to publish two articles through Wikipedia, but I have some questions on whether they meet the terms of Wikipedia.

1. One article is a business profile that describes what Data Management Inc. is, when it was founded, by whom, etc. I noticed that there are certain restrictions that must be met:

-The subject of multiple non-trivial published works whose source is independent of the company itself, OR -Listed on ranking indices of important companies produced by well-known and independent publications, OR -Used to calculate stock market indices. Being used to calculate an index that simply comprises the entire market is excluded.

Data Management did rank #425 on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 in 2006 (http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/TMT_us_tmt/us_tmt_2006TechnologyFast500WinnersBrochure.pdf). Would this qualify as "Listed on ranking indices of important companies?" There was also a local newspaper publication on Data Management done in August 2008 (http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/aug/07/local-software-company-thriving/?printer=1) as well as another that was written this year (unable to find the link - may not be available online). Would this qualify as "The subject of multiple non-trivial published works independent of the company itself?"

2. The second article describes the products and services that have been developed by TimeClock Plus since 1988. The article would cover our products, TimeClock Plus, TimeClock Plus Web Edition, and other companion hardware and software that is offered, as well as the service, TimeClock Plus OnDemand. It would provide a description of each to help anyone who is curious gain a greater understanding of what each of these are. I noticed that, for products or services, there are understandably certain restrictions that must be met as to not create spam on Wikipedia:

-Have been the subject of multiple non-trivial published works whose source is independent of the company offering the product or service, OR -Be so well-known that its trademark has suffered from genericization

Given that TimeClock Plus was mentioned in he newspaper article linked above, would that allow this article to qualify?

Please advise as soon as you are able as we would really like to add our company and products/services to this extremely valuable resource.

Thank you.

Daniel Williams

Quality Assurance

Data Management, Inc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tcplus (talk • contribs) 16:53, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Before we get into that, please read WP:SPAM,WP:COI, WP:CORP and WP:BFAQ. You are strongly discouraged from writing articles about subjects where you have a conflict of interest. If you still want to proceed, you should be aware that your drafts will be closely scrutinised and I would suggest that you use the articles for creation process to get started. On the substantive question, no, one article does not amount to the required significant coverage. Multiple sources are required. – ukexpat (talk) 16:57, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

One other point, Wikpedia does not publish "business profiles", it is an encyclopedia that contains articles about notable subjects. In view of that, WiikiCompany (which is not connected with Wikipedia) may be a better outlet for you. – ukexpat (talk) 17:04, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I'm sorry, my terminology is off. Not so much a business profile. Something along the lines of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tcplus (talk • contribs) 17:45, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Same comments apply. – ukexpat (talk) 17:50, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the quick replies. I really appreciate your help. I want this to be unbiased as well (strictly informative) and to fall within the standards set by Wikipedia, so that we are consistent with your other articles. I see that Microsoft, Google, and even companies that are not quite as large appear on Wikipedia and that is what prompted me to think of creating something similar for Data Management Inc. given it's growth and expansion. So forgive me if you answered this and I'm just not understanding. On the qualifier that reads, "Listed on ranking indices of important companies produced by well-known and independent publications," would our listing on the Deloitte Fast 500 in 2006 satisfy that requirement? Tcplus (talk) 18:07, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Deloitte Fast 500 may be enough for the article to survive speedy deletion but I am not convinced that it alone is sufficient to establish notability per WP:CORP. Again, I cannot stress enough that it really is not a good idea for you to create these articles in view of your COI - no matter how hard you try it is almost impossible to maintain a neutral point of view when you have conflict. Also, be careful when you say "we" - it's a hot button word that may lead others to think that your account is being shared by more than one person, and that is not allowed. – ukexpat (talk) 18:41, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Okay, that makes sense. The links were very helpful. Although I am affiliated (and I completely understand the concern there), I will finish writing both articles, limiting them to factual information (avoiding opinions), and submit both articles for review. You've been a great help and I honestly didn't expect as quick a reply as you've been giving me, so thanks, Ukexpat, for your exceptional assistance.Tcplus (talk) 19:11, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Glad I could help. Please also note the user name issue highlighted on your talk page. – ukexpat (talk) 19:37, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for bringing that to my attention. My account was created today so the Talk Page was not something I knew anything about. As to Daniel Case's comment (and thanks Daniel for your contribution as it has a pretty big impact on the fate of my articles), what do I need to do? Do I need to re-create an account under a name that has nothing to do with TimeClock Plus? It sounds like the user name I chose breaches a policy? TCPlus was just the first thing that came to my mind when I created my account (it was quick and simple) whereas TimeClockPlus would definitely sound more like a violation since the product is TimeClock Plus and not TCPlus. As far as the conflict of interest, if I submit this and it is verifiably unbiased (if Wikipedia is comfortable with it), is that grounds for it being approved? Daniel's point about regardless of the article's merit gives me the impression that biased or not, my affiliation with the company will likely kill any chance of the articles being accepted. Do I have a shot?Tcplus (talk) 20:17, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Couple of options: the easiest is, as you suggest, just to abandon the Tcplus account and create new account that complies with WP:UN; the other is to formally request a change of username at WP:CHU, but as you don't have any mainspace edits yet, it's probably not worth the effort. – ukexpat (talk) 20:29, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Image upload

How do I arrange for some images to be uploaded for an article I am writing if I am not yet a confirmed user? Gervasecb (talk) 17:25, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

The best place to request an image be uploaded would be on this page. TNXMan 17:43, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you! Gervasecb (talk) 18:02, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Contributing new photos

I am a Wikipedia contributor (text-only up until now) and I'd like to start adding photos to my articles. How do I do that? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Christopher.hardy (talk • contribs) 17:26, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

• If you want to add an existing image to an article, add [[File:File name.jpg|thumb|Caption text.]] to the area of the article where you want the image to appear – replacing File name.jpg with the actual file name of the image, and Caption text with a short description of the image. See our picture tutorial for more information.
• If you want to upload an image from your computer for use in an article, you must determine the proper license of the image (or whether it is in the public domain). If you know the image is public domain or copyrighted but under a suitable free-license, upload it to the Wikimedia Commons instead of here, so that all projects have access to the image (sign up). If you are unsure of the licensing status, see the file upload wizard for more information. Please also read Wikipedia's image use policy. I hope this helps. TNXMan 17:44, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Creating brief bio box

How do I create a box, like the one shown here on the right, to feature the highlights of a business?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Vineyard_%26_Winery — Preceding unsigned comment added by ASVwine (talk • contribs) 19:51, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

See Template:Infobox winery. – ukexpat (talk) 20:03, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

And if it happens to be a business other than a winery, you may want to choose one of the other infobox templates listed at Category:Business infobox templates. Deor (talk) 01:38, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

If you are planning to write about your own business, as your user name and first edit suggest, then please work through the FAQ page for organisations. This page will lead you through the Wikipedia policies on advertising, company notability and conflict of interest. -- John of Reading (talk) 05:52, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Can I change my Wikipedia font?

Right now with my current preferences the Wikipedia standard font appears to be Helvetica. Is there a simple way to change the standard font to, for example, Times Roman? (I tried some other "skins" but they change too many things. I like the default Vector layout, but would like to try changing just the font.) Thanks for help. --Robert.Allen (talk) 21:56, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Head to your browser's settings dialogue and change your default sans-serif font. Note that the font will change for every website that uses this setting. Xenon54 (talk) 22:10, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I use the Safari browser. My "Standard font" is set to Times, but Wikipedia text is displayed using Helvetica. Maybe the browser setting only has an effect if the font is not specified by the web page? In any case, I would like to change it for Wikipedia specifically. I thought perhaps there might be a way in my Wikipedia preferences to customize the CSS for the Vector skin so that my Wikipedia standard font would be Times Roman or something other than Helvetica. --Robert.Allen (talk) 22:31, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Sure, this should work. Go to Special:MyPage/skin.css and add this text (changing the font listed to your preference):

body {font-family: "Times New Roman";}
.IPA {font-family: "Times New Roman";}
.Unicode {font-family: "Times New Roman";}

--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:16, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Yes, thank you! This worked exactly like I was looking for, and I really like the look of it. However, all the font sizes are just a bit on the small side. Is there a way to increase all fonts by a small increment? Thanks for the help! --Robert.Allen (talk) 02:14, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. To increase the font, add:

#bodyContent { font-size:larger; }

--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 06:28, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks again! You are a gold mine of information! That's definitely larger, maybe too much. Based on the info you gave me so far, I searched and found Help:User style and saw that perhaps I could use a percent and tried this:

#bodyContent { font-size:90%; }

It seems to give a less drastic increase in size. (Obviously I don't know whether this is kosher.) --Robert.Allen (talk) 07:15, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Sure, that works, and you can know it's working by being a bit drastic, like previewing 150%, which should make the change obvious.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:22, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

I seem to have settled on 95%, which is good compromise for the various computers that I use. Thanks for all the help! --Robert.Allen (talk) 21:13, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

north pole

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole

in this article is a photo of USS Skate at the north pole after breaking thru the ice, that is all well and good BUT.

photos are from http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08578.htm , the same source used for the pic in the article should not these photos be included also ? http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0857806.jpg http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0858411.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.58.83.17 (talk) 22:27, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Since the photos are so similar, just one should be sufficient for the article. You can discuss it on the article's talk page. BurtAlert (talk) 22:30, 1 April 2011 (UTC)