Help desk
< March 16	<< Feb \| March \| Apr >>	March 18 >

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

March 17[edit]

At first glance this looked to be outright plagiarism but I've had second thoughts due to its unusual formatting. I don't want to create havoc by deleting but.......[edit]

I am at a loss to understand how that portion, slightly blued and starting with "The breed originated as a byproduct....." came to be placed there. My first thought was that it was plainly a cut-and-paste and there are several identical versions IDed through Google but I cannot ascertain whether or not those locations have copied from Wikipedia. Or plagiarism. But I'm reluctant to edit because it confounds my as to how it is tinged blue. Can you help me understand? Thanks. QuintBy (talk) 00:47, 17 March 2012 (UTC) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Longhair[reply]

Added by User:Bundookangoras in this edit, unreferenced; blue due to indentation and internally corrected with <br>s so that it doesn't run off the right of the page. Dru of Id (talk) 01:00, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

All online cites seem to be mirrors, so I've removed the section as unsourced. Dru of Id (talk) 01:08, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I was wanting to know if there was a child that needed attention in another world but is a citizen of the us.[edit]

I know of a child in need of help.She is stable but in need of assistants to be treated . Thank you in advance for anything that you can do to help the Father out.₩ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wanda Day (talk • contribs) 01:12, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. RudolfRed (talk) 01:55, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Shortening section headings[edit]

Is it okay to shorten extremely long section titles on talk pages if they're causing problems with your display? - Purplewowies (talk) 01:26, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's hard to divorce this from context. Is your display normal or are you the digital equivalent of an eggshell plaintiff? Is the content appropriate to the page it is on (very long content in a single post is often not, e.g., posting the entire text of an article inside one's post)? Well, in the absence of specifics, I would say if the content is appropriate, but it is truly massive such that a significant number of other people would likely experience the same thing, then collapsing the person's post might be the best solution, for example:

{{hidden begin

|title = Massive post collapsed for readability

|titlestyle = background:steelblue; text-align:center;

}}

<<<<<<Content>>>>>>>>>>>>

{{hidden end}}

--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:05, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Purplewowies said section titles so it's not about long posts but long section headings like the previous section

== I was wanting to know if there was a child that needed attention in another world but is a citizen of the us.A child is laying in the hospital needing help ==

Such sections are usually by new users who don't know our conventions. I think it's OK to shorten such headings. I sometimes do it myself. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:28, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the responses (and yes, I was talking about headings). The long ones on this page are taking up a huge amount of room in the TOC on my comfortably normal-sized monitor. Also, my computer usually loads/scrolls through the help desk fine, but it started loading slowly when a bunch of long headings appeared on the page, and the scroll is much more jumpy. I might shorten some of the long headings here (unless it messes up the meaning (in which case, I wouldn't :P). Thanks again. - Purplewowies (talk) 02:47, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I also sometimes change uninformative section headings like "I have a question" on a page for questions. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:31, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah... I have a bad habit of writing uninformative question section titles sometimes. I need to break that. - Purplewowies (talk) 02:47, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If long section names are a problem, perhaps the "ask a question" tool at the top of the page should enforce a length limit when you enter the title. RudolfRed (talk) 02:43, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wow, completely missed the word "titles".

--03:08, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

Did not put in Reason for edit before I hit save[edit]

Is there a way to go back and add my reason for edit after I hit Save Page button?

I forgot to enter reason for my last edit. Want to give reason before edit is reverted.

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

Thanks Spparky (talk) 02:41, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can't fix a previous one, but you can set your preferences so that it doesn't happen next time. RudolfRed (talk) 02:44, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The preference is ~~"Warn me when I leave an edit page with unsaved changes (Vector skin only)"~~ at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing. See also Help:Dummy edit. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:08, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The OP is talking about edit summaries, so I think the preference they want to look for is "Prompt me when entering a blank edit summary" RudolfRed (talk) 03:11, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Right. I was looking for that but copy-pasted without reading the preference properly to the end. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:30, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Good advice to keep it from happening, but to respond to what to do when it has happened, see Help:Dummy edit which suggests adding a dummy edit, and include the edit summary for the prior edit.--SPhilbrick (Talk) 13:11, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Public Domain Issues[edit]

I have a few images that I want to upload to Wikipedia as free files, but I'm not sure if their copyright has expired. They weren't published in the US, and they are from 1951 to 1965. They're screenshots of movies, so I'm not sure how to put in the explanation on the upload form, because the author isn't dead. There's also a poster that was published in 1962 or 1963. Is that in the public domain? It was published in India. Fireblazex3 (talk) 07:52, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Are the screenshots from Indian movies? According to {{PD-India}} a cinema is PD in India if was published before 1952 and an artistic work if the artist died before 1952. But to be PD also in the US the magic year is 1941; I do not understand why it is not 1936. —teb728 t c 09:37, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, is it okay if I put it up? I remember reading a website that explained the Public Domain (it was recent and the link was from Wikipedia), and it said that if it was published outside the US from 1934 to 1977, it was in the Public Domain. Kind of confused now. Fireblazex3 (talk) 09:41, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You are probably thinking of {{PD-URAA}}, which see. Among other conditions the work must have been PD in the host country by 1996. For an Indian work that means the cinema must have been published or the artist died before 1941. So no. —teb728 t c 10:12, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, okay, thank you. I'll put up the 1951 screenshots, if that's the case. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fireblazex3 (talk • contribs) 10:45, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Why would the 1951 screenshots be PD in the US where Wikipedia's servers are? Was the film published before 1941? —teb728 t c 21:14, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Why was my page deleted?[edit]

Why was deleted my page about Alexander Nezlobin, a russian comedian? He is known in Russia Scymso (talk) 14:27, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

See the log entry here. Basically, the article didn't state why he is/was notable. Dismas|^(talk) 14:55, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Biographies should have citations to satisfy the conditions in Wikipedia:Notability (people). English sources are best but you are also allowed to cite Russian sources. See Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:00, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

While I am not an admin and thus cannot see deleted pages, the deletion notice says the page was deleted as WP:CSD#A7, which indicates the page did not indicate why the subject is notable (see Wikipedia:Notability). The subject of a Wikipedia page must have its notability established. That means it must be shown that sources like newspapers or credible websites have written about Alexander Nezlobin by providing those sources in the article (see also Wikipedia:Verifiability). -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 15:03, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The article only contained a short text: Alexander Vasilievich Nezlobin (born july 30, 1983 in Polevskoy) is a russian comedian and resident of Comedy Club (Russia)1. He played at KVN while he was at the university. His stile is stand-up comedy. It is not clear if this young comedian is notable—there are a lot of not notable comedians in the world. Ruslik_Zero 06:14, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

When I click on "Edit," only a list of factoids appears[edit]

I'm trying to add information to the article about Christian VII of Denmark, but when I click on "Edit," only a list of factoids appears, not the entire article. Very simply, I'd like to add that Danish filmmaker Nikolaj Arkel's 2012 film A ROYAL AFFAIR (En kongelig affære) won the Silver Bear for best script and Mikkel Boe Følsgaard won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of the king at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 18, 2012. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Filmian (talk • contribs) 14:42, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure what you consider "factoids" but if you click on the "Edit" link at the very top of the article, you'll be able to edit the entire article. Dismas|^(talk) 14:52, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you click the "Edit" tab at Christian VII of Denmark then the edit box starts with code for {{Infobox royalty}}, the box at the top right. Scroll down in the edit box to get to the popular culture section. If you only want to edit one section then you can also click the "edit" to the right of the section heading Christian VII of Denmark#Popular culture. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:53, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe you clicked the "edit" link below the popular culture section, to the right of the "Ancestry" section heading. This edits the Ancestry section. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:56, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

In my opinion, that is a fact about the film, and not about the King, and does not belong in the article. (Others may disagree with me). In any case, please do not add it without citing a reliable source for the information. --ColinFine (talk) 18:39, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Angry Birds[edit]

As far as I can tell, it is still a Good Article here. Why is it that when I am on other language Wikipedias, this does not show? Inter change able|talk to me 15:48, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's a good article but not a featured article. Many languages, ~~including the English Wikipedia itself~~, only mark featured articles in other languages. But I still see marks in many of the languages at Angry Birds#p-lang. Are there any you think are meant to mark good articles but don't mark Angry Birds? PrimeHunter (talk) 16:04, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It appears we do mark good articles in languages using that designation. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:07, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

See also Template:Link GA#From another language edition. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:08, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If someone steals password[edit]

If my account is somehow hacked by some other person, or a malware/spyware steals my password, and my account is abused by others, what should I do? Asking just out of curiosity. --SupernovaExplosion ^Talk 17:15, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you still have access then change the password at Special:Preferences, or at Special:PasswordReset followed by logging in with the new password (otherwise the old one remains valid). If you cannot do either then report at WP:ANI where the account may be blocked. You might be asked for proof of identity if the account has not clearly vandalized. See also Help:Logging in#Keeping your account secure. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:43, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Could you please explain Template:User committed identity in simple language. I've problem understanding syntax. Especially the hash and hash function used parameters. --SupernovaExplosion ^Talk 17:50, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can choose different hash functions, and different programs to compute them. Here is one way to do it if you have JavaScript enabled in your browser: Go to http://jssha.sourceforge.net/. Use the "Hashing Demo" box. Select SHA-512 at "SHA Variant". Enter a chosen secret string as "Input Text". Do not publish the string anywhere. Make sure you can later reproduce the exact string if you want to prove ownership of your account. Copy-paste the contents of the "Output Hash" field to replace "hash" in the below template. You can change the example colors. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:53, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

{{User committed identity|hash|SHA-512|background=#FC9|border=#000}}

Thanks! --SupernovaExplosion ^Talk 01:09, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Constant visibility of Template:FilemoverTalkpageNotice on my userpage[edit]

Hello, there is constant visibility of Template:FilemoverTalkpageNotice on my userpage User:TheGeneralUser and User talk:TheGeneralUser. There are no files remaining to be renamed at Category:Wikipedia files requiring renaming or at Category:Incomplete file renaming requests. I have purged the page many times but the template has been constantly appearing for over 2 days now. Something may be wrong somewhere and needs to be checked. TheGeneralUser (talk) 17:18, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed by [1]. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:32, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your help PrimeHunter. TheGeneralUser (talk) 18:02, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

_noindex_</noindex> {{ dbuserreq }}== Previous name == When am I going to get credit for my changes that were made when I was FRANKLIN PANGBORN. All have disappeared including a Sandbox Biography! [[User:Franklin Paladin|Franklin Paladin]] ([[User talk:Franklin Paladin|talk]]) 18:49, 17 March 2012 (UTC) :Are you referring to [[User:FRANKLIN PANGBORN/BIOGRAPHY - PETER WILLIAM RAINIER]]? Page titles (including user pages) are case-sensitive after the first letter. And I'm not quite sure what you mean about "get credit", but if you mean you want your contributions under that username attributed to your present user, I don't think that is possible. What you could do is put a note on [[User:FRANKLIN PANGBORN]] (a redlink becuase that user page dos not currently exist) saying that you are now using [[User:Franklin Paladin]]. --[[User:ColinFine|ColinFine]] ([[User talk:ColinFine|talk]]) 20:12, 17 March 2012 (UTC) :I see no sign in [[Special:Contributions/FRANKLIN PANGBORN]] that [[User:FRANKLIN PANGBORN]] has changed name or requested a name change at [[Wikipedia:Changing username]]. Your edit [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Franklin_Paladin&oldid=467164272] refers to a name change but [[Special:Log/Franklin_Paladin]] shows you simply created a second account. The FRANKLIN PANGBORN account still exists. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 20:19, 17 March 2012 (UTC) == Help??? == How do I request an articlle be wriiten about Francois Moreau? He is famous for his work in bronze sculpture? <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">— Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/76.110.255.253|76.110.255.253]] ([[User talk:76.110.255.253|talk]]) 19:41, 17 March 2012 (UTC)</span>  : You can make a request at [[WP:RA]] [[User:RudolfRed|RudolfRed]] ([[User talk:RudolfRed|talk]]) 19:54, 17 March 2012 (UTC) ::You may want to check the french wikipedia. This site has bios on artists and is fairly complete but doesn't have one one him. 6 of his sculptures have auction records though. http://www.askart.com/askart/artist.aspx?artist=11055741 Membership is expensive to see details on them.--[[User:Canoe1967|Canoe1967]] ([[User talk:Canoe1967|talk]]) 15:46, 18 March 2012 (UTC) == How was this article created? == {{La|Oneiroid Psychosis}} The earliest entry in the revision history doesn't indicate it's a "new" article, so where did it come from?--[[User:Bbb23|Bbb23]] ([[User talk:Bbb23|talk]]) 19:52, 17 March 2012 (UTC) :I don't think the '''N''' indicator for new pages is supposed to be in page histories. It's not needed when you are already seeing it as the oldest revision. It's marked in the contributions of the creator: [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions/Opiaterein&offset=20060604&target=Opiaterein]. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 20:07, 17 March 2012 (UTC) ::I guess I'm used to seeing something like (←Created page with '{{Infobox musical artist | Name = The Razor Skyline | Img = | Img_capt = | Img_size = | Background ...'). How is that generated (doesn't look like a typical edit summary)?--[[User:Bbb23|Bbb23]] ([[User talk:Bbb23|talk]]) 20:30, 17 March 2012 (UTC) :::It's an [[WP:AUTOSUMM|automatic edit summary]] if you leave a blank edit summary field at page creation. Maybe that feature didn't exist when [[Oneiroid Psychosis]] was created. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 20:33, 17 March 2012 (UTC) ::::Heh, the [[WP:AES]] information page was created in November 2006, and the Oneiroid article was created in June 2006, so that sounds plausible. Thanks.--[[User:Bbb23|Bbb23]] ([[User talk:Bbb23|talk]]) 20:43, 17 March 2012 (UTC) == I found and U.S.ARMY DOG TAG .in and old house in Canada and would like to know who it was. == <nowiki># U.S.ARMY 846337857 HR- On the back it has the word [wolverine] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.92.67.217 (talk) 20:01, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about 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. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:10, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Security breach??[edit]

Assuming that my Firefox browser under Ubuntu was not hi-jacked, your server may have been hacked shortly after 20:00 GMT today.

While reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler, I clicked the link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf%27s_Lair underneath the photo and was taken to jewsdidwtc. On back-arrowing, the whole of the article behaved as a link to jewsdidwtc.

AlanS1951 (talk) 20:50, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This was the result of some vandalism, which should be fixed now. See the explanation at the Village Pump RudolfRed (talk) 21:04, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

NUCLEAR POWERS[edit]

Why Japan is not listed in undeclared nuclear powers in this article

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

They have nuclear fule They have nuclear fule recharging plant They have nuclear plant in what ever form

when South Africa is listed then why not Japan and why not to belive that Americans went to destroy a country and made it nuclear power and why not to belive Japan has not Atom bomb. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.152.93.65 (talk) 21:09, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

South Africa is shown as "States formerly possessing nuclear weapons". See South Africa and weapons of mass destruction. There are no reliable sources that Japan ever had nuclear weapons or is now trying to make them. See Japanese nuclear weapon program. List of states with nuclear weapons has no category for "States who probably possess the nuclear knowledge and technology to make nuclear weapons relatively easily if they wanted to." Japan might belong in such a category but so does lots of other countries, depending on the evaluation of "probably" and "relatively easily". PrimeHunter (talk) 21:25, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Canada may belong on the former list as well. I will find citations for it.--Canoe1967 (talk) 21:36, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

(note) Canada is listed in the section above as having weapons 'controlled' by the USA on its soil.--Canoe1967 (talk) 21:50, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_nuclear_weapon_program)

hmmmmm u r right, but in case japan gets attacked by any country is japan going to wait for a year to build a nuclear weapon or japan will teast a nuclear weapon to show that they are nuclear power to stop any attackers. even then they should be placed some where they did not signed any nuclear treaty but are having their own policy over nuclear weapon which nuclear powers too have. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.152.93.65 (talk) 21:59, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Japan has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. I haven't heard claims that they have broken the treaty. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:16, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The stated article with heading " Extension of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty " dose not clearly states that if Japan extend NPT and could not find any other links in google search that if their was NPT extended by Japan. Actualy no one claimed that japan broke the treaty which they resigned from in 1995 accpectedly and unfortunately.

Iwas trying to find the countries who are "capable of building nuclear weapons" "having nuclear fuel" and "capable of reacharging nuclear fuel". Under each heading and also collectively couldent founds such information. countries like "Japan" "Iran" etc are not counted in nuclear rush but have every thing to build weapons possibly having them, because who will not have such weapon only those who are having them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by AHSAN KATHIA (talk • contribs) 22:53, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

See Japanese nuclear weapon program#De facto nuclear state. According to that, although currently Japan isn't known to posses nuclear weapons, they have the technology and know how to build them within a short time if they wanted to and is thus considered a de facto nuclear state by some. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 07:34, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I did not expected discussion will be that nice over here, the only thing i am trying to say is the countries capable of making nuclear weapons should be catagorised in some form some where because there is not much information about such states, available. Yet about Japan, americans have left Japan as an indipendent state so if there were any nuclear weapons of USA in Japan, now belong to Japan, saying that South Africa performed nuclear weapon tests, then successfull tests had made them nuclear power, it just depends that if someone belives it or not nor it matters that world dont accept them as nuclear power matter of fact is South Africa is a nuclear power.

But in case of Japan, no one has any reason to reject this simple thing that Japan will ever wait for an attack on its sovereignty again, the thing that made Japan won into loss, Japan has every thing available to build nuclear weapons and keep them, and yet has every possible reason and excuse to perform tests.

Or saying simply this till 2017 Japnees target to achive that 40% of their energy demand will be fullfilled through nuclear power refrence (http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf79.html), yet this is just a small plan to achive for Japan how much further they will go after this, Japan is already having 50 reactors what dose that means its becomming a sucide nuclear bomb in its self. so why dont Japan accepts that they have nuclear weapons and world accept her as a nuclear power.

till 2030 Japan will be having that much nuclear reactors within its self that a single incident like in 2011, may lead to a chain reaction in all reactors, reports can be studied.

And 50 are the only main reactors. — Preceding unsigned comment added by AHSAN KATHIA (talk • contribs) 12:55, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia does not accept original research. If you can find one (or preferably more) reliable source which discusses the question you are interested in, then you can write, (or request) an article on the topic. Said article must be entirely based on the reliable sources in question, and must not contain original research or synthesis. If there are no such articles in reliable sources (not just in blogs etc), then the topic has no place in Wikipedia. --ColinFine (talk) 18:47, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]