Wikipedia:Help desk/Archive 2

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This is an archive of the help desk. Please do not edit this page. To ask a new question, go to this page.

[edit] Archive of past questions

Contents

[edit] Help!

I want to request something fairly simple from someone in a high enough position of authority who is not likely to abuse their status. It is a request to delete an IP address that appears on a Page History list, though no changes were actually made (well, what was made was deleted when I realised what had happened.) Please email me. - Simonides 18:16 17 June 2004

[edit] family peters

The best place for this question is Wikipedia:Reference Desk--I've moved it there. Good luck! Meelar 20:00, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Triangle Perimeter

The best place for this question is Wikipedia:Reference Desk--I've moved it there. Good luck! Meelar 20:00, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] How do I change my username?

Hi, I have recently created an account in wikipedia. I would like to change my username. Could anyone please tell me how? Thank you very much.--Lightseeker 20:21, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Well, since you don't have any contributions or a talk page yet, you could just abandon your old account and create a new one. Just click on "log out", and create a different account next time. - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 20:33, Jun 2, 2004 (UTC)
Thanks! Simple but effective solution!--Lightseeker 20:41, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC)
No prob, bob. Or... whatever your name ends up as... Welcome to Wikipedia! - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 20:43, Jun 2, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] How do I know the licensing information for a webpage image?

I created articles for Suck.com and Plastic.com, and I included screenshots, which I've heard are fair use. However, would I be able to include the logos from the site? It is particularly hard to get licensing information for suck.com, as it is shut down, and only runs as an archive now. - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 20:36, Jun 2, 2004 (UTC)

E-mail the owners/creators? - Centrx 21:05, 13 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Modifying msg:Oneworld

Hello,

I have modified the Swiss International Airlines and Oneworld page after SWISS announced that it wouldn't join oneworld.

The problem is Swiss International Airlines still appears in Msg:oneworld. How can I fix that?

Go to Template:Oneworld and click Edit this page. Dysprosia 10:50, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)


[edit] Printable Version in MonoBook Skin?

Ok, so Monobook is cool and all, but is there a "Printable Version" tab somewhere, 'cause I can't see it for the life of me. I had to switch to the Standard skin just to print something. - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 18:04, Jun 3, 2004 (UTC)

Monobook uses the print-specific capabilities of css -- if you use your browser's print/print preview command, you should get something clean and beautiful..... Still, I think it wouldn't hurt to have a "printable" link somewhere, even if all it did was actually send it to the printer, because people are leery of wasting ink printing things like our pretty new menus and background graphics. Even better would be to allow people to tweak their own print.css via options, so that you can print it as large or small or whatever as you want. HTH, Catherine | talk
Seconded re "printable" link (though maybe call it "print" so as not to imply that the current version is not already "printable"). Most users will not know about the print-specific capabilities of CSS (I certainly hadn't until you mentioned them, despite considering myself moderately technical), or know that they are in use in this case. Please could you raise this comment wherever is best for developers to see? Thanks. ,,,Trainspotter,,, 11:57, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Override Wikipedia skin

Can I override the Monobook skin CSS somehow? I would like to have a typeface with serifs.

As a logged-in user, you can choose different skins under Special:Preferences; if you know css, you can even create your own stylesheet which will override specific pieces of Monobook. (Note that creating an account actually provides you more privacy, as your IP address cannot be seen.) See Wikipedia:Why create an account? for more details. Catherine | talk 23:52, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Ah, yes, I have an account, but accidently I was not logged when I wrote my question. I do know CSS, what I don't know is where to put my own, overriding, CSS. Daniel

You simply create a subpage of your User page (in your case, User:Quite/monobook.css); if your tweaks involve javascript, you can also create User:Quite/monobook.js. See User styles (customizing your display with CSS) for details and some snippets people have already come up with -- please feel free to add your own once they've been tested! Catherine | talk

[edit] obsolete stringed instrument similar to Cello but higher pitch

hi, I'm looking for information of the above name subject. I think the name is an Appegioni. created for a Schumann concerto.. not very sure, but Pablo Casals played it before..

anyone with an answer please email me at alyky0201@yahoo.com

I'm moving this to Wikipedia:Reference Desk - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 16:33, Jun 4, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia and Opera web browser

I have recently noticed that opera and only opera seems to improperly render all wikipedia pages. Instead of the Wiki icon appearing on the far left and "Navigation", "Search", "Toolbox" and "Languages" appearing right below it, the wiki icon is now directly over any item in the left hand corner with the other frame objects appearing at the very bottom of the page. I know that Opera is one of the most standards compliant web browsers out there (often to their own detriment). Unfortunately, I don't know enough about html standards to locate the problem but, it's quite annoying and not appropriate for a community web page to not properly render for everyone in the "community".

Which version of Opera are you using? We do know that later versions of opera 7.2x have major bugs rendering right->left fonts like Hebrew and Arabic, but that doesn't sound related to the layout problem you describe. Could you take a screenshot and upload that, together with as much version info on your browser (and OS) as possible. Thanks. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:43, 4 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I'm using XP and opera 7.5 though I did check it with 7.23. However the problem is recent, i.e. within the last two weeks. I don't think that I had problem with it prior that. I'm having problems creating an external link. Please follow the below link.
http://www.geocities.com/leonsimms/opera.gif
How unattractive. I've tried just what you describe, using both 7.23 on XP and a freshly downloaded 7.51(US), also on XP, and on neither do I run into any problems (either if I'm logged in or contributing anonymously). You're right that things have changed - at the beginning of the week we introduced a new version of software, and with it came a new default skin. We're still debugging a few things (but nothing as unfortunate as what's happening to you). I have some things for you to try:
  • Many people have had weird problems with either their browser or some intermediate thing (between them and us) caching a half-assed version of the wikipedia "monobook.css" stylesheet. While on a wikipedia page, could you push ctrl-F5. That'll make your browser (and all proxies and caches and stuff) reload a fresh version of the stylesheet. I think this is the most likely thing to be causing your trouble. Opera is known (and sometimes blamed) for being particularly aggressive about caching (making it look faster than it really is).
  • make sure your view->style thing is set to "author mode"
  • opera has a rather unfortunate habit of timing-out when loading a css stylesheet, and showing a page without it. That shouldn't produce the effect you see, but who knows. The ctrl-f5 should fix that too, if that's the problem.
  • one thing I'm sure will fix it - if you create an account (it's really easy) then (like all signed-in users) you can change the "skin" (appearance) to one of a number of options (including the old yellowy one).
Please let me know how you get on. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:53, 4 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I've isolated the problem. For some reason, the proxomitron does not like the new stylesheets. When I bypassed the program, everything loaded properly, though forcing a reload did not solve the problem. Thank you for your assistance though.
Super. Thanks for getting back to me - this is still information - I'll know the problem next time a proxomitron user comes along. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:29, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] alapaha/american bulldog

I have an american bulldog that i believe is mixed with alapaha. How do i find out for sure? She has one blue eye. She also has many brown spots on her skin that show through her coat.

[edit] Talk pages

H e l p! As a newcomer to Wikipedia, I am having some trouble. Another reader has asked me to state reasons for any changes I make. My questions are: (1) I have briefly made comments in the edit summary spot - is there some other place where I can or should be stating reasons for changes? (2)Wikipedia says to look in the "sidebar" at the side or bottom of a page for "discussion"; I cannot find this option...; (3) I have gone to the "talk page" of the reader who asked a question of me...but I cannot determine how to leave him a message on his page... Thnak you. mujilakama

Ah. Part of the problem is that Wikipeda has recently changed its default appearance. The link to the "discussion" is now displayed on the upper left, on a tab, but a lot of the help pages don't reflect this yet. In order to add a comment to the talk page of an article or to a user's talk page, click the "edit this page" button and add your comments at the bottom. Isomorphic 04:44, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Except that the "Edit this page" link now simply says "edit", and it's on a tab at the top, too. Catherine | talk 15:44, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Verifiable but not Verified

I found an interesting statistic I have posted on the Billboard (advertising) topic (the number of billboards lining the highways today), but while the source says it is from the Congressional Research Service, I haven't looked at the source myself so I don't know if the statistic is twisted--the source is certainly not neutral on the subject. What do we usually do in these situations? Put a little note there saying it's not verified, citing the site I got it from ([1])? Or delete the cool statistic?

You can just say "According to X, the # is...". Good info, btw. The place to read a detailed description is Wikipedia:Cite your sources. Best, Meelar 20:06, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Africa

Since when has Egypt ever been considered apart of Asia?

When did this occurrence happen? I always thought it was apart of Africa.

I've moved this question to Wikipedia:Reference desk. Best, Meelar 20:05, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia Logo Font

I'm thinking about creating a new Wikipedia icon for myself (and anyone else who might want it), as the regular one is very low-res and doesn't scale well. I was wondering if anyone could tell me the name of the font used in the logo, with the distinctive crossed W. It would save a great deal of trouble trying to track it down myself. Defenestration 05:18, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Nohat created the logo so it's probably best to try asking on user talk:Nohat. Angela. 07:03, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)
You can read alot about the current logo at meta:Logo. There you can also find hi-res versions as PNG or PDF. ✏ Sverdrup 17:06, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Image help

I was trying to add an image at National Security Agency, and I'd like a caption saying "NSA Headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland", without resizing the image. Is this possible? How? Could someone do this at that page (ideally w/o using HTML) so I can learn? Thanks, Meelar 07:16, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Done. →Raul654 07:22, Jun 8, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Conflicts of interest

I am a freelance editor and writer, and wish to cite in articles various books I have edited or written. The citations would be in the usual format with the ISBN. These are academic books and make a major contribution to the fields they cover. Do I have a conflict of interest here? Does this count as advertising for the publisher I am working for? Will I be banned? Please advise.

In general, we're a bit sensitive to people spamming - adding weblinks to the same website over and over again in articles to which they only peripherally apply (if at all). In general, we loath spamming like this. On the other hand, since it doesn't really happen all that much, adding book citations probably wouldn't cause any problems at all (we *like* book citations and encourage the practice), as long as they are relavant to the article you are writing about. →Raul654 09:56, Jun 8, 2004 (UTC)
Indeed. An external link or a book reference should be to the best (or one of the best) resources available on that subject - wikipedia isn't a linkfarm, and a link (or book ref) simply being about a subject isn't sufficient cause for its being listed. In practice your links / references are a lot more likely to survive if you're writing about a rather unusual or neglected subject (the demographics of southern Nebraska, Jamaican women poets, etc.) than if you're putting yourself on ground covered well by many whose life's work it represents (e.g. biographies of US Presidents). I dunno about banned, but someone who merely adds lots of exlinks/bookrefs (all to the same place) will certainly get a telling off. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 10:05, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Emphasis on "merely". If you have written/edited a book on a subject then you presumably know a lot about it. The best way to help Wikipedia is to improve the articles on these topics by adding the knowledge from your books, and then there's a good reason for citing them as the source of that knowledge. There are a number of contributors to Wikipedia who are leading lights in their own academic fields, and they are extremely welcome. -- ALargeElk | Talk 10:41, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Thank you very much for the courtesy of asking about this. We do sometimes get people who run around Wikipedia promoting themselves, and it's nice to see someone think first. I'd say that if a book or article is generally recognized as being a good reference on the subject, then it's fine to add it. Also, if you write an article for Wikipedia based on recognized work you've done, then it is not only acceptable but encouraged to cite it. See Wikipedia:Cite your sources. Isomorphic 23:19, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] parent resource center

Hello Wiki-readers and creators. I work in the field of parent involvement and family communiciation. Most of my clients are gov't funded project seeking to set up workshops for parents to help them get the information they need to talk with their children about the prevention of health and safey problems (violence, bullying, harassment, date rape, drug abuse, HIV, etc.) . Since discovering wikipedia it seems to me that rather than have fifty US states set up their own virtual resource centers for parents online----why not create one wiki-like environment that can offer information, resources, and more to parents---and the educators who seek to serve them. Is this already being done somewhere? Is this idea a viable one? Would love some feedback on how the Wiki model could help. Thanks---Dominic

It sounds like a viable idea to me if it is properly quality controlled. Once you turn on a wiki, anyone can come in and edit it. So you could very well end up with people coming in and saying aids is the gay plague, or any number of other things. →Raul654 18:13, Jun 8, 2004 (UTC)
Of course, many wikis (including this one) thrive--and such a thing could be even more useful if you got a good community dynamic going, by building relationships amongst those involved that could pay off in other ways. I say good luck--the idea is certainly viable. Meelar 23:40, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] SQL/Compression problem with wikipedia-files (old, read 10GB-files)

Hi,

I couldn't find a forum to ask for help other than this one (although I am aware that it is somewhat off-topic, sorry, I am desperated after 2 days of unsuccessful trials right now).

I downloaded the english version of the whole wikipedia-history (some 10GB) and installed it in a MySQL-database. The data is present. I can access it by e.g. "mysql -> SELECT old_title FROM old;" or with a perl-script that opens the database via DBI, executes any SQL-script and get the results on my screen. On this side no problem. What I can't access is the actual (uncompressed, human readable) content of the old_text-column itself. It's compressed, ok. I got that from the php-source of mediawiki. But what's wrong with the following code?

my $sth = $dbh->prepare("SELECT old_title, old_text FROM old");
$sth->execute;
while (my @row = $sth->fetchrow_array ) {
 if(defined $row[0]) {
   print $row[0] . " ";
 }
 if(defined $row[1]) {
   my $a = uncompress($row[1]); # dummy variable 
   print $a . "\n";
 }
}


$a is not defined after this call. If I implement another possibility of Compress::Zlib like:

sub decompressText {
 my $d;
 my $status;
 my $out;
 my $out2;
 ($d, $status) = deflateInit(); #-Level => Z_BEST_COMPRESSION);
 $status == Z_OK
   or die "INIT failed\n" ;
 ($out, $status) = $d->deflate($_[0]) ;
 print "STATUS " . $status ."\n";
 $status == Z_OK
   or die "DEFLATE failed\n" ;
 ($out2, $status) = $d->flush() ;
 $status == Z_OK
   or die "FLUSH failed\n" ;
 if(defined $out) { print "DEFINED.\n";}
 if(defined $out2) { print "DEFINED2.\n";}
 my $z = $out . $out2;
 return $z;
}

I just get decompressText(old_text) to be the binary-stuff I got with the simple SELECT-statement without any (de)compression at all. According to the perldoc both failures indicate that the uncompression wasn't successful.

So my question is: how do I uncompress "old_text" in the table "old"????

Please, please help. I tried it for 2 days and I am pretty sure the error is obvious.

THANK YOU!

KaHa242


Eek, too technical for us! You probably want the mediawiki list: gmane.org.wikimedia.mediawiki Mailing_lists#Mediawiki -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:58, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] How do I request a proofread/critique?

I've been practicing with edits here and there, but today I fully extended the stub for Milton's Samson Agonistes. So far no one has made any changes for grammar,etc (like some have for my other articles. Thanks folks!)

How may I go about requesting someone give me an opinion on my entry? Specifically, tone, appropriateness of information, use of linking, etc. I want my additions to be as helpful as possible. I remember seeing requests for proofreads somewhere, but now I can't find it. Thanks Helpdeskers. --Long, Tall Texan 21:41, Jun 8, 2004 (UTC)


You're looking for Wikipedia:Peer review, pard'ner. - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 21:46, Jun 8, 2004 (UTC)
Damn you drop-dead. You beat me to it. →Raul654 21:48, Jun 8, 2004 (UTC)
It pays to be a wikiholic with OCD. - DropDeadGorgias (talk)
Before I saw the username Raul was replying to, I thought "Damn you drop-dead" was a little over the top. ;-) Jwrosenzweig 17:23, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Thank you both! Long, Tall Texan 21:54, Jun 8, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] pagecounter?

Is there any way to know how many times a particular page has been visited?

Thanks

There is quite a bit of information at Wikipedia:Statistics, but I'm not aware of anything that gives the number of page hits for a given article.  – Jrdioko (Talk) 01:06, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)
There used to be a hit counter at the bottom of every page, but that was turned off a *long* time ago because of the server load it created. If you look at the autoupdating links on my user page, there is a link to the "Current month's hits" - that's all the page hits we've gotten this month. Be warned - the page is *big*. →Raul654 01:35, Jun 9, 2004 (UTC)
That's 404 today, but it usually has the featured articles of the day, a few top-newsworthy items (e.g. Ronald Reagan), anything we got linked from Slashdot, and of course that top-ten favourite List_of_sex_positions. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 02:02, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Actually, come to think of it, I think I heard that the stats have been down since they turned on 1.3. →Raul654 02:21, Jun 9, 2004 (UTC)
No: [2]; [3] Andy Mabbett 09:23, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Looking for a Baptist Pastor in the Philippines

Hello! I wonder if you can help me. I'm looking for a certain Pastor Bernard Salacup. I am not currently living in the US and I have been trying to get in touch with him. Please help me to find him if you can.

Thank you.

Sheelagh

P.S. Send your responses to this address please: sheelaghmarie@yahoo.com.

A search for salacup+baptist on Google led to this link which offers an email address for a Bernardo Salacup of Quezon City, Phillipines. Perhaps that is the man you are looking for. I will email this information also. Good luck finding him. Jwrosenzweig 17:19, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] I have been a user for x days

Is there a little bit of code/boilerplate or what have you I can add to my user page that says "I have been a wikipedian for..." and then inserts the days automatically? I know Wikipedia KNOWS because it didn't let me vote in an election for being too new. --bodnotbod 17:38, Jun 9, 2004 (UTC)

No, there is no such function, nor is it possible to get a direct tally of edits. ✏ Sverdrup 16:08, 11 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I bet wwhen you say it's not possible you really mean there is nothing currently set up to do it.  ;o) I'm sure it is possible. My instinct is that, like the page counters that I'm told used to exist, the concern is the extra strain on the servers? Which is fair enough. Lord knows the server speed must come first - I want to be able to get my edits done efficiently much more than I want to know how many days I've spent doing them (which is easy enough to calculate manually) ;o) --bodnotbod 16:26, Jun 11, 2004 (UTC)
From what I've heard said about edit counts, it's more to help avoid "I've been here longer/made more edits/started more pages" pissing matches. -- Cyrius|✎ 17:45, 11 Jun 2004 (UTC)
You think? I was hoping our devs were planning to put it in in a new update sometime soon. ✏ Sverdrup 01:06, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Duplicate Content

I have been wondering how you people deal with duplicate content. Is it possible to insert one page into another? For instance at least part of Literature of World War I could be inserted into List of authors in war. Or do you just copy bits? Or delete one of them?

You might find Wikipedia:Duplicate articles useful. HTH  – Jrdioko (Talk) 19:58, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)

This question is related to the one above. The Wikipedia:Duplicate articles doesn't quite answer my question -- I've been asked to check whether Wikipedia is able to tag text between articles. For example, text content appears in two or more articles (not through an apparent Wiki link) and when revised in one spot the text automatically updates wherever else it appears. This is going to make or break whether my project uses Wikipedia. Fingers crossed you can provide a solution or workaround. Thanks!

[edit] Article titles: are there character limits?

I just tried to create an article entitled Congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 11β-hydroxylase deficiency and it truncated it as Congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 11. Is this because there is a limit to the number of characters in an article title, or because the special characters interfered with printing the whole title? Any suggestions for work-arounds? thanks Alteripse 01:47, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)

It certainly looks like it was the special character (seems like a large coincidence otherwise.) I suggest spelling out the word "beta" instead of using the Greek symbol. Isomorphic 04:04, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] website linking, and using extracts from wiki articles

Request permission to use article extracts on my website at http://satellite.ehabich.info/index2.html (and other pages).

tia for suggestions,

Eric

You're allowed to use our content, as long as you follow the GFDL requirements--see Wikipedia:Copyrights for more information. Basically, you must release it under the GFDL, mention this fact (ideally with an explanation, at least include a link to the text of the GFDL), and credit the main authors (which some say you can accomplish by linking back to the article). Hope that helps, Meelar 13:08, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I've done that (linking to GDFL and original article). My other things are released under Creative Common. Thanks

[edit] Sysop help

Could a sysop please undelete Dell'Arcano del Mare (deleted because of copyright problem now resolved with permission from original author).

Also, the creator of Helga Zepp-LaRouche and Schiller Institute agrees that there was a copyright problem and have written new versions in /temp. Could the infringing version be removed and the new version instated immediatly?

In both cases I am asking because the wikipedians who created the articles are eager to have the situation resolved, and there is no reason for waiting. See User talk:Thue for relevant discussion. Thue 14:36, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Done. Meelar 14:44, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Thanks :) Thue 16:26, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia on Pocket PC

Hello

When I am loading the wikipedia page on a pocket PC, the search field doesn't even show up... it would be very handy, if the main page was simpler, so that also thinner clients could properly display it. Or if there was a "KISS" (keep it simple and stupid) version of the search page (such as google has), for search only purposes using wikipedia from mobile devices and thin clients.

Thanks for all your work and contribution.

Martin

[edit] Pages marked {{delete}}

Where are the pages marked for speedy deletion listed? --Eequor 06:00, 11 Jun 2004 (UTC)

They should be listed on Wikipedia:Speedy deletions. Does this help? Yours, Meelar 15:10, 11 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I'm confused about the notice on that page, is all:
You can also add it to the list at the bottom of this page, but you don't have to.
What keeps track of pages that have {{delete}} added to them? --Eequor 15:42, 11 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Oh, okay. I just found Template:Delete. ^_^v --Eequor 15:44, 11 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Bullfighting

This comment is not intended as a criticism. In the article on Bullfighting, there are lists of bullfighters (matadors) in their respective countries. I noticed that "El Cordobes" is not mentioned in thelist of famous matadors from Spain. In the same vein, neither is John Fisher, The famous American Matador. I have seen both of them fight and It was thrilling. It was probably anoversight, but, I hope that it will be corrected.

As this is a wiki, you are free to correct the omission yourself. I'll do it at some point myself if you don't want to. Isomorphic 16:07, 11 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Category help - I need to rename it + have all the entries reflect the change

Grooooaaaan. Oh, good grief. OK, I started a new category called category:Guardian's 50 Funniest in honour of these two articles: pt1 pt2. Now the (f***ing a*** w***) observant will notice that whilst these articles reside at The Guardian's website, they are actually online versions of articles printed in the Guardian's Sunday edition. Which is called: The Observer.

So, I have now spent a good few hours making myself look like, what we sometimes call in England, "a right Jessie".

Now, I'm sure you can guess what's coming. If I move the category, will all the entries I've made thus far be renamed too? Or have I got to (please no) go around and manually change all the tags on all the articles? I don't do I? Do I? Please no. Pretty please. --bodnotbod 23:29, Jun 11, 2004 (UTC)

On a related question. Earlier on I would add an article to a category, and go to the category and the article would be there straight away. Wow! I thought. Now this doesn't seem to be happening. Is there a lag involved sometimes and not others? Seems strange... --bodnotbod 01:03, Jun 12, 2004 (UTC)
Yes, you have to move each cat tag yourself. Ask someone who is bored to help you if you can ;)
I think when you create a new cat, it updates on the fly, but if you remove them, they only update when the main text is modified. Dysprosia 05:03, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I've experienced a similar thing: I created Category:German Cuisine, added a bunch of articles to it and then realised that it should have been Category:German cuisine. I updated all the aforementioned articles, so there are now no articles that are categorised as ...Cuisine. However, Category:German Cuisine still exists with a list of articles that aren't actually in the category. What's more, I edited the category so that it was no longer in Category:German culture, but it still appears there too. Will try editing the categories, and "un-editing" them as Dysprosia suggests and see what happens. --Lancevortex 13:15, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Right, I've gone around and manually changed all the tags. My old category is now empty. How do I delete it? --bodnotbod 00:15, Jun 17, 2004 (UTC)

You need an admin to delete it. I'd do it right now but I'm not sure what the policies are regarding deletion of categories. Put a note at WP:SD and someone will take care of it.  – Jrdioko (Talk) 00:31, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Unable to change my preference background

I changed my preference background (in :Preferences#prefsection-2) to nostalgic and now I can't change my preferences because when I Login I don't find the way to "Preferences". Please Help! ^^ User:Dod1 June 12, 2004

preferences are in the drop-down box, or you can go to Special:preferences -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 07:29, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Thanks it helped. I did it ^^ Dod1 07:40, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Uploaded image with wrong filename

In an act of utter stupidity, I appear to have uploaded an image with the name Image:Size_dscf0010.jpg instead of its more sensibly name Image:LiverpoolMetropolitanCathedral_OwlofDoom.jpg (which would bring it in line with the names of the other photos I have uploaded).

Clicking the "move page" doesn't seem to work on images, so can I ask someone's permission to move this to the right place? Thanks! - OwlofDoom 09:12, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Images can not be moved. You will need to upload it again with the correct name, and then list the old one on wikipedia:speedy deletions explaining that it is a duplicate of the new one. user:Angela
OK, thanks. I uploaded the new one. The old one appears to have been deleted by someone already. -- OwlofDoom 09:58, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Creating a new category

I'd like a ctaegpory for the Lunar Society. How do I create it? Do I just start adding it to pages, or is there some other work to do first? Andy Mabbett 09:21, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Firstly, you should create a page at [[category:Lunar Society]] explaining the category. There are more instructions at wikipedia:categorization. user:Angela
Now doing so, thank you. Sadly, wikipedia:categorization. is an unusable mess - see my comments on its talk page. Andy Mabbett 09:28, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Tamil Wikipedia ? Unable to create user in Tamil script

I am trying to create a user "ராஜசேகரன் தீபக்" in the Tamil Wikipedia. It gives an error "நீங்கள் கொடுத்த பயனர் பெயர் செல்லுபடி இல்லை.". All software I am using are UTF-8 based.

I am asking here because I found no Help desk in the Tamil Wikipedia. The username is my English username in Tamil script. The error message means that the username I gave is not valid. Rajasekaran Deepak 11:38, 2004 Jun 12 (UTC)

I have created a user "தீபக்". Could someone change the username to "ராஜசேகரன் தீபக்"? Thanks in advance. Rajasekaran Deepak 12:02, 2004 Jun 12 (UTC)
Perhaps your username is too long. The trouble is that tamil script takes quite many bytes per character. ✏ Sverdrup 12:05, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)
What is the limit for the length of usernames? Rajasekaran Deepak 12:33, 2004 Jun 12 (UTC)
I asked our devs, and I was told it is 255 single-byte characters. If tamil script is encoded at 4 bytes per character, this means you can use at least 50 tamil characters, which is much more than what you used. ✏ Sverdrup 16:33, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)
The limit is 32 bytes not 255 bytes. This limit was instituted in response to people trolling on en with excessively long names. It should really be 32 characters, but unfortunately that's not trivial in our PHP environment. -- Tim Starling 16:38, Jun 12, 2004 (UTC)
My suggestions, in order of decreasing elegance:
  1. Make the limit 32*4 bytes in UTF-32 or
  2. Use UTF-8 uniformly, and divide the number of bit-8-set characters by 4 while finding the length or
  3. Increase the limit to 64 bytes (in the current setup)
Rajasekaran Deepak 04:30, 2004 Jun 14 (UTC)

[edit] Unable to 'talk' to people-very insecure

I've read the Wikipedia tutorial and still have a real problem figuring out how to 'talk' to other users.

When I open someone's user page I can see a discussion tab or 'talk' but when I click on that, I'm just slap dab in the middle of someone else's conversation. I don't see how to begin something new, just a little [edit] that puts me into someone else's sentence/heading/question whatever.

Please help!

It's much easier to just jump in editing and even creating pages, but I'd much rather contact some other people before I start!

Usually one creates a new header (==title==) and continues after that. People often keep multiple discussions going on their talk page, in different sections. But even if you put your comment in the wrong place, someone will probably put it where they want it and reply. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:32, 13 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I think I'm starting to understand--thanks!
The little edit links on the side allow you to edit everything under the header that is to the left of the edit link. To edit the whole page, you need to click on the edit button at the top of the page. Normally, there are two ways to start a discussion on a talk page. One is to go to that talk page and click on either the main edit link at the top or the last (nearest to the bottom of the page) small edit link next to a header. Either one will let you edit the bottom of the page. Then you can create a new header as Finlay McWalter described above (put "== Title ==" on a new line), and then type your question/comment below. Another way is to click on the plus sign next to the main edit tab at the top of the page. This will give you a form to fill out that will automatically create a new section at the bottom of the page with your title as the header. It's all a little confusing at first, but it makes sense once you get some practice navigating the site. Feel free to experiment with editing whatever you want at the Wikipedia:Sandbox to get the hang of using the different kinds of edit links. Good luck!  – Jrdioko (Talk) 06:30, 13 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Well, thank you guys. I still feel like I'm taking baby steps, but you're right, it gets easier as you go. Jrdioko, thanks for the welcome on my new page. Thanks to you, I can now add my name, like this--Quill 00:36, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] worldhistory.com

Go ahead: http://www.worldhistory.com

I was wandering on some google results when I found this site. It seems to be using ALL Wikipedia content on it. The page just downloads the Wikipedia page and then prints it on their site, along with ads and sponsor links all around it (and their "on the news" is just a google link, as well as their other "features" are just "sucked out" from other sites). I googled wikipedia about this site name and didn't found anything, so I suppose nobody's aware of this yet. But, anyway, there ARE texts over there saying the article is from Wikipedia, but, is this alright or legal or what? I know Wikipedia is free and etc, but can they do that? Even with all those ads? Aren't they USING Wikipedia and it's content for dragging users to their page so they get hits on their ads? That's what it seems to me!

Compare:

Just change that letter after "/wiki/" and try it with ANYTHING!

Hope I'm being helpful warning about this, and sorry if the help desk isn't the right place for it (or reference desk, I'm just not sure where to tell this!)

It's perfectly legal, just as long as they abide by the GFDL, which all content is licensed under here. At the bottom of each page here: "All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details)." Dysprosia 10:28, 13 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Yeah, I thought so... But that "We have a new logo and new page designs, and we're converting our approximately 380,000 pages as quickly as possible. The change hasn't hit the home page, yet, but here's a sample of our encyclopedia articles new look, with the new logo" kinda pissed me off, heh

[edit] Image Deletion

Two questions?

1) What is the difference (w.r.t. an Image) between Wikipedia:Images_for_deletion and Wikipedia:Speedy_deletions. I can list an image for deletion at any of those places can't I?

2) And, can an image with the same name and content uploaded twice be listed for deletion in any of these pages? Probably can be its just that I did not see anyone else posting such a request. The Image in question are here Image:DelhiMetro.jpg.

--Ankur 16:23, 13 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] How do I notify someone about my site using Wikipedia content

I have a site that utilises (mirrors) Wikipedia content. I want to tell Wikipedians about the site, and have it inspected for compliance with your terms. I would prefer to tell you about the site rather than have it accidentally stumbled upon. Currently I haven't the time to learn how to use the Wiki mark-up tools, so I want to drop someone a quick line.

The site is at: Professional Researcher's Encyclopaedia

The site currently uses English articles from January - although once things are running smoothly I will be adding other languages and updating to a more recent edition.

See below.
I've added the site to Wikipedia:Copies of Wikipedia content (high degree of compliance) and sent an email to the webmaster thanking them for letting us know. theresa knott 10:18, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Categories

What is the formatting convention for an article that fits into more than one category?

See Constantinople

davidzuccaro 11:32, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

What do you mean, formatting convention? Dysprosia 11:35, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Should Categories be in bold?
Should the individual categories be on diferent lines?
Should bullets be used?
davidzuccaro 11:55, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)
You can't change that easily per-article. The skin does the formatting work for categories. You can change the way they display, probably, by using m:User styles. Dysprosia 12:02, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)
So the categories on the page Constantinople are supposed to look that way?
davidzuccaro 12:05, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Chances are, I'm not using your skin. So I have no idea what it looks like - so the answer would be probably yes. Dysprosia 12:59, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Rip off of Wikipedia?

Is this site ripping off Wikipedia, or is there an official relation between?

http://www.book-spot.co.uk/index.php/Computational_geometry

No, they're not ripping off Wikipedia. Under the GFDL, they're allowed to use our content, so long as they mention that it's under the GFDL, provide a link back to the original article, and give both the text of the GFDL and an explanation. See Wikipedia:Copyrights and Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks for more. Best wishes, Meelar 23:40, 13 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Merges

I want to merge How chocolate is made into chocolate, creating a redirect. Do I have to preserve the page history, and if so, how? [[User:Meelar|Meelar (talk)]] 14:13, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Well, you can't really, can you :) Unless you moved How.. to Chocolate, and did some restoring and futzing around, which would just make a royal mess of the page history. The best way probably is to hand merge the articles, and then make clear note that you've merged it from How chocolate is made in your edit summary, and leave that page then as a redirect, which keeps the edit history to that page there, and if someone is concerned about where you got the information, it says so clearly in your edit summary. Dysprosia 14:24, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Error messages on entries

I am trying to add the entry for Matyas Rakosi ('History of Hungary') but when I press the submit button, I get an error message:

A database query syntax error has occurred. This could be because of an illegal search query (see Searching Wikipedia), or it may indicate a bug in the software. The last attempted database query was: INSERT INTO recentchanges (rc_timestamp,rc_cur_time,rc_namespace,rc_title,rc_type,rc_minor,rc_cur_id,rc_user,rc_user_text,rc_comment,rc_this_oldid,rc_last_oldid,rc_bot,rc_moved_to_ns,rc_moved_to_title,rc_ip,rc_new) VALUES (20040614173220,20040614173220,0,'Matyas_Rakosi',1,0,725406,66983,'Jackiespeel',,0,0,0,0,,,1) from within function "Database::insertArray". MySQL returned error "1054: Unknown column 'rc_ip' in 'field list'".

Am I getting 'something in a twist' or is there a glitch further down the line?

Jackie Speel

Jackie, that error was a problem sitewide, as far as I know, for roughly 20 minutes. I believe the problem has been fixed, but I hope we can get more information soon from someone who knows exactly what happened. :-) Jwrosenzweig 18:41, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Article not found by search

I added Flying_Scot_(dinghy) but if I search for "Flying Scot" either with the "Go" or "Search" button the article does not show up. The only way the article shows up is if "Flying Scot (dinghy)" is specified (order does matter) and the "Go" button is used. This seems to be very limiting since the user has to know exactly what they are looking for. I'm sure this problem has come up before but I haven't found any discussion about it so far. Is there any nice solution for this problem? --Feral Duck 19:44, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Yes, there is. If you go to any article and put the following text in:
#REDIRECT [[foo]]
then typing in that article name will automatically get sent to foo.
As for the searching, Wikipedia used to have a search function. However, as the database got larger and traffic got heavier, it started to eat up too much computer power. Now we use a google search, which works, but doesn't find pages until it crawls them (generally once a week or so). Hope that helps! [[User:Meelar|Meelar (talk)]] 19:51, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Editing buttons

Is there a way to change what text the editing buttons insert? For example, I'd like the signature with timestamp button to insert –~~~~ instead of --~~~~. –Matt 21:02, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

You can change how your signature is expressed by opening your preferences and editing the "your nickname" field under the "user data" section. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:22, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)
But what if (being picky) I didn't want the en dash to link anywhere? –Matt 21:59, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I haven't tried it, but you could set it to "X| ]] --[[User:Matthew Low|Matt". The X can be anything you want - it won't show up. Dysprosia 22:03, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Take a look at this page for an explanation of that signature trick. I've set mine up to include an ndash, my name, and my talk whenever I type four tildes.  – Jrdioko (Talk) 22:42, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Thanks, it works nicely. –Matt 01:20, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

One more question: is it possible to have the signature button output ~~~~ instead of --~~~~? –Matt 01:20, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

There are a few settings on the site that you can change with css, but I believe what that particular button does is built into the site (someone correct me if I'm wrong). For me, it takes longer to stop typing, move my hand to the mouse, move to that button, click, and put my hands back on the keyboard than it does to quickly hit shift and the tilde button four times, so I don't even use that button.  – Jrdioko (Talk) 01:30, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Yeah, I was hoping there would be a shortcut key that does the same thing as the button, in which case you could type the four tildes in one keystroke. But, now looking at the source code for an editing page, there doesn't seem to be any such shortcut key. –Matt 01:44, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)
You can always get one of those programs that will insert the tildes for you when you type a keystroke. I used to have something like that, but I forget what it was called.  – Jrdioko (Talk) 04:00, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Do you mean a macro? Isomorphic 04:17, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Stage name list

I would like to get this list in reverse - that is the persons real name in alphabetical order - please advise

Sam

gosam@azteam.com

[edit] Authorship

I posted an edit to an article, before I found out about creating a userid. How can I change the author of the edit to have it show me as the author instead of an anonymous string of numbers randomly generated by AOL?

Wikipedia:Changing attribution for an edit Dysprosia 06:36, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Section numbers

Hi, Is the automatic numbering of sections a recent addition, added with 1.3, or is it maybe a skin attribute? I never noticed it before, and I don't think it's always useful. For example Specials_(album) doesn't really benefit from having its two sections numbered. Is there anyway to disable this feature? I've looked wherever I could think to look about this, but didn't find anything about it. --Bwmodular 12:48, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

It's in preferences. Under Misc., there's an option to auto-number entries in the table of contents that can be turned on or off. [[User:Meelar|Meelar (talk)]] 12:50, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)
You mean the inability of being able to edit section 0 (all text up to the first header)? (since no autotoc is generated on that article) Yes, this is a new "feature" with 1.3 ;) I think a bug report was submitted, don't know what happened to it yet. Have a look at User:TreyHarris's user page, there's a hack (nice, but still a hack) to edit section 0.
As to section numbers in an automatic TOC - that can't be changed. Dysprosia 12:52, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Actually, it's the issue that Meelar was talking about that I was referring to, and this is indeed switchable with user preferences. Thanks to all of you, Ben

--Bwmodular 13:05, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Categories

I'm not exactly a newcomer, but a sysop who took a haitus of several months from Wikipedia. When I came back there were all these crazy things like a new layout and a categorization scheme. Where can I find out more about how the whole category thing works? Αλεξ Σ 21:07, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

meta:MediaWiki User's Guide: Using Categories and also Wikipedia:Categorization ✏ Sverdrup 21:34, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)
If you would like to see the "old" layout, then go to preferences->skins->(standard/nostalgic). –Matt 21:42, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] other sites ripping you off?

i dunno, i googled around a bit and found a site whose definition of stereotype is strikingly similar to the wikipedia entry on stereotype.. http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/stereotype hopefully they don't just scrape your site? i dunno, just trying to be helpful. ignore me if i'm not succeeding.

They do, and they are allowed to, as long as they credit us as source (plus some other license details). If you scroll down on that page, you'll see:
This article was derived fully or in part from an article on Wikipedia.org - the 
free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not
checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the
wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please
do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed
under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
I would prefer them to write it a little bigger and not hidden between ads, though. -- JeLuF 02:06, Jun 16, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Plagiarism and copyleft

I?m having a lot of fun here, but before I continue contributing willy-nilly I?d like to ask something:

Let?s suppose that I am an expert in snails. I discover Wikipedia and write a whole lot of articles and stubs; I also edit a great many articles and generally have a ball.

At some point, I write a for-pay article (imagine!) for Super Slug and Snail Magazine. A few weeks after its publication, an enterprising graduate student who is researching the Pink Polka Dotted Lesser Garden Snail reads an article about them in Super Slug. Wait a minute, she thinks, I?ve read something like this before! Going to the Web, she finds that the article in Super Slug is similar in tone and style and contains very much of the same information of an article published on-line at Wikipedia. Grad Student contacts both Super Slug Magazine and Wikipedia, accusing the writer, I.M. Innocent, of plagiarism and non attribution of sources. The editors at Super Slug and Snail are furious, and want their money back. Not so, I sputter, I wrote both articles, I know a lot about snails and can write about them in my sleep, and naturally there would be similarities.


My question is, what is my legal position? Will Super Slug sue me? Will they sue Wikepedia? Will Wikipedia insist that the Super Slug article has to be copyleft as well?


Am I safe on solid ground, or do I need to use Wikipedia to research ?lawyers??

Oops! Didn't add my name! It's Quill 21:25, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Well... Wikipedia preserves page history. For every edit that's made, Wikipedia preserves both the "before" and "after" versions, and which user name or IP address made the change.
That means that as long as you always log in and write using your screen name (rather than as an anonymous IP address) it would be quite easy to prove that you wrote the Wikipedia material. All you'd need to do is pull up the page history and show that User:Quill was the author of those changes, then log in and make an edit or two to prove that you are User:Quill. Thus in about a minute you've established that you are the author of both works, and I don't think it's considered possible to plagiarize yourself.
As to whether the magazine article would need to be copyleft, that would depend on whether it's considered a "derivative work" of the Wikipedia article. Again my inclination would be to assume not, since it's normal for a writer to write repeatedly on the same topic. Standard caveat though; I'm definitely not a lawyer. Isomorphic 03:24, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Also not a lawyer - but it's my understanding that it's only a derivative work if it's based on someone else's text. After all, you still hold the copyright on your own work and can resubmit your work elsewhere under a new licence as you like. The GFDL only restricts the rights of others relating to your work. In the case of images for example, you could take your photo, tint it blue and sell it as a poster with full copyright protection. Anyone copying that new version would be in volition of copyright - even though there is another, copyleft, version. Anyone else doing the same to your photo would have to keep the new version (the derivative work) under the GFDL. In your example - as long as you have not based your article on the work of other Wikipedians, just on your own work, then Super Slug is safe -- sannse (talk) 06:54, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC) (who thinks better in images ;)
My thought has always been, e.g., if I were to write an article about dog agility, I would write it first without looking at the Wikipedia page so it would be a somewhat fresh start in my mind and secondly, if there were substantial other contributors whose text looked substantially like my article (perhaps because I had read their text in the past), to cite wikipedia as a reference as appropriate. Elf | Talk 22:39, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] To what level of audience do I write articles?

What kind of audience should I tailor my writing to? Specifically, I could go on about the Immune System writing at the Ph.D. level, or I could tone it down to intelligent non-specialist level, or down to "I like beer and peanuts." level. What is the standard protocol? --fhayashi 13:24, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Good news for you--immune system already exists, so some of your work is done. As for the level, well, that varies from article to article, and contributor to contributor. There are math articles that I'm honestly afraid to read. Generally, just write at whatever level makes you comfortable--if it's completely impenetrable, someone else will fix it. Ideally, it should be accessible to non-specialists (or at least they should know what it is, even if they can't follow the entire article). Hope that helps. A large part of it is experience--you'll generally know what level to pitch your articles at as you read more. Good luck, [[User:Meelar|Meelar (talk)]] 13:32, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I'd say start light and get heavier as the article goes on. The intro at least should be understandable by anyone, but we shouldn't shy away from really technical stuff either. Also the name of the article gives a clue. If the name contains technical words then it's fair to assume a more clued up readership. theresa knott 16:13, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC)


[edit] How many user contributions?

Is there a quick way to tell how many total user contributions I have made? The User Contributions page should be numbered, don't you think?

I agree. The best thing to do is to go ahead by 500s, then 100s, then 50s, etc. As for why it's not numbered, I couldn't tell you. [[User:Meelar|Meelar (talk)]] 00:35, 18 Jun 2004 (UTC)
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