Wikipedia:Help desk/Archive 52

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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] May 28

[edit] Tag for AfD discussions

What is the name of the tag for AfD discussions, that tells newcomers what AfD is all about, sort of large, white, I think with a light-red boarder? --HappyCamper 00:04, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

I think you mean Template:AfdAnons. Icey 00:17, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
Image:WikiThanks.png Bingo! - just what I was looking for! Thanks :-) --HappyCamper 00:19, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Two schools with the same name?

I want to add an article about a school in my local area. I checked that there wasn't already one and have found that there is another school with the same name on the other side of the country. How would I go about adding my article and creating a disambiguation page to link to the two schools? --Frankie Turtle 00:51, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Move the existing page to like School (County name), then edit the new redirect page that is created when you move an article to create a disambiguation page. Mike (T C) 00:58, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
Most geographical things seem to disambiguate with commas, not parentheses: parentheses are used for categorical diffferences. So the title may more appropriately be "School, County Name" than "School (County name)". jnothman talk 03:03, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Although don't write articles about things that you're personally connected to too tightly - WP:VAIN. Also see WP:NC(S). --Quentin Smith 16:21, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Map copyright?

I uploaded the image Image:Chisholmmap.gif and have no idea what copyright tag to use. Can anyone help either by letting me know or by adding the tag themsleves...thanks --Cerberus584 07:41, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Well... where did it come from? That will largely determine the copyright tag to use. — Estarriol talk 07:45, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
It appears to be a map taken from a website. The correct tag is "{{Fair use in|Article}}", please add the name of the article you plan to use it in. Cheers, Highway Rainbow Sneakers 10:01, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
Full template -
Copyrighted

This work is copyrighted and unlicensed. It does not fall into one of the blanket fair use categories listed at Wikipedia:Fair use#Images or Wikipedia:Fair use#Audio_clips. However, it is believed that the use of this work in the article "Article":

qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law. Any other uses of this image, on Wikipedia or elsewhere, may be copyright infringement. See Wikipedia:Fair use and Wikipedia:Copyrights.

To the uploader: this tag is not a sufficient claim of fair use. You must also include the source of the work, all available copyright information, and a detailed fair use rationale.

I think this advice may be misleading, even dangerous: "Fair use" has to be actually justified in each case. It would be easy to assume you can upload anything you feel like, label it fair use, and everyone is happy. I should say: do not use this tag unless you understand the legal basis of the fair use claim. Notinasnaid 18:09, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
Fair use doesn't seem justified in this case as you can fairly easily redraw the map from scratch and make it available under a free license. Supposing it was taken from a website without permission, of course. ~~helix84 09:50, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Talk pages, citations needed and spelling mistakes

When you edit a talk page, should you leave an edit description? When you correct a spelling mistake, what kind of comment should you leave? Also, how do you do a "citation needed" special link? Finally, if you find a page which you could add to/create but you are not experienced in the field, should you still add to the page even if your information could be wrong? Thanks in advance :)! --WikiWizard 11:42, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Generally you should always type an edit summary, since it's really really useful for the rest of us who monitor edits. For spelling corrections, you can just say 'sp' or something to that effect. You can type {{citation needed}} to get the link.
For your last question, yeah, it's a wiki, so if you accidentally add something that's incorrect, someone will usually correct it quite soon, but it doesn't hurt to check it first either. You can have a look at the welcome page for some useful links. Happy editing! - ulayiti (talk) 11:51, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
For spelling corrections, remember to check the box "this is a minor edit". As to the last question: I would recommend that you avoid adding wrong information. It is fine if you add information in a poor style or format- it will get fixed. If you add vague information, that's not a problem either. But what you add should be verified, or otherwise it may not be noticed for some time as being factually incorrect. jnothman talk 12:32, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Regarding links

I run a stargate fansite that has lots of info about the show. Can I add a link to it on a couple stargate-related pages? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 12.201.27.234 (talkcontribs) .

Please see Wikipedia:External links. -- Rick Block (talk) 15:33, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How Can I Translate With Wikipedia

I have tried my possible best to translate with Wikipedia but my efforts to that seems fruitless. Please advice me. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Princediadi (talk • contribs) .

Please sign talk pages with 4 tildes (~). Does your computer have a translate feature? Go to the forgein article and select "View" from your toolbar. Select "Encoding" and it should be highlighted in German for example. You may be able to switch to Unicode and read it. Good luck, Highway Rainbow Sneakers 15:05, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
If you're looking to help Wikipedia in other languages, take a look at Multilingual coordination. Nuge talk 15:07, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Prices

Is it ok to write the prices of services or product or will it be considered as like a advertisement? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ketanof92 (talkcontribs) .

Please sign messages with 4 tildes (~). Highway Rainbow Sneakers 16:00, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
Have you tried the Humanities section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Humanities&action=edit&section=new&editintro=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/How_to_ask click here. I hope this helps. --Quentin Smith 16:17, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
Um, I think this actually a Wikipedia question. Anyway, it depends on how it's written, and the good. The price of a lot of things will vary depending on where you buy it, so putting in a price won't really mean much. --Sam Blanning(talk) 16:42, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
  • I don't recommend including prices. Not only do they differ from store to store, they also differ from country to country that uses different kinds of money. Remember, Wikipedia is international. - Mgm|(talk) 16:50, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
  • The cost or price of goods and services is sometimes encyclopedically relevant, but more often not. The specific sales prices of consumer goods are rarely useful, but are sometimes helpful, in the case of something like "previous models of [X] sold for approximately $10, but in response to competitive pressures, the manufacturer brought out a $5 version." But in contrast, "At [famous restaurant], a hamburger costs $7.95" is unlikely to be of lasting encyclopedic value. The cost of public or commercial works is more useful: "In 2004, the stadium received a 20 million Euro renovation," or in the case of a private party, "despite declaring bankruptcy in 2003, [Y] purchased a house in London which cost over £1 million". Sometimes prices are a point of historical or cultural signficance: "By 2005, movie tickets in New York had crossed the USD 10 mark." (The examples show different styles of denoting currencies; using the actual amount in local currency keeps articles from becoming inaccurate when exchange rates change.) Use your judgment as to whether the price of something adds something of lasting value to the article, and if not, omit it. MCB 21:13, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deletion

Is removal of a prod tag without discussion a reason for taking deletion to AFD? I know people like to AGF but isn't this taking it a bit far? A lot of AFD is clogged up with "XYZ is being nominated for deletion because ABC removed the prod tag added by me". I thought that it would be policy to replace the prod tag if it is removed without discussion and if the author repeatedly removes it without reason then take it to dispute resoloution.

However, what do we want to avoid? Dispute resoloution or AFD? --Quentin Smith 16:17, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

In my opinion, AfD is much less of a problem than the former. Fetofs Hello! 16:40, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
  • Yes, if a prod-tag is removed, the deletion should be taken to AFD. The idea behind it, is that things tagged with prod can be deleted if there's no objection. A lot of such articles are made by drive-by vandals and newbies that never get back. You could also stop them objecting by explaining the rules of what should be included/excluded by pointing a newbie to appropriate policy. Newbies that are really interested in the project will understand their mistake and no longer object. If you do that, both dispute resolution and AFD are easily avoided. - Mgm|(talk) 16:54, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
To emphasize: prod means - delete if there isn't even a single person who objects. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 16:59, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
  • I'd say when a PROD tag is removed it's usually appropriate to take the article to AfD; sometimes the removal acts as a good reality check for the original tagger. In one case a couple of weeks ago, I prod'ed an article, put it on my watchlist, and a day or so later the tag was removed by someone other than the original author, with an edit summary briefly explaining her reasons. I took another look at the article and was sufficiently convinced not to bring the article to AfD. I think that worked well. In any case, there's a fair bit of discussion about this at Wikipedia_talk:Proposed deletion (possibly in the archives). MCB 21:21, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] EZPass

Is my EZPass applicable on I-65N, I-80W,and/or I-294 N. I am going to drive between Chicago and Madison WI. <removed email to guard against spam>

  • Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. - Mgm|(talk) 16:55, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia preferences

I've just become a member; however, I don't understand the first message I received from you. What does "Don't forget to change your Wikipedia preferences" mean? I don't understand. If it's important, please get back to me, and don't forget to tell me how to do it. If it's not important, just forget it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Rumplestilskin (talkcontribs).

Where did you see this message? I don't recall encountering it before. In any case, I don't think it means anything important. But take a look at the top of the window - you'll see this line:
Rumplestilskin    my talk    my preferences    my watchlist    my contributions    log out
Click on "my preferences", and see if there's anything you wish to change. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 17:24, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Confusion over using image

If I download an image (Map) from a website that says the image can be reproduced for non profit, personal or educational purposes only, modify the image and then post it in Wikipedia so it can enhance an article or be more modified to meet wikipedia standards, will that voilate US or Wikipedia Policy?

The maps were taken from the site www.unc.edu/awmc. Updates were made using paintbrush and clipart. Can this be posted in wikipedia? Maglorbd 17:58, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, that would violate Wikipedia policy. When you upload something to Wikipedia it must either be public domain (that is, no copyright at all) or released under a license that allows commercial use. Non-commercial licenses cannot be used for images in WIkipedia. Notinasnaid 18:04, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Some questions

I have a couple of questions:

  • How many references are needed for an article to become a featured one? Some people say 7-10 references, but I once saw a featured article have only four references.
  • What's the difference between citations and references? I read the articles on it, but I'm still confused.
  • If I don't have a lot of images in an article, will it stop it from becoming a featured one?
  • What would be considered original research and speculation? I read the orginial research article, but it's still somewhat confusing.

Thanks in advance! --71.118.76.132 18:25, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

To answer your questions,
  1. The number of references depends on the number of sources you use, as long as you cite all your sources. It might help to know what article you are trying to make featured.
  2. There isn't really a difference between citations and references. If you mean citing Wikipedia, that is using Wikipedia as a source in something. References just means citing sources in general.
  3. Well, if you read Wikipedia:What is a featured article?, one of the criteria is "images where appropriate", so I'd think you'd want an image for each section.
  4. Original research means proposing and introducing new ideas, theories, or arguments in an article that have not been published by a reputable source or are not widely known.

Hope this helps, SCHZMO 19:58, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to have a table inline

I want to insert a 2x1 table inside a line to list a date, in two calendars (say Gregorian and Coptic), instead of writing date-1 then date2. What do I need to declare to avoid line breaks before and after the table?
I want to put such code in a template that takes the two dates as parameters.
Too bad that Math:Fract does not accept parameters.
--Shafei 19:35, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Table for details on how to make a table. Nuge talk 21:37, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
No mention of inserting a (small) table inside (the running text of) a line. --Shafei 03:50, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Because of HTMLTidy, it is not possible to produce an inline table here, because a table within paragraph tags is not allowed in XHTML. You could do the same with positioned <div>s, though. Still, I'm not sure if this is ideal in terms of presentation of the dates. Is this a standard scientific way of doing it? jnothman talk 11:59, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Thanks, but
and don't work inline either. They cause a paragraph break. --Shafei 19:36, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] worried about 'copy' issues on text/data

I recently added a page L-number which may need tidying.. This is not my main point - I have found a list of L numbers with associated info. eg scientific classification - it is an external link on the page - what I can't seem to find out is whether it's ok to copy and edit this info into an article (it would provide a usefull cross reference in future) or whether it's some sort of copyright violation etc. I would add wiki markups to the data but otherwise it would be pretty much a straight copy - can anyone advise whether this is a right or a wrong thing to do? The infomation is contained on this page:www.oooarrr.cx/~fishieforum/viewtopic.php?p=173&sid=18a3eb500fb5d4bed232bdad959b7415 However the L-numbers were 'inverted' by a german fishkeeping magazine ('aqualog' or 'DATZ' is the name of the magazine) - do they have any sort of 'rights' to this info.?HappyVR 20:41, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

What you need to do is to reword the text from the external site and than cite the external source. Have a look at WP:CITE for more infomation of citations. Eagle talk 20:44, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, that made sense (especially re plagiarism). However the only source I have a present is a 'talk page' - or similar and not either of the magazines that first published the 'l-number's. I suppose I'll have to look harder for a good source - given that my current source is 'second hand' I'm assuming that it's not really good enough?HappyVR 21:25, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Citing deleted Wikipedia articles at other Wikis.

I'm an admin at the YTMND wiki site, and I'd like to pass a question User:Mysekurity asked me about citing deleted WP articles at the YTMND wiki site:

Do we have to give credit to articles that have been deleted? Stuff like Brian Peppers and such that have been deleted from WP and have no other home (*sniff*) but here seems to me we don't need to give credit. Or do we?

. The current article about Peppers at YTMND wiki is www.ytmnd.com/wiki/index.php/Brian_Peppers here, along with a "this is from wikipedia" message. --LBMixPro<Speak|on|it!> 22:06, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

  • You need to cite a non-deleted source. Otherwise the article that's citing it is unverifiable. - Mgm|(talk) 10:05, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Ummm... It's not that we're trying to cite a deleted article, but we're actually copying the deleted article to the other wiki. Since the Wikipedia article is non-existant (until Feburuary), do we still need to cite it? --LBMixPro<Speak|on|it!> 03:18, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

I think he's asking whether they have to cite Wikipedia content under the GFDL that they're hosting even if it's been deleted from Wikipedia itself. · rodii · 14:37, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

That's what I'm trying to ask. --LBMixPro<Speak|on|it!> 18:53, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] adding to a definition

Hi. I'd like to add to a definition of a word. How do I do that? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Red goes (talk • contribs).

Wikipedia is not a dictionary, but rather an encyclopedia. However, I'm sure your contributions would be most welcome at Wiktionary. -- Natalya 23:39, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bold

Apart from first instance of phrase that matches title of article, when is it appropriate to use the bold formatting? --Username132 (talk) 23:10, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

From Wikipedia:Manual of Style:
"The first time the article mentions the title, put it in bold using three apostrophes — '''article title''' produces article title. For example: "This Manual of Style is a style guide."
Also, try not to put other phrases in bold in the first sentence. An exception to this arises when an article has alternative titles, each of which an editor puts in bold."
So, it's generally discouraged in anywhere other than the title. If you need emphasis on something, it's best to use italics. Nuge talk 00:15, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] May 29

[edit] about vauxhall and opel cars

my question is why they call vauxhall in uk and why they call opel in most of the world and which one was came first and what is vauxhall symboll mean?thank you very much —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Naci73 (talk • contribs).

You might find what you are looking for in the article about Vauxhall Motors. If you cannot find the answer there, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Vauxhall_Motors&action=edit&section=new click here to post your question at that article's talk page. If that doesn't solve your problem, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They'll be glad to answer questions about anything in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. -- Natalya 02:04, 29 May 2006

(UTC)

The German company "Opel" bought the British company "Vauxhall". Hence the overlap.--Anthony.bradbury 23:37, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia tutorial: creating a contents box in my page.

Wikipedia tutorial: creating a contents box in my page. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mdelia (talkcontribs).

Not quite sure what you're looking for, but you can find some information about tables of contents at Wikipedia:Section#Table_of_contents_.28TOC.29. -- Natalya 02:04, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Subject noteworthiness?

Would an article on a small town middle school really be considered....well.......an article? And how long do stubs last before they're deleted? Delta 01:58, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

I think it would depend upon how the article is written. For more information on that, you might want to check out WikiProject Schools for discussion and guidelines. As far as stubs go, I don't believe they have an expiration date so long as they are providing useful information that another editor can expand upon to create a full article. Stubs details Wikipedia's Stub guideline. I hope this helps! —PaperTruths(Talk) 02:23, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
  • Articles on schools have sparked several heated debates. To avoid any problems, I would make sure the article has a decent size and only includes encyclopedic information. - Mgm|(talk) 10:03, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Multiple lines in a table cell

I'm editing over at Divisibility rule and it's a big table. A quick look at the table syntax, and I thought a newline without a pipe to begin the next line would just become a newline within the cell. Oddly, it seems to work for the first newline in a cell, but ignores ones after that. Can anyone point me to the info I can't find on this? Could it be browser dependent? If so, I'm using Safari 1.3.2 right now. Walt 02:08, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Making lines in separate cells using line feeds (or even <br/>) line up is tricky and (IMO) should be avoided. I've modified the entries for the rules for 4 using a different technique (basically adding another row but hiding some of the border lines). -- Rick Block (talk) 02:34, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for that technique Rick. Now I can copy your code wherever else I need it in that article :-) The fact that you edited in the article also is a good reminder to everyone else to link to the article when they ask a question. Walt 11:35, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deleting an image from "my contributions"

I uploaded the wrong image for a talk page and thought if I uploaded the same name with the correct image that it would replace it but it would not let me do that. So I uploaded the correct image with a slightly different name and changed the image name in my edit session on the talk page. Now I have two images in my contributions and I would like to delete the incorrect one. How do I do that? In other words, how do I manage my contributions so I am not wasting storage space with incorrect data? I could not find a previous question referring to this. --JEB 03:39, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Place {{db|reason}} on the image's page that you want deleted. An admin can then delete it. Fill in the "reason" with a short description of why it should be deleted. Dismas|(talk) 03:41, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
I think Dismas's answer is the right one, but in case you're asking how you can delete an entry from your contibutions list, I think the answer is that you can without some sort of high-level intervention. I wouldn't worry about the storage space issue. · rodii · 14:45, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Actually when an image is deleted the "uploading contribution" disappears from the editors contributions list. Even with a restoration (which of course does not actually restore the image) the evidence of any contriubution is lost. Although it is therorectically possible to retrieve such information directly from the database. So having an admin delete an image removes the entry from your contributions list.--Birgitte§β ʈ Talk 16:22, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Special:Log/newusers

Hello, today I noticed a new type of record in Special:Log/newusers. As usually, all new users have "New user" record, but then some have a "created new account" record? What is that? ~~helix84 06:26, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Maybe that happens if you go to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Userlogin&type=signup and create a new account while you're still logged in on another account. SCHZMO 12:12, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
I don't think so, the "created new account" record is always a while after "New user" but always with the same name. 158.193.85.212 14:51, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Related terms

I'm looking for a template or similar to add to a page that gives a link to closely related but not identical terms. I was thinking of somthing similar to Wikipedia:Catergories - that gives a link box at the bottom - a sort of 'See also' (not disambiguation). Probably obvious - can anyone help?HappyVR 10:52, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

A see also section may be appropriate... but you might need to be more specific with your example. What article are you talking about? jnothman talk 11:01, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
I was specific thinking about aufwuchs and Periphyton - see my question on Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science - it seems that the definitions have similarities but the terms relate to different things.HappyVR 11:15, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ?

CERDS(Centre for Educational Research and Developmental Studies) offers Montessori Teacher Training using Montessori tools,methods and principles.So please visit <removed> for more details. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.93.35.206 (talk • contribs) .

This page is for questions related to Wikipedia. Use the Reference desk for questions on other topics. However, Wikipedia is not a vehicle for advertising. Thank you. SCHZMO 12:07, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fixing infobox

Help - I have added a photo to Blue Thunder (truck) but it messed up the infobox, and after fiddling with it multiple times, I cannot make it work. I would appreciate knowing what needs to be done or if a more experienced Wikipedian could fix this, because currently it has the photo, but looks bad. -- GURoadrunner

I think I've fixed it?

The format seems to be to use either

image=example.jpg

image_caption=whatever the caption is

or to use

[[Image:example.jpg|my caption text etc]]

You did

image=[[Image:example.jpg|my caption text etc]]

which must have confused it Help:Infobox could help.HappyVR 11:28, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] obituary page

I am looking for an obituary for Mary Eggars from May 23,2005 Richard Van Pelt <email removed to prevent spam>

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). SCHZMO 17:28, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reference

I want to add a reference in another language, how do I make the note that it's in another language show up? Cheers, Highway Rainbow Sneakers 13:29, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Lets see... from a section of Wikipedia:Citing sources, it says Because this is the English Wikipedia, English-language sources should be given whenever possible, and should always be used in preference to foreign-language sources of equal calibre. However, do give foreign-language references where appropriate. If quoting from a foreign-language source, an English translation should be given with the original-language quote beside it. Doesn't really say how to designate that it's in another language, but I've seen it done nicely like the external link is at Villa del Balbianello. (The English is designated only because it seems like the site could be in Italian). -- Natalya 13:34, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Thank you, I just wanted the tag. I had to run the text through a kanji translator but I got "Clefairy", "shy" and "timid", so that's good enough for me. ; ) Highway Rainbow Sneakers 13:40, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Is {{Languageicon}} what you were looking for? — QuantumEleven 06:42, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Citations to commercial websites

I have been editing a number of articles on freshwater tropical fish of interest in the aquarium trade and would like to include a line about the fish's approximate wholesale price in the section under "commercial trade in the aquarium hobby". My primary source of this information is a tropical fish wholesaler's price list which is posted online. I am not affiliated with this wholesaler and it is unusual to find such a list as they are generally confidential. Can I mention this wholesale price and appropriately cite the website in the references section without it being considered spam? I get the impression that this wholesaler does also sell directly to the public, and I would be updating a large number of articles at once, all linking back to that site. Should I just cite it without linking it? (i.e. type it out instead of using {{cite web}})? Neil916 15:17, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Here's an example of what I am talking about. In the article gold barb, there is a line that says, "This fish is commercially important in the aquarium hobby industry." I would add that the approximate wholesale value of this fish in the industry is about $.65, and my souce is the price list located at bellsouthpwp.net/t/f/tfdfish/PriceList.pdf. Neil916 15:32, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

I (personally) wouldn't have a problem with that sort of reference, though be careful of regional bias. Wikipedia should encorporate a worldwide view, and the price of a fish in the US is unlikely to reflect that in other parts of the world and therefore of limited encuchopaedic interest to most people. It might be a good idea to make a few edits, then make a note on the appropriate talk pages to see if there are any dissenting views, before going ahead with the rest of them. Rockpocket 17:48, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Also please see my comments under Prices above, regarding the inclusion of prices and costs in articles. MCB 18:15, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] disambiguation/redirect

How do I make a disambiguation page or a redirect to a specific article? Please respond on my talk page. --Codeblue87 16:45, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

To make a disambiguation page, just go to the page ARTICLENAME (disambiguation) and create the page following Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages). To make a redirect, go to the page that you want to be a redirect and type #REDIRECT [[TARGET OF REDIRECT]] (see also Wikipedia:Redirect). SCHZMO 17:22, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Urdu Times

I am writing regarding Urdu Times, North America's first and Largest weekly Urdu Newspaper. It seems we cannot be found on Widipedia. How can we list Urdu Times on Wikipedia? If you'd like more info on Urdu Times, go to our Website: www.urdutimes.com

Please reply by Email to: <email removed to prevent spam>

thanks,

Atif Khalil.

It's listed in News agencies in Pakistan and List of newspapers in India. To create an article about it, please create an account and click Urdu Times. -- Rick Block (talk) 17:18, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ABUSE BY GRANDMASTERKA

Hi, I have made a post or two at the Talk:New Chronology Discussion page where I addressed a poster or two who has not read books by Fomenko(New Chronology) and easily wished to dismiss it as "pseudoscience".

Well, not only have my comments been deleted twice now, but the moderator/editor "GrandMaster"Ka feels the need to repeatedly delete any discussion comments that are merely trying to give proof upon proof as to why people like Fomenko (supported by Isaac Newton,Gary Kaparov etc.) deserve a non-biased write-up on your wiki.

I really just wanted to make notice of this "moderator".I think the guy is a little quick on the delete button considering he has deleted now upto 8 good posts in approx. a couple months.

24.36.92.155 18:30, 29 May 2006 (UTC)gf

Well, first, Grandmasterka isn't a 'moderator'. Wikipedia has no such position. Nor is he an administrator, which is probably what you're thinking of. Secondly, this isn't really a matter for the help desk - we're here to tell you how to put pictures in articles and suchlike. What you should do is discuss it with him on his talk page, then, if you can't come to an agreement with him, try one of the methods explained at Wikipedia:Resolving disputes. --Sam Blanning(talk) 19:23, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
I've no idea what the page you describe is about or the discussion but deleting comments from a discussion is generally not on. Can't find specific guidlines on this but maybe you should look at Wikipedia:Etiquette and suggest the other party does too.HappyVR 20:22, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
I read over the conversation and it seems there is a bit of a misunderstanding about what a Talk Page is designed to do - it's there to discuss the article, not the subject. To take http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ANew_Chronology_%28Fomenko%29&diff=55678835&oldid=55638433 an example, this discussion was about the New Chronology itself, while what the talk page should be about is "how to best write an article about the New Chronology", how to best represent it, while keeping the Wikipedia policy of neutral point of view. It's not a discussion about whether the New Chronology is right or wrong. More info on how talk pages work can be found hereQuantumEleven 06:38, 30 May 2006 (UTC)


UM YES, I think we all understand the discussion is about how to best write the article on New Chronology/Fomenko SINCE IT'S A DISCUSSION.


HOW THE *** DOES ONE BEST ARGUE THAT PRESENTING FOMENKO WITH THE OPINIONATED VIEW THAT IT'S PSUEDOSCIENCE IS WRONG WITHOUT US NOT BEING ABLE TO GIVE EVIDENCE THAT FOMENKO IS NOT PSEUDOSCIENCE (using examples of questionable history etc.)ALL THE WHILE HAVING OUR DISCUSSIONS DELETED??

No matter how you sweep this help request under the rug, deleting our responses intended to give more information that will hopefully make the New Chronology MORE NPOV IS NOT HOW YOU DISCUSS A TOPIC.

I'm merely suggesting finding a mod/admin/editor or whatever he is that isn't so ready to delete credible response after response that doesn't comply with a POV of a guy WHO I BET HASN'T READ THE FOMENKO BOOKS.

24.36.92.155 16:09, 30 May 2006 (UTC)gf

I am not sure why you are describing this person as a moderator or administrator when he isn't. He is an editor, and so are you. There is no difference between you: neither one has more rights or power. It's up to you to discuss it, and if you can't find a way to agree what should be in the article then use Wikipedia:Resolving disputes as stated. Your message "I'm merely suggesting finding a mod/admin/editor or whatever he is" suggests that people are appointed to be in charge of articles, and that isn't the case at all. A tip, which you may agree or disagree with at your whim: posting your views in capital letters does not make them more persuasive; it just makes them harder to read. Notinasnaid 18:44, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Hi there. No-one told me about this discussion... I have deleted comments, both pro- and anti-Fomenko from said talk page, which had nothing to do with the article and which in many cases were clogging up the page and preventing it from easily serving its real purpose (to discuss the article.) It was getting out of hand. Grandmasterka 04:13, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

This isn't the complaints page, this is where people get help with Wikipedia. If you have a problem with another editor you could take it up with him/her directly or try the dispute resolution process. If your only goal is to "make notice of" someone, we can't help you here. · rodii · 03:23, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Golf editing

I am a 27 year old that has caddied for 11 summers at a five star golf resort in the midwest. I have poked around this site and enjoy it quite a bit. I feel that I can add some golf lingo to the site, and I did a little of it today, see stinger and fried egg. I could expand these additions to links but I am looking for the encouragement that this is wanted. I don't know what you feel are valid references for additions, but from my experience I know these, and quite a few others to be correct. Please advise.

Rick Lipinski <email address removed>

I'm glad you like the site. Per Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a dictionary, simple definitions of terms are not appropriate. It sounds like you might know something about the particular resort you caddy at (which might or might not already have an article here). If your interest is in adding terminology definitions, you might consider contributing to Wiktionary. Directly answering your question, appropriate sources for information contained here are described at Wikipedia:Reliable sources. From my personal experience is almost always not sufficient. -- Rick Block (talk) 19:52, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tables on other wikis

This may not be the place to ask this; if not, please tell me where to ask. ... When one creates a table on Wikipedia, you can use the Class:Wikitable at the beginning to aid in formatting. Since this class is in the Commons, I'm assuming it works on all projects connected to the Commons. ... My question is: Can this formatting be used on a Wikia page? If not, is there a way to simulate such formatting? — Michael J 22:44, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

I've looked around, and think I can give a tentative "yes, Class:Wikitable can be used at Wikia". This answer is based on meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tables Wikimedia Help:Table and www.wikia.com/wiki/Help:Table Wikia Help:Table, which seem to imply that the class applies to any project using the Wikimedia source code. ;) 'Course, I might be wrong about that.
A practical test would probably be the quickest and easiest way to find out definitively. I recommend going to the Wikia sandbox and constructing a dummy table incorporating the Wikitable class. If it works, hooray! If not, then it's pretty likely that the class does not apply. Either way, you'd have a quick answer! You could also try doing a little rooting in www.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Help Wikia's help category, or try their IRC channel (listed as "Live chat and support" in the sidebar). Hope this helps! —PaperTruths (Talk) 09:39, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Citing Wikipedia articles in other articles

When researching an article, I often find a good citation in another Wikipedia article. Is it appropriate to cite another article as a source, especially when (like many, many articles) the cited article may not cite its sources itself? I couldn't find this addressed specifically in WP:CITE and WP:CW. --Ginkgo100 22:52, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

I believe this is not considered appropriate. In Wikipedia:Reliable sources, there is a line stating "Posts to bulletin boards and Usenet, wikis or messages left on blogs, are never acceptable as primary or secondary sources. This is because we have no way of knowing who has written or posted them. In the case of wikis, the current content of an article is not guaranteed, being freely editable."
Other Wikipedia articles on related topics may cite sources, however, that you would also find useful. They could potentially be very helpful in finding good sources, but I take the "reliable source" guideline to mean that internal references are not accepted. Hope this helps! —PaperTruths(Talk) 03:14, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deleting Proposals

How long do I have to wait before I move a proposal (of mine) to the "Rejected Proposals" category?--Lkjhgfdsa 22:55, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

  • That depends. Has it been discussed widely. Has it received wide-spread opposition? If you think there's no way it can be made a policy/guideline, It's probably a good idea to recategorize. Someone else can always revive the idea later. - Mgm|(talk) 08:56, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] May 30

[edit] Search history

How does one clear their search history on wikipedia? almaylis2002@yahoo.com---209.221.221.166

Just to clarify: are you talking about clearing the values that display/autofill in the "search" box on the left-hand column? I think these are kept by your browser - not Wikipedia. You should be able to delete the values there individually by using the arrow keys highlight them, then pressing shift-delete to remove them. Kuru talk 04:10, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tracking Changes?

How do I track a change made in a Wikipedia entry? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.54.54.178 (talkcontribs) 07:32, May 30, 2006 (UTC).

When you're logged in, you have a watchlist - just click on the "watch" button (middle top), and the page will added to your watchlist. — QuantumEleven 06:26, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
You can also use the new RSS or Atom feeds. When viewing the history for a page, you will find links to these in the "toolbox" on the left. You can also construct the URL; they look like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_Earth&action=history&feed=rss. Change the title to your article and if desired, change the feed to atom. — Knowledge Seeker 07:05, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Accounts in other languages

I just tried to use my signature on the talk page of an article on Spanish Wikipedia, where apparently I don't exist, even though I was logged in.

Is there any logical reason why we need to have different user names for different languages? If I want to participate in any way in Spanish (my native language) or translate articles, will I have to register again? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Atomsprengja (talkcontribs) 08:09, May 30, 2006 (UTC).

At the moment, yes - you need a different account for each Wikipedia. However, there is nothing stopping you from registering under the same username (eg Atomsprengja) on both Wikipedias - and there are plans afoot to make a common login for all, although the system is not ready yet. — QuantumEleven 06:29, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
m:single login specifications. -lethe talk + 06:31, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
There doesn't seem to be any content at that link. — Knowledge Seeker 07:07, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
fixed. -lethe talk + 07:17, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for that link, lethe! I'd been looking for it but couldn't find it... — QuantumEleven 07:34, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] James Ainslie

When was James Ainslie born. In the article that they have written here does not show when he was born or when he died. I need to find out soon as possible.


Thanx Ps Reply soon —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.178.149.183 (talk • contribs).

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. -- Natalya 11:25, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] submitting an article

Hello,

How do i submit an article?

many thanks —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nwarren (talk • contribs).

Wikipedia:Your first article and Help:Starting a new page should give you all the help you need. -- Natalya 11:26, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] please help

i understand that England are in common wealth with Nigeria so , can you be of help to me , through media that is financially

I don't think so, sorry. Notinasnaid 12:34, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] distasteful user page articles

I ran across this article: User:Shultz_IV/PIHNN (PIHNN stands for "People in Hell Now, Notable") that I find to be in very poor taste. However, it is on a user page, so maybe it's ok. Is anything ok on user pages? -Quasipalm 12:28, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, you can put anything you want on your user page, as long as it is appropiate for everyone to see. Just remember not to vandalize other users' user pages. See also Wikipedia:User page. — Brendenhull 12:44, 30 May 2006 (UTC)


Lauugghh, the guy has Gene Roddenberry in hell? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.36.92.155 (talkcontribs).

Actually, no, you cannot put "anything you want on your user page". Please see What can I not have on my user page?. User:Zoe|(talk) 18:15, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Shultz_IV has a ridiculous group of cruft subpages. This one in particular seems no less divisive than most userboxes. · rodii · 20:10, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
I de-linked the PIHNN subpage from my user talk page because I didn't want the community to have a poor opinion of me. I kept the subpage itself for historical reasons more or less. Rodii, what other subpages of mine do you consider "cruft" and why? --Shultz IV 23:22, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Replied on your talk page. · rodii · 02:18, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How do I use HTML links?

<a href>...</a> cannot be used to include links, as < is being converted to &lt; and > to &gt;, thereby preventing browsers from interpreting them as HTML tags. Is there any way to do this. Actually, I am trying to add custom tooltip to a link. Is there any other way to do this? If possible, please answer on my talk page. --soUmyaSch 16:18, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

(Also answered on talk page) On Wikipedia, it is usually better to use Wiki markup than HTML. That link should show you the syntax needed. -- Natalya 17:59, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How do I delete a picture from "my talk"

There is a pornographic picture in my section of "my talk" that I would like to delete. I don't know how it got to be there but I need to get it away. Please let me know what to do.

--Saxbyc 17:47, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

A vandal, User:Grolschguy (blocked) has been going around redirecting people's user pages to that particular image. You appear to be one of their victims. I've removed the redirect. Cheers, Tangotango 17:55, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Can someone please undo the rest of Grolshguy's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Grolschguy contribs? I'd do it, but I'm at work and should probably avoid getting that picture onscreen too much right now. —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 18:01, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
I'm on it... Ferkelparade π 18:02, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Thanks much! —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 18:05, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
All done :) -- Ferkelparade π 18:08, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Inserting articles from non-UK Wikipedia sites - Saulieu, Burgundy, France

Having searched around for an article on Saulieu, the capital town of Burgundy, France (it's referenced in a number of existing articles) I did some searching and found - the French Wiki site already has a suitable article: fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saulieu - OK, accepted in French! It's not a huge article, so translation would not be too much of a problem with my basic French. But what would be the best way to use the base text - could I tag it from the French Wiki by inserting a suitable tag (something along the lines of UK:Saulieu or similar???), or would it be better to create a new article? Thank you for your help - Rgds, - Trident13 18:36, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Translation into English will probably help guide you here... Shimgray | talk | 18:45, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Thank you - I have put in a request! Rgds, - Trident13 19:03, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Using userboxes for messages

I'm from Latin Wikibooks, and I'm trying to get people to join in. Would it be permissible to edit the babel templates for Latin-speakers ({{user la-0}} etc.) to say something like "If you are interested, please join in Latin Wikibooks."? The text would be in small, and would be taken off after a few days. What would be the general consensus on this idea? Daniel () 19:03, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Just my two cents, but I don't think that's really an intended use for Babel boxes. On the other hand, they certainly can help you find Latin-speakers. :) You might check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:User_la Category:User_la to find individuals you could invite to join Latin Wikibooks. {{user la-3}} and above have listed themselves as advanced-to-native-level speakers of Latin. It would take a bit of legwork, but personal invitations on talk pages would probably get you more interest.
It's also worth noting that a lot of people "subst:" their userboxes, so a change to the template might not show up on a lot of pages, anyway. And I dunno about anyone else, but I don't spend much time looking at my userboxes now that they're up! Hope this helps. —PaperTruths (Talk) 20:54, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] NO SHOW in search results

I had intiated a topic : "HealthGrid" in January, 2006. I wrote around 600 words but if i search wikipedia for this term, results do not fetch any link to "HealthGrid".

Why is it so ? Why is my contribution not showing up ? Sanjay P. Sood --spsood 19:08, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

It's right there at HealthGrid, it's just that Wikipedia's search index only updates very occasionally. If you use Google to search, which updates more regularly and is superior to Wikipedia's search in other ways, it comes up fine. www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=site%3Ahttp://en.wikipedia.org+HealthGrid&btnG=Google+Search&meta= You can also go straight to it by typing 'HealthGrid' in the search box and clicking 'Go' (not 'Search'), or typing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HealthGrid in your browser's URL bar. --Sam Blanning(talk) 19:32, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Copyright problem with image

I wish to upload an image of composer/arranger Sammy Nestico for inclusion on his page. THe image exists on the cover of an arrangement of his that I have purchased. Is it legitimate for me to upload and use this image? THanks.--Light current 19:29, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

This is fair use under US copyright law. Computerjoe's talk 19:34, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] hoping not to add insult to injury

i LOVE wikipedia. i would like to help with editing, but don't know where to start. surely there is a list or something of easy places to start helping. i'm sorry if this doesn't make sense. . . i just don't want to make things worse. . .GypsieSoul420 (formerly gypsie) 19:34, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

You could cleanup or even just fix typos. You could even make an article! Computerjoe's talk 19:35, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Wikipedia:Community portal has lots of good areas if you click on 'To do lists' - it includes ideas not just for editing or creating articles, but also helping with images and giving your opinion on articles where editors can't agree what to do. To learn the basics of editing Wikipedia, Wikipedia:Tutorial is a good start. --Sam Blanning(talk) 19:39, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Searching Wikipedia from an external site

I am in the process of designing a website and would like to be able to add a Wikipedia search box to the homepage. I've looked on Google etc. but have been unable to find example code to use. I've tried using the code directly from the navigation bar down the left but it appears that this only works from within the Wikipedia domain.

Does anyone know if this is possible, and if so are there any examples anyone knows of that I could use as reference? Also, I am I right in assuming there are no copyright/legal issues with adding a search box to my site since Wikipedia is free to use?

Thanks for any help, Jack

--86.2.102.175 19:39, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

I'll write you the code, hang on. Computerjoe's talk 19:41, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
joeuk.pastebin.com/747534 There you are. Computerjoe's talk 19:46, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

That's brilliant, thanks very much. --86.2.102.175 19:54, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

You're welcome! Computerjoe's talk 20:26, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Redirects

Hello, I have a few questions about redirects. These can be best represented by these 2 examples which I can then extrapolate to similar circumstances.

For the redirect page from Kenny Brack to Kenny Bräck, is it appropriate for me to add {{R from title without diacritics}} and also to update pages which currently use this link to point directly to the redirect target?

For the redirect page from Sam Hornish Jr. to Sam Hornish, Jr., I have the same basic question, but I do not know the correct redirect template to use. Is it appropriate for me to add one at your suggestion and also to update pages which currently use this link to point directly to the redirect target?

Thanks for your help. --Brian G 00:45, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

I think all of your questions are answered at Wikipedia:Redirect. The short version is: yes, no, R from alternate spelling, and no. -- Rick Block (talk) 04:27, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
OK. So, I looked at Wikipedia:Redirect and it seems to imply that pages should not be updated unless they are unprintworthy redirects, but if I am seeing correctly, both R from title without diacritics and R from alternate spelling are unprintworthy and on the template page for R from title without diacritics, it says "Other pages using this link should be updated to replace text with the redirect target ". Could you please clarify?
Ah, sorry about that. It's actually more complicated that a straight yes/no. Usage of diacritics is controversial, see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English). My opinion (and I am but one editor) is that since it's controversial it's hardly worth chasing down and stamping out all non-diacritic links. Category:Redirects from title without diacritics indeed says this should be done, although I'm not aware of any policy or guideline that supports this view. A better answer to the should you update the pages questions (both, actually) is use your best judgement. -- Rick Block (talk) 14:19, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] May 31

[edit] Posting/submitting a question

Sorry to be so dumb - but after I type in a question, sign it, save page, preview it... how do I SEND the page? Totally new here but fascinated - hope to learn eventually. Hening --Hening 02:02, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

As soon as you click "Save page" and are taken back to the page you've just edited, the change is made! :) It's really that simple. If you want to preview, do that before you click "Save page", since saving makes the change global. For a place to practice, as well as a walkthrough for the basics of Wikipedia, may I recommend checking out Introduction? It lays things out clearly, and I think you'd find it very helpful. We look forward to seeing your contributions to Wikipedia! —PaperTruths (Talk) 02:29, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Copyright on images??

Hi... I am an Education Uni student and wanting to use images from Wikipedia for my computer assignment (Digital Portfolio). Can I? How to reference? What images can i and can't i use? Do i just have to link to the site from where i got it, or can i place the image in my assignment and then reference the person who took it etc??? PS... I have tried to find out this information at the Help Desk copyright page, but could not understand what it all meant. Cheers. Amanda

Hi! Click on the image that you want to use and you will be taken to the image description page, which should contain the information you need. Generally speaking there are three categories of images at wikipedia: 1) Public domain images, which you can use as you want; 2) Fair use images, which are copyright images that we don't have permission to use, but for which the uploader of the image has asserted that he/she believes that use on wikipedia qualifies as 'fair use' under copyright law--you are probably safest not using these images; 3) Copyright images that have been uploaded by the copyright holder and licenced under a free licences--for these you need to read the terms of the licence, but generally giving credit to the author and saying that you got the image from wikipedia (give the full URL of the image) is likely to be enough. JeremyA 03:11, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
Not for GFDL (you need to include the full lisence there which is why it sucks for reuse).Geni 03:17, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Searching the help articles

Is there a way to search the help articles — i.e., the Wikipedia: pages? For instance, I'm looking for the coding to add footnote references, but searching only takes me to actual Wikipedia entries. (While a link to that page would be helpful, it'd be most helpful to know how to easily search the how-to guides.) Thanks. Dmp348 03:54, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

You can change the namespaces that are searched in your preferences, and then do your search with Wikipedia's search function. The selection of namespaces shows up after you unsuccessfully search for something as well (a little weird, but it works). You can also enter a string in google to do something similar, e.g. search for site:http://en.wikipedia.org "wiki/help" footnote (the string wiki/help matches a portion of the URL for articles in the help namespace). -- Rick Block (talk) 04:21, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reference Question

I recently encountered the article Kanon Pokajanen and did some copyediting to remove POV's and tidy up the prose. I also left a message on the author's talk page thanking him for the article and asking for some further clarification of some points. On his user page, I read that he had recently written his thesis on Kanon Pokajanen. I then realized that the one reference cited in the article is his own thesis. Is this okay? Surely he must have other better references if he wrote a thesis on the piece which I could ask him for, but I'm just wondering if this is alright by vanity standards. Plus, I think it would be quite difficult to verify a source which is an undergraduate college essay, not that there's anything wrong with the essay. Thanks for the advice. -- MarkBuckles 04:27, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

  • I wouldn't say using your own thesis as a source is okay. Verification for, say, a Dutchman if it's an American thesis is near impossible. I would ask him to mention the sources he used to write the thesis to begin with. - Mgm|(talk) 04:52, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
  • I would nuance that a little bit. The standard is verifiability, not document type. Linking to an unpublished thesis is questionable, but doctoral dissertations (in the US at least) are usually required to be "published" in some sense--by University Microfilms if nowhere else--and are thus in principle verifiable. Even in the hypothetical case Mgm cites, it's still likely to be possible for someone to verify it. If it's truly not verifable, or if it's an undergraduate thesis, which would not typically be published, not so much. · rodii · 03:31, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] minor edits on closed pages

I'm new. I have used the Sandbox feature but can't seem to work on real pages. I want to post a minor grammatical edit on the "Abortion" page. The talk page doesn't seem to be the place to do minor edits but the page is protected. How can I do this? Mrplastic 05:13, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Semi-protection policy says that unregisterd users or new users (ones less than 4 days old) can't edit some pages. Abortion is a controversial topic and is subject to vandalism and as such is semi-protected to cut down on vandalism. If you post the changes you want to make here I can help make them for you. Harryboyles 05:48, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
The change that I would like to make is in Abortion under "Sex-selective abortion". Where it currently says "...there is also a historic..." in the last paragraph, I think it should read "...there is also an historic...". Thanks for your help. Mrplastic 06:59, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
Done. And soon you'll be able to make these changes for yourself. Harryboyles 07:16, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
It might be worth adding that this grammar is also controversial. There is a lot of debate about whether "an historical" or "a historical" is the correct English. Notinasnaid 08:05, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Disambiguation?

How do you make a disambig link (in this case on asteroids) Also, why did tawkerbot2 rv my edit there? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.197.2.40 (talkcontribs).

Your edit was reverted because there already exists a page for the game Asteroids (game). You can see the link to it at the top of the page. This is a common method of disambiguating for terms that have two or three meanings. Anything with more meanings, and you'd want to create an "X (disambiguation)" page for it, kind of like Chicago (disambiguation), which refers to a city, a band, a font, a poker game, etc.
Also, you were discussing the article (adding the pictures, etc.), and that belongs on a talk page anyway. tiZom(2¢) 07:04, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] adding a new term to your encyclopedia

Hello, I wish to add a new term to your encyclopedia. How can I do that? zoe

email address removed - do you really want to get spammed? - ulayiti (talk) 07:41, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a dictionary. However you're welcome to add your term to our sister dictionary en.wikionary.org/Main_Page Wiktionary Harryboyles 07:20, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Can you hide minor edits in Special:Contributions?

Is there a way to hide the minor edits while looking at a user's contributions? I tried sticking &hideminor=1 on the end of the url (as it does when you hide them on the Recent changes page), but that didn't work. Is there a way to? -Goldom 莨夊ゥア 謚慕ィソ 07:52, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What template to use?

I've looked through the templates, but am still confused about what is the appropriate one to use in this situation. Basically, an article that was right, is now partly wrong, because something in the world has changed. In this case a road's code name (eg: M1) has changed recently, and the information in the article needs to be updated to suit. Unfortunatly, it contains images, which I am not capable of updating. So what do I need to do so I can alert somebody that for this article X needs to be changed to Y. Do I also need to list it in any catagories explicitly? --DanielBC 10:00, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

A quick look in Category:Wikipedia maintenance templates turns up Template:Out of date. --Sam Blanning(talk) 11:11, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
Thanks, that is the suitable one. I was looking in Wikipedia:Template_messages/Maintenance! Is there a reason the above template isn't included here? Thanks again Sam. --DanielBC 03:19, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sockpuppets and false accusations

Recently somebody mentioned that my name appeared as a sockpuppet of the "surrealist vandal". As I am a surrealist, but have never been any kind of a sockpuppet to anybody and am a real person I am somewhat offended by this.

What is worse, this actually appears on the web when you google my name and when you follow the link my name appears alongside those of several other people known to me to be of good repute and who are associated with the surrealist movement.

I can guess who the culprit is, but given that many of these things are so hard to prove, shall not mention anything more at present, but i would very much like to know how I can appeal on this matter and have this slur on my character removed.

Anybody who googles "Stuart Inman" will see that I am a real person, that I have presented papers at various conferences as well as been involved in surrealist activities with the London Surrealist Group.

Stuart Inman

Hi 193.60.75.129 - thanks for your edit to the Help desk: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Help_desk&diff=prev&oldid=56104445. Are you able to log into the account User:Stuart Inman on Wikipedia? If you could, I will unblock the account so you can use it on Wikipedia if you wish. The last time it edited was in January 2006.
Now, I don't have the technical ability to available to me to figure out who created these accounts. Here is a brief background on their blocking. Around 3-4 months ago, a set of accounts were created with the real names of surrealists, and these accounts were used for only vandalism on Wikipedia. For this reason they were blocked. Accounts which edited in an identical fashion to those blocked were also blocked.
At the moment, what I have done is updated the page describing this vandalism to say that their names on Wikipedia have been blocked, but that these names may not have anything to do with notable people who have those names. I hope making this clear will alleviate your concerns. Also, if you could get back to me at your convenience on my talk page, that would be great. I can help you better if you can give me more feedback on what you would like to be done in addition to the things I have mentioned above. Regards, HappyCamper 16:05, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Personal Picture

I want to add some personal pictures for use on my User Page. Can I link to other pictures, hoasted on an external website, or do I have to upload them to Wikipedia? If I have to upload them to Wikipedia, then how and where do I upload them? Please answer also on my Talk Page. Thank-you. JP Godfrey 14:06, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Hi, you'll need to upload the images to Wikipedia under a free license first. Use Special:Upload for this. See Wikipedia:Picture tutorial on how to put images in your pages. Cross-posted on user talk page - Tangotango 14:09, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Need help dealing with a user

I got into a dispute with User:162.84.182.78 while editing the LeToya Luckett article as the user refused to follow Wiki policy and continually reverted my edits when i tried to clean up the article. The user was eventually banned for attacking me and vandalizing my user and talk pages several times. Now, they have returned with a registered name, User:Musicbusiness, and are once again continually reverting my edits at the article. They are reverting to a version http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=LeToya_Luckett&diff=56144619&oldid=56050621 with an unencylopedic "Random Trivia" section that includes POV statements and a list of all the artists/producers Luckett has ever collaborated with. I would like to clean this article up further as it is filled with fancrfut, but I cannot with this user continually reverting my edits. I have once again tried to talk to them about Wiki policy, but they refuse to listen. The vandalism isn't clear enough to be reported at Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism and i'm not sure if an Rfc is the right thing to do. Is there anything else that can be done? --Musicpvm 17:18, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

  • I've had a look over the edit history, and I'd suggest RfC is exactly the way to go. You yourself breached 3RR yesterday, which I trust nobody will beat you up about, but is a sign that you might need more pairs of eyes looking at the article: or even that you're getting a bit too tied up in it. That trivia section isn't so outrageously bad that an admin will necessarily agree with your discription as "vandalism". I agree you've done great work on this article and you shouldn't be bullied away from it. In my experience RfCs attract enough people who will look at the whole situation pretty objectively. Take it there. AndyJones 20:36, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
    • Thanks for replying. I'll take your advice and file an RfC. --Musicpvm 03:04, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tip f the day to my user page.

Is there a way to add the tip of the day, the picture of the day, the featured article of the day, on this day and did you know to my user page. My user page is -- User:Siddhant. Thank you in advance. --Siddhant 18:27, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Here's a table with the various elements
Element Code
Featured article {{Wikipedia:Today's featured article/{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTDAY}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}
Did you know? {{Did you know}}
On this day {{Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTDAY}}}}
Featured picture {{Wikipedia:POTD row/{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTDAY}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}
Tip of the day {{Tip of the day}} (unboxed) or {{totd}} (boxed)
--Max Talk (add) 19:02, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
You can alsoe use {{totd b}} or {{totd3}} for the tip of the day. --Hetar 19:21, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Block log

I clicked on the block log on a user just to see what the button did. Did I block them by accident? I do hope it's not that easy. Thanks. Americasroof 18:51, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

  • Nope, you're fine. Only administrators have access to the block function, so about all you can do with the logs is look at them. –Abe Dashiell (t/c) 19:02, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] in what year did christopher columbus discover america?

in what year did chrstopher columbus discover america?

Did you check the article Christopher Columbus? Goplat 19:47, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Music Question about Madonna

I noticed on here the other day that Jump was listed as a single release in 2006. Now I see that it has been taken off. I know that users, or anyone for that matter can edit these screens (although hopefully the information is correct), so I just would like to know if this is true. Is Jump going to be released as a future single?

thank you

You can answer me at <email removed to prevent spamming> —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.19.182.140 (talkcontribs).

You'll be best asking that question at the Madonna talk page. Otherwise, Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. -- Natalya 21:48, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Aligning Lists

Ok... I am trying to make 3 lists, how do I align them so they are in the same row with the 1st on the left of the page, the 2nd dead center of the page and 3rd on the far right of the page?--DivineShadow218 22:07, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

I think what you might be looking for is a table. Try checking out these links:
Hope this helps! —PaperTruths (Talk) 22:25, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

I dont want a table... I want to put a list at the center of the page while keeping the items on the list alined to the left like... this but with out using the colon.

List
  1. a
  2. b
  3. c

--DivineShadow218 00:08, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

You mean like this?

  1. a
  2. b
  3. c
  1. d
  2. e
  3. f
  1. g
  2. h
  3. i

This is done using a table. It's difficult to make the list numbering continuous across columns without using hard numbers for the list items. -- Rick Block (talk) 01:32, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Yes thank you.--DivineShadow218 04:53, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Need Urgent Help!

For some reason, I can't add/edit pages or sections with more than a few words. Pacific Coast Highway blahmy tracks 22:45, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

What happens with pages that have more than a few words? -Will Beback 23:00, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Response

The browser does not submit the edit, and loads continously. Pacific Coast Highway blahmy tracks 23:48, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] new watchlist format too recent

I've recently changed to the new watchlist format in my preferences. You know, the format that's like Special:Recentchanges, with a collapsible triangle hiding multiple edits to a single page, instead of showing only the most recent edit to that page. Now my watchlist only shows changes about 3 hours old, no matter what time scale I choose (my default is 3 days, choosing 7 days doesn't help). What gives? I want to see all edits up to the last time I viewed my watchlist, but the new format, while definitely cooler than the old, does not allow me to do this. -lethe talk + 22:47, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't know for sure, but there is a setting called "Number of edits to show in expanded watchlist: " related to the new watchlist format. Try increasing that number. Don't overdo it since huge watchlists (if you have that) demand lots of server power from wikimedia. Sverdrup❞ 13:33, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How do i make new page?

I want to create a new page and i have checked help but i cannot find anywhere about how to actually go about making a new topic?

If want to create a new page, you can type in the url http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAMEOFNEWARTICLE where NAMEOFNEWARTICLE is the name of your new article! Read Help:Starting a new page for more information. GizzaChat © 23:19, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
Gizza's advice only works if you have an account. If you don't have an account, consider getting one, or else visit WP:AfC. -lethe talk + 23:36, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Made and edit told to wikify don't know if I did.

Being a fan of the actor Chris Sarandon I saw his entry was a stub. I did research got 2 sources or more sources for information and edited the article and expanded on it. I don't know if it's still a stub. It now has 982 words. I checked back and it said the article needed to be wicified. I tried reading all the rules but am a little slow in understanding rules but took the time to make sure all the pertinent words were linked. I also cleaned up spelling.

But I don't know if it's been wikified. The information is valid. Should I leave it as is and if someone wants to make sure it conforms to Wikipedia formats and perhaps corrects any bad grammer I may have used.

I think I have expanded the article on Mr. Sarandon in a positive way but don't know if I have the energy to go understand all the rules and fix it so it's a perfect wikipedia article. It certainly gives more information and insight in a easy to read manner.

Thank you Barry

When you put double square brackets around key words in your article, they become links. For example, I just changed "Chris Sarandon" in your text to "[[Chris Sarandon]]". Now it's a link to your article. Every article should contain these links, where relevant. See WP:WFY for more information. Once this is done, your article will be said to be wikified, and will then be a Wikipedia article in good standing. -lethe talk + 23:38, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
Hmm... I looked at the article, and it looks plenty wikified to me. I don't know why that notice was added. You might ask on the talk page of the article, or the talk page of the user who added the template, in this case another anonymous editor 68.191.7.126 (talk contribs). Perhaps the anon didn't quite know what he was doing and you should just delete the notice.
I took a look at the article and saw that it was well linked so I removed the tag. I also removed words such as "handsome" and "talented" since we try to maintain a neutral point of view here. Take abortion for instance, we can't say it's wrong of someone to get one, but we can't say it's okay either. We have to provide the information in the articles in a neutral tone. This includes what we say about actors since saying someone is handsome or talented is a matter of opinion. And lastly, I changed around the wording of the article since a quick Google search showed me that at least one sentence was a direct copy of the biography for Sarandon at the Internet Movie Database. (IMDb was having issues at the time so I couldn't see the whole bio, so I just rewrote the whole thing) The reason I changed this is because of plagiarism. In much the same way that you can't copy information word for word from a book and hand it in as a paper for a class or in a report for your boss, we can't simply just copy someone else's work. We use IMDb as a reference but we can't directly copy the biographies and such. I hope this helps you understand what I did with the article and why. It's really not hard. Once you've edited a few articles, you'll catch on.
Also, I left a welcome message on your talk page. Check out the links I provided and have fun with Wikipedia! Welcome, Dismas|(talk) 01:24, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] June 1

[edit] Price Inquiry

what was the price of a new 1972 Camaro Specifically on the Price IS Right Game show —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.49.215.163 (talk • contribs).

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. -- Natalya 02:27, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Images

Yells at soup wants to know how to create an image. He didn't know where to take it, so he asked me to do it. ForestH2

It depends what is meant by "create an image". To use an image in an article, he can take a look at the correct image syntax. If he wants to upload an image, Wikipedia:Uploading images gives instructions on how to go about doing that. -- Natalya 02:29, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Images not displaying in Firefox

When I browse from home with Firefox (v 1.5.0.3), none of the Images actually display. I have http://en.wikipedia.org in the list of sites allowed to load images. Is there another site they are commonly coming from? If not, what other settings might I look at to solve this non-display issue? GRBerry 03:09, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Look for the Third party images setting. Make sure it's on. Wikipedia's images are loaded from commons.wikimedia.org add that. The usual setting is found at; Tools, Option, Web Features, (check) Load Images, (uncheck) for the origination web site only. -- Wirelain 03:31, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] log in issue

hello , I created an account/username "MTC" and was able to access it once but cannot access it the past 6-8 attempts and was needing to some research on my saved pages

can you please assist me with this ?? my password doesnt work either ???

thank you for your time !!!

mike t chambers 65.100.176.64 04:47, 1 June 2006 (UTC) username = MTC email = (*removed - SPAM target*)

You can still access your user pages by going to http:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:(insert username here). As to logging in, if you entered in your email address in the preferences section you can click on Email password on the log in page. 211.31.76.176 07:19, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Piano age or manufacture date

When was the Baldwin Acrosonic Piano with serial number 426714 manufactured?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.152.106.216 (talk • contribs) 20:13, 31 May 2006.

Have you tried contacting Baldwin (the makers of the piano) directly. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia not an archive. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Harryboyles (talkcontribs) 21:16, 31 May 2006.
You could also try asking the question at the Reference Desk; there are people there who like challenging questions. (No guarantees about getting an answer, but they might be able to point you in the right direction.) This page – the Help Desk – is where you can ask questions about how to use Wikipedia itself. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 17:29, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bizarre index.php handling

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but it doesn't seem to fall under the scope of the computer help desk so here goes. I use Firefox 1.5.0.3 and IE 5.50.4807.2300 along with the pop-ups tool. Just of late both of them have started acting up w.r.t. to editing in Wikipedia. I can edit sections of articles, but I cannot edit this page, nor can I view diff pages. Every time I try to do this it prompts me to download or "open with..." the index.php file. What's strange is that the only difference between editing a page and editing a section is the addition of "&section=###" to the end of the url. Any ideas? I don't recall making any changes to either browser. I noticed this behaviour on my cousin's PC which I occasionally use as well, so it's either something I did which I thought was insignificant, or something's up with WP (which I doubt judging by the normal flow of activity), or maybe someone changed settings in the pop-up tool?

p.s. whenever I open ANY wikipedia page in IE it comes up with this message:

A Runtime Error has occured.
Do you wish to Debug?

Line: 7
Error: 'Edit Tool' is undefined

I first noticed this behaviour when I visited webmessenger.msn.com/ and attempted to sign in. I'm pretty sure I've browsed this site on all 3 PC's but I don't see how it can be relevant. Please help! Zunaid 08:06, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

The first behaviour (opening index.php) is symptomatic of ticking "user extenral editor" in your preferences. Untick that option. Not sure about the popups, might be best to ask at the popups talk page: Wikipedia talk:Tools/Navigation popups.--Commander Keane 08:19, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks! it was the preferences setting :) Zunaid 12:04, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Project

Hello my name is Clara:I am a student of computer science who has to do a projecto of end of course and I like to collaborate with you, but my application has to use mas programming and fewer text. I like work on the topics of history and I will talk of the history and of the prominent figures of this moment and explaining his biography. My favorit topic is Acient Egipt.Thank you very much for her attention and I wait for her response soon.

Erm - Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, I'm not sure how you intend to 'cooperate' with 'us' (whoever 'us' is). However, you may find some of the articles on Wikipedia interesting reading to get you started on a topic (for instance: Ancient Egypt). If you have any specific questions on a subject, you can try posting to the Reference desk, where they will be glad to help you with any sticky points. Good luck with your project! — QuantumEleven 09:49, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

i want the text and commentries on the following:

1. The european union directives on the following: —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.144.1.84 (talk • contribs) .

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). However, please do your own homework. If you need help with a specific part or concept of your homework, feel free to ask, but please do not post entire homework questions and expect us to give you the answers. SCHZMO 19:18, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How many hyperlinks?

Just a quick question on hyperlinks:

When using hyperlinks in an article (to other wikipedia pages) how many times should a word be hyperlinked if it appears more than once in the article. From what I have seen looking at other pages its a custom to only link the first time the word is used, but on a list this seems messy e.g.

Recent winners

Should it look like this or should all of it be hyperlinked?

--The Spith 12:36, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

I think you're right, all of it should be linked. First, for some general guidelines on the type of list you're making check out Wikipedia:Embedded list. Wikipedia:Manual of Style (lists of works) links to several articles that have examples of good lists in them, and some of them repeat linked information (such as the year, the album, or even the director). --Hetar 14:54, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

how can I opent the link in the new window?

[edit] how should i link the page so that it will show in the new window?

How should I like my wiki to the page so that it will show up in the in window?

  • It is not possible, or generally desirable, to internally link an article so that it appears in a new window — such manipulations of a user's browsing experience are generally unpopular with web users. If that's not what you're asking, please re-state the question. I hope that helps. — Estarriol talk 15:39, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
You can always right-click the link and select "Open in New Window" SCHZMO 19:15, 1 June 2006 (UTC)


ok, let me re-state the question: how should I put the URL in my wiki, so that when people click on the link, the new window will open. The point is I don't want to loose the visitors from my site.'

Ate you asking about linking to Wikipedia from another website? That's not exactly a helpdesk question, but while I'm here...this behaviour is controlled by the "target" attribute. For a link to open in a new window, use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Wikipedia</a>. But as the others have pointed out, popup windows tend to be unpopular with web surfers, so be careful how you implement it -- Ferkelparade π 20:55, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

thanks. I tried the same thing, but it turned out the whole writing shows on the wiki page. Could that be something wrong with my setting?

  • Do you really mean your 'wiki' or just your 'page'? A wiki is a type of website, not a page - for example, all of the English Wikipedia is one wiki. Also, it might help if you could be more specific - what URL do you want to link to, and where do you want to put the link? --Kwekubo 22:16, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
  • I think this user is asking how to make a wikilink that has the same behavior as the standard HTML A TARGET="new". As far as I know, the answer is that you can't do that. · rodii · 12:27, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] In an article....

Should an article about a small town contain information such as the presence of it's schools? These aren't terribly notable schools, mind you. They are merely the town's local middle and high schools. Is it necessary to add them in there? Delta 19:24, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Necessary? No. Helpful and relevant? Yes. Especially if the schools have articles. Dismas|(talk) 19:26, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
Given that a lot of high schools (and some middle schools) have their own articles on Wikipedia, I'm sure it would be worth mentioning the schools on the town's page. SCHZMO 20:44, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rion Causey entry

I do not believe this entry should be deleted. Causey was NOT a minor player in his unit. As a medic, he is extremely qualified to observe and be aware of casualties. Causey was interviewed by competent reporters of the Blade for their very important story. He is an educated and trained observor, and his material should be kept on line. The Blade summarizes that <One of the people who witnessed the atrocities 36 years ago, former Tiger Force medic Rion Causey, told The Blade recently it was time that the Tiger Force story was told.

"I tried to tell people about this 30 years ago. It was hard for them to believe. I'm grateful in many ways this is coming out. It needed to come out. It needed to. I lived with this a long time.">

Unfortuneately, I am new to your process, and can't seem to remove the "should be deleted" label from the Causey article. Please do this on my behalf. Thanks, Freeman Allan

  • I've done that for you. Don't be surprised if someone puts this up for discussion at Articles For Deletion, though. AndyJones 21:34, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Who is the author of this site?

Who is the original founder of Wikipedia?

  • The author and the founder are two very different things. If you need to cite Wikipedia, use the cite this page link to the left. Wikipedia is collaboratively written by a group of volunteers, so there's no single author for any article. Wikipedia's founder is Jimmy Wales. See Wikipedia for more info. - Mgm|(talk) 21:58, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] June 2

[edit] Getting Columns on my User Page

Hey guys, my first visit to this help desk. I have a list of all the articles I've created on my user page alphabetized. I'd like to get them in 3 columns so that my page isn't quite so long to print and view. How should I set about doing this? Ben Tibbetts 01:39, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

You could create a table with 3 columns. You can do this in HTML or use wiki table markup as described at Help:Table. SCHZMO 02:34, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
Thank you, much obliged. Ben Tibbetts 02:59, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question

I have found an article in need of extensive improvement with citation and content. I'm just familiar enough with the concept to know the page is inadaquate but not really well read enough to fix it myself. How do I flag the article as in need of cleaning up or citation?


Greg Allen

You can tag the article with {{cleanup-date|June 2006}} and/or {{unreferenced}}. --Hetar 05:18, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Commons

How do I create a link from Wikipedia to the main page of the Commons? -- MarkBuckles 09:06, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Even something as simple as commons: should work. No need to specify the name of the main page (may vary from wiki to wiki, depending on translations). Sverdrup❞ 12:10, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Redirects and old meta pages

Hi! I have a question about redirects. If I redirect page A to page B, what happens to the discussion and history pages for A? As I understand it at the moment, the history is merged with history B; is that correct? And would discussion A be deleted, merged, or remain completely intact? Thanks, and sorry for the newbie question! :)

No, the history is not merged, and neither does the talk page disappear - article A still exists complete with its history and talk page, only its content has changed to #redirect [[B]]. You can still access and edit article A by typing "A" in the search box, then clicking on the "redirected from A" at the top of article B. -- Ferkelparade π 09:31, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] pre historical painting

I just read article about cave painting.< I would like to know if were never find that kind of painting in asiatic places ( japan, korea, China , taiwan etc etc.) Thank u in advance. C.

Yes, there is plenty of prehistoric art in Asia but I think the paintings in caves were more predominant in Europe and other places. SCHZMO 19:43, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] airplane fare

how much is the airplane fare from toronto to ethiopia

Please see Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous. Computerjoe's talk 16:53, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] isert picture

i creat a page in wikipedia but i don know how i put my picture to my page could you help me

Once you have uploaded your image, simply add the following text to your page: [[Image:ImageName]] More info can be found at Help:Contents/Images and media. --Hetar 16:35, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Joseph Paige Upton

Looking for Joesph Paige Upton..?? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 204.8.195.103 (talk • contribs) .

He doesn't have a page on Wikipedia. It might help to let us know who he is. SCHZMO 19:45, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lost/Deleted image

There was an image in one of my userboxes (User No Secondhand Smoke), to be exact, that no longer exists. I looked, but I can't find it listed in any recent images for deletion proposals. How would I find it if was moved, or how would I find the discussion if it was deleted? —Akrabbimtalk 18:40, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, I don't see it in the Deletion log anywhere but it could have been deleted if it was a fair use image, or if no source or license information was provided. --Hetar 18:46, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
How could it be gone if its not in the deletion log? —Akrabbimtalk 18:55, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
It was deleted from commons, see commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&type=delete&page=Image:UserboxNoSmoke.png. -- Rick Block (talk) 18:56, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] where to download music from?

where to download the free songs from?

Have you tried the Miscellaneous section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Miscellaneous&action=edit&section=new&editintro=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/How_to_ask click here. I hope this helps. SCHZMO 20:39, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rejoin a split page

How would I propose to rejoin a page that was split before a concensous was reached Hypernick1980 20:15, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

You could post a message on the talk pages of the articles produced from the split. SCHZMO 20:43, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Picture of the day

Hello, I might be really stupid, but can somebody explain me (easily) how to add the Picture of the day to a homepage?

"The picture of the day is an image which is dynamically updated each day with an image from Wikipedia:Featured pictures. You can insert the image on your user page or talk page by adding the text {{Pic of the day}}. It will be displayed in a box of no more than 600 pixels wide, and will include a small amount of text based on the article in which the image appears. For those of you that want the no-text version, use {{POTD}}." This isn't helping me, becuase when I entered {{Pic of the day}} in my html editor nothing happened, so please!

You can only use the templates and other wiki markup within Wikipedia pages, not in any external editor. - ulayiti (talk) 20:38, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Cabal

Does the Cabal exist? Computerjoe's talk 20:26, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

According to Cabal (set theory), "Organization and procedures range from informal to nonexistent, so it is difficult to say whether it still exists or exactly who has been a member..." SCHZMO 20:37, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
There Is No Cabal. At least that's what we're telling you... - ulayiti (talk) 20:40, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
See Wikipedia:Words_of_wisdom#There_is_only_a_cabal_if_you_want_there_to_be_one. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 00:30, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
I think Charles II of England may have thought that there was a cabal. User:Zoe|(talk) 03:09, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
Only the cabals that think they exist, exist. Oh, they ieist if you think the exist too. The one at WP:LOC may or may not think they exist. -- Wirelain 05:03, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] long articles

If I am constructing a long article, is there any way that I can label it "Under construction" so that I can leave it and come back next day to find it unread and un-edited?--Anthony.bradbury 23:13, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Not really, even if you can leave a note on the article's talk page. But why would you want to? Content on Wikipedia will be edited mercilessly, and that's also what our disclaimer says. If you want to edit text undisturbed, do it in a document on your computer and upload it when "finished". There will never be such a thing as a finished, owned or private article on Wikipedia though; once here, it's assimilated into our body of information. Sverdrup❞ 23:46, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
But an alternative is to build the article in user space. You make a Subpage of your userpage and use that to develop an article. (This is encouraged use of User space). Sverdrup❞ 23:49, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
Look at Wikipedia:Template messages/Maintenance#Articles undergoing major edits. The template you want is probably {{underconstruction}}. SCHZMO 23:50, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] June 3

[edit] Images

I am at present writing a series of articles on Victorian era British battleships. I know that photographs of these ships exist, as I have them in my reference sources, where they are of course protected by copyright. How can I find whether and where, images of these ships are available, and how can I upload them if they exist?--Anthony.bradbury 00:14, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Check out the page on images. It will tell you all about how to find and upload images. — Brendenhull (T + C) at 00:20, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
Specifically, Wikipedia:Public domain image resources and Wikipedia:Free image resources list some good places to look. --Hetar 00:25, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
It strikes me that the copyright on contemporary photographs of Victorian era battleships will have lapsed into the public domain by now, unless covered by some sort of perpetual Crown copyright....? While your reference sources may have incorporated these public domain images, they cannot claim copyright on them. Recent photographs made of preserved, older vessels will, of course, remain under copyright protection. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 00:25, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
Copyright on images is often defined by age from publication, though, not age from creation, so you'd have to show the photograph wasn't just discovered in an archive in 1987... Shimgray | talk | 11:43, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Didn't there used to be something like a RfC...

except that it was for doing about yourself (rather than by others with a problem with you), to request people comment on you, to try to improve before an RfA, or something like that? I came across it once a while back, and now can't find it again anywhere. -Goldom ‽‽‽ 00:36, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

I think you mean this. Wikipedia:Editor review. Garion96 (talk) 00:37, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks! I was searching through everything called Requests for... without any luck. -Goldom ‽‽‽ 04:14, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deleting my account

Hello, i'd like to delete my account, how do i do this? Also I keep getting messages about changes ive made, and vandalism, but I'm th only one who uses this computer. Whats going on? Thankyou --Conor 1025 01:05, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Strictly speaking, Wikipedia accounts cannot be deleted. I'm not sure why you are getting warnings about vandalism if you are not the one responsible. --Pilot|guy (roger that) 01:11, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

The accusations of vandalism are for edits such as these: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homosexuality&diff=prev&oldid=50407811 1, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Faggot&diff=prev&oldid=50407381 2, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia&diff=prev&oldid=50405573 3, and http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia&diff=prev&oldid=50409474 4. If these weren't made by you, then just change your password and remember to log out when you aren't using your computer. Dismas|(talk) 02:47, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

See m:Right to vanish. --Kwekubo 12:15, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mediation page on general Wiki space

Hi, me again. I saw a page about Wikipedia Mediation at Editing Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2006-06-03 Mr. Cookie talk page It looks out of place.

I don't know why it is in the main Wikipedia area. Should I notify a mediator or administrator that I found the page? --Starionwolf 02:10, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

I think the page has been deleted now. SCHZMO 02:20, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Ok. Thanks for the info. Bye --Starionwolf 02:21, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How much copyrighted text is too much?

What I mean is that an editor put in http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chloë_Sevigny&oldid=56608187 this edit. The biography section reads almost exactly like Sevigny's bio at www.imdb.com/name/nm001721/ IMDb. So would this still fail a copyright violation test? How much is too much? Dismas|(talk) 03:51, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Theoretically you should not use any of it. There really is no test or percentage that can be used. The easiest way to avoid copyright issues is to list out facts about the article. You can look up copyright FAQ on Wikipedia's Copyright FAQ. GWatsonTALK 04:00, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
The generally accepted figure is that you may use around ten percent of the text, or a low-resolution copy in the case of images. However, GWatson is right: you should always try to use as little copyrighted material as possible, or preferable none at all. In the case you mention, it might be worth rewriting the entire section you believe has been copied in your own words - or suggesting that the user that placed the text there do the same. RandyWang (raves/rants) 05:33, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How do I create an article?

My title sort of explanes my question. -User_talk:joefoolJoefool 04:27, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Your first article. Dismas|(talk) 04:29, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
There's also a very comprehensive walk through at Help:Starting_a_new_page. It will step you through the first steps. Just remember that you can always fix mistakes and it doesn't have to be perfect the first time. Good luck! Kuru talk 04:32, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
Two common ways are to; Type the article name in the search box and click go. if it does not exist, create it (after looking for alternate spellings). OR; type a link of any color (red page on purpose, don't create} and preview, once it's in the preview pane click the link. There are more out there, but those are my favorites. -- Wirelain 04:33, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
And the redlink on your signatue means your user page is blank too. -- Wirelain 04:37, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] quantum Vs classical mechanics

what is the separating line between qunatum mechanics and classical mechanics--59.95.97.115 04:44, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Please see the article mechanics 67.162.156.100 04:50, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
It might help to ask on the Science Reference Desk GWatsonTALK 04:53, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
It's at the crossover where a sample has enough of a group of quark sets and you begin to get an integrated average state and classical mechanics takes over. At least, that's my take on it. However, mechanics as suggested goes farther into detail. -- Wirelain 04:55, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] need help making my user page

Where can I find the set of tags templates that users use (such as 'this user is a native speaker of the english language') ADAM•THE•ATOM™ 07:15, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Language boxes are at WP:BABEL. All the rest can be found in WP:UBX. Please be aware there's something of a war going on over the use/appropriateness of userboxes, so you should either WP:SUBST them, or not be surprised if some get deleted. -Goldom ‽‽‽ 07:28, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
The language boxes are all right though, they're not gonna go anywhere. The rest might though, so it's not such a good idea to put huge numbers of them on your userpage. - ulayiti (talk) 11:09, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deleting stuff

How do i delete images i uploaded to wikipedia? i have uploaded them under the same name in the commons, so the articles using them wont be affected. i decided to start uploading my images to the commons so they can be used on other wikis if needed. the wikipedia copies are now redundant, frankly, im itching to remove them. •USER•ADAM THE ATOM•TALK• 08:00, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

  • Only admins can delete things. There is a tag to put on the wikipedia version of the images, to show they exist on the Commons, which is {{NowCommonsThis}} (assuming they're at same name, otherwise take off "This" and add "|namehere"). According to Wikipedia talk:Moving images to the Commons, there are reasons to leave them in both places, so they may not actually be deleted. -Goldom ‽‽‽ 08:11, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Editing problems

I've found a problem I can't fix on an article I've written on Les Tanner. A big box appears in the middle of the text which then stretches the text beyond the boundaries of the page. Can someone help with this problem because I can't seem to fix it. Also in the request for citations there are just so many references for Les Tanner, my father in both books, National libraries in AUstralia, newspaper articles and internet sites on all aspects of his career that the reference section now looks bigger than the article. How do I correct this? Thanks Judy Tanner

I've fixed that now. Is all this text written by you? Boxes like that often happens when something is copy/pasted into an article and the formatting gets messed up. If text is copied from somewhere else on the web or from another publication, we probably aren't allowed to keep it on Wikipedia. Inter\Echo 11:38, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
Also, Wikipedia:Your first article is a good place for general instructions on how to do things. Inter\Echo 11:41, 3 June 2006 (UTC)




[edit] Welcome committee

I would like to welcome the newcomers to Wikipedia... How do I know when a new person joins? Which page should I look on? Do I get some sort of alert? Thanks Lost 11:40, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Whenever you see a user whose name is red-linked, rather than blue that means they do not have a userpage (except for the very few people who force their signatures to appear red with markup)--that usually means they are new and may not yet have been welcomed. However, on certain pages, users' names and talk pages links are displayed--a red-linked talk page means they are new for sure. Probably the best place to find newcomers, and where you can see their talk page links is to hang out at Special:Newpages. However, I would not be indiscriminate about welcoming--look at the article they have created; if its vandalism, for instance, a welcome template might not be the right way to go. You can also find newcomers at Wikipedia:New contributors' help page among other places. Various welcome templates can be found at: Wikipedia:Welcome templates. Please remember to always substitute welcome templates when you use them. --Fuhghettaboutit 11:57, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks much Lost 12:06, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
Also see Wikipedia:Welcoming committee, which is one of several informal groups of Wikipedians that you may be interested in joining. --Ginkgo100 20:01, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Possible new user. How do I join? And related queries.

I'm not a registered user of Wikpedia, but I've done an odd bit of editing here and there. Mainly making small changes to the h2g2 article. And I've also improved text flow in a few places. (One problem of the Wiki freedom is that information is kludged together with no coherant style. As a hootoo researcher, where www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/Writing-Guidelines good writing is appreciated, I find that strange. But I'm getting used to it.)

Anyway, I'm gradually learning my way around this world and discovering what the buttons do. And, when I leave a note on a talk page I put in the four tildes you ask for and also, usually, sign my name thus: www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/U612575 TRiG.

And now we come to the meat of this small essay. When I visited the site last night I found a banner telling me that I had a message. I clicked it, and it was indeed directed to me, addressing me by the name of TRiG. A personallised welcome, inviting me to join the site. (Do you have www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/ACEs ACEs here too?) But I didn't have time to respond to it. I want to read it again, reply to it, and then, quite likely, join the site. But now I've seen it once, it's no longer new. So I no longer have the banner across the top of the page. And I canna find the blessed thing. Any suggestions?

www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/U612575 TRiG.87.232.43.104 13:16, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

The talk page of your ip number can be found here. User talk:87.232.43.104. Garion96 (talk) 13:21, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks. Now signed up.TRiG 13:36, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Disappearing articles?

[edit] Place Name link Style Guideline?

Should I link to Monroeville, Pennsylvania as two links for city, state; or should I link straight to Monroeville, Pennsylvania? I would have sworn I had read a style guideline preferring the two-link format, but I caan't find it now. Can someone point me to a style guide that says which I should use, and how I should link to other places (particularly non-US locations)? -- Mikeblas 13:41, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

This is not in the style guideline, but is proposed by a Wikiproject - see Wikipedia:WikiProject Location Format. -- Rick Block (talk) 16:10, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Links

Linking to a page with images It is possible to use images as links to other pages. For more information, see use an image as a link to a page. ??? I could not find this information. Pls reply also to --°ڊ° Wow 14:07, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

This is possible, see m:Help:Navigational_image, but unless there is a compelling need I'd suggest not doing this. -- Rick Block (talk) 16:21, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] editing/changing url

i tried replacing a dead link with the correct url, but it didn't work. how do i go about this? i simply replaced it as an edit -- is there more to it because it's a link?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Annandrola (talkcontribs) .

I'm not 100% sure what's going on but I checked your contribution list and found listed your edit to this page as your first and only edit. Are you sure you clicked the "Save Page" button after you finished editing?--Fuhghettaboutit 15:26, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What to do about people probably promoting their own works?

I've noticed that someone at a particular IP address - 217.247.243.144 - has just edited a whole lot of articles in order to add the following not-very-wikified (or very competent) entries:

INTERTEXT: ROMEO AND JULIET and WEST SIDE STORY

   * Bauch, Marc. THE AMERICAN MUSICAL. Marburg, Germany: Tectum Verlag, 2003.
   * Bauch, Marc. THEMES AND TOPICS OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL AFTER WORLD WAR II. Marburg, Germany: Tectum Verlag, 2001.

(Example above is from Romeo and Juliet, an article about Shakespeare's play, not about the American musical. Most of the other articles are about musicals.)

Looks like a vanity project to me. I could revert all these, of course, but is there a place where I can report this sort of thing? I've nosed around the FAQs and the Help desk and elsewhere, and haven't found any guidance. If there is any, where is it? Best wishes --GuillaumeTell 17:20, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

I would recommend leaving the user a nice warning message. If they continue their crusade, leave another warning message, a little more firm, and mentioning the possibility of a block. If they continue after a 3rd warning, it's probably vandalism by then, and can be listed at WP:AIV or WP:ANI. --Hetar 17:32, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
Yes, see http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&target=217.247.242.32 here. Every diff is a reference to those books. Amazon haven't heard of the author, see www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=nb_ss_gw/102-9233858-3977723?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Marc+Bauch&Go.x=9&Go.y=9 here. I've started removing. AndyJones 20:37, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

But the books contain analyses of SOUTH PACIFIC, WEST SIDE STORY and SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE as well as a general survey on the development of the American Musical. I would not remove the entries.

[edit] Editing titles of existed Wikipedias

How do you edit titles of existing Wikipedias, for example, films that have changed their titles recently? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Amynewyork4248 (talkcontribs) 19:10, 3 June 2006.

Use the "Move" link. But note that only logged-in users and users who have been around for a while have that capability. User:Zoe|(talk) 19:06, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
Just to clarify, Wikipedia is the name of this whole website, not the individual articles. --Kwekubo 19:50, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] HELP!!!!

Italic textHi, i'm using your information for a history essay, and i need the authors from "Mahatma Gandhi" and "Adolf Hitler" info, for a research log... please help me. I need an immediate response because if not... i can use your info.. and thrust me, its very useful!!!!!

please... here's my e-mail: << email removed for spam protection >>

Hi. It is not entirely clear what you mean, are you inquiring about the Wikipedia editors who contributed to those article? If so, you can find that information http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mahatma_Gandhi&action=history here and http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adolf_Hitler&action=history here. As you can see, there are a lot of contributors each adding some information, that is how Wikipedia works. You should not cite individual editors, however. If you want to know where these editors got their information from you can read the references as the bottom of the Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler pages. Or, if you simply want to know how to cite Wikipedia read Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. Hope that helps. Rockpocket 22:24, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Get a refund

I have spent two days tring to use µTorrent to download a movies and am unable to understand the instructions due to the fact as I follow what is shown I do not get the same results. I am dissatisfied and would like a refund of the $39.99 I paid. My email address is (removed). I am uninstalling all downloads now. Please let me know how I should proceed.

Sincerely Donna Davenport

I'm sorry you have been scammed. µTorrent is freeware, and you should not have paid a thing. 67.162.156.100 23:38, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
By making your email address public, you are likely to be scammed again. If you gave away your credit card details, you may wish to consider cancelling your credit card. This website has no connection with μTorrent, so you will need to ask at the website you gave away your money to, if you want to stand any chance of a refund. --Shantavira 12:24, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] June 4

[edit] Mort Leav

I found an article in Wikipedia on my father, Mort Leav. The date of his passing on is incorrect. It reads "2006", whereas he passed away on Sept. 21, 2005. I couldn't figure how to change that piece of information and wish to know if it is possible to do so.

David Leav removed e-mail to protect against spam Garion96 (talk) 12:26, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

On the top of the article there is a tab called "Edit this page". Click on it and there should be a text box with the article contents. For the date is is recommended to put in the form [[Sep 11]] [[2005]]. That way it will render correctly according to user's date preferences. However it is generally not recommended for people to make major changes to their own pages or relative's pages unless there is a reliable source. Harryboyles 01:56, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
Actually, September (and all other months) should be spelled out. So it would be [[September 11]] [[2005]]. Dismas|(talk) 02:42, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
I have left a message about this at User_talk:Tenebrae#Mort_Leav (Tenebrae created the article). Carcharoth 13:12, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
And 2006 is absolutely right; my source, Alter Ego #58 (May 2006), p. 68, does indeed say 2006, and I did a typo on the last digit that made it a "5". I'm happy and gratified that the highly talented Mr. Leav's son has come to Wikipedia to see his father's bio here.
Moments like that (my typo aside!) help make this all worthwile. Bob Powell's son contacted my Talk page a couple months back to say, "I enjoy the fact you have taken the time do a page like this!" -- Tenebrae 13:25, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hello!!!!!

I am a student at Highlands Elemantary School in New Jersey. Sometime in April or May I was researching information regarding education in Highlands New Jersey. I came up with figures that I now need to retrieve once agian. "Can you please help me"? Part of the information was this;34.8% of the students graduate. About 26% of the students received an associates degree, 17.2% received a bachelors degree, and only 9.2% received a master's degree.

Can you please assist me in finding where I could've gotten this?

Thanks, removed e-mail to protect against spam Garion96 (talk) 12:27, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Have you tried the article on Highlands, New Jersey. Harryboyles 01:59, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cost???

I'm an unregistered Wikipedia user. How much does many of the contributions cost if I should ever become a registered Wikipedia user?64.53.209.169 02:08, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

  • Wikipedia is free to read or edit, registered or not. -Goldom (t) (Review) 02:10, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Editing Templates

Is it OK to edit templates? There are a number of templates I have come across lately that I think could be improved. One example is the LOC template.

This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain.

I think that this would be much nicer if it read:

This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain.


Is it OK to do that?

Thanks,

Spventi 02:29, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

The general policy is anyone is free to edit anything, which includes templates. This particular template is one of a set (see Category:Wikipedia sources) that all use italic. I'd expect if you change it someone will come along behind you and change it back. -- Rick Block (talk) 02:46, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
Thank you for the prompt response. I only want to change the wording; omitting the italics was just an oversight, thanks. And if someone wants to change it back or to a different wording, that's fine, too. I just wanted to know if it's OK to start the ball rolling, so to speak. Thanks again.
Spventi 02:58, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
Uh...the two versions are the same (except for italics), aren't they? Or am I missing something? MCB 23:49, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
You missed that the first instance is actually an inclusion of the template itself. It's since been changed to match the proposal. Previously it read:
This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies which, as a United States government publication, is in the public domain. - GeeJo (t)(c) • 18:16, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Image:Terry Mulholland.jpg

I've tried three times to upload an updated version of his picture, without success. It says I've succeeded, but the picture doesn't change (even when I reload.) What's going on? Grandmasterka 03:01, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

You need to clear your browser's cache. On my browser I do it by holding down the shift key when i click reload. --Hetar 03:45, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
The above is for Firefox. If you use IE you must press Ctrl+F5. SCHZMO 14:06, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reverse a Redirect?

I'm not sure where to ask this question; Wikipedia:Redirects_for_deletion didn't seem right, so please direct me.

I noticed that the page J.J. Yeley redirects to JJ Yeley. I went to the subject's official website (referenced on the page) and it shows his name as J.J. Yeley. How does one go about safely reversing the redirect, so that JJ Yeley would point to J.J. Yeley, without causing any issues for other users? I was looking at Help:Redirect and I think I can't just do a "move" because of the page history.--Brian G 03:52, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

  • If there was nothing there but a redirect, you could move it over the old redirect. If there's a history though, you have to either be an admin, or ask one for help at WP:RM. -Goldom (t) (Review) 04:07, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What is the -proper- way to line break?

I've seen <br>, <br/>,, and sometimes just the line break shown in the edit window (via enter) works, but sometimes it doesn't. What's the official way to cause a break? -Goldom (t) (Review) 05:01, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

It really depends on the context. Wikisyntax (see Help:Editing) is intended to "do the right thing" for what most normal people might enter as text. The content is presented in HTML so there are some HTML artifacts that work (like <br> to cause a line break). The markup used here is in reality XHTML, so <br/> is a technically more correct way to insert a line break. Virtually all web browsers treat <br> the same as <br/>, so there's really only a pedantic difference between them. If you want a line break, either will do. With the / is "more correct" (in a techo-geek kind of way). -- Rick Block (talk) 05:13, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks. -Goldom (t) (Review) 05:37, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
We shouldn't have to worry about xhtml vs HTML in the wikitext, and thankfully we don't have to. If you insert <br>, mediawiki will do the right thing and send it as xhtml <br/>. Sverdrup❞ 12:15, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] fixing wikipedia

This question moved here from the Reference Desk. Sandstein 05:35, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

i did search in help for this but couldn't find it. how does one mark a page either as a stub or as a missing entry if one feels it should exist, but it doesn't. Uwe Barschel (i probably misspelled it. i have no idea what it is but someone linked to it and it sounds important) is an example. if we search for something and it doesn't exist, it means we don't know about it so we cant fix it ourselves. how do i mark it to be looked at? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sashafklein (talkcontribs).

Forgive me if I misunderstand, but I think the answer to your question is in two parts:
  1. If you think the article on Uwe Barschel should exist, but doesn't, just link to it normally (with two square braces on either side of the name, thus: [[Uwe Barschel]]). If the page doesn't exist, the link will be in red rather than blue, so other users will know that it needs to be created.
  2. If you think the article should be created, and want to start it yourself, created a redlink (as explained in the above point) on a page that refers to the article you want to create. Then, click the link, and write the stub on the page you're taken to and hit "submit". To mark the page as a stub, select the correct tag(s) to use from here.
Hope this answers your question. RandyWang (raves/rants) 11:11, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
You might also want to see Wikipedia:Requested articles. -- Rick Block (talk) 15:02, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
If you want to mark an article as a stub, place the text {{stub}} at the bottom. There are also many more specific stub messages that help classify the stubs for experts to find and expand later. There is more information at WP:STUB. --Ginkgo100 19:18, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Copyright or not?

Now i want to put in this picture thats online for, but no where on the website does it state that anything is copyright. Its a picture of a school that i got from its virtual library. Is it ok to use witout dubbing it fair use? Or do i have to do the whole process? --Dimigw 06:41, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

I think following the WP:COPY image guidelines would be best. -- Wirelain 06:44, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] FMCG, Syria

--82.194.62.22 14:57, 4 June 2006 (UTC)Where can I find information about the Syrian Arab Republic FMCG retail and distribution market?

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. SCHZMO 18:55, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Image copyright tags

what is the approate copyright tag to use on a picture that is copyrighted, but granted with permition from the owner as long as the source is specfied? Jerrycobra 09:11, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

I think it is {{Attribution}}, I hope this helps. GWatsonTALK 15:29, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] e-gold no.

My name is Sunday Momodu. i'm about joining the members and while filling the form, i was asked of e-gold no. so pls. how do i get an e-gold no?

I assume you're speaking about joining Wikipedia. I've never heard of "e-gold no"... perhaps you mean e-mail? — TheKMantalk 16:47, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
Ah, you must be speaking of an e-gold number. Wikipedia does not require an e-gold number, so you must be speaking about joining some other group. — TheKMantalk 16:56, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] No-Forum notice?

Is there a template in existence that can be posted at the top of talk pages that tells users "this page is to discuss the article, not new characters"? Cheers, Highway Rainbow Sneakers 19:08, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Not that I know of, but you could always make one! Drop by my talk page if you have any questions. --Hetar 02:55, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] article was deleted

An article on the British music group Test Dept., and its associated talk page, were deleted today. I think this was because the article was largely a cut and paste job (not done by me) from an unofficial website devoted to the group. I'm new to WP, and I'm not too well up on deletion policy, so feel free to correct me, but personally I wish this hadn't been done. Two reasons: firstly, I'm not sure that the article met the criteria for deletion given in Criteria_for_speedy_deletion#Articles, and secondly, because the act of deleting it seems a little excessive. Would it not have been better to have deleted any copyright material, but left something there as a stub? Then there would at least have been something there to work on. If the stub had been left, I would probably have tried to refine the article myself. But now that there is nothing there, I probably won't bother.

Also, the associated talk page contained a brief comment from me, pointing out the inadequacy of the article and stating that I didn't know enough about the band to improve it. This has now disappeared. Presumably a talk page can't exist without its article page? Still, I'm a little miffed that my words have been deleted... is this common practice?

Finally - and again please correct me if I'm wrong - just because the article has been pasted from another website, doesn't automatically make it a copyright infringement - or does it? --Richardrj 21:18, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

If an article has been copy/pasted from another website which states somewhere that the text it displays are copyrighted in any way, then yes, we can't use it. And yes also, a copy/pasted article tends to get speedied or at the very least replaced with a copyright infringement template. Inter\Echo 21:23, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for that. In this case, there is nothing on the originating website to say that the text is copyright. Also, I had taken out some of the more egregious pasting as a prelude to improving the article. Do either of these affect the issue in any way? --Richardrj 21:36, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
Only two countries, Paraguay and Uruguay, still require that someone declare their work to be copyrighted rather than public domain; everywhere else, original work is the copyrighted property of its creator unless otherwise specified. Unless the author of the biography on this fansite has explicitly licensed their work under the GNU Free Documentation License, or declared it to be in the public domain, the content cannot be copied wholesale to Wikipedia. Removing part of the content does not change the copyright status of the rest of it. See Wikipedia:Copyright FAQ. --Kwekubo 21:49, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks again for that. What about my other questions - firstly, would it not have been better to have taken out the copyright material and left a single descriptive line as a stub? Then someone else could have come along and improved it. And secondly, is it OK for my contribution to the talk page to be deleted? --Richardrj 21:53, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
Talk pages are deleted with their parent articles when the parent itself is deleted. Also, a stub could have been left, you'd have to asked the admin that deleted the article why they didn't just go that route instead of deleting the whole thing. It's up to the admin what they do with it, delete it or turn it into a stub. You can still recreate the article if you'd like and just make a small stub if the subject is notable. It just takes a second. Dismas|(talk) 01:51, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
It looks like there was a bit of sloppiness all around. Admins who delete copy-paste copyvios should always remember to check the article's history; in this case there had been a short but original article for the better part of a year. I've restored the non-copyvio portion of the article's history. Editors (admins and otherwise) who spot copyvios should always check the article history for a non-copyvio version to which they can revert. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 05:03, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks very much! --Richardrj 07:13, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Status Quo

In the entry for the rock bad Status Quo, there is a link on the name of one of the band members (John Coughlan) but it links to a different John Coughlan. How do you make it link to the correct one?

Done. Basically all I did was go to the article for John Coghlan and saw that the second one was the one you were talking about. Then I changed the links to [[John Coghlan (drummer)|John Coghlan]] which looks like this: John Coghlan. Dismas|(talk) 01:49, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] link to different person of same name

In the entry for the rock bad Status Quo, there is a link on the name of one of the band members (John_Coghlan) but it links to a different John Coghlan. How do you make it link to the correct one?

You'll have to create a disambiguation page first off. I'll do that for you. --Pilot|guy (roger that) 22:19, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

See your talk page. --Pilot|guy (roger that) 22:28, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pictures of philosophers

Hello!

The image NussbaumMartha1.jpg has the template NoRightsReserved. I would like to use this image for the Dutch Wikipedia too, but I can't find the copyright notice on the website where it is downloaded from (wp.rutgers.edu/courses/101/link_o_mat/nussbaum.html source, not this chronicle.uchicago.edu/010607/nussbaum.shtml source). Can you tell me what is the case? Special US laws for the .edu tld? Or has the uploader placed the wrong template?

Different case with Kolakowski.jpg. It has the template Attribution, but the source explicitly states All rights reserved (www.sijmen.nl/copyright.html notice). Should this image be deleted from Wikipedia, or could there be something I have missed?

Best regards, Ilse@ 22:30, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

It looks like both of these images have been tagged with bogus and unsupported licenses. I have tagged them and listed them at WP:PUI for review/deletion. --Hetar 02:47, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
Thank you for the answer. Ilse@ 07:36, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] June 5

[edit] Image:World population.PNG

I want to upload a new version of this image that includes Montenegro. However, I am confused about licensing and what I am supposed to write. SCHZMO 00:09, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

Basically, the license will still be exactly the same as the original image. The summary should also still include all information from the original image. The only difference is that you could just add a small note saying that you modified it to add Montenegro. --Hetar 02:45, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
Isn't Montenegro part of Serbia still? (Or Yugoslavia or "Serbia and Montenegro" or whatever.) Why would you add it to the map? · rodii · 13:09, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
You should read the Main Page more, Rodii ;-). They declared independence 2 days ago. --Sam Blanning(talk) 13:25, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
*blushes* · rodii · 12:50, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Numbers and Letters Quizes Dates in History

I am trying to find help with quiz answers that start with numbers then letters with answers being a historical fact, can u help? Thanks Betti Boo . 1979=W ?, 11901=AOA ?, 1981=WBO ?, 3158=HRTSP ?, 1924=TI ?, 71241=AOPH ?, 10468=WSIWH ?, 1990=AAAMT ?, 1879=EBPM ?, 2621839=FGNAA ?, 1091930=SHBJ ?. I really need some help with these. Thanx --210.86.41.19 00:41, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. SCHZMO 00:49, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Blocking Contribs possible?

I find it frustrating that some people misuse the "contribs" feature to cast aspersions on POV. I sometimes edit controversial subjects, and have been drug into debates about my POV based solely on the fact that I edit a number of articles on particular topics. A couple of editors have assumed (incorrectly -- ironically) that if I edit on a topic, I must therefore have some affiliation with, or affinity for, that topic, and that my further edits are therefore suspect.

Seems to me that edits should be discussed on their own merits, rather than on suspicions about the affiliations of the editor, yes? So I wonder whether this problem can be resolved by blocking from the view of the hoi-polloi my list of contributions? Is such a thing even possible? Thanks!

It is not technically possible. If someone were blocked, he or she would just need to sign out to see them again, or could create a new account. We cannot block them either, as it is public data under the Privacy policy, as well as required for the GFDL. Titoxd(?!? - help us) 02:24, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Permission to copy from a Website

I have a permission from a an encyclopedic website to copy any of its material, as long as it is not used by itself for profit. Recognizing the nature of open editing of Wikipedia, they say only their initial text represents them, and they ask for two things: (1) we put a link, in the Sources section to the specific page we copied from. (2) put a category that includes all articles with material from their website. Is this permission OK? Does it violate GNU? If so, in what way, and what the permit should tentatively look like? --Shafei 03:29, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

No; we can't use material under those conditions. The only text we can (re)use on Wikipedia must be material that is either in the public domain or material licensed under the GFDL. Wikipedia content isn't – and can't – be restricted to not-for-profit use. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 04:52, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
If they agree to PD and waive not-for-profit, What about the requirements for citing them as a source, with a link? Also is specifying a category for articles using their material. OK? --Shafei 05:33, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
Citing sources is a policy on WP anyway, so that part should be fine. Creating a category at their request probabaly wouldn't go over well though - it could be viewed as advertising, and would likely be deleted later (which could leave them upset)-Goldom (t) (Review) 06:14, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
I see thousands of their articles as possible sources. So, Can the permit look like this:

Website-A grants permission for copying for everybody from all its material. Because of WP's continuous editing environment, Website-A considers its original text the only representative of its views on the subject. Website-A requires:

  1. mentioning its name as a source, with a link to the original article.
  2. making available a list of all articles that use material from Website-A. (Shafei: They are not asking for category, but a category will be the easiest way to achieve this requirement).

Does such permit look OK? Because of the potential large number of articles, are there any further steps needed? --Shafei 13:54, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

We can't make any offer of credit to them beyond the requirements of the GFDL and rigorous academic honesty (citation of our sources).
Particularly if you're looking to add thousands of articles to Wikipedia, it might be a very good idea to tell us what site you're talking about—this might allow us to discuss specifics, rathe than vague generalities. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 14:23, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
The case presented by Mr. Shafei (or ar:User:Shafei) was rejected by ar.wiki. He tried to sell them the deal, but with no use. I guess you can ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A7:%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86 check it with them. The site name is Islam online. They requested Five points all contradicting GNU or any similar free licence.
1- None profit use.
2- Islam online name must always remain in the page
3- A permanent category for them
4- A permanent link to www.islamonline.net site
5- Any derivative work, even translation should be licensed to Islam on line.
Points 2 to 4 should be within a template that is located in each page.
Most images within Islam on line are not licensed, but Mr. Shafei insists on using them. The images don't even qualify for fair-use.
Mr. Shafei request was ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A7:%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86#.D8.A5.D8.B0.D9.86_.D8.A8.D8.A7.D9.84.D9.86.D9.82.D9.84_.D9.88.D8.A7.D9.84.D8.A5.D9.82.D8.AA.D8.A8.D8.A7.D8.B3 denied at ar.wiki, and it seems that he believes that en.wiki admins might have a say on that matter. He is not even complying with the request to stop posting Islam online articles. I have no Idea why the admins are not blocking him. --Dima sha 20:56, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Procedure for deleting an article

What is your policy regarding deleting articles. Is there a process if someone wishes to remove and article on Wikipedia? I've read about speedy deletion, but is there something more deliberative? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Postxian (talkcontribs) .

  • Please see WP:AfD. Also, don't forget to sign your posts on talk pages with ~~~~-Goldom (t) (Review) 04:40, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
  • We've decided that putting the deletion policy at Wikipedia:Deletion policy would be the most logical. ;) - Mgm|(talk) 12:02, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Duhhh....thanks! I don't know why I couldn't find it. I'm new here, as you might have guessed. Postxian 15:06, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] denist;s

i am looking for very good dentist

Try your local yellow pages. — TheKMantalk 08:08, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] British English Vs American English

I have been unable to find a Wikipedia guide discussing the use of British English Vs American English. There are a number of spelling differences between the two languages that cause some contention when discussig some entries. If such a guide does not exist, can I suggest a guideline on the topic be created.

It's in the Manual of Style, under National varieties of English. Dismas|(talk) 10:35, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
  • This is, of course, a common consideration, and guidelines can be found at Wikipedia:Manual of Style and Wikipedia:Manual of Style (spelling). The short answer is, if the topic is related to a regional dialect of English (e.g. London Underground was a recent one that came under question, but is clearly a British subject), use that region's dialect for spelling, punctuation, etc., if it's a region-neutral article, use whichever you prefer if you are the first major contributor, otherwise use whichever is currently used in the article.
  • It is not acceptable to change one to the other due simply to personal preference. Please also avoid words that have different meanings in a different major dialect – for examples see List of words having different meanings in British and American English. I hope that all helps, you're welcome to leave related questions on my talk page, but I strongly recommend a thorough read of WP:MOS for all serious editors. — Estarriol talk 10:37, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Thank you for the very prompt response, a most useful guide (ie. National varieties of English). E! 20:47, 5 June 2006 (AEST)

[edit] send me about this

please send me all history of this. And how to iuse it . and how to make i an user id for any web sit . please send me quickly. and also send me the working of this and how to use i this web for my personal purposes......... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Shkltariq (talkcontribs) .

  • Please see Wikipedia and Wikipedia:FAQ. Note that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not generic hosting for your website or something you may want to use for your own commerical purposes (if that's what you want). Of course, it is a free encyclopedia and you are more than welcome to use it for research, general reference and also to update it with honest, encyclopedic information (not commercial spam or vanity). — Estarriol talk 11:39, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
  • If you're interested in MediaWiki (the software used by Wikipedia), see MediaWiki and mediawiki.org/. Hope that helps? --Keitei (talk) 18:25, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] united states of america~

contiguous states~

  • Do you have a question? Please elaborate if you do. — Estarriol talk 15:22, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
For a list of U.S. states, see U.S. state. To find out about the contiguous states, read the Geography section of Alaska. Please note questions like this are best asked at the Reference desk; the Help desk is for questions related to editing Wikipedia. Cheers, Tangotango 15:25, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Image upload - fair use?

I wish to upload this www.maltavista.net/en/list/photo/869.html image to Wikipedia, but I am unsure if it counts as fair use, or which copyright tag it would go under.

This disclaimer is shown on the bottom of the page containing the image:

the use of copyrighted materials is allowed strictly with a hyperlink to MaltaVista.net

Would it be acceptable to upload this image if I included the link to MaltaVista in the summary? And if so, which template will I need to use?

Thanks in advance. Wykebjs 16:21, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

That small excerpt can be read in many different ways, and you'd really need more information to apply one of the licences that we accept. The best thing would be if you could email them and ask if they already have or want to release their materials under a free license (frex CC-BY-SA). If you don't get any explicit information, all you can do is to use it under Fair use. Be restrictive though, and note that uploading images as fair use requires rigour. I'd judge that your linked image is not acceptable fair use, since the image is not unique and we could make a free alternative. Sverdrup❞ 16:58, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
If you can confirm commercial use is permitted, use the tag {{CopyrightedFreeUseProvidedThat|a link to www.MaltaVista.net is presented.}}, and provide a link back to the source of the image. — TheKMantalk 17:00, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Are images restricted in any way between language Wikipedias?

I'm an active Bulgarian Wikipedia editor. I find pictures at the Commons and already in other language pages on the topics I'm writing about. But, when I try to link to an image it rarely works and most photos don't come out at all. So my question is, are there any restrictions, and how am I supposed to overcome this problem? Thanks.

I want to upload a 1924 press release photo (jpg)made in Central Europe. What is the appropriate copyright description.

I also want to upload a pg for which I own the copyright.

In both instances the jpg is is rejected as *.* not acceptable.

Jlgordon 19:48, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] search box problem

I started a stub for the article Speaking with the Angel. In-site links seem to work fine, but putting speaking with the angel in the search box returns a bunch of irrelevant articles. Is there something wrong? --KyleGarvey 20:20, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

Nope, nothing wrong. Unless you put in the capitalization correctly, it won't find it for a few weeks though. That's how long the database usually takes to get updated. You could put in redirects or just wait for the db to update and thus search would work. Dismas|(talk) 20:27, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
(after edit conflict) Articles take a while to appear on the search lists. Google picks it up faster, but not immediately. I've added a redirect with that capitalisation now though, so it should take you directly to the article. GeeJo (t)(c) • 20:31, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
The process to rebuild the search index is started manually by one of the developers. This has not been done since at least March 8, 2006. I don't know why it's been so long, but it may be considerably longer than "a few weeks". -- Rick Block (talk) 20:51, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
Damn! That is a long time! I was under the impression that it was roughly once a month or so and that's why I said "a few weeks". Dismas|(talk) 04:33, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article not appearing in search

I created an article Motorcycle Headlight Modulators on May 19th and it still does not appear when I search for Motorcycle Headlight Modulators. Did I miss something when I saved my article?

Thanks!

  • No, you didn't miss anything. See the answer to the question above yours. By the way, I've moved your article to Motorcycle Headlight Modulator. Article titles should be at the singular form whenever possible for easy linking. If you need to link to the plural, you can type: [[Motorcycle Headlight Modulator]]s which will automatically include the 's' in the link, or use piped links. - Mgm|(talk) 21:32, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Special characters - Music Notation

I've been reading music theory entries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_scale). What I believe to be sharp and flat notations are displaying as ? in FireFox and as an unidentified character in IE 6. Is there something I can do to get these accidentals to display propperly? Thanks. --69.211.17.174 21:36, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

To my knowledge, I am afraid not.
Wikipedia uses Unicode which requires an appropriate font to be installed. Please see www.unicode.org/help/display_problems.html. I think the characters you're looking for are in www.alanwood.net/unicode/miscellaneous_symbols.html this set. -- Rick Block (talk) 01:16, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] June 6

[edit] Nomination for Featured Article

I need help nominating the RENT article to be featured. I have done everything the directions told me, but I cannot get the nomination to show up on the nomination page. Please help! Political Mind 00:36, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Never mind, problem solved.

[edit] Changing headline

Hi

Can you tell me how to change the page headline? I have been able to edit the body of the text, but not the atcual name of the page - the page I am referring to is the Gibbs Quadski. I wish to remove the "Gibbs" from the headline as this is not it's official name and makes it difficult for people to find the page when they search for "quadski" as it does not come up unless they refer to it as "gibbs quadski"

Thanks

In this case, you should probably create a new article for Quadski, and hit the "#R" button above the edit window. Then type in Gibbs Quadski. From then on, when you search for Quadski, you'll be redirected automatically. To rename a page, though, hit the "Move" button at the top of the page, then enter its new destination. Let me know if you need anything else! :) – DakPowers (Talk) 02:22, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
I just went ahead ahead and moved the article for you, so the problem should be fixed now. For more info see Help:Moving a page and Help:Redirect. --Hetar 02:35, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kindly protect this page

The data in the article List of Indian languages by total speakers is being altered to show wrong data, by unregistered users. Kindly make it a protected page. --Masatran 04:19, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Please request this at WP:RFPP --GeorgeMoney T·C 04:24, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Personal identity, privacy

I hope this is the right thing to do, but I think it is important: I know that the individual known as KOMPRESSOR, an internet-based musician of some popularity, has repeatedly asked that his real name be removed from any site that publishes it, a request generally obliged. Because this has previously been explained as a matter of personal security and general privacy, I wonder whether it is appropriate that editors have repeatedly mentioned his name (once in the article, apparently long since removed, but then several times on the talk page).

I took the measure of replacing mention of his name on the talk page with asterisks, explaining my motivations. I don't believe it is right for any individual to be exposed on the personal level (including full name and home town) via Wikipedia due to "internet fame" if they have indicated that they don't wish for it to occur. I am not a friend of the person in question (in fact I always thought him rather obnoxious), but I really think it's a breech of WP's purpose and morality to act as some sort of internet gossip rag, especially when an individual's privacy is at stake. I am told that replacing someone else's comments on a talk page is a breech of policy, but I think it was appropriate in this case. Hopefully you can decide for yourselves. Fearwig 05:20, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

I reverted your excisions (leaving in place, of course, your reasons for having redacted the name), an explanation for which I left on the article's talk page. Joe 06:08, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] MTG characters (L)

MTG characters (L)'s headers don't look right and I can't figure out why. --68.52.65.122 09:08, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

I've fixed it. Does that look better? Dismas|(talk) 09:28, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wiki-linking from quotes

I'm almost certain that wikilinking words and phrases in a quote is forbidden by the Manual of Style, but haven't been able to find anything confirming this yet. I would have thought that the quote should be left 'clean', and that anything that needs explaining should be mentioned in the accompanying text before or after the quote, and linked there. Can anyone confirm this? Carcharoth 11:38, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

In fact, the current Manual of Style does not include such a stipulation. However, there is a proposed policy that you may want to take a look at, see: Wikipedia:Quotations should not contain wikilinks. --Hetar 16:38, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks. I've started a discussion on the talk page there if people are interested. Carcharoth 18:55, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Publishing true stories

(title added retrospectively) Carcharoth 13:52, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

I would like to know how to publish an article on wikipedia which is a true story? pl give me details of the format. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.65.150.177 (talk • contribs).

Wikipedia has a policy of No original research since it's an encyclopedia. This means that you can't tell your stories at Wikipedia, you rather "retell stories" by summarizing and citing sources. Sverdrup❞ 14:57, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Telling stories shouldn't be done on Wikipedia period. Stories are to entertain people, encyclopedia articles are to inform people. I suggest you find a wiki at Wikia that better suits your needs. - Mgm|(talk) 17:47, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Three in one: format of titles + notability + semi-protected pages

Hello; I hope I'm in the right place here - there are tons of pages like this to ask questions! If not, please someone direct me to the right place.

  1. Now, I've added the section "Work" at Horatio Alger, Jr., which I hope is fine. Is this the right format? Can I create stubs for all these books? Which article titles should they have? The entire book title plus subtitle, or just the minimal main title? For example the first listed work: Abraham Lincoln, the Backwoods Boy; or, How A Young Rail-Splitter Became President. Should that be Abraham Lincoln (book), Abraham Lincoln, the Backwoods Boy, or Abraham Lincoln, the Backwoods Boy; or, How A Young Rail-Splitter Became President? Should I make redirects for the others?
  2. I've found that there's no article for www.timberpress.com/authors/id.cfm/99 this person. Can I add it? How do I find whether he's notable enough? He's written a number of books, so I'd take it information on him is worth including.
  3. Some pages (Abraham Lincoln) are "semi-protected" for anonymous users, but also for new users (like me). What exactly is the period one is considered a new user? Not that I've got anything for Abe right now, but I'm just curious.

Thanks, Charles Cassidy 15:45, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

  1. Traditionally, the subtitle is not included. The one exception to this is with short titles, for disambiguation. So for example, if there is already an article called Abraham Lincoln (book) then you could use Abraham Lincoln: The Backwoods Boy. More information at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (books).
  2. WP:BIO lists criteria for determining the notability of people. Looks like your guy probably merits an article.
  3. Anonymous accounts, and user accounts less than 96 hours old can not edit semi-protected pages.
--Hetar 16:25, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for the answers. Charles Cassidy 16:56, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Skin

I just want to change a "skin" in "my preferences", but the link doesn' work. It seems corrupted. For the answers, please use my talk page (meladina 15:58, 6 June 2006 (UTC))

[edit] E-mailing

Can I e-mail a article from Wikipedia?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Searcher1951 (talk • contribs) .

If you are asking if you need special permission to forward Wikipedia content via email, or to copy it elsewhere, you don't; Wikipedia is made available under a free license called the GFDL that permits copying and re-use under most circumstances (see Wikipedia:Copyrights). If you're asking how to email Wikipedia articles, that basically depends on your web browser; I don't believe there's a special web-based service on Wikipedia that will automatically mail an article to an addreess entered in a form. However, most web browsers have a method of mailing a web page (or a link to a web page), or else you can save it as an HTML file on your hard disk and send it as an email attachment. Hope this helps. MCB 01:22, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Variables in templates

Hi! I'm an admin from Slovenian Wikipedia and would like to ask here for some help on using variables as part of templates. I have been trying to add a date based on variables {{CURRENTDAY}}, {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} and {{CURRENTYEAR}} in a specific template on Slovenian Wikipedia. The template should work so that when it is substed the variables are substed too, but when it is only transcluded the variables are not shown at all. Is it technically possible to achieve this and how is it done? Thanks very much.

I've also posted this question to WP:VP (technical). --Eleassar my talk 17:40, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The article on money cannot be fetched

I tried everal times to access the article on money, but only got the following error:

Error in fetchObject(): Deadlock found when trying to get lock; Try restarting transaction

Backtrace: GlobalFunctions.php line 658 calls wfBacktrace() Database.php line 588 calls wfDebugDieBacktrace() Database.php line 1812 calls Database::fetchObject() LinkBatch.php line 90 calls ResultWrapper::fetchObject() LinkBatch.php line 69 calls LinkBatch::executeInto() Skin.php line 192 calls LinkBatch::execute() Skin.php line 171 calls Skin::preloadExistence() SkinTemplate.php line 108 calls Skin::initPage() MonoBook.php line 28 calls SkinTemplate::initPage() SkinTemplate.php line 155 calls SkinMonoBook::initPage() OutputPage.php line 588 calls SkinTemplate::outputPage() OutputPage.php line 808 calls OutputPage::output() Database.php line 469 calls OutputPage::databaseError() Database.php line 412 calls Database::reportQueryError() Database.php line 1337 calls Database::query() JobQueue.php line 61 calls Database::delete() Wiki.php line 285 calls Job::pop() Wiki.php line 245 calls MediaWiki::doJobs() index.php line 137 calls MediaWiki::finalCleanup() index.php line 3 calls require()

It's working for me: money. Wikipedia is one of the most accessed sites in the entire world, and because of this, the servers sometimes encounter errors under the strain. It's usually nothing serious, just try reloading, or wait a few minutes and hours, and try again. JIP | Talk 18:07, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] User Messages bar

Is there any way, by changing my custom CSS, to change the text of the "New Messages" bar? I'd like to change mainly so I don't keep falling for "You have new messages" boxes on user pages... smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 18:40, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

You can't change the new messages bar text from css, but you can change the color. But, if you change the color, even the fake ones will look like the color you want. The text for the new messages is located at MediaWiki:Youhavenewmessages --69.236.20.213 18:54, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
Yes, I tried changing the colour. Oh well... smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 18:57, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Book cover use

Hi. I've been at WP for a little while but never really done anything substantial. My first big edit was creating & writing the article on 9tail Fox, which is an sf novel. Not long ago, some kind user added a whole template box thingy to it (What're those things called? top right of the article) and I thought I'd have a go at filling it it, but got stuck on the "image of cover" bit.

I've read WP:FU, and it says low-res book covers are allowed but equally the Upload page specifically says not to upload an image from the Web. My question is: do I have to go rent the book from my library and scan in the cover to be able to upload it as {{book cover}}, or can I just use a reasonably-sized pic from images.google.co.uk/images?q=9tail%20fox&oe=UTF-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi Google Images? Please response on my talk page or at 9tail Fox, I'll never remember to check back here. Thanks for reading this! Tyrhinis 20:20, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

As it says on the Upload page, "Most images on the internet are copyrighted and are not appropriate for uploading to Wikipedia." In this case, the book cover is copyrighted, and any image of the cover is copyrighted by the artist or publisher, but you should be able to upload the image under fair use. Just tag it with {{book cover}} and post a link back to the source. — TheKMantalk 20:48, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Proposing a style change to a category of articles

Without getting into the details here, I'd like to propose a formatting change to classical music articles (e.g. Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)), basically creating a standard template from which all articles would come. However, I'd like it to be done communally (this is Wikipedia, after all) with a central place for dialogue to happen before affecting any changes. Is there a place for this? And how would I go about notifying the authors of the articles and others who may be interested? Would I really have to resort to a blurb on the talk page of each piece [gulp]? Andrewski 21:21, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

  • I'd suggest you visit the Wikipedia:WikiProject Classical music, post your idea on its talk page and have someone with a bot post a quick note to people who've shown an interest in those kind of articles. - Mgm|(talk) 22:18, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
    • Thanks very much; I didn't know this existed! For future reference, how would I search specifically for such a thing?
  • Knowing the syntax for those links helps, but once you do, you can stumble upon such a project by accident like I did. I just typed in the name and found its link was blue. - Mgm|(talk) 04:48, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] copyright clarification needed

Our church is doing a series on King David and I would like to use information from your article on Michelangelo's David in our church bulletin. We publish paper bulletins only, no web, so I am not sure whether this is possible under the terms of your copyright. I could mail you a paper copy of the bulletin so you could see our use of your material. We would need to make about 175 copies of the bulletin for use at our three Sunday services. Any help you can give would be appreciated.

  • It doesn't matter if you use it on the web or in print. As long as you provide the URL of the article, you're okay. You say "I would like to use". If you want to use the information, but phrase it in your own words, copyright isn't a problem. Only the way it's written down can be copyrighted, the facts themselves can't be. If you decide to write it down in your own words, you still need to cite your sources (i.e. say you used Wikipedia's article to find the info). - Mgm|(talk) 22:22, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
  • In the case of an actual copy of an article, it does matter if it is on the web or in print, whether it's verbatim or a derivative copy, and whether the number of copies exceeds 100; there are some requirements about making a machine-readable copy available (or possibly the URL of Wikipedia), and providing the full text of the GFDL (the free license under which Wikipedia is provided). Please see Wikipedia:Copyrights, Wikipedia:Verbatim copying, and in particular the sections on Copying in Quantity and Printed Copies. Hope this helps, --MCB 01:38, 7 June 2006 (UTC)