Wikipedia:New contributors' help page/Archive/Nov 2006

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Contents

[edit] How to delete image

I have uploaded a couple of test images and now want to remove them. how do i do this.

help files contain lots of info on uploading but v little on removal.

thanks in advance

Plese write {{db-author}} on top of the image. For our deletion policy, you can see Wikipedia:Deletion policy -- Lost(talk) 11:45, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] contributing info or images from a buisiness

I work for a company that manufactures valves and machine tools and we have several images or diagrams as well as a list of information in regards to various industrial technology. After reviewing wikipedia i see several such devices not listed or articles listed without diagrams. I have reviewed wikipedia's copyright section and now im more confused then i was in the begining. My company has no problem contributing our diagrams, or exploded views of such devices however they asked if i would be allowed to say image contributed by company X ,is this allowed?

It is not just allowed, it is encouraged! If the company is willing to release these images under GFDL, the license requires that whenever the image is reused, the copyright holder should be properly attributed. There are however other licenses that the image can be released under such as creative commons. Please be informed however that the image, once released under these licenses can be used commercially by anyone (providing he gives the company the due credit). Also please be sure that the image is not just spamming for your company's products -- Lost(talk) 16:16, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Help to use the Lekhini software

Dear Friends, Greetings. I am a new member to the Wikipedia. Before my joining I have used sevaral times the Unicode Telugu Software Lekhini Successes fully to writer emails and to create webpages. Soon after I have logged into Wikipedia and created an account it become hard to use Lekhin. Whenever i opened the Lekhini site just a gray screen with a line of words on the top of the page appears. I dont know why it occured and what shall I do? So I am posting this request to the respected members. Please help me in this regard. Thanking you Yours sincerely Rev. P. B. Ravi Prasad

Please post your answere on my talk page.

[edit] Version lability

As a relatively new user, I have done a major rewrite of an article this week with hundreds of changes - yet the version on the website does not include most of today's edits - even though they appear under history - how can this happen? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mgoodyear (talk • contribs).

Have you tried refreshing the page? If they are the most current edits, they should show up. -- Natalya 22:47, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deleted edits?

[1]: ClockworkSoul reverts to Stollery, but Stollery is nowhere in the history. Fredil 02:54, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

There is a Glen S, though; maybe Stollery is Glen's surname. —Tamfang 20:14, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lost in the aether? - keeping tabs on a submitted article

I submitted an article yesterday and am looking for quick tips on how to keep tabs on its progress.

I know that thousands of speculative articles are uploaded every day, so I understand that the servers are busy. I'm guessing there's just a huge backlog But how do you keep an eye on a submission and check what, if anything, has happened to it? I can't even locate the piece now. If I go to 'my contributions', I can see what suggestions I've made on others' work, but can't find my own piece.

The entry was entitled 'Chemetco,' and was meant as a candidate for the main Wikipedia pages. Any suggestions very welcome. At the moment, I've no idea how I'd discover what's going on with it.

Many thanks.

--Astral highway 09:28, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

It looks like you submitted a submission titled 'Chemetco' to Wikipedia:Articles for Creation, but it was removed by the unnamed user User:59.144.23.152 (here is what happened). That user shouldn't have removed your submission without leaving a box explaining why, so that was incorrect. I've salvaged your submission and placed it at User:Astral highway/Chemetco. Due to WP:CORP reason 1, I think the article has a chance of surviving, so I'll place it in articlespace (a 'main Wikipedia' page) at Chemetco to see what happens.
To answer the general question, you can 'watch' a page to see what happens to it; Help:Watching pages explains what to do. (You probably want to watch Chemetco.) --ais523 10:06, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Some questions related to Geert Hofstede article

In his books "Culture's Consequences"(2nd, fully revised edition, 2001) and Cultures and Organizations, Software of the Mind (2nd, revised edition 2005) Professor Hofstede, as stated in the article, identifies the five dimensions of culture. What I am a little confused about is that only two of the dimensions is represented in the article about Hofstede and his work. The other three links to other articles that deals with the same subjects, but not necessarily from Hofstedes perspectives. To make the confusion even worse, only 4 of the 5 dimensions has hyperlinks, whereas one of them links to the exactly same page the link is present in the first place. I think that someone (me?) ether should write more about Hofstedes perspectives and research on those dimensions on the Hofstede article, or remove those two that currently are present. (I didnt want to waste writing before checking with someone with a little more experience that I have, if you cant help me, maybe you can point me to someone who could?) —Bagdad-Bob

Feel free to edit a page to improve it. Placing a message on Talk:Geert Hofstede will help to attract editors who watch the article, but on Talk pages there's sometimes a possiblity that no-one will reply. The looped wikilink going back to the original page should probably be delinked, as they just tend to confuse people. --ais523 13:47, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Created New Article, and I can't get text in subsections to display properly

Text does not wrap, and requires use of horizontal slide bar to fully view. How do I correct this? Coupdegra 16:37, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Don't indent paragraphs. Leading spaces cause it to do that monospaced-nonformatted-box thing. To separate paragraphs, just use a blank line. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 16:43, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
Corrected it. Cheers -- Lost(talk) 16:47, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
Consumed Crustacean: Thanks for the advice and thanks for correcting my article.

Coupdegra 15:14, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Untitled

Some time ago I created article and published it on Wikipedia. The article is on 'Synthetic phonics'.

Since then I have noticed that 2 links appear towards the bottom of the page which people have added. I would like to know what to do if these links are not relevent specifically to the main article.

I would like to remove these links because they seem to be superfluous to the article and merely there as a means to gain traffic for their own/someone else's site whose content is only vaguely related.

Please could somebody advise me as to the appropriate way to handle this situation.

Jimbo2 81.2.127.210 17:57, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Feel free to remove the links per WP:SPAM. Spam is actively discouraged on wikipedia -- Lost(talk) 18:10, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pozzorubio....

Pozzorubio as listed on your documents or pages is incorrect.... i am from pozorrubio pangasinan and i hope this gets corrected.... POZORRUBIO and Not POZZORUBIO as listed in your pages...

[edit] Quality of uploaded images

Hello,

Two questions about uploading images:

1) The quality of .png and .gif images that I've uploaded seems to decrease when rendered in Wikipedia. For example, the article SDHB has an uploaded image, and it does not look nearly as good as when I view the same file on my PC. How can I make the image look better?

2) When I reference the image (see same SDHB article), the image doesn't appear in full sometimes. Is this because my formatting is wrong, or is the image going through some sort of review or approval process?

Please post the answer on my talk page.

Many thanks,

Johnhfst 03:54, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

No review process, as soon as you reference it, you should see it. Apparently there is a cache issue there with the thumbnail which is not being generated. See Wikipedia:Purge, maybe it can help. If it doesn't, and nobody here can help, go to Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) and ask there. There had been some issues with image cache lately. -- ReyBrujo 04:03, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
I copied your answer to his talk page, ReyBrujo, hope you don't mind. - Akamad 04:11, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deleting redirects?

Is deleting a redirect the same preocess as deleting an article, or is there a specific process for redirects?SuperDT 04:32, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Different process. Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion. It's pretty much the same as AfD, but with a more cute name. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 04:34, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
Likewise, redirects are subject to slightly different criteria for speedy deletion. See WP:DELETE and/or WP:XFD for more information. Luna Santin 04:37, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
Yuck, double edit conflict :P Finally, if you want to move an article from a page to a redirect, see Wikipedia:Requested moves. For deleting a redirect that points to a deleted article, use {{db-redirect}}. -- ReyBrujo 04:39, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] some retooling of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_deviation

the information on this page is somewhat misleading. part of the problem is that it does not conform to standard notation - using, for example, the same symbol, N, for population size and sample size. the latter is usually denoted by n. also - there is confusion between the population mean and sample mean - with the same symbol used for both.

i would be willing to rewrite part of the page to aleviate these sources of confusion. however, i do not have any idea about how to go about doing so.

i am also wondering about the following:

1. i would not want to post anything without having it vetted by 'editors' or others that contribute to or maintain the page.

2. i am not familiar with the svg and png graphical file formats. (i work usually with dvi files created with tex and convert them to pdf if necessary - as when posting them to a website.)

i am an instructor in a stats dept at a large university - so i do know this subject matter.

any help in getting me started down the right path with this project would be appreciated.


talmyd

I noticed that no one had responded to you here. We would love to have your help in editing the article. You don't have to have it vetted by an "editor" as you are an editor yourself. You are probabably more qualified than most of the people here. I have left a brief welcome note on the talk page for the IP you posted from. The Wikipedia:Tutorial is a good place to start.—WAvegetarian•(talk) 22:00, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Adding an article to Categories

How do I add an article that I have written to categories? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Joe.traylor (talk • contribs) .

Add [[Category:XXX]] to the bottom. See Wikipedia:Categories for more information, and let me know if you need any more help! tiZom(2¢) 16:40, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deleting an Article

I made a mistake and put in an article and then found that I had the title wrong. How do I delete the article that is not titled correctly? The Golden Mile, Spain correct The golde mile - spain incorrect

Thanks —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Obiscoito (talk • contribs) .

Not really any need to delete it, but you should probably redirect it to the correct name. To do this, just go to the incorrect page, and completely replace the content with the following: #REDIRECT [[Correct name]] This way, if someone were to type in the incorrect name, they'd be forwarded to the correct one. Hope this helps. If you need anything else, please let me know! tiZom(2¢) 17:13, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
(edit conflict) There is no need to delete. Just go to The golde mile - spain, edit the page, and delete everything, leaving #REDIRECT The Golden Mile, Spain there. Save the page, and it will become a redirect. A word of warning: next time you create an article in the wrong page, don't just copy/paste the contents of the page in the new article. Instead, use the "move" tab near the "edit this page" one, to move the article from the old to the new location, so that the history of the page is kept. Since both articles have the same one item history, you can convert the wrong title in a redirect. But if you had more than one edit in the old article, you should move it, not just copy it.-- ReyBrujo 17:19, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Taxonomy of articles in Wikipedia

I was looking for info on motion picture lighting and ran into some inconsistencies in how some of the articles are categorized. For example, I found a page named Motion picture terminology. This page has the category "Film and video terminology". On this page is the term Hard light. Following the link to hard light I find an article about a fictional concept used in comic books and SciFi pictures.

When I searched for Soft light I found an article about the quality of light as applied to photography. The article had categories of "Photography stubs | Red Dwarf | Photographic equipment". This page actualy gave the description of hard light that I was expecting.

THE PROBLEM The terms "film", "video" and "television" are mixed up together in various articles. They refer to capturing and delivering audio/visual information to people interested in experiencing them. Other terms that can be applied to this medium are "cinema", "movies" and "motion pictures". The former terms relate more to the media on which the images are captured and/or delivered, the latter terms relate more to the end result.

Photography is the name of the techniques used in the capture of images. Two techniques are now in use to actually capture and store the images; chemical (film) and electronic. The electronic can further be broken down into analog and digital. Still photography uses both film and digital methods. Motion pictures use all three. While the lighting requirements differ for each of these mediums, the discussion of lighting techniques apply equally well to all of this.

This gets even more confusing if you consider that live event lighting (stage plays, concerts, etc.) share much of the same attributes with all of the above.

THE SUGGESTION So it would seem to me that in order to prevent the proliferation of articles and categories that conflict and overlap each other, there needs to be some kind of agreement on the taxonomy of these related areas.

THE QUESTION Is there a process in place on Wikipedia that can aid the communities of contributors in coming together to discuss these issues, reach consensus and take action to bring existing and new articles into alignment with that consensus?

Rshaver 05:01, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Rshaver. I think your best bet would be Wikipedia talk:Categorization.--Fuhghettaboutit 05:18, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Regarding Proposed Deletion and IP users

Let's say I put a ProD tag on a page, and an anonymous user removes it, with no explanation as to why, and makes no significant edits to justify why they did it, can I put my ProD tag back, or what should I do? SuperDT 19:32, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

It is considered that the prod is being disputed. In some cases, it is possible to put it back (in example, if the anonymous blanks the article), but it depends on the situation. If the anonymous has edited extensively in the past, he is disputing the tag, if he is blanking articles around, he is vandalizing. You should send the article to Wikipedia:Articles for deletion if the prod is disputed. -- ReyBrujo 19:36, 10 November 2006 (UTC) ok!--007ketan 07:07, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] proof of research

How do I prove that my contributions are true? Because i updated an article & it got deleted because there was no reference that it was true, but i've already found two web addresses that prove i'm right & i also know that i'm right because I went to a lecture about this subject.

so is there anyway that i can stop this hapening?

thanks daffy_elmo (I may be small, but I've got a brain the size of.....umm.....the size of.... a... a bigger person!). 02:03, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, primary research (like hearing a lecture) isn't a plausible source, as it is considered Original Research. However, if you have physical citations, go ahead and add them to the article. If you want to work on the article in pieces without having it deleted, I strongly suggest creating a user subpage such as User:Daffy elmo/draft and working the article together there before you make it official, giving you time to cite the information in it. It's true that things which are true are deleted, but it's better safe than sorry, and with no way to verify your information it is difficult to know the difference. Let me know or post here if you need more help! —Keakealani 02:10, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

thanks for your input.

The only problem is though it's not my article i was just updating an existing one, & i didn't want to add a link to the page as they weren't relavent to the article itself (they were only proof that i was correct). so should i just add my update agian or should i post the links of proof to the user that deleted my update?

thanks daffy_elmo (I may be small, but I've got a brain the size of.....umm.....the size of.... a... a bigger person!). 02:27, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

There's no such thing as article ownership, really - everyone is allowed to contribute (and in fact encouraged) so go right ahead and be bold! —Keakealani 02:45, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
You may be interested in reading up on Wikipedia:Reference#How to cite sources, which explains how sources (like the websites you mentioned) should be cited in an article. Hope that helps! — QuantumEleven 12:37, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] User:Werdnak

Potential imposter of User:Werdna? Fredil 02:31, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

  • Unfortunate similarity with name, but the userpage doesn't suggest impostery. Did you see any suspicious edits? - Mgm|(talk) 10:30, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
Looking at the userpage, this is just an unfortunate coincidence (both users have the same etymology for their name, which you may be able to work out by studying their userpages). --ais523 10:41, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sig issues (again!!)

The following will not work and produces the "Invalud raw sig" message:

[[User:Fredil Yupigo|<span style="#ABABAB">Fr</span>]][[User Talk:Fredil Yupigo|<span style="#898989">ed</span>]][[User:ILovePlankton/My loyalties to my friends|<span style="#666666>il</span>]] <sup>[[Frostmourne|<span style=Indigo>Frostmourne Hungers</span>]]

Fredil Frostmourne Hungers

Fredil Frostmourne Hungers
Fixed - see diff -- zzuuzz (talk) 16:26, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
still doesnt work.
'''[[User:Fredil Yupigo|<span style="color:#ABABAB">Fr</span>]][[User Talk:Fredil Yupigo|<span style="color:#898989">ed</span>]][[User:ILovePlankton/My loyalties to my friends|<span style="color:#666666">il</span>]] <sup>[[Frostmourne|<span style="color:Indigo">Frostmourne Hungers</span>]]'''
The last element is missing a </sup>, after the last ]]. -- zzuuzz (talk) 16:51, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
Alas, I must point that your signature may be considered too long. If possible, try to limit it at 200 characters. Thanks. -- ReyBrujo 18:12, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
If when you type your sig in your preferances and save, it may be due to the fact that the HTML taggings are wrong. Check to make sure you have the correct color names and all the superscript working correctly. Also I think the sig you are shooting for is a little long.--Seadog 00:51, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New windows

how do i make internal/external links/URLs open up in new windows/tabs ?

I have not found any references to this aspect anywhere. Please do let me know. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ranten (talk • contribs) .

There is no way of doing that automatically, as far as I know. However, you should be able to click the link while pressing the Shift button down, which would make most browsers open a new window or tab. -- ReyBrujo 07:05, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
If you are using IE, go to tools --> internet options --> advanced --> and uncheck "reuse windows for launching shortcuts" -- Lost(talk) 07:09, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

What I meant was, when using conventional HTML, one would force a link to open in a new window or tab by using TARGET= NEW...or whatever...isnt that possible on wikipaedia?

No, that's not possible, it was designed that way on purpose. Under what circumstances did you want to have a link on Wikipedia automatically open in a new window? — QuantumEleven 12:33, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to add a new entry

Hi, I want to add a new entry to "James E.(Jim) Long. There is already an entry by that name, but it's my name but not my bio. I want to enter my own information as I am as worthy of being listed as the "other" Jim Long.

Can I edit that entry and add my information after the current information?

Thank you

James E. (Jim) Long —The preceding unsigned comment was added by JimLong (talk • contribs) .

Hello there, and welcome to Wikipedia. I heavily suggest you to read our autobiography and notability guidelines before creating an article. If you feel you fulfill both requirements, we will be glad of helping. Note that these kind of articles may produce a conflict of interest, where the neutral point of view is at risk. -- ReyBrujo 00:04, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Editing aircraft info

I did an edit for the first time and tried to update the information on the Piper PA-31 Navajo. Some of the information went in OK because I used the predefined key phrases (i.e. stall speed), but some did not. For example, I could not enter Vmc, the minimum controllable speed. This is a key speed for any twin engine aircraft, even though when I did a search on Vmc this particular meaning wasn't defined (I'll have to add it at a later date). There were several other speeds that I couldn't enter as well.

My preference would be to have you reply on my talk page, but since this is my first time editing Wikipedia, I don't know if I need to do anything to set it up (which I haven't) or if I just need to go to it from the tab at the top of the page. therefore, please respond in the appropriate manner and hopefully I'll find your answer....

Thanks, HiFlyChick

00:10, 13 November 2006 (UTC)~

Try Template talk:Aircraft specifications, which sets out all the parameters you can include in that template. If it's missing some that you think it should have, you might suggest additions on that page. --Sam Blanning(talk) 14:22, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Language translation issues on pages

For the Hunter X Hunter page on Wikipedia, the names of certain terms, places, and characters in the graphic novel series are questionably translated. On one hand, it seems that most users decide for the page to go by names that are known by most fans through outside sources. However, an official product that has been translating these terms into English has been around for quite some time now. Is it more appropriate to use the names translated by an official product, or by freelance translators whom are often inconsistent in their translations?

Or is it more acceptable to go by what most English-speaking fans seem to know the character as (No matter if the name is translated correctly or incorrectly), despite it being different from the book published in English? It's been an issue for a little while, and any help would be appreciated. If you could post replies to my talk page, that would be of great assistance. In order to make the pages as accurate as possible, it would be of significant help if anyone replies. -- Mr. Toto 23:40, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia has its own naming guidelines, and every WikiProject is free to set a sub-set of naming guidelines. In the case of manga and anime, they basically follow the WikiProject Japan recommendations. See this discussion to get an idea. Also, you may be interested in this, specifically point 3. If you have any more questions, I suggest you to ask it here. Good luck! -- ReyBrujo 05:31, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Erp

Alright, this is not exactly a question about EDITING wikipedia, but about the little signatures at the end. Four tides. I have my signature that looks like this : Cinnaspice! Please talk to me. And when I insert that into my preferences and stuff, it comes out all freaky, and the colours dont show at all. Help?

User talk page hopefully cleared it up... --172.192.215.205 04:10, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
Oh. You're everywhere...this is a bit awkward.
Nah, just saw it on you contributions. Feel free to ask someone else for help if need be, my HTML sucks. ;) --172.192.215.205 04:26, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] adding to persons lost @ sea

I'm new to Wiki. I was reading about Kaiser Wilhelm because one of my great grandfathers had built a table from the railings of his yacht METEOR that was disassembled in Long Beach, CA early 1900's.

Then I was looking for "persons lost @ sea." Richard Haliburton was a famous author and adventurer and was on this list. I added to a comment on the bottom "James N. Sligh, cook for Richard Haliburton also went down in the same Chinese junk in a typhoon in 1939 as Haliburton. He was my grandfather." It didn't say "Famous persons lost @ sea," but he was connected with Haliburton as an employee. I was just explaining why I put his name there, but I knew they could not put all that. So what now, will they delete it? I think I put it in last night or Saturday. Thanks for any help you can give me. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by somethingsquare (talk • contribs).

Anyone can edit an article (including to removing content). Wikipedia:Be bold in updating pages establishes the main principle; if you make a change and no-one removes it, then you've made the change. I can't guess what other editors will do with an article on a subject I don't know about. On the other hand, don't write in articles in the first person; see the Manual of Style for more information. --ais523 10:21, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] questions

- what is real name of Mahatma Gandhi?
- which country has more population in the world?
- who is Pakistan president now?
- what is new name of Madras?

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). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. CattleGirl talk | e@ | review me! 07:38, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
Frankly I think you are trying to get us to answer your test questions. All these answers exist within Wikipedia. I have added links to your questions. Click on them and find out the answers yourself -- Lost(talk) 07:43, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A Gotra in vaishya community called "Mahaur Vaishya"

Hoorable sir/Madam, Do you have any source to tell me about the origin of MAHAUR VAISHYA. If you have, please tell me in detail . Jeeaarkay111 11:41, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

You may try asking at the talk page of Wikipedia:WikiProject Hinduism or else at Wikipedia:Reference desk -- Lost(talk) 12:35, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] About adding photos

It seems so complicated to add photos. All I want to do is add this photo to Major League Gaming - http://www.mlgpro.com/themes/MLG/img/c.gif if that doesn't show, then the logo at www.mlgpro.com —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Arrashju (talk • contribs) 17:34, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

To upload images you need to go to Special:Upload and upload the image from your computer, making sure to fill in the box saying where you found it and selecting a licence (e.g. GFDL or public domain for images you have the copyright to, or a fair use justification for logos like this one). Major League Gaming already has an image of the organisation's logo, though. --Sam Blanning(talk) 17:57, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Creating an article

How do you create an article that will stay and not be deleted?

See Wikipedia:Your first article for some advice; the rules about deleting an article instantly are at Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion and about deleting an article after a delay at Wikipedia:Deletion policy; if you avoid triggering any of the deletion criteria, the article will probably stay. --ais523 09:12, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Virtual classroom update and assignment template

We've moved on to our second lesson in the Virtual classroom, though each lesson is continuous so we may see more additions to the interface share and compare as well. The current topic of discussion is "stubbing."

To help keep track of what's going on, here's a template you can place at the top of your userpage or talk page:

Virtual classroom lessons
6. Yuser, on fighting linkspam
5. Learning the ropes
4. Elaragirl, about deletion and deletionism
3. The Rambling Man, on vandalism
2. Grutness's guide to stubbing
1. Compare your user interfaces with what others use
0. Coaching section - active training-in-progress
-  Miscellaneous questions and comments - anything goes
 .
 .
 .

Hope to see you at the Virtual classroom soon.  The Transhumanist    12:24, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Newspapers as images

I am citing a lot of old local newspapers as sources for several articles on urban myths and local legends. Mostly, these newspaper articles are over 30 years old and aren't archived on the papers websites, and so aren't widely available. Is it permitted for me to scan/obtain scans of some of these articles and to post them as images alongside the wiki-articles (in moderation of course).

I've seen this done a couple of times before on other pages, but I'm not certain if it is a copyright vio or not.

perfectblue 12:28, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

First off, I am not a lawyer.
The main problem I see with your idea is that 30-year old newspapers are still well within their copyright terms (ie the copyright on them has not yet expired), so they are not in the public domain. However, a case could be made to use them under the fair use provision (in US copyright law - this only applies if these are American newspapers). Wikipedia:Fair use has a fair amount of information on this.
Something to think about: if you're just trying to use these newspaper articles as sources for articles, then I don't see any need to scan them in, just cite the relevant article (including obviously the name of the newspaper, date, author of the article etc). It's not important that these articles are not "easily accessible" - if a researcher wants to find them to trace the citation, that's certainly possible.
I hope that helps! — QuantumEleven 16:18, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it helps. They are US newspapers, most date back to the mid-1940s and are obscure local publications from places like Wisconsin, where just about every town had its own local paper. On of the reasons that I was considering including them, is that the articles that I am working on har no pictures of the events/incidents/people involved, and the newspaper clippings could be used as picture/contain picture. One on an article might round it off nicely as long as it doens't get overdone.

perfectblue 16:57, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

In that case, my advice is to scan in the more pertinent ones and upload them into Wikipedia under the fair use criterion. If it's legally okay, I think they would add a lot to the articles in question. — QuantumEleven 17:11, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Random 'just an example' image in "picture of the day" section

On page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Afryka_1890.jpg near the bottom, there's a random image. I'm also concerned that the text may no longer say what it's supposed to. Can someone fix it? Thanks! :) 217.39.163.153 15:21, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Done, it was just a test, and the text (although I have no idea what it says) was not modified. Thanks for noticing! -- ReyBrujo 02:45, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Inserting an image

I've uploaded an image to Wikipedia but I want to insert it in a article. How do I. The only button appears to be insert gallery.
Liz —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lizzievee (talk • contribs) 18:56, November 16, 2006 (UTC).

Hi there! Take a look at Wikipedia:Picture tutorial, which should explain all the basics. — QuantumEleven 17:15, 16 November 2006 (UTC)
PS It seems you managed it, well done! A few notes: it's usually better to display an image as a thumbnail, as the full-sized version takes up an awful lot of space on the page. Also, a caption is usually a good idea, to briefly describe what the image is about. You can find out how to add captions and make thumbnails in the link I mentioned above.

[edit] Inserting an image

First, apologies for my technical inabilities. I simply want to add the company logo to the "Snell & Wilcox" article.

article location: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snell_%26_Wilcox image location: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SnellWilcox_Logo.gif

But that's as far as I can go. Your information pages and tutorials are way too cryptic and technical for me. Can I send you the logo as an email attachement for you to include in the article? I am part of the management team of Snell & Wilcox.

Kind regards, cFilm

I've fixed it. You need to specify a size, or it will just be a link..--Werdan7T @ 03:04, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
Not true. I removed the size and it's still good. Curiously, when I compare my version to the last "bad" version the suffix gif is shown in red though I can't see any difference in the syntax. —Tamfang 20:46, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merging Suggestion

I'm a rather new user here at Wikipedia, so I'm not too sure about this one. I've been editing a thing or two in Elementary algebra, and coincidentally another person was too. We started adding things here and there, but it seems that the information is piling up. I'd say it might be too much information for an article that's supposed to be elementary. The section that I've been contributing in (with examples mostly) is 'System of linear equations'. There is a reference to the supposed main article, which is System of linear equations. However, I can't help but notice that in the main article, there is a clear theoretical definition of the subject, but it has no examples. However, in Elementary algebra, the subject is hardly defined, while examples are abundant. I thought maybe a basic reference to the subject could be made (with basic examples maybe) in Elementary algebra, while moving the more in-depth examples we are creating to the main article, System of linear equations. That way, we would be cleaning up one article and expanding another. The problem is I do not know how to make this suggestion. What talk page should I use? I made a comment in Elementary algebra, but I didn't start a new discussion. It ocurred to me that maybe I should have done it in the talk page for System of linear equations. Can you point me in the right direction when dealing with merging suggestions and the like? (Quadrivium 00:00, 17 November 2006 (UTC))

Hello there. I am guessing the best place for discussing these merges could be the talk page of Wikipedia:WikiProject Mathematics. They are likely to understand why these articles haven't been merged. -- ReyBrujo 02:32, 18 November 2006 (UTC)
Thanks a lot. I have taken the discussion there and got my answers.--Quadrivium 17:27, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Making groups and portals

I've noticed that there are a lot of articles relating to New Mexico and Albuquerque specifically and am trying to figure out if there's a good way to get those in some kind of category so they can be improved by members of that community. Would it be possible to make a wikiproject or a portal on that? I'm thinking specifically of articles like Don Schrader, Lobo Theater, Albuquerque Journal, etc. There have to be lots of helpful people from here out there, I just don't know where to look for them! Thanks. IMFromKathlene 04:31, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

If you're interested in starting a WikiProject, Wikipedia:WikiProject is a good starting point to read from. There is no formal process for creating a Portal, but Wikipedia:Portal gives one possible set of instructions you might want to follow. --ais523 08:28, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fan forums as external links

Just wondering if I can get some clarification on whether it is appropriate for fan forums to be included as external links. I've seen them linked on some pages, and seen similar links quickly removed on others. Which action is correct? Thanks, Decromin 11:13, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

They can't be used as reliable sources; if a fan-forum is well-known and not spam, it's possible it would make a good external link. One thing to do might be to check the Alexa rank; if it's a reasonably small number then there might be a good case to include the forum, but I advise you to take all search-engine results with a pinch of salt when it comes to establishing notability. --ais523 17:15, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
Fan forums and fansites in general don't actually meet any part of our guidelines on external links. External links sections aren't web directories, for stuff that's merely "useful"; they have to add something to the article. --Sam Blanning(talk) 02:57, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Difficulty reporting suspected hijacking (!) of another Wikipedia's interface language

I'm not succeeding in figuring out how to report what appears to be a serious problem, so am posting here in hopes that a NCH editor will be able to guide me. (Obviously I'm still a New Contributor requiring Help since I haven't succeeded in doing this without assistance :-)
It seems that the interface screen of the Dutch Wikipedia comes up with its navigation bar (left side of screen) in the Sundanese language (:su:). This is not vandalism of a page by an editor, so I failed to comprehend how to report this as suspected vandalism. Instead, I've posted several notices with details on the Village Pump (assistance) page, but am not at all sure it'll get suitable attention (and assistance) there. I may be wrong about my suspicion (though I'm quite sure and have checked this out as best I can). If an editor here can advise me and/or reroute the posting, I'd be much obliged! -- Thanks, Deborahjay 09:06, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

(LATER:) RESOLVED in a reply to my Village Pump (assistance) query No. 2 - the problem was apparently caused by a spurious setting (by ??) of su - Basa Sunda for the language in my preferences on the Dutch Wikipedia, that affected my browser even when I wasn't signed on with my User name (!) Thanks go to editor Tra for suggesting the solution. -- Deborahjay 20:58, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism Warnings

I'm working on a page where a user keeps deleting a neutrality discussion tag (and yes the discussion is ongoing) I really don't think they are going to take a warning from me seriously and I'm not sure which template to use, could someone help?Velps 17:23, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question Re: uploading Image to a specific place

I just attempted my first contribution to Wikipedia, an upload of an image titled "Detail of Orange Dog's Face", intending that it be added to the Gallery for "Giant Swallowtail". It apparently was uploaded somewhere, with no links. What should I have done to see that it was added to the intended 'Gallery', and how do I fix it? Light1 18:30, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

This is what is supposed to happen in WP when you add a picture. It's added to the encyclopedia with a name, and then you have to add that to the page. I went ahead and added it for you. See Giant Swallowtail. You can change the caption if you want by editing that page. Let me know if you have any other questions! tiZom(2¢) 23:53, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Summarizing a novel

What citations do I have to reference if I'm doing a plot outline on a work of fiction when my content is based on my solely having read the book? Do I just try and keep it as objective as possible? If I comment on more subjective aspects such as theme, motivation, or environment do I then provide citations? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Verlieben (talk • contribs) .

First of all, you may find this template useful to get an idea about the suggested layout for novels. As for your question, it is not necessary to give references while giving the plot summary, as the source is supposed to be the novel itself. Of course, you need to write it as objective as possible. If there are critics or extra comments, you will have to reference them. For more information, visit and ask at WikiProject Novels. -- ReyBrujo 05:55, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I am completely new to the vast expanse of Wikipedia, and feel that I could contribute some of my knowledge of Sociology. However, I am at a loss for conventions involving citing sources and such.

Does Wikipedia follow standard conventions such as APA, ASA, or MLA when developing citations?

I find the idea of "Original Research" fairly vague, since any basic contribution, unless completely cited from a different body of work, would constitute and "Original interpretation", or "Original Research". Is Original Research basically considered one's own subjective analysis without reference to an original body? I am lost.

And I also wonder what level of detail is expected for an article to be considered adequate. I have viewed a few sociological articles, such as "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" and "Sociology of deviance", and found them lacking necessary information, but was at a loss as to what extent they should be edited to be considered adequate. Perhaps I am a bit intimidated in contributing, as I feel such a resource should only have the best in quality of information. Objectivity is only an idealist's dream 07:35, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi there! Basically, if you want to know more about citing sources in Wikipedia, a lot of the guidelines can be found here. It's a long page, and it has a lot of information on different ways Wikipedia accepts citing sources and how to do it in Wiki markup.
Original research is based on this- "if it hasn't been published, don't put it in". For as much information as possible we need to put in a good, reliable source so that Wikipedia itself can remain reliable. Sources are also good for other reading, but yes, you pretty much had it- "Is Original Research basically considered one's own subjective analysis without reference to an original body?"
If you find an article that you feel lacks necessary information, by all means, be bold and put it in. Feel free to put in as much information as possible, however before editing make sure that your information can't be put on another page. If it can, edit the other page and then to a summary of what you were writing on the first page. Also don't forget to put in internal links. Hope to see you around- CattleGirl talk | e@ | review me! 07:49, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] how can i

i would like to know how to locate a federal inmate and i would like to know how to locate information on visitations and directions to the facility what would i look under?????? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.200.116.198 (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). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. -- Lost(talk) 08:41, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How can I tell if something has been reviewed?

I'm a new registered user. Recently I made a minor change to two different articles -- call them A and B. I forgot to check the minor edit box on page A but did on page B. My change to page B was immediately reverted by a bot (because my addition pointed to a geocities page, though it's a non-commercial one, a text page not a forum, and clearly relevant to the article) but twentyfour hours later my change to article A is still there. I infer from this that my change to article B by was examined by the bot, not a reviewer, because I checked the minor edit box there, but since I didn't check the minor edit box on article A, the bot didn't look at it. In turn, I infer that my change to article A is still there either because the reviewer approved it, or because the reviewer hasn't gotten around to looking at it.

So I have two questions:

Is there any way I can tell if my edit of article A has been approved by the reviewer?

and

Is the prohibition against linking to geocities sites absolute, or can I eventually put these links in if the geocities site is relevant (containing the same sort of material as many allowed links which are already in the article) and noncommercial?

It might be relevant to add that I have to post from a shared IP because that's what my ISP gives me.

Thanks for any enlightenment.

There isn't a formal review process on Wikipedia; anyone is welcome to review, and possibly to revert (remove), an edit at any time. It's possible, although unlikely, that some edits won't be reviewed for any length of time. You could try communicating with the operator of the bot who reverted you to find out why (it wouldn't be anything to do with major/minor). --ais523 16:28, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
The bot message read: You have been identified as a new user or a logged out editor using a shared IP address to add email addresses, YouTube, Geocities, Myspace, Facebook, blog, or forum links to a page. ... The links can be reviewed and restored by established users. I interpret this to mean that my attempt to put in geocities links on these pageswill be reverted by the bot unless I am an 'established user.' But I can't find any definition of 'established user.' Is this an official status which a bot can recognize? How do I become an "established user?" (I'm assuming here that geocities links such as I've described above are allowed, please someone tell me if I've got this wrong.) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Villager (talk • contribs) .
That was because you have added an external link that is currently blacklisted. You can complain at the bot's talk page, or at the talk page of WikiProject Spam. -- ReyBrujo 17:38, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
An "established user" is one who has been registered for a while. I believe that it is based on the age percentile of the account, i.e. what percentage of accounts are older/younger than yours.—WAvegetarian•(talk) 00:35, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
  • I'd rather see the bot create a list for review, rather than its "deleting first, ask questions later"-mentality. - Mgm|(talk) 13:53, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
I agree with the above comment. I understand that free web hosting sites like geocities are subject to abuse, but lots of people can't afford pay ones. If Wikipedia is to be truly open, I think there should be some way to allow links to legitimate, article-relevant, non-commercial sites hosted on free web site hosts. To put a blanket probibition on them is in effect to make a policy that Wikipedia will only include links to sites put up by people who can afford to pay for web space.

[edit] links to nonexistant articles

Just curious as to why the color of links to nonexistant articles are a different color (red)?

I was thinking that perhaps someone is already working on an article for the link.

By the way if I wanted to do an article how do I determine if it is already being worked on?

Thanks, daytrivia

The link is red to indicate that there isn't anything there. It is a warning of sorts, but also an invitation. The fact that there is a link at all meant that someone thought it was important to have a link to an article titled that. This is an invitation for you to write that article. There is no way to know if someone else is working on a nonexistant article, but there is no harm in your putting something up yourself in the mean time. Just click on the link and start writing. —WAvegetarian•(talk) 00:26, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] RE: Artist/Writer Autobiograhical Materials Can This Be Done

Hi, my name is Bill Kendall, and I am an accomplished portrait artist and aspiring writer at 52 the ripe old age of 52. I recently joined WikipediA as a contributing writer/editor, because I am very impressed with what you are doing with this site. This is a good example of emergence theory using positive feedback as well as negative feedback to create a more sentient site -- than most of the other sites you find on the web. I want to know if you will allow me to contribute an autobiography of an Artist/Writer: me. I would like to submit multiple drawings and paintings some times for illustration purposes; at other times I will contribute single ones with write-ups explaining techniques or brief histories. I would like to start an autobiography "One Artist's Sketch Pad" as an on going serial developmental fashion. Can this be done? I need to learn how to delete my duplicate ones (contributed artwork) and get all of them linked together as well as to other sites that are in your WikipediA network, that might be interested in seeing: the developmental stages of an Artist/Writer from the time I started at about 12 years old tell now. I would appreciate your attention to this matter and I look forward to working with you all. Please check out my artwork and make sure it meets your high standards, if not, please let me know. thanks, once again. Until next time...I await your kind replies,

bk

--FarroRavenKnight 23:40, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a forum for self expression. We welcome your contributions to the encyclopedia, but what you seem to have in mind doesn't quite fit with the nature of encyclopedias. If you contribute your work to the project you are more than welcome to make a gallery of your contributions, but we do not offer free web hosting for personal websites or blogs. Please see WP:USER and WP:AUTO for more information. —WAvegetarian•(talk) 00:18, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Requests - filled

I saw on the Main page that a request was listed for 'Benares Brass' On another page, it said if an article could be made searching Google and etc., it would be helpful to add an article, so I tried this. Do I need to tell anyone, so they can peek at it, and see if this article satisifies the 'request' for 'Benares Brass'

I am a new user to Wikipedia.


Thank you.

SriMesh

You don't need to tell anyone; if you want to tell someone, you might want to try Wikipedia:Requests for feedback, but that isn't needed. You can also remove the article from the requests lists at Wikipedia:Requested articles now you've created it. --ais523 10:45, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Creating a page

how18:04, 21 November 2006 (UTC)~~ —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nn0535 (talk • contribs) .

See Wikipedia:Your first article and then Help:Starting a new page. It's four tildes to sign your name, by the way, not seven. --Sam Blanning(talk) 18:12, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] discussion with editor

Very new to all this, so excuse my ignorance, please.

Is it possible to enter into discussion with someone who is editing a contribution I have offered?

jthring 19:49, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

If you disagree with the edit, then you can contact the user on their talk page or you can mention it on the talk page of the article mentioned. If the edit is blatant vandalism, please, revert it. However, if it is an edit done in good faith, it would, as I said before, be wise to talk to the user directly on their talk page or the talk page on the article. Happy to help- CattleGirl talk | e@ | review me! 09:27, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I want to join some kind of team

Hi. I'm not exactly a new user, in that I've been here for a few months and know what I'm doing. But anyway, this is the best place for this question:

I want to join some kind of editing team. Maybe counter-vandalism or something like that. I want something where I don't have to know anything. I applied for the mediation committee, but was rejected. What's the easiest committee or group to get in? Welcoming committee, maybe? That'd be kind of boring, though I guess it would be pretty helpful, which is what matters most to me. What committee do you think is right for me? Robocracy 15:14, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, if you're looking for a particular range of interest, perhaps you can find a WikiProject to contribute to. They range from all sorts of categories and often have "articles to be written" and the like, which is nice to contribute to. Esperanza may also be right for you - it's a group of editors who believe in fostering good will and good faith through various projects and drives. In reality, though, I don't believe you have to "belong" to a bunch of groups to be helpful here - for the most part I just dabble in many things from recent change patrol to copy-editing. There are things to be done in nearly every possible way, so perhaps just finding something you enjoy would be a worthwhile exercise. Good luck! —Keakealani 18:08, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

I have roughly the same sort of background and feeling of the poster. I can't join Esperanza (and the initial poster probably can't either) because I don't have the minimum required 1000 edits yet. NinaEliza 05:10, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the requirement is 150 edits...I've been in Esperanza for months, and I only just recently got 1000 edits, so... dunno, though, how else to help you —Keakealani 06:56, 24 November 2006 (UTC)
I just found this out at about the same time by going back to the Esperanza charter page. I could have sworn when I joined Wikipedia two months ago that the membership requirement was 1000 edits. Maybe it was vandalism or something. Anyway, thanks.NinaEliza 07:14, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] WP:WC

How do you track down a newcomer?Thanks!Yashtulsyan 15:31, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, generally if you look out over your watchlist, you will occasionally see red talk pages, signifying that the person is a newcomer. Another place to put on your watchlist is Wikipedia:New user log. Also you'll bump into a lot of newcomers at this page as well as the WP:HD. If you are really determined, you can also see Special:Newpages -- Lost(talk) 15:45, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
Also, Special:Log/Newusers is an automatically generated list of the newest users. In general, though, I would go with Lostintherush - look around for users asking questions, take a peek at their user pages or contributions list, if they have just started on Wikipedia and/or are looking for help, feel free to leave a friendly message on their user talk page. — QuantumEleven 15:50, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Untitled question from plf515

Hi I am very new to wiki, html, and so on. I'm old enough that I like printed texts. I know there are many help files about editing wikipedia pages, and they look very good. I'd prefer a book on the subject. Is such a thing available? In particular I'd like to help edit some of the statistics pages, so I'd need to know how to input fancy formulas and import graphics in something like jpeg format (I can create graphs in R). Thanks! Plf515 16:34, 23 November 2006 (UTC)plf515

As far as I know, there isn't a printed book of Wikipedia help, although you can print off any of the individual pages. You can find out all you need to know about the mathematical syntax at Help:Math; images are more complicated due to possible copyright issues (you have to decide what licence you're licensing the image under when you upload it). For more information about images, see Wikipedia:Uploading images. --ais523 16:38, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
there as been talk about offline wikipedia being made, as such there is i suspect a CD that will be put out at some point. Mathmo Talk 10:06, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article draft

Could I use an article subpage instead of a user subpage for a draft version of an article? Fredil 02:16, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, not that I know of. You may want to wait for another answer.Yashtulsyan 02:26, 24 November 2006 (UTC)
A comment: if the article does not exist, create it directly where it should exist. This way others may also help you build it. Now, if the article already exists, you can create a draft in a subpage in the talk page of the article, in example, if you want to create a draft about Test page 1 (with this article already existing), you can create it at Talk:Test page 1/Draft. A couple of things: don't create it in the article namespace (like Test page 1/Draft) because Wikipedia considers it another article; and be careful when doing this, because you are most likely want to delete the existing article, dismissing the contributions from previous users. Most times, it is better just to tell people in the talk page that you are going to change a lot of the article and work directly in the article itself than creating another article about the same topic. Nevertheless the option you choose, remember to post a notice in the talk page stating you are going to create a new version, it is not nice when all your contributions are deleted because someone thought the article needed a full rewrite. Note that building a draft and then copying the latest version of the draft over the old existing article may be considered impolite, as you are dismissing the efforts from previous editors. -- ReyBrujo 04:01, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How do I make redirect pages

Please tell me how to make redirect pages.

- 142.161.196.232 02:53, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Hello there, and welcome to Wikipedia. To create a redirect, just edit the page you want to convert into redirect, and add the following: #REDIRECT [[Another page]], with Another page being the page to where you want to redirect. Note that, if the page does not exist, you will have to create an account in order to create it. And be careful when converting existing articles into redirects; if so please first discuss in the article talk page before doing it. Thanks and good luck! -- ReyBrujo 03:55, 24 November 2006 (UTC)
Wikipedia:Redirect also has a lot of information which you may find useful. — QuantumEleven 11:16, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Farsi Verifications

There are 15 sources used in the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad entry for which an editor has requested verification with the {{check}} tag. These sources are in Farsi, and I can't read them. So I can't verify them. Where can I post a message where other editors who do know Farsi can see it, so that I can let them know that we need some help? Vir4030 03:24, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

You could try asking the people at Wikipedia:WikiProject Iran — Lost(talk) 03:42, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to revert Edits ?

can any one tell me how to revert the edits done by any crazy user ? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mohammad adil (talk • contribs) .

Manually reverting requires some steps. First, go to the article you want to revert. Once there, click the history tab, where you will get a list of revisions, from newest to oldest. Now, click the date of the revision you want to put instead of the current one. If you don't know which revision is the right one, you will have to compare revisions until finding the suitable one. Once you clicked the date, you will arrive to the article as it was back in that revision, now click edit this page. If you are editing an old revision, you will get a message at the top saying You are editing a prior version of this page. If you save it, any changes made since this version will be removed. Now, just save that version. Note that, after saving, you need to check in the history if your revert worked, it is possible that another editor did not realize the article was vandalized, and added a useful contribution you just reverted. If so, check his contributions and add them to your version. You can learn more about reverting at Help:Reverting. -- ReyBrujo 17:58, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
on the other hand if it is a tiny change, you can just as easily go edit it out directly the same as with any other editing you do to an article. still hand to check out history for any other bad edits Mathmo Talk 09:49, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalizm

The page for Christopher Columbus has been vandalized. See the "Physical Appearance" section. What is the preferred way to report/act on vandalizm? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.229.57.101 (talk • contribs).

See WP:REVERT for instructions on reverting, and Wikipedia:Vandalism for dealing with vandalism in general. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 07:00, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for the notice though! Not to repeat what Crustacean said, but I'd suggest reading the help guides he linked to so that, in the future, you can be bold and help too! -- Chrissperanza! chat edits 15:46, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Two articles with same name

I made an article about Francis de Gaston, Chevalier de Levis, and someone else wrote a stub called François Gaston de Levis, Duc de Levis, and I'm confused, because my article's not a stub-User:District Attorney

Hi there! It seems that two people had the idea to write about this gentleman at the same time, but chose a different version of his title each time. The solution is to merge the two articles. I am no expert on the subject matter, but you may be in a better position to judge which version of his name is more correct (see also Wikipedia:Naming conventions and, more specifically, Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people)), then follow the procedures on the first page I linked to. Oh, and the latter page title is François Gaston de Lévis, Duc de Lévis. Hope that helps! — QuantumEleven 06:19, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the nice help! It will be useful! --User:District Attorney

There should be a re-direct on the old page, for people who might be weird chance go there. So am adding that now. Mathmo Talk 09:25, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Suggestion for a word

There is a company called Emerson Knives which besides regular customers has a cult following from a online forum called "The Usual Susects Network."

I came up with a "made up" word per-say, Emersonaholic which I would like to add to Wikipedia but before even attempting this thought it prudent to ask the technical people behind the front lines if this was appropriate or not.

PS Although at first glance this might appear not a serious request but it truly is and would be happy to discuss this topic if there are any questions.

Thanks for taking the time to read my request!!!

Kevin S Gallagher

Hi Kevin. Hate to tell you but we have an entire guideline devoted to explaining why made up new words, "neologisms/protologisms" are inappropriate as the basis of Wikipedia articles and are also inappropriate to even mention inside articles. The Guideline is here. Furthermore, even definitions of established words should be avoided as Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a dictionary (which Wiktionary is). See: Wikipedia is not a dictionary. Thanks for understanding. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit 05:15, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How can I lock a article?

I was just wondering how too and how do you block pepole from editing Wikipedia?Eddy643 13:47, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Only administrators can do that; you could look at Wikipedia:Requests for administrator attention to find out how to request protection of articles and blocking of users. --ais523 13:53, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] vandalizing

somebody is vandalizing this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville

Spanish people are retarded ....

how to fix this?

See Help:Revert and Wikipedia:Cleaning up vandalism. --ais523 17:13, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Being Blocked

Can a user get blocked permanently? If so, is there a way to be unblocked? -Geee410

A user can get indefinitely blocked if their username is inappropriate, if they are a vandalism-only account, or other reasons; see WP:BLOCK for details. In this case there isn't a very reliable way for them to get unblocked. Your name looks fine though. I hope you enjoy Wikipedia! Also, you should use the signature function (~~~~) to sign your name quickly and easily on pages; see WP:SIG. Fredil 02:45, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] French biography

Frégeau, Georges E , (1892-10-24) - (1969-04-22). Fils de Damase Frégeau et de Marie-Louise Blanchette. Il est leur seul Fils. Il a fait carriere aux Chemins de fer du Canadien Pacifique en tant qu'agent de gare a Ste-Rosalie de Bagot. Il a ete marie en premiere noce avec Fiset dont 5 garcons et 4 filles sont nes ( Rolland, Yvette, Jaqueline, Claire, Suzanne, Guy, Paul, Yvon. En seconde noce, il epousa Angeline St-Laurent (1917) dont naquis un fils, Louis-Andre. Il fut un des fondateur de la Caisse Populaire de Ste-Rosalie, dont il fut le gerant pendant plus de 40 ans. Il fut maire du Village de Ste-Rosalie a partir de 1963 jusqu'a son deces en 1969. Il fut le fondateur du Telephone de Ste-Rosalie de Bagot en 1965 Aujourd'hui, Le Telephone Guevremont. Secretaire de la Paroisse de Ste-Rosalie, il fut aussi secretaire-tresorie de la Commission Scolaire de Ste-Rosalie. Homme publique implique totalement dans la vie quotidienne de Ste-Rosalie, il fut un homme constamment devoue au siens. Ste-Rosalie etait pour lui, dans le Quebec des annees soixante, rien de moins que la Municipalite de l'avenir. Il a ete a l'originale de tout une serie d'implatation d'infracstruture moderne de l'epoque. Eclairage des rues aux lampes de sodium, eliminant ainsi les ampoules du haut des poteaux electriques. Implantation d'une usine d'epuration des eaux usees. Construction d'un reseau d'aqueduc et d'égout, tres moderne pour cette periode. Il amenant des contructeurs tel Les Habitations Toupins. Un Centre-d'achat. Une manufacture de matelas sans compter les entreprises dans le domaine de l'agriculture tel que Champlain Seed. C'est a son deces le 22 avril 1969, que le village de Ste-Rosalie verra un ralentissement de sex activites commerciales mais surtout de son developpement vers la modernisation des annees 1970. Aujourd'hui, seul un petit nombre de citoyen se rappellent de Georges E. Frégeau.

I have no idea what you have written. Since this is the english language wikipedia, it will be much easier if you ask your question in english. You are likely to get a much better response — Lost(talk) 08:58, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
It's a biography in French, and so wouldn't be suitable for this page even if it were in English. --ais523 09:13, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Salut! Le meilleur endroit pour écrire un article sur M. Fégeau c'est sur le Wikipédia français. Içi c'est Wikipedia en anglais. — QuantumEleven 13:04, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] submit article

how to put article that can permanantly stay? thanks

You'll need to make sure that the article doesn't contravene any of the policies or guidelines; it's particularly worth looking at the criteria for speedy deletion to make sure that the article won't be deleted instantly. As you don't have a username (or aren't logged in), you might want to use the Articles for Creation process, which will guide you through the steps required and give you an idea of whether the article is acceptable or not. --ais523 13:55, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Her Excellency Angela Merkel

The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

Excellency,

Please accept my warmest greetings.

If it had not been for Germany being a great contributor to progress in science, philosophy, literature, arts and politics; ...<rest of lengthy text removed>—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 60.241.245.32 (talk • contribs) .

Hi. This page is for help with editing and finding your way around Wikipedia. I'm not sure what you intended by posting the entire text of the very long letter I have snipped short above, but I didn't see any type of question. Do you need help with something? Can you explain?--Fuhghettaboutit04:20, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps this would be fine at Wikisource.martianlostinspace 19:08, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../n/e/w/Wikipedia%7ENew_contributors%27_help_page_Archive_Nov_2006_8496.html"