Help talk:Contents/Archive 5

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Archive This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Contents

Needy Monobook

My monobook needs more cowbell. Can anybody point me in the right direction?--Shella * 18:41, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Check out the first and last links at Help:Contents/Account settings and maintenance. --Quiddity 20:50, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Different kind of problem

On my watchlist, there was somthing I didn't put there. "Brotherfucker". Yeah, I know. Weird. Could someone have figured out my password? I changed it, after seeing this. -Yancyfry 03:55, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

That'll just be the result of page-move vandalism. Even after the move is reverted, the new page will stay in everyone's watchlists. I'm sure (hoping) its a bug being worked on :) -Quiddity 06:13, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks =) and good riddens to my new password. I have a hard time remembering it. -Yancyfry 03:40, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Log in cookies

How do you enable cookies to log in? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 76.169.199.41 (talk • contribs).

Please ask help-related questions at Wikipedia:Help desk. Thanks (and cookies are a browser thing, so tell the people at the help desk what browser you are using :) --Quiddity 03:42, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

WP:Adopt

Hi there - especially Quiddity,

The link from this page to WP:ADOPT was removed (see page history 15th Nov) - citing that it is unessential and that it was already covered by Wikipedia:Department directory. I request that it be reinserted - for the main reason that for the project to work, and to get new users aware of it, it needs to be linked from some/all of the documents that these users are most likely to access - this being a prime example.

Please if you do not known what the project is read up at WP:ADOPT. It is not a part of Wikipedia:Esperanza and just a social club, but a very serious attempt to get in contact with the newest of users and help them contribute effectively - for this though we need this page's help.

Your thoughts please Lethaniol 18:03, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Another point - though it may be covered in Wikipedia:Department directory in reality how many new users (our target) will get that far. A lot will get look under "Where to Ask Questions" on this page I am sure though... Lethaniol 18:29, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
I've added a link at Help:Contents/Getting started. Only critical/common links are listed at this root menu page.
It's already linked at Wikipedia:New user log, but a link could potentially be added at Wikipedia:New contributors' help page too. Hope that all works for you. :) -Quiddity 19:41, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for your suggestions and inserting a link at Help:Contents/Getting started. I understand your concern - that you do not want this help page spammed with any department/project etc... but I think that Adoption, though not critical (neither is reference desk!) and not yet common (increasing numbers all the time) - it does give a valuable extra resource for new users looking for help.
I do not want to give up on this request as of yet, and no offence Quiddity, I would like input from more than one user who regularly works on these help pages. Any suggestion of who to ask for their opinions? Many thanks Lethaniol 12:01, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
I just saw a thread at Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)#WP:ADOPT, which'd be the prefect place to discuss this too. Hope that helps, and I'm trying not to WP:OWN here so further opinions welcome :) --Quiddity 21:14, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
No I was not suggesting you of WP:OWN just want a few more people to get involved. Will carry on this debate at the Village pump, I hope you will leave your opinion there. Thanks Lethaniol 15:04, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
Oh I know that, I was just meaning it's subtly implied by all the answers on this page coming from me alone :) (And that's just because it was archived recently) -Quiddity 19:20, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Template source

This is the discussion page for an anonymous user, identified by the user's numerical IP address. Some IP addresses change periodically, and may be shared by several users. If you are an anonymous user, you may create an account or log in to avoid future confusion with other anonymous users. Registering also hides your IP address.

Where is the source template for this message? Travb (talk) 04:35, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

At MediaWiki:Anontalkpagetext. (I just searched google for the 1st line). --Quiddity 20:42, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

WP:ADOPT

Hi there,

I am bringing back a request to have Adopt-a-user linked from this page. The program has matured significantly (+200 active users, 50 odd Adopters, 150 odd Adoptees), and could be a very valuable resource for ongoing help compared with the one off help from either the Ref/Help desk. What do people think. Cheers Lethaniol 20:10, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Not sure where to..but i back that request. I think its useful for newbies to know. I didnt know it existed till a few days back! Fethroesforia 01:10, 20 January 2007 (UTC)
Oh come on Quiddity give us your opinion - I won't bite I promise :):) Cheers Lethaniol 02:04, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, was busy/distracted elsewhere. Okay, I've changed the portal-box header text to black, for better visibility, and added a link on the contents page under Community. (I didn't put it under "Getting started" because it requires a certain level of commitment to the site, to want to be adopted. Plus it's already under that headings subpage, so now it's twice as likely to be found). Sound good? :) --Quiddity 20:42, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Sorry this is an even tardier reply - thanks very muc, looks good to me:):) Cheers Lethaniol 20:32, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Adding a Resource

moved thread to Wikipedia talk:Cheatsheet#Adding a Resource. --Quiddity 03:30, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Subpage

How do you add a subpage to your user page? Math Genius

JUst go to Special:Mypage/pagename (change pagename as you wish.) Flyingtoaster1337 00:41, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Uploading Images

Whenever I upload an image it dosen't work. What do I do? --MacintoshApple 01:58, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Please ask help-related questions at Wikipedia:Help desk. Thanks :) --Quiddity 20:49, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Newcomers help page delinked on main help again

Would somebody please take note of the plight of the newbie in the name of commonsense and essential humanity and stop removing newcomers help from the main page. Also please note that change is not the same as progress. This page was revised back in the summer and changing 'administrative things' when good editorial talent is desperately needed in article upgrades is not furthering the project. In this case, it is clearly retrograde. Best regards // FrankB 07:51, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Tangential comment: I'd like to see either a merge, or at least an acknowledgment of existence/purpose, between the 3 pages Help desk, New contributors' help page, and Village pump (assistance).
Just look at these headers: Help desk/Header, Newcomers help page/Header, (and partly Template:Villagepump); there's so much overlap/repetition...
Maybe the newcomer's desk could merge into helpdesk, and the more advanced questions get pointed towards VPa? I don't know..
and I also have the same issue with Wikipedia:Contact us and Wikipedia:Questions. —Quiddity 20:01, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Galleries

My problem is that when I try to put a picture gallery on the page, I want to move it to the right instead of the left. What do I do? Supergeeky1 04:14, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Please ask help-related questions at Wikipedia:Help desk. Thanks :) --Quiddity 04:13, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Browser / font configuration

I just spent two or three hours trying to help an established user configure his browser (Internet Explorer 7) so he can view articles on math topics without getting all frustrated (he didn't have the requisite fonts installed on his system). He had previously received some very bad advice from the help desk – someone advised him to convert character-class data he couldn't view into graphic images. That got him into edit conflicts with people who were already conversant with the pages about mathematics.

Anyway, I just poked my way through this beautiful menu page and most of its associated sub-pages. It's very nice. But I didn't find any connection between this help system and the information one needs to display the contents of a great number of WP articles satisfactorily (i.e., Unicode, MathML, special fonts, etc). Can something like "Wikipedia and your browser" or "Fonts on Wikipedia" be worked into this help system? Or did I just manage to overlook it somehow? Thanks! DavidCBryant 17:47, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Help:Formula deals with making math (supplemented by Wikipedia:Manual of Style (mathematics)).
Help:Special characters should deal with displaying character sets and fonts (hopefully it does so well?). I've added a clarifying description following its entry at Help:Contents/Editing Wikipedia, to make it easier to find :) --Quiddity 18:50, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
OK, now I see it. The list of "How to:" items is long, and (IMO) it makes the verb "to use" work up a sweat. That's probably why I missed it the first time through ... I got a little bit bored reading the list. I'll try to think of some other verbs to slip into that list here and there, unless you beat me to it. Thanks! DavidCBryant 14:02, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

(hopefully it does so well?)

Er, no, I wouldn't say so. I had run across that page yesterday, and just couldn't find the link to it from this main menu page. The "special characters" page itself seems to be seriously out of date. I doubt that information about the migration from ISO 8859-1 to UTF-8 in 2005 is of much practical significance any longer, for instance.
I've already set up a Meta account, so I'll log on there sometime soon and see if I can't re-organize that help page a bit, putting more relevant information closer to the top, and less relevant historical detail at the tail end. DavidCBryant 14:31, 16 February 2007 (UTC)


Stargate Address Update

I was just going through the stargate address page and I came across a stargate missing its glyphs or chevrons (whichever you call them) The Planet is designated BP6-3Q1, the one where the kingsize mosquito attacks Teal'c The gate address is 27-07-15-32-12-30 but I don't know how to put it in

Can somebody do it for me please. 124.182.4.109 12:08, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Hi, this page is for discussion of the Help:Contents page, not general discussion of Wikipedia in general. I'm not sure which article you're referring to, but you should bring the matter up on the discussion page of that article, rather than here. Thanks – Qxz 01:28, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
I'll get it anyway. Josh LeePAGE|TALK 23:49, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Why

Why did Jimbo Wales order the removal of video game guides from WikiBooks?100110100 13:45, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Hi, this page is for discussion of the Help:Contents page, not discussion of Wikipedia in general, or of other Wikimedia projects. I recommend you visit Wikibooks and find an appropriate place to ask your question there, where people with knowledge of the project will be able to assist you. Thanks – Qxz 14:59, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Calcium Zinc PVC stabilsers

Where can I get imnformation on Calcium Zinc stabilisers for PVC —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 196.41.15.178 (talk) 05:48, 16 March 2007 (UTC).

Hi, this page is intended for discussion of the Help:Contents page, and is not the place to ask questions. You may recieve an answer if you ask at the Reference Desk, or use a search engine. Thanks – Qxz 07:52, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

i can't get what i want on this page please help me  !!!!!

This page is for the help article talk. See the intro to this page. =Nichalp «Talk»= 15:45, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia toolbar for Firefox

I´m trying to use today tip of the day, the Wikipedia toolbar for Firefox but i cant find a version compatible with Firefox 2.0 There is one at least? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Alextrevelian 006 (talk • contribs) 02:07, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

Nope. 2.0 is not available as yet. =Nichalp «Talk»= 15:44, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Protect page?

It seems to me like this would be a high-risk page that an admin should full-protect to stop vandalism. — CobraWiki ( jabber | stuff ) 03:09, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

I don't think anonymous editors would vandalise this page. I think most just edit mainspace articles. -- Andy W. (talk/contrb.) 20:54, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
It already is semi-protected. :) --Quiddity 22:00, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
Semi-protection should be enough; full protection seems a bit pre-emptive to me; unless, of course, the page suddenly gets hit by a load of users who have been registered for more than four days. Acalamari 23:33, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Images

Why doesn't this page say how to link a page through an image? —Supuhstar Image:Supuhstar(SupuhSmall).gif

Can one do this in Wikipedia ?. I think it would do it to an internal link and include also a small link called "license" to go the image page in Wikipedia or Commons --62.87.96.65 13:33, 13 May 2007 (UTC)
It is possible, but isn't explained because it's not standard practice. See ImageMap, however, "it should be used sparingly as image description pages contain copyright information and should normally be easily accessible." If you're not sure, then it's best to ask before using it. --Quiddity 17:11, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Review

Please examine May 1 edit.100110100 22:33, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it that I can see? Please point out any perceived problems, else we are left to guess...
However, your edit today was unnecessary, turning xhtml <br />s into html <br>s, and leading to an [edit] link overlapping the shortcut box. Please be careful to preview the results of any layout changes you make to pages. Thanks. --Quiddity 02:16, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
Whoops, missed the duplicate link. Corrected.
Please try to assume good faith, and Never insult a fellow editor, especially in the edit summary where everyone has to see it. Thanks. --Quiddity 02:23, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
I think that is the best advice; good faith is the very basis of being a good Wikipedian. Jmlk17 07:10, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Link

I would add a link to mw:User hub

Added to Help:Contents/Technical information – Gurch 06:54, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

Internal links

Which can be considered internal links in Wikipedia ? --Nopetro 10:05, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

interwiki image links

is it possible to link to and display images from another wiki language site? I've been trying to use this image "de:bild:Josef Hellmesberger senior.jpg" in an article without success. --emerson7 | Talk 01:25, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Couldn't you just upload it here too? Maybe ask the person who uploaded it to upload it to Commons. 65.37.60.195 07:12, 19 June 2007 (UTC)
Basically no, it is not possible. You have to stick the article in commons and do it from there. --BozMo talk 19:23, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Searching help

It's needlessly difficult to search the Help namespace on Wikipedia. Is there someway to search the help section other than to open a search for something else, and then use the little tickboxes at the bottom of the search window? Is there anyway that we could link, on the main help page, to a search box that would search the help section. I'm guessing that new users (i.e. the people that need to search help) are going to have frustration figuring out how to search help. I tried to find a page that's just a search of the Help namespace, and the best I could get was something like this -- a link to a nonsense term (so there are no results) and then the proper button checked at the bottom. But this would only work if people knew to use the bottom search box. Does anyone agree with my concerns that this is a really unfriendly search mechanism for new users? --JayHenry 16:11, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

Yes, how about a "Search Help" box on this Main Help page? TIA? --Jerome Potts 03:55, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
I put in an inquiry at the Wikipedia:Help desk and somebody pointed out that you can easily link to a google search of the help namespace -- Search help. I'm not sure what the policy is on linking to google searches, but I think this would be an extremely helpful tool for new users. Does anyone watching this page know if this is an acceptable link? --JayHenry 16:33, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Misplaced Tucson, Arizona

Just west of Clipperton Island in the Pacific (west of Guatemala/Mexico), there is a spot that advertises Tucson, AZ. Not quite sure how it got there. Good luck! ~Jennifer —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.187.198.27 (talk)

I can't see anything in googleearth, so either I guessed wrong and you meant something else, or it's already fixed :) --Quiddity 18:35, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

"Search for an article"

Why is that link even there if it just redirects you back? — thesublime514 • talk • 03:34, July 8, 2007 (UTC)

Not sure what you mean. The link you reference leads to Wikipedia:Searching. (It does have an irregular "back button" (Template:Help contents back), as do all the subpages listed here. Is that what you mean? If so, I'm not a huge fan of it either, suggestions welcome.) --Quiddity 18:34, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
When I click the link, all I see is the back button. — thesublime514 • talk • 03:41, July 9, 2007 (UTC)
I think I've fixed it. Please report :) And out of curiosity, what webbrowser are you using? Thanks --Quiddity 19:29, 9 July 2007 (UTC)
I'm using FireFox - I think it is the browser. Now when I click the link, the box pops up and almost immediately disappears. Hmm. — thesublime514 • talk • 00:17, July 10, 2007 (UTC)
I'm also using firefox, so it's not just that, at least. Are you using a non-monobook skin, or peculiar user javascript? And do you experience the same thing at, say, Help:Contents/Getting started (which is basically styled the same)?
I think you might need to ask at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical), as I'm not sure what else could be causing it. --Quiddity 01:35, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
"Getting started" works fine, but for some reason that box keeps going away in the "Search for an Article". I just tried editing it, and when I used the QPreview javascript button, it works. But not when I just the regular preview button. I don't know what it is, but this seems to be the only thing affected. I don't think I'll worry about. — thesublime514 • talk • 02:02, July 10, 2007 (UTC)

JAWP page has been moved

The counterpart of JAWP has been moved from [[ja:Wikipedia:ヘルプ]] to [[ja:Help:目次]] and [[ja:Wikipedia:ヘルプ]] is currently used for a differnet purpose. Please modify the interlang.--Cave cattum 03:18, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

I fixed it. Don't we have an Interwiki bot that usually does that sort of thing, though? Andre (talk) 03:17, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Print articles with colored tables?

How can I print an article and keep the tables in colors so they will not be in grayscale? I would appreciate if someone could send me a message or a mail or something explaining how that can be done. Thanks! -Kri(talk)

Please ask help-with-Wikipedia related questions at Wikipedia:Help desk. Thanks. --Quiddity 17:57, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Comments

I didn't see a section on <!-- wiki comments--> comments. Is that under a subcategory?Heqwm 06:03, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

(I've enclosed your code above in "nowiki" so that it's visible) It's very uncommon, so just a brief mention at Wikipedia:How to edit a page#Invisible text (comments). Many editors prefer that comments-to-other-editors get placed on the talkpage, instead of within hidden sections where they may get missed or erased. The only common/consensus usage I can think of offhand are the "Don't add any more links to this list without discussion first" notices in some article's "External links" sections. --Quiddity 17:56, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Chess

does anyone know how to insert a chess board image? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.23.148.191 (talk) 01:39, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

Replied at userpage. --Quiddity 06:11, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

Icon and searchbox

I've reverted the addition of a large icon and a searchbox. Per my edit summary: "rm icon (subjectively ugly, and undiscussed/unintuitive), rm search box - needs to search wikipedia and template namespaces by default too?"

Is there any way to make the embedded searchbox include all 3 namespaces? If so, it might be worth adding back in somewhere here. If not, I consider it a confusing addition. --Quiddity 21:36, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

It is the help namespace, why do you want the search to include wikipedia and template namespace? These namespaces have nothing to do with the help. Martial BACQUET 21:39, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
I wish it were that simple! The Help: namespace (Wikipedia:Namespace#Help) is primarily a mirror of the docs from meta:Help:Help. Most of the complex/uptodate help pages are in the Wikipedia: namespace. e.g. Wikipedia:Media, Wikipedia:Citing sources, Wikipedia:Searching, etc etc. And various things that users might be looking for will only be explained within the documentation of the templates themselves, e.g. Template:Navbox, Template talk:Infobox, etc. I hope that explains things sufficiently, to give you an idea of how overwhelmingly complex our help pages are! Any solutions at this index page need to keep in mind all the potential target-audiences these pages have.
Personally, I recommend changing your Special:Preferences#prefsection-8 ("Search") to include any relevant namespaces you desire. --Quiddity 21:57, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
Is it better now? You told it yourself, when a newcomer try to search something with the default search box, it will search only in the article namespace, so there is noway for them to find what they are looking for. I think it is better to have this search box to simply their research. Martial BACQUET 22:13, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
That's better, but is there a way for the checkboxes to all be selected initially by default?
And icons have been discussed and rejected in the past, please don't re-add the large and non-explanatory icon again, thanks. --Quiddity 06:18, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
Okay, thank you. I'm going to search that on MediaWiki. I will fix it soon. Martial BACQUET 12:20, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Yes, it is. Just do it in this way:

Problem with IE and searchbox

Hi, I selected the help namespace and entered "test" in the search box. After pressing the enter button, I was forwarded to the article Test. When I use Firefox, I became the search results as expected. Is there a bug with IE? --129.27.12.2 14:56, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Hello, we have often bugs expecting to Wikipedia when using Internet Explorer. I'm going to transfer your comment to Bugzila. Thank you for telling us. Martial BACQUET 21:33, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

ordered list in reverse chronological order.

Is it possible to do an ordered list in reverse chronological order using either the # or <OL> commands?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 18:40, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

Please ask help question at Wikipedia:Help desk. However, see Help:Table#Sorting which might help. --Quiddity 21:39, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

Inserting feeds

I'm looking for how to insert RSS feeds (aggregators) into Wikipedia pages, but there is apparently no category. There should be IMO, even if the feature is not available. A project is listed on the Meta-Wiki but this is apparently not implemented? See http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/XFeed_-_RSS_Feed_Aggregator --A12n (talk) 01:09, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

The project you link to does not offer caching. This would add a huge load to the servers.
It is unlikely (I would guess) to be implemented here anyway, because of the unreliability of external content, and the potential for abuse.
Please ask further help questions at Wikipedia:Help desk, or at the MediaWiki's own support page. Thanks. -- Quiddity (talk) 01:22, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Lettersize

Hi, my cat just walked over my keyboard and suddenly all the letters are very small. Can someone give a key combination that trigger different lettersizes so I can tune it just right? Thanks Mallerd (talk) 00:24, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Ok, never mind I've figured it out. Ctrl + scrolling with your mouse. merry christmas all Mallerd (talk) 00:29, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Your cat managed to hold down Control and scroll the mouse? I'm impressed – Gurch 21:21, 26 December 2007 (UTC)
I scrolled at that time I guess. :D Mallerd (talk) 23:55, 26 December 2007 (UTC)