Wikipedia talk:Glossary

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[edit] [Early and undated comments that were not in a section]

[made the stuff that was above TOC its own section] Libcub (talk) 05:47, 19 February 2008 (UTC)


What does (top) mean in a User contributions page? Lawrence Chard

That means it's the current revision of that page. ie, if you look at the page's history, that person's last edit will be on the top. --Brion 11:33, 25 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Terms that need to be defined: Wanli, Google test, newb test

Got the second two; I have no idea what "wanli" is. -- Stephen Gilbert

I love this wikipedia glossary. It was necessary. I suggest include a link to it from main page.

DTD as in [DTD] needs to be defined please.

Your link to DTD is broken. -- Harvestman

[edit] Requested definitions

Please provide definitions for the following terms missing in the glossary. Feel free to make new requests. Please strike out the any term that you provide definitions for.

  • Blacklist
  • Whitelist —Preceding unsigned comment added by Una Smith (talk • contribs) 03:45, 12 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Salted (as in, keep deleted and salted)
  • Succession Box -- TonyTheTiger
  • Conversion script
  • Wanli
Just an username in Wikipedia that was banned ? -- Harvestman
  • Warnfile
  • WikiSex
An article banned too. See User_talk:I_am_sexy -- Harvestman
  • Hub
MNAA 'maybe not an acronym'. The place where spokes go. -- Harvestman
  • TINC
The Internet Namespace Cooperative ; There Is No Cabal ; Three Illuminated Nudes Conversing ; &c. Harvestman
  • ITHAWO
My conclusion for these cases : STFG (same as RTFM, but replace read by search and manual by google). The sense 'I thought he already was one' was explained by one of the users found by search, either in Google, either in WP: search (user talk and WP talk). So please search, and take note that some acronyms and terms do not have their place in a specialized glossary. -- Harvestman
  • WikiSlang
  • The baffling array of abbreviations used at IFD. I've noticed AB, OB, NI, and OR - there may be others.
See WP:IFD#Listing images and media for deletion for their definitions.--agr (talk) 03:11, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
  • KC (not KFC)
  • Subst (seen in 'substing userboxes') ???
already listed as subst'ing -- BL kiss the lizard 22:37, 12 January 2006 (UTC)
  • smerge
"slight merge", IIRC.
  • suitly emphazi'd - used frequently on the reference desks.
Just an in joke of the variety that if you're told exactly what it means, it's not interesting. The first rule of the reference desk is... Suffice it to say you don't need to know anything more about it than it is a joke to understand the meaning of anything it is used in. - Taxman Talk 15:02, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
  • guerrilla marketing
An article or edit which carefully omits or plays down any company or product name but which is still nothing but advertising. Recent examples include: atmospheric water generator and everything by Puja seth, for example truck canopy.
I first came across this phrase in this article in reference to Beechdean although their advertising here was blatant rather than guerrilla. -- RHaworth 08:00, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
  • quickbar
As a relative newbie to Wikipedia, I've come across this term in a "how to" section. I assume I'll be able to find out what it means by further searching but I'd expected to find it in the glossary. If someone adds this, a comparison to the standard section of the page (i.e. where the navigation, search, toolbox, etc. live) would be helpful. -Jvasil 15:29, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fulfilled requests

  • Accidental link
  • Archive
  • Be Bold!
  • Blanking
  • Boilerplate text
  • Category
  • Community portal
  • Contribs
  • CSB
  • Cut and paste move
  • De-sysop
  • Double redirect
  • Dupe
  • External link
  • Forest fire
  • History
  • Language link
  • Move
  • Peer review
  • Phase I
  • Phase II
  • Phase III
  • Phase IV
  • Piped link
  • Random page
  • Red link
  • Rollback
  • Sandbox
  • Selflink
  • Skin
  • Troll
  • Un-wiki
  • UseMod
  • Vanity page
  • WP
  • Comment out
  • Copyedit
  • FA
  • FARC
  • Fork
  • Inclusionist
  • Main page
  • Mergist
  • Notice board
  • Open tasks
  • Personal attack
  • Recent changes
  • Refactor
  • Rogue Admin
  • Speedy delete
  • Strike out
  • Village Pump

The following were also listed as requests, but were unlisted by Menchi even though they have not been added to the glossary [1] (perhaps you could explain your reasons - IMSoP 20:51, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC))

What part do you want my "reasons" for? The 20-minutes-is-an-eternity part or the "to define"-doesn't-mean-I'll-finish-in-1-minute part? :-) --Menchi 21:17, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)
Apologies, I assumed other people would follow the same order of actions as me, and update the glossary before the list. Because obviously, I am perfect and therefore anyone behaving differently should be chastised and made to explain themselves! ;-) - IMSoP 21:24, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)
It's alright. You just took a peek into the tupsy-turvy world of mirror IMSoP's. :o) --Menchi 21:32, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)
<pedantic>I think you mean IMSoPs, plural; not IMSoP's, possessive</pedantic> *<8-D - IMSoP 21:37, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Bureaucrats

As I understand it, Bureaucrats no longer exist because ordinary sysops can now make other sysops, right? ... This should either be explained here, or the term should be removed entirely. -- Timwi 15:05, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Hm, I thought it was the other way around - after a brief experiment with any sysop/admin having sysop/admin-making powers, it was decided to only grant this to a subset of sysops/admins, provisionally labelled "bureaucrats". But I may be wrong. - IMSoP 16:38, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)
Only bureaucrats, stewards and developers can make sysops. Angela.

[edit] Neatness

Its very tough to read the page when everything is in bold. Proposition: Make just the defined words in bold, and the rest be in normal text (I don't want to do it without approval, since this is probably a commonly used page) siroxo 01:50, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I think this is a funny side effect of the software change. It certainly wasn't like that before. For some reason, the colons must have a space before them, or the whole page will be bold. Angela. 11:24, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Sub Stub

Can't this also mean a stub which is only linked to by another stub? (And hence a subpage to a stub) -- siroxo 02:49, Jun 18, 2004 (UTC)

I've never heard a stub being called a sub stub because of what it links to. I always thought a sub stub was just a sub-standard stub. Angela. 02:21, 20 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Add a compact TOC?

Should we add a compact TOC to the Glossary? Its getting quite unwieldy for reading and editing. —siroχo 02:42, Jun 30, 2004 (UTC)

I agree. I've added one now. Angela. 04:49, 9 Jul 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Definition lists and sections

Angela, please try to edit in a constructive manner rather than undoing changes simply because they are different from the older style. It's silly to have an HTML glossary which uses "see the definition of xyz instead" without linking to the appropriate term. Also the links should be made as clearly readable as possible. --Eequor 16:28, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I've changed all the ===s to ====s to decrease the heading size for each of the words, as that was the most objectionable thing in such a long wordlist. Without a TOC, I doubt very many people will even notice, and I think it looks cleaner with smaller headings. Also, I think the "see also"s should go after each definition, its very confusing when you're told to see something before actually reading the definition, and it goes against the Manual of Style. —siroχo 22:13, Aug 2, 2004 (UTC)
You don't need headings to be able to link to something. The page looked awful with a separate heading for every definition. Is there any reason for not keeping the far more readable definition format? Angela. 19:26, Aug 16, 2004 (UTC)
I agree with getting rid of the headings, but why have every term wrapped in a div? I don't see how the CSS handles (e.g. id=Broken_link) are useful, and the style="font-weight: bold" can easily be replaced with <b></b>. Am I missing something? --Diberri | Talk 19:48, Aug 16, 2004 (UTC)
It's so they can be linked to. Angela. 01:39, Aug 17, 2004 (UTC)
So clearly I was missing something :-) I didn't realize IDs could be used like this -- thanks for explaining! --Diberri | Talk 03:14, Aug 17, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Question about scope of Glossary

When I first came to Wikipedia, I found the existence of abundant written explanations to be valuable -- but they're so abundant that it's not always easy to find a relevant page. This Glossary could function as a de facto index to that accumulated advice for newcomers. To be a good index, though, it would need to include some terms that don't really belong in a Glossary. For example, I'm adding an entry for translation that doesn't define that term (in fact, it uses a variant of the defined term in the so-called definition). The justification is that it helps someone find the right page about translation. There are other such terms that aren't used in any specialized Wikipedia sense. For example, someone seeing a reference to the mailing list will probably know that it means there's a Wikipedia mailing list, but a "definition" here that linked to Wikipedia:Mailing lists could be helpful. Does inclusion of such terms seem useful, or an unnecessary and confusing expansion of the Glossary? JamesMLane 03:08, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I think Wikipedia:Topical index is a better place to do that. The glossary should remain a list of commonly used jargon terms. It would be less useful if it was trying to be an index as well. Angela. 17:19, Aug 17, 2004 (UTC)

Thanks, Angela, I didn't even know about that page. For what I have in mind, Wikipedia:Alphabetical index is nearer the mark but still isn't a classical index. To stick with the example of translation, someone looking under the T's in the alpha index will find Wikipedia:Translation into English but not Wikipedia:Pages needing translation into English. (Yes, they could search the page for the key word, but I'd like the process to be as easy and as familiar as possible.) Furthermore, the alpha index doesn't include some informative pages now referenced in the Glossary, such as m:Wikibreak. The Glossary, in turn, includes some edit summary jargon, but omits some of the less common terms explained in Wikipedia:Edit summary legend (ft, hr, etc.). It seems that creating a complete index for one-stop shopping wouldn't be quite so simple as I'd thought. Well, do the doable -- I'll try to add some more jargon here. JamesMLane 08:28, 18 Aug 2004 (UTC)

[edit] One minor suggestion

Any objections, regarding the definition of Troll, to have the word "Nazi" link to the Godwin's Law article considering the context of the sentence? --69.234.235.105 03:49, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Done. To avoid confusion, I didn't link just the word Nazi but the phrase calling someone a Nazi. Wipe 11:10, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Internal links

Since each term is set up so it can be linked to, there is no reason not to have cross-references hyperlinked to each other. I'll start doing this. --Marnen Laibow-Koser (talk) 14:46, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Definition of "move"

The definition now includes this statement: "Involves either renaming the page or moving it and constructing a redirect to keep the original link intact." What this suggests to me is that you can move a page by using the "Move this page" function or by cutting and pasting. If it's intended to refer to a different pair of alternatives, the meaning needs to be spelled out more clearly. If it's intended to refer to that pair, then cutting and pasting should be mentioned only to warn people off it (except, for example, when one page is being split into two). Yes, the definition also includes a wikilink to Help:Renaming (moving) a page, which has more detail, but the definition here should stand on its own to the extent possible. Is there some meaning to the current definition that I'm missing? JamesMLane 06:41, 9 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Proposal that this glossary should be linked from the navigation sidebar

This would greatly help new users, especially those beginning to involve themselves in discussions about edits and deletion requests. at the moment, it is not at all obvious that there is a glossary page for a new user, and it seems a bit inaccessible if you dont make an effort to find it Bwithh 20:06, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

The use of acronyms is too wide for newbies. The search gives too many answers - could they return more than one line of text ? - , the disambiguation pages are not thorough for them.
A contributor has to think twice about what he writes ; then he has to get used with wiki editing ; then help is full of NPoVs and 'do not do it's. This is not a personal complaint, but ALsmBD (At least something must be done.) -- Harvestman 19:40, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Cabal

I suppose the project page is not the place for humor, so I will keep it to the talk page.

Cabal
A secretive organization which some Wikipedians claim is ultimately responsible for the development of Wikipedia. Supposedly the Cabal acts to stifle dissent and impose their private points of view while hypocritically extolling NPOV. Admins who take action against users for seemingly illogical or immature reasons are often claimed to be acting on behalf of the Cabal.
The secretive organization ultimately responsible for the development of Wikipedia. The Cabal acts effectively to stifle dissent and impose ourr private points of view while hypocritically extolling NPOV. All of us Admins act on behalf of the Cabal. This includes our seeming disagreements, which are a sham to foster the illusion that dissent is allowed. When Wikipedians claim that the Cabal does not exist, this is a often, but not always a sign of membership in the Cabal. Or they may just be our dupes.
Just kidding, of course. | Or maybe not. 06:35, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Talking about that entry, I've added a link to the similar sf fandom term SMOF - feel free to remove it if you think it's inappropriate, but IMHO it's an interesting parallel. Grutness...wha? 00:59, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] render

I have added a definition of render and am conscious that it is drifting away from the purpose of this page as a Wikipedia glossary. What I am actually looking for and which one sometimes needs in Wikipedia discussions is a word to describe: the operation performed on the Wikimedia servers of taking an article in wiki markup and converting it into HTML. Do we have such a word or phrase? -- RHaworth 13:46, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Accidental link

Accidental link definition could use an explanation for why it is called "accidental." --12.208.135.159 22:13, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Established Wikipedian

Wikipedia_talk:Established_Wikipedian could use a definition. Mathiastck 00:57, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] editor

I tried to enter a definition for "editor," but Wik or MSN or ? wouldn't let me. Could some-one please add this term. Kdammers 06:22, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] YHBT

Why is this entry here? It does not seem to be in the spirit of Wikipedia to respond in that manner. This is not a general internet acronym database right? Ansell 23:27, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Page is hideous!

Is it just me, or does this page not wrap at all? It goes waaaaay off to the side of the page. Could someone fix that? I don't want to screw anything up, and I'm awful at HTML/CSS/code in general, so I thought I'd ask. ♠PMC♠ 21:55, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

It's now fixed. The cause was a common mistake by vandals: if you put a space in the beginning of a paragraph, the MediaWiki software creates a "preserve formatting" block that is often very wide. Wipe 06:08, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Transclusion" is totally misdefined

Per Wikipedia:Transclusion costs and benefits, transclusion creates a "live" link between the "template" page and the target page where it appears. When the template is edited, all the other pages change. But the glossary says exactly the opposite Thus, using transclusion, if the template content is modified at a later date, the article's content will not change.

If wasn't following WP:AGF, I'd think that someone deliberately reversed the explanation of what "subst" does versus what a template (transclusion) does. John Broughton | Talk 17:40, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Okay...

my issue is... what IS a sphagetti link? I can't find a coherent definition on the Web. ~user:orngjce223how am I typing? 18:18, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Accidental link

Not seen this usage, neither has google. Rm'ing for now. Rich Farmbrough, 12:25 27 December 2006 (GMT).

[edit] New definition for consideration

Wikimartyr 
A person whose wikiholism or fervent and time-consuming support of Wikipedia has led to the loss of a job or important relationship.

— DavidMack 17:37, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

OK, how about Wikiola. Just added it to my user page; neologism (Wiki + crapola). Ref. (for me) all the really useful templates that I am certain I'll never be able to remember, and can never remember where to find them when I need them.... Esseh 17:49, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] SEXISM ALERT!

I notice that "autofellatio" is a term used herein. Well, if so, why not "autocunnilingus", as well? Perhaps for something a bit more difficult to achieve, but well worth the effort? What's sauce for the gander.... (pun most definitely intended :) Esseh 17:53, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

o.0 +Hexagon1 (t) 04:32, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] markup / css / js

Is there any place where commonly used expressions and abbreviations like "em" (as in [[Image:Pictureitook.jpg|14em]]) and markup like <tt> etc. are listed and explained? —AldeBaer 23:45, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wikify

How is "wikifying" an adverb? Lex T/C Guest Book 02:39, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

If I'm correct, its used when someone is in the process of adding wiki markup (internal links, formatting) Jason McHuff (talk) 15:15, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
I believe jmchuff missed the point of the question, although I do not know why it was asked in the first place. "Wikifying" is not an adverb; it is a gerund and therefore is used as a noun, as in "Wikifying articles at 1 a.m. is a better sleeping pill than sex." Or, if you wish, it is a present participle, as in "The earnest young man, wikifying article after article through the long weekend, arrived late for work on Monday and was promptly fired." Or it could be part of a progressive verb, as it "He was wikifying the article on Bicuspidella when the black-shirted mercenaries burst through the door, read him his rights and hauled him off to a concentration camp." Sincerely, GeorgeLouis (talk) 00:02, 23 December 2007 (UTC)
The answer to "why it was asked in the first place" is that the glossary entry for Wikify said adverb. I changed it to gerund per your first suggestion. Sbowers3 (talk) 01:09, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] A little too expansive?

Does anyone else think this article covers completely common words? I had to remove 'ad' for crying out loud. Ad! What about things like Admin, Anon, Archive, Article, Bad faith nomination, ban, banner, Block, Boilerplate text, bot, broken link, broken redirect? And that's just from A and B, the terms are either far more widespread than Wikipedia, and as such would be more suitable for a List of Internet Terms or something of the sort, or are completely self-explanatory. +Hexagon1 (t) 03:01, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

I agree completely. This page is most useful when it focuses on Wikipedia-specific (or maybe, more generally, Wiki-specific) terms. Libcub (talk) 02:57, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
I think an actual scope statement at the top would be useful.Libcub (talk) 02:58, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
I agree. +Hexagon1 (t) 04:27, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] add "Sort key"?

I suggest it would be useful to include something on the lines of:

Sort key
device to make an article file alphabetically (in a category or other list of articles) other than by the article title, eg "John Smith" under "Smith, John", or "The Who" under "Who, The". Can be assigned to a specific category, or as a {{DEFAULTSORT:}}. See Help:Category#Sort_key

PamD (talk) 18:01, 7 June 2008 (UTC)