Wikipedia:Help desk/Archive 50

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

Open this post and read what I think about that:,

1 May 8
2 May 9
3 May 10
4 May 11
5 May 12
6 May 13
7 May 14
8 May 15
9 May 16
10 May 17

[edit] May 8

[edit] Diamonds?

In editing articles about playing cards and card games using the standard French-suited deck of 52 cards, I can get Wikipedia to print the symbols for clubs (♣), hearts (♥) and spades (♠), but not diamonds. Why no diamonds? Morganfitzp 00:44, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

There is a "black diamond" symbol ◆ (U+25C6) and "black diamond suit" ♦ (U+2666) that I can get Wikipedia to display? Thryduulf 08:09, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I figured it out. I was able to pull all the other suit characters from my computer and have them appear in Wikipedia without a hitch, but the diamond translated as a dot. Wiki's diamond is a bit smaller than the other suits, but works fine. Morganfitzp 03:12, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Copying Parts of Wikipedia Articles to Other Wikipedia Articles

Is it okay to copy part of one article on Wikipedia and put it on another article on Wikipedia, or will I need to restate the part in my own words (NOTE: I'm only wanting to copy one paragraph)? I tried to look to see if this question was already answered somewhere else within Wikipedia, but I couldn't find anything; sorry if it has already been answered.

Yes, that's allowed. You may also want to put in a sentence such as "See 'topic X' for more info" or add a link to the second article in the See also section of the first article. Dismas|^(talk) 02:46, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] how to

Is there a way to contribute to Wikipedia? How can I offer info to include my name adn accomplishments to be referenced andlisted on Wikipedia? Keith

Perhaps you might start by reading Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia. If you're thinking about writing an article about yourself, please understand this is generally discouraged - see Wikipedia:Autobiography. -- Rick Block (talk) 02:20, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] HUMAN DEATHS

I cant seem to find how many humans have died since the beginning of humanity....back to the beginning ??? are there more humans alive today ( appro. 6.4 billion) than have died in the past ???...Thank you in advance...Ace

This guess [1] says no. -- Rick Block (talk) 02:41, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Interesting link, but the "Adam & Eve" statistic of human population circa 50,000 B.C. adds a dubious twist to the article's figures. Morganfitzp 03:18, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

The largest uncertainties that I can see with the table are in the two biggest chunks of population: their estimated 46 billion births between 8000 BC and 1 AD and the estimated 26 billion births from 1 AD to 1200 AD. The estimates depend very heavily on guesses about birth rate, total population, and average lifetimes. (The author correctly notes that these uncertainties may seriously affect the estimated result.)

Note that you'll also get a very different number depending on how you define the number of humans. Do you include the large number who died while very young (within hours, days, months, or the first year of birth)? If you're trying to say something about industrial or cultural output, you might want to neglect everyone who doesn't make it to the age of 12 or 18—choosing those cutoffs will dramatically alter your picture. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 20:54, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Case sensitivity

I have created the article "Voix des Femmes". However, searching for "voix des femmes" (uncapitalized) does not automatically reach the page. How can I make searching for my article non case-sensitive?

Adding a Wikipedia:Redirect at Voix Des Femmes (or voix des femmes) will do the trick. Edit one of these and add #REDIRECT [[Voix des Femmes]]. -- Rick Block (talk) 02:24, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

The search box has two buttons. The go button will bring you directly to the page you typed in if it exists (this is case-sensitive, so you need redirects as explained above to still be directed there if you don't use the correct capitalization). The search button will search for the text you provided in a static snapshot of the article database. This search index is only updated occasionally to spare the server. - 131.211.210.11 07:35, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Note that "occasionally" means a new article takes, on average, a week or two to appear when you click "Search". — QuantumEleven 12:33, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] uploading an image

How can I upload a State of Maryland flag to the Wiki article on Maryland on the Italian Wiki site? --Editing is FUN 03:01, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

The Wikimedia commons already has an image of that flag in their databse, so all you need to do is include the following code in the article: [[Image:Flag of Maryland.svg]]. Good luck! --Hetar 03:48, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

The Commons is international, and works on all wikis. Also, read Wikipedia's picture tutorial, if you don't know about formatting and coding. Happy editing! --

Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 06:03, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Thank you very much! E_i_F

[edit] Further Restrictions

Wiki-star: Ok this is becoming a colossal bull$*i+! I feel completely powerless to try and stop vandalism around here. Sometimes when i go to an article and see the same rubbish over and over and over again, it makes no dam sense! My take is that this site is too free. It needs to have further restrictions. People tend to abuse their privaleges, and as a result have to suffer the consequences. What am i suppose to do fellow contributors?

Wiki-star 04:43, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

- Could you provide examples of what is bothering you? Or maybe you could take this up with the Counter-Vandalism Unit. Dismas|^(talk) 04:49, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Wiki-star: I'm sorry, but i really don't want to show you whats bothering me. I just need for you to give me any kind of antidote i can use to cure the massacre thats being inflicted here. Thanks!

Wiki-star 04:56, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Just keep rv'ing, place {{test3}}, {{test4}}, etc on the offender's user page, and hope an admin intervenes. Alex (t) 05:03, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Wiki-star: I hope someone comes along, because i'm really tired! Just tired of feeling like my contributions are a waste!

Wiki-star 05:07, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, without knowing what the trouble is, it's a little hard to give you precisely the help you need. It's sort of like going to a doctor and saying that something hurts. Without being more specific, it's hard for the doctor to give you just the right remedy. Know what I mean? But if you don't feel comfortable airing it here, perhaps one of the pages linked off of Wikipedia:Vandalism may help such as Wikipedia:Requests for investigation or Wikipedia:Long term abuse. Or maybe even Wikipedia:Requests for comment. Dismas|^(talk) 05:43, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

You may be interested in the Counter-vandalism unit to help stop this sort of thing. Also, perhaps see Wikistress--

Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 05:58, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps our Esperanzians can help reduce your stress levels. Take a look at Wikipedia:Esperanza/Alerts. I'm perfectly aware of how frustrating editing can be. Maybe you just need a few days off and enjoy life outside Wikipedia to reduce the stress. - 131.211.210.11 07:39, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

A quick glance at Wiki-Star's contributions makes it obvious he's talking about his massive edit war at Buu and Talk:Buu. Edit wars happen; flaming each other in edit summaries is probably not a good idea; disagreement is not vandalism, and I wish people would stop throwing that accusation around. I think there is a certain amount of ownership going on here, and both sides would benefit from stepping back a little bit. But Wiki-Star, the help page is not the right place to come for moral support or to vent about how pissed you are. If you have a dispute, try the dispute resolution process, but stop trying to use the help page for that. · rodii · 13:29, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Following up on this: I took another look at that article and it looks like it contains 37 images from Dragon Ball Z. On one page. Surely this is stretching the boundaries of fair use. I remember that Wiki-Star was actually warned about overdoing the use of images here at the help page back when he was a newbie, in fact, but it looks like that warning didn't take. Someone take a look and see what you think? · rodii · 22:29, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Questions re posting my first article

Hello Wiki people, I'm a writer and I do a lot of work on cosmetic surgery subjects. I've just posted an article on liposuction, where there was only a stub before.

By and large it looks OK, but I'm stumped about how to make the bullets bigger, and how to have a set of sub-bullets.

Also, I've read a lot of your help pages and have become a bit overwhelmed at the amount of help and advice, have gone off clicking links and never found my way back to where I started. Have also lost many of the help pieces I saw briefly a few days ago but didn't have time to read properly.

So, could someone point me to where the help is on:

How to relate my article to the stub, or do I delete the stub? How to fix the bullets How to tag or label this article so it's valid What else I should do, if anything? Do I have to do something to make the article editable?

Thanks [email removed for privacy]

Welcome to Wikipedia! Check out the tutorial for a great deal of help about using Wikipedia, then look at Help:Editing for more in-depth info related to editing. Alex (t) 05:00, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

I am wikifying the ariticle right now, you can look at the source code after I finish to answer any of your questions. Sign your questions with --~~~~ please. --

Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 05:43, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm not anymore, sorry. But anway, to answer your questions:

After it is not a stub anymore (its not) delete the {{stub}} part (and whatever prefix).
For bullets just type a *.
I don't understand this question

The last two, just follow wikistyle, and read wikipedia's tutorials and stuff. Do you sign in as a user? If so, in your welcoming, you should have gotten links to help you out. -- Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 05:53, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

I've already removed the stub tag and posted a welcome message on the user's talk page. There's a lot of info on the page now, just a little formatting and references it should look great. Dismas|^(talk) 06:38, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

You do not have to do anything to make the article editable. All articles are editable by default. On the contrary, you would have to be an administrator to be able to make an article not editable. JIP | Talk 10:32, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] An unsigned demand

EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT OF BEHAVIOURAL COMMUNUCATION —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.227.147.100 (talk • contribs) 2006-05-08 09:08:34

Well, since you asked so nicely.... have you tried the articles Behavioural sciences and Communication? You could also try asking at the Wikipedia:Reference desk, since the Help Desk is for asking questions about Wikipedia itself, but remember, they're not there to do your homework... by the way, please don't use all caps, it comes across as shouting. — Es tarriol ^talk 10:05, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

And saying "please" might provide someone with an incentive to answer your questions. - 131.211.210.16 07:40, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] know about address

[possible vehicle registration numbers removed to protect privacy] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.95.205.210 (talk • contribs) 13:11, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Have you tried the Humanities section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. Tangotango 13:25, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Different accounts on different wikipedia languages

Hi, I just would like to have this clarified. Is it so that I need to register a new account for every Wikipedia-site I'd like to join (en.wikipedia.org, no.wikipedia.org, etc.)? Would these accounts be linked in any way?

(I just inserted this line to see if I could edit my own post after it has been answered. I also chaged the timestamp of the answer with one minute, just to try it out. This is really fun :) )

Also, I'll try to watch this page for an answer, but I'm not yet too skilled at this so if you'd like to also post the answer to my talk-page it would be appriciated. --Alf 16:37, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, every Wikimedia project has a different user database. Different language Wikipedias are separate projects, so you'll have to create a new account for each one. These accounts will not be technically related, but you can put a link in your userpage in each language to your userpages in other languages. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 16:42, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

However, there are plans to change this; see Single user login. SCHZMO ✍ 18:54, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Links don't work

I'm totally new to Wiki editing. I (successfully!) edited a Wiki page (stub) (link below) by adding a link, but the link does not work. There was already one link but that doesn't work either. Welcome some advice.

Michael

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Hon —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ibisbill (talk • contribs)

With external links (unlike wikilinks), you don't need the "|" between the link and the name of the link - you only need a space. I've corrected the links, they should work appropriately now. -- Nataly a 18:02, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Photo question

I appologise, I must just be an idiot. I have three photos of the Pacific Science Center I am trying to upload. PACSCI5.jpg PACSCI6.jpg and PACSCI2.jpg

I work at the Pacific Science Center and both recieved these photos, and obtained permision to use them for this purpose for our marketing department.

I guess I can't seem to figure out where to enter that information, or, it's just going to continue telling me I didn't say where the photos were obtained.

Please let me know if this is a problem, or how to enter this information correctly.

Thank you --Fearthuinn 22:41, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Make sure the photos are licensed under the GFDL or a simillar license. Specific permission to use an image on Wikipedia is not enough, because lots of other sites/orginzations mirror us, or redistribute our content (such as answers.com). For more information see Wikipedia:Image copyright tags.
Click on the Upload file link in your toolbox on the left-hand side of your browser.
Click the Browse button and choose the image you want to upload. The destination name should be automatically filled in for you. In the summary box, clearly state the image's source. Choose a license from the drop down menu, or enter in one of the tags from Wikipedia:Image copyright tags.
Click on upload file.
Now you will be on the Image's page. Copy the pages title, Ie: Image:PACSCI5.jpg
Place the image into an article by including the following code: [[Image:PACSCI5.jpg]]

Hope that helps! --Hetar 23:03, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

On a side note, Wikipedia is not the same thing as Wiki. A wiki is a type of website, whereas there is only one Wikipedia. --Kwekubo 23:46, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article title

How can I change my article's name? I forgot to capitalize "Africa" in "Year of Africa." I can't find anything about it on the help page.

Thanks Ilanajoy 23:59, 8 May 2006 (UTC)ilana

It looks like it's already been taken care of, but to rename an article is the same as moving it. Providing you've been around long enough, there should be a "move" tab at the top of the page. Help:Moving a page should show you everything you need to know for next time. -- Nataly a 00:22, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] May 9

[edit] Magnetic Poetry: merge, or what?

Magnetic Poetry and Magnetic poetry are about the same thing. Should they be merged, or redirected? Or how does that whole process work? Thanks! -- Mjwilco 00:02, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

They should be merged into Magnetic poetry (since only the first word in article titles should be capitalized unless it is a proper name), although most of the information will actually be taken from Magnetic Poetry. I'll add merge tags. -- Nataly a 00:12, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

That sounds good, but Magnetic Poetry is a proper name. It's the name of the product (and the company, Magnetic Poetry, Inc.). Shouldn't the title be capitalized then? Thanks! -- Mjwilco 00:31, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

If it's referring to the company, then that makes sense. The way the title is now is somewhat ambigious, but makes sense when you explain it. (You should probably bring this up on the talk page, just so everyone can see the discussion.) -- Nataly a 00:57, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

And please remember that for the article from which the material gets merged, the history needs to be retained. You could have an admin perform a history merge, but simply redirecting with an edit summary of "redirect after merge" is a lot quicker and easier. - 131.211.210.16 07:44, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Use of non-standard characters

Hi. I was wondering about the use of characters that aren't normally used in English, "æ" in particular. I see it used often in Wikipedia. I was wondering what the reasoning is behind it, since I don't see it elsewhere. I've never seen it taught in schools either.

I understand why one would use Chinese characters when talking about Chinese topics but æ baffles me.

Thanks! Airconditioning 01:01, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

æ is an old English character, so I guess it's just preserved, where an old word is used, like in Encyclopædia Britannica 1911. ~~helix84 01:08, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

The ligature is used sometimes today, predominantly in British English, in words such as "dæmon" (demon), and "mediæval" (medieval), although they are most often written as two separate letters "ae". See List of words that may be spelled with a ligature. SCHZMO ✍ 01:22, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Is there an easy way to rename a category...

...and move all articles in it to the new name? I'd like to rename Category:Filipino Martial Arts to Category:Filipino martial arts. -Objectivist-C 01:24, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

No, there is not. You have to go through all articles from the category and not forget to change all links that point to it (Special:Whatlinkshere/Category:Filipino Martial Arts). But beware, moving a category may be a drastic change, so think twice and point it out in discussion before you do. ~~helix84 01:37, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

You should list it at Wikipedia:Categories for deletion, which is also used for category renaming. In this case, you can list it in the speedy renaming section. -- Rick Block (talk) 02:09, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

I ended up doing it by hand (thanks helix), but I'll list the old one there for deletion. -Objectivist-C 02:16, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

That's usually something best done by a bot or Wikipedia:Autobrowser if it's still active and running. - 131.211.210.16 07:46, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia displays incorrrectly on MSIE 6 on Windows 2000.

Does anyone know why Wikipedia displays incorrectly on my other computer? It uses Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0.2800.1106 and Windows 2000. Examples 1 2. Even sites bases on Wiki code such as wiki.dreamhost.com show the same error. The fonts are wrong. It looks like it's using the Impact font instead of Arial. All the other sites on the interweb display correctly. Is this some kind of CSS error? I couldn't find any mention of it on Google so I'm coming here. Thanks.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Redleaf (talk • contribs)

Perhaps it's because of your set font either on Windows or on Internet Explorer? Also, does it also display incorrectly with other browsers, like Mozilla Firefox?—G.H e 03:24, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes I checked the font. All other sites in MSIE 6 show up correctly. Mozilla on Windows 2000 displays it fine. Can that version of MSIE display all the CSS that Wikipedia (and Wiki based sites) correctly?Redleaf 20:41, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

By the way, what happened to the screenshots I uploaded to Wikimedia?Redleaf 20:51, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Nevermind they're back.Redleaf 23:17, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Making a Family Tree

I'm interested in learning how to make a family tree on a Wiki but I can't figure out how to make a template or do any of the formatting. I really like Harry Potter's Family Tree, because those names are live links to the character pages. Can someone help me? Thanks!!! --66.57.240.95 06:43, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Translation of the English article for use on other Wikipedia

Hello,

I'm a newbie here but I have also made an account in another Wikipedia in my own language. My question, if you'd be so kind in answering, is if it's allowed to translate certain articles from this Wikipedia to post on the specifically Croatian Wikipedia[2]? I have read the terms and conditions on the Croatian page and about the disclaimer issue and it stated "Smijete prevoditi članke iz Wikipedija na drugim jezicima." or in English "You are allowed to translate articles from Wikipedias in other languages."

Now I have searched and read the disclaimer on this Wikipedia but it's still a bit confusing to me, so if somebody would be so kind and explain what can and can't be done in this particular case.

Thank you in advance:-)

--Rokothepas 10:32, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

It is common and perfectly legal (provided that a link to the original article is given) that articles from one language version are translated to another. ~~helix84 11:09, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Translation into English and Wikipedia:Translators available may be of some help to you. -- Nataly a 11:33, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

How to edit content of a chart inserted with " {{ "

In the article "Brigadier General", in the "United States" section ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadier_general#United_States ) there is a chart called "US Officer Ranks".

I would like to make a correction to that chart, but I cannot find the chart itself, only the reference to it, which is { { US officer ranks } }

I am not familiar with the double-curly-quote method of including a chart in the article, and can't figure out how to find the chart so that I can correct it. (It contains some incorrect abbreviations for military ranks.)

Thanks - SaxTeacher (talk) 12:26, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

The table of US officer ranks is a template, and is added by means of the code you mentioned (for more info on this, see Wikipedia:Templates). You can edit the template itself directly - Template:US officer ranks, however, note that this template is used in many articles and you'll be changing all of them if you change the template - so be cautious. If you have any other questions or need more help, feel free to come by here again, or leave a message on my talk page! — QuantumEleven 12:27, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] sports agents

What are the frequently asked questions regarding a sports agent?

[edit] CSS float/clear breaking edit-links placement

moving to VP(t). thanks. -Quiddity

[edit] proposal for the layout of the box with special characters

i would to propose to change the layout of the box with special characters that appears when editing n article. but the chars used for editing are mixed all the others.

were do i propose this change?

both swedish and portuguese wikipedia has decent versions. Benkeboy 20:20, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

You should ask at MediaWiki talk:Edittools. --Cherry blossom tree 20:34, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] hey why don't you guys out......

hey why don't you guys put a new page on wiki regarding fearson. I noticed you guys put a page on wiki regarding his floationg cigarrete but why dont you put pne on fantastic floatation with the spoiler warning and etc... you can view the demo on fantasticfloatation.com if you do please put it under levitation because thats what it is —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.51.229.125 (talk • contribs) 2006-05-09 20:46:18.

There is no "you guys". We are all "us" here. That is to say, we are all just common people who edit Wikipedia because we're interested in doing so. Why don't *you* join us and create a new article on fantastic flotation? :-) In practice, even if you create a stub article, it is likely to get expanded over time, but if you are prepared to do nothing you have no grounds to expect others to leap into action. — Es tarriol ^talk 09:10, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Underlined Links

I think wikipedia would be more aesthetically pleasing if the links weren't underlined. Alternatively, it could be made possible to change this in 'my preference'. --Username132 (talk) 21:05, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

The developers thought that was such a great idea, they went to the trouble of going back in time and implementing it so more people could benefit ;-). Go to 'my preferences', click 'Misc' and there you have a drop-down box for 'Underline links'. Some people (including me) find that links still appear underlined every so often, though. I deal with this by going into my preferences, clicking 'save' without changing anything, and that solves it. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 21:23, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Or you can just press "Ctrl+F5" for Internet Explorer/Mozilla Firefox or just "F5" for Opera Browser.—G.H e 21:29, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Most Appropriate Page Title

Tumour necrosis factor or Tumour necrosis factor-alpha? Currently it's the former, but I thought it should always be the full name? --Username132 (talk) 21:15, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

The rule is that it should be at the name people are most likely to search for - I'm not sure which that is in this case. You can make a redirect from the other, so it isn't all that important. --Cherry blossom tree 21:47, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

I'd move it to the full name. -Objectivist-C 03:57, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Two Articles

There are two articles on the village of Old Basing (the second is called Basing). The first contains more information than the second. Being new, I'm not sure how to proceed. Thank you. --TDE 22:06, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

It's been fixed by creating a redirect. --Hetar 03:41, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Templates

I've searched all over, but I can't find my answer. How do I get the three columns of this template:

v • d • e RPM Productions
Miss Louisiana USA 1991–	Miss North Carolina USA 1992–	Miss South Carolina USA 1980–
Miss Louisiana Teen USA 1990–	Miss North Carolina Teen USA 1992–	Miss South Carolina Teen USA 1983–

to be all the same width? I know you can do it for the succession boxes:

eg.

Preceded by Shanna Moakler	Miss USA 1996	Succeeded by Brook Lee

But I can't figure out how? Perhaps someone could enlighten me? PageantUpdater 22:38, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

I think I've sorted it. Is this what you wanted? --Cherry blossom tree 22:51, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! (Extra query on your talk page) PageantUpdater 22:53, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Correct way to show Film Titles on Wikipedia?

What source is a film's title taken from? For example, on IMDb they use the title as it's shown in the opening credits, which can create confusion sometimes (Ghostbusters is listed as Ghost Busters). I've read Wikipedia:Naming conventions (films) but I couldn't find any reference to this. Pufnstuf 22:54, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Unless there's specific guidance otherwise in the Naming Conventions, at Wikipedia we use the most commonly used term for the base article and then set up redirects from other names that might be used to find it. If the name is used in multiple contexts (e.g. Dune), we make the base article Dune (film) and create a disambiguation page at the shared name. For example, I expect most people would search under Ghostbusters, so the best idea would be to create it there (with a toplink to a disambiguation page for the animated series etc), and have Ghost Busters redirect to Ghostbusters. As you can see, this is what editors have actually done in practice. At Wikipedia, the general principle is that ease of finding your information is most important - but redirects make this all so much less painful. — Es tarriol ^talk 07:11, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] adding 70's St. Louis bands

I was going to add some news on some popular bands from St Louis in the 1970s. These bands include Pavlov's Dog who made 5 albums and were very popular in Germany, Starcastle who made three albums the first of which made the top 100, A Full Moon Consort who made an album that reached the top album sales in St. Louis, and Mama Pride who made two albums that were popular in St. Louis. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dan012752 (talk • contribs) 2006-05-09 23:30:53

Well... you've not asked a question, but if I had to guess as to the question, you're asking if those would be appropriate to have articles on each of these bands? Please read Wikipedia:Notability for guidelines; editors tend to be quite stringent about what's notable enough. Alternatively, if the bands are not really notable enough for an article each, perhaps a Popular bands of St Louis article, linked from the Music section of the St Louis article? Or even just a name-check of the bands in that section? — Es tarriol ^talk 07:39, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

My personal estimate is that Pavlov's Dog and Starcastle would pass the notability test, the other two would not. Just a data point. · rodii · 17:28, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] May 10

how do i use wikipedia?

[edit] searching

how can i delete what i have search on wikipedia. my computer records it on the page and i dont like people looking at what i have searched--67.150.29.110 00:48, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

First of all, what browser are you using? Most broswers can clear the input/form history, which would remove the searches. Try going into your broswer's option menu and find something like clear input/form history.—G.H e 04:05, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

The Reference desk is where the experts on everything not related to Wikipedia hang out, if you post your question there (saying which browser and operating system you use) they will be able to help you with detailed instructions if you have trouble figuring it out on your own. — QuantumEleven 09:52, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia itself does not track your searching on this site, your browser does.-Deathawk 01:11, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] printing

how do i print somthing

Click "Printable version" in the toolbox menu on the left and you'll get a page with just the content, without menus or headers. ~~helix84 02:12, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Alternatively, just print the "normal" page. Menus and headers are hidden automatically. —da Pete (ノート) 07:52, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] finding VfD discussion?

How do I find the Vote for Deletion discussion for a specific article?

Specifically the article on Bald Knob Cross?

I put a link to it in the article on Alto Pass, Illinois, on 15 August 2004. I beleive that I was linking to a specific article, not making a blank link. (Yes, I will admit I am not a major contributor to WP.) as I seem to recall finding the article on the cross and adding the link from Alto Pass.

Bald Knob Cross is a major landmark in southern Illinois, and I would like to find out why the article was deleted.

Please also reply in my talk page. Thanks!

--VikÞor [[User talk:Vik-Thor|Talk]] 04:03, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Usually you can see a short reasoning for an article's deletion on the deletion log. If it states it was deleted due to the VfD or AfD, you can just visit Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/ or Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/name of page. Anyway, I couldn't find any record in the deletion log that a Bald Knob Cross article was deleted. — TheKMan^talk 04:13, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

I'd be interested to find out as well (I used to go there all the time when I was in college (long story)). I checked the deletion log but did not find any mention of the article even ever existing. Dismas|^(talk) 04:16, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

How far back does the delete log go? And does searching it search the entire list, however far back it goes? I guess I could be mistaken as to it being an actual article at one point. And thanks for the quick replies, KMan and Dismas! VikÞor [[User talk:Vik-Thor|Talk]] 04:27, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

The deletion log goes back to about December 23, 2004, but the archives (see Wikipedia:Archived delete debates) go back forever and with a site specific google search (add "site:en.wikipedia.org") you can search the archives. Admins can see deleted articles back to about May 2004. Bald Knob Cross does not appear in the archives. -- Rick Block (talk) 13:57, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] how can i start my work

hello sir

have a nice day to u

i will see u website and i will create my account.

but i don't know how to start my work.

please send me reply to me.

thanking u

k. theagarajan

You should probably read Wikipedia:Your first article first. Dismas|^(talk) 06:52, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reference desk etiquette

I know it's against policy to post a query in more than one Reference Desk, but is it ok to do so if after a week or so I haven't received a satisfactory answer from one desk, and think I might have a better chance at another? Adambrowne666 06:53, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I don't think that should be a problem. — QuantumEleven 06:56, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Ta Adambrowne666 20:40, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] potential &challenges of hardship tourism

I want datails on challenges of hardship tourism destination eg going to space, living in a mine for a long period, living without implements etc.--59.95.9.221 07:19, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

You'll get better results if you ask nicely instead of demanding, and if you do the aforementioned asking at the Reference Desk. Isopropyl 07:21, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deletion

How would I nominate portals for deletion? Thank you. BhaiSaab 07:37, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Anything that hasn't got it's own page, like articles and images/media go through WP:MFD. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:01, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Editing protocal/etiquette

Is it preferable to

edit an entire page before saving changes so that other users can easily see all the changes you have made in one swoop

save changes after each specific edit, which allows for specific editorial comments on the history page, making it easier for others to have an itemized record of the changes made?

It depends on the editor. I would say that if you're making a number of edits that have to deal with grammar, spelling, proper format, and various other "format" related items, just do it in one fell swoop.

If it's a major change to the way the article is worded then you can either do it a bit at a time with explanations in your edit summaries or again do it in one fell swoop with just one summary on the talk page. Dismas|^(talk) 08:15, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Also, if it's a heavily edited article, you could come across a edit conflict, in such cases, short edits are best. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:03, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] help

how is information organised in a book based encyclopaedia

Alphabetically. (Is this what you were asking about? If not, the Reference desk may be of more use to you, there they answer any question under the sun, except how to use Wikipedia, which is what this board is for). — QuantumEleven 09:41, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] When to link and when not to link?

I know that it's generally good practice to not use a wikilink other than the first occurrence of an entry. However, if the article is very long, or if the reference is made in different sections of the article, should this still be "enforced", per se? Much thanks! Rcjsuen 11:03, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

There's a point on this in the Manual of style, I think. If it means scrolling more than a few screens back to find a link, some people prefer to link again later in an article, but opinions differ. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:32, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cannot search for my article

I have submitted an article titled Moneysupermarket.com but when I search for terms contained within the article it is not returned in the results even when I use highly specific search terms such as moneysupermarket. Why is this happening and what can I do to resolve this? 194.159.99.60 11:04, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

The article you wrote seems to be on his place (see Moneysupermarket.com). The internal search engine is not updated in real time so it may pass some days before it shows up. --Bertolotti 11:09, 10 May 2006 (UTC) p.s. Wikipedia:Sign_your_posts_on_talk_pages

Actually, it may be months before WP indexes. Try searching with the WP specific Google search, they index WP much more frequently, days or a couple of weeks. hydnjo talk 15:57, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Note: this article, started March 28, 2006 has been indexed by Google [3]. hydnjo talk 16:02, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kennedy half dollar

I have a coin that is bicintinual but it does not have (d p or s) on it.I was wandering if i had an error coin or not. There are no scares on it, it is in good condition.––Shroom4192000 15:21, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Have you tried the humanities section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit 15:50, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Please help me-Am I going crazy?

(inappropriate question removed).--Dmartinez 1979 17:06, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

This page is for help with editing Wikipedia.--Commander Keane 17:26, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

What's the policy for when something like this happens? I have replied on the questioners talk page anyway. — Es tarriol ^talk 17:29, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deleting garbage talk page

In cleaning up after a few vandals, I noticed that one started talk pages for 2 articles: Talk:Karl Drais and Talk:Ghulam Sediq Wardak. I've been cleaning up my reverting back to the most recent good edit, but these Talk pages do not have good edits to revert to.

How do I remove these useless comments, as there is nothing to revert to short of deleting the talk page (which I have no idea how to do as well)? I looked through some help pages, but didn't find anything covering this case (though I could have just missed it).

Thanks! TBadger 18:12, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes deleting talk pages like this is the way to go (assuming there isn't a good version lurking in the history). An admin will speedy delete the page if you place {{db|Talk page with only vandalism edit}} or similar on the page (you can blank the talk page in the mean time to hide the vandalism). I will take care of these two talk pages now.--Commander Keane 19:17, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, that's what I was looking for. And it is good to know the page can be blanked to hide vandalism. Wasn't sure what the rules were with that. Thanks again! TBadger 19:37, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] equations won't display

Equations aren't showing up in my browser for links such as this one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_equations

I've never had this problem before. Is there some new font which I must download?

They should display as images. If you can't see them try changing the settings in the 'Math' section of your preferences. --Cherry blossom tree 20:36, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

I tried each of the options in the 'Math' section, but it didn't seem to help.

Can you see the image at this link, which is what it shows me? http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/5/7/4/574e79fcd783f402f69907b6acbf7cd1.png --Cherry blossom tree 21:45, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

There appears to be a sitewide glitch, or at least a glitch affecting everyone using internet explorer. About two hours ago many images stopped being displayed for me as well, plus, see next section for confirmation that others are experiencing similar difficulties.--Fuhghettaboutit 22:22, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! Everything seems to be fine now.

[edit] Pictures Not Displaying

Why are your pictures displaying? Other websites are OK. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.104.211.5 (talk • contribs) .

Do you mean displaying or not displaying, and what do you mean by "other websites"? Btw, I have had a similar problem with thumbnails not displaying. SCHZMO ✍ 23:08, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Moles

What is a mole? The tyoe that comes out of the ground and may be blind —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.160.31.157 (talk • contribs) .

See Mole (animal) to get started. However, the Help Desk is for asking questions related to Wikipedia; consult the Reference desk if you want to ask questions unrelated to Wikipedia. SCHZMO ✍ 23:06, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox help on Infiniti G20 entry

The Infoboxes that I would like to add to the main entry can be found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Infiniti_G20

I have tried a few different ways of entering the Infobox data but seemingly cannot seem to get them in a colum on the righ hand side of the main entry with a word wrap of lower sections.

I would be quite happy with a bit of help. Thanks. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.104.21.30 (talk • contribs) .

Replied there. -- Rick Block (talk) 01:04, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Rick!

[edit] May 11

[edit] My User Page

Someone tried once again [4] [5] to make my link blue. How can I change it back to red myself when this happens? Black Carrot 01:50, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't know the answer, but I think it takes an admin. I also don't know why some users take it upon themselves to do this. But I also don't know why it's important for some users to have their user page be a redlink, and I've been curious about it. So would you mind explaining your motivation? I speak only from idle curiosity--why do you want to not have a user page? · rodii · 02:11, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

You can place {{db|I want my user page deleted--~~~~}} on you userpage and an admin will delete it. I will delete it after I post this. Perhaps you should just keep a blank userpage, so the link isn't red and the nuisance dissolves. I don't wish to enter a discourse about that though.--Commander Keane 02:15, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

You could change your sig to display red text: Black Carrot. If someone inadvertantly creates your userpage, the underline will turn blue – like this: Black Carrot – but the text will always stay red. You could even deliberately point the link at a real page (perhaps your talk page?) so that editors who want to contact you don't keep getting the 'Wikipedia does not have a page with this name...' message. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 02:40, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks.

I prefer not to have a user page for three relatively minor reasons: I like having a red name, I don't have anything to say about myself, and I rather like having a "This guy doesn't exist" screen. It's not as important as, say, vandalism of my talk page, I just like it that way. Black Carrot 20:47, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for explaining. · rodii · 02:01, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] On Sebastiano Cardinal Baggio

This article is found in a search in Wikipedia [6] and in Answers.com [7] but not in Wikipedia! Sebastiano Cardinal Baggio

Can somebody help get back this article into circulation? He is quoted in the Opus Dei article. Anonimus 03:44, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

The article with that title was deleted as a copyright violation on 5 May. The copies on the mirror sites will persist until they are updated. Cardinal Baggio may well be a suitable subject for an article, but we can't use material copied from another web site unless it is released under a free license. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by MCB (talk • contribs) . 23:50, 10 May 2006

Ok. Thanks for the info. I wrote a new one. Anonimus 04:28, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] friends

how to choose the right friends? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 58.69.97.45 (talk • contribs) .

One of the great unanswered questions of life, I'm afraid. I'd suggest try to stay away from the ones that do drugs, pick friends with good moral values. Of course, determining which ones those are... ~Kylu (u|t) 05:20, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] DRM

I'm a major beginner but a lot of things I try to do, the computer says my DRM is corrupted. This computer was given to me so I don't have any software or anything. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 63.158.243.5 (talk • contribs) .

I think by definition all DRM is corrupted. :P

Sorry, bad joke. Can you be any more specific? Usually it's only a problem when you're dealing with protected media (iTunes and WMA music, downloaded videos, etc) ~Kylu (u|t) 04:25, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

You may be interested in our article on digital rights management, so at least you know what it is. If you could provide us with more details (what operating system are you running, when does this happen, does it only happen with certain files, only with certain programs...) then we can try to help you. Although, having said that, the best place to post about this would be the Reference Desk, that's where all the polymaths who can answer any question under the sun (except for how to use Wikipedia, which is what this page is for) hang out. Good luck with your computer! — QuantumEleven 06:31, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] CSD U2?

I came across Category:IP talk pages for speedy deletion from a notice an an anonymous user's talk page. I am unfamiliar with criterion for speedy deletion U2. Could someone explain what it is? — Knowledge Seeker দ 05:00, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't believe there is a CSD:U2. (There's only a U1, deletion by owner's request.) Perhaps it is a typo (or prank). Can you provide a link to where it appeared? MCB 05:14, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

My apologies; I intended to include the link but forgot. I came across the notice on User talk:130.191.17.38; it links to Category:IP talk pages for speedy deletion. It appears User:Tawkerbot added the notice. I will ask him about this as well. — Knowledge Seeker দ 05:27, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

I knew it sounded familiar. Looking at the history of WP:CSD, it appears CSD:U2 was removed on 3 March 2006 by Drini, with a comment Removed U2 criteria since there's no reason for delete such pages. Blanking them is a better option and also preserves/archives the history. Prior to that, the former U2 read, 2. Recycling IP pages. User talk pages of non-logged in users where the message is no longer relevant. This is to avoid confusing new users who happen to edit with that same IP address. MCB 05:44, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cross-space links

Is there a clear policy somewhere on creating links from article space to user space? Like this gnostic infomysticism stuff. Weregerbil 10:11, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

There shouldn't be any links from the article space to the user space - if information merits being in an article, it should be in an article, if it isn't, it shouldn't be linked from an article. I can see a possible exception (and even this one I'm not sure about) for a link to the userpage of someone who has an article about themselves on Wikipedia (ie they're notable enough) - having said that, this is already covered in Wikipedia:Wikipedians with articles, so may not be necessary.

In the particular case you mention, there should definitely not be a link to the user space - it sounds to me like a contributor wants to get around the criteria for inclusion of information in Wikipedia by placing it in the user space, which is a no-no. — QuantumEleven 10:33, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

The relevant guideline here is Wikipedia:Avoid self-references, which applies even in the Wikipedia:Wikipedians with articles case. -- Rick Block (talk) 14:05, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] is there a permanent "controversial subject" tag for readers to understand article might be biased?

The French version has a tag for controversial article French version has this Template:Désaccord de neutralité that will say "Ceci est un article sujet à une controverse de neutralité et est donc à considérer avec précaution. Il est possible d'en discuter pour l'améliorer sur la page dédiée (ou sur page de discussion de l'article pour les bandeaux mis sous l'ancien système)." in the article.

What it does that the English npov tag does not is clearly warning readers that the article might not be neutral, phrasing in such a way that article might be permanently not neutral.

Is there something like this in the English version? I mean something clearly stating for readers that the article might not be neutral, in a permanent way? The npov dispute tag is not saying exactly the same!Sarreau 10:51, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

By nature, any such tags are temporary, as we always strive to create articles that are neutral, even on controversial subjects. However, we do have tags for specific cases: Template:Controversial for controversial topics, Template:Disputed for problems with factual accuracy, and Template:TotallyDisputed for when the big hammer is needed. — QuantumEleven 12:12, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

thanks. Template:Controversial is exactly what I was looking for... but I can't place it on the article page?Sarreau 09:20, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, you can, just type in {{controversial}} at the top of the article. And you should probably leave a note on the article's talk page as to why you think an article is controversial, and what changes you propose to make it more neutral. — QuantumEleven 10:22, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How long it takes a new article to show up?

When a new article (page) is created, how long does it take for it to show up when you do a search? A google search shows up right away, and any unresolved links to the page are automatically fixed in real-time, but in one case it's been two weeks and the search for the new pages I created still comes up empty. Or to ask it another way, how often does Wikipedia update its index?

Google usually takes a day or two to pick up on a new article. You'll be able to get to the article in question through a link to the article (on another article) from the moment it's created, as well as by typing the exact name of the article (capitalisation and all) in the search box and clicking the "Go" button. However, finding an article through clicking "Search" may take some time, on average, one to two weeks. — QuantumEleven 12:06, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Umm, a couple of months is more realistic for WP to index an article. It's best to use the WP specific Google search capability. --hydnjo talk 18:24, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re: re-size an image

How to ask a question

Dear Wikipedia:

I have edited a page for Peter J. Barnes, who is a New Jersey Assemblyman. I have placed the State approved photograph of him on the page, however, I do not know how to properly re-size the image. Can you please advise?

--67.82.238.19 13:17, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Hi, simply change frame to thumb and optionally, add a size specifier in your image tag. For example: [[Image:Pjb_color.jpg|thumb|120px|right|Assemblyman Peter J. Barnes, Jr.]] For more information, see Wikipedia:Extended image syntax. Cheers, Tangotango 13:32, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] for geting information

we need more information about how to treat the cancer patient who is suffering with adeno carcinoma infiltrating squamaus epithelium.

for kind of your information:-

clinical details- specimen- endoscopic biopsy. a) stomach b) oesophagus.

Gross Examination- a) one tiny peice. b) multiple tiny peices.

Microscopic examination- a) adeno carcinoma b) adeno carcinoma infiltrating squamaus epithelium.

we need the places where it will treat best in India. and also what's the process of treatment.

thanks. virendra rathore balco t/s korba chattisgarh. [email address removed to protect privacy]

Hello, please see the Reference Desk for knowledge questions such as these. However, I strongly suggest that you consult a qualified doctor for this issue - Wikipedia is merely an encyclopedia. Cheers, Tangotango 15:27, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] homeopathy

I added a summary to the homeopathy entry and within 2 days it was wiped off by someone. I am a major published historian of this subject one of only a few in the world. Does wikipedia or wikipedists not want a sound academic input on this topic? The article is riddled with errors and misconceptions...I don't know how to re-submit a better referenced version of my summary but would like to do that. I could re-send it but it will just get wiped again by pro-science zealots so what do I do to place a referenced summary?

thank you Peter Morrell —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Peter morrell (talk • contribs) 14:29, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Just as you changed the article with a few keystrokes and mouse clicks, so can someone else. That's the nature of a wiki. If you believe that your edits are well sourced and hold a neutral point of view then I would suggest adding them back in and also starting a discussion on the talk page for the article. You may also want to find out who took out what you added in and ask them on their own talk page why they did so. Talk, discuss, work things out. We see questions of this nature quite a bit here where published writers are offended, confused, etc. over their edits being taken out. I'm not sure if it's the result of some sort of sense of ownership over what you write or not... just an observation. Dismas|^(talk) 14:44, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

thank you diswas im not offended, more like puzzled, i just wanted to place a fully referenced addition...how do i do that or where can i find out how to submit a summary with numbered references inserted? problem is the refs must continue in numbered order from the previous stuff...that's all. then once done in due course, the whole article can be revised as it desperately needs it! thanks Peter morrell —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Peter morrell (talk • contribs) 15:16, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Hi, see WP:CITE to see how you can use the citation system. -- Tangotango 16:14, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

many thnx 4 ur help tangotango, i will soon give it a whirl! peter morrell —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Peter morrell (talk • contribs) 16:33, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cannot confirm my Email

I got the Email-Confirmation email from wikipedia, but when I click on the link or open that link in another browser, it gives me message 'confirmemail_invalid'. I tried thrice, same thing happened. Can anybody help me resolving the error.

Thank Suyog

[edit] Template okina

Does this template work? ʻ is supposed to draw a ' type character for Hawai'ian language words. But can anyone see anything beside a blank box? I am not the only one compaining about it. If it doesn't work, I will list it for deletion. Rmhermen 16:04, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it works perfectly in Firefox and Opera, but not in Internet Explorer. I guess that's just another reason to switch, if you haven't already. ;) -- Tangotango 16:13, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm using IE, and I see it perfectly fine. User:Zoe|^(talk) 17:49, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Date and Time settings modification

I am having a problem with the Date and Time on a newly installed FreeBSD box running Apache2. At the command line if I type 'date' I get the correct date and time, however on the MediaWiki page edit timestamps it shows the time as being 4 hrs later than the server is set to.. I've looked all through the config files (DateFormatter.php is no help). does anyone have any advice on how to correct this issue.
-- Thanks in advance
C.Sinclair --206.47.249.251 16:24, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

For help with operating your own wiki using the MediaWiki software, please see the MediaWiki Support page. Best, MCB 20:21, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Don't understand edit comparison.

I don't understand this edit comparison. Can anyone explain to me what has changed? AndyJones 16:27, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Spaces and paragraph breaks were added, for example between the words 'like' and '"Ivanov"'. Spaces can't be highlighted, so if an edit changes nothihng but spacing, it looks superficially like no changes have been made. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 16:32, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] new to wikipedia

I have just read the entry for Angela Carter (english writer) and I noted that a recent stage production of "Nights at the circus" at the Lyric Theatre in London has not been included. See www.lyric.co.uk/pl99.

Is it possible for this to be included.

Many thanks.

Sandie

The Angela Carter article contains a link in the Novels section to Nights at the Circus which contains a paragraph about the stage adaptation. --hydnjo talk 18:19, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Many thanks for your reply. This will teach me to look at everything.

Sandie —Preceding unsigned comment added by Encyclopedie (talk • contribs)

[edit] Polyadenylation

I was looking to add a lot to the Polyadenylation stub, but I'm not sure of the rules on copyrights as far as scientific journals go. I'm not going to be quoting or copying anything, but I plan to cite the sources of my knowledge. What rules do I need to know?

Grubaw 18:22, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Citing sources and Wikipedia:Copyrights to get started. SCHZMO ✍ 18:46, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dates convention for titles?

Does anyone know the dates convention for titles? I want to move The Lord of the Rings (1956 radio series) to a new page (it was broadcast in two parts, one in 1955 and one in 1956), but how should that be written? The Lord of the Rings (1955-6 radio series)? The Lord of the Rings (1955-1956 radio series)? Or something else entirely? The dates are needed to distinguish it from The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series). Both were produced by the BBC, but by different bits of BBC radio, so an alternative disambiguation in the titles could be The Lord of the Rings (BBC Radio 4 series) and The Lord of the Rings (BBC Radio Third Programme series), but I think the dates would be good enough and simpler. But which one shall I move it to? 1955-6? Or 1955-56? Is there a convention for how to do this? Carcharoth 21:01, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

I think you can do what you want, really, I can't find a guideline. I'd personally prefer 1955-56 but it's not that important. You can always make redirects for the others if anyone's likely to search for them. --Cherry blossom tree 22:16, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

For televisions series, it usually seems to have the starting date as the parenthetical identifier, even if the show went on many seasons - see Fame for an example. I don't know if that would apply to this situation, but it's at least something to base it on. -- Nataly a 23:22, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for that example. I think you are right! The Lord of the Rings (1955 radio series) it is! I'll make all the others redirects. Thanks. Carcharoth 09:51, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] May 12

[edit] Number of Contributions

Is there any way to determine how many contributions I've made to wikipedia, short of clicking on Special:Contributions and counting manually? Anson2995 00:07, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

See User:Interiot/Tool2.—G.H e 00:09, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Note that that tool doesn't work with internet explorer (works fine with firefox).--Fuhghettaboutit 00:17, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Not sure which is more awesome, the tool or the fact that I got an answer in just 2 minutes. Thanks! Anson2995 00:34, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

You're welcome.—G.H e 00:42, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

You could simply use Interiot's counter tool from the toolserver. That one works fine on Internet Explorer. - 131.211.210.12 08:05, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

The only problem with that one is that it misses about a month's worth of edits from around April when the toolserver wasn't working. --Cherry blossom tree 11:11, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Registered Links

I don't know the official title, but certain websites like the IMDb or Moby Games can be linked through the use of curly braces, e.g.

Battlecruiser 3000AD at MobyGames

versus

Battlecruiser 3000AD at MobyGames

Are these "registered links" (for lack of a better term) set up by wiki staff, or can they be created by regular users? Also, what is the official name for this type of link? Doggie Yum Yums 02:42, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

The "curly brace" link is created by the use of a template (see Help:Template for more info), which in this case makes it easier to write the external link to a site that is commonly linked to. The template you are talking about is Template:Moby game; see Template talk:Moby game to see how to use this template. SCHZMO ✍ 02:49, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the info, and for the official name --Doggie Yum Yums 02:53, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Since links to sites like the ones mentioned above are used in many articles, making a template for them also allows us to easily change all the links' appearance and content, similar to how a few CSS files can be altered to change the appearance of an entire website. For example, if IMDb were to change the way it organises its pages, it might only be necessary to change the IMDb link template, rather than individually edit each article. --Kwekubo 20:38, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] adding a image

how do I add an image. I want to add a picture of the mayor and the city seal to Union,mo.

Did you check Wikipedia:Picture_tutorial? --Bertolotti 08:27, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to write a new article

If an article is written according to form, then saved on this website, how long will it take to appear? After it is saved, is there another step I need to take such as uploading it. If so, what are the additional steps after saving it. Thank you. -- 70.33.159.29 11:35, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Hi, there is no such need - articles will show up immediately, unless there's server congestion or a cache in your way (in which case it should still appear in a few minutes). The Search feature, however, will not reflect new updates immediately - it generally takes a few weeks for it to get refreshed. — Tangotango 11:41, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Google's search index does update a lot quicker than Wikipedia's. For more about creating articles, see Help:Starting a new page and Wikipedia:Your first article - for a start, you'll need to register an account. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 11:45, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Change the title

How can I change the title of my article CIOE (Portugal) to just CIOE? Yosy

Hi, I in fact suggest that the article be renamed Special Operations Instruction Center or the official English translation, per Wikipedia:Naming conventions. If your user account is still fairly new, you'll have to ask for a page move at Wikipedia:Requested moves. Otherwise, you can move any page by clicking on the "Move" tab at the top of any article. Cheers, Tangotango 12:42, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks - I have moved the page to just CIOE. I kept it liked that because the sigla CIOE is unique and widely known in Portugal and in foreign military circles. Yosy

[edit] About Current events (Africa)

Hi all. First off all a member of wikipedia my username is Aabdi406 and my second question is for the last 10 days I was updating the wikipedia current events Africa section and It looks like someone is deleting every update that I contributed to that page. Can any one give me any reason for that ? on the top of that page it says "Help to update that page" Have I been pushing some personal agenda ? I was even thinking to volunteer to updating some other african continent related topics, This website is good example of how people can share different kind of information. I hope you guys would come up some answers to my questions. Thanks in advance

58.164.59.19 12:52, 12 May 2006 (UTC)Abdi406

Hello there, it appears that another user edited the same page at the same time as you, adding bits and pieces of unnecessary information. The whole page seems to have been cleared up a little over 3 hours ago. Please check to see if your edits are still there. Cheers, Tangotango 12:32, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Have you asked the editor who removed your links? It appears to me as if you have been adding links, lots of links, to african-news-clips.com, which looks like a repackaged feed from AllAfrica.com with google ads. In other words, spam. Are you associated with that site? Please don't use Wikipedia for commercial purposes. · rodii · 12:41, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

To be clearer, most of the contributions to that page of late, before Ezeu's cleanup, were by Aabdi4061, his non-logged-in IP 58.164.59.19, or by 203.110.145.13, and all of them were links to african-news-clips.com. Those are the only links Aabdi has ever added, and the majority of recent edits by 203.110.145.13, which is a shared IP from an Australian (I think) ISP. · rodii · 12:59, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

NOTE: The comments above were blanked by Aabdi--I've restored them. · rodii ·

[edit] Registering before writing an article?

Is it necessary to register in order to submit an article. On the main page, it doesn't seem to be necessary. Yet, on the help page, when we asked about Have you tried the computer section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps.submitting a new article, the suggestion was made to register. If registering, does an IP show on the article? Thank you.-- 70.33.159.29 13:17, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

On the main page it says anyone can edit, however to create a new page or article you need to have a Wikipedia user account. This is to prevent vandalism and creation of "nonsense" pages, ones that don't add value to Wikipedia. See Help:Starting a new page for more information. Harryboyles 13:38, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

When you register an account, your IP is thenceforth hidden from other users. The information linking IP to account name still exists, but is only accessed under fairly extraordinary conditions, and is never made public. In that sense, it's more anonymous than editing when you're not logged in. · rodii · 14:06, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] i need to know the definiton of digital media design

i need to know the definiton of digital media design. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.229.196.108 (talk • contribs) .

First, try searching Wikipedia: type "digital media design" (without the quotes) into the search box at the left of a Wikipedia page, and click the Search button. The result may lead you to articles with the information you're looking for. If it doesn't, try the Science section of the Reference Desk, which specializes in answering knowledge questions. Good luck, MCB 15:43, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deleting user subpage

I created a subpage of my userpage which I would like to delete. It's not in the main Wikipedia space, nor is in my User talk page; it's User_talk:Fnarf999/Akidd. I've blanked it out at an admin's suggestion, but I'd like to delete it entirely. The page is inappropriate; I'm having a dispute with another user and I created this page as a reference to some of the things he says, but that sort of thing shouldn't be in Wiki. I want to take it offline and delete it from here so as not to prejudice the ongoing dispute.

How do I delete a self-created user subpage?

Steve Thornton, Fnarf999

Simply tag the page with {{db-author|reason}} or {{db|reason}} and an admin will be happy to delete it for you. --Hetar 18:16, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Hey, thanks, it's done now. Fnarf999 18:27, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

On a side note, Wikipedia is not the same thing as Wiki. A wiki is a type of website, whereas there is only one Wikipedia. --Kwekubo 20:22, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Myself, I've seen Wikipedia abbreviated as 'Wiki' many times - especially to distinguish between the different-language Wikipedias (enWiki and deWiki are much easier to type than English-language Wikipedia and German-language Wikipedia). --Sam Blanning^(talk) 22:10, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I tend to see enwp (or en.wp) more as shorthand for English Wikipedia, which has the advantage on not getting confused with different language Wikinewses or Wiktionaries. --Cherry blossom tree 22:40, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] User contributions: New articles

When I look up my user contributions, the N that usually identifies a new article does not show up. This makes it hard for me to look over which new articles I have created. Is there a way to get this information easily? --Ginkgo100 19:39, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure about this, but I don't think the N shows up in the contributions. Isn't it the watchlist that shows the N?—G.H e 21:04, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

It only shows up in the watchlist, and then, of course, only if no-one's edited the article after creation. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 22:06, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Suggest Correct Spelling During Search

If I search on google and type in an incorrect spelling, it suggests an alternative (based on a dictionary or a variation with more hits). When will wikipedia do this? --Username132 (talk) 21:33, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, we already have redirects for common misspellings. Apart from that, I think adding any extra features to the search function would place a severe strain on the servers - I'm not a technical person myself, it's just that that seems to be the response when anything of that nature gets suggested on Wikipedia:Village pump. And when you can search Wikipedia with Google very easily, and Google is in fact better than Wikipedia's search function in several other ways (more up-to-date index, doesn't care about upper/lowercase), is there really that much point? --Sam Blanning^(talk) 22:13, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Images in Wikipedia Commons

The "color organ" figures in the "commons" area are to be inserted in the "Clavier à lumières/Modern Color Organs" in Wikipedia Main, but I can't figure out how. Also, I don't know how to add my four pictures to commons category = Classical Music (general).

Thank you,

John P. Jones

jpjoneswv@...

I've fixed your gallery (see this edit for how I did it.) It seems, however, that the colour organ that your section discusses is distinct from that in the rest of the article. Would it be better to have your section in a different article? --Cherry blossom tree 22:49, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] logging in

your system rejects my e-address, jturner@..., which I've used since about 1999 and it always works, except your webite.

Bye, bye

Jim Turner

You don't need an e-mail address to sign up - I suggest just not filling in that field. And then not forgetting your password. --Cherry blossom tree 22:42, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Search engines

How can I get a popular search engine (i.e. Google) to get my page on Wikipedia as a hit? is it automatic, or fo I have to do something?

Try using the WP specific Google search. --hydnjo talk 23:06, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

It usually takes a few days at least for new pages to be picked up by search engines. --Cherry blossom tree 23:12, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

AND it takes a few months for WP to index an article :-( hydnjo talk 23:21, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] My mystery

It seems that when I click to a page section (say from RD history) I go to the page top (not section). But, if the section is in my browser (Safari) cache then I go directly to the desired section. If I clear the browser (Safari) cache then it's deja-vu all over again: my first call to a section of a page gets me to the top of the page but then having gone to that section via the TOC my next call for that section works just fine. Should I just ~~fuggedaboudit~~ fuhghettaboutit or is there a fix? --hydnjo talk 23:21, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

--Fuhghettaboutit 23:32, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

HA! it's not often than you can actually say something responsive by just posting your name stamp. What are the odds that I would come across your post first. As to the problem, I'm not sure I understand--is the problem exclusive to page histories--like RD history as you mentioned in your question? Do you mean that when you are looking in the history of an article and you click on the little arrow next to the greyed out section designation for a listing, that's what's taking you to the top of the article rather than the secton, or does it happen also when you are in an article and click on a section of the TOC?. I'm not sure of the answer but it might have something to do with the way safari (which I don't use) treats urls--the first section (top) an article is designated 0 in the url, the first separately editable subsecton is 1 and so on, so, for instance, this post is in "section=116" in the url. You might try the Wikipedia:Computer help desk if you have no luck here. --Fuhghettaboutit 00:56, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

The problem is more generic than happening only from Page history, I used that as an example but the problem happens from wherever I try to follow a section link be it from Page history or a link from any page to another page section like Pagename#section name. It seems that if I empty the browser (Safari) cache while positioned to follow a link I always end up at section 0 (top of page) of that linked page. Everything works fine after that including jumping to any other linked section of any other page. I only came across this idiosyncrasy while trying to figure out how to ID "featured" or "best" questions without breaking the Page history linkage wherein my investigation was being confounded as you might imagine by this browser quirk. To see if you have the same problem with Safari or any other browser go to Page history of this (or any page, it's just simpler to do it here) then empty the browser's cache. After doing that see if you go to a linkable section (little arrow) on your first try. Second and subsequent link jumps always work fine. Jumping to a section from the TOC always works fine even if I empty the cache immediately prior to using a TOC link. Thanks for any help or insight on this as I really would like to be able to confirm the validity of a section link with an empty cache. --hydnjo talk 18:40, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] May 13

[edit] Forgotten username!

I haven't forgotten my password- I've forgotten my username! There is an option to have your password sent to your email address- but why can't I use my email address in the same manner to be sent my username?

If you can remember one page that you have been editing in the past, the page history of that page should allow you to figure out your username. Kusma (討論) 01:03, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Try other capitalizations. Usernames are case-sensitive like articles. - 82.172.14.108 08:48, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Category:Living people

Ok we have this category but where do I go for help if I find a problem?Geni 02:46, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm going to assume you mean if someone is in the category, living people, that should not be, either because they are not a person or are not alive. Pages are placed in categories by typing (usually and correctly a the bottom of an article) [[category:name of category]]. There is nothing to edit in the category page itself. So, if you find something or someone in a category that doesn't belong, go to its page, get into edit mode, and remove or change the category designation, whichever is appropriate.--Fuhghettaboutit

No I mean as in problem articles in category living people. The person is alive but the article looks like the type that has caused problems in the past.Geni 04:00, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Not sure why, then, your question is related specifically to the referenced category. There are "problem" articles all over Wikipedia and in every category, if by problem you mean poorly-written, biased, having little content, etc. Don't forget this is an encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and all you need is a username and a some time in order to create articles. There are many fine articles, but out of the 1,100,000+ articles here you will find many that are "problems." Some articles can be helped by adding articles tags which you can find here and here. Other types of articles may be candidates for deletion, either by speedy deletion, proposed deletion or deletion by consensus. Another solution is to be bold by editing articles to fix what you see as problems. I'm still not clear on what you are asking. If that doesn't help, please elaborate your question with more detail and specificity. --Fuhghettaboutit 04:39, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I know all this (admin for over a year ~~9000 edits) however that catigory exists in order to allow people to track articles where problems are a big deal. The question is is there anywhere(other than the massive backlog we call cleanup) to go if there is a problem.Geni 04:46, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Well I'm not sure, but given the sensitivity of the issues involved, Wikipedia:Office Actions might be the place to go if the problem is one that could lead to libel, defamation etc.--Fuhghettaboutit 07:08, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

What article is the problem? - 82.172.14.108 08:50, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Simple question

Do you know any pages about wiki-breaks (or whatever they're called)? Because I'm having truouble finding it. Notify me on my talk page please. I Am Ri¢h! 04:57, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Wikiholiday (duplicating on user's talk page)--Fuhghettaboutit 06:41, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article Pictures: Double Feature

Wiki-star: Ok i'm just going to get straight to the point because i don't have alot of time to waist. I have two questions that i would really apprecite to be answered. My first question: Is there a way to delete any text within an image? Like, if i have an image of a dog, and it said "MAX" in front of the dog, how do i delete that and just have the dog? My next question: Is there a way to review all the uploaded images of a article? Like, see all the uploaded pictures that were inserted in an article? Thanks!

Wiki-star 05:56, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

You can delete any text within an image by downloading a copy of that image, editing it, and uploading the new version over it. Make sure the license for the image allows this, though. As for your second question, just go through the history of the article and look for instances where images were added. Cheers, Tangotango 06:44, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for answering my 2nd question, but you went too fast with the first. Oh, and are you sure there isn't an easier way to look for that? I mean, crusing to over 1000 edits takes forever. Isn't there an easier way to view the inserted pictures? Where am i going to download the image? How am i going to download the image? Where do i edit? I mean, you left a huge hole here. Wiki-star 06:51, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Question 1: You need to have an image editing program with which you are facile. You would first need to download the image to your computer which you can do by right clicking and choosing "save target as". Then use your image editing program to take out the text. The problem is that it's easy to scrub out the text; every free image program has an erase feature, paint feature, and so on, but taking the text out, is not the same as taking it out and reworking the image to leave behind a new seamless image. If I tried to do it, I would either have a white background or a splotch of color where the text was rendering the image marred and unusable. As far as I'm aware, redrawing the image would require an advanced program and a degree of technical skill. If the text you want removed is near the bottom of the picture you could simpy crop the bottom so the image is shorter.

Question 2: If you are looking for past images, those no longer in the article that once were, you could hope that an edit summary was left behind with the word image and check for all of those quickly by going to history, clicking edit on your browser buttons, click "find on this page" (Internet explorer) and looking for each instance the word Image appears in edit summaries. --Fuhghettaboutit 07:29, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Personally, I would upload a non-lettered version to a name with another name, so both image with and without letters can be used. - 82.172.14.108 08:52, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mistake in the images uploaded by other Wikipedian

I found there are mistakes on the chemical structure image of thymine. What should I do? Shrimp wong 06:39, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Hello, simply make a new version and upload the new image with the same name as the original one. Your new version with then appear in the old one's place. -- Tangotango 06:41, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

What do you think is wrong with it, anyway? It looks just fine to me, and matches the one in my organic chemistry textbook. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 00:36, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Which pic is best?

Well, I'm thinking about which screenshot should we use for the one in the Macromedia Dreamweaver article. Should I use the first or second? Why so? Image:Dreamweaver8-winxp.png Image:DreamweaverMX2004MacOS_X.png -- Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 07:39, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Er, you might want to ask this sort of question on the article's talk page in the future. If you need more opinions, you can post a request for comment on the issue.

The Help Desk is really meant for answering questions about how to use Wikipedia; it's not such a good place to bring issues of content—particularly if those issues involve big honking templates all the way down the side of the page. :D TenOfAllTrades(talk) 09:13, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for helping me; I'm sorry they honker. ;P --

Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 11:02, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I've changed the screenshots to links as their sheer size may confuse some users of the Help desk. I hope you don't mind. -- Tangotango 14:44, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I'd prefer the second (the Mac OS X one). It's more illustrative, shows more features of the program, has a larger relative font size (which improves readability at small sizes) and, being from a Mac, is simply prettier. ;-)

Much of the area of the Windows screenshot is taken by the big blank white space in the center, surrounded by tiny little text and icons too small to see. It's not even particularly recognizable — for all I can tell from the thumbnail, it could be any random IDE. Not that the Mac screenshot is particularly distinctive either, but it's better at least. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 23:49, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Celebrity impersonators

Do we have any standard way for dealing with wikipedians who prentend to be a celebrity? I couldn't find anything in particular at WP:USERNAME and was wondering where to bring such cases up. --Fritz Saalfeld (Talk) 14:35, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I think Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents is likely as good a place as any. -- Rick Block (talk) 15:20, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Unless the user is actually the celebrity (highly unlikely), this would be a harrassing or defamatory username. However, if the username is Michael Jackson e.g., for which it is likely for someone to share the name, you should suggest the user change his username to something like "MJackson" or "MikeJ". SCHZMO ✍ 22:26, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trying to place photo image

I made an edit to a page (text) "Albert Hibbs" and uploaded a relevent photo as well. The text edit work well but the photo "albertHibbs.jpg" appeared on a separate unlinked page. I don't know how to get the photo on the "Albert Hibbs" page with the text. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Garlee (talk • contribs) 14:36, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Hi, you have to add the image to the article (please see Wikipedia:Picture tutorial for help). Meanwhile, I've added the image to this particular article for you. Cheers, Tangotango 14:41, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Categories

Is there a complete list of all the Category:? items easily available? The Category:Best Song Oscar is a mess, there needs to be a category for winners by song title, movie title, composer and lyricist, also categories for nominees. For example, if you access the Harry Owens page, it should be flagged that he is an Oscar-winning songwwriter. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sweetalkinguy (talk • contribs) 15:32, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Category:Categories seems to contain all of the categories on Wikipedia.—G.H e 17:08, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Referencing

I typed some stuff in an article and wanted to cite my reference;

Krentz AJ Fortnightly review - Insulin resistance BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL 313 (7069): 1385-1389 NOV 30 1996

I spent five minutes looking for how to do this properly (wikicode) and gave up. How is it done? --Username132 (talk) 17:01, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

A good place to start would be Wikipedia:citing sources, and Wikipedia:Citing sources/example style. --Fuhghettaboutit 17:11, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

That was where I started, they didn't help. --Username132 (talk) 17:41, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I'd use {{Cite journal}}, usage explained at Template talk:Cite journal.--Commander Keane 18:06, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] web site use and linking to Wikipedia

Hello,

I'm so confused. When I first started using Wikipedia today, I saw where anyone can use or copy content without permission. I wanted to provide my guest with a link to your site. I listed [8] I have a managed site that told me that I couldn't link to your site without your permission. Now, I'm confused I used some music symbols and notation from your site for my web site. This has helped me tremendously. I just want to do the right thing. I've read the articles on copyright, links and footnotes and I'm so confused as in what to do about what I put on my site. I don't want to be in violation of copyright law or not follow the guidelines you have given. I just don't know exactly how I can give credit to your site for allowing me to copy these images.

Please help I can be contacted via email.

Thanks.

Anyone may link to any of our sites; we encourage this and thank you for helping us out! If you reused some of our text from our articles, all you need to do is to give attribution in accordance with the GNU Free Documentation License, which all Wikipedia text is released under. Please see Wikipedia:Copyrights for more information. Thanks! Flcelloguy (A note?) 17:35, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

You can link to any wikipedia page. Just say it is from Wikipedia and that you didn't write it. Copyright only comes in when you copy material that's not released under a free license. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:00, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sudoku

I just need to know how to end a game. I mean, after you fill in the last number, how do you stop the clock? I always click How Am I Doing?

If this is an issue with a particular game, please refer to the author's website or help files. You may try the Reference desk (the Mathematics section), but please remember to at least provide the name of the software. Cheers, Tangotango 17:37, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Working on an Extensive Expansion

I'd like to do an extensive expansion to your article on Semantic Dementia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_dementia )

I really don't know where to begin.

I have found this material so far, some of which is already in the article, and there are many links to deal with.

From AFTD : Semantic Dementia

http://www.ftd-picks.org/?p=diseases/semanticdementia

Semantic Dementia

Overview

Semantic dementia (SD) is also known as fluent Progressive Aphasia. It is a disorder of language in which patients demonstrate a progressive deterioration of semantic knowledge (understanding and recognizing words), while other cognitive faculties remain remarkably spared. Specifically, patients with SD retain the ability to produce fluent speech, but this speech becomes increasing meaningless. SD patients also lose the ability to recognize the meaning of specific words, or to spontaneously name familiar, everyday objects. As with all FTDs, as the disorder progresses and the primary symptoms (in the case of SD, language deficits) worsen, the patient may also develop other FTD features, including behavioral, social, or motor difficulties.

Key Clinical Features

   * Difficulty generating or recognizing familiar words An example of this would be when a patient is shown a picture of a cat, and he can neither come up with the word “cat” nor does he recognize the word when it is provided as the appropriate label for the picture.
   * Fluent Spontaneous Speech is retained. Especially in early stages of SD, patients may be able to “talk around” the meaning of a specific word they are unable to generate.
   * Word-finding pauses in speech
   * Difficulty naming familiar objects
   * Visual recognition deficit is experienced by some SD patients, who have increasing trouble recognizing familiar objects and faces.
   * Neuroimaging studies demonstrate reduced neural activity and decreased blood flow in the left temporal lobe of SD patients.

     In later stages, clinical features may include ones found more commonly in other FTD subtypes. These include:
   * Behavioral Symptoms
   * Emotional Symptoms
   * Neurological Symptoms
   * Psychiatric Symptoms
   * Cognitive Symptoms

Key Pathologic Features

It is important to note that Semantic Dementia is a clinical diagnosis, defined by the symptoms the patient displays. There is no single pathology (meaning a specific physical finding in the brain) associated with the clinical disorder known as SD. Indeed, upon autopsy, a variety of pathological features have been found in the brains of SD patients, many of which are associated with other FTD subtypes. These include: the inclusions seen in nerve cells (Pick bodies) characteristic of Pick’s disease; nerve cell loss in the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia seen in Corticobasal Degeneration; and Dementia Lacking Distinctive Histopathology (DLDH), which is a pattern of neural damage seen in several types of FTD. DLDH is characterized by neuronal loss, gliosis (overgrowth, or development of tumors), and spongiosis (swelling with excess fluid).

In patients for whom language dysfunction is the most severe feature, it is common to see cells in the temporal lobe most affected by these disease changes.

Cause

Scientists have recently linked DLDH to abnormally low levels of the protein tau

For general information on tau, click here.

Genetics

The majority of Semantic dementia is not hereditary.

For general information on genetics and FTD, click here.

Treatment

Currently, there is no specific treatment that has been proven effective in SD patients.

For general information on treatment, click here.

Management and Prognosis

Semantic Dementia is a progressive disorder of language, which usually begins with an inability to generate familiar words, and progresses with increasing difficulties in word comprehension, generation, and recognition. In later stages of the disorder, some SD patients will develop symptoms common to the other FTD subtypes, including behavioral, social, or motor difficulties.

During early stages of SD, patients may benefit from speech therapy. A word book, which the patient can use to point to words they are unable to generate spontaneously, may be of some use, as well.

For basic information on Management and Prognosis of FTD, click here. Material prepared by Jennifer M. Farmer, MS, CGC, Website Clinical Consultant and Susan L-J Dickinson, MS, CGC, Website Medical and Science Writer.

Perhaps someone could help me...

THanks in advance

Feel free to start adding or changing anything as you see fit. Be bold, as they say. You can perform a complete rewrite if you think that would improve it. See Help:Contents/Editing Wikipedia for general guidance. You should also take care, however, not to simply copy and paste information from other websites, which is not legal as it infringes on their copyright. If you want to have a go and ask for feedback then I'm sure people will be happy to oblige. --Cherry blossom tree 21:54, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Revoking editing abilities

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:142.166.101.160

user seems intent solely in vandalising as you can see from the talk. where do you pass on the info to perhaps lock out this IP for a period from editing?

You can post at Administrator intervention against vandalism. In this case, only five edits have actually been made so I think blocking would be a bit premature. I've put a fairly stern warning on the talk page, so if we get more vandalism then it can certainly be blocked. --Cherry blossom tree 22:02, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, appreciate the info --Crossmr 02:59, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tagging a portal subsection for cleanup

Is there a way that I can tag a subsection of a portal for cleanup, without it showing the template on the portal main page (which would be considered vandalism)?

You can add it to Category:Cleanup from May 2006 (which lists it alongside other articles for cleanup but doesn't include the template) and explain your concerns in more or less detail on the talk page or at Wikipedia:Cleanup. If the subsection is a transcluded subpage then you could add that page to the category. If that doesn't make sense to you then it's probably best to ignore it. --Cherry blossom tree 22:25, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

You could place <noinclude>{{cleanup}}</noinclude> on the subpage. Then the template would appear only on the subpage, and not in the main portal page where it is transluded. However, {{cleanup}} isn't a magic. I recommend you just drop a note on the portal's main talk page about the problem subsection (or fix it yourself :-))--Commander Keane 22:34, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wal-Mart

I would like to know if you have any information on Wal-Mart and a current analysis of the organization standing?----Shirley

We keep our information on Wal-Mart in our article Wal-Mart--Cherry blossom tree 22:22, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

If you want any information that is not provided in the article, try the reference desk - this page is for help with using Wikipedia. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 00:39, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Adding content - a neologism

Greetings,

i have not worked on content before on Wikipedia, but I do have a word (a neologism) which I believe would be appropriate as content. I think the word can help fill a gap in current internet language. It is fairly simple and defines a very simple process or concept that most anyone would understand and find useful.

Is this something I can submit, and if so, how?

Thanks, Tlon77 22:59, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

If there's a gap in internet language, it's best not to submit it as not many people use it and because Wikipedia is generally considered not to be a place for neologisms. Hope that helps, F e tofs ^Hello! 23:10, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

If you want to submit it, type the title of your article into the search box and press go. You'll get a message saying that the article doesn't exist and a link to create it. If you click on this link you'll get an edit window and you can type the article in there. See Help:starting a new page for more.

Whether your neologism is suitable for an article is a murkier issue. Read Wikipedia:Avoid neologisms, particularly the sections on 'Articles on neologisms' and 'Reliable sources for neologisms'. If there are no reliable sources then the subject isn't suitable for an article. --Cherry blossom tree 23:10, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a dictionary, but Wiktionary is - I recommend you add your new entry there instead.--Commander Keane 23:56, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] May 14

[edit] To rodii

Hi rodii, Basically you guys want that page to be updated by someone and should use major news

sources such as allafrica.com. This is the same policy that google is using by putting their news page all the major news networks and the reason is that they are making money out of it. I am not here to push some personal agenda and I am associated with that website(african-new-clips.com) and I wasn't trying to advertise it on wikipedia but given that there was a lot of news information missing I just took the personal initiative to update this as much as I could. I am ready to volunteer to update the African Events Page but what guidelines you guys have for me to update that page ? and I will guarantee that I am not going to use african-news-clips contents. so I am waiting for your call. I thank you in advance. Aabdi406 02:28, 14 May 2006 (UTC)Aabdi406

Er... not sure what to say here. You are welcome to edit, just don't use Wikipedia to try to drive traffic to your commercial site. That's the only reason your content was deleted. (You probably should have added your comment in the section above where this was discussed--making a new section just confuses people who don't know the backstory. I suggest continuing this discussion, if necessary, on the article's talk page.) · rodii · 15:22, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Duplicate articles

Hi!

There are two different articles for the same thing with what looks like identical content.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Girls http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuicideGirls

Actually they are the same article, at the same address: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuicideGirls. Suicide Girls redirects to SuicideGirls.--Commander Keane 03:01, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] word

how do you spell "HOPE" in swedish?

Have you tried the Language section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. Cheers, Tangotango 04:17, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] how to join INDIAN AIR FORCE

HELLO SIR,

I, SWARAJ VICHARE FROM GUJARAT. CURRENTLY I AM STUDING MBA (MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)FROM SINGAPORE AND CURRENTLY I AM IN SINGAPORE FOR MY STUDIES. BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SERVE MY COUNTRY BY JOINING INDIAN AIR FORCE. SO, WOULD U HELP ME OUT THAT HOW TO APPLY FOR JOINING AIRFORCE. THROUGH WHICH STEPS SHOULD I GO. ACTUALLY ITS MY DREAM TO BE AN AIR FORCE PILOT.

SO, WOULD U HELP ME OUT FROM WHERE TO DO.

THANK YOU.

YOURS SENCERELY, SWARAJ VICHARE —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.156.6.54 (talk • contribs) 07:44, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

And please turn off your Caps Lock key - on the Internet, it's the equivalent of shouting. — QuantumEleven 10:02, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to learn the language "PALI"

Hello! I intend to learn a lanuguage called "PALI".Its an ancient Indian language that was used by people during the times of Gautam Buddha .All his sermons had been written and compiled in this language.Is there any means by which Wikipedia can help me learn this language and then go through the scriptures ? How shall I be informed of the availability of some useful matter related to this ?

The standard English text for studying Pāli is A.K. Warder's Introduction to Pali, published by the Pali Text Society. See Pāli for detailed info on the language; check out the external links at the bottom of the page. SCHZMO ✍ 14:54, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] clearing search history

How do I clear the drop-down serach window that lists my search history alphabetically?

Have you tried the Science section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. Please make sure you specify which software you're referring to when you ask a question there. (Windows? (which dialog?) Internet Explorer? Firefox?) Cheers, Tangotango 11:46, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Public Domain Music

Hi, I want to use some of the music from the sound list page in my film. I know that it is public domain and so I don't have to ask permission to use it, but do I still have to give credit to the author or whoever distributed it? I see that a lot of them come from cc-by-sa which I guess is a copyright thing, so do I have to put a picture up to show where it came from? Thanks for any help you can give me. The sound page is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sound/list

The public domain music you can use without credit (though it would be polite to acknowledge the creator.) See our article on Creative Commons License for more about the cc-by-sa licenced work. The share alike part means that any derivative works must be licenced under the same licence. Whether your film would qualify as a derivative work or whether that would just apply to the music I don't feel qualify to judge, but if it was the former then you would have to licence the whole film under cc-by-sa too. --Cherry blossom tree 15:20, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tracking a vandal

Suppose there is a preson who is vandalizing an article vigorously and over a long period of time. He is editing anonymously, using a different IP every time. These IPs seem to be used only by this person. Is there a way to deal with such a vandal? -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 15:48, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Please contact me on my talk page with the link to the affected page's history and I will look into it. --Pilot|guy 15:54, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Is this the one who is inserting the word "gay" everywhere? – b_jonas 16:30, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

No, not really. This is a hypothetical question about a possible future scenario. The details are unimportant (though they can be found in a comment I left on Pilotguy's talk page), I'm interested in learning about the techincal feasibility of blocking a vandal using multiple (and numerous) IP addresses. Any help would be appreciated. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 16:39, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

You can block a range of IPs, if that would be any use. It does increase the chances of shutting out legitimate contributors, though, obviously. See m:Range block for more. --Cherry blossom tree 17:36, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, that's interesting. I've done some work on the IP adresses used, and it seems that around 12000 adresses will be blocked with the appropriate range blocks. Is this within the acceptable bounds? Is there an efficient way to find out if addresses in the relevant ranges were used for other purposes (otherwise, we can safely assume that only the vandal in question has access to these ranges)? -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 18:38, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm no expert, but that sounds like a lot to me. If you post at WP:AN then you might get some more experienced opinions.--Cherry blossom tree 22:29, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Okay, thanks. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 09:30, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Uploading Wikipedia

Is it possible to get a full, functional version of the entire Wikipedia site uploaded using a program like Microsoft front page or the like. I know you can unload webs, but I was just unsure how to do it seeing as how WP is set up so weird. Anyway, if anyone knows how to do this, please let me know. Thank you! → J @red 16:49, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

If you want to obtain a copy of Wikipedia, please read the Wikimedia Data Dumps page, which explains what's available, the format of the files, and how to download. Be sure to read Wikipedia:Copyrights which explains the license terms on which Wikipedia content is made available. MCB 01:18, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] authors

I need to know how to find the author of each article, whick is not shown.

Simply click 'history' at the top of the article, and you get a list of all contributors. Computerjoe 's talk 17:17, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

If you are looking to cite Wikipedia, you can use Special:Cite.--Max Talk (add) 18:05, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

If you want to know who started an article, go to the history tab and click the "Earliest" link in the top left corner, then scroll to the bottom of the page to see the first edit. SCHZMO ✍ 18:56, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dollfie

Hello,

I wanna become a doll creator, but i cant find a major so i can do it. please help. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.148.229.232 (talk • contribs) .

Huh? Why are you posting here? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Smartyshoe (talk • contribs) .

Have you tried the Miscellaneous section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. SCHZMO ✍ 22:29, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] help on passenger lists sailing from Hamburg

My grandfather sailed from Hamburg in 1890 for the USA I want to track down that sailing —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.226.55.242 (talk • contribs) .

Try Hamburg Ships Lists online or find a library with the very large printed set. Rmhermen 15:05, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to Wikilink Categories on Talk Pages?

For example, when I type Category:Lists_of_musicians surrounded by [[ ]] on a talk page, it dissappears. Is there a way of doing it, other than linking to the entire URL?

172.147.177.234 22:52, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, you would type [[:Category:Lists of musicians]] (note the colon at the beginning) which will show up as Category:Lists of musicians. E WS23 | (Leave me a message!) 22:56, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

May 15

[edit] Image linking

How can I get an image to link to an article instead of to the image's page. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 01:05, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't think it's possible...Are you trying to do something for your user page? SCHZMO ✍ 02:30, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm trying to link Image:Zoso.png to Led Zeppelin IV. Template:Click is not working. See User:Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme/Albums for what I tried to do. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 01:59, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Correct way to Refer to Music Bands/Groups?

Should a band be referred to as are or is? For example The WikiWonders are a rock band. Or The WikiWonders is a rock band.

I would have thought the first one was correct, but the second one seems to be more common on Wikipedia.

And would it make a difference if the band were just called WikiWonder?

172.147.177.234 02:17, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

It depends. British English uses "are" and American English uses "is". For example of the British see Pink Floyd, for an American example, see R.E.M. (band). This was also discussed on the Pink Floyd talk page. Dismas|^(talk) 02:27, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tags and Header

is there a master list where one could browse all the various tags and such that are available for use, things like talkheader, __TOC__, unreferenced, etc?--Crossmr 02:45, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Try this, this might help some: {{Tools}} → J @red 02:52, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks thats perfect!--Crossmr 02:55, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Commercial links

Can anyone point out the point of edits like this one? I've been removing them as link spam. And judging by the user's talk page, so have other people. I've gone to these pages though and they seem like just a collection of photos. What's the point of them? I guess this isn't technically a Help desk sort of question but it's sort of related... :-P Dismas|^(talk) 03:18, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

For 4 (all that I checked) of the sites that were linked to, an "IPWHOIS Lookup" at dnsstuff.com revealed that the same company registered all the domain names. They must be trying to increase traffic and search engine rank for those sites, and since the only ads present are for two particular subscription online magazines I'm guessing they are behind the spam onslaught. Alternatively the "spammer" may be acting in good faith linking to sites they think are useful, it's not totally unreasonable that someone would want to look at a picture gallery of a model or actor etc. Just some ideas anyway. --Commander Keane 04:50, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the info! As to the good faith part... I doubt it. I've been reverting such additions to articles for weeks now. They're usually from some IP though... Dismas|^(talk) 10:05, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] User account and IP address

I'm wondering if there's any effect on my user account if someone else using the same IP address gets blocked? I opened up the Wikipedia main page this afternoon before logging in and found a message directed to my IP address (203.10.76.38) from a couple of days ago warning about naughty behaviour. I'm assuming I'm using a shared IP address - I'm not really familiar with how IP addresses are assigned but I'm hoping any action taken against this IP address will not affect my user account. Can anyone advise? - Gimboid13 05:00, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, if someone using your IP address is blocked, the "autoblock" will kick in, simultaneously blocking you (and any other logged in users using that IP address) as well. The extent of this problem depends on how often your IP address changes, but you can request an unblock using the {{unblock}} template. -- Tangotango 05:11, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Tangotango. My IP address doesn't seem to change at all but there have been 30 or so Wikipedia edits under my IP address rather than my account name in the last 6 months, none of them mine (honest!). All the PCs on my home network share the same connection (hence the same IP address) but the PC I mostly use logs me straight in to my account so I don't usually see anything directed to the IP address unless I use one of the other PCs. I'm sure the culprit is not someone using my home network. Most of the edits have been harmless enough so I hope this was a random naughty act rather than something that's likely to continue. - Gimboid13 05:23, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Just a thought: are you using a wireless network? If so, did you set security on it? Notinasnaid 09:53, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Good point but no, just an ordinary old cable network. Might have to talk to my ISP about how they allocate IP addresses. - Gimboid13 02:54, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Information , Manipur University

Iwant to know the different subjects provided by the various colleges under Manipur University

You can try the reference desk for questions like these, but I strongly recommend you use the university's website or printed materials for such important matters, as any second-hand information you get may be incorrect. Cheers, Tangotango 05:12, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Articles about smaller cities

Are these allowed? Say, for instance, that I want to provide information about as many counties in my country as possible, some of which may house no more than 1500 inhabitants and be of no REAL significance. Would this be in accordance with.. hrm, the spirit of Wikipedia? :) 213.161.190.228 09:51, 15 May 2006 (UTC) Henning

You mean like one of these places? :-P Dismas|^(talk) 10:03, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

HAHa! Not exactly that empty! 213.161.190.228 10:08, 15 May 2006 (UTC) Henning

Wikipedia's goal is to document all human knowledge, therefore it would be in just the right spirit. --

Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 06:32, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What has happened to Wikipedia page?

Suddenly the layout of the pages has changed in format and color, becoming an awful orange. (Only the Main Page remains the same color. My preferences have not change. My watchlist is in a different color and format and no longer makes any sense. It doesn't incude my articles listed previous. The menubars are changed and are confusing. There is no longer a way to access an article after looking at editing changes.

I am completely lost. This after becoming very familiar with using Wikipedia and completing many hundreds of edit in the last week with no problems. Now I can't even find them.

How do I get help with this problem? How do I get an answer to this question? KarenAnn 10:37, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

You sure you still have your default skin set to monobook?Geni 10:40, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I checked several times that I had it set to Classic (default)a few hours ago. Now, at your suggestion, I checked and Classic(default) no longer exists, so I set it to monobook and that seems to have fixed it. What happened to Classic(default)? KarenAnn 15:00, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Including a watchlist

Hi, is there a simple wikitag (or whatever it may be called) that would allow me to include my watchlist on a page? I would like to put my watchlist in my user page so that people that visit it would know what pages I'm monitoring/working on and can leave me a message in my talk page if they wish to collaborate on some page reorganizations and such. -- Remy Suen 10:45, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

No. Copy and paste is the best we have.Geni 10:47, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I'll add that when I first started editing, I wanted the same functionality for the same reasons, but I've since decided I prefer a manually-crafted list, as a lot of my watched pages are now pages I'm watching only for reasons of vandalism-prevention or similar, and not actually working on. I think having the entire watchlist shown would probably just muddy the waters. — Es tarriol ^talk 11:22, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

consider the size of some watchlists (mine is >2300 there are editors who would consider this to be small.Geni 12:20, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to display program code in an article?

I added program code to my article... some of the code was properly recognized by the Wiki formatter and some was not. The properly recognized code was formatted in a different background color and indented a little. The code that was not recognized was left unchanged. Oddly enough the Wiki formatter handled a single code snippet in different manners; the first line of the procedure was formatted as plain text, the body of the procedure was formatted as code, and the last line of the procedure was formatted as plain text.

Any thoughts?

Another related question: my article is titled

"Programmatic Web Browsing in Visual Basioc .Net"

and when I search Wikipedia for that *exact* phrase I get two hits but neither of them is my article. I also searched by "Programmic Web Prowsing" and I got 3 hits, none of them mine. The only way I can locate the article is to browse to "My Contributions". Wha

MediaWiki uses this special format on every line that begins with a space. It did not realize that what you wrote is code, but only that you indented it with a space. You need to add an extra space to each line for it to be formatted properly.

If you type the exact name of the article in the search box, Programmatic Web Browsing in Visual Basic .Net, you will go directly to the article. If not, a search will be performed in the search index, which only gets updated once in a (long) while - therefore this article is not yet in it.

In either case, I'm not sure this article is appropriate in Wikipedia - this is an encyclopedia, not a programming how-to guide. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 12:45, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

This should almost certainly not be on Wikipedia - however, Wikibooks would greatly love your contribution! Why don't you check over there. — QuantumEleven 13:31, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] change management

give me details on change management apart from wats available on wikipedia.

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. And you're more likely to get a response if you say 'please'. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 12:55, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] LOOKING FOR FILM DIRECTOR

Dear Sir,

I am a film Producer in Ghana looking for a film Director in United States.

I am looking for a foreign Film Director who will help me to direct the half of the film in America.

Hope to hear from you very soon.

Thank you.

Yours Sincerely, <personal information removed> —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.87.82.196 (talk • contribs) .

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a directory or a person-finder. You should try consulting with film organisations in the US for further assistance. You'll have much better luck there. Harryboyles 14:32, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Elections template?

Is there a template for elections results similar to this? 210.7.5.206 14:36, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

This particular table uses Template:Election-table2. See Template talk:Election-table2 for information on how to use this template. Cheers, Tangotango 14:49, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

You could try Template:Election box. I can't see any other generic template for this purpose, and you may well need to make your own. — Es tarriol ^talk 14:51, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Just what I wanted to know! Thanks! 210.7.5.206 14:57, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Generally {{electiontable}} is used. Electionworld = Wilfried (talk 21:23, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Image source information

Hi again. I registered and uploaded a file without adding any details on its source and copyright information. How do I go about in doing that? 063006 16:31, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

You uploaded many files without adding details on their sources. All of the following will require sources adding, if they have not already been done.

Image:SVT.gif
Image:NVTLP.gif
Image:PNU.gif
Image:NFP.gif
Image:NAPF.gif
Image:COIN PARTY FJ.gif
Image:UPP.gif
Image:FLP.gif
Image:SDL.gif

They seem to be logos of political parties. If this is true then you can add "{{logo}}" to the pages I linked to. If it isn't then you should read Wikipedia:Image copyright tags and make a more accurate choice of tag.--Cherry blossom tree 16:59, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

It also helps to give the exact page on which you found the image instead of the site's domain when you give the source. That way people can check it more easily. - Mgm|^{(talk)<;;/sup>} 20:53, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Form letters for requesting permission/participation?

I'm wondering if there are any form letters prepared, for writing/emailing to people not involved with wikipedia, to request that they give formal permission for, say, an image to be used (eg headshots for actors, or a painting sample from an artist), or to inquire if they had considered moving a list/site-subject they maintain to wikipedia?

Specific example: Audio programming language is a short list. The external list linked at bottom is a much more comprehensive list. I wanted to write to the person maintaining the external list, and suggest he move his efforts to wikipedia (which he'd obviously be free to turn down for any number of reasons (like enjoying the traffic it provides to his own site)).

I wasnt sure if a form letter along these lines already existed? If not (and barring obvious problems i havent thought of) i guess i'll propose such at village pump (or somewhere more appropriate?)? -Quiddity 20:20, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

There are several examples at Wikipedia:Boilerplate request for permission for both images and text. Remember that the content should be licensed under the GFDL or something simillar, so don't ask for permission to use it only on Wikipedia. --Hetar 20:32, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Perfect. Thought i'd seen it somewhere before. Thanks :) -Quiddity 20:42, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

The president of my high school takes numerous photographs and I know him well. If I get his agreement to have his photos licensed under the GFDL or released under public domain, I presume that this would be sufficient for uploading onto Wikipedia? On the image, beside noting the appropriate license it is under and his name, is there anything else I should be aware of? -- Remy Suen 22:08, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Nope, thats all you need for an image, the source (in this case something like taken by so and so), and the image tag, something like {{GFDL}}. Some users like to include the date the photo was taken, but its not an absolute requirement. --Hetar 22:45, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

He replied to my email with I don’t know anything about releasing my copyright, so I would appreciate your advice.. What would be the simplest way to explain what releasing material under the GFDL and/or public domain means to him? Both articles are rather long, although, rightly so given the importance of what it means to release material under either of the two. Does anyone have any suggestions? -- Remy Suen 17:43, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Easiest way to explain it that I can think of is basically it will mean that anyone can modify or copy his work anyway they want to. Derivative works will have to be released under the same license, and while the option still exists to sell the the work commercially - anyone can still copy it for free. --Hetar 21:34, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Commenting in an article or using the talk page?

When should comments be inserted in an article? I personally feel that this change that was recently made to the Apache Harmony article should've been placed into its talk page instead. Are there any guidelines? It's not necessarily an attack on the Apache project, per se, but opinions of this degree just seems like they should be placed in the talk page instead. -- Remy Suen 21:40, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Comments regarding the content of an article should be in the talk page. Comments in the article are only placed if there is something users should know when they are editing the page. SCHZMO ✍ 22:20, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Even at that, a template tag is often more appropriate, because people see it before they start editing. I only use  when I need to (a) explain the function of a piece of wiki code, or (b) remark about a specific sentence, phrase or word. Seahen 00:08, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Copying template images for a fork?

Pursuant to [9], I'm preparing a fork of the userboxes. Using AutoWikiBrowser and Special:Export, I've prepared an XML file containing all the userboxes. But I also need their images. Can I or an admin at the Wikia batch-copy all the images and description pages referenced by userboxes (Category:User templates)? If so, how? Seahen 22:57, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Update: I think the regexes that will match the images are \[\[[Ii]mage:[^|]*\]\] and \[\[[Ii]mage:[^|]*|.*\]\], but in both cases I need just the [^|]* part and not the whole line. In fact, there may be a line break in the image name. Seahen 03:35, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Adding warnings for vandalisms removed by other users?

I spend most of my Wikitime as a recent changes patroller now. I find vandalism, revert it, and leave the appropriate warning on the vandal's talk page. If they have been appropriately warned with the progression of templates and vandalize again after a test3 or test4, I add them to Wikipedia:AIV and go on about my business. All very well and good. My question relates to other editors who revert vandalism but don't add warning templates to talk pages. Sometimes someone has vandalized two or three times and had it reverted by other people before I reach them and start adding warnings to their pages, so they aren't blocked until a few edits later than they might have been had they been warned from the beginning. Is it all right to add warnings to someone's page for edits other editors have reverted, or is this frowned down upon? Is the better solution to start with a higher warning level taking into account previous acts of unwarned vandalism? I'm not comfortable starting with a test3 for someone's fifth act of simple vandalism just because no one has warned them before, but if that's how it's supposed to be done then I'll go that route. Thanks in advance; I feel like this is something I should know the answer to, but sadly, I don't. :) -RaCha'ar 23:04, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I think it is OK to add warnings for edits other editors have reverted, I have seen it happen fairly often; sometimes when I revert someone has already posted a warning message by the time I get to the vandal's talk page! SCHZMO ✍ 23:16, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

As a general rule on Wikipedia, unless otherwise noted, feel free to help in whatever way you can, be it by fixing pages or by delivering necessary messages. Be bold. Seahen 00:11, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Thank you both very much! -RaCha'ar 00:25, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

May 16

[edit] Lymphocytes

Hello,

A friend of mine is going through a long bout of what her doctor thinks is bronchitis. She also suffers from bad asthma. It has been going on for 5 weeks. She has been on antbios (Bioxin), steroids (Prednizone), Advair and Singulair. After taking the antib's and preds for ten days, he told her to have blood work. To make a long story short, he thought she had HIV. He said her Lymphocytes were 7, and in a normal person in her condition, they should be 75. She tested negative for HIV, thank heaven, but he is still confused as to why her lymphocytes are so low. I'm her only friend with access to you, so I said I would ask. Is there anything she could do to increase the production of her lymphocytes, or do they have to find out why they are decreasing first. She would really appreciate any answers you folks could give, she's about at the end of her rope with anxiety. Any ideas? Alergies? Please let me know ASAP, and I sincerely thank you in advance for taking the time out to answer questions for people. Thanks again. You can get back to **Email removed**. Thanks you very much.

Sincerely,

Jon Giannini

I am sorry about your friend's condition, and hope that she gets better soon. As for your question. We are not doctors, and this page is for questions regarding the use of Wikipedia. Someone may be able to help you out at the Reference desk, but I would recommend seeing more doctors, as well as doing some research at your local library. I have removed your email address, per the guidelines stated at the top of this page, and to prevent massive spam. --Hetar 03:26, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Need help with 'godmode' script, by Sam H

Hi,

I am an RC Patroller (and a NP), and i was looking for a tool to use to make life easier - revert.

Obviously only sysops can use revert, or so i thought..

Aparently Sam Hocevar's script 'godmode', lets standard users use the revert function, as well as other functions.. Is this right?

I tried adding the script to my monobook.js.. but to no avail.

Thanks,

Deon

--Deon555 03:21, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I am not very familiar with 'godmode' but I know that you don't need it to be able to revert. Check out Help:Reverting. --Hetar 03:28, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, i mean Rollback ;) --Deon555 03:41, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Only admins can use Rollback, even with the 'godmode' script, so that's why its not working for you. --Hetar 04:02, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Even the godmode"light" script? --Deon555 04:08, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Rollback is an admin only feature, regardless of which script you use. --Hetar 05:07, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Er, unless something's changed, godmode-lite does, in fact, add a rollback button for non-admins which works by Javascript or somesuch trickery. I used it for several months (before getting the real thing). Deon555, have you tried purging your cache? If you're using Mozilla, press Ctrl-Shift-R, if Internet Explorer press Ctrl-F5, and if Opera, press F5. The most common problem with monobooks not working is that the cache hasn't been purged. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 13:02, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

However, if you want a one-click revert, try popups, which is a very cool set of tools. That's what I use. MCB 05:10, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Redirects off search results

How are redirects decided?

I could have swore I saw two seperate listings for "anthrocentric" and "anthropocentric". Anthropo=man in Greek, Anthro=man in Latin. Both words have been similarly defined but it seems "anthrocentric" now redirects to "anthropocentric". Did I just imagine two entries or have they been combined? How are those sorts of decisions made? What are the criteria?

At the moment, I don't see an article or redirect for "anthrocentric." Did you spell it correctly above? Redirects are normally determined by editors, so be bold if you think one should be changed. In extremely contentious or abusive cases redirects are discussed at RfD. --Hetar 04:07, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, I meant anthrocentrism. And how do I determine the editor of a now missing entry?

If the entry has been deleted, you can look in the deletion log to see who deleted it and why. Only administrators can see more information than that about deleted articles so you would have to ask one to look for you. Also, I don't see an entry for anthrocentric in the deletion log. --Hetar 05:03, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

There's never been a separate article at Anthrocentrism, at least - see the history. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 12:58, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Looking for a template...

I remembering seeing a page tagged as needing a rewrite for non-experts, or something to that effect. I can't find the template in question, which I want to add to Allodynia. What is it, and, is there a page with a listing of all such things? --Tothebarricades 04:56, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I think you might be looking for {{context}} or {{technical}}. There is a complete list at Wikipedia:Cleanup resources. --Hetar 05:06, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

You might also be thinking of {{confusing}} G y re 05:43, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Illegitimate Children

In the article on Sophie Loren, there is a mention that she is an illegitimate daughter of xyz. On a lot of articles the words illegitimate daughter/child/son etc are used, I am just wondering is this term not considered politically incorrect? I sincerely don't know because English is not my first language and I was not born in the western world. When I read the words it makes me think there is something wrong about the birth of these children, I would have understood the sentiment (and might have agreed with it maybe 50 years ago), and I understand that the word "illegitimate" is only used to mean that a child is born out of wedlock, and that such a use is acceptable, but I just think the message would get through without diluting the information by using something of the sort "abc was the daughter of xyz and pqr, born out of wedlock" -Anon

"Illegitimate" is commonly used, as far as I know. To me, "born out of wedlock" sounds much stranger. G y re 05:41, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Illegitimate sounds better than "bastard"... Dismas|^(talk) 07:09, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it is better than "bastard", so is it justified to use it? -The same anon

It is insulting to use the word, but a lot of people opt to be insulting. The double meaning of the word is quite intentional, and its appropriate to avoid, when its easy to do so. --Rob 07:22, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree with the original comment, which is that "illegitimate" is a pejorative usage and should be avoided in Wikipedia. In biography, I'd say there is usually very little reason to call attention to marital state of the subject's parents; if for some reason it is encyclopedically significant to do so, a phrase like "X is the daughter of Y and Z, who were not married", or "X was the son of unmarried parents" should suffice. "Illegitimate" should join "bastard" on the scrap heap of historical usages. MCB 20:04, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I am not a wikipedian, but I was wondering if someone could push for "not using Illegitimate" to be included in the guidelines of the Biography project, if there is one? -Anon

[edit] details of keil software tool for serial programming of 8051

i want to know about serial programming of 8051 using keil tool and i hav to use only embeded C .

This page is only for questions relating to the use of Wikipedia. Try the reference desk instead. --Hetar 06:28, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Specifically, try the Science section of the Reference Desk. And try to make your question clearer so others can understand it. Harryboyles 06:33, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] about bijapur

is bijapur muslim or hindu contact me sami_gravano@*****.com —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 195.229.242.54 (talk • contribs) 07:05, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A cryptic question

how to open a new chaptr Personal data removed as per Help Desk policy —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.157.202.66 (talk • contribs) 2006-05-16 10:35:30

I'm afraid I don't know what you're asking - if it's how to start a new article, see Wikipedia:Your first article. Otherwise please restate the question, bearing in mind that polite manners generally garner a more helpful response. — Es tarriol ^talk 10:45, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to form a new guideline?

A question for my fellow Help Desk editors:- Wikiproject Plants is (almost) in consensus that plants should be listed under their scientific name with their (inconsistent) common use names as redirects or DABs, as appropriate. In order to avoid a revert war on this, it makes sense to form a formal guideline, but how is this done?

Very specifically, it's important to avoid forming a false consensus, and I'd like to see a forum where the guideline can be proposed and discussed and voted upon, and then acted on appropriately. I'm sure there's a standard way of doing this, but I can't find it. Can anyone help, please? :-) — Es tarriol ^talk 10:51, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

All naming conventions are within the scope of Wikipedia:Naming conventions, which lists where any proposed new naming conventions should be publicized. You might also be interested in Wikipedia:How to create policy. -- Rick Block (talk) 14:06, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Rick, I knew this stuff would be around here somewhere. — Es tarriol ^talk 17:40, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Flipping images

Is there any way to display an image horizontally flipped, or would I have to flip the image manually in GIMP or something? I already tried flipping Image:Nuvola apps edu languages.png in Paint, but unsurprisingly it just turned out black where the background should have been. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 12:55, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

No, there is no way to do this on Wikipedia. You need to download it and edit it with an image editing program. However, most any image editor will flip an image - GIMP, Microsoft Photo Editor, PaintShop, Photoshop... (what Paint does is flip the colours, not the image - in a sense, making a negative of the image, which I presume is not what you were trying to do). — QuantumEleven 13:15, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I did flip it horizontally, but the see-through bit (shown on Wikipedia as white and light-grey check) appeared as black when I opened it. When I saved and uploaded it, it was just black, not see-through. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 14:12, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

That's because, now that've you've flipped it, you're looking at the image from the back. Transparency is one-way only. · rodii · 15:34, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] warnings of vandalism

In an orange box it says you have new message (last change). Not being a member I thought that this was strange so I clicked. I then found a very long list of VANDALISM WARNINGS. I have never edited anything on this site and have only realy used it for school work. Please tell me what is going on as I am worried that I might be blocked from the site. Thank you.

The odds are it's other users on your IP doing this. If you are blocked, you can still read it - you just can't edit for a certain amount of time. Computerjoe 's talk 14:33, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

For the reason alone that we cannot distinguish between different people on the same IP Address, I urge you to create an account, which will make all these problems go away for you. — Es tarriol ^talk 17:38, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Old Essay's

Can I use some of my old college essays for topics on Wiki? Particularly for really specific/niche topics? I'm sure it says it somehwere on the contributers page but I want the hard facts from the front lines.

Use of Wikisource would be better. Computerjoe 's talk 14:32, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

It depends. A few universities and colleges attempt to claim copyright on work that students have submitted for grades. Most do not, but it might be worthwhile to check your college's web site to be certain. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 14:59, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Changed to make a point

Hey there.

I am a media specialist in New Jersey and I just wanted to let you all know that I changed something in your featured article (The Byzantine dude) to make it clear to my students exactly how easy it is to change a Wiki article.

They were operating under the assumption that Wiki is just like any World Book type encyclopedia. I wanted them to know that they need to be cautious. As I am teaching 5th graders, they need to actually SEE the dangers (literally) in order to understand that they are out there. I have made it quite clear that while not all information on Wiki is "bad", they must procede with caution. I also printed out your outline (awesome) and gave it to our 5th grade teachers.

I have already fixed what I changed (I flipped around a couple of letters in his name above the picture at the top of the article). I just didn't want to be accused of vandalism.

Have a great day!

Nicole Midura Librarian/Media Specialist Monmouth Junction School Monmouth Junction, NJ

[edit] Webcomic/Flash series eligibility

I've seen references to a set of requirements for a webcomic or flash series to have a Wikipedia page, but I can't find the requirements themselves, can someone direct me to them? -- AfroDwarf

I suspect WP:WEB is what you're after. --Cherry blossom tree 22:29, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Organising pictures

What is the correct way to organise collections of images on Wikipedia? I've been rumaging around and I've found several pages saying that Wikipedia is not meant for image galleries, but what, then, is the best way to keep pictures organised? I see that Commons has a category structure, but what about images uploaded just to Wikipedia that can't be organised within the Commons category system? I have found several categories of Wikipedia images and several photo galleries, but the organisation seems a bit random. At the moment I am compiling a photo gallery within the pages of a WikiProject (ie. keeping this on the administrative side). That uses the <gallery> and </gallery> tags, but is creating a category structure for such pictures also an option, or are there other ways of organising pictures?

Also, I am finding these pictures within a certain subject area by rummaging through the articles, but is there any way to search the Wikipedia and Commons collections of images for ones that aren't being used in an article? Is there a list of "orphan" images? Carcharoth 19:41, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

You can use this to find orphan images, though as it's on the m:toolserver it's a bit messed up at the moment. --Cherry blossom tree 22:33, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Adding picture to a text

Wikipedia:Images is a good start. By the way, {{helpme}} is really only to be used on your own talk page - there is no need to use it on the help desk.--Commander Keane 19:57, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Doesn't edit the picture to the text

[edit] Another images question (copyright)

I have a quick question about image copyright. While perusing Special:Newimages, I saw that several people were uploading pictures as "public domain" because they were "self-created". These included pictures that people had taken at museums, possibly of museum displays. I know many museums prohibit such activities, and similar prohibitions apply in many countries: simply taking the picture yourself is not enough - you often need to have obtained permission to take the photograph. I was wondering if this is covered in the image use guidelines anywhere, or where the best place would be to raise this issue? Carcharoth 19:54, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

It's rather complex, but a photograph of a thing that it itself public domain (such as a 100 year old piece of art) can indeed be released into the public domain. (There is some argument that it is automatically public domain because there is no creation in it.) Museums can choose to forbid photography, but this is a rule to be enforced on the spot; it has no legal standing. Many museums only forbid flash photography, because of its nuisance to other visitors and perhaps concern about light damage (?) Notinasnaid 20:16, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Photographers as private individuals (as opposed to employees of a company) can claim copyright on any picture they take. The act of taking a photograph is creative in itself. If the photographer chooses to release the photograph into the public domain, that is fine. I'm not so sure about photographs of things that aren't public domain (I'm not talking fair use here, but what restrictions apply on a photographer releasing images into the public domain). I know that normal practice is to have people sign what is called a "model release" form, and I believe there are similar things for buildings, called, funnily enough "building release" forms. I've also seen people having to get signed forms for permission to use photographs of animals in zoos, and plants in botanical gardens; and signs forbidding people to take photos for commercial use. I'm not sure whether these restrictions in general apply only for commercial use, or whether GFDL requires similar permissions. There would definitely be issues with, for example, taking a picture of copyrighted text (books, museum display captions, other information signs). I just worry that people might think that if they take the photo, it automatically makes a photo public domain if they choose to release it under the GFDL - I don't think people can assume that, and this should be stated somewhere in the guidelines. Carcharoth 21:12, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, releasing under the GFDL is completely mutually incompatible with public domain. It can't be both (until copyright expires, and the GFDL is hence invalidated, or if GFDL was falsely claimed). If a photograph is taken under conditions forbidding commercial use, the photo could not be released into public domain nor under GFDL, since both states would allow that commercial use, and so it could not be used in Wikipedia either (except under fair use provisions). But I am not convinced a sign could have any legal weight; if you signed a contract to enter, you could be held to be in breach of it however (civil, not criminal, law). Now, I used to think you could claim copyright on any picture you took, even if it is a picture of an out of copyright work, until I read Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. Boy, did Bridgeman have bad legal advice. Notinasnaid 13:00, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] squatter's rights - real estate...

i am a friend of a single parent with a young child who has lived in a house owned by her father for 10 years, and has not paid rent. she is one of three daughters, and her father is very old and quite ill. can she assume squatter's rights with this real estate?

And when you ask your question on the Reference Desk, please mention what country you are talking about - we are not telepaths! :) — QuantumEleven 06:17, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Edits done logged-out

I was writing a largish edit, and I apparently somehow logged out during the process, as the page history ended up only showing my IP and not my username. I recall seeing a mention that it would be possible to get such edits back under my name again, but I can't find that information again. Can someone point me to it or otherwise advice how I should proceed? --Tropylium 21:31, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

The process is at Wikipedia:Changing attribution for an edit but it is not currently operative. If you want the edit to appear as you then I'd suggest logging out, reverting it, logging back in and then re-making it. --Cherry blossom tree 22:27, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Value of signed Baseball

We have a signed baseball from the Yankees baseball team with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Chris O'Leary, etc. and would like to find out the value of the ball for estate purposes. Who do we contact to get this started?

Mr. & Mrs. Roy Inks Llano, Texas (phone removed, see history)

Ty Cobb never played for the Yankees. Are you sure this is genuine? Anyway, you may want to ask at the Reference desk. This page is for getting help with Wikipedia. <b>· rodii · 22:24, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] windows xp limited identity accounts

I have installed a game on my computer. When I try to play that game on a limited account, it stated that i need to have direct x 7 to play it. The game works on an admin identity. Can I change settings on the limited accounts somehow to resolve this problem? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.168.107.49 (talk • contribs)

Have you tried the Mathematics section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. -- Nataly a 00:20, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] how do i edit my own page

how do i edit my own page —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.238.152.251 (talk • contribs)

To edit any page, simply click on the "edit this page" link at the top of the page. If by your own page you mean your user page, you will need to create an account first. -- Nataly a 00:20, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] May 17

[edit] Koolie Article

Please HELP, two people from Australia (Koolieoz-Anne Worboys and Tjurkurpa-Kerrie Challenger) keeps deleting the information, on purpose -- Koolieoz and Tjukurpa said they will continue to delete the information being supplied by the members of the German Coolie Club of America about the German Coolie breed that is located in America. One of the chosen members of the GCCA, that's me, is requested to contribute about the Coolie breed of dog that are currently in America. I keep posting the information and the two contributors from Australia keep deleting it. I'm at my ropes end. I've asked them nicely to please stop deleting the information, but they delete it as soon as it's re-posted.

Please help me or direct me where I can email or complain that they keep deleting valuable information. I have read your policies and feel I've just attended a class on learning how to speak GREEK.

Thanks for your help!

Actually, the reason for the information's removal has been stated clearly on the article's talk page. It seems that the information you provided would be more appropriate in an article about your organization, instead of an article about a particular breed. Please remember that all contributions should be cited with independent and reliable sources or are they are subject to removal. I would also suggest reading Wikipedia:Resolving disputes for further information. --Hetar 00:59, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Hetar, the information that is being added is about the SAME BREED. Please read the article instead of reading the talk page. The two people from Australia want to be the ONLY contributor's and do not want any information concerning the same breed of dog in the USA. The article is about their organization, about what their organization is doing in Australia with and for the German Coolie. Why can't the same information be added for what the American organization is doing from the same Breed in America?? Their ONLY reference is from the Koolie Club of Australia, the organization that they are more or less advertising along with information about the German Coolie breed. Thanks

[edit] How to deal with long term abuse by a repeat vandal?

I've noticed a user - [10] has been vandalizing many articles repeatedly since at least last year. I looked at their talk page and they've been warned frequently but that hasn't deterred them.

Someone has noted that their IP belongs to a school, but it appears to be used exclusively by this person as every edit I've looked at is some kind of vandalism.

Is it not possible for them to be blocked permanently?

(I'm not certain this is the right place to post this but I wasn't sure where else to ask).

172.149.123.118 01:00, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

It is possible to block an IP address permanently, given that enough proof is presented and the situation is bad enough. However, IPs may change and get reused by other non-vandal users, so that's something else to take into consideration before making permanent blocks. (If an IP is blocked, any user using that IP will also be effectively blocked, even if you're logged in.)—G.H e 01:05, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] capacitor plague image

i uploaded an image Kt7.jpg to the capacitor plague page and i can't see it. When I try to upload it again I get an error say the file is already been uploaded. I go to the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague and I can't see my image, just text.

why?

It's at Image:Kt7.jpg okay, not there, but it should be under Image:Nameofimage.extension Sasquatch t|c 03:40, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Ah, i found it, it's at Image:Kt7.JPG. Enjoy! Sasquatch t|c 03:42, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article Title change...

I authored Ken hart, and as you can see the first title is "Ken hart" followed by "Ken Hart". Question: how do I edit the first title "Ken hart" so as to capitalize the "h" in "Hart"? THNX--ZorroZ 04:27, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Article names are changed by moving the article to the new name. Due to a particularly pernicious vandal, the ability to do this is restricted to logged in editors who have had a login for a few days. Looking at the article, it's not clear it meets Wikipedia's inclusion guidelines (see WP:NOT). In any event, if the article is not deleted in the next day or two (and, if this happens, please don't take it personally), the article can be moved to the appropriate title. -- Rick Block (talk) 04:37, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

(After edit conflict) I have moved the page for you to the requested title. I also removed your personal aside in the article's intro and made some convention changes. Note that the article has some problems which Rick Block already pointed out. I have also placed some useful links on your talk page. Note to Rick: I moved the article prior to seeing your message)--Fuhghettaboutit 04:53, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Can you tell us what didn't make you capitalize the last name in your first go? - Mgm|^(talk) 05:02, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Just a typo, I never used Wiki before, thought that I would be able to edit it. I thank you for the useful links page references. I shall review them and evolve. I see that there are those of you who seem to do this more as a profession and that is great. I will need your expertise as my evolution as a Wikipedian. I want to say that I work in the real world and am involved sometimes for days without being able to get to the internet..- --ZorroZ 05:37, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

FYI - there aren't any professional Wikipedia editors (in the sense of getting paid for it), but there are a fair number of Wikipediholics. -- Rick Block (talk) 13:57, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Heritage

I realize the people who browse this page may not be able to help me understand this but I thought I'd give it a shot.

Why is it that almost every bio article for a U.S. citizen has the person's heritage in the first or second sentence? For most everyone I know here in the States, their heritage isn't all that much of a concern. Why is it that this info belongs in the intro? Dismas|^(talk) 06:31, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Well... this is an encyclopedia, with the primary purpose (in the case of articles about people) of providing factual biographical information about someone. A person's cultural and racial heritage are some of the most obvious and important facts about them, containing a lot of information in just a few words, and appropriately they are often addressed in the opening paragraph. To put it more bluntly, Wikipedia is here to present information, not to cater to the societal niceties of political correctness, particularly not those of a single country. Speaking as a UK citizen, British people generally have no problem mentioning someone's skin colour, cultural or genetic heritage... it's just data, after all. :-) Saying that someone from the US or the UK is "American" or "British" is not enough, since both countries have very large immigrant populations. This is true for many countries now. I hope that helps. — Estarriol ^talk 10:01, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
- I am surprised that you think "their heritage isn't all that much of a concern." I know the heritage of most everyone I know. It affects everything from what food they eat to what churches they attend to what jokes the tell (and which may need translations for those outside the ethnic group.) Sometimes even what their second or "home" language is. Rmhermen 14:15, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Data Miner (low intensity) questions

Hello,

for a research project into computational linguistics, I would like to use Wikipedia to build a corpus of transliterations of names in different scripts. What I am interested in are the links ("in other languages" section) to foreign language versions of wiki which use different scripts, for entries which are likely to be phonetical equivalents (i.e. not translations but the same word written in different languages/scripts). I expect names of big cities, countries and famous personalities to be the best bet. For example, for London I would like to collect the words

I would like to "harvest" this type of data in an automated way, using a crawler / spider / data-mining script (starting from pages like World capital cities by country).

I do not want to make any modifications to the wikipedia contents, the tool would be read-only.

I know Wikipedia prefers data-mining scripts to be run on downloaded database dumps. However, my crawler would only access a very small number of pages (less than 1000), so it might be less traffic to do it online.

Now I am seeking advice on how to go about this, especially regarding

Wikipedia's rules/laws regarding data mining crawlers
tips for writing software crawling wikipedia (existing code packages, common mistakes etc.)

I would be incredibly grateful if you could point me in the right directions or tell me who/where is the best place to ask these questions.

Thank you very much! Tobi Kellner 09:29, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

You might want to talk to the people who frequent the bots page. Dismas|^(talk) 09:41, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Hello, web crawlers are generally not recommended (the maximum allowed limit is one download per second). It might be permissible in your case, with a relatively limited number of downloads - you might like to ask in the IRC channel irc://irc.freenode.net/wikimedia-tech about that. Also, please see Wikipedia:Database download for why data mining is not allowed, and how to download and use the dumps. If you download the dumps, you can easily parse through the wikitext by looking for interwiki links using a regex with the format [[en:Title of article]] or similar. Cheers, Tangotango 09:44, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to wikilink an image?

How do I provide a simple link to an image page? If one uses the usual [ [ Image:Smile-tpvgames.gif ] ] notation, it comes out as - i.e. the actual image rather than a wikilink. — SteveRwanda 11:26, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Try Image:Smile-tpvgames.gif WP 11:49, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Put a colon before the image. This will show as a link. eg [[:Image:Smile-tpvgames.gif]]. Harryboyles 12:24, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Replacing an article

I am the web master for Shelley Berman, and I would like to replace the current article on Mr. Berman with a corrected and much more thorough biography. The revised article shows up in the history, but a supposedly later, less detailed biography is also there, and I would like to make sure that the official bio is the lead article on Wikipedia. This is my first time using Wikipedia, and I need some advice on how to go about this.

--Shelleyweb 11:55, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Do you mean that at one time there was the detailed biography you propose, but it was later edited down? The first thing to do is to discover why, by looking over the history and comments. Frequently biographies are considered to be too positive and anything too gushing gets removed. The requirements of text on an official site and an encyclopedia are very different. If you have any trouble figuring out the history, let us know. Also, if you simply copy large parts of your web site it will be recognised as a copy and removed as a potential copyright violation. You might be the copyright holder but you have to tell us and grant a release: Wikipedia cannot be too careful as many people seek to create articles by copying someone else's work, and Wikipedia could get sued as a result. Notinasnaid 12:32, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

The biography we are attempting to submit was posted this morning, but the less detailed one was apparently posted a minute later, if I'm reading the history correcly, and the corrected one we put up hasn't appeared anywhere but the history, as far as we can see. The biography from the site has much more factual information than the one listed here, but it's not a gushy fan-type post. I'm not sure how the article was copied over, but I'll check and if we need to give you releases, we will. We understand and appreciate your concern with copyright.

The edit message was "revert copyvio content from http://www.shelleyberman.com/biography.htm". If you have the rights to this text and intend to allow it to be used under the GFDL license that Wikipedia, you will have to indicate that. See Wikipedia:Copyright problems Rmhermen 14:10, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

The material you've submitted for the article is indeed currently a copyvio, which is why the administrator User:Freakofnurture has repeatedly removed it. You may wish to discuss the matter with Freakofnurture on his talk page to receive further help; in the meantime, please do not continue to replace this material, as we have rules regarding multiple reversions. I'll add that on a quick scan, it looks like it would need some rewriting to be encyclopedic and represent a neutral point of view (although I'll add that it's not nearly as gushy as some biographical material I've seen posted here). Please see WP:AUTO for details as to why we usually recommend that people do not write, or have others write, articles about themselves on Wikipedia - a recommendation would be to consider asking on the article's talk page if a non-related editor would like to expand the article, with links to websites that may be of reference. Sorry if this all sounds a bit harsh, but long experience and sensible caution have generated these rules and guidelines. — Es tarriol ^talk 14:09, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
We also require information to be verifiable. Which pretty much means, someone else, besides yourself, needs to have written about it. Or Shelly must've mentioned it in an interview. - Mgm|^(talk) 20:31, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FOOTBALL CLUB YOUTH TEAM

GOOD DAY SIR,My name is emmanuel seun jogbenu from nigeria i like your football club with passion and am one of your bigest fans here in nigeria i like to join your youth team to star my footballing career.how can i join the youth team.this is my email address. (e-mail and real world addresses removed).Thank you hoping to hear from you soon.

This is an encyclopedia, not a football club. You might have found an article about the club on here, but since I'm not even sure what club you're talking about I think you'll have to look elsewhere to contact them. Confusing Manifestation 12:48, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] how to reference an article from wikipedia

how can an article from wikipedia be referenced

See Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. Dismas|^(talk) 13:02, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Making multiple articles with same title

If there are two different things with the same name, for example two different people who both have the same name, how do you make seperate articles for each of them?

Wikipedia:Disambiguation should reply to all your questions on this subject. --Bertolotti 13:50, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

The short answer is "by adding a qualifier in parentheses afterwards that uniquely identifies them" - for example, see Tom Jones (singer) and Tom Jones (writer). If the vast majority of readers are likely to be looking for one of the entries in particlar, create a toplink from one to the other, otherwise a disambiguation page is probably required (see Tom Jones). See also Wikipedia:Naming conventions. Hope that helps. — Es tarriol ^talk 13:53, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] programme showing times

I would just like to ask about a programme called Power Rangers Mystic Force and i would like to find out if it will be aired in the UK(London) any time soon and if it will be aired on Jetix channel on SKY Digital? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.137.143.49 (talk • contribs)

You might find what you are looking for in the article about Power Rangers: Mystic Force. If you cannot find the answer there, click here to post your question at that article's talk page. If that doesn't solve your problem, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They'll be glad to answer questions about anything in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. -- Nataly a 18:29, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removing articles?

Is there a procedure for nominating articles for erasure? I was reading about the Siege of Leningrad, clicked on the link to Tanya Savicheva and couldn't figure out exactly why she merited an article. Clarityfiend 14:30, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Yep. See WP:PROD and WP:AFD. Computerjoe 's talk 14:36, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

In this case, it might just be best to put Template:Importance on the page. — Es tarriol ^talk 14:48, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Uni and Mono

Uni and Mono How to use ?

 I knowed 1 it's mean but I don't no to use.

                     Thank you

[edit] Launching an article

I wrote an article many weeks ago (I last edited it on 27 March, so more than 7 weeks ago) about Painshill Park. It contains some 200 words. I can access it through 'GO' but not by 'SEARCH'.

I understand that it counts as a stub, but many shorter articles on Wikipedia can be accessed by SEARCH; why not mine?

I am interested in expanding the article but am discouraged from doing so by the thought that it is not going to be read by anyone and, therefore, I do not want to waste my time.

Regards,

Barry Hylton Davies

Umm, it takes a couple of months for the server to index new articles... Our indexing server is really bad so don't expect to see any new articles in search for a while. Happy editing. Sasquatch t|c 16:52, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

As pointed out above, indexing over 1 million articles is a big job and the indexes are rebuilt infrequently.

You can help people find your article by linking it from other articles where appropriate. Though be careful to not go overboard and spam links to articles that are only tangentially related to yours. Our article on Cobham, Surrey already mentioned Painshill Park, but only had an external link to it, so I changed that link to point to your article as a start. --GraemeL ^(talk) 16:58, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Listing Species in Wikipedia

In Wikispecies you can list the species in a particular genus by the abbreviated format: G. species1, G. species2, etc. How do you do that in Wikipedia?

spartina pectinata

No the list I am looking for. I want to be able to list an organisim (in this case an orchid) with an abbreviated Genus and then the species name and still have it link to the full name. For example: Paphinia lindeniana: I want it to appear as P. lindeniana an still link to Paphinia lindeniana. Make sense?

[[Paphinia lindeniana|P. lindeniana]] = P. lindeniana. Is that what you want? --Cherry blossom tree 20:58, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes! Many Thanks!

[edit] New Article?

How do i make my own artilce?

See Wikipedia:Your first article and Help:Starting a new page. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 19:27, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] israel

why is israel in the eurovision song contest.why why no israel in the africans nations cup —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.74.110.108 (talk • contribs)

what CIP stand for? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.167.171.68 (talk • contribs) .

See CIP for a list of things that CIP stands for. SCHZMO ✍ 20:22, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Changing Extension

I would like to know is it possible to change Wikipedia Myanmar(Burmese) version extension from my to mm as it does not compliance with Internet country extension. MY is used for Malaysia in Internet extension. MM is used for Myanmar(Burmese) in Internet extension.

[User Zawthet: Myanmar Wikiepedia]

[edit] Tempoarily lock Big Brother UK series 7

I was wondering should this article be locked tempoarily as the series begins tomorrow (Thursday 18th) as there may be heavy editing tomorrow with adding new housemates.

Typically we don't protect pages for certain events or special occasions. Normally protection is only extended in cases of extreme and repeated vandalism - to avoid filling up the article's history with pages of reversions. For more information check out Wikipedia:Protection policy and Wikipedia:Requests for page protection. --Hetar 21:43, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Adding the page to your watch list is a good way to help, though. The more people do so, the quicker any vandalism will be caught. --Hughcharlesparker 00:31, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A newbie's question

I recently typed in "breast bondage" on google and found this site.

I did the usual thing and clicked on a few links and ended up on a page where there's a detailed description of "How to Do It".....and now try as I might I can't find it.

HELP PLEASE

thanks

Well, our article on breast bondage can be found by clicking that link. If that doesn't have the 'how-to' you're looking for, it's possible that it was removed, as Wikipedia does not provide 'how-to' guides except as much as is necessary for an encyclopaedia article - see WP:NOT. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 22:25, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Revert

How do I perfrom a revert to a previous version of a page?

Rather than try to explain in this limited space, please take a look at Help:Reverting, which explains pretty much everything you might want to know on the subject. Hope this helps, MCB 23:02, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

thanks - thats what I was looking for. skorpion 04:38, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] STATISTICAL DATA

How to search for the economic, business, trade statistics by country, etc.

You can look at the entry for each country on Wikipedia. See also List of countries and the links at the bottom of that page, such as List of countries by GDP (nominal). Or check out the online book The World Factbook. And google is your friend. Is there a specific way you want to search? Weregerbil 08:06, 18 May 2006 (UTC)