Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2006 December 16

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[edit] December 16

[edit] What's happening here - is a user receiving vandal warning for making constructive edits?

I can't work this out, on Skippy Doo an IP 200.163.165.2 added some relevant categories and a link, then Eli Falk came along, removed the categories and link, and put a vandalism warning on the IP's talk page. WTF? The IP appears to have made constructive edits including adding a link from another article so I don't understand why someone would give them a warning, seems like a great way to dissuade potential editors. (BTW I have no connection with the IP but Scooby Doo (character) is on my watchlist. I didn't even know a Skippy Doo article existed until this anon editor made the edits.) Galaxytrio 00:05, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

The IP user in question removed the {{linkless}} tag, which was inappropriate. The categories in question may have been valid, but removing the tag was not. Eli may simply not have noticed the categories had been added. Either way, manually adding those to the current revision seems appropriate. -- Kesh 00:25, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
After further review, I can't find any reference to "Skippy Doo" anywhere on Google, outside a few people who use the name for themselves online and references back to Wikipedia. The article itself should probably be marked for deletion if no one can verify this character even exists. -- Kesh 00:34, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
Why would removing the {{linkless}} tag be inappropriate? The tag states After links have been created, remove this message., the IP created a link from Scooby Doo (character) and removed the tag, how can that be seen as inappropriate? (the article should be merged into Scooby Doo (character) anyway, but I still don't understand why the IP received a warning.) Galaxytrio 00:55, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
I find several non-Wikipedia-derived Google hits for Skippy Doo, who is consistently described as Scooby Doo's smarter triplet brother. As for the "linkless" tag, the tag message states, "There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. After links have been created, remove this message," so one could make a wikilawyering case that creating a single link isn't enough, but I doubt this is what the user giving the warning had in mind. It looks like he was just busily reverting vandalism using pop-ups and made a mistake. Newyorkbrad 01:08, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
Agreed, it was likely a mistake. Still, the point stands: the article needs linking and citation as it stands. Hopefully someone with sources will tackle that, as I was unable to find any verification. -- Kesh 01:15, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
Scooby Doo is not one of my content areas (if it were Bullwinkle or Underdog or Star Trek: The animated series I'd undertake it), but see e.g. [1] and [2] and [3]. I realize these are not the most reliable sources, but I don't know where one would look for this, unless there is a published Scoobyography or if someone has the videos...... Newyorkbrad 01:23, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
I placed a welcome template (with a special "don't bite the newbie" message) on the talk pages of both users, since neither seem to have gotten a welcome. I'd love to help out with the citation, but a cursory search yielded no viable online sources (are fansites alright for articles like this? I have no idea). Even the Hanna-Barbera site yielded nada, and the site itself was too rich to be a source anyway (in my opinion). I personally have never even heard of Skippy-Doo, and didn't actually go in to the few fansites to see if they were real or a figment of my fevered imagination. NinaEliza (talk • contribs • count • logs • email) 02:13, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
Not to be a nitpicker, but further discussion should probably go to the article's talk page. This is getting a bit long! -- Kesh 02:22, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article creation

How do you make you're own article? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.50.186.27 (talk • contribs).

Please see Help:Starting a new page. Dar-Ape 00:47, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
For IP users, you can suggest a new page candidate via WP:AFC. It is recommended that you register for a account however, to make life easier. AQu01rius (User • Talk) 22:35, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] edit Neuromuscular disease page or new page

I have been asked to help make more awareness of Neuromuscular disease. I wanted to make a personal document of someone who has this disease. Is this something I can make on Wikipedia and how do I go about it? Busybea 03:48, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, Wikipedia relies on verifiable sources. To use your story of this person, it would first need to be published somewhere so others could verify the source. -- Kesh 02:44, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
This isn't something you should do on the Wikipedia. This is an encyclopedia, it shouldn't be a primary source, and everything should have some degree of notability. Read Wikipedia:Five pillars if you want to know more about Wikipedia in general. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 02:45, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
Thank you for your feedback. One last question - If there was an association for this disease can we add the contact details to wikipedia? Busybea 03:48, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
What do you mean by contact details? If you're referring to an existing organization, it might be relevant to link to their website, but that could be seen as advertising. If the organization is notable, perhaps you might construct an article about them on Wikipedia and link that from the page for the disease. Again, though, it should be encyclopedic.
Sorry if this seems a bit tough, but there's a very thin line between getting good information out to people, and pushing a specific organization and/or person's preferences. Hopefully this helps you sort out what you'd want to do! -- Kesh 21:26, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sorting by Month on Category pages

Hello, I've got category "Newspaper Articles by So-And-So". Currently all the articles are sorted Alphabetically by the name of the article. I would like to sort these articles by publication date, so that the instead being sorted into "A", "B" and so on, it's listed on "January", "February" etc. is this possible?

Thanks,

Manzell 03:31, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

  • No, categories are sorted alphabetically. - Mgm|(talk) 11:33, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] List of Users

How do you find a list of wikipedia users?

Andrew Winston 05:57, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Special:Listusers. -Royalguard11(Talk·Desk·Review Me!) 06:01, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
There's something wrong there
†he Bread 06:05, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
Nothing wrong. Those are real usernames :P. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:27, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Info on templates?

I'm keeping an eye on an article, Earl Mindell, that seems to be a magnet for POV pushing. Where can I find the talkpage templates that remind people to sign their posts, AGF, remember verifiability, heed BLP, etc? Anchoress 06:19, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Would {{talkheader}}}} do the trick? Or maybe {{Talkheader-guideline}}? There are also the more single-use templates {{Calm talk}}, {{TrollWarning}} and {{controversial}}. You can find a bunch of templates at Wikipedia:Template messages/Talk namespace. If you feel that none of them quite bring the right messages across (or set the right emphasis), you can always substitute one of the more general-purpose ones and then change the text. Wikipedia:Talk page templates may be of help there. Hope that helps! — QuantumEleven 10:15, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
Thanks, the talkheader and controversial ones will do nicely. I've seen a BLP template at the top of a lot of talkpages, but I'll just try BLP, or maybe check on a talkpage for one. Anchoress 10:40, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Help Requested

At Template talk:Further.100110100 06:23, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Umm, what do you need exactly? It seems editable. It's not protected... -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:25, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How Can I Delete My Account?

Howdy. I was wondering if there was a way to delete my account. I've looked everywhere, but couldn't find anything. Any help would be appreciated.Kristianthecowboy 07:50, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Scratch that. I found something already. Sorry.Kristianthecowboy 07:52, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] english

is english language sceintific —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.246.49.38 (talk) 10:43, 16 December 2006 (UTC).

  • English is the language used by the majority of the scientific community. If you wanted to know something else, please be more specific. - Mgm|(talk) 11:30, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] use of punjabi and hindi fonts

Tell me how i can use punjabi or hindi font. —Preceding unsigned comment added by TheSingh (talk • contribs)

  • Where do you want to use them? What is the problem you need to solve? Notinasnaid 12:57, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
  • You might be better helped at the Reference desk. This page is for questions about Wikipedia itself. -- Kesh 21:28, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Hey Notinasnaid I want to use them on a page that already contains some punjabi and hindi font.

Thanks for your suggestions Kesh. Ill try it.

Please see WP:COMPLEX for Indic fonts — Lost(talk) 17:37, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Offline?

Hello, I am a 18 year old student from Denmark.

I am a frequent user of the wikipedia database of articles; mainly about biology, when doing research for assignments for school[4]. The problem is, when I am going to do my "written" examinations, I will not have the access to wikipedia due to restriction of the "no-communication(help from others)"-rule, which disallows me to use the internet. Encyclopedias is of course fully allowed, but I cannot access wikipedia without internet access. My question is, if wikipedia could help me solve this problem, as I have used wikipedia for research in all of my three years in school - I am trained in wikipedia-search now more than actually looking through books. I've never ever used a book to find my informations for assignments and I've still maintained top grades, even though alot of my fellow studens doubt in the reliability of wikipedia - and doubt from my teacher as well. But the fact is that wikipedia has never provided me incorrect information and the only mistakes in my assignments are due to me misunderstanding something(I am not English).

So. Will it be possible some day(Ill have my examinations in May 2008) to download content for offline use? I do not wish to download all of wikipedia's database, but allowing me to download all articles within the section of "biology" would help me to achieve optimum tools to get the highest grade. And I will again point out, that it is perfectly legal to use tools at examinations, such as wikipedia. - As long as I can't contact a human being.

Thank you for your time. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.242.154.78 (talk) 14:06, 16 December 2006 (UTC).

It is possible to do this - WP:1.0 is in progress making a small downloadable version of important wiki articles. There is also a WP:0.5 if you need it now, I think that's available. 69.253.41.139 15:05, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
I doubt that even WP:1.0 will be specific enough for this user's needs. I would recommend that the user takes the time now to learn a working familiarity with wget instead, and use that in the weeks preceding the tests, to prepare a CD-R or DVD-R or whatever full of the specific information needed. Wget one level from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Biology and if that's not enough, wget two levels. That should do it. Get familiar with it first though so there's no frantic hurry at the deadline. — coelacan talk — 15:19, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
  • I've never ever used a book to find my informations for assignments and I've still maintained top grades I'd say that makes you very lucky. Make an effort to learn from books, it pays off. It's particularly useful if you ever consider writing articles for Wikipedia and if you have to do literary research for your study, no doubt you'll come across some article you need to read that's not yet digitally available. - Mgm|(talk) 17:50, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
I agree with the last, plus you are unlikely to be able to get through university etc using just Wikipedia Johnbod 19:11, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Possible Plagiarism

I have come across an article Railway Express Agency. I was searching for sites to gain more information for rewording of this article. I found Archives Center: RAILWAY EXPRESS AGENCY, 1899-1970 #260. Would someone take a look to see if this is a case of plagiarism. Most of the wikipedia article seems to come directly (word for word) from this article.

Advise as to what I should do.

LarryBH 15:56 December 16, 2006 (UTC)

The copy appears to have arrived wholesale in this edit, made by briefly active userRobHarding (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · block user · block log). The source page is the Smithsonian Institution. RobHarding may have thought this made it US-gov PD. The Institution certainly claims copyright on its copyright page; a reading of the "Administration" page of the Smithsonian Institution article shows matters are complicated. To be on the safe side I think the article should be reported as a copyvio, and if SI is able to copyright material then we need to rollback to before that edit. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 16:09, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Isn't it the case that copying off of wikipedia is not plagirism? Sites like Sandusky most often use information off of wikipeidda in good faith. Doesn't wikipedia offer their entire database in downloads to mirror?

[edit] Capitalization dispute

I can't find any strong support for a dispute on how to capitalize in a specific setting: aircraft fleet tables. Examples of edits I disagree with: [5] [6] [7]. I've talked to the user about it (his talk page, my talk page), but he disagrees with me. Can someone with the ability to explain when capitalization should be used talk to him? (Or, if I'm wrong, explain to me why I'm wrong?) Thanks --Matt 16:17, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

  • The user appears to be under the impression that not using a capital letter is wrong grammar. I agree with you that capitalizing anything after the first word is incorrect unless it's a proper noun. I'd find a grammar book or online guide to prove them wrong. - Mgm|(talk) 17:46, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
    • The use of majuscules there is altogether aesthetically displeasing and surely disfavored. One could adduce, I suppose, Wikipedia:Manual of Style (capital letters), which goes generally toward the proposition that capital letters are, absent special circumstances, inappropriate for all words save the first in noun and verb phrases and surely for the second word in such formulations as Two orders; it is, at the very least, fair to say that common practice here counsels against capitalization. Another user appears already to have suggested to Golich17 that one ought not to ignore the MoS without compelling justification—which suggestion I think to be quite right—and so perhaps the issue is resolved. Joe 21:27, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Userboxes

How can I create a userbox and add an image to it if necessary? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Henchman 2000 (talk • contribs) 16:23, 16 December 2006 (UTC).

See Wikipedia:Userboxes. Jacek Kendysz 16:36, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] recent changes

I want to look at the changes between 05:37 and 05:38 today. I have part of the URL figured out, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Special:Recentchanges&from=20061216053700

But how do I make it stop a minute later? I mean, how do I just check between 20061216053700 and 20061216053800 ? — coelacan talk — 16:49, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

I do not think that you can sort that way, and though that you can't is probably unintentional, there is actually a reason it should not be possible. <-(Confusing, but I can't figure out how to word it better) Prodego talk 21:16, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New here

It's my first time here. How do I start a home page and what should I put and not put on it?Zeke-slpcanada 18:37, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi Zeke. Check out Wikipedia:User_page. — coelacan talk — 18:40, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
To start one, just click on your name where it's listed in red, and it'll take you to a new page where you can start editing. If you want some ideas, click on people's names here and look at what they've done. You can click Edit on their pages to see what they've done (just don't change anything on their page!), and learn what you can do to your own page that way. -- Kesh 21:44, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Finding non-linked uses

Hi, I want to find non-linked uses of Tenebrist which links to Tenebrism. How can I search for these? Thanks Johnbod 18:51, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

You can search for the term as text. See Wikipedia:Searching. Nihiltres 18:55, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for prompt reply, but I can't see which bit of that page refers. If I click "search" rather than "Go" in the normal search box, I get all the occurrences, but it does not distinguish between linked and non-linked ones. Not a problem with Tenebrist with 9 uses, but Tenebrism has 7 pages of uses, mostly in fact linked. Johnbod 19:08, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, I would suggest using a Google search for "link:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenebrism". Unfortunately, you can't search for links and restrict the search to a single site (i.e. Wikipedia) at the same time, but it doesn't matter in this case because the only results are apparently from here anyway. Confusing Manifestation 03:54, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
Whoops, sorry, I just re-read your question and realised you wanted non-linked uses. Um, can't really help you there, unless you use the result of that Google search to rule out the (few) linked results. Confusing Manifestation 03:57, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Image replacement

About 5 or 6 weeks ago someone replaced the Image:Ivanka Trump 02.jpg that appears on Ivanka Trump with one that does not match the caption and in my opinion is less flattering in the sense of being cute. How did this happen? I did not think you could replace an image on the server. TonyTheTiger 20:05, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

  • Someone replaced the image, you can see it if you check the image's history. I've reverted for you. I see no point in replacing a perfectly fine image. If the person who replaced it disagrees, both of you should discuss before changing anything again. -- Mgm|(talk) 21:48, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Closing XFD debates

If a debate is clearly resolved in favor of a particular action can anyone close the debate or must one be an administrator. TonyTheTiger 21:06, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

  • If it's an overwhelming decision to keep without any further action, like merging or renaming, anyone can close it in most XFD processes. Be sure to check for vote fraud. If it's a delete decision or requires something like a history merge or another admin action, it's best to leave it open, so the closing admin can immediately take action themselves. Be sure to read Wikipedia:Deletion process and know what to leave on relevant article talk pages when you close a debate before actually doing any closures. - Mgm|(talk) 21:51, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Editing title

How do I edit the title of an article? For example, correcting capitals, typos? Rogwan 22:20, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

The only way to edit the title is to move the article to the correct name. Which article are you referring to? Keep in mind that the first letter is always capitalized on Wikipedia, but nothing else should be unless it is part of a proper noun. -- Kesh 22:29, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
One I, unfortunately, created: Lorna casselton, should be Lorna Casselton Rogwan 22:38, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
I've moved the article to Lorna Casselton. Keep up the work on the article, looks good so far! -- Kesh 22:45, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
For future reference, you can find out more information on moving pages at Help:Moving a page. — QuantumEleven 11:11, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Flagging Articles?

How do you flag an article as not having NPOV, having Original Research or not having credible sources? Is this something veteran editors just know or is there a page which tells how to do it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Trilobitealive (talk • contribs) 22:42, 16 December 2006 (UTC).

There's a huge assortment of templates at Wikipedia:Template messages. You can also use {{POV}}, {{OR}}, or {{unreferenced}} for the specific purposes you mentioned. If the problem's not clear (and even if it is), it's often helpful to leave a message on the article's talk page.--Kchase T 22:49, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
Thank you! (You see I also have a problem with remembering to sign my comments but I'm working on it.) Trilobitealive 23:50, 16 December 2006 (UTC)