Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2006 December 8

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[edit] December 8

[edit] Author?

Who is the author of this encyclopedia —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.116.118.10 (talk • contribs)

Anyone who helps by clicking the "Edit this page" button on the top of any page. For more information see Wikipedia:About. Prodego ^talk 00:59, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

If you're looking to cite Wikipedia as a source, go to Special:Cite and type in the article name. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 01:00, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lower and Upper Case

How do I make a page universal so that the case of the letters don't matter? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Arrashju (talk • contribs) 01:37, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

I'm not sure what you mean, exactly. In general, create an article at the proper spelling and capitalisation, then create redirects to it from the reasonable mis-capitalisations. Recall that the various search engines will find the page regardless of case, so the only need for wrong-case redirects is in the case of wrong-case links. For instance, an article about Tom Hanks filmography should have redirects from tom hanks filmography, Tom Hanks Filmography, and maybe TOM HANKS FILMOGRAPHY as legitimate {{R from other capitalisation}}s, but ToM hAnKs FilmOgraphY is pretty useless. BigNate37_(T) 02:05, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

It's actually a little easier than this if the goal is to make the article available using the "go" button. Redirects for "go" usage are generally not needed (see Wikipedia:Go button for the details), but when they are needed only one is necessary. In the example above, Tom Hanks Filmography covers all capitalizations including ToM hAnKs FilmOgraphY. If the goal is to be able to wikilink to the article using other capitalizations, each specific form you want to be able to be used as the link target has to exist as a redirect. -- Rick Block (talk) 03:01, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cochin estuary

How to get a map of Cochin estuary, India ?

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 03:32, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] nothing to edit in "edit this page"

I want to edit "Category:Regional mammals lists" because the alphabetical order needs fixing.

But when I open "edit this page" there's nothing in there to edit. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mollwollfumble (talk • contribs) 03:53, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

The only thing you can edit at the category page is the category description (you can also add the category to categories there). The entries for a category appear because the articles have links in them to the category. For instance, if I put [[Category:Wikipedians in Canada]] on my userpage, the link won't appear on my userpage. The userpage will be listed in the category as User:BigNate37, sorted under 'U'. If I want to be sorted by my username without the User: in front, I pipe a sort key in the category link on my userpage. In other words, I change the link to [[Category:Wikipedians in Canada|BigNate37]], which puts me under 'B'. BigNate37_(T) 04:09, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] DELETING IMAGES

How do you delete an image posted on Wikipeida?

HOW CAN I DELETE AN IMAGE FROM WIKIPEDIA? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lachiny (talk • contribs) 04:08, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

If the image qualifies for one of the speedy deletion criteria for images and media, place the appropriate speedy delete tag on the image's page in the form {{db-i?}}, where I? corresponds to the criterion. {{db-i3}}, for example, for improper license. If the image does not qualify for speedy deletion, you'll want to list it at Wikipedia:Images for deletion. BigNate37_(T) 04:15, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Edit the Size of the Edit-Pane

Hello, I am wondering how you change the height of the pane that you type into when you are editing a page. I find that the default height is far to small, especially for editing longer sections. I have searched high and low but have found no information on how to do this! Thank you very much. Pro Grape 04:45, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Go to My preferences, click on the "Editing" tab, and you'll see that you can adjust the dimensions of the edit box there. Hope that helps, Tito xd^(?!?) 04:47, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Thank you! That is exactly what I needed. Pro Grape 04:54, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Editing: Keyboard Shortcuts?

Hello again. Are there shortcuts that can be used when editing which allow speedy saves or previews of page? Pro Grape 04:54, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Sure, for saving, you can use [alt+s] (or something equivalent in your browser), and for preview, it is [alt+p]. A full list of these shortcuts is available at Wikipedia:Keyboard shortcuts. Tito xd^(?!?) 04:57, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Excellent. Thanks again! Pro Grape 05:07, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "I'm busy in real life" template

Hi, Where can I find the template that says "I'm busy in real life, yada yada"? Thanks,NinaEliza 05:52, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

I don't think that's an 'official' template. Try hitting 'edit' and copy it from wherever you saw it.- 131.211.210.17 09:35, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

{{busy}} works ;) -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 09:36, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks!NinaEliza 04:27, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Upload

Hello, I attempted to upload the company logo to the following page without success:

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

The following link is to the picture of the official logo for Lamonts, and I would like to add it to the Lamonts page, can someone please do it for me?...as I'm not very computer savvy:

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r58/madelineseattle2/ef_1_b-1.jpg

-Sincerely, Madeline Marrero

You can't show images in articles by linking to another website. That would give too much possibilities to vandals for linking shocking images. Try following the instructions at Special:Upload and Wikipedia:Picture tutorial. - 131.211.210.17 09:34, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] changing my password

how do i change my paassword????????????????????? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ns2max (talk • contribs) 07:02, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

Question answered on user's talk page.NinaEliza 07:15, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] taking songs from ipod to computor

can you take songs from your ipod and put them on your computor, like you can put songs on your ipod from your computor. and how would you do that ? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.68.172.73 (talk) 07:20, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

It's not possible to do so with iTunes, as far as I know. For a more in-depth answer to this question, you might consider posting to the appropriate section of the reference desk. Hope that helps! Luna Santin 07:38, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I think in one instance you can (check http://www.itunes.com to be sure): that is when you have authorized another computer with the same account as the computer that is synching with the iPod - I believe it brings the music down to the newly authorized computer. Now, what this has to do with help with Wikipedia, I don't really know. ;o) --Jay 16:13, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

This is a place to ask questions about Wikipedia. Why are you asking about iPods and what not? But just as an aside, there is a piece of software called Xplay from a company called Mediafour that does what you want.

[edit] Contractions

Is it true that contractions (such as didn't, hadn't etc) are not permitted in the articles of Wikipedia?

Ordinary Person 08:19, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Manual of Style is silent on this (though vaguely disapproving of "e.g." and "i.e.") but it is likely that visiting editors will change these at some point, perhaps to make the article more formal, encyclopedia style. I know I would tend to rewrite these if I was editing that part of an article for another reason. Notinasnaid 09:24, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Abbreviations and contractions are different things. Personally, I don't care about contractions. They sound natural and make an article easy to read. As far as I know such a restriction doesn't exist. - 131.211.210.17 09:37, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Spell Checker?

Is there any way (& if so, what is it?) to run a Spell Checker on pages we're editing? Thanks! --Mpwrmnt 09:57, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Firefox 2.0+ has it built-in. There are plugins for other browers. And, of course, you can just copy / paste it into your favorite word processor, then copy it back. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 10:11, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Cool! Looks like I need to update my Firefox! (Pasting it into a word processor sounds too much like WORK!) <g> Ahhh, but it's ALL fun - why else would we spend so many HOURS doing this??? :-) New Wikiaholic --Mpwrmnt 10:19, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The naming of disambiguation pages

Is there some reason why some disambiguation pages are labeled as such (in the page name) (see Wrong (disambiguation)) and some are not? (see Real Life) Thanks! --Mpwrmnt 10:14, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

When one use of a term is dominant, that article is placed at the title with the disaombiguation at its own page. However, if all are used almost equally, the dab page is placed there to aid people in finding what they are looking for. See Wikipedia:Disambiguation. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:09, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Figures of Light Entry

Dear Wikipedia:

In the Wikipedia article on the band Figures of Light, the hyperlink for "Figures of Light" doesn't seem to work, although all the other links do.

Could you see what the problem is, and perhaps correct it?

Thanks much! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 129.93.54.82 (talk) 14:35, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

You can't link an article to itself. The first occurrence of an article's name in the article should be in bold (place three apostrophes either side of its name) and not linked; future occurrences shouldn't be linked either. Links are case-sensitive; the link there at the moment doesn't link to the article because the article's name is incorrect (Figures of light rather than the correct Figures of Light). (You can't fix this without an account, so I'll go and fix it for you now). --ais523 14:41, 8 December 2006 (U T C)

[edit] German picture into English lemma

Hello Wikipedia, I have recently enlarged and improved the lemma Gammaspektroskopie in German. Now I am trying to enlarge the stub Gamma spectroscopy in English. I want to insert the first picture from the German version Bild:Spektrogramm.png|300px|right into the English, but I cannot do it. Can you do it for me please? HPaul 14:45, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

The only wiki apart from the English Wikipedia that can be used on the English Wikipedia for images is the Wikimedia Commons. You'll have to copy the picture there or find someone else to copy it there to be able to use it here. --ais523 14:47, 8 December 2006 (U T C)

[edit] After several tries, I can't get the email confirmation to work Chris Follows 15:24, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

After several tries, I can't get the email confirmation to work Chris Follows 15:24, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ORIGINS OF WIKIPEDIA

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I AM VERY INTERESTED IN KNOWING THE "NATIONALITY" OF WIKIPEDIA: WHERE WAS IT BORN?

TANKS A LOT!!!

SARA —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 189.148.16.48 (talk) 16:03, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

Take a look at the article on Wikipedia. It started from Nupedia, if I recall. BigNate37_(T) 16:26, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Could you do us a favor, please, also, and type in lowercase? Patstuart^talk|edits 17:04, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

(Caps key JAMMED?)martianlostinspace 19:06, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Adding <a name=> Tag (ANSWERED)

I can't find documentation on how to do it. I'd greatly appreciate your telling me. Thanks! --Jay 16:08, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Anchors are useful for page-section shortcuts, like WP:CSD#I3. There's no section entitled I3, but there is a <span id="I3" /> tag there, which catches the reference. I think an <a id="I3" /> or <div id="I3" /> would work, too. W3Schools has great tutorials for web development, and they have information here specific to using named anchors. BigNate37_(T) 16:24, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm sorry, BigNate37, I don't think I was specific: what I meant was, how do I add an <a name=> tag in a wiki article without making it a heading so that I can jump to it with a [[#example]] tag? Sorry for the confusion. --Jay 16:43, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

I'd suggest the span tag, which I took from WP:CSD. Here's how you should use it:

<span id="example" />For instance, blah blah blah...
.
.
.

== Some other part of the article ==

As in the [[#example|example]] above, etc...

== Some other article ==

As in the [[The first article#example|example]] from [[the first article]], etc...

I hope that's easy enough to understand—it's hard to tell if it makes sense when you're the one who wrote it. I think you can replace <span id="example" /> with <a name="example" /> and have the same functionality, but you'd have to consult W3Schools or a more knowledgeable editor to be sure. BigNate37_(T) 18:13, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

This may be a bit simple, but why don't you try using <a name=> Patstuart 18:14, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Aha. That worked perfectly, BigNate37. You gave me the answer the first time, but with your comments about W3Schools it seemed like you thought I was asking about learning HTML, which I know pretty well. :) Thanks for your patience and information.

Pat, I tried that first, but as you can see, the tag gets converted to text: <a name="name"> (<a name="name">). And I appreciate the suggestions.
--Jay 18:44, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, it looks like there was an edit conflict: I didn't see your example before I responded. Patstuart^talk|edits 18:45, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Ah, I was just putting in a plug for the site I like to refer to for web development topics. BigNate37_(T) 19:01, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Whoops, sorry

I am a general interest editor. I don't have anything against Xlibris except that it has been identified as a vanity press by many reputable sources in and out of the science fiction community (see, for example http://www.answers.com/topic/vanity-press ).

Twice now I have added the vanity press information to its Wikipedia entry, with citation. Both times, not only has the information has been removed but the history has been erased as if it had never been! The first time I thought I had been absent-minded and had not actually changed what I thought I had; but the second time I made sure.

How is this possible? They are keeping important information out of their article and not even allowing a record of its having ever existed. This seems to go against all Wikipedia principles of balance and is suspiciously close to turning their article into nothing more than an advertisement. Please, what is going on?

(Just a minute later): Okay, now I feel like an idiot, because when I just checked again, the history was back. I must have done something wrong. I am sorry.Artemis-Arethusa 16:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Sometimes people make mistakes. And sometimes technical glitches happen. Don't worry about it. Newyorkbrad 16:42, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Uhh, the reference to Xlibris at the link you gave to answers.com is only there because the content was taken from Wikipedia. That doesn't hold up as a reference here, since this is where that bit of information seems to have started. To put it another way, answers.com is a Wikipedia mirror as far as this case is concerned, so that can't be used as a reference in our articles. BigNate37_(T) 18:52, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lang Michener LLP Posting

Good afternoon:

I have a question about a posting I submitted on behalf on Lang Michener LLP. I keep getting a pink box labelling the posting as an advertisement. There is nothing in the posting I submitted that is any different from other any Canadian law firms that are present on Wikipedia.

Please let me know what I can do to rememdy this.

Thank you. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sswartz (talk • contribs) 19:05, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

It is being marked for speedy deletion under CSD G11. First thing to do is put a {{hangon}} tag there so it's not deleted while you present your case on the article's talk page. BigNate37_(T) 19:09, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

After you do that, study the G11 criterion and explain on the article's talk page, Talk:Lang Michener LLP, why it shouldn't be deleted under the criterion—then remove the {{hangon}} tag. You may wish to write with a Wikipedia administrator in mind as your audience, since an admin will eventually view the article tagged for speedy deletion (CSD) and decide whether the article warrants speedy deletion. CSD is quite stringent, so pay attention to the letter of the criterion. I've actually got some similar instructions written up here, if those help. BigNate37_(T) 19:14, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Well, it looks like that didn't happen quite fast enough to avoid deletion. A new article can be written, or you can request an administrator to restore the old one for rewriting, so it's more neutral and doesn't fall afoul of the guidelines discussed above. Lang Michener is a major firm and well worthy of an article, although pursuant to the conflict-of-interest policy it really shouldn't be written by someone "submitt[ing] on behalf of" the firm. Newyorkbrad 01:20, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

What conflict of interest policy? Anchoress 01:38, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

I should have written conflict of interest "guideline": see WP:COI. I'm aware it's not a formally binding policy, which is why I said "really shouldn't" instead of "mustn't be." The important thing, of course, is that the article has to be written in a neutral, encyclopedic manner, and a representative of the subject will often have trouble doing so. By the way, to the law firm's representative, this discussion itself may be seen by anyone who Googles the name of your firm, so you might want to do additional research by other means. Newyorkbrad 01:43, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Yeah sorry to say it was deleted, if you want to know it was deleted by User:Alex Bakharev. If you have any questions or want it restored you will have to ask him. — Seadog 01:22, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hmm

How doi create a template? Because {{help me}} is a little out of date I was thinking of one that said,{{Helpme|My reason here}} Without the,

use helpme on your talk page and ask yure q below.

A little help please? --Darkest Hour ^$_$^$_$ 19:55, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

I would advise looking at some of the other templates and seeing how they work. But, for reference, there is Help:Template. Patstuart^talk|edits 20:00, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] fix it

Someone needs to go in and clean up the Wike page:

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

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 152.132.10.196 (talk) 20:43, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

Looks like a Vandal bot already cleaned it up. For the record, you can revert vandal edits youself, when it's noticed. Kesh 21:17, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Um

Where doi add {{User:_}} to the "magic" words page? --Darkest Hour ^$_$^$_$ 20:47, 8 December 2006 (UTC) See the little red $ sign.

Well that isn't a magic word, or do you mean you want to add that to your signature? Please clarify. Thanks, Prodego ^talk 20:51, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article

I would life to type an article and I'm wondering how to do it, so can you tell me where to type stuff so please show me where.

Just search for the subject you want. If it doesn't exist, you'll see a red link for it at the top of the search page. Click on that, and you'll get a new article page under that name. Kesh 00:27, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] geek

the geek page is all geeked up —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.154.240.187 (talk) 22:24, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] how will I know my page is approved?

I recently created a public domain page for Wikipedia and to be honest, not sure I did it correctly. How will I know my page is uploaded correctly and will I receive an e-mail confirmation? Please advise. KwameTLaing 22:35, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

You will know the page uploaded correctly by typing the name of the page into the "search" box at the left of the screen and making sure it's there. Note that sometimes the database takes a little while to update so this might not happen instantaneously, but it will be there soon enough. If you provide the name of the page, someone here can take a look at it and tell you if it looks okay.

Please note that pages do not need to be "approved" to be posted on Wikipedia. Although, if they do not meet our guidelines, there is a procedure for them to be deleted ... but that is the exception, not the default. Hope this is helpful. Newyorkbrad 22:38, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

AS said above, you add pages yourself by going to the page you want to add, and inserting content into the edit box. Then you click save, and it is immediately added to Wikipedia, and licenced under the GFDL. Are you talking about the content here? Prodego ^talk 22:39, 8 December 2006 (UTC)