Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2006 November 13

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[edit] November 13

[edit] copyright question

Hello, I am interested in posting a general question and then hopefully getting many responses. I am interested in eventually publishing those responses in a book. Do the contributors have to sign an agreement before I use their contribution? Thankyou for your time.

This is not the place to do that. Contributions made anywhere on Wikipedia are licensed under the GFDL, which has restrictions on reproduction. You should set up a Geocities page, a blog, a Yahoo or Google newsgroup, or a bulletin board, and post in different places asking people to go there and comment. Anchoress 00:33, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deleting a talk page

A friend of mine wants to delete his talk page. Can he do this without deleting his userpage, or do both have to go? If he does, will he be able to recreate them, or not? Thanks. DoomsDay349 00:17, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

He could blank his talk page although this would still keep the previously made comments in the page's history. Or he could archive the comments like I, and many others, have done with our talk pages. Dismas|(talk) 00:26, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
I think he wants to leave Wikipedia anyways. He's blanked his talk page; incidentally, he is the user I mentioned in an above question, Helical Rift. Just a bad first impression, I guess.... DoomsDay349 00:32, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
You or your friend should read WP:Right to vanish. Anchoress 01:07, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Alright. Sucks to see him go, but I guess it's his choice. Thanks. DoomsDay349 01:10, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] editor banned, register under new name?

If an editor is banned from editing, is there anything to keep him from re-registering with a new name, so he can edit? Bubba73 (talk), 00:19, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

There may be a ban on the IP address he or she edits from. ViridaeTalk 00:20, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
I assume that can be done if the user has registered, and if they have a static IP address. But what about a dynamic IP address? Bubba73 (talk), 01:01, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
They tend to be recognised as sockpuppets and blocked. If it's obvious they're just blocked outright, if not Checkuser can be used to confirm. --Sam Blanning(talk) 04:33, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Message says I vandilised article on cannibus

I,m very upsite that I was accused of any mischief.I don,t use your site very often. I would appercirte this problem being fixed. milo1sod

At the top of the page, it says the following:

"If you are an unregistered user operating from this address, note that this is not the IP address of your machine. 205.188.116.71 is the IP address of a proxy server that communicates between your browser and the Wikimedia servers. These and other proxies are shared among thousands of AOL users. If you are frustrated by irrelevant comments appearing here, you can avoid them by creating an account for yourself." Some other AOL user vandalized a page and now you're getting the message. --Wooty  Woot? | contribs 03:29, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Like the message says, it was not intended for you. Please accept an apology for any inconvenience, but it's important to realize that vandalism is a big problem on Wikipedia, and we have need to warn users. Sometimes the wrong users will be warned if the users share an IP address. Patstuart(talk)(contribs) 03:48, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How can i add an article?

Hi ,

May i know what is the default code that i am suppose to add in for the infromation which i wanted to add in? My article heep deleted by the admin. Please let me know how my article can be added?

Thanks, Best Regards, Ozura

There is no "code" to add in Wikipedia articles. Your article was deleted following Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Ozura_Mobile_(second_nomination) (which you know about, because you posted in it) due to advertising and notability concerns. If you wish to appeal the deletion, try Wikipedia:Deletion review under "decisions to be reviewed". --Sam Blanning(talk) 04:30, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] biodiesel

Is biodiesel produces from algae by commercialy? where and how?

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) 04:28, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] In The Below Table

Group Western European North/East European East Asian Middle Eastern
Civilizations


For the above table, I want to make cell lines that divide the 1st 3 groups from the left in 3rds EQUALLY. Then I want to divide the last group from the left in fourths EQUALLY. Is this possible? Thanks.100110100 04:27, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Not sure what you're exactly asking, but I think you can try to create a table within a table. I'm not terribly clear about how wikitables work, but you could try it in HTML. Also, try posting your questions at WP:WPT, as they might be able to better assist. -Patstuart(talk)(contribs) 04:34, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
What I'm asking is if the 1st 3 groups can be split in 3 EQUAL cells, and the last group in 4 EQUAL cells. Thanks.100110100 06:48, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
I think i know what you're talking about. Basically, you end up wanting just one civilization in each cell right? What you need is either a method to set the height of a cell within a columne exactly (so you can manually divide it into thirds/quaters), or to have a table within a table. I'm afraid i can't explain how to do either of those things, but hopefully that makes it more clear for the next person trying to answer your question. --`/aksha 07:53, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I have A great idea for a Wikiproject But........

I dont have the time or knowledge to do it myself. Is there something I can do?DesignForDreamingFan 06:35, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Propose the idea. A good place to start would be Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals). --`/aksha 07:52, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removing categorize section requirement at top of page

Hello I recently added an article for Calder Park Raceway, I noticed that it needed to be categorized. I have done that however I do not know how to remove the notice up top and at the bottom saying it is uncategorized. If anyone could let me know how to remove it that would be great.

At the very top of the article, you will notice it has this exact text: {{uncategorized|November 2006}}. You'll want to remove that. -Patstuart(talk)(contribs) 07:08, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] old user name still exists

Hi, Earlier today I noticed that my username had mysteriously turned from NinaEliza to NinzEliza. I asked some admins on IRC if they could check it out, and they said that the username NinaEliza didn't exist. Since they also told me that there was no way that a username could just be changed willy-nilly, I decided to accept that I just never noticed it. I went to the request user name change board and explained the situation and they changed my username from NinzEliza to NinaEliza almost immediately.

The problem is that I've commented on a few RFCs (because I like the challenge, I guess) and the user name NinzEliza is on all my posts. Also, the user name and talk page for NinzEliza still exists. Is there some way to redirect the talk page for NinzEliza to NinaEliza? If that can't happen, can NinzEliza be at least be deleted so that people can't post messages there? Thanks!NinaEliza 07:13, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Just add a redirect from one page to the other. Trebor 07:38, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
The {{db-userreq}} template is what you use to request user-page delets. User talk pages are generally not deleted, although they can sometimes by, under "Right to Vanish". See Wikipedia:User page --`/aksha 07:49, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I came across this by accident and ,..................

How in the world can you block my IP address when I have never even done anything but looked up info. I just stumbled across it because I inadvertantly clicked on the wrong item. Please tell me what this is. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.11 (talk • contribs) 18:15, 13 November 2006

The messages may have been intended for someone else on the same internet provider as you. Some ISPs appear to share IP addresses between users because of the way their web proxy servers are configured. If it really wasn't you, then you can just ignore the messages. -- Chuq 07:28, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Can I make this page, and what do I name it?

G'day, I was wanting to make a page about the possible Free Trade Agreement between Australia and China. I am aware that Wikipedia is not a crystal ball and am pretty sure this will fit the criteria. Governments of both nations have been openly negotiating it for many months. The page will detail negotiations, the intended tariff reductions, criticisms etc.

My main question is that, since it isn't an actual, legislated FTA yet, do I still call it "Australia-China Free Trade Agreement", or would "Proposed Australia-China Free Trade Agreement" or something like that be more appropriate?

Cheers, DarkSideOfTheSpoon 07:30, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Assuming what you say is true, and there is enough reliable information for decent sources talking about this (i.e. it's not speculation or crystal ball stuff), i'd say name the article after the agreement (without the proposed bit). But the article should make it clear what stage of the agreement it's at (i.e. it's a proposal). Since the thing you're writing about is the agreement itself (although currently in a proposal stage), not the proposal. --`/aksha 07:47, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Good call, thanks. It is up, but small ATM, at Australia-China Free Trade Agreement. Cheers for the help. DarkSideOfTheSpoon 08:38, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia

what is wikipedia

It is an online encyclopedia. For more info, see Wikipedia. Dismas|(talk) 11:42, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How can I add a picture to an edited file?

I see the icon which comes up with an example picture, but how do I add my own?

See Wikipedia:Image tutorial. Dismas|(talk) 11:40, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] pictures of fruit

pictures of fruit for small children

See our articles on banana, apple, orange, cherry, and so on. Dismas|(talk) 11:43, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Custom signature ?

Hi, While answering the questions, I know that if I put four ~s, it gives my user name and timestamp. I have seen cool signatures like —Pengo talk · contribs 01:57, 13 November 2006 (UTC). Do to this, do I need to type in

 —[[User:Pengo|Pengo]]  <sup>[[User talk:Pengo|''talk'']] · [[Special:Contributions/Pengo|''contribs'']]</sup> 01:57, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

or can create my own custom signature (like the one above) and use some kind of shortcut to put my signature? (like ^^^^ for example) -- Wikicheng 13:17, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

The page about signatures gives some information about the rules for customizing signatures, and Wikipedia:How to fix your signature gives some information about how to do it, but it isn't very clear (especially if you don't know HTML). If you post on Wikipedia talk:How to fix your signature with a description of exactly what you want, it's possible someone there will tell you exactly what you need to do. --ais523 13:24, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
(To answer the other part of the question, you use ~~~~ to type a custom signature just as you do to type a normal signature, once you have customized it at Special:Preferences.) --ais523 13:25, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you very much. I have some experience on HTML. I think I can now create my own cooool signature :-) -- Wikicheng 13:42, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] version of Wikipedia for children?

I am not familiar at all with Wikipedia but I thought I had heard that there was a specific version for kids. My researches haven't be sucessful at the moment. Thanks

No, there isn't. There is the Simple English Wikipedia, which is written in an easy-to-read form of English - but this is really intended for native speakers of other languages whose English skills aren't very strong. By and large the normal Wikipedia is pretty suitable for children, but as it not censored for the protection of minors, if they type in "grownup" words, they'll end up at pages that describe "grownup" stuff. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 13:35, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mediation?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:0.999.../Arguments#Infinitesimals

This page is "under mediation." I think they want me to sign something but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. --JohnLattier 13:59, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

The mediators rejected the mediation case. So there is no case, and you don't have to do anything in its regard. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:03, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia as my search engine

Is it possible to have Wikipedia as one of my search-engines by associating Wikipedia with Opera (which is my web Browser)? If possible, please let me know.

Thanking you in anticipation.

(email removed to prevent spam)

Wikipedia isn't much of a search engine. Google is a better engine for searching Wikipedia for articles. Notinasnaid 20:00, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Signature

I am awful at markup, but I want a better signature. I can't get it to do what I want with fiddling around with the tags. If someone wants to help (it will only take a minute) please post on my userpage (not here) and I will be eternally grateful --Amists 14:13, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Replied on User talk:Amists. --ais523 14:17, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Renamed account

Hi, I noticed that [[User:James James]] had been renamed to User:Rose Garden at around February. There's a new User:James James who joined Wikipedia in August, who's now vandalising Wikipedia.

I just warned him for vandalism, but is there something else that should be done about him? Thank you. --Kjoonlee 14:47, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

First, this link shows more clearly what happened with respect to the rename. It may be worth bringing this situation up on Wikipedia:Administrator's noticeboard. --ais523 14:50, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Thank you. :) --Kjoonlee 16:03, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
The first action you want to do is issue a {{subst:test4}} warning. If James James continues to vandalize then report him on the AIV Page. Make sure to follow the directions on the page carefully and submit his name under the "User list" in the following format: {{vandal|name of vandal}} and sign ~~~~ after it.¤~Persian Poet Gal (talk) 16:08, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Edit: Whoops seems like ais523 already gave you an answer :P. Ais's suggestion is also a good way to report the user.

[edit] Helping a friend

I am interested in helping a friend get his problem aired by Larry King. Please advise me of an address where we can send a letter and all pertinent information to Larry and after he has read all court documents, etc. he can advise us if he is interested. Any assistance you can give us would be greatly appreciated. My e-mail address is (email removed to prevent spam) Thank you. Ruth Miller

Wikipedia is not an address directory. Nihiltres 16:51, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
  • If there's any contact details online, they're going to be on Larry's own website. - Mgm|(talk) 20:35, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hmm..

I had a dream last night where two women were creating a page about a newspaper they wrote. I stepped in, asked if the subject had any notability, they replied something about how it was a research newspaper, I told them it'd have to have some press/notability, they continued arguing about it, and I said I'd nominate it for deletion.

Do you think it's probably time to take a WikiBreak? --Wooty  Woot? | contribs 19:45, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

  • It could be just a particular dispute bugging you, but take a look at the hours you're putting in. If it turns out you're putting too much hours into Wikipedia, you could be heading for a burnout, in which case a break is recommended. How many hours have you been putting in lately? Do you feel stressed? - Mgm|(talk) 20:34, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
I'm not stressed out or anything, it's just alarming that AfDs are getting into my head. Such things pull toward "maybe you should chill out on Wiki for a while" --Wooty  Woot? | contribs 22:42, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Skins

I have my own wiki and would like to change the skin for it im pretty much a newbie when it come to skins for a wikipedia type of wiki so im pretty much lost. Any help would be great thank you

Help with running your own wiki can be found at the MediaWiki site. Wikipedia is just a wiki like any other, and isn't really the place to get help with running your own wiki. --Sam Blanning(talk) 20:30, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Well....

I think it is verbal abuse, I could be wrong, but the page in question is User talk:70.246.220.246. I think also it was a provoked response from an edit made on YTMN (Your The Man Now). Said page is deleted so yes I need administrative help here. Could an administrator look into this asap? Ip —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.233.128.180 (talk • contribs) 20:06, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Just FYI, it's YTMND. --Wooty  Woot? | contribs 20:12, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
A warning was left in response to vandalism, and the warning mimicked the style of the vandalism (all caps LOLOL type Internet speak), but that was two months ago, and those revisions have been deleted. Since then nothing has been posted there. What do you want done, exactly? --Sam Blanning(talk) 20:27, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Nothing really. I just was wanting to know why it was done. When I asked the admin he deleted it and would not awnser me. Thanks for the info. What does LOLOLOLLL mean?
LOL. --Wooty  Woot? | contribs 22:43, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Or more specifically, this. —Mitaphane talk 01:21, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Another question about over-long TV credit lists

A few days ago I asked about articles that list every single crew member, with some articles now where 10% of the text is about the show and the other 90% is taken up by IMDb style credits (including caterers, drivers, etc, in some cases).

The replies I recieved sounded like I could go ahead and delete the excessively long examples, but what should I put in the edit summary? Is there anything on Wikipedia I could quote as my reason? I'm asking this because I've noticed a few instances where other people have deleted some huge credit lists, but the original submitters have soon re-added them, so I don't want to get into a revert war - I just think these lists detract from the articles. 172.141.253.182 20:37, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] List of tags?

I've figured out that you can put [citation needed] in an article and it will say "citation needed". Where can I find a list of useful thingies you can put in curly brackets like that, and guidelines for when to use them? Thanks. --Coppertwig 20:40, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Please see Wikipedia:Templates and Wikipedia:List of templates. —The Great Llama talk 20:47, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Name madness!!!!!!!

I cannot get the proper spelling of this dragonlike creature. Its name is pronounced like v-e-r-m. The spelling I am clueless on. Please cure me of my madness!

  • Do you mean Wyvern? --Dgies 21:44, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Or maybe Wurm (dragon)? Warofdreams talk 01:54, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] someone has hacked your november 13th news page

as the title says, someone has hacked the page for the 13th of november news and replaced it with simple hahaahaha...

i would help fix it, as is sugested, but i dont know how, sorry

kind regards, Griogair Stewart

Looks like it was already fixed, but thanks for the report. In the future, you can just tell us here, but any errors on the front page can be reported on the discussion page associated with the front page; just go there and read the instructions on where and how to report an error. Thanks for your diligence! Anchoress 20:54, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sorry I Have To Ask This Here

Can I upload .pdf files onto Wikicommons? And is there a help desk at Wikicommons? Thanks.100110100 21:03, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Commons:Commons:Help desk. In answer to your first question, I'd have an educated guess at 'yes' but I don't know for sure. --Cherry blossom tree 21:55, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
I'll upgrade that to a simple yes. See Commons:Commons:File types for more. --Cherry blossom tree 21:56, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Thanks. I have an account here. Can I get this same account for Wikicommons? Or do I have make a new one? Thanks.100110100 22:24, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
You'll have to make a new account but you can use the same username, assuming no-one else has already taken it. --Cherry blossom tree 22:37, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Use of admin userbox?

I've noticed some (generally vandalism-prone) users placing {{user admin}} on their user pages. While this is obviously lame, is there an actually a policy prohibiting this? -- Dgies 21:36, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Good question; do you have some examples? I would post your question at the Administrator's Noticeboard or the policy related Village Pump. In the meantime, just remove the stupid thing. -Patstuart(talk)(contribs) 21:44, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
  • Yes, that would violate the impersonating someone you're not rules. It's block-worthy and is generally considered more severe when the person in question is faking having a power position. Report them. - Mgm|(talk) 22:39, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
    • Be careful, though; there are some users who've just copied someone else's userpage because they like the coding, complete with userboxes, and haven't noticed that {{user admin}} was amongst them. In such cases it's best to remove the admin template and let the user know what you've done on their User Talk page. --ais523 08:48, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I can't log in to pages written in my native language

Seems like I've done something wrong, because I can't log in at all on pages in Finnish. Only on pages in English. What to do?

For the moment at least (this may change in the next 6 months or so) you'll have to create a separate account on the Finnish Wikipedia. --Cherry blossom tree 21:51, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
See Help:Logging in#Did you register to this version of Wikipedia?. Patstuart(talk)(contribs) 21:54, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Thanks - Seems like it works now. It felt quite spooky.

[edit] My article has not been reviewed

I posted an article about Stephen Street, Melbourne on 5 November and it has not yet been reviewed.

Could you please advise how I can get it reviewed

Cheers

JBurney —Preceding unsigned comment added by JBurney (talk • contribs)

Stephen Street appears to be the same street as Exhibition Street, Melbourne, about which we already have an article. You should probably add the content to that article - we don't usually have two articles on the same thing. --Cherry blossom tree 22:41, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
For future reference, try Wikipedia:WikiProject_Australia/Assessment#Requesting_an_assessment. Patstuart(talk)(contribs) 22:54, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to completely remove a username ?

Hello - I mistakenly created an account, which I want to erase (there were no contributions, nothing). So I used the {db-userreq} instruction, and everything is redded out, but the account is still active. What do I do to remove it completely, so that it does not register anymore ? Thanks for your answer.

There's really no need -- there are hundreds of thousands of accounts which have never and never will be used. All you need to do is stop using it, really. Luna Santin 23:35, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
I don't think that an answer to the question.100110100 08:58, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
It sounds good enough to me. What would be the problem with leaving the account existing? If you don't like the name of the account, this has the double benefit that nobody in the future could register and start editing with that name. Notinasnaid 09:20, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
For reasons connected to the license under which Wikipedia is published, user accounts, once created, cannot be deleted (even if the user has never made any contributions). For that reasons, your best bet is indeed to just create a new account using a name you want, and use that from now on, and don't worry about the old account. Take a look at Wikipedia:Username#Deleting your user account for more info. Hope that helps! — QuantumEleven 12:52, 14 November 2006 (UTC)