Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2006 November 24

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[edit] November 24

[edit] trying to make a logo timeline

I want to make a section of the Ask Jeeves article that documents the evolution of the logo, because its changed a lot, and i wanted to know if there was a template or something. Can someone put some code or something so I know how to do it?

Mattjblythe 00:12, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, there's the gallery code:

<gallery>
 Image:SquareCircle.svg|Image 1
 Image:SquareCircle.svg|Image 2
 Image:Circle.png|Image 3
 Image:Circle.png|Image 4
 </gallery>

Which renders like:

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Hope that helps. ☢ Ҡi∊ff⌇↯ 01:39, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] hey

i wanting to founded out how i can get u touch with someone that is bassed in england on the air forces bass his name is Steven Johnson if you could just e-mail me at [e-mail removed] thank, Tiffany Mote —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.181.57.70 (talk • contribs)

Err... Wikipedia is not a phone book or a repository of people's names. Sorry, but we can't help you with that. –- kungming·2 ^(Talk) | Review 00:24, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Is an airforce bass like a wide mouth bass? Viridae ^Talk 03:38, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Tifanny. Steven Johnson is a very common name. Without knowing which base he's at, it's not even possible to find him. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:53, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Collumns?

How do you put a list of things in to collumns? --Darkneonflame 00:47, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

You may find Help:Table useful; if you have difficulty with a particular table, feel free to offer an example and we can help with the coding. Essjay (Talk) 04:25, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nested tables not behaving

'Ello, I'm trying to put a bit of effort into my user page since I've been making the place look untidy for a while now. I've put in a nested table but for some reason it's not behaving itself; the middle column seems to want to be wider than any of the others. It was fine until I put some :de: wikilinks into it... anyone care to take a look and tell me what I did wrong? Cheers all, --YFB ¿ 02:46, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

To clarify, having played about with it some more, does anyone know of a way to distribute column widths evenly without using pt/px (I'd like my page to scale with different screen resolutions)? Thanks again, --YFB ¿ 05:35, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

You can use percentages when defining widths, e.g. width="50%". Harryboyles 05:41, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

I have; if I use, say 33% for each column then they only occupy 33% of the cell they're in. I tried using 100% and they filled the cell but when I changed the contents they ended up distributed unevenly. Grr. --YFB ¿ 12:52, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Logo Use in Userboxes

Quick question - Since "Image:Logo-GearsofWar.jpg" is a logo (see {{logo}}) does this mean it's not useable in Userboxes? Or can I use it, similar to this userbox? State Alchemist^-talk-_{See You On RuneScape!} 03:56, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

No, it can't be used, and the 360 userbox shouldn't be using that image either. Logos are copyrighted and trademarked; use of them on Wikipedia is governed by the fair use provision of copyright law. We can claim fair use for using the logos in articles directly related to the subject matter of the logo, but we can't claim it for recreational uses like userpages.

The relevant policy is Wikipedia:Fair use which states:

Fair use images may be used only in the article namespace. Used outside article space, they are not covered under the fair use doctrine. They should never be used on templates (including stub templates and navigation boxes) or on user pages. They should be linked, not inlined, from talk pages when they are the topic of discussion. This is because it is the policy of the Wikimedia Foundation to allow an unfree image only if no free alternative exists and only if it significantly improves the article it is included on. All other uses, even if legal under the fair use clauses of copyright law, should be avoided to keep the use of unfree images to a minimum.

So, no, please do not use this logo, or any other logo for userboxes or any other template. Essjay (Talk) 04:22, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks much State Alchemist^-talk-_{See You On RuneScape!} 00:44, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I need a template coded right.

Template:2TeamBracket

Where would I put this so it works like all of the other tournament bracket templates? I have to go now, so would you be kind enough to put it there/fix it? Trosk 04:41, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chief Justice John Roberts Biography

Dear Editor, Your biography on Chief justice Roberts says that he voted in favor of a unanimous decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. However, I believe that this DC Circuit court opinion was not unanimous. I think that Randolph was the majority and Roberts agreed, but there was also a concurrence. A unanimous decision would have occurred had all three judges agreed in the majority. Please change this for accuracy reasons. Thank you, email removed —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.163.194.130 (talk • contribs)

Thanks for notifying us. I'm looking into the matter now. –- kungming·2 ^(Talk) | Review 06:08, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

According to the courts copy of the verdict link, the vote was unanimous. Randolph, Roberts, and Williams all voted together. Please notify me again if you believe that this is inaccurate, and thanks again for bringing this matter up. –- kungming·2 ^(Talk) | Review 06:11, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

FWIW, it's not incorrect for us, IMHO, to term as unanimous an opinion in which all judges of a given CoA panel join but in which one or more concurs separately; there remains, the concurrence notwithstanding, unanimity amongst the panel toward the disposition of the case (viz., the judgment; here, the reversal of the district court) and at least some of the justification therefor. Joe 06:56, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for clarifying, Joe. I have to say, I regularly get confused on these legal matters, even though my English teacher is a lawyer. –- kungming·2 ^(Talk) | Review 07:00, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] My useless and repetitive newbie luddite question

Hidee ho wikipedians,

i have just created my first article but it doesn't appear to show up on searches. I'm guessing i've done something wrong or missed something due to the fact that i'm; 1. new 2. crap at anything technical 3. unable to understand the 'how to' answer section username is kiwiaussiemike and article is called the gareth macfadyen cup any help would be appreciated Kiwiaussiemike 09:37, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Nah, it probably wasn't you. Looking at your contributions, I'm guesing The Gareth MacFadyen Cup is the article in question; you just started it a few hours ago, so it probably hasn't had time to make it into the search index yet. Give it a little more time, and if it doesn't show up by, say, tomorrow, poke someone and we'll check into it. Essjay (Talk) 09:56, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

It will take months before it shows up in searches. You can can check that the article is still there by clicking your "My contributions" link: if the link isn't red, the article is there. It looks good, though it needs a bit of what we call "wikifying". If you add {{wikify}} to the article it invites the community to (eventually) help with that. Don't be intimidated: the best way to learn is twofold: do work, then return to it and see if it has been changed, then try to figure out why it has been changed. Notinasnaid 09:59, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Your information is outdated; the search index is maintained on it's own server now and updates fully approximately every 30 hours. See the relevant mailing list post from Tim Starling. Essjay (Talk) 10:09, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

When in doubt refer to WP:VFAQ which has the most up-to-date information:) - Mgm|^(talk) 10:30, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, it does now, but it was also out of date until I updated it, shortly before saying the same thing here. :) Essjay (Talk) 13:14, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Corrupted history?

I've been around for a year and a half, was given admin chores, performed some history merges, and I still have no idea whatis going on here. I can see diffs in the history that don't appear when comparing diffs. Look at this diff] and then hit the next link. Look at the resulting diff, particularly the time gap between them. Then look at the history of the article. It skips ~30 edits made by others and attributes all their changes to an editor ~30+1 edits later. Since all of the edits do appear in the history if one compares diff by diff I guess it isn't too much of a concern, but I don't understand why it is doing this. I also have a personal concern as 25 of those 30 are mine, making a large expansion of a stub.—WAvegetarian•(talk) 12:54, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

When I look at this and click through, edits through May 25-June 22 are attributed to Jumbo Snails, but I can't find him nor the person with the May 25 edit in the history either. I think it is indeed corrupted. - Mgm|^(talk) 13:08, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Here's a different URL for the same diff: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Garfield_High_School_%28Seattle%2C_Washington%29&oldid=15642652&diff=15643044. I'm writing it out in full so the oldid and diff numbers are visible; note that they only differ by 492: it's hard to believe there would only be 492 edits in this time period. Querying the database with http://en.wikipedia.org/w/query.php?titles=Garfield_High_School_%28Seattle%2C_Washington%29&revids=15642652|15643044&what=revisions&rvcomments&rvstart&rvend reveals that these values are nonetheless in the database, so there would seem to be some sort of a cockup here. It may be worth copying this thread to the technical village pump to get more input. --ais523 13:17, 24 November 2006 (U T C)

edit conflict: User:Jumbo Snails is formerly CAPS LOCK. His first edit to the article was on the 22nd of June. This shows up if you look at the history page. Prior to my edits on the first (representing the 5th-... edits to the article) it was edited in February, March, and May. The two edits in May don't appear when you use the next diff links either. Is there someway to uncorrupt such problems, like deleting everything and manually restoring? All of the edits this article has had to it appear in the history, they just don't show up in the next diff continuum. This article has resided at around half a dozen different titles in the last year and a half. Should I take this to WP:VP/T?—WAvegetarian•(talk) 13:21, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Eesh, that's worse than I thought. I will copy this over to WP:VP/T. Thread continued there.—WAvegetarian•(talk) 13:26, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Usage of your data in the IPO prospestus

I would like to use some of your data in the Idea Cellular IPO. Kindly provide your consent on the same.

Regards, Chaiti Biswas Manager- Finance & Accounts Idea Cellular Limited Pune- 411004, India

(contact info removed)

We are an encyclopedia. All content here is governed by GFDL, which means you can use the data here as long as you give due credit to Wikipedia -- Lost^(talk) 13:19, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

You also need to give information about the revision history; linking to the article and its history page is the easiest way to do this, and you need to give the text of the GFDL. --ais523 13:21, 24 November 2006 (U T C)

[edit] Transportation (Barbados)

I need to find information and especially pictures about Transportation in Barbados from the past to the present

You might have better luck at the Reference Desk. Essjay (Talk) 13:32, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hi.

Hi, why is Wikipedia so successful?

Have a look at Wikipedia:About, that should help answer your questions. Essjay (Talk) 14:03, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] CONTRACTS

If a person signs a contact and they break that contract, even though I offered a certian period for them to correct the signed contract, who does the law stand by86.129.50.177 15:26, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia does not offer legal advice -- Lost^(talk) 15:47, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Common sense says that the person breaking the contract is wrong, but you should talk to a lawyer to make sure they can't wiggle out in your case. - Mgm|^(talk) 18:17, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Balochistan

hi i m member of wikipedia and i want to help this website by editting more information but i m facing alots of difficults. please if someone help me to guide; how to use picture editting and other stuff, it will be great. thank you jungeeshah.

If you want to place images in articles, please see Wikipedia:Image tutorial. You would need to upload the image first and tag it correctly. What other difficulties are you facing? -- Lost^(talk) 15:49, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

That's quite a vague question. Our general help page is at Help:Contents. If you want to upload an image, see Wikipedia:Uploading images. For help putting an image into an article, see Wikipedia:Picture tutorial. If you have a more specific question then please ask again. --Cherry blossom tree 15:50, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Quoting BOOKS as references

Ok I read for some days about links and references and external links and all that, but no good 'this is how you do it' instructions. if i want to cite a book , but not in external links, as a reference,(using the " < ref > </ref >" thing (with page Nos specified ofcourse), how is it done? As i said, I read all the instruction articles but it is v confusing, so many differnt ways are described-its too much to understand.Thanks for helping.Iapethus 15:42, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

You can use the {{cite book}} template. See Template:Cite book for how to use that. If that seems too complicated then just include information about the book in the ref templates - at least the author and title but preferably the publisher and year also. Hope this helps. --Cherry blossom tree 15:48, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Coordinates

How do you add coordinates to the top of a page? (such as at the top of London). -- Casmith 789 16:18, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Casmith, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Geographical coordinates#Geo tag -- Lost^(talk) 16:35, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Specifically, this was used for London - -- Lost^(talk) 16:48, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks User:Lostintherush! You've been helpful -- I've gone and added it to Penmon (place) -- Casmith 789 16:54, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Password

You sent me an e-mail regarding a new password, and I sant a message back that I had a password and did not need a new one, well, I cannot find that password and wondered if you would send me a new one?

Sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused.

Thank you

Dorothy

My e-mail address is: <bloop>

Click the Sign in link at the top right, enter your username, and click "E-mail new password". -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:01, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] tarkhan

is tarkhan a turk tribe ?

This is the incorrect place to ask that particular question...Please feel free to ask here WP:RD at the reference desk. I am sure that they will be happy to help. Cheers!_Seadog ^♪ 19:28, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Categories -- adjusting alphabetical listing

When you click on the "categories" under which a given name which is the title of an entry/Wikipedia page appears, the name is listed in the category alphabetically under the first name, rather than the last name. How can this be fixed?

I don't know but may bee when adding the cat for George Bush type [[whatevercat:Bush, George]]. But I am not 100% sure when it comes to cats.-_Seadog ^♪ 19:42, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

A sort key can be added following the category, e.g. [[category:Presidents of the United States|Bush, George]]. See Wikipedia:Categorization#Category sorting. -- Rick Block (talk) 20:00, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Franchise in India (Punjab)

Chandigarh, India. Dated 24th November 2006

Dear Sir / Madam,

Best of the regards......

We are a registered company engaged in the field of educational guidance for Indian students for studies abroad. We are in this channel for the last four years and has a credit of dispatching more than 430 students during this period. The countries where were could get our students admitted include United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore and all the students are satisfied with our services being we provide free consultancy to them right from selection of the academic study course, country and institute / university along with professional guidance for visa stamping . We have a professional & competent team of 15 staff members which is always ready to provide professional and dedicated services to the students. We do have channel partners in the state of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh; all the three northern states of India; having rich potentials of students seeking admissions abroad…….

In the near future we have plans to spread our wings to adjoining states of Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan since these states do have a high potential of students who are interested to migrate to countries for higher education and greener pastures…..

We would, therefore, approach you for giving us authorization for recommending / selecting students on your behalf on the terms and conditions of your institute / college ie. Fee structure, basic qualifications for the various courses. In turn we would be interested to have the service charges (commission per student) from your institute after the student is admitted and he / she deposits the fee with the institute / college. We would be waiting for your reply at your earliest in this regards.

Thanking you and with kind regards.

Yours sincerely, HS BATTH For AJ World Wide Educational Services,

55, Sector-44A, Chandigarh-16 00 44 (INDIA)

Contact Phone: +91 - 981 536 0662 <e-mail removed due to spam>

Sorry to disappoint you, but we are not a university. We are just an online encyclopedia — Lost^(talk) 01:36, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wheeling Park High School

I saw this article in Special:Recent pages and noticed it was vandalized. I decided to put it on my watchlist in case more vandalism popped up, and it did. Now I'm sick of "babysitting" this article. Every few days a kid at this school decides to put unencyclopedic stuff (usually vanity) in the article. I can't put it on WP:AFD, since almost all schools are kept, and I don't think this article meets the criteria for protection (or even semi-protection) either. I would like some help (and/or advice) with this problem article. Thanks. —EdGl 20:14, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Not to worry...Most times vandalism is fixed instantly as it pops up on the recent changes list. All you have to do is revert. Cheers!__Seadog ^♪ 20:24, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Since this article is victim of continuous vandalism for several days, I think it qualifies for protection so I've semi-protected it to filter out the vandal IP edits. Note: If an article is the subject of vandalism, deleting it is not the solution. If you want to AFD it, it should be based on some other reason, but yes, unfortunately deletions of schools happen too rarely. (That's no opinion of this article. I haven't checked its contents). - Mgm|^(talk) 21:27, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. I was dubious as to whether or not someone would s-protect it, because I nominated Bomb to be s-protected recently (constantly vandalized) and they denied it for some reason. Anyway now I shouldn't have to worry about this article anymore. Thanks for taking this article off my hands. —EdGl 05:44, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Articles

Any article/category I make is either deleted or tagged for something that needs improving. How can I make sure this doesn't happen to me? Hmrox 21:30, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Try reading WP:IA__Seadog ^♪ 21:42, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

(after edit conflict) Very few articles are perfect on the first try - in fact I really don't think that's possible. You can, of course, aim to make a very good stub or even a full article by making sure it is well-sourced, is written in good style, and is on a noteworthy subject. In addition, it is a good idea to draft articles first (people often use subpages for this purpose) to make sure that there are no glaring coding errors. Overall, I wouldn't worry about having articles which need improvement. As long as you follow Wikipedia's policies and guidelines, you should be well on your way. —K e akealani 21:45, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Pretty much every editor here has at least one article of theirs been deleted. It happens to everybody...Most times it is a notibility but there are also hundreds of other reasons why articles get deleted. You just have to remember that it is not your fault and you did nothing wrong. Don't give up. Cheers!__Seadog ^♪ 22:35, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Well I think (not trying to be mean), if articles the OP's created have been deleted, s/he has done something wrong. Better understanding of WP:V, WP:NPOV, WP:NOT and WP:N will save the heartbreak and wasted time of creating an article that doesn't meet criteria for inclusion in Wikipedia. I agree though, s/he shouldn't give up. Anchoress 22:50, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 1500000 article

Hi there,

Wasn't there a page where users could guess when the 1500000th article was to be created. I remember something similar for the 1000000th article, but I can't remember the link.

Thanks.

I don't know if there was one for the 1.5, but there is Wikipedia:Two-millionth topic pool... —K e akealani 22:37, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] creating page

i have absolutly no idea how to create a page! HOW???????!

xxx

You may be interested in Help:Starting a new page and Wikipedia:Your first article. —K e akealani 22:15, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Won't link

Q: How do I link to a page that won't link? I'm trying to link to a page which exists, and it won't link. The page is Actors' Fund. Can't search for it either. Am I doing something wrong? 23:23, 24 November 2006 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by JohnClarknew (talk • contribs)

It's because the article hasn't been created yet. Kyo cat^{¿Qué tal?•meow!} 23:55, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

How can you say that? Type Actors' Fund on the search page, it won't come up, but the first item on the list 100% in blue is Actors' Fund, and click on it and there's the article! Try it! 00:17, 25 November 2006 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by JohnClarknew (talk • contribs)

The apostrophe used in the title upon the page's creation was non-standard (of the punctuation, as against the vertical typewriter, variety); I've moved the page from Actors’ Fund to Actors' Fund and I imagine that all should be well. Many thanks for the heads-up. :) Joe 00:27, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you Joe, you're a good guy :) I think there should be a warning about apostrophe's on the editing page. And tell that Kat's Meow :( that his previous answer must be be rated Poor. JohnClarknew 01:31, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, I'm sorry! I wasn't very awake at the moment. Sorry for displeaseing you....have a good day! Kyo cat^{¿Qué tal?•meow!} 02:02, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Personal history file

Is it possible to create a Personal file with all my favourite Wiki pages??

So I could access and see all the pages I've visited, that interested me, and that I want to keep track of.

thanks, Fernando—Preceding unsigned comment added by Paternostro (talk • contribs)

At the top of each page is a tab called "watch." Click that tab and it will add to your personal watchlist. When you want to view the pages on your watchlist click the "my watchlist" text at the top of the screen (next to "my preferences" and "my contributions").¤~Persian Poet Gal ^(talk) 00:47, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Unnamed question by 66.215.120.112

How can I get a search for "UPM" to link to Unit Production Manager? I tried to make a link using ]] on each side of UPM, when I imputted it on the Unit Production Manager page, but it still doesn't come up in a search.

I'm not quite sure what you're asking, but I think you'll either want to create a redirect page or make a piped link. —K e akealani 03:00, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your help!!