Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 August 13

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[edit] August 13

[edit] Can the Birthdate in Ida Lupino's article be correct?

I was going to ask at the reference desk, but this is also about the accuracy of the Ida Lupino article. It says she was born in 1918 and includes a reference from the General Register Office. Lupino appeared in films during 1933 and played romantic scenes with older men, the 1918 birthdate would mean she was only 15 years old (possibly 14) when she filmed those. Can that be the case? I think this would have created a scandal in 1930s England, and it would certainly be something that was mentioned in her biographies today, but I've never heard of this before. I think she was born in 1914, I would change the date but the General Register Office reference looks like a reliable source. 172.141.176.101 00:00, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

It probably wouldn't -- girls as young as 15 were routinely married even into the 1930's in England. However, I would still check into this if I were you. --Haemo 00:59, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Google searches find multiple sources for 1914 [1], 1916 [2] and 1918 [3]. [4] has the amusing formulation "Actress and film director Ida Lupino was born on the 4th February circa 1918". An alleged Register Office reference which may or may not exist, be accurate or be about this woman, is not enough to claim that contradicting reliable sources are wrong. If there is no near certainty of the right year then I think the article should reflect sources, for example by saying 1914, 1916 or 1918 according to different sources, with one source per year. PrimeHunter 01:02, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How do I cite a source for use in an article?

You know how whenever you start a new article, it says "Please cite your references or the article will most likely be deleted"? Well, how exactly do I cite a source. Do I just link to it under a header "References" or something? Thanks! ChipChamp 00:24, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

The most preferred method is to use <ref> tags, which create a footnote that can be displayed at the end of the article. WP:CITE gives you information on how to cite the source, and WP:FOOT gives you information on how to add those citations to footnotes. Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:35, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
A example reference would like this when in the edit box. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wikipedia.org/|title=Example|accessdate=2008-08-13}}</ref>. --Tλε Rαnδom Eδιτor (tαlk) 02:05, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Okay, thanks! :) If you wouldn't mind I have a fairly small other question... how do I make my name use a different font when I type in ~~~~ or be a different color? Or would this require another question? Thanks again! ChipChamp 15:03, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] decorative stars

what is the significance of the five-pointed stars hung on the outside of houses?

I think Barnstar has the information you seek. Future questions like this should go to the Wikipedia:Reference desk. Thanks.--Chaser - T 01:33, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pharis Aboobacker

the page about pharis aboobacker, the non resident keralite, when it was created

If you are asking "When was the Pharis Aboobacker article created?", the answer is that it was created on August 3. For future reference, you can find this information about any article by clicking the "history" tab near the top of the page. DH85868993 01:52, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
See Help:History for more information. Also see Help:Contents/Tracking changes for related information. The MediaWiki software that powers Wikipedia has very sophisticated tools for tracking changes, which the MediaWiki designers borrowed from previously developed revision control systems. This technology is critical to making Wikipedia work; without revision control, the project would probably unravel into complete chaos with 7,300,075 registered users and millions more unregistered users making changes. Thus if you are interested in how Wikipedia works, the more you know about revision control, the more sense this site will make. --Teratornis 02:45, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Harassment/Bullying

Hello,

I have posted scholarly, factual, cited, relevant, and neutral information on the topic of "Aisha." A user by the name of "Wassel" keeps blocking me. This is clearly a violation of free speech and of Wikipedia policy. How can he be prevented from his malevolent blockings? Is there anything I can do? THanks...Below is my exact post:

Muhammad married Aisha when she was six years old and had intercourse with her when she was nine. The Hadith of Sahih Bukhari, volume 7, no. 65 states, “Narrated Aisha that the prophet wrote the marriage contract with her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old.” Also again in volume 7, no. 88: “Narrated Urwa: "The prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death)."" And once more in volume 5, no. 234 this fact is confirmed. Another Hadith of the Sunan of Abu Dawud states in volume 2, no.2116, “"Aisha said, "The Apostle of Allah married me when I was seven years old." (The narrator Sulaiman said: "Or six years."). "He had intercourse with me when I was 9 years old."

Aisha had not yet reached puberty when she and Muhammad had intercourse according to the Hadith of Sahih Bukhari Vol8,Bk73,#151: "Narrated 'Aisha:I used to play with the dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girl friends also used to play with me. When Allah's Apostle used to enter (my dwelling place) they used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. (The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for 'Aisha at that time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.) (Fateh-al-Bari pg143,Vol.13) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Heymanyosup (talk • contribs).

Hi, while this is interesting you're probably looking for dispute resolution, not the Help Desk. We answer questions about Wikipedia; we're not really here to help solve editing disputes. --Haemo 01:52, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
(Edit Conflict)


When you add controversial information such as that, it needs to be very well sourced with easily verifiable sources. It looks like you tried to provide sources, but the sources you provided can't be easily checked against. Since they're not exactly from a neutral point of view, Wassel is removing the information which he probably views as vandalism, whether intended or not. You should probably discuss the changes with him on his talk page to avoid an edit war. It's greatly preferred to discuss conflicts before taking more forceful action. Hersfold (t/a/c) 01:58, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
For the record, Wasell is not an administrator and cannot block you. Wasell has warned you but you have only been blocked once and that was by Pepsidrinka [5]. The 24 hour block has expired. PrimeHunter 02:08, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] not sure how I can do this or even if I am allowed

I hope that I am putting this in the right place. Basically I am helping out a friend who has started a campaign on myspace to get the television licence in the UK abolished. They are hoping to get as many people to add them as possible and I said that I would help. I thought about adding a link to their myspace page in the links section of the wikipedia page on the television licence but I didnt know if this was allowed or even how to do it. Please can someone give me advice. Thanks.

Nope, we call that link spam. Wikipedia is not a soapbox, and we do not allow people to use the site for promotional uses. Thank you for asking, however. Hersfold (t/a/c) 02:13, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia as my Home Page

How do i make wikipedia as my home page on my computer?'

Depending on your browser, open your "Options..." or "Internet Options..." menu, and find the Home Page option. Click "Use Current Page" and apply the settings. For more information, check the help files on your internet browser. Hersfold (t/a/c) 02:19, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
You might find something helpful in Wikipedia:Browser notes. If you are running Firefox 2.0 as your browser, you can set your home page with: Tools | Options... | Main | Startup | Home page. The exact menu options to use will be different in every browser (in keeping with the unstated general rule in computing that everything must be incompatible with everything else). --Teratornis 02:39, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Most browsers allow you to drag the favicon (the little picture next to the URL) onto your home button, and this will set the homepage. Hope this helps. Capuchin 14:36, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] redirects

How can I redirect DOA3 and DOA 3' to Dead or Alive 3?

Go to the edit pages for those articles, then add #REDIRECT [[Dead or Alive 3]] to the very first line. It'll also help if you add one of the redirect type templates to the page. In this case, {{R from acronym}} would probably be best. Hersfold (t/a/c) 03:21, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Definition of 1275 Exchange

Hello,

I submitted the definition to 1275 exchange about 45 days ago and still has not cleared and it's not posted. WIll you please advise on what i did incorrectly?

Thank you, Larry MichaelsLarry 03:18, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you're asking. There are no articles at Definition of 1275 Exchange or 1275 Exchange, and the deletion log doesn't show that anything was there previously. Did you submit the article to Requested Articles or Articles for Creation? Hersfold (t/a/c) 03:23, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Your account was created July 22. Special:Contributions/Financialdude shows that on that day you uploaded a PDF file with a process intended for images. PDF files cannot be Wikipedia articles or be displayed in articles. Articles are written in a wikitext markup language. PrimeHunter 03:39, 13 August 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Large text

The text is too big how do i fix it it was normal before —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.118.105.172 (talk)

Try holding your CTRL key and scrolling up with your mouse wheel. Lara♥Love 04:21, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Need a reference librarian: help on filling out citation templates

Suppose I have an ISBN (e.g., ISBN 0395977894). Is there a website with relatively clean HTML/XML/Whatever output that will enable me to quickly generate this:

       
        {{cite book 
        | title     = Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
        | first     = Eric
        | last      = Schlosser
        | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Books
        | year      = 2001
        | id        = ISBN 0395977894
        }}

Perhaps you can see what I am getting at here. I am wondering if there is a quick way to turn an arbitrary ISBN into a filled-out WP cite template. I'm doing my due dilligence before undertaking to program this myself from scratch. dr.ef.tymac 04:33, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

That would be wonderful, but I honestly don't know of one. However, I'd say it's worth looking; I'll keep tabs on that because it would be incredibly useful. --Haemo 06:03, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
I think I found something. Yup, try this link:
   http://ottobib.com/isbn/0395977894/wp
For more details, see OttoBib.com. So nice not to have to re-invent the wheel. dr.ef.tymac 14:49, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Talk page after a page move

Resolved.

This is the second time this has happened, so I need to know how to avoid this in future. I moved The Glass Key (film) to The Glass Key (1935 film) so I could split off half of it to The Glass Key (1942 film). I then turned the original page into a dab. However, the talk page is linked somehow to The Glass Key (1935 film). Clarityfiend 05:53, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

It was a redirect; it looks like someone has fixed it now. --Haemo 06:01, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Yes, I've gone ahead and blanked the talk page (thus removing the redirect) in order to allow for it to be used as a talk page for the disambiguation page. In the future, just remove the redirect created there after it is created. --Nick—Contact/Contribs 06:02, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
So blanking the talk page of the old article doesn't affect the talk page of the new article? Clarityfiend 07:06, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Nope. By default, when you move a page, you also move its talk page. When moving any page (talk or main), you leave behind a redirect to the new location -- editing, replacing, deleting, or even moving this redirect won't have any direct impact on the originally moved page (or it's talk page). If there are incoming links to the old location, however, replacing the redirect may lead to some confusion, if people don't find what they're looking for. – Luna Santin (talk) 07:37, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Changing page heading

Hi,

When searching for something just now, I got a result with a title that each word should be capitalized, but it is not, and I'd like to edit that but can't figure out how to do it.

For example, I searched for "The Kings Of Classic Rock" and found the appropriate article, but the title was displayed as "The kings of classic rock"

How can I edit that so that each word is capitalized? I couldn't find how to do that in the help topics.

Thanks! Dmeros 05:58, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

You actually can't; you have to move the article. Try it for yourself, or if you're not able to, just leave a note here and someone will help you with it. --Haemo 06:00, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Sorry about that, I moved the page before I noticed the previous message. In the future, you can use the "move" tab to do what I did. See WP:NAME for details on how articles should be named. --Nick—Contact/Contribs 06:06, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fifth Wheel

When explaining Fifth Wheel you have ignored one very common meaning. It also means something useless or superfluous. In "Moby Dick" the author refers to the soul as the Fifth Wheel. Sentul 06:39, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

The "superfluous" meaning is contained in the Wiktionary entry for "fifth wheel", which is linked from Fifth wheel (disambiguation). It's more appropriate for this meaning to appear in Wiktionary, rather than Wikipedia, as outlined here. DH85868993 00:21, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Word User remains on my heading

My Wikipedia page is set up as 'User: Nick Wakeling' as opposed to 'Nick Wakeling'. The web address is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Nick_Wakeling; as opposed to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Wakeling. Consequently, I cannot search for Nick Wakeling, as I have to search for 'User: Nick Wakeling'. I have tried to work out how to edit this with no success.

Can you please advise how I can edit this to remove 'User:'.

Thanks

Well, User: Nick Wakeling is your user page. Nick Wakeling is an article about someone named Nick Wakeling. You can't remove the "User:" from your userpage, since that indicates what space it's in. If you were trying to write an article, you need to do it in the mainspace under Nick Wakeling. --Haemo 06:48, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Edit conflict Thanks for your question. That is not a problem; that is how it is supposed to be. Wikipedia has different "name spaces". The name space without a prefix is the main space. That space is for articles only. User pages created in the main space are generally deleted as the subject does not meet notability requirements for an article. The user space (all pages with the User: prefix) are for the creation of user-related profile pages. Your user page should be found at User:Nick Wakeling. For more information see WP:USERPAGE. --Nick—Contact/Contribs 06:53, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Also see Help:Namespace and Wikipedia:What is an article?. If you want to be able to search the User: namespace, you can set that option in your Preferences under the "Search" tab. --Teratornis 17:56, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Transition Equation

I WANT TO KNOW TRANSITION EQUATION " STAT OF MATTER" EQUATION IS F=C-P+2 DRUG SUBSTANCE CONSIDRATION STUDY AND IMPACT OF CRYSTALLIZATION, POLYMORPHISM, HYDRATES, HYGROSCOPITIY

The help desk is for answering questions about using Wikipedia. The reference desk may be able to help you with this, however, note that Wikipedia does not do homework. Lara♥Love 13:45, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] adress of m/s mannesmann analagebau AG , DORTMUND , GERMANY

help for adress of m/s mannesmann analagebau AG , DORTMUND , GERMANY


SIR WE HAVE PURCHASED TURBO BLOWER -7 FOR OUR STEEL PLANT AT BOKARO STEEL PLANT , INDIA. ORDER NO -- IPU NO -- TIP /G/31-23/82.6/239 AND THE SAME WAS COMMISSIONED IN 1989 / 90. REFRENCE DRG.NO WAS -- 480-1-012852-A FOR MATERIAL 10CRMO910. PRESENTLY IT HAS FAILED AND WE GOT IT'S COMPOSITION CHECKED . IT WAS FOUND THAT MATERIAL SUPPLIED WAS NOT AS PER SPECIFICATION. WE WANT FOLLOWING HELP 1) IF YOU CAN CHECK AND CONFIRM ABOUT THIS SUPPLY. 2) SEND US MAILING ADRESS OF CONCERNED ORGANISATION / INDIVIDUAL WHOM WE SHOULD CONTACT 3)ANY FURTHER COMMENT FROM YOUR SIDE

EXPECTING YOUR REPLY

B D SINGH DY.GENERAL MANAGER (SAFETY) SAIL SAFETY ORGANISATION , ranchi , india

This page is for Wikipedia-related questions only. And can we not use full-capitals please? Thanks, Lradrama 11:48, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] how to link an image to a internal page?

Hi,

I wanted to know how to use an image on clicking on which takes you to another page.

You may use internal hyperlinks in the image-caption for that purpose. I don't know if the image itself can act as a link, as far as I know it can only link to a bigger version of the image with its relevant details. Lradrama 11:49, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
It can be done, but the syntax is not intuitive, and doing this can violate the copyright conditions on the image (and is also inappropriate for articles). If you're interested, see mw:Extension:ImageMap (which is installed on Wikipedia). ais523 13:29, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Uploading audio files

Hello, I have a recordings of the Parsi Jashan prayers which if linked to the Jashan page in Wikidedia could add value for readers. I have already contributed photos and made edits to various pages but need guidance to properly upload and link audio files. Grateful if you could post such instructions. Thanks, Hoorob

Sounds follow the same rules as images; go to the upload wizard in order to upload them. Wikipedia accepts sound files in the .ogg format (see the linked article for more information); to add them to an article, use the {{listen}} template (and follow that link for information on its syntax). Hope that helps! ais523 14:20, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How do i link an image to another existing internal page?

How do i link an image to another existing internal page?

See above :-) Melsaran 12:19, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Take a look at {{click}}. --Tλε Rαnδom Eδιτor (tαlk) 15:45, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Editing main page

Is it possible for me to add a topic of my own, on the main page of Wikipedia? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Msdaif (talk • contribs).

The only articles shown on the main page are featured articles. That means the article has been written to such a good standard that Wikipedia is confident enough to display it to people accessing the main page. Getting an article to featured article status takes time and certainly doesn't happen over-night. Please see Wikipedia:Featured article. Lradrama 13:09, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Not really. New articles can also appear on the Main Page by submitting them to DYK. --Boricuaeddie 15:03, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
See also Wikipedia:In the news section on the Main Page and Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries. PrimeHunter 17:28, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] who?

who is the publisher of the website —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.107.235.121 (talk • contribs)

Have you read WP:VFAQ? -- Kainaw(what?) 13:40, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
There is also an About Wikipedia link at the bottom of every page here. --Teratornis 17:49, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Question on Image

I tried to put three pictures on the Montezuma, Colorado page. However, it just comes up as a link, and when one clicks on the link it only directs the user to an upload page. I've already uploaded the images to Wikipedia. What am I doing wrong?

McManus42 13:34, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Click the "Upload file" link on the menu bar to the left of your screen. You have to upload images to the site before you can post them in articles. See WP:IMAGES. Lara♥Love 13:37, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
You uploaded the files with the extension "JPG" and then tried to add them to the article with the extension "jpg". Case matters. -- Kainaw(what?) 13:38, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Spam blacklist?

Over the past 2 weeks or so, spammers at random IP addresses have been inserting links to a gambling blog into gambling-related articles, like this. It is getting to be very annoying. If I'm not mistaken, there is a spam blacklist, but I am not sure how to go about reporting this. Help? ♣♦ SmartGuy ♥♠ 14:26, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

There's a global spam blacklist across all Wikimedia wikis at m:Spam blacklist (on Meta); you can propose an addition to it at m:Talk:Spam blacklist, where a Meta admin will add your suggestion to the blacklist for you (or explain why they won't add it). Note that accounts on Meta are separate from accounts on Wikipedia, and you will need to sign up for an account there if you haven't already. ais523 14:42, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
cool, I'll give that a go, thanks ♣♦ SmartGuy ♥♠ 14:48, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The name Emma

What is the name short for? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.68.8.235 (talk • contribs)

Did you consider typing Emma in the search box and clicking "go"? You'll see a disambiguation link that takes you to Emma (name) and then get your answer a lot faster than waiting for this reply. -- Kainaw(what?) 14:48, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] NavFrame Setup on private Wiki site?

Trying to create a collapsible table on a private Wiki site I setup for internal use.

I did run across the help reference to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NavFrame, however whenever I follow the example and use:

There is no "hide/show" option displayed, it only shows the text on my mediawiki web site.

Wondering if there is something special I need to download and add to the wiki site for common files, or if there is a feature that needs to be enabled or if this is suppose to work out of the box? The installation and setup all completed successfully, and everything appears to be working fine.. it's just the simple show/hide collapsible table thing isn't working. Cider2007 15:26, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

It appears on my screen. I've altered the code so that it is initially collapsed - see if that helps. Hersfold (t/a/c) 16:05, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

On this wikipedia site, the collapse feature works fine. However, it's on my own personal wiki site I setup that it is not working as I expected it to. This may be the wrong place to ask, but I figured if it is then perhaps someone could direct me to where I would need to go if this is an "Admin Setup" type of issue.--Cider2007 16:27, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm afraid we're only able to offer assistance with the English Wikipedia. This site should be able to provide you with some assistance on using the MediaWiki software, if that's what you are using. Hersfold (t/a/c) 16:33, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm using the same software this site is running under, to my knowledge. If you look at the lower right of this page it shows the icon "Powered by MediaWiki" which is the same thing I'm running my site under. Perhaps I'm mistaken, or perhaps I'm confused. ;) Are they not the same? It is the "English" version also. --Cider2007 16:42, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

I think I'm closing in on the problem, but not sure what's the best approach to the solution.

If you look at the help link I referenced above, it talks about the NavFrame. In the top section of the web page that talks about the NavFrame, it talks about the technical parts being located in the "MediaWiki:Common.css" and "MediaWiki:Common.js".

I found the "Common.css" located under /skins/common. However, "Common.js" does not exist anywhere in the tree structure.

My first thought is to just copy and paste the content from both the .css and .js and call it a day, but not sure if the .js requires a specific "Import" request or not. As well as the question that surfaces to my mind, why is the .css different than what is referenced here on the site? I downloaded the latest builds when I installed it. Everything installed fine.

Perhaps there is a different version that this site runs under? --Cider2007 16:56, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia is a heavily extended and customized instance of MediaWiki. When you download and install MediaWiki, you start out with an extremely bare-bones wiki by comparison to Wikipedia. If you are used to editing on Wikipedia, you may keep running into missing features on your wiki. Figuring out how to copy those features from Wikipedia to your own wiki is likely to keep you busy for a while. (It would be nice if some of the thousands of people who are each reinventing this particular wheel would collaboratively edit a "How to make your wiki something like Wikipedia" page - or maybe someone already has.) You may find some useful information under:
I myself have not fiddled with copying the NavFrame stuff to some corporate wikis I administer, but one of my co-workers has looked at this a little. I'll ask him if he has a any tips. Here's what I can tell you off the top of my head: MediaWiki:Common.css is a page in the MediaWiki: Namespace. The MediaWiki:Common.css page on Wikipedia contains many customizations. You will need to copy some of them to the MediaWiki:Common.css page on your wiki. (This is not a file system copy, but a page you edit through the wiki interface. You have to be a sysop user on your wiki to edit your MediaWiki:Common.css, but the instance on Wikipedia is readable (and thus copyable) by all.) To ask questions of other MediaWiki sysop-type users, see:
And see my useful search links, especially these two:
With those two searches you can usually find some mention of your current problems with MediaWiki, since those two wikis have a lot of material written by people who are running their own MediaWiki wikis. --Teratornis 18:29, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Another hint: compare the Special:Version page on Wikipedia to the one on your wiki. That will show you the extensions Wikipedia has that you don't. You also need to make sure your MediaWiki version is the latest release, especially to get the newer features on Wikipedia to work on your wiki. Wikipedia usually runs a MediaWiki version that is a little newer than the stable version you can download, so sometimes you cannot get the very latest gee-whiz feature from Wikipedia until the downloadable version catches up. --Teratornis 18:35, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
I have set up Wikipedia:NavFrame on several wikis. I am not sure which version of MediaWiki you need, I know it doesn't work with 1.7.1 so try a later version. (It is best to use the newest version, mw:Manual:Upgrading) You need elements from MediaWiki:Common.css and MediaWiki:Common.js. Copying them over completely should work, make sure you remove the tags for mw:Extension:SyntaxHighlight_GeSHi unless you have that extension installed. Copying features from Wikipedia is not an exact science it takes a lot of fiddling around to get the features working properly. --IMandIR 18:50, 13 August 2007 (UTC)


Thank you all for your insight and knowledge on the topic. I kept digging until I found what I needed. I did have the latest "stable" release which is 1.10.1 on the MediaWiki site.

After reading through some of the content again on that page, I ran across a reference to 7.6 ...doesn't this work? It works on Wikipedia! and it basically told me what was mentioned above--a lot of the wiki sites run a modified version that is newer than the latest stable release.

Armed with this info, I went and downloaded the latest "Alpha" version out of the SVN and upgraded my site to this. WHen I went to the site, it said the wiki has not been setup yet.. go configure it. So I did. ;) Glad I did though, as it updated the MySQL with the latest changes. The features still didn't work though.

I created the "Common.js" in the /skins/common folder, and it still didn't work. I'm sure there was probably some way I am suppose to add a reference to the .js file, but I don't know where.

I was reading through the comments of the Common.js reference on MediaWiki and discovered some references to functions that will basically overwrite those in "wikibits.js" so I did what I do best and modified the wikibits.js file and updated all the functions from the Common.js and added the missing functions and code calls.

The collapsable table now works as I wanted. =) Thanks again for all your help. I hope this may be of use to others, however with my luck they'll probably be releasing the latest latest version which will include all these changes and stuff..tomorrow. ;) Who knows, but I'm happy it's working now!--Cider2007 19:37, 13 August 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Converting an image to a .png

I've uploaded an image, at Image:EdenMaineLogo.png. I was hoping that doing so as a .png would make the white background transparent, but I was wrong. Anyway, is there somewhere that I can request somebody help me out with regards to this? Getting the white to transparent, that is. Seegoon 16:28, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately, no. Since that image is copyrighted, we are unable to make any modifications to it without permission from the copyright holder. Sorry. Hersfold (t/a/c) 16:30, 13 August 2007 (UTC)


[edit] How to make new page?

I want to make a new page for a band.. how can i?

See Your first article for information on how to write it. Please make sure your band is notable before you write the article, and that you don't have any conflict of interest, or the article may be deleted. Hersfold (t/a/c) 17:24, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How do editors set the descriptive text that appears in a Google search result for a Wikipedia article?

When a Wikipedia article shows up in a Google search the text describing the article frequently doesn't appear in the article, and is obviously written specifically for people searching. How is this text added to an article? 172.212.54.153 18:10, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean. Google searches the text of the article for relevant search terms - if the text cited in the search results does not appear in the article, it's probably because Google is reading an older, cached version of the page. As far as I am aware, there is no "special text" that is provided solely for search engines to use. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:14, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
What appears in Google is what's in the article when its bot index the page. The search engine just chooses where about in the article it start showing you the content preview in the search result. What it shows you is affected by your search term(s). KTC 18:17, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
You might have to give an example of the sort of text you see. The most likely explanation is that it's determined by Google. On the other hand it could be text from an old (cached) revision of the article or it could be the keywords which (if I remember correctly) are randomly selected from the linked words in the article. --Cherry blossom tree 18:19, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
The questioner may be asking about text that Google Search sometimes displays from the Open Directory Project (see Open Directory Project#Content users. Of course the questioner should have illustrated this with a link to an example search, so someone could figure out what he or she was talking about. --Teratornis 19:17, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Language bots

Hi! In the last few months I've created many articles that are translations of other language Wikipedia versions or just have a parallel version in one or many languages. I always provide the interwiki link to the other language page on the page here, but I don't always link the other language versions back to the one I created (espically when there are a lot of languages).

I've seen bots adding languages many times before, so my question is this: How do I get the interwiki link adding bot to automatically add them for the pages I create, because it apparently doesn't automatically do it. Hope that question's clear. Thanks! -Theanphibian (talk • contribs) 18:21, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

You might want to try talking with the operator of one of those bots. You can find interwiki bots by checking this page and searching for the word "interwiki". Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:28, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Deleted article requests

I would like the following articles I have written or made major contributions to that have been deleted as non-notable or crystal ball sent to me to post in my sandbox:

  • Emily Schwartz
  • Kara Hartzler
  • List of Monster in My Pocket characters
  • Earl Zea

Thanks. --Scottandrewhutchins 18:25, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

You should talk to the deleting administrator. Admins can view and restore deleted articles. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:29, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
The appropriate admins are: User:(aeropagitica) User:Flowerparty User:Coredesat and either User:Sasquatch or User:Wizardman, respectively. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:32, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
You can request this at Wikipedia:Deletion review#Content review. --Cherry blossom tree 18:33, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Suggestion for Navigation improvement

Hey, I had a suggestion about wikipedia. I think, that while browsing, reading things, and clicking on links to other things you have found while reading an article, it would be convenient to have a toolbar or notepad on the side or toolbar to be able to drag a link onto so that you can finish reading your article and then just click on the link in the toolbar and go straight there, so you dont forget...—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.181.152 (talk • contribs).

Hi. I think a better place for this post is at Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals). If you do post there, please give your post a descriptive title (I have provided one for you here), by typing it surrounded by two equal signs (==headline text==) and you should also sign your post by typing four tildes at the end (~~~~) which automatically formats to your signature when you save. Right now you are identified by your ip address. You might consider registering for an account, which has many benefits. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit 21:37, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
The feature you request sounds like the history feature already available in modern Web browsers such as Firefox. In Firefox you can select History | View in Sidebar, and see a list of all the pages you have viewed today, and in the previous several days. You can also bookmark any page in your browser. There are limits to the number of user-interface features Wikipedia can add, because Wikipedia is just a Web site and it relies on the thin client known as your Web browser to handle the interface. Also see Wikipedia:Browser notes. --Teratornis 22:45, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Committed Identity

Hello, how do you create a committed identity thing, and what is it? Thanks, Neranei talk 19:32, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Have a look at Template:User_committed_identity -- KTC 19:34, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
I am not quite sure how to use it. Could you explain? Thanks, Neranei talk 19:37, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Try following the How section of that page, it does a better job of explaining than I can. Feel free to ask if you have any problem with any of its specific point. KTC 21:32, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Thanks, I appreciate the help. Neranei talk 02:20, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] providing shelter and eventual peprminent housing for abused children in Black, low income areas

I am a 53 year old disabled woman living on a fixed income of $760. per month and am looking to set up a non-profit organization to buy a city block of land located in a poor, mostly African American neighborhood which was affected tremendously by Hurricane Katrina. It is my desire to zero in on the abused children. South Misissippi has a severe housing problem and the poor and low income victims of Hurricane Katrina have the worst quality of life and very little hope of ever seeing homes of their owns. I want to shelter the families of abused children and ultimately (within one or two years) provide affordable housing for 100 to 200 persons.

I need to set up a non-profit organization with which to solicit funding from charitable Foundations. I do not know how to do this, but I do have access to the land, location and abused children. can you advise me. Thank you, Katie King

I'm sorry, but we are only able to provide assistance with use of the English Wikipedia, and cannot offer legal advice. I applaud you for your intentions, but I'm afraid we can't help you. I would suggest you speak with a lawyer or legislator - they may be able to help you get your project started. Hersfold (t/a/c) 20:20, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Renaming

I would like to know how to rename a page I inserted, Network file control, it should be Network File Control. The last two words show under case and should have been upper case.

I've fixed it for you. In the future, you can rename pages by clicking the "move" tab at the top of the page. If you don't see it now, that's because your account must be at least four days old for security reasons. Happy editing! Hersfold (t/a/c) 20:17, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
However, watch out for peacock language: "dramatic," "significant," "unprecedented." Instead of extolling the greatness of the article's subject in vague terms, it would be better to quantitatively state whatever it improves over whatever technology it replaces, and allow the reader to decide for himself or herself how impressed to feel. This is especially true for topics in computing, where the relentless progress of Moore's Law turns every bit of today's gee-whiz technology into tomorrow's junk in just a few years. See: WP:PEACOCK and WP:DATED. --Teratornis 21:21, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] PLEASE HELP

I havd not logged in for more than a couple of years. There used to be a page with my bio ...Claude Kagan, it seems to have vanished. I tried logging in, failed, I tried to create a new account and I cannot read the puzzling words to complete the login. I have very lw vision and cannot read , Ihave to listen to what I can find when I find it. I cannot hack your help system and read, or rather listen to the entire page. So someone please give me real help.

This is my last hope.

I have not changed my email in the last six years that I have had it. it is:

(removed by Kuronue 19:58, 18 August 2007 (UTC) to prevent spam)

I know that you people are volunteers and you have helped me in the past when I was les helpless.

I contributed a number of items including the sam76, globotype, stinging nettles, additions to Harrow school. and wish to add one more to harrow school pertaining changes I have noted since I was a boy there in 1938 and visited with my grand son last summer in 2006.

So someone take pity, sned me a direct email, and arrange for me to be able to login without having to play gavmes with nonsensical jumbled characters.

Other than perhaps keeping little children out, I cannot imagine what good they do.

Claude A. R. Kagan, aka Claude A. Kagan, Aka Claude Kagan

I cannot proffread this stuff so if there are typos in it , I am on my knees pleading fro forgiveness, if that does not work I will accept a caning.

Cordially Claucee kagan

[edit] Advertising in User pages

What should I do when I find a User page that is blatant advertising? For a general article, I know I can flag it for deletion (Speedy or AfD), but what about user pages? I've seen 3 such pages in the past week or so -- they're outside the scope of Speedy or AfD, and the users in question have (so far) not vandalized any articles or violated any policies in the Article space. Should I edit their user pages and risk an edit war? Should I report them to Administration? So many choices. HalJor 22:58, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:User page and Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion. PrimeHunter 23:18, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Actually, the "blatant advertising" speedy criterion, G11, applies to *any* page in any namespace, so you can tag it with {{db-spam}}. Confusing Manifestation 23:19, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
Thanks. Oddly, that isn't explicit at WP:SPEEDY. Since there are separate sections for Articles, Redirects, etc., it makes sense now that "General Criteria" would apply to any page. HalJor 02:15, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
You're right. That's the idea, but it's not exactly spelled out. Well, one easy way to fix that ... Confusing Manifestation 04:12, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nicky Wu's article

Resolved. Andyreply 23:07, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

I have a problem. The article on Nicky Wu has a reference, but it says it has no references! Is someone trying to get the article removed?

The article requires citations not just the one reference that is on the article, where it says "citation needed" are areas that need proof that it is fact from a 3rd party website as well as any other place deemed necesary, for more info on citing articles please see WP:CITE. Hope this helps. Andyreply 23:07, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wikis

{{helpme}} How many kinds of wikis are there? To be more specific, how many versions of wikipedia are there? There may be hundreds of wikis out there!

See m:List_of_Wikipedias KTC 23:16, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
There must be thousands of wikis. See List of wikis for some of the more notable, and http://wikiindex.org for a lot more. PrimeHunter 23:22, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
It looks like WikiIndex currently lists 3,850 wikis (WikiIndex only lists public wikis; there are probably thousands more not accessible to the public). As for the kinds of wikis, see: list of wiki software, comparison of wiki software, corporate wiki, structured wiki, bliki, semantic wiki, and {{Wiki topics}} to get you started. --Teratornis 05:56, 14 August 2007 (UTC)