Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 August 29

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[edit] August 29

[edit] Uploading information about self

…Fiona Campbell 02:34, 29 August 2007 (UTC)÷Fiona Campbell 02:34, 29 August 2007 (UTC)I am an academic and wish to upload biographical information about myself. I have written the text in Ms Word format. I am unclear how to upload it. I have searched the site but am confused!!!!!!

Wikipedia's file uploading feature is for images and sound files, not documents (such as pdfs and word documents). To put the text on Wikipedia, you would need to create an article. However, we have some fairly strict guidelines about writing about yourself (specifically at WP:AUTO and WP:COI), and about writing about people without an assertion of notability (at WP:BIO, and without seeing your details I can't say whether or not you would pass this or not). You're best off putting a request somewhere like the Drawing board, including enough detail to demonstrate your notability, and let someone else take it from there. Confusing Manifestation 04:31, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
See the similar question above: #Automated text and article uploads to Wikibooks. --Teratornis 18:06, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Help with wikitables

i put one on my page, it isn't working properly, could somebody please fix it?

it only will take a few minutes/seconds for an experienced formatter.

Aeryka the Gnome 02:40, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

How's that? Note that if your screen isn't wide enough, the cells will overlap (you might be able to get around that with a scrollbar). I don't know why there's so much white space under the "VMK" userbox. DH85868993 05:59, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Upon closer inspection, the whitespace appears to be within the VMK userbox. DH85868993 06:05, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] tiger oak wood

Hi I have been trying to find out about tiger oak furniture and either dont know how or there is no information about it —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chefkingfish1 (talk • contribs) 03:06, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

A Google search on Wikipedia finds only one article that mentions "tiger oak": Slippery Noodle Inn. Try google:"tiger oak". --Teratornis 18:04, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] pakistan

who is the first governer of pakistan? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.63.226.9 (talk) 03:54, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

This question should properly be asked at Wikipedia:Reference desk, but I can answer it anyway: The first Governor-general of independent Pakistan was Mohammed Ali Jinnah, generally regarded as the leader of the Pakistan movement. More information at Governor-General of Pakistan.Hornplease 04:22, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Want to close my account. Forgot username and password.

Please help. Thanks. Jo —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.103.143.9 (talk) 04:02, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

See right to vanish. An account cannot be deleted because all contributions must be attributed to an editor. --Hdt83 Chat 06:56, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Posting contents in wikipedia

We do have a product with us which helps to improve the work flow of any organization. My question is how can i post the information relating this BPM product in wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by QBizTech (talk • contribs) 04:38, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

While our notability guideline for software is apparently defunct, the general criteria still apply. If you can provide neutral, third-party source demonstrating the notability of the software, then you're on the way to creating an article that won't get deleted within thirty seconds. Once you've gotten that far, you'll be wanting to actually create the article, which is where some of the following documents will come in handy:
That's a lot of bedtime reading for you, but don't worry, we don't bite, so feel free to keep asking questions here, or on the talk pages of editors demonstrating a willingness to help (like me), or go to your own talk page and add {{helpme}} along with a question and someone will come along.
Although one thing may be an issue - your username is possibly not the best choice, as it suggests a role account (i.e. one account acting for a group of people, such as a corporation), and these are generally not allowed. See also Wikipedia:Sock puppetry#'Role' accounts. You may want to request a username change, and also declare any conflicts of interest you may have when editing. Otherwise, happy editing! Confusing Manifestation 05:47, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Extreme sports

about extreme sports —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.53.134.200 (talk) 06:08, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

See extreme sports. Your "question" exhibits extreme vagueness. --Teratornis 17:32, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Themlink - title spell and font error

How to correct the topic spelling and font size errors? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.11.52 (talk) 06:11, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

You got confused by all the redirects! You just have redirects from TheMLink to Themlink, and from Themlink to TheMLink. I have fixed them both to point to TheMlink. Neil ム 11:35, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Account created year ago exists or maybe it doesn't

I've made only one lifetime edit to wikipedia (I think it was on one of the chemical sugars) and that was in April of 2006. I believe I created the account "Walker W" at the time, seemingly corroborated by a page showing a user creation for Walker W of April 26, 2006. Apparently, I created the account without giving an email, because I get a message "Error sending mail: There is no e-mail address recorded for user "Walker W.", but I've tried all the usual passwords and can't get in. I'd be happy to create another account, but the similar name walkerw is not allowed because it is too close to Walker W. I would like to create an account and a user page and include an email [email address removed] when I do. walkerw probably makes the most sense to me as a user name, and it appears that there is little associated with the Walker W. account which probably should be deleted or its record merged with the new one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.207.79.223 (talk) 06:21, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Hi Walker. I have created an account for you under the username User:Walkerw and the email address you have provided. An email should go to that address with the login details. The old account can just stay, no harm will come of it. Neil ム 11:33, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] golabalistion

what is the effect of globalisation in economic world please explain in detail


and the causes of the globalisation


202.54.42.17 06:53, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

See the article on globalisation. :) --Hdt83 Chat 06:54, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] deliting the data in the hard drive

how to delete the data present in the hard drive


altouh it is recovered when recovered from the software

pls guide me —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.54.42.17 (talk) 06:57, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Please ask your question at the computing reference desk - go here: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing. They are more likely to be able to help. Neil ム 11:30, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
The Shredding article may get you started. --Teratornis 17:30, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Delete an image

I uploaded an image by mistake, can it be deleted pls? The deletion process is too intricate to read through. I just made a mistake uploading and now i need to delete the image. —Preceding unsigned comment added by AdamSurch (talk • contribs) 11:18, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

No problem, Adam. Done. Neil ム 11:28, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sinebot duplicating me

When I sign using the four tildes (as instructed) in a discussion (Talk), I find that the sinebot adds another signature. Both my signature and the sineobt-added signature appear. Am I doing something wrong? How can I get this annoyance to stop? DCDuring 11:40, 29 August 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by DCDuring (talk • contribs)

You must use a signature which links to your user page. Go to Special:Preferences. If you don't want to customize your signature then just leave the signature box empty and uncheck "Raw signature". PrimeHunter 11:51, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
I had done this and have done it again. A question below (about IP address being disclosed) seems like a related problem. It may be that my PC has a trojan horse. DCDuring 18:26, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
The question about IP addresses is unrelated, since it simply has to do with the way Wikipedia identifies contributions by editors who are logged out. His problem with logging out is a local computer problem. Your problem is that a signature that does not link to your user page is not considered by SineBot to have been signed. You really should be linking to your user page as that is the purpose of signing. This is an on-Wikipedia problem caused by your lack of a link; nothing on your computer could affect SineBot. Leebo T/C 18:46, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
I'm a bit late to the party here, but did you perhaps check the box in your preferences marked "Raw signature"? If so, then either try unchecking it, or replacing the name in the signature box with a full wiki-link, i.e. [[User:DCDuring|DCDuring]]. Confusing Manifestation 22:54, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
DCDuring's latest contributions already have a correct user page link.[1] PrimeHunter 23:08, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
What is the default for that checkbox? Checked or unchecked? In other words, did my clumsy fingers or inattentive brain do this to me or can I blame the design of the preferences page?
In other words, was it my fault or Wikipedia's default? DCDuring 23:50, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
It was unchecked when I created my account, and I assume unchecked is default (or at least meant to be default) for all new accounts. I rarely see unlinked user names. But you could try blaming a hacker or developer ;-) PrimeHunter 00:53, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
It doesn't seem to be uncommon for some of the checkboxes in the preferences to be clicked either by accident or without people understanding what it's for, as evidenced by the many occasions when someone asks a question that indicates they checked the "use external application to edit" box. Confusing Manifestation 00:59, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
You can also opt-out of Sinebot. Add Category:Users who have opted out of automatic signing to your userpage. --Haemo 01:03, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How do you look up the plural of a word?

--206.57.42.130 11:48, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

In print dictionaries, this information is usually found after the entry for the term in singular. Many online dictionaries follow this practice. For one example, dictionary.com--but note that this particularly dictionary does not usually include the plural when it is achieved by the simple addition of "s". If I've misunderstood your question, please clarify, and I'll try again. :) --Moonriddengirl 12:13, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
I'd probably use Wiktionary. Cheers, WODUP 12:19, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Good point. You'll get it without all the lovely pop ups. --Moonriddengirl 12:22, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Look up Plurals

How do you look up the plural of any given word withing Wikipedia to determine if it is a add an "s" or drop a letter and add "ies"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rtbiii (talk • contribs) 12:20, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Well, Wikipedia's an encyclopedia; it may or may not list the plural form of a word within it. Wiktionary's a dictionary, though, and is sure to have the plural you're looking for. WODUP 12:26, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Management Diamond

I tried to create a new page - "Management Diamond" - which refers to a management model described in a book by the same title, but the name was protected (without any such page or log). Please advice!

GEFU —Preceding unsigned comment added by GEFU (talk • contribs) 12:45, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Your account needs to be four days old before you can create a page. You created the account at 12:23, 29 August 2007, so you won't be able to create the article for four days. You might want to try at Wikipedia:Articles for creation, they will create the article and you can edit it. Woodym555 13:17, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Users can create articles immediately after registering, there's no waiting period like for moving pages or editing semi-protected pages. What was the exact name of the article? Are you sure it's not a protected title? Leebo T/C 13:32, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
How did you try to create it and what exactly happened? Management Diamond is not protected. PrimeHunter 14:53, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] INTRODUCTION to Wikipedia page creation: wrong link

Please check the link and content from INTRODUCTION on how to create a page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Introduction which currently links to information on: Massage Practice

Many thanks, Campbell Warden —Preceding unsigned comment added by CampbellWarden (talk • contribs) 13:36, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

The area at the bottom of the Introduction page is a sandbox, meaning it's a place for people to experiment with editing a Wikipedia page that will not remain permanently. Someone chose to experiment with some text related to massage practice. It will be cleaned out eventually, or you could remove it yourself. Leebo T/C 13:43, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Spam question

what are the guidelines for avoiding an article being flagged as spam?--Rsreams 13:45, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Hi Rsreams. Basically, don't write an article that reads like an advert! See our policy on advertising. Neil ム 13:47, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
(edit conflict) Articles are tagged as spam when they are created solely for the purpose of promoting the subject, rather than discussing the subject in a neutral manner. The best way to avoid creating an article that reads like spam is to refrain from using advertorial text (like you'd hear in a commercial) and to give appropriate weight to all aspects of the subject. If it's a company or product, things like prices and services are rarely encylopedic, and should be left out. Lastly, as with all articles, the information should be based on what can be found in reliable independent sources. Leebo T/C 13:51, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

ok this I can follow to some degree, but cannot see how the article I've written is considered Advertsing? According to wikipedia "Advertising is paid, one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled. Variations include publicity, public relations, product placement, sponsorship, underwriting, and sales promotion. Every major medium is used to deliver these messages, including: television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, the Internet (see Internet_advertising), and billboards." —--Rsreams 13:55, 29 August 2007 (UTC)Preceding unsigned comment added by Rsreams (talk • contribs) 13:54, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Yes, that's a literal definition of advertising. If you're getting caught up on the "paid" part, things tagged as spam don't have to actually be advertising in a literal sense, they just have to meet our definition of spam, which I gave you above. Something can read like advertising while not actually being a literal paid advertisement. It mostly has to do with the neutrality of the article. Also, it would help us if you could identify the article you wrote which was tagged as spam so we can assess it. Leebo T/C 13:57, 29 August 2007 (UTC)


I'm not caught up on the paid part - the article is Santa Wheels and was immediately flagged with a spam flag which leads me to think it was through some automated process. The first article I added was deleted by a 'bot' within 12 hours of it's creation for lack of notability not giving me a chance to correct - now I have the 'spam; flag. The article is written in the third person in a reporting manner and does not solicit any action on the part of the reader - it's simply meant to be informative. I added two site links as instructions seem to favor providing sources - I'm wondering if this is the problem and should be deleted. thanks for your help.--Rsreams 14:06, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Your first article was not deleted by a bot, bots can't delete. It was deleted by an administrator named SchuminWeb. Your Santa Wheels article was tagged by a user named Cholmes75, but I don't really agree with him that it is blatant spam. I'll review it and get back to you. Leebo T/C 14:14, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your help I'll wait to hear from you--Rsreams 14:21, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

I've invited the user to respond on the article's talk page. Let's continue the discussion there. Leebo T/C 14:25, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Which currency to use on Wikipedia?

In articles on European football transfers some amounts are in Euro's, some in British Pounds, and others even in dollars, or local currencies. I've tried to search wikipedia for a solution but can't find any.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruud_van_Nistelrooy#Manchester_United in pounds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_football_transfer_record in euro's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LA_Galaxy in dollars

Is it custom to stick to one currency, EU euro, US dollar, GB pound sterling? Or all relevant? (For instance when clubs from two countries are involved). And if so, does one use the exchange rates of the day of transfer, or one that is updated regularly according to contemporary rates? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tomroes (talk • contribs) 13:56, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Let me say right up front that I'm still a Wikipedia novice, so do not take my comments below as gospel. Other more experienced editors are very welcome to refute what I write.
This is tricky, in part because Euros have only been a common currency since 2002. Based on WP:$, my guess is to use whatever currency was being used by the original sources. The transactions themselves are in specific currencies, so it's best to report those (and let readers, if they so desire, make calculations on their own). My guess is that those articles use different currencies because those are the forms of money used in each transaction. (It makes sense that the L. A. Galaxy, based in the US, would use US dollars.)
If a transaction happened after 2002 and you want to standardize Wikipedia's reporting of them, one approach would be to choose one standard to serve as the foundation (let's say Euros for the sake of example). Each page, then, should use whatever currency was delineated in the original sources, with exchange info – how much it would be in 2007 Euros, say – included in parentheses for purposes of reference.
For instance, the page on Ruud van Nistelrooy says he "signed for…£19 million…." This might be written as "signed for…£19 million (28 million Euros)…." This may cause confusion, however, since the Euro didn't enter mass markets until a year later. — Scartol · Talk 14:23, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Fortunately, because WP depends heavily on verification and reliable sources, many times, the question of which currency to use can easily be resolved by simply using whatever convention is used in the citations and references upon which the WP article relies for substantiation.
Also, there are suggestions and guidelines posted in the various sections of the Manual of Style. Good question, HTH. dr.ef.tymac 14:10, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] right triangle

If the base is 26 ft. long and the height is 44 ft.. What is the length of the hypotenuse? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.222.42.74 (talk) 14:03, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Hi! Have you tried the Reference Desk? We specialise in questions about how to use Wikipedia. Also, remember to do your own homework, but you may want to take a look at Pythagoras' Theorem. :-) Stwalkerster talk 14:08, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Google Search has a calculator: google:sqrt(26^2+44^2)= which yields 51.1077294 --Teratornis 17:21, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wrong language name

In the front page and the list of the Wikipediagateway is the name of the Persian language wrongly written as "farsi". Who should I contact to correct this error.

Thanks.--Mani1 14:16, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
"Farsi" is not an incorrect name for the Persian language. What is the concern you have? The only place I see Farsi written out like that is at the top of the Wikipedia Gateway page, where all of the languages listed are written out with Latin characters. Leebo T/C 14:36, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Admin essay

Is there an esssay on what is expected of an admin. I know there are no official rules but just guidelines eg. "most admin candidates are expected to have 1200+ edits" etc. Please answer on my talk page, thanks--Pheonix15 14:34, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

For convenience, Pheonix15's talk page can be accessed here. --Mayfare 14:46, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cryptographic Hash Function

Hello. I typed the following on my user page to get this cryptographic hash function. Let's say my hash string is Example.

{{User committed identity
|Example
|hash function <!-- optional: defaults to SHA-512 -->
|background= <!-- optional: HTML color -->
|border= <!-- optional: HTML color -->
|article= <!-- optional: to replace "an" with another article -->
}}

And then I have this:

Committed identity: Example

is [[hash function ]] commitment to this user's real-life identity.

What have I done wrong? Thanks in advance. --Mayfare 14:41, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

You might want to replace
|hash function  <!-- optional: defaults to SHA-512 -->
with
|hash function= <!-- optional: defaults to SHA-512 -->
I'm afraid the documentation is wrong (the text "hash function" is actually a variable name that is assigned with "="); I've changed it to that effect. (Side note: "Example" adds a line break, however, because its value is not trimmed. I'll make an {{editprotected}} request on the template talk page to fix this.) GracenotesT § 14:49, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Also, the template may look better if you leave out the optional parameters. Try this if you're using SHA-512:
{{User committed identity|Example}}
I hope this helps, GracenotesT § 14:52, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Gracenotes. --Mayfare 20:16, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Links for consecutive pages

I have a title page with about 10 pages of links with many forms in each of those pages. Is there a way to set a nice looking link so I can go from one page of forms to another easily?

--Gawatkin 15:23, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding the question, but is this related to using Wikipedia? Leebo T/C 15:25, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, in editing the pages. --Gawatkin 15:27, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Can you provide a link to what you're referring to or explain it a little differently? Sorry for the inconvenience. Leebo T/C 15:32, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How do I create a colored box around a title?

--Gawatkin 15:25, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

What kind of a title? On what system? --Teratornis 17:23, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] question about posting article

I hae recently posted an article that I wrote which is a copy of my school's history which i also wrote. I am the webmaster of the webpage in question and the sole author of its contents.What can I do to have the posting allowed. Search under "Butterfield Elementary"

I, David Pickett, am author of the web site found at http://leusd.info/bes/ also found at http://butterfieldelementary.org

http://leusd.info/bes/BESHistory/History.htm is fully of my authorship.

permission is granted for its inclusion here. DavidPickett 15:34, 28 August 2007 (UTC)David Pickett

Read about the procedure in Wikipedia:Requesting_copyright_permission. Basically you need to agree that you release your material under the GFDL (so anyone can use it, not just wikipedia) and email that release to permissions-en AT wikimedia DOT org. -- Diletante 15:35, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Looks to me like this may fall under the prohibition against original research, but I'll let other editors weigh in with their opinions. In general, articles need to cite reliable sources. In other words, you have to provide data about where the information in the article comes from.
However, if you're able to provide such citations, you might start a new article linked to Lake_Elsinore_Unified_School_District. — Scartol · Talk 15:39, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Help Regarding Disambiguation Page

I recently created a page that has the letters "QPS" in the title. I was hoping when general users typed in the search box "QPS" that it would directly link them to my newly created page. However it seems as though another page has already been created doing just this. I read about the disambiguation pages and was wondering is it possible to have both of our pages pop up as options when typing in "QPS"? Thank you for your response.


Chalker24 15:34, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

There are a couple options. One would be to turn QPS, which is a redirect, into a disambiguation page like you described. That page would say something like "QPS may refer to:" and then list both pages. The other options involve keeping the redirect, but adding a line at the top of the page that QPS leads to that asks if the reader is looking for the other page instead. The disambiguation page is probably preferable in this situation. Would you like me to handle it? Leebo T/C 15:39, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Leebo, before creating the disambig page, can you take a quick look at Chalker24's article, QPS Companies? Do you think it's a potential candidate for deletion? It reads a bit like an advert to me. I'm also concerned about the notability - the references seem a bit "lightweight". Or am I being too harsh? DH85868993 15:50, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Already created dab page. Chalker, you might want to look at that QPS Companies article more critically, as it seems a little lacking in neutrality. Are you involved with the firm? If so, please be aware of our rules on conflict of interest. --Orange Mike 15:51, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
At first glance, notability does not seem to be the concern, but it needs to be rewritten neutrally. Leebo T/C 15:54, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] notes

how can i find proper notes on merchant banking by using this site —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.89.4.76 (talk) 15:43, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

The Merchant bank article is probably a good starting point. (What do you mean by "proper notes"?) DH85868993 15:52, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] article disappearing

I created an article, oe whatever you want to call it titled "Towamencin Township Strategic Plan". It was finished, complete, and I was just looking it over, ploshing it if necessary, and Wikipedia had some web problems, and when Wikipedia fixed their problem, I can not find my article. Can you help, or is it all lost? PS This is my first time NEW article. Ailde 16:53, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps it was a glitch that you could not find it. It is still available at Towamencin Township Strategic Plan. Are you able to see it now? --Moonriddengirl 17:13, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
yes I found it, thanks for the help.

Ailde 17:37, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] My IP address being displayed involuntarily

No matter how many times I log in, Wikipedia randomly logs me out while I am making an edition, causing my IP address to be displayed against my wishes. I am unable to remove the stamp even after logging in. Please advise how I can delete my IP address from the History of a given article or prevent it from being displayed in the future when I am making an edition while logged in. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Factcheck 4uwingnuts (talk • contribs) 16:58, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

You cannot remove your IP address from the history of changes. It appears that you have a problem with remaining logged in. Do you have any programs running that would interfere with the login process (auto-deleting cookies, hopping through proxies, etc...)? -- Kainaw(what?) 17:07, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Or a trojan is on the computer, I had one a few weeks ago causing similar problems. -- Steve Hart 18:17, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Richard Perle

I was legal counsel to former Ass't Secretary of Defense Richard Perle and know him well.

I strongly advise that you contact him for corrections in your article about him. At the outset, your entry lists his name as RICHARD NORMAN PERLE. In fact, his middle name is NATHAN, not NORMAN.

There are other errors, but you should contact him directly at his home office in Chevy Chase, Maryland. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.119.185.185 (talk) 17:03, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestion. When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the Edit this page link at the top. The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes — they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to). -- Kainaw(what?) 17:07, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Note that Wikipedia content must be based on published reliable sources. Private knowledge and emails are not accepted. I get 5 Google hits on "RICHARD NATHAN PERLE" and all 5 are in German. I get a lot more hits on "RICHARD NORMAN PERLE" and most appear to be in English. PrimeHunter 17:30, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
That is probably from Wikipedia mirror sites. It might be best to change it to Richard N Perle in the meantime. Neil ム 08:50, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How do you add an article?

how do you add an article??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by MrBlooby (talk • contribs) 17:23, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.
If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. PrimeHunter 17:26, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Title in a box

How would I edit this so it shows up in the Table of Contents?

{|border="2" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="100%" align="left" |align = "center" bgcolor = "#FFD1D1"|<font size = "4">Overview</font> |}<br clear="all">

--Gawatkin 17:43, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

It is sort of possible to hack this in, but where exactly would you use this and not seriously violate the Manual of Style? --Pekaje 18:15, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
For an example of how to do it, see this. It's perfectly fine to use this kind of thing on your personal pages, but you had better have a mighty good reason to use it in an actual article. It doesn't degrade gracefully to simpler browsers (I'm a big fan of Links), and it prevents people from overriding the stylesheet. --Pekaje 18:24, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Finding new articles

I don't understand how this works, I created a new article

"Towamencin Township Strategic Plan". If I use the stand search that is in the left hand column of most Wikipedia pages, I don't get a hit. I sometimes find it listed when I click on the [index]. But if that doesn't work, I still have the url I saved that does take me to it. Am I missing something here? Ailde —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ailde (talk • contribs) 17:48, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure how long it will take to be added to the main search results, but it can be found either by entering "Towamencin Township Strategic Plan" and hitting "Go" or by hitting "Search" and clicking the link that appears at the top that says "You searched for Towamencin Township Strategic Plan". On another note, it seems like this information is already in the Towamencin Township, Pennsylvania article. It probably does not warrant its own article; the section within the town article is sufficient. Leebo T/C 18:14, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Thnks for the information. No not all the information is in the Towamencin Township, Pennsylvania article. I decided it was much too long to add it all there. If necessary, I may remove what summary info is there, and put a ref to the Towamencin Township Strategic Plan". article.

Ailde 18:52, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

What I mean is that the subject of the stategic plan does not merit its own article on Wikipedia. It should be a short part of the main township article. Out of curiosity, how does a book published in 1992 (which you have listed as the sole reference) contain information about the town's current strategic plan for the future? This information seems more appropriate for a town website when it contains this level of detail, and Wikipedia should not be the webhost for such information if a town-operated website does not yet exist. Leebo T/C 18:58, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Actually, nevermind, that book was published in 1897 and republished in 1992, it's not possible for it to contain any information about modern Towamencin Township. Leebo T/C 19:00, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
This article was a collaborative effort of a committee over a five month period. The source was their collective minds and hearts. If you read the article, you will find that those committee members are listed in the article. They are the source, as the article states; “The Board of Supervisors expresses their appreciation and thanks to the residents who volunteered their time and effort in the development of this plan. The fact that there is no existing Five-Year Strategic Plan Template for a Pennsylvania township made the task that much more challenging.”
It is the hope that this article may serve as that template for other townships struggling to develop their own strategic plan, and that it will become a refrence article to Wikipedia's article "Strategic Planning".
All the source and reference information can be found in the Executive Summary of the subject article. As for the tone or style of this article, it "exists" as it is, and it is what it is. Would you rewrite Shakespeare? Thank you.

Ailde 11:56, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Question About NPOV-Undue Weight Policy

I have a question about the undue weight clause of NPOV. It states that “minority views can receive attention on pages specifically devoted to them—Wikipedia is not a paper encyclopedia. But on such pages, though a view may be spelled out in great detail, it must make appropriate reference to the majority viewpoint.” What if there are verifiable majority viewpoints to refute the general theory but not all the specifics of the theory. Must you delete the minority viewpoint if it is “spelled out in great detail” and there are no verifiable majority viewpoints in existence anywhere in the world to counter the specific details point-by-point? Heelop 18:13, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

The clause you are referring to doesn't have anything I see that refers to deleting a minority viewpoint. It is a rather convoluted way of stating that minority viewpoints should only be on pages reserved for the minority viewpoint. For example, on the Moon Landing page, you don't spend the whole page talking about Fake Moon Landing Hoax theories. Instead, you have a short paragraph mentioning that there are minority hoax theories and a link to a page specifically for them. Then, on the page for the hoax theories, you must make reference to the majority theory - explaining that the hoax theories are minority theories. This policy is in place to avoid what has happened in the past - a minority theory is explained in great detail and takes up 95% of an article, leaving 5% for the actual majority viewpoint content. -- Kainaw(what?) 18:24, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
See also WP:POVFORK, even though some may disagree with it. Xiner (talk) 18:51, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Where do I go to notify you of an error?

I have been accused of being a fool, so excuse me if I missed a link in front of my face, but it should be easy to post error notices. In this case, the link under Benjamin Franklin, for poorrichardsalmanac.com / .org?? ... the link goes to a page that is not up.

Thanks, and my humblest appreciation for one of the web's greatest sites! Thanks for your part!

Luke —Preceding unsigned comment added by DalaiLuke (talk • contribs) 18:45, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

You're not a fool, and since this is the encyclopedia anyone can edit, feel free to remove the link from that section it if is invalid. Be Bold! Ariel♥Gold 18:48, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
To clarify, in the "External links" section header, on the right will be a link that says "Edit". Click on that, and the edit window will open. Be careful not to remove anything else, but the link should look something like this: *[http://poorrichardsalmanac.com texttext]. Take that line and remove it, then remove any extra space that remains, and in the bottom "Edit summary" box, type (removing invalid link) and hit "Save page" at the bottom, Ta Dahhh! You're done! Ariel♥Gold 18:51, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] wikipedia site print problem

greetings!

have been trying to use print preview command with large site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Alpha_Phi_Alpha_brothers#Science

keep getting error report that closes Mozilla Foxfire site before loading for print...

am new to wikipedia and not sure how to report this problem elsewhere--can you help?

Nubra floyd 18:57, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

This is most likely a software (or hardware) issue on your end, and nothing relating to Wikipedia. It prints fine for me, and with longer lists, it could be hanging up on your end for some reason, either due to Firefox add-on issues, or your printer's driver, or any number of reasons. I would suggest that you check to be sure you have updated printer drivers, if you have not already, and that you've updated Firefox to the latest version, (2.0.0.6), as well as any add-ons you may be using. If you continue to have issues, the folks over at Wikipedia:Village Pump (technical) would be better able to assist you. Hope that helps! Ariel♥Gold 19:36, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Delete user monobook.js

How do I delete my monobook.js?  Chantessy  19:21, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

You can ask an admin to, or you could just blank it. I would recommend the latter as it saves trouble and it does not really matter if you have a blank monobook. --Mschel 19:27, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Correcting a typo in the title of an article

There is a typo in the Title of my Article:

"Ray pilgrim" should read "Ray Pilgrim"

i.e. The tile of the entry is the name of a person but the typo means the surname starts with a lower case letter instead of upper case letter.

Apart from looking wrong and sloppy, it means that internal links from other pages do not work properly.

Using the "Edit this page" facility lets me change everything except the title of the article.

How can I correct the lower case letter in the title to upper case? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bustric (talk • contribs) 19:49, August 29, 2007

Since your account is more than 4 days old, you can use the move function, which should appear as a tab to the right of "History". You can correct the title of the article and move the talk page as well; the old page will become a redirect to the new one. Leebo T/C 19:53, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Fixed. And I'd like to offer a couple helpful links for your future use, if you'd like to learn more: Cite your sources, Manual of style, Layout guide, First article, and Article development. Hope that helps, and have a great day! Ariel♥Gold 19:56, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] red words

What do red words mean? I could not find an explanation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.108.241.239 (talk) 20:33, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

They meen that there currently is not a page of that name. If a page is created with that name, the link will go blue! Dont forget to sigh your posts with ~~~~ . If you have any questions feel free to contact me :) Tiddly-Tom 20:36, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Placing double brackets [[like this]] around words creates a link to a page of that name. If the page exists, the link is blue, if it doesn't exist or has been deleted, it appears red. Leebo T/C 20:38, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
For full details, see WP:RED. --Teratornis 20:51, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Link wiktionary term to wikipedia

How do I link a wiktionary term to a Wikipedia article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by FieldMarine (talk • contribs) 20:56, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

See m:Help:Interwiki linking. KTC 20:59, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Article Dating

I was reading the article on the United Arab Emirates, and it became clear to me that it has been some time since this article was written (years) and I was hoping to add an idea into the pool. Whenever an article is updated the username of the editor as well as the date on which they edited the article should be avaliable to whomever is reading the article. It seems likely that this information is already recorded, but is simply not visible to the reader. I think it would be helpful if the history of the article was avaliable to the reader, that way they can be more sure that the article has not been tampered with by special interest sources, as well as knowing when the last update occured. I just thought it might help bring a little respectability back to a great program. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Greenmistress (talk • contribs) 21:10, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

You can already see the history of any page by selecting the "history" tab at the top of any page. It's next to the "edit this page" tab for unprotected page, and "view source" tab for protected page. KTC 21:13, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
For more information see Help:History. One acknowledged shortcoming of MediaWiki's history function is that it lacks a blame feature, i.e., a straightforward way to identify the author of each individual line or clump of words in an article. Instead if you wanted to know exactly who had edited a particular line in an article, you would have to spend some time manually scrolling back through revision diffs in the article history until you found it. --Teratornis 01:22, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] AIV Notice Template

Resolved.

Is there a template that can be posted at a vandal's talk page to let others know he's been reported to WP:AIV? I'm currently using {{notice}} (see [2]), but there must be an easier way to do this. --Boricuaeddie 21:20, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Personally, I've seen other users leave notices like this and I think they are unnecessary. The user was warned appropriately if they were reported, there's no need to say "just wait a minute, you're getting blocked as we speak." If you feel you must leave such a notice, you could consider creating a user subpage that says what you want and transcluding it. Leebo T/C 21:22, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Well, I believe it is necessary to prevent duplicate reports to AIV and multiple Vandalism warning templates. --Boricuaeddie 21:26, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
It doesn't really hurt anything if someone decides to post a user without checking to see if they're already reported, helper bots will remove duplicates. Also, I dislike the presumptuous nature of the message. It just seems like extra work for little benefit. Leebo T/C 21:27, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Good point. --Boricuaeddie 21:32, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How the heck do you actually CREATE AN ARTICLE?????

The links saying "create your first article" tell you to "be bold" (helpful), and tell you what makes a good and bad article, but does not tell you HOW TO DO IT. I have a nice page created, but it's apparently not an article, since it's not searchable. the Help Desk said so use the article creation-thingy, but that tells you right off the bat that it's not for registered users who want to create an article. So they tell you it's easier to create articles if you register and log in; then they tell you to use the article creation tool to create articles, which tells you that it's nto for resgistered users who want to create articles. HUH?

Conflicting information?????????

Can I get some clear, "Wikipedia for Dummies" steps, like

Step 1: go here Step 2: do this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.81.52.21 (talk) 21:29, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Do you have a registered account? You are not logged in right now. If you tell us your account, we can look at what you've created and help. Leebo T/C 21:32, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
(Edit conflict) If you're a registered user - Follow instruction at Help:Starting a new page. If you are not a registered user, either a) register and follow the instruction earlier or b) submit it to WP:AFC. KTC 21:34, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Deletion requested

Hi,

I just found in my message box that someone wishes to delete my article or something about list of snooker players. I'm sorry to seem ignorant, but i am not quite sure what all this means. I am not a very competent user of computers and am finding it difficult to know what to do or say about it.

I would appreciate it if someone could advise me accordingly please, in plain English. Many Thanks

Kind Regards

robbo147 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Robbo147 (talk • contribs) 22:07, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Responding on user's talk page. Confusing Manifestation 22:35, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
It basically means that they are thinking(or have acted) about removing that page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Desalvionjr (talk • contribs) 22:37, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

[edit] changing the header

I need to capitalize 'birndorf' in the entry 'Howard birndorf.' I don't see a way to do this.

Suzanne —Preceding unsigned comment added by Suzclancy (talk • contribs) 22:24, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Use the "move" tab at the top. PrimeHunter 22:28, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Placenames in text of articles

I think I remember seeing a guideline which specified that placenames only need be given one wider level (eg "this church is in Leeds, West Yorkshire", rather than also adding England). But I can't find this in WP:MOS or anywhere else. Is there any policy or guideline about this? PamD 22:51, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

As far as I know, no. However, I did not know West Yorkshire was in England until you stated that in the question, so I believe it might be best to leave the country in there, unless it is in a widely known city and state, say California, almost everybody knows that state is in the United States. Sorry! Jonathan (formerly Jonjonbt) 23:07, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Only give it as many level as is necessary to distinguish the article, one can read the article to see where <place name> is at. That mean, if there's only one with that name (like West Yorkshire), just use the name. If there's more than one, give it an extra level, and use a disamg. page on the name only article unless there's a particular place that's much better known under the name. In that case, note it as such at the top of the article, like the use of {{otheruses1|the U.S. state}} at the top of California. Remember you can always set up redirects for the name with the wider levels. KTC 06:10, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
The Editor's index has some links which may be relevant to this question:
Also be aware that there are categories for places, which further help to classify articles of this type. For example, the California article is in Category:States of the United States (among other categories); the Sacramento, California article is in Category:California (among other categories). On Wikipedia we do not have to force an entire hierarchical classification scheme in an article title because we have MediaWiki's category system to classify articles in multiple ways. --Teratornis 14:26, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] RSS feed

Is it possible to get an RSS feed for pages on my "watchlist," so that I am notified as soon as they are changed?

sweigumSweigum 23:11, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

On individual article page, yes. On the special page that is your watchlist, not as far as I know. See Wikipedia:Syndication. KTC 23:36, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What is going on at Astrid of Sweden?

I just uploaded a new photo with the title Image:Astrid.jpg at the commons. I linked to it from the Astrid of Sweden page, but instead of showing me that picture it shows me a picture of some blonde girl. I assumed it was just a case of a Wikipedia image overriding a commons image, but then I clicked on the picture of the blonde girl, and it took me to my photo at the commons. I've cleared my cache and it's still happening. Thoughts? Calliopejen1 23:37, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

The history on commons suggest that's the image you uploaded. Maybe you just uploaded a different file than you thought? KTC 23:47, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
Fixed Ariel♥Gold 23:55, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How to search Wikipedia help

Hi Is there a way to search just the Wikipedia help pages? Thanks peterl 23:44, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes. Type what you want to search for in the search box and click "search", not "go". At the bottom of the next page, uncheck the areas you don't want and add a check next to the word "help". -- Kainaw(what?) 23:50, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
You can also try a site specific Google search [3]. PrimeHunter 00:43, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
I linked to several such searches on my user page: User:Teratornis#Useful searches. Feel free to copy and/or adapt them as you like. Note that when you search only the Help: namespace, you will miss a lot of policy and guideline pages in the Project: (i.e., Wikipedia:) namespace, as well as the Help desk archive pages. Therefore, depending on what you are looking for, you might want to try some of my other searches too. And be sure to see the Editor's index. --Teratornis 01:09, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] License help

I need some help with a license issue... We've got a user (User:Theeuro) who works for the ECB and as such can influence under which license the ECB releases their national euro coin face pictures, with which we've had problems a few times up to now. Under what license would they have to release it so that we can upload their pictures here on the Commons without running into any trouble? Thanks! —Nightstallion 23:51, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Here (as in English Wikipedia), or Wikimedia Commons? The license requirement is different. KTC 00:07, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
Wikipedia:Image_copyright_tags#For_image_creators and commons:Commons:First steps/License selection might help? KTC 00:16, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
This is a subject that has irritated me for some time. I was unable to find what I was looking for until now.
I came across this template on Wikimedia Commons. Note the template contains two links to here and here(PDF), where the reproduction of images of Euro currency is explained. Unfortunately, not all Euro coin images are in Commons and those that are might not have this template added. If a Euro coin/banknote image was uploaded to Commons and this template added, I believe the image would not run into trouble.
Administrator guys: if I'm wrong here, please explain exactly why instead of providing links to incomprehensible policy.
Astronaut 15:32, 30 August 2007 (UTC)