Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 December 12

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1 December 12

[edit] December 12

[edit] Copyright violation

Resolved.

Heno has replaced page with copyvio template. Taemyr (talk) 12:43, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I found a Wikipedia article, E Troop, 238th Cavalry (United States), that is in violation of the copyright on this website: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/238cav-e.htm. There is some text that is original material, but I don't know if it is enough to keep the article from deletion. I'm still new as a Wikipedia user so I'm not sure how much of an article needs to be in copyright violation to qualify an article for deletion. Thanks. Heno (talk) 00:25, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Copyright problems. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:15, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How to convert a Trac wiki page to wikipedia

My company wishes to convert from Trac wiki to wikipedia. Is there a tool that will convert the text on each page (prevent re-typing)? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.201.144.200 (talk) 01:23, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia is a particular wiki: An encyclopedia which uses the MediaWiki software. I guess your question is about converting frm Trac to MediaWiki. Sorry to be pedantic but knowing the right terms can help you search information. I found mw:Extension:TracWiki2MediaWiki but don't know anything about it. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:44, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Not only does knowing the names of things help with finding information about them, but the nature of this question raises further questions about what this company wishes to do. While I can't speak for every company, those few I have observed at close range usually hire someone to be in charge of installing and administering software packages such as Trac and MediaWiki (it takes more than wishing to get complex software to work - it takes paying for the necessary expertise, or developing expertise on one's own through good old RTFM). I'm wondering why the questioner is bringing this question to the Wikipedia Help desk rather than asking his or her system administrator. If the questioner is to be the person who installs and administers a corporate wiki running on the MediaWiki software, I recommend reading m:Help:Contents#For administrators first. Hopefully the decision-makers at this company are budgeting adequately to give their corporate wiki a chance of success. MediaWiki is relatively easy to install (as far as Web site software goes), but it's a long way from the resulting initial bare-bones wiki to a well-developed corporate asset that employees actually use. The odds of success will be greater if the decision-makers themselves (the people who decided they want a wiki) will use it extensively. --Teratornis (talk) 17:34, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Article Creation

How do I create an article on Wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jesse1993 (talk • contribs) 02:16, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

See the intro guide for more information on writing an article. Basically, your article must be verifiable and notable before it can be on Wikipedia. Good luck! --Hdt83 ^Chat 02:30, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] full text of article disappeared after an edit

I made an edit to the entry "shahtoosh", in which I deleted the last sentence at the end of the 2nd paragraph, and then inserted 3 sentences and a reference in the same place. When I posted my edits, the remaining 4 paragraphs of the article, and the links, did not appear on the page, although they are still shown as text on the editing page. Why did the article just cut off at my edits when I posted it? Thanks, wyopaddy —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wyopaddy (talk • contribs) 02:32, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

What happened was in this edit, [1] you added a <ref> tag without closing it. The tag automatically hides the text as a reference. I've restored the article back to the previous state for you. Hopefully that helps. --Hdt83 ^Chat 02:37, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

You attempted to close it with another <ref>, but it must be closed with </ref>. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:47, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] end of block?

Why's User:Lir still blocked? --Ibn Battuta (talk) 03:39, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I suspect, the parties involved just forgot it passed. Ask the arbitration committee. - Mgm|^(talk) 05:49, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Lir's last block was dec 10 2006 with an expiry time of one year, so it seems Lir is no longer blocked. No one's removed the block notice from his userpage, mind. Algebraist 13:56, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[2] confirms there is no current block. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:18, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm sure it's just a matter of time before he gets reblocked. Corvus cornix_talk 18:22, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Creating link with special chars

I've been trying to create an external link to the following website: http://www.witness.co.za/?showcontent&global[_id]=1179 But because of the "[" and "]" in the URL the link does not work properly.

How do I create such a link?

Thx, Andries —Preceding unsigned comment added by Driesvt (talk • contribs) 03:40, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Uh.... I'm not really sure. That's not something you generally see in a link. I'm going to go try something in my sandbox, and let you know if it works. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 06:32, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

My idea (using a template similar to how {{!}} works) failed miserably. I really have no idea how to do this, and I'm not even sure it's possible with how the software is set up. You could try asking at the Tech Pump; if anyone would know how to do this, they would. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 06:52, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I believe this should work: http://www.witness.co.za/?showcontent&global%5B_id%5D=1179 (see also Percent-encoding). --Kudret abi^Talk 08:20, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

It works. See also Help:URL#URLs in external links. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:21, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the help - it worked! Sparkie 18:43, 12 December 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Driesvt (talk • contribs)

[edit] Can I create?

Hello everybody. Can I create the articles Gerry McCann and Kate McCann?? or not?? If not, forgive me. Thank you very very very very much and kisses from Australia (but I'm Israeli) Ahmed987147 (talk) 03:54, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Gerry McCann and Kate McCann redirect to Disappearance of Madeleine McCann where some basic biographic details on both of them are covered. Since they are not famous for anything besides their daughter's disappearance, it's not recommended covering them in a separate article. - Mgm|^(talk) 05:46, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] About pictures

How to insert a picture in to a page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kalutu (talk • contribs) 09:44, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

If you want to add an existing image to an article, type [[Image:File name.jpg|right|Optional caption.]] to the article – replacing File name.jpg with the actual file name of the image, right with the alignment of the image on the page and Optional caption with the caption, which of course, is optional. See our picture tutorial for more information.
If you want to upload an image from your computer, to put in an article, you must find out what license the image is licensed under. If you know your image is licensed under a free-license, upload it to the Wikimedia Commons, where all projects have access to the image. If you are unsure what license your image is licensed under, see the file upload wizard for more information. Also, please read Wikipedia's image use policy, because if you upload the image under a false license, you may be blocked.

Hope this has helped. --Silver Edge (talk) 09:58, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] changing AIBA logo 2

Dear Sir/M.me,

referring to your answer on 11th November, 2007 I uploaded a logo on Wikipedia at this address: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:AIBA_logo.JPG.

Will be possible for you now to upload it in the AIBA web page? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Boxing_Association_%28Amateur%29

Thank you for your help —Preceding unsigned comment added by Usbi (talk • contribs) 09:51, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Image:AIBA_logo.JPG (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) was deleted by an administrator because it apparently missed some information which gave copyright concerns. I'm not an administrator but I have contacted the deleting administrator at User talk:Mike Rosoft#Deletion of Image:AIBA logo.JPG. I expect it will be sorted out and added to the article with no need for further action from you. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:49, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] H I V virus

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.179.74.139 (talk)

No question posted. Please ask a help desk question if you have one. Perhaps you are looking for the HIV article? Ariel♥Gold 11:05, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

You may also try WP:RD/S --Kudret abi^Talk 08:21, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Image update problem

The image [[Image:Alexander_Cockburn.jpg]], an image of Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet, got overwritten in a dab muddle by another user with an image of Alexander Cockburn the journalist. I restored the original before I had realised exactly what had happened. The original now displays on the image page but the page Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet still displays the overwritten journalist image. Can anyone help?Cutler (talk) 11:53, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I have deleted the journalist's photo from the history of the judge's photo. I have removed the judge's photo from the journalist's article. I have removed the journalist's photo from the judge's article and tried reinserting it (as it should come up as the judge's photo), but it still shows the journalist's photo even though that no longer exists! I suspect the correct version of the image is stuck in the job queue, and I suggest that someone tries adding Image:Alexander Cockburn.jpg to Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet later on to see if it works. Bencherlite ^Talk 12:17, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm. No, it still doesn't work... Ian Cairns (talk) 16:01, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Follow Wikipedia No Self-advertisement Policy

Looking at his edit history, it looks like many users are promoting themselves and thereby violate WP:AUTO. I'd rather not drive the process of investigating this because I know them a little and they are nice guys, but I also believe in following Wiki policy, so - if someone else could look into it I'd be very grateful! 195.172.218.226 (talk) 14:55, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

If he is a nice guy, then he should be thankful if you explain WP:AUTO to him. Consider: tens of millions of visitors to Wikipedia recognize the greatness of this work. Wikipedia is great because Wikipedia's nucleus of experienced editors have worked out and documented an extensive set of policies, guidelines, and procedures which enable everyone to work constructively toward our shared goal of building a free encyclopedia of the highest possible quality. Unfortunately, this know-how is staggeringly complex (and constantly changing), reflecting Wikipedia's underlying complexity (millions of users, millions of articles, on more subjects than any one person can comprehend). Not even a highly experienced Wikipedia editor necessarily understands every aspect of Wikipedia's operation, which means all of us are subject to occasional correction from other editors who happen to know about some applicable guideline or procedure we haven't learned yet. Being "nice" on Wikipedia means thanking rather than resenting the other editors who increase our knowledge of how Wikipedia works. It means actually appreciating what other users teach us - the opposite of how most people in real life respond to correction, squandering opportunities to improve by interpreting them as a loss of face. At the risk of digressing, I should point out that ordinary social customs evolved in societies that are relatively static - in everyday social discourse, a person largely functions according to rules learned in childhood. Wikipedia, in contrast, did not even exist ten years ago, so there is no longstanding social precedent for how to do what we are doing. Wikipedians had to create a whole new set of social rules from scratch, and these rules can be far from intuitive for many new users. Learning to cooperate on Wikipedia is, in some ways, like re-living kindergarten, and requires a child-like openness and humility. --Teratornis (talk) 18:32, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] My name

Now that I am registered, half the time when I sign my name an an article talk page, it says I am not registered and gives me a lecture about why I should register. Why is that? More 15:08, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

See. it says it if you click my name I get the lecture and ugliness, but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:SlamMeMore is my userpage. More 15:11, 12 December 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by SlamMeMore (talk • contribs)

Your signature links to User:SlamMe. You're editing from User:SlamMeMore. --Onorem♠Dil 15:22, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

And SineBot detects that your post is not linking to your user page. Please change your signature to do that. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:25, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

i don't think you're right? You mean you can pretent to be someone else just by using their signature? Humm. When I click my signature (in those places it registers and doesn't lecture) I get my user page. I have pictures on my userpage. Go look. More 15:40, 12 December 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by SlamMeMore (talk • contribs)

That's because I just created redirects from User:SlamMe to User:SlamMeMore, and from User talk:SlamMe to User talk:SlamMeMore. If you click the links without "More" (or your bad signature link only saying More) then the top of the page says "Redirected from ...". And yes, you can falsify a signature (the software doesn't distinguish between a signature and any post where the same ending as the signature is written manually). But you cannot falsify the user name in page histories [3], so people can always find who made an edit, also unsigned edits. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:00, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

One day a new editor may choose the username SlamMe. Then the redirects to your user pages must be removed, so please get the signature fixed before you leave bad signatures all over Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:03, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Case sensitive searches??

Why does one get different results when one searches for 'Udi' verses 'UDI'. Case sensitivity in searches is a very poor practice and is likely causing many people to be unable to find information that they are looking for! Most search engines figured this out decades ago!! We live in a world where case is more and more ambiguous. For example, which capitalization of the acronym for 'voice over IP' is the correct one: VOIP, Voip, VoIp, VoiP, vOip, VoIP, voiP?

Creating redirects is such a kludgy solution! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.35.225.228 (talk) 15:09, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Actually, search is activated by clicking the "Search" button below the search box and it is not case sensitive. It gives the same result for Udi and UDI. Clicking Enter or "Go" activates go which is case sensitive (except for the first letter): If there is a page or redirect with that capitalization then it goes there. Otherwise it makes the same case insensitive search as the "Search" button. I think it works OK. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:20, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

OK, I think I understand this a little better. Thank you. So instead of the search engine being silly, the silliness actually lies with the use of disambiguation pages, at least in the case of UDI v. Udi. Shouldn't all entries that include the three letters udi be all on one page regardless of case? It appears redundant and cumbersome to have the 'Udi' disambiguation page have a See Also section that points to the 'UDI' page. I'm not sure how widespread this practice is, but is frustrating to say the least. Thanks again for the explanation on the search and Go buttons. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.35.225.228 (talk) 15:39, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Disambiguation#Page naming conventions supports you, but it does say "usually". Udi lists words written without capitals, and UDI lists acronyms written with capitals. There is not full agreement among editors about this. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:52, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

If you prefer a search function that works like the search engine you have the most experience with, you can probably use that search engine to search Wikipedia. For example, you can search Wikipedia with Google for: udi, and that lists many (perhaps all?) case variant article titles containing the search string. See Help:Search#Search engines. You can add links to any searches you do routinely to your user page - for example, see mine at User:Teratornis#Useful searches. I would be surprised if many experienced Wikipedia users rely on the oft-maligned MediaWiki search function; John Broughton, for example, recommends using external search engines, in his upcoming book. --Teratornis (talk) 17:48, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Those pages should clearly be linked, but Wikipedia uses capitalization for a reason. If they were to be merged, there'd be discussions and rows on what the resulting page should be called. Pages should be titled according to their most used name. I don't see why that shouldn't include disambiguation pages and their capitalization. Searching only takes 1 or two more mouse clicks. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:13, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WP:AIV "stats"

I remember seeing something on WP:AIV that listed something like 5 users with the most vandalism reports in a month. The reason I'm trying to find it is so I can get an idea of how many AIV reports get processed in a month, for curiosity's sake. Does anyone know where I can (re-)locate this? Pandacomics (talk) 15:10, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I am not familiar with the page you seek, but here is how to look for it:

Check the Editor's index, for example: WP:EIW#Vandal.
If you don't find it on the Editor's index, you can Search Wikipedia's Wikipedia: namespace for: most vandalism reports with the handy {{Google custom}} template I adapted from someone else's {{Google}} template.

Perusing some of the search results suggests there are different pages for vandalism reports involving unregistered users (Wikipedia:Abuse reports) and registered users (Wikipedia:Long term abuse). --Teratornis (talk) 18:04, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] post office

What does UTF mean when the post office returns a letter? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.82.9.59 (talk) 15:31, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

UTF = Unable To Forward (return to sender). PrimeHunter (talk) 15:43, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Content Table

On my userpage it has a content table along with a list of headings where you could go, how do you add the content table onto the talk page like with my userpage. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 16:39, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

It displays automatically depending on your preferences. You can force the table of contents to appear by putting __FORCETOC__ where you want it. x42bn6 Talk Mess 16:41, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Done I've placed the code on my talk page and the table has appeared, thank you for your help. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 16:45, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

It requires 4 headings to appear automatically (except for users who turn it off in Misc preferences). See Help:Section for more. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:36, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] changes and additions

I made major changes to the William Jewell College entry. I am the executive director of college relations and marketing there. I also made additions to notable alumni including new bio information I cut and pasted from our alumni magazine (which I edit and wrote the article for). I also added a bio for our president. I am concerned that these additions and changes have not been accepted. What do I do now? Thanks very much.

--Mark Van Tilburg —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mark Van Tilburg (talk • contribs) 17:16, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Hello Mark, please take a look at WP:N and WP:COI. Your articles may not be following our guidelines regarding notability. Since you are the executive director, you may have a conflict of interest here. By the way, you would need to prove somehow that you will release the text freely, and that you are indeed the director. This can be done through an email to OTRS. Thanks, and good luck! Redrocket boy 17:20, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

In addition, anything you cut and paste from the college's alumni magazine is a copyright violation unless you explicitly prove that you have the right to copy the material here. See WP:CP#Copyright_owners_who_submitted_their_own_work_to_Wikipedia. Corvus cornix_talk 18:27, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Mark, you said in your bio above that you are "executive director of college relations" for William Jewell College. This is a big time wikipedia conflict of interest. You're a bull in the China shop in your edits. You obliterated a thoroughly referenced section on the college's colorful history including a battle in the civil war fought on campus, Jesse James father being a founder, connections to a major religious painting about George Washington, and the campus bouncing back from a recent tornado. And then replaced it with unreferenced material that reads like an advertisement. I am very sympathetic to expanding the article to include info in past presidents and alumni (I see the president article have already been marked for speedy deletion). I can help you shepherd some the information into wikipedia format if you want to add it incrementlly or send it to me to include separately but I STRONGLY suggest you steer clear of wholesale edits to Wikipedia on William Jewell. Americasroof (talk) 19:58, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

While I was giving Mark the benefit of the doubt I see that he insists on using word for word the p.r. page from the school http://www.jewell.edu/william_jewell/gen/william_and_jewell_generated_pages/Welcome_m74.html We've gone 2R. I don't want to go 3R especially on copyright violations. Everything else he has posted has been lifted from websites. Americasroof (talk) 20:35, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Number of hits per page.

Hello,

I'm wondering if there is a way to find out how many hits exist for a Wikipedia page. Particularly I wondered how many hits exist for en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemophilia. Perhaps how many hits per month? I couldn't seem to find this information on the site anywhere.

Thanks.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Kucab (talk • contribs) 17:25, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Hello, Kucab there is a list of the month's most visited pages here, but unfortunately I don't know if there is a way to find out on a page by page basis. There is a feature but it is disabled here, it seems. Redrocket boy 17:31, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

This is a semi-frequently asked question on the Help desk (an occasionally asked question, an OAQ?). To read previous discussion, you can search the Help desk archive for: hit counter. (Note to self: this question deserves a standard response template.) --Teratornis (talk) 17:54, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Actually, it's not only in the FAQ Wikipedia:Technical FAQ#Can I add a page hit counter to a Wikipedia page?, but also in the VFAQ: Wikipedia:Very Frequently Asked Questions#Are page hit counters available?. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:29, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How to add folder location as link on wiki

I want to add on my wiki some result folder location which are on central server in particular folder.

How can i just put some "link" for it on wiki.

for example my server is accessible from my desktop command prompt with following command "\\abc" and particular folder i am intersted is "my result" so i have to put \\abc\na\myresult.

how i can put this path in wiki with "results" tag so whenever user click on results and if he has access to this server can go and look at results. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nilaychampion (talk • contribs) 18:12, 12 December 2007 (UTC) Nilaychampion (talk) 18:13, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

There's no way a website can access a folder on your computer. Corvus cornix_talk 18:27, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Actually it depends on what the questioner means by "wiki". The Help desk receives a number of questions from folks who don't seem to have a clear idea yet of what "wiki" actually means. Many new users incorrectly conflate "wiki" with Wikipedia (or more specifically, often the English Wikipedia, which is one particular wiki). Wikipedia itself has no features I am aware of for accessing a folder on a user's computer, and I'm pretty sure this would seriously go against the entire nature of Wikipedia. However, if by "wiki" the questioner means his or her employer's corporate wiki, then it may be possible to link arbitrary files to wiki pages. For example, TWiki allows users to attach files to wiki pages, much like using email attachments. The questioner should clarify which wiki he or she is asking about. If it's a corporate wiki, then the questioner should ask the system administrator, i.e. the company employee who installed and maintains the corporate wiki, to see what if any file-linking options are available. --Teratornis (talk) 18:42, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Flag Template in wikitable causing rendering problems?

Has something recently changed connected with using flag templates in wikitables? as tables on pages List of York City F.C. Clubmen of the Year and List of Birmingham City F.C. players have as of the last couple of hours failed to render properly. Specifically, for me, each table row renders properly until a column containing the {{ENG}} (or other country) flag template, which transcludes OK but nothing after it renders. I.e the offending table entry contains the flag, the country name and the unrendered markup for the rest of the row, and all column entries after the offending one on each row are empty. This isn't just my problem, as another user first raised it here. cheers, Struway2 (talk) 19:35, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Someone else asked this at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) and has been answered. Didn't realise that's where I should have been asking. cheers, Struway2 (talk) 20:44, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Help Desk too long for Browser?

I know this isn't a help for wikipedia, but my browser "Mozilla" is starting to struggle when I'm on this page, it's getting too long, some of the older comments which have been answered or sorted out should be archived and erased on the current page, to make some more room. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 19:35, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

What do you mean by "struggle?" And are you running an older version of Mozilla? If so, you should download the latest version of Firefox. The Help desk suffers from the general problem of talk pages on MediaWiki, namely that wiki software was not designed for threaded discussion in the first place. Help may be on the way in the form of mw:Extension:LiquidThreads, although I have not used LiquidThreads so I have no idea whether or to what degree it is better than what we have now. --Teratornis (talk) 19:51, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I've got the latest version of Mozilla, but what i mean is the browser is starting to take awhile loading the entire page, certain things aren't appearing on the page. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 19:56, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I had similar problems when my cable modem was "flapping" (intermittently losing its network connection). Here is a speed test you can run to diagnose the consistency of your network connection. Be sure you are consistently getting whatever speed you are paying for. My problem went away when my ISP replaced my cable Toshiba cable modem with a newer Motorola model. This may or may not be relevant to your situation. --Teratornis (talk) 20:10, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

The speed is fine, i've already had McAfee to do a speed test, and they said it's perfect. SKYNET X7000 (talk) 20:12, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Why was ScheduleWorld deleted as spam?

Hello,

I'd like to create a new page similar to the zimbra page. I didn't know the ScheduleWorld page was deleted and I'd like to make sure it stays up this time. Please let me know why the ScheduleWorld page was deleted and what I should do to make it more appropriate so it's not deleted again?

Markswanson (talk) 20:10, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Markswanson (talk • contribs) 20:09, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

See WP:WWMPD for the procedure to get this information. --Teratornis (talk) 20:11, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] unclear licensing

Galbijim Wiki

The Galbijim wiki is not as explicit about what license it's material falls under. I would guess that most users don't care what license their material falls under.

Material from that wiki has been posted on Wikipedia under the assumption that it is covered by the GFDL and material from wikipedia has been posted there as well.

--Gbleem (talk) 20:12, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

This is not really an answer, but it may be somewhat relevant: there is some talk about unifying the GFDL and Creative Commons licenses. I share your suspicion that most users don't care much about licenses, except when someone forces them to care. --Teratornis (talk) 21:50, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I suppose I didn't actually ask a question. Where are licensing issues like this addressed? Is there a legal group that looks over this stuff? --Gbleem (talk) 21:24, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

It's only somewhat relevant. If no GFDL was granted for most of the Galbijim site then some of the contributions would fall under the Creative Commons license if the contributer specifically chose to place their contributions under that license. If the licenses are merged and only the Creative Commons was specifically granted on a portion of the articles then only that portion would be under the new merged license. That's a lot of if's though. --Gbleem (talk) 21:24, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pictures

How do you put pictures on your own page? there is an icon saying 'picture gallery' but i click on that and it comes up with some random 'caption' and blaa blaa blaa. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Defender of Meese (talk • contribs) 20:14, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Where do you see that 'picture gallery' icon and what do you mean by "your own page"? To Wikipedians it usually means your user page at User:Defender of Meese, but that page has not been created yet. See Help:Images and other uploaded files for how to add pictures. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:16, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I believe the OP is referring to the 4th button from the right above the edit window. Algebraist 21:58, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

You're probably right. I have never used that. It inserts this where the cursor is:

<gallery>
Image:Example.jpg|Caption1
Image:Example.jpg|Caption2
</gallery>

That is just an example of how to use the gallery tags with example images and captions. You are supposed to replace the image name and captions, and you can add more images. See Help:Images and other uploaded files#Gallery tag, category, table of images for more about how to make galleries. It's more common to insert images one at a time with other methods. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:35, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge 2 small articles into one?

I have been contributing to 2 quite small chemistry oriented articles, and alas it has ocurred to me that it's impossible to meaningfully discuss article #1 without explaining article #2. It is impossible to meaningfully discuss glycyrrhizin without also explaining glycyrrhetinic acid. The two topics are closely inter-related. Currently both of the two articles are relatively small and they will separately remain so for the forseeable future. Chemically, there can be no #2 without the preexistance of #1. Therefore article #2 should be deleted and its contents transferred to the article #1. Need to know:

how to delete #2
and also how to pipe #2's articlename to #1 should someone use that old articlename as a searchable keyword.

--Zymatik (talk) 20:17, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I know nothing about this topic, so I'll rely on your judgment to merge the relevant information from Article #2 into Article #1. Once that's finished, simply replace the text of Article #2 with a redirect to Article #1. Thanks for your great work! GlassCobra 20:21, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

You can request speedy deletion by adding the speedy deletion tag {{db-reason|Administrators, Editor is requesting deletion}} and can redirect by adding #REDIRECT [[NAMEOFARTICLE1]] to the article 2 once it has been deleted. If you would like me to do it all for you, simply give me the names of Articles 1 and 2 and their links.

The Helpful One ^(Talk) ^{(Contributions)} 20:23, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Also, I can help with the moving of information from Article 2 to Article 1 The Helpful One ^(Talk) ^{(Contributions)} 20:25, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

The article names given by Zymatik are glycyrrhizin and glycyrrhetinic acid. See Help:Merging and moving pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:08, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I've renegged on this idea for now. But thanks for the advice :-) I saved the instructions in my Wikipedia tips file.--Zymatik (talk) 21:23, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

When you merge content, you should always leave the history of the merged page around. Just redirect and don't delete. - Mgm|^(talk) 22:01, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Adding an Entry

I would like to find out how to add an entry on Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by KKarrat (talk • contribs) 20:19, 12 December 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 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. GlassCobra 20:23, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Belo Horizonte

In today's featured article on Belo Horizonte, under "History, is this line:

Having found a location with pleasant weather, a nice poopy diaper and good soil for farming, the explorer settled in the region in 1701, leaving a gold hunting expedition.

Poopy diaper? Really?

Thanks, 165.221.12.184 (talk) 20:36, 12 December 2007 (UTC)G

Done I have fixed the vandalism error, good catch by the way! The Helpful One ^(Talk) ^{(Contributions)} 20:44, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Asking questions in an article

Hi,

I have been an occasional user and have a question that I didn't find in the FAQ's.

Why can't I go to an article, read it, and if it does not answer my specific question on a topic, leave a question for the authors/world. I may not know enough about a topic to add to it, but I can recognize something that I want to find, but don't.

This seems so basic to me, I don't understand why it does not already exist.

Kevin Sossong sossong@architecturebydesign.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.34.129.74 (talk) 21:31, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Use the Reference desk for general knowledge questions. The MediaWiki software that powers Wikipedia does not have an efficient mechanism for attaching discussion threads about an article's subject to the article itself. The talk page for an article is generally efficient for discussing ways to improve the article, but it is not suitable for open-ended questions about an article's subject (talk pages could become cluttered with general knowledge questions, making them less efficient for improving articles). On the other hand, if you know of some important aspect of a subject that its article should treat, feel free to make suggestions on the article's talk page, because that would be a discussion about improving the article. --Teratornis (talk) 21:42, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Etiquette for rewriting an article

I am a fairly new user to WP and thus far my contributions have been fairly minor. However, I have identified an article in desperate need of a rewrite (users on the article's talk page seem to agree) that I have the background to overhaul. Should I choose to rewrite it, I would do the whole article, start to finish. What is the etiquette for that? It occurs to me that I could put a working copy of the article on my user page and apply Template:Rewriting to the main article, then ask for feedback on my rewrite before finally replacing the existing article. Is this the "proper" thing to do? Or is there some other process I should follow?--Squirmymcphee (talk) 22:17, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like you have good ideas already. I'd start, though, by putting a new section on the article's talk page, saying, "This is what I'm gonna work on; here is the address of the sandbox I'll be doing it in." Then await feedback. --Orange Mike | Talk 22:28, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm with Mike. Sounds like you've got a plan; note first is good. Unless the article is not heavily or recently edited, in which case you might just be bold. Understand, though, that being bold sometimes requires diplomacy in the aftermath. :) --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 22:30, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks to both of you for your (very speedy) replies -- I feel much more confident proceeding now.--Squirmymcphee (talk) 22:45, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

I suggest that rather than edit your draft on your user page, you should make a user subpage for your working copy. To do that, place a link like this on your user page: [[User:Squirmymcphee/Draft of article (replace with a real title)]], click the resulting red link, and begin editing. If you lose track of your user subpages (they can accumulate like old magazines), you can find them all at Special:Prefixindex/User:Squirmymcphee. --Teratornis (talk) 08:22, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WP:NEO

All of sudden [[WP:NEO]] stopped redirecting to Wikipedia:Avoid neologisms. What's up? —Travis ^talk 22:33, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

See the below section. It works again for me. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:49, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The shortcuts have gone wrong

Can someone please tell me now that how comes WP type shortcuts are no longer WP type shortcuts? For example, WP:Rail now automatically links to Wikipedia:Rail instead of its original destination of Wikipedia:WikiProject UK Railways. Or WP:TIS now links to Wikipedia:TIS instead of Wikipedia:WikiProject Transport in Scotland. Sorry to say this but this has screwed up a lot of project pages and Wikipedia pages in general and i feel this is a bad idea.

Why has this happened and how? Simply south (talk) 22:39, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I'm noticing a lot of redirects aren't working anymore. Anyone know what's up? faithless (^speak) 22:40, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Lots of shortcuts are suddenly broken, but normal redirects are fine. —Travis ^talk 22:41, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, that's what I meant, I misspoke. Cheers, faithless (^speak) 22:44, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

They're working again. However, now it shows that you have been redirected from "Wikipedia:(name)". -- RattleMan (talk) 22:45, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#WP: vs WIkipedia:. I have also experienced that they didn't work a few minutes ago but seem OK now. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:48, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

OK, they do seem to be working now. Simply south (talk) 23:03, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion of restrictions on unregistered users, as a group

Hello: Is there any page or policy that discusses the question of whether unregistered users should be restricted in what they're able to do on Wikipedia? I don't mean blocking individual users. To try to explain further what I'm looking for, I've developed the perspective that unregistered users should be blocked from editing at least some kinds of pages, and I want to know if there are arguments in favor of allowing them full capabilities that I'm not considering. I also want to know if this is a question that actually is discussed by the community, or if the policy of allowing full access to unregistered users is simply so ingrained that it's not an issue, like asking if Wikipedia should be published on slices of cheese instead of on the Internet. I haven't even been able to locate a policy that actually STATES this as policy. Any guidance on where, if anywhere, I can find out more about this is welcome. (I don't have any plans to try to lead a revolution against unregistered users myself, or anything like that; I just can't believe that nobody else here has ever wanted to.) Thanks. Propaniac (talk) 23:16, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Some responsive links, in no particular order: Wikipedia:Perennial proposals#Prohibit anonymous users from editing; Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Anonymous page creation which grew out of "Anonymous page creation will be reenabled on English Wikipedia"; Wikipedia:Welcome anonymous editing; Wikipedia:Restrictions on Anonymous Editing from Shared IPs (rejected proposal); Criticism of Wikipedia#Anonymous editing; and Reliability of Wikipedia#Anonymous editing. This just scratches the surface. There have been many gallons of ink spilled on the subject on user, policy and article talk pages.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:03, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, this is just the kind of thing I was looking for. Propaniac (talk) 17:06, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

Un-logged-in users (and new users-accounts less than 4 days old) cannot create a new page, rename a page or upload media. In addition they cannot edit pages which have been “semi-protected” to prevent vandalism by multiple IPs. WP:ACCOUNT gives advantages of creating an account. WP:PROT discusses semi-protection. --teb728 t c 00:02, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

You're welcome.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:12, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Authorship

How come there are only articles made by Wikipedia and not any other people. I thought that anyone could write an article —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.187.180.252 (talk) 23:17, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia is the name of the encyclopedia containing all the articles. Click the "history" tab at the top of an article to see editors that have contributed to the article. Anyone can write an article (after creating an account), but it may be mercilessly edited by others, or deleted. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:01, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Finding digitized books by specific authors (& linking articles)

For those writing articles about specific writers/authors (literary & non-literary), you can add a link for readers that triggers a search for digitized works by that author at www.DigitalBookIndex.org

Here are some examples:

The syntax is simple: http://www.digitalbookindex.org/_search/search002a.asp?AUTHOR= then add the author's LastName[comma][%20]FirstName

There are several thousand authors listed at: http://www.digitalbookindex.org/_help/helpauthorsa.asp The listing is strongest for authors prominent where copyrights have expired (about 1926 in the US), but some more modern authors are included where they have been posted to the internet (Hemingway, etc.)

To check for an author not listed in the above, search here: http://www.digitalbookindex.org/_search/search002a.asp

Links to SUBJECTS can be found at: http://www.digitalbookindex.org/_search/search011t-rev.asp

Sorry to post this to the question box, but I couldn't find an email address. -T Franklin "Webmaster" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.174.137.158 (talk) 23:52, 12 December 2007 (UTC)