Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 February 26

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Help desk
< February 25 << Jan | February | Mar >> February 27 >
Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.


Contents


[edit] February 26

[edit] Plumber's putty

I was searching Wikipedia for information about "Plumber's putty". I have an old can and it has asbestos in it. I needed to know if this was common or a very OLD can and represented a health risk if I used it.

I wanted to properly file a question under say "construction" or "plumbing" or the closest thing I found was "architecture" and was routed to a massive page on computer architecture. Not wanting to offend by my lack of wiki knowledge, I tried looking in the FAQ and still got very little guidance (ALBEIT, for a new user of a wiki... I at least know what a wiki is).

My last resort after about 30 minutes of trying to "do things the right way", I am now forced to just ask a question in general. I am very sorry if I have approached this improperly, but you REALLY need some kind of information about how folks do home improvement. Even a DIY (do it yourself) category would be helpful. All I really wanted to know was if asbestos is dangerous in plumber's putty. Heck I can't imagine how many questions folks would have about what pressure treated lumber is or the difference between a crescent wrench verses channel locks.

I hope you will do something to add this kind of functionality to your web site.

Thanks for your time. 68.217.113.163 00:07, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Please see WP:NOT#IINFO. Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, not a how-to guide, and the community consensus is that it shouldn't contain information of the type that you are suggesting. -- Chairman S. Talk Contribs 00:19, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
That said: Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. —XhantarTalk 00:24, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Did someone say how-to guide? Try wikiHow! Wikipedia does not wish to be a how-to guide, but wikiHow does. Whenever Wikipedia doesn't want some type of non-encylopedic content, there is probably another wiki that does. There are lots of wikis. Wikipedia is merely the world's largest and most famous wiki, the one that shows up in every other Google search any more. For most of us, Wikipedia is our first introduction to wiki technology. However, we learn pretty fast that Wikipedia is actually a very specialized kind of wiki, and doesn't necessarily want every sort of useful content. Fortunately, setting up more wikis is so easy (well, sort of) that thousands of people have done it. There is probably a wiki for everything that needs to be said. --Teratornis 01:06, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Can't edit very large article

At List of medical topics (S), there is a link to Subway, which is a dab page. Because none of the dab targets is a medical topic, I wanted to remove the wikilink and post about this on the article talk page. But I've made about seven attempts to edit the article just to remove the wikilink, with no success -- the edits never take. Could this have anything to do with the fact that the article is 286 KB in size? Any help would be appreciated. --Tkynerd 00:21, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

I just checked the page, and there is no wikilink on the word "Subway". Your edits took, you just can't see them. Try purging the database first by adding &action=purge to the end of the page's URL. If that doesn't work, clear your browser's cache (In Firefox, press Ctrl+Shift+R). Sometimes this happens, I'm not quite sure why. Hersfold (talk/work) 00:30, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
I can't even get the damn page to display! Thanks for checking this for me. (PS I took the liberty of indenting your comment above, hope you don't mind.) --Tkynerd 00:40, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
No, that's fine. I usually do anyway, not sure why I didn't indent it here. The page isn't loading for me, either. Wikimedia may be having some server issues, or it could be that the page is too big after all and is just freezing up... but that doesn't explain why this page is loading when it's much larger. If you still can't get it working, try asking about it at the tech village pump - someone there might know what's going on. Hersfold (talk/work) 00:49, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] EMANIO deleted

I uploaded an article on EMANIO which has been deleted for some reason. I haven't been informed as to why, but would you please check what happened.

I will upload a replacement now, but would appreciate your feedback.


Thanks, Excebiche

A reason was posted to your talk page. Please make sure articles about companies meet WP:NOTABILITY and are phrased like encyclopedia articles, not advertisements. *Mishatx*-In\Out 02:48, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Copying over Template:Navigation

I want to create a navbar on another wiki (this X is part of a series on Y, has a bunch of links to related things at the bottom). However, I can't figure out how to copy over Template:Navigation for use on it. Some weird transclusion is going on. Help? -Wooty Woot? contribs 01:25, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

What wiki? (→Netscott) 02:46, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
It's private, running MediaWiki. If there's no easy way to do this I'll just code my own little table. -Wooty Woot? contribs 05:52, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
The main template that Navigation relies upon is Template:Tnavbar. Just copy Tnavbar over to your Wiki and then copy Template:Navigation and you'll be good to go. (→Netscott) 13:07, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Boring Piped Link Question

Does Wikipedia:Piped_link#Easter_egg to my userpage? --Seans Potato Business 02:12, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

It appears you are missing at least one word in your question. Without it, the question makes no sense as "Easter Egg" is not a verb, so nothing can Easter Egg to your userpage. --Kainaw (talk) 04:40, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
I'm guessing there should be an "apply" before "to". In which case, I'd say, "No", as long as it meets the requirements of WP:USER. Some userboxes and the Motto of the Day contain easter egg links. *Mishatx*-In\Out 09:00, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Correct, Mishatx; you found the missing word! Thanks :) --Seans Potato Business 10:59, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wikimedia Commons vs. Upload to Wikipedia

When I upload an image, should I upload it to the Wikimedia Commons instead of to Wikipedia? How do I use it on Wikipedia if I do so? If I upload an image to Wikipedia, does it get automatically moved to the commons? Is it prefered that I upload to the commons or here? Can my image achieve "quality image" or "featured image" status if it is not in the Commons, but is on Wikipedia? Thanks Steevven1 (Talk) (Contribs) (Gallery) 02:44, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

If you can, upload it to the Wikimedia Commons. All the images there can be used here exactly the same way. However, there are added licensing restrictions on Commons; see Commons:Licensing for more info. There's no restrictions on whether Commons images can become Featured pictures here, but only Commons images may become Featured pictures in Commons. Titoxd(?!?) 02:53, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
(after edit conflict) A lot of questions... let's try to answer them. First: if your image is under a free licence (e.g. you made it yourself or you can prove it with permission from the original copyright holder), it's better to upload it to Commons, because other Wikipedias and other Wikimedia projects can use it at well. Second question: Using an image from the Commons works in the same way you would use an image you have uploaded locally, just use [[Image:Foo.extension]]. Thid one: No it doesn't, it has to be moved by hand, re-uploading it to Commons and marking it for deletion here (use {{NowCommons}} and see Wikipedia:Moving images to Commons). Fourth question: Not up to speed on the processes here, but a "featured picture" or quality image on the Commons can only attain that status if it's hosted there. Hope that helped, Niels|en talk-nl talk (faster response)| 03:03, 26 February 2007 (UTC)


[edit] a user on wikipedia

i know one of the users you have on here "LaNicoya" i just wanted to advice you and let you know (i am sure as time goes by you will find out and you'll see that what i say is true so keep this in mind) that i ran into her a couple of times in yahoo answers and she got her account canceled because she cheated to gain points and she harrased/stalked me and other users of salvadorian and costa rican decent she is also known for defamation impersonating and cloning wich means she doesnt like el salvador or costa rica and she will trash it and do whatever to make those countries profiles the worst because she always wants to make nicaragua sound better than costa rica and el salvador because it offends her that they are doing better so keep this in mind and watch her every move because she is not trust worthy at all she is a racist that will do whatever to make once again el salvador and costa rica the worst profiles. LaNicoya will probably not let anyone help improve the el salvador or the costa rica profiles so for when that happens i have already told you and you im sure will be able to see its her, im sure her ip adress will appear even if she does make 100's of accounts like she is known to do. I will keep an eye out for her because i do plan to contribute to the el salvador page and im sure she will do whatever to make sure the country sounds bad, if i were you i wouldnt allow a racist as a volunteer.Judith Gonzales

i will pull some files from yahoo answers that she wrote descriminating costa rica and el salvador so you will see i am not making this up and you will know its her because her nickname is always 7 squares then LaNicoya and she says she is buddhist she supports daniel ortega she is from panorama city los angeles she is 17 etc...Judith Gonzales

If she gives you trouble please consult Wikipedia:Dispute resolution and always remember our policies on civility and no personal attacks. If you suspect multiple accounts to be the same user trying to push a particular point of view, please see Wikipedia:Requests for CheckUser. --WikiSlasher 07:23, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Oh and remember to assume good faith as well, and welcome! --WikiSlasher 07:33, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] IP User talk page warnings: deletion by IP user

By the end of the answers to Wikipedia:Help_desk#Blanking_your_own_talk_pages I'm still unsure, though I appreciate the reminder of WP:VANDAL. For an IP user talk page, where the IP user is deleting recent warnings (like 'today'), what are the usual policies? And, if it is not permitted because that would be erasing the tracks of bad behavior, what would be a good template to use? uw-tpv1 doesn't seem right for an IP user talk page. I read through the WP:UTM area and nothing seemed to fit nicely. Shenme 04:48, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

There used to be an appropriate template, but it got TfD'd. I, too, am unclear on the best course of action in these situations. *Mishatx*-In\Out 08:53, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Well the IP indeed turned out to be a sockpuppet (admitted) so the revert was okay, but the lack of an appropriate warning was not okay. I don't want to make one up on the fly, as it might start out "Hey! you @#&^@#...."   :-)   Shenme 09:08, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Do I get credit for what I write on Wikipedia articles?

Hi, My name is Morgan talbot and I am 11 years old. I added some information onto an article about garden skinks (Lampropholis guichenoti) yesterday and I was wondering if I will get credit for what I wrote. I thought this might be important because I found this imformation by observation (observing live garden skinks) and I Might want to include it in a school project ect. and I don't want to be accused of copying other people (or, in this case myself). Below I have copied the article on to this page and put a blank line in between the original article and what I wrote (the peice on top is the original article and my added info is on the bottom)

Original Article:

The Common Garden Skink or Pale-flecked Garden Sunskink (Lampropholis guichenoti) is a small common skink often seen in suburban gardens in Melbourne, Australia, but is common across most of Southern Australia. It grows to a maximum of 14 cm, but rarely exceeds 9 cm. It lays its eggs in communal clutches. Like most other skinks, the tail will drop if grasped roughly. The tail then twitches vigorously for a while, to hold the attention of the predator while the lizard makes its escape.

What I wrote:

Garden skinks rely purely on the movement of their prey when hunting. if their prey is not moving, they will not see it as edible and will not strike. When hunting, the skinks will either hide and wait for prey to come by or actively pursue it (this depends on how hungry they are). Once they have caught their prey, they shake it around vigourously to kill it before swallowing it whole. Once they have had one meal, they begin to actively persue prey with their newfound energy. The skinks only need one prey item per 4 or 5 days, but will eat every day if conditions are good. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.168.49.226 (talk • contribs)

Only in so much as it shows your IP or username on the history page. You can give the URL of the diff to show the actual edit and which user wrote it, but you'd need to find a way to prove that the user shown on said diff is actually you. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:38, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
If you do want credit for your writing, you can join a wiki which allows signed articles, for example: Wikinfo. Also be aware that lots of people edit Wikipedia, so someone might edit what you write. After a few rounds of that, the passage might no longer be recognizable as yours. It's best to ask your teacher first for the rules on what you can use for your assignments. --Teratornis 06:47, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Just a note, adding information from personal observation is original research, and not appropriate for Wikipedia. I don't too much doubt the truth of what you added (and it's a nice starting point for a stub article), we'd prefer that you can cite a source. *Mishatx*-In\Out 08:51, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] uncited material

I found an article on "Anglo-Norman language" that is largely just copy-pasted from a real paper written by a linguist named David Trotter- but there are no citations or references. Some words or phrases have been changed, but the bulk of the article is word-for-word from the original paper. The issue is not that the article is inaccurate, just that the person who posted it clearly copied this man's work without citing his source. I looked at the faq's about fair use and public domain, and I don't think it's a copyright violation (since we used the same article in a class I'm taking) but, I don't know how to tag it to say "cite your source."

Thanks, 71.206.190.91 07:34, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

No, if it is as you describe then that is a copyright violation, unless the article is over (perhaps) 100 years old. And if it is, then it is plagiarism instead. Citation doesn't allow an article to be copied; the entire article must be rewritten in the editor's own words. Is the original article on the web anywhere, and if so, can you let us know the URL? If not, can you please let us know the publication detail of the original. Notinasnaid 09:11, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
I don't think it's a copyright violation (since we used the same article in a class I'm taking) - this is incorrect. What you read in class (for example, in a photocopied reader) and what is on Wikipedia are entirely different things (not to mention that what you're reading in class could be an unauthorized copy). What you describe seems a clear copyright violation that should be reported at Wikipedia:Copyright problems. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 15:04, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Username

I have another username that I normally use on websites, the name is taken on wikipedia and i'm wondering if it was me that is signed up to it and I have forgotten the password, or if it's someone else who has taken the account name? If it's the latter then I don't mind, but if it's the former i'd rather use that username than this one. Is there any way I can find out? Capubadger 07:51, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

What's the name? --WikiSlasher 07:54, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Help:Logging_in#What_if_I_forget_the_password.3F or Wikipedia:Usurpation. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 07:55, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
The name is Capuchin, I've just done the e-mail new password thing, I have several inactive email accounts though and it may be registered to one of those - we will see. How do I go about seeing if the user has contributed - as per the usurpation process? Also, the Usurpation process requires that the person requsting usurpation be a contributing member - I only activated this username today, and have made several contributions (of a Wikipedia:WikiGnome-like nature), but as an anonymous user. Is that a problem? Capubadger 08:16, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Well, according to Special:Contributions/Capuchin, there have been no contributions from that username. According to the log the account was created on Sept 5, 2006. Do you remember what email address you would have been using then? *Mishatx*-In\Out 08:39, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Hmm, it may be my old e-mail address. That sounds like the kind of time I would have created it. It's more likely to be one of my new ones though, I'll have to see when I get home. Thanks for your help.Capubadger 08:52, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Yep i didnt get an email so i guess it isnt mine. Time for usurpation!! Capubadger 08:31, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Musical Group Entry

hello, i was interested in starting a wikipedia entry for an american musical group that may or may not still exist, but is very mysterious to most people and i am constantly questioned about their history and sound. bas on this, i decided that i would like to make a wikipedia entry for this group but i do not know if this would fit the guidelines for a real entry. i noticed their name is mentioned when you search for the tag "noise rock".

please let me know if this is a possibility and how i would go about creating such an entry. thank you.

bill (email removed)

Wikipedia:Your first article and Help:Starting a new page for starters, and make sure it satisfies WP:MUSIC, otherwise it will be speedy-deleted. This involves reliable sources, neutral points of view and lack of conflict of interest. Because your band seems to clash with the genre noise rock, you need to look at disambiguation as well. x42bn6 Talk 13:22, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How to report offensive statements?

The article on 'Winder, GA' contains this sentence, "It is also the asshole of the earth." I could not find a link to report offensive language/statements; so I went in to try and edit (remove it), but could not (you will see my attempt in the history log, this date). Could someone please remove this? And where is the 'report' link? Thank you.

I have removed that statement from the article. Unfortunately, as Wikipedia can be edited by anyone, this kind of vandalism happens. The best thing to do is to click on "edit this page" at the top and remove it yourself. Thanks for letting us know though. Will (aka Wimt) 12:18, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. I will read how to edit correctly so I can do this in the future.

[edit] Mathmode in titles

I was editing the page on Trigonometric_substitution#Examples, and wanted to include three cases with headings. What's the best way to do this? Mathmode in titles? Sub/superscripts? Should I just leave this entirely in normal case?

Advice would be very much appreciated, I've tried to look for guidance in the help here and mediawiki pages, but didn't find anything suitable. DavidMcKenzie 12:33, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

WP:TITLE gives guidelines for many other kinds of titles, but I don't see anything about math in there. WP:MSM does not mention titles either, but you should read it if you haven't already, just in case any clues jump out. You might try looking at other well-edited mathematics articles for ideas to copy. See what the folks at Wikipedia:WikiProject Mathematics are doing - wow, there's an impressive WikiProject. Perhaps you should join it. I would imagine the members of WikiProject Mathematics know everything there is to know about writing mathematics articles on Wikipedia. --Teratornis 17:41, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Generally speaking, it's a bad, bad idea to put anything but plain text into section headings. Section headings are often used for linking; non-plaintext can cause problems. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 15:02, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] how do i put my page on wiki

hi, we are an energy consulting firm and would like to upload a page for us in wikipedia. how do i do that. thanks.

Anyone can edit Wikipedia. There is some restriction with creating new pages, but that is easily avoided by creating a user account and using that instead of an anonymous IP address. However, it is against Wikipedia policy for people/companies to put pages in for themselves. If your consulting firm is notable, someone who is not related with the firm will likely create the page. --Kainaw (talk) 12:57, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
First, you have to make sure that you really do want a page on Wikipedia, and that it wouldn't be deleted straight away. You would need some reliable sources independent of the company that referred to it, so that the article could be attributed and to prove that the company was notable. Make sure that you can write neutrally in this situation, despite the conflict of interest involved (or wait for someone else to write the article if you can't). If you haven't already, you should read the Introduction and Tutorial for information on how to edit Wikipedia pages, then Wikipedia:Your first article and Help:Starting a new page for information on how to start a new page. I hope that helps! --ais523 13:00, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Search Wikipedia to see if any articles exist about other firms such as yours. (Also check the category pages to see if your company's article would fit into an existing category; for example, maybe something like: Category:Energy companies of the United States.) If other firms similar to yours have uncontroversial articles, so can yours. Check the article histories and their talk pages to see if any of those articles have stimulated controversy in the past. Read other well-established articles about corporations to get an idea of what a corporation article should be (for example, pick virtually any major company and see what's here: Microsoft, Google, Exxon Mobil, etc.). Above all, avoid peacock language - that will get your article flagged for deletion straightaway. Just state the sober facts about the company, provide published citations to support them all, and let readers draw their own conclusions as to how marvelous everything is (or not). Demonstrate your good faith by leaving a note on your article's talk page that explains your potential conflict of interest, that you want to play by the rules here, and you invite and will graciously accept correction from more experienced Wikipedians on how to get the article in proper shape (if your first attempt isn't). If you do want to advertise or promote, you will need to find another wiki. If your firm already has its own Web site, someday you might consider starting your own corporate wiki, so you can collaborate efficiently with your employees, customers, and suppliers. See b:Wiki Science/How to start a wiki and TWiki. --Teratornis 17:23, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
One more thing - if you aren't sure you can write a neutral article about your company, you could request that someone else write the article. There should be no conflict of interest in merely asking. By the way, welcome to Wikipedia! If this place seems to have lots of complicated rules, well, it does. But you did the right thing to ask first, rather than just write something because it's so easy to write something (getting something to stick is often much harder). --Teratornis 17:30, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] purkinje fibre's conductivity

Hi, I want to know why purkinje fibre has the highest conductivity despite the long duration of its action potential. (electrical activity in cardiovascular physiology)-------....

  • That's something for the reference desk. This page is for questions related to Wikipedia itself. - Mgm|(talk) 00:57, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How long does it take for a photo to show up?

How long does it take for a photo to show up?

  • Once you upload a photo it's accessible immediately, but to actually see it show anywhere but its image info page, you'd have to add it to an article, Wikipedia:Image tutorial. - Mgm|(talk) 00:56, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I made some comments on talk pages.

My comments were stupid, it was not about the article itself, as I am a somewhat new user. Can I delete my comments? Or, content on talk pages cannot be deleted, so should I keep it?Ayasi 18:35, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Don't quote me on this, but I believe that you can delete your own comment as long as nobody's replied to it.

[edit] How do you add info so a search for an article abbreviation comes up?

If you search for Westerly, RI; Westerly, Rhode Island comes up.

If you search for Weekapaug, RI.... nothing comes up; but if you search for Weekapaug, Rhode Island an article comes up.

How could you fix the article for Weekapaug so a search for Weekapaug, RI would redirect to Weekapaug, Rhode Island.

Thanks

You just create the article Weekapaug, RI with the following text (only):
#REDIRECT [[Weekapaug, Rhode Island]]
That's all there is to it. --Tkynerd 18:44, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Please don't spend a lot of time creating such redirects. There are tens of thousands of town and city articles in Wikipedia, virtually none with such redirects. The best way to find a town is either search on its name (rather than using the "Go" button), or to search via Google. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 14:59, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Using lastname, firstname format for a redirect

What is Wikipedia's policy on making "Lastname, Firstname" redirect articles?
For example Gates, Bill
Thanks,
Kevs 19:58, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

  • All the help pages on Wikipedia:Naming conventions say the order should be "Firstname Lastname". A quick perusal of Wikipedia:Redirect doesn't give any info either. I would say don't create them unless it's about names where first and last are often mixed up. - Mgm|(talk) 00:53, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
    • Thanks for the answer! -- Kevs 03:25, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
      • To add on: redirects are to help those who search on a (slightly) incorrect term. So if (say) a lot of people misspelled "Bill Gates" as "Bil Gates", a redirect would get them to the right article even though the searched on the wrong one. Since people pretty much always search on Firstname Lastname, there isn't any good reason to set up a redirect for the Lastname, Firstname case. (If nothing else, we don't want to train anyone to expect that Lastname, Firstname is a good way to search, because it's not.) -- John Broughton (♫♫) 14:54, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Talk pages

how do I talk on the talk pages Nighthawk455 20:33, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

You talk on talk pages by editing them just like a normal article (like you did to add this question). Veinor (talk to me) 20:37, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Reverting multiple edits

I recently dealt with a couple of articles that had suffered vandalism where a single user made six or seven vandalising edits in quick succession. Is there any way to revert them all at once, or do you have to do it (as I did) one edit at a time? Heliomance 20:35, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Do you mean that the same user had vandalized more than one page, or that he had vandalized the same page more than once? Veinor (talk to me) 20:37, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Same page more than once Heliomance 20:43, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Well, the most efficient way is then to just restore the version present before they vandalized; to see how to do so, see Help:Reverting. Veinor (talk to me) 20:53, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
  • The administrator rollback button will undo all the changes made by the same user if there's no intervening edits, so you could ask an admin. There's also an admin light script floating around. Not sure how that would react to the situation. _ Mgm|(talk) 00:46, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
    • If all the edits are consecutive, they can be reverted with a single "undo"; admin tools are not needed. On the history page, use the two columns of radio buttons to do a compare between the most recent vandal edit and the version of the article just prior to the vandalizing. The comparison will say something like "(Five intermediate revisions not shown.)" The "undo" link (far right, near top) will revert all the edits that the comparison covers.
    • If the vandal did vandalizing edits in (say) two consecutive clusters, then you'd do two "undos", not one, of course. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 14:51, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] uncited material (part 2)

I know it says in the instructions that if you have a follow-up question you should just click 'edit,' but there is no 'edit' button showing up. I think it's because I don't have a username. Anyway, last night I asked how to report a possible copyright violation, and one of the users confirmed that it is a copyright violation, but I still don't know how to fix it. Do I email wikipedia? I have the name and URL of the article that the author copied.

Regarding edit problems, see the section immediately below. Regarding copyright violations, post at Wikipedia:Copyright problems. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 14:47, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Edit section link

I no longer get the "Edit" link next to the section headings in this article (help desk). I get it if I log off. I get it in other articles. Any ideas? Notinasnaid 21:04, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

This was discussed at Wikipedia talk:Help desk, and has been fixed. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 14:45, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] using wikipedia as a work cited

how to note wikipedia as a work cited

Use Special:Cite, and type in the page you want to cite. Prodego talk 23:21, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] US BOWLING CONGRESS AFFILIATED CLUBS E-MAIL ADDRESSES

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: DOES WIKIPEDIA HAVE ACCESS TO E-MAIL ADDRESSES FOR THE VARIOUS US BOWLING CONGRESS PROFFESSIONAL CLUBS AND HOW WOULD I FIND THEM---- RICK

Wikipedia does not have email addresses. Keeping emails displayed online can lead to spam. Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 22:25, 26 February 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Warning Vandals

I am curious as to whether anyone can post warnings on people's talk pages (assuming they have done something wrong, of course) or if that action is restricted to just admins. Zomic_13 22:49, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Please stop. If you continue to vandalise Wikipedia...

This is your last warning.
The next time you vandalize a page...

Anyone can do that. Veinor (talk to me) 22:50, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
ok. Thanks. I saw the various temples on the vandalism page, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't overstepping any boundaries. Zomic_13 22:53, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Don't worry about making a mistake. We all do, and Wikipedia encourages people to be bold! If you do something wrong, someone will tell you. We were all newbs at one point, so don't worry as long as you're willing to learn. Dåvid Fuchs (talk / frog blast the vent core!) 23:09, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tv episodes that air in other countries.

I have a question about american tv shows that air in other countries. If a new episode of a series such as Heroes (tv series) airs in Canada hours before it premires in the US, does it violate WP:A or WP:C to write a plot summary of the episode and to upload screenshots of the episode even though no one in America can verify this infomation? How can a single wikipedian from America verify the infomation like "a character dies" if they have to wait hours to see the episode while wikipedians from other countries get to have free reign over the new infomation gained from the episode? dposse 23:29, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

The same question can be asked of shows that air in the U.S. first. Remember that Wikipedia is open to people around the world, so in those few hours, you'll have to rely on the people from outside the U.S. to maintain the article. Xiner (talk, email) 23:37, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
  • Wikipedia is an international project (It's the English language Wikipedia; not the American Wikipedia). If a book is released in Australia, it can be used as a source, even if people in other places around the world have to wait 2-3 months or half a year to get their hands on the same book. The point is that a reliable editor can back it up, that doesn't mean it has to be an American. In fact, we can even cite sources few Americans will ever get to see: like Dutch newspaper articles. English language sources are preferred, but Dutch, German, French or Spanish ones are acceptable if they're the only alternative. - Mgm|(talk) 00:42, 27 February 2007 (UTC)