Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 July 7

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[edit] July 7

[edit] Find a Contributor's page creations

Is there any way I can find what articles a given user has created? The search page on special:newpages only goes back so far, and doesn't seem to include redirects. I seem to remember seeing this in a template call somewhere. Does this feature still exist? --YbborTalk 00:40, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm in a hurry to leave, so I'll just give you a Google search to this question in the Help desk archive. It's been asked several times before. --Teratornis 11:08, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
None of those seem to provide an effective solution either, aside from mentioning special:newpages and its limitations. There was an allusion to a script Interiot runs on request, but that seems to much trouble for long-term use. Am I left to assume that there is no effective solution? No definitive answer came up. --YbborTalk 12:48, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Create Custom Userboxes

- How do I create Custom Userboxes and how do I make them like this: User Male. (Edit:Sorry I usually say Templates) -Fear teh Happy! 00:46, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't really understand the question, but Wikipedia:Template namespace probably has the answer. --Haemo 00:49, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
Oh, I see! Take a look at WP:UBX. Also, I'll bet dollars to donuts that this has the userbox you need. --Haemo 01:00, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
For instance, {{User:UBX/male}}. --Haemo 01:02, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Posting an Image

HI,

I just created a page for Samuel A. Stouffer (1900-1960), sociologist. I would like to include a thumbnail image of him. The image is available on the American Sociological Association website:

http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?name=Samuel+A.+Stouffer&section=Presidents

I'll admit that the procedures for doing so have completely befuddled me. Lisences and so forth...and I can't figure out the right buttons to press anyway.

This is my first and only post, and I am clueless. Can someone who knows what they are doing (unlike me) point me in the right direction?

--Joseph William Ryan 01:17, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, first ensure there are no free images of him available. Once you've done that, save it, click "upload file" in the toolbox to the left. Then use the {{fairuse}} tag in the box, and leave the license menu blank. Write a short rationale explaining why this image is acceptable under the guidelines here. I think that should suffice. --Haemo 01:23, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] tamil vs kannada

i want to know which is the oldest language tamil or kannada

This page is designed only for questions about using Wikipedia. You might want to ask your question at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language, or see our pages on Tamil language and Kannada language. Raven4x4x 07:21, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Adding pics to article

How do I add upload a picture to a page that is already there?

To upload a picture, go to the page Wikipedia:Upload. However, please first read Wikipedia:Uploading images and our image use policy. Copyright of images is a very big issue on Wikipedia, and if you want to upload an image which you do not hold the copyright to you need to be very careful in how it is tagged and used. I've put a welcome message on your talk page with some other helpful links to do with editing here. Raven4x4x 07:30, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] trouble uploading an article

I have created an account and would like to upload an article. Every time I log in, I am acknowledged as being logged in. I then click on Upload file and am instantly logged out and told "You must be logged in to upload a file." I log in. I click Upload file and am logged out and told "You must be logged in to upload a file." And round and round I go. Please tell me how to get out of this loop and upload my file on the "Bread and Roses" strike based on my book about the strike. Thank you.

Bruce Watson

Hi Bruce. Please see Help:Logging in#How to log in. Following the instructions there should hopefully solve your problem. Please note that articles are not uploaded to Wikipedia. The upload function is to upload media, such as images. Please see Wikipedia:Upload. For our text based articles, you must enter the words, just as you did to create your post on this page. I think you would benefit from touring the Wikipedia:Tutorial. Note that we already have an articles on Bread and Roses with a section on the strike. You could improve that article's coverage or if the strike needs a separate article, create it out of the existing redirect, Bread and Roses Strike. Because that's a redirect, when you click on that link you will be automatically taken (redirected) to the article on Bread and Roses. You will then need to click on the linked text at the top, "Redirected from Bread and Roses Strike" in order to access the page. Finally, note that because we are an encyclopedia, every statement in an article should cite to a reliable source which verifies its content.--Fuhghettaboutit 12:35, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] user page

how do i start my user page againMarvel77 09:21, 7 July 2007 (UTC).

You could blank your userpage – replace all the text in the page with a space " ". If you mean delete your page and recreate it again, replace your page with {{db-userreq}}, which will tag your userpage for deletion, and will be deleted soon by an administrator. Sebi [talk] 09:34, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] deleting account

Is it possible to delete my wikipedia account? This is the last time i will use this account and i no longer need it.

Thank you.

Borats Friend 10:03, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

noBlacksmith2 talk 10:16, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
Accounts with contributions cannot be deleted since this would allow another user to create the account, and claim authorship of those edits. It is not possible for your edits to be removed entirely; for this reason, removing the account would potentially violate copyrights by allowing for such authorship claims. You can, however, change your username (if you've made less than 200,000 edits) and request that your userpage and talk page be deleted by placing {{db-user}} on both pages.--Fuhghettaboutit 12:54, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] help me................

hello wikipedia..........i need full book of cell biology and bio organic che ,principle of chemical eng containg the following factors..........UNIT I CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE ORGANELLES 9 Eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, principles of membrane organisation, membrane proteins, cytoskeletal proteins, types of cell division, mitosis & meiosis, extra cellular matrix, cell cycle and molecules that control cell cycle.<remainder of massive post removed>—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.56.231.116 (talk • contribs).

Please go to a bookstore, online or in person, and order books on these subjects. Or, you could read our various articles on biology, chemistry and the various other subjects you were inquiring about; just type a word into the search bar at left. We are an online encyclopedia. We don't provide books to people. If you have a specific question on these topics you can ask it at the science reference desk. This page is for help with using Wikpedia. However. please don't post anywhere the massive post you did here (twice)—ask a specific question. Thank you.--Fuhghettaboutit 12:12, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] elements

how many elements are discovered till today121.247.67.112 12:31, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

117 elements have been observed as of 2007. Please see our article, Chemical element. Please note that this page is for asking questions about using Wikipedia. Future questions such as the above should be asked at one of the various reference desks. On the using Wikipedia front, note how easy it is: in order to answer your question I typed "element" into the search box at left, then came to a page with various types of element articles, clicked on the one for chemistry and found your answer immediately. The whole process took me less than 1 minute. You can do the same research yourself.--Fuhghettaboutit 12:40, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Image Upload

I am trying to show an image on the page I use to list the Members of the Watford LUG. I think I have successfully uploaded the image to Wikipedia and in my own page I have put Image:Nameoffile.JPG when I click on this I get the message; --File uploads are disabled on this wiki-- Can you tell me how to correct this? Thanks Cliff —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cliffd7 (talk • contribs)

I don't see an article by the name of Members of the Watford LUG. Going through your contributions, I see a number of images uploaded but no edits to an article even remotely similar to "Members of the Watford LUG". You refer to it as "the page I use" and "in my own page", so now I'm wondering if you're referring to some other wiki that you're trying to edit and use the images from Wikipedia for an article on a different wiki. Could you maybe expand on just what article you are trying to add these images to? Dismas|(talk) 14:19, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
A Google search shows this is probably about Watford Linux User Group at http://www.watford.lug.org.uk/wiki/index.php/Watford_LUG. PrimeHunter 14:36, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes you have the right location, sorry about my inept question. If you go to the Watford LUG site >members you will see that I am trying to show an image of a member against his name. I get the --File uploads are disabled ...-- message and that is what I am trying to fix. Cliffd7 14:54, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

Then you should take that up with the Watford LUG site. Wikipedia has nothing to do with the LUG. Both sites use the MediaWiki software and look similar but that is where the comparisons end. It would be like going to Google because of issues you're having with Yahoo. They both run search engines but they don't provide tech support for one another. Dismas|(talk) 15:20, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
I don't think you can display images uploaded to Wikipedia at your wiki. The image should be uploaded to Waterford LUG, but the message you quote indicates the feature is disabled there. Wikipedia and Waterford LUG both use the MediaWiki software. See mw:Manual:Image Administration. You may be able to get MediaWiki help unrelated to Wikipedia at mw:Project:Support desk. PrimeHunter 15:44, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
The Waterford LUG administrators would need to set $wgEnableUploads and possibly $wgFileExtensions in their Manual:LocalSettings.php file if they want to let you upload images. However, they might have deliberately chosen not to do that. I notice that their Recent changes page shows they're getting hit by wiki spammers. You should tell the administrators either to disable edits by non-logged-in users, or to train a massive community of users who will volunteer their time to combat spam like we do on Wikipedia. As the latter option is virtually out of the question for most small new wikis they should probably go with the far easier option of disabling edits by non-logged-in users, which at least contains the spammers to accounts they can ban. That's my advice anyway. They can read these Google search results on mediawiki.org to learn more about combating wiki spam. --Teratornis 21:40, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Auto Peerreview script

I am attempting to follow the auto peerreview script installation instructions at User:AndyZ/peerreviewer#Installation. Can you tell what is wrong with my script at User:TonyTheTiger/monobook.js? It does not seem to be prompting me for auto peerreview.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 15:27, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

Since I have that script and it works fine for me, and since yours was slightly different, I pasted the script from my monobook into yours in the hope that the difference was what is bollixing it up. Go to the monobook and purge your cache (on many computers, done by hitting ctrl+f5). If it still doesn't work, revert me and wait for someone who actually understands this stuff.--Fuhghettaboutit 15:43, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
It still is not working. --TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 01:06, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
A tech wiz might be along soon but you might have better luck asking at the Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing or Wikipedia:Village pump (technical). Is it simply not working? Note that the only change you find when it is working is that, when you have an article in edit mode, it says "peer review" at the very top right of the screen next to log out (at least in the classic skin).--Fuhghettaboutit 01:59, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tags (or notices - not sure what they're called!)

Recently, I updated the Jason Vale article. The article already has a tag/notice stating that it 'looked too much like an advertisement'. I've improved it now, so am I allowed get rid of the tag/notice myself?

RuthW 16:38, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

If you think it doesn't look like an ad anymore, yes, you're free to remove the tag. Dismas|(talk) 16:57, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Providing news to Wikipedia

How does Wikipedia bring news to your website before it was being mention on the news? For ex. You bring the latest news of Wimbledon ladies' Championship game when Vinus Williams win the championship before we even watch the game.

It is possible that someone was either at the match or was watching it live on TV, and subsequently updated the relevant Wikipedia article just after the championship. That's one reason why wikis are cool--they can be updated much faster than many other traditional media. It is also possible that a vandal posted false information before the match was over, but most of the time other users remove it quickly. ~MDD4696 17:22, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
I wonder if there is a userbox for pre-cogs. --Teratornis 21:48, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
I found User:GeneralIroh/Userboxes/Psychic in a search. It knew who I was. Spooky. PrimeHunter 22:56, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] biography addition

How do you post a biography for someone with the same name as an existing biography? There is another Sean McLaughlin who should be listed in addition to the one who currently has an article posted. Seantaketa 18:07, 7 July 2007 (UTC) seantaketa

You'll have to create the article with something added to the name that makes it unique, like "Sean McLaughlin (musician)". After you've done that, it is then good to go to the existing article and rename it so it is also unique, like "Sean McLaughlin (meteorologist)" and then create a disambiguation page named "Sean McLaughlin" that links to both of the other articles. See the John Smith page, for example. If you need help with that, feel free to contact the Help desk again. Truthanado 18:13, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How to align two tables next to each other?

I have two tables that I would like to have next to each other. They are narrow and having them vertically aligned, first one then the other (which is what happens by default), wastes a lot of screen space. Is there a way to do this? See my Sandbox here. Thanks. Truthanado 18:07, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

One possibility is to let the tables be cells in another table as I did in Prime gap#Numerical results. See also Help:Table. I'm not a table expert and don't know whether this is the best solution for you. PrimeHunter 18:47, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
Thanks for the suggestion. It's not ideal because the two tables have to contain the same number of rows, so I had to cheat a little with "blank" cells. It does the job, and maybe some Wikipedian table expert can improve it. See Baseball statistics#Good statistics. Truthanado 02:19, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
I have removed the empty rows and top aligned. [1]. PrimeHunter 02:29, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Copyvio warn template?

Do we have a template to place on user talk pages for copyright violations, similar to the ones we have for warning on vandalism? I swear I thought we did, but I can't seem to find them. --fuzzy510 18:36, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

We do its {{subst:uw-copyright}}. See WP:TT for a list of warnings. --Hdt83 Chat 18:40, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
Excellent, just what I needed. Thanks a ton! --fuzzy510 18:51, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] homepage

159.134.162.60 18:40, 7 July 2007 (UTC)How do i make wikipedia my homepage?

That has to be done on your browser. On most browsers you would configure this through its preferences by simply typing the english Wikipedia's URL (http://en.wikipedia.org). Scottydude talk 19:06, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
You might like to see: Wikipedia:Tools/Browser tools. --Teratornis 22:17, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Insulting?

Isn't this a little insulting to anon users? "Please do not save test edits. If you want to experiment, please use the Sandbox." CAPTCHAs for anon users is bad enough, but must we also be insulted?--172.146.207.122 21:40, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

What exactly is insulting about that? The word sandbox? ssepp(talk) 21:48, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
'For testing, please use the sandbox instead.' is also on the edit page for registered users. I think almost nobody considers it consulting. ssepp(talk) 21:51, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
If it is "sandbox" you find insulting, then follow the link in Sandbox to see the meaning. See also Sandbox (software development). This is a common serious term. PrimeHunter 21:55, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
Oh, I get it. I hadn't thought that the term "Sandbox" could seem condescending to a new user, perhaps one who has never used a revision control system before and isn't familiar with the wiki use of the term, but it does make sense that someone could interpret this as a dismissive instruction to go use the child's plaything. In a large population of users, every possible interpretation of a system's instructions will occur to someone. In any case, insults are only insulting when you agree with them. I think Eleanor Roosevelt said something like that, and it is manifestly true. But brace yourself, if you think that was insulting, wait until you are asking Why was my page deleted?. I'm not trying to be even more insulting here, just pointing out that dealing with Wikipedia is often very much like dealing with a giant lumbering faceless insensitive dispassionate robot. But on the plus side it is usually a law-abiding robot. That is, everything it does is ruled by a complex set of very well-documented policies and guidelines. So once you are fluent in the rules, it doesn't feel insulting any more. This is different than dealing with an irretrievably Kafkaesque real-world bureaucracy where the rules are generally kept from outsiders and you never know what to expect. --Teratornis 22:01, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
By the way, many experienced editors have created their own sandbox for test edits. I have one at User:PrimeHunter/sandbox. PrimeHunter 22:08, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] indifferentiated

what is the meaning of indifferentiated? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.47.184.138 (talk)

"Undifferentiated" appears to be a more common form of the word. It means something that has not been differentiated. Differentiation can mean several things but I think the term (in/un)-differentiated is mainly used in connection with Cellular differentiation. PrimeHunter 22:27, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
WP:HD is "specifically" for questions regarding Wikipedia. Next time you have a general knowledge question, please comsider asking at WP:RD or searching within Wikipedia first.
Thank you,

Kevinwong913 Speak out loud! 20:10, 8 July 2007 (UTC)