Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 November 17

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[edit] November 17

[edit] My page has been deleted and i have no idea why!

I made it just a couple of minutes ago and it has been removed instantly, I did not have anything that was copywrited on it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Skulltula (talk • contribs)

What was the article, and who was the deleting administrator? --Orange Mike 00:19, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
I could be more specific if I knew what article this was, but in general there are three processes under which mainspace articles are deleted: 1) speedy deletion; 2) proposed deletion (prod) and 3) Articles for deletion (AfD). For more information, see Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted? To find out why the particular article you posted was deleted, go to the deletion log and type into the search field marked "title," the exact name of the article, mindful of the original capitalization, spelling and spacing. The deletion log entry will show when the article was deleted, by which administrator, and typically contain a deletion summary listing the reason for deletion. If you wish to contest this deletion, please contact the administrator first on his or her talk page and, depending on the circumstances, politely explain why you think the article should be restored, or why a copy should be provided to you so you can address the reason for deletion before reposting the article. If this is not fruitful, you have the option of listing the article at Wikipedia:Deletion review, but it will likely only be restored if the deletion was clearly improper. Hope this has helped.. --Bfigura (talk) 00:22, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Okay, so I found out why it was deleted. I didn't add my username next to MY name, which is what the article was about, so I guess whoever deleted it thought I made it with that person's permission, when infact that person was me. Does this mean I have to re-type EVERYTHING, or is there some way I can get it back and make the necessary corrections? The user who deleted it is Academic Challenger. I think. Or at least thats what it says. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Skulltula (talk • contribs)

Let me clear this up. The page was Ben Tobias, and it was deleted by the administrator Academic Challenger, who didn't give a reason. However, the reason it was likely deleted was that it did not assert the notability of the subject. There are certain guidelines entries should follow (see WP:BIO), which you are probably not going to be able to meet. If you just mean to describe yourself, and you don't intend to create an entry, you should use your userpage, which is at User:Skulltula. Let me know if you have any other questions. Prodego talk 00:44, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
I realize Wikipedia might seem confusing at first, (please click on the blue words to read the policy/guide they refer to). Wikipedia is not like other sites you may have come across. First, it is an encyclopedia. Wikipedia is not MySpace, or FaceBook, or a place to host personal webspace, or a place where editors can make articles about anything they wish. Wikipedia has Core policies, such as neutrality, notability, verifiability, etc. What does all of this mean? Well, it means that any article on Wikipedia must demonstrate notability (meaning it must be note worthy, covered by the media, etc.), and have reliable, third-party sources (such as news media articles, magazine/trade journal articles) written about the subject, and the information given in the article must cite those sources to verify it is true. From those sources, information is summarized, paraphrased, condensed, and worded neutrally to make an encyclopedic entry (information cannot be copied from other sites). See Wikipedia's manual of style, layout guide, your first article, article development, and how to edit for assistance. Additionally, you should not create articles about yourself, family, friends, etc., as that goes against the conflict of interest guideline, which relates to editing neutrally. Please also see the guideline on autobiographies. Hope that helps! Ariel♥Gold 00:47, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
Here comes Ariel, upstaging everyone with the most eloquent answer :) Leebo T/C 00:54, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
Skulltula, you'll need to budget about a month of your spare time to read all the pages the above answers link to, and let them sink in. Then maybe a few years to get through all of this additional material. Unless you are a fast reader. But seriously, the more I've looked into what the Wikipedia community has done, the more amazed I am at how remarkably well-thought-out it all is. It would be nice if more people in the real world were hip to what's going on here, since almost nothing else that I've seen works as well. --Teratornis (talk) 01:48, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Citation needed

Citation Needed

I have had a message as follows:

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.

I have no idea how to put the right citation on my page. It is for Porirua Little Theatre

Could someone please give me the exact code and where do I put it?

I have written the article myself and the plays etc are listed accordingly to the dates I know as I belong to the theatre.

All people listed are friends

Thanks --SphinxGottaGo (talk) 01:52, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Your first step is to read the policy at WP:V, which explains how every article needs sources to prove not only that it exists, but that it is notable. Then read WP:RS, which explains what Wikipedia considers are reliable sources to verify the notability. For a source to be reliable, it must be independent of the subject, must come from a reputable source (such as a newspaper, magazine, book, etc. which has standards of proving that what it publishes is true), and must be more than just a casual mention (for example, an article in a local newspaper which just mentions that a play is being performed at the theatre would not be a reliable source. An article in the local newspaper which discusses the history of the theatre, would be a reliable source. Welcome to Wikipedia, and happy editing. Corvus cornix (talk) 03:16, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
  • For the format, you might like to read WP:CITET, but how you format it is really not that important right now. Get the sources in there. When you've got them, you can ask someone else to help with the formatting if someone doesn't just jump in to begin with. Make sure you don't forget ISBN and page numbers for books and that if you cite a website, that you insert the exact URL and not the link to the site's homepage. - Mgm|(talk) 08:42, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re-enabling announcements

Okay, I admit that I feel a bit silly coming here, but I'm stumped. I assume everyone has seen the announcement for the upcoming ArbCom elections and the new patrolled pages feature at the top of the page, right? I hit the "dismiss" option (or whatever it was, I don't quite remember) on the announcement when it was just for ArbCom, but now I can't seem to find a way to re-enable them. The only reason I'm asking about making these show back up is because both announcements will show up whenever I'm loading my watchlist, and then disappear when the page is fully loaded. It's particularly annoying because if I try to click something before the page is fully loaded, the notice disrupts the page by creating a space, enough so that my click is interpreted to be on something lower down the page than it actually was. Does that make sense? Hopefully it does. Anyway, I'll keep an eye out for responses here, but people are free to hit up my talk page as well. Thanks gang! GlassCobra 02:09, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Maybe deleting your cookies? I think that when you click dismiss (which I did too) they will return after a months time anyways (or something like that I think I read). Rjd0060 (talk) 02:12, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Disputed non-free use rationales

Resolved. (For now anyway) It seems an admin has protected the page.

VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 05:43, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

What is the proper forum for deciding questions of whether a non-free use rationale is valid? If I understand the page descriptions correctly, neither WP:PUI nor WP:CP is for this purpose. Apparently {{di-disputed fair use rationale}} was intended for this purpose, but there seems to be nothing to prevent its removal from an image description page. In particular, there is a revert war on Image:Zaft2.jpeg and Image:Rengo2.jpeg between those who think all current uses are permitted and those who think only one is permitted. WP:MCQ#Copyright dispute about image use in info box has been unanswered for hours. (Oh, and this the proper forum for this question?) --teb728 (talk) 03:38, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How to add citation?

There is a request for a citation on line 27 of this page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukla%2C_Fran_and_Ollie

There are two ways to verify that "Lili" is based on KFO. The first is that the short story it is based on uses an illustration of the KFO set and is clearly based on the show, and the second is that the book (published later) is dedicated to KFO. How do I cite this and what is the format?

Marknyc (talk) 04:27, 17 November 2007 (UTC)marknyc

  • The statement you make about the short story, however obvious would be original research and pretty hard to reference anyway. I'd simply cite the dedication of the book using {{cite book}} or a manual form thereof if the dedication page isn't numbered. - Mgm|(talk) 08:39, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Deleting Major League Soccer player articles

I'm in the process of filling in missing details on players listed on the rosters of Major League Soccer including creating new articles where necessary, yet for some reason some administrators appear to be overzealously deleting these, once before I was even finished with my edits, resulting in an edit conflict (an article on Willy Guadarrama). The first article was deleted for "no context" (Edson Elcock), and the Guadarrama one for "noteworthiness".

Given that in each case the article started with a correctly formatted Football/Soccer player infobox giving the basic biographical information for each along with a link to the relevant MLS roster bio page, as well as the infobox containing plain links to the team on which they are a player, as evidenced by their presence on the team's roster in the linked Wikipedia article for the Kansas City Wizards, are there any sorts of guidelines to prevent someone from doing this so quickly? There were stub articles for other players on the same team with less information in paragraph format than what I've put in the infoboxes that didn't seem to have any questions as to either their noteworthiness or the completeness of the information contained.

ConfusedBradpaton (talk) 05:23, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

  • People tend to patrol new page creations more than existing pages that aren't edited. The best tip I can give is to start out with as much information as you can. I usually start a new page in my userspace, until I'm convinced it would survive the scrutiny in the main namespace before I hit the move button and actually move it there. That takes care of the lack of context comment. To avoid having something deleted because of noteworthiness, spell out everything that makes the person noteworthy instead of relying on a link. It should be apparent from the article text why the article is there. - Mgm|(talk) 08:35, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How to get non-article pages watched for vandalism?

Like everyone, I sometimes create minor non-article pages, such as a new subcategory or dab page. Thus, nobody else watchlist them against vandalism, but they can still expose readers to vandalism or missing content (content removal on a dab page, decategorized subcat, etc.).

  • Is there a dedicated place for listing this sort of pages so that more people can preventively watch them? (At least for minor pages that don't change often and won't burden a watchlist.)
  • If not, what would be the more appropriate place or less invasive way to nominate such pages for watching, how do other editors deal with this?

I looked the FAQ or Help:Watching pages to no avail. The best I could find was Wikipedia talk:Requests for page protection where people sometimes discuss pages denied protection and get other people to watchlist them, but I'm not sure they'd like it to become a habit, and I prefer to ask about alternatives first. Thanks. — Komusou talk @ 06:13, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

I don't know of a place to request that others watch certain pages. The closest thing is Special:Unwatchedpages (which only admins have access to), which shows pages that no one has on a watchlist. Leebo T/C 06:19, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
  • Having a list of non-watched pages available to anyone else besides admins is dangerous because it would allow vandals to seek out easy targets. You could simply ask the people at a relevant WikiProject to watchlist your creation after you made it. - Mgm|(talk) 08:30, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
  • Please note that I wasn't asking for a list of unwatched pages. And besides, the sort of page I talk about ARE watched – by myself alone, which is the problem ;-) But thanks for the answers. — Komusou talk @ 14:48, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] My toefl score card

Dear sir/madam ,

I, Mr Namburi Naresh Kumar resident of INDIA .My toefl score card has been sent to me on November 1st and how many days will be it taken to reach me .I am the resident in Hyderabad city in Andhra Pradesh state in INDIA country. Please let me know how many days to reach my city from United States . —Preceding unsigned comment added by 221.135.91.44 (talk)

As this is the board to ask questions about how to use Wikipedia, I'm unable to answer your question. I'd suggest contacting your local postal office, and ask them what the average time is for mail between India and the US. Cheers, Ariel♥Gold 07:00, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Printable links

When reviewing good article on featured article candidates, I also tend to look at link usage. Is it possible to have the printable version show underlines on words that contain wikilinks with some personal CSS or javascript code? - Mgm|(talk) 09:31, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Go to Special:Preferences. Click the Misc tab. Set Underline links to always. That should cause all links to be underlined in the article. However, I'm not sure how to do this for the printable version as well. You might want to check out WP:JS to see if there's a script in there that does this. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 17:08, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
Technically they're not links in the printable version, because they will be paper so option one isn't working. I couldn't find anything useful in WP:JS either. Thanks for trying. Any other ideas anyone? - Mgm|(talk) 21:47, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Disambiguation

What do you do when you have Eric Erickson, Eric Erickson (spy), Erick Erickson and Eric Ericson? Some sort of dab page seems to be in order, but how would it be spelled? Clarityfiend (talk) 10:00, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

I'd use Eric Erickson. It seems to be a more popular name. Rudget zŋ 12:26, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WP's references

If WP depends a lot on references then what happens if the references can't be found? Like, websites going down... websites go down easily on the Internet... -- Mentifisto 11:32, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Ideally a reference should be stable enough that it doesn't go down (permanently). References to books, scholarly journals and other publications are also good.

If it does go down permanently, it may still be cited. A link on the Internet Wayback Machine may also be helpful. That said, a web reference which no longer exists is a bad one and a better one should be found. The official policy is at WP:RS.--Rifleman 82 (talk) 11:39, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

For sources such as newspapers, if the date, newspaper name and page number are included (as required) then the source can still be verified. For net sources, dead links can usually be fixed using the Wayback machine. Jeffpw (talk) 11:40, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
Okay, thanks. -- Mentifisto 16:07, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pasting images

Any idea on how to put images when asking questions??

Add [[Image:Exmaple.jpg]]. Try to edit this section for more information. Best, Rudget zŋ 13:37, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Film 2001?

Some one moderating the page on film 2001 main page deleted a legitimate reference entry under Scientific Accuracy, the explanation for its deletion makes no sense. Have no way of knowing how to contact the moderator, the entry should be restored since it is relevant. Al Jackson —Preceding unsigned comment added by Aajacksoniv (talk • contribs) 14:00, 17 November 2007

I'm assuming by the word "moderator" you mean an "administrator". Anyway if you can't get in touch with him/her, you might want to check out Wikipedia:Deletion review, it describes how to go about getting the page restored. VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 05:49, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] nowiki

I am having trouble with the nowiki command at Talk:Jon_Burge#Stubbed —Preceding unsigned comment added by TonyTheTiger (talk • contribs) 15:00, November 17, 2007

It would help if you could give a diff. But basically, all you need to do is enclose it in <nowiki></nowiki> tags. I checked the section you linked to, and I didn't see any issues with the nowiki tags, though. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 17:13, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
Could this be a cache issue? Sometimes you make an edit, and though the edit "takes", what you see is your computer's memory of what the page used to look like, i.e., before you placed the nowiki tags. Try clearing your cache (ctrl + F5 on many computers).--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:23, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
I am sorry. The page that I am having trouble formatting is now here.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:LOTD) 20:10, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
O.K. I have gotten User:TonyTheTiger/nunchuck formatted correctly now. How can I get it to either the left or right of my {{cquote}} at the top of my user page.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:LOTD) 22:13, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
I'm not sure that's possible but I thought you might like to know that the following free images exist on commons: Image:Nunchaku.png Image:Nunchaku.JPG Image:Safety Nunchaku.jpg Image:20061117 Nunchaku.JPG. Mybe you could make a gallery below the cquote.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:28, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Posting questions

How do I post a question for any user to view?


Hlangley1

If you have questions about how to use Wikipedia, this is the place to ask them. If you have factual questions or are looking for information on a topic, you'll want to check out the reference desk. For questions on technical aspects of Wikipedia, discussions on policy, or proposals, take a look at the village pump. Every page on Wikipedia is visible by anyone with an Internet connection, but this page, the reference desk, and the village pump are the best places for questions. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 17:00, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
See Help:Talk page for instructions on how to format your questions properly. --Teratornis (talk) 17:25, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] podcast citation

Resolved.

VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 05:51, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

Is there a template for citing a podcast? If not, is there a standard form these citations should take? JFlav (talk) 18:35, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Well, nevermind. After a more exhaustive search I found Template:Cite podcast. Sorry for the trouble. JFlav (talk) 18:46, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] lime seeds

88.241.220.179 (talk) 19:02, 17 November 2007 (UTC)can I turn pips into seeds88.241.220.179 (talk) 19:02, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

You might find what you are looking for in the article about seed. If you cannot find the answer there, click here to post your question at that article's talk page. If that does not solve your problem, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They will be glad to try and answer questions about anything in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. :) --Moonriddengirl (talk) 19:10, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Adding my biography to Wikipedia

To the Editors:

I am an author who is publishing her first book on politics and sports. My work as a journalist has been published, and the exhibitions of my art work have also been publicized in the press. I come from a family some of whose members have appeared in the press and are part of American historical content.

I want to publish a page about myself, which will include mention of my book and its contents. I also have a website.

I want to make sure the content is appropriate. The directions for adding a page are somewhat unclear in this regard when the person adding content has gained some recognition but is not high profile as yet. Please let me know how to proceed.

afcook77

Publishing articles about yourself is considered a conflict of interest, sorry :( However, someone else may very well create an article about you. Happy editing! ( arky ) 19:20, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
You must also make sure the article fulfils the requirements of biographical notabilty so the subject of the article (i.e. you) isn't considered non-notable and is deleted. The writer of the article must also provide decent references to back up their claims. Feel free to ask further about things like this, we'll be happy to help. :-) Lradrama 20:13, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Firefox's Wikipedia search function

I just had to reinstall Windows XP on my computer, and afterward I reinstalled Firefox 2.0. I then added the tool that allows Wikipedia to be searched in the little window in the upper right-hand corner, which I had before the reinstall. Previously, when I entered a term in that search box, it took me straight to the article (much like typing an article name in Wikipedia's own search box and hitting "Go"). Now, it takes me to Wikipedia's search page, where I have to click on the article name to get there (much like hitting "Search" in Wikipedia's search box). Does anyone know how to fix it back to the convenient way? Also, previously I could go to a Wikipedia article simply by typing "wp article" in the URL box at the top of the screen; that doesn't work any more. Any ideas how to fix that? —Angr 20:22, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Thats odd. The WP search box on Mozilla works fine for me. Anyhow, try the Reference Desk, as this help desk is for questions about using Wikipedia. - Rjd0060 (talk) 21:47, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
Well, I asked here because (indirectly at least) it is about using Wikipedia! But I'll try the reference desk anyway. —Angr 22:04, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How to cite a source

If I am adding new information to an article, how do I cite the website where that information came from?

24.224.196.95 (talk) 20:39, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Most simply, you add the website address between <ref ... </ref> tags after the information you wish to cite. At the bottom of the article, make sure there is a references section with either {{relist}} or <references/> in it, so your ref will show up. You can add as much or as little information as you like between the tags, and you could use the cite web template at citation templates to make it more structured. (All the information in cite web is optional except name, url and date accessed). More information at Help:Footnotes. -- Kateshortforbob 21:04, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Delete a wiki?

Ho can I delete my wiki —Preceding unsigned comment added by Supergirl2996 (talk • contribs) 21:53, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Well that depends what you mean by 'wiki'. Do you mean a single page, or an entire website? Prodego talk 21:55, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
To delete a page on Wikipedia, you can use one of the methods at Wikipedia:Deletion. Unfortunately, since this page is only for help with Wikipedia and not the MediaWiki software, we can't help you with off-site wikis. You may want to contact a user with administrative permissions on that wiki, if there is one. NF24(radio me!Editor review) 22:01, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Can someone edit a page for me, I'm worried I will mess up the page?

Is there anyone I can contact to fix an error in the page for George Harrison?

His birthday was the 24th of Feb at 11:50 and for most of his life he thought it was the 25th, finding out just months before his death.

I'll look for an official sitation, but I don't really want to edit the piece, it's all very new to me, and I'm worried I'll screw something up.

I didn't know if there was someone who was kinda the editing overlord that wouldn't mind to fix it.


Just wondering.

Thank you. Kamilla Onecheekyhobbit (talk) 21:57, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Go ahead and add it! Editing Wikipedia is really easy. You may want to read the pages below before editing however. NF24(radio me!Editor review) 22:01, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
Further reading: Wikipedia:How to edit a page, Wikipedia:Citing sources
One of the footnotes in the article states "Harrison started a rumor that he was born on 24 February as a joke. All reliable sources show his birth date as 25 February." The issue is further disucces on the article's talk page, at this post: Talk:George Harrison#George Harrison's birth date. I suggest you re-broach the topic on the talk page and provide reliable sources which verify that the information is indeed correct.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:13, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
Go on and be bold, there is no way to "break" an article. VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 06:04, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Can I use Wikipedia articles and pictures to post on Yahoo! store pages?70.181.79.58 (talk) 23:40, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Can I use Wikipedia articles and pictures to post on Yahoo! store pages without running into legal issues? I want to use as informational material, history behind appliances used today.70.181.79.58 (talk) 23:40, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure, but you might try asking this over at Wikipedia:Copyrights, the people there should be able to help you better. VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 06:01, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I forgot my password

What do i do if i forgot my password and did not put in an e-mail? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.190.92.71 (talk) 23:48, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately, there is no way we can retrieve your password if you did not put in an e-mail. You should create a new account and attribute edits to the old account on the new one. --Hdt83 Chat 23:49, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
  • And with the new account, either not forget the password, or include an email address this time round. -Mgm|(talk) 09:39, 18 November 2007 (UTC)
    • Better still, both. Regards, Ben Aveling 10:53, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Disambiguation page

I'd like to create a disambiguation page for the 2 television shows Good Morning, World and Good Morning World. How would I go about doing so?

Matt 23:58, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Disambiguation.--Max Talk (+) 00:19, 18 November 2007 (UTC)
Disambiguation pages aren't really needed for only two articles with a similar name. I'd instead, suggest using a hatnote. Ariel♥Gold 00:39, 18 November 2007 (UTC)