Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 November 28

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[edit] November 28

[edit] Statistics on Editing

Is there somewhere to look at statistics (or a graph) on the level of editing activity on Wikipedia?

Why am I asking? - Based on my little watchlist, I get the impression the current (this week) level is low, and I wonder how to check.

Thank you. Wanderer57 (talk) 00:23, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

I believe Special:Statistics and Wikipedia:Statistics may be of use to you. Interestingly, my watchlist has been more active this week than in weeks past. NF24(radio me!) 00:28, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Looks like it is a bit above normal. [1] Prodego talk 01:47, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Thank you both. That is some graphing system! Wanderer57 (talk) 01:54, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bad Link Needs to be Fixed

Hi,

I've noticed that a link on the page for "Toastmasters" is bad. If you scroll down to the external links and click on "TI History at a Glance" you'll see that it goes to a web page that's not working. Toastmasters has updated their Web site, so I think the link should now go to: http://www.toastmasters.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/CompanyInformation/History.aspx

Alternately, they have a page with a timeline: http://www.toastmasters.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/CompanyInformation/Timeline.aspx

I'm not the person who worked on this article. How can we fix it?

Thanks for any help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.179.231.200 (talk) 00:45, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Y Done Since I had a moment, I've gone ahead and pointed the link to the first page. In the future, you can click the "edit" links next to a section (or "edit this page" at the top of a page) to fix things yourself - that's the beauty of a wiki! NF24(radio me!) 01:10, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Entering the bad link in the Internet Archive shows [2] that it went to the information at the other link which is now called timeline. But I will let it be. The main site is already the first external link so it's questionable whether there should be any second external link to the site. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:21, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Suspected Plagiarism?

I've looked at the pages on handling suspected plagiarism, and am confused about how to flag a section of an article. (I'm not yet familiar with transclusion and subpages.)

Specifically, the article on Founding Fathers of the United States has a section on Religion, which seems to be taken directly from Adherents.com. Although the article cites the source, the size of the quoted material and the way it was incorporated into the Wikipedia article suggests plagiarism. I haven't been able to find a copyright policy on Adherents.com, so I don't know if they have given permission for their website to be quoted in this way. (In addition, the way Adherents.com was cited does not conform to Wikipedia standards.) SlowJog (talk) 01:22, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Indeed it is a direct cut and paste and citing to the page it came from (which I didn't see) would not in any way make it less infringing (though it is a strong indication that the person who added the material, however misguided, was operating in good faith). I have removed the section in its entirety. I have come across situations where the Wikipedia text actually came first and the external site quotes Wikipedia. This does not appear to be the case here. As for flagging, if you find sections such as this, remove them with prejudice.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:38, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
I discovered in the article history that there was a prior religious section which had been replaced with the infringing text. I have added that preexisting section back in.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:57, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hot springs

Does your site list any locations to hot springs/natural mineral pools?

See Category:Hot springs and List of spa towns. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:44, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Where's the magic button?

I clicked on something recently that made the notice about the contest for editing disappear. (I think it was on my watchlist display, but I'm not certain. Might have been my talk.)

Is there some way to get the notice to reappear, or is it gone forever?

Thanks, Wanderer57 (talk) 01:48, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Clear your cookies. Prodego talk 01:50, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
You are great! Thank you. Wanderer57 (talk) 02:00, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Renaming picture

Resolved.

Can I as an admin rename a picture? I didn't find anything about it on Wikipedia:Administrators' how-to guide or Wikipedia:New admin school. — Sebastian 03:12, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

I'm not an admin but Help:Moving a page says: Even though the pages in all namespaces have a "move" link, a page cannot be moved if it is in the image or category namespace. To change the name of an image, one needs to upload it again, and copy the image description. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:16, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Thanks! — Sebastian 03:56, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Inserting an image into an article

I had no trouble uploading the image into it's own page, but your hint on how to insert an image at the top of an article isn't helpful. You say to "insert" it, but you don't say how to insert it. I go to the top and there is a world icon that tells me if I want to add an image I should upload the file. I upload the file but it isn't inserted into the article. <removed email> —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pennypalmersporch (talk • contribs) 03:30, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Check out Wikipedia:Image_markup and/or Wikipedia:Picture_tutorial Karlww (contribs|talk) 03:41, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Advanced Template Syntax

Resolved.

I copied {{WPRock}} to make {{WikiProject Elvis Presley}}, for the assessment scales. However, there's one line coming out of the code on mine and I can't figure out why. If you could look over it, I would greatly appreciate it. Lara❤Love 05:11, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Krimpet fixed it. Thank you! Lara❤Love 05:22, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Creating an article

Where do you go to to create a new article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sheaboo (talk • contribs) 05:15, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Hi. You can read about creating new articles on this page: Wikipedia:Your first article. Good luck! - Rjd0060 (talk) 05:53, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Negative and Positive Numbers In Watchlist

Resolved.

There are red negative numbers and green positive numbers beside my username/articles I have edited...what is their significance? (Joey James (talk) 07:58, 28 November 2007 (UTC))

They represent the number of characters added or removed to the page in that edit (approximately). --Sopoforic (talk) 08:01, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
They represent the change in the size of the article. Dihydrogen Monoxide ♫ 08:02, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
That explains it! Thanks! --Joey James (talk) 08:06, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ranger 8

I've done some research here, but nonetheless I'm unclear if the text on this NASA webpage is indeed covered by a copyright. The Ranger 8 article is a word-for-word duplicate. The ambiguity of my understanding is compounded because NASA images are not copyrighted...I would like someone with copyright experience to help out here. Thanks in advance! E_dog95 Hi 08:02, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

I'm not great with copyright, but I'd say it's a copyvio - the disclaimer only covers Still Images, Audio Files and Video, not text, so text is copyright by default IMO. Might want to ask at WP:COPYRIGHT. Dihydrogen Monoxide ♫ 08:08, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Wikipedia:Copyright problems is probably a good place to start, actually. Dihydrogen Monoxide ♫ 08:09, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Yes. I don't see a forum there. Thanks though, for thinking about this problem with me. I'll simply start by bringing the issue up on the article's talk page. E_dog95 Hi 08:13, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
That's probably the best way forward - please leave me a note to say how you went. Dihydrogen Monoxide ♫ 08:22, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
As it turns out, I decided to make some noise about it. I followed the instructions at Wikipedia:Copyright problems & added the template. If I'm mistaken, there isn't much consequence; an admin will simply restore the article. If I was right and brought it up on the talk page (which hadn't been used in two years...) it likely wouldn't have been looked at in quite some time. E_dog95 Hi 08:33, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] skin

i changed the skin to my wikipedia but then it no longer allows me again to change the skin for the color is so lame. please help me to restore back to its original skin... thank you so much. hope i can get the answer the soonest possible time. thanks again... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Einalemnna (talk • contribs) 09:03, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Hello, to change the skin you click on my preferences in the top right of the page, then click on Skin tab, select the skin you wish to change to, and then click the Save button. Hope this helps... --Kudret abiTalk 09:12, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
There is a known problem changing away from some skins in some situations. Try this link. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:36, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] page up for deletion

How can I edit the page I created to a way in which the content would not be deleted? I've updated it with more references and links to provide the necessary proof needed to show that the information is accurate. Is there more that needs to be done? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gatamanga (talk • contribs) 10:31, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

(ec) Mhh, what is the article you are referring to? Articles must have some notability and be referenced to reliable and neutral sources. Could you please provide a link to the article, and I will help you further. Cheers, Qst 10:41, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
I guess from your contributions that you refer to Monique Dupree. It has the {{notability}} tag which doesn't mean it's "up for deletion" (a term used when something has been nominated for deletion, for example with {{afd}} or {{prod}}). Please see Help:Section for section heading formatting. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:32, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Block templates

Is there any problem with removing block notification templates from the talk pages of users who aren't blocked? Spaghetti3 has been getting a bit slap-happy and it looks like he's added templates to all of his friends pages. I'm more concerned about this possibly misleading other editors than the accounts themselves, which appear to be mostly for vandalism around The Becket School and Jervis Johnson (which I'm currently trying to unravel). Thanks -- Kateshortforbob 10:40, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

No problem at all. Only admins should add block templates, except in clear cases where they've forgotten. Adding block templates to unblocked accounts is pretty much vandalism. Pedro :  Chat  10:43, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Further looks like User:Qst has sorted a lot of them. Spaghetti3 has got a final warning from me - any more disruption and he'll get the warning - backed up with an actual block... Pedro :  Chat  10:49, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Yeah, I'll give him a polite warning (If Pedro has not already) I didn't get a chance to comment here, as I had to step away from the computer for a few minutes. Qst 10:58, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Thanks for clearing those up, Pedro & QST - I got distracted trying to figure out what on earth is going on with those articles. I'm not sure whether requesting semi-protection would be useful, since a lot of these accounts are probably "aged" enough by now, but 40+ vandalism/reversion edits on The Becket School over the past 2 days seems excessive. I'll keep an eye on them, anyway. Thanks again! -- Kateshortforbob 11:18, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Security in the Watchlist "View and Edit" page

Resolved.

I have no idea if this is the right place to ask this...if not please just give me a link to the right forum...

I notice that although I do not have a way to edit my watchlist "view and edit" page (it is not a page with an "edit this page" possibility at the top, you can only add and subtract things...although I wish it did so I could organize it!) someone else has a way to get in there and change things around. For instance, many times I am shown to be watching some entry like "N(word)'s Gone Wild" or "Teens F*cking". I am actually interested in neither of these subjects although I imagine that many people are.

But I wonder then too, given such access, if someone could just erase my whole list? And since there is no "History" tab to restore it it is distressing. It seems like someone would have to have admin status to screw with an account this way, like maybe someone who once had power and because disgruntled and cyber-postal. I don't have any enemies on here, and am not a dispute-y type person (on the Wiki...at Home Depot maybe) and so this is all disconcerting to me.

Please advise! Saudade7 11:57, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Nobody can edit your watchlist (maybe admins can, but not general wikipedians). Is it possible that you have edited these pages at some stage? It may be the case that you are watching all topics that you edit by default (in my preferences -> watchlist.) You can edit the order of your watchlist by clicking "Edit raw watchlist", or following this link. Karlww (contribs|talk) 12:13, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Admin's can't edit someone's watchlist. I think only a developer would be able to get that level of access. Pedro :  Chat  12:15, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
If things are turning up in your watchlist that you've never edited/watched, it is likely because of move vandalism. Someone has moved a page (typically to something rude, hence the titles you mentioned), and the new name gets added to your watchlist. Some on-the-ball editor moves the article back to it's correct name, but unfortunately, you've still got the dodgy title on your list. -- Kateshortforbob 12:18, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
(edit conflict) If a page on your watchlist is moved by anybody then the new name gets on the list and the old name stays there. If it's moved back then the name it temporarily had stays on your watchlist. It sounds like a vandal moved pages on your watchlist to obscene names. Ordinary editors and administrators cannot see your watchlist, not delete pages from it, and only add pages to it by moving pages that happen to be there already. Developers have more access. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:21, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
See also Help:Watching pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:24, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Wow! So Fast with the answers! Thanks everyone. I do believe that Kateshortforbob and PrimeHunter are on to the secret -- this makes sense to me as, despite the other suggestions, I am not in the habit of editing teen sex etc. articles! Too funny. Thanks everyone it all makes sense now! Saudade7 12:33, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
  • Take a look at Wikipedia:User scripts. If anyone created functionality to sort watchlisted pages, it will be there. The reason there are no edit and talk tabs is because the watchlist is a special page and those are not adaptable by regular page edits. Editable parts are stored in site messages which can only be edited by admins and others with extra abilities. You are the only one who can edit the entries in the list. - 131.211.161.119 (talk) 13:21, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Skeptical about user's picture copyrights

This user has uploaded several pictures of questionable origins. The picture of dogs he has uploaded states they are pics that he has taken of HIS friends dogs (all his friends apparently own labradoodles) but the pictures are a bit fishy. The user has a history of uploading pictures of dogs that are not correctly attributed and they strike me as breeder pics. There is no way I could prove this without searching through breeder pics, but what do you recommend?--Endless Dan 13:16, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

I looked at the pictures and they look totally normal to me. There is nothing to suggest that they are breeder photos. The user has only uploaded four pictures and only two of those are of labradoodles. The other two are of other types of dogs. Plus they are not labelled in a repetitive way which suggests they really *were* taken at different times (like "My friend's dog" and "Dog in Australia in 2003". S/he replaced a photo with a better clearer photo in one instance, and that is helpful. I think that unless you can prove that they are taken from somewhere/someone else there is nothing left to do. They look no different than pictures I have taken of my own pets. They don't look professional or well lit. The image of the dog lying on the grass wouldn't be especially good if you were trying to showcase the breed's special traits, which is what I assume a breeder would wish in a photo. But I am not an expert, I guess I just don't *see* what you see and what is bothering you. Saudade7 13:31, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
I guess its the borders around the pics. And the user has had other pics removed (noted on their talk page). I guess there is nothing I can really do about it, so I'll let it go.--Endless Dan 14:07, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] the duty of care

what is the difference in the position of the duty of care in England than to the postion of the duty of care in Ireland??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.232.1.49 (talk) 15:14, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Have you tried the Humanities section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:50, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] User Contributions

When looking at "My contributions", or another User's contributions for that matter, is there an option to show only the most recent edit to a particular article? For instance I'd be quite interested to get a list of all the articles I've contributed to, but given that in some cases I've made very many edits to a single article over a period of time, the standard presentation becomes too unwieldy. --rossb (talk) 16:28, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Hello, how about the wannabe_kate edit counter? It groups your edits into categories and lists the 15 most edited pages in each category. Link. --Kudret abiTalk 21:13, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Recently Deleted Edit

Hello,

I am new to Wikipedia and am trying to find out why a recent edit to the Denver, Colorado page was deleted. How may I inquire about this?Corebizstyle (talk) 16:36, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Edits are reverted for a number of reasons, vandalism is probably the most common, but also adding spam links, not editing neutrally, adding information without proper sources is at times removed, most usually with regards to living persons biographies, and any number of other reasons. Without knowing which edit you are referring to, a guess is all I could give you, as your only edit with that account is to ask this question. If you have a diff you could provide, that would help. Cheers, Ariel♥Gold 16:43, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
(e/c because I type slowly) You can use the "history" tab at the top of the Denver, Colorado article to see who added (and deleted) what. In this case, it appears User:Will Beback has twice deleted the external link that User:Denverco has added to the article; you could ask him about it on his talk page, or (based on your user name) since you appear to have a conflict of interest in adding this link, you could discuss it on the Denver talk page. I would suggest you read through our policies on conflict of interest and sockpuppetry before you start that conversation, as it will help you get your bearings. --barneca (talk) 16:49, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How do you name your page?

how do you name your page so that when you shearch for whatever you will find it??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.3.175.160 (talk) 16:53, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure I fully understand your question. Titles for articles are chosen according to the manual of style; they are not chosen to facilitate searching (other than trying to chose titles which people are likely to recognize). If several titles could reasonably be used, the article is created with the most common name and the other names are made as redirects. There are several ways to search Wikipedia, see Help:Searching. Additional methods which are used to find pages are categories. Does this answer your question? --TeaDrinker (talk) 18:24, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Note that new pages take some time (maybe a day or two) to be indexed by Wikipedia search. This happens automatically. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:47, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How can we serve the leprosy

Praise The Lord From MSFS Agency, India 28 th November, 2007

Sub: - Inviting for celebration happy Christmas with leprosy children

Dear Sir/Ma'am,

Greetings & best wishes from Morning Star Fellowship Society(MSFS),Chandigarh.India.We are a service providing for leprosy {NGOs}in India for past 13 years. Hence, we want donate your funds to a needy lepers in all over India through FCRA to get tax exemption benefits and to help the needed organization who are supporting so many humanitarian causes and relief works. We are welcoming the comments and creative ideas from you. Your privacy is assured. This is the first time ever we are writing to you. We feel it will be good to introduce to you about our society. The name of the society is" Morning star Fellowship Society"(MSFS).It was regd.under the Registration of Societies Act 1860 and has been involved in the welfare programmes of leprosy patients who are accommodated in various Colonies in punjab, Haryana,Himachal, Chandigarh and some parts of UP. It has been committed to its cause since 1995.I am happy to introduce myself to you. I am Mr.Balaraman, the President of the Society of Morning Star Fellowship, a non profit Organization, working for the poor people in the areas. To day no organisation ever has come forward to help out these lepers. These lepers are migrated from various parts of the country and they are excommunicated from their village and houses. Since I had been a leper for sometime, I know and experience the pain being a leper for past 38 years of my life. After I was cured, I started this organisation with the help of few generous souls who wanted to help these poor lepers.

We have selected only 36 different colonies who are passing their days in darkness of their life. Once a while we get small grants from the Government as pension for the elderly and sick. With these grants I am managing the whole Society. We have about 1680 to 1690 lepers in these colonies all they are dying without care or support. I visit these colonies once a month. With the help that we get from the Government as pension, we are able to only maintain their day today life. However we are not able to give them a permanent relief by which they can live on their own. I have heard that your organisation that also doing the same work that we do here in this part of our country. I would like to know more from you in which way you can be of help to us. I have all the facilities that more Organization must have especially the man power. I would request your guidance and an possible. Our main aim is to first treat their sickness who are unable to get proper treatment like regular dressing of their chronic wounds bleeding. We have taken the survey there are 894 cases, nerve pain there are 364 cases, cancer 4 casaeseye disease,121 cases, nose bleeding 52 cases, piles 163 cases, asthma 186 cases diabetic 314 cases, blood pressure 195,abdominal 94 cases etc without proper medicines be treatment many have died. In this regard, we need urgent relief from your side which would great help these poor leper people.

Dear Sir/Madam, I would be happy and indeed thankful to you if you could give us a helping hand in helping more leprosy people here in this part of our country. Your contact with our organization can be a great help in helping many and more lepers in this part of our country. I would give all the details of our organization after hearing from you. Waiting to hear from you I remain positive reply. You may visit and verify our work if you have any doubt. With love and prayers, Mr. Balaraman President

This is not the place to ask for donations for your charity, sorry. Qst 17:25, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Speedy deletion of new articles

As a frequent help desk "helper" I have noticed that people often ask here when their article is deleted, and I have started to notice a source of frustration amongst (often newbie) editors. I know we have an ongoing problem with articles on non-notable subjects or company advertising, but it does seem to me that on occasions the deleting admins are a little too keen. On more than several occasions, a new page has been deleted before the editor has had a chance to finish it. It must be extremely frustrating for an editor to start developing their page and save their first draft, only to have it deleted - sometimes within minutes - before they have had a chance to flesh it out with the references that assert the subject's notability, for example. Surely, the deleting admin can make note of a possible notability/advertising problem, and then come back to the page in an hour or two to see if it has improved - deleting it if there is a clear problem, or flagging it if it just needs improvement. Astronaut (talk) 17:41, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

As a newpages patroler, I know what garbage enters wikipedia on a regular basis. I also appreciate the difficulty in creating an article as a newbie editor. I have found however that most people who create an article are vocal enough to let themselves be heard if an article they have created is deleted. Unfortunately, more often than not, the reason for deletion really is that the article satisfies the SCD. I won't say there are never any mistakes, but in general, when mistakes are made, they are quickly fixed. Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 18:10, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
  • Astronaut, I don't know how much spare time you have on your hands, but I don't always have the time to check an entry again after one or two hours. Besides, people ask why their entries get deleted, when they get clear instructions on an empty page to hit the deletion log and see the reason the administrator provided. If anything goes wrong, it is someone not providing a clear enough explanation. We should promote people preparing articles outside the main namespace - I usually start inside my userspace. That way, an entry isn't deleted for lacking references when it is just a first draft. (Anyway, I believe anyone who is suffering from that problem is writing their article in the wrong order. References come first) - Mgm|(talk) 23:06, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Yes, some articles should start in user space. And some should stay there. My experience as a new pages patroller is that many people are surprised and hurt that they can’t have an autobiography on Wikipedia. It seems to me that the deletion warning template should suggest putting an autobiography on their user page. --teb728 t c 01:00, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
I wrote some thoughts on the deletion problem on User:Teratornis/Outplacement. --Teratornis (talk) 07:43, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sorting of names in categories

I was just pointed at category:ballet dancers. It seems most articles are sorted per last name, but some by their first names. It seems to have something to do with 'special' names. The ones formatted as two words of normal charactes seem to be listed with their last name, and the rest by their first name. Is there any way to fix that? Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 18:00, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

You may alread know some of this. Sorting is determined by how the names are listed on the individual articles. If somebody puts [[Category:Metal demangers|Joe Slobotnik]] instead of [[Category:Metal demangers|Slobotnik, Joe]], the article sorts by Joe instead of Slobotnik. If you're talking about names that start with Č or Ł, I seem to recall that there is a work-around for Unicode characters, but darned if I remember the details. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:19, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
In fact, I had no clue. I always just [[Category:Metal demangers]] and assume it will be alright. So I should pipe them with the subject name, in 'sorting form' and if it contains unicode, pray? Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 18:21, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
For the full detailed story, go to WP:CATEGORY#Category sorting. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:33, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
And pay special attention to the {{DEFAULTSORT:Slobotnik, Joe}} trick. Put this in once above the first category instead of putting a pipe in each category. Then read the sordid details when you need exceptins in specific categories. -Arch dude (talk) 00:53, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pesky table width

I have been trying to make the discography table on Buono! match the article's corresponding musical infobox by setting the former's length as a decimal value between 68 and 69%. If I choose 68% the table isn't wide enough...if, on the other hand, I set it for 69%, it becomes wider than I intended it to be.

In the light of the above I would honestly appreciate it if someone could tell me how to work around this issue. --Ishikawa Minoru (talk) 18:07, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Have you tried an absolute value? Eg. "300px" instead of "68%" <Karlww (contribs|talk) 18:20, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Well, if I did that wouldn't the table look weird on big screens? I've seen tables using absolute values that look pretty weird in 20" high-resolution screens. I wanted to make sure everyone got the best layout possible. -- Ishikawa Minoru (talk) 18:41, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

I don't think it would look weird, it would still be the same size in relation to the text inside. I think the infobox is an absolute size anyway (anybody confirm?) <Karlww (contribs|talk) 19:22, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
On my screen it doesn't seem to make much difference when you go up %1 from 68% to 69%. What exactly are you trying to achieve? What do you mean when you say 68% is not wide enough, or when you say 69% is too wide? --Kudret abiTalk 21:02, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
I want to make the table listing their single releases wide enough so that, if you were to draw a vertical line coming out of the left edge of the infobox template, the two tables (the right edge of the singles table and the left edge of the infobox) would intercept each other. Preferably something that worked on all screens and screen resolutions -- Ishikawa Minoru (talk) 21:09, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Unlikely to happen. Internet Explorer (not 7) has issues with padding and margins, and spacing in general. And it will not work unless you can guarantee the discography box will always be underneath the infobox - which is impossible (I can remove text on top). I'd suggest a simple 100% should be used - then the CSS floats will determine the layout - rather than trying to force a specific way for each resolution. x42bn6 Talk Mess 22:34, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
I'm not using Internet Explorer but rather Mozila Firefox 2.0.0.9. Is the problem you mentioned exclusive to IE?
I suspect it works like that for all browsers, but I guess I had to ask. -- Ishikawa Minoru (talk) 22:45, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
I think it is a general statement. Things will also depend on screen resolution, size of the window etc. For some people the table will appear below the infobox, for some it will appear side by side. And a user can always resize the window to whatever he wants, so it is very difficult to come up with something that would look exactly the same for all possibilities. It could be possible to come up with something for this at a lower level (e.g. mediawiki), but it would be quite difficult if not impossible using the wiki markup I think... --Kudret abiTalk —Preceding comment was added at 23:06, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
I would like to thank all those who were kind enough to reply to my questions. You've all be very helpful. -- Ishikawa Minoru (talk) 23:18, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
You are very welcome, please feel free to come back anytime in case of further questions. Best, --Kudret abiTalk 23:27, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] how to revert pages

I don't understand how to revert a page. How do u do it?

At the top of the page click history, then click Undo next to the change you want to undo. <Karlww (contribs|talk) 18:21, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
And see WP:REVERT for more information. x42bn6 Talk Mess 18:22, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Perushim

There was an omitted statement on that page that I would like to see and may be able to provide a reference for. I am very familiar with this subject and suspect it may have been flagged for political reasons.

Thank you in advance, Efroim Snyder —Preceding unsigned comment added by Redcowgreencow (talk • contribs) 18:32, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

I see you added a reference in [3]. See Wikipedia:Citing sources for preferred ways to do it. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:42, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How do i make a new article

How do i make a new article —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.28.59.253 (talk) 18:33, 28 November 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. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:40, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How do I report a user who is vandlizing the site?

Resolved.

I found a single vandelism in an article and corrected it, but I also looked up the user's past edits. All they do is vandelize articles adding things like "blah blah blah" and links to irrelevant gaming sites. Can this user get banned & how do I report it to an admin who can do this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 3countylaugh (talk • contribs) 18:56, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

If the user has recieved a final warning, they can be reported to WP:AIV. :-) Stwalkerster talk 18:57, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
First, the most have recieved a warning on their talk page. Such warnings can be found at Wikipedia:Template messages/User talk namespace. Then, if they continue to vandalize after being warned, report them to WP:AIV. The Placebo Effect (talk) 19:00, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Thanks a ton, they were destinted for WP:AIV as they already had their final warning.3countylaugh (talk) 19:42, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I am not being sent a confirmation email

I cannot activate my accounht for sending/receiving email from other users because I am not being sent a confirmation email after several attempts. My spam filter is not blocking the confirmation email. Gaiarising (talk) 19:09, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Did you check you entered the correct email address? :-) Stwalkerster talk 19:13, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I just checked, and my email address is entered correctly on my preferences page. I need to communicate with VanTucky and cannot do so without email confirmation. :( —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gaiarising (talk • contribs) 19:26, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Unless you need your communication to be private, you can always leave VanTucky (or anyone else) a message on his talk page in the same way that you are posting here (click this link to get to his talk page). His signature in your welcome message also has a link to his talk page (the 'Talk' bit at the end). All the best, EyeSereneTALK 19:54, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, that's helpful in this instance. But for the long term, I do need to somehow receive that email confirmation code to activate my ability to send & receive email from other Wikipedia users. No confirmation email with code is being sent to my email address. :( Gaiarising (talk) 01:47, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Maybe the mail is stopped by a spamfilter outside your control before it reaches you. You may consider using or creating another mail account, for example a free web-based email (Comparison of webmail providers may be of interest). PrimeHunter (talk) 02:02, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Image licensing

I've noticed that some images from Commons used in WP articles also contain licensing information and a summary box on that page (eg here). Others don't (eg here).

Should all images follow the first example, or is this unnecessary since the license can be found by following the link back to Commons? Thanks, EyeSereneTALK 19:17, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Hello, I believe that when you click on an image from Wikipedia, the description page on Commons is displayed automatically below the image. So the summary boxes and license information you see actually come from the description page on Commons. The summary box you refer to is the template {{Information}} which provides a nice way to organize the information. It is not a must to use this template and one can write all the info in simple text, but I think it is better to use it when one can for the sake of providing a neat organization of the information. I hope this helps. --Kudret abiTalk 20:55, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Thanks very much for the response. When I originally posted the two image links above, the second was not showing any license information at all. I've just tried it again... and now it is :P You are obviously correct - the license and other info are transcluded from the Commons page - but I have no idea why this wasn't working earlier. The only thing I can think of is that I've just cleared my cache. Anyway, problem solved, and thanks again for the reply! EyeSereneTALK 21:43, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
No problem, glad I could be of help :) --Kudret abiTalk 22:09, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Title change

I would like to know how to change the title of an article. The title Montreal International Jazz festival should not be translate, it should Stay in French like that: Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jocelynhade (talk • contribs) 19:35, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for your query. The naming policy on the English Wikipedia is that article names should be in the form that most English-speakers would be likely to use (the policy is here). If you enter "Festival International de Jazz de Montréal" into the article search box though, you will see that this goes to the same article as "Montreal International Jazz festival" (via a redirect page). Hope this helps, EyeSereneTALK 19:45, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How to edit the contents box?

Hello, I wish to add a section to the "contents" box of a subject. How do I go about doing this? Specifically I wish to add "life span" to a dog breed info article.Sheepieness (talk) 20:10, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

The table of contents is automatically generated by its content headings. For example, for every ==Heading== you put in, it puts a section on the table of contents. It also nests headings, for example, ===Subheading=== would put this one subheading down. See WP:TOC. x42bn6 Talk Mess 20:17, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Also, if you want to remove it, add __NOTOC__ to the top of the page. — Rudget contributions 21:25, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
Be careful though, if you want to change something because it is your personal preference, you're better off changing your settings or installing a script instead of changing the view for every single user visiting the page. - Mgm|(talk) 22:57, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
  • I imagine Lifespan would be a single sentence of information covered somewhere in the article; I doubt it would need its own heading. Anyway, it will be automatically added to the Table of Contents if you add a header to the text. - Mgm|(talk) 22:57, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
You want the infobox, not the contents, so we are confused. Sorry. the infobox is a template. You can edit the template to add a new field, but please be very careful unless you have experience with this. The template is a file nin the "template" namespace, and the syntax fro templates can be quite elaborate and confusing. -Arch dude (talk) 00:24, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
I further suggest that you discuss this at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Dog_breeds/Templates since the dog breeds wikiproject seems to be quite active and knowledgable. -Arch dude (talk) 00:31, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge accounts

is it possible to merge my old account, which i created as a "pseudonym" that i no longer use, into my current account so i can have credit for my previous edits? The two are the same user. It is not a sock puppet. --Connor401 (talk) 22:44, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

  • The easiest solution is to redirect the old account to the new one and make mention of it on your userpage. It is technically possible to attribute old edits to you if you can prove you are the same person, but it is a laborious process only people with developer access can perform. - Mgm|(talk) 22:54, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
    • See Wikipedia:Changing attribution for an edit which says: "Edits are no longer reattributed, so this page is no longer active". If you would rather keep your old edits than your new edits then see Wikipedia:Changing username and consider renaming your old account or changing it's signature. If you request renaming then explain the situation and name your existing new account. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:54, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] eagles music group,don felder.

when and why did Don Felder leave the Eagles band. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.102.142.53 (talk) 23:03, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Hello, this section is for Wikipedia related questions only so perhaps you would like to ask your question at Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Entertainment. Regards, Kudret abiTalk 23:11, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
You can also see our articles about Don Felder and Eagles. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:34, 29 November 2007 (UTC)