Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 October 31

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[edit] October 31

[edit] When the section "does not exist"

What is happening when I click on a section to add a comment and the page comes up saying, "Section # does not exist" when it still reads on the help desk page, please?Julia Rossi 02:19, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Which section are you mentioning? --Silver Edge 02:32, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Reload the page and click edit again. Some of the page was archived 45 minutes ago.[1] If you loaded the page before it was archived but clicked edit after it was archived then you may have hit a high section number which no longer existed. PrimeHunter 02:42, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

You may also want to purge the cache before trying again as that may help. --Hdt83 ^Chat 02:44, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

It was the "help" one above – cleared cache and all's now good, thanks to everyone for helping. Julia Rossi 02:54, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Paragraph break in navbox

In the navbox in Pierce Brosnan#Filmography (source), there is a paragraph break after the first and before the last item. Any ideas why that happens? (It does not happen if I paste the navbox body as a normal paragraph into the Wikipedia:Sandbox.) -- Ddxc 08:12, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Fixed.[2] See Template:Navbox#Mandatory. PrimeHunter 13:40, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] additions i made to aig on wikepedia

I made a series of additions to the site that discusses AIG, you have not posted my additions and apparently are telling me you will not. I do not understand why. I thought your site was free and open as long as the information is true and accurate and the information you have on there now is far from an accurate picture of what aig is. I also wasted a lot of time only to have you not do this addition or tell me what you want deleted (so where is the freedom here is the usa?).193.214.59.154 12:01, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

You failed to provide Reliable sources documenting your comments.12:03, 31 October 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Geni (talk • contribs)

You need to substantiate your claims (which were quite harsh) with reliable sources. Also, all information must be written in a neutral way, whether it's positive or negative. The article shouldn't take a stance on whether what AIG does is right or wrong, it should simply explain what they've done and what happened as a result. Lastly, you mentioned "so where is the freedom in the usa?" The English Wikipedia is not a soapbox for you to vent about the subject of an article. Unmoderated free speech doesn't exist on Wikipedia; all information must be verifiable. Truth is not what counts, verifiability is what counts. Leebo ^T/C 12:47, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Change UserName

Hi,

  i want to change my UserName.
  Do i need to delete my current account and then create a new one.
  Or
  Will u do it for me.
  
  If i need to delete my current account what is the procedure.

Thanks & Regards Imran Quazi —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.210.12.141 (talk) 13:30, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

You can change your username at WP:CHU. x42bn6 Talk Mess 13:43, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Accounts cannot be deleted but see Wikipedia:Right to vanish. And see Wikipedia:Changing username. We cannot say whether you qualify without knowing your user name. PrimeHunter 13:45, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Redirects and Disambig

Hi,

I cannot find a clear "policy" on disambiguation vs. redirects.

My "problem" is probably a minor example, but I suspect there is a principle involved here. Here is my example:

There was (is) a redirect from Jog to Jogging.

I changed this to a disambiguation page as JOG is what the "Juniour Offshore Group" is commonly known as. (someone else also added another link to Jog falls)

Somone - who seems more "expert" than I - changed it back to the original re-direct. He stated that JOG was more commonly used to mean jogging.

I understand his point, but surely encyclopedia should be comprehensive and contain the unusual/less well known, rather than just show popular subjects?

I feel adding a link to "Jog (Disabiguation)" (as I have seen elsewhere) in the Jogging page would be inapropriate. A there is no physical "Jog" page it can't be put anywhere.

What should I do?

I am not over worried about my example but am sure this kind of thing must come up. I hope this is the right plase to ask.

Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Martin Dixon (talk • contribs) 15:20, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

You can place something like this at the top of Jogging:

which renders as

"Jog" redirects here. It may also refer to Junior Offshore Group.

PrimeHunter 16:29, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

And people entering JOG with capitals are unlikely to search for jogging, so you can redirect it to Junior Offshore Group. PrimeHunter 16:32, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Inappropriate critical remarks about the IEEE

Dear folks at Wikepedia,

I write to request that an article posted by a certain D.J. Bernstein be removed from Wikepedia pages describing the IEEE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE#_note-9). The document, entitled "Don't publish with IEEE!" and archived as IEEE Criticism.doc, is a polemic that is quite misleading. The article does not appear to be well-aligned with the goals and policies of objectivity of Wikepedia. It implies that the IEEE does not respect authors' rights to post their own writing in publicly accessible places, but this is not at all true. (See http://www.ieee.org/web/publications/rights/policies.html 8.1.9.D Personal Servers.) The IEEE is in fact very generous in allowing author's reuse of IEEE copyrighted material and has been recognized as such by the Open Access community.

Thank you.

John Baillieul Boston University and Vice President Publications Services and Products, IEEE johnb@bu.edu —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.174.90.150 (talk) 15:23, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

The reference should stay, because it is being used as verification that criticism has been made against the IEEE. The IEEE article isn't saying that such criticism is true or valid, it's only saying it exists. To remove it would violate the neutral point of view policy. The sentence that is being referenced could probably be rewritten to be more neutral, but the reference is just an example of criticism not an indication that Wikipedia condones such criticism. Leebo ^T/C 15:44, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree it should stay. The author D.J. Bernstein is notable and I have linked him in the reference so readers can see who he is. Maybe his full text wouldn't be considered suitable in a Wikipedia article but referencing it shortly is OK. PrimeHunter 16:20, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

And of course the anonymous editor claiming to be John Baillieul should be aware of our policies on conflict of interest. --Orange Mike 18:15, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Just so there is no misunderstanding, I had no intention of being anonymous (hence my name and e-mail). This was actually posted by John Baillieul---whose wikipedia handle is somewhat uncreatively not much different from his name. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnbaillieul (talk • contribs) 00:45, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Alphabetising by last name, not first

I wrote an article about a person, and he is being put into alphabetical lists by his first name which starts with "N" rather than his last name, which starts with "B." How do I change this? Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pbsolomon (talk • contribs) 16:03, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

See Help:Category#Default sort key. PrimeHunter 16:11, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] ref|corruption

I found this in an article: { { ref|corruption } }. What does it mean? (I put in spaces between the {{ so you can see what I mean.) Lova Falk 18:10, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

It's a footnote, created using Template:Ref, to a reference already labeled "corruption" within that article for the purpose of not having to type out the whole citation again. Leebo ^T/C 18:28, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

It's a footnote you broke in this edit by deleting the notes section. PrimeHunter 18:46, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Editing others´ articles

Hi, yesterday I edited an article on Wikipedia (the Puddle Jumper article and the Atlantis (Stargate) article) by adding a little information, mostly size measurements I took by careful approximation from hi-res captions of the show. With everything I posted, I added it was an approximation/personal hypothesis and not verified. I didn´t ask or notify anyone. All the changes got deleted in under 24 hours. Why? I´m not accusing, rather, as I don´t usually contribute, I´d like to know what one has to do for their additions in someone else´s article to hold. (Assuming the additions are probably just as valid as the original text - this particular article has no way to be verified on many points, there is very little canon for the show. All that´s verifiable is usually the description and things explicitly stated in the show, which aren´t many, not in the details.) Thanks 89.102.236.64 18:19, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

You don't have to do anything in order for your edits to hold. If they are good, constructive edits, then they should stay. If your edits were identified as vandalism or taking another unconstructive form with regards to the article's appearance and content, then they'll have been removed, either by another user on Wikipedia, or by an automated Bot. If you were definate your edits were not vandalism, please provide links to the pages you edited and we'll look into the situation for you. :-) Lra drama 18:23, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Your 4 edits to Puddle Jumper have not been undone.[3] Maybe you have to bypass your cache to see them. PrimeHunter 18:27, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Yes, your edits have been kept regarding the article above brought up by PrimeHunter. Do you know how to clear your cache? (Ctrl + F5). See if that works for you. :-) Lra drama 18:39, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

I'd like to mention that you weren't editing "someone else's article": individual editors do not own articles. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 01:33, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re-titling page

I have created a new page entitled Charles Lynch (disambiguation). I would like to rename this page "Charles Lynch". However, that title has already been taken by an article which I have now moved to Charles Lynch (18th century American judge). None of the articles to which the disambiguation page refers appears to have precedence and it would make sense for the basic title to apply to the disambiguation page.

Is this possible?

Jim Bruce 20:16, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

You would need to establish consensus that this move is required, as only administrators can move pages over another page, and then ask an administrator for assistance or use {{db-move}} SmileToday☺(talk to me , My edits) 20:30, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

I am not sure how to establish a consensus. The article "Charles Lynch", which I have moved, is a stub with very little editing history. I could place a message on the Talk Page, but who would read it? Jim Bruce 20:41, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

You don't need a consensus discussion for this uncontroversial move. Redirect Charles Lynch to Charles Lynch (disambiguation) and then place {{db-move|Charles Lynch (disambiguation)}} on the redirect at Charles Lynch. An administrator will then make the move. PrimeHunter 20:53, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Looking more closely at the pages, it does not appear to be a controversial move. I think using {{db-move}} would work here, and the copy paste move on Charles Lynch should be reverted. SmileToday☺(talk to me , My edits) 20:56, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

(ec)

I decided to be bold. If I did wrong I'm sure someone will tell me. Charles Lynch was just a redirect to Charles Lynch (18th century American judge) so I copied the contents of Charles Lynch (disambiguation) onto Charles Lynch. It seems a reasonable result and simpler than deleting the Charles Lynch and then moving Charles Lynch (disambiguation) on top of it. Now Jim Bruce can delete the Charles Lynch (disambiguation) page.

Okay, I'll revert my copy/paste. Sbowers3 21:00, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wikilinks coloured

Is anyone competent with parser functions here. I have a template, Template:Football manager history, working correctly at the moment. I have changed something in my sandbox: User:Woodym555/Manager template to add in an optional parameter for a wikilink. yet i cannot get the wikilink to change colour to reflect the title of the navbox. Any help would be appreciated or direction to a template expert. Thanks. Woodym555 20:17, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Anyone? Oh well. Woodym555 23:22, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

It has been sorted now. Thanks. Woodym555 00:59, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I NEED A NEW PASSWORD URGENTLY

I'm Rory666's IP. This is the e-mail address that I will use to get a new password: dalleyrobinson [at] unwired [dot] com [dot] au Is that alright. I need the user's password. HELP ME!--220.101.18.50 20:26, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Do you have any evidence that you are this user? SmileToday☺(talk to me , My edits) 20:28, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

If you didn't register that email address with the account, there's not really anything that can be done. Leebo ^T/C 20:31, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

And, if you did register the address, you can click the "E-mail new password" button on the Login page. --barneca (talk) 20:34, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Displaying IPA symbols and foreign alphabets, abugidas, etc. correctly

Despite having enabled language support in relevant languages, Latin, Cyrilic and others, etc. in Windows XP I find I am having continuing problems with correct display of some symbols; in Wiki I find these are frequently replaced by an open 'box' symbol. I have asked a question related to this before, and tried to overcome the problem by installing Unicode, but have never managed to completely resolve the difficulty. I need a technical fix for a 'non-techie'! Geoff Powers 20:57, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Creating personal templates for archives and everything else

Hi everyone;

Is it possible to create a template in the name space that would only be used on my own talk page, in order to de-clutter it when it comes to someone editing it? For instance, could I create a template to contain the template (can templates go in templates?) or contents of my archivebox and use that on my page, so I don't have to have hundreds of individual characters that editors must scroll past when asking a question or making a comment? Also, if possible, how would I format the name because I usually see templates and infoboxes in the template namespace. Reply here and leave a note on my talk page so I don't overlook it. Many thanks! Charles 21:11, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

You could create a template in your user namespace. For example, I used User:NASCAR Fan24/StatusBar to display my status, until it screwed up my userpage. Templates to be used in userspace are generally created in userspace (though some older userboxes were in the template namespace, that is now discouraged). And yes, you can have a template in a template. NF24^{(radio me!}_{Editor review)} 21:29, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Awesome! What about for my userboxes though? Some of them add me to a category. What would I add to the template to make my page go into the category and not the template page? Charles 21:54, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

See Help:Template#Noinclude and includeonly. PrimeHunter 22:15, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

This is still a little confusing because if I put my userboxes on another page, the includeonly on the userbox templates that would put my page in the category would instead put my new template page containing my userboxes in that category, right? So, having a template in a template... If the daughter templates have includeonly for categories but are in the parent template, what do I do to the parent template to have that apply to my page? Charles 22:42, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Related note

I now have a template (subpage of my talk page titled Intro) on my talk page which contains a collapsible archive template (subpage of my talk page titled Archives). I don't know how to create a collapsible template for my archives where I can specify the colours as I did for the Intro. Charles 23:25, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] {{reqphoto}} template

I added a photo to Glenariff Forest Park which has {{reqphoto}} on the talk page. Can I now remove the template? I also noticed when going through the Category:Wikipedia requested photographs that a lot of articles with this template already have photos (and the templates don't specify what additional photos are requested). The talk pages are often very inactive, so I'm not sure asking for clarification would be fruitful, so should the templates be removed? It's a pretty big category. I've checked the template's instructions and talk page, but couldn't see anything about this. Thanks --Kateshort forbob 21:24, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

It's really up to you, but I would probably remove the template myself. You've provided a picture satisfying to the article (and a pretty good picture too), and I don't see how more pictures would help at all. Like I said, it's up to you to decide. Remember, be bold! Malinaccier (talk • contribs • count) 22:27, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Thanks very much for the quick response. I've made a list of pictures to take from that category, and I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be screwing up! --Kateshort forbob 23:30, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] american presidency

We have a question regarding us presidential candidates if a former president sits out a couple of terms such as clinton for example is he allowed to run as president again . —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.167.236.87 (talk) 21:58, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

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 is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. (But as long as the person did not already hold two terms, yes they can run again, just as Grover Cleveland did, (who served as President from 1885-1889 and from 1893-1897) ). Ariel♥Gold 21:59, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

See Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution. PrimeHunter 22:11, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Blocked IP addresses

People at my school have been vandalizing, and the IP address is bordering on being blocked. If it is blocked, will I be able to edit as a registered user from that IP address? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Omnipotence407 (talk • contribs) 22:31, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Yes, my school's IP is blocked, but I regularly edit from it on a registered account. I would suggest creating a sock for public computer use, in case the password is stolen. Malinaccier (talk • contribs • count) 22:43, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New Articles

Hi. I'm a new user named silvasdfj (I was trying to find a name that no one was using, so sorry for the inconveinence). I just created my account and I was wondering how I can create a new article. Please let me know as soon as you can. Thanks. --silvasdfj October 31, 2007 7:01 PM —Preceding unsigned comment added by Silvlasdfj (talk • contribs) 23:01, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

See Help:Starting a new page for details on starting an article. Note that the subject or topic you are writing about must be notable and verifiable. --Hdt83 ^Chat 23:03, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Please Help

I would like to note that I have received permission from the Department of Defence to transfer relevant information from the Defence Reserves Support website to Wikipedia to inform the public of their services to the Defence Reserves (which are not for sale or for promotional purposes). Defence Reserves Support DO NOT sell ANYTHING. They just provide support to the Defence Force. The Deaprtment of Defence, and myself think that this is useful infromation for the public to know and to be displayed on Wikipedia. Please let me know if there are any more concerns, or, if this is acceptable, how I can make sure that the page content is not deleted again if I am to create a page. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by D3adl1ne (talk • contribs) 23:34, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

If you're talking about new articles, it cannot be copied from another site unless the site has a license compatible with Wikipedia's GFDL license. Also, it must meet Wikipedia's requirements for notability, reliable, independent sources, and verifiability; it also must be encyclopedic, not simply promoting the subject. If you're talking about images, Wikipedia can only accept images that are public domain, under a free license, with a copyright owned by the person uploading the image, or usable under fair use. See Wikipedia:Image use policy. Another page you might want to look at is Wikipedia:Conflict of interest, as adding this content might be a bad idea if you're editing for the Defense Department. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 01:27, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Hi again, this is from Getting started which you asked for help about (above) –

You probably should read our policy on conflict of interest. Basically, many here feel that it's a bad idea to create a page about something that you're personally involved in. Further, in order to copy material from another source, you need to either post a link on the original website stating that you agree to license your content under the GFDL or directly email the foundation. (Otherwise, it'd be considered a copyright violation and possibly deleted). For more info on submitting copyrighted work to Wikipedia, see here. --Bfigura (talk) 05:43, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Further, unless it's notable, the information probably belongs in a short section under the article of the Defence forces in the country it belongs to. Otherwise it smells like promotional spirit. Julia Rossi 01:51, 31 October 2007 (UTC) – please try to understand the policy of wikipedia when they are explained to you even if your boss is telling you what to do. Julia Rossi 08:05, 1 November 2007 (UTC)