Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 January 20

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[edit] January 20

[edit] Multiple identities?

For the past little while, I've been patrolling the recent changes pages and wiping out vandalism with the help of Twinkle (and Friendly). I enjoy the challenge and I'm glad to help out. There's one minor drawback, though, in that all those edits create a daunting list to go through when I want to quickly look back on discussions I've been having. What I'd been doing (until recently) was, as soon as I logged in, I would check My Contributions tab to see if there was anything requiring further input (I help out on FPC and RD) before going on with new stuff. Now, my contributions list is a huge mass of reverted vandalism, with my "personal" stuff getting lost in the tide. Is there any kind of policy or guideline toward me getting a second account? I'm not planning on sockpuppeting myself; I'd just like a way to keep my anti-vandal duties from interfering with my enjoyment of the rest of the site. Creating a second ID was the best idea I had on the subject, but I'm certainly willing to consider others. Thanks! Matt Deres (talk) 00:23, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

There is no explicit policy against that, as long as you make it clear that those two accounts are the same (links on the user pages, for example), and as long as you don't do any sock puppetry. I'd advise you to ask before doing anything that you worry may be against policy. --Evan Seeds (talk)(contrib.) 00:28, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
There's more info at WP:Username policy#Using_multiple_accounts. Astronaut (talk) 00:46, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Other alternatives would be (1) have a user (sub-)page with quick links to places you're particularly watching, for ease of reference (perhaps using "related changes" from the toolbox as well); (2) use your watchlist rather than your contributions to check for recent changes, either not adding pages you unvandalise to your watchlist or regularly cleaning out your watchlist to prevent it getting cluttered. BencherliteTalk 01:30, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the tips guys. One other thing I've just thought of - is there a way to hide minor edits from my contributions screen like there is for my watchlist? By default, Twinkle lists my rollbacks as minor edits. If there was a way to hide minor edits as well as the edits to user pages, I'd have a much cleaner list to work with. The thing I liked about using my contributions page as a starting point was that it would allow me to quickly jump to the section of the article where I'd posted; the watchlist only kind of does that indirectly. Matt Deres (talk) 03:53, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] creating a new page

I have a problem for finding a url to a page that lets me creat a new article. I guess my question is, how do I create a new page?

See Help:Starting a new page and Wikipedia:Your first article for instructions and notes on creating new pages. x42bn6 Talk Mess 01:37, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] population

How many people are there living in the world today? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.222.216.58 (talk) 02:21, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

According to our World population article, a recent estimate put the figure at exactly 6,641,114,623. In the future, please take fact-based questions to the reference desk. NF24(radio me!) 02:24, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] remove search list

How do I delete or remove the list of previously searched items on Wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.70.121.10 (talk) 02:39, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

If I understand right, I think this is really a question about your browser, not about Wikipedia. On my browser (Mozilla firefox) I can click Tools-->Options-->Privacy and then there's a box I can check "Remember what I enter in forms and the search bar". I'm guessing (just guessing) that if you uncheck that, it will remove the list you want removed. If I understand you correctly. --Coppertwig (talk) 03:22, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
This was asked previously: see Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 January 12#clear search history. Algebraist 04:08, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikibreak

Can someone please assist me in setting up a wikibreak to end on January 19, 2028? Rhythmnation2004 (talk) 03:44, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Copy this code into your monobook.js file. However, if you are using a different skin than monobook, you will have a different .js file. See Wikipedia:WikiProject User scripts/Scripts for a list of .js filenames. Be aware that once you enforce your WikiBreak, there is *NO* way to change your mind becuase no one can edit your .js file except you. NF24(radio me!) 12:57, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
I'm not to sure about this since I am not an administrator, but I think they can edit other people's monobook.js files as well. VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 13:28, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Hmm, really? I thought that it was protected from everyone except you. NF24(radio me!) 13:30, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Admins can edit peoples monobook.js. Woody (talk) 13:34, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The top part of an editable page is not editable.

Is this a intended feature of Wikipedia pages? See for example "Carbon offseting". The "Conservative definition" part at the top of the page is not editable. When clinking on "Edit this page" it does not appear in the editable text. How do I use this feature? Can anyone block his or her text? How can I edit or remove that part ? Thank you. Please also reply to my email address [e-mail address removed] Thank you again. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.105.96.22 (talk) 05:37, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

The "Conservative definition" paragraph has been removed, that's probably why you couldn't edit it. --Silver Edge (talk) 05:53, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Your post here was an hour after the removal. Maybe you have to bypass your cache to see the most recent version of the article. PrimeHunter (talk) 06:03, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Comment from Will2green

User talk:Zscout370 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This has become quite disturbing as my page keeps getting deleted, first of all my image got deleted supposedly because of Copyright violation, the image of which I created as well as produced for my patent...

Then my entire page was deleted for what ever reason I don't know, however I do assure you all the information was an original work by me...

Any and all materials not by me has been referenced...


Account: Will2green

Regards Will Green —Preceding unsigned comment added by Will2green (talk • contribs) 06:43, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

User talk:Will2green was deleted by Zscout370 with the summary: "(CSD G12: Blatant copyright infringement)". The page ended with "Copyright by Will Green 2006" and I just deleted it for the same reason. You cannot claim copyright on Wikipedia edits. You must agree to license them under the GNU Free Documentation License. See Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials if you have the copyright. But also see Wikipedia:Conflict of interest and Wikipedia:Original research. PrimeHunter (talk) 07:19, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Will, Similarly your image, Image:HP1.JPG, was deleted for reason WP:CSD#I4: You did not provide a copyright tag. All user-created images must be licensed under as free content. Your other image, Image:Run Motor.gif, will be deleted soon if you do not provide a copyright tag for it.
Admins, I’ll bet the original version of his talk page contained non-copyright-violation content. Shouldn’t the page be reverted to that? --teb728 t c 07:53, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
The version I deleted only had one edit. It was by Will2green in 2008 and ended "Copyright by Will Green 2006". The two earlier deleted versions only had edits by Will2green, by IP's which looked like Will2green based on their contributions, and by 2 bots and an editor giving standard messages about missing image copyright tags. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:59, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Small correction: The page history had the image copyright messages but they had been deleted by Will2green. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:26, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] how can i get an external link changed on a page that is locked

(Above question posted by User:EleInfo.)

You can request it on the page's Talk page. (The link to it is confusingly is labelled "discussion", just to the left of where the "edit" link would normally be.)--86.149.61.251 (talk) 11:29, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
When you post to the article's talk page, you can add the template {{editprotected}} above your post, which is likely to get you much quicker action.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:21, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Looking for a specific rule on Wikipedia

My question is regarding movies, games and shows from another language (Japanese for example) translated into English. When it comes to the names and terms used on a Wiki page, should should we use the ones from the original language or the dubbed/translated ones? Yes or No, please provide a link to the Wiki rule. Thanks Duhman0009 (talk) 14:48, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Hello there! Per the Manual of Style articles on the english wikipedia should be written in english except when unavoidable. For names or proper nouns, the "regional specific" spelling and/or pronunciation can be noted (in parenthesizes) next to the closest english approximation. This is especially true for names with non-latin characters (i.e. chinese). For more information on specific non-latin examples, see Manual of Style Hope this has helped! --omtay38 16:01, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
I'm sorry, I forgot to specify, I wasn't talking about putting names in Kanji or Kana, I was talking about for a video game like Street Fighter where the character Gouki is name Akuma outside of Japan. Now Street Fighter is a Japanese game, so his real name would be Gouki, so should this last name be the one used on his wiki page and every Street Fighter wiki page where he is mentioned? Duhman0009 (talk) 16:23, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Naming conventions provides a list of guidelines. The convention is normally to use the most common english name. --h2g2bob (talk) 18:42, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
I just read that, but it doesn't seem to apply to media in particular. Even if they are fictional characters, these are still proper names. Taking something closer to the English language, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) is the European title while Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) is the American title. The European title is currently used in the Wikipedia page, so how is that different from using the Street Fighter example that I just gave? Duhman0009 (talk) 19:11, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Harry Potter is British in origin, so the British title is used, under our rules about regional variations in the English language. In the Street Fighter case, we use the most common English-language name in the English-language Wikipedia. --Orange Mike | Talk 14:39, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia displays in an unreadable font

Dear helpdesk

On my pc Wikipedia dispays in a bold font that is very difficult to read. 81.204.93.59 (talk) 15:31, 20 January 2008 (UTC) What font do I need to download or how can I change it to a 'normal' font? 81.204.93.59 (talk) 15:31, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Rik

What is your browser? Does it happen on all tested pages? Does it happen at other websites? Do you have an account? PrimeHunter (talk) 16:06, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

My Browsers is just plain IE 7.0. It happens on all Wiki pages (including this page), not on any other websites to my knowledge. I do not have an account. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.204.93.59 (talk) 17:01, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Go to your bar at the top and select view. Make sure that "text size" is set to medium and "encoding" is set to either Western European or Unicode. If either of these two setting is altered it can potentially screw up the way the page looks.--Oni Ookami AlfadorTalk|@ 17:56, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
You may be experiencing a bug in IE7 or it may be a configuration problem. Here are some questions and some things to try.
  • Check the "skin" you are using in Preferences. Try the various skins and see if that changes things for the better.
  • Have you cleared your browser cache recently? (IE7's online help will explain how to do this)
  • Have you checked Windows Update lately? That is, are you running the most recent version of IE7?
  • Are you using an English version of IE7 and Windows?
  • Have you considered using Firefox?
—Noah 18:24, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Suspicious edits - want second opinion.

User:71.31.115.35 has made a number of edits that look like they might or might not be vandalism (number changes and so on). I don't want to revert them all without at least getting a second opinion since it's quite a lot of changes. Can someone else look over the diffs and see what they think? Pseudomonas(talk) 16:21, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

They are quite probably suspect. I've looked into the user's first edit (to Aaliyah, which hasn't been undone as yet) which changed over 20 million worldwide sales to over 40 million. This differs from many other websites such as this which generally give over 24 million. Also, many of the user's other edits have been undone by other users.--86.156.182.144 (talk) 17:38, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Page moves

I'm familiar with the procedures for page moves but I'm at a loss here. Lying from You (the correct format but currently set to redirect) has a history from 6 August 2005 to 21 August 2007. Lying From You (the incorrect format but currently the "live" article) has a history from 22 February 2006 to 5 January 2008. Do I just redirect over the wrong title (adding any additional information to the correct title)? I hate to throw out a year's worth of history but I see no other way. Precious Roy (talk) 17:29, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Bring it up at WP:RM. This happens all the time, people are either lazy or don't know what the hell they are doing and they do some horrible cut and paste move that screws everything up.--Oni Ookami AlfadorTalk|@ 17:50, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Actually WP:SPLICE is the best place to bring this up. I will see if I can fix it for you though. Prodego talk 18:49, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Though User:PeaceNT interfered in the middle of the C&P, by also doing it, it is now fixed. Prodego talk 18:56, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Thanks all. (Files away WP:SPLICE for future reference.) Cheers! Precious Roy (talk) 19:02, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] using wikipedia

how do you start a new page —Preceding unsigned comment added by Simrama (talk • contribs) 19:16, 20 January 2008 (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. Algebraist 19:39, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Looking for unclaimed money

Im looking for unclaimed money in stocks in the Bank of England from the railroad —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.160.178.39 (talk) 19:37, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

This help desk is for questions about how to use the encyclopedia Wikipedia. We cannot help you. PrimeHunter (talk) 05:20, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] What did I do wrong, here?

Yeah, I need somebody to let me know what I did wrong in this RFC template, here:

Category talk:Airline destinations.

I'm guess you can't have an "RFC on policy" except on policy pages. Correct? If so, then what should I use for categories? The article RFC template? As noted here on WP:RFC, there are no instructions on how to request comments on a category. ☯  Zenwhat (talk) 19:53, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Your best bet in this case would be Wikipedia:Categories for discussion. Unlike Wikipedia:Articles for Deletion, CFD includes discussions on renaming, moving, and deleting categories; it's sort of an omnibus one-stop-shop for all discussions on categories. In this case, if your concern is that the category is unencyclopedic (and, presumably, should be deleted), then CFD would be the way to go. If you have a concern over an underlying policy related to the category, then the Wikipedia:Village pump (policy) would be a good start. UltraExactZZ Claims ~ Evidence 14:17, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Pictures

I have edited the article on Religion in Sri Lanka and was dissapointed that there is not a picture of the temple of the tooth - most beautiful buddhist temple in Sri Lanka. Where can I obtain one that is legal for use here. Ismailmk (talk) 20:00, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Good question. If you were to search the internet (say, with Google Images), you'd probably find pictures, but they'd be unlikely to be freely licensed for use here. Your best bet is to either take a photograph yourself, or if that's not possible, then try Wikipedia:Requested pictures and/or commons:Commons:Picture requests. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 22:15, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
An excellent option is the flickr Creative Commons section. All of the images in that section are fit for usage on Wikipedia; if you can find a picture in that section, feel free to use it. Cheers, Master of Puppets Call me MoP!☺ 01:16, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Request for use of pictures

I am a Supply Program Analyst with the 11th Signal Brigade. I have been working on a project for the past two years preparing all needed component lists needed for the brigade (over 1000 so far). After making these component lists, I entered all the components in a database that currently has over 49,000 line items. This will assist the soldiers in locating where specific items belong as lines may or may not have more than one component list it belongs to. I have FEDLOGed each line so that the soldiers do not need to to get the information they need. I am currently trying to make links for each line to a picture of the item or like item so that those less experienced get see what they are inventorying and/of searching for.

I have found many pictures in your website, but will not use them without permission to do so.

Once this task is complete, it will be fielded in NETCOM our head office and my picture will go to the Department of the Army FEDLOG section to assist them in missing pictures.

I have sent the copies of the component lists all over the world as it takes a long time for them to be made. If they use my component lists there is a savings of thousands of man-hours.

Thank you for your consideration. If you allow me to use you pictures, I will abide by any restrictions you desire and will indicate your permission to use the pictures on each picture used. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.27.1.3 (talk) 20:23, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

If you see a picture on Wikipedia that you would like to use, click on it. This will bring you to the image's information page, which should including licensing information. If you're lucky, the picture will be in public domain, in which case you can use it freely, or under a free license which will let you use it as long as you follow a few conditions (usually attribution to the original creator of the image and a copy of or link to the license, sometimes something more). If you're not quite so lucky, the image will be under fair use, in which case it has come from another source, which should be mentioned on the image page, and you should contact the source directly. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 22:12, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
See also Wikipedia:Reusing Wikipedia content. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:17, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
In the interest of verification, this IP address is registered to the United States Army Information Systems Command, United States Army Intelligence Center, Fort Huachuca, AZ. --SSBohio 22:25, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] New-B needs help

IS there any one that can direct me in the right direction on how to post basic info on this site? I have launched an article "Lady VIctoria Luchadora" and I am getting a "Article Needs Clean Up"? Plus it is being listed a "orphan" with no related links. Any advice would be appreciated thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rlegaspi (talk • contribs) 20:33, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

There is a lot of information at Help:Contents, but the most relevant sections to you are probably Help:Contents/Editing Wikipedia and the notability guideline. You've got 4 tags; all of them include links to more information, but here are some basics:
  • Cleanup tag: for example, your text shouldn't be surrounded by those dotted lines. This is caused by having a space at the beginning of a line (this markup is used for programming code, among other things). The article also needs renamed to capitalise the person's name, which I have done.
  • Notability tag: Subjects should be "notable" (important) in order to have an article. The guidelines I linked to above describe how a person can be notable. The best way to prove notability is by adding verifiable, reliable sources, eg. from magazine articles, reliable websites etc.
  • Wikify tag: the article needs internal links. Some have been added already; for example Barstow, California has been linked to the article on that place. You can link to other articles by adding 2 square brackets to either side of the term like this: [[ article name here]]
  • Orphan is like wikify, but the other way around. Find articles that mention this person and put brackets around her name to link to her article, or add a link to related, appropriate articles.

If you need any help, you can ask here. Wikiproject Professional Wrestling may also be useful, if you haven't found it yet. --Kateshortforbob 21:47, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Actually, now that I look at it, is her name "Lady Victoria Luchadora" or is she "Lady Victoria" and Luchadora is a job description? If it's a description, the article title should probably be Lady Victoria (luchadora). Sorry - I don't know much about wrestling! If you want to change the title, your account needs to be 4 days old. Then you can click the "move" button at the top of the page, and enter the new name. Or you can ask someone here to do it. --Kateshortforbob 21:51, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] login failed

Hello, I am unable to login to Wikipedia with my account (Qwertyqazqaz). The password I've always used is not being accepted (and there is no alternative e-mail apparently.) Please advise, as I'd very much like to recover my account. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.77.206.228 (talk) 21:16, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do if you did not set an e-mail. You will have to create a new account. NF24(radio me!) 21:40, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
User:Qwertyqazqaz has not edited since April 2007 and has not set an email address. As NF24 and Help:Logging in says, if that is you and you are unable to access the account then you will have to create a new account. You can place links between the user pages of the accounts. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:06, 20 January 2008 (UTC)