Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 March 28

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[edit] March 28

[edit] vCarding in Wikipedia - where is it at ?

What is the position and capabiltiy in Wikipedia regarding the automatic generation of vCards in articles, etc. ?

For example, {{Infobox Organization}} does not seem to comply with hCard ?

Pee Tern (talk) 00:26, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I doubt there's any capability of creating a vCard built into Wikipedia. Considering we don't keep any contact information for companies or persons anyway, I'm not sure what use it'd be. -- Kesh (talk) 13:19, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
Supposedly, you can generate vCard comaptible *tml code to allow parsing by vCard data identifiers, for example {{UF-hcard-org}}, so that details can be provided to other software tools. Peet Ern (talk) 02:57, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Anyone having a problem with the history or their watchlist?

Ok I am having this weird problem, when ever I check the history of an article or my watchlist. Basically when I go in there I can't click any of the links presented and instead there is like a giant link over everything that sends me to something random on my watchlist, I am just curios if anyone else is getting this problem or if anyone knows what this problem is. -- Phoenix741(Talk Page) 00:33, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Username posts

I want to trick out my username (like the person above me), but I don't know how to. It would be away to much of a pain to keep typing in all the code every time. Is there some way to just stylize it and just type in the "~~~~". -- Jump Guru (talk) 00:58, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

In your Special:Preferences there is a space to put a coded signature and then click on use raw signature below it. WP:SIG has some info on it for you. GtstrickyTalk or C 01:09, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
Wow! thanks! -- Jump Guru (talk) 21:25, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

-- JUMP GURU (talk) 21:43, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

  • Felt like testing out my signature. -- JUMP GURU (talk) 21:44, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How to I get to the Wikipedia top 100 viewed pages?

Title says it all,

how do i get to the wikipedia top 100 viewed pages from the main page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.88.118.18 (talk) 02:26, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

There are probably several link chains (see: Wikipedia:Six degrees of Wikipedia). Here's one, starting from any page, including the Main Page:
You would want the second link, that is if it actually started working again. Unfortunately, this useful application looks to be still broken. Another option is to search the Help desk for: most viewed pages, as this question comes up fairly often. If you want to browse to certain pages frequently, you might consider making an account so you can add links to your User page which then will always be one click away after you log in. You can certainly edit your own list of favorite links to be more convenient than digging through the massive branching pile of links off the Main Page. --Teratornis (talk) 03:02, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Help on mainpage article rv vandalism

E. Urner Goodman is on the front page, and it doesn't have enough eyes on it reverting the usual mainpage vandalism. If a couple of people could put it on their watchlist that would be great. Anchoress · Weigh Anchor · Catacomb 02:49, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Confused

Resolved.

I made a page about an online game people played for 4 years and it got deleted and called non-sense. Four years of peoples life isnt non-sense. Why was it deleted without asking me what it was? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yello43 (talk • contribs) 03:35, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Nonsense is an incorrect categorization. However, the page is, in fact, nearly empty. It is Wikipedia policy that pages consisting solely of an external link can be immediately deleted without discussion (WP:CSD#A3). If you want an article to not be deleted, you have to provide at least a modicum of information: What it is, and more importantly, how it's notable. It really helps to provide sources that talk about the game that weren't created by developers or fans of the game (reviews from gamer magazines or websites like GameSpot are the best for that sort of thing). You may be interested in Wikipedia:Your first article. Someguy1221 (talk) 04:11, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
You basically answered your own question Dear Yello43 "Why was it deleted without asking me what it was?" If people need to ask you what it is, even after reading the article, than the article is simply not good enough to be included in wikipedia. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 11:50, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
The page was Virtual Football League and the only content was "[www.habbo.com]". WP:CSD#A3 certainly applies as Someguy1221 said. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:31, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] HEY!!!

Hey boy I made a article called "Lil Trazk" and it was deleted!!!!!!!!!!!! Ive rapped hard so i deserve a page in wikipedia!!!!!!!! Stop deletin it!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lil Trask (talk • contribs) 05:20, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

You may want to read up on your first article and WP:ARTICLE for how to conceive a proper article. Also, speedy deletion criteria is quite applicable here. Make sure to conform to our core policies of WP:NPOV and verifiability. Wisdom89 (T / C) 05:33, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
(ec) Your article was deleted for lack of assertion of notability. If you want your article to stay, you'll need to let us know why you should have an article, and the link I gave you lists ways to demonstrate that. The easiest thing to do is provide multiple reliable sources on yourself, sources that you didn't create. Someguy1221 (talk) 05:35, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
Also, if you are in anyway related to the topic/subject of the article, there may be a conflict of interest, where you are strongly discouraged to write the article yourself. Wisdom89 (T / C) 05:35, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
Not everyone deserves an article on Wikipedia, but everyone deserves an article on WikiBios, even those who jus' be frontin'. --Teratornis (talk) 17:09, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Request for Tips on Reliable Sources

The page "ChristianMedia.ca" was deleted on March 25, 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChristianMedia.ca

23:05, March 25, 2008 Jmlk17 (Talk | contribs) deleted "ChristianMedia.ca" ‎ (Expired PROD, concern was: Non-notable website; article is promotion by the webmaster. External links are all directory listings.)

I have read through the documents regarding "Wikipedia:Proposed deletion" and "Wikipedia:Reliable sources".

Please note the following facts:

  1. York University recognizes "ChristianMedia.ca" and the web site author David Spencer enough to have him on a panel discussion about careers in media for university students. http://www.yorku.ca/careers/conversations/panel_mediacomm2.htm
  2. The Word Guild has the "ChristianMedia.ca" Project Leader, David Spencer. running a panel discussion on Writing for Radio and New Media . http://www.thewordguild.com/writecanada/workshops.html#E
  3. According to Alexa traffic rankings, people from around the world visit "ChristianMedia.ca". As of March 28, 2008, "ChristianMedia.ca" has a traffic ranking of 698,603.
  4. 205 Canadians agree with the mission and guiding principles of "ChristianMedia.ca" to the point that they joined and identify themselves with the project.


Question: Are newspaper sources the only "reliable sources" to validate that a web site and project exists and is making a significant impact on connecting media workers in Canada? DavidSpencer.ca (talk) 12:41, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Look at your own posting. Even if we were just going by a superficial measure such as Alexa ratings, there are 698,602 websites more interesting to people than yours. Endorsed by 205 Canadians? Even the Parti citron/Lemon Party mustered 4,087 voters in the 1994 elections! Newspapers are more generally reliable sources, yes. Also useful are books and magazines. Lack of notability is not a judgement on the worthiness of your project, just on how much public notice it has gotten. Wikipedia is not a place to come to publicize an organization, but rather to compile the information already available in previously-published, reliable sources. --Orange Mike | Talk 13:07, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] mailing a page of an article in wikipedia

i want to know how to mail a page of wikipedia directly to my mail box —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.212.235.13 (talk) 13:35, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Your physical mailbox? It'd be easier to just print it out. - Kesh (talk) 15:17, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
If you mean your email address, some browsers have an 'email this page' function. I don't know how to find them (I've never looked) but IE definitely has one. George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 15:53, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] updates to article not appearing immediately

i have made updates to the article: Peter Golding, but the updates are not appearing immediately. I have requested emails for confirmation of copyright for images, as two have been taken down, but these are simple text changes. can anyone advise if they are with a reviewer, and if so how I would know if and when they are either live or rejected.


thanks --Rita gorman (talk) 13:45, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Changes to text happen immediately. If you're not seeing them, be sure to purge your cache. -- Kesh (talk) 15:19, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] New Entry for Trimedia Group

Can you please help me creating a new entry for Trimediagroup?(www.trimediagroup.com) When I am trying to do so, an already existing entry of TriMedia comes up. How can I create a new one for Trimediagoup? I already did so one month ago but it was taken from the site and I was not able to edit it after having put it online. Thank you very much for your help!

Birgit —Preceding unsigned comment added by Triint (talk • contribs) 14:01, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

First, I suggest you make sure the company is notable enough for an article here, by making sure it meets the criteria at WP:CORP. If you work for TriMedia Group, read WP:COI. Finally, if you think you can write a neutral article about the company, I suggest you make it in your userspace first, at User:Triint/TriMediaGroup. Once you're happy with how it looks, come back here and ask some folks to look it over, and we can help you move it where other people can find it. -- Kesh (talk) 15:26, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] WP:DYKA AKA WP:Recent additions

I have recently become acquainted with WP:DYKA. I started going though my personal archive at User:TonyTheTiger/DYK to try to document them officially. I think my Chicago Landmarks hook (my eighth one listed) should be at Wikipedia:Recent additions 133 or thereabouts. I believe it was on the main page from 23:34, 15 April 2007–06:14, 16 April 2007. I am not finding it. I know human errror may be a problem, but I am trying to determine if there may be another issue since I just found out about this feature.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 14:38, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

It appers that the first and the last update in [1] are archived at Wikipedia:Recent additions 133, but not the middle (23:31 UTC) and 1 extra (yours at 23:34 UTC). They should have been between these:
I suggest you post to Mikkalai who created the archive page. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:16, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
BTW, how do you get a limited history like that?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 18:39, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
I manually modified a page history url to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Did_you_know&offset=200704160615&limit=11&action=history. The 12 digits is YYYYMMDDhhmm (year, month, day, hour, minute) of the most recent displayed item in UTC (Wikipedia standard) time. Wikipedia-generated url's usually have two additional digits I don't know what means. When constructing an offset, digits can be omitted from the right. limit=11 means show 11 entries (or all entries if there are less than 11). I manually counted that there were 11 entries I wanted to display. User contributions have a similar url. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:00, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I did nothing fancy: I merely took whatever was there and split into several archive pages. BTW I don't see any "chicago landmarks" in the list I deleted. Probably they were lost sometime earlier. Why don't you add it to the archive yourself (with reasonable edit summary ), rather than wasting your time nailing down a careless admin. You better spend it to write more featured articles instead. :-) `'Míkka>t 21:33, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Giovanni Martinelli - Atlantic crossing

I had the unexpected great pleasure of sharing a table for two with him aboard the Nave Cristoforo Colombo from New York to Genova sometime in 195? We talked of everything but music and I am heartily sorry I failed to quiz him about the "sharps" and "flats" of the Opera world. I am sure he could have regaled me with enough material for a dozen books. He was truly beautiful with gleaming white hair and disarming smile. I remember we laughed a lot and mainly at the other passengers who, from our exclusive perch seemed "too too plebean fuh wahds, m'deah".

If any one of his biographers would contact me with the correct dates of the above crossing, I should be most grateful. Not to mention the name of the ship. (I made 18 crossings between 1951 and 1979 and there were five or six different ships.) Many thanks,

Elettra

Signora Elettra Landrum SC USA —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.147.208.227 (talk) 15:07, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm afraid it's highly unlikely you'll find any of his biographers here. Wikipedia is a volunteer-run site. While it's possible one of his biographers may be an editor here, the chances are slim. -- Kesh (talk) 15:28, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
Please ask at WP:RD in future. That is the reference desk, where you can ask general questions. This page is for asking how to use Wikipedia. 81.108.115.156 (talk) 15:48, 28 March 2008 (UTC)I'm sure I was logged in... Anyway, that was me. George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 15:49, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wapipedia stopped working

Wapipedia worked great on my cell phone for the last few months. It stopped working about 2 or 3 days ago. All of my other favorite sites are working fine. Is Wapipedia still a functioning site? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.197.175.20 (talk) 16:15, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

This is Wikipedia, you would be best asking at the wapipedia help desk. George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 16:23, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
Searching Wikipedia with Google for: wapipedia finds this user's page:
who claims to have created Wapipedia. You could ask on User talk:BotheredByBees if the site still works. See Help:Talk page for instructions on how to use our talk pages, if you haven't already. However, it's not clear if that user does much editing as a logged-in user here. --Teratornis (talk) 16:28, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
Check their website for help at wapedia.org or change to using http://en.wap.wikipedia.org/ or one of the alternatives from Wikipedia:WAP access. Nanonic (talk) 16:33, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] When a bracket is just a bracket ...

Resolved.

I just added a reference to the article on Dooley, Montana (using a ref template), and that reference contains a misspelled word. So to be correct, I need to add [sic] to the title ... but when I try to do so, of course Wikipedia tries to interpret the brackets as part of a weblink. Is there a way to get around this? Thanks! Pitamakan (talk) 17:59, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes! Use the<nowiki></nowiki> Tags around the desired text!DarkZorro 18:06, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
Easy enough! Many thanks. Pitamakan (talk) 18:11, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
No Problem!:)DarkZorro 18:24, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
You could also have used {{bracket|sic}} to produce [sic]. {{sic}} doesn't use nowiki and wouldn't have worked in your situation. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:11, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Help editing a page

I am interested in ading a large amount of content to the page regarding Ray Vinson. Some of the info, even though it is sparce, is somewhat misleading and needs alot of explanation. I am in the process of creating a substantial and very informational article but am unsure of the proper way of posting it. I have multiple links to other wikipedia articles relating to his business and the mortgage industry, as well as, other people involved. The more i try to figure out how to properly format it the more confused i get. Any guidance you can give me would be much appreciated as i am interested in becoming more involved with wikipedia and need to know how to post things properly to your standards —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thomasfipps (talk • contribs) 18:07, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Before adding a large amount of information to the article, please review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should adhere. 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 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 your proposed addition is appropriate, you might like to take a look at 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. It might also be a good idea to develop the new meterial in a subpage of your own user page - click here to start Thomasfipps/Ray Vinson - and once fomatted correctly, the wiki markup can easily be copied from the sub-page into the main article.
Note that if your changes are in any way controversial, it would be a good idea to discuss them first on the article's talk page, before adding them to the main article.
Astronaut (talk) 18:48, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How do I prevent getting autoblocked?

Hi. I normally edit under a user account and several times I've been autoblocked because of vandalism from my IP or from another account using my IP? I know at least one of these times it was because I caught my brother vandalizing from my computer, but in some of the other cases (like one today) I think that it is because of a vandal who edits from my IP range. Is their any way I can avoid getting autoblocked?--24.173.26.210 (talk) 19:02, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Make sure you are signed on under a user name and then follow the directions at Template:Autoblock GtstrickyTalk or C 19:50, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject Newsletters

Resolved. §tepshep • ¡Talk to me! 20:19, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Ohio is currently discussing starting a newsletter. We've seen other Projects with newsletters, but were curious if any other state projects had a newsletter? Thanks. §tepshep • ¡Talk to me! 19:43, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Newsletters says no, although the Canadian province of Sasketchewan does. Nanonic (talk) 19:53, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. §tepshep • ¡Talk to me! 19:59, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

FYI in case anyone wants to look up the entry. The province name is Saskatchewan. (I'm one of the 0.37% of the population that can spell the word. And darn proud of it!) Wanderer57 (talk) 21:29, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Contributions

Resolved.

How Can i Find Out how many edits i have. --IwilledituHi :) 21:38, 28 March 2008 (UTC)


You can view how many edit's you have via here hope this helps. Terra 21:43, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Thank You. :) --IwilledituTalk :)Contributions 21:47, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Franceca F is back,

Hello again, I tried the site that you showed me and an image appeared, but then when I went back into wikipedia there are still no images where they should be. Any ideas??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by FrancescaF (talk • contribs) 22:45, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I don't know :( That's strange. You should probably ask either on the technical village pump, or on #wikimedia-tech. --Golbez (talk) 22:50, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Closing a RFC

Angel David had a RFC filed against him in October, and the last comment is in January. I think it's been settled, so how do we close it? Yamakiri TC § 03-28-2008 • 22:59:11

[edit] Editing a Wikipedia (?) page

Hello:

I have come across what I believe to be a wikipedia page, which I would like to edit. The URL is as follows:

http://www.hudec.sh/wiki/index.php/Biography

I signed up with Wikipedia, but every time I try to click the edit page and sign in, the page tells me that it doesn't recognize my user id (I did activate it after I received my confirmation email).

What am I doing wrong? If this is not a wikipedia page, how do I find out who posted it so I can correct the information written there?

Thanks, still learning —Preceding unsigned comment added by ATHAMH (talk • contribs) 23:46, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

That page is not on Wikipedia, it is on another site. You will have to contact them if you want to edit it. Not all wikis are run by Wikipedia. --Golbez (talk) 23:50, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
Right. That wiki site uses the same MediaWiki software as Wikipedia, but Wikipedia has no control over the site. It doesn't appear to have an online account creation for outside editors. The only 3 registered users at http://www.hudec.sh/wiki/index.php/Special:Listusers are bureaucrats. Maybe you can get in contact with somebody at http://www.hudec.sh/index.php?id=6. Wikipedia has its own page about László Hudec and you can edit that. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:01, 29 March 2008 (UTC)