Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 May 15

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[edit] May 15

[edit] User Account

Does other wikimedia projects provide user account and if so can we use the wikipedia's user account for other projects like wikiquote,etc....? thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by Uday0110 (talk • contribs) 01:55, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

See Help:Unified login. This is currently only available for admins. --— Gadget850 (Ed)talk 01:58, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Or for a link that actually works, m:Help:Unified login. Mr.Z-man 02:21, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Restoring Text From My Deleted Page

Hi, I was wondering how I can get the text from the deleted page PRowl Public Relations back? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jessicalawlor (talk • contribs) 06:50, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Please post the link -- was the entire page deleted by an administrator, or was just some of the content? Tiggerjay (talk) 06:56, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Apparently PRowl Public Relations. —teb728 t c 08:53, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, it didn't work for me the first time... :)

Jessica, you need to contact an admin to help you, I'd start with the admin who deleted the article, User:NawlinWiki and post a message on their talk page for assistance. Tiggerjay (talk) 09:05, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Note that admins will only give you the text, not fully restore the article. If you are just planning to recreate the article with the same text, I suggest improving the text before recreation of the article. Regards, Ryan Cross (talk) 03:49, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Upload an image without giving up the rights?

I have an image I own the copyright to and I want to upload it to a WikiBooks tutorial I am making. I believe people following the tutorial would find the pic very useful. Unfortunately it seems that I must abandon the rights to any image I upload, but the pic is original artwork and I do not wish to do this. Furthermore I cannot link to the image externally either. What do you advise? Is there a license that suits my needs? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.57.65.217 (talk) 07:24, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, there is no license available within the parameters you specified above. Tiggerjay (talk) 08:17, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

(ec) If you do not wish to give up all rights, consider a Creative Commons license, whereby you can choose to allow commercial use but only with attribution and/or share alike (not allowed to be edited). weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 08:19, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

No weburiedoursecrets, there are only two CC licences accepted - CC-BY and CC-BY-SA. The no derivatives and non commercial licences are not considered to be free and can't be used unless there is no hope of a replacement. If 208.57.65.217 made the image himself, it seems very unlikely that no one else could, so in all likelihood it would not be allowed. That being said, this is the wikipedia helpdesk, not wikibooks, and having never looked at that project before I'm not too sure about what they allow. I suggest asking at their help desk. -mattbuck (Talk) 09:53, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this:

. Do NOT sign in articles.--Ryan Cross (talk) 04:19, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Changes are not visible

Good Morning,

I am trtying to make changes to the page for my hometown Thonon, but I am unable to add links, i click on edit the page, then I save, but changes are not accepted...

Thanks for your help —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alexandre74200 (talk • contribs) 07:52, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps a little more detail would help. I don't see any edits by you, so you are correct that they are not being accepted, but are you receiving and error? What do you see when you click save?Tiggerjay (talk) 08:08, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

If it comes up with a padlock and mentions the database, it's a perfectly normal lockdown to let the servers catch up with the workload. Hitting the 'back' button fixes it. Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this:

. Do NOT sign in articles....... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 11:44, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Do you mean Thonon-les-Bains? It would appear that your change did take. See the page's history. Best, --Bfigura ^(talk) 15:51, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

That’s assuming the new User:Alexandre74200 is the same as User:Alexandre76. —teb728 t c 23:04, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Questions

Hi from a friend in need ... but not financial, I need a number of people to help me. The number of people I need for this project equals (one to infinity) persons (a lot, I know but stick with me here (my project is honorable from the word of a dog (a best friend) but ;-) also a god (if you are full of yourself). The people I need help from can land anywhere on the spectrum(s) between black:white, old:young, fat:skinny, short:tall, gay:straight, crippled:abled, etc that are skilled at using the tools within a BIG project on Wikipedia. I have to admit, I am completely ignorant of the many other magnanimous languages flowering daily on and around our planet earth funny "The Garden of Eden" image comes to my mind when I stretch it." I need expert translators that are fluent in at least 2 of the many languages of the world. As we assemble and build the central core copy of the project in English we will also build copies of the core in every language on earth for sharing 100% of the knowledge we find in the puzzle:riddle of the BIG Pig (I liked "the Big Dig" but that was used already.) We will build the Big Pig slowly in our minds from scratch or ground zero. We've got to go slow enough and make it easily understood by the the meekest members of all our societies. Like it or not we are their Guardian Angels if we fail them we all fail. Don't worry to much about mistakes in the project, the right help is out there somewhere, to keep us moving in the right direction. Getting started might be slow with me as green at Wikipedia as a new born baby but we have the tools in our heads (the most powerful computers on earth - D.A.R.Y.L movie) to master any problem so you all will need to be my teacher(s) and mentor(s)simultaneously. The title of the BIG Pig Project is: "

[edit] United Countries of the World

" I guess the first riddle is how to get from here to there and I haven't a clue in this pea size brain of mine. As a potluck sign says "bring all you can, and eat something reasonable" whereas at the opposite end of that spectrum is the BUFFET with the sign "take all you want but eat all you take." We will build a Wikipedia "book of knowledge" the world has never seen for everyone and it will answer a puzzle:riddle and provide proof of the location of "The Garden of Eden." The faster we find it the faster we can fest on it's treasures. The first question: Where did Johny Appleseed's seeds come from? (hint: not a burning bush)

Hi i posted a question on the humanities board either two or three days ago (not quite sure) and now when i look to see if anyone has replied to my question its not even there. What can I do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.18.163.120 (talk) 08:17, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't see a prior edit by your IP address, so I'll need some help tracking this down. Can you provide the link to the board you are going to, plus something descriptive about your question so I can search for it. Many places archive their posts periodically, so it may simply be sitting in an archive somewhere. Tiggerjay (talk) 08:33, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Certainly - I am looking for answers for my question on the humanities board: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Humanities

My question is a history question regarding the Hanoverian succession in 1714. It was posted in the last 2-3 days. Thanks for your help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.10.93.241 (talk) 13:32, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I can't find any sign of such a question. It might help if you can remember the exact title you gave it. To avoid this sort of thing in future, you might want to create an account. This will also prevent my knowing you get your broadband from carphone warehouse, if you care about that kind of thing. Algebraist 14:04, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

The only thing even remotely related to that is WP:Reference desk/Humanities#British Naval power in the eighteenth century. -- Kesh (talk) 14:16, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

If you did actually type the word "Hanoverian" somewhere in the Wikipedia: namespace within the last few days, then in a few more days it should appear in these Google search results:

Search Wikipedia's Wikipedia: namespace for: Hanoverian

Google takes a few days to index Wikipedia's most recent changes. Another possibility is that you edited some page on Wikipedia, and someone deleted your edit either accidentally or maliciously. In that case your edit would still be in the page history (unless the entire page got deleted). Notice that in the two times you have posted here, you posted under two different IP addresses. You probably access the Internet through some mechanism that causes your IP address to change, making it very difficult for you to track your contributions. You should create an account as Algebraist recommends, if you want to keep track of what you do on Wikipedia. --Teratornis (talk) 17:13, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your help guys and I think I'm as stuck as you as to where my question went. Unfortunately I cannot remember the exact title of the question but the word 'Hanoverian' is definately in the article somewhere along with a question about Louis XIV and how France contributed to the Hanoverian succession. I will try a google search for it.

By the way, I did create an account but it got blocked basically as soon as I made it even though I hadn't even edited an article or done anything malicious so I can't be bothered to make another.
And just for the record Algebraist my ISP is not Carphone Warehouse! Thanks anyway guys!

Hi. Sometimes if you are viewing the reference desk while logged out, your computer will display the information from a few days ago. Alternatively, it may have already been archived. If you are logged out, you can try going to "history", and clicking the latest diff (cur), and if it's been archived, you can go to the reference desk archives and find it from there. Thanks. ~A H 1^(TCU) 16:18, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] United Countries of the World

Certainly - I am looking for answers for my question on the humanities board: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Humanities

The only thing even remotely related to that is WP:Reference desk/Humanities#British Naval power in the eighteenth century. -- Kesh (talk) 14:16, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

If you did actually type the word "Hanoverian" somewhere in the Wikipedia: namespace within the last few days, then in a few more days it should appear in these Google search results:

Search Wikipedia's Wikipedia: namespace for: Hanoverian

By the way, I did create an account but it got blocked basically as soon as I made it even though I hadn't even edited an article or done anything malicious so I can't be bothered to make another.
And just for the record Algebraist my ISP is not Carphone Warehouse! Thanks anyway guys!

[edit] Tuition centres/ home tutors in S'pore

Are there any good home tutors/ tuition centres in Singapore for Chemistry and Biology that anyone can recommend? Help really needed! Thanks alot!

Greeting - thank you for posting to the help desk, however the purpose of this help desk is to help users with how to use wikipedia, not to perform other sorts of research for you. Tiggerjay (talk) 08:53, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Wikipedia: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. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. Tiggerjay (talk) 09:14, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this: . Do NOT sign in articles.--Ryan Cross (talk) 03:46, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Yarn

How Trilobal Polyester Filament Yarn is made —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.198.177.33 (talk) 10:19, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Miscellaneous 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 and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps.

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this: . Do NOT sign in articles. -mattbuck (Talk) 10:34, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Pls help sort my signature

Milkfloat

[[User:MilkFloat|Milk]][[User talk:MilkFloat|Float]] (talk) 11:33, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Please check that "use raw signature" is ticked. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 11:36, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Once you check the "raw signature" check box, your signature should be back to normal. Thanks, Ryan Cross (talk) 03:43, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] I want to find which administrator deleted my page

I almost went to his page but when I tried later I could not find it... The page was called 'Baba Sehgal' (without quotes) This was about a singer. I remember seeing somewhere that the page was deleted on 4th April 2008. How do I find and contact the administrator.. I believe I have to add a section on his talk page... Please help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Charles.2345 (talk • contribs) 02:49, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

The deletion log for Baba Sehgal says it was deleted by Tone because of "G12: Blatant copyright infringement". --grawity 14:41, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] What are the main differences between a Stub and an Article-How do I create a Stub?

I would like to create a stub in a standard authoring environment and can't find out how. Is a stub just a short article?

~~Necroscope22~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Necroscope22 (talk • contribs) 12:07, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes a stub is an article of only a few sentences which is too short to provide encyclopedic coverage of a subject, but not so short as to provide no useful information. Please see Wikipedia:Stub for more information on this. Note that it is always better to create a more substantial article. In any event, for information on article creation, please see Wikipedia:Your first article. Be sure to add references to the article verifying the information it contains. It's best to do so using inline citations. Please note also our notability requirements for subjects of articles. By the way, please sign posts on discussion pages such as this one by typing four tildes (~~~~) at the end which automatically formats to your signature when you save. You can also place this markup automatically by clicking on the editing button which looks like this:

. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:22, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

To summarise: A stub is an article - but a short one. And to create one:

Please see Your first article.

Make sure the subject is notable enough to have their own article.
Find references
Make sure no article on the subject exists under a different title by typing the subject into the search box to the left (←) and clicking 'Search'
Type the page name in the search box to the left (←) and click 'Go'
Click 'Create this page'
Create the article, including all your references, making sure you adhere to the Manual of Style and our article layout
Be aware that Wikipedia deletes thousands of new articles for failing to adhere to our policies and guidelines. New articles by new users are at extra risk of deletion, due to new users' unfamiliarity with our rules. Consider gaining experience by editing existing articles before attempting to create new ones....... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 16:05, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] MY QUESTION

CAN WE SAVE DATA FROM THIS SITE? IF YES THEN HOW?Captain deepak (talk) 12:54, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

SORRY, WHAT? =P, but seriously, no shouting. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 13:23, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Sure you can. I suggest copy and paste into notepad. -mattbuck (Talk) 13:41, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Just be aware with the dynamic nature of a wiki, the content you copy today may be radically different tomorrow or another day in the future. :) Also, if you are trying reference a particular article and want to ensure a point-in-time look, be sure to copy the url for a revision, instead of the main article, that way, when you cross reference later you'll see what you saw today. If that makes sense. Tiggerjay (talk) 14:53, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

You may also download the database. See WP:DUMP for more information. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 15:45, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

See also Help:Export -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 16:19, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

You might also find something useful under WP:EIW#Query and WP:EIW#Mirror. --Teratornis (talk) 21:59, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

You can download the whole of Wikipedia as HTML files if you like - see [1]. --saxsux (talk) 10:54, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi. Also, if you want to save a permanent link from this site, so that you get a non-changing version, go to the page and click "permanent link" in the toolbox at left. However, if an article is deleted, then you will not be able to access the permanent link unless you are an administrator. Hope this helps. Thanks. ~A H 1^(TCU) 16:13, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

For future notice, capitalizing all letters in words considered shouting. --Ryan Cross (talk ♠ Review) 23:03, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Categorys?

Can you add categorys to your userpage?Like ones that don't have anything to do with your page but you want them there so you can have a quick reference to them for when you need them? Mr. Green^{Hit Me Up}Userboxes 15:43, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Sure. Just be sure to include a ':' in front of the CAT:FOO, like CAT:FOO, so that it doesn't categorize your page. (Labeling the section to indicate that it's a reference might not be bad so that others aren't confused. Best, --Bfigura ^(talk) 15:49, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks : ) Mr. Green^{Hit Me Up}Userboxes 16:06, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

If you're doing anything with categories, you should read Help:Category. Categories tend to confuse lots of people on Wikipedia. --Teratornis (talk) 17:18, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Your account appears to be about a month old. If that accurately reflects how long you've been editing on Wikipedia, then you should definitely read Help:Category. I did not make much sense of categories in my first month of editing, from what I recall. I had to read the help page several times before it started to sink in. Other confusing things on Wikipedia include templates, images, and just about everything really. --Teratornis (talk) 19:33, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How do I create a page for Wikipedia?

I would like to make a wikipedia page for my friends' comic book he is creating. What do I need to do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Evildead737 (talk • contribs) 16:34, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Please see Your first article.

Make sure the subject is notable enough to have their own article.
Find references
Make sure no article on the subject exists under a different title by typing the subject into the search box to the left (←) and clicking 'Search'
Type the page name in the search box to the left (←) and click 'Go'
Click 'Create this page'
Create the article, including all your references, making sure you adhere to the Manual of Style and our article layout guidelines
Be aware that Wikipedia deletes thousands of new articles for failing to adhere to our policies and guidelines. New articles by new users are at extra risk of deletion, due to new users' unfamiliarity with our rules. Consider gaining experience by editing existing articles before attempting to create new ones. And you really need to look at WP:N, WP:V and WP:COI. It doesn't seem notable or verifiable and you almost certainly have a conflict of interest...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 16:37, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

(Edit conflict, Dendodge already took care of this, but here's my two cents.) Hello there, Evildead737. Thanks for your interest in Wikipedia - we can always use more good editors. Unfortunately, unless your friend is Todd McFarlane, his comic book probably does not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines for inclusion. You could create the page, but in all likelihood - unless the comic book has been the subject of significant, third party coverage, such as a review in a major magazine or newspaper - it would be deleted rather quickly. You might want to read the five pillars of Wikipedia before you go diving into editing. Let me know if you have any further questions. Thanks again for your interest! Tan | 39 16:41, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this:

. Do NOT sign in articles. Just for future reference...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 16:48, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Also, make sure the article you plan to create, isn't created yet and that the article you are creating is spelled right.--Ryan Cross (talk ♠ Review) 23:01, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Internal References

Can you use internal references in an article? Mr. Green^{Hit Me Up}Userboxes 16:51, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Do you mean self-references (ie. 'This site', to refer to Wikipedia), then no. If you mean links to the Wikipedia: namespace, i don't see a reason to. I wouldn't if I were you, but...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 16:55, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

What do you mean by "internal reference"? Perhaps an example of what you are trying to accomplish. Tiggerjay (talk) 16:56, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I cannot guess what you mean by "internal references" either, but if you mean "self-references," see: Wikipedia:Self-references to avoid. What references and what article do you have in mind? Please make your question specific. Wikipedia has its own complex jargon for describing these sorts of things, and using even slightly different synonyms without specific examples renders a question very difficult to understand. Another possibility is that you might refer to sources which are not available on the public World Wide Web or published on paper. See WP:RS for general guidelines on what is an acceptable source for Wikipedia. --Teratornis (talk) 17:02, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I mean a link to an article within wikipedia. Is that allowed? Mr. Green^{Hit Me Up}Userboxes 17:08, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

If I understand your question correctly, you can not use Wikipedia as a reliable source to be cited by other Wikipedia articles. See WP:SPS (a subsection of Wikipedia:Verifiability) for more information -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 17:18, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

(E/C) As a conventional wikilink, sure. But Wikipedia articles shouldn't be used as references for other Wikipedia articles. (Cite the original source, not the article). Best, --Bfigura ^(talk) 17:19, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

You can certainly add wikilinks from one article to another article on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia:Build the web. Wikilinks on their own do not count as reliable sources for claims which someone might challenge. Editing on Wikipedia is like playing a multi-player game in which each player tries to guess what he or she can write that nobody else will remove. We have a fantastically complicated set of rules that determine what people should remove, but not all players are fully aware of all the rules, and in some cases users choose to ignore the rules, so the game becomes "interesting." Again, if you tell us the specific articles you have in mind, we can give you usefully specific advice. Wikipedia tends to defy blanket generalizations, which is why we have the ignore all rules guideline. (Ignoring all rules tends to increase the probability that other users will remove one's edits, so one ignores all rules at one's own risk.) --Teratornis (talk) 17:28, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I didn't have an article in mind yet, I was just making sure I'm following all the rules when I do make an article.Thanks for the help. Mr. Green^{Hit Me Up}Userboxes 17:32, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

See WP:LAYOUT for the basic article layout guidelines; you might compare some of the articles you read to those guidelines, to make sure the articles comply. Fixing articles that need fixing is a good way to learn what sorts of mistakes other editors make, so you don't make them. You appear to be on the right path; you recently created an account and you are accumulating edits on existing articles. I suggest you wait until you have more article edits before you create a new article. Take a look at the Editor's index to get an idea of how complicated all the rules are. You don't really have to know all the rules, but the more you know, the smoother your editing experience on Wikipedia will be. When you have a topic in mind for a new article, you could ask the Help desk if that topic is suitable for an article on Wikipedia. I see from your user page that you have an interest in popular music. If you are thinking about writing a new article about a band, see WP:BAND. New articles about bands tend to be a virtual killing field for deletionists on Wikipedia, since most bands that are notable enough already have articles here, and any new bands that recently became notable enough tend to get articles quickly. We probably are not overlooking many notable bands at a given time. This means that of all the bands that don't have articles here yet, only a tiny fraction are really notable enough. If your musical interests are wider than Wikipedia allows, you might see wikiindex:Category:Music for some alternative wikis that specialize in music with fewer restrictions than Wikipedia has. Also, before you create a new article, read WP:Why was my article deleted? - it's better to be aware of the risks early rather than late. Notability is kind of a strange concept on Wikipedia; there are some things which are almost sure to be notable, such as for example the bridges and dams across the Ohio River. If you wanted to start a new article about, say, the Captain Anthony Meldahl Locks and Dam (and who wouldn't?), the odds are pretty high that a halfway decent article would "stick," because any crossing of a major river like the Ohio is almost automatically notable. There are probably more people interested in writing about some obscure local band, but the dam is more "notable" since it is a major public works project. --Teratornis (talk) 19:26, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for all of your and for the useful links.I'll try to memorize most if not all of the vast rules of Wikipedia. Mr. Green^{Hit Me Up}Userboxes 15:30, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How do I use Blocking Padlocks?

How do I use the red and blue padlocks? I need to use these for my sandbox.

Bradymonty (talk) 17:32, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Only administrators can protect a page. File a request at WP:RFPP...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 17:44, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

The padlocks itself is just an image you can add to a page. KTC (talk) 23:08, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Just realize that the padlock is nothing more than just that, an image, and your page isn't really protected - it would just appear that way. Tiggerjay (talk) 01:33, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Out of curiosity, why do you need the padlocks? Are you thinking of protecting a page? Well, it won't work because your not an admin. Try asking at WP:RFPP.--Ryan Cross (talk) 03:42, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Finding the origin of a phrase / author

Hi guys,

I'm looking for a way to automatically identify the first revision a phrase or word appears in an article, which would also identify the author of the phrase. This is for vandalism warnings and also would be useful to revert fact changes. I've searched for this on the helpdesk and google but I couldn't seem to find an answer, though it seems like a common query.

Thanks, Isaac (talk) 19:00, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

To my knowledge, there isn't a way to search the revision history of an article for a phrase. I think we're more or less limited to manually looking through the history to see who did what. Best, --Bfigura ^(talk) 19:02, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Lupin's Anti-vandal tool shows you all pages containing bad words and Twinkle, if used correctly, can show you if something was added recently, they're not exactly what you wanted, but...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 19:05, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Popups can also make searching through the history faster too. Best, --Bfigura ^(talk) 19:14, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

You could try wikiblame, and see WP:EIW#HistTools. --Teratornis (talk) 19:29, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

In addition to already-built tools like wikiblame, the MediaWiki API might allow for complex queries on article histories, but I haven't gotten anywhere with that yet, so I can't say exactly how to use it. Wikiblame tends to work pretty well, but on large articles with long edit histories the results are slow to come out. --Teratornis (talk) 19:37, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Neat tool. And about popups, it tends to save me some time since I don't have to click on each diff to see what was done. Cheers, --Bfigura ^(talk) 20:59, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I have Popups, but I'm not sure how they speed up the diff process unless you're looking for something at the top of the article. Wikiblame is good enough I suppose, its slow but probably as good as it gets. I checked out the WP EIW tools, AmiDaniel's tool looks useful but it won't work on my comp w/ vista for some reason, so Wikiblame it is. Isaac (talk) 20:54, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

The Help desk gets a number of questions about how to do complex searches involving tricky things like page histories (which unfortunately are hiding in the Deep web beyond the reach of external search engines), categories, revision date ranges, user names, and so on. I'm vaguely aware of query tools (WP:EIW#Query) but I have not spent the time to master them yet. We probably need some capability for these difficult searches among the Help desk volunteers. If I get around to figuring something out, I might summarize my findings in a new section in Wikipedia:Help desk/How to answer. Oh yeah, while I was looking at WP:EIW#Query again, I thought of another possible method you can try: export the article along with its history to XML, and then you can search it with grep or in a text editor. That might be better than Wikiblame in some cases. Once you finish downloading the XML file, then you can search it locally really fast, which would be good if you had to try different searches to guess the right keywords or regular expressions. And of course Wikiblame will not give you regular expression search. I think. --Teratornis (talk) 21:53, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hindu Gods

Resolved. Moded to Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities

Dear Wikipedia, I am a very great reader of your esteemed articles.In one of your articles regarding"THE HINDU GOD NARASIMHA(MAN-LION)AVATAR OF LORD VISHNU",you have written that after killing "THE DEMON KING HIRANYAKASHPU",Lord Narasimha is so full of rage that no one dare go near him and try to calm him till "PRAHALAD" takes the courage to do so. Whereas,in your article regarding another "HINDU GOD SHIVA",you have written that when the above event took place(ie:-NARASIMHA GETTING TERRIBLE WITH RAGE) the other HINDU GODS pleaded with LORD SHIVA to calm LORD NARASIMHA, LORD SHIVA took the avatar of A HALF-BEAST,HALF-BIRD HALF-HUMAN creature named SARABHA and fought with NARASIMHA anf ultimately calmed him.You can refer the above event under the topic of LORD SARABHARESHWAR which itself comes under the topic of SHIVA. Kindly let me know as to which of the above Two Events is correct. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.177.241.87 (talk) 20:03, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Humanities 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 and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. And please clarify what you mean...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 20:13, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I have moved this to Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities -- Q Chris (talk) 07:41, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] User Talk Page Archive Bots

I noticed that users have their talk pages archived automatically using bots. Mines far from full, but I'd just like to know: Is there a list of such bots? And what criteria do they use to decide when to archive; posts after a certain date, length of the page, number of posts etc? Fribbler (talk) 20:19, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Have a look at the bots in Category:Wikipedia archive bots. I know that MiszaBot III can be configured: see User:MiszaBot/Archive HowTo. haz (talk) 20:23, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

This is mine, adapted for you:

{{User:MiszaBot/config |algo = old(5d) |archive = User talk:Fribbler/Archives/%(year)d/%(monthname)s }}

Anything 5 days old gets archived to that month's archive...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 20:27, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Aha! Thanks. Not sure I would have the volume to warrant it.... yet. Fribbler (talk) 20:44, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

You can change it to whatever you want, or User:MiszaBot has a list of options, that's just what I use...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 20:53, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

And each | MUST be the start of a new line for the bot to work properly...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 20:54, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Also see WP:EIW#Archive and WP:EIW#Bot. --Teratornis (talk) 21:55, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

This is what I use:

{{User:MiszaBot/config |minthreadsleft = 2 |algo = old(14d) |archive = User talk:Kesh/Archive-%(monthnameshort)s%(year)d }}

This means I always keep at least two discussions on my talk page, regardless of age; anything over 14 days gets archived; and the archives are formed as "Archive-May2008", for example. -- Kesh (talk) 22:09, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Awwhh! So many good responses. I bow to the help desks help-ability. I will save the relevent wikicodes into a text file for use when I need it. Special thanks to Dendodge; but that doesn't neglect the others!! Fribbler (talk) 00:34, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

I just set my talk page up for archiving - would appreciate it if someone would please take a look to make sure I have done it correctly? Thanks. – ukexpat (talk) 01:30, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Done - thanks haz – ukexpat (talk) 13:19, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] A person showing up in a category listed alphabetically by first name rather than last name.

I have put Marc Quinn and Hunter O'Reilly in categories that list the artists alphabetically by their first name rather than last name. How can this be corrected? Thank you. Chokusen1 (talk) 22:42, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

You need to add {{DEFAULTSORT:Lastname, Firstname}} (replaceing "Lastname" and "Firstname" with the last and first names of the subject) in the article (usually near the categories). DuncanHill (talk) 22:44, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

For more information: Help:Category#Sort order. --Teratornis (talk) 23:44, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Does wikipedia charge

DOES WIKIPEDIA CHARGE OR COST MONEY TO MAKE AND KEEP AN ACCOUNT? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.244.88.4 (talk) 23:14, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

There is no costs associated with using Wikipedia. However, you may incour costs to connect to the internet in general. Tiggerjay (talk) 23:20, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

See WP:ACCOUNT which says:

You do not have to log in to read Wikipedia. You do not have to log in even to edit articles on Wikipedia — just about anyone can edit almost any article at any given time, even without logging in, and many long-time contributors do not log in. Nevertheless, creating an account is quick, free and non-intrusive, and it is generally considered a good idea to do so for a variety of reasons.

...among other things. Also see Wikipedia:About for more information. --Teratornis (talk) 05:25, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi. Unless you're thinking about donation, Wikipedia is absolutely free (other than Internet, electricity, and your country's taxes fees). If it does not cost any money to edit under an IP, you absolutely will not be charged more to keep an account. However, if you find yourself editing a lot, then your electricity bill may rise. Thanks. ~A H 1^(TCU) 16:09, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 May 15

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[edit] How do I create a page for Wikipedia?

[edit] Internal References

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[edit] Finding the origin of a phrase / author

[edit] Hindu Gods

[edit] User Talk Page Archive Bots

[edit] A person showing up in a category listed alphabetically by first name rather than last name.

[edit] Does wikipedia charge

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