Wikipedia:New contributors' help page

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 Skip to the bottom 


Help:Contents
Help:Contents
 Help:Contents
New contributors' Help page
A place to get help with editing and finding your way around Wikipedia. Please read the instructions before posting.

Skip to: Table of contents | Most recent question
Where to get other questions answered
Other ways to get help
  • You can search the FAQ to get answers to common questions about Wikipedia.
  • Visit Wikipedia's Tip Library for quick tips on how to do almost anything on Wikipedia.
  • If you place {{helpme}} on your talk page, a helper will visit you there as soon as possible!
  • Join the #wikipedia-en-help IRC channel for real-time chat. New to IRC? Click here to be connected instantly!
  • Find and directly contact an actively editing user at Highly Active Users.
How to ask a question
Shortcuts:
WP:NCH
WP:NUH
WP:N?
WP:NCHP
This page is for answering questions about editing and finding your way around Wikipedia.
If you have a general knowledge question please see Wikipedia:Reference desk. Please make sure you search the FAQ for your question before asking it here.
  1. Please sign your question by typing ~~~~ at the end.
  2. Do not list your e-mail address or other private details.
  3. To ask a new question use the "Click here to ask your question about editing Wikipedia" link below.
  4. For the answer to your question, check this page frequently for updates. Alternatively, you can ask that you be notified on your talk page. Your feedback is appreciated.
Click here to ask your question about editing Wikipedia

Contents
Volunteers
If you would like to help answer questions, click here for instructions.

Archive of old questions
All questions over 15 days old will be archived.

Skip to the bottom of the page


[edit] Would like to make a temporary page

Hello. I'm a metal worker cum programmer, and well out of my depth.
My retirement hobby is philosophy directly applied to a binary machine. Currently all such technologies are completely specified, predetermined, eg "positivism". They all seem to be bumping their OO heads on the ceiling of their Understanding. When IMHO, a simple Copernican revolution in thinking is all that's required. The topic is Kant's Critical Method proven in reality by a binary computer. I have made a few adjustments to the Critique of Pure Reason article, but his "Systematic" encompasses the entire Three "Volumes" Critique of Pure Reason, Critique of Practice and Critique of Judgment. It seems the separation of the Articles destroy the real meaning of Kant's organism. A industry trained computer analyst, I do not want to leave any of my own pov behind. Particularly if this is a historical first i.e Business, modeled as a dynamic Organism. I have retraced the earliest computer history from the first days, and discovered that serious research of this nature began with Information Engineering, and 2 notables and another who "disappeared" then re-emerged in 1992 when I first met him and saw his unique Critical Method to model an Organism called a Business. I was able to see what others apparently could not, simply because I had read Kant who had died in 1804, and I had, merely, (then) 30 years of main-frame and infant micro-computing experience. Charles M. Richter had never read Kant nor even heard of him. That astounding co-incidence prompts me to join up the missing links.
Am I able to create an Article Charles M. Richter about a person which history has passed by?
He like myself has no interest in advertising, but do need to reach out to others who feel trapped like we do.
My particular interest is unconditionally Free Non Commercial
--Justin2007 (talk) 03:46, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi there. I would like to make a temporary page that is set up as if it were about a celebrity, but instead I would like to have it be about my husband and/or I to have him read on our anniversary (June 3rd). Is this possible? Steph. 75.94.32.121 (talk) 03:17, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

No not really, Wikipedia is not a webspace provider so you couldn't even do that in your own userspace if you registered. You could, I suppose use the preview function to render such a page and take a screenshot of it, so long as you didn't save it. —Elipongo (Talk contribs) 03:45, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

hello appaa —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jokirk2 (talk • contribs) 00:06, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

oh come on ! just for one day ! save it and send him a link, then delete it the next day. I'll volunteer to delete it in case you forget. Machete97 (talk) 20:23, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Did you even read what Elipongo said? Wikipedia isn't a personal website, its a encyclopedia. Sethward (talk) 22:10, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Why doesn`t my first article look like other Wikipedia articles?

I created an article several days ago on an obscure person (already mentioned in Wikipedia) for my first attempt at a contributing article to Wikipedia. I submitted the text with my three references listed at the top following the instructions provided in the Help area. My article is displayed, but exactly as I entered it with the three references listed at the top. This does not look like a normal Wikipedia article where the references are listed at the end. Have I made a mistake or does an editor eventually check new articles and reformat them if required and I should just wait? Yameogo (talk) 10:07, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

I've had a go at reformatting it. Have a look at Wikipedia:Manual of Style for more information on how to make your article look like others on Wikipedia. Hope that helps! haz (talk) 13:00, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
Thankyou Haz, the article looks much better now. I`ll have to study the Manual of Style before posting another article. I didn`t see this aid when I was writing my first one, maybe it should be displayed more prominently for use by newbies. Another question please - you dumped two of my references in your reformatting but one of them was important to statements that I`d made in the article. Does this matter? Yameogo (talk) 14:00, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
It is more important than almost any other consideration. Unsourced content is a plague. The article would be better off unformatted but with the references than without. I'll go take a look now.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:07, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
Okay. I have added in one of the pages you cited as references for the second paragraph. Please see WP:CITE for information on the syntax I used. The other two links didn't appear to have been actually used for the content exactly but are just external links containing related content (the information in the first paragraph still needs citationsm but this is still a stub). Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:27, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
Comment - Does one reference, albeit in the People's Daily, make this individual notable per WP:N? Notability is not inherited so being Mao's grandchild does not automatically confer notability. – ukexpat (talk) 15:36, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Thankyou Fuhgh One of my references was simply a photo with caption in a news story which I used to identify a person (the mother) in the first paragraph. But I could not corroborate her identity anywhere else which is why I needed the reference (photo), in case it was disputed. Can a photo and caption be used as a reference for a fact in an article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yameogo (talk • contribs) 15:27, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] edit a page

Resolved.

how do edit an artical because i would like to update an artical and i don't know how. please help. thank you Eweelittlechick (talk) 17:26, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

An article will have an "edit this page" tab at the top of the screen. Simply click it and a white box will pop up which you can then edit yourself. See also Wp:EDIT. Wisdom89 (T / C) 17:28, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
Please see Wikipedia:How to edit a page and consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:29, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
Also, a pretty important point, whenever you make an edit, small or large, use the edit summary box (located underneath the editing space) to provide a brief reasoning. This helps other users understand the changes. Wisdom89 (T / C) 17:30, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

ok i did all that and it still isnt working. if it helps to give me an answer, then the pag is semi protected whatever that means? please help (Eweelittlechick)

See WP:PROTECTION. If the page is semi protected it means that unregistered users (IPs), and registered users whose accounts are less than four days cannot edit. You'll have to wait it out. Wisdom89 (T / C) 17:36, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

oh ok then, thanks very much for your help Eweelittlechick (talk) 17:39, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

You are certainly welcome. Happy editing! Wisdom89 (T / C) 17:40, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

And please check your edits by clicking on the preview button before saving!! – ukexpat (talk) 15:39, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Delete a Wikipedia Account

How can I delete my Wikipedia Account? Gesz (talk) 20:48, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

It's not possible to delete accounts. Amongst other reasons this is because all contributions need to be assigned to an identifier. However, you can request to have your userpage deleted by adding the tag {{db-userreq}} to the top of the page. Nk.sheridan   Talk 21:04, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
But you may have the right to vanish – ukexpat (talk) 16:21, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] NPOV

I have been working for some time trying to get an article on Seventh-day Adventist Kinship, International ready to publish. It is currently on my user page. The most recent suggestion I had (on the feedback requested page) is that I may have a problem with NPOV. I would appreciate it if someone could point out where this is a problem. Although this is a controversial subject (a support group for glbti Adventists which is opposed by the Adventist Church), I have tried to present any conflict in a factual way. Carrol Grady (talk) 18:09, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

I noticed a similar problem - I think the reason for the NPOV issue is the tone and wordage of piece. It reads like a borderline advocation of the group. For instance, the lead section should start with an objective definition of the group, not what they strive to accomplish or a mission statement rewritten in your own words. Wisdom89 (T / C) 18:46, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
Thank you. I'll keep working on it! Carrol Grady (talk) 19:33, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
You are welcome. I noticed you've decided to play with the wording of the article. That's good. I was WP:BOLD and did a little tweaking to the lead. Let me know what you think. Wisdom89 (T / C) 00:38, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
Oops, I guess I didn't notice and I may have changed something myself. I have now gone through the entire article and hopefully used NPOV language. I think I am ready to move it to main space now. I've copied the document to a file on my computer in case it is deleted right away! Carrol Grady (talk) 06:16, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Upload an essy about "Fairouzeh"

Resolved.

Please help me uploading an essy which I have written anbout "Fairouzeh". I like to inclue this write up under Syria,known town which shows Fairoueh in red but the field is empty and not developed yet. I was born in this town and would like to add my write up under "Fairouzeh". Please notify me on my Talk page ,Your feedback is appreciated . Thank you for yor help. --GeorgesNasserDeeb (talk) 01:18, 28 May 2008 (UTC)DEEB

Hi George. When a link shows up in red like that, clicking on it will take you to an edit window where you can type in content for the page. Just enter your text, click "show preview" to check it looks fine, and then click "save page" and the page will be created. You might like to look at Wikipedia:Your first article beforehand for some instructions on how to write the article, and maybe read some good existing articles to get an idea of how the formatting and text should look. Let me know if you have any more questions. Happy editing! Olaf Davis | Talk 08:42, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
Reply copied to user's talk page. Olaf Davis | Talk 08:46, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How to edit a Semi-Protected Wiki document

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gta4

There is semi-protection. I've created an account and don't think that my IP is hidden (it's not deliberately anyway), but can't edit this file. What do I have to do? Thanks.

Ahmadgp (talk) 02:35, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Accounts need to "mature" - If yours is less than four days old, you cannot edited semi-protected pages. Wisdom89 (T / C) 02:36, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
Less than four days old and with less than 10 edits (the edit threshold is new).--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:00, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Question about Requirements for a Parody Religion to get onto the Parody Religion page

What does a parody religion need to get a mention on the Parody Religion page as I've attempted to put about Pieism before but it was soon deleted. Pieism has over 2400 links on Google and lots of followers (almost 50 have signed the Pieism petetion on Petetion Online and over 20 more are known who haven't) . There are many different Pieism sites including http://www.jojo-pieism.tk . If this isn't enough to get a mention, what is would a parody religion have to do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.79.190.241 (talk) 15:14, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Generally, you would need coverage in independent media sources. The Flying Spaghetti Monster has been listed in several news outlets, including the New York Times and USA Today. If you could list some sources, your entry would have a better chance of being kept. TN‑X-Man 15:20, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
I see you have also posted to Talk:Parody religion. That is a better place for discussion. Note that the article Pieism was deleted at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Pieism and other times since then. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:24, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.68.64.48 (talk) 14:22, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Confusion

I thought I had clicked the link to my talk page and came to a page called User talk:Talk. It has two vandalism tags, and two entries that sound like they were written to me they are both in response to edits I made. My recent talks have been archived and there's just one entry on my talk page from an admin. How did this page get made? How did I find it, how did the entries end up there? I wouldn't assume the entries were written to me except that the ones from User:Kinkyturnip and User:JMalky are related to the edits I made on those same days, and I communicate with these editors occasionally Mike P (WHAT?) 15:51, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

By Jove, I found it! There was an error in my signature link which created a new page...brother...Mike P (WHAT?) 16:13, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
Your sig still points to User talk:talk instead of User talk:Mjpresson – ukexpat (talk) 16:30, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] parapsychological contact

Moved to Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous -- Karenjc 18:36, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Size of an eprom

Please fill in the subject box above, then replace this text with your question, and don't forget to sign by leaving the following four tildes (~'s) in place which automatically formats to your signature once you click "save page" below. 63.77.54.126 (talk) 20:29, 28 May 2008 (UTC)how can i tell the size on a eprom

Hi 63.77. This is a place to ask questions about using Wikipedia. We do have an article about EPROMs, which contains information about the different types and their capacity, so you may find your answer there. Otherwise, you should ask your question at the Computing reference desk, which deals with knowledge-related questions in the area of computing. -- Karenjc 11:03, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Deletion

I had an article marked for speedy deletion then deleted regarding the group 4Peace with code "A7". I think deleting was overzealous. This group is well established in the Boston area. Many of the members have their own Wikipedia articles which I linked including Edo G who once had the #1 song on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles Chart and was #1 on the YO ! MTV RAPS also. Just this weekend a concert was hosted in Boston that sold out a large venue. They got a lot of local coverage including feature articles in the Boston Globe. they are working on a full length album. The amount they did to stop violence in Boston was huge. I think that the person who flagged it for deletion was out his area of expertise.Loudshea (talk) 03:00, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi, welcome to Wikipedia! It sounds like you put a lot of work into this article. Maybe reviewing something like this guide may help you recreate the article. Also, you can create the article on your user page and have other editors review it without worrying about a possible deletion. If you do choose to put it on your user page, let me know and I'll take a look. One of the reasons it may have been deleted was due to a lack of reliable sources or a non-neutral point of view. Also, you may want to look at the notability guide. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 03:04, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
  • We get a lot of bands appearing on Wikipedia, many of whom may not have even played their first gig yet. So they tend to get deleted fairly quickly, and unless the article is able to clearly show why the band is notable you can get the occasional mistake. You could ask User:Anthony Appleyard, who deleted the page, and explain why you feel the band is notable. You can also take it to [{WP:DRV|deletion review]], but that process can take a while, and certainly might not be a good first step. Otherwise, as TN‑X-Man mentioned, one very good option is to make the page in your userspace first, then move it across once it is ready and you've added the references. To be honest, though, I don't think it will be too hard to show notability, as there seem to be some good, reliable sources around for the band. - Bilby (talk) 03:15, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
(E/C) Hi Loudshea. The person who deleted it was not out of there area of expertise because one needs no expertise to apply A7. The standard is not whether the subject is notable or important, but whether the article asserts notability or importance. We have to be able to delete material without having any person knowledge of it because we get thousands of articles on non-notable topics every day. Now, the article did arguably assert importance by implication, by saying it had members of legendary status, and if that was a clear assertion of importance then it was a missaplication of the policy, but I think it was on the bubble. What you can and should do is make an article that clearly does not meet the speedy deletion criteria. That should be any easy task if they are well known. The best way to insulate the article against speedy deletion and start it on the right track to become an encyclopedic article is to cite to reliable sources in the article which speak about the group with some detail. In the meantime, I am going to post the content of the deleted article to a subpage of your talk page, here. Work on the article there and when you are ready to "go live" use the move button to post it to the article namespace. If you have any questions on citing sources or anything else, feel free to ask me on my talk page.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:20, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Singer-Songwriter

HI there. My first contribution to Wikipedia was quickly deleted. 9:26 28May 2008 . It concerned adding the Bee Gees to the Singer-Songwriters category. It was deleted with the comment "out of place peacocking" I kind of get the idea of your criticism. I guess I added to many what I thought were supporting facts. The Brothers Gibb, especially Barry is and has been a truly prolific singer-songwriter. Their roots will bare this out. I'm just wondering if there is any wording possible that would allow for their inclusion. The article did mention the Beatles and other English groups who were not nearly as prolific or successful. Or is there an unspoken prejudice against the Bee Gees for some reason? Thanks. Please notifiy me on my talk page if possible. Markw1947 (talk) 10:27, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Hello Mark. It's easy when you first get here to think of others as some monolithic group who could be referred to as "your" (as in "your criticism") but we are really thousands and thousands of separate editors all operating by our own lights within the structure of Wikipedia which has many policies and recommendations. A single person reverted your edit, not Wikipedia as a whole. Putting that issue aside, I don't think his edit summary used the right words; your edit doesn't appear to me to come under "peacocking" (what he was referring to was Wikipedia:Avoid peacock terms by the way) but I too would have changed your edit (rather than deleted it entirely) to make it a much less detailed treatment of the Bee Gees. The focus of the article is on singer-songwriters in general. In writing about that subject, the focus is not on great detail about any single group. I don't think anyone would argue that the Bee Gees were anything but one of the most important and famous bands in history (they're The Bee Gees, with a capital T!), but you went into much more detail about them than has a place in the article in my opinion. You'll notice that all the other superbands are not described with this level of detail (not even the Beatles). It's an issue of context. If you're writing an article on the Bee Gees, you go into vast detail. If you're writing an article on singer-songwriters in general, famous examples are discussed, but treating them with high levels of detail is out of focus for that article's subject.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:33, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Use of "No image" silhouette in personbox

Is there a consensus on this? It's definitely not consistent across the board. Is it permitted to remove them when working on an article? Mike P (talk) 19:27, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

It's usually there as a way to encourage other editors to try and procure one. You can be WP:BOLD and remove it if you see fit. Wisdom89 (T / C) 00:01, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] citing references

I created a page for my favorite pro baseball player, Charlie Williamson, and I included numerous references to other wikipedia entries, notes to back up my facts, and links to websites for more info. But I was told there were no references in the article. How should I put my references in there properly, so the pages I write don't get deleted?

Thanks Ospreyfan (talk) 23:57, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

I find the most straight foward method at WP:FOOTNOTE. Wisdom89 (T / C) 00:00, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
Linking to other Wikipedia articles is good (and indeed recommended), but it is not the same as citing reliable sources - because Wikipedia itself isn't considered a reliable source for its own articles. For this article, you may also want to take a look at WP:N and/or WP:BIO to see why it has been proposed for deletion and what you can do about it (on that note, WP:WWMAD is a good summary of why pages get deleted). One other thing - it looks like you have actually put in some references, but they aren't showing up because you also need to manually create a references section, using the following code:
== References ==

{{reflist}}
There are alternative templates to reflist, but I think it's the easiest one in this case. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 00:06, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
The other thing that I found helpful is WP:CITET, citation templates are good because they give you a structure for your references. The other thing I found helpful is to go into My Preferences, click on the gadgets tab and enable refTools, this will add a CITE button to your editing toolbar, just click it, then pick you citation type, fill in the fields that are applicable and click add citation. --Captain-tucker (talk) 00:55, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
I don't have anything to add, but as a new contributor, I must say that this page is a wonderful example of what Wikipedia represents and I'm incredibly grateful to people like Captain-tucker and so many other people who help on this page and bring new contributors into the community with their constructive, generous support. The demeanor of this page is all-too-uniquely positive in the Wikipedia realm, and is the kind of interaction that will help make Wikipedia thrive and expand with new contributors feeling welcomed, appreciated, and supported as they try to contribute what they can to Wikipedia. Thank you all for helping on this New contributors help page. If I had a cheesey medal to give you all, I would. Deproduction (talk) 17:35, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Disputing the Neutrality of the article Battle of Culloden

I wish to dispute the neutrality of the Wikipedia article titled Battle of Culloden. Please inform me how to do so. Thank you. MacLennon (talk) 01:54, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Instead of placing a {{NPOV}} template at the top, the best thing to do is to go to the article's talk page and voice your concern there. Wisdom89 (T / C) 02:11, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] User Page

What, precisely, is my user page? I'm terribly unclear on how to write it, or even what should be written in it. Can anyone provide me with some guidelines or something similar? Lordofmodesty (talk) 02:08, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

User page guidelines is exactly what you're looking for. Wisdom89 (T / C) 02:12, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Pictures

What if you want to add a photo or two to an article? Bluepencil1969 (talk) 04:00, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi. Help:Images explains them in detail. If the picture is already on Wikipedia you can add it to more articles by writing [[Image:filename|200px|float-over text]]. If it's not already on Wikipedia you can upload it at Special:Upload. Be sure to check the guidelines in the first page I linked to to see if the file is suitable though - if the image is copyrighted it's likely it can't used on Wikipedia. Hope that helps. Best, Olaf Davis | Talk 09:51, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Sandbox

How do I get information for a page that is in my sandbox resaved into the main Wikipedia site so that when people search on the company name they will find it?

Laramie51 (talk) 19:07, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
Simply click the edit tab at the top of the sandbox page. Physically cut and paste the text you wish to make into an article. Search for the article. When you receive the message that the article does not exist. Click the "create this article" link. Paste your text into the space. Click preview to see it, then click save to create the article. Wisdom89 (T / C) 20:16, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Citation question

Our public library offers access at home access to the EBSCO database that provides access to many publications, articles, journals, etc... Is it 'proper' when creating a citation using the citation templates such as Template:Cite journal to include the EBSCO URL to that citation? Since the EBSCO databases are not available to everyone some people would not be able to access that URL? Thanks in advance. --Captain-tucker (talk) 16:22, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

If it's not available to everyone because it requires an account or log-in process, then it should not be used as a citation. I'm not certain that's what you're saying. --A Knight Who Says Ni (talk) 18:07, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
Whyever not? It's fine to cite a journal or book with no online presence at all, and I can't see how a url makes the citation harder to verify. Algebraist 10:11, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
I was unsure since the URL would not be accessible to everyone that it would not be 'proper form'.--Captain-tucker (talk) 12:16, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
I am 99% sure that such a link to a large subscription database is fine, and in fact good because it makes it easier for others to verify the contents of the reference. I am also pretty sure that it's recommended to mention that it's a subscription service (something like adding "subscription" in the format field). However, I can't find anything in Wikipedia: space to back me up. You might want to try the reliable sources noticeboard and see if anyone there knows. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 00:35, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
I may have to stand corrected, then. I have seen other websites (message boards) that disallow links to pages that require logging in, and presumed WP has the same rule. But you make a good case that this may not be true. --A Knight Who Says Ni (talk) 00:56, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How Can I Get Back to a "Saved" Sandbox (Draft) Page?

I'm a new user. This is a question about how to use the software.

I decided to use Wikipedia to air some ideas of mine about "health care reform in the United States." This is a Wikipedia topic with subheadings. I hadn't figured out where in that grouping I wanted to put it yet--since it was a call for theory, I thought it belonged near the start--but anyway I was well into writing it when disaster struck.

BTW, I'm an accomplished writer; I know what I'm doing in that regard. It's software (yours and others'; Cox's email software has been especially bad) that repeatedly trips me up. Seems as if software packages ignore the way that real writers write, assume that everyone writes in soundbites that take 30 seconds to compose, and therefore don't make it obvious or intuitive how to save, and return to, work in progress. Doing that task seems tacked on as an afterthought.

So here I was writing an essay in Wikipedia, using Sandbox as my drafting space. I was going to submit pure old-fashioned text. I knew I wouldn't be done in one sitting. I was thinking of Sandbox as analogous to, say, Notepad, where I could draft what I wanted to say, revise etc., then shoot it to the actual article I wanted to add to.

So I got to a stopping place. I hit "Save Page" in Sandbox. I run Windows Vista, and I watched the little green bar at the bottom of the screen behave as it does when it is saving something. But--to my horror no dialog box came up asking me where, or how, I wanted my work saved. Instead, my page disappeared! Have you any idea at all how traumatic that is for a writer??! Now I've spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find my work. I'm ticked. Please advise.

American99robin (talk) 05:39, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Hello American99robin, and welcome to Wikipedia! I'm sorry your first experience at writing here hasn't gone well so far. I'll do my best to help.
The first thing I checked was your contribution list, to find the edit in question. But it looks like you made the edit while logged out (unless you did it from another account?) so it's not there. I then looked at the Sandbox's revision history, but as you can see it gets a lot of edits from people trying out the software and I couldn't find your work there, either. I might be able to find it for you if you can find out the IP address of your computer or tell me roughly what time (in UTC) you made the edit.
I'm slightly puzzled that your writing just disappeared when you hit save. Are you sure it didn't appear on the sandbox when it refreshed, maybe at the bottom of the page? And you're certain that you did press save?
Finally, this won't help recover your work but here are some comments that will hopefully prevent similar future mistakes. While you were basically right about Sandboxes, the main Sandbox is available to anyone who visits Wikipedia, and so gets a huge number of test edits (and, yes, people messing around). A far better place to store your work is a personal sandbox which you can make at User:American99robin/Sandbox (just click the red link and then create your page and save it there) - other people should leave that alone, so your work won't get lost in such a dense edit history. The reason that no save dialogue appeared is that when you click 'edit page' you're telling the software you want to edit this page, and clicking 'save' will save it to whatever page you were on.
I hope all that makes sense. If you have more questions or anything that might help me find your edit, you can reply here or contact me on your my talk page. I've also left a few links that might be of help on your own talk page. Good luck! Olaf Davis | Talk 10:20, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
I meant my talk page, not yours. Also another thought just struck me: if you know or can find your IP but don't want to publish it here, you can just check the contributions yourself. Olaf Davis | Talk 10:28, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
Hi American99Robin. Like Olaf, sorry to hear you've had a frustrating time with the software. Losing a contribution you've worked hard to create is infuriating! I can't add anything to Olaf's excellent summary of how to tackle the drafting/sandbox issue, but one thing did strike me about your query: the line: I decided to use Wikipedia to air some ideas of mine about "health care reform in the United States.". If you do decide to redraft your contribution and add it to the article, you may wish to have a look at Wikipedia:No original research first. If a contribution consists, or appears to consist, of someone airing their personal ideas or theories on a particular topic, it's sure to be reverted very quickly by another editor, and that too is infuriating for the contributor. WP:NOR's guidelines may help you couch your contribution in terms that reduce the likelihood of this happening. Happy editing. --Karenjc 14:34, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Creating a New Article, and self-serving entries

I'm a fairly new contributor and want to create an article for Denver Open Media, the city of Denver's Public Access TV station. DOM operates 3 TV channels in Denver and was a recent recipient of the Knight News Challenge award. However, I am the founder of DOM and am unclear if my role in the organization represents a conflict of interest that should preclude me from authoring that article. Any guidance? Deproduction (talk) 17:23, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

I just read through NPOV and it seems there's nothing against me creating this article...
Read WP:COI and WP:FAQ/Business. Those will give you better guidance. GtstrickyTalk or C 19:46, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
thanks Gtstricky. I hadn't read COI, but its clear I should refrain and wait for someone else to realize that Wikipedia is not complete without an article about Denver Open Media ;) 70.59.16.211 (talk) 16:36, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Internal links

I recently moved the article on Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International to main space (I think that's what it's called). A few of my internal links to other Wikipedia articles, which I had enclosed in double brackets, do not now show as links. Is this what is called "double redirects"? If so, how can I find out where the original article is? Carrol Grady (talk) 23:22, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

A double redirect is when you are redirected to page that itself is a redirect. Wisdom89 (T / C) 23:25, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
Carrol, the problem with some of the internal links in your article is that you have the two quotes to make a word italics inside the double brackets, the two quotes need to be moved to outside the double brackets. It should look like this ''[[Article]]'' You might also want to read WP:CITE as are not using the <ref></ref> reference tags to create your references, another good article to read is WP:CITET--Captain-tucker (talk) 23:39, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
Carrol, because you initially wrote this article on your talk page, when you moved it to the main space, it took your talk page with it as the article's talk page (and redirected your talk page to the article's talk page). Rather than editing your talk page to remove the redirect and then copying and pasting the user talk page comments back to your talk page, you may want to ask an admin to work their page move magic to fix this for you, so that user talk page comments are back where they are supposed to be, with the talk page edit history preserved. For future reference, it is much better to create an article as a subpage of your user page, for example User:Carrol Grady/subpage (where "subpage" is replaced by the article name) and adding the {{usersandbox}} template at the top (so that other editors realise it's a sandbox). Then, when the article is ready, moving it is a much cleaner process.  – ukexpat (talk) 18:06, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] wikipedia article links on google maps

You know how you can turn on wikipedia when you are looking at a google map so that links to wikipedia articles show up on the map? Does anyone know how you can get your article to show up on google maps? i thought it might be an automatic thing but my article does not seem to be showing up. I do know that google takes some time to update...but i am wondering if there is something else i need to do. 64.107.171.2 (talk) 19:51, 2 June 2008 (UTC)Bdierks

Google links to articles via information from the coordinate template, as well as related templates listed in documentation section. This template needs to be placed in the article before it can appear on google maps. Someguy1221 (talk) 22:22, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 8th Platoon

[edit] temporization guidelines

Before one restores a tooth permanently with amalgam can one temporize with IRM till gingiva improves and better moisture control is achieved for tooth to be restored are there any guidelines for it.

Thanks tanya

You may want to try posing your question at one of the relevant reference desks. Wisdom89 (T / C) 09:25, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
Or see your dentist! – ukexpat (talk) 13:08, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] User subpage

I am rather nervously trying to write my first new article. I gather the best way to do this and spend some time on it before it is launched into the shared space where it can be edited by others is to use the user sub page. I have created my user page but how do I start to use the subpage, and can I copy and paste the word document I have written onto this subpage and start to format it? Mark J Richards (talk) 09:21, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

WP:SUBPAGE has the info you need. Wisdom89 (T / C) 09:24, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] how long before an article I submit can be viewed?

I have just created a page but cannot see it when I search. Does it take time before the article will be visible or have I made a mistake? SibyllenorasSibyllenoras (talk) 12:25, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

It should be visible immediately. I checked your contributions to see if it was up. Were you referring to this article? It looks like it's available. If you have any other questions, let me know. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 13:02, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
It can take a variable amount of time before an article appears in searches, however, and articles tend to appear on Google before they show up in Wikipedia's search. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 23:24, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How to contribute an article on a person in Wikipedia

How to contribute an article on a person in Wikipedia Aozukum (talk) 13:17, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Well, your best bet is to review this guide. It has a lot of tips for getting started. You may also want to look at this notability guideline for biographies. I have also left a message on your talk page with some useful links. Good luck and feel free to ask questions! TN‑X-Man 13:22, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Creating and Editing.

I would like to know ho to create a completly new article, and how to link another article to a page the I am creating or editing. I'm a new user and I am sure that this may seem like a relatively obvious question, but i can't seem to find the answer.

Gaurdians1 (talk) 20:42, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

No worries for having questions - this is the place to ask them! For information on creating a completely new article, Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:Starting an article should be able to help you out. As for linking to another article from the page you are creating, that is done by using internal links created by putting double brackets - [[ ]] - around the name of the article you would like to link to. For example, if I want to link to an article about mice, I would type [[Mice]], and it would show up as Mice. If you try to link to an article that doesn't exist, it will show up as a red link, like this one. -- Natalya 20:57, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] how do I upload images to the wiki hosted on my server

I have downloaded the Wikipedia server installable files and hosted wiki for my office. This page contains some information for our use. I want to upload images to pages contained in this server. How can i do that.

202.67.4.3 (talk) 06:44, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] how do I upload images to the wiki hosted on my server

Resolved.

I have downloaded the Wikipedia server installable files and hosted wiki for my office. This page contains some information for our use.

I want to upload images to pages contained in this server. How can i do that. Priaps (talk) 06:52, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

This request doesn't really belong here. The page you're looking for is mw:Manual:Configuring file uploads. In the future, if you have any MediaWiki-related questions, ask them at mw:Project:Support desk or visit the MediaWiki IRC channel. haz (talk) 07:06, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Quality, importance and assessment scales

Can someone please check out this article and give it quality, importance and assessment scales. I created it about 4 days ago but I don't wanna do it, I rather see what others think about it so I can improve it even more. It is still incomplete. - iDosH! talK? 17:27, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

The best thing to do is find out which WP:WIKIPROJECT it might fall under/with and discuss it there. However, from what I can tell, the article is a notch above stub class. Some more information, references etc..and it can be start material. You're on the right track, keep up the good work. Wisdom89 (T / C) 05:45, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How do you post a small article without it getting deleted

I find all these directions confusing. Is there a simple way to post an article, have references attach and post without it getting deleted due to lack of content? Please help

Seansports-referencenfl (talk) 21:22, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
It looks like your submission is doing okay. As long as you make sure there's a couple of references or an assertion of notability in the article, it will be fine. (In this case, the fact that the subject of the article you've submitted is a pro football player is an assertion of notability, for example.) Tony Fox (arf!) 22:13, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How to create an article if want to edit names of important persons

'Somebody notable will have his or her own article. If there's no article, create the article first. Don't add anyone who doesn't have an article.' This caption is shown before adding names of important persons, what is this? and how to create an article of a personality? —Preceding unsigned comment added by S Farman Ahmad Naqvi (talk • contribs) 04:19, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

These links should prove useful to you: your first article, article development and notability for personalities. The last link will help you create an article that meets our basic notability criteria. Wisdom89 (T / C) 05:43, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Out of curiosity, where does that quote come from? It seems to contradict WP:RED which recommends red links to articles that should be created in future. I've never seen a policy that says "don't add anyone who doesn't have an article", if this is referring to a link. --A Knight Who Says Ni (talk) 04:59, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How do I get the "candidate for speedy deletion" removed

I wrote a new page about a business that had a promotional rather than encyclopedic tone. I have now fixed that but the tag says I cannot remove the tag. How do I get someone to check the page and remove the tag or explain what additional changes I need to make. The page is Eriskay Associates Ltd. Chiz200379 (talk) 12:37, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

You've done exactly what should be done, which is add the {{hangon}} tag to the page and discuss it on the article's talk page. This gives a heads up that someone is trying to improve this article. Any administrator who reviews the current list of speedy deletion candidates should see those two things and take that into consideration. If the admin thinks its been improved, they'll remove the tag.TN‑X-Man 12:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
When I first started editing WP I had my first article about a company speedy deleted so I know how you feel. The best thing you can do is find any reliable sources, things like newspaper/magazine articles, etc... that talk about the company. You need to establish notability for your article by providing these sources. You can list them as references or use them as citations to back up any specific facts within your article. You can look at WP:CITE and maybe WP:CITET for details on how to do that. --Captain-tucker (talk) 13:14, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Ms. Duff's Lizzie McGuire Movie not-so-secret secret.

Did any of you ever look for the real reason that LaLaine wasn't in the Lizzie McGuire Movie?64.105.123.182 (talk) 22:53, 5 June 2008 (UTC) Whoever knows the real reason, say Lalaine. Anyone?64.105.123.182 (talk) 22:53, 5 June 2008 (UTC) ok. LaLaine. That's right. I know the reason and I will share it with you. Before the movie, Lalaine and Hilary had a huge fight. It was bloody, girl-wise. Hilary got so incredibly mad at Lalaine which led to the most Injustice, Chauvinist and Racist thing to ever come out of Hilary's mouth-- she made a sick stereotype and said "She hates Filipinos." If you don't know why that has anything to do with their fight, here it is. One of Lalaine's Parents is actually from the Philippines. A thrid-world country in south-east Asia. I'm from there, so that was toxic for me. Now you know why all the Filipinos who know this, Hate her guts and Why Lalaine wasn't in the Movie. Thanks so much for listening.

This is a place where new users can get help with understanding and using Wikipedia, not somewhere to post unsourced anonymous rumours about the behaviour of celebrities. Do you have a question about how to use Wikipedia that we can help with? --Karenjc 23:07, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] does wikipedia offer...

a video component to the search engine? I was curious if there is anything available to view the entries in an explanatory visual fashion. I am disabled in learning from reading. "audial visual learning impairment" AVLI

67.169.130.184 (talk) 01:45, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

There are some Wikipedia articles that have been recorded spoken - you can see them at Wikipedia:Spoken articles. -- Natalya 03:07, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How can I translate in Greek an article about SCADA? I didn't find a Greek translation. thank you

I 've translated an article about SCADA and I want to upload it in Greek. How can I do that? Thank you. Antiopi Gigantidou~'s —Preceding unsigned comment added by Antiopi (talk • contribs) 05:08, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

If you want to write the article in Greek, then you'll want to contribute it at the Greek Wikipedia, since the articles on the English Wikipedia should be in English. Is that what you meant? -- Natalya 11:57, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] want to browse north carolina map of usa

Please fill in the subject box above, then replace this text with your question, and don't forget to sign by leaving the following four tildes (~'s) in place which automatically formats to your signature once you click "save page" below. 59.184.161.134 (talk) 08:03, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

North_Carolina#Demographics has some North Carolina maps. If that's not what you need, you'll probably want to use Google Maps http://maps.google.com/. Just as an fyi, information questions such as this should be brought up at the Reference Desk. -- Natalya 11:59, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Adding Kiswahili language pages

I want to add pages written in Kiswahili, but the language is not listed, how do I add a new language?--CarlHinton (talk) 14:18, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

The Kiswahili Wikipedia is here. Happy editing. Algebraist 14:25, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Adding to the "Way of St. James (Route Descriptions)"

1. I would like to add a section "The Swiss Way" to the Contents and then a similar paragraph as the others - See

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James_%28route_descriptions%29

2. Then I would like to add an article "The Way of St. James through Switzerland.

Thank you for your help.

Vreneli (talk) 15:29, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
To edit a page, you need only click the "edit this page" link at the top of the page. Wikipedia:How to edit a page gives more information on how to edit. To add a new section, use equals signs (==) between the section title - you can see examples of it on the page itself. The more equals signs you use, the smaller the section it is. To make sure that you've gotten it right, be sure to use the "Show preview" link before saving the page!
As for adding an article, Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:Tutorial should give you helpful information. Please let us know if you have more questions. -- Natalya 21:29, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Creating a Page

How do you create a Infobox on the right hand side of the Wikipedia article? I tried to mimic the text of an article with a Info Box, but it did not work.

Second, how do you embedd images on to the page?


Please fill in the subject box above, then replace this text with your question, and don't forget to sign by leaving the following four tildes (~'s) in place which automatically formats to your signature once you click "save page" below. Lrietmann (talk) 20:27, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

If you can find the template page for the infobox, it should show you how to implement it. For example, Template:Drugbox is the template for an infobox. You should be able to find the name of the infobox by clicking on the "edit this page" link and looking at the text.
As for embedding images on a page, Wikipedia:Images should give you all the information you need. If you'd like more detailed information, you can take a look at Wikipedia:Extended image syntax. -- Natalya 21:32, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Adding myself to a list of notable people from my state

I want to add myself to a few lists here. I attempted to do so, and was not successful. I have proper documentation as to the verifiability of my edits. Could someone please help me with the correct way to add myself to these lists? Napolillo (talk) 21:35, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Sorry you've had a frustrating time with reverted edits. Having had a quick look, the basic problem is that you are adding a redlink to these lists - in other words, your name in brackets does not link to a Wikipedia article called Eddie Napolillo because there isn't one, so the link comes up red instead of blue. In the main, the lists you are looking at are lists of people who have proved notable enough to have a Wikipedia article - the lists are just another way of organising them for ease of use. There are a few redlinks, but the majority of the people listed in those lists are bluelinked. Redlinks are far more likely to get deleted, on the assumption that if you're not notable enough to have an article, you're not notable enough to be on the list.
Have a look at Wikipedia:Notability, which explains more about the site's criteria for the inclusion of individuals. And please bear in mind the contents of Wikipedia:Conflict of interest, which applies to people considering editing material about them, or about someone or something closely associated with them.
I'll leave some more useful links on your talk page. Best wishes --Karenjc 22:46, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How do you create a sport stub

I am transferring data regarding player from major league sports who either ahd short career's or were member's during strikes. Not a lot of data. However they deserve the posting. Only referencing US sports. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Seansports-referencenfl (talk • contribs) 01:42, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Stub gives some information on stubs. However, before creating such an article, you need to make sure that the person it is about is considered notable by Wikipedia standards, and that the article follows the standards on biographies of living persons. -- Natalya 03:23, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Ken Miles page

I've been screwing around in computing since I graduated from college in the mid-60's.

It is not clear to me how you have set things up to allow modifications to existing text. While i spent most of my working life in computing, my first ambition was to be a race driver. I drove in SCCA for 5+ seasons after I got out of college. I just finished a little upgrading of the entry for Ken Miles. Dunno if what I did stored, but it will be entertaining to see.

If you want a (moderately) knowlegable contributor/editor in the motor race category, I'm your guy. Though I must admit that I have a strong preference for road course racing over circle track stuff. Chris Prael (talk) 07:26, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Hello, and thanks for joining Wikipedia and contributing to articles. You might be interested in joining Wikiproject Motorsport, an area where motorsport enthusiasts collaborate on article work. Other than that, have fun and happy editing! Gazimoff WriteRead 07:46, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
Welcome! One of the best things about Wikipedia is that you can jump in right away and get started. I've left some useful links on on your user talk page. There's plenty to do, whether you want to create new articles, edit existing ones, or get others involved. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 13:46, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Archiving a talk page

✔ Resolved. Talk page has been archived appropriately. --TN‑X-Man 02:15, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Hello! During my participation in a discussion on Infobox Musical artist, I've concluded that it's time to archive the majority of the page (it lags terribly during editing). I've read through Archiving a talk page, but I can't figure out which archival method has been used on this particular talk page in the past, and basically I don't have the confidence to carry out the archival. The last three subject headings contain active or recent discussions and shouldn't be archived, if possible, in my opinion. I'm just stuck on what to do, technical-wise. Advice or guidance? Thanks so much! -- Hamuhamu (talk) 18:43, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

It looks like the cut and paste procedure has been used to archive the page in the past, reference from the fact that we can see the history of the talk page all the way back to its creation (and, I looked through the history and found some of the copy/paste archives). Additionally, if you'd like to leave some discussions still on the talk page, it seems like a cut and paste move archive would be best, becase if you were to move the page to archive it, you'd have to move the entire page, including the discussions still going on. Other than that, be bold!. You can do it! And if something happens to go wrong, I'm sure someone will be happy to fix it. -- Natalya 20:49, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
I was brave and did it! Looks like it all worked fine, and the talk page is so much easier to edit now. Thanks for your help! -- Hamuhamu (talk) 02:11, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Contributing an Article Written in Microsoft Word

I wrote an article using Microsoft Word, which includes mathematical formulas created with Word's Equation Editor, as well as tables. I would like to contribute this article to Wikipedia. I tried to copy and paste the article into my page, but the pasted version did not preserve the format of the equations and tables. How do I get my article into Wikipedia without having to retype it? WomanOfLeisure (talk) 01:42, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia does not accept articles in Word format. I haven't tried it but there may be useful tools at Wikipedia:Tools#Importing (converting) content from other formats to Wikipedia (MediaWiki) format. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:57, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
I don't suppose Equation Editor/MathType has an "export to LaTeX" option anywhere, does it? The MediaWiki math tags will accept a large amount of TeX codes. Also, I believe that OpenOffice is able to take a document and convert it to MediaWiki format (although not necessarily Wikipedia format, given the amount of customisation installed), which may include the tables (but probably not the equations, although it's worth a shot). Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 00:57, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] create page

Please fill in the subject box above, then replace this text with your question, and don't forget to sign by leaving the following four tildes (~'s) in place which automatically formats to your signature once you click "save page" below. Ironman706 (talk) 14:11, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Looks like you haven't actually asked a question; but if you're trying to figure out how to create a page:
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 Help:Starting a new page. You might also 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. --ais523 14:40, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Articles written like an advertisement

Hi,

As a new contributor I'm writing this article about a record producer. It will include multiple citations and references. In my research I've also started to read articles here on Wikipedia about other record producers, for example Max Martin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Martin.

On top of this page it says "This article or section is written like an advertisement. Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view." On the bottom, which I understand, it says "This article needs additional citations for verification."

I'd very much like to avoid any mistakes in my own article, so I have three questions:

1. Quote: "This article is written like an advertisement..." Please explain what this means and how dodge it?

2. Quote: "Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view." Again, what does this mean? At least to me it seems that this article was written by a devoted fan? (Perhaps I'm wrong.)

3. This article is obviously missing citations and references. Is that the reason for the two comments "advertisment and rewrite"? Or are there other things I have to consider, adding or perhaps excluding, writing my article?

I will be very greatful for answers,Dafos (talk) 18:12, 8 June 2008 (UTC) 213.100.89.251 (talk) 17:39, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

You should read the policy WP:NPOV which explains the neutrality issue which is obligatory that you stick to. The criticism that the article you referred "reads like an advertisement" is more a criticism of the style. In my opinion the article is not so bad, there are certainly far worse. I think perhaps the editor who posted that template had in mind unencyclopedic phrases like "propelled into the spotlight" and "reinvented himself"
The issue of citing reliable sources is a different matter not really directly connected to the first two points. Again this is a matter of policy that articles should have reliable sources. The guidelines WP:RS and WP:Music will help you here.
Hope that helps SpinningSpark 19:54, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you Spinningspark for your answer and good advice. It's comforting to hear you saying that the article I refer to is not that bad, because the one I'm writing is in some ways written in a similar way, but now excluding contingent phrases such as "propelled into the spotlight" and "reinvented himself". Though someone else may perhaps be of another opinion than yours, still suggesting to delete it? Already spending a "billion" hours on this article, how can I be sure it will stay online? My key question is, can I? Dafos (talk) 19:25, 12 June 2008 (UTC)


Hi Dafos. If you haven't already come across Wikipedia:Writing better articles, I can recommend it as a good source of information. It offers help with most of the topics you've raised in your question. Good luck with the article. --Karenjc 18:51, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you Karenjc for your answer and support with my article. Dafos (talk) 19:25, 12 June 2008 (UTC)


Two beasts in the menagerie of methods used to write "advertisement-like" articles are weasel words and peacock terms. If you avoid those (like the linked pages tell you to), you're well on your way to an article that meets the neutral point of view. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 00:51, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
Reply to Dafos. The two essential things that defend any article against deletion are establishing notability (in your case WP:MUSIC gives the specific rules for music articles) and providing reliable sources (WP:RS) that back up your notability claims. Everything else is minor by comparison and can always be fixed. We prefer to get bad articles fixed rather than delete them. But if the subject is not notable in the first place there is nothing that can be done. SpinningSpark 21:45, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Vermaculture

I was wondering if you could get me some info on vermaculture James Dunne —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.159.158.102 (talk) 19:44, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

I am not sure what you mean by "vermaculture". As Wikipedia does not have an article on James Dunne, I recommend a Google search. You may also wish to add a request for the creation of a James Dunne article on Wikipedia. Also, please sign your posts with "~~~~". Good luck, –thedemonhog talk • edits 20:07, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
I think that is probably the posters name as he does not know how to sign. SpinningSpark 20:13, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
(edit conflict) Knowledge questions should normally be asked on the Reference Desk but did you mean vermiculture ? SpinningSpark 20:13, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How to change the color of clicked links

I'd like to change the color of clicked links to something more striking. Can anyone help me on this? ImpIn | (t - c) 23:53, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Your best bet may be to change your browser settings. Of course, that would affect all webpages, not just Wikipedia. In Firefox, choose preferences, then content, and you should see a colors button. I'm not sure about other browsers, however. Cheers. TN‑X-Man 03:26, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
To just change only Wikipedia, you need to make an entries in you monobook.css page. This page probably does not already exist for you and you will need to create it at User:ImperfectlyInformed/monobook.css. Here you can write css code to change how Wikipedia is displayed for you. Sorry, I am not skilled enough with css to give you reliable specific code. There is a gallery of "skins" other users have created on meta at [1]. If none of those appeal to you try asking for help on the computing reference desk Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing. SpinningSpark 14:52, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] My watchlist

What are the green and red numbers which are in brackets in my watch list? What do they mean?

Bobzooka (talk) 08:00, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
As explained at Help:Watching pages#Watchlist, that's the change in the size of the article wikicode (in bytes). (Part of) the idea is that mass deletion of content is visible as a big red minus. Algebraist 08:12, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] where to work on drafts?

I was using my user:page to write drafts and then moved them when ready, however I was told that I shouldn't do this, due to some issue about user:talk also moving. So I was givin suggestions to create a user/subpage but also one to use a user/sanbox to prevent catagory:template from activating. wich one is more appropriate for writing drafts? I thought you where supposed to move articles instead of copy pasting them so the creation history would go with it. Bloodkith (talk) 11:58, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

If it is a new article, then a subpage and then "move" when ready is the most appropriate way to do it because, as you say, the history goes with it. I can't see that the talk page is a big issue because if it is created in your user space then there is hardly likely to be anything on the talk page unless you wrote it in collaboration with another user. Nevertheless, the talk page is moved with the article page by default, but optionally you can just move the article.
The talk page becomes an issue when a page is moved from one mainspace location to another. In this case it will have a talk page with real material on it which must be moved with the article. The error often made here is to cut and paste to the new page which loses the history and the talk page.
If you are drafting an addition to an article, then it is not possible to move it without first ahving an administrator delete the original article. In this case it is best to draft it on a subpage (eg user:<username>/sandbox) and then cut-and-paste when ready. It is not important that the history of your changes to the draft are preserved - they were all done by you and get rolled up into one edit, still by you, when you cut-and-paste.
Categories are NOT suppressed in your sandbox or any other page. If you want to place categories in the draft article you should surround them with <nowiki></nowiki> tags to prevent your userpage appearing in the category page. Remove the nowiki tags when you are ready to move the article. SpinningSpark 12:20, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

thanks for the clarification —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bloodkith (talk • contribs) 12:31, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Ah, I've just read the complaints on your talk page (which I should have done first) and now I understand the problem. When you move a draft from your userpage, you have been moving your usertalk page with it. People are not liking this because your talk page contains stuff that is not relevant to the article. It is ok to draft an article on your userpage but when you move it you MUST uncheck the "Move associated talk page" box. I would still recommend you use a subpage instead though, it would be nice if instead of using your userpage to do drafts, you used it to tell us all something about yourself. Hope that helps. SpinningSpark 12:53, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
Just to expand on the sub-page thing. Just create a new page, something like User:Bloodkith/subpagename (replacing "subpagename" with the name of the article). Also a good idea to add {{usersandbox}} at the top of the page so that other editors know that it is user subpage sandbox. When you think the article is ready to be moved to the mainspace, you may want to ask a few other editors to read it over before moving. Hope this helps. – ukexpat (talk) 13:31, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Words ending in "gry"

There are 3 words in the english language ending in "gry". Namely: Hungry, Angry and ...?? what would be the 3rd word? please help 41.240.183.33 (talk) 12:14, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

You should normally ask knowledge questions at Wikipedia:Reference desk where there are many experts to help you, but this might be what you are looking for. SpinningSpark 12:28, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
Also take a look at this and the link referenced therein. – ukexpat (talk) 13:35, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
We have an article about this puzzle: -gry. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:20, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The Blue turtle shell

Mario Karts most infamous weapon. The blue turtle shell seeks out the Lead car adn takes him out. Depending upon which version of the game N64/NDS/wii it can take out ever car on the way. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kootari (talk • contribs) 16:43, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure what your question is, but the related info can be found here. TN‑X-Man 17:12, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Image:N515507711 683006 6859.jpg

Can somebody tell me how to delete the Image:N515507711 683006 6859.jpg, as i wrongly named this article. Link [2] (I have already dupicated with correct name [Image:Canary Wharf view.jpg] )

Hi! I have deleted the image for you. See WP:CSD. :-) Stwalkerster [ talk ] 11:23, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
Specifically, category I1 will accomplish this in future. Olaf Davis | Talk 14:56, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Conflicting Facts and a Copyright Question

In the “Balfour Stewart” article I have two reliable sources which give different dates for the death of Balfour Stewart. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition sights “19 December 1887” while in the official obituary, the Royal Society sights “18 December 1887”. How do I resolve this issue or take note of it?

The University of Edinburgh is sending me an electronic copy of the engineering plans for one of the instruments which Balfour Stewart built. The University Librarian believes that the content, which is 150 years old, is not under copyright. Can this material be added to Wikipedia?

Michael Ronayne (talk) 15:47, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

On the first point, I'd suggest going with Britannica as your main point of reference, but mention in that reference the Royal Society date as well, just to cover both points. As for the second bit, I'm not sure - someone with better copyright knowledge, can you please weigh in here? Tony Fox (arf!) 16:05, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
Probably {{PD-old}} is the most appropriate copyright tag for the image in this case. The copyright term in British law is shorter but using this tag will be more inclusive worldwide, especially USA. On the date discrepancy, have you considered the possibilty that this is down to the Railway time versus local time issue? It is possibly a bit late for this to be the cause but many cities obstinately refused to set their clocks to "London time" for a considerable period after GMT became official. The Royal Society almost certainly used GMT but the death certificate might conceivably be dated by local time which could be a different day if its close to midnight. SpinningSpark 16:47, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Question

How does one add a wikipedia entry?

Corbinstina26 (talk) 18:01, 11 June 2008 (UTC)C. Corbin

Simply search for the topic/subject using the exact name. If the article does not exist, Wikipedia will prompt you. A link will be present that reads "create this page". Click that and you may begin editing. I suggest that you read over notability guidelines and reliable sources before hitting the save button as to prevent your entry from being speedy deleted. Wisdom89 (T / C) 18:34, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] uploading a picture

I want to upload a logo image on a page,m if I dont have administrative ability on Wikipedia how do I do it?Mike Spector (talk) 19:49, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

See WP:UPIMAGE. This gives you information on how to upload and which license would be appropriate when you submit the image. Wisdom89 (T / C) 19:51, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Second indent showing as double bullets

I am trying to construct a page where I have two lists (2nd level). For the second-level, I get two bullets displayed instead of the second-level bullet indented appropriately. I have tried a combination of ":" and *" but, the "*" shows as is.

This is part of the code:


  • To update the database schema:
    • From the latest version:
rake db:migrate
    • From certain version:
rake db:migrate VERSION=nn
    • Recreate full db:
rake db:reset --trace
rake db:migrate --trace
    • Recreate full db schema:
rake db:migrate VERSION=0

Gisellas (talk) 20:03, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm not 100% sure what you want to do, but you can do something like this:
  • First level bullet.
  • Second level bullet
(You can take a look at the code for how I did it).
-- Natalya 00:54, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Use of Images & Copyrigt Questions

I have an old postcard with a photograph of a lighthouse that was seriously damaged (a corner of the brick structure) and I would like to upload the image. However, I do NOT know how old the photo is and do not want to violate copyright laws. Any comments or suggestions? --Crimson Red Fox (talk) 20:14, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Hmm... usually, unless you can be sure that the it's allowed by Wikipedia's Image Use Policy, it's best to be safe rather than sorry and no upload it. You might try posting at Wikipedia_talk:Image_use_policy to see if they have any other suggestions, though. -- Natalya 00:58, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Changing title of the an article

How do I change the title of an article that I have written if I have already saved the page.Marlouis1 (talk) 20:27, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

You can click the "move" tab at the top of the page. However, this button is not visible for users whose accounts are less than 4 days old, and who have less than 10 edits, so you'll need to wait 2 more days to do it yourself. Alternatively, you could ask another user to move it for you - I'd be willing if you give me the old name and the new name. Just leave a note on my talk page, and I'll be happy to help. :-) Stwalkerster [ talk ] 20:35, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
I'm assuming you want your page at World Cultural Economic Forum, so I've gone ahead and moved it. Paragon12321 (talk) 21:02, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How to create/edit class?

How do I do this? Thanks. 77.74.229.50 (talk) 22:58, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

What do you mean by "class"? ffm 23:00, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
Classes, like HTML classes, so I can set center alignment in a template, and stuff like that. I've seen articles with it, I can use existing ones, but what if I wanted to create a new one? Code you insert to article would be something like this: <class="nav-simple"> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.74.229.50 (talk) 23:07, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
You need to write it as .css code, see here http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:AddScriptCss. You might also need to read the following pages for background Help:HTML in wikitext, Help:Parser function and http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Parser_function_extensions. But you might want to start by learning simpler stuff first. SpinningSpark 01:48, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
Thanks! 77.74.231.90 (talk) 14:45, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] talk replies

I don't know how to reply in a dialogue on talk pages, though I've searched the help section Rogerc99 (talk) 09:23, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Talk page and Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines. To make this reply, I clicked "edit" to the right of your section and added my comment at the bottom after a colon ':', without changing the existing text. PrimeHunter (talk) 09:46, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] HT Ferrar 1879-1932 Antarctic geologist on the Discovery expedition 1901-1904

HT Ferrar was born in Dalkey, near Dublin in 1879, and moved to Durban,South Africa at an early age with his parents.He was sent back to Oundle School in England for his secondary education, and then went to Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge University, where he read Geology.He excelled at sports, and many of his team photographs are archived at his old school and college respectively.On going down from Cambridge, when rowing at Henley, he was offered the post of Geologist on Captain Scott's first Antarctic expedition, and became the youngest member of the scientific staff. He sailed on the Discovery, and met his future wife (Gladys Anderson)when the ship was in New Zealand.The Discovery then sailed South and found suitable anchorage in McMurdo Sound in the Ross Sea - the expedition was to spend two winters there, as the ship was frozen in and could not get free of the ice in the first summer.Ferrar took an active part in exploring and in carrying out scientific studies ( eg sea water salinity measurements) as well as his primary responsibility of geological surveying. He accompanied Shackleton and Dr Wilson amongst others on sledging trips, and it was in the Antarctic summer of 1903 that he went on his major sledging trip of discovery into the Western Mountains of Victoria Land.He travelled to the Upper Taylor Glacier, and found coal deposits at an altitude of 8,000ft. He also characterised a broad layer of sandstone found in the region, and this became known as the Ferrar or Beacon sandstone layer. The Ferrar Glacier was named after him, and he unwittingly discovered the first fossils found on what was then known to be the Antarctic mainland.One of the many rock samples which was returned to the National History Museum in London was split open by Dr WN Edwards in 1928, and found to contain two fossilised leaves of Glossopteris Indica.Ferrar returned on the Disovery in 1904, and spent the next year writing up the Geological report of the expedition. He was then appointed to the Geological Survey in Egypt, and worked there until the First World War broke out,when he took his family back to New Zealand. He returned to serve with the 1st Canterbury Regiment in Palestine, working principally on aerial surveys and intelligence. After the war he took up a position with the New Zealand Geological Survey, and carried out extensive field work in both the North and the South islands.He obtained his PhD whilst working for the service, but died after an operation in 1932. As a mark of respect he had Ferrar peak in the Cloudy Range of the South Island named after him. Apart from the aforementioned photographs of his school and college days,various of his Polar relics are held by the Scott Polar Research Museum (Cambridge,UK),the Canterbury Museum in New Zealand and the Discovery itself at Dundee in Scotland. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Forbem02 (talk • contribs) 15:11, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

It looks like you've posted an article here, rather than actually creating it.
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 Help:Starting a new page. You might also 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. -- Natalya 15:40, 12 June 2008 (UTC)