User talk:Osborne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] Additional tips

Here's some extra tips to help you get around in the 'pedia!

  • If you want to play around with your new Wiki skills the Sandbox is for you.
  • You can sign your name using three tildes (~). If you use four, you can add a datestamp too. Five will get you the datestamp only.
  • You may want to add yourself to the new user log.
  • If you ever think a page or image should be deleted, please list it at the votes for deletion page. There is also a votes for undeletion page if you want to retrieve something that you think should not have been deleted.
  • If you're still entirely confused, or would like to get a better grasp of your wikipedia skills, and you have an IRC client (or don't mind getting one), check out the Bootcamp. It's not what it sounds like, but it is fun and can help you with your editing skills.
  • If you're bored and want to find something to do, try the Random page button in the sidebar, or check out the Open Task message in the Community Portal.

Happy Wiki-ing. —Kf4bdy talk contribs

Click here to respond to this message!

[edit] Oogonia

See the article oogoni (or oögonia) it was written with Homo sapiens in mind - how to sort it out - it should refer to algae and other formas of life!Osborne 14:12, 19 June 2007 (UTC) oogoni (or oögonia) these are different links and the diaresis brakes the connection.Osborne 14:12, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

That's an editorial decision for you and fellow editors of the Oogonium page should make, not something that can, or should be answered by the {{helpme}} helpers :-) Since you've left a message on Talk:Oogonium, some editors who also edit that page may take a look at your comment, and may state their opinion. However, as the article doesn't seem to be regularly edited, you may like to just Be Bold and make any changes as you see fit. By the way, please don't use the {{helpme}} template on any page other than your own user talk page (i.e., this page). Cheers, Tangotango (talk) 14:37, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Right/rite{?}oh. I am about to retire so I am a little care-free! But thinks. I don't have a computer at home so this will be my last helpme....perhaps ever! So there. Many thanks for your help and best wishes:) Osborne 14:42, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Hi Osborne, in case you haven't seen them:

Great work on the Ulster Museum page by the way. Must make a visit soon, haven't been in years. Stu ’Bout ye! 14:43, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Prof. Jones

If you've still not "read the manual", read this article WP:N. It'll help. --Dweller 11:05, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article on W.E.Jones

I've copied over my answer from Requests for feedback - if you are still confused after this, drop me a note and I'll try to help.

I gather it may be unaccepted. Ok. I need help - I'm new and confused. May have to give-up! Osborne.

I think the problem with the Eifion Jones article is that it does not establish notability. In order for an article to merit inclusion on Wikipedia there must be some assertion that the subject is worthy of an entry in an encyclopedia. You can establish this in the article by giving references from third party works that prove that he is recognised as an expert in his field. In addition the article has several point of view statements such as "He was a well-liked lecturer and his enthusiasm was imparted to students". All wikipedia articles should written from a neutral point of view so this type of expression is discouraged. Yomanganitalk 12:06, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Eifion Jones

Well done for your perserverance. It'll be a good article. I'm sure Wikipedia can use some more botany expertise... please do stick around. --Dweller 13:46, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Helping you further

You might want to check out Portal:Biology and Wikipedia:WikiProject plants, particularly the latter. The WikiProjects always welcome newbies with enthusiasm and/or expertise. You appear to have both. --Dweller 13:49, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the encouraging note (on re-reading this page!) . However I am too lazy to read all the instructions. I have just jumped in at the deep end and get help and advice from helpful people as yourself.Osborne 09:42, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

On looking through the Talk page I noted again your helpful comments. I would be grateful for a not ion how (an when) I should enter a "piped-link". That is how do I do it? Osborne 14:25, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Belfast WikiProject

As you have contributed to an article relating to Belfast, I hope you could take some time to read this page about our new project: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Belfast.

Thanks. --Mal 01:51, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Had a quick look at it - Oh it's quite beyond me! But take a look at Ulster Museum, or Algae or History of Phycology and you will see my positon - or rather my ability at this contraption. Best wishes. Osborne 16:11, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Uploading images

Hi Osborne, take a look at Wikipedia:Uploading images, it's fairly comprehensive. But image copyright tags can be a minefield, very confusing. If you upload anything and are having problems give me a shout and I'll try to help. Stu ’Bout ye! 09:47, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Talk pages

You can find a guide to using talk pages over at Help:Talk page, hope this helps! Michael Billington (talk • contribs) 09:23, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Algae and Seaweed

I would ask at the Village Pump. They can be of more assistance than I can. Sorry. --Kf4bdy talk contribs 19:17, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kelp/Laminaria

I have not mastered the "Talk" page. However if anyone out there "hears" me please advise. Re. Kelp & Laninaria. I suspect Kelp shouls redirect to Laminaria - it seems to be the "Master" page. But is it. Will be grateful for advice please. Is this the way I ask for advice? Osborne

Hey Osborne - the best way to ask for help is to add a tag called 'helpme' to your user talk page - place two { and } around the tag to create it. I'm not entirely sure what you're asking - Kelp and Laminaria are two separate articles, Kelp doesn't redirect to Laminaria (and we don't have an article on Kelp shouls). Does this help you at all? If you want to discuss it with people who've written about Kelp and Laminara, the pages you need are Talk:Kelp and Talk:Laminaria (edited the same way you edited your own talk page just now). They don't seem to be very active, however, so I'm not sure how much help you'd get. Please don't hesitate to reply either here or on my talk page if I can help you any further. --Mnemeson 15:20, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I will see if I can take your kind advice. I am wondering whether Kelp and Laminaria should be redirected or merged! I was in error We do not have an article on "Kelp shouls" probably I ment "Kelp" and added "shoul)d" in a "typing" error! I need a little practice.Osborne 08:30, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ALGAE - History of...

On further thought perhaps the details of Harvey's life should be left to the link - q.v. Osborne 08:07, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] W.H.Harvey

Any corrections on the publications of Harvey will be welcome!Osborne 09:04, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

I think I will have to rewrite this article! Does not look too good. Osborne 10:51, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm having trouble entering the References ==<.../>== If you can help I will be grateful. Osborne 12:08, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] History of Phycology

Thanks to those who have corrected my spelling! Osborne 11:05, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Osborne, you might be interested in Wikipedia:WikiProject History of Science and/or Wikipedia:WikiProject History of Biology. Cheers--ragesoss 22:33, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

Have tried to move "References" to the end " - did not work. Now a bit mixed-up!. Will stop for a while & recover! Osborne 14:26, 16 January 2007 (UTC). Should this be translated in other languages? and by whom?Osborne 10:27, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

{{Help me}}...is this how I request help? If so I would be grateful: see "William Henry Harvey" I have not got the references quite right. {{help me}}Osborne 12:12, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Yes, you asked for help correctly. I've fixed the references for you; see [1] to see what I did. I hope that helps, if you have any further questions, place the {{helpme}} tag back up. --ais523 12:58, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I will keep a note of "Ais523" for help in the future. However I'm not sure what you mean by: ..."tag back up."

I have one other question - I'll return to Ais523 for that! Osborne 14:26, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] References

I would be most grateful if someone could explain to me - in a simple way - how to enter a reference. [1]

And in the references:- Morton 2006 [2]

....But how to get these in order both in the text and in the list of refs in alphabetic orded.

I'll try again! Osborne 12:04, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] F.T.Kützing

Hi, Osborne! I am a student from Ukraine. I'm interested in algae too. Have you any information about F.T. Kützing (e.g., scans from books)? Dmitry Kapustin 13:04, 7 January 2007 (UTC) Try: /kbo/utst/stil/ktzing.html.en and: paper by Woelkerling, W.J. 1985. A taxonomic reassessment of Spongities (Corallinaceae, Rhodophyta) based on studies of Kützing's original collections. Br.phycol. J. 20: 123 - 153. We in the Ulster Museum, have some specimens of Kutzing (Specimen nos. F1171; F10281 - F10318).Osborne 15:23, 8 January 2007 (UTC) Further: Try :- Algae-L This will enable you to contact other phycologists.Osborne 16:37, 8 January 2007 (UTC).

or:- www.seaweed.ie Osborne 16:49, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank you very much! Dmitry Kapustin 17:10, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wrack (science)

I have added a "{{prod}}" template to the article Wrack (science), suggesting that it be deleted according to the proposed deletion process. All contributions are appreciated, but I don't believe it satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and I've explained why in the deletion notice (see also "What Wikipedia is not" and Wikipedia's deletion policy). Please either work to improve the article if the topic is worthy of inclusion in Wikipedia, or, if you disagree with the notice, discuss the issues at its talk page. Removing the deletion notice will prevent deletion through the proposed deletion process, but the article may still be sent to Articles for Deletion, where it may be deleted if consensus to delete is reached, or if it matches any of the speedy deletion criteria. Oo7565 20:43, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I've removed the template, beause I think the article can be expanded or combined, and you should right now try to do one or the other, because it will undoubted be relisted for deletion, though not by me .DGG 04:46, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
Have started extension. Is the article worth keeping & expanding? Osborne 15:02, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
P.S what does "UTC" mean??
Oh dear - I wanted this to be laid out as a list will try again.Osborne 15:05, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
I don't think this article is needed at all, see "Fucus" - cross-ref? Osborne 16:25, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
(Just helping with the formatting) Hows that? Leave a blank line to start a new paragraph, UTC is Coordinated Universal Time - basically GMT. « Keith t/e» 12:15, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Referencing question

Hi, I'm just letting you know that I've answered your question about footnotes at Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)#Please Issue Easy Guidlines for Footnotes with Links. invincible 15:14, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks I think I have mastered it. See: History of Phycology. Osborne 09:52, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Answers

  • How to add images
I depends. If there are images you want to add that are found in other Wikipedia articles, then you find the file names for the images (by clicking on the images in the articles), then using the following markup: [[Image:nameofimage.jpg|thumb|This is the image caption.]] .
If you have these images on your computer and the copyright status is acceptable (i.e., either you took them yourself or they have been released free of copyright or with a Wikipedia-compatible license), then you can upload them. After uploading them, you can use the same markup as above to add them to the article. To upload images, go to Wikimedia Commons and create an account, then click "Upload file" on the left. Follow the instructions on that page, making sure to include a good description of the image and where it came from, as well as selecting the appropriate license. If you have any trouble, let me know.
  • On translation
Translation is an informal process. If someone from another language Wikipedia decides to translate the article, they will; simple as that.

--ragesoss 16:37, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Ummmmmm! Thanks09:54, 26 January 2007 (UTC)Osborne 09:54, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re:(User talk:Ais523) Future help.

I have no objection to you asking me questions in future; you can contact me by editing User talk:ais523. However, I'm not always online (that's why it took me so long to answer your most recent question), and using {{helpme}} is likely to produce a faster response in such cases, so it's your call really. You can visit this page (your talk page) any time by clicking on the 'my talk' button at the top of the screen, and it contains the signatures of all the users who you've corresponded with; this should help you keep track of the people you've talked to. Hope that helps! --ais523 16:04, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Many thanks. "My" History of phycology needs to be "wikified" - I fear there is a lot to do! I may have to come back to you on this! Osborne 14:19, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Belfast Naturalists' Field Club

The article you wrote, Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, is uncategorized. Please help improve it by adding it to one or more categories, so it may be associated with related articles. A stub marker or other template doesn't count - please put in an actual category in the article. Eli Falk 16:17, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, how do I do that? Probably it is not worth keeping anyway. Regards.Osborne 16:42, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

See Help:Category for technical detail. Beyond that, see WP:CAT - the link I already gave you above. Eli Falk 16:48, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

I'll see if I can get round to it. ThanksOsborne 16:54, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Oh it seems you have done it for me - thanks very much. I will be careful not to open an article again! I have other things to look out - like "endash"–—−|.... and the like. Thankls .Osborne 08:57, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: (User talk:ais523) Two questions

  1. The link Halichondria panicea that you came across on Algae is what's known as a redlink. As the link is displaying in red, it means that an editor thought that it would be a good page to have an article on, but that no article existed. Redlinks are created the same way as normal links (bluelinks) except that you link to a nonexistent article. If you know enough about the subject, you could try writing an article at the target of the link yourself; if you don't, or you don't feel like writing that article, and you want an article created at that link, you could try requesting it at Wikipedia:Requested articles if it isn't there already (although bear in mind that requests often take a long time to fulfil, as it depends on whether someone who knows about the subject wants to write that article or not).
  2. The markup for an en dash is &ndash;: –. (Special character codes go between an ampersand and a semicolon.) You can also insert a literal en dash into the markup by clicking on the en dash in the 'insert' box under the 'save page' buttons, which looks slightly clearer in the markup (and if you use the – method, it's quite possible that an editor or bot will change it to the literal en dash for you).
  3. And yes, I am replying on your talk page; if you ask a user a question and don't ask them to put a reply anywhere in particular, they're most likely to reply either on your talk page or their own talk page. Many users will write down their policy for replying at the top of their talk page.

Hope that helps! --ais523 10:15, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. As I have written much of the article I have taken on myself the responsibility of "de-linking" Halichondria. It is possible I was in error myself by clicking the internal link "button" in error instead of the Italics! I will have to take a detailed look at your answer to my second point. Thanks. Osborne 11:06, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I screwed up the markup in my answer to the second question. I've corrected it now, sorry for the confusion! --ais523 09:57, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Laminaria

{{helpme}}

Ref four edits on a Laminaria articla: dated 28.02.2007 I have added four species of North American Laminaria, with refs. However only two of these are shown in the 09.28 version. A box "North American Pacific shores" appears in an earlied version of today and the reference has vanished in one version. The four versions between 9.00 and 10.00 o'clock. In these three or four edits bits have been lost and others have come unwanted.Osborne 10:08, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

I've fixed it for you. When repeating a reference in the article, use <ref name="..." /> (as opposed to <ref name="...">...</ref> for the first use); note the extra slash that is needed when repeating the reference. Hope that helps! --ais523 10:41, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] An article you might have some interest in

Its no biggie, but you might be interested that I started a page for the Ulster American Folk Park, thanks to your question on the NI Project talk page. I also copyedited the Ulster Museum article, only a little.. and just for style really. If you've got the time, and haven't already, please take a look at both articles and change anything according to your own knowledge. Cheers. Keep up the good work. :) -- Mal 05:31, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm still not at ease with Wikipedia. Where is WP:NI/NI Project ...see what I mean I can't even repeat the site as you have written, nor can I find the talk page you refer to! Ah well I will find out some day. I must say I like your colours - I will have to play with that some time.Ah I know. I will simply copy & paste:- NI Project However I stiill cant type ..that wee upright stroke between NI and NI! I better do some work of types now.Osborne 09:40, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Phycology/psycology

These are two different words sometimes confused. Phycology is the study od algae. "Phycos" is the Greek from which "Fucus" (Latin) is derived (I understand). Fucus is the generic name for certain big brown algae common on European shores.Osborne 11:23, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Hi Osborne, thanks for that. You learn something new every day. My bot doesn't have a rule for phycology but it does have one for phycological. Is that what you saw? (What article was it in BTW?) In any event, I'm removing the rule for phycological as I did a search over an entire enwiki dump and every use of phycological was correct. Cheers, and apologies for the confusion, Cmdrjameson 13:56, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Great. I'm not quite sure what a BTW is! good for it.(I suppose it is something to do with "word". Anyway I am a member of the British Phycological Society - try that in Google - it should work. All the Botanical (new word?) in Latin will be new words to your "bot". Some plants have lovely latin words: "Ceramium shuttleworthianum" and "Chrysosplenium oppositifolium" . Many people don't like these but can use Rhododendron and the like. Osborne 14:20, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Uploading algae images

Hi, Osborne, I hope you intend to upload algae images, as the algae species of Ireland are well-researched. KP Botany 04:22, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

The algae are fairly well researched - I did a fair bit of it see: Marine Algae of Northern Ireland. 1994 ISBN. As for images I don't know how to upload images and a little concerned about copyright. So I'm careful, perhaps too careful.Osborne 09:05, 12 March 2007 (UTC) I would be grateful for your help -how to upload/download an image. Osborne 09:55, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Flora section you added to the Waterford (city) article

Hi Osborne, I'm going to remove this because a) The article is about Waterford City and not Co. Waterford, where presumably the Algae is to be found primarily, b) a flora section with just a reference to algae is not very good, and really a separate article on Waterford Flora would be more in order anyway, and c) your link pertains to Co. Wexford, not Waterford at all. Merlante 17:24, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

OK. The reference gave the list of species as from Wexford & Waterford & did not distinguish! Anyway it did not give much info & I'm not sure whether it is worth putting anywhere. Any advice will be welcome, I'm still new at this contraption.Osborne 08:52, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

I have done the same with Wexford and Northumberland. A couple of tips:

  • Don't overuse headings -- quite often these articles already have sections like "Ecology" (and if they don't they should). An article like "Northumberland" has to describe all aspects of the county -- geography, history, politics and culture -- in a limited number of words, so ecology sections on those articles have to be brief, describing only the notable aspects -- e.g. species and habitats found nowhere else, or which are particularly common in the county. The mere presence of a species in an area doesn't make the fact encyclopaedic if the fact is not unique to that area, or if it is a little interest to the average reader. An "Ecology of Northumberland" or "Flora and fauna of Northumberland" article would be another matter, and one can go into much more depth there.
  • Don't asume readers know the jargon, style/formating and common abbreviations of your field -- put things in context and link to articles which explain technical terms. Also, use sentences! ;)

Thanks, Joe D (t) 00:31, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Invasive species in Ireland

Hello Osborne. The external link you're attempting to add to the Ireland article isn't appropriate. The focus of that article is far too broad for a whole section dedicated to a niche subject like the island's non-native flora & fauna. I might suggest that you create a new article, perhaps Flora and fauna of Ireland. Such an article would be appropriate for a subsection on Ireland's non-native species. Make sure to write your own text using verifiable sources (like the article you linked). Dppowell 13:11, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Hi Osborne. I also noticed that you added yet another reference (without context) to the "Flora" section of the Ireland article. And that it was quickly reverted. I have alluded to this in the Talk:Ireland page, but - per Dppowell - some of the detail you continue to add is far too specific for a general Ireland article. Beyond that, I'm not sure you're fully familiar with how and why references and external links should be added. With no context what-so-ever, the link you added was not meaningful, and - frankly - broke the wikipedia guidelines on external linking and references. (Which is likely why the other member removed it again). Please consider in future writing a few sentences on the subjects you are interested in (to give context to the articles you are contributing to) rather than just adding links. (See: Wikipedia is not a list of links). But also make sure that anything you add is relevant to the general context of the article. Guliolopez 13:19, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

I had opened a section with info' I had found with the intention of coming back later to fill it out and expanding it. (Will have to take another look - back in a moment). Yes I agree, I had found what I thought was a good/nice site & rather than lose [previous spelling "loose"! -Osborne] it I decided to add it in and come back later to fill it out. If you wany to set up another site on Irelands non-native species - well jolly good - you may want to keep this website somewhere, but where? I'll take another look at it now and perhaps delete some for you. Jolly good, best wishes & thanks Osborne 13:40, 2 April 2007 (UTC) May I ask your advice? Following your advice - I was responsible for the two ref in the "Aran" site (flora). However I have not added any text - well as yet, I came upon the books while doing other work. Perhaps it should be deleted. I may do it myself unless ...thinking Osborne 15:18, 2 April 2007 (UTC) No answer or advice yet! will take a look and perhaps alter it now Osborne 10:34, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fucus distichus problems

I've had a go at sorting the format problems. Have a look and check - I had to resort to counting <ref> statments ! (signature was not saved for technical reasons)


[edit] {{Help me}}

Why are the topics scattered all over the place? That's not those in the box - (signature was not saved for technical reasons) Thanks Osborne 08:27, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] footnote format

Hi Osborne, you recently changed an edit of mine to move the position of the footnote outside the sentence (@ Chloroplast), as opposed to at the end of the sentence before the period. I am unfamiliar with any literature referencing styles that have footnotes after the period, so I was surprised that they needed to be corrected. Would you be able please direct me to a style guide so I can get this right in the future? Cheers--(signature was not saved for technical reasons)

Sorry if I cauesd offence - which file please? This note will not save! - will try again!!(signature was not saved for technical reasons)

This section - "==footnote format==" does not show up except under "Editing". Sorry "Cheers". the 4 (signature was not saved for technical reasons) does not leave a name - perhaps you are "Spamburgler". However I am keen to look at what I did which you did not approve of. So if you read this please tell me which article you are referring to. (signature was not saved for technical reasons) Osborne 26th April (incase (signature was not saved for technical reasons)does not show up.)

Question to original author of ==footnote format== signed "cheers" I will be grateful to know the name of the article to which you refer please. Osborne 08:43, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Hi Osborne. No offence was taken, just interested what the error was. The article is Chloroplast, thanks--Spamburgler 06:49, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

I trust I have corrected my error now. I apologisa profusely for my mistake. I have much to learn - but I should have known I was wrong and not have been so assertive. With best wishes. I am finding the "saving" very slow and indeed just not working within the allotted time - very irritating. Will see if this saves now! Osborne 08:18, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] {{Help me}}

Why does the above "==footnote format ==" not show up except under Editing... Thanks(signature was not saved for technical reasons)

Thanks again Osborne 08:28, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Your talk page

There seems to have been some chaos on your talk page recently due to a <ref> tag being written on the page by another user without being quoted. I've tried my best to reconstruct the page, but the signatures for comments haven't been saved. You can see your talk page history here to try to reconstruct who said what (to allow you to reply accordingly). Hope that helps! --ais523 08:07, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Many thanks for your work...all a bit complicated for me. Pity Spambugler" did not tell me what article he was referreing to. However your help has been very welcome, thanks. Osborne 08:33, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ovules

Articles are titled in the singular, so I redirected your article to Ovule, already in existence. --Steve (Stephen) talk 09:08, 2 May 2007 (UTC) Jolly good! - wrote it in haste as "Ovules" was in red indicating an article was required. I'll take a look at the article now Osborne 09:42, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Hi Osborne, feel free to improve the ovule article, if you have more to add! I recently rewrote it based on a textbook and added some pictures because it had a "too technical" and "photo requested" tag on it. I'm not a botanist by training though, so it would be good to have someone else look it over for accuracy. - tameeria 14:45, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Polysiphonia

I saw that you are editing algae articles. I was wondering if you would be interested in creating one for Polysiphonia to add some content to a red link in sporogenesis? - tameeria 14:45, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Well....I can try. It is a big job. First: What is Sporogenesis? There are 17 - 24 different species of Polysiphonia in the British Isles alone. The differences are small and require good photographs, so I would not attempt describing the species. I have no idea how to put a photo on Wiki anyway! and probably don't have any! So would keep it at genus level - that would be best (Sorry I'm thinking aloud in a sense). Will come back when I have looked up Sporogenesis!Osborne 14:59, 2 May 2007 (UTC) Quote:"Reproductive spores are formed in many eukaryotic organisms, such as plants, algae and fungi,..." from the article on Sporogenesis. All plants do not produce spores! Flowering plants do not produce spores! - they produce seeds. I have not yet found the word in any algal book. But I will look further.Osborne 15:12, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Yes, flowering plants do produce spores (microspores in anthers and megaspores in ovules). Flowering plants just don't release spores directly for reproduction, but they develop inside the flowers into pollen grains and seeds that are then released instead. You need a microscope and look at bud sections to see the spores. I was wondering about Polysiphonia because it seems to have a quite interesting life cycle with three generations or phases instead of the usual two. If there are that many species around, I'm sure it deserves an entry on Wikipedia. - tameeria 15:42, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

I'll come back to you on megaspores! but for now - yes all the red algae have interesting life cycles! - I love telling people that seaweeds reproduce sexually :) up until about 20 years ago Palmaria palmata was known to have male plants but nobody had found the female plants! Sorry have to go home will reply further tomorrow.Osborne 15:57, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for looking into this! As for the term sporogenesis: I'm not sure if it is a textbook term, but it is listed in several dictionaries, e.g. here, and used in more than 200 articles I found on PubMed, e.g. here, here and here. It is somewhat ambigious since it can refer to reproduction via spores as well as different processes of spore formation including non-dispersed and resting spores (e.g. endospores). Actually, most of the PubMed articles seem to use it for bacterial spore formation (probably because PubMed is biased towards medical research and does not contain as many plant-related journals). - tameeria 16:16, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Oh yes I think you are right, please excuse my doubt - but it took me back 40 years to undergraduate days!! My wife sorted me out! As I understand in the Flowering plants the original spore is produced by the "mother plant" it devides with meiosis, therefore the parent plant is a sporophyte and diploid. Of the three cells produced three degenerate (better word? disolve, disintergrate - I'm thinking) the remaining one resides within the ovule (I'm not sure of this point) which is then fertilised by the pollen which has developed from a haploid spore "the microsporocyte which undergrows 2 meiotic divisions to produce 4 microspores..." (I'll have to thing & read up more!) However I have rarely used it. My wife as a school teacher was in full knowledge of it and tried to explain it to me (23.00 hrs last night!) Osborne 08:03, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] {{Help Me}}

I have started an article but mis-spelt the title as Polysiphionia instead of Polysiphonia. How do I change this please. I can't edit the title!Osborne 08:51, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

At the stop of the page, next to the "edit" tab, there should be a tab that says move. John Reaves (talk) 08:55, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Yes! it worked - thanks Osborne 09:41, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Return:Polysiphonia

Cool, thanks for the page! I found that we actually have slides of Polysiphonia (not sure which species) life cycle stages here at the botany lab. All I need is a digital camera and a microscope and maybe I can take some pictures and upload them. - tameeria 17:16, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Best of luck. Are working in US now? - east or west coast? Identifying the species may be difficult, I would be interested to see the photographs! in http://www.algaebase.org you will find photographs which may intertest you. Osborne 07:49, 4 May 2007 (UTC) Algaebase will help: example:- http://www.algaebase.org/speciesdetail.lasso?species_id=173&sk=40&from=results&-session=abv3:51909EC30c4831C226oJXsCB8684

Osborne 07:56, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Have just found a descrioption of a micriooscopic alga in the Chrysophyta: "Cell shape and size: the potato-shaped cells (8-25 x 6-15um...)" "Potato-shaped" I like that. Have heard of beans being "kidney-shaped" in a botany book and kidneys being bean-shaped in a zoological book!Osborne 08:05, 4 May 2007 (UTC) Nice illustration of a life cycle:- http://www.aussiealgae.org/lifeCycle.php

Osborne 08:51, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Polysiphonia
Polysiphonia
I've taken a picture and uploaded it. Might have to work on the lighting a little bit or find a microscope with a real camera attached to it, but I'm pretty excited how well it turned out with a classroom microscope and a digital camera held up to the eye piece! Any idea what the species might be? The slides have the following on their label: "POLYSIPHONIA - Antheridia, Cystocarps & Tetraspores; w.m." - tameeria 17:32, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Very interesting, the colour is a bit red - infact very red! As to which species it is? First which country does it come from - U.S., Europe...? Second I would need to see more of the specimen and perhaps a T.S. Even then I would not be confident, I can rule many out but I would still be uncertin. Sorry, but best wishes.Osborne 08:05, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Very interesting. I could not identify iit with confidence. First where does it come from? - which country -U.S. (east or west), Europe... Second I would need to see more of the specimen - to see if it has cortication and the lower branches. Even with this information I would not be confident. I can say what it is not! Osborne 08:01, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[This takes a long time to save and often does not save Osborne 08:27, 8 May 2007 (UTC)]

I'm sure the color is off from the original! I didn't have the best setup and the lighting was a bit of a problem, but I found out yesterday that our herbarium has a microscope that actually has a camera mounted on it and I found someone who will show me how to use it later this morning, so hopefully I'll be able to provide a better picture soon! As to where it's from: I have no clue, but I would guess somewhere around the US because the company selling the slides is based in the US. I will dig a bit more and see if I can find out any details. - tameeria 13:50, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Best of luck. I'm not sure when I will be in contact again. I'm off on leave for about 10 days, then the department is moving, will the computer move safely? then from 4th July I will have retired. If we don't have contact again my best wishes to you. I don't have a computer at home. So that's me! Osborne 08:11, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Oops

Looks like I missed a question you left for me at User talk:Luna Santin#Advice_please. Did you still need help with that? – Luna Santin (talk) 19:23, 14 May 2007 (UTC) My question was "advice please". I had added an article from Time magazine to "Algae" - food/nourishment (section 19). I was not sure that this was permitted! Will go back and see if it is still there! Thanks for reply.Osborne 08:16, 15 May 2007 (UTC) - Yes it is still there - but could be deleted, not a good link.Osborne 08:23, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

O'Connell Street was built in the 1920s, by Irish people. It was flattened in 1916 by the English.18:20, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Coslett Herbert Waddell

Hello, this is a message from an automated bot. A tag has been placed on Coslett Herbert Waddell, by another Wikipedia user, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. The tag claims that it should be speedily deleted because Coslett Herbert Waddell fits the criteria for speedy deletion for the following reason:

duplicate page


To contest the tagging and request that administrators wait before possibly deleting Coslett Herbert Waddell, please affix the template {{hangon}} to the page, and put a note on its talk page. If the article has already been deleted, see the advice and instructions at WP:WMD. Feel free to contact the bot operator if you have any questions about this or any problems with this bot, bearing in mind that this bot is only informing you of the nomination for speedy deletion; it does not perform any nominations or deletions itself. --Android Mouse Bot 2 20:30, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Phytoplankton species number

Hi Osborne. You recently added a note to phytoplankton about the total number of phytoplankton species (= 5,000). A while back now I added the total number of diatom species (= 100,000) to the appropriate article. Annoyingly, I can't presently locate the reference that I used to justify this total (I've just moved office and my references are in a state), but it seems difficult to reconcile both of our numbers. To be honest, my 100,000 sounds too large (I have a suspicion that it's an estimate based on an extrapolation from known species), but your 5,000 seems too small (especially if one includes prokaryotes). Can you remember if the reference you cited qualifies this total at all? For instance: eukaryotes only; identified species only; obligate photoautotrophs only; etc. It's too glaring an inconsistency for me to ignore!  ;-)

As an aside, I'm very sorry to hear about the changes at your workplace. Given your expertise, it's a great shame to be losing you from the WP project. I can only hope (selfishly, perhaps!) that retirement just makes WP more alluring! Best regards, --Plumbago 12:14, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

I hope you will get this note - it on my "Talk" I think! However to answer your question: "Among the 5,000 species of extant marine phytoplankton (Sournia et al,. 1991), some 300 species can at times occur in such high numbers that they obviously discolour the surface of the sea (so-called "red tides"), while only 80 or so species have the capacity to produce potent toxins that can find their way through fish and shellfish to humans (Table 1.1)."

--A full copy of the passage, from Hallegraeff, G.M. 2003. 'Harmful algal blooms: a global overview.' in Manual on Harmful Marine Microalgae ed. Hallegraeff, G.M., Anderson, D.M., Cembella, A.D. UNESCO Publishing. The ref given in this quote is:- Sournia, A.; Chretiennot-Duinet,M.J.; Ricard, M. 1991. Marine phytoplankton: how many species in the world ocean? J. Plankton Res., No. 13, pp.1093 - 9. I don't think this answers your question - except the word "marine". I will give the matter further thought. This is "User Talk: Osborne" not in the "Discussion"...How do you know when to look for it? - are you told automatically? or should it be in the discussion page? - I'll look at it now. See how innocent I am of this site? Osborne 12:41, 12 June 2007 (UTC) Checked & resent Osborne 12:44, 12 June 2007 (UTC) http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/algae/

Hi Osborne. Thanks for your reply. Here's fine for replies by the way. We could go to the phytoplankton talk page itself, but here's good for now. Regarding your answer to my question, the mention of marine species helps a bit, but 5,000 still seems rather low to me. Even for eukaryotic species - although I still think this might have something to do with described rather than estimated species. I'll have a look at my local textbooks as well to see if they help a bit. I've got a copy of Hoek et al. (Hoek, C. van den, Mann, D. G. and Jahns, H. M., 1995, Algae : An introduction to phycology, Cambridge University Press, UK) in my office - I'll see what he says. I'll also try to track down the references you mention above - I think my library's paid-up on those journals (famous last words!). Thanks again for your help. Cheers, --Plumbago 20:35, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

I have a quick look through Hoek et al 1995 - but Phytoplankton refers to diatoms and dinoflagellates and ,I think, other microscopic free floating unicellular stuff. There may be some disagreement as to what is included. Hoek et al refers to the Chrysophyceae (1000 species p.104). However I will look up other refs - they differ in their classification.Osborne 10:35, 13 June 2007 (UTC) Further; "Chrysophyta. Originally this phylum was...a miscellaneous collection of forms clustered around a central series of brown-pigmented geera of flagellates...It has been clarified greatly by the removal of awjole series of genera into Prymneisophyta (=Haptophyta). The Chrysophyta contains mainly freshwater genera...They are planktonic...(Round, F.E. 1981. The Ecology of Algae. Hoek etval include the blue-green algae as "Here they are often important components of the phytoplankton..." Seems to depend on the definition of Phytoplankton & freshwater / marine. Osborne 10:48, 13 June 2007 (UTC) One point, Plankton includes the stages in the life cycles of other organisms, and the "Bacterioplankton can mean plantonic bactreria..." and the word zooplankton.... well they are not Phytopankton.Osborne 15:56, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

There may be as many as 200,000 morphologically distinct species,[2]RBGE - diatoms. But are these plantonic? marine/freshwater....Osborne 16:16, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Oogonia

Help - I've mucked up the refs in this article somehow - probably it's not much but it is late in the day and I will be very grateful.Osborne 15:51, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

I fixed it. You can see what I did by checking the source code. Best regards. YechielMan 16:10, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ulva

This refers to an |Island but there is and Alga named Ulva BUT is "WEE WILLY WINKIE" or whatever has been written VANDILISM?Osborne 15:03, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

There is an alga: Ulva lactuca q.v.Osborne 15:05, 20 June 2007 (UTC) Further: why is the section "Uses" surroundedby dots? Thanks Osborne 15:36, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Fixed :) --ST47Talk 15:49, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] English v Botanical names (see Toothed wrack)

The big brown algae are titled using their Common Names (English) This OK for the few big algae well known to the public, however there are thousands of algae without common names. There are over 10,000 red algae for example. See Toother Wrack - Talk for further discussion. Osborne 11:05, 21 June 2007 (UTC) Common names known to me: Sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca); Oyster theif (Colpomenia peregrina); Sea lace ([[Chorda filum]]); Oarweed ([[Laminaria]]); Tangle, Sea-girdles, Sea-staff, Sea-wand ([[Laminaria digitata]]); Curvie ([[Laminaria hyperborea]]); Sea belt ([[Laminaria saccharina]]); Furbelows, Bulbous-routed Tangle, Sea-furbelows, Furbelowed-hangers ([[Saccorhiza polyschides]]); Dabberlocks ([[Alaria esculenta]]); Peacock's tail ([[Padina pavonia]]); Wrack ([[Fucus]]); Toothed wrack ([[Fucus serratus]]); Bladder wrack ([[Fucus vesiculosus]]); Spiral wrack ([[Fucus spiralis]]); Horned wrack ([[Fucus ceranoides]]); Knotted wrack, Knobbed wrack ([[Ascophyllum nodosum]]); Channnelled wrack, Channelled Fucus ([[Pelvetia canaliculata]]); Sea thong ([[Himanthalia elongata]]); Purple laver ([[Porphyra laver]]); Cockscomb ([[Plocamium cartilagineum]]); Carragheen ([[Chondrus crispus]]); Goat tang (Polyides caprinus); Dulse (Palmaria palmata); Sea tail (Halurus equisetifolius); Pepper Dulse (Laurencia pinnatifida); Feathery Callithamnion ([[Callithamnion plumula]]); "Fern-leaved" Callithamnion ([[Callithamnon gracillimum]]) - Ref:- Dickinson, C.I. British Seaweeds. 1963. Eyre & Spottiswoode. The Kew Series; Landsborough, D. 1857. A Popular History of British Seaweeds. I am not sure what "Hart's-tongue Laminaria (Laminaria phyllitis) is! Botanical names are the same as English names in a few cases: Sargassum; Rhododendrom. I will have to take a look at the lichens, fungi and other "life forms." Osborne 11:05, 21 June 2007 (UTC) How many other plants have English names? LICHENS: Reindeer moss; Map (or mat) lichen. Flowering Plants: The grasses and sedges - Graminae.

Grasses and sedges etc may have English names - but they are rarely used, I suspect anyone studying grasses uses the Botanical name.Osborne 16:54, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Conceptacles

Hi again Osborne. Just to say that I've copyedited your new article on conceptacles a bit. I hope you don't mind. I've changed some formatting issues to conform to the manual of style, and I fixed the source cited - previously the cite didn't tie up with the actual source cited (Chamberlain's name was missing). I may, however, have used the wrong volume/part for the source. Can you check I've not gotten that wrong please? Anyway, keep up the good work! Cheers, --Plumbago 11:02, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Plumbago. Advice on Wike-style(!) about which you know I know nothing is most welcome, and I am out of practice. What was the piped (or whatever) eg:- "Osborne" for and how do I do it. If you read this (ever) I will be grateful for your help. I will look at your changes again to see what you did. I have made further changes based on other publications and how the refs were given.Osborne 23:23, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
No worries. Thanks for fixing up the volumes/parts of the cites at conceptacles and receptacles. Incidentally, you might want to move your articles to conceptacle and receptacle, since the manual of style prefers singular nouns. You should be able to do this via the "move" tab at the top of each page. Finally, regarding why I piped your username, well, that's just habit.  :-) When one's knee-deep in a talkpage discussion I find that it helps to clearly delineate usernames so that people scanning the text can look out for particular editors (themselves for example). Similarly with articles under discussion. So, really just a style thing. Like so many of my edits! Cheers, --Plumbago 07:48, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Pleural to singular. Will be grateful if you would check.Osborne 08:22, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Perfect. You can tell because the red links that I left previously have now gone blue!  :-) I've just corrected the references in the articles to each other (just to avoid the redirects - although it's good that you've set those up too). Cheers, --Plumbago 08:54, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Now I have further info' rather academic - will need to study it! Thanks.Osborne 16:14, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Hi again Osborne. Just a quick style point regarding your recent edits. I'd suggest dropping the bold format for author names. It's used in some academic circles, but not most, and tends not to be used here. I'm not sure why, but it may be because it draws attention away from the article too much to a relatively minor detail (well, that might just be me!). Bold tends to be used here just for volume number, with the journal/book title italicised and everything else in plain font. Anyway, good job expanding the phycology articles! Cheers, --Plumbago 10:18, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Hey - I'm still at it! but now that I "have" you - I have doing esomething and "lost" the list of references!!! How did I do that. Osborne 10:36, 24 September 2007 (UTC) I'v got the refs - but something else is wrong! Osborne 10:46, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

I've fixed up the problem now. I think it stemmed from your use of two single quotes, '', instead of double quotes, ", when you were giving the references names for labels. I hope you don't mind, but I've done a number of other tweaks and twiddles to the article now to fix various disambiguation and wikilinking issues. If you've any questions about the formatting changes I've made, let me know. Cheers, --Plumbago 11:49, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Think I understand most except the use of #. Have changed Natural History back to "British Museum" - that is how it was known then and how it is given on the opening page of the book.Osborne 18:41, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Alaria

You have made the error of being helpful! If you wish to help further (!) please see Alaria an article I have just started, it was "rquired" in the artice Algae being shown in red. I have only just started - but you alterations & help will be welcome. Osborne 14:12, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

How's that then? I've edited the article to comply with style conventions more. I've also added a taxobox and wikilinked like there's no tomorrow. I've tried to incorporate the external links into the text, but you may disagree with how I've done this. Have a look and see what you think. Cheers, --Plumbago 16:43, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Should this note be under Alaria & not "Conceptacles"? - does it matter? As for "Taxobox" - I had no idea how to do that! I have made a few other corrections, but will look closely again. Many thanks. Osborne 17:08, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

You can divide up your own talkpage however you want, but putting this under Alaria makes things clearer. On this point, you might want to consider archiving old portions of your talkpage. I've done this on mine if you need an example. Regarding taxoboxes, etc., I didn't know how to do this either - I just stole the taxobox from another related genus and adapted it to suit this one. Generally speaking, I find this is usually the easiest way to proceed: see something that's done better and is related to what you're doing, then steal shamelessly from it.  ;-) If you run into trouble formatting things, give me a shout. I'm no expert either, but I'm relatively comfortable with Wikipedia's markup language. Cheers, --Plumbago 17:18, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Help me

I am having trouble again. Why will it not accept [3]????Osborne 19:58, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Hi there, you used the 'help me' tag but can you please be a little bit more specific with what you require help for? RyanLupin (talk/contribs) 20:02, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
I fixed it. LaraLove 20:56, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Osborne (talk) 10:09, 18 January 2008 (UTC)== Alaria ==

I commented on Talk:Alaria. Please indulge my first comment (now struck): I obviously wasn't paying proper attention and actually suggested you should contact yourself... Anyway, if you need further help with proposing the merge following the instructions at Help:Merging and moving pages, don't hesitate to ask. — aldebaer⁠ 20:37, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

Help Me Ref "Alaria" on 6th October "Tallard" made alterations deletting a big whack of this file - has anyone any idea why?

[edit] Village Pump

I havenever used the Village Pump - has anyone any advice about its use/value?Osborne 08:39, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Moving pages and naming conventions

Hi there! I see you've been moving some pages, specifically Chondrus crispus Stachkouse from common names to scientific names. When moving pages, make sure you don't include the authority. It should just be the binomial for ease of searching and linking to it. I've requested the pages be moved to their binomials. For some reading on naming conventions, check out the flora naming convention. For flora articles, the convention is to maintain common names if they're culturally or economically significant, otherwise we use binomials. While it specifically only can inform decisions on plants, the non-plant kingdom algae can probably be treated similarly. Hope that information helps. Cheers, --Rkitko (talk) 16:15, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your advice. I quite agree the botanical is best, I don't think I included the authority, sorry if I did and thanks for the correction. It is certainly best to use the scientific names as in some cases the common name referrs to different species in different countries. Cross referencing the names common name/biological name is important. The common names can be maintained in the write-up under the using the biolgical name. As most of the algae, among other plants, do not have a common name at they they must be noted under the botanical name. In some cases the common name is not used with accuracy I suspect! and in other cases there is more than one common name even within one country! I would like to make a write-up of all the algae under the generic name, but I will not be able to do that!! Best wishes. Osborne 19:51, 29 October 2007 (UTC) Ah! example: Plants are harvested on both sides of the North Atlantic and processe with Gigarina stellata as Irish Moss or Caragheen... ref Dixon, P.S, and Irvine, L.M. 1977. Seaweeds of the British Isles. Just to confuse things Gigartina stellata is now referred to as Mastocarpus stellatus!Osborne 19:58, 29 October 2007 (UTC) Further: Rhododendron is commonly used as a common name!- however I have often heard it misspronounced as Rhododendrum (I will have to see what Wiki says about that now!) Good luck Osborne 20:08, 29 October 2007 (UTC) Further though: The authority should remain associated with the bionomial of course.Osborne 23:29, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for attending to this comment. I quite agree on all points with the exception of the last, depending on what you meant. Are you referring to edits such as this? I would have to say that it's not common practice on Wikipedia to include the authority in the text directly after the first mention of the taxon. I believe common consensus is that that information is included in the taxobox and including the authority, while correct to other standards, may confuse lay readers who know nothing of botanic convention and clutters the prose. Cheers, --Rkitko (talk) 21:36, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

OK you know more about wiki than I. However if any reader is reading about Capsella bursa-patoris they will know something of botanical nomenclature! Perhaps it is ony Shepherd's purse they know? I confess Chrysospleium oppositifolium may not spring to the mind, however Golden saxifrage may not either let alone "Glóris"!! (Irish I gather). That's a thought - thinks, I will look at the higher plants so called and see how they are written up. My experience makes me want to note the authority at the first use of the botanical name (perhaps I'm getting old). Damn I have overwrite. Best stop.Osborne 09:35, 31 October 2007 (UTC) Have now corrected my overwrite and a few errors with it.Osborne 09:43, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Your question on User talk:Kf4bdy

Hi there. You left a question on another user's talkpage; because you have your own, I'll answer it here. If you can recall, it was a question about references. First off:

  • You can't include any spaces or bold/italicised text (there's really no point in the latter; no one will see it in its bold/italc form anyway).

Be sure you are doing the following:

  • Typing <ref name=Example>http://www.example.com</ref> before the first instance of the reference (i.e. type the ref name inside the ref tag)
  • Including a space before the slash when you are using the <ref name=> tag. For example, <ref name=Maggs93/> will make MediaWiki think it's a completely new reference. It will throw up a cite error 8 (no text given) as well as include the rest of the article text in a reference because you haven't typed </ref>. But, typing <ref name=Maggs93 /> will work out correctly.

Hope this helps! In the future, you can just leave {{Helpme}} on your own talkpage, someone will come help you out. NF24(radio me!Editor review) 12:30, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. The difference between my article & your correction did not show up under History & diff however it sems that it was just a space between maggs and /> Thanks Osborne 21:19, 6 November 2007

Nope - I can't do it! I tried it on "Malassezia" (which had few refs!) Help again {{helpme}}Osborne 21:54, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

Hello again! You made two mistakes:
  • You included a space in the ref name. That will cause the ref to break.
  • Don't forget to include {{reflist}} in the References section - it will automatically list the references for you.
If you need more help, you can always ask on my talkpage! (accessed by clicking "radio me!" in my signature) NF24(radio me!Editor review) 22:12, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
Oh yes, one more thing:
  • When citing a reference multiple times, put a space then a slash after a ref name.
  • Y <ref name=Example02 />
  • N <ref name=Example02/>
  • The latter will cause MediaWiki to believe that you are creating a new reference without any text inside of it. This will cause a "Cite error 2" to appear.
Again, feel free to leave a note on my talkpage if you have any more questions! NF24(radio me!Editor review) 22:16, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

Ceramium. Thanks - but you put a space after "Example02" and " />". Looking at my write-up under History I did not put a space here, however I did put a space between the reference name and the date which has worked elsewhere! I'll hunt out an example- if I can. did you by any chance get the tick & X the wrong way round? In other cases I have entered:-<ref name=''Example 02''/>.

Yes did use [4] in previous article - and it worked.

As for the References section I use:- <references/> that gives me a reference section.

I don't know "{{reflist}}"

Sorry for the trouble & thanks.Osborne 10:04, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dulse

Thanks for your reply to me. You seem to have misunderstood my intention. I was not concerned specifically with algae, but with the integrity of Wikipedia. I had discovered (and linked to) forty-odd synonyms: I just wanted that synonym, by which I got to the page, to appear somewhere on it - which you did on 14 June. --ColinFine (talk) 11:50, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

Incidentally, it would have been useful if you had put at least one wikilink in your contribution on my talk page, particularly since the comment you were replying to was six months old! I've changed the section title to [[Dulse]] so there is a link to follow. --ColinFine (talk) 11:53, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

I've also tidied up some of the formatting of the previous section in this page ('Your question on User talk:Kf4bdy'), because the reference section you inadvertently created was swallowing my new section. When you are quoting any wiki special stuff in a discussion, you need to enclose them between <nowiki> and </nowiki>, otherwise it will try and interpret them, and the page won't look like what you intended. So when you wrote '<references/>' above the page as displayed started a reference section. If you look in the source, you'll see I've surrounded it by <nowiki> and </nowiki> (but if you look in the source of this section you'll see something more complicated, because I've had to do extra stuff to make it not interpret the <nowiki>!).

{{reflist}} is a more general (and more configurable) alternative to <references/>. You don't need it if <references/> does everything you need. You can read about it at Template:reflist. --ColinFine (talk) 12:14, 24 November 2007 (UTC) You may not find this as it is in "My" talk. However the above is all too troublesome for me I think I will pack in! Thanks for your help.Osborne (talk) 17:42, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cutleriales

Help me I have tried to add to Cutleriales - but only messed things up. Please someone will you wipe out all my efforts made today (14th Dec)- Thanks.Osborne (talk) 21:59, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

I've tried to fix it. Does it look ok now? - tameeria (talk) 22:13, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Danke. That's better. I will look at it again some time! You have corrected my faults! Osborne (talk) 13:50, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Belfast Naturalists' Field Club

Another editor has added the {{prod}} template to the article Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, suggesting that it be deleted according to the proposed deletion process. All contributions are appreciated, but the editor doesn't believe it satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and has explained why in the article (see also Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not and Wikipedia:Notability). Please either work to improve the article if the topic is worthy of inclusion in Wikipedia or discuss the relevant issues at its talk page. If you remove the {{prod}} template, the article will not be deleted, but note that it may still be sent to Wikipedia:Articles for deletion, where it may be deleted if consensus to delete is reached. BJBot (talk) 04:59, 11 February 2008 (UTC) If you think this article is to be dumped - well OK. I have no idea what prod is! OK. I will add to this article any informtion I think worth-while. Delete it if you think necessary. Osborne (talk) 11:25, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Alors- Formidable

I see your History of Algology is now in French (box on right as I'm sure you know).Flicking through the French, German, Spanish and Italian sites is often very useful. Do you know about Babelfish? I broke my (right!) arm so I keep messages short these days.Why not stay in touch though? Have you sorted out images yet? All the best Robert Notafly (talk) 09:39, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

It should be "History of Phycology" - will have to check. Had heard you had broken your arm - where did I hear that?Osborne (talk) 19:21, 6 March 2008 (UTC) The "Other Languages" is shown in a box on the left-hand side on "my" screen.Osborne (talk) 17:09, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Further I have found one that has been translated into Chineese/Japanese!!! Alaria esculenta. So there!Osborne (talk) 17:13, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] {{Help me}}

Plese help. Concerning an article on Charales I have at 19.31 on 7th March deleted or esses up the illustration. I would be grateful for help to get it back! I am frightened to do much more ...!Osborne (talk) 19:43, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Hi Osborne, I've fixed the article - the only problem was that you accidentally removed the }} from a few lines down, which meant that the website didn't know what to do with the rest of the information. It's fine now, and you definitely shouldn't be frightened to edit anything more. Thanks for your contributions, and all the best —αlεx•mullεr 19:51, 7 March 2008 (UTC)Thanks to you too!!!Osborne (talk) 20:00, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Signature

Please do not add your signature to the top of articles. Your identity will be recorded in the page history; it should not appear in the article itself. When you do this, you make it likely that your edits will be reverted, because it is much easier and faster to revert such edits that to go in and re-edit every article with your signature in it. --EncycloPetey (talk) 22:35, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Ireland

{{helpme|Please see Ireland, it seems the notes are arranged as references and the references as notes! I'll look again but they seem mxed up! ee ther ref no 77 especially.Osborne (talk) 20:32, 12 March 2008 (UTC)}}

Hi there! If you read Wikipedia:Citing_sources#Footnotes you'll see that the title 'Notes' is actually valid for the inline references (the small numbers in the text), and references are used for larger, alphabetical references; this is the case in Ireland. Cheers, Ale_Jrbtalk 23:50, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Help me

I tried to enter a list of species of Polysiphonia... but managed to wipe out all ref!! and something else. Sorry, frightened of making a bigger mess!!. OK of you delete my work - I don't mind. Damn!! Osborne (talk) 18:56, 22 May 2008 (UTC) 7th April seems the best! Osborne (talk) 21:49, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

HELP -- someone out-there!Osborne (talk) 08:17, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

OK no help - Have decided to save an older version of the article Hope this is he right thing to do.Osborne (talk) 17:25, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi Osborne. Looks like I got here too late. Have you patched things back to what you wanted? You might like to practise using revert and undo operations on either your user or talk pages. They can be tricky if you've not used them before. Also, what I sometimes do is open up an older version of an article (using the page history tab), ask to edit it, and then copy-and-paste the bits I want from it into the current version. Anyway, sorry I missed your request for help. Cheers, --Plumbago (talk) 08:20, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Speedy deletion of Saccorhiza polyschiza

A tag has been placed on Saccorhiza polyschiza requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section A1 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because it is a very short article providing little or no context to the reader. Please see Wikipedia:Stub for our minimum information standards for short articles. Also please note that articles must be on notable subjects and should provide references to reliable sources that verify their content.

If you think that this notice was placed here in error, you may contest the deletion by adding {{hangon}} to the top of the page that has been nominated for deletion (just below the existing speedy deletion or "db" tag), coupled with adding a note on the talk page explaining your position, but be aware that once tagged for speedy deletion, if the article meets the criterion it may be deleted without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag yourself, but don't hesitate to add information to the article that would would render it more in conformance with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. Lastly, please note that if the article does get deleted, you can contact one of these admins to request that a copy be emailed to you. --/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 02:17, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi again Osborne. I don't know anything about this article, but if you find your stubs on particular species are being deleted here, you might like to set yourself up with an account at the sister project Wikispecies. The username "Osborne" isn't taken there yet as far as I can tell, and you might find it a more conducive environment for articles on less well-known species. Anyway, I'm probably just telling you something that you already know. Cheers, --Plumbago (talk) 08:23, 28 May 2008 (UTC)