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Help Page Patrollers are a group of Wikipedians who patrol the help desk and help users who have placed the {{helpme}} template on their talk pages. The patrol is an optional service. Patrollers can come and go, and there is no official sign up process.

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April 27

Obtaining An "Account" here. Wondered if I am too anonymous to create an account here... What range of errors might I be making?

Regards, Nicolo

NFL Draft Template

I am trying to augment Template:BillsFirstPick with a Template:NFL First Round Draft Pick template list, but it won't show. What is going on? —Preceding unsigned comment added by TonyTheTiger (talk • contribs)

Well, the template you tried to add doesn't exist, which is probably the problem. -mattbuck (Talk) 07:49, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box (as shown to the left ←). Do NOT sign in articles.

That template was deleted by Gonzo fan2007 today (deletion log entry) on the basis of housekeeping (CSD G6), with the rationale that it was a "redudant template, not used or needed". I have no idea whether it is in fact redundant. Is there a similar or identical template extant? If not, as you created that template just today, I'd drop a note on his talk page explaining that it was just created so its deletion as unused was premature, and ask for reinstatement. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:34, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Gonzo fan2007 removed it from a lot of other templates [1] before deleting it.[2] PrimeHunter (talk) 13:53, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, yes. Following primehunter's links shows that your talk page has lots of detail related to the deletion already.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:04, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes it is somewhat redundant.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 20:51, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

My page keeps getting deleted

Hi,

I created a page twice on Wikipedia titled "Stink Records".

I initially created the page to mark the beginning of the worlds first internet only record label, and the significance of this is that this is the first time it has been done.

The details were added to the Wiki website and approximately 30 seconds after intial insert, they had been deleted. The reasons citied were that Wiki couldnt see why the page was significant, the page contained advertisement and the username I signed up with constitued advertising.

So, I edited the information to remove all advertisement, I explained clearly why Stink Records was significant and I even changed my username, and once again my page has been deleted.

Wiki is supposed to be an information sharing website. I cant see how that is the case when my page keeps being deleted. I appreciate the first time I was in breach of the rules, but your own rules also state you can rework the page and resubmit it, so I did, and you have deleted it again.

Please could you give me an idea why my page was deleted.

Thanks

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Smithster1001 (talk • contribs) 06:47, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You are discouraged from editing pages to which you have a connection (WP:COI) and please take the time to read over WP:V and WP:N then WP:YFA. The Dominator^Talk_Edits 06:58, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please see Why was my page deleted? The most common reasons are:

The subject was not notable enough to have their own article
It was a test page
It was vandalism

To find the specific reason a particular page was deleted:

Go to the Deletion Log
Type the page title in the case-sensitive search field
The date, time and reason for deletion will be displayed...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 07:56, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How to clear past searches on Wikipedia?

Dear Sirs,

How do I clear past searches on Wikipedia from my computer?

Thank you for your time and explanation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sylv9di (talk • contribs) 07:35, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box (as shown to the left ←). Do NOT sign in articles. They are not your search history, but AJAX search suggestions. You can disable them in the searching section of your preferences...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 07:46, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Dendodge, I assume the OP means autocomplete forms rather then AJAX (which is very annoying tbh).

Sylv9di - depends on your browser. You may just be able to bring up the autocomplete suggestions and go through deleting them. Otherwise, I'm not sure there's a way to do it for an individual form without wiping every other form (passwords excluded). In IE7, that's tools > options > general > browsing history > delete > delete forms. -mattbuck (Talk) 07:48, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you're using a recent build of Firefox you can simply press Ctrl-Shift-Del and it will bring up your Clear Private Data dialog box, then you uncheck everything other than Browsing History. --172.134.226.73 (talk) 15:55, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Naming conventions

Resolved

– Unless someone finds a link ;-)

Does someone know where in our naming conventions it says that the name of a person whose first name is like A. J. Hawk or O. J. Simpson should have a space in between the two letters? Personally, and this goes along with all the sources I found, A. J. Hawk should be titled as A.J. Hawk, but a fellow Wikipedian pointed out that their was a policy that says the first name should have a space. Now I know I probably read right past it, but does anyone know where it says this in our Naming conventions? Thanks, « Gonzo fan2007 (talk ♦ contribs) @ 08:20, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've not been able to find much at WP:MOS#Acronyms and abbreviations or WP:MOSPN, however it does seem to be the norm to use a period and space after initials in names. In the absence of anything firm at the overall MoS, it may be an idea to ask for guidance from a project relating to the article, or to develop consensus on the article's talk page. Hope this helps Gazimoff ^Write _Read 08:30, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hehe, I'm the coordinator of the project relating to the article :-) I'll go with the norm, nothing big to argue over on a talk page. Thanks a lot for looking though, I'm glad that I wasn't blind ;-) « Gonzo fan2007 (talk ♦ contribs) @ 08:58, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Naming conventions for people would be covered by Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies), but I don't see anything specific there— you could ask on the talk page. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 11:19, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is it worth suggesting an update to the MoS to include this? Gazimoff ^Write _Read 13:52, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. Recently I saw an {{editprotected}} on a fully protected page requesting to change the initials in the lead, but it was refused. I've seen this raised a few times so I think there needs to be some clarity. I've asked on the MoS talk page just in case there is a link, so it'll go from there. PeterSymonds | talk 13:58, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

- WP:COMMONNAMES#Exceptions: "H. G. Wells (not H.G. Wells or HG Wells)". Both the last are redirects, as of course they ought to be; common sense would make an exception for unanimous usage of something else, but I can't think of an example; E. E. Cummings should be capitalized, as the article makes clear. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 18:42, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

medical

Resolved

Moved question to WP:RD/S#medical PeterSymonds | talk 09:21, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've added "#medical" in order to direct them to the specific section of the page where their question had been moved to--172.134.226.73 (talk) 15:51, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Diffs/watchlist preference?

Resolved

About three or four days ago a brilliant feature was added to diffs which was a thin red box around changes so they could be easily seen. This was great when the changes were miniscule like an extra space or a comma or full stop. Then, as miraculous as they appeared, they've gone! I've searched through preferences in the hope that I'd find it again but without any joy. Does anyone know anything about this and whether I can turn it back on? Thanks PageantUpdater talk • contribs 09:29, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There was a lot of back and forth on this at Wikipedia:Gadget/proposals#Diff underlining or borders and some more discussion below that. That section also shows how you can add it to your monobook.css. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 11:04, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks a ton :) Very happy to have it back :) PageantUpdater talk • contribs 13:28, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Risk assessment

Resolved

risk assessment is consired to be an extremely difficult exercise —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.2.64.46 (talk) 09:37, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, this is for asking questions about using Wikipedia. If you're querying an article, it's best to bring it up on its talk page. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 10:11, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Twinkle help

Hello, I recently installed twinkle into my monobook.js page. It doesn't seem to be working. Could someone fix it for me?--Digging (talk) 14:51, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try reseting your cache, Ctrl-F5. Thedjatclubrock :-) ^(T/C) 14:54, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Which browser are you using? It's only supported on Mozilla Firefox, Camino and Safari. PeterSymonds | talk 14:57, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm using the latest version of firefox, 2.0.0.14 I think it is, and I refreshed my browsers cache a few times with Ctrl-Shift-R--Digging (talk) 15:00, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Clear Twinkle out of ~~Special:Mypage/monobook.css~~ monobook.js and purge. Then enable Twinkle at Special:Gadgets and purge. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:03, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Okay did that, and now neither twinkle nor lupin's anti vandal tool will work...--Digging (talk) 15:15, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Restarted firefox, not working...--Digging (talk) 15:21, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I meant monobook.js. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:33, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Clear your browser's cache by following the instructions found by following the link to the left....... Dendodge.Talk^Help 15:35, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah I did the .js, not .css, and purged. Still not working...what the hell...--Digging (talk) 15:40, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Restore your monobook to its condition prior to your attempt to install twinkle. Once you've done this, go into Special:Preferences, then click on the Gadgets tab, select twinkle, then clear your cache. Should work like a charm.--172.134.226.73 (talk) 15:49, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(outdent) Actually, the problem is that you're not allowed to use it yet. Twinkle has some built-in code (that a lot of people don't know about), added for security reasons, that prevents accounts less than four days old (those that are not "autoconfirmed") from using the script. Go ahead and install the script as instructed above, either through monobook or Gadgets, and wait a few days. The code is in place to prevent abuse by vandals. Twinkle has a large capability to cause a lot of damage and disruption, and misuse of it can lead to its removal or a block. The age restriction helps reduce the need for either of those actions. (I found all this out the hard way trying to install it on my non-admin account.) Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 19:13, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. I thought you needed to install it on the computer (or was that VandalProof/VandalSniper)? Thanks. ~A H 1^(TCU) 21:16, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Twinkle has now been removed from gadgets. DuncanHill (talk) 11:56, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

betel leaves

I have the habit of chewing 6 to 8 betel leaves a day. I am 43 year old lady. I sometimes finish one small packet of betel nut a day. I am worried as I have become a addict and I can't resist from chewing. I a terribly worried whether it will leas to any kind of problem. Kindly help me out with your general answers.

Thank you, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.192.96.114 (talk) 18:05, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This borders on medical advice - please see our WP:Medical disclaimer. However, if you have a general question about betel leaves, I suggest taking it to the reference desk. Wisdom89 _{(_T / ^C)} 18:08, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, indeed. Please consult your doctor for his/her advice. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 18:34, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Our Betel article talks about the widespread use of this recreational drug throughout tropical Asia but does not mention any harmful effects. Which is not to say there are none - tobacco smoking was widespread for centuries before people figured out it was harmful. Depending on where the lady lives, maybe her doctor chews betel as well. Just as my personal opinion, I think it is more useful to get addicted to answering questions on the Help desk. If one is going to get addicted to something, it might as well be something that helps other people, instead of something as self-centered as a recreational drug. --Teratornis (talk) 18:56, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

We cannot offer medical advice. Please see the medical disclaimer. Contact your General Practitioner....... Dendodge.Talk^Help 20:07, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sockpuppets

Resolved

Is a user sockpuppeteering if they are close to violating the 3RR as an IP, then log in and do the same again?...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 19:03, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'd say so. They're deliberately using alternate accounts to get around violating the rules ("gaming the system"). Report them at WP:SSP or contact an administrator. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 19:08, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

OK, thanks...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 19:10, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. From 3RR: "The use of multiple accounts is not a legitimate way to avoid this limit, and reverts by multiple accounts are counted as reverts made by one editor." PeterSymonds | talk 19:12, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I thought that would be using an alternative account deceptively but decided to check just in case...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 20:05, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ahem.. the history of {{HD}} speaks for itself. --VectorPotential Talk 21:22, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

New Articles and IPs

Hi, I'm from the German Wikipedia and we're discussing the "should IPs be able to create new articles"-topic again. IPs can still create new articles on de while it's not possible anymore on en. I tried to find some reliable data or discussions about the results of your policy. But I couldn't find anything. --Davidlud (talk) 20:00, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There have been many discussions on this on many talk pages. This is just one of many listed at Wikipedia:Perennial proposals. See Wikipedia:Editors should be logged in users --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:06, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

These essays are also helpful: Wikipedia:The benefits of not requiring account creation on Wikipedia and Wikipedia:The benefits of requiring account creation on Wikipedia. Accountability and vandalism are the main reasons we block IP article creation, but the rest are detailed in the essays. PeterSymonds | talk 20:09, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, this is very helpful. It's interesting to see the arguments presented on Wikipedia:The benefits of not requiring account creation on Wikipedia and Wikipedia:The benefits of requiring account creation on Wikipedia. But, of course, we discuss very similar arguments on de. So, I was also wondering if you have any data about the effects of your new policy. E.g.:

Did the quality of your new articles improve?
Did the number of new articles decline?
Is it easier to deal with vandalism now?
Did the number of new account increase?
How many new accounts are vandalism accounts?
...

--Davidlud (talk) 20:24, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, they did a study you might find useful, which is located at Wikipedia:WikiProject Vandalism studies/Study1. Hope this helps, weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 20:50, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(ec):The impetus for the change was the Seigenthaler incident. When an attempt was made in December 2007 to go back to letting IP editors create new articles, for a trial length of time (30 days?), the attempt included a proposal to gather statistics to see the impact of the change. But there was no agreement on what kind of statistics to gather, nor how they would be interpreted; that was one factor in why the attempt failed.

To be more helpful: you'll find historical data on the number of new user accounts, number of articles created, and number of articles deleted, at User:Dragons flight/Log analysis. There are of course other factors at work in the past couple of years - at some point, a captcha was added as a requirement for new user accounts, and vandal-fighting bots are now in operation, for example, which may make it difficult to draw conclusions.

I doubt that anyone here has actually measured the "quality of new articles"; I suppose that could be done by looking at the last version edited by the article's creator before another editor did an edit ( looking at the number of characters of text, number of internal wikilinks, number of footnotes, number of external URLs, possibly, as useful things for evaluations), and evaluating articles that were created in the past couple of years, but it hasn't been done as far as I know - we haven't even measured the quality of all existing articles (there are more than a million articles, out of the total of 2.3+ million here, that are unassessed). One reason why these things don't get measured, I'd guess, is because it's not clear that the results would lead to any changes in processes; and if not, why bother measuring?

As for whether it's easier to deal with vandalism, I recently concluded that concluded the statistics that are available show steadily increasing vandalism, year by year. But I don't think new articles are the target of, or an important factor, in vandalism; my sense is that it's much more common with popular articles. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 21:05, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Cool, thank you! I think I agree with everything you said: Of course it's hard to measure "article quality" and you never know if other Wikipedians care about your data. Most Wikipedians on de think that IPs should be able to create new articles. The main argument is that it seems to be the wrong method to fight a real problem (vandalism). You already mentioned that vandalism in new articles is not a huge problem - vandalism in existing articles is worse. And I'm not sure if the hoax argument / Seigenthaler incident is convincing: If you really want to create a hoax, you will create an account as well. It might even get harder to discover a hoax, because people are more suspicious when they read a new article which was created by an IP. So I'm not sure about the benefits of blocking IP article creation. But, of course, there might exist benefits ;). --Davidlud (talk) 22:08, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There may be other factors that need to be considered. Measuring the results achived here and applying them to the German Wikipedia may be comparing apples to oranges. From what I understand of the German Wikipedia's operations (which is all from others' descriptions so may not be accurate) you have a much more stringent article acceptance policy, deleted far more new entries with less bureaucracy and less repercussions than we do here, so it's much easier to control the flow of new articles. Again, this is from third hand reports, but that's the impression I have been given. If this is true, you are better situated to deal with ip article creation than we are, warts and all and so you balancing act is quite different than ours.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:00, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, the German article acceptance policy is quite different. A few examples: We don't accept articles about tv episodes. We have a List of The Simpsons episodes but no Category:The Simpsons episodes. We rarely accept articles about fictional characters, so we have a List of Middle-earth characters but no Category:Middle-earth characters. Most articles with 2 or 3 sentences become candidates for speedy deletion. And so on. And, of course, this has many effects. First of all, the German Wikipedia grows slower than many other Wikipedia projects. (I just realized that the Category:Middle-earth characters exists in 14 different languages.) On the other hand, it's easier to deal with vandalism, maintenance, and quality issues. So, you're right: It's comparing apples to oranges ;). Maybe it is useful to block IP article creation on en and it would not be useful on de. But, of course, we might still learn something from your experiences. Davidlud (talk) 04:08, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(undent) If you are interested in the impact of requiring logins for creating new pages, the English Wikipedia has 6,933,105 articles now, and even before I would try to determine whether pace of new article creation changed as a result of requiring logins, I can tell you that the rate of new article creation on Wikipedia remains high. One might argue that the rate is too high, given the low number of high-quality articles. For every article that reaches good or featured status, we probably gain at least 100 new articles which aren't so good, and we don't have nearly enough skilled editors to fix them all soon. (I'm glad there is no deadline.) The English Wikipedia remains much better at attracting users who want to create new articles than users who want to gain the level of editing experience necessary to improve existing articles up to featured quality. Also, we delete an appalling number of articles, many if not most of which seem to be attempts by relatively inexperienced users. I consider it an ergonomic shortcoming that Wikipedia somehow gives lots of people the idea to create entirely new articles, and that becomes their incentive to create an account and dive straight into what is clearly one of the more difficult editing challenges here: creating new articles that "stick." It would be better if we somehow fired the new users' imaginations to improve our existing articles, but that is hard for a new user to comprehend, whereas anyone can notice that an article is missing when they search for it. --Teratornis (talk) 05:58, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, the argument goes like this?: Wikipedia grows so fast that it becomes unstable and it's almost impossible to control and improve the quality of existing articles. Blocking IP article creation is a good idea because it might help to shift attention from new to existing articles. I think this is more convincing than the vandalism argument. And this is also a problem for the German Wikipedia. We had a huge debate about blocking article creation in general for one week to raise awareness about existing articles ;). --Davidlud (talk) 12:32, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia = Facebook?

Resolved

Is it normal to get a article as unimportant local player and former "succesful" U-11 indoor soccer tournament player? see Stiven_Petruševski —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.49.64.24 (talk) 20:23, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, it's not. The subject probably isn't notable, and the article should be taken to AfD. Thanks for pointing this out. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 20:35, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box (as shown to the left ←). Do NOT sign in articles....... Dendodge.Talk^Help 20:38, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Running out of patience

Hi, Moebiusuibeom-en here, Wikipedia editor and contributor, am I in the right place?, haven't the vaguest idea but I've been trying to get to find the right place for the last six hours with no luck, I'm not very protocol savvy and have a problem logging in!! I have emptied my Cache and Cookie folder as asked and somehow i can now edit but cannot Log in, among many messages I'm getting; "Log in error: Wikipedia uses cookies to log in users. You have cookies disabled. Please enable them and try again.", but I'm continually getting "cookies" (whoever invented this?) disabled, I do what is asked with no avail, other notices I've gotten; "You logged in with a temporary e-mailed code. To finish logging in, you must set a new password here:" but link seems to be inoperative.

I'm I being blocked?!

My operating system is a magnificent vintage Mac OS 9.2, please, please someone help!!

Kind regards xxxxxxx alias Moebiusuibeom-en 64.237.165.247 (talk) 22:02, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What browser are you using? (and yes, you are in the right place) Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 22:04, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Assuming you're using Safari, click on Safari, Preferences, Security, then click the check the box under Accept Cookies marked Always. Hope that helps.--VectorPotential Talk 22:12, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

He's certainly not running Safari on OS 9.2. It's either IE or an older Netscape-based browser. - Kesh (talk) 04:28, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hey, Moebiusuibeom-en here again, I'm running on "commercial free" Internet Explorer 5; any fixes?!, I probably need to update my browser but for the eternal Mac OS 9.2 there isn't much available, if any body knows what would be best please let me know . Kind regards xxxxxxx alias Moebiusuibeom-en 64.237.165.247 (talk) 17:06, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

users versus editors versus ???

The main page says: Welcome to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Some users, however, say "...our article states..." What do they mean by "our"? Does the Wikipedia "belong" to or is it "possessed" by a certain group of people, since it can be downloaded as if belonging to anyone and everyone and can be edited as if belonging to anyone and everyone and donated to as if belonging to anyone and everyone. So what gives with this "...our article says..." stuff? Also what is the difference between a "user" and an "editor" since all signatures are prefixed by "User:"? 71.100.11.39 (talk) 22:49, 27 April 2008 (UTC) [reply]

Those are some very good questions, and here are some of the answers (or some of some of the answers, perhaps). Firstly, there is no real difference between a Wikipedia "editor" and a Wikipedia "user". Technically, everyone in the world (or possibly everyone with internet access, or with internet access that doesn't currently block Wikipedia, depending on how you want to class it) could be called a Wikipedia editor, since that's the "anyone can edit" idea. However, depending on the context, some people use both terms to refer either to someone who has edited Wikipedia, or to someone who has registered an account on Wikipedia (the last is sometimes called a "logged-in user" or a "registered user" to distinguish from an "anonymous user" such as yourself).

As to "our article", you are in fact quite correct - no-one owns an article and no-one can have control over the content of an article. However, that doesn't stop some people from trying, and especially if someone has contributed a large amount of content to an article, or was the one who created it, it is tempting for them to refer to it as "my article". However, it's something that people should avoid (and perhaps made aware of it, if they start behaving like they do have some kind of control over it). However, sometimes people will also refer to any article as "our article", since the articles do belong to Wikipedia, and as an editor we are a part of Wikipedia. In that context, "our article" just means "the Wikipedia article". Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 23:19, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's easy to see why people think they 'own' an article,, wikipedia implies that. When they go to create an article wiki says to them 'Before creating an article, please read Wikipedia:Your first article. SunCreator (talk) 23:32, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That's a good point. I remember seeing some discussion about changing the name of WP:YFA in the past, though I can't really remember where. I think Wikipedia:starting an article is fairly neutral and gets the descriptive part done. What say you?.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:37, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How about that! I though that link would be red but it's a redirect to YFA. Maybe a reversal of position is in order.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:40, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There is a name discussion this month at Wikipedia talk:Your first article#Conflicts with WP:OWN. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:37, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(undent) The English language is ambiguous here. A person might say "my country," "my school," or "my employer" without implying that he or she owns the country, school, or employer, respectively. In those cases, the "possessive" pronoun does not really imply possession, but rather it implies an association with. A person should correctly say something like "the country I inhabit," "the school I attend," "the company which employs me," but few people do and generally the hearer must use his or her life experience to parse the meaning of the misleading possessive pronoun. This linguistic imprecision is of course one of the reasons why computers do not yet consistently pass the Turing test. Programs like Cyc rely on vastly detailed ontologies to describe the many distinct types of relationship that a given word can indicate in different contexts. Trying to write such programs makes it clear just how much detailed knowledge a human has to absorb and internalize while growing up to make sense of everyday natural language. On Wikipedia, our prior knowledge doesn't resolve all the ambiguities of all the everyday words that Wikipedia reuses in some specialized technical sense. --Teratornis (talk) 05:44, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Indent and number headings

The differences between styles at different heading levels seems very subtle, and I tend to go back and forth from the text and the content window at the top. Is it possible to indent and/or number the headings according to the outline style of the content window? Alternatively, there is a wasted strip on the left that might be used as a frame to keep the outline in view. I usually hate frames but am still interested to offer up this idea because the outline is very useful. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zaqry (talk • contribs) 23:16, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think you are referring to section headings. You can enable numbering from Special:Preferences → Misc → Auto-number headings. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 00:17, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

April 28

best rated audio visual system

worlds best rated companies manufacturing audio/ visual systems .eg dvd player ,amplifiers, speakers etc----MONTY--- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.94.96.66 (talk) 00:55, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

--— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 00:59, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. This page is for asking questions about using Wikipedia. You may get a response at the reference desk, which is for general knowledge questions. However, even there, I doubt you will get a definitive answer. Your question is very broad and seeks a concrete answer to a question that by its nature invites subjective responses.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:33, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Edit count tool limit

Is there a way to change the 45000 edit limit of the edit statistics tool. It will only fetch the last 45,000 edits. --TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 03:53, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You should probably ask the tool's operator, User:Interiot. It probably cuts off where it does to avoid murdering the servers, in which case the answer would be no - I get an error message saying "Too many pages fetched. Terminating." Your query takes forever to load as it is. Another solution, of course, would be to stop being such an over-achiever. ;-) Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 04:00, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Not as comprehensive as Interiot's tool, but it's worth noting that query.php doesn't have such a limit. Someguy1221 (talk) 04:03, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I just see a bunch of code at the alternate tool. Did you give me the correct link.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 07:49, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's the right link...Just like the this incredibly useful tool, query.php outputs its data in a format that is probably not meant to be read by actual humans. Very easy for bots, scripts and the like to comprehend, though. The edit count is bracketed by <count></count>. Someguy1221 (talk) 08:10, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the alternate tool. The detail of the other tool is important. I would just like to see it for all my edits rather than just the last 45000.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 23:05, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Number of frogs in an average pond

I'm tring to find out infromation on the numbr of frogs thta live in an average pond? Any idea where to look. Pls help me cause I cant fnd it on ur website —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jimjones0000005 (talk • contribs) 04:41, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'd be curious to know what an "average" pond is. I guess that would require counting the frogs in every pond, and computing the mean. Given the large number of ponds, that could be difficult. Would we only count adult frogs, and not tadpoles? What happens if a bird eats a frog while we are counting? There might also be some problem with deciding whether a given body of water is a pond or a lake. Anyway, this general knowledge question belongs on the Reference desk rather than the Help desk (this page), which is for questions about using Wikipedia. You could also try searching the Web with Google for:number of frogs in an average pond. Good luck. --Teratornis (talk) 05:32, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Template

Are there any templates (tags) that warn against copying material from another source? Yohan euan o4 (talk) 07:01, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. For an article, the list of cleanup tags suggests {{copypaste}}, or for blatant violations {{db-copyvio}}. To warn the user that posted the material, the list of user warning tags offers {{uw-copyright}}. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 07:28, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Yohan euan o4 (talk) 18:06, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

help

I work for an overseas company and my boss had recently asked to post an introduction about the company (EMKC, CMKC). However, when i tried, it was rejected by the Wikipedia admins...

Can you tell me what i'm doing wrong, or what to do correctly so i can make this post because I see company profiles of companies all the time on wikipedia... Thank You... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yonigs (talk • contribs) 08:21, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Creation of articled by the companies involved is generally discouraged due to a conflict of interest. Also, articles have to mention reliable sources in order to show that the topic is verifiable and notable. You may also want to read about creating your first article to help producing articles in the future. Hope this helps. Gazimoff ^Write_Read 09:50, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please use a descriptive title in future questions.

...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 11:38, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please read all of WP:BFAQ before starting an article about your company. --Teratornis (talk) 15:16, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Map co-ordinates link doesn't seem to work

The article on Boeing Everett Factory gives the building's co-ordinates at the top right. Clicking that link takes me to a Wikimedia tools page that should enable me to view the building on Google Earth and other tools. However, something appears to be broken. The co-ordinates given are all zeroes, meaning that the none of the map links work. Anyone? --Richardrj ^talk ^email 09:52, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I fixed it. Someone added a + in where there shouldn't be one. -mattbuck (Talk) 10:08, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for trying, but it's still not right. Clicking the Google Earth link on the GeoHack page just takes me to some residential area, not to the largest building in the world :) --Richardrj ^talk ^email 10:25, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Then whoever put the coordinates in got them wrong. -mattbuck (Talk) 10:45, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I realised that. Ah well, thanks again for your efforts. --Richardrj ^talk ^email 10:48, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I fixed the coordinates. They should now be correct. Spencer^T♦^C 10:56, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks very much. --Richardrj ^talk ^email 12:17, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"New Section" vs. "+"

On my preferences I have the check next to the gadget making use of the "+" instead of the "new section". However, on Talk:Orontes River, I still see "new section", even though I checked the gadget weeks ago. I purged my cache, but still got the "new section". Is this a bug? Spencer^T♦^C 10:53, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It is suspect you haven't clear your cache all, try to purge again, i have no problem in my browser. --Aleen f1 10:56, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it's probably cached somewhere - might be at your ISP if you cannot change it. If you manually add ? to the url then you should get an uncached version. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:52, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

When you purge, you are purging the current page, not your entire cache. Disable the setting, purge, enable the setting, then purge. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 12:02, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Grrr... note to Spencer as well as the help desk volunteers - purging is not the same as clearing your cache. Gadget850 uses the correct link above, although he's still using the wrong terminology. "Purging" refers to WP:PURGE, which clears Wikipedia's server's cache of a single page. "Bypassing" or "clearing your cache" is WP:CACHE, a different page and different thing entirely, which removes all cached versions of all pages from a single user's browser. This is often what is needed to correct issues brought up by preferences and monobook changes. Purging usually only helps with templates that haven't updated on a page they're being used on, and other things that likewise would affect everyone. Please, to avoid confusing those that come here for help, use the right terms! Thank you. (Pet peeve) Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 12:15, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, I did that and it's working now. Sorry Hersfold. Spencer^T♦^C 23:17, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia Front Page

Hi. My Wikipedia front page is stuck on 1 Jan 2008. Can you tell me how I can fix it so that it updates every day, please. Thanks Peter203.164.170.205 (talk) 12:25, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you're sure the page you're looking at is actually the current version of the main page as opposed to an archive of the January 1st page, you could try clearing your cache. Sometimes the database throws outdated revisions at you, clearing your cache usually solves this.--VectorPotential Talk 12:33, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. I experience a similar problem when I am logged out and am trying to view the current reference desk, although not as severe as you described. When this happens, the RefDesk is stuck on a day or two prior to the current version, even if the computer I'm using hadn't previously looked at that particular previous version. I either solve this problem by logging in or by checking the history and going to the latest version diff, but this might not work for you as the Main page is transcluded. Thanks. ~A H 1^(TCU) 21:03, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Verfying a Source

I'm wondering if this website counts as a reliable source.

http://www.thelostworlds.net/index.html

There is some self-supplied material, but all material not taken directly from the game series the website is about is noted as such, Beyond that the site is largely an archive of deleted material from the game series and such an archive is being used as a source in an article. So, would this site count as a reliable source, as I'm only citing the game material and not the website's original content? The Clawed One (talk) 12:58, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You might find some guidance at WP:EIW#Source. I'm not sure many Help desk volunteers could tell just by looking at that site; some analysis would probably be required, by someone with knowledge of the site's subject (I've never heard of that game, so I have no idea what would be a reliable source about it). However, on first glance, the site doesn't look to me as obviously "reliable" as the New York Times, the Times of London, and other major news outlets. Professional news organizations have standards for fact checking and so on. They can make mistakes, but you have some idea what you're dealing with. With a random site, we have no idea whether it has any fact-checking standards in place. --Teratornis (talk) 16:43, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia's policies are of not help to me at all, to me there's just a bunch of confusing doublespeak. I've looked at the source pages before and have no clue how they relate to me. The Clawed One (talk) 18:00, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You could try taking it to the reliable sources noticeboard and get them to argue about it there. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 23:24, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that Wikipedia's manual pages tend to be less than crystal clear on a first reading, but if you just keep reading them day after day, eventually they will start to make sense. At first they are hard to understand because you won't know all the jargon. It's like you have to read every page before you can understand the first page. Just keep reading the help pages and following the links. It has to eventually make sense, or else Wikipedia could not possibly work. Everything people do here, they learned directly or indirectly from the manuals. Except for the tiny handful of people who made things up. But even they usually only made up a little bit per person, and most of the rest they learned by reading the manuals that other people wrote. Wikipedia is perhaps the world's largest do it yourself project, so everything depends on users being willing to read the instructions and figure them out. This takes a lot of effort, but I think it's worth doing, because the result looks pretty impressive. --Teratornis (talk) 04:29, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

SPL records

On Saturday, the Hearts player Scott Robinson became the youngest ever player in the SPL. I have edited the statistics page, and gave a link to the Hearts website where it confirms his age (although it only describes him as the youngest ever Hearts player. I haven't found an actual source stating he is youngest ever SPL player, but he is a month younger than the previous record holder, Jamie McLuskey!)

I don't know how to link his name to his actual wikipedia page though, so when you click on it, you are taken to this page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Robinson. His actual page is here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Robinson_%28footballer%29

Can some kind person please amend this for me

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rossi 1983 (talk • contribs) 14:27, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed. You wanted a piped link. Algebraist 14:40, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Scott Robinson is a disambiguation page since there are several persons with this name— Scott Robinson (footballer) can easily be added. There is a bigger problem, as the article Scott Robinson (footballer) does not assert notability. The article has no references that explains why this person, out of thousands of sports personages is notable enough to include in Wikipedia. Please read Wikipedia:Notability. If this is not fixed quickly, the article will get deleted. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 14:43, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the replies

I never created the Scott Robinson page, but when I found it thought they should be linked.

Is being the youngest ever player in the SPL not a suitable enough reason to have a page? The previous record holder, Jamie McCluskey, has a page, when nothing else of note has happened in his career —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rossi 1983 (talk • contribs) 14:50, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Notability (people)#Athletes. --Teratornis (talk) 15:14, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Rossi 1983— please sign your comments. Yes- Shughamster created the page. See Wikipedia:Other stuff exists. If Jamie McCluskey is not up to par, it is danger of deletion. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:21, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I updated that disambiguation page, but the article really needs work. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:57, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Boxes

Resolved

Hi. Literally, in the last few minutes I signed up to Wikipiedia. Do you know them boxes with the pictures of brooms or !s or ?s. Are users allowed to make them. I think I should make one to put on my userpage to tell people I'm on a shared network. SimsFan (talk) 15:43, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Those are {{ambox}}es, and are generally used for cleanup notices in articles, but you can certainly create your own using that template. The instructions on that page should show you how. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 15:48, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank You very much. SimsFan (talk) 15:54, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:EIW#Messageboxes and WP:EIW#Userbox. --Teratornis (talk) 16:37, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

deletion

my page I created was deleted, becasue it contained copyrighted info, how can I un delete my file to put in un copyrighted info and start again ?

regards

LA08 (talk) 18:20, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you can tell me the name of the page, I can help you find the admin who deleted your page. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells•Otter chirps)} 18:22, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It was Ian Haig deleted by User:Aleta. Woody (talk) 18:26, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It was a copy of http://www.ianhaig.net/Biography.html, thus it was deleted as a copyright violation. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:37, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can just create the page again in your own words (not copying word-for-word from other pages). It doesn't need to be undeleted. Ansbaradigeidfran (talk) 20:43, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

articles

how do i create an aricle lets say about my school or even about an organization iam in here thats not offical yet? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kredkids (talk • contribs) 20:30, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please see Your first article.

Make sure the subject is notable enough to have their own article.
Find references
Make sure no article on the subject exists under a different title by typing the subject into the search box to the left (←) and clicking 'Search'
Type the page name in the search box to the left (←) and click 'Go'
Click 'Create this page'
Create the article, including all your references, making sure you adhere to the Manual of Style and our article layout
Be aware that Wikipedia deletes thousands of new articles for failing to adhere to our policies and guidelines. New articles by new users are at extra risk of deletion, due to new users' unfamiliarity with our rules. Consider gaining experience by editing existing articles before attempting to create new ones. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 20:48, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Did I understand that you want to write an article about an organization that has not been officially created yet? Such an organization is surely not yet notable yet. To post such an article you would have to wait until it has independent press coverage. —teb728 t c 21:09, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If so, remember that Wikipedia is not a crystal ball, and future events should not be reported on unless they are referenced. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 21:24, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Multiple images, single caption

Is there a way to group a number (say 4) images under one caption? I'd like them laid out vertically on the right of the page, like {{ImageStackRight}}, but with only one caption box encompassing all of them. Ansbaradigeidfran (talk) 20:37, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try {{Multiple image}} or {{Infobox Awards}}. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:51, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

{{Multiple image}} did the trick: [3] Thanks, Ansbaradigeidfran (talk) 21:02, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Those status thingies

Hi. Does anyone know where to find, I think it's a template, that you put on your userpage? It shows whether you are online or offline, depending on when you log in or log out of Wikipedia. What's the best one that I can use? I want one that is as close as possible to automaticly updating the status bar right when you log in, and when you log out or close the Wikipedia window. Is there one that works with IE and Windows? Does it give you extra cookies? Anyway, if I get one, it's one of those things that says something along the lines of "This user is ONLINE" or "This user is OFFLINE"? Also, it should update automaticly so that I wouldn't have to change it myself. Does the indicator strip's changes show up in an edit history, and do I change my monobook to use it? It should not require logging onto any site other than the English Wikipedia. Thanks. ~A H 1^(TCU) 20:54, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Erm, I think User:Misza13 runs a bot that does it; here is how to get the code. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 21:09, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. Um, that page apparently says that it does not work under IE 7, I'm using IE but I don't know which version, and also I fixed the POV-laden gibberish that used to be in that box (Internet Exploder, Winblows Vista, nobody cares). Should I try it anyway, or is there the risk that it will mis-inform users about whether or not I'm actually online? Also, will it go on the right-top corner of my userpage? Thanks. ~A H 1^(TCU) 21:29, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've got one that is very good - it was designed by User:Chetblong and adapted by User:Basketball110. The only down bit is that you have to work it manually - by typing "in", "out" or "busy". It can always work unlike statusbot which breaks down sometimes - says you're offline when you're online. This one does go in the top-right corner as well. Type

{{User:Basketball110/StatusTemplate|in}} Or you can go to my userpage to check it out. Fattyjwoods ^{(Push my button)} 04:13, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

oops I think this is the same one weburiedoursecrets... was talking about. Fattyjwoods ^{(Push my button)} 04:18, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"Suggestions" in search are now not my previous searches.

Until recently typing in the WP search box brought up a list of my previous searches which matched the letters I had just typed. Now anything typed in the box brings up a list of about ten matching suggestions which in general are not things I have searched for. Is it me and my computer or has WP's coding been changed?--SilasW (talk) 21:37, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Pretty recent change, the search box will now include suggestions based on recent searches from other users. If you'd rather it didn't do this, you can disable it in the "Search" tab of Special:Preferences (the "Disable AJAX suggestions" box will turn this off, if checked). – Luna Santin (talk) 21:44, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, that did it.--SilasW (talk) 13:33, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Top of page notices

I would like to know the name of the page where you request notices to go on the top of the main page, watchlist etc. Anyone know? I've seen it before, but do not know what it was called. STORMTRACKER 94 ^{Go Irish!} 21:41, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The two most commonly used are MediaWiki talk:Sitenotice and Template talk:Watchlist-notice ({{editprotected}} can be a useful template to attract attention, when asking for a change). I'm not a regular editor in that area, so can't give you much advice beyond a starting direction. :) – Luna Santin (talk) 21:47, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Edit This Page tab

I know that I can turn the "edit this page" tab back into a + sign by going into preferences and changing it back. However, I don't see an option for this in my prefs. I just see an option to change the "new section" tab on my talk page to a +, but nothing that will change "edit this page" into a + sign. What gives? Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells•Otter chirps)} 21:54, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"edit this page" has always (at least a year) been "edit this page" never a + sign. So there is not a mechanism for changing it "back" to a + sign. On talk pages there was until very recently a "+" tab right next to the "edit this page" tab. This was recently changed to "add section" and a preference to change it back to a + sign. Sbowers3 (talk) 22:06, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I was told that I can change "edit this page" to something else. Is there an easy way to change it? I have so many tabs now that my "unlink" tab isn't showing up (the tabs don't all fit in my browser window anymore), and I'd really like to get "unlink" back. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells•Otter chirps)} 22:13, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Never mind, I fixed it. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells•Otter chirps)} 22:19, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Becoming A Project Member

How does one become a member of a wikiproject? Do you apply or just add the category to your userpage? Fribbler (talk) 23:02, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Check the project portal- there is usually a member list you can add your name to. Check the discussions on the project page and participate. If you have trouble finding a particular project to join, let us know. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 23:04, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks gadget850, it is Wikiproject Ireland I wish to join. (WP:IE) Fribbler (talk) 23:19, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The first section is "Participants" with a link to the members page. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 00:31, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

So do I just throw my name in there and its done, I'm a member? Excuse the, perhaps basic, questions; I'm an enthusiastic newbie :-) Fribbler (talk) 00:36, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, there is the small matter of the initiation fee (payable to me).... Aw, nevermind, for you I'll waive it. Just sign up to a Wikiproject and you're in. --barneca (talk) 00:41, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The cheque is in the post barneca :-) So do you mean I just add my name and thats that? I know it's informal, but is that it in terms of ettiquette? Fribbler (talk) 00:49, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Usually, yes. They might also have a userbox template you can put on your user page to announce your status. I suppose I could look to see if that is the case. Also see WP:PROJGUIDE if you want more details than you probably want about WikiProjects work. --Teratornis (talk) 04:33, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oddly, Wikipedia:WikiProject Ireland/Templates does not list a userbox template, but Wikipedia:WikiProject Ireland/Members#Userbox shows {{User WPIreland}}. You could put that on your user page. --Teratornis (talk) 04:50, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

After ten good edits, you may display a wee image of a bottle of Irish whisky. (If you choose to. It's optional.) Wanderer57 (talk) 05:06, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Cancel button on edit page

My apologies if this is the wrong place to suggest this. There are 3 buttons on an "edit" page. "Save", "Show Changes", and "Preview." There is a check box for the cancel his or her changes. I suggest that it be replaced with a button just like the other three options. It's a bit like a brake in a car. The driver must know where it is and be able to hit it without any effort. I didn't see the "Cancel" check box until after I made some mistakes.

Ephraimh (talk) 23:47, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

From what I can see, "Cancel" is a link that takes you back to the page you were editing - there's no checkbox that I can find, or need to click to make it work. If you ever need to cancel what you're doing, you can also just click the "article" tab at the top of your page, or "Edit this page" to reset the edit box. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 23:51, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to propose a change you can go to the village pump.--Sunny910910 ^{(talk|Contributions|Guest)} 23:57, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Downloading SVG files

I am trying to download an SVG file so that I can open it up in a vector editor and edit for my own uses. I read the terms of use and it states that I am allowed to do this as long as I do not use it for a flash video. I am following the directions on how to open an svg in an external editor provided on the page but I still cannot get it to work. The specific file is the world map located here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BlankMap-World6-Equirectangular.svg Can someone help me download this file please! (P.S. I am using a mac computer) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dprdoran (talk • contribs) 23:52, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If it's trying to download index.php when you use the external editor link then try opening [4] and saving that, there should be a save image feature in your browser, however I'm not a mac user so I ain't sure where it is! Then open the image you saved in your editor. Andy^reply 00:33, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You might find something useful under WP:EIW#Graphic. --Teratornis (talk) 04:13, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

April 29

how can you put an image on a article?

IMarythepirate (talk) 01:10, 29 April 2008 (UTC)searched for Till Lindemann's article and there is no image and i wanted to know how i can put and image for Till Lindemann[reply]

You will first have to find one on either Wikipedia or Commons (by adding "Image:" in front of your search). Then display it by putting it's name, with the prefix "Image:", between double square brackets (like [[Image:IMAGENAME]]). Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 01:30, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Images on Wikipedia are a complicated topic. See WP:EIW#Image for all the information. It's not clear from your question whether you have a copyright-free image of Till Lindemann on your computer that you want to upload, or whether you are trying to find an image suitable from Wikipedia. Please clarify. I see the article already has this image: Image:TillLindemann2.jpg, but it is not in the {{Infobox Musical artist}} at the top of the article~~, and the copyright status may not be clear~~. --Teratornis (talk) 04:10, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Image:TillLindemann2.jpg appears to have the proper GFDL. --Teratornis (talk) 04:11, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Spam image

Image:Mepps.jpg This image is a spam image and has been repeatedly used by its contributor Hoodoo to spam Wikipedia. How do I get it removed? --Geronimo20 (talk) 01:24, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Images don't get deleted unless you're sure that the image is the vandalism. The best thing to do, as the person doesn't seem to know about the Wikipedia anti-spam policies, is to not bite and bring it up on his talk page politely. If he continues, warn him. After 4th warning, report to WP:AIV. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 01:36, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Geronimo20: This is confusing. The image seems to have been inserted once by Hoodoo. Can you explain what spamming you are talking about? Wanderer57 (talk) 04:28, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I took another look. This is quite confusing. 1) Are you getting Hoodoo confused with Voodoo? 2) The alleged spammer seems to be having serious problems with syntax. Until that is resolved, it is difficult to know if it is spamming or "experimentation" 3) The more interesting question (to me) in the fishing in Ohio article is how it went from mid-2006 to April 2008 with promos for particular brands of fishing lures. Please take a look at that. (Maybe the editor you are concerned about saw this and decided it was okay to promote a particular brand of gear.) Wanderer57 (talk) 05:00, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Note: I changed Voodoo to Hoodoo (in the original question) because it was quite obvious that Hoodoo, not Voodoo, has been using the image the most and is the editor this person is having problems with. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 05:03, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How do you put 2 templates beside each other?

Hi. I can't work out how to put the 2 templates Firstminister and Deputyfirstminister beside each other on First Minister and deputy First Minister, help!--Nanometre (talk) 02:13, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The {{Infobox}} meta-template used to create those templates prevents them from doing that - they aren't supposed to go side by side. And as a side-note, the template shouldn't have a /doc on the end of it - that page is supposed to be for the template documentation, if it needs one (I have fixed the problem). Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 02:39, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you!--Nanometre (talk) 02:49, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Template documentation explains about /doc subpages for template documentation. It's worth a read if you do much coding with templates, since you'll run into this often. --Teratornis (talk) 04:16, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Reporting mistaken image

What is the best place or way to report an image that isn't showing what it says it shows? --Lisa4edit (talk) 05:09, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Could you explain a little more. Which image is it - a link would be useful? Astronaut (talk) 05:38, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, rabbits? There's no central discussion area. You can consult the reference desk to see if you can find someone who would know, and then it's editorial discretion thereafter...which in this case would probably mean a deletion and reuploading of that image under a better name, if it is indeed not a rabbit. The original uploader, Neutrality (talk · contribs) is still active, so you could ask him as well. Someguy1221 (talk) 05:41, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like a rabbit to my non-expert eye. By comparison, the hare article has this image: Image:Feldhase.jpg, which does look like a hare to my (still non-expert) eye. Astronaut (talk) 05:57, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The first looks like a hare, the second like a long-eared kangaroo, to my (also non-expert) eye. Wanderer57 (talk) 06:33, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, but you see it's German. Their Easterbunny is a Osterhase (Easterhare) the pouch is (presumably) on the back :-)

Thanks to all of you. --Lisa4edit (talk) 16:57, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

slipring induction motor

In a slip ring motor , it drawing more than the rated current in no load it self. Both reistance of stator and rotor were checked and found ok. IR value of both rotor and stator found ok. the rotor is checked for any short circuits and it is also not there. What will be the reason for drawing the higher current. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.163.30.2 (talk) 06:29, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Wikipedia:Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. StephenBuxton (talk) 06:56, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

reading text of a publicatio/book

I want to read text of IKHWAN AL-SAFA “″ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.65.197.37 (talk) 07:28, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This is for asking questions about how to use wikipedia. Cou can read about them at Brethren of Purity but I'm not sure what you're reffering to as they were a society. Harland1 (^t/_c) 09:39, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Template:Cite web problem in X-Plane (simulator)

Resolved

Fix it please 155.69.165.161 (talk) 08:47, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The citation must be placed between <ref> and </ref> so it will show in the references section.
The cite does not need "format= Review". Format is for the type of file; this is not normally needed unless the file type is not automatically recognized.

--— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 09:35, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Could someone check my IPA?

I've added an IPA pronunciation for the first time on Mark DeSaulnier and would much appreciate if someone could check that I have done it correctly. Thanks. Itsmejudith (talk) 09:55, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try asking on the talk page of Wikipedia:WikiProject Phonetics. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 16:10, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

wikitable sortable issue

Hi, my article List of Dutch vegetarians is currently a WP:FLC. A reviewer suggested to make the columns "Name" and "Life" sortable, which I think would indeed be an improvement. The problem is that I do not if it is even possible to sort a name when the article is not on this Wikipedia, but on the Dutch one. For instance, this doesn't work ('''{{sortname|:nl:Leon|Verdonschot}}'''), and neither does this '''{{sortname|Leon|:nl:Verdonschot}}'''. Maybe there is another way, but I want the table to remain the same. Thanks in advance. Baldrick90 (talk) 11:24, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Help:Table#Sorting. Your tables are short, so I really don't see the value. Sorting will be by the first character, so the name column will sort by first name; again not real useful. There is a way to add a hidden sort key— I will have to look that up. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 11:57, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

More on sorting at Help:Sorting. You can add a hidden sort key in the table by using {{Sort}}. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 13:04, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much. I used the sort key and it works fine now. Baldrick90 (talk) 23:53, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Vague or ambiguous time

I am working up a new article regional fisheries. Sure, it's a brand new mess, needs work, and is a global article which has numerous copyedits from other articles. But a category has most mysteriously appeared at the bottom called Category:Vague or ambiguous time. Nobody (or no bot) has entered it according to the edit history. Where did this come from? What does it mean? Should I worry about it? Should I just delete it? But it gets worse. I can't delete it because it doesn't appear as a category in the article. Is this the Cabal? Have I finally succumbed to the famed wikipedia editor psychosis? If so, do I get a barnstar, or will I just be left to rot? And it gets worse again. If you put the article in edit mode and look at the bottom, it says things like: This page is a member of 5 hidden categories, and then there is a list of all sorts of nefarious thingamajigs I am apparently guilty of. Please help! It can only be the Cabal. It is my punishment for not believing... oops, oh, oh dear... no... please... please no... aaarrrrrggghhhhh... --Geronimo20 (talk) 12:24, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's one of the {{when}} tags in the article. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells•Otter chirps)} 12:29, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've made the category hidden, I don't see any need for it to appear at the bottom of articles...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 16:36, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

brownington mo

I want to make a comment about brownington . the town was named after my great grandfather tom browning . Who donated the land for the baptist church. also my great great grandfather gardland who donated the land for the cementry thank you Barbara1st (talk) 13:15, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to find out information on the town, please try the Wikipedia:Reference desk. This is the Help Desk, for help on USING Wikipedia only. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells•Otter chirps)} 13:22, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Indenting a bulleted list

Please see A Black Box, specifically the bulleted list under "Track listing". The items in bullets are the parts of the song "Flight". I want to indent the bulleted list so that it begins a little way in from the margin, i.e. where it is now but without the two extraneous bullets before "Flying Blind". How would I do this? --Richardrj ^talk ^email 13:53, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A colon and an asterisk. I fixed it for you. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells•Otter chirps)} 13:58, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Lovely, thank you. --Richardrj ^talk ^email 14:02, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

brownington mo hendry country

Thank You peter Symomds For Your Reply . I Do Have Reliable Sources. Printed Doctments To verify Information , also Internet Verifcation Through Maplewood Cementry That states Information. Thank You —Preceding unsigned comment added by Barbara1st (talk • contribs) 14:31, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You Do Not Need To Capitalize The First Letter Of Every Word As It Is Very Strange Looking. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells•Otter chirps)} 14:35, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

~~It sounds like you want to add information to an article. Go ahead. If it's verifiable, it should survive. If not, it will be reverted. -- Kesh (talk) 14:50, 29 April 2008 (UTC)~~[reply]
- Looking at your talk page, it appears you're referring to Brownington, Missouri. Given that the church itself isn't mentioned in the article, you'd first need to demonstrate that the church itself is notable enough to mention in the article. Then, you could include information about the donation. -- Kesh (talk) 14:56, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Censor

I'm not sure if I noticed correctly but is Wikipedia automatically censoring obscene words or something? -- Menti sock 14:47, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, Wikipedia has no censorship built into its software. What are you referring to? -- Kesh (talk) 14:51, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's the f word. You can try it with preview as well. Dashes appear instead of it. -- Menti sock 15:03, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fuck fuck fuck...looks okay to me. Grsz ^talk 15:05, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Same here; are you at a library or something? Veinor ^{(talk to me)} 15:07, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ah yeah... I am. Thanks for helping me figure that out. :-p I would dread the day WP ever got censored. -- Menti sock 15:09, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a guideline, saying you can't use words like f**k or s**t. Also, the words may be blocked out because of your browser settings. SimsFan (talk) 15:13, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know why you folks are re-editing your use of words like fuck or shit, considering we even have articles on them. :) Wikipedia is not censored. It may be considered impolite at times, but there is no rule against using "swear words," since those are going to vary from place to place. -- Kesh (talk) 15:17, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) Fuck no! Wikipedia is not censored (don't tell my mum!)...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 15:19, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah there's some Symantec Web Security that can even block pages that exceed its "tolerance of questionable words". Oh well, at least I can get on WP! -- Menti sock 15:23, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah at my school some wikipedia page are blocked because they 'exceed your weighted phrase limit. :) Harland1 (^t/_c) 17:09, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(undent) Here is a great video featuring Steven Pinker sharing his wisdom about swear words:

Steven Pinker - The Stuff of Thought on YouTube

--Teratornis (talk) 18:33, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

At my school, they've blocked google.com, and I had to fight to get Wikipedia unblocked! They've not got a 'weighted phrase' feature, just a power-hungry IT technician...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 18:36, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Helping

Is there a special procedure, or instructions, that I must read before I use the Wikipedia: pages, like helping on this page? SimsFan (talk) 14:57, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No. Just being a fairly experienced editor should be good enough. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells•Otter chirps)} 15:00, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

So I can't edit. Man! Thanks for your help. SimsFan (talk) 15:02, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Every project page is different. Generally, if you know what you're saying and believe in your argument then you could edit it. I thought that applied everywhere. :-) -- Menti sock 15:07, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The way I started was just doing general editing for a few months, and reading the Help Desk to learn new things. Once I was comfortable I knew what was going on, I started answering basic questions here. Just give it some time. -- Kesh (talk) 15:19, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, in answer to your question related to this page... yes, there are these guidelines but ultimately it comes down to whether you know the answer or not. Don't worry too much. -- Menti sock 15:29, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah- if you are wrong, you will get corrected. Mercilessly :) Actually, I've learned more about the WP underbelly than would have if I were trying to formally learn this stuff. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:51, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Help desk/How to answer#Why volunteer? That section explains the benefits of becoming a Help desk volunteer. Also, I agree with Menti, but I'd spin it a little differently: ultimately, it comes down to whether you can find the answer. I don't know the answer to every single question on the Help desk off the top of my head, but we have such great search and reference tools that I can find the answers to some of the stumpers with a modest effort. For example, we have a huge number of repetitive questions, so you can recycle lots of old answers by searching the Help desk archive. Once you learn how to do that, you become invincible on Wikipedia. OK, not really, but knowing how to look stuff up makes a huge difference, because Wikipedia is probably the world's largest do it yourself project. --Teratornis (talk) 17:17, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

New page

Please I would like to know if you can make a page as the one in this address, but in Spanish, because it is about Spanish translations of the Bible:

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

This page doesn't have the choice for Spanish translation.

Thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by Renzogio (talk • contribs) 15:30, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box (as shown to the left ←). Do NOT sign in articles....... Dendodge.Talk^Help 15:48, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Spanish translations of the Bible is not a translation, it is about Spanish versions of the Bible. Some articles have links to the other language versions of Wikipedia if they have the same article. In this case, there are no other language articles for this particular article. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:54, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The user probably wants to know if the Spanish Wikipedia has an article comparable to the Spanish translations of the Bible article on the English Wikipedia. Since I do not speak Spanish, I am not very good at searching on the Spanish Wikipedia. However, if someone knows some likely Spanish keywords that might find information on the Spanish Wikipedia about Spanish translations of the Bible, here's a {{Google custom}} search link you can use:

Search the Spanish Wikipedia with Google

I suspect that the Spanish Wikipedia article corresponding to the Bible article would have to say something about the Bible in Spanish. So that article would be: es:Biblia (you can see that in the list of ~~interwiki links~~ interlanguage links in the Bible article). --Teratornis (talk) 17:26, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like es:Biblia#Versiones de la Biblia en español may be what you want, if I'm reading those cognates correctly. --Teratornis (talk) 17:27, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Note the similarity with List of Bible translations#Spanish. --Teratornis (talk) 17:50, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

As a beginner, what are 3 specific things I could do to improve a "stub" page that has piqued my interest?

Q: As a beginner, what are 3 specific things I could do to improve a "stub" page that has piqued my interest?

Q Details: I read a New York Times Magazine article that I found interesting and informative, and "google'd" the author. I found that there was a small amount of information about this author in a Wikipedia "stub" page. The top of the page notes that the article/stub may meet the criteria for speedy deletion. I am interested in improving the page so that it no longer meets the speedy deletion criteria; in short, I'd like to improve the page. I went ahead and added the NYT Mag article as an "external link".

I am completely overwhelmed by the Wikipedia help section. I also looked at the FAQs, but they didn't seem to answer my question. I just need the "kindergarten" version of how to improve pages; I'm not looking to become a Wikipedia expert.

In short: I'm looking for a few very quick, concise ideas about how to improve a "stub" page so that it is rated higher not deleted.

Although my question is meant to be general in nature, I will provide a link to the stub below, in case that helps to clarify anything: Benoit Denizet-Lewis .

Thanks in advance to any help you may be able to provide.

Sfriedman85 (talk) 15:40, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

1. Find reliable sources
2. Use that information to improve the article.

Read more: Wikipedia:Manual of Style

...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 15:46, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia's manuals are indeed overwhelming, at first. To really experience shock and awe, scroll through the Editor's index. As to where you might start, I suggest reading WP:LEAD, WP:LAYOUT, and WP:BETTER first. And look at some of our featured articles to see where we would like all our articles to go. But note, to comprehensively improve one single article, you would have to understand many of our policies and guidelines all at once. An easier approach is to learn how to solve a few specific kinds of problems that other users have already identified in many articles. When you learn how to solve one kind of problem, you can solve it in as many articles as you like. Then you can learn to solve another kind of problem, and so on. After you learn to solve enough different problems, then you can take a stub article and bring it up to featured quality. To see our lists of articles that need work, see: Wikipedia:Cleanup and Wikipedia:Maintenance. Also see WP:EIW#Learn for information about learning to edit on Wikipedia (such as training videos you can watch - everyone is smart enough to watch TV, right? Even I can do that). Anyway, lots of newcomers tend to approach Wikipedia in a cart-before-the-horse kind of way, by trying to go straight to the most complicated type of editing, which is starting new articles from scratch, or trying to bring stub articles up to featured quality. It's better to start small, and try to learn one skill at a time. If you want personal training, you can request adoption. --Teratornis (talk) 17:05, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I might add that one of the main reasons why stubs get deleted is that they lack reliable sources, to demonstrate a subject's notability, and with proper footnoting to support the specific claims in an article. The best way to approach Wikipedia is to start by having reliable sources, and then write articles from them. However, too many users go the other way - they write what they know, or believe, about a subject, and then expect someone else to do the grunt work of finding sources and adding footnotes. Wikipedia does not have nearly enough users who understand the content of these instruction pages:

WP:RS, WP:FOOT, WP:CITE, and WP:CITET.

You don't have to become an expert on all of Wikipedia (and who is? Not even Jimbo Wales, I suspect). If you can just understand how to work with reliable sources here, you will be able to help the encyclopedia project immensely. --Teratornis (talk) 17:45, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Watchlist problem

I can see recent changes to articles on my watchlist just fine, but when I try to go to "view and edit watchlist", it just shows a blank page. Refreshing doesn't help, and this has happened repeatedly on two different computers (one using Firefox, the other IE) over the last several days. Is this just a Wikibug, or is there something I can do to stop it? Katharineamy (talk) 18:10, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Searching the Help desk archive for: watchlist problem finds several reports of problems, but the first few search results I looked at are not exactly the problem you are reporting. If nobody knows a specific answer to your question, you could review the previous questions and answers about watchlists here. I don't off the top of my head recognize the problem you report, sorry, but maybe someone else will recognize it. --Teratornis (talk) 18:29, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikitable Formating Question

If one of the cells in a wikitable wraps around it makes that row wider. It also then makes all the rows in that table wider even though they don't need to be. Is there any way to say "keep all the table rows at span 1 unless they really need to be?" For an example of the problem see [5] Ploversegg (talk) 18:39, 29 April 2008 (UTC)ploversegg[reply]

Some help may be at Wikipedia:Line break handling. I'll poke around a bit more. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 19:03, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can also embed your text in a div— this must be done for every cell. this example is one row of three columns:

{|
|-
|<div style="width: 100px; overflow: hidden">foo foo foo foo foo foo foo foo</div>
|<div style="width: 100px; overflow: hidden">foo foo foo foo foo foo foo foo</div>
|<div style="width: 100px; overflow: hidden">foo foo foo foo foo foo foo foo</div>
|}

foo foo foo foo foo foo foo foo

--— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 19:35, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"Parts manufacture authority" is an incorrect term

Resolved

I am the President of the Modification and Replacement Parts Association. This is the Washington, DC-based trade association that represents the community of manufacturers that manufacture aircraft parts under US FAA approval.

Wikipedia has an article entitled "Parts manufacture authority" that describes FAA approvals for aircraft parts. This title is incorrect. The correct title is "Parts Manufacturer Approval." The reference for this is 14 C.F.R. section 21.301 et seq. (United States Code of Federal Regulations). You can see how this term is used in 14 C.F.R. section 21.303: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2008/janqtr/14cfr21.303.htm

Could you please amend the title of this article to correct it? If you correct the title, then I promise to start posting further content on PMAs, with appropriate references (mostly to US, European and Chinese regulatory documents concerning the manufacture and use of PMA parts).

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Booladc (talk • contribs) 20:30, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

NOTE: I missed the FAQ the first time, but now I see that I can MOVE the article as soon as my account is four days old. SO I will do this in four days!

Done No need to wait, it's been done. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 20:38, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Glad you found the FAQ. I left a welcome on your talk page with a lot of links. Since you are connected to the subject of the article, please review conflict of interest. I suggest you discuss changes on the article talk page and gain consensus. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:40, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Blacklisted links

Where would I go to find out why a link was blacklisted? (The link, incidentally, is http:// preschool-tv.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_caillou_controversy.) Thanks....Gladys J Cortez 22:13, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The page you want is the requests archive. Xenon 54 22:16, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

KUDO 1080AM in Anchorage Alaska

I am having a problem with the description of our Radio Station. This us an obvious attempt to post a derogatory listing by a listener who is upset with my station's programming.

Could someone contact me?

I would be happy to submit a corrected, accurate posting for the entry. In the meantime could this be pulled down?

Cary Carrigan KUDO 1080 AM Anchorage, Alaska (some information removed)

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.112.171.61 (talk) 22:47, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I reversed the vandalism and left a warning. The first occurrence was over a month ago. Wanderer57 (talk) 23:20, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Question

Has anyone ever used more than one account and not proven to be the same person on each one? 124.176.209.38 (talk) 23:12, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Question 2

Has anyone ever used more than one IP address and not proven to be the same person on each one? 124.176.209.38 (talk) 23:12, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You'll have to clarify what you're asking here. -- Kesh (talk) 00:18, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The user is asking "has anyone been a sockpuppeteer and gotten away with it?". Xenon 54 00:54, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If they got away with it, we wouldn't know. I would assume it has happened, though. Paragon12321 (talk) 00:57, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it has happened many, many times. They are eventually caught, though, because they are almost always used for a particular kind of vandalism. If they aren't caught, we don't know that they exist. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 00:59, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Quite impossible to answer this question conclusively; in order to prove a user has socked abusively without being caught, you need to catch them. – Luna Santin (talk) 01:29, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Conspiracy theory for more information abut the epistemology involved. Or would that be ontology. Maybe hermeneutics. (I don't know much about philosophy, but I know what I like.) Similarly, if you do not receive this message, please let me know it did not arrive. --Teratornis (talk) 03:50, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

can i add my deffinition to truth with out having messages of thretening to block me.

I wrote this deffinition to the word truth and i got twice a message of tretening to bloack me.

my def. was Truth is an intersection of information including the known and unknown, accepted and unaccepted.

that is the real and a good def. of the truth. please post it for me or make it the nakan or nakon don t threten me. thanks.

Robert Laporte account votetddotinfo —Preceding unsigned comment added by Votetddotinfo (talk • contribs) 23:59, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia isn't a dictionary; definitions belong on Wikipedia's sister project, Wiktionary. You can also contact Nakon and ask why the warning was left. Xenon 54 00:07, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

FWIW, I think the warnings were excessive, no attempt was made to educate a new user in how to edit constructively. DuncanHill (talk) 00:08, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that the warnings were a bit harsh, but at the same time, the material that was being added was clearly unsuitable for the article. Wikipedia is not a soapbox and all. --Bfigura ^(talk) 00:16, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I concur on both points. Further, there's no need to coddle people who are unable to follow the simplest of patterns. In this example, as one point, his subsection title featured no capitalization; if the user is unable to see what's wrong with that, to not be able to infer any standard of editing without having their hand held and gently guided to a manual of style, i have to to ask as to whether they have any business making edits. Quaeler (talk) 06:49, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also, that content was completely unsourced. Material on Wikipedia must be verifiable, unsourced material can be removed, especially if controversial. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 01:07, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

April 30

Timestamps at signatures

Is it possible to change the default timezone of my signatures? The default now is UTC, I want to set my signatures at GMT+8:00. How can I do that? -- Felipe Aira 05:49, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

All timestamps are in UTC; you can't change this because Wikipedia is international. What you can do is change the times that appear in your watchlist, contributions etc. Do this by clicking "my preferences", "date and time", and where it says the time, click "fill in from browser". Then save your preferences, bypass your browser cache by pressing Ctrl+F5 and then the times will appear differently. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 06:10, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And at Gadgets in Special:Preferences, you can select a clock in the personal toolbar that shows the current time in UTC. The time of a post is often important and it would be too hard to follow discussions where signatures were in different time zones. PrimeHunter (talk) 08:59, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use of images with unknown copyright status

Apparently it is possible, under certain circumstances, to claim fair use for images that are subject to copyright, but for which no free alternative exists. Question: what about images for which no free alternative exists, but for which the copyright status cannot be ascertained? The tag placed on Image:Aziz nesin.jpg appears to indicate that in such cases an appeal to fair use is of no avail, but isn't that a bit paradoxical? --Lambiam 08:32, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure on the 'policy' here (if we have one), but it seems silly that it couldn't be fair use. It's no different from a copyrighted image, except that it might not even be copyrighted. If we say we don't know but treat it as if it is and suggest that users do the same, I don't see why fair use couldn't apply. Richard001 (talk) 10:26, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Contacting Wikipedians of a certain sort

What's the best way to contact a specific group of Wikipedians? In this case I want to get someone from the University of Minnesota to take a picture of G. David Tilman (we have one, but it's bound to be deleted). I could post on the article itself, but that would be OT, and the only other place I can think of is the alma mater category (which I doubt people watch, but it has the right sort of people in it), and the Minnesota WikiProject. Manually asking all the people in Category:Wikipedians by alma mater: University of Minnesota seems the best option but it's too hard. Isn't there some easier way of contacting people for this sort of thing? Richard001 (talk) 10:24, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try asking at Talk:University of Minnesota and Wikipedia:Requested pictures. You could contact Tilman's office and ask for a photo that could be released. See Wikipedia:Example requests for permission. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 10:53, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Bug report

Resolved

Bug in Wikipedia (incorrect string resolving). See this page = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIH_virus Find the string "[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]" - displayed wrong, even if the source is correct. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.47.75.60 (talk) 10:41, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like it was fixed. You need to put internal links in double brackets: [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]]. See Wikipedia:Editing FAQ#How do I make links? --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 10:56, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How can I trace a deletion log?

Basically I created the article Stuart Wheeler a while back, and have now found that this article has been removed and replaced with a redirect to the company that he founded. Is it possible to trace back the deletion log for this article which preceded its removal? Many Thanks Jamesmh2006 (talk) 11:32, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

new Search feature

This new SEARCH feature that offers million of option while you type is awful and useful. Many browsers memorize previous searches and let you easily access the previously searched item by clicking the first letter of a search (as in Apple's Safari). The new search feature eliminated that capability, so that previously searched items are no longer visible in a search box. That is very annoying, because sometimes a quicker access is needed for accessing articles that you visit frequently. So, is there any possibility of somehow switching off this new search feature and return to previous search?

@@ Line 538: / Line 538: @@
 Basically I created the article [[Stuart Wheeler]] a while back, and have now found that this article has been removed and replaced with a redirect to the company that he founded. Is it possible to trace back the deletion log for this article which preceded its removal? Many Thanks [[User:Jamesmh2006|Jamesmh2006]] ([[User talk:Jamesmh2006|talk]]) 11:32, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
+== new Search feature  ==
+This new SEARCH feature that offers million of option while you type is awful and useful. Many browsers memorize previous searches and let you easily access the previously searched item by clicking the first letter of a search (as in Apple's Safari). The new search feature eliminated that capability, so that previously searched items are no longer visible in a search box. That is very annoying, because sometimes a quicker access is needed for accessing articles that you visit frequently. So, is there any possibility of somehow switching off this new search feature and return to previous search?

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Revision as of 11:33, 30 April 2008

What helpers can do

Patrollers

List

See also

April 27

NFL Draft Template

My page keeps getting deleted

How to clear past searches on Wikipedia?

Wikipedia:Naming conventions

medical

Diffs/watchlist preference?

Risk assessment

Twinkle help

betel leaves

Sockpuppets

New Articles and IPs

Wikipedia = Facebook?

Running out of patience

users versus editors versus ???

Indent and number headings

April 28

best rated audio visual system

Edit count tool limit

Number of frogs in an average pond

Template

help

Map co-ordinates link doesn't seem to work

"New Section" vs. "+"

Wikipedia Front Page

Verfying a Source

SPL records

Boxes

deletion

articles

Multiple images, single caption

Those status thingies

"Suggestions" in search are now not my previous searches.

Top of page notices

Edit This Page tab

Becoming A Project Member

Cancel button on edit page

Downloading SVG files

April 29

how can you put an image on a article?

Spam image

How do you put 2 templates beside each other?

Reporting mistaken image

slipring induction motor

reading text of a publicatio/book

Template:Cite web problem in X-Plane (simulator)

Could someone check my IPA?

wikitable sortable issue

Vague or ambiguous time

brownington mo

Indenting a bulleted list

brownington mo hendry country

Censor

Helping

New page

As a beginner, what are 3 specific things I could do to improve a "stub" page that has piqued my interest?

Watchlist problem

Wikitable Formating Question

"Parts manufacture authority" is an incorrect term

Blacklisted links

KUDO 1080AM in Anchorage Alaska

Question

Question 2

can i add my deffinition to truth with out having messages of thretening to block me.

April 30

Timestamps at signatures

Fair use of images with unknown copyright status

Contacting Wikipedians of a certain sort

Bug report

How can I trace a deletion log?

new Search feature