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August 22

Location of MediaWiki page for account creation

Can anyone point me to the MediaWiki namespace page that provides the text a person sees when they click on create account from Special:UserLogin/signup? Thanks.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:53, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Check out the list on MediaWiki talk:Loginend, the bottom header, titled MediaWiki messages used on Special:UserLogin. BigNate37_(T) 01:14, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks BigNate, much appreciated.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:19, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

New stuff

I have, in my possession, a few objects who's name, let alone origin is a mystery to me. Is there a kind of, backward Wikipedia, where people submit photos or names and contributors are allowed to explain and review their peers? I have an interesting shiny armor piercing round looking thing, that I know is not ordinance, from Ukraine. Surely someone knows what it is. If there is no current way to use wp for this purpose, I submit the idea, if so, please explain. What a cool place to go to, where rare things are on display and the best and brightest are available to explain, significant or not, in a "what's this (.com kind of way. Cheers and please think about it, Karl Kensington — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.129.78.199 (talk) 03:48, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, by appropriate topic, we have a Wikipedia:Reference desk. They get great satisfaction from helping figure out the answers to such mysteries. Dru of Id (talk) 04:33, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can also try Google's Search By Image which lets you find web pages containing images similar to your photos (or to other images). Sometimes the page you find will contain an explanation of what the image shows. --Colapeninsula (talk) 15:10, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Deleting preliminary article from userspace

In writing a new article, I created it first in my userspace, as recommended. (draft of article "George Toma") Now that the article is in the mainspace, how do I get the draft deleted from my userspace? (And for future reference, is there an appropriate place to make such a request? I am sure this is a common occurrence when articles are created.) Thank you. → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 07:36, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I have tagged the page with {{db-userreq}} which is a template requesting a user page is deleted. CaptRik (talk) 08:48, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ooops, I've just been informed that per WP:CSD#U1 only the account that owns the user page can request speedy deletion. Michael J - you can request it by added the template I posted above to the top of the page. CaptRik (talk) 09:14, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I have re-tagged it, with an edit summary linking back to here so that the admin can see that the author is requesting the deletion. We'll see. But a better solution for next time is to move the draft page to mainspace, instead of creating a fresh page and deleting the draft. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:57, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your help, folks. If I see the speedy deletion request gets denied again, I will re-tag it myself. → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 11:05, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Dead citation

I decided to work through Category:All articles with dead external links. The first entry is "Happy" in Galoshes, where cite#11 is dead. I checked the Wayback Machine and did a Google search, but was unable to find any cache or something of that source. Wikipedia:Link rot#Mitigating a dead link suggests to consult with other editors before removing a dead link, so here I am. In this case I think, the cited information (the review score) needs to be removed entirely as unverifiable. Opinions? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 08:05, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'd keep it, per Wikipedia:Link rot#Keeping dead links. The page history shows that the information was added by a well-established editor, so it is very likely that the information is correct. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:41, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, I'll leave it alone for now then. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 11:56, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Definitely agree with John. The potential of linkrot is the whole reason for requiring an accessdate for citations. For academic purposes, a formerly working but now-broken URL is acceptable; there's non reason for us to impose a more restrictive standard. Nyttend (talk) 20:40, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Will our website suffer a lower ranking if we have a wikipedia page about us?

Hi,

I work for a company with a very rich history, its an interesting story going back about 200 years and I want to share it with the world. However I am worried that if I build a wikipedia page, Search engine ranking of our own website will fall.

Is this likely to happen? Is there a way to prevent this? Any information you can give me would be appreciated?

As the first editor of this page will I be notified when other edits or comments are made? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.210.1.99 (talk) 08:57, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

In general, creating an article about your place of business is frowned upon because you have an obvious conflict of interest. Remember, Wikipedia is not an advertising medium. Dismas|^(talk) 10:17, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see how your website will get a lower ranking. If people want to contact you, they will go to the website and if they want information about the company, they will go to Wikipedia. However, like Dismas said, it's better not to create an article on your own company. A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 13:51, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That was my initial reaction. But a friend explained to me why the advice might make sense. If a Google search for the company's name currently has the company's own web site no. 1 on the list, and a Wikipedia article about the company is created, the Wikipedia article might displace the company's own site from the no. 1 place (even while its ranking goes up). Maproom (talk) 23:32, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, that makes sense, especially as one often sees Wikipedia articles at the top of a Google search, but wouldn't the official website still be near the top? A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 07:49, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It would take time for the Wikipedia article to be ranked near the top (Google ranking depends on the number of incoming links) wheras an existing company website would already be well established at or near the top. I don't see why is should present a problem anyway - someone searching for the company's website would clearly be able to tell the difference between "abc-company.com" and "en.wikipedia.org/wiki/abc_company". Roger (talk) 08:38, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

BibISBN in reflist not visible

Hello,

why is the template {{BibISBN}} not visible in the reflist, eg here? Regards.--Kürbis (✔) 10:09, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That's because the page Template:BibISBN/0881924393 hasn't been created at the English-language Wikipedia. You'll have to adapt it from de:Vorlage:BibISBN/0881924393. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:06, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Your example says {{BibISBN|0881924393|page=15-18}}. That requires data at Template:BibISBN/0881924393 but it may not be enough. I suspect the system was never completed at the English Wikipedia and the documentation should say that. I have posted to User talk:Bermicourt#BibISBN. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:07, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

As suspected, the template was never completed and does not work. I have added that to the documentation. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:26, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

digger indian

digger indian is racially insensitive. it reads the same as calling a african a N word. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.219.145.240 (talk) 10:25, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you think the redirect Digger Indian shouldn't exist, you can nominate it at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion. How that is done is described at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion#The guiding principles of RfD. You should also check WP:RFD#DELETE to see whether it satisfies one of the criteria there. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 13:21, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Because Wikipedia is not censored, offensiveness per se has never been an accepted reason to delete pages. We have articles about various racial and ethnic slurs such as Spic, Gook, Cracker, Nigger, Beaner, Wog, Kaffir, Coolie, Shiksa, Honky,Curry muncher, and so on. See the List of ethnic slurs, perhaps the term you object to could be added to the list. Roger (talk) 14:47, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There is one mention of the term in the article at Paiute people#Origin of name. There is currently no source for it. I searched and found http://users.lmi.net/kstewart/texts/ovp/ovp.pdf and http://www.jstor.org/stable/25155971, both of which seem to be reliable, peer-reviewed sources. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 21:45, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

inter wiki links

Is there a way to see if a page in ANY language does or does not have a version in a particular language? I will be doing some translation. --TheChampionMan1234 10:43, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

All I can think of are the links on the left of the page. Help:Interlanguage links should help you with that. A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 12:17, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Many articles that exist already have been identified as needing help from their foreign language counterpart. Please see Category:Articles needing translation from foreign-language Wikipedias. Cheers.-Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:42, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

{{unreferenced}} tags on dates?

One of my friends notice that all the articles of dates do not have any references. He asked me if I he can put {{unreferenced}} tags on all of them. Is it necessary?--Jsjsjs1111 (talk) 11:19, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:WikiProject Days of the year#Style, the style guide for pages such as January 1, where it says "References are not needed in Wikicalendar articles. However, references to support listed entries must be found in linked Wikipedia articles...". So as long as each entry has a blue link to an article, and that article has a reference for the relevant fact, then that should be enough. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:44, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks a lot!--Jsjsjs1111 (talk) 15:59, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Single purpose RfA

Will I be able to pass RfA if I need the admin tools for one specific purpose? I would like to work through Wikipedia:Database reports/Articles containing red-linked files/1. I think I should check those redlinks and see whether the file might have been appropriate, but I cannot do this as I cannot see deleted pages. Would such a single-purpose RfA be likely to succeed? Is it worth a try? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 11:54, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's very doubtful. See WP:RFA Guide for details on what you should expect to be judged on. BigNate37_(T) 20:52, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, thanks. It's probably not worth the trouble and for most things I do I don't need to be an administrator anyway. Apart from that I kind of doubt that I'd pass RfA, as I believe I fail two, maybe three of the points at WP:GRFA#What RfA contributors look for and hope to see. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 21:26, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Atalaya in Huntington Beach State Park

Atalaya Castle (USA)

We do not refer to it as a "castle" it was someones home and we are trying to get people to realize that so they will want to help take care of the property. For years people ran amuck and the "home" is under need of repairs. We are trying to change peoples perception so they will want to help maintain and respect this part of history. Archer Huntington was the main employer in Georgetown county during the depression and did not refer to his house as a "castle" Thanks T — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.101.211.91 (talk) 12:06, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is emphatically not for changing people's perception: that would be a kind of promotion or advocacy. If the preponderance of reliable sources refer to it as a castle, or say that people commonly refer to it as a castle, then that is the appropriate name for the article: see WP:COMMONNAME. --ColinFine (talk) 13:44, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Registering a village

i want to know how to register my village on the net — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jossy2966 (talk • contribs) 12:39, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you mean, create an article in Wikipedia about your village, please read WP:YFA. If you mean something else, then I'm afraid you are in the wrong place to ask: this is the help desk for Wikipedia. --ColinFine (talk) 13:45, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Most up to date image used in lead of BLP

There seems to be a pattern of always using the most up to date image in a BLP lead, that is to say, a picture of the subject at their oldest. When the person has died, it seems we commonly use the 'best image' or most iconic shot of them for the lead. Is this habit given in a guideline anywhere? Thanks Span (talk) 12:40, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's not anything we prefer but a side result of the application of fair use criteria. Many people who are famous do not have freely licenses or public domain image of them we can use, and we can't use a non-free, copyrighted picture (except in very rare circumstances) of a living person because it is considered "replaceable"—after all, the person is still alive so a snapshot can still be taken. So there are numerous articles on living people who have no image at all because an image from their heyday does not meet fair use, and for others, though their heyday was 45 years so, the only free image we can get is a candid ourselves, today when they're 84, which as the owner of, we can freely-license or release into the PD. What you are seeing is the side result of a person;s death opening up fair use to much more iconic and identifying image. It is silly to have a picture of an actress known as a beautiful ingenue of the 1950s, mostly known just for that look, shown here at 87, Better to not have an image at all. It's less important if the person's image, say a writer, is not part of what made them famous.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:55, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

OK. Thanks. So there's nothing written to say the lead image should be the most up to date, per se? Span (talk) 12:57, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How to request a page

On the "Main Page", which is where most intelligent people would first look, there is absolutely no obvious link to how to get a subject notated on the Wikipedia. I look up 'Mate Brajkovic, Winemaker' and get a footballer. I would have liked to be able to create a request for a page about the winemaker and his San Marino Vineyard at Kumeu - but how? Pahau — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.104.181.19 (talk) 12:43, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:Requested articles. --ColinFine (talk) 13:47, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe I won't qualify as intelligent, but most of the time I visit Wikipedia, I visit something other than the main Page. The Main page is designed for readers, of which there are far more than editors. As an editor, it wouldn't occur to me to look on the main page for information which is relevant to editors. (In other words, I think you were suggesting that there is a design flaw, I am respectfully disagreeing.)--SPhilbrick (Talk) 14:16, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If there were a way for people to request articles from the "Main Page", I suspect the request facility would be overwhelmed by people requesting articles about their favourite girl band or whatever. So it makes sense that it takes a little persistence to find. Maproom (talk) 14:26, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Default activation of the search field on: Main Page

Resolved

Nine times out of ten, when I open: htto://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
I want to search for some article. So:

How do I set the search field to be the default active element? There should be no need for clicking on it (or press <ALT> + <SHIFT> + F) to activate it!
I quess most Wikipedia users would feel the same, so why is this not the global default setting for everyone?

Other web pages have their search fields as the default active part when you open the page, so it is obviously possible...
--Seren-dipper (talk) 12:47, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This has been proposed several times in the past (see discussions here, here, here and here) but each time there was no consensus for the change. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 12:56, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c) Also see Wikipedia:FAQ/Main Page#Why doesn't the cursor appear in the search box, like with Google? for another explanation. You can tweak the behaviour for yourself by going to "My preferences", "Gadgets" tab, and ticking the fourth checkbox, "Focus the cursor in the search bar on loading the Main Page". -- John of Reading (talk) 12:59, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you both! :-)
--Seren-dipper (talk) 13:31, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Naming Children of celebs

Is there a policy or guideline, or even an essay, on wether we should include the names and ages of children in our Bio's...even if the names and ages are verified. Predators use this type of info. Isn't it enough to tell our reader how many children a person has but leave naming them to People magazine?```Buster Seven Talk 13:52, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Do WP:BLPPRIVACY and WP:BLPNAME help?--ukexpat (talk) 14:01, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. Thank you. ```Buster Seven Talk 20:23, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

My user page

My user page has the characters "|}" at the top and I really don't know what I did to put them there. Could someone please help me get rid of them? Thanks. Jon1901 (talk) 13:59, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

My guess is that there is a glitch or mistake in one of the userboxes you have put on your page. Just remove each in turn, and use the "preview" function to figure out which template has the error. Once you have isolated the problematic template, you can edit it to fix it, or just remove it. --Jayron32 14:05, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You had an extra {{Boxboxbottom}}. I removed it for you. RJFJR (talk) 14:07, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

But that does cause a misalignment of the Babel box below the user boxes - it appears slightly skewed to the right when I view it. I have played around with the formatting and can't find a fix.--ukexpat (talk) 14:12, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Notability of software

Just now I tried to look up information about a program called Sopcast, and noticed that people have tried to create the article, only to have it repeatedly deleted. That seems strange to me. Sopcast seems to me to be a program with a decent amount of users. It's not a completely unknown program. Among those making use of streaming P2P video it's probably very well known. There are other articles on Wikipedia about commercial programs. How can one establish that a commercial piece of software meets notability guidelines? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.250.97.191 (talk) 14:44, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Notability depends on the existence of WP:independent sources. If you can find credible articles in magazines or independent websites you might have a chance of creating an article that sticks. Roger (talk) 14:52, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Broken image

Umm... the image File:Caro_DreamCity_1996.jpg in Henry Moore#Legacy is not displaying, and I can't tell why. The same wikimarkup works fine in my sandbox. This is aggravating, especially as Henry Moore is a featured article.

Oops, never mind. Another image was misformatted. Joe Schmedley^Talk 15:01, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Missing article.

Hi,

I think I submitted an article on a human powered aircraft a couple of weeks ago. I've just checked wikipedia, and the article isn't there, and I can't see anything in my sandbox to indicate that it failed to meet wikipedia standards or got deleted. I'm beginning to think that maybe I had some finger trouble at the time and I didn't submit the article correctly. How can I find out what happened to it? is it still awaiting review, or has it been reviewed and then got deleted, or did I fail to submit it correctly in the first place?

Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by LimaSeven (talk • contribs) 15:16, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You created User:LimaSeven/sandbox five days ago, but it only contained the request for a review, and no article text. You've made no other edits with this account. Do you have another copy of your text? -- John of Reading (talk) 15:26, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Your account was created seven days ago and User:LimaSeven/sandbox was creatd five days ago. Do you think you may have created something before that without logging in? If you still have the same IP address then you can log out and click Special:MyContributions to see edits by that IP address. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:50, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

tables

Is it possible to insert tables from an external sourse (word, excel, or other webpages, etc.)?--Jsjsjs1111 (talk) 16:10, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You could take a screen capture, and upload the table as a picture. However, insofar as Wikipedia articles should be editable by anyone, to the greatest extent possible, it would be best to use the Wikipedia table system outlined at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Tables and Help:Table. If you use an external table, it will nto be editable by others. --Jayron32 16:25, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There are tools available that convert from other formats into wiki markup. Take a look at the list at WP:Tools#Importing (converting) content to Wikipedia (MediaWiki) format.--ukexpat (talk) 16:29, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can try saving your table as html, which then can be used instead of Wiki markup. Ruslik_Zero 19:04, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Please do not insert html tables in Wikipedia articles. Roger (talk) 08:42, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

want to add wiki search in my won web site

i want to add wikipedia search in my won web site.Is it possible??? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.201.104.245 (talk) 16:23, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can just use Google, placing permanently in the search criteria site:en.wikipedia.org, which limits Google's search to this site.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:29, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I guess you mean you have your own website and want visitors to be able to search Wikipedia directly from that website. See meta:Search box. Note it was written at a time where the Wikipedia search box had two buttons. "Search" always makes a search and gives a search results page. "Go" goes directly to a page with a name exactly matching the search box content. If there is no such page then it makes the same search as "Search". PrimeHunter (talk) 17:40, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Irrelevant link

How do I report an irrelevant link found on a wikipedia web page? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Taylor316 (talk • contribs) 17:41, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Depending on circumstances you could post to the talk page or edit the page yourself but if you have never edited Wikipedia and don't know how we work then it's perhaps best to report it right here. Click the "edit" link to the right of the section heading and write the exact Wikipedia page name and which link it is. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:54, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Uploading source material

Hi,

During the course of researching for an article about a human powered aircraft I contacted the designer who emailed me a number of documents including some technical drawings and, more importantly some notes he made for presentations he gave back in the 1990 to the Royal Aeronautical Society. These documents are in the form of text files and pdf's, I'd like to reference them in my article, can I do this? The documents haven't been published elsewhere and don't exist on any other websites, can I upload them directly to wikipedia and then reference them? They contain most of the source information for my article. Note - I don't want to actually display the documents directly in the article (they're far to boring for that!) but I would like to be able to reference them, is it OK to use Wikipedia as a repository for original documents? If so how do I do this? I've uploaded images to Wikipedia before now, but I'm not sure how to upload other documents.

Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by LimaSeven (talk • contribs) 18:04, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm afraid not. By definition and design, Wikipedia is a collection of information drawn from already-published content, published in reliable sources. We do not serve as a repository for original documents. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:11, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Those sound like unpublished primary sources, so they must be used with care. If they are public domain or freely licensed, they could be hosted on Wikisource or Scribd. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 18:39, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Material posted on Scribd is not considered "published by a reliable source", since no editorial control is exercised. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:53, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This isn't the place to get into it, but Scribd is just a host, not a publisher, much like Google Books. You can't make a blanket statement. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 19:01, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Portuguese rule in Malvan (India)

Dear All,

Did the Portuguese rule over Malvan region in India? If so then when was it and for how many years? Appreciate if i can get any answers to my question.

Thanks and Regards, Arun — Preceding unsigned comment added by Arun tontai (talk • contribs) 19:30, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Does History of India help? If not, please ask you question in the appropriate section of the WP:Reference desk.--ukexpat (talk) 20:02, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Portuguese India may be an even better target, but yes, the reference desks are a better place to get answers to questions like this. --Jayron32 20:37, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Using multiple IP accounts

I know it is not 'allowed' for an unregistered user to use several IP accounts to suggest there is support for a position or to avoid sanction. So how should one proceed when a user is appearing daily with a new IP address, posting tendaciously and ignoring advice both on article talk pages and their own IP talk pages? The editor has been reverting edits on a series of related UK geography settlement pages e.g. Slough Abingdon-on-Thames, Edmonton, London and at least 3 others. All these pages ended up being semi-protected over last weekend. The editor was also posting identical posts on each article talk page and continues to do so after pages are protected causing various editors who acted in good faith to respond to the same questions. The IP had been advised/ encouraged previosuly and several times to raise their generic issue at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject UK geography but repeatedly ignored this and keeps on posting. What is the best way to proceed. Treat as a unregistered sockpuppet? If so does one just register it at the appropriate Aministrator page? Thanks in anticipation.Tmol42 (talk) 20:16, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

With unregistered users, it's often not their fault; British ISPs are particularly bad about issuing very dynamic IP addresses, and I'm guessing that's where this editor is located. They may not even be getting the advice left on their talk pages as a result. Short of issuing a very broad range-block, there isn't much administrative action that can be taken other than semi-protection. I'd try to encourage them to create an account if possible, as that will aid with communication, but if matters don't improve I'm afraid semi-protection is the only really viable option. It sounds like they could be acting in good faith (just not realizing how things work) so I'd be reluctant to block any network ranges, knowing that will affect many other users and probably won't help at all anyway. Hersfold non-admin^(t/a/c) 20:31, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

One option is to leave notes on the talk page of the articles they edit requesting that they communicate. I agree with Hersfold that the WP:AGF interpretation is that this is a noob whose IP address changes frequently and who may not realize that they are doing anything wrong and/or don't realize that people are desperate to communicate with them. If we keep semi-protecting their favorite articles, and perhaps use something like the pp-dispute template (which invites people to use the talk page) at the top of the articles in question, they may get the hint. The idea is to find ways to let them know you wish to discuss things, and to try to set up means of reasonable communication. I agree that the first order of business should be to strongly encourage them to get an account, which would ease communication. If they understand why having an account would help them be able to explain their work to others better, and thus maybe make it easier for them to do what they want to do, they may do so. --Jayron32 20:36, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, I guess one always hopes for a magic wand solution but will take the advice forward. Where can I find the pp-dispute template? Is there a template with some cuddly welcoming words to use about getting an account? Tmol42 (talk) 20:42, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's just {{pp-dispute}}, but an administrator will add that when/if the page gets semi-protected. As for that, there are all sorts of welcome templates, but most are designed for use on user talk pages... and that may not be the best option as I mentioned above. I'd just point them to WP:ACCOUNT during the course of one of your discussions, hoping that s/he'll start participating in them. Hersfold non-admin^(t/a/c) 20:50, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks have acted on your advice. Hoping for some improvements going forward.Tmol42 (talk) 21:29, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Compressing notes at top of page

Lists of template-ised notes at the top of pages take up more space than they need to because of the blank lines. E.g.

Is there any way to suppress the blank lines? 86.179.6.55 (talk) 20:44, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There are two options:

Go to MediaWiki talk:Common.css and ask that the bottom margin for the "dablink" class be removed (point to this discussion). Note that such a change will need to be widely discussed and it may not be made, but if made it will impact all users.
Create an account and go to Special:Mypage/Common.css. Add the following lines to that page:

.dablink{
   margin-bottom: 0 !important;
}

This will implement your desired change for you only while you are logged in.

Hope this helps. Hersfold non-admin^(t/a/c) 20:56, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. I have left a note at the MediaWiki talk:Common.css page. 86.179.6.55 (talk) 03:02, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I want russian country names as in url (appear country in russian) can you provide a list?

I want russian country names as in url (url that appear a country in russian) can you provide a list?

I want develop a FLAG GUESS Android App with reference to wikipedia country site of the flag... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lse123polis (talk • contribs) 20:54, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but if you want information in Russian, you may be better off asking on the Russian Wikipedia. Hersfold non-admin^(t/a/c) 20:57, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This I want is like country name list: Albania,...Zambia... but in Russian, just as Wikipedia uses in the Russian URL...are they public available? eg. For Russia Россия as in coded at: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%8F

See List of countries at ru.WP Roger (talk) 08:51, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

exist list in a text file for developers? BTW these names(ru) are the same as in url?

Inline Citations

I have made 13 inline citations for my Wikipedia page (Frank Buglioni (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)) but Wikipedia is telling me that I need more. However, these are the only references I used because the person whom the page is about actually helped me out with the information so it was all from him personally. Thank you. Giordano Bishop — Preceding unsigned comment added by GiordanoBishop (talk • contribs) 21:39, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The notice on the top of the page was placed there by hand, and will not automatically be removed. You can remove it yourself if you think the matter has been appropriately addressed. If there is some disagreement or the article is edited frequently by several editors, consider proposing the tag's removal on the article's talk page. In this case if you aren't sure whether it's appropriate, I would suggest asking the user who placed the tag there in the first place. This can be seen in the article history. BigNate37_(T) 22:01, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, and for more details on cleanup tags, see Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup. BigNate37_(T) 22:02, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

- On another note, information on Wikipedia needs to be verifiable through reliable sources - information obtained through a personal interview such as you describe is not verifiable as it is original research. Please try searching online and in libraries for sources to back up the information Mr. Buglioni provided you with, and remove it if you are unable to do so. Hersfold non-admin^(t/a/c) 22:21, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

change of info

I only want information changed to reflect the correct town where a University is/was located. Phillips University is/was in Enid, Oklahoma. Not Gulfport, Mississippi

This information has been changed since I selected it as my place of education.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Phillips-University/109363652415147 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.245.107.183 (talk) 23:03, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I am not sure where Facebook got the Gulfport Mississippi from, our article on Phillips University does not say that the school was located there, it only mentions Enid, OK GB fan 23:09, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Additionally, we have no control over Facebook or how often they update their pages. Dismas|^(talk) 00:03, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You need to contact the {{Facebook}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata. It's their mistake, not Wikipedia's. Roger (talk) 08:57, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It may sound odd that we blame Facebook when their page says: "Description above from the Wikipedia article Phillips University". Note however that this only applies to the part with heading "Description". The alleged location in other parts of the page is inserted by Facebook and not taken from Wikipedia. I don't think Wikipedia has ever claimed it's in Gulfport. I don't know how Facebook generates location information but they sometimes get it wrong. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:27, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Change new user's username...

Immediately after creating an account & reading the 'welcome'page I realized that my Username was NOT OKAY. Please help me in the process of changing this. I'd like to branch out in Wiki w/ a name I don't have to cringe at upon seeing it written. Please help! Thanks.OrallyMe (talk) 23:35, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hello and Welcome to Wikipedia! You can request a new username by clicking here :)--5 albert square (talk) 23:40, 22 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

But since this is the only edit you have made with the account, you will find it much simpler just to abandon it and register a new account with a better name. This is mentioned on the page that 5 albert square linked to. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:44, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]