Wikipedia:Help desk

Welcome—ask questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia! (Am I in the right place?)

• For other types of questions, use the search box, see the reference desk or Help:Contents. If you have comments about a specific article, use that article's talk page.
• Do not provide your email address or any other contact information. Answers will be provided on this page only.
• If your question is about a Wikipedia article, draft article, or other page on Wikipedia, tell us what it is!
• Check back on this page to see if your question has been answered.
• For real-time help, use our IRC help channel, #wikipedia-en-help.
• New editors may prefer the Teahouse, a help area for beginners (but please don't ask in both places).

Ask a question

July 26

How can I make my own Wikipedia?

I see many gaming sites have Wikipedias for their game they play where they contribute information from the game and make a WikiCommunity for it. I have no clue where to find information on making a wikipedia for my game. Any info? Thx

I figured it out. THANKS ANYWAYS :o)

 :) Nihiltres^(t.l) 00:35, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Copy and paste move?

The article Abyss (computer game) appears to be a copy and paste move from Journey Across the Abyss. Can anyone verify if this is the case, and whether I should follow the instructions at WP:MOVE#Fixing cut and paste moves? --Evil1987 01:54, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Yeah it was a copy and paste move. For the moment I've reverted the move but of course it can be moved properly if that's what the consensus is. Regards. Will (aka Wimt) 02:02, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you.--Evil1987 02:04, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Follow-up to: Assistance on "delete" for XYplorer from a new user here...

I have received some feedback to my original topic/thread here, but my last question has not yet been addressed, and as it may be more generic, I'll retry now:

To clarify a point: Is it because XY has not recieved attention/mention from major media, such as PC World, or similar, that really thus causes it to be non-notable? If so, then I would suggest a fair number of products would fail to meet the same criteria. 151.203.127.31 13:59, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Once again, please read WP:N and WP:OTHERCRAPEXISTS --L^augh! 18:27, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

I had read those sections, but as a WP noob, I could use a interpretation as it specifically applies to the questions/situations as I've described from a WP guru (or similar). And also, is there a specific number of times that XY would need to be reviewed or mentioned in sources, and must they be actual print or is web published content counted as less worthy? The notability criteria description as I read it doesn't give these answers in detail needed. 151.203.127.31 00:13, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

151.203.127.31 02:23, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm sure the notability guideline mentions "multiple non-trivial references", which translates to "more than one magazine or newspaper article with a large section devoted to the topic in question" - so a single article is generally not enough (but may be considered borderline), and if the only mention of Foo in the article is "Some examples of this phenomenon include Foo, Bar and Baz" then that's not significant enough. Web published content is ok, as long as it is subject to some kind of editorial scrutiny - so things like YouTube, IMDB and Wikis are not good, but a major e-zine or other big online news website (I think Slashdot and Kuro5hin are good, but don't quote me on that) is fine. As to the OTHERCRAPEXISTS argument, the point is that if you find another article that is as bad or worse than yours (not saying yours is, but in general), then consider whether it meets the guidelines or whether it should be nominated as well. Don't, however, nominate something that you know will be kept, because that's a big no-no per WP:POINT. Confusing Manifestation 02:46, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

This comes up non-stop on Wikipedia. The basic argument is:

• I'm new here and I want to make Wikipedia fit my needs.
• I don't care about the work others have done to make Wikipedia what it is now.
• So, let me put my article on Wikipedia the way I want it or I'm going to throw a fit.

Obviously, this argument never achieves the result that the user would like. As has been said many many many times - get notability first. For a band (since this usually applies to some random band that very few people have heard of), get a recording contract. Get a tour. Get a video on MTV (I think they play 2 or 3 videos a day). Get written up in some real magazines. Then, you will see that someone else has written about your band. -- Kainaw^(what?) 03:19, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I appreciate the time you took to reply! You mentioned "major e-zine", and the product in question was discussed in two web newsletters, each having in excess of 120K subscribers of which some are paid, thus making them more of a true business and respectable (IMO), in addition to the newsletter authors being known widely in the computer industry. Ok, so it's only two, but they should count towards the total, I would think.

My main issue was, and continues to be, that: by WP creating a chart/table/list of the features available in various file manager products, it thus has created a "review" and in doing so, to include products which are unknown to a number of users of XYplorer (who have themselves evaluated and researched numerous products in this category before deciding on XY) seems somewhat inconsistent and illogical.

It was the removal of XY from Comparison_of_file_managers that was the most difficult for me to see the reason for.

While I could possibly understand and agree that XY does not deserve a stand-alone article itself, it only needs that because the existing WP chart/table/list does not have a way (maybe via links in footnotes?) to point to a mini-summary description and sources (aka vendor websites) for that product. I would appreciate this solution to be considered, as by not including XY and similar lesser known products, the WP list is thus incomplete and misleading. Comaring this to a band situation, while each song that group is best known for would not qualify for its own article, not having them listed in the article for the band wouldn't make sense, true? 151.203.127.31 06:26, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, but this isn't really the place to have this kind of extended discussion: we've gone beyond asking questions about using Wikipedia here. I will responded further here. Charlie-talk to me-what I've done 15:50, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

A question from someone who refuses to read the instructions at the top of the page

why does the moon shine yellow? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.41.44.255 (talk • contribs)

It doesn't shine. It reflects. See moon. -- Kainaw^(what?) 03:15, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Any colour you see is due to filtering through the Earth's atmosphere. Astronaut 14:04, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Factual Errors/NPOV Issues on National Academic Championship Page

Dear Sirs,

I am a former associate director of the National Academic Association, which sponsors the National Academic Championship (NAC).

Recently someone posted a page on Wikipedia concerning the National Academic Championship that was poorly written, riddled with errors and violated neutral point of view in that the author compared the National Academic Championship negatively to another competition. I believe that the author(s) might also have been responsible for writing a spurious page about NAC founder Chip Beall that has since been deleted. The authors of this material belong to competing quiz bowl organizations, which by definition violates the neutral point of view requirements of Wikipedia.

I have attempted to correct the factual errors and revise the article in a more professional and neutral way. However, the objectionable material continues to reappear.

My association with the NAC ended in 1996. However, I do know the history of the organization, and I want it to be accurately represented and professionally written.

Best regards,

Cheryl Claypoole Mensa1960

For very obvious vandalism, if the problem persists, you can file a report at WP:ANI or WP:AIV. And, if it still continues, you can request page protection here. If the edits are not quite "obvious" vandalism (ie totally off topic, curse words, obviously offensive libel, etc.) then you should consider dispute resolution. Charlie-talk to me-what I've done 05:48, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Bryce Canyon City, Utah - notable?

As covered here and mentioned on tonight's Colbert Report, Bryce Canyon City is in the process of being incorporated as the result of some loophole in Utah's laws. Basically it's a resort, but because of the number of employees it qualified to be a town. My understanding is that all incorporated US municipalities are inherently notable, and the existence of this loophole probably makes BCC more interesting to outsiders than many other towns with similar population. :) So it's legitimate to start an article, yes? Thanks, PhilipR 03:51, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I would sure say so, seems to be notable enough for an article, so long as you cite reliable sources. Charlie-talk to me-what I've done 05:42, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Is there a page where I can report things?

Thanks!—Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.96.236.196 (talk • contribs)

What do you want to report? Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 04:08, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

(ec) What kind of things? Have you seen Category:Wikipedia noticeboards?--Werdan7^{T @} 04:10, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

THank you sir!

Contact

How do I contact the person who is in charge of Wikipedia?

You can contact an aadministrator at WP:AN. If you want to contact the Wikimedia Foundation, you can email them at info-en _at_ wikimedia _dot_ org. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 04:10, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

YAHH<, I NEED some help!

I need the link to the Price is Right page, the "go" button here on Wikipedia isn't working for me. So please provide the link, appreciate it!—Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.96.236.196 (talk • contribs)

The Price Is Right--Werdan7^{T @} 04:12, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I need to make my own project, can I use Wikipedia?

I how I create a project, like how WIktionary has been created, can anyone help me?Thanks, --71.96.236.196 04:09, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

You want MediaWiki, the software that runs Wikipedia and Wiktionary. The website for it is at mediawiki.org. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 04:11, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, if the project is something that works in line with the Wikimedia Foundation's goals, then you can propose it on meta (although I think technically the "new projects" page was temporarily frozen some time ago while they get the Incubator set up, I think you can send a proposal to the foundation-l mailing list if you can find it). If you just want a wiki, you might consider running MediaWiki on a server of your own as TheFearow suggested, or you can set one up on Wikia. Confusing Manifestation 06:37, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

PETA external link section/youtube videos

Do these videos violate copyright? I really have no idea.

[1] [2] [3]

Thanks. Turtlescrubber 05:13, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

• It looks like they're a compilation someone made of a bunch of different clips. So, to be quite honest, "probably?". However, they shouldn't be included in external links anyways -- external link guidelines explain that links should principally be only for things which cannot be covered in the article with text. I don't think these qualify. --Haemo 05:18, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

So these should be removed twice? Ha. external links also include interviews and the sort, and this is sort of like a speech. However, I do agree with you and have always had my doubts that these were a violation of copyright. When I tried to remove them I was reverted and treated like a vandal. So if anyone can say with any certainty it would be great. Thanks for your response. Turtlescrubber 05:28, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Deleted

Why did my article on Lords of Pain get deleted? I worked hard on that. I was going to finsh it when I got more info about it, but then you deleted it! I'm outraged. Need sources? Have it! Need more info? I have it! It's my first project, and I really want to make it. Tell me whatI need for it, and I'll add/delete it. Just please put my page back.

Zombiekid29 06:51, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I assume you are talking about Lords of Pain. Please see: Why was my page deleted?. A Speedy deletion tag was placed on the article, invoking criteria A7, which is that the article does not assert the notability of its subject. Charlie-talk to me-what I've done 07:21, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:There is no deadline. You don't have to submit the article right now. If you can provide more material and good sources, please consider improving your article at the sandbox (for example User:Zombiekid29/Sandbox and only create the page Lords of Pain when it is ready. Wikipedia:Your first article might be useful. I hope this helps. Peacent 15:58, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

In particular, see WP:WWMPD#If all else fails, try another wiki. Wikipedia has much tougher requirements for content than many other wikis tend to have for articles in their specialized topic areas. Many people try creating articles on Wikipedia simply because this is the first wiki they discover, not because Wikipedia is most appropriate for what they want to do. --Teratornis 00:54, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Creating a page by the same name?

If I wanted to create a new page for a band named, say, "Salamander," how can I make this happen? There is obviously an existing page for the reptile, salamander.

You could write Salamander (band). Remember that the band must conform with WP:BAND and be notable enough for inclusion. Sr13 07:45, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Create a new page with the title Salamander (band). In cases where the new topic is more important than the old (not in this one, obviously), move the original page and use the new one (ie Salamander (animal) for the creature and Salamander for the band).

Ensure the band is notable per WP:MUSIC before creation.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 07:47, 26 July 2007 (UTC) (edit conflict)

For more details, see WP:DAB. Confusing Manifestation 23:11, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Table for Company Info.

Please can you tell me how to place a company info. table, such as:

Founded: Headquarters: CEO:

Thank you.

That would be {{Infobox Company | company_name = | company_logo = | company_type = | foundation = | location = | key_people = | industry = | products = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | num_employees = | parent = | subsid = | homepage = | footnotes = }} --Haemo 08:21, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Daily Facts

I recently heard that you can set up Wikipedia so that on a daily basis 'General Knowledge' facts appear automatically on your Browser, how do you do this? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 09:00, 26 July 2007 (talk • contribs) 09:00, 26 July 2007.

You can transclude the "Did you know" section from the Main Page on your userpage by editing it and adding this code:

{|style="border-spacing:8px; margin:0px -8px;"
|-
! <h2 style="margin:0; background:#cef2e0; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #a3bfb1; text-align:left; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Did you know...</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000;"| {{Did you know}}
|-
|}

That will only work if you sign up for a username and log in. Once you've done all that, set your userpage as your homepage in your web browser. It might be easier just to set wikipedia's main page as your browser homepage, though. If you do want to put that stuff on your userpage, by all means drop me a message on my talk page and I'll help, or do it for you. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 11:58, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Self-referencing

As a scientist (now inactive because of a chronic illness), I have contributed to some 200 articles on the Dutch Wikipedia. A few of these pages deal with topics on which key publications were written by myself and collegues, such as a model of the Dutch economy that was used by the Dutch government to validate socio-economic policy.

I have now run into a bunch of users who claim that any self-mention of my name, be it in the text or in a reference, should immediately be deleted, regardless of relevance or notability. Even references to publications by others who in their written work happen to refer to my publications get hunted down and removed.

This seems to deviate from the policy on Wikipedias such as this one, where cases of self-reference are, albeit with scrutiny, judged on their merits.

Any attempt to discuss these matters on the Dutch Wikipedia is met only with abuse.

My question is: is the Dutch Wikipedia community free to equate self-referencing, and anything remotely related, to self-promotion, or is there a common policy for all Wikipedias that they should follow?

If self-referencing is forbidden in all cases, then it is simply not possible for scientists to contribute to the Dutch Wikipedia on their field of expertise.

Regards, Guido den Broeder 09:20, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Sources that are relevant are desired. Whether or not they are related to the person referencing is irrelevant (unless the article is becoming swamped with references to one person). If your work is peer-reviewed and a part of established theory, and is necessary to complete the article, then there is no bar on including it. You may wish to take a look at WP:COI however, before continuing.

Of course, it is not desirable to reference oneself, rather than one's work.

Have a nice day, The Rhymesmith 09:52, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, I've seen that page, it is well-written. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent page on the Dutch Wikipedia and people there consider what is on the English Wikipedia as completely irrelevant to theirs. Is it their right to do that? Regards, Guido den Broeder 10:18, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Partially. Policy can differ from Wikipedia to Wikipedia, although the core tenets stay the same. However, if the Dutch Wikipedia doesn't have an equivalent, what are they charging you with? Self-promotion? It might be worth starting a policy debate there, or asking that Help Desk. There isn't a huge amount that can be done here. The Rhymesmith 10:44, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Guido, we have no ability here to amend to rules and working practice of the Dutch Wikipedia. We can only give some general advice - if your changes or references are being removed, try suggesting them on the talk page of the relevant article first. Neil ╦ 11:15, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

The accusation is indeed self-promotion. It is explicitly claimed that self-reference is by definition self-promotion and that I am a moron to suggest otherwise. My attempts to discuss this on the talk pages of the articles, before or after, were met with abuse. My requests to protect me from this abuse and (more importantly) to protect the articles were met by the same accusation by a number of moderators, again equating self-reference to self-promotion. When I asked for a policy debate I got laughed at. The page I started merely to propose a description of the term was immediately thrashed and nominated for deletion.

I must add that IMHO the entire Dutch Wikipedia suffers from an unhealthy warlike attitude, where many users are relentlessly attacked by others all over the place. New users are often treated to warnings and blocks before they can finish their first contribution. Guido den Broeder 11:45, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Addendum: right after posting here, no less than two Dutch moderators have threatened to block my account (note: while I am on a long wiki-break over there). Guido den Broeder 12:16, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but as has been said previously, we are only able to offer comment and help on the English Wikipedia. I suggest taking up some form of Dispute Resolution on the Dutch Wikipedia through whatever processes they have in place there. We are not able to offer any assistance in other languages. Sorry. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 15:44, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

It seems peculiar that the Dutch Wikipedia would be systematically hostile to contributors who write about their own peer-reviewed work. (I cannot read the record of this dispute in the original Dutch, and we haven't heard from your opponents, but you seem calm enough while presenting your side. Which by the way makes your claim of scientific credentials more believable: scientists by training must know how to handle disagreement without flying into hysterics.) I know of some examples on the English Wikipedia that seem acceptable, for example PeterThoeny is the primary author of the TWiki software, and he contributes to articles such as TWiki, Corporate wiki, and Structured wiki. If he (or anyone else) doesn't stay neutral enough, other editors will be along to weigh in. In my opinion (which carries no official weight), Wikipedia has more to gain than lose from contributions by persons who did the original research or invention behind article topics here. If wiki technology had been around since the Middle Ages, we could probably go back in article histories and read original edits by all the giants of science, the arts, statecraft, etc., in addition to all the forgotten ordinary people who had something to share. Imagine a wiki telling Isaac Newton not to cite his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (after it had been published elsewhere, of course). In any case, Wikipedia#Language editions says the various language Wikipedias operate independently to some extent, but it's not clear exactly to what extent. My suggestion would be, since you appear fluent in English, to translate the 200 Dutch articles you mention to English and create them on the English Wikipedia if they don't already exist here, or edit the English versions if they do exist. The English Wikipedia certainly gets more total traffic anyway, although that might not be true for particular corresponding articles. The other obvious approach to getting your citations onto the Dutch Wikipedia would be to recruit a meat puppet to add them for you, although now that I have mentioned that, the Dutch Wikipedia administrators who are monitoring this discussion will doubtlessly be hypervigilant for any editing which might look as if done on your behalf. Meat puppets are against policy on the English Wikipedia, but apparently the policies here do not apply there. --Teratornis 00:26, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Formatting problem on Obesity

After making multiple edits to this article, the ==Therapy== header seems to have disappeared for no reason seemingly. My edits, and it disappeared after this edit. Please help fix this problem. Go Dhokla! -- Zamkudi ^{Dhokla queen!} 10:41, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

You missed out the backslash in a reference just before the Therapy section - it said <ref name="bbcn00s">, and should have said <ref name="bbcn00s"/>. Neil ╦ 11:12, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

My sincerest thanks. -- Zamkudi ^{Dhokla queen!} 11:18, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

SAARC devlopment

marine conservation and bio diversity in the saarc regional devlopment —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.43.204.45 (talk • contribs) 11:42, 26 July 2007.

You haven't asked a question. What is it you want help with? --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 12:02, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Conflict of Interest

I'd like to write a factual (NOT promotional) article regarding the company that I work for, however, having read the help pages on Conflict of Interest I'm not certain whether I would be in breach of these guidelines or not.

I would appreciate some advice from a human being on this subject as I don't want to offend or be seen to be using Wikipedia for any other purpose than an encyclopedia.

Thanks,

Alex Virginiahayward 11:50, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I think you probably would be in breach of the guidelines, but that doesn't mean you can't get the article written. The first thing to do is read Wikipedia:Notability and Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies). You might also find the Wikipedia:Business' FAQ useful. If you think that your company is notable, list it on Wikipedia:Requested articles. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 12:07, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Also study some featured articles about corporations. There aren't many, but the Microsoft article is one. (While I don't know for certain who all the editors were for the Microsoft article, I would be astounded if nobody from Microsoft had any input there.) Wikipedia has clear standards for giving an article the highest possible quality ranking (which we call featured), and an article's ranking only depends on the article itself, not on who wrote it. (This is a basic premise of critical thinking: that every claim can be decided on its own merits, not on who makes the claim. For example, the world does not become flat merely because we dislike a person who claims otherwise. See: Ad hominem fallacy.) In any case, it doesn't matter whether an article gets written by a Mother Teresa or a hired public relations gun, if the article is as good as the Microsoft article, it can become a featured article as well. Of course I must hasten to add that in the vast majority of cases, PR flacks do not tend to write featured articles. But they could, the same way as anybody else, by studying the Wikipedia manuals carefully and following the clear instructions. In my opinion (which carries no weight), the conflict of interest guideline exists not because having a conflict of interest fundamentally prevents a person from learning how to write encyclopedically, but because in most cases, people who come to Wikipedia specifically to promote some organization or cause usually do not take the time to learn how to edit properly on Wikipedia. But they could. --Teratornis 19:54, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Zurich Airport

In the pages about airline operating out of Zurich Airport, you indicate that Singapore Airlines opartes the sector ZURICH/MANCHESTER. Thsi is no longer the case since 2006. Can you pls delete this information

Thank you very much

Christina Hollenweger Marketing Services/PR Manager Switzerland SINGAPORE AIRLINES LTD Tel:0041 44 218 61 40

Done (after a quick google check). Thanks for letting us know. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 13:09, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

add to this page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mortgage_lenders

When I added Choice Finance to this page, I could not get it to post alphabetically under "C". Instead, it posted at the very top and Wikipedia removed it a couple days later.

HELP

thanks, BJ Matson —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Choicefinance (talk • contribs).

Category:Mortgage lenders is a category to display articles. An article is added to the category by placing [[Category:Mortgage lenders]] in the article. Your user name indicates you have a Wikipedia:Conflict of interest, so it would be inappropriate to create the article or make other edits to promote Choice Finance. See also Wikipedia:Business FAQ. PrimeHunter 13:49, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Please help me understand how to submit a request to have the content updated for the Company I work for.

Hi, I work for Paychex, Inc. in Rochester NY. We would like to see the general description of our Company updated, as it is old. I understand I can not persoanlly update the content because I work for the company and need to submit some type of request to have it done by a 3rd party editor. How exactly do I go about doing that?? I was reading that you can submit stuff via the 'Discussion' tab or 'Talk Page', which I think are one in the same? Im just not sure how you actually submit the request once your there? Any help would be greatly appreceated!! Thank you!

Do you have links to some newspaper or magazine articles about your company? -- Kainaw^(what?) 13:54, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

---

>Are you asking in terms of the actual text that we want to have updated or do I have links to other companies that talk about our company making it credible? If you want links regarding our company here are some:

money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2007/snapshots/70.html http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=payx http://www.nahb.org/generic.aspx?genericContentID=1694 http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/07/13/paychex-adp-buyback-markets-equity-cx_af_0713markets17.html http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/pr.html?symbol=PAYX&type=usstock http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-127199136.html http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-154501754.html

If you need more please let me know.

 Note: If you work for the company please see the conflict of interest page as you may be slighlty biased if you are writing about a company/organisation that you work for. Thank you. — Rlest (formerly Qst) 14:43, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

---> I know I would be biased if I did the editing, that is why I am trying to figure out what i need to do so I can request someone looks at the content we would like put up (in replace of what is there) and have them post it for us.

If you post on the article's talk page (which you can reach by clicking the "discussion" tab at the very top of the article), an editor will come by and assist you. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 15:40, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

--->Great, that's what I thought I just wasn't sure. Would you suggest just posting a comment saying 'I'd like to have the content update, if you are willing to help let me know and I will provide the content.' Or do you Suggest just asking the same thing and also providing the content on that page? Thanks so much again! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sfalkman (talk • contribs)

Read Help:Talk page to see how talk pages work; in particular, you should follow the standard talk page format and sign your talk page comments. (The Help desk is not technically a talk page, but we treat it as one by following the talk page guidelines here. Normal articles do not follow the talk page guidelines, in that we don't visibly sign our contributions to them.) I see you have already edited on Talk:Paychex, and you even removed your initial edit (which is still viewable in the talk page history). It helps other editors if you provide specific information about what you think should go in an article, and be sure to provide reliable sources to support your claims. Read Wikipedia:Business' FAQ to get a better idea of what you should do (or not do) when writing about your own company. I would also recommend that you make a User page to explain yourself and your interest in the Wikipedia project. If your only reason to participate here is to contribute to the Paychex article, you should disclose that on your user page. Obviously, you could build more goodwill among other Wikipedia editors if you helped out with other articles unrelated to your employer. That way it would at least seem your primary motivation was to assist this project rather than promote one particular company. In other words, ask not what Wikipedia can do for you, but what you can do for Wikipedia. However, I do want to say thank you for asking first, rather than just going in and spamming up articles like so many other people do. You demonstrated good faith by asking first. And while Wikipedia has a conflict of interest guideline, I would be willing to wager serious money that most if not all articles about corporations here receive at least some direct input from persons involved with the articles' subjects. How could it be otherwise? Every article about religion gets some partisan editing too. Personally (not that my opinion carries any weight whatsoever), I don't see a huge problem with this as long as an article also gets substantial editing from people who don't have a personal stake in the topic. After all, insiders tend to have some of the best information about a subject. We just have to make sure other disinterested editors keep a lid on their peacock language and so on. --Teratornis 17:18, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

downloading a song free of cost

can i download a particular song, say, Hasta Manana, from Abba's Album 'Waterloo' without having an account with you? i am out of USA, do i have to log in?

Mh, I'm not sure what you mean. If you wish to download music I suggest using a program such as Limewire but this is for Wikipedia-related questions. Sorry; — Rlest (formerly Qst) 14:42, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Aidan Savage was deleted why?

i created a a page about aidan savage a player for st fechins and i want to create profiles for all the players what did i do wrong. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dmattews114 (talk • contribs).

Because in violation of the criteria for speedy deletion A7 and it was not written in the expected tone for an encyclopedia article (however only the latter is a reason for deletion - not the second). Please see Wikipedia:Your first article and Help:Starting a new page for tips. — Rlest (formerly Qst) 14:47, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted and Wikipedia:Notability (people). PrimeHunter 14:52, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Wiki appearance proble,

My browser seems to get an error when I type www.wikipedia.com in my browser address bar. And now I can only gain access to a wiki page by doing Google search for a specific page. Also the website seems to be no longer in its normal appearance, basically it seems there are no frames, it all appears in regular HTML format. 70.231.32.88 15:31, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

The address for the English Wikipedia is actually http://en.wikipedia.org - As for the display, check your browser settings and make sure your browser is displaying frames correctly. I'm fairly certain this is not a problem on our end, sorry. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 15:38, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

See the links under: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Bro. I have noticed that sometimes when I have a poor connection to the Internet, various wiki sites including Wikipedia will not display correctly (text is in a default browser font, no images appear, etc.). I'd guess this means the page content (text) is reaching me, but the style information is not. --Teratornis 16:49, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

About editing stuff

Yeah. Why are you guys so sensitive about my editing stuff?! I'm only adding stuff! The article about Takashi Hagino needed expanding! I mean, articles are not going to expand themselves! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.14.216.60 (talk)

The complaint is that you removed {{Japan-actor-stub}} in this edit. It's not a big deal by itself but there has apparently been other problems with edits by your IP address. It's likely that some of the earlier edits were made by other editors sharing the IP address. PrimeHunter 17:20, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

By the way, I was surprised to see blood type listed in a biography. I found Japanese blood type theory of personality which is probably the reason. I wonder how such information is sourced (I don't speak Japanese). PrimeHunter 17:26, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

A user is out of control, what do I do?

Hi! There is a page on Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). I've been involved with artist trading cards since the 1980's in Boston, MA, US. There is someone promoting the idea of artist trading cards whose link and promoters keep appearing on the wiki Artist Trading Card page claiming to have invented ATC's in 1996 in Europe, named Stirnemann. This is a ludicrous, bogus claim that he invented ATC's. His link and the claim that he invented ATC's is put back on the ATC page repeatedly.

Furthermore, there is a substantial Artist Trading Card web site, a blog that chronicles an exceptional ATC group and how it's done, which the abusing user keeps removing from the links section. The person who removed the link left a message for me calling it spam, when it's more relevant the topic than the Stirnemann web link which he keeps replacing. It's not spam, it's a premiere example of ATC's and how the concept works.

What does one do in this situation? How do I report a user?

Thanks.

You should take the following steps, in order, if you have not done them already.

1. Leave the user a message asking him to explain what he's doing. (I assume you already did that.)
2. Leave a message on Talk:Artist Trading Cards, asking other users to comment.
3. Request a third opinion, asking other users to comment.
4. If the disruption persists, report what has happened at the administrators' noticeboard for incidents. Shalom ^Hello 18:52, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Stubs (removing the fact that something may be or is a stub)

If something is long enough, how am I supposed to remove something telling us that the article is a stub without having to listen to you tell me it is not right?! If I edit the article, and it's long enough, should you remove the stub marker yourselves? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.14.216.60 (talk • contribs)

If it isn't a stub, just remove the stub template from the article. -- Kainaw^(what?) 18:17, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Note that this is only if the article is no longer a stub. You have removed stub templates from articles that appear to remain stubs. A one line description of an actor, followed by their filmography, is not enough to merit removing the stub template. Lucky number 49 22:06, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Fixing a Typo in the title of a Wikipedia Entry

How do I fix a typo in my latest Wikipedia Entry?

I just created an entry for Wear-Dated, but didn't capitalize the "D" in Dated for the entry.

Thank you. Christine

Problem fixed. Check out Help:Moving a page for more information. Regards, — Rlest (formerly Qst) 19:17, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I too need help with this. I just created an article titled "Pardada pardadi"; the title should read "Pardada Pardadi Educational Society" (all caps as it is a proper noun). I can't for the life of me find the "move page" button that is described in the help. Could you please change it, or tell me how to find this button?

Thank you. Agnieszka

editing

A friend created the Wikipedia page for my husband musician, john beasley. i've updated the content, which was easy, but i cant figure out how to edit the top bar and inset bar. there's no obvious edit button.

help. Beasleymusic 19:11, 26 July 2007 (UTC)lorna

Well looking at the page history it seems you have already edited the page. Please be careful when editing the page as if you actually are related to this person you may have a conflict of interest. Regards, — Rlest (formerly Qst) 19:15, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

The lead of an article can be edited by clicking the "Edit this page" tab at the top. PrimeHunter 23:04, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Illustration use

Can I assume that any illustration not marked with a copywrite or liscense number can be freely downloaded for eduucational use?

Thanks Gnerosen 19:17, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

All images on Wikipedia should have licensing information on the image page. If you come across an image that doesn't, please edit the page and add {{subst:nld}} to the image page. However, any image that says it is in the public domain or uses a [{Creative Commons]] or a GNU Free Documentation License is free to use. That should include all images that are not labeled with copyright tags. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 19:28, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

AfD / Speedy Deletion conflicts

If an article is already being discussed for deletion on the basis of non-verifiability and an editor realizes that there may be a more urgent need for speedy deletion (in this case, the entire article seems to be a blatant copyright violation), is it advisable to add the speedy delete request beneath the AfD? Or should one simply to point it out on the AfD talk page so that it can be dealt with in due time? (I made a note of it a few hours ago on the page, but decided I needed to follow up in case this is too urgent for that.) Copyvio protocol seems to require blanking the page, but blanking the page is forbidden by the rules of AfD. Any guidance on how best to proceed would be most welcome. Moonriddengirl 19:21, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

If it is a copyright violation it should be blanked, and {{copyvio|URL where copied from here}} or {{db-g12|URL where copied from here}} of it the article qualifies for another area of the criteria for speedy deletion it should be tagged accordingly with the CSD tag below the AfD tag then the admin will close the debate early and delete the page if it is a suitable candidate for a speedy deletion. — Rlest (formerly Qst) 19:23, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

In that case, you should also make a note on the AfD page to make the editors there aware. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 19:29, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you both. Tagged and notifications spread all around. Moonriddengirl 19:33, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

log in errors

I recently joined this site. I created an account w/i incident. I confirmed my email address and went to the site. I was "told" I was "logged in" but when I tried to use Preferences or Watch list, etc. message states, I must be logged in??S?

Please advise

Go to Special:Userlogin, and try logging in again. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 20:56, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Finding a contributor/ editor?

wiki-help thurs 7/26/2007 4:15pm i wrote the short book DR. MORSES INDIAN ROOT PILLS in 1972 and it is in the public domain. a person with the username of MATHHAMMER made a good and accurate synopsis of my book --- 18:03, 18 March 2007 Mathhammer (Talk | contribs) New user account--- a later comment by mathhammer said s/he was a descendant of mr.comstock, the creator of Morses Pills. i would like to thank her/him and ask about her/his kinship in the family. how can i contact mathhammer?20:20, 26 July 2007 (UTC)~~ thank you, bob shaw

Leave a note here

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 20:51, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Film Writing

Hi I am from Czech republic and I will writen film story of my own which I will give for a film in America.Can me please help with contact addreses of film writrs which ca offer my film-story?

Wikipedia does not provide contact details for screenwriters. Apologies.

The Rhymesmith 20:54, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Merging two accounts

How does someone go about merging two accounts? We have an editor who has used multiple accounts, not for sock puppetry and there are no concerns about that. Someone suggested the various accounts be merged. Is this possible?? How is it done? By whom? Where? Thanks. KP Botany 22:06, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't see the answer to this question in WP:SOCK, which does describe some permissible uses of multiple accounts by one user. If someone knows the answer, they should add it to the WP:SOCK page. WP:RENAME talks about changing usernames, but not merging two usernames into one account. When all else fails, try searching. This Help desk archive search finds:

• Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 January 4#Putting previous contributions under my new name.

in which Kesh mentions WP:SOCK#Alternate accounts, but that looks like merely a way to tag the multiple accounts as belonging to one person rather than actually merging them into a single account. Why do the multiple accounts need to be merged? Would merely tagging them be enough? --Teratornis 22:29, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I have a doppleganger account, which is mentioned -- maybe that is a solution? --Haemo 22:30, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

What's a doppleganger account? They created a small handful of accounts because they couldn't remember their name from one computer to the next--the same reason a lot of us un-computer savvy folks have multiple accounts all over the Internet. Another user asked them to merge the accounts since they were editing the same articles with multiple accounts. They agreed to. All very civil and orderly. The only issue that remains is how to do it. KP Botany 03:51, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

It's another account to preserve your name, or a similar name. --Haemo 03:54, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Adding External Links

I tried and it was deleted repeatedly.

Within all major cities' (your city) there is an affordable housing crisis.

A link from an article about any major city to the web-site of a local organization that connects people who struggle to make ends-meat with owners of small apartments is more important than the esoteric Wikipedia Nazis right to delete said link on a whim.

Humility: Elite Wikipedia editors don't have a moral right to block needy people from finding affordable housing just because they have power issues.

So far I represent 3 owners in the Gatineau / Ottawa area who own 17 buildings (71 apartments). Each building contains only budget priced apartments that the average man or woman can afford. The apartments are so small and simple that the Wikipedia elitists would scoff at them in snobbish disgust... The rest of us are thankfull to call it home.

A mean person keeps deleting the external link to the web-site of the organization.

How do I get past mean people who justify their existence by searching for stuff to delete?

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.56.41.220 (talk • contribs) 

<personal information removed by Shadow1>

Ahem. Before I even attempt to give a detailed answer to your question, I would kindly ask you to read WP:CIVIL, WP:AGF, WP:EL and Godwin's Law. Confusing Manifestation 22:54, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

And probably also WP:NOT. Confusing Manifestation 22:55, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

"Ahem" is exactly the snobbery to which I just referred. I need to get past your attitude toward needy people so that less fortunate people can have a home too. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.56.41.220 (talk • contribs)

I'm sorry that you're so frustrated, but Wikipedia simply isn't the website you need. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a listings site. I'd guess that you can find listings sites through google, but if not then I'm sure the miscellaneous reference desk can help you. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 23:00, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Hello Paul, Wikipedia is no more nor less "elitist" than any other organization which makes rules about what its participants can and cannot do. No organization can be all things to all people. I'm sure the local Web site you want to link to imposes its own rules on the content it publishes, and those rules could seem "elitist" to someone who wants to use that site for reasons other than what its owners intend. Besides, the people you call "needy" would need to have Internet access to view Wikipedia or any other Web site, and that would make them fabulously wealthy by the standards of the world's billion poorest people (who subsist on about $1 per day per person), so your cause is also "elitist" in its own way - you're excluding the neediest people of all. See the WP:NOT page for a long list of things Wikipedia is not - everything on that page is there because lots of people tried (and continue to try) to use Wikipedia for those purposes. However, all is not lost. The Wikimedia Foundation which runs Wikipedia also gives away its wonderful MediaWiki software, so anyone with an ax to grind and money to buy Web hosting can set up their own wiki and grind away. Thousands of people have set up their own wikis; see WikiIndex. For example, ChicagoCo-op looks like an attempt to do something along the lines of what you are trying to do. Why don't you contact the people running that wiki and see if they are interested in expanding their geographic scope? One problem that small wikis often have is that they limit themselves too much, either topically or geographically, and then they don't attract enough users to build much content or establish a viable community. And finally, while wiki technology provides fantastic new possibilities for mass collaboration, wiki editing is not for the hypersensitive nor the faint of heart. Not everyone is tough enough to watch their work getting chopped to pieces on a regular basis. To stay sane while editing on a wiki requires a degree of mental looseness, a willingness to relax one's urge to insure a specific pre-conceived outcome. Wiki editing is more like an experiment where you try things, see what happens, and go with the flow. Anyone with a Persecution complex, real or imagined, should avoid wiki editing. --Teratornis 23:31, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I should point out that everybody who answers questions on the Help desk has almost certainly, like me, had any number of their contributions to Wikipedia obliterated by other users. Welcome to the (sometimes) cruel world of Wikipedia! --Teratornis 04:08, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

I apologise if the "Ahem" seemed snobbish. While I appreciate that when you're involved in a dispute your temper tends to be shortened (I know I've suffered it myself), jumping onto the Wikipedia Help Desk and raving about how "mean people" and "Wikipedia Nazis" are removing your link, and generally making attacks on the people who could quite easily be reading your post, is probably not a good idea. Also, while many people have preconceptions about Wikipedia being a place where "anyone can do anything", a moment's thought shows that if there weren't widely accepted guidelines on the way to do things the whole thing would have fallen apart years ago, and so it's sometimes worth taking a step back and thinking "What I'm trying to do seems important to me, but given that people are opposing me, am I going about things the right way?" - your comment that including your link in the article "is more important than the esoteric Wikipedia Nazis right to delete said link on a whim" suggests that you didn't consider whether maybe the "Nazis" were following some sort of guideline on external links, rather than just deleting it "on a whim". Hence, I provided some links for you to read, which would probably answer your question better than I could (as well as a few extra, like the link to Godwin's Law, to explain why the use of a term like "Nazi" tends to bias people against you). Again, I apologise if it was taken the wrong way. Confusing Manifestation 04:22, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Multiple Reverts

Hello, I've never had this issue before so I'm not sure what to do. On the entry for Halal, presumably a single user with both IP addresses 87.74.46.129 and 87.74.16.171 keeps inserting a picture which, I feel, is inappropriate for the article. I've reverted their edit atleast twice with the reason in the "edit summary", but the person insists on reinserting the picture. I've also left a message on the article's talk page requesting a discussion, but they haven't responded. I don't want to revert a third time, in fear of violating the 3 revert rule. What should I do? Thanks!Starwarp2k2 23:09, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Scroll down in the Editor's Index to the "Content disputes:" heading below this anchor point: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Con. There you will find links to just about everything on this subject. --Teratornis 00:41, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

July 27

July 30

I have forgotten my password and cannot login to wikipedia! Is there a way I can have my password e-mailed to me? Thanks.169.237.45.212 22:36, 30 July 2007 (UTC)tsourkpk

Well you if you have not given your Email adress I am afraid that you are out of luck. You might want to create a new account. The same thing happened to me when I was User:GreaterWikiholic. Thanks. Marlith ^T/C 19:57, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Sock puppets

On Talk:English people#Obsessive vandal a user who seems to be using two accounts, one registered and one an IP user, states that "an IP address is never classified as a sockpuppet." Is this correct or would anyone using both a registered account and an IP user account be considered possibly as being a sockpuppet? Thank you. (Apologies if this is not the correct place to ask this, but I wasn't sure really where to ask. ♦Tangerines♦·Talk 00:10, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, that's an interesting question. The lead section in WP:SOCK says:

• A sock puppet is an additional username used by a Wikipedian who already has one or more accounts.

I don't see anything about users who make both registered and unregistered edits. From my naive perspective, I can't see how the distinction would matter, although technically you would not say a user who is editing from an IP address is using an "account" for those unregistered edits. It's possible that a user who has an account is simply forgetting to log in before editing sometimes, although I can't speak to the case you have in mind. --Teratornis 00:37, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for the quick response. In this instance they have been using the IP user for some time, and has today just started using the registered account when another editor brought the two up as possibly being one and the same person. Since I asked this I also found a couple of things about IP users on WP:SOCK:

• "IP addresses used for sockpuppetry should not be blocked indefinitely." and

  "it is a violation of this policy to create multiple accounts, or to edit as IP, rather than logging in to your account, in order to confuse or deceive editors who may have a legitimate interest (a legitimate interest excludes wikistalking) in reviewing your contributions."

Given that in this instance the user said, "an IP address is never classified as a sockpuppet." then surely they are incorrect? Especially as they have today reverted once using both as "registered" and "unregistered"> Thanks again. ♦Tangerines♦·Talk 00:53, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Basically, they're wrong, or at least not exactly right. IPs are usually not actually called "sockpuppets", but they're treated the same way - in particular, sockpuppetry is actually allowed as long as the "puppetmaster" is honest about what they're doing (e.g. saying "Account X is my other account for editing cheese-related articles" on their user page), but is disallowed when it's used to confuse other users, particularly into suggesting that the sockpuppets are actual separate people and are being used to vote-stack. In that case, editing logged in and as an IP to do things like avoid 3RR is absolute, 100% no-no (and as such, if they've reverted 2 times logged in and 2 times as IP, report them to the 3RR noticeboard and just point out where it's the same person.) Confusing Manifestation 02:42, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Edit wars

Sorry to ask another question right after the last. However, if an article (in this instance the same article from before, (English people) sees constant reverts between two versions, is it the norm to revert the specific edits to their original state prior to the edit war, and to then ask those involved in the edit war and anyone else interested, to discuss the matter in the talk page, and to try and reach a consensus/compromise? If so is there a policy anywhere that can be quoted when doing this? Or have I just imagined that this can be done!? Thanks. ♦Tangerines♦·Talk 00:15, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Quick answer before I get an edit conflict: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia is where to look up most policy and guideline pages. --Teratornis 00:38, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Scroll down in the index to the "Content disputes:" heading below the anchor point: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#Con. There you will find links to just about everything on this subject. --Teratornis 00:40, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

(ec)Well, if one user has reverted more than three times, report them to WP:AN/3RR. If the war is severe enough, you can request page protection. i ^{(said) (did)} 00:41, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for the quick responses, I will have a look at the relevant links provided. In this specific instance I would not know who to report for the 3RR as two editors both seem to be doing it to each other. Thanks again, ♦Tangerines♦·Talk 00:56, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

You would report every person who has reverted any edits more than three times in the past ~24 hours. i ^{(said) (did)} 01:09, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

And I would think that normally it takes at least two users to get a revert war going, although I suppose someone could stage a mock battle between sock puppets. --Teratornis 04:10, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

A revert war yes, but not to violate the 3RR. i ^{(said) (did)} 04:12, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

CAT

Where is it published about a cat that can predict death? A nursing home?

It was on the AP wire and was threfore published in many places today, including here -Arch dude 01:51, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, it lays by the people literally hours before their death. Scary!

dough

Do u make any money out o this site?

No.

The Rhymesmith 02:02, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

But see Wikia, which might make money for Jimbo Wales. The other 48,333,943 of us aren't likely to get paid anything for the time we spend on Wikipedia (see: Wikipedia:Who writes Wikipedia), but the wiki editing skills we learn here might translate into serious bank (well, eventually) if we apply them in the real world (see: Corporate wiki). The organizational efficiency of Wikipedia looks better to me than anything one is likely to see at a typical corporation, most of which like to waste vast amounts of resources unproductively carting workers back and forth between homes and offices, where they dull their minds in largely wasteful meetings. Wikipedia's product has a complexity level rivaling anything from the corporate world, and it's mostly being done by a far-flung army of volunteers who never see each other in meatspace. Anybody who can read and follow instructions can browse to Wikipedia and quickly get to work, without having to install any additional software (since almost everybody with a computer seems to have a Web browser now). --Teratornis 03:55, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Deletions

I am a newbie to Wikipedia, and submitted two short entries today to see what the process was like. I was surprised that they were both deleted within seconds. One was deleted despite asserting what was notable. I went back to assert why one of the entries was about a notable organization, but the article got deleted anyway. When I asked for help on my talk page, someone suggested contacting the person who tagged the article for deletion. However, when I looked at the "What to do" page, it said "please do not post questions about your deleted article on this page's talk page. Instead, if you have questions, post them on the Help desk."

So what do I do? Can I place a question on the talk page of the person who tagged my article? Again, I fixed the entry to include reasons that demonstrated that it was notable, but the entry got deleted anyway. Thanks in advance for your help.Nbirnbach 01:45, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Post questions about the deleted article on the talk page of whoever nominated and/or deleted it, not on the talk page of the deleted article.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 02:01, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

And the place to look to find out who those users were is here. AndyJones 12:32, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

How to prevent redirecting?

Someone is redirecting my contribution page to a different page. he/she did not ask my opinion or email me to discuss about it.

example:

my page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tam_mak_hung‎

Aghosthunter 02:24, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, he doesn't have to ask you specifically, since you do not own the article. However, by the look of the article, what you wrote about is just another version of what he redirected to. So the redirect was valid. I would've speedied the article since not a cookbook. If you wish for the article to stay it's own, I suggest you try to wikify it, and add sources. You may wish to speak with the editor who redirected it to find out his reasoning. i ^{(said) (did)} 02:32, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Actually, after looking into this more, the article was created as a redirect. When you changed that, they just made it back into a redirect. i ^{(said) (did)} 02:34, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

(via ec) OK ...

1. You don't own any text on Wikipedia - once you put it out there, you are agreeing that anyone else can edit it.
2. You are supposed to sign your posts on talk pages, and special pages like this one, but not on articles, so even if the article stays your signature needs to go.
3. While you have reverted the other user's (or possibly users', I haven't looked closely as to how many people are involved) edits, at least you haven't edit warred heavily over it - yet. Make sure you don't.
4. When you are involved in a content dispute (i.e. a disagreement over the content of an article), the procedure is to discuss it - in particular, if someone makes a change and you revert it (as you've done), you should be the one providing an explanation as to why you've done it. If there's only one other user involved, you can leave a message on their own talk page, but in general it's better to put it out in the open on the article's talk page. In this case I would suggest posting the actual message on Talk:Tam mak hung and a note on Talk:Som tam pointing anyone else interested in the direction of the main discussion. Then, in your post, you will need to outline (a) how tam mak hung is different to som tam (since Som tam claims they're the same, or close to it), and (b) why they're different enough to warrant separate articles, rather than, say, one article with sections describing both.
5. If you can't achieve consensus, then you can look at other forms of dispute resolution. Note that there is a difference between "not finding consensus" and "everyone else achieved consensus but I disagree". Confusing Manifestation 02:36, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

can you add salicylates to wikipedia

there's no info on your site —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.180.76.97 (talk • contribs)

Google Search contradicts your assessment. What article on this topic do you need which is not already here? --Teratornis 03:43, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

banner help

I'm trying to add a second importance field to Template:WPCHINA only if the parameter "music" is set to "yes," but I'm only making the syntax worse. Pandacomics 06:14, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Deleting Search History

How can I delete my search history on Wikipedia? 70.152.249.90 06:15, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Do you mean when you type in a field, it predicts what you're going to search for? If so, I believe that that is a browser function, not Wikipedia. You can, if you have Mozilla Firefox, go to Tools> Option> Privacy> And uncheck "Remember what I enter in forms and the search bar." For IE, I can't help you. Is that what you're talking about? i ^{(said) (did)} 06:17, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

This question appears frequently on the Help desk. Check some of the previous answers in those search results. Another option is to refrain from searching Wikipedia for articles about pornography, sex, etc., if your wife also uses your computer. Or next time, marry someone more open-minded. --Teratornis 17:01, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Template that yields the name of a given article's talk page?

I'm looking for a template that works like the variable {{TALKPAGENAME}}, but takes a parameter indicating the name of the page for which you'd like the name of the talk page. For instance, {{foo|Article}} would yield Talk:Article, {{foo|User:Iknowyourider}} would yield User talk:Iknowyourider, {{foo|Template:Foo}} would yield Template talk:Foo, etc. Does such a thing exist? Iknowyourider (t c) 06:50, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

The closest I'm aware of would be {{Lat}} (link article talk) and its sister templates, {{lht}}, {{ltt}}, {{lwt}}, and so on. If there is a template that'll do this for any namespace, I suspect it'll have to take two parameters (one for namespace, the other for pagename), since I can't think of any way to build a switch statement that would work on only one such parameter. – Luna Santin (talk) 06:57, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

"No Break" Formatting Option HELP

How do I keep a line in an infobox from automatically breaking? I seem to remember a "no break" formatting option, but can't figure out how to do it. --Criticalthinker 06:53, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

See {{nobr}} for instructions on how to do this. --ais523 08:19, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. For the Acapulco infobox, can you see if you can get it so that the word "municipality" doesn't go to the next line? --Criticalthinker 08:32, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

who can i rate

Kk loach 06:53, 27 July 2007 (UTC)hello can u plz tell me please that how can i rate articles? thanks.Kk loach 06:53, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

You can get started here.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 07:49, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

why i cant make pages

why you team delete my pages. as you said it is free then i am making pages so why are you deleting them?? I am giving all the informations correct. i want to put my profile at Siddharth Jain why dont u let me do that . I am a website developer as u can see my website on sidCool.com Please reply me fast

WP:WWMPD Confusing Manifestation 07:05, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Now that I've replied fast, here's the slower, and more thought out answer. At least some of the pages you have created, based on warnings on your talk page, were deleted because they didn't conform to Wikipedia policies and guidelines. In particular, it looks like you were trying to create articles about yourself which is not allowed because (a) it's considered a conflict of interest, (b) you, me and about 6,000,000,000 people on Earth are not yet notable enough to have an article on Wikipedia. The "free" part of "Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" means that you are free to contribute, as long as your contributions are furthering the content of Wikipedia (similarly, if I told you that "you're free to stay in my spare room for a few months", that doesn't mean that you can just come in, redecorate the place, run a drug smuggling outfit from it, and rent it out to someone else - and I still reserve the right to point out when you're starting to overstay your welcome). Confusing Manifestation 07:14, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

The above is all true, but I think Wikipedia could do more to warn new users of the high probability that their new articles will be deleted. Pages that the new user might see first (e.g., Help:Starting a new page) seem to convey an unrealistically optimistic tone. For example, Help:Starting a new page is a copy of the page on Meta: m:Help:Starting a new page (plus a couple of Wikipedia-specific templates). The page on Meta is generic help for starting a new page on any MediaWiki wiki, so it doesn't contain any wiki-specific warnings about the probability that a random new user's preconceived ideas about what is appropriate for a particular wiki will actually be appropriate. I suppose the main problem is that we have one help page for everybody, but new users especially are unlikely to be aware of the furious rate at which new articles get deleted here. --Teratornis 16:52, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

khushwant singh

give brief description and photograph of khushwant singh

Searching Wikipedia, by using the search box on the left side of the screen, is the best way to get information. You can also get to an article at Khushwant Singh. For further information, ask at the Reference Desk.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 07:48, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Font

Would you please tell me why is the font like this? http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/2316/47726884hu6.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 222.166.160.11 (talk • contribs)

Sometimes images become stretched so that will be the problem, nothing serious. — Rlest (formerly Qst) 10:10, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't think that has anything to do with the stretching of the image; the font on your browser has been changed. You should be able to change that back in your browser settings. jeffjon 15:02, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

st fechins, add player profiles

i was just wondering if i will be allowed to add profiles to the players of st fechins gaa club. a profile created yesterday was deleted because he was not well known, does this mean i cannot add any profiles to the players as the team is only known in various areas of ireland —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dmattews114 (talk • contribs)

I would think that the team's article would be the place to write a brief player profile if the player is not notable enough for an article in his own right. However, I can't find an article for the team either - maybe you could start by creating this? EyeSerene^TALK 10:00, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Submitting information/Editing a page/Adding to previous page

I apologize if this has been addresses in the FAQ, I searched but could not find the exact answer I needed. I have submitted new information to some Wikipedia pages and provided sources in the "comments" section as I could not find anywhere else to provide the source. Is this correct? I do not want to submit contributions incorrectly and result in a ban from using this site. Could you explain how to submit/edit pages correctly because I am not positive I have done it right.

Thankyou —The preceding unsigned comment was added by RosarioMendez (talk • contribs) 11:38, 27 July 2007.

Wikipedia has loads of relevant policies, but I think the best place to direct you to would be the Wikipedia:Tutorial. I've also left you a welcome template on your talk page with links to lots of useful reading. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 11:50, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Information on Asthama, breathing disorder etc.

Can I get information on health matters e.g. Asthama or breathing disorder its symptoms, its cure precautions to be taken etc on your site? If so where do I get the information? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.184.49.183 (talk • contribs) 12:28, 27 July 2007

Use the search bar to search for Asthma. The search bar is in the left hand panel at the top of every wikipedia page. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 12:36, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

But note that Wikipedia does not give medical advice. PrimeHunter 14:19, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

IP addresses for edits

When an edit is made by someone who is logged in as a user, is it possible to determine the IP address used? Do admins have any special powers in this regard? TreveX^talk 12:42, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

That feature does exist, and it's called checkuser, but it can only be used by a few tens of people. It's only used in cases of serious widespread vandalism - in all other cases it would be a breach of our privacy policy. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 13:01, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for that :-) TreveX^talk 13:12, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Moral values

Do moral values are declining among youngsters ? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.89.250.205 (talk)

Old people in every generation seem to think so. For example, Ragtime music caused a sensation back in the 1890's when it first appeared; today it sounds like novelty music. Also see:

• Flapper
• Social effects of rock and roll
• Sexual revolution
• Teen pregnancy
• Adolescence

--Teratornis 16:00, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Direct your inquiry to the Humanities Section of the Reference Desk. However, as an answer, your question is philosophically incoherent, and cannot be verified to refer to anything. See emotivism. The Rhymesmith 01:36, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

pratibha patil

is Pratibha Patil the first president in the world? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 167.1.162.100 (talk • contribs)

I don't quite think "first president in the world" is quite accurate, but she's certainly the President of India.

Hope this helps, Nihiltres^(t.l) 15:32, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Did you mean to say "first female president"? If so, then see List of elected or appointed female heads of state —Jeremy (talk) 16:07, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

She also appears on the Main Page just now, placing her in the lofty company of Homer's Phobia, the current featured article. --Teratornis 22:55, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Log in problems

{{help me}}

Dear Wikipedia,

My name is Bradley Minoski I go by the name Paul Broun on wikipedia.

I am writing this because I have problems logging in. I want to create links on wikipedia regarding infomation on Pennsylvania State Senate Districts and if you want to create(not edit) a page you must log in so I do that and it says the log in is successful and when I go to try to create a link it tells me I have to log in again and it keeps doing this everytime I log in.

I don't know what to do, please help me.

Thank You.

Please see Help:Logging_in#How_to_log_in. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 18:08, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Page Deleted

Hi,

I recently added a page for Barrie D'Rozario Murphy and it was immediately deleted due to Advertisement, unsourced, non-notable. I don't understand. If you look up the category "advertising agencies" there are hundreds of advertising agencies within Wikipedia. There are hundreds of MN companies. Barrie D'Rozario Murphy is an advertising agency, no different than the others. I linked the agency clients, like United Airlines to the United Airlines Wikipedia entry. I connected it to the "advertising agencies" category. It was completely factual, not at all like an advertisement. What more do I need to do? How do I source it?

For other advertising agencies, see Fallon Worldwide, Campbell Mithun, etc.

Please advise. Thank you.

Quick generic answer: see Wikipedia:Business' FAQ, WP:COI, WP:RS, WP:CITE, WP:CITET, WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS, WP:WWMPD. Other respondents may address your specific case in more detail (since I am not an administrator, I cannot see your deleted article). --Teratornis 16:55, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Teenwag

Hi i am enquiring whether this site http://www.teenwag.com/ is worthy enough of a wikipedia page. The site is similar to myspace and is a teen social network place and has a few celebirty's on it just like myspace so i really cant see why it wouldnt be allowed a page.

No, unfortunately it would not satisfy WP:WEB. Regards; — Rlest (formerly Qst) 16:49, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Can't find my page

This is the first time that I have edited anything in Wikipedia. I made a new page over an hour ago and I have even edited since then. I have not closed the original browser yet, so I can still have it. But when I open a new browser and try to search for it, I can't find the page. What do I need to do?

Yes got to Special:Contributions then insert your username into the box and it will list your contribs, if its not there see if it has been deleted. Regards; — Rlest (formerly Qst)

I know it's an obvious question, but since you still have it in the original browser window, did you remember to click the "Save Page" button below the editing box? Astronaut 14:28, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Also be aware that Wikipedia's Search capability is not instantaneous. It may take a couple of days before a new article shows up when you search for it. Corvus cornix 20:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

How to disambiguate pages without creating new content

There is currently an entry about Charlie Palmer, the British soccer player. Other entries (e.g., Tyler Florence), link to this page, but they are referring to Chalie Palmer, the chef. How can I disambiguate into two pages (Charlie Palmer (Soccer Player) and Charlie Palmer (Chef)) without entering any new content for Charlie Palmer (Chef)? I don't know enough about Charlie Palmer the chef to create an entry for him, but currently the links to this entry are incorrect, so I want to create a disambiguated page with the proper links.

I must admit I don't know the answer to your question. However please note that should the Charlie Palmer article end up being re-named, it should be to Charlie Palmer (footballer) and not Charlie Palmer (soccer player), as Palmer was an English player; as is the norm is for players where Football (soccer) is known as football. See - Michael Jackson (footballer). ♦Tangerines♦·Talk 17:52, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

1. Move Charlie Palmer to Charlie Palmer (Soccer Player) (wouldn't that be "football player" though? -- see other players to find the preferred description).
2. Go back to Charlie Palmer (which will redirect to the page you just made.
3. Click on the redirect note to get back to Charlie Palmer.
4. Edit the page and enter a link for each article you want (the Charlie Palmer (chef) will be red)
5. Categorize the page as {{disam}}

That's all. -- Kainaw^(what?) 17:48, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Indeed, Kainaw, if moved, then it nedds to be to Charlie Palmer (footballer). ♦Tangerines♦·Talk 17:54, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

If an article currently links to Charlie Palmer (find examples at Special:Whatlinkshere/Charlie Palmer) but it's about the chef, then change the articles link from [[Charlie Palmer]] to [[Charlie Palmer (chef)|Charlie Palmer]]. The latter creates the piped link Charlie Palmer. You can do this without creating Charlie Palmer (chef). If there is only an article about one Charlie Palmer, then there is no need to create a disambiguation page. PrimeHunter 18:20, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

But nobody answered the original question, which is what to do about the incorrect links that should go to a new article, when the new article does not exist. I have encountered this problem several times. When I see this, I simply change the offending links, which converts them from incorrect blue links to correct red links. This is avoids misleading the reader, and it acts as an implicit request for someoen to create the existing article.Where appropriate, you can also creat a disambiguation page, and when you do, you can add the red link to taht page also. I disambiguated "William Kirby," which is the name of two different entymologists. I found several additional people with this name, all linking to the wrong guy, and I used this approach. -Arch dude 02:23, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I answered the original question in the preceding post. PrimeHunter 03:53, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Vandalism

Hi, the IP 24.187.139.67 vandalized the Brazil article 5 times in a day. And this is not his only vandalism. What you can do about that? Protect the page, and/or block him, please. Wildie 17:37, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

The place to report vandalism is WP:AIV. It's not very likely that an administrator will see a report here. Pages will only be protected if receiving high levels of vandalism from multiple sources, but if that is the case, you can request it at WP:RPP. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 18:06, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, I'm going to ask there. Sorry this newbie :) Wildie 18:25, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

See subpage list

I was demonstrating how a Wikipedia system could be used for collaborative schoolwork a couple years ago. I made some subpages off my homepage. How do I view of a list of my subpages so I can submit them for deletion? -- Kainaw^(what?) 17:45, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

If homepage = user page, then see [4]. Did you expect more? PrimeHunter 18:04, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

If you go to Special:Prefixindex, type "Kainaw/" in the box, and select the "User" name space, you'll get a list of all your subpages. It doesn't appear that you have any right now, however. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 18:04, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

And see [5] for user talk subpages. PrimeHunter 18:08, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

references??

Hi, I think I have correctly referenced the article James Underwood. The superscripts are present, however there is no list at the bottom. I am also getting a zero. Please kindly assistpart 17:48, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Fixed. —Jeremy (talk) 17:57, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Images

How do you copy an image from another website and paste it on your wikipedia page?

You will have to Upload the picture in order to place it on here. Wikipedia cannot accept images without proper licensing so if you don't know what copyright status of the image is, don't upload it. --_Hdt83 ^Chat 19:21, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Capital letters in article name?

I recently added an article titled "International institute for sustainable laboratories" Originally the words "institute" "sustainable" and "laboratories" had their first letter capitalized, but wiki seemed to automatically lower case them. How can I make the article name read "International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories" ?

Thanks!

Fixed In the future, you should be able to move an article to a new title by clicking the "move" tab at the top of the page. Naming conventions state that titles should only have the first letter capitalized unless the subject is a proper noun, so the search defaults to making everything else lowercase. As you saw, this does occasionally cause some problems. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 20:45, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Strange AfD behaviour regarding Workitu Ayanu Gurmu

I used Twinkle to create the AfD debate, insert template, etc, for this page. However, for reasons that are clearly beyond my understanding, the link to the debate in the AfD box on the page itself is showing red and leading to creation of the page. I can't see how it's pointing to a different page, rather than Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Workitu Ayanu Gurmu, and I'm really confused now... SamBC 19:46, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

It's fine; you're just seeing a cached version. cf Wikipedia:Bypass your cache. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 19:55, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Editing "Godfrey Mwakikagile"

I edited the page but am not sure if I did it the right away. I have had no response.

I posted a message but may be I went to the wrong place.

I may need more help. If you can, just edit out what you think should not be in the article.

I'm new, and still learning, but very excited about it! I hope to get better as time goes by.

The article Godfrey Mwakikagile was deleted yesterday for copyright infringement. When writing new articles, please make sure that what you are posting is in your own words. Most websites own copyright for the material they show, even if it is not explicitly stated. You might want to read WP:1ST for more information on how to write your first article. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 20:34, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

harry potter books summary

20:10, 27 July 2007 (UTC)71.126.229.141how do I get the summaries

There is a short summary at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Searching can also help you find what you're looking for. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 20:29, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Can I use frames or iframe?

I would like to create a page in our internal wiki that has 3 different navigational menus:

A "universal" policies menu

Then a column that has 1 departments policies on it, and a column of equal proportions right next to the first column with another departments policies on it.

I'm wondering about frames, because as these sections grow, I want an embedded scroll-bar available to the viewer.

Is this possible within Wiki?

Thanks.

Sailships 20:27, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Please note that we can only offer assistance with the English Wikipedia, not with other sites. You can take a look at our help pages to see how our markup compares to that on your Wiki, but I'm afraid that's all the help we are able to offer. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 20:40, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

I understand. And, I looked in the Help Pages, but didn't fine a mention in favor or against frames/iframes, hence the question. Sailships 20:56, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

If your corporate wiki runs on the MediaWiki software, you can try asking on: mw:Project:Support desk. You can also search the two wikis that have lots of information about MediaWiki:

• Search Meta with Google
• Search MediaWiki.org with Google

and you can search the Help desk archives. Also see: WP:FAQ and Wikipedia:Technical FAQ. I don't know the answer to your question, but from what I know about MediaWiki I would be surprised if creating scrolling columns would be easy. --Teratornis 22:51, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Ask your question at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical). They are equipped to answer such questions there. Corvus cornix 20:47, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Template Formatting

In my personal template, Template:Hot Dog Wolf/usertalkcomment, there is white space to the right of the box. I only want the box to be 85% of the page's width, but the original template was 100%. Can someone tell me how to fix it or fix it for me? → Hot Dog Wolf 20:40, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

New and Totally Ignorant

I noticed that "Caldart" was not listed when I searched "Italian Surnames" so I created an account and tried to edit the page. When I viewed the preview it did not add the surname to the selectable, alphabetized surnames...how do I do this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Maras67 (talk • contribs)

I can't be sure exactly what page you tried to edit, but maybe you tried to edit Category:Italian surnames. That is not an ordinary wiki page. See: Help:Category to understand how categories work in the MediaWiki software that powers Wikipedia. The short answer is that there would have to be a Caldart article (there isn't yet; that's why it appears as a red link), and someone would have to add a category link to that article to categorize it under Category:Italian surnames. You cannot manually edit the alphabetized list of names that appears on the category page; MediaWiki generates that list automatically from all the pages that link to the category. Categories seem to be one of the most initially confusing MediaWiki features for new users, so read Help:Category as many times as it takes to start making sense. --Teratornis 22:28, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

For example, see the Abaco article, which is the first link appearing on Category:Italian surnames in the alphabetized list. If you click "edit this page" and look toward the bottom of the wikitext in the edit window, you will see: [[Category:Italian surnames]] which is the category link that places Abaco in Category:Italian surnames. To add Caldart to the list, you would have to make a Caldart article similar to the Abaco article. Google Search on Wikipedia for "Caldart" seems to find only one person: Violetta Caldart, which might make a Caldart article somewhat questionable, but if you can write a well-sourced article about that surname, feel free to try it. Be aware that lots of new articles get deleted. You may want to spend more time editing existing articles and reading the help files before you attempt new article creation, as that seems highly failure-prone for new users. And by the way, welcome to Wikipedia. --Teratornis 22:37, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

You may want to join Wikipedia:WikiProject Italy or at least look at it. Someone there may be able to help with Italian surname articles; you could ask on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Italy (see Help:Talk page first). --Teratornis 22:40, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

editing article titles

Greetings,

I've created an article for the Wild River Review, a literary magazine in Doylestown, PA. I am employed by this magazine and authorized by the directors of the magazine to create an article about the magazine on wikipedia. After creating the article and its content, it came to my attention that the title of the article is incorrect. The article is titled Wild river review, with river and review beginning with lower-case letters. I need to change that to make it Wild River Review, with each word capitalized. It's quick and easy to edit any section and the content of the article, but it is imperative that the title of the article be free of typographical errors. How can I change the title of an article? I'm also having trouble loading the magazine's logo into the article. I followed your instructions in the file upload wizard and I am able to prove that the logo is usable by permission of the creators, but the logo will not load properly into the article. How do I do this? Simperat 21:39, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

As you are an employee of the company, you shouldn't be creating an article of the company anyway. It creates a Conflict of Interest. Having a look at the article, it is noticeable that it's very promotional of the magazine and could be thought of as advertising. Just for an example, there is an entire section advertising next months issue, and paragraphs are even written from the perspective of the company. AndrewJDTALK -- 22:16, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Also see: Wikipedia:Business' FAQ, and WP:PEACOCK. --Teratornis 22:19, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

As to your first question, to change the title of a page you have to move it. Users who are not logged in, and those whose accounts are less than four days old, cannot move pages but can list them at requested moves to have someone else do it. Confusing Manifestation 11:20, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Use of Wiki material elsewhere

At www.britain.tv I was surprised to see large chunks of (out of date) Wiki used as a main part of the site. Is this acceptable? Can an experienced editor check this if they think necessary? Tony in Devon 21:55, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

The name of this site is: Wikipedia. The word wiki refers to a large number of Web sites that are editable by their users; Wikipedia is but one of many wikis. Lots of other Web sites have copied material from Wikipedia; see: Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks. If you think someone has copied Wikipedia content in a way which violates the GFDL, see: Wikipedia:Standard GFDL violation letter. --Teratornis 22:10, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

I looked at:

Aside from the ugly appearance of their copy of the Wikipedia Main Page, I'm not sure whether they are properly acknowledging the source. At the top of the page a line says: extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia but at the bottom of the page another line says: "Copyright (c) 2006 Britain.tv All rights reserved." --Teratornis 22:17, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Are there any procedures for issues like that? Reporting to the Wikimedia Foundation perhaps? AndrewJDTALK -- 23:01, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Did you check the links in my first response above? While I have no experience with this issue, it looks like Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks#Non-compliance process might be a place to start. --Teratornis 11:07, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

OK, I found a FAQ entry about this: Wikipedia:Miscellaneous FAQ#Help! I found a website that's copying from Wikipedia!, and according to that FAQ, to comply with the GFDL all another site has to do is provide a link back to Wikipedia, which the britain.tv site does. --Teratornis 22:08, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

July 28

Reporting an Abusive (and Deranged) User

How do I report an abusive and deranged user (IP address, actually)? — Aldaron • T/C 01:07, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

It depends on the type of abuse and in many cases it should only be reported if warnings have been given without effect. See for example Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism and the links at the top there. PrimeHunter 01:20, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Initially just repeated inaccurate edits that several people tired to correct, but which the user insisted on reverting. When the user finally gave in, he switched to long confrontational posts on the talk pages of the people who had been correcting him. His posts are also riddled with typos and poor English, making them seem a bit deranged. Is any of that covered by any Wikipedia policies, or is that just "the way the Internet is". — Aldaron • T/C 03:46, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

We do have the page on dispute resolution. If they have a valid issue, or a valid reason for an invalid issue, the general rule is to discuss it with them first, then try going for some of the procedures mentioned there. If they're ranting at other users, it might be worthwhile pointing them towards WP:CIVIL and WP:NPA. Confusing Manifestation 11:16, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Name changing history

I had my username changed 2 times for privacy reasons, but if it's still visible in the requests for username changes page, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? Is there any way to get rid of that as well now that it's done?

Reply: Wikipedia:Changing username#Instructions says:

Your request will be moved to the archives and the change will appear in the user rename log in the interest of transparency. There is no provision for renaming accounts without logging the change.

PrimeHunter 01:30, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia talk:Changing username/Archive 2#Delete completed requests. PrimeHunter 01:40, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

BUD

My original log in name -(user name)- is BUD, all capital letters. my first password as sent to me by Wikipedia was 9zgvmqq. It did not work. Then came b1KXxz. It did not work either. Yesterday I received this: sehnq1y. It has not worked either. In each case I have been addressed as BUD which is supposed to be my user name and was apprroved by you in my original application. NOW nothing works and I have been unable to set up a new account. I want my user name to be BUD. I want my password to be n8gbnn. My email address is [EMAIL REMOVED]

I want an account to use Wikipedia. Tell me how to get one and I will follow your instructions. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.166.114.126 (talk)

User:BUD does not appear in our list of users. It appears that you did not create this user name. Perhaps you created User:Bud accidentally? Raven4x4x 05:02, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Also, I would advise you to not use any of those passwords on any site again...-Localzuk^(talk) 12:09, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Blanking of warnings in user talk pages

I've noticed in the past few weeks an editor or two who has removed warnings from their talk pages without archiving them. Am I confused, or is this considered vandalism? What would be the appropriate warning to give such users, if so? so sayeth Lucky Number 49 ^{Yell at me!} 01:53, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

It is permissible. See this.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 02:04, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Okay, thanks! so sayeth Lucky Number 49 ^{Yell at me!} 02:50, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

References

How do you type in references so that they are clickable to the source, such as to a newspaper archived article? thanks

Well, generall you type <ref> TEXT </ref> around a link to the source where TEXT is. This will create a [#] tag, which, when clicked, will take you to the corresponding place at the bottom, which has the link you typed. To create the bottom part, under a References section, you can type {{reflist}}. There are other ways to do this, which can be seen at WP:CIT. i ^{(said) (did)} 02:56, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

posting article

how do i post any entry? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Yoeddiespaghetti (talk • contribs) 05:54, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

To create an article, type the name of the article you'd like to create in the search box. If the article does not exist, you will be provided with a link to create it. Also, you can follow a red colored link from any page to create the linked article. Before you create an article on Wikipedia, make sure the topic is considered noteworthy under our notability guidelines. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask =). --Nick—^Contact/_Contribs 05:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Correction

WHEN WILL YOU CORRECT YOUR MISTAKES IN YOUR LOGO INTHE TWO LANGUAGES SPECIFIED AS SANSKRIT AND JAPANESE?

Please do not type in all caps. It is rude and the equivalent of shouting.

The Help Desk does not manage the Logo, and thus we cannot tell you when it will be changed.

The Rhymesmith 07:47, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

If I'm correctly guessing which "logo" you refer to, see: Wikipedia:Logos and slogans#The international contest which links to: m:International logo contest/Final logo variants/Nohat. If you have complaints about the logo, you may address them to the author on: User talk:Nohat. But read the instructions on Help:Talk page first. --Teratornis 11:04, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry that I can't provide direct links, but I'm pretty sure that this has already been put up for discussion on the village pump (Technical, I think), and on one of the mailing lists (either for the Foundation or Wikipedia), although I can't remember what the final comment was. The question has also already been asked here, about a week ago. What I can tell you is that the Wikimedia Foundation is aware of the errors, and as far as I know are looking into correcting it (given that the logo is a registered trademark of WMF, I suspect it involves a few legal processes). Confusing Manifestation 14:33, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

You are not accessible

I can't sign in - I can't make changes to weblinks - and I don't know how to really contact you about that. As an English teacher, I thought I would visit to see what my students see. However, the enormous amount of changes which are impossible to make render this an exercise in futilty. For example, when searching The Wars by Timothy Findlay, the main character has a link to Robbie Ross - this is not an appriopiate link.

I'm done attempting to clean up the carnage that you have chosen to spew onto the Internet. The first reason is because it is carnage and the second is because it is not easy to make changes - which is YOUR claim to fame!!!!

I will continue to tell my students that I WILL NOT accept references from your site. After all, if I cannot easily edit your site then you have others (a PH.D who really wasn't????) who are in control.

A suggestion is that every page has an option for change or update. Truthfully, those of us who KNOW do not have time to search for your really poor communication structure upon which you claim this site is built.

Niki Cherniwchan —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Well, I'm a little confused. First of all, you don't need to sign in to edit. Moreover, nearly every page is editable, except those with a "lock" sign, indicating they have been protected due to editing concerns. For instance, to fix that link, just click the "edit this page" above. --Haemo 06:54, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

If you can say which part of the structure are hard to use, we can improve them. If you don't say what's wrong, we cannot do anything about it. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 06:58, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Indeed, please elaborate. The Rhymesmith 07:48, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Response to idiots

Haema and Matt the F

Excellent smart-ass reponses which will preserve the low intellect of this site FOREVER. Well done you two. I tried again, at your suggestion, to edit the link but I cannot. I am not a ludite.

I will continue to tell my colleagues and the students over which we see, that this site is junk. Copied your reponses - more fuel to my quest that my school board make this bigger than just me. I will email them with copies that show that Wikipedia is not easy to edit without unhelpful remarks from god knows whom.

Ta —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Come on, they were trying to help. What you were complaining about in particular is NOT clear. Viridae^Talk 07:18, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Hey, I did my good faith best to help you with your technical problems. I don't know why your particular computer can't edit the page, but it seems to work fine over here. In fact, I even tried to edit the page in question, and saw that it worked for me. I didn't think there was anything incivil in my response to you and I don't appreciate being called a smart-ass or an idiot because I tried to help you. I've been helping new users for months on this, and other pages and never have I been treated so rudely because I offered my assistance to a user having technical difficulties. --Haemo 07:27, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Have you tried to click on the "edit this page" tab at the top of each article (to the right of "articles" "article" and "discussion", and to the left of "history")? This should open up a web page where you can edit the content of almost any article. You might want to read Wikipedia:Introduction to get a full introduction on how to update articles. I hope this helps, Lisatwo 07:42, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Oops, "article" is in singular form on each article page. Lisatwo 07:49, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I have left a message on the user's talk page. Her manner is not suitable for an unruly child, let alone an adult. And considering that she's a teacher...

The Rhymesmith 08:00, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Robert Balwin Ross

To the few who care, Robrt Baldwin Ross of The Wars by Timothy Findlay is not the same person as Robbie Ross - check the dates. You need to elimiate the link. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Could you explain a little bit more? The Wars article says that the protagonist, Robbert Ross, was based off of Robbie Ross, the real person. Are you saying this is incorrect? i ^{(said) (did)} 07:29, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

The problem is that Robert Baldwin Ross is most well known as "Robbie Ross"; so, the link points there. However, there are a number of other Robert Baldwins in the Wikipedia which have articles about them. Some editor, innocently, linked to the main name, thinking it would go to the one he wanted. I don't know enough about The Wars to know which one it's supposed to be, so I didn't fix it, but to fix the article one would replace [[Robert Baldwin Ross]] with the right name in [[ ]] brackets. --Haemo 07:31, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, at the Robert Baldwin Ross page, it says that he was the one the character was name after. i ^{(said) (did)} 07:34, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Communication is UNCLEAR

Hey Viridae

I understand your point of view. I cannot change a link that has been established on Wikiedia - a link that is erroneous. That is my beef. And...there are more than this one. Let's moniter this one to see if it changes in the next week. Next week Friday we will talk. I will probably again be not popular because things will not have changed.

niki —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Well, if you informed us better as to the problem, we might be able to help. i ^{(said) (did)} 07:36, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I will help you, if you tell me on what page, and what link. If you don't say that, I can't do anything. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 07:39, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Th problem is clear

Robert Baldwin Ross is not the same as Robbie Ross - a link you have established on Timothy Findlay's site "The Wars" (incorrect annotation).

I will try again to convince you that this needs to be changed - TIF was a friend and since he's gone, some need to look out for him. Because my students tend to use this site, I read too many essays last semester on Robbie Ross. Your links are wrong - the fact that my 16 year students used them is of issue. Again, I will not permit my students to submit ANYTHING from this site. Even though I try to change it (see first paragraph) repeatedly, all I get is grief and general qestions that are not seeking to update the material.

Far toooooooo much work on my part. You need to hire some experts to (oooohhh, that's right you did!!!) edit your material.

I am available for $200 000 a year (cheap) - 26 years teaching experience in high schools - bachelors in French - masters in English - and an understanding that you guys need a whole lot of help if you are going to establish a website that is welcomed and used by high school students.

So don't hire me - but at least get rid of the link I suggested in paragraph one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Give me a minute, ill change it. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 08:09, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Done, I think that is what you wanted. If it wasn't, you can change it here, or ask me exactly what needs doing. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 08:12, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Once again, I must ask that you adopt a more civil tone, user. Sarcasm and rudeness are not necessary, and your behavior is more like a vengeful teenager than an adult, let alone a teacher.

Furthermore, should you wish to continue touting your academic credentials, I'd be happy to point out a few of the more eminent Wikipedian contributors, including myself. Professor Dawkins, anyone? There is a large community of academics whose qualifications far outstrip yours working to improve this encyclopedia. We appreciate criticism, but your tirades against Wikipedia are simply juvenile.

And I note a contradiction in your statement. You comment that '...if you are going to establish a website that is welcomed and used by high school students". And that "my students tend to use this site". What is it exactly that you wish?

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 08:16, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Indeed, please read the civility policy. You can't really go around calling people "idiots"... —Scott5114↗ 08:24, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

What's even more scary is that she lives in Canada [City: Vancouver, British Columbia] which would explane how she knows French. I'd hate to have her as my French teacher, I have enough trouble with my S+E teacher who doesn't like me handing in work that has wikipedia in the bibliography, but she seam to be ok with it as long as I've got a lot of info from other places. --Chris ^g 08:24, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Comment. It took me a few moments to find the article in question, Timothy Findley not Timothy Findlay. Makes it hard for people to help when the article's title is being spelled incorrectly.CindyBo^talk 08:33, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Rhymesmith

Rhymesmith

I am a teacher of good standing who is tired of reading the excrement that students [essays that they pass as their own that have obvious Wikipdedia quotations and theses). In actuality, the fact that so much of it is wrong makes it really easy to spot.

Changing a "fact" on this site is not convenient and that should be of concern - I sent 5 emails - finally someone said they would look into my complaint.

Do not knock me for what I do - if you are a purveyor of this site, you should be grateful that (finally on my summer holidays) I have time to clean up this site for kids. After all, they are your primary clients - my offer still stands at 200 000.

I will wait until next week to go to anything Shakesperian. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Its simple to change - click the "edit this page" button on whatever you want to change. No emails need to be sent. We are all volunteers, and cannot afford to pay anyone. Sorry! Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 08:39, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

As an English graduate, I must say you have not only attrocious spelling, but also grammar mistakes across the board. You couldn't even get Shakespeare correct!

However, there is nothing inherently wrong with this site, and your accursations are, no matter how many times they are repeated, false.

Also, Wikipedia does not have anyone on staff just for the purposes of editing. In fact I think the only people who are paid are those who run the software and hardware. The359 08:43, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

As far as anyone here can see- you are in rather poor standing at the moment. None of the editors here are responsible for the poor quality of your students' work. If anything, it reflects badly on you- considering that you are their teacher.

The fact that you are incapable of conducting yourself civilly is also interesting. Not behavior I would have thought acceptable for an adult. And that you are a teacher, who sees fit to refer to persons on the internet she's never met before (persons trying to help her, at that), as "idiots" and "smartasses"...

I am not grateful that you are trying to clean up this encyclopedia. I am grateful to anyone who tries to contribute in good faith. Your brandishing of academic qualifications is simply amusing. I do not choose to brag about my academic qualifications or reputation on Wikipedia, or my salary. I will say that your comments are laughable next to a number of Wikipedians' statuses in real life.

It is not difficult to edit Wikipedia. Tens of millions of users and IPs can attest to that. That you are having difficulty, and that you misunderstand the nature of a Wiki, is your problem, with which we are trying to help.

The Rhymesmith 08:46, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Comment again. I have my serious doubts if this questioner is a teacher. I don't know if I was just lucky, but none of my English teachers, in high school or university, mispelt Shakespearean or called people idiots.CindyBo^talk 08:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Only one thing they have said I have found some evidence to back up and that is that they do live in Canada so they should be able to speak French. --Chris ^g 09:01, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

My "Accursations"

My "accursations", like yours, are typos - so get off my back!!!!! Are you people really trying to promote this website? You do need me but I don't volunteer and do charge 200 000.

Interesting how all judge me because they think I should act like a "teacher" and sound like one. I am acting like a teacher and am sounding like one (please note parallelism in sentence structure). No BS please. What you don't understand is that I am the primary advocate for kids - especially those who access your site. Why would you lead them astray by not ensuring that your site is relevant, up-to-date and factual? And as you are all volunteers, why would you speak against me when I refuse to let my students use your site and when I try to correct inaccuracies on your site? Can you cover all aspects of your site all the timed adequately?

My tone was garnered from your tome - as volunteers, you may want to consider that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

1. People expect English teachers to be able to spell

2. I, and a number of other volunteers, are far more qualified than you, and more highly paid, but volunteer our time for Wikipedia, rather than cash.

3. You are clearly a troll. There is no point to this discussion. This is the Help Desk. You do not need help. You do need spellcheck. Now please stop trolling.

The Rhymesmith 09:10, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I would like to point something out - With over 9.7 million pages, 153million edits, and 4.9 million users, I apologise for not reviewing each and every one. We do our best, but we are volunteers, and we are not paid. We can only do so much. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 09:12, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, we don't need you. Notice how our articles are mostly spelled correctly. Why would we want to make them worse?

If you do not want your kids to read Wikipedia, so be it, we cannot stop you. We will not change our policies, guidelines, and editing to suit your classroom. The359 09:15, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I can't type

So you don't really READ what's been written which is why it took me 5 emails to have you consider the change I suggested.

Too bad.

I have one hand - typing is not my forte. But I would out-spell you in any contest. You are of the Draconion age. That is not my mandate. I teach students to love text, think about text, manipulate text, make life connections to text and then to write about it. I don't know where you are are - I am in Alberta Canada where my grade 12 students write a 50% government exam. So when I say I have no time for BS, I mean it. Why am I surfing Wikipedia on my summer holidays? Because I'm mad at the site but, most importantly, because I want my students to do well.

I guess you can say what you want but you cannot eradicate the fact that I work for kids. They like your site - if your site was factual, I'd let them use it. But it's not always, so don't get on me for saying so or trying to change it.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

The change you requested has been implemented, I think. It was never really clear what you wanted. Would you just let it drop? If you have further suggestions, you can edit yourself, or post on the talk page of one of the several users who have offered to help. Funny enough, you have no trouble editing this page...i ^{(said) (did)} 09:37, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

We're not always factual in every way, but neither are most books, even encyclopedias and history books, academic journals etc. I'd like to see a book without a single error! But unlike a book or a paper encyclopedia, wikipedia can and is continually being corrected and improved. If you want your students to love text, manipulate it and think about it, this is a great place to learn. The millions of volunteer editors are here because they love writing and learning and teaching so much that they do it happily for free, which is a valuable lesson for any student to participate in.CindyBo^talk 09:52, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Drop it

So I've again been asked to drop my concern. And it wasn't put pleasantly. I have printed every screen and will be turning them over to the superintendent of my Board with a recommendation that this site not be used. No big deal, you say. The Calgary Board of Education leads in numerous ways on this contintent.

I suggest you get some voluteers that aren't so full of themselves and who can deal with emails (mine was difficult - tone, you know) without going sideways. I deal with students every day - your volunteers need to get a spine. Their main focus was typos - go figure.

I'll take a look at your Shakespeare sites next week - you will probably hear from me.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.152.222.101 (talk • contribs)

Your concern has been handled, You wanted the link changed, correct? It has. The request wasut pleasantly. And go right ahead and inform the board of our hubris and factual innaccuracy. If the Calgary Board of Education deems us unworthy to be used, well, then that's your students' loss, not ours. As for being full of ourselves, you might wish to look at your constant recitations of your alleged credentials and how much experience and knowlege you have. How did we go sideways ? We fixed your concern. And as for hearing from you again, I'm sure we will. i ^{(said) (did)} 10:08, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I am copying this here due to a bug in the software that may cause it to not appear for you, on your talk page. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 10:11, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

This is your only warning.
The next time you make a personal attack, you will be blocked for disruption. Comment on content, not on other contributors or people. Krimpet 10:04, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

replacing a photo

HI I was wondering how to put a different photo on one of your pages. Its on the "cavalier King Charles Spaniel" page. I would llike to delete the photo of the "Ruby" cav and put in a different one as that isn't a good example of the breed.

Amanda Dunne —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fasusq (talk • contribs)

See WP:Images --Silver Edge 09:00, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

sulphonation of Beta Naphthol

59.95.192.131 09:19, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

What is your question? If it deals with the sulphonation of Beta Maphthol it would probably be better at the Reference Desk.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 09:29, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Google search on Wikipedia for: sulfonation beta naphthol finds only the Naphthalene article. (Google seems to prefer "sulfonation" rather than "sulphonation" and far be it from me to question the great Google.) If that doesn't tell you what you need to know, try a broader search: Google:sulfonation beta naphthol. If your interest is professional, you could hire a consulting chemist or a chemical engineer to advise you, depending on the scale of your application (e.g., if you want to do this sulfonation on a laboratory bench, hire a chemist; if you want to do it on an industrial scale, hire a chemical engineer in addition to the chemist, or several of both). Before you actually go playing with chemicals, see: Wikipedia:General disclaimer and note that industrial chemicals can often be highly dangerous and are probably regulated by your local authorities. --Teratornis 10:53, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Disappearing text.

Anyway to find out what happened to this block of text? The block begins with the line:

; [[Bush administration]] : Examples of the Bush Administration's risks to civilization

the page is located at: [6]

The text deletion does not appear to have an edit date, or ownership.

If identification is not possible, are such edits common? - Steve3849 ^talk 10:15, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't know what it is that you don't understand. You added some text, someone else took it out. That's how Wikipedia works. The edit does have a date and time, and shows the IP of the anon user who made the edit. There is no mystery. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 10:23, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I assumed editted text is highlighted "red." The block is not highlighted. - Steve3849 ^talk 10:27, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

For (probably) everything you want to know about page histories, see: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia#His. As to the edits themselves, the unregistered editor appears to have made a large number of random blankings and other subtle changes to content left in. The unregistered editor left no edit summary. Gee, could this be vandalism? Does that sort of thing happen on Wikipedia? (mild sarcasm) --Teratornis 10:34, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

So removed text does not always show highlighted red then on a comparison page? - Steve3849 ^talk 10:36, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you Teratornis. I believe this is what happened:Wikipedia:Selective deletion. I'll not press further. - Steve3849 ^talk 10:48, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

No. The column on the left shows the page before the edit, the column on the right shows the page after. In this case the anon took out the text. It wasn't selective deletion. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 11:19, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

When a whole block of text is deleted, the text appears with a yellow background in the left-hand column and doesn't appear at all in the right-hand column. Text highlighted in red indicates where text has changed within a block. DH85868993 11:29, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. - Steve3849 ^talk 16:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't think your additions [7] satisfy WP:NPOV, and they seem out of place there. This was the only place in the article that somebody was attacked. And in case you wonder: I'm not American and I don't like Bush. PrimeHunter 12:19, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I agree with your statement about placement in hindsight and the importance of WP:NPOV, thank you. - Steve3849 ^talk 16:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

WIKIPEDIA FOR CHILDREN

how should one help children learn from wikipedia???—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.81.236.12

If they have a question, find the appropriate article. For example, a child who needs to learn about set theory or the koala can visit those articles. The Rhymesmith 10:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Or the simple english version might be good for kids. I'll find a link. Viridae^Talk 10:47, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

here we go: Simple english wikipedia. Viridae^Talk 10:48, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

If by chance you are a teacher, you might find the following page of interest Wikipedia:School and university projects--Fuhghettaboutit 11:36, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

IPA

I was wondering if there's a {{NeedIPA}} template I can add to articles where English speakers wouldn't be sure how to pronounce the name. If not, I'm interested in creating one so is there some place I can find a lot of people who know how to use IPA and would know the pronunciation of many non-English names (WikiProject IPA or something? :P). Yonatan ^talk 11:21, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Not sure if this fits the bill but there is {{Cleanup-IPA}}. I know of no wikiproject.--Fuhghettaboutit 11:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I found {{Pronunciation needed}} in a search. It appears it's not used and it places the page in the so far non-existing Category:Articles needing pronunciation. Here{{Pronunciation needed}} is a use of the template, so it's meant to be inlined at a specific word. The author wrote Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style (pronunciation)#Pronunciation needed. PrimeHunter 12:04, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Godfrey Mwakikagile

Can someone help with this article? There's a notice saying it needs some work to be done on section layout, links, etc.

I can't do that and am still learning.

Dave 12:16, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Blocking

why do u block out people trying to help u by listening to people who use u and will crap on u when theyre thru? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.47.102.149 (talk)

See Wikipedia:Blocking policy and Wikipedia:Appealing a block. PrimeHunter 13:04, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Deletion of article

Hello there Help Desk types, im wondering if my article on the Kingston upon Hull based radio station Soul City FM could be undeleted? I have worked for a long time on the article slowly improving it and although there are very few sources im working on retriving further information. Please help, many thanks! Video killed the radiostar xxx 13:10, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Your best bet is posting at Wikipedia:Deletion review#Content review, asking for it to be restored to a subpage of your userspace. Confusing Manifestation 14:26, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

At Wikipedia:Deletion review#Content review it says do not post requesting undeleation, sorry im a bit of a novice. Can you offer anymore advice?

As far as I can see, it says that it's ok to request undeletion of the article to have it userfied (i.e. moved to your userspace) so that you can work on it to fix the problems it had. The article was speedy deleted, so it shouldn't be controversial. Confusing Manifestation 23:03, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

New Article

Hi, I wish to upload a short biography and bibliography of my father's (Tony Parker)work. I've created the page, but am at a loss how to upload it. Can you advise please?

Kindest of Regards

Tim Parker ---- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Timkitten (talk • contribs).

I see you created it at User:Timkitten. Since this is about you father, see Wikipedia:Conflict of interest. Here is a standard response about creating new articles:

Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. PrimeHunter 13:56, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

There is already an article at Tony Parker, so see also Wikipedia:disambiguation, Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages)#People and Anthony Parker (disambiguation) if you want to create the article which should probably be called "Tony Parker (author)" or "Tony Parker (writer)". PrimeHunter 14:07, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

pojects

13:50, 28 July 2007 (UTC)Im final year diploma student ...Ve Have To submit pojects ..my group consists of five members ..ve planned to do INTRANET concept..what all the possiblity techniques available to include in this projects..13:50, 28 July 2007 (UTC)Panchur16

I don't understand your question. If you're trying to research something, your best bet would be to ask at the Reference Desk or search for yourself. Alternatively, the Intranet article may have information you're looking for. Be aware, though, that we are not going to do your homework for you. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 16:09, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

question about administrators

Are administrators allowed to block themselves and then unblock themselves. Also are they allowed to block people with no warnings.86.141.240.234 15:34, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't see why an administrator would want to block themselves, but there is no policy which prevents this. As for unblocking, it is possible for them to do so, but if they were legitimately blocked it is frowned upon. As for blocking people without warnings, you need to be more specific about the reason for the block. We have lots of blocks here that don't require warnings such as open proxy IP addresses, also if it's obvious that an account was created for the sole purpose of vandalism, warnings aren't necessarily needed. Also, warnings are not given for blatant violations of the username policy. The accounts with the offending names are usually just blocked on sight. You may find Wikipedia:Blocking policy helpful. If you can be more specific about the last part of your question, I may be able to give you a better answer. --Nick—^Contact/_Contribs 15:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

If an administrator blocks themself and then unblocks themself soon after, it's probably just a test, for example if one wants to test a change made to part of the blocking interface, such as MediaWiki:Autoblockedtext. If an administrator is blocked for a good reason, though, they are expected to not unblock themselves despite their ability to do so. While blocking people with no warnings is frowned upon, it is allowed by the blocking policy. The spirit of the blocking policy is merely that blocks should be made only to protect Wikipedia, so if an obvious vandal is blocked without warning, it's still valid. Administrators often self-check in unclear situations using the Wikipedia:Administrator's noticeboard. Nihiltres^(t.l) 15:55, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

If an administrator was blocked by another admin, then they would not be expected to unblock themselves - doing this tends to end up with them having their administrative rights removed. The only exception would be if they were testing something as Nihiltres said, or if it was obviously an admin who had gone mental and was running around blocking everyone (or their account had been compromised). Neil ╦ 12:48, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Please Edit & post this Article

Please add to the Light Machine Gun Category for Nazi German Small Arms This article also conflicts with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kg/1940_Light_machine_gun which contains serious omissions & errors.

I would do it myself, however I consider the Wikipedia interface to be unnecessarily complex & un-user friendly & Pedantic Wikipedians will just edit the whole thing anyway, wasting both your & my time.

Knorr-Bremse MG35/36 This Machine Gun originated in Sweden & was designed by Lauf & Przkalla in 1932-33. Known as the LH33 it was supplied to the Swedish Army in 6.5mm Caliber.

Lauf then sold the patents to a German company, Knorr-Bremse, A company who until then concerned itself solely with the Manufacture of Automobile Brake shoes & Brake Linings, Hence the word "Bremse" (Brake) in the company's name.

It seems likely that Knorr-Bremse was attracted by the prospect of large Military contracts to the rapidly expanding Wehrmacht & decided to enter the Arms Business & making some modifications produced the weapon as the MG35/36.

Modifications from the original Swedish LH33 design included a simplified Gas feed channel, Deletion of the Incremental Gas Feed Regulator, simplified Bi-pod including moving the Bi-pod approximately 100mm rearward from the muzzle end for stability, simplified Trigger Group & Housing, deleting the double Trigger & adding a simplified pistol grip.

As such the Knorr-Bremse MG35/36 is a conventional gas operated light Machine Gun using a tipping bolt & which fed rounds from a box magazine on the left hand side, A quick release nut on the Breech end facilitated quick barrel changes & for reasons never explained the last 75mm of the barrel at the muzzle end was smooth-bored.

Faults inherent in the design included a safety catch which if not properly applied could hold the operating Bolt three quarters cocked without the sear being engaged, subsequent release of the safety with a loaded Magazine in place would release the bolt, chamber a round of ammunition & fire. Firing vibrations & a weak mounting point for the butt often led to the butt coming loose & falling off. These design faults & a lack of features that would have set it apart from other contemporary Light Machine Guns forced the German Army to turn the weapon down, However numbers were sold to the emerging Waffen SS since procurement through a Hostile Wehrmacht control system limited the availability of the most modern weapons from Germany's ordinance industries.

Use even by the Waffen SS seems to have been limited to use in a training role until sufficient stocks of Czech ZB26 & MG34's were available, whereupon the MG35/36 was offloaded to the various Foreign Legions by then engaged in fighting on the Russian Front.

Despite an assumption made on this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kg/1940_Light_machine_gun that the weapon led to the development of the FG42 & H&K series there is absolutely no indication within the design of the MG35/36 in which one can draw this conclusion, quite simply there is not a single design feature which either weapon shares. In fact the Swedish LH33 (MG35/36 predecessor) used a tipping Double Trigger for semi or Full Automatic fire as used in Waffenfabrik Solothurn AG's MG30 & Mauserwerke's improved MG34. One could infer from this, that rather than the LH33 influencing the design of the FG42, Solothurn's MG30 influenced the Swedish LH33.

Knorr-Bremse MG35/36 Caliber 7.92mm Length 51.48in Weight 22lb Barrel 27.25in Long, 4 grooves, right hand twist Feed System 20 Round Detachable Box Magazine System of Operation Gas, tipping bolt Rate of Fire 500rpm Manufacturer Knorr-Bremse AG, Berlin-Lichtenberg User Nazi Germany

Reference Source used Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of WWII Ian V. Hogg, Bison Books

I'd suggest posting this at Articles for Creation, where new articles are reviewed by experienced editors and posted if they meet our guidelines. You'll probably get a better response there. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 16:05, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

User edits

Somewhere I stumbled on a page that showed useful stuff like total number of a user's edits, bar graphs of a user's monthly edits etc But now I can't find it. Does anyone know where? Raasgat 16:55, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Try one of the counters here. —« ANIMUM » 16:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you - just what I wanted! Raasgat 22:27, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Question on reading wikipedia

I am interested in reading wikipedia. Not every single page, but topics of interest to me in general. Considering that a browser only keeps information on visited links for a limited amount of time, is there any way I can keep track of read articles, track changes since they were read, and possible approach the entries from a tree-type hierarchy?DrFrost 19:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Replied on your talk page, with a list of links, and instructions on using the "watch" feature. Hope that helps! ^Ariel♥Gold 19:53, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I mean read wikipedia as in reading from beginning to end, not incidental articles. The watch page would quickly fill up in that context and become non-utilitarian at that point. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by DrFrost (talk • contribs). + Actually, I mean read wikipedia as in reading from beginning to end, not incidental articles. The watch page would quickly fill up in that context and become non-utilitarian at that point.

Note that the English Wikipedia currently has around 6,917,211 articles and they are not organized for sequential reading. PrimeHunter 20:25, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, there is the quick index but as stated, Wikipedia isn't really set up to be read "cover to cover" so to speak. Dismas|^(talk) 21:11, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

You could also try Category:Categories, Wikipedia:Contents, or find some WikiProjects you like. You could save links to articles on your user page to keep track of what you have read. (By an interesting coincidence, the current tip of the day is about making your very own bookmark page.) Of course it would be very difficult for an ordinary human to read all of Wikipedia "cover to cover" because Wikipedia increases in size by up to several thousand new articles per day, and new articles would appear under all letters and numbers. Just reading each day's new articles would be difficult. --Teratornis 21:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

how is wikipedia free

not even any ads?

Wikipedia (the website) is run my the Wikimedia Foundation, which is a charity; it receives charitable donations from foundations, corporations, and from many many individual donors. See this page for details, including info on how you might make a donation. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:25, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

And Wikipedia (the encyclopedia, which is hosted on the Wikipedia website) is written by volunteers. Similarly volunteers take most of the photos and draw most of the diagrams (the remainder are obtained from third party sources which release them under free licences) and a lot of the system administration and programming is also done by volunteers. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:27, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Comet listings which give more than merely Name.

I am interested in ALL periodic comets for the YEARS of 1973 thru 1993, : AU, T=Perihelion date, prograde or retrograde ,& name. Can you be of help with this? I have created an account w/wiki & have email at (email removed to prevent spam)

very sincerely yours

frances blanton boulder colo. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 161.98.13.100 (talk • contribs).

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about 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. I hope this helps. AndrewJDTALK -- 20:53, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

You might look through Category:Comets and the links there, especially the two "Lists of ..." links. Corvus cornix 20:57, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Dates and leading zeros

Why do people add leading zeros to dates around here? Is this a British/European thing? Should I continue to take them out as I have been or what? As an example of what I mean, see the caption for the image at Briana Banks. Dismas|^(talk) 21:07, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

It is more a computer thing than anything else. It used to be that databases had fixed-width fields. A month and a day were each given two characters. So, a zero was appended to single-digit months and days to fill up the two characters. This also assisted in sorting as many of those early databases treated everything as text (as opposed to numbers), so it sorted like this: 1, 10, 11, 12, 2... which is fixed when you add a zero: 01, 02, 10, 11, 13. Since it is so commonplace in computers to append a zero before single-digit months and days, many people do it without even thinking about it. Keep in mind that some data formats sill require the extra zero, as in the YYYY-MM-DD date format. -- Kainaw^(what?) 21:19, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers). If the month is spelled out then I don't think the day should have a leading zero as it does in the image caption at Briana Banks. PrimeHunter 21:49, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Kainaw, I appreciate the response. I've worked with Unix long enough to know about that ordering scheme but thanks for answering! Both of you, thanks (again) for your responses, I think I'll continue to delete them on sight. Dismas|^(talk) 23:19, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, here are a lot of sightings: Jan 01, Jan 02, Jan 03, Jan 04, Jan 05, Jan 06, Jan 07, Jan 08, Jan 09, Feb 01, Feb 02, Feb 03, Feb 04, Feb 05, Feb 06, Feb 07, Feb 08, Feb 09, Mar 01, Mar 02, Mar 03, Mar 04, Mar 05, Mar 06, Mar 07, Mar 08, Mar 09, Apr 01, Apr 02, Apr 03, Apr 04, Apr 05, Apr 06, Apr 07, Apr 08, Apr 09, May 01, May 02, May 03, May 04, May 05, May 06, May 07, May 08, May 09, Jun 01, Jun 02, Jun 03, Jun 04, Jun 05, Jun 06, Jun 07, Jun 08, Jun 09, Jul 01, Jul 02, Jul 03, Jul 04, Jul 05, Jul 06, Jul 07, Jul 08, Jul 09, Aug 01, Aug 02, Aug 03, Aug 04, Aug 05, Aug 06, Aug 07, Aug 08, Aug 09, Sep 01, Sep 02, Sep 03, Sep 04, Sep 05, Sep 06, Sep 07, Sep 08, Sep 09, Oct 01, Oct 02, Oct 03, Oct 04, Oct 05, Oct 06, Oct 07, Oct 08, Oct 09, Nov 01, Nov 02, Nov 03, Nov 04, Nov 05, Nov 06, Nov 07, Nov 08, Nov 09, Dec 01, Dec 02, Dec 03, Dec 04, Dec 05, Dec 06, Dec 07, Dec 08, Dec 09.

But if you think that should be dealt with then it might be an idea to first ask if there are objections at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style (dates and numbers), and then consider whether a bot can assist. Some things like Chinese Democracy Tour#2002 North American tour may be prettier aligned with leading zeros. PrimeHunter 00:28, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't think it really matters. Surely the OP has better things to than go on a witch-hunt to remove leading zeros from dates? Astronaut 14:07, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Loss of page entitled "Explosive Failure of Bottles Containing Carbonated Drinks"

Having just produced an A4 write-up on the above topic I needed to check on a fact on another web site. On reverting to the article page it had gone blank! Please advise on prevention of this happening again. Is it safer to produce an article in say WORD and then to copy and paste on to the Wikipedia page? Have been deterred from continuing until I hear from you. Or should I constantly SAVE PAGE whilst assembling article?

Dr Edward Willhoft

If you're writing a page; there are a number of ways you can prevent loss of your work. If you save it, then return to work on it in stages, you will limit the material that can be lost. Writing in Word or Notepad is also a good idea. It's up to you.

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 21:55, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Edward, if you're working on a new article and you don't want to promote it to the main encyclopedia, you can write a test version in your own userspace, and only promote it when you're happy with it (so you'd edit a page with a name like user:Edward Willhoft/xplosive Failure of Bottles Containing Carbonated Drinks). But Wikipedia is all about cooperative editing (where no-one owns an article), so ideally articles should be in the main space as soon as possible (even in very incomplete conditions). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:29, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Can not insert image from wikimedia.org

I have tried repeatedly to insert an image that is at wikimedia.org. I wanted to append a microphotograph of a vickers hardness test done with rapidly quenched high carbon steel but no matter what I do the image will not appear in the Vickers Hardness Test article. I am able to upload the image to wikimedia.org thus : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Case_hardened_steel-vickers_hardness_test.png I can not seem to get the image to appear on the Wikipedia article for Vickers Hardness Test. At this point I have spent far too long on this. I can provide data but not fancy editing. The article is broken with the strange image problem.

I fixed it. When including images (whether from Wikimedia Commons or from the English Wikipedia's own image store) you refer to the image by its name, not the http:// URL. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:24, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry for the error. I have a collection of images taken with a scanning electron microscope and I will now upload those to the wikimedia and see if they are of some value to the section on silicon wafer and CMOS chip design.

Thank you for your help and I will continue to provide reasonable data where possible.

by the way .. I think that wikipedia is a gift to the world.

Dennis

William E. Dannemeyer not objective

The article on "William E. Dannemeyer" uses terms "infamously" and "notoriety." These do not seem to me to be objective. 152.132.9.129 23:49, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestion! When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the Edit this page link at the top. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to). The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes — they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 01:22, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

July 29

Technical glossary

I just posted the following question to WT:Glossary, but the page appears to be rather inactive, so I'm repeating it here, hoping for more eyeballs.

Is there any place where commonly used expressions and abbreviations like "em" (as in [[Image:Pictureitook.jpg|14em]]) and markup like <tt> etc. are listed and explained?

I believe a comprehensive glossary for interface related expressions and abbreviations would be very helpful for new users who yet have to learn about the interface. Since we should strive to counter the systemic bias, we should accordingly offer all the help to users who are not so tech-savvy. If such a page doesn't yet exist, I'd like to create it, and make the round at WP:VPR and the WikiEN-list. —AldeBaer 00:15, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

E.g., WP:G doesn't contain expressions like "mainspace". "Namespace" is there, but a new user may be completely unfamiliar with the latter term and the entire concept of namespaces, and so wouldn't know where to find a simple explanation. I'm not hellbent on the idea of a glossary, it's rather the idea to have one comprehensive goto page which features keywords rather than topically and hierarchically sorted information, so as to enable new users to more quickly find their own way around, without having to go through a lot of help and FAQ pages when they have only one very special question. (I remember more than one frustrating session, spending hours looking for rather simple bits of info — and I'm the kind of guy who installs Linux just to learn more about it...) —AldeBaer 00:33, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

You are raising several distinct issues:

• How you (personally) can look up technical details about Wikipedia more easily.
• How to help "users who are not so tech-savvy" (see: lusers) look up the technical minutiae of Wikipedia, so they can (presumably) counter Wikipedia's alleged systemic bias.

I address these individually:

• Searching Wikipedia yourself:
  • Everybody I know who installs Linux is pretty good at searching. Let's take the "mainspace" example. Here is a Google search on Wikipedia's Wikipedia: namespace for "mainspace", which finds a number of results. In contrast, Google Search on Wikipedia's Help: namespace for "mainspace" finds zero results (a search for namespace finds instances of "main namespace"). That suggests the word "mainspace" is not part of the official MediaWiki lexicon (if there is such a thing). Perhaps it is a neologism that is cropping up on Wikipedia, and nobody has defined it in a proper help page yet. You could be the first to do that, since the help pages are editable by users.
    • Searching is so fundamental to advanced editing that every editor should develop a search strategy he or she likes. For example, I saved some links to useful searches on my user page.
  • An alternative to searching is to organize information in topical hierarchies. For an extremely useful example, see: User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia. As a hobby, I like to try answering questions on the Help desk whose answers I do not initially know. Fairly often I can look up the answers on the Editor's index in a few minutes, with a few Ctrl-f searches in my Web browser.
• Countering systemic bias:
  • I find your implicit assumptions plausible, but far from conclusively proved, namely that Wikipedia suffers from systemic bias, and we can fix this problem by writing more manuals.
    • How much systemic bias is there? Nobody can read all of Wikipedia. Therefore nobody really knows how much systemic bias Wikipedia has. At best, various people might examine tiny subsets of articles and conclude Wikipedia's coverage on their favorite topics could be better. This is also true even for the most technical topics, the ones Wikipedia is supposedly systemically biased in favor of. The great thing about Wikipedia is that anyone who sees a problem can fix it.
    • If systemic bias exists, is it even a "problem"? Systemic bias, according to WP:BIAS, manifests as the uneven coverage of topics in Wikipedia, such as having more articles about computing than we have about, say, macrame, basket weaving, or real estate. The technical demands of Wikipedia are obviously less of a barrier to computer programmers, system administrators, and other technical types. But is this a "problem"? The English Wikipedia has 6,917,211 articles, and that number increases by several thousand per day. Even if a disproportionate number of articles are about technical topics, by no means are all of them. The absolute number of articles on non-technical topics is enormous, and it is growing rapidly. Wikipedia is probably already the largest encyclopedia of non-technical topics in history. I don't see how the relative number of articles about technical topics matters. People who want to read about non-technical topics don't have to wade through the technical topics to find them. Wikipedia is not paper, so the content which a user finds irrelevant does not get in the way of content the user finds relevant (as would be the case with a paper encyclopedia massively bloated with irrelevancies).
    • Usefulness is not supposed to be a criterion for writing about something on Wikipedia, but let's be realistic. The people who use Wikipedia are naturally going to write about what they think is worth writing about. If Wikipedia has lots of articles about computing, that's because those articles matter to lots of people who read Wikipedia. Even though the proportion of readers to contributors may be 100:1, I think it is statistically likely for contributors to reflect the readers' interests, since it is so easy for readers to become contributors. Also consider, if Wikipedia's content did not appeal to its readers, Wikipedia would not be one of the top ten most popular Web sites. In other words, if Wikipedia has better coverage on some topics than on other topics, maybe that's what most people who read Wikipedia want.
    • There are only finitely many technical topics. Wikipedia may eventually have an article on every technical topic which belongs in an encyclopedia. At that point, the only technical stuff left to write about would be new inventions. If other topic areas on Wikipedia haven't kept pace, eventually they would catch up as more topic areas hit their maximum number of article "ceilings." On Wikipedia There is no deadline, so perhaps it doesn't matter how fast various topic areas are progressing, as long as their improvement rate is greater than zero.
  • On your implicit assumption that writing yet more manuals will help non-tech-savvy users become more tech-savvy:
    • People who are non-tech-savvy tend to be that way in part because they are unwilling or unable to read manuals. I suspect the "unwilling" part correlates with the "unable" part: few people enjoy struggling at things they find highly difficult. Reading and understanding technical manuals largely on one's own is an intellectually demanding task. People with high IQs tend to out-perform people with low IQs at this sort of thing. Having a specific IQ is not an absolute requirement for learning a skill such as editing on Wikipedia; rather, a person with a lower IQ needs more time and more repetitions to learn a given skill than a person with a higher IQ, on average. A high IQ is a relatively greater advantage in rapidly changing, unfamiliar environments, especially when there are no trained experts on hand to provide tutoring, and becomes less of an advantage in environments which have changed little in a long time (allowing slow learners plenty of time to catch up). Therefore, almost anyone who is smart enough to turn on a computer could eventually learn to edit on Wikipedia with sufficient time, repetition, motivation, and perhaps tutoring. Writing more manuals is probably not the most efficient way to help these people - it might be better, for example, to give them hands-on training in physical classrooms.
    • Wikipedia already has a huge number of manuals; in fact, Wikipedia may be one of the most comprehensively-documented complex systems ever created. That is not an argument against writing even more manuals, but if writing lots of manuals could rescue the chronically non-tech-savvy, I think we would already be seeing that.
  • On your implicit assumption that people must know a lot about Wikipedia's esoteric editing functions to contribute:
    • One of the great strengths of Wikipedia (and of wiki technology in general) is that users with all levels of skill may contribute. About all a person needs to know is the cheat sheet and how to click an edit link, and he or she can start making small corrections and additions to existing articles. The esoteric details of markup are mostly for doing fancy stuff like templates and so on. However, people who specialize in the fancy stuff can apply their skills to almost any article without having to know much about the actual content. Thus on Wikipedia we can have an efficient division of labor, as long as we have enough users who are willing to learn the technical details in depth (users like you, in other words).
    • I do, however, agree that Wikipedia could do more to help new users. In particular, the number of new articles getting deleted suggests we have an ergonomic design shortcoming: it seems that by making it so easy to create new articles, without requiring users to first demonstrate any knowledge of what belongs here, we encourage new users to assume they can write about whatever they like. At the very minimum, we need to somehow inform users who are creating their first new article that lots of new articles get deleted. It seems a number of new users only become aware of this when their own articles get deleted.

--Teratornis 16:24, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your detailed reply.

The point I was trying to make wrt systemic bias and advanced editing is at least two-step.

I always found that the beauty of wikipedia is that there is no or only a soft border between audience and production spaces. Granted, I may never become a developer, but with the appropriate help, me and many others could do even more to help the project. The "many eyeballs principle" applies not only to articles, but also to policy related and technical aspects. Very good contributors may not be willing (or have the time) to become allround-tech-savvy and/or "wikipedia insiders". The problem is not so much with the number of articles, than rather their individual quality.

Wrt manuals: I do not believe that manuals should help not-so-tech-savvy users become more tech-savvy, but precisely to spare them that necessity. So I'm not implying to write more manuals, but rather to improve and optimise existing ones. If articles should be written for intelligent 12 year olds, why shouldn't manuals?

For example, the manual for {{Archive box}} used to say "[...]set the auto parameter to "long", all other parameter values will trigger the above format[...]". I removed the half-sentence regarding other parameter values, as this is utterly unnecessary and confusing at best for new and not-so-tech-savvy users. Anyone interested in learning more will sooner or later view the template code. — And then may (like I did) find it hard to learn more about special aspects of e.g. CSS syntax, without having to learn a lot more.

The personal aspect of it is that I am somewhat tech-savvy, but not a programmer, and I'm having a hard time sifting through the help pages at Meta for the info I need.

Btw: I know User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia, and I think it's a great thing that should be official. Improved manuals, and that proposed keyword page are things that could complement the Editor's Index.

A simple markup keyword page would enable anyone to simply search that page for a certain expression, where there is a link to the appropriate page or manual. The keyword page would contain nothing but a short howto and a multitude of piped keywords, linking to the proper explanation.

So what I'm proposing is basically this: (i) update and improve existing manuals (both those for "end users" and those related to meta-know-how) and maybe add a few, and (ii) enable interested users better access to those meta-manuals by creating a keyword page that links each keyword to the appropriate manual or other explanatory page.

—AldeBaer 18:27, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

One tip that I somehow forgot to mention in my far-too-verbose reply: Google Search has a "define:" option that does a pretty good job of looking up definitions for lots of terms. For example, you were asking about the em (typography) unit and the <tt> tag:

• Google:define: em - this works pretty well
• Google:define: tt - this fails rather spectacularly, as Google does not recognize this as an HTML tag (not even when we include the tag delimiters, or put quotes around it)

I basically agree with the rest of your viewpoints. While the technical aspects of Wikipedia may not be as transparently accessible to non-programmers as would be ideal, I can say that the technical aspects are more accessible than in any other system I can think of. Virtually everything a person could need to know to add value to Wikipedia and the underlying MediaWiki software, at almost any level, is there for the learning in manuals that are as complete as in any large open source project. Anybody who is smart, motivated, and has enough time can figure out how to monkey with whatever they want to monkey with - even an intelligent 12 year old could do it, although the order of presentation might need some work, and by the time the 12 year old plowed through all the necessary manuals, he or she wouldn't still be 12. For some of the complicated stuff, the time requirement could be severe, since a non-programmer would essentially have to gain the technical background that would normally occupy several years of university-level study. I'm not saying it is anything like easy, but the Wikipedia project contains enough documents to make it possible. I'm not sure how much more accessible the technical manuals can become. To make the technical stuff accessible to people who lack the technical background means introducing all the necessary technical background in the manuals, which basically means expanding them into enormous tutorials. Since Wikipedia is not paper we certainly have the room to do that, but this would require a lot of work. There are lots of introduction to programming type books like that, and someone (or a community of someones) could write a tutorial introduction to MediaWiki hacking aimed at people with no previous programming background, for example on WikiBooks.

A technical glossary for MediaWiki's wikitext is not a bad idea, but it would be hard to know where to stop, given that the wikitext syntax is extensible, and Wikipedia has a lot of extensions that add more magic words and so on. However, if you look at other markup languages such as DocBook, their manuals do a pretty comprehensive job of explaining just about everything in their languages (except that DocBook, like MediaWiki, can also involve some underlying stuff like CSS that is enormously complicated in its own right). From the user's point of view, it doesn't matter whether a particular confusing item is part of the base wikitext, or an extension, or javascript, or CSS, or HTML, or something else that can show up in an edit window - the user just wants to know what it is and how to monkey with it.

When computers get smart enough to pass the Turing test, it will be nice to get an answer in English when we ask computers to explain what they are doing, or how to make them do something that we want. Basically the computer should get smart enough to become self-documenting. Maybe by the year 2040. --Teratornis 02:04, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Images

Is it okay to upload a free image to only have it used in a template? → Hot Dog Wolf 02:54, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes. Peacent 14:52, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Godfrey Mwakikagile

Thank you very much for the assistance; I'm learning more and more.

Although an editor has looked at the article and approved it, there is still a notice on top saying: "Please help improve this article, especially its section layout, and relevant internal links."

I don't know what else to do because it seems to be done.

The reference and bibliographical sections, and the categories have been added and highlighted at the bottom. So I don't know what else needs to be done since the notice is still there concerning the need for improvement on section layout and relevant internal links.

Please help!

Thank you.

Dave 06:09, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Up the top, you will see two lines, which are the following:

{{Wikify|date=July 2007}}
{{Uncategorized|date=July 2007}}

Each of these is a "template", and they can both be found at Template:Wikify and Template:Uncategorized. To remove them, simply remove those lines. You can find more info on templates on this page. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 10:14, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Article needs to be written more like an encyclopedic article that conforms to how most Wikipedia articles are written. Most of content appears to not meet this criterion. Guroadrunner 10:49, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

little numbers after some sentences.

what do they mean? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.189.65.197 (talk • contribs)

They are citations. A link is generally embedded in the number. For example, I have embedded this section in this number [8].

Have a nice day,

The Rhymesmith 09:10, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

See also WP:CITE! Peacent 14:51, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Biblical inerrancy

This has to be asked since Wiki is suppost to be factual.

Biblical inerrancy is odviously a POV

Secondly if you ask 99.99% of people who dont have a vested interest (They are not christian) they will tell you the bible is not infalliable.

So why is this article not just an example of a mistake, contradition, etc etc etc then say the Biblical inerrancy is not true!--203.87.127.18 08:10, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Have you read the article? It says in the first sentance that it is a doctrinal position, not an indesputed fact. i ^{(said) (did)} 08:29, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Biblical inerrancy mentions several criticisms of the doctrine, and links to several more, for example Internal consistency of the Bible. Of course every religion article on Wikipedia faces a similar problem, because no religion limits itself to facts. A Wikipedia article about a religion must present what is factual (for example, the number of people who profess a certain religion in an opinion poll may be a demonstrable, testable fact) while presenting the unproven claims of a religion as just what they are: unproven claims. Obviously, it may be difficult for people who believe in a specific religion to write objectively about it, so all religion articles need ongoing review for neutrality. --Teratornis 17:12, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Fair use of text

I have been editing Internet_Governance_Forum. Someone added a large piece of text to Internet_Governance_Forum#History that quotes a UN report.

Could someone have a look and see if it is in the spirit of fair use? Also, if not, is this document quoted in the public domain?

Guroadrunner 10:46, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

It's only a three sentence quote, and it's clearly labeled as a quote, so you're okay. For a quote to be a copyright violation you'd have to quote much more extensively than this. --JayHenry 02:15, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

formatting

I wrote an article on "disjunctive cognition." When I pushed the save button, the text appeared in a strange format with very long lines. What did I do wrong?

Zeke8888 11:02, 29 July 2007 (UTC)zeke8888

It's now been fixed. You must use an empty line in order to start a new paragraph (see also Help:Wikitext examples). I hope this helps. Peacent 11:45, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks!

Delete an Account

what is the simplest way to delelte my account and images. Reason is I have a spine injury at the moment and relised after starting that I have not read the conditions correctly.

Reading is difficult with the injury sometimes near impossible due to concentration and I have decided for the moment I would rather just delete the entire account, images I was going to use and also that I am not happy with the name I registered as its without a space between the 2 names. I tried to register the one I wanted but it wont due to the first mistaek being too similar.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Scottcommins (talk • contribs)

You cannot delete your current account, but if the only problem is that you prefer a new name, please use the change username process. Peacent 11:47, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

i have a spine injury at the moment and it seems to effect lately more and more at times my concentratoin of reading effecting my reading. last evening I tried to register my name but it come up as scottcommins instead of scott commins. when i tried to re register it would not let me. I choose the new user name as mine was not registerable but then relised later I could not write about myself. I palced the delete account tag on one of the pages but am hoping both can be deleted adn I will re look at it at some time in the future if I recover from the injury enough to read all the content and get to understadn it but at this stage its a little too much to take on. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Scottcommins (talk • contribs)

clock skew?

Hi, I noticed a clock skew of one hour between my signature (and possibly those of other users) and the time stamp of edits on history pages. For example, the warning on User_talk:155.239.197.112 has a time stamp of an hour before the time stamp of the first edit Special:Contributions/155.239.197.112. What causes this, and is there a workaround to this problem? - Saibod 11:24, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, I looked at the page you linked, and it looks to me like the timestamps on all three messages match the time they were added in the history of the page. i ^{(said) (did)} 11:25, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

All timestamps on signatures use "Server time" which is UTC. The times on history pages and certain other places use a selected time zone. You can select the displayed time zone for your account at Special:Preferences. Click the "Date and time" tab and choose offset from server time. It's a matter of taste whether you prefer your local time zone to get your "true" time in history pages, or server time to get a match between signatures and history pages. PrimeHunter 11:38, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

I see. This explains it since my Special:Preferences setting shows an offset of +1. Thanks, I appreciate it. - Saibod 12:16, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

IMAGE

Concerned Sir/ma'm I've inserted an image into the page Dhoom 2. When I've uploaded an image and saved it, I thougth that it would be placed on that page sidebye the matter. But astonishingly there is no change to the page and my image was not inserted. Can I know the reason please... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.7.112.12 (talk)

There are two parts to the process. First, you have to upload the image, either to the English Wikipedia or to Wikimedia Commons, depending on its copyright status. Once it's uploaded you can then edit the page to included it. The Wikipedia:Images page has the full info. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 15:30, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

One very angry contributor!

Twice now I have lost a complete page. The most recent (3:10 pm 29th July 2007)was a finished article entitled 'Hazards from Carbonated Drinks'. On examining the preview I wanted to change a word and that action led to a clean page displacing my article. Can you please confirm whether the article was automatically posted. If it wasn't then regretfully I really cannot justify spending any further time offering Wikipea a written contribution.

Dr Edward Willhoft--Edward Willhoft 14:21, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Edward, your contributions log shows only the two questions you've asked on this page. There's no such thing as articles being automatically posted. As noted above, when people are writing large chunks of new text, they frequently do so in a text editor link notepad; web browsers have poor to non-existent abilities to save temporary copies of contributions, and thus are a bad place to entrust your only copy of any work that took a lot of effort to generate. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:32, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Another option is to start the page in your userspace first, as User:Edward Willhoft/Hazards from Carbonated Drinks. That will mean you can save it frequently, and then move it to the main article space when you're ready. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 15:34, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

In any case, I think that it is a very bad idea for new Wikipedians to write new articles from scratch. The perpetual effort to improve the quality of existing articles offers plentiful important opportunities for you to use your expertise. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 17:15, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Meni: I'm pretty sure there's no wikipedia policy or guideline suggesting that. Wikipedia's policy is that new users, and anyone else, should be bold (but not reckless) - if you make an error, other editors can sort it out. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 09:25, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

How may Wikipedia be helpful to raise funds for our NGO ?

Registered name of the NGO  : Children Education & Welfare Society Abbreviated for future correspondence as : CEWS-Renaissance Of The Humanity Bhatta Chowk, St. # 2 (Front of Post Office), Bedian Road, Lahore Punjab, Pakistan Tel.#: 92-0425010535 Cell # : 0345-4688468

Dear Sir/Madam,

Sub. : Creating a Partnership to Serve Marginalized humanity

               of underdeveloped country’s areas, Pakistan

We are pleased to brief you that the CEWS is a registered, non profit and non governmental organization. Serving from last eight years of rural and neglected areas of Pakistan. CEWS progressed so far, from a community based to a provincial based organization. It was established on an ideological target oriented mission to care marginalized specifically WODA (widows, orphans, destitute & abandoned) of outreached rural areas. Ensured local community participation and women on decision making as well. Therefore, registration authority considered it one of the best due to its outstanding performance.

Marginalized humanity is absolutely helpless and deprived even of their basic rights specifically women led their life as pets. To care such marginalized and disadvantage humanity, CEWS introduced community based projects of health, vocational training, IT training and campaigning of prevention of HIV/AIDS/STIs through mapping, counseling and referring of the overseas employees. Ratio of poverty and HIV/AIDS patients is increasing alarmingly, due to lacking of follow up and non availability of donors.

This is one example of extreme poverty and helplessness of humanity of underdeveloped country’s areas of Pakistan.

Therefore, your kindness is expected to respond positively of as subject captioned above please !

Looking forward to receiving an early feedback & remain yours  ! Sincerely,

Malik Jamil (President)

Your efforts are commendable, but alas, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a charity organization. I doubt there is anything we can do to help you. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 14:36, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Actually the footer text on every article page says Wikipedia is the product of a charity organization, specifically a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, but WP:NOT#ADVOCATE indicates that Wikipedia does not promote other charities (although we have articles about lots of them). Malik Jamal might do well to study what has made Wikipedia successful at raising funds for its own work. --Teratornis 18:10, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes, Wikipedia is maintained by Wikimedia, which itself is a charitable organization. But that does not contradict what I have said. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 18:14, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

More advice for Malik Jamil: Wikipedia is not the only wiki. See WikiIndex which may list one or more wikis which would promote your organization. --Teratornis 02:28, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

business

what are the basic words of business/economics one should know before reading something like business magazine (if one dosent know anything about it from before)?? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.227.213.131 (talk • contribs) 16:22, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. For factual and other kinds of questions: use the search box or the Reference desk. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 15:38, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

I recommend that you read the business magazine and look up any terms you don't know on Wikipedia or Wiktionary. In general, you will be aware of when you don't know what a particular word means - if a word is unfamiliar to you, that should be obvious. There might be some danger that you could think you know what a word means, but you don't actually know how the business magazine uses that word, but it would be very difficult to eliminate all such possibilities by any course of study beforehand. Just read the magazine and look things up as you go. Someday, of course, all magazines will contain links on their jargon terms just as well-written Wikipedia articles do. --Teratornis 16:38, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

how do I display an (already uploaded) photo on a wikipedia page

Dear Wikipedia, I would like to have my uploaded image "MorningtonCrescent_roundel.jpg" displayed on/ linked to your Wikipedia pages "Mornington Crescent tube station" & "Mornington Crescent (game)".

Is this something I can do myself (if so, how?) or do I need to ask for permission to have my image displayed on a Wikipedia page (if so, where do I need to apply?).

Thank you, --Behpourdental 15:30, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

You don't need anyone's permission. Be bold and edit the article to include it. Wikipedia:Images has the instructions, but if you struggle with them, come back and ask for help. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 15:42, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

what are the proxies to access orkut when it is blocked?

what are the proxies to access orkut when it is blocked? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.227.213.131 (talk • contribs) 16:31, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. For factual and other kinds of questions: use the search box or the Reference desk. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 15:51, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Biography info

Is it proper to include the name of a subject's spouse and the number of children, if any, on a bio page? ESass 16:01, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons is not very clear about this point, but I get the impression that while not strictly forbidden (depending on the notability of the person), it is better to err on the side of exclusion. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 17:23, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

That's about what we concluded the last time this question appeared on the Help desk:

• Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 June 4#Spouses in Bios.

This search does not help much either. --Teratornis 17:32, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

{{SWE}}

There is something amiss with the Sweden template, which is causing to feed incorrectly into the 1991 row at Chicago Marathon.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 16:22, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't see a problem in the 1991 row. What do you see? PrimeHunter 17:45, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Maybe something is loading incorrectly because now {{SWE}} is working, but {{GBR}} is not in my FF browser. In place of the flag icon it says "Flag of United Kingdom" in linked text leading to Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg. The error is slightly different in MSIE with no text and just blank space in place of the icon. --TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 13:51, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Is there a wikiproject for event venues worldwide

Hi. I would like to ask if there is a wikiproject for stadiums, arenas and similar venues worldwide in general. I have checked Wikipedia:WikiProject Sports facilities but this wikiproject only covers aports venues which host professional American sports teams. I have also checked Wikipedia:WikiProject Music venues but they only cover music venues. Thanks in advanceTbo 157 17:06, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Generally if a given WikiProject is too specific, check the project page to see its parent project(s). For example, the two WikiProject pages you mention both have Parentage sections that link to Wikipedia:WikiProject Architecture, and the section: Wikipedia:WikiProject Architecture#Daughter projects does not list exactly the WikiProject you seek. (We cannot be sure the Daughter projects list is comprehensive, but I'd suspect it is.) Therefore, any event venue that doesn't fit into the two sub-projects would probably go into WikiProject Architecture for the time being (i.e., until such time as someone creates the project you have in mind). You might mention your concern on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Architecture and see if other participants think another daughter project is necessary. --Teratornis 17:23, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

How do I flag an article?

I would like to dispute the neutrality of an article (Dan Rather). It is incredibly biased and I would like to flag it. Fisksed 17:26, 29 July 2007 (UTC)fisksed

See: WP:TEMPLATE which leads to: WP:TM/DISP. --Teratornis 17:34, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

parserfunctions

Is there a way to make a template so as to optionally display text by passing according parameters, but without an #ifeq condition?

I wrote a template to optionally display one or more references. The best thing I could come up with is the #ifeq function, but there you have to pass e.g. parameter1=yes, instead of just parameter1. I'd like to make the template not display certain text if the according parameter is not passed, and display that text if that parameter is passed.

For the life of me, I couldn't get the #if function to do that (and I'm not even entirely sure it could be used for that). Any suggestions? —AldeBaer 18:41, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

How about:

{{#switch:{{{parameter1}}}

|yes=TEXT TO DISPLAY

|#default=

}}

—« ANIMUM » 18:52, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, but it does just what #ifeq does: You'd have to pass parameter1=yes. I'd prefer it if it worked with {{mytemplate|parameterX|parameterY}} instead of {{mytemplate|parameterX=yes|parameterY=yes}}. —AldeBaer 20:22, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

July 30

How to link to an to an Image:anyimage.svg page

If I enter "Flag of Turkey.svg" into a search box,

It returns http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Turkey.svg, but if I use the following link;

[[Image:Flag of Turkey.svg]]

it displays an svg image, which is not what I want.

Question: How should I link to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Turkey.svg

-thanks

It sounds like you want to do this: Image:Flag of Turkey.svg, which results from [[:Image:Flag of Turkey.svg]]. See: Help:Image. (MediaWiki's wikitext syntax is consistent here with the similar case of displaying a link to a category page without actually categorizing the current page, e.g.: Category:Categories.) --Teratornis 02:08, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

What does this template do?

I just added this script to my monobook.js. to help speed up afd closures. It works pretty well but is including in the close I previewed the following template: {{ns:0|W}} which has no effect I can discern and doesn't appear as anything once a page is closed but it still present in edit mode. An attempt to visit the template page is not useful: Template:ns:0 (redlink) and Template:ns is a redirect to {{db-nonsense}} so that can't be it. Anyone know what this is? If you search the javascript for " {{ns: " you'll find where this is coming from, but this java stuff is incomprehensible to me.--Fuhghettaboutit 04:41, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately though I wrote the original script, it seems to have been updated and modified by others, so I have no clue what that's supposed to do. Johnleemk | Talk 06:34, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Aha Thanks for responding. So if I want to ask the right person, I would have to track down in the edit history who added that part of the script. If I knew how to just take it out and not break the script I would.--Fuhghettaboutit 14:44, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

How do I upload a photo?

?

To upload a photo, you will need to register an account on Wikipedia. Then click on the file upload link in the "interaction" box to the left or this link. Follow the directions carefully and there you are. Also see Wikipedia:Images for more info. --_Hdt83 ^Chat 05:06, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Page Name Problems

I just recently created a new article called "Empire of Ashanti", and im having some problems. like when i type anything not exactly "Empire of Ashanti", wikipedia does not recognize it. it doesn't even recognize "Ashanti Empire" as opposed to "Empire of Ashanti". can i have some assistance in fixing this problem? Thank you for your help.

Kwame123 07:10, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, you can create more pages, that redirect to Empire of Ashanti. To do so, create a page with a title that is a reasonable title that someone looking for this page would type, and type #REDIRECT [[Empire of Ashanti]] i ^{(said) (did)} 07:14, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

If you search for Ashanti then your article comes up. It looks to me as if the new article is mostly a duplication of the Ashanti article, though. I've tagged the articles to suggest that they're merged. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 09:56, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

It was created today and it takes some time before Wikipedia search indexes a new article. It is indexed now. PrimeHunter 12:39, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

How to fix mass coordinate errors ?

Most of the geographic coordinates for the towns of the French Calvados and Manche departments are incorrectly coded as being east of the Prime Meridian. Is there any way to change them as a group in some database in which they may reside, or must I edit each page individually?

There's no central database, but depending on how many articles this affects it may be possible to have a bot make the changes. See Wikipedia:Bot requests or Wikipedia:Computer help desk.

Banking

could you please let me know if you a branch of The canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Englamd

Sorry, Wikipedia is not a bank. It is an encyclopedia. --_Hdt83 ^Chat 07:55, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

customization

to whom it may concern,

i just want to ask how did you do or make your website layout? and where did you base your layout design? how you come up to have this look of the website?thank you. what i'm asking about is a part of my project. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.86.204.114 (talk • contribs) 08:49, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

The website is made by the MediaWiki software. PrimeHunter 12:34, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

cruiseliner

what is cruiseliner — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.162.135.225 (talk • contribs) 09:38, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. For factual and other kinds of questions: use the search box or the Reference desk. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 09:42, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Flagged as advert

Good morning/Good whatever it is wherever you are. I have been looking at the Friends Provident page on wiki. It is currently flagged as being written like an advert. I am looking to make the changes to remove this flag - but was wondering which areas of the post are triggering it? As on reading through it seems neutral, factual and non-promotional.

Any help would be much apprecaited, Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.73.169.152 (talk • contribs)

You can ask User:Phydaux who added the advert template to that article [9] and you can also read WP:NOT#SOAPBOX. --Silver Edge 10:23, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Categories appearing in articles without the category appearing in the actual text

For example, at Nebaioth, the four categories Christian history, Jewish history, History of religion and Islam appear with 4 other categories at the bottom of the article, but when editing the page, the above named categories don't seem to be typed into the text!. How does this occur and what can be done to change this? I came across this problem before (forget which article), and there the problem was fixed because a redirect had the category that wasn't in the actual article. But I can't find a redirect at Nebaioth which fixes this. Thanks. MP ^{(talk•contribs)} 10:24, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

The three history categories might be caused by the {{Sons of Ishmael}} template which is used in that article, but I don't know about the Islam category. --Silver Edge 10:38, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

All 4 categories are added by both {{Sons of Ishmael2}} and {{Sons of Ishmael3}}. They do it with includeonly so the template page is not in the category (edit the template to see the category). {{Sons of Ishmael}} is in the 3 history categories, but it does not add them to articles that use the template, because the template uses noinclude. PrimeHunter 11:49, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Eastern Time and GMT

Please what time is 9pm EST in GMT? Thanks

Rotimi JAIYEOLA — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.212.243.43 (talk • contribs) 10:48, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. For factual and other kinds of questions: use the search box or the Reference desk. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 11:50, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

HI!

I seem to be able to access my account userpage to put that I'm retiring now, but it keeps popping up that it is under construction, any help or advice on this? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.96.241.173 (talk • contribs) 11:47, 30 July 2007.

= Dictionary?

What does immunity mean? Please help, thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.96.241.173 (talk • contribs) 11:49, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. For factual and other kinds of questions: use the search box or the Reference desk. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 11:51, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Sorry my INternet won't show all of the content. It's having problems(my computer)

Owner?

Who owns Wikipedia?I'm just curious, I'm new to the site, I'm wanting to know who is in charge of this site, thank you for your help. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.96.241.173 (talk)

See Wikipedia:Overview FAQ#Who owns Wikipedia?. PrimeHunter 11:54, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you kindly, sir.

Can you?

Can you help me solve my math test, It's due this Thursdays? Send me a reply below, Here it is

2312631638,21313691-1210620>131313<131

Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.96.241.173 (talk • contribs) 11:51, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

We don't answer homework questions here, sorry. You've posted a few questions here - could you read the guidelines at the top of the page before you post the next one, please? --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 11:55, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

My Internet is showing the guidelines, my computer having many problems right now, sorry. Can you tell me some of them? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.96.241.173 (talk)

You can ask math questions at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Mathematics, but they will not give answers for your homework. PrimeHunter 12:03, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

THANKS PRIMY!

Linkin Park

Can you provide me the link to Linkin Park, my computer can't seem to show it up. Please, hurry my boyfriend needs to know who is the leader of Linkin Park, because we want to send a fan letter to them. Thank you, Yours Truly, Paula M. S. Pointiers — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.96.241.173 (talk • contribs) 11:53, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

If you put "Linkin Park" in the search box you'll get the article you need. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 11:59, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

My computer keeps saying "Page not Found", can you just please post up the link?--Paula

Linkin Park --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 12:02, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks alot, sir!

How old was GW?

How old was George Washington when he died? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.96.241.173 (talk • contribs) 11:55, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. For factual and other kinds of questions: use the search box or the Reference desk. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 12:00, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Article count?

How many articles are there currently here in Wikipedia? Thanks! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.96.241.173 (talk)

6,917,211 articles. PrimeHunter 12:05, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

WOw that's alot, thanks for the info!

Wikipedia's birth?

When was it when Wikipedia first opened up?---Thanks, Paula —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.96.241.173 (talk)

In 2001. See history of Wikipedia. PrimeHunter 12:07, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks!Sorry if I'm annoying!

Contacting the boss?

Is there any way I can send fan mail to Jimmy Wales?--Paual

hello?--Paual —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.96.241.173 (talk • contribs).

Sorry to be blunt, but your posts every 2 minutes can get annoying and I don't want to help you get in contact with him. PrimeHunter 12:26, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes - see Special:Emailuser/Jimbo_Wales. You may need to register an account to use that facility. If you don't want to do that, you can probably find an email address for him on http://blog.jimmywales.com/ Neil ╦ 12:27, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

You are so mean, Primy!Thank you very much, Neil!

DA?

What is a doppledanger account?--Pauala —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.96.241.173 (talk)

See Wikipedia:Username policy#Doppelganger accounts. PrimeHunter 12:31, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks!

Bruce Asbury

Last night you dedicated a complete half-hour to Mr. Asbury. However, I cannot understand why.

He's a great reporter/jack of all and I'm wondering if he has retired or something else.

please reply to

[EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED]—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 208.50.10.184 (talk • contribs).

Since there is no article (or deleted article) on a Bruce Asbury in Wikipedia, can you explain what you mean when you say something here was "dedicated" to this individual?--Fuhghettaboutit 16:14, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Information in Sanskrit

where should i search to get information in sanskrit—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.96.41.172 (talk • contribs).

If you want information about Sanskrit, see Sanskrit. If you want imformation in Sanskrit, see Sanskrit Language Wikipedia.--Fuhghettaboutit 16:14, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

how to make contents box

I've been trying to figure out how to do that, and I've looked all over, but can't find it. I don't know.. maybe I'm stupid.. lol. Anyhow, can anyone help?

Peepsta21 13:34, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

[Edit: Nevermind. I figured it out. Thanks anyway! :) ]

For future reference, a contents box comes up automatically if there are enough headings on a page, and you can type __TOC__ at the relevant point on the page to cause one to come up even with fewer headings. --ais523 18:06, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Problem displaying http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page in Firefox

For some reason today I am unable to view http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page in Firefox, I get a blank white page, viewing the source also shows a blank page.It worked fine yesterday. It is not a firewall issue as I can view in IE6 (which how I am posting this). I have cleared my cache and deleted cookies, but to no avail. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks. --ukexpat 14:13, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

This happened to me once, but on all articles, not just the main page. Restarting my computer did the trick, have you tried that? If not, I'm not sure what else could be causing the problem. Hopefully someone else can provide further advice. --Nick—^Contact/_Contribs 14:23, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Hap vs HAP

I'm going to make Hap a dab page, but there's already a dab page called HAP. Should I merge these together and redirect one, or keep them separate and just link them? Clarityfiend 14:38, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

You should redirect Hap to HAP and do a unified disambiguation page, beginning Hap may mean... followed by HAP may mean... Shalom ^Hello 17:22, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages)#Introductory line says:

It is not necessary to repeat all the possible variations of capitalization or punctuation: "AU may refer to" is preferable over "AU, au, Au or A-U may refer to".

Wikipedia:Disambiguation and abbreviations also has the AU example, and also says:

Usually, there should be just one page for all cases (upper- or lower-case), e.g. MB for MB, mB, mb, Mb.

But in your case, "Hap" appears to be a complete word and in that case there are often separate disambiguation pages, for example Bad and BAD. However, CAT redirects to the common page Cat (disambiguation) which has a section for CAT acronyms. So, I don't know. You could ask at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Disambiguation. PrimeHunter 17:33, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

water softning process

some one plz clarify me that i have coffee machine n it has large scale but i using treated water n its hardness is 42% i m unable attach anylysis report here plz clarify if it possible

[EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED]—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Surajmahadik (talk • contribs).

Have you tried the Miscellaneous section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here's the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit 16:08, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Roke

What does roke stand for

eg: Interview now and advise no roke but will kepp on file —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.15.162.95 (talk • contribs) 16:09, 30 July 2007.

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. For factual and other kinds of questions: use the search box or the Reference desk. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 16:26, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Downloading

Can I download pictures from Wikipedia? If Yes, how do I do it? John.battison 16:21, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes, you can. If you click on the picture you'll get its information page. Click again on the picture and you'll get a full-sized version (if there is one). Right click, and there should be an option like "Save Image As..." --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 16:29, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

create variable

I am trying to import a template which uses several words repeatedly, but the words vary based on the article it is inserted into. What I would like to do is something like:

'My Recipe' wiki page

define cheese_type = 'American'

{{cheese recipe}}

'Template:cheese recipe' wiki page

...

5. Add cheese_type cheese to dish

6. Bake in oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese_type is dark brown

7. Don't let the cheese_type cheese get black, though.

...

and I could reference cheese_type in various places in the recipe. I know this is a silly example, but it demonstrates what I am trying to do.

149.173.6.25 16:42, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

You need to use a template. To do what you want, you need to use {{cheese recipe|American}}, and place "{{{1}}}" (no quotes) wherever you want your variable. You can also name variables, i.e. {{recipe|cheese=American}} (use {{{cheese}}} as variable), use multiple variables {{recipe|cheese=American|meat=turkey}}, ect. Prodego ^talk 16:58, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

About me.

I just tried to create a new account in my name: Paul Giambarba. I couldn't do it because apparently the account already exists. All I want to do is to have the information about me factual and in proper context. I'll add a couple of images later. This is more to the point:

Paul Giambarba initiated Polaroid's corporate image development and product identity in 1958. His innovative black packaging successfully subdued the dominance of Kodak yellow at point-of-purchase and spawned a vogue of black packaging within the industry. Creator of the ubiquitous Polaroid color stripes, one of the most widely imitated design devices of the last several decades, he designed and produced hundreds of Polaroid packages and collateral material including consumer literature and "How to Make Better Polaroid Instant Pictures," a trade book for Doubleday & Co. His designs have won many awards including Gold Medals from the Art Directors Club of New York as well as Boston, and three consecutive Certificates of Excellence for Package Design from the A.I.G.A.
 Giambarba has also been a design consultant for Tonka Toys and Tonka Corporation, as well as Polaroid, the Gillette Company International; and His Highness Aga Khan. His work has been the subject of articles in Graphis (Zurich); Industrial Design; American Artist; Idea (Tokyo); Relax (Tokyo); Grafik (London); Brand eins (Hamburg) and Communication Arts.

Paul Giambarba is a cartoonist and illustrator as well as a designer and author. He was a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated and This Week Magazine, as well as True and Spy Magazines. He was a member of the San Francisco Society of Illustrators during the nine years he lived in Sonoma County, California. Articles about the books he has illustrated and published have appeared in American Artist magazine and Horn Book Magazine, which reviews children’s books for librarians, parents and the book publishing trade. He is the author of a baker’s dozen of books, founded the Scrimshaw Press and CapeArts magazine, and is a founding partner of Arts & Flowers, publisher of botanically accurate greeting cards. He lives and works in Massachusetts.

Honors and Awards: Gold Medal, Art Directors Club of New York
Certificates of Merit, Art Directors Club of New York Gold Medals, Art Directors Club of Boston
Certificates of Merit, Art Directors Club of Boston Certificates of Excellence, American Institute of Graphic Arts Packaging 1972, 1974, 1976 Andy Awards, Advertising Club of New York Hatch Awards, Advertising Club of Boston Certificate of Excellence of Design, Industrial Design magazine Annual Design Review

Invited Lecturer: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA.
Simmons College, Boston, MA.

You do not need an account to edit an article, but see WP:COI first. -- Kainaw^(what?) 17:20, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Editing Entries

I just came across this article about Wikipedia on globalresearch.ca, which is considered a reputable site for news that is never covered by the commercial media. Hope you can look into it.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6444 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.167.202.90 (talk • contribs)

This is being monitered, see here for a discussion at Jimbo's talk page. AndrewJDTALK -- 20:12, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Data from Wikipedia as email

Hi,

Is it possible to capture a paragraph or data from a table in a wikipedia and configure the SMTP to send it as an email? I have made a template, put in the wikipedia, the content for which will change every week and the content needs to be sent to a distribution list.

Thanks in advance.

Kalay — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chhet (talk • contribs)

I don't know whether MediaWiki's template language is powerful enough to do this. If you know how to program in a scripting language such as Perl, Python, Ruby, etc., you could write a script that parses content from the HTML output of a Wikipedia page, formats it into an e-mail message, and sends the e-mail. For example, in Perl you could use Mail-Sender. (However, if you did know how to program in a scripting language, you probably would have already thought of doing that.) See Pipeline (Unix)#Example for an example of downloading the HTML output of a Wikipedia page and processing it with other programs. Or you might try to do this with a bot program. However, if your content is on a Wikipedia page, why do you need to copy the content? You could just send a weekly e-mail message to your distribution list telling everybody to click on the URL of the page. Since the URL will (presumably) not change, you can send the same message every week. --Teratornis 15:31, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Changing the title of an assisting entry

Hello:

Is there a way to change the title of an existing page?

Feel free to email me at e-mail address removed.

Thanks Jeaunine phone number removed — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.251.66.254 (talk)

Yes. Logged-in users whose accounts are at least four days old can click the move tab at the top of the page. Others can make their request at Wikipedia:Requested moves. I've removed your e-mail address and phone number from your edit because they can subject you to spam and harassing e-mail and phone calls. Also, please sign your comments by typing four tildes (~~~~). Thanks. WODUP 19:25, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Being writer of wikipedia ?

Dear wikipedia community!

That is a huge library on internet -wikipedia- and I appreciate who has any supportive works here! I would like to ask about being a writer of wikipedia . Is this a voluntary organization or do you pay for the writers ?

Best ,

Anyone can edit wikipedia. All you have to is click the edit page on top of a article and edit away. I recommend reading WP:ACCOUNT, WP:EDIT, and also WP:5P. --Tλε Rαnδom Eδιτor (ταlκ) 19:48, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

You might want to read Wikipedia:About and Wikipedia:Who writes Wikipedia. Basically it is written by anyone who wants to. You can write it yourself by clicking the edit this page button at the top of every article. Hope this helps. --Cherry blossom tree 19:50, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Opposites Attract - Music Video

This song is distinctive for its music video directed by the award-winning team of Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger. The team created and designed the character MC Skat Kat, an animated cat who dances and raps with Paula Abdul. Opposites Attract was nominated in 1990 for six MTV Awards including Best Direction and Breakthru Video. It won the Grammy award in 1991 for Best Music Video. The idea of MC Skat Kat was inspired by the Gene Kelly musical Anchors Aweigh, in which Gene Kelly dances with Jerry the Mouse from the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Paula Abdul choreographed the animated MC Skat Kat's moves to match her live-action dance sequences in the video. MC Skat Kat was danced by Michael Chambers, aka Boogaloo Shrimp. Backup and lead vocals were provided by the duet The Wild Pair. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Candacereckinger (talk • contribs).

I'm sorry, was there a question about Wikipedia in there? Confusing Manifestation 22:37, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

I added the user name which shows you may be the director. If you consider editing Opposites Attract#Music Video then please see Wikipedia:Conflict of interest. You can suggest changes at Talk:Opposites Attract. PrimeHunter 23:18, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Loading history

How comes it now seems to take ages to load the history of an article (at least on some pages)? Half a year ago, i think, it was much quicker. Simply south 20:31, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

I frankly don't remember, although I was here half a year ago. There's always api.php, which bots use (and it's pretty fast), although I doubt it's readable enough for humans. History-loading times could be growing pains: Wikipedia has the 9th highest amount of traffic, according to Alexa—up from 16 a year ago, and up from 10 or 11 six months ago. There could be more server contention. It also could be subjective: maybe your ISP is a bit slower, for whatever reason. Short answer: I don't know, it's complicated :) Gracenotes^T § 22:25, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Odd Account Problem

About yesterday, my account has been randomly signing me off. It did so multiple times back to back yesterday evening and again once today. I am pretty sure nobody has been trying to hack my account, though I've changed my password to be safe. The oddest thing about this is that when it bumps me off, I still seem to be signed on when I go to the "log on" page. -WarthogDemon 22:20, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

I am now certain it has nobody trying to hack in, as it happened again despite the new password. -WarthogDemon 22:40, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

One more thing I found. If I click my Browser's back button when it signs me off, and click whatever link I clicked in Wikipedia again, I'm back on. -WarthogDemon 23:02, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Maybe you're having cookie issues. Why not try deleting them and starting over? WODUP 23:08, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Multiple usernames

^{Superscript text} I have registered several times and created different usernames...

Is there any way of checking if any of the names I usually use are being used? as, if they are not used, they might be mine...

cheers

Chris

I'm not too sure what you mean, but if you registered a username, nobody else will be using it. If you've forgotten the password, then see here. If you want to check if a particular username is active type "User:xxxx" replacing xxxx with the username into the search box for details. AndrewJDTALK -- 22:48, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

There is an alphabetical list of all registered users at Special:Listusers. To see activity for a user, click their user name and then click "User contributions" in the toolbox to the left. Editing with multiple user names is usually inappropriate. See Wikipedia:Sock puppetry. Accounts cannot be deleted. If you discover you have two accounts then only use one and ignore the other. PrimeHunter 23:09, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for that... Found name and remembered password. I can contribute now!!! Thanks again.

Pet Stars

Do any animals have a star on the hollywood walk of fame?≤ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.228.144.166 (talk • contribs)

This page is for questions about editing Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the 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. - Saibod 23:45, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame lists Lassie. WODUP 23:59, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

File:Kermit the Frog star.jpg

Kermit the Frog's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

And also Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, in case you consider them animals :D - Saibod 00:12, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Also Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart. And Bugs Bunny and Woody Woodpecker if that kind of animals is included. PrimeHunter 00:32, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

July 31

Access to text correction

I heard that I can modify text(s) witten by someone else on the internet. Is that true or false? If needed, please contact as you normally operate or (email removed) Thank you Paulo —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.215.102.63 (talk • contribs).

You can modify text that others have contributed to Wikipedia. This isn't true for content on the internet in general though. Is this what you were asking? Sancho 01:33, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict) This website, http://wikipedia.org is Wikipedia, the encyclopedia anyone can edit. You can edit most pages by clicking edit. The Internet has millions of other websites on the World Wide Web. You can edit some of them, but not most of them. PrimeHunter 01:36, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Deletion

If I haven't edited anything can I delete my account? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Wsmith2010 (talk • contribs).

No, but you can request a user name change. See Wikipedia:Right to vanish. PrimeHunter 01:30, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Plus, you technically edited this page. --Max Talk (add) 07:57, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Teenbeat Club contribution

I would like to know if you can provide information of what I have contributed is on the right track for Wikipedia inclusion. Please let me know how I should footnote sources, such as the opening line, "The Teenbeat Club was the first nightclub in the United States which catered exclusively to teenagers" (from the Teenbeat Club brochure). What is the process which I should take at this point for the contribution to be included?

Thanks, Mselinsky 03:17, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

If you've been around for more than four days, you can create the article yourself. Type "Teenbeat Club" into the search box, and click on the red link on the results page. If you are very new, you can either wait, or submit your material to Wikipedia:Articles for creation. Shalom ^Hello 06:15, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Talk page deletion of "corrected" problems

What's the "Wikipedia standard" for removing - from a Talk page - an entry that discusses an error that's now resolved? In the case I observed, the talk page suggested a reference to "6.5 billion households" in the main article must be wrong. Another user did research and corrected the entry to "6.8 million" and removed the Talk page entry complaining about the error. Soon after, a third editor reverted the Talk page edits completely, saying "don't remove other editors entries". All well and good, but what's the purpose of a Talk entry that references an error that no longer exists? Does anything EVER get removed from a Talk page if that's really the standard?

A URL would be great if there's a formal policy. Thanks.

You should not edit other people's comments. See Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines#Others' comments. If the page gets to long, you should archive it.--Max Talk (add) 08:01, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

When a talk page mentions a problem in an article, and someone corrects the problem, they can add a reply to the original talk page comment explaining what they did, and display the {{Resolved}} template. Like this:

I noticed a problem with (whatever). -- Some user (date)

I fixed the problem by (doing whatever). -- Some other user (date)

Resolved

--Teratornis 14:54, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

How do you see your messages?

If you are logged on you have a link to your messages at the top next to your name but what if youre not? HOw are you supposed to see your messages?

Go to User talk:YOURIP. Really though, you should just get an account --Longing.... 08:34, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Anyone can edit wikipedia without logging in, but there are some advantages to doing so, one of which is that you get your own talk page. You might want to read the Wikipedia:Username policy first. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 12:00, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I want to help.

Where can I find stuff that needs doing?N734LQ 09:27, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Check out the Help Out section of the community portal. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 09:35, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

How can I be a member?

How can I be a member and get a account so I don't look like some ramdom. Thank You. Wolly da wanderer. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 144.139.129.119 (talk)

Hey there - just follow this link to create an account and sign up. Regards. Will (aka Wimt) 10:56, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

You might want to read the Wikipedia:Username policy first - it has some useful advice. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 16:29, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

where can i get a braille machine from?

Hi i have retinitus pigmentosa i have been studying braille for two years now and i still haave not been able to find a braille machine i can keep at home, where can i find one to buy? I dont mind abrand new one or second hand i am not fussy. Sylvia-Jane Beharie-Green

Sorry, but this page is for enquiries about Wikipedia. AndrewJDTALK -- 14:10, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

First check out this search: http://www.google.com/products?q=braille&btnG=Search+Products I think the product labeled "Cub Braille Embosser" on that page is what you are looking for, though I'm not sure. A direct link is: http://fos.stores.yahoo.net/cubbrem.html Some more I found are:

• http://www.brailler.com/
• http://www.brailler.com/juli3.htm.
• http://www.synapseadaptive.com/brailler/br/transend_lt.htm
• http://www.ulva.com/Online-Store/Braille-Embossers/tiger-max.htm
• http://www.humanware.ca/web/en/p_OP_ViewPlus.asp

There's also some overveiw information on these types of machines at these sites

• http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_prodbraille.hcsp#P13_1766
• http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm01/bm0110/bm011007.htm
• http://www.afb.org/message_board_replies2.asp?TopicID=1198&FolderID=6

I hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit 15:00, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Vandal

Hi, I added an external link to a page because I thought it was a good forum on the subject and someone keeps removing it and placing a new one on so I keep having to add mine back. And he has posted nasty messages in the talk page about me and I don't know what to do.

Mistari 14:37, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

If you truly want something done, you should sign your comment (by adding four tildes after it) and mention which article/talk page you are referring to. -- Kainaw^(what?) 14:30, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

The page is "Kratom" I have added a link to a forum I am a member of and enjoy and think other people can get a lot of information from there. I have found a warning thing I could put in the talk page so I put that up there and hope it will do something too. I erased his rude message and if you want to see it I can provide that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mistari (talk • contribs)

Well, the other user was right in removing the link -- according to the guidelines for Links normally to be avoided, links to forums are usually not appropriate on Wikipedia. - Saibod 15:12, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

In that case, the other person is also adding a link, avertising their forum.

24.59.207.167

Which has been removed as well. Skittle 15:24, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

well you just removed my link, not theirs. what a crock this place is. that's ridiculous. goodbye.

That is simply not true; I removed all the external links because, on viewing them, none appeared to fulfill the roles that external links are supposed to fulfill on Wikipedia. At that point, your link (and, I think, the other person's) had already been removed by someone else. Also, please be careful with the word 'vandal'; it does not apply to people editing in good faith. Skittle 19:25, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Cannot find uploaded file

I have tried to put short story on the Terry Higgins page but I do not know whether I have been successful - how do I check please?I sue you 15:22, 31 July 2007 (UTC)i_sue_you

You don't seem to have edited the Terry Higgins page. Use this link to edit it but also consider whether a short story is appropriate (and verifiable) for an encyclopaedia entry. Thanks. --Cherry blossom tree 16:17, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

My IP

I did a bit of editing before I became a user. Is there any way to find what my IP was before I created an account? Crowstar^{Vaseline-on-the-lens-Jitsu!fwends!} 15:58, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Possibly. If you know one of the pages you edited then you can go through the history and see what IP address is credited with your edit. If you still have the same IP address you can try a site such as http://www.whatsmyip.org/ and check the contributions of the address it tells you. Hope this helps. --Cherry blossom tree 16:13, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

On some Internet connections, the IP address is dynamic and can vary between each session, so your edits might be spread over multiple IP numbers. And if your old edits were on another Internet connection then it's probably different from your current IP. PrimeHunter 17:49, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Fiorano Software

This Account is not Present in Wikipedia, Earlier it was present and now it is not, Pls give me a short description how to edit page for my enterprise?

Thanks arshiya@...

Fiorano Software was deleted last October because the article was considered to be used for advertising. You can create it by signing up for an account and clicking the red link or by using Articles for creation, but please be careful that it doesn't qualify as Spam. Thanks. --Cherry blossom tree 16:20, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

It's probably also worth reading the Wikipedia:Business' FAQ. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 16:27, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Odd edits by 195.37.79.37

The person with Ip address 195.37.79.37 has made some odd edits today, doing something of a whitewash job on Jörg Schilling and his work. Could this be a conflict of interest thing? Hydrobunch 16:24, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I looked at the edits by this user today. They seem to be above water. The claims of license incompatibility were not properly referenced, so he is free to remove them. Shalom ^Hello 17:33, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Order of Wiki Formatting

Hello. What is the entire order of the wiki formatting? For example, one should internally hyperlink a word before bolding. In other words, one would type brackets as '''[[brackets]]'''. Thanks in advance. --Mayfare 17:46, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't know that it's ever been documented. Wiki Markup is not particularly standardised, especially in these edge cases. I imagine that they come up infrequently enough that users can just find some configuration that works. --Cherry blossom tree 19:58, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Deleting a 'citation needed' marker

..or at least challenging them

Is there any procedure for this? I have seen one or two of these markers next to areas of my field that are seen as common knowledge. Glennh70 17:52, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

It varies a lot what people see as common knowledge, and the article will probably be read by many who don't know the field. Adding such a tag is not an implicit claim that the information is false. Only remove the tag if you add a citation or there already is one. See Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden of evidence. PrimeHunter 19:35, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

If you are familiar with a particular field of study then the easiest way for you to get rid of those unsightly ^{[citation needed]} tags is by replacing them with a citation. You might be interested in Wikipedia:WikiProject Fact and Reference Check - and any expertise you can bring to it would be very welcome. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 09:41, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Vaux

If you look here, you'll see that our article Vaux (a dab page) is sadly lacking, and could and should be vastly expanded. Yet, I feel little or no urge to do that work myself. Is there an appropriate place for me to suggest this? There may well be a wikipedian out there who does not share my lethargy towards this very-probably worthwhile exercise. AndyJones 19:54, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm not exactly sure how you can expand a disambiguation page, since it's just meant to include a list of links to what the article title could refer to, other than by just adding the links. On the other hand, there are a lot of red links there (which is generally not recommended on a dab page), and if you wanted to inspire people to create the articles, you might try finding an appropriate Wikiproject - given that most of the redlinks are French communes, I would suggest perhaps WikiProject France and try making a suggestion on the talk page there. Confusing Manifestation 22:45, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Getting a new upload to be visible in Wikipedia search

New User. A few days ago, after creating the account, I tried to upload a file to be included in Wikipedia. Initially there was a complaint about the copyright, but I thought I had properly edited the code. The article I uploaded still cannot be viewed through the search engine. I clearly have missed a step in making the article visible to readers. Please advise. SJamesMatthews.

It appears you've uploaded your article as a PDF file. Wikipedia articles are wiki documents, written in the Mediawiki markup language. Only that way can they be freely edited and improved by others. So please create the article in the normal fashion - see Wikipedia:Your first article for a description how. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:15, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

References all jumbled up

I would greatly appreciate some assistance on the golden jackal article. The references I cited are listed as one big mess of interwoven websites. I'm sure it's just a minor technicality, but the cause at the moment eludes me.

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

Too many open ref tags, and a missing http:// from one of the refs. Fixed now. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:52, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Need my details on wikipedia

What do I need to do to have my profile on wikipedia, so when someone googles me, they will see it it.

Thank you Peter Bill [EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED]

Well the first thing you need to do is to register a account see WP:ACCOUNT. Then you can create a userpage. For help creating one I reccommend reading WP:USERPAGE and WP:UPH. Hope that helps. --Tλε Rαnδom Eδιτor (ταlκ) 21:22, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

If you were thinking of writing an article on yourself, then you need to read the notability criteria. Even if you are notable, it would almost certainly be seen as a conflict of interest if you wrote your own article. You might also want to read Wikipedia:Autobiography. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 23:08, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

ct scan

−

Lack of a question encourages a lack of answers, although see Computed tomography for information on CT Scans. If that is indeed what you wanted, you could have just typed CT Scan into the search box on the left. Hope this helps AndrewJDTALK -- 22:26, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Of course, there's more than on way to scan a cat.--Fuhghettaboutit 22:38, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Email address

Why do people get mad at me for posting my email address on wikipedia? I don't have an account so please email a response to %< %< email removed %< %< —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.185.140.178 (talk • contribs) 22:46, 31 July 2007.

No-one's mad at you. We remove email addresses and phone numbers to protect people from spam. If you ask a question the answer will be posted here, under your question. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 23:05, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

August 1

Tongues Untied

This documentary film was produced/directed/photographed and edited by Marlon T. Riggs. Brian Freeman served as an Associate Producer. The film features Marlon Riggs & Essex Hemphill and others.

Do you mean you want to correct some information about the film Tongues Untied? You can do it yourself by clicking the "Edit this page" tab at the top of the film's article. Astronaut 02:09, 1 August 2007 (UTC) PS: Please sign your comments by adding ~~~~ to your post.

AFD Nomination

I'm trying to nominate an article for its second AFD. However, when I copy the appropriate template to the deletion log, I get a message that the template is being used improperly. What template do I use? The Clawed One 02:02, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

If a deletion template (on a page that I created) says I, "may remove it ...if I object for any reason..." May I remove it?--Libertyguy 02:19, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

...huh? What are you talking about, that's no help at all. The Clawed One 02:21, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Libertyguy probably failed to make a new section for an unrelated question. That is extremely common here. To Libertyguy: Yes you may remove the {{prod}} template as it says. I will contact the editor who said otherwise. If that editor still wants a deletion then another process must be used. PrimeHunter 02:51, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Problems with links in the footnotes

Hello, I'm having a problem with links in footnotes on one of the articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendeen_H._Eolis Why some items in the references section are displaying properly, and some show URLs instead of making footnote a link? Your help is much much appreciated. Thank you! Ildarspb 02:21, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Working on it.--Fuhghettaboutit 02:24, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Wow, what a pain in the ass! As you see I fixed all but one reference. I'm guessing you edited the article offline. In any case, however it occurred, there were a whole bunch of carriage returns/extra spaces that were messing up the reference. They were quite difficult to find because they don't announce themselves. I finally got smart and copied the text into a document offline, widened it greatly so the extra spaces would be visible and also did a search for double spaces. Just can't find that last one.--Fuhghettaboutit 03:17, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Found it! All fixed.--Fuhghettaboutit

Editing My own biography

My name is Shawn Russ I was once know as Gregory Kingsley. I have a page on here under Gregory Kingsley that I didn't create. My question is it's missing some info and if I can provide proof that I am who I say I am can I edit it? Because I edited it once before and it was changed back to how it was, I guess because there was no proof for the changes. So if anyone could let me know what to do or who to contact it would be great

Please read WP:AUTO. If the information is incorrect, propose the changes on Talk:Gregory Kingsley, or ask another editor to do it. Thanks! Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 04:55, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

I read what you said but I didn't write the article it was written by someone else because I was involved in a land mark case for childrens rights I just want to fix stuff like my birthday where can I find an editor I can contact? thanks

If all you want to do is correct things like your birthday then you can just click the edit this page button at the top of every article. If you want to discuss changes then go to Talk:Gregory Kingsley, click the edit button and outline your concerns. Thanks. --Cherry blossom tree 08:05, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Plastic

Hello: There are many areas in plastic deformation, metal working and modelling where the descriptions are either loose or vague and unscientific. How do I change these and how do I include my own references? Thank you.24.141.179.184 07:31, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

There's an edit button at the top of every page. Just press that and you can alter anything on that page. For references, you should basically put your references between <ref> tags, which will automatically produce footnotes. A reference might look like <ref>Cooper, 1978</ref>, for example. See Wikipedia:Footnotes for more detail.

printing mathematical articles

When I print mathematical articles (e.g. on prime numbers) why are some, but not all, minus signs replaced by space ? 77.96.103.76 08:22, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

There are different characters that look like a minus sign. The most common is made by pressing the normal - key. Another, used in many math articles, is − which should produce a longer line. It sounds like your system is unable to print it. See also dash. PrimeHunter 11:40, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

confusion about who is the worlds richest person article

i will be brief. the page of bill gates bio says he is the richest. carlos slim page's say he is the richest. the list of billioners says its bill gates but not by as much as the other page says. bottom line the information is inconsistent and different in every one of who is the richest and how much wealth it has so someone please look into it. make the same for all articles concerning it. thank you!

See: WP:SOFIXIT. You too can edit Wikipedia to correct these errors. But note that the exact wealth of a wealthy person can be uncertain, because the value of investments they hold can go up and down by the minute, and they may have complex portfolios. Some values, such as real estate holdings, can only be estimated. Take the example of the moderately wealthy Dick Cheney; Dick Cheney#Relationship to Halliburton as Vice President says Cheney's wealth is between $30 million and $100 million, which is quite a range of uncertainty. If the two richest men have comparable wealth, it may be difficult to say who is actually wealthier at a given moment. And then next year it will be different, especially if one of them gets divorced. --Teratornis 21:43, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

I was also going to suggest the article - Prenup, however said article appears to need more citations. Marycontrary 02:02, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

deleted minus signs, scrolling problem

I asked why some minus signs in articles on prime numbers are deleted when printed. How can I see the answers to questions? Is there a better way than scrolling down? Long Wikipedia scrolling operations always generate "illegal operation" 77.96.103.76 09:52, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Answered a few sections above and below where the same IP address posted. PrimeHunter 11:43, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

If your browser is crashing with "illegal operation", that sounds like a problem on your computer. Scrolling works every time without failure on my (very old) PC and I suspect that is true for 99.9999% of other users too. Astronaut 12:51, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Image too large

List of highest mountains contains an image that takes forever to display. Can somebody fix the resolution please? I don't know how to do this. Thanks.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 10:16, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

To sort that, just edit where it says "750px" to something more to your liking, like halving it for instance. To add text, just add a divider (a |) and then the word "thumb", and then to add another divider followed by whatever you'd like it to say. Seegoon 11:58, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. I know about changing the physical size, but isn't the problem here one of high vs low resolution? What I am asking is about changing the resolution so that it doesn't take so long to display. Do I take it that it's not possible to alter that independently of the physical size?--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:52, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

On Wikipedia, changing the size in the code actually does automatically resize the image file itself, unlike in HTML, where you would still have to download the whole image. To try this out, change the size of that image in the code, and preview your changes. If you right click on the image and choose "view image" (or something to that effect, depending on your browser), you'll see that the image is actually a separate smaller file. jeffjon 19:13, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

MCGEDDON user keeps reverting content

Hi, On the Magic the gathering page, he keeps reverting content not having one or more, because he doesnt like it, This even after I have repeadly told him of the rule. Also he continues to ignore the fact that humans are in the game and that humans are not fantasy creatures and actually do exist. Can you do somthing to stop his reverting to NON Wiki rules formatting and explain to to say "fantasy creatures" does not take into acciount all the creature that are not, humans, elephsnts, birds hawks, soilders, snakes, squirrel etc etc etc

Thanks

Although I'm assuming good faith, it's clear running through your talk page that you have several uncivility and edit war warnings on Magic: The Gathering pages and others and have been blocked previously. Someone has already told you the reasons for reverting, and it appears you have misunderstood one of the language guidelines. In future it's much better to discuss things on an articles discussion page, or the other user's talk page than edit warring. Also sign your posts with four tildes (~~~~). AndrewJDTALK -- 12:14, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

java

What is the expansion of java —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 122.164.14.76 (talk • contribs).

On the web site or on your computer?--203.87.127.18 11:08, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Define "expansion". -- Kainaw^(what?) 12:07, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Maybe one of the articles at Java (disambiguation) or a Google search can help you. "Expansion" of Java could refer to many things. In which context did you see the term? Give a link if possible. PrimeHunter 13:27, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

how long for an answer?

If I ask a Q through this page how soon should I look for an A ? How do I look for an A ? 77.96.103.76 11:12, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Answers can come at any time from seconds to never. Time zones and Wikipedian distribution means that questions during the day in USA probably have a better chance of fast response. Most such questions are answered within a couple of hours. Look for answers in the section you asked on this page. There is a table of contents at the top where you can click your question. Don't post a follow up requesting an answer the same day, unless it's urgent (it rarely is). If you have an account then you can ask for an answer on your talk page. I will answer your original question in a few minutes, where it was asked. PrimeHunter 11:34, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Citing a magazine article

I've looked around, but I can't find anything specific. I'd like to know how to cite a magazine article, e.g. a review of an album, or interview. I've been mucking through, but any help is appreciated. Seegoon 11:55, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Citation templates points to {{Citation}}. I have also seen {{Cite journal}} and {{Cite news}} used. PrimeHunter 12:05, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Hi! Have a look at WP:CITE. That should tell you everything you need! :) -- Stwalkerster talk 12:06, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Some part of me would like to create my own template, but I have no idea how to do that. Seems like the humble magazine's been overlooked. Seegoon 12:13, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Not really, that would come under "journal or periodical", just after books in the list of citation templates. Confusing Manifestation 22:33, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Signature

Where can I find out how to give myself a signature with colour, different fonts etc? Asyndeton 12:37, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Signatures#Customizing your signature. PrimeHunter 13:18, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

how do I access As to Qs ?

How do I access answers to questions ?

The questions asked here have answers (if given) directly below them. -- Kainaw^(what?) 14:28, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

careers

how to apply for a job in HR — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.125.181.106 (talk • contribs)

Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia. It does not have an HR department. -- Kainaw^(what?) 14:29, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia

How do I start my own page on wikipedia? I really want to write about stuff like video games. Most are up there and are full of stuff, but i wanted to write something special about a topic that isn't up there. — Preceding unsigned comment added by STARSMember (talk • contribs)

Wikipedia only allows articles that are referenced and encyclopedic. It is not a fansite, a how-to site, a homepage site, or a blog. -- Kainaw^(what?) 14:28, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

If you want to write game walkthroughs and so on, note that there are other wikis specifically for that, such as GameWiki. Wikipedia has many restrictions on what sort of content belongs here; see: WP:NOT. Very often these restrictions are annoying to people whose primary interest is in a special topic (such as games) rather than about building an encyclopedia. The first step to being happy on a wiki is to find the right wiki to fit your interests. --Teratornis 21:02, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Have chapter numbers appearing in text and table of contents

Hello, How can I have chapter numbers appearing in the text body as well as in the "table of contents" in Wiki?

If, for example, I put

Chapter 1

into the the text, it will appear correctly in the TOC (1. Chapter 1), but will not display the chapter number in the text itself at all. It will only display:

Chapter 1

If I put:

1. Chapter 1

into the text it will appear correctly in the text body (1. Chapter 1), but the record in the TOC will appear awkward:

1.1. Chapter 1

Any clues on how to solve this so it will display the chapter numbering in the same manner in both the text body and TOC?

Thanks, Olafur — Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.105.227.101 (talk • contribs)

They are not chapters. They are headings (sections). It serves a completely different purpose. -- Kainaw^(what?) 14:38, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. But would you know how to solve what I am looking for? Similarly to Word, you have TOC and heading/chapter numbers in the text body as well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.105.227.101 (talk • contribs)

To my knowledge, this is not possible on Wikipedia (and not wanted because it changes the style of the pages). If you have your own wiki-site, you can alter the code to put numbers in front of the headers. As CSS gets better and better, there may come a time when you can force numbers to be prepended to the headings. That will have to be on your own stylesheet and nobody else will see the numbers. -- Kainaw^(what?) 14:48, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't see the need for numbering the headers within the body of the text. Leebo ^T/C 14:49, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, we are a group of people in different countries using a closed wiki-site working on a project which will be delivered as a report, with traditional TOC and numbered sections/chapters. I wanted to see if we could adjust wiki for this purpose. Thanks, Olafur

Wikipedia Talk Pages / Discussion Pages

I have a question about the talk pages / discussion pages that accompany all Wikipedia articles. If anyone can shed light on this convention, please do so. Thanks. When we add new comments to the talk page, they are added at the bottom (as opposed to the top) of the talk page. So, what happens is this ... the top of the talk page has the oldest possible entries ... and the bottom of the talk page has the most recent / most current entries. Isn't this a little backwards? Or, why is it this way? I would think that the thread should go "upward" so that the most recent comments (most relevent) are at the top ... and the older (less relevent) scroll down to the bottom. Thoughts? Thanks. (JosephASpadaro 15:26, 1 August 2007 (UTC))

I think it's mostly a matter of the fact that it's easier to edit downwards. You open the page and put your comment at the bottom, you don't have to find where to insert it within the discussion. If you are worried about having to travel too far to get to relevant discussions, considering archiving older ones. Leebo ^T/C 15:32, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

It makes it easier to read as well, particularly if a lot of edits have been made since you last read the page; you can follow the discussion down the page, reading naturally. If you find it annoying to scroll to the end, press 'end' on your keyboard; for most people, that takes you to the bottom. Skittle 19:16, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

See Posting style. Wikipedia follows the style known as "bottom posting." This is what the vast majority of technically competent people used in the old days of Usenet, back when the difficulty of using e-mail software and the pre-Web Internet pretty much prevented the technically incompetent from using e-mail. But then programs like Microsoft Outlook brought e-mail to hoi polloi and now most e-mail uses the ghastly travesty known as "top posting." Needless to say, it's hard to imagine how any thinking person could be comfortable with that. The bottom posting style on Wikipedia's talk pages is one of the more comforting features here. It tells us immediately that the people who are running things here are competent. If a talk page gets long, you can archive its old content, or insert the {{Talkheader}} template, which displays a handy link people can click to begin editing a new section at the bottom. My comments here, of course, reflect only my rigorously neutral point of view. --Teratornis 20:59, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Party Press Officer Convicted Of Assault And Forced To Resign

On 31st August 2006, an article appeared in "This Is London/News Shopper", attributed to Alison White, stating that Brian Borthwick (aka Lord Toby Jug), the party's Press Officer, was asked to resign by Deputy Leader Melodie Staniforth, after Borthwick had appeared in court in Dartford pleading guilty to a charge of common assault against his partner Julie Diana Smith on August 14. Borthwick blamed his actions on the medication he was taking for his mental illness THE ABOVE ARTICLE IS FACTUALLY WRONG ON ALL COUNTS, PLEASE REMOVE IT. LORD TOBY JUG - OMRLP — Preceding unsigned comment added by Screamingloony (talk • contribs)

Thanks for your suggestion. When you believe an article needs improvement, please feel free to change it. You can edit almost any article on Wikipedia by just following the Edit link at the top of the page. We encourage you to be bold in updating pages, because wikis like ours develop faster when everybody edits. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes—they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. You can always preview your edits before you publish them or test them out in the sandbox. If you need additional help, check out our getting started page or ask the friendly folks at the Teahouse. -- Kainaw^(what?) 15:34, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Can you please explain what article you're talking about? I find no articles for Brian Borthwick or Lord Toby Jug. Corvus cornix 21:08, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Ah, I found it, it was at Official Monster Raving Loony Party. I have removed the offending section as an unsourced violation of the WP:BLP policy. Corvus cornix 21:10, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

diffusion and osmosis

can you describe similarities and differences between diffusion and osmosis?

This is an encyclopedia. See diffusion and osmosis. -- Kainaw^(what?) 17:08, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. :) -- Stwalkerster talk 17:16, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Add more categories

Hi! How can I add similar companies to this page? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Executive_search_firms Thanks! --Anubhaverma 17:19, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

To add an article to that category, put [[Category:Executive search firms]] somewhere near the bottom of the article page. It will automatically appear on the category page. Leebo ^T/C 17:23, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Will I be able to add a similar company's info on this page even if it is not listed in Wikipedia? If yes, how can I go about it? Thanks for your patience! --Anubhaverma 19:06, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

It is not currently possible to add a page to a category if that page has not yet been written. Typically, such a list would need to be managed manually with something like List of executive search firms. The list could include red links to yet-to-be-created articles on companies within this area. Remember, however, that the list would be required to meet all of Wikipedia's policies (such as being sourced and neutral) in order to remain. See Wikipedia:Lists for more information on list guidelines. Leebo ^T/C 19:14, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

I have prepared an article on my company's info. If you don't mind, would you take the pains to go through it & let me know how I should improvise on it in order to get the article a place on Wikipedia? --Anubhaverma 19:35, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

When you say "my company's info" do you mean the company you work for? Writing about subjects to which you are very close (employers, friends, family, etc.) is generally discouraged at Wikipedia because it represents a conflict of interest. If that is the case, I would recommend waiting until someone who is not involved with the company creates the article. Leebo ^T/C 19:42, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

How does one prove that he/ she is not involved with the company? --Anubhaverma 21:40, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

occult science

what is the occult science — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.162.143.159 (talk • contribs)

This is an encyclopedia. See occult science. -- Kainaw^(what?) 17:31, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Editing images

I have taken a copy of this image and increased the brightness to make the statue stand out more. I have not yet uploaded my edited version. If I use the "upload a new version of this file" link, will the original un-edited image be available if the original uploader doesn't like my changes and wants to revert? Will my edited image retain the original's license and photographe's credit/copyright, or do I need to give it a new license and credit the original photographer in some way? Astronaut 18:05, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes. Below the image is a log of the different versions that anyone can look through (well, not versions before 2004, but that's not the case here obviously) As far as license goes, that depends. Read WP:GFDL for more on that, if it isn't GFDL, it will depend on what license it's under. --Longing.... 18:41, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

The original image is GFDL so I presume I could release my new version under GFDL as well. However, the text on the GFDL template starts "I, the creator of this work, ..." Is there a different GFDL template with different wording available as I don't think I should be credited as the creator? Astronaut 19:01, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Never mind. I think I found some suitable templates; I need {{GFDL}} rather than {{GFDL-self}} Astronaut 19:06, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

User trends.

Has anyone made something that will show user trends, over time? Such as, total amounts of edits? This would be for specific users, of course. Of course, I've seen WP:KATE and such, what I'm looking for though is something that will show a precise history of the editor by analyzing their contribs. Say, like how wannabe kate shows a month by month graph, something like a day-by-day, or even hour-by-hour, so you could get a feeling for what times and days you're usually active. I don't really NEED anything like this, I'm just curious if it exists. --Longing.... 18:49, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Or rather than a count-per-time based graph, what about something like an acceleration chart? --Longing.... 18:52, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

You might be thinking of something like this, but you need to opt into it, you can't request reports for those who haven't. Leebo ^T/C 18:53, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Multi-line code items in a list

More of a mediawiki question, but let's say I have an ordered list of items (Starting with #). Is there a way to put a multi-line paste of code (i.e. fixed-width text, indention/wrapping matters) as a list item? The rendered wiki page MUST replicate the spacing/indention of the original so one can cut/paste it out. The trick here is, I'd like to have it be where one could cut/paste the code snippet into the wiki without having to alter each line (such as prepending '#:'), such as magically having a TT or CODE wrapper around a section, and paste the section in without edits or having the list reset to 1.

You can try using an HTML list instead of a wikilist, like this:

• This is a list item.
• This is another list item.
And here is a code example. Another line of code. print("Hello, World!\n"); Not that this would actually run. You can continue the list item text like this, with proper indenting.
• Or start another item.

--Teratornis 20:49, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Is there a notability guide regarding schools?

I have been looking for a notability guide to help out on the WP:Afd page regarding schools, specifically primary, intermidiate and secondary schools. Gorkymalorki 20:09, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

All the notability guidelines apply to schools. —« ANIMUM » 20:14, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Go to Wikipedia:WikiProject Schools, there is some relevant info on the page to answer your question. Also, use the Talk Page. I'm a member of that WikiProject, and would be happy to assist if you're in need of more help. Cheers! Zidel333 20:23, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

WP:ORG might be your best reference. --Tλε Rαnδom Eδιτor (ταlκ) 21:12, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Help me...not sure if i am doing this correctly

i recently create a article/page to be included. i read the tips/hints, etc, but do not see my page or see deleted in the log. Is there someone that can tell me the status of the page?

Thanks,

Bobby

User- Strategicagency

20:16, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

You have put the article on your userpage. To see it click on your username in the top right hand corner of the page. Just to point out, it appears you are involved in the subject on which the article deals with, so before going any further in moving it, check out WP:COI. AndrewJDTALK -- 20:20, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Also please check out: Wikipedia:Business' FAQ, Wikipedia:Spam, Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies) and sections G11 and A7 of the criteria for speedy deleton. In short, the article appears to be spam, not sufficiently notable (as we use that word here to mean the subject of significant coverage in reliable sources), and in current form, subject to speedy deletion. I have no doubt that you wrote this entry in good faith, unaware that it may be improper. Please understand though, that there are many places to advertize your business but Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, with all that that implies, and may not be a proper place for such an entry.--Fuhghettaboutit 20:31, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Sonic X on Toon Disney this winter? HUH?!

I'm new here and I would like to contact any user who could tell me how they found that info. Only problem is, HOW do I find any users?! I can't find the link to how to find a user! HELP!!!!

Donsonic 20:41, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

I guess you refer to the infobox entry for USA in Sonic X. The information is unsourced and an editor has requested a source. I don't know whether it's true. Unfortunately some editors add unsourced information which turns out to be false. If it's important then you can search through the article history to find which editor added the claim, and then ask on the editors talk page. There is a risk you will not get an answer, especially if it is an IP address. You can also ask at Talk:Sonic X whether somebody knows something. PrimeHunter 21:33, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

It was added in this edit by 75.178.176.165 (talk · contribs) who has not edited since 18 July. You can try to ask by clicking the talk link. PrimeHunter 21:40, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

html/formatting help: right margin indent

I'm sure this question has been asked before, I apologize for not being able to find it. The question is: In a succession of paragraphs, I want one of them to be set off with slightly larger left and right margins, but no other changes. Thus:

Et madame de Viremont, d’une main tremblante, prit un petit billet coquettement plié et doucement parfumé, qui ressemblait fort à un message d’élégant. Léontine attendit qu’elle fût seule pour lire ces tendres excuses. Elle ne connaissait point l’écriture de M. de Lusigny ; mais son cœur lui disait que cette lettre était de lui : le cœur a des instincts infaillibles ! Elle rompit le cachet avec une vive émotion, et lut ce qui suit :

« Nous devons, demain soir, chez moi, tirer une petite loterie en faveur d’une famille malheureuse à laquelle je m’intéresse. Vous seriez bien aimable de venir, etc. »

Léontine, désappointée, jeta la lettre loin d’elle avec impatience ; puis elle se dit

shows the second paragraph indented on the left using :, but not on the right. How would I do that? Thanks!—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Levana Taylor (talk • contribs).

One way is to simply eye it: put a carriage return where you want the break to come on the left, and then put in the next paragraph with separate indentation. Thus (view in edit mode):

« Nous devons, demain soir, chez moi, tirer une petite loterie en faveur d’une famille

malheureuseà laquelle je m’intéresse. Vous seriez bien aimable de venir, etc.»

The same result is achieved with a break (<br/>), without your having to re-italicize and manually indent the second line:

« Nous devons, demain soir, chez moi, tirer une petite loterie en faveur d’une famille
malheureuse à laquelle je m’intéresse. Vous seriez bien aimable de venir, etc. »

Someone may know a better method. By the way, remember to sign you posts on talk pages by typing ~~~~ at the end, which automatically formats to your signature, linked to your userpage, when you save.--Fuhghettaboutit 22:50, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Fuhghettaboutit; I'm afraid I forgot to mention that the paragraph in question needs to be left-and-right-justified in order to match the formatting of the other paragraphs, therefore your idea doesn't work. Other ideas, anyone? -- Levana Taylor 23:15, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

How do I put the arrows linking to the previous/next season

If you look at the page for ANY South Park episode, on the far right there is a list of all the episdoes in that season. This is in the simpsons too, but in the South Park version there are two arrows at the bottom of the list that link to the preivious seasons episodes and the next seasons episodes. I think this should be included in the simpsons pages because it makes navigation extremely easy. You can easily surf the seasons looking for a specific episode, where as in the simpsons you have to go to the "list of episodes" everytime. this is very annoying. I would do it but I don't know how. can you tell me exactly how to do it? 203.27.231.250 23:23, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

It looks like this template: Template:Infobox_South_Park_season_1_episode_list, and others for different seasons, is the secret. If you created similar templates for Simpsons seasons (for which I suspect you'd have to sign up, which is free and easy and doesn't ask for any information at all, and comes with other benefits too) you could put them in the infoboxes of Simpsons episodes. Skittle 00:13, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Woah, scratch that! Having looked at the Simpsons episode infobox template, it's much more involved than the Southpark one. Not something inexperieced users (including myself) should play with. I've made a request on the talk page for that template, asking what people think and if they'd impliment it. Skittle 00:32, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Okkkkk. So how do I actually do it? What's the code and where do I type it?--203.27.231.250 00:50, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Is this a joke?

I've got an edit I didn't make. To some page I've never heard about (some renaming user page). Why? Razorclaw 23:25, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Because, by some very, very odd stroke of luck, you registered your user name Just a few hours after someone else changed theirs. It's probably just a server hiccup, but I'm more suspicious about yourself than the contrib not being moved --Longing.... 23:35, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

The edit is registered 1 minute before the account move is registered (which due to minute rounding could theoretically mean a difference of a second), so I guess the edit had not logged whereever it has to log to become part of the move. PrimeHunter 00:05, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm surprised to discover a name with this history was available to be reused. But I suppose all the edits get reattributed to the new name. Odd. Skittle 00:08, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Question about viewing deleted article

Hi,

I'm planning on creating a requested company article for 7digital, and see that previously there was one but it was deleted (no sources and no notability or something, won't be a problem this time around). Anyways, I was curious to take a look at the previous version of the article to see if there is anything useful I could incorporate. Is that possible and if so, how do I do it? Cheers! Richc80 01:24, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

It has to be retrieved by an administrator. Lucky for you, I am an administrator and I will email you a copy of the last version. Make sure it meets the notability guideline before recreating it though. Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 01:37, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Mr.Z-man for the quick response on this. Shame the previous article turned out to be only one sentence! No wonder it was deleted. Cheers again! Richc80 01:45, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Wikivietlit

Hi,

I am writing to request review of the deletion of two articles, "Wikivietlit" and "Linh Dinh".

I have already brought the matter up with the administrator involved and not received a reply. My letter to him is copied below my signature. I am requesting your objective review in a case that I see as compromised by subjectivity.

The administrator <Blnguyen> deleted "Wikivietlit" as a speedy deletion, saying that that it was "not notable, with about 100 articles."

I contest the fact of this - Wikivietlit had 165 articles when the Wikipedia article about it was deleted. Moreover, Wikipedia itself attests to the notability of Wikivietlit, habitually referencing us in its own articles on Vietnamese authors.

I contest the procedure of this speedy deletion. Since we have already successfully contested a speedy deletion - by showing a notice of Wikivietlit in a Vietnamese-language literary site from Australia - Wikipedia's rules require that another deletion recommendation receive a hearing.

I also contest the objectivity of the Wikipedia administrator who made both speedy deletions, <Blnguyen>. He is the author of articles on Vietnamese topics, and a member of the Wikipedia Vietnamese topics group.

His irregular speedy deletion of the "Wikivietlit" article shows a personal interest that he confirmed after Linh Dinh, editor of Wikivietlit, complained about the speedy deletion. <Blnguyen> swiftly deleted Linh Dinh's article, with the appearance of retaliation, saying that the "Linh Dinh" article was "autobio" and "fails the professor test."

Linh Dinh is as worthy of a Wikipedia article as any author in the reference source. He is author of numerous books from respectable New York and scruffy avant-garde presses.

If the objection is that that Linh made some edits his own article, I will arrange for someone else to re-write it from the public sources Wikipedia relies on. If it is relevant that Linh teaches college, we will assemble his listings as an instructor in published university course catalogues.

I am requesting that the deletion of "Wikivietlit" and "Linh Dinh" articles in Wikipedia be reversed. If not, I request professional review of <Blnguyen> deletion proposals in these two cases, so that I may argue the cases on the objective facts according to Wikipedia rules.

In any case, I request that Wikipedia review <Blnguyen>'s decisions and consider barring him from administrative review of articles on Vietnamese literature.

Dan [Wikipedia username: vietnamlit]

Dan Duffy Editor, Viet Nam Literature Project Chair, Books & Authors: Viet Nam, Inc. 5600 Buck Quarter Road Hillsborough, NC 27278 USA tel (919) 383-7274 email editor@vietnamlit.org URL www.vietnamlit.org

Hi BlNguyen,

I'm writing to ask your reasons for deleting Wikivietlit and Linh Dinh from Wikipedia.

The code I see in your comment for deleting Wikivietlit:

<02:01, 27 June 2007 Blnguyen (Talk | contribs) deleted "Wikivietlit" (a7, this site has about 100 articles, nn)>

refers to this policy:

a real person, group of people, band, club, company, or web content that does not assert the importance or significance of its subject. If controversial, or if there has been a previous deletion discussion that resulted in the article being kept, the article should be listed at Articles for deletion instead.>

Since we have previously contested a speedy deletion, and the article on Wikivietlit was kept, according to that rule you should have listed the article at Articles for Deletion, instead of using speedy deletion, right? You seem to have broken the rules in order to avoid public debate on a matter in which you have professional interest as an author on Vietnamese topics.

I can't reliably call up your reasons for deleting Linh Dinh. I found them once, and remember that the shorthand was "autobio; fails professor test". If the objection is that Linh writes about himself, that is easily remedied. I'll write one using references found in any public library.

If your objection is that that Linh doesn't teach at tertiary institutions, that's mistaken and irrelevant. He is a regular visiting lecturer at university writing programs, because of his achievements as a critic and author, easily found at Amazon or in any library catalogue.

Will you reverse your deletion decisions? If we continue to disagree, will you refer the matter to an administrator without an interest in Viet Nam?

Dan Duffy Editor, Viet Nam Literature Project —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Vietnamlit (talk • contribs).

See WP:WEB for notability concerning why your page was deleted. After that, you can try WP:DRV, but considering a wiki with 4000+ pages is usually not notable, I doubt you will succeed --Longing.... 02:12, 2 August 2007 (UTC)q

The "professor test" refers to Wikipedia:Notability (academics). Wikipedia:Notability (people) may also be of interest. PrimeHunter 02:26, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

2 problems in re: a new artcle I've written -- 'disambiguation' and an 'unreferenced' flag.

I've just written an article on the American poet, Steve Benson -- it's at "Steve Benson (poet)". I have a couple of problems I'd like to resolve.

1. There is a disambiguation issue: the cartoonist Steve Benson is covered in an article and searching the name "Steve Benson" takes one to the article about him rather than to a page that might help the visitor decide *which* Steve Benson she is interested in - more simply, a person wanting to find information about the poet Steve Benson will have difficulty finding the article on him. What can be done to resolve this issue.

2. The article is flagged as "unreferenced." Benson is rather a well-known poet in the avant garde "Language poets" movement (which is well-covered by wikipedia -- a good thing!). The article I wrote on Benson does link to external sites which have detailed information about his books, digital audio of various of his performances, etc. His name is also mentioned in a number of other articles on wikipedia (i.e. about the Language poets as a group and where relevant in articles about colleagues and collaborators of Benson's). What can be done to resolve the "unreferenced" issue?

Many thanks for your attention to this problem.

Tom Mandel

1- I'll take care of this for you, in the future, see WP:DISAMBIG. 2- See WP:RS, WP:CITE, WP:CITET, and WP:OR --L--- 02:48, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Table of Contents help

For some reason, the ToC on Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball will not collapse for me. Right now I am using the __NOTOC__ command so it will not show up but it's still puzzling me because the ToC works just fine on all the other pages that I have visited. Any help would be much appreciated. DanThaMan17 02:45, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

need to place a sockpuppet template for a sock confirmed by Checkuser--how do I do this?

Hi--I need to place a sockpuppet template for a sockpuppet I had confirmed by Checkuser--how do I do this?

thanks, PinkDahlia

moving an article from my sandbox to an article page.

I have just finished writing an article on my Sandbox, now I want to add it to an article on Wikipedia that does not yet have a page. How do I do this? Can I just copy and paste?Sanlaw33 02:58, 2 August 2007 (UTC)