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    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.
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    • If your question is about a Wikipedia article, draft article, or other page on Wikipedia, tell us what it is!
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    November 19

    AXJ - Latino Ron Paul Is this true?

    Apparently Wikipedia is trying to boycott Dr. Ron Paul.

    Everyone please update Wikipedia with your website or communities news and events. Here is our info.

    Let's see how long it lasts and then we will file a complaint with them if they romove it. Great job Steve!

    [1] LATINO RON PAUL - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

    Please feel free to update in Wikipedia 24/7/365.

    -- Publicado por AXJ-Latinos for Dr. Ron Paul para AXJ - Latinos for Dr. Ron Paul el 11/25/2007 09:57:00 AM


    What is the author and copyright of wikipedia

    If you're looking to cite a Wikipedia article for a school paper or something, please see Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. -- Rick Block (talk) 00:03, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Articles on Wikipedia are written by a wide range of contributors, and are not owned by any one editor. All text contributions and most images are not copyrighted, but are available under a free license known as the GFDL. Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:47, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Correction: they are copyrighted. The license just gives people the right to reuse material under certain circumstances. But the authors still keep their rights. Rights and licenses are two separate things. - Mgm|(talk) 20:49, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    My mistake. Sorry. :-) Hersfold (t/a/c) 21:53, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Clarity in an Article

    In an article, I found that some text was unclear, but I do not have the expertise necessary to correct it. How exactly do you tag a page for clean-up step by step, because I cannot find how to do this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yoyo502 (talk • contribs)

    See Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup for a lot of possible tags. What is the article? PrimeHunter (talk) 01:08, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The simplest way to do this is to simply edit the page and place {{cleanup}} at the top. See the link above if you want to use a more specific message. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 03:59, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Question

    Resolved

    Tell me could I use Norfloxacin for a tooth pain. I do know what it is for just wonder if I could use it for something beside my bladder. Thanks

    Hi, this is an encyclopedia help desk, not a pharmacy I'm afraid. So we cannot dispense medical advice. Take care. Dr.K. (talk) 01:58, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    With all due respect Dr.K., we can. See Science Reference Desk or Norfloxacin

    This question was not for medical advice, but for information on a drug, which should be part of an encyclopedia.

    Cheers, Lex94 Talk Contributions Guest Book 02:10, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Thanks, but I disagree. The question was about use for a drug, not only information. The article for Norfloxacin doesn't mention applications as headache medicine. How can anyone know if it can be used this way if they are not a medical doctor or a pharmacist? Dr.K. (talk) 03:00, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    All drug articles here on wikipedia, have information on uses, chemichal components, etc. At the bottom of the Norfloxacin article, it says the article is a stub (which means it is lacking information). The information the user asked for should be in the article, just like all drug articles. Lex94 Talk Contributions Guest Book 03:18, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Lex94, please carefully read the disclaimers linked to in my post below. We cannot offer any medical advice nor make any sort of assertion that information in the articles is correct. Some information on the use of the drug should be included in the article, yes, but we cannot tell people that that information is correct and to go by it in favor of asking a licensed professional. Please read the disclaimers. This discussion needs to end. Hersfold (t/a/c) 03:26, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Wikipedia is not authorized to give any sort of medical advice. A licensed professional in the appropriate field should be sought for such questions. Users reading the content of these articles do so at their own risk, as there is no guarantee as to the validity of the content of the articles. Please see our disclaimers, linked to in the previous sentences. If you are volunteering at the Help Desk, please make yourself familiar with the instructions if you have not already and make no attempt to give medical, legal, or any other form of professional advice. Hersfold (t/a/c) 03:07, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    signature

    How do I decorate my signature, as in change how it looks?Kitty53 (talk) 04:16, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Well, you appear to already have a custom signature, since you have more than the standard link to your user page. First, you have to go to your preferences and check the "raw signature" box. Then in the signature line you have to edit it to look the way you want. Wikipedia:Signatures#Customizing your signature has more info. If you're specifically talking about colors and stuff, that's HTML code. I figure you already have the basic raw signature down though, since you seem to have customized it already. Leebo T/C 04:39, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I don't think that signature is customized. Mine is the same way (with the link to the user page and the talk page) and I didn't change it. One day it just started doing it like that, so I guess the software has changed. - Rjd0060 (talk) 04:57, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Hmm, that must have been very recently. Leebo T/C 05:14, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Yes, 2-3 days ago is when I first noticed it. - Rjd0060 (talk) 05:33, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    It was changed after Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)#User signatures should link to both the user page and user talk page by default. It became active 16 November. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:07, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Excellent idea. I don't know why this hadn't happened before. Lex94 Talk Contributions Guest Book 15:56, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • User:Kitty53; here's a way to basically color your signature:

    Write this in preference tab:

    '''<span style="border: 2px darkviolet solid;background:lavender;font-family: Monotype Corsiva">[[User:Kitty53|<font color="fuchsia">Kitty</font>]] [[Special:Contributions/Kitty53|<font color="fuchsia">53</font>]] [[User talk:Kitty53|<font color="MediumSlateBlue">(talk)</font>]]</span>'''

    Result: Kitty 53 (talk)

    If you want different colors, see Web colors Cheers, Lex94 Talk Contributions Guest Book 15:56, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Note that not all the colors listed in web colors are actually supported by all browsers - and if you stick to the 4096 colors on the 16x16x16 color cube, you can reduce the number of bytes (every byte counts, since you're limited to, i think, 512). '''<span style="border:2px solid#90c;background:#eef;font-family:Monotype Corsiva">[[User:Kitty53|<font color="#f0f">Kitty</font>]][[Special:Contributions/Kitty53|<font color="#f0f">53</font>]] ([[User talk:Kitty53|<font color="#76e">talk</font>]])</span>''' for Kitty53 (talk) - note, though, that many people dislike borders and background colors in signatures. —Random832 20:08, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Isn't the max signature length 255 characters? That would make both of the above suggestions too long to fit, though with Random's you could remove the bolding. Leebo T/C 20:25, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    making my page

    where do i start to begin making my first wikipedia page ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Messy jessy94 (talk • contribs) 00:00, 19 November 2007

    See Wikipedia:Your first article. Good luck! GlassCobra 05:02, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Firefox Search Engine Plugin

    Could someone help me create a Firefox Search Engine Plugin for the search engine at http://online.wsj.com/public/us . Also, is it possible to create one for the quote search at http://finance.yahoo.com/ ?

    Hi. This help desk is for questions about using Wikipedia. You should try the Reference Desk instead. - Rjd0060 (talk) 05:34, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    My query is for WP. Donald Trump was in the Wall Street Journal. I am the leading editor of his page and I need to do some research.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:LOTD) 18:32, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Contributing to discussion page

    According to Wikipedia If I want to contribute to a discussion on a particular topic I should " go to the talk/discussion page associated with the article, hit the "+" tab, and make a comment on what you think needs changing. Remember to please end your comment with four tildes like this 129.33.1.37 (talk) 05:39, 19 November 2007 (UTC), which will sign and timestamp your comment." For some reason, nothing happens. my account is firly new and perhaps I do not have access yet, but I can select edit on a page and edit the wiki, if I wanted. Thanks Spiker_22[reply]

    Everything seems to be working just fine. See Special:Contributions/129.33.1.37. It shows you have successfully made some edits, to talk pages too. - Rjd0060 (talk) 05:43, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    yes I have successfully contributed to a discussion page, but only by selecting edit for a particular section that has already been created. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.33.1.37 (talk) 08:00, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Well, when you click the '+' tab what exactly happens? Raven4x4x (talk) 08:19, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    In case you don't know, the '+' tab is a clickable link at the top of a discussion page, to the right of "edit this page". It is unrelated to the '+' key on your keyboard. If you are logged in and your skin in Special:Preferences is not MonoBook (default) then the '+' tab may be missing or placed differently. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:58, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Donating wikipedia

    I have a question regarding the donation of wikipedia. why the donation counter started from 0 because I have already donated and the donation already reached 150 million so why again only 24891 people are showing up ?

    I'm not completely sure what you're asking, but I believe the donation drive starts from zero every year, so donations from last year's drive won't be counted again this year. I think in previous years, donations were measured in terms of $ amounts, but they changed it to number of donations this year, a few days after the drive started. -- Kateshortforbob 10:37, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Mh, the donation counter does not show donations from when Wikipedia started, it will only show donations made to the Foundation from a set town. Thanks for donating! —Qst 10:38, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Submitting my sites: The Bedford Menufinder / The Bedford Good Pub guide

    Please can you tell me how I can submit my websites for inclusion under EXTERNAL LINKS on the BEDFORD pages ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedford My sites are : www.thebedfordmenufinder.co.uk Comprehensive guide to Eating out in Bedfordshire with menus www.thebedfordgoodpubguide.co.uk Comprehensive guide to Public Houses and Inns in Bedfordshire with menus —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gdsouza208 (talk • contribs) 08:27, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I don't think these are suitable links for Wikipedia, please see Wikipedia:Spam and Wikipedia:External links. Reagrds, —Qst 10:39, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Counting created articles

    Is there a way of counting/listing the articles created by a given user? --Redaktor (talk) 08:36, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Articles not older than 1 month will be listed in Special:Newpages (if you type the user's username into the address bar), or you can also go to Special:Contributions and type there username in, to view a certain users contribs to Wikipedia. —Qst 10:36, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Thanks, but neither of those allows me to count all the articles created by a user! There surely must be a method of doing this. --Redaktor (talk) 23:14, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I did a search and and this has come up quite a few times so there's definitely a desire for such a tool. Unfortunately, it also appears that no such tool exists. See here and here. The long and short of it is that at one time there may have been a public tool (not working) and User:Interiot would do this upon request, but has been inactive since July. You may have to bite the bullet and start scanning your contributions manually.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:23, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]


    I have writen such a tool but its not available to the public for access, but its results are. if there are users who want this information all you have to do is ask me. βcommand 03:12, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    This tool edit count gives an edit count and summary of edits. Change USERNAME to your username, or the user you would like to see the info for. You can copy this onto your user page, which is what several wiki users do. Truthanado (talk) 15:31, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    inclusive program

    help me to find description of the following current issues & trends- implications to sped/teachers/academe/non acdeme about inclusive program- implications to children with specific disability —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.4.33.128 (talk) 11:53, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Hi. This help desk is for questions about using Wikipedia. You should try the Reference Desk instead. --Orange Mike 14:18, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Discussion

    For the subject ROBERT T LINCOLN it let me add a comment then did not show the info showing that it was me that added the comment. Was this because I hadn't logged in? If so, why does it even let me add a comment without logging in? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Myszkowiak (talk • contribs) 13:40, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Are you referring to this edit to Talk:Robert Todd Lincoln? It is still there. Please sign talk page comments and help desk posts with ~~~~. Then it is added who made it. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:51, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict) Hi. It let you make a comment without logging in because Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that anyone can edit and logging in is not required. Also, Wikipedia does not automatically sign comments. You need to sign yourself either by typing ~~~~ after your notes or by clicking the tildes next to "Sign your username" beneath the "save changes/show preview/show changes" buttons below the text entry box. Sinebot will often come along and take care of this for you, but it doesn't always, so it's a useful habit to get into doing so yourself. :) --Moonriddengirl (talk) 13:52, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Changing redirects

    "Using the form below will rename a page, moving all of its history to the new name. The old title will become a redirect page to the new title. Links to the old page title will not be changed; be sure to check for double redirects (using "What links here") after the move. You are responsible for making sure that links continue to point where they are supposed to go."

    Why should I waste my time changing redirects when the Wikisoftware is capable of forming a list, and therefore also conceivably capable of changing the redirects itself, in the blink of an eye? --Seans Potato Business 13:47, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    In some cases you don't want to do that. For example: there were multiple articles referencing [[Susan Wood]] which turned out to be referencing at least four, possibly more, women of that name. I created a new [[Susan Wood (disambiguation)]] page, redirecting the old undifferentiated article to the dab page; then created articles for the first person with that name, to whom everyone else's links were being misdirected, and another for whom I had the time and energy. But I then had to go through all the pages with links to plain ol' Susan, some of which were clear and could be changed to one of the three known Susan Woods, and others which had to be sent to the dab page because I don't know who they are for. There's no way to safely automate a process like that. --Orange Mike 14:25, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I don't really like the way the question is phrased, but perhaps instead of phrasing the question this way, you should ask at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) if what you're suggesting is feasible. They'll know why it can or can't be done, and if it can, why it isn't. Leebo T/C 14:25, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    question about wiki editing programs

    does anyone know about any? Ive been looking for some with quick links for templates and such.

    68.7.210.156 (talk) 14:33, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    If you mean editing Wikipedia then see Wikipedia:Tools. There are many other wikis. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:45, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Out of alphabetical order on catagory page

    Could you please tell me how to fix a person who's listed under the letter of their first name and not their last? Amb13 (talk) 14:51, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Write {{DEFAULTSORT:Last, First}} (replace Last by the last name and First by the first name) somewhere on the page before any of the categories, for instance just before the first category on the page. That changes the sorting rules for the page to sort by the last name. --ais523 14:53, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

    how do I start an entirely new page?

    how do I start an entirely new page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rodd Stewart (talk • contribs) 15:06, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    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 Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. --ais523 15:20, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

    Interactive Presentation

    rm content irrelevant to Help desk —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bclglobal (talk • contribs) 15:06, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Do you have a question? Or is this just spam. Leebo T/C 15:17, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    search mechanism

    how can previous searchs be cleared? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.72.2.71 (talk) 15:17, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    The previous searches are saved in your browser, not on the Wikimedia servers. The settings should be in your browser. For Firefox, go to Tool -> Clear Private Data and select only saved forms and search history, then click Clear Private Data Now. For Internet Explorer, download Firefox, then follow the instruction for Firefox. :-) If you like Internet Explorer for some strange reason, though, it's under Internet Options in the Tools menu. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 15:26, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Are you talking about the google toolbar with Wikipedia, or are you talking about the Internet History? This question should be asked on the Reference Desk

    Question

    what kind of articles can you made on wikipedia, are there any restrictions? Karren Pringle (talk) 15:31, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    There are some restrictions, some of the more common policies and guidelines are Wikipedia:Spam, Wikipedia:External links, all articles must be about a notable subject, and not be written in an inappropriate manner. Hope this helps! —Qst 15:35, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Peyton Manning Page

    'I have a found a blatant error on a page. I cannot find an edit this page button on this p[articular page. How do I correct this erro−Tbowers1970 (talk) 17:14, 19 November 2007 (UTC)r?'[reply]

    It is possible that yours is a new account, and the page is semi-protected against edits by new or anonymous editors, due to a past history of vandalism. --Orange Mike 17:17, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Peyton Manning is semi-protected. You can edit it when your account becomes 4 days old. Until then you can suggest changes at Talk:Peyton Manning. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:35, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Company Article

    Hello,

    My company was interested in posting information on Wikipedia. I posted the information along with our logo on Wikipedia last week, but I don't see it on your site when I search for it by name. I'm not 100 percent sure I uploaded it properly, so it's very likely user error. How can I tell if I posted it correctly and when will it be available for other to see? My company is called Ball Horticultural Company.

    I appreciate your help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jenz33 (talk • contribs) 17:55, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    When making changes on Wikipedia, your changes are always instantly visible. It may have been reverted or deleted. Did you create a new article from scratch or edit an already-standing article? Lradrama 17:58, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Our rules very strongly discourage the creation or in most cases the editing of an article by someone with a strong conflict of interest, which your note implies you would have. It is also possible that the article was deleted, since in the judgment of the editors here it did not meet our standards of notability. Many firms simply are not of significance enough to merit articles in Wikipedia. --Orange Mike 18:02, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    On further research, it looks like you posted an entire article under the image itself, on the image's page. --Orange Mike 18:05, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The image of your logo was apperently deleted because it'ss copyrighted (By you guys). You could release your logo under GFDL and upload it agian if you wanted though there might be problems there, as some other company may be able to use your logo without you being able to stop them (By releasing it under GFDL you are essentially saying people can do anything with it). A more suitable picture might be one of you premises that isn't affected by anything like that. Hope that helps--Phoenix-wiki (talk · contribs) 21:58, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    User contributions

    Can I tell if User:Afonso Silva and User:Hamedog are still active contributors to the project. I was trying to see their last contributions, but am not sure how to assess their activeness.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:LOTD) 18:46, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You said you checked their last contributions, but I'm not clear what else you need beyond Special:Contributions/Afonso Silva and Special:Contributions/Hamedog. --barneca (talk) 18:59, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Neither has deleted contribs that are much more recent. Just a few days later in the case of Afonso. Leebo T/C 19:01, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Ah, I see a complication. Afonso Silva was renamed to User:Mário: [2] (Special:Contributions/Mário). --barneca (talk) 19:04, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    To the Editor for Denver, CO... info please....

    Hi,

    I would like to help edit info you have about Denver, Colorado, mainly here for now:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver,_Colorado#Media

    and

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Denver%2C_Colorado .

    So could you please ask the Denver main editor to ccontact me please, so that we may work under his or her guidance. Newbies here :)

    Thanks!

    Diana Barnum and Bruce Hunter —Preceding unsigned comment added by Denverco (talk • contribs) 19:29, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    There is no such thing as a "main editor" for an article or place; everyone is welcome to edit here. That said: we do strongly discourage what are called "role accounts": accounts used by two or more persons. Each editor normally should get his or her own account and make their own edits. This enables us to judge more fairly the contributions of each participating editor. Probably each of you should register for your own account, using a name which perhaps implies a broader range of your interests or something unique to each of your own characters, and abandon the Denverco account. --Orange Mike 19:35, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    HOw Do I ADD A PAGE

    HOw Do I add a page on Wikipedia about a subject? i am kind of new to this Stjohnthebaptist09 (talk) 20:24, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Read Wikipedia:Your first article. Sbowers3 (talk) 20:37, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Changing a redirect on a failed attempt to start a page

    A while ago I began a "History of Palestinian Nationality" page but it was deleted due to it's lack of substance. That's fine. I've now got enough substance for it to be a good and fully referenced article, but everytime I go to restart it I get redirected to the "Palestinian People" page which is not at all the same as my desired page. How do I begin a new page under this title and discard the redirect? Thanks Hcrdavidson (talk) 20:38, 19 November 2007 (UTC)Hcrdavidson[reply]

    When you are redirected, click the tiny link under the title of the page you've been redirected to, with the name of the title you originally sought. That will take you to the redir page. You can then "edit this page" in the normal manner. --Orange Mike 20:41, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    DRAG-U-LA

    Please be advised that your information pertaining to the DRAG-U-LA and MUNSTER KOACH is incorrect. TOM DANIELS was on the Barris Kustom design team and he was a work-for-hire by George Barris. TOM DANIELS was on the design team and not a builder. George Barris built the DRAG-U-LA and MUNSTER KOACH with a team of builder and designers hired by Barris Kustom. Please correct your information as soon as possible.

    Sincerely,

    Kathy Vincelli On behalf of Barris Kustom Ind. and George Barris —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.16.33.191 (talk) 21:03, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    In order the article to be changed, please provide a link to it (via the [[wikilink]]) feature and, please provide a reliable source to verify this information. Thank you. —Qst 21:05, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    It's apparently about DRAG-U-LA. Munster Koach doesn't mention the builders. Google searches [3][4] support that George Barris was builder and Tom Daniels designer but I haven't examined reliability. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:52, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Public Relations and Wikipedia

    Is it permissable for a Public Relations firm to submit articles as long as they are appropriately sourced and NPOV? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Carylcomm (talk • contribs) 21:43, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    It's discouraged as it's a conflict of interest but not forbidden. So long as the article is totally neutral it's allowed though--Phoenix-wiki (talk · contribs) 22:02, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    1) Firms cannot submit anything here. We do not permit "role accounts" (accounts belonging to more than one person); an account must belong to a specific human being. Your present account username, for example, is not appropriate because it implies that it belongs to Caryl Communications. If it is being used by Caryl Bixon-Gordon, then she needs to change to a name that belongs to her, not to the firm; likewise if it is being used by Bob Gordon, Evelyn Weiss Francisco, Sandy Crisafulli or anybody else. In no case may more than one editor use the same account. 2) We are very concerned about possible conflict of interest in Wikipedia submissions by public relations and publicity professionals of any stripe: individual, organizational or private. Editors proposing to write about themselves, their own organizations, or matters they have very close ties to (such as PR clients), are strongly advised not' to edit or create such articles at all (except for certain non-controversial edits) but to instead use the talk page to request help from neutral editors. (Although, as Phoenix-wiki notes, it's not technically forbidden. 3) If your client is not notable enough to inspire neutral parties to write about them, they may well not meet our criteria for business articles. Persistent creation of articles about blatantly non-notable firms, especially by editors with a conflict of interest, can lead to "salting the ground" so that an article about a company becomes impossible to ever create. --Orange Mike 22:08, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    hmm, that seems a bit snappy for a someone on RFA...--Phoenix-wiki (talk · contribs) 22:26, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I'm not sure how something can be interpreted as snappy without hearing a tone of voice or inflection. It may be read in a curt or blunt manner, but that's up to the individual reading it. I generally agree with everything Orange Mike said. Leebo T/C 22:29, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Empty categories

    {{Db-catempty}} says it's for categories that have been empty for 4 days. I give up: how, exactly, can I tell if it's been empty for 4 days? I'm not the only one who's stumped. I've seen (somewhere, can't find it now) the suggestion that you can use Special:Recentchangeslinked/Category:ExampleCat, but I've tried that, and once a page is removed from the category, it disappears off the Recentchangeslinked page, so that doesn't work. Thanks for any help you can provide. --barneca (talk) 22:12, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    (taps mic) is this thing on? --barneca (talk) 01:24, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Maybe we're all stumped. Doesn't the history of the cat page help? Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 01:29, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    The history of the cat page doesn't show additions/removals from the category, because that is done thru editing the individual pages. I suspect this is actually meant to prevent someone from intentionally depopulating a category and then nominating it for speedy deletion; the admin reviewing it wouldn't have any way of knowing it had been recently populated, for the very reasons outlined above. So it's more like "Don't nominate categories for speedy deletion if you know they were not empty within the last 4 days, but if you stumble upon an empty cat that looks like it has probably been empty for a long time, go for it." Perhaps I shall be bold and change the wording (to something slightly more official sounding than this), if no one has any better ideas. --barneca (talk) 01:59, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    its actually pretty simple to tag empty cats, if its empty now check back in 4 days, if its still empty then tag it. βcommand 03:18, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm being wikilawyered, how worried should I be?

    Members of Sexual Compulsives Anonymous who are upset that I removed original research from their article, and for including research results from a peer-reviewed study that they have interpreted as pejorative. They have made threating comments to me on one of their user's talk pages -- e.g. threatening slander and libel charges and warning me not to edit their article anymore.

    What should I do? -- Craigtalbert (talk) 22:17, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    It sounds like you're trying to say you're being harrassed, if people are making threatening comments to you. Wikilawyering has to do with interpreting Wikipedia's policies in such a way that the letter of the law is upheld, but perhaps not the spirit. Wikilawyering is annoying and often disruptive, but it's hardly something to be afraid of. Can you clarify and provide specific examples? Leebo T/C 22:23, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Take the legal threats to WP:AN/I. I'm going to AfD this bloated pile of OR in just a second. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 22:24, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Leebo - it's been in discussion on Artistboynyc's talk page, but specifically I was informed that SCA's membership had been altered to my "obnoxious deletions" [5], I asked what was meant by that and was informed by (presumably) another SCA member that they took my "libelous" edits "very serious" [6]. I tired to explain that the results of the study weren't libelous, and I thought they reflected positively on the organization. But then in discussion the libel word came up again [7] and again [8]. It's enough to make me worried since I edit using my real name. -- Craigtalbert (talk) 23:00, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    If you are worried, maybe a name change - if you don't want to deal with them, send any future enquiries to me - I'll be happy to tell them to take a running jump deal with their issues. --Fredrick day (talk) 23:03, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Yes indeed - that article is terrible - while the organisation might be notable - the current version needs to be taken out the back... --Fredrick day (talk) 22:31, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I've lost a page

    I recently read an amazing page called "WORDS TO AVOID". Despite extensive searching I cannot find it again. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.9.77.19 (talk) 22:47, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikipedia:Words to avoid perhaps? Woodym555 (talk) 22:51, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    (e.c.) Perhaps Wikipedia:Words to avoid is what you're looking for? Note that the page is in the Wikipedia namespace (Wikipedia: prefix) rather than the Article or Main namespace (no prefix). Also, if you want to quickly return to the page, you can type "WP:WTA", "WP:WORDS", or "WP:AVOID" in the left hand search bar. Happy wiking! —Preceding unsigned comment added by NASCAR Fan24 (talk • contribs) 22:53, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Lost Credentials / Account information

    I asked a question (quite a while ago) and was looking for my account information. Is there anyway I can retrieve the username and password information to continue using the account?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk_archive/Language/December_2005#Phrase_Origin_.2F_Meaning_-_.22The_Full_SP.22

    Thanks in advance,

    Richard W (Cardiff) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.11.163.252 (talk) 22:55, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Only if you still have access to the email address used to create the account, without that it's a no-go and you'll have to make another account. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 22:56, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]


    Yes, I still have the email address. But not sure which one I used. Could the information be mailed to me, please. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.11.163.252 (talk) 23:13, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You can enter your username on the login screen and click 'E-mail new password', which will send a temporary password to your e-mail address that will allow you to retrieve your account. However, we have no way of knowing which email account the message will be sent to, so I'd just suggest checking all of your accounts. Best, --Bfigura (talk) 23:17, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    How do I put up one of those boxes which say "Citation Needed"

    You know those little boxes that go above improper articles? Like one that says this needs citation or one that says this article doesn't have a neutral point of view? How do I put those in? Is there a list of all of them on Wikipedia. EleFlameMax (talk) 20:16, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Template_messages/Cleanup#Verifiability_and_sourcesVchimpanzee 19:52, 3 December 2007 (UTC) At this point I'm not sure how to make sure this gets read.[reply]


    November 20

    trying to catch an online date scammer in russia before she strkies again

    I am trying to use an IP address to get a physical address where this criminal is working her scams. I have already placed her on for blacklist for daste scammers. I have sent information to our government. now I need to send it to the Russian embassey. I want to see if I can get the physical address of 68.142.206.235. it should be in Russia. this number is in all her IP address. I work in port aransas Texas and live in corpus christi Texas. I have emailed her from both work and home. have not heard from her in a week. trying to find her so I can report her and her group to the Russian embassey. is there anything in you encyclopedia that will show me how to find it. <personal data removed> looking for your response. thank you brian friou —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.119.1.223 (talk) 01:13, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikipedia really cannot help you with this, because what you are doing is making a legal threat against another individual (albeit, someone who isn't a Wikipedian). We cannot assist you with this, and I have removed this person's personal information. Oversight might be a good idea here. Leebo T/C 01:22, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I have reported this issue to Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents in order to resolve this issue. VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 01:53, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    How to contact editor

    Hello,

    I have written the Wikipedia article "Lonnie Mack", mostly without "signing in" until I figured out how to do that. Your editor, "Webhamster" has been very helpful. I would very much like to thank him, and to reply to his messages, but I haven't the foggiest notion how to do that. I can't even figure out how to communicate with him on talk pages, he has no email address, and there is no button to click on to reply to him.

    Unlike many of your users, I am a computer moron to begin with, so I would appreciate it if you would pass this message on to him and provide him with my email address. It is <email removed for your security>. Plese also give detailed instructions as to how to communicate with him. Every time I try, your website tells me I am not logged in, which is simply not true, so perhaps he could provide an email address.

    Many Thanks.

    Steven L. Paine Moorpark, CA <email removed for your security> —Preceding unsigned comment added by Slp512 (talk • contribs) 01:47, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You can leave User:Webhamster a message by clicking here. (I deleted User talk:Webhamster so hopefully more people won't leave messages there by accident) That's Webhamster's talk page. It shouldn't matter if you are logged in or not, because you don't have to log in to edit. I've removed your email address above for your security, because this is a very highly viewed web page. Leebo T/C 02:15, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I think he meant User:WebHamster, not User:Webhamster. --Silver Edge (talk) 02:21, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Anyhow, User:Webhamster does not exist. Leave a message for User:WebHamster by clicking here. - Rjd0060 (talk) 02:50, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Guess someone else got confused by that in the past too. Leebo T/C 03:26, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Mobile version

    Is there a version of Wikipedia optimized for mobile devices? Specifically I am using Pocket Internet Explorer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Adollar28cents (talk • contribs) 02:56, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    See Wikipedia:WAP access. Hope this helps! GlassCobra 03:22, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    How to add my company information at Wikipedia?

    Hi this is Andre on behalf of Allion Test Labs, Inc. I tried to post my company's information on the Wikipedia but was deleted by the auditor for the commercial and advertising issue. I was woundering why companies such as SONY, TOYOTA or INTEL can have detail company information posted on the Wikipedia? and what's kind of policy i should follow if i want to deliver the same information as those companies. —Preceding unsigned comment added by AndreChou (talk • contribs) 03:17, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    In order to be included, an article's subject must demonstrate sufficient notability. For more information, see Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted? GlassCobra 03:19, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    If you are personally affiliated with this company, you may have a conflict of interest which is affecting the neutrality of the article. In some cases, such as yours it would seem, this bias can be seen as spam. If this is the case, you may want to request the article rather than create it yourself. I hope this helps some. Hersfold (t/a/c) 03:35, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The information in articles on such companies as you name is not provided by the companies, but by editors who must derive their information from reliable, unbiased, third-party sources. If your firm, in your opinion, is sufficiently notable, you may (as another editor suggested) request that such an editor create an article about your firm. Many companies, of course, are not yet notable enough for their own article. --Orange Mike 03:42, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Clean up tag is a puzzle - how to contact tagger

    Scotia Centre Mall (Saskatoon) has a clean up tag, and on the talk page another user has requested also what needs to be cleaned up. Is there any way to contact the original person who placed the tag to ask why it is there, and what exactly should be improved/changed? Can tags be removed if they cannot be figured out? —Preceding unsigned comment added by SriMesh (talk • contribs) 04:16, 20 November 2007 (UTC) Thanks sine bot you are faster than me[reply]

    A quick scroll through the history of the article shows that the tag was added by Billy. I suggest you ask him at his talk page. --Orange Mike 04:25, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    If Wikipedia is the "greatest encyclopedia in the world," than why dont teachers recommend it?

    If Wikipedia is the "greatest encyclopedia in the world," than why dont teachers recommend it? 24.5.60.230 (talk) 05:44, 20 November 2007 (UTC)Georje Dush[reply]

    Because its not reliable and has partial "made up" information. I would give Wikipedia a 4.5 on reliability. It lies too much. SO DONT USE IT!!!
    I think the page Wikipedia:Why Wikipedia is not so great might answer your question. Warning: Side effects of reading this essay may lead to severe annoyance, depression, or a lack of confidence. It is recommended by professional Wikipediholics that you follow that essay up with Wikipedia:Why Wikipedia is so great. ;-) Hersfold (t/a/c) 05:49, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Anyone can edit Wikipedia, and unfortunately, some people choose to abuse this privilege by vandalizing our articles. As such, the content on Wikipedia cannot be guaranteed to be valid at any given time. For more information, please see Wikipedia:General disclaimer. GlassCobra 05:50, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    It pays to know what type of articles tend to be truthful and which are the subject of constant fights. Also, as long as you take the time to check an article against its sources and make sure the article hasn't be subject to any recent dodgy edits, there's really no reason not to trust it. You can trust wikipedia, just not blindly, but the same is the case with any other reference work. - Mgm|(talk) 19:45, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Has Wikipedia itself claimed to be the "greatest encyclopedia in the world" without referring to size? PrimeHunter (talk) 11:18, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I am an author of the Black Holes article on Scholarpedia (Wiki's peer-reviewed sister), and am trying to upload a video clip in .ogg format. When I try to upload it, from the file upload page or by clicking on the red link, it fails with the message: 

     Upload warning: ".ogg" is not a recommended image file format.

    this despite the fact that the upload page itself lists [[Media:file.ogg]] as one of the ways of linking to multimedia content. How do I go about uploading an .ogg video clip?

    70.244.16.63 (talk) 06:24, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I really should know this...

    But where do we report sites that use WP text without proper attribution per the GFDL? I normally ignore situations like this, but the site in question is a Wikia site. Caknuck (talk) 06:27, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks Ta-da! Hersfold (t/a/c) 06:39, 20 November 2007 (UTC) (might help if I get the link right... sorry.)[reply]
    This link may also help you Wikipedia:Standard_GFDL_violation_letter. VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 06:49, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    can I believe what i read?

    Can I? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.201.141.171 (talk) 06:34, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You may want to see our Wikipedia:Risk disclaimer. We make no assertion that what you see is correct, however we do require that controversial and most other information be backed up with references for you to double-check. Hersfold (t/a/c) 06:38, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    See also Reliability of Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:37, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    how to write the pass word

    how to write the pass word —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.19.176.18 (talk) 07:15, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Can you be more specific about the problem? PrimeHunter (talk) 11:37, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    about use of wikipedia

    How Can i Use Wikipedia?

    Can i make discussion about any subject?

    If, yes How?

    -Praful —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prafulgohil (talk • contribs) 09:43, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    1) Please try the Wikipedia:Tutorial. This should help you understand how to use Wikipedia. 2) You can discuss improvements/concerns about particular articles on their talk pages. They should not be used as platforms for personal views, as message forums, blog spaces, personal webpages and so on. Another words, yes, you can discuss many things but "any subject" is very broad; discussion should, however attenuated, be related in some way to improving the encyclopedia. 3) The links already posted should take you some way towards the "how", but see also Wikipedia:About, Wikipedia:Introduction and Wikipedia:How to edit a page. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:31, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    How to post !

    Hi Wikipedia !

    How do I create a page.

    For example. If I search for donald trump. All the information about him will appear.

    I'm trying to create a page for Patrick Ribbsaeter. I have written down iformation about Patrick Ribbsaeter, but when I search theres no page appearing with that name.

    What should I do and how long will it take before it apperas as a page ???

    Thanks in Advance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Patrickribbsaeter (talk • contribs) 14:42, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Use of #if: in templates

    I am trying to write a template with a line which is conditional upon two parameters, but I can't seem to get it to work. (I've followed the following page for guidance: Parser Functions #if:)

    The following is logically what I want. If parm1 and parm2 exist then the message gets printed:

    {{ #if: {{{parm1|}}}{{{parm2|}}} | Yes there is {{{parm1}}} and {{{parm2}}}}}

    As I understand it, since there is no real conditional testing, the condition will only contain something if both parm1 and parm2 contain something.

    I cannot get it to work, though I have the following working, where if parm1 has content then the message is printed:

    {{ #if: {{{parm1|}}} | Yes there is {{{parm1}}} and {{{parm2}}}]]}}

    (Maybe related, but also why do I need to specify parameters with the vertical bar {{{parm1|}}} rather than without it {{{parm1}}} which to me seems more logical).

    Thanks for any help!

    Rugops (talk) 15:25, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You need to use {{#ifeq:{{{parm1|}}}{{{parm2|}}} | Yes there is {{{parm1}}} and {{{parm2}}}}}
    The | is included to indicate that it is a parameter in the wiki text. Are you editing this in a sandbox somewhere? Woodym555 (talk) 15:49, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    What you say seems to work. But I'm more confused than ever as to why! the #ifeq: function seems to me for comparing two strings, but the two strings I am using can be as different as "chalk" and "cheese". So it seems that I have:
    #ifeq: chalk cheese THEN Yes there is chalk and cheese (though chalk <> cheese, so why should this be 'true'?)
    #ifeq: chalk THEN <blank>
    #ifeq: cheese THEN <blank>
    #ifeq: THEN <blank>
    but chalk is not equal to cheese?
    And I don't understand your comment that, in this context, | is "included to indicated that it is a parameter". The three curly braces at each side of the parameter are surely doing that?
    Thanks.
    Rugops (talk) 16:20, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The three curly braces show that something should be there, if you leave the parameter blank then, the {{{cheese}}} would show up in it's place. The | inside of the curly braces means that the Mediawiki software will see it is a parameter.
    The parameters can be whatever you want them to be. It doesn't judge the merit of the contents, it is just characters. If you wanted you could set up the template to say whatever you want. It sees if there are two set parameters, if there are it adds in the text. Woodym555 (talk) 16:26, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I'm not sure Woodym555's suggestion does what you want (and if it does, I suspect it relies on at least a quirk if not a bug in the code - #ifeq should have at least 3 arguments and you're only giving it two). It sounds to me like you want output only if both parm1 and parm2 are defined (more precisely, not null), rather than if either one is defined. One way to do this would be:
    {{ #if: {{{parm1|}}} | {{ #if: {{{parm2|}}} | Yes there is {{{parm1}}} and {{{parm2}}}}}}}
    What | does is provide the result if the parameter is not defined. Without it, in the case where the parameter is undefined you get a result consisting of the characters {{{parm}}} (which is probably not what you want). -- Rick Block (talk) 16:56, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Problem Printing a Page

    If you go to this link [10] There seems to be a problem if you want to print it. In IE6, it combines several pictures in the printout and if you use FireFox, it just freezes up. I do not know enough to know what to change and didn't want to mess with it. Thanks, 131.247.193.211 (talk) 15:26, 20 November 2007 (UTC)Steve - Tampa, FL[reply]

    Try it now? I can't print here but fixed bunched images up - although methinks there are far too many images on there... x42bn6 Talk Mess 15:47, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Thank a lot. The text under the A is still mixed up, but all pics show now. Thank you 131.247.193.211 (talk) 16:42, 20 November 2007 (UTC)Steve[reply]

    Actually, there still is one picture hidden behind the A. 17:59, 20 November 2007 (UTC)Steve

    SSP

    Hello fellow Wikipedians. I've been here a while, however I have never come across this situation before, and therefore don't know how to act....My question is: Am I allowed to disclose an email sent to me regarding the indef blocking of a user at SSP to the admin who blocked them? Regards, Rudget.talk 15:51, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm not 100% certain on this, but I would forward it to the admin handling the case; I would make a note of it, but not post it, as part of the evidence. Hersfold (t/a/c) 16:14, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks. Rudget.talk 16:34, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Infobox help

    Hi, can someone help me on this infobox? I need to make the green strip reading "Basic statistics" and "Administration" optional, and I tried to make some fields optional too, but I got a

    {{#if:{{{code}}}| (and so on...).

    (You'll get what I mean if you see the template). And is there a way to make

    {{{order}}}, {{{area1}}}, {{{area2}}}, {{{population}}}, {{{mandate}}}, {{{year}}}, {{{density1}}}, and {{{density2}}}

    optional, too? Thanks! --escondites 17:10, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Is there some particular reason you can't use Template:Infobox Settlement? -- Rick Block (talk) 17:22, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I'll use it next time when I write an article about a settlement... But that template is not for settlements! --escondites 06:10, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Dictionary

    If other editors refuse to acknowledge many of the worlds most popular dictionarys definitions of a phrase isn't this then a violation of both WP:NPOV and WP:FAITH? How do I get this resolved? Alatari (talk) 18:16, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Could you give a little more information on the specific case? Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 18:29, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You could try looking at Wikitionary. That's a dictionary/thesaurus, whereas Wikipedia tries to include more information than just a definition. You may also want to look at our Criteria for speedy deletion, particularly item 1 under Articles. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:29, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    It sounds like Alatari is referring to his desire to add a particular piece of information to an existing article based on dictionaries as refererences, but other editors are opposing this for some reason. We need more information to actually give an answer. I don't think he's making an article that just consists of a dictionary definition. Leebo T/C 18:31, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Upon reviewing Alatari's contributions, there seems to be a dispute about the definition of Holocaust taking place at Talk:Holocaust. This help desk is not a dispute resolution forum; please take this to an appropriate dispute resolution forum. Leebo T/C 18:34, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    If you seek dispute resolution, you can find more here. Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 19:10, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The dispute resolution page is what I need. Much appreciated. Alatari (talk) 19:26, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    By "popular dictionaries" do you mean Urban Dictionary, and similar sites, if so those definitions are not allowed because they do not pass WP:RS. VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 06:58, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Me on Wikipedia

    I would like to make an entry about me, but it states in the guidelines that this is not permitted. It also says that a friend should not enter an article about another friend. Is this true? If so, then how can I get an article about me? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jaysalyers (talk • contribs) 18:19, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Yes, this is true. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must demonstrate the notability of the subject. Articles also cannot contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite reliable sources which verify their content. If you still think an article is appropriate, see 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. GlassCobra 18:25, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You can include information about yourself on your user page, which is located here. If you're sufficiently notable, someone will probably write an actual article about you soon, but we do thank you for not doing it yourself. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:26, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You might see also Wikipedia:Conflict of interest and Wikipedia:Autobiography. PeaceNT (talk) 16:25, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for the clarification. Jay Salyers (talk) 14:08, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Firefox Search Engine Plugin redux

    Yesterday, at Wikipedia:Help desk#Firefox Search Engine Plugin I requested help that was perceived incorrectly. I am the leading editor at Donald Trump and want to do some work on his article this week. I would like help creating a Firefox search engine plugin for the search engine at http://online.wsj.com/public/us and for the quote search at http://finance.yahoo.com/ . The latter is less important. These would both help me contribute to the project more expediently. In the past, I have been able to get assistance creaing such a plugin for research at http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/ . The Wall Street Journal search engine would help me do some good work for the project.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:LOTD) 18:48, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    The issue is that we offer help with Wikipedia, not with Firefox. We're not really prepared to help you write code for something completely off-Wikipedia. On a side note, what does it mean to be a "leading editor"? Leebo T/C 18:58, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    It is the term I use to say that I made the most edits on a particular page. It has no significance other than to say on this issue that I do a lot of work on this particular page and hope to do more.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:LOTD) 22:52, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The folks who answer questions here at Wikipedia have divided themselves up into groups. The forum we are using here (the "help desk") is for questin about using Wikipedia itself. The guys who answer general computer questions hang out over atWikipedia:Reference desk/Computing. This would include Firefox search addons. As it happens, I just created a specialized one for WorldCat, though. Since it is easier to install such an addon from a web site, there are at least two web sites that let you create your addon using a web form, and then install your plugin from that site. (Alternatively, you can find multiple worked examples of the XML, edit the XML yourself, and install it in the appropriate subdirectory on your computer: see [11].) There are several wsj plugins here:[12].) -Arch dude (talk) 11:54, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]


    WP:RD/C|

    Lookng at the history of deleted pages

    Is it possible to look at the history of pages that have been deleted? If so how? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mattyatty (talk • contribs) 19:07, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Only administrators can view the history of a deleted page, or deleted edits of an existing page. Some admins will make copies of deleted pages available upon request (typically via e-mail). You can find a list here. It should be noted that you probably should have some reason for looking at a deleted page, such as a desire to improve it or move it to another wiki where it would be more appropriate. Simple curiosity isn't a valid reason to request deleted pages, and pages deleted as copyright violations or personal attacks probably won't be provided. Leebo T/C 19:18, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    want to use some contents of wiki

    59.160.106.1 (talk) 21:10, 20 November 2007 (UTC)I want to use some of the definitions given in wikipedia in a book i am writing. Please provide me the required permission.[reply]

    The relevant section for you is WP:C. It explains it all quite elaborately. Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 21:14, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    See also Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. :) PeaceNT (talk) 16:10, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    editing

    I cannot add a new article —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nina bindu deely (talk • contribs) 21:16, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Using wikipedia in research

    Hi i'm 12 and i was wondering if you can copy and paste wikipedia into a research paper as long as you include the wikipedia page in your bibliography209.247.22.55 (talk) 21:59, 20 November 2007 (UTC)gbaspman[reply]

    Yes, you can. It's almost always a bad idea though. If you are doing a research paper, and you take text from Wikipedia, make sure you say exactly what part of Wikipedia you used. It is generaly a better idea to use the sources which Wikipedia uses though. Just follow the links to the sources, and use that information. After all, nothing in Wikipedia is anything new. Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 22:09, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Copying large chunks of anything into a research paper is always a bad idea, unless you absolutely have no other way to represent that information. As Martijn Hoekstra said, you're better off getting your information from the sources in the articles. Leebo T/C 22:23, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Well, there are caveats. Reproducing a substantial portion of a Wikipedia article in another document would probably require that you license the resulting document under the GFDL; this may or may not be acceptable to you depending on your intended use for the final paper.
    If you do decide to include material copied verbatim from Wikipedia – or from any other source – it is important to clearly set it off from the surrounding text using quotation marks (for short passages) or indents (for longer sections). There should be no ambiguity in the reader's mind about which text in the document was written by you, and which text came from another source. (Failure to make this distinction clear can be considered plagiarism.) The specific source of copied text should be clearly indicated using footnotes or endnotes; just listing the source in a bibliography likely would not meet the standards of citation expected in academic writing. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 22:27, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You might also want to check with your teacher if this will even be acceptable - many educators do not accept Wikipedia as reliable due to its tendency to be vandalized and our own admission that not everything here should be regarded as 100% accurate at all times. If this does turn out to be the case, you can use the references for your information, but make sure you check that reference first. Hersfold (t/a/c) 03:49, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Hi! Once you are in university, you do not in general cite an encyclopedia, but you can certainly use the encyclopedia to get an overview and to find other sources. The rules for research when you are 12 are usaually a bit different, but talk to your teacher. You are probably allowed to cite encyclopedias. Yes, you can quote from a work that you cite, but you should instead re-write in your own words. To cite the article, click on the "cite this article" link in the toolbox in the left-hand sidebar. This lets you choose from the various ways to format your citation. About accuracy: Wikipedia is in general more accurate and more up-to-date than other encyclopedias, but any given article on any given day may have just been vandalized or edited by someone who has incorrect information. Therefore, you should check the article talk page and the article history. You can also fix the article if you find important stuff during your research. -Arch dude (talk) 12:17, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    After you create an account!

    When you ask a question befoe you create an account, your IP address would publicly show on the website but if you create an account and sign on, it would not show your IP address. Is it possible you can change the history to your IP address so that it would not be seen again? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bamgermany11 (talk • contribs) 22:18, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    If you made contributions while not logged in, those contributions will likely always be associated with that IP address. It's not possible to transfer them to an account. They may, at some point, be deleted if the page they were made to is eligible for deletion. You edits while logged in will never be directly associated with an IP address. Leebo T/C 22:21, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    What can we do to delete our contributions to the page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bamgermany11 (talk • contribs) 22:24, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You can't just delete your edits, unless they contain personal information. If they do contain personal informaton, like your name, location, etc. and you'd like them deleted, you can request that it be done at Wikipedia:Oversight. If you have no other reason to request they be deleted other than the IP address being visible, you can't have them removed through oversight. If the page is eligible for deletion through the deletion process, then your edits would be deleted with the rest of the page. Which page is it? I can tell you if it's eligible for deletion. Leebo T/C 22:27, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Stub Question

    I added two stub templates to Asymptomatic carrier. I'm wondering if it was okay that I added both genetic disorder and infectious disease stubs to the article since thats the categories that the article falls under? Am I suppose to just add one stub per article or as many stubs as categories the article is in? Thanks!

    -(Noneforall (talk) 22:29, 20 November 2007 (UTC))[reply]

    Multiple labels is fine, so long as it doesn't get out of hand. (WP:STUB suggests not adding more than four or so). Best, --Bfigura (talk) 22:32, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Space after template

    For some reason, every time the {{playmate}} template is used, see Simone Eden for example, there is an extra space between it and the next line. What's causing this? Dismas|(talk) 22:38, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I think I got it, did I? Leebo T/C 22:42, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Yes, you got it with [13]. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:54, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks! Dismas|(talk) 02:22, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    deletion

    how do i delete my user account? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Adammoskal (talk • contribs) 22:40, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Sorry, but you cannot delete it. You can replace your userpage with {{retired}} though. Cheers,JetLover (Report a mistake) 22:42, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You also have the right to vanish Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 22:43, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Google sidebar

    why have these revisions suddenly started showing up on my google sidebar? I don't want it, it is taking up a lot of room on my web clips page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.211.174.146 (talk) 22:48, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Is this about Wikipedia? If not: Have you tried the computing 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 is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:57, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]


    November 21

    The article titled Ilavida

    Resolved

    The article titled Ilavida was speedily deleted by the admin "Secret Account". I contacted him/her on his/her talk page and also commented on the article's talk page. This administrator has chosen to ignore my comments.

    If the admin is not familiar with Indian epics and therefore, does not recognize the notability of this article (a write up about the stepmother of Ravana and the mother of Kubera -- both characters are well known to Hindus), s/he should have asked for a clarification or at least responded to my queries about his / her speedy delete. Since this admin has ignored my comments on both his/her talk page and the article's talk page, I want to know who I can contact to present my case.

    Of course, if Wikipedia does not see why an article about a personality in a Hindu epic is important at all for any reason, I would at least like to hear this so that I can go about writing about the characters in the Ramayana on some other site. I am sure someone out there (an admin) would be willing to talk to me and help me get my article republished and I would be more than grateful to hear from him/her since Mr./Ms. Secret Account does not deign to respond to my queries in this regard.

    Thanks,

    Kreedanthi (talk) 00:44, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm sorry to hear that. From Google I saw Ilavida mentioned in Hindu epic figure glossaries. You could quote these and they will establish the notability of this significant figure. They don't call this a wiki for nothing. One can, sometimes, make wiki mistakes, but you can recreate the article in a wiki (fast) way as well. I don't think, however, this reflects bias. If you need any help with citations when you recreate this article I will help you. Take care. Dr.K. (talk) 00:54, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Feed, in light of your recent dispute with Secret, that wasn't productive.
    I had no idea it was the same user. And I haven't been disputing with him, I have just been discussing the ArbCom Candidacy requirements. And sorry for the comment, I didn't even notice she said Secret, it was a mere coincidence; I shall strike it right away. Feedback ☎ 01:13, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Kreedanthi, I'll leave a note on Secret's talk page; it's possible they just missed your question. Let's give Secret another chance here before assuming the worst about them. --barneca (talk) 00:58, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Actually, Secret just replied to Feedback's new comment on their talk page. It seems to me from reading Secret's comment that if you recreate the article, more clearly explaining (to non-Hindus) the subject's notability, you should be fine. --barneca (talk) 01:01, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    (ec)Administrators like all other editors are volunteers and work whatever hours they choose. It is very likely that User:Secret has not responded to your queries for the simple reason that he has been away from the computer. His last contribution today was almost an hour BEFORE you left a message on his talk page. Be patient and I'm sure that he will respond to your query and might very well restore your article.
    Your article is still visible in a Google cache. It has no references. Without references it is nigh impossible for someone unfamiliar with Hindu epics to understand its notability. I notice that you didn't even mention "Hindu" or "epic" in your article. The best way to ensure that an article is not deleted is to include many verifiable references to reliable sources. Sbowers3 (talk) 01:08, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I was attempting to recreate the article with all of the relevant information and was in the middle of editing when another admin (JMLK17) speed deleted it. I got an edit conflict message and was told that it had been deleted because the article was not significant enough! I am thoroughly frustrated. It appears that I will keep posting it and it will keep being deleted because there are apparently multiple admins here! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kreedanthi (talk • contribs) 03:39, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    This appears to have been resolved here. --Bfigura (talk) 03:54, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    editing participation is not beginner friendly; geeks speak only to one another

    hey, some of us were born quite awhile ago and did not grow up on computers, rather came to them in a later season when learning new things is more troublesome and slow, yet we do have valid contributions, despite what the youth-centered, computer-savvy generation may think.

    i simply wanted to add an editorial oversight; the article on "history of homelessness" carelessly used the abbreviation :SRO's" as if EVERYONE knows what those are. again, a small group talking to itself? overly urban? I am wee-read and into my 6th decade of life, yet i didn't know what it meant. yes, i can link to it an on my slow computer eventually find out it's meaning, but common journalistic and professional writing practise is to define a term or jargon or acronym or abbreviation when introduced for the first time in an article/

    in an effort to effect my first wiki edit, i then signed kup, created an account, went to the discussion page, read primers on how to edit, and,12FRICKING pages later, gave up in disgust. at no time did i find and easy-to-locate "edit" or "comment" tab. too complex, you lose a lot of valuable participation and are slamming out less computer-literate people. and i'm not a freak, i'm actually more c-savvy than some of my neighbors. so laughif you want; can you plow with a horse? skid logs with a mule, find remedies in the mountains? do lyou want participation from folk like us? thxMichael combs (talk) 02:33, 21 November 2007 (UTC) (this was near citation 52 in the article)[reply]

    I guess you are referring to Homelessness in the United States. The article is not protected, so you should have "edit" links to the right of section headings (unless you disabled that at "Editing" in Special:Preferences), and an "edit this page" tab at the top of the page. I have changed [14] "SROs" to link to Single Room Occupancy. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:21, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Just noticed that the man at the beginning referred to himself as a kid, and then as an elder. And because of the use of words like "GEEK" and "FRICKIN" , and saying "CAN YOU FIND REMEDIES IN THE MOUNTAIN?", I am going to believe that he is indeed a kid. Pure speculation... Feedback ☎ 03:31, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    If you're having trouble, there are plenty of ways to ask for help, and people who are computer-literate will help you out. Next time you need help, simply edit your talk page (easy to find at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Mytalk or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Michael_combs) and add the text {{helpme}} followed by your question. It's hard to balance easy editing with a powerful wiki platform, but there are always people who are willing to help you out if you have a problem and are polite and friendly like everyone should be. :)
    In this case, what you could have done would have been to click the "+" tab at the top of Talk:Homelessness and left a comment saying that the section could be more clear. I've made an edit to carry out your suggestion.
    You should probably see a tab at the top of the page saying "edit this page", and each section title should have an "[edit]" link to its right, to be able to edit. To comment, you edit talk pages, by clicking on the "discussion" tab at the top of the page and there either clicking the "edit this page" or "+" link, where the "+" link is for a new topic. If you need any further help, please contact me and I'll help you out as soon as I notice your comment. Nihiltres{t.l} 03:34, 21 November 2007 (UTC) (cross-posted to user's talk page)[reply]
    (edit conflict) After further searching it appears you were actually referring to Homelessness. That article is semi-protected due to vandalism, so accounts must be 4 days old to edit it and your new account would not have edit links. Nihiltres and I have edited it [15]. It already linked Single Room Occupancy before but the link text only said SRO. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:38, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Deleting a delete nomination message

    How do I delete a nomination for deletion once the article has been deleted? Specifically for this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:1234christi I understand why it was deleted, and now I'd like this message deleted as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.166.89.188 (talk) 03:31, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm assuming that that's your account - it's generally preferred that messages on talk pages are archived rather than deleted, as they are a record of your interaction with other editors and the project as a whole. However, if you wish to remove messages from your own talk page while logged into that account, you may do so. Nothing in policy says otherwise. Hersfold (t/a/c) 03:45, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Ilavida recreated and deleted AGAIN WHILE I WAS STILL EDITING IT AND ADDING REFERENCES!

    I am completely losing my mind here.

    As suggested by Dr. K, I recreated the article and was in the process of editing it when ANOTHER admin performed a speed delete. It appears to be that many people are anti-Ilavida!!!!

    Dr. K offered to help me with references but if the article keeps getting speed deleted, I see that there IS NO WAY that I can possibly set it up. Is there a way to let ALL the admins know that we're working on it and to please stay off the speed delete button until I'm completely done and Dr. K has reviewed it??????????????

    Kreedanthi (talk) 03:34, 21 November 2007 (UTC).[reply]

    Kreedanthi, please don't see conspiracies everywhere. You are definitely getting treated shabbily, but I am very confident it is not intentional. It's the unfortunate way speedy delete works around here. A large majority of the people here do not know who Ilavida is. I can't see your latest attempt, but your first one was not clear about what it was about. Can I suggest creating the article in your user space, by clicking and editing here: User:Kreedanthi/Ilavida? Then, you and Dr. K can work on the article in peace, without being threatened with deletion. When the article is ready, you can move it into the main article space (I'd be happy to help with that part, if necessary). --barneca (talk) 03:40, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    p.s. If you don't have a copy of your latest article attempt saved somewhere before it was deleted, I'm pretty sure Jmlk would be happy to provide a copy for you in your user space, if you ask. --barneca (talk) 03:42, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    (E/C x2) The deleted content is here, which is a sandbox subpage I have placed on your user talk page. When you are ready to "go live", use the move button at the top of the screen to move it into the mainspace (or if your account isn't at least four days old, ask someone to do it for you here). Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:43, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest a conspiracy theory, although for a while there, I was really frustrated. The article is finally back up and I hope it no longer satisfies a speed-delete consideration! Thanks to everyone for helping. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kreedanthi (talk • contribs) 04:08, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    No, I know you weren't. Glad it worked out; I see you and Jmlk17 solved the problem 1 minute before I wrote that anyway. But (and don't kill the messenger), I'm sorry to say, there is still a problem; there are now two versions. Jmlk17 restored your version for you, and it looks like you're working on it here: Ilavida, but User:Fuhghettaboutit restored it to your user space: User talk:Kreedanthi/subpage/sandbox, and has been helping expand it there! I suggest you guys talk. Since he is the only one adding stuff to your sandbox, I think the easiest thing is for him (not you) to copy/paste his additions to the actual article, so everything is properly attributed. It's never easy, is it? --barneca (talk) 04:19, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I'd tell her to move the article in mainspace to the one in her subpage. By the rate this is going, I just think another admin will delete it. So, it is better if she works it out in her sandbox. Cheers, Feedback ☎ 04:37, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Excellent point, I agree with Feedback, merge your stuff with Fuhghettaboutit's stuff in your sandbox, then you don't have to worry about another speedy delete battle. --barneca (talk) 04:40, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Glad this is working out. A few questions. Why was all the wikification I added removed (just curious, it's easy to do again) and please note the re-formatting of the reference. References are not created by superscripting [1], [2], and so on, but rather you place the reference in the body of the article surrounded by tags that look like this: <ref>text</ref> which then populates the reference section. Also, you created Surpanakha‎ when Soorpanaka‎ already exists. I have added merge tags to the two articles. Wikipedia should only have one article on a single subject. Improving the preexisting article is the right way to go.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:34, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Hello Fuhghettaboutit,

    What wikification? Dr. K added the references and I'm so grateful to him for his help. BTW, I created the recent article Soorpanaka, not realizing that one titled Surpanaka already existed! How do I go about merging the two articles? Thanks

    Kreedanthi (talk) 05:39, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Try improving Surpanakha, and turn Soorpanaka into a Redirect. Feedback ☎ 06:04, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I went ahead and merged them. I didn't do any of the streamlining I usually do for a topic that isn't so outside my experience.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:04, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I would to place the search results in wikipedia on my website. Do the system provide such API function? thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.214.62.57 (talk) 04:35, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I think that this request might receive more help on Wikipedia:Village pump (technical). VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 07:09, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    See http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/api.php and mw:API for details: there is an API. It isn't currently available for the search feature because that hasn't been coded, but probably will be within the next few months. --ais523 10:06, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

    Mangled reference formatting

    I've been at WP for quite some time now, but I don't know how to fix this. The article Spanish language's references after about 18 display as a horrible mess, for me at least. Would someone mind fixing it? -Oreo Priest 06:09, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I think it's been fixed. Looks like there was an unclosed tag somewhere. Does it look okay for you now? GlassCobra 07:45, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Need ideas on recruiting

    I need to recruit editors to create and develop lists for the set known as Lists of basic topics (part of Wikipedia's navigation system). There's a wish list at Wikipedia:WikiProject Lists of basic topics.

    I've posted notices at WP:CBB, Wikipedia:Requested articles, and Wikipedia:Requests for expansion. I've posted the WikiProject at Wikipedia:List of shortcuts/Project shortcuts and Wikipedia:WikiProject.

    What else can I do?

    How else can I find editors to join this WikiProject and/or create these lists?

    I look forward to your ideas.

    The Transhumanist    06:24, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]


    Dispute Help - Advice Required

    Ref: Administrator Review of and Article

    Just wondering, the same user is causing problems again. He has reverted most of the same articles (linked below) again, with the same reasons. What is the best course to take?

    Cell Saga Freeza_Saga

    There may be more, I do not have enough time to investigate fully. Kennedy (talk) 07:19, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    The help desk isn't the place for dispute resolution or administrative intervention. If it's an editing dispute try dispute resolution, if complex vandalism try the admin's incident noticeboard. Best, --Bfigura (talk) 07:31, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Oldest unchanged edit

    How can I find my oldest unchanged edit? In other words, the article which I edited and no-one else has changed after me? —Moondyne 08:43, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    responding to emailed questions

    I am a new user. I edited an entry and received an emailed comment. I can't figure out how to respond to the emailer, who seems to be an official Wikipedia editor.Cpolsgro (talk) 09:42, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    All editors are "official editors". I would suggest that you not respond via email, that you place a note on the editor's talk page, instead, both because this will allow you to discuss Wikipedia issues here, where they should be discussed, but also for your own privacy. The editor's username should be in the email message you received, and so you can simply use that and go to their talk page to reply. Cheers, Ariel♥Gold 09:53, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    If you refer to [17] then an edit to a Wikipedia page is not an email, but is often called a post. Special:Emailuser/Cpolsgro says you have not allowed people to email you. You can reply to Dybryd by clicking the '+' tab at top of User talk:Dybryd. Dybryd posted to you a month ago and may not discover a reply on your own talk page. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:37, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Uploading a file and making it visable when people search on the company?

    Hi,

    I ahve been through the FAQ, and read through instructions and I can still not work out how to do this.

    I have tried to upload a PDF - Imago Company Profile onto Wiki, I think this was successful except it kept asking about copy right, so I tried to fill this in otherwise it gets deleted but not sure if I did this correctly? I was trying to upload my companies profile on Wiki, so when people search on Imago or Imago group plc (our company name) we would come up, but I can't see that we do at all?

    Please can you help me with this.

    Regards

    Dawn Irons —Preceding unsigned comment added by Imago 1991 (talk • contribs) 10:37, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You have uploaded the PDF file Image:Imago Company Profile .pdf to a place intended for images. Wikipedia does not accept pdf files. An article about Imago Group PLC should be created at Imago Group in wikitext format. But please see Wikipedia:Conflict of interest and Wikipedia:Business FAQ. Don't create a promotional article about your own company. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:26, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    i have lings of eletricity moving on my body

    i need help this is not a joke or a crazy person please please help me i have to much eletricty or something in my body my body lets things in to my body such as fuzz hair dirt wood any thing iim around it does it when my body gets hot my body releases thing the stuff it pulls in also things fall off me which appear to be invisible lines when it hits it leaves a black mark moving water mess with me i can put my palms or bottom of my feet toward cold water when my back begins to hurt or my chest gets heavy there are white chalk looking things that get every where when i run the dish washer or vacuum these things bother me teribily and agervate this condition if this line dosent leave a black mark it will usually get back on me or will go into the freezer and leave ink like smears which can and do get back on me if it goes to the freeser it leaves stuff which looks likelittle pices of dirt or little strigs that look like dust i am will to let you work on me or what ever it takes to resolve this problem —Preceding unsigned comment added by Malisa wade (talk • contribs) 11:58, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    While I'm not completely able to understand your question, it appears to be of a medical nature. Wikipedia is not a place to come to for medical advice, I would suggest that you see your family physician. Ariel♥Gold 12:08, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Stub pages

    How do I label a stub page? For example, on some pages it says down the bottom "This history (eg)-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it." Is there a shortcut way to label a page with that information? Bugalugs13 (talk) 12:29, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    To label an article as a generic stub, put the {{stub}} template on the bottom of the page. However, the stub might attract more attention if you use an appropriate category stub instead. See Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types for a list of different stub types. — Ksero (leave me a message, things I've done) 12:47, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    hiv

    can hiv live when expost to high temperatures —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.155.206.129 (talk) 12:57, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Daire Brehan / references

    I have today created an article for Daire Brehan the Irish broadcaster (wih whom I have worked closely at the BBC over the years). But although I have inserted references/footnotes, they do not appear to be showing on the article page when saved. How is this done? Also the overall heading of the page shows 'Dairie brehan' with the 'b' in lower case when it should be upper case. How can this be amended please? Thanks Peter Griffiths - email: Email removed - this is a heavily trafficked website—Preceding unsigned comment added by Pkgriffiths (talk • contribs) 13:21, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    The problem is that you need to add a template at the bottom of the article for the references to show up: see Help:Footnotes. I've added this for you. --Kateshortforbob 13:39, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I've also moved the article to Daire Brehan to capitalise the surname, as it appears to be capitalised in the text. --Kateshortforbob 13:51, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    CSS, collapsible tables, resources

    I'm attempting to make a two-tier collapsible presentation, and put multiple collapsible templates into a collapsible table (of one column width).
    A series of articles will have different related templates, which will go into the collapsible table.
    (Or some other collapsible thing that does not require making one-use templates ( as it appears {{navbox}} presumes template use).
    I don't have any examples to work with for the collapsible table.
    I do see examples at Wikipedia:Collapsible_tables, but I don't know where to go to learn how to manipulate CSS to mimic the colors of a {{navbox}} header, border and colors.
    Thanks -- Yellowdesk (talk) 15:34, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Similar to {{Navigation with collapsible groups}}?↔NMajdan•talk 19:28, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I'll look it over. Thank you. -- Yellowdesk (talk) 23:25, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    ABSTINENCE is MISSPELLED in description of Alcoholics Anonymous

    I just "joined" Wikipedia. When I looked for Alcoholics Anonymous on Google, there as a brief description about AA before you even clicked on and went into the actual Wikipedia article. I haven't reviewed that site in any depth, although I am a self-professed member of AA and have not had a drink for 20 years (we call that abstinence). BUT you should know that in the description of AA that appears when anyone Googles Alcoholics Anonymous, the word abstinence IS MISSPELLED abstinance!

    Please make this correction. I don't know how to do it, but anybody who is literate will automatically assume that if they read Wikipedia's description of Alcoholics Anonymous that it's a bunch of drunks who have not only a problem with alcohol but also with spelling, and that's not the impression we want to give. Plus anybody who doesn't know what abstinence means cannot look it up under the WRONG SPELLING.

    Thanks.

    Memctigue (talk) 15:56, 21 November 2007 (UTC)Memctigue[reply]

    I just "joined" Wikipedia. I would like to make a minor edit but don't know how, can you instruct me? Thanks. Memctigue (talk) 15:58, 21 November 2007 (UTC)Memctigue[reply]

    At the top of the page, you will see a bolded edit this page. If you click that, you can change the page. You can also edit specific sections, with the edit text next to the specific section, making it easier to find the exact thing you want to edit. why don't you try it a little at the sandbox. You can try almost anything there. Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 16:01, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict) Go to the Alcoholics Anonymous page and click the "edit this page" tab at the top. Find the part you want to edit, change it, give a description like "spelling" in the edit summary and click "save page". Just out of curiosity though, where is it spelled incorrectly in that article? I didn't see it spelled incorrectly. Leebo T/C 16:02, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    If you search for "Alcoholics Anonymous" on Google [18], the third result is for Wikipedia, and contains a summary with the misspelling: "Article about the AA includes its Twelve Step program, method of complete abstinance, and history". I don't know where that summary comes from? It's not from the article. -- DatRoot 16:18, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Oh, oh, oh, the Google results. Those are from a database of descriptions that Google gets, they're not related to anything on Wikipedia in any way. I'll try to find the source. Leebo T/C 16:26, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    For info. Because Google cache's versions of web pages (including wikipedia articles) and does not update their cache "on the fly" but only when they re-index the page - which could be a few days or several weeks. Thus an old spelling error now fixed has been caught in the google cache. Try googling "site under construction" and then go to any old site in the index - often they've now been built and you won't see the under construction text, but it's stuck in Googles cache until re-indexing. Pedro :  Chat  16:27, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I found it, it's http://www.dmoz.org/, the Open Directory Project where these kind of Google descriptions come from. It's not from the article, so it's not a cache issue. Leebo T/C 16:30, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Which just goes to prove you don't need to be a newbie to find out useful and new stuff at the Helpdesk. Nice one Leebo. Pedro :  Chat  16:35, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I want to make a fix but it's in a non-edit area

    There is a typo in the main description of the article on Alcoholics anonymous. Do you want it fixed or even called to your attention or not (I am just new and already I'm frustrated). I cannot edit this text. Abstinence is misspelled abstinance. HOW CAN I FIX THAT?????????????

    Memctigue (talk) 16:54, 21 November 2007 (UTC)Memctigue[reply]

    Click on the "edit this page" tab on the top of the page. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 16:58, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    This is the same issue as the section above, and the problem was found to be off-Wikipedia. Leebo T/C 16:59, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Yeah, sorry, I only noticed this after the fact. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 17:01, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I'll just reiterate for clarity: This misspelling is not related to Wikipedia in any way. It is a problem with google, or more accurately, with the http://www.dmoz.org/ database which Google uses. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 17:06, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The misspelling is at http://www.dmoz.org/Health/Addictions/Substance_Abuse/Alcoholism/Support_Groups/Alcoholics_Anonymous/ Anybody can suggest a changed description via the "update listing" link at the top of that page (I haven't done it). An ODP editor will review the suggestion but that may take a while. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:33, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    blackberry

    do you have a blackberry version of the site? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.166.141.151 (talk) 17:24, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    See WP:PDA for information on portable versions of Wikipedia. Hersfold (t/a/c) 17:35, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    home page

    How do i make wikipedia my homepage? Hat hat (talk) 17:57, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    That depends on what browser you use. If you use Firefox, go to Wikipedia's main page, click on Tools, then click on "Main" at the top, and under the Home page URL, click "use current page". If you use IE, click on Tools, then click "use current" where it says "Home page". If you use another browser, they should all be fairly similar, with a "Tools" or "Preferences" menu, and a way to configure the URL for your homepage. Hope that helped, Ariel♥Gold 18:02, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You will have to bookmark it, for Firefix click the bookmarks tab then bookmark this page, following the process. For Internet Explorer, go to favourites then follow the process. Hope this helps! —Qst 18:04, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    i need help

    how do you add stuff to a pre existing article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.253.198.153 (talk) 18:58, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You can either click the "edit this page" tab at the top of an article, or you can click the [edit] link on the right side of sections. See Wikipedia's manual of style, layout guide, your first article, article development, and how to edit for assistance. Ariel♥Gold 19:00, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    translations

    Does Wikipedia have a translation page for words and phrases? Also is there a general translation page for longer transcriptions? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.228.81.96 (talk) 19:49, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikipedia does not provide translations. Google Translate, among others, does. However, if you navigate to the article in the English Wikipedia and click a language on the left side of the page in the "in other languages" box, it will take you to the page on that language's Wikipedia. For example, if I go to the article Botswana and click "Deustch" in the aforementioned box, then it will bring me to the German Wikipedia article . Hope this helps, and happy wiki'ng! NF24(radio me!Editor review) 21:40, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You might also want to ask the good people at the language reference desk to help. Algebraist 22:43, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The {{Google translation}} template may be useful. For an example of using this template, see Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 October 19#Translate article. Also see the several Editor's index entries under: WP:EIW#Transl. --Teratornis (talk) 01:58, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Copyrights

    Can we use documents on Wikipedia for teaching classes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.29.171.188 (talk) 20:21, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Legally: Yes, as long as you adhere to the license. see WP:COPYRIGHT. Should you use Wikipedia? Thre in much debate about how accurate the information is. I think you should encourage the appropriate use of Wikipedia, but, please read about the pros and cons first. -Arch dude (talk) 21:37, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I wrote some tips for teachers - can't say how good they are, but the price is right. And see:
    --Teratornis (talk) 02:02, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Canvassing?

    Is posting on an article's talkpage telling users to !vote "keep" in an AfD discussion considered canvassing? NF24(radio me!Editor review) 21:31, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    It does appear to be canvassing. The talkpage exists to allow discussion of how to revise or improve the article. Exhortations to go to the AFD and keep or delete the article seem inappropriate. There will be a template on the main page of the article informing all readers that it is nominated for deletion, and it is easy for them to click on it and go to the AFD. Arguments in favor of keeping or deleting it belong on the AFD itself, to avoid cluttering the talk page with echoes of everything said in the AFD. Edison (talk) 21:39, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Okay, then is there something I can do to let participants in the AfD and/or the closing admin know that canvassing has taken place? NF24(radio me!Editor review) 22:30, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • Yeah, just post about it with links to evidence in said AFD. I am a little more specific though. It's okay if you make a general post to EVERY editor of an article or in a related project without discriminating between them based on their keep/delete opinions. Canvassing typically refers to calling for a specific outcome. - Mgm|(talk) 22:43, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    That's exactly what's happening here - a user is requesting that other users !vote keep in an AfD. NF24(radio me!Editor review) 01:33, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Disambiguation pages and wikiprojects

    I noticed that Emerald City (disambiguation) states it is part of Wikiproject:Oz. However while the Emerald City can refer to the capital of Oz, the disambiguation page is as much about that as it is about Seattle and Toronot (both of which are nickanmed "The Emerald City". So, why is it part of WP:OZ? And if that is correct, shouldn't it also be part of Wikiproject Washington, Ontario, etc.? Smartyllama (talk) 21:42, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Many articles are within the scope of multiple WikiProjects; it looks like the other projects haven't gotten around to tagging it yet. You can add the tags yourself (go to Wikipedia:WikiProject Seattle and WP:TORONTO to find out how to do this), if you want to. NF24(radio me!Editor review) 21:55, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Disambiguation pages are usually not considered part of a wikiproject (except of Wikipedia:WikiProject Disambiguation), but if a project want to tag a talk page then that's OK. However, I have removed the Oz portal link from the page itself. Portal links are not intended for disambiguation pages and most entries are not to Oz articles. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:19, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Right justify

    How can I right justify the top row of my header template at User:TonyTheTiger/Header_template?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:LOTD) 22:29, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    What's wrong with changing <div align=center> to <div align=right>? Algebraist 22:40, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Not so random articles?

    I love the Wikipedia Special:Random function and use it as my homepage. However due to the enormous scope of wikipedia I often get hits from subjects I have absolutely no interest in. Is there a url query string I can pass to Wikipedia to restrict the random search to a particular category? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.38.92.156 (talk) 23:31, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I don't think so. But you could use SuggestBot. I've never used it, so I couldn't tell you if it is a good tool or not, but the idea sounds good. - Rjd0060 (talk) 00:23, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I find SuggestBot useful if I need articles to edit. The only con is that it takes a while to deliver your results. NF24(radio me!Editor review) 02:02, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Wikipedia:Categorization#Large categories recommends that individual categories that grow to contain large numbers of articles need to be divided into subcategories. To the extent that Wikipedia has done this, selecting a random page from a single category would probably get stale fairly quickly, because a single category should not contain an enormous number of articles. So even if you could do this easily, the result might not be very satisfying. To get more articles to select from, you might need to specify multiple categories, or a category and all its subcategories. Searching the Wikipedia Help desk archive for: "random article" category finds some questions similar to yours, but no magic bullet that I can see. If Wikipedia was running the DynamicPageList extension, you would have a lot more options, but Wikipedia is not. --Teratornis (talk) 02:29, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]


    I have a tool that randomly gets a page out of a category or set of subcategories, and places that in a userbox type page, if anyones intrested I can re-start that. βcommand 03:36, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    November 22

    Twinkle got the hurting, how to correct

    As todays AfD list was still empty, the AfD for Website Magazine wasn't listed. How can I fix that? just manualy link the page like the rest, or will that break stuff? Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 00:09, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I've gone ahead and did it. In the future, you can just add it manually like I did here. Thanks for pointing it out! - Rjd0060 (talk) 00:21, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    It's only been two months since I last did an AfD without twinkle, but suddenly, I was vey much out of my element. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Martijn Hoekstra (talk • contribs) 11:32, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Template:Mergetomultiple-with not working as advertised?

    I have tried to use this template at Throat diameter but it does not seem to be directing discussion to Worm drive as I think it is supposed to. Is it me or the template? Bill F (talk) 00:12, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    It appears to be the template. The documentation falsely claims: "The template automatically links to the talk page of the main article, specified by the param with=.". In fact the discuss link goes to the talk page of where the template is placed. I don't know how to fix the template but you can work around the problem and also get a section link by adding the parameter "|talk=Talk:Worm drive#Merge from". PrimeHunter (talk) 01:57, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Talk:Washington#Religion

    Hi, could someone change this? The article is protected. 71.113.95.63 (talk) 00:14, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    The article is semi-protected; the talk page is not. Talk to User:Acalamari, he put it under semi-protection due to vandalism problems. --Orange Mike | Talk 00:20, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I think 71.113.95.63 just want somebody to change the article claim mentioned at Talk:Washington#Religion, and not change the protection status. Is that correct? PrimeHunter (talk) 00:32, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I have removed the mentioned article claim. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:41, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Problem to log in in my native language Norsk (Bokmål) wikipedia.

    Dear help desk

    My name is Arnt Christian and I am finding great time using wikipedia. I have stumbled on a strange problem. I have no difficulty logging in at the english side, but turning to the norwegian I get logged out, or I can't log in. It seems that I have got a different password in the Norwegian and the English?

    I hope this problem can be easily resolved and I'm also a bit curious how it have occured.

    yours sincerly Arnt Christian —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xact (talk • contribs) 02:09, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Hello! You need to create a new user on the Norweigian wikipedia (Can be the same username). When you create a user on a certain language wikipedia, it is only for that one language. Sseballos (talk) 02:17, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    There is already a Xact at http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spesial:Bidrag/Xact. If it's you then you may have chosen another password there. If it's not you then you have to choose another user name. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:22, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    By the way, the multiple accounts may be unneeded in the future. See meta:Help:Unified login. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:33, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Reverting Multiple Edits

    How does one revert multiple edits at once? Sseballos (talk) 02:15, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    See Help:Reverting#How to revert. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:35, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Especially the Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism page linked from there, if you want to revert many edits by a flood vandal. Also see: WP:EIW#Bots, WP:EIW#Tools, and WP:EIW#User_s. --Teratornis (talk) 02:40, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Question about Infobox

    How do I create an infobox? --Kwekwc (talk) 03:42, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You might start at Wikipedia:Manual of Style (infoboxes). If you're wanting to add an infobox to an article (rather than create a new form of infobox), probably the easiest way is to copy an infobox from a similar article and change the content. -- Rick Block (talk) 04:07, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    H Mehta Scam of 1992

    How did the name of P Chidambaram got included in Big Bull Harshad Mehta Scam —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.93.204.196 (talk) 05:33, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm sorry, I'm not sure as to what you're referencing. If it's purely factual, I'm recommend the Reference Desk, as they should be able to help you much better. Regards, Neranei (talk) 07:46, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Wikipedia does not appear to claim a connection between P. Chidambaram and Harshad Mehta. If the question is not about Wikipedia then try the reference desk as Neranei says, or try a Google search [19]. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:33, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Definition of CRYSTAL

    I have created an article Crysis 2 and referenced it. Yet it was tagged with the PROD tag with a not citing WP:CRYSTAL, I don't really see how CRYSTAL covers things like this, unless the developers decide to cancel it I believe that this game is notable and doesn't violate CRYSTAL. Can you help me with this, thanks! Marlith T/C 06:11, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Well, WP:CRYSTAL refers to pure speculation about something. From looking at the article, it was an unannounced game, correct? If you disagree with the delete, try deletion review, and it'll get looked at. Regards, Neranei (talk) 07:51, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Duplicate Articles

    I think the American Temperance Society and the Society for the Promotion of Temperance are the same thing. If those articles are the same then what should be done with those articles? Thanks and have a great Thanksgiving!

    -(Noneforall (talk) 07:03, 22 November 2007 (UTC))[reply]

    See WP:MERGE for a guide. Please remember to discuss it on the talk page first, some people may not agree. Happy Thanksgiving in return! Regards, Neranei (talk) 07:56, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Listing our company name in wikepedia

    Hi, when we type companies like "Infosys" or "Wipro" in wikepedia search their info will provided, either when we type our company name(Neural Systems) in same text box the info is not their even though we are ISO certified. I want to know why is this.

    Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.166.18 (talk) 08:37, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Articles only exist in Wikipedia when someone writes them. No-one has written an article on Neural Systems, so when you search there's nothing to find. You can always suggest an article at Wikipedia:Requested articles, Wikipedia:Articles for creation, or Wikipedia:Drawing board, but I would not advise you to write it yourself, since there would be serious issues of conflict of interest. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 09:22, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    To add to the above, articles on Wikipedia have specific criteria, for companies, you can review these here. Wikipedia also has Core policies, such as neutrality, notability, verifiability, etc. What does all of this mean? Well, it means that any article on Wikipedia must demonstrate notability (meaning it must be note worthy, covered by the media, etc.), and have reliable, third-party sources (such as news media articles, magazine/trade journal articles) written about the subject, and the information given in the article must cite those sources to verify it is true. From those sources, information is summarized, paraphrased, condensed, and worded neutrally to make an encyclopedic entry (information cannot be copied from other sites). See Wikipedia's manual of style, layout guide, your first article, article development, and how to edit for assistance. I hope that helps! Ariel♥Gold 09:25, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    inquiry

    dear sir kindly i want to ask how to use your servie plus i need to know if you have a reseller program im starting a new business that got to do with sms and i have lots of clients that purchase high volumes

    thanks for your cooperation —Preceding unsigned comment added by Makkisms (talk • contribs) 09:45, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm afraid you are under the wrong impression about Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia project online, that is edited by millions of editors. It is not a sales site, it is part of a non-profit organization, Wikimedia Foundation. Please review what Wikipedia is not, and what Wikipedia is. Ariel♥Gold 10:01, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Perhaps the questioner saw one of the articles under SMS (disambiguation) and believes Wikipedia conducts business relating to one of those meanings. Wikipedia is merely an encyclopedia, with 6,938,074 articles; we do not have direct involvement in the subjects of the vast majority of those articles. (The few exceptions include articles about Wikipedia itself, the MediaWiki software, and the Wikimedia Foundation.) --Teratornis (talk) 19:38, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Did I miss anything?

    I've posted a proposal to add "Today's featured list" to the main page.

    Is there anything I've missed in the proposal or in the proposal process?

    The Transhumanist (talk) 10:28, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Not related to the process, but the box for "Today's featured list" is not aligned with the other boxes (it is shifted slightly to the left). That may be due to the page it is on, not being the actual main page, and for you, I'm sure an easy thing to fix ;o) (Firefox 2.0.0.9 and IE7). I like the idea. Did you post it at WP:VPP? Ariel♥Gold 10:33, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Replacing an existing image

    How do I replace the existing ACCA logo on the following page?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Chartered_Certified_Accountants —Preceding unsigned comment added by Accaglobal (talk • contribs) 11:37, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    If you take a look at the source of the infobox, you see the following:

    {{Infobox Company | company_name = The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) | company_logo = [[Image:ACCA.gif]] ..homepage = [http://www.accaglobal.com www.accaglobal.com] }} You can either change to a new image, changing Image:ACCA.gif to the location of the new image, or change the image ACCA.gif itself, and update it to a newer version. Do watch out with images, there are very sticky copyright problems surrounding them. Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 11:41, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    software programs

    differentiate between assist mode and command mode

    `````` —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.220.4.57 (talk) 12:42, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Have you tried the Computing 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 is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. NF24(radio me!Editor review) 12:44, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Total Quality Management

    Goodday my name is Macloed

    I would like to enquire on what must I do in order to be one of your students? I would also like to know how much is your studying fees for the course stated above.

    kind Regards —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.14.40.15 (talk) 13:15, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Hello, and welcome! Wikipedia is an encyclopedia project online, that is edited by millions of editors. It is not a school, it is part of a non-profit organization, Wikimedia Foundation. Please review what Wikipedia is not, and what Wikipedia is. If you're interested in education, you could check out Wikiversity, a free online education project. Cheers, Ariel♥Gold 13:22, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Maybe you saw our encyclopedia article on Total Quality Management. That is just one of more than 2 million articles and not something we offer education in. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:08, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    jose reyes

    for jose reyes page it says "is an All-Star Major League poopball worst" shortstop for the New York Mets." Please change —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.150.133.64 (talk) 13:44, 22 November 2007 (UTC) [reply]

    I did, but 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. Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 13:57, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    reading articles

    Hello, i accidentily clicked something and all the text got smaller. Please Help Me! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.192.245.140 (talk) 15:19, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    While this probably should go on the Computing reference desk, I'll answer it here. I'll assume you use Windows.
    • In Firefox: View -> Text Size -> Normal or Ctrl-0 (that is, hold Control and press Zero)
    • In Internet Explorer: View -> Text Size -> Medium will get you back to normal.
    • In Safari: View -> Make Text Normal Size
    If you don't use one of those browsers, try looking in the View menu. If the appropriate option isn't there, then look in the Help file. Hope this helps! NF24(radio me!Editor review) 15:31, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Conflict with infoboxes for space

    I'm know not everyone sees a page displayed the same way, so it could be just the way I've got my computers set up, but I get pages loading with excess whitespace due to pictures trying to clear the bottom of infoboxes, in some articles sub titles have become divorced from content for the same reason. (examples of this in articles I've tried to edit this out of include Ma On Shan Station‎, Shek Mun Station‎ and Heng On Station I've also had an edit to correct this reverted on FN FNC (see Talk:FN FNC and an offer to reposition the pictures in Polish Air Force refused), should I presume that pages are cleanly laid out, but that my computers refuse to display them properly or that in fact there is something wrong with such pages and that they need to be rejigged. Thanks. KTo288 (talk) 16:38, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    There is no problem with your computer at all. This is what infoboxes do in some browsers. They distort the area around them. However some browsers wrap them differently than others so the same article renders differently depending if you have Firefox or Explorer for example. Sometimes it looks markedly better in one of these browsers. Dr.K. (talk) 17:13, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Just dealing with Hong Kong railway articles for the moment, the problem with them is there just isn't enough content. These aren't a browser issue, they'll look bad on any computer/browser setup. As far as I can see there's three different ways to lay out these articles:
    1. Put both the "Neighbouring stations" and "External links" sections to the left of the infobox (as I've done in Ma On Shan Station)
    2. Put the "Neighbouring stations" section to the left of the infobox but "External links" underneath (as Shek_Mun_Station)
    3. Put both sections underneath the infobox (as Heng_On_Station)
    I don't know which of these are best. #3 would be the most conservative. (BTW, you should never add loads of blank lines, that's one thing that will look fine for some users and messed up for others. You can add the {{clear}} template above a section heading to make sure it appears below the infobox.) -- DatRoot 19:04, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Wikipedia:How to fix bunched-up edit links may be relevant to these problems. --Teratornis (talk) 19:41, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks to you all for responding, it explains alot as I use Firefox on one computer and IE on another (and there I was thinking it was the monitor setup) and thanks to DatRoot for fixing my misguided attempts. Is there anyway to know how things will look to other users with different settings, and what would be a good compromise to stick to so that pages will look acceptable to as many users as possible. Thanks again. KTo288 (talk) 20:52, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Between IE7 and and the latest versions of the other browsers, there really isn't much difference, so you don't normally have to worry; there's only a few things that might look better in one browser or the other. I think IE6 might give some problems, and unfortunately a large chunk of people still use it. But I don't have access to a copy at the moment so I can't check.
    To make sure things look right, you just have to load the page in both browsers. If the machine you've got Firefox loaded on is Windows, you'll still have IE on it to fire up and check, or there's a Firefox extension called "IE Tab" that lets you quickly switch a page between rendering engines within Firefox. Also try resizing the window a bit to make sure things don't look too bad at lower resolutions. -- DatRoot 21:29, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Cheers for your time and advice, and thanks again. KTo288 (talk) 16:29, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Skillet

    The Skillet article has gone south. It used to be a redirect to Frying pan. Then User:Dj245 changed the page from a redirect to an article again, and added info about a piping component that is also called a skillet [20]. Then someone else removed the ==Piping Component== subheader. Talk:Skillet btw. still redirects to Talk:Frying pan. The result of these edits is that as of this writing, Skillet is only about the piping component, and Frying pan and some other meaning can only be reached via an italics disambiguation header in the Skillet article. This is clearly wrong. The definition of "skillet" as "frying pan" is vastly more common than the piping component definition. The piping component may be valid info (though the link to a manufacturer of them is borderline spam), but if anything it should be a secondary, disambiguated article, eg. Piping skillet. Skillet should again be made a redirect to Frying pan. The reason why I am aking for help here is that I cannot create new articles, and therefore can't create a Piping skillet article -- only registered users can do that, and I oppose to the discrimination against anonymous users on the English Wikipedia as a matter of principle. Non-account users should have the same rights as account holders, as they do in other Wikipedias. So someone else needs to fix the Skillet article -- or better yet fix your discriminatory practices. 86.56.42.155 (talk) 17:07, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    There is some hot debate on stopping the restricion on article creation by annons. I would change what you proposed, but am unsure what is the better way to do things: Move Skillet to Piping skillet and make Skillet a redirect to frying pan again, or make a new article for piping skillet, and redirect skillet to frying pan. (The issue is where the page history ends up.) Anyone bright ideas on this one? Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 17:14, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Unregistered users will have more chance of regaining the same rights as registered users (which they had in Wikipedia's early years) when unregistered users stop contributing 97% of Wikipedia's vandalism. Vandalism is not merely an inconvenience for the constructive users (both registered and unregistered) who clean it up - sufficiently harmful vandalism threatens the existence of the entire project (see: Siegenthaler controversy). Since vandals overwhelmingly prefer to edit without registering, it is extremely difficult to implement effective anti-vandalism strategies which avoid collectively punishing all unregistered users. This is similar to the real-world problem in which virtually all suicide bombers are muslims, but there is no effective way to identify the minority of muslims who are likely to become suicide bombers, and scrutinize only them. This creates problems for the majority of muslims who have no interest in committing suicide attacks, but their problems come from the suicide bombers, not from the governments the suicide bombers deliberately seek to provoke. Therefore, you should voice your complaints against unregistered users who vandalize Wikipedia, not against Wikipedia which must use every tool at its disposal to preserve its existence. I could almost sympathize with your plight if registering an account was as difficult as changing one's religion can be, but that is hardly the case. --Teratornis (talk) 18:42, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I've gone ahead and turned Skillet into a disambiguation page. There are at least three topics, and the main topic is a Frying pan. However, I don't think it's appropriate to redirect everyone to Frying pan, and put the other links at the top, so I've made a small disambiguation page for now. I've also gone through and (manually, ugh) fixed all the double-redirects this made. People are free to create the article for Piping skillet, but the current version was unsourced and the only external link was to a commercial site. -- Kesh (talk) 18:58, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    help me again

    a hard days night —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.253.198.153 (talk) 17:17, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Could you explain your exact problem? Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 17:19, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    We have A Hard Day's Night as a disambiguation page, if that's any help. --Teratornis (talk) 19:44, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Quick Query

    How do I get Jimbo Wales to speak at my youth club in De Aar, South Africa? --Buzzzzzzzzz (talk) 17:26, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Not sure. You could ask him. This may need to go through the Foundation, though. Cheers, :) Dlohcierekim 17:33, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Tell Jimmy to meet at the De Aar Youth Club, Von Kloek Road, De Aar, South Africa at 5:00pm on 6th December 2007 and I will give him a cash settlement of R4000. --Buzzzzzzzzz (talk) 17:46, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The best way to contact Jimbo if you want him to speak somewhere is by email at wikispeaker@gmail.com; that's the recommended address to use (see Jimbo's userpage). --ais523 17:50, 22 November 2007 (UTC)
    No just tell him the above address to meet me there please.--Buzzzzzzzzz (talk) 18:09, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The efficient method, and one with higher probability of success, would be to videoconference your youth club to one of the many venues where Jimbo Wales has already been scheduled to speak. --Teratornis (talk) 18:12, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You will need to contact him yourself; we are not in a position to get him to go to your event. If you have a budget of ZAR4000 (~US$585) you may be better served to use the videoconference method. Stifle (talk) 15:09, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    SMALL TEXT! HELP

    I recently reinstalled my OS (Vista) and now Wikipedia is only showing articles in tiny (4pt-ish) text. It's incredibly irritating and I don't know how to fix it. I know it's likely to be a technical issue at my end but can anyone offer any advice? Wikipedia (and other wiki sites) are the only sites on which this occurs. Thanks. Martin Leng (talk) 18:20, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    That would be a problem with your internet browser, not your OS, although it is odd it happened just then. Try pressing Ctrl++ (Control button with the plus button), or holding Ctrl while scrolling with the mouse wheel. If neither of those work, there should be a "Text size" option under the "View" menu. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:31, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    That didn't work. There is also a greater distance between the lines than there was previously. Martin Leng (talk) 18:34, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    If it's only happening on Wikipedia, maybe it's an issue with a badly-cached stylesheet. If the problem persists despite setting the text size to normal, try bypassing your cache. --ais523 18:35, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

    Nope. :( This is really irritating... I use this site all the time. Martin Leng (talk) 18:43, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    What Web browser are you using, and can you try installing another one for a sanity check? --Teratornis (talk) 18:45, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You might find some help under WP:EIW#Browser, but with your current problem the help might be difficult to read. Do you see a normal font size when you view the page source in your browser? --Teratornis (talk) 18:47, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Also, what size do the following appear at? Which one is bigger?

    Absolute • Relative

    I seem to remember problems IE sometimes has with text size on absolutely vs. relatively specified sizes (which is what I've used here); this test may help to tell if that's the problem. --ais523 18:50, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

    Relative is larger, but still not as large as it should be (it's about the size as the caption text under a picture on normal Wikipedia). Also, I just installed Firefox and there isn't a problem there.

    Also just noticed that numbers and mathematical formulae are being displayed in Curlz MT on some pages. (!?) Martin Leng (talk) 18:58, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Well, the obvious solution at this point would be to give up and use Firefox, but that's not overly helpful. As for the math, if you go to your preferences, under the math tab, you can make all math formulas display as images (Always render PNG). I'm still at a loss about the font size. Hersfold (t/a/c) 19:05, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    This is the point at which I suggest trying Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing and Wikipedia:Village pump (technical); I can't think of anything else, but maybe someone else on one of those pages can. --ais523 19:09, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

    how do i get an account?

    how do i get an account top be able to post my own information? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.81.166.148 (talk) 19:13, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You can quickly and easily sign up for an account by clicking "Sign in/create account" in the top-right corner of any page. I hope you enjoy being a Wikipedian! NF24(radio me!Editor review) 19:18, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Ad to purchase Robert Parker's Spencer books

    I would like to know if there is someplace I could post an ad wanting to buy all 35 of the Spencer Series by Robert Parker books75.72.2.30 (talk) 19:42, 22 November 2007 (UTC).[reply]

    With respect, this is an encyclopedia. I believe E-bay offers the opportunity to do this kind of thing however. Thanks! Pedro :  Chat  19:44, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Also, try Craigslist.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:22, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Avril

    how do i put info about Avril Lavigne on Wikipedia/ on her wikipedia space? I have info on her tour. Thank you! :D —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.2.224.197 (talk) 21:21, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Avril Lavigne is semi-protected so it can only be edited by at least 4 days old accounts. You can suggest changes at Talk:Avril Lavigne, or make an account and wait 4 days. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:48, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for trying to help. We value your input. Please note however that your information must be "verifiable" by our particular definition. Please see WP:V, and please cite your sources. -Arch dude (talk) 04:46, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikipedia pages

    76.177.241.149 (talk)How do you make Wikipedia Pages? —Preceding comment was added at 22:55, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You will need to first register an account, which has many benefits, including the ability to create articles. Once you have registered, 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 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. --Silver Edge (talk) 22:59, 22 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    November 23

    Listing an article to another name!

    I've created an article Something To Sing About under Irma P. Hall who star in this film. How can I list that article to another name like Darius McCrary? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bamgermany2000 (talk • contribs) 00:22, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You created the article Something to Sing About (film). Maybe you did it by clicking the former redlink in Irma P. Hall#Filmography, but that doesn't mean the new article is somehow "under" Irma P. Hall. It's an article like any other and can be linked like any other, by adding [[Something to Sing About (film)]] to an article. Or better: the piped link [[Something to Sing About (film)|Something to Sing About]] which was and still is in Irma P. Hall#Filmography. It's necessary to have the same capitalization in the link and article name. Silver Edge has fixed that in Darius McCrary.[21] PrimeHunter (talk) 01:15, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    So does it have to be the exactly the same for another name? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bamgermany2000 (talk • contribs) 01:20, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm not sure what you mean. Exactly the same as what, and which other name? If you want an article to link to Something to Sing About (film) then the article should contain either [[Something to Sing About (film)]] with that exact capitalization, or [[Something to Sing About (film)|displayed text]], where the part before | has that exact capitalization, and "displayed text" can be any text you want to be displayed where the link is. Your link in [22] is correct. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:33, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    website link in article

    how link website in article —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hank1942 (talk • contribs) 00:36, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    See Wikipedia:External links#How to link. --Silver Edge (talk) 00:46, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    add article to a category

    could you please tell me how to add an article to a category and if there are guidelines surrounding this. thanks--Greg Devine (talk) 01:33, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You can type [[Category:Category name]] to categorise an article. NF24(radio me!Editor review) 01:38, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    That works in linking the article to the category but how do i get my article as a link in the category itself as it does not appear. in this case the category is "Food writers" and i would like to add a name to their list in alphabetical order. thanks--Greg Devine (talk) 01:49, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You can add this to the bottom of Manuela Darling-Gansser:
    {{DEFAULTSORT:Darling-Gansser, Manuela}}
    [[Category:Food writers]]
    The second line places a link to Manuela Darling-Gansser in Category:Food writers without editing the category directly. The first line sorts the link by the surname. See more at Help:Category. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:23, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Thanks PrimeHunter much appreciated.--Greg Devine (talk) 02:28, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Advertising

    I've been hitting "Random article" and copyediting if I feel like it. I'm seeing a lot of pages that are nothing more than cut-and-paste promotional material straight from corporate headquarters, obviously placed into Wikipedia as part of some marketing or PR strategy, what you call astroturfing, I believe. I want to kill them (the articles, not the corporations, usually). How do I kill them? --Milkbreath (talk) 01:44, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    See WP:CSD, you are probably looking for the Spam/advertising one (G11), and the copyvio one (G12). For less serious infractions of policy, ie ones that can be remedied per the CSD criteria, you can tag it with {{Advert}}. Hope this is helps. Woodym555 (talk) 01:49, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You'll find the scripts Twinkle and [[WP::-)|Friendly]] useful for speeding up the process if you start doing a lot of tagging. Twinkle automates deletion tagging, while Friendly automates cleanup tagging. (Plus a few other features with each, but you won't need those for what you're doing.) You don't need these, but they do make things quite a bit faster. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 02:31, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    First, read WP:CSD to be absolutely sure you understand the rules. We don't want to trash articles that may be redeemable. If an article may be redeemable but is currently blatant advertizing, then convert it to a stub by removing the hype. This will often reduce the article to a single sentence. If the article is not redeemable, place the tag {{db-spam}} or {db-copyvio}} as appropriate. If unsure, place the tag {{advert}}. -Arch dude (talk) 04:39, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Internal Linking of logs

    I was wondering if it is possible to internally link to a users or admins logs, such as my move log. How would I create an internal link to this page, I figured it was something like [[Special:Log/moves&user=Gonzo_fan2007]] but that just links to a blank logs page. Thanks for any help.
    Gonzo fan2007 talk ♦ contribs 01:59, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I don't believe you can, due to the way that Special:Log works. NF24(radio me!Editor review) 02:05, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    here, this should work. VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 11:28, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    photo usage

    i've uploaded an image for my article from the subjects webpage and it has been deleted without notes. what are the copyright requirements as i said that i had permission from the owner of the copywrite and sited the original and the web based source of the photo. what more must be done?--Greg Devine (talk) 02:47, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Needs a copyright tag, and also needs proof of what you are saying. Lex T/C Guest Book 02:49, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Ok. How do i make a copyright tag? plus what if i upload i photo i've taken myself how do i prove that?--Greg Devine (talk) 02:55, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    If you assert that you took the photo yourself, then we believe you. Simply add the correct tag, ({{self}}). This asserts that you took the photo and are therefore the copyright holder, and that you are hereby granting a copyuright license via the GFDL. Using any photograph thta you did not take yourself is a lot more hassle. -Arch dude (talk) 04:27, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • I don't blankly believe a tag - I'm paranoid like that. Be sure you correctly tag your images. If you wrongly tag an image as self when it isn't yours, it's you who get in trouble - not Wikipedia. If you are unsure, post here and tell where the image came from. - Mgm|(talk) 19:54, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Absolutely. Please do not lie to us. If you took the picture, tell us. If you did not yourself take the picture, do not lie to us, first because it's just not right, and second because it will cause problems later. My earlier comment was in response to your question about your own pictures. The point I was taking was that you do not need to do anything to prove you took the picture when you make your assertion.. By implication, however if you lie and the real copyright holder questions the picture, then you will need to prove that it is yours, or we will take it down. -Arch dude (talk) 00:48, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Entertainer Bob Newhart

    --70.228.79.35 (talk) 03:50, 23 November 2007 (UTC)–I would like to know if Bob Newhart is still alive and how to send an e-mail to him. I heard he had died, so I wouldn't write then.[reply]

    Rev. Melvin W. Lindberg <email removed>

    Hello. Neither our article on Bob Newhart nor Google news gives any indication that Mr. Newhart has shuffled off this mortal coil. I can't help you with sending an email to him, and this page is for asking questions about using Wikipedia. Knowledge questions such as this are better asked at the entertainment section of the reference desk. By the way, for your own protection, please don't post your email to any public and highly visible pages such as this. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:17, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Research project about Wikipedians

    Hi! I'm a student in a business school in Europe and I am leading a research to know wikipedians better. I would really be pleased if you could answer these few question (easy and short) wikipedia survey

    Thank you a lot for your help! (and sorry for the possible language mistakes) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.51.16.187 (talk) 10:34, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Help

    Is there an oversight who is ready to listen to my problems? Govattino (talk) 11:01, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Are you looking for an Administrator? Perhaps you could give some information as to what your problems are; I notice this is your only edit. Raven4x4x (talk) 11:09, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    "Oversight" has a very specific meaning in Wikipedia: If you want to semi-permanently remove individual edits from an article's history then see Wikipedia:Oversight and Wikipedia:Requests for oversight. If that is not your problem then post the problem here and somebody will look at it. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:12, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikipedia is unusual in that almost all activity is handled by volunteers who have not been granted any particular authority by anybody. We call these people "editors." There are about one million registered editors, and you are one of them. Yes, those of us who hang out here at the help desk will listen to your problems. So what's your problem? Note that we have sorted ourselves out into the types of questions we are interested in answering. Look over at the Reference desk for knowledge problems in several fields. Here at the help desk, we answer question about using Wikipedia. When our semi-chaotic approach to life is not working, we do have several other approaches to problem-solving, but most of them are merely slightly more formal ways by which editors reach consensus. If you think you need individual attention, just put {{helpme}} on your talk page or user page, or just leave me a note on my talk page and I'll try to find someone to help you. -Arch dude (talk) 00:37, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    At the moment there are 48,529,310 registered users on the English Wikipedia (this one), just in case anyone is interested in the exact number. However, not all of those editors are currently active. Some have lost interest; some have forgotten their passwords and can no longer log in; some are deceased. It's possible that Wikipedia will outlive all of its current editors, which might make it difficult for new users to choose "good" usernames 100 years from now, because our usernames will last as long as Wikipedia does. By then, perhaps all the new users will be cyborgs. --Teratornis (talk) 07:26, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Very good point. Finding a username sure is gonna suck for them. - Rjd0060 (talk) 07:30, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Image question

    There's an image I want to upload to Wiki. I'm in contact with the copyright holder and he's given me permission, but with the caveats that the image is attributed, only used for educational purposes and if I provide him with a link to the page where the image was used. I'm just not sure what tag would be appropriate for use of this image. Can someone help? Gatoclass (talk) 11:58, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Images uploaded to Wikipedia must be able to be used by everyone. Educational-use-only images are not allowed. NF24(radio me!Editor review) 12:54, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Okay, I'll see if I can persuade him to release it under the public domain + attribution licence. Gatoclass (talk) 13:17, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    But wait a minute, what about fair use? Doesn't that allow you to upload non-free images? Would there be a fair use tag I might be able to use instead? Gatoclass (talk) 13:49, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    What's it an image of? If it's a living person or a building that's still standing, it's pretty much an automatic no. Otherwise, it might be usable.
    Public domain + attribution is only one possibility, see WP:BRP for more options. Stifle (talk) 15:05, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Blocking

    Should someone be blocked if they vandalize their own userpage, as in User talk:212.219.188.132? Sseballos (talk) 15:07, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Nevermind, Situation resolved. Sseballos (talk) 15:09, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    For future reference, it is not against policy for any editor to blank their talk pages, and removing the notices placed there simply is an indication that they have been read. (This is why using edit summaries when warning editors is helpful, so when looking through a talk page history, one can see "level 2 warning" or "final warning" messages easily.) In the case of shared IPs however, removal of the shared IP header and notices that serve to let admins know of the history of the shared IP, should be reverted, as it could be many editors, and in that case, the talk page should not be blanked. See Wikipedia:Talk_page_guidelines#User_talk_pages for details. ADD: However, after checking, that IP is indeed, an educational shared IP, so I'll put that header on the talk page. :o) Ariel♥Gold 15:22, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    edits

    I want to edit a small grammatical error on the "Black Friday" entry, but the edit tab does not appear on the page anywhere. How am I supposed to make edits when this arises? Thanks 68.106.158.189 (talk) 15:29, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Doesn't the edit this page tab appear at the top of the article, inbetween discussion and history? You can do it that way. Lradrama 15:30, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Black Friday is a disambiguation page, with no section headings, and thus no section heading edit links, but it does have an "edit this page" tab at the top, at least that I can see. Let us know if your browser is not displaying that tab. --Teratornis (talk) 15:58, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    What is the exact name of the page you refer to? Black Friday is not protected so you can edit it, but some Wikipedia pages are protected, for example Black Friday (shopping). You can suggest changes to that page at Talk:Black Friday (shopping). It's only semi-protected so you can also create an account and wait 4 days. See more at Wikipedia:Protection policy. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:07, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Completeness vs verifiability

    I've been writing the article on circular chess (aside from one or two minor edits, mostly in order to Wikify the article, it's all by me); thus far I have added accounts of the World Championships up to 2006, which are verifiable as they appear on the Circular Chess Society website - that is, the facts stated in the accounts are verifiable, although the text is not copied directly. I could add a report of the 2007 tournament, since I attended it, but this would not be verifiable, since no such report appears on the society's website (I don't know why it hasn't been updated). Without a report of this year's tournament, however, the article looks incomplete/out of date. Should I add it or not? - Chile Nose Jam (talk) 18:28, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'd add it. It's always useful to have references, but if it's obsolete, then I could try and find a source for you, if you want that is. Best, Rudget.talk 18:39, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Page deletion

    Dear,

    I had created a page for PowerPlay Manager and this has been deleted. But I have read the rules before I even started typing the texts. I agree that you delete the PowerPlay Manager page, but please give me a clear reason. As I have tried to make it non sensationalist, non commercial, correct in spelling,...in general: according to the rules.

    I appreciate your work at wikipedia,

    The Belgium Captain of PowerPlay Manager, --Vjeetje (talk) 19:37, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    • You can see a reason for any deletion by entering the exact page in the deletion log. In this case it was deleted for lack of notability. It's generally not a good idea to write articles about companies or websites that haven't yet started because those will inevitably be perceived as an attempt to advertise and draw in visitors. It's probably not a good idea when it is up and running either. Only the most popular websites and the ones with the most impact on the world or media are suitable for inclusion. Also, although the rules don't disallow it, WP:COI does say it is a very bad idea to create an article about an entity you're directly involved with. - Mgm|(talk) 19:47, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Editing Question

    On such pages about bands or movies on the side of the page it has a box saying members, former members, area, formed, etc. How do I create that into a page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thereinforcements (talk • contribs) 20:03, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    They are called infoboxes and there are many different. They are often made with templates, for example {{Infobox Musical artist}} and {{Infobox Film}}. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:01, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    wikipedia is racist

    against ips we should stand up fur our rites

    o and my question is why1!??!?!?!?!?[!]?!?!?!?!?!? why wiki do u not accept my edits tiem and time again dey disapear i think they were fine but noone (lol bastardisation of no one) cares bout opinions of ips it so frustrating omg

    o and fur sttupid bots lol: --72.171.0.146 (talk) 20:11, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Bots have to be authorised, so they are obviously doing a good job, other wise they would be stopped (or blocked) until the issue could be resolved. The most probably chance of edits to articles/other pages not remaining on Wikipedia for long is because they are either 1) vandalism or 2) violations of the biographies of living persons policy. —Qst 20:13, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    How to get answer to posed Talk

    I wrote a question about Greta Garbos music in her section...in discussion...but don't know how I will get the response. Where do i go to get the reply, if there is one? THnak you Michael MAher —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rathdrumcowboy (talk • contribs) 20:17, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Any reply will be posted below you question on the article's talk page. If you click the "watch" tab at the top of the talk page in question, you can use your watchlist to keep an eye on the page and know when a response has been made. Hersfold (t/a/c) 21:07, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    If you refer to [23] then it is written on your own user talk page and people are not likely to see or answer it. Maybe you got to that page by clicking "my talk" at the top of a page related to Garbo. But the "my talk" link is displayed on every Wikipedia page when you are logged in and it always goes to your own talk page. Greta Garbo's Flesh and the Devil can be discussed at Talk:Flesh and the Devil (you can get there by clicking "discussion" near the top of Flesh and the Devil). But note that article talk pages are meant for discussing improvements to the article and not general discussion of the subject. Wikipedia:Reference Desk is a place where people can ask questions that are not about Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:37, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Please HELP! Looking for a ship.

    what was travelinI am trying to find a ship?, Which was travelling in 1956 from Marsielle, France - to- Yalta, Krum, Ukraine . Name of the ship was Britan or Britain or Bretagne something like that. Also I want to find names of all people, who was working on this ship. How can I do it? How can I find names of all ships g in 1956 from Marsielle, France? Please, let me know if you can help!!! <e-mail removed> 

    —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.8.114.110 (talk) 21:28, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    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 is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. NF24(radio me!) 21:38, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    adding a biography

    How can I add a biography for an artist? Thank you Bhaktirasa (talk) 21:40, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You need to create a page:
    Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
    Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.
    If you still think an article is appropriate, see 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.
    --Haemo (talk) 21:43, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Purge cache button

    I've noticed it dissapeared some time ago. Why's that? This button was pretty handy when cleaning csd categories. Refresh page sometimes just won't work (like today, that's why I am asking).--Tone 21:57, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Are you referring to a purge link inside the body of certain pages? Some pages have a purge link which is simply the normal URL for purging: The full article URL followed by ?action=purge. I have only seen such links being part of the editable page so maybe somebody just edited it out on a page where you expected to see it. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:07, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You can also install User:Voice of All/UTCclock.js (be sure to first install Addtabs from User:Voice of All/UsefulJS) which, besides giving you the UTC time (handy if you use {{unsigned}} or otherwise deal with UTC), will purge the page if you click on the clock. NF24(radio me!) 22:11, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I don't know which tools have shortcuts for purging. For an example of a page with a purge link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Broken_redirects_for_speedy_deletion has a link saying "Purge" with the URL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Broken_redirects_for_speedy_deletion?action=purge. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:14, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Yes, this is the button I was thinking of. It used to be at the csd category and at the subcategories as well some time ago. I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't edited out because of some kind of arrangment. I will put it back. Thanks. --Tone 22:19, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Template question

    Is there a template to warn users who continually use bad spelling and grammar while editing, besides {{SpellCheck}}? Thanks. NF24(radio me!) 22:45, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    No, there isn't to my knowledge, unless a user has created one by themselves, for their own use. - Rjd0060 (talk) 00:10, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Merging Question

    I'm trying to merge Society for the Promotion of Temperance into the American Temperance Society and I'm a little confused with the #REDIRECT [[PAGENAME]] {{R from merge}}. Will the Society for the Promotion of Temperance go in the brackets with PAGENAME and what will go in the "R from merge" one? Thanks!

    -Noneforall (talk) 23:58, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Hey Noneforall. You place "American Temperance Society" inside the brackets, as the other article is beijg merged into it and is thus redundant. "R from merge" on the other hand does not get replaced with any text. In its existing form, it adds text to the redirect page informing others of the merge and places the page in Category:Redirects from merges. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:05, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Since you're merging and redirecting Society for the Promotion of Temperance to American Temperance Society, then it should be #REDIRECT [[American Temperance Society]] {{R from merge}} and leave the {{R from merge}} alone. See WP:MERGE, specifically the Performing the merger section for more info. --Silver Edge (talk) 00:10, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    November 24

    EDITING tables

    I wish to make an alteration to a table that appears on several different but related articles. However, I can find no way to get into it. Nor can I find anything in the Help pages that deals with this concept. Please help. Ted Watson (talk) 00:03, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    It sounds like it's a template that is transcluded on different pages. Click "edit this page" on a page where it's displayed and the bottom of the window will have list of transcluded templates, for example Template:Warner Bros. cartoons. You can also look for the right template name inside {{...}} in the source for the article. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:12, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I presume you checked the record of my contributions, as the template you linked in is precisely the one I had in mind. More effort than I expected; well done. However, while the template is listed as "Warner Bros. cartoon characters," and in the appropriate brackets, at the bottom of the edit window for both Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny articles (and I admit that I haven't checked any others), your template link here for it was what I needed. If I should find myself in an analogous position in the future, I now know to put that name in the site's search engine preceded by "Template:", and will do so. Thanks. Not meaning to be offensive, but I believe that this is the first time I've asked a question at the Help Desk and gotten complete satisfaction from the initial response (though certainly every time the situation did get satisfactorily resolved). Maybe I've just been unlucky in the past! Anyway, thanks again. Ted Watson (talk) 16:30, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks and yes, i checked your contributions. I do that a lot at the Help Desk because it often reveals important information for the reply. You can also search templates without knowing the exact name by first clicking the "Search" button, and then checking "Template" (and optionally unchecking "Main") at the bottom of the resulting window, for example giving [24]. By the way, some boxes made by templates have their own links to the template in a corner, for example the two bottom boxes at Warner Bros., but not Template:Warner Bros. cartoons. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:46, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    How can I lock a page from people other than myself and/or my IP address?

    well people have been vandalizing my articles and my user page so how can I lock a page from people other than my user name and/or my IP address? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kotosb (talk • contribs) 00:57, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You have to make a request for page protection. -Yamanbaiia (talk) 01:02, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Note that you are entitled to protection of your user page but as for the articles, they are not "yours", and protection will only be granted if there is a recent pattern of vandalism. There is no protection that would entitle you, and only you, to edit a certain page. There is semi-protection which would not allow any IP users / user's who's accounts are less than 4 days old to edit, and there is Full protection which does not allow anybody to edit, except for Administrators. - Rjd0060 (talk) 01:23, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Showing that I've cleaned up an article

    If I've just cleaned up an article that needs cleanup according to the community portal, how should I inform Wikipedia that I cleaned it up? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hostile Amish (talk • contribs) 02:26, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You can remove the cleanup tag from the article if you feel you have improved an article enough to warrant removal of the tag. NF24(radio me!) 02:29, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You don't need to inform us about it but you can't write in the article space that you cleaned it up. Tim Q. Wells (talk) 02:39, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    world of warcraft

    I just have a technical question for you. My boys have WORLD OF WARCRAFT at my house, can they play there game at there Dads house, he lives in another home? Or does he have to have his own account?

    Thank you, Jackie —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.109.171.167 (talk) 02:44, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    This is for questions about using Wikipedia, please go here. Thanks. Cheers,JetLover (Report a mistake) 02:47, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • Accounts, like the one for World of Warcraft and Wikipedia are attached to a player. As long as the player can reproduce the right username and password they can use it on any computer that is capable of running the game or site you want to access.- Mgm|(talk) 10:32, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    "Edit this page" issue

    I've had an account here for more than a year, and have never had an issue like this. For the past week or so, whenever I've clicked on the "edit this page" tab at the top of the page to edit an article, I've been unable to, getting a popup saying: 

    _______________________________________________
|Do you want to save this file?                |
|                                              |
|  Name: index.php                             |
|  Type: Unknown File Type, 219 bytes          |
|  Form: en.wikipedia.org                      |
|           __________  __________             |
|           |  Save  |  | Cancel |             |
|           ----------  ----------             |
|______________________________________________|

    I've never had this problem before, and I have no idea what to do. I can click the "+" tab to create a new section on talk pages with no problem. But I can't click the "edit this page" without getting that popup. Is there anything that I can do? Ksy92003(talk) 03:55, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Try going to Special:Preferences, the 'editing' tab, and making sure that 'Use external editor by default' is unchecked. Raven4x4x (talk) 05:05, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    It could also be a browser problem; make sure that you've updated to the latest version. You may also want to check file-related settings (in Windows, for example, Control Panel->Folder Options->File Types), where you may be able to revert changes made by a rogue software program. Nice ASCII drawing, by the way. =P NF24(radio me!) 12:53, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The "Special:Preferences" change worked. It does somehow amaze me, Raven4x4x, that you were able to identify the issue. I wasn't sure anybody could figure out what was going on. So thanks. I realized that if I did anything under the IP address of my computer that I didn't have that problem, and I remember that several days ago I was looking at the preferences and checked that box just to see what would happen... apparently I found out and didn't even realize it. Thank you so much. That was really starting to bug me to death. And NASCAR Fan, thanks for complimenting my ASCII drawing... I'm actually somewhat good at those, but horrible in real-life on-paper drawings :-) Ksy92003(talk) 14:33, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    If you like ASCII art, you may be interested in List of text editors#ASCII art. I don't know how Raven4x4x solved the problem, but this problem comes up on the Help desk every month or so, so I would suspect it was a matter of recalling the solution. For example, search the Wikipedia Help desk archive for "use external editor by default". --Teratornis (talk) 19:25, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks! I've been browsing the help desk for a while, and this problem does come up semi-frequently. I recognised the 'index.php' message. Raven4x4x (talk) 23:02, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Categories in templates

    Suppose I made a deletion template and wanted whatever page it was applied to, I wanted that page to be added in the Pages Nominated for Deletion category. I figured I would just put [[:Category: Pages Nominated for Deletion]] in the template, but it gives me that string literally. How can I do this? 209.81.124.72 (talk) 05:02, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Write [[Category:Pages Nominated for Deletion]] without ':' (and choose an existing category). If you don't want the template page itself to be in the category then write <includeonly>[[Category:Pages Nominated for Deletion]]</includeonly>. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:36, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    And note there is a Wikipedia:Deletion policy with corresponding templates. Don't make your own deletion template without discussion. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:39, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Is this really wikipedia?

    Resolved
     – Issue is resolved, right?

    VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 11:44, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Is this really wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Has no brain (talk • contribs) 05:25, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Yes, the domain is wikipedia.org so this is the real thing. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:23, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    The question is reasonable because Wikipedia has many mirrors and forks, although those I have seen tend to look different than the real one. --Teratornis (talk) 19:27, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I know it's reasonable. That's why I gave the crucial evidence: wikipedia.org in the domain. A mirror could potentially fake everything else. I haven't seen it attempted, but I have seen other sites make misleading claims about Wikipedia association. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:28, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You gave a reasonable answer so I know you know the question is reasonable. I should have been more clear that I was directing my comment at other potential readers who might think the question was unreasonable, lest someone else would feel inclined to chime in with "Of course this is Wikipedia." However, see Pharming - it might be possible for a sufficiently motivated evil genius to hijack the domain name and transfer some users to a bogus site. I have not heard of anybody pharming Wikipedia yet, but I don't hear everything. --Teratornis (talk) 01:28, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I suppose an evil hacker could also hack some readers browser and make it display a false domain at a fake site, without having to hijack the displayed domain. I don't know whether this has occurred. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:44, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    What's with Northern English Nationality Association of South England?

    What's with this Northern English Nationality Association of South England article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Has no brain (talk • contribs) 06:01, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    It has now been deleted as patent nonsense. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:23, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    PLEASE THIS IS URGET READ NOW!!!

    Resolved
     – Admin deleted image

    VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 11:42, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Ive uploaded a picture to the Matthew Underwood wikipedia page and i dont own the copyright to it please get rid of it for me because i dont know how to pllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssssssseeeeeeee —Preceding unsigned comment added by IV21GAL (talk • contribs) 06:53, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Deleted. John Reaves 07:05, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Hi

    Hi i am trying to edit the page Steve McClaren but it says "This page is currently semi-protected, and can be edited only by established registered users". How many edits do I need to make to become an established user? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.72.5.42 (talk) 08:41, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Pages that are semi-protected "disables editing from anonymous users and registered accounts less than four days old," so you can create an account and wait four days, or make a suggestion of your edit at Talk:Steve McClaren. It seems Talk:Steve McClaren has been semi-protected as well, so you can make a suggestion of your edit here and another user may edit it into the article. --Silver Edge (talk) 08:54, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You could also use the "requests for significant edits to a protected page", here. Regards, Rudget.talk 14:47, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Talk page seems to have been unprotected, you can now make any edit requests there. VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 07:52, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    e-mail

    dear sir , when i was creating my account i was in a hurry and forgot to provide my e-mail address . how can provide/change my e-mail address ?? siddharth —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sidb252 (talk • contribs) 15:04, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Click "My preferences" at the top of the page. Type your e-mail in the "E-mail (optional)" box. NF24(radio me!) 15:06, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Or just click here. - Rjd0060 (talk) 15:53, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Interpreting policy

    This is with the regards to the MS Explorer article and the accident in the Antarctic. Yesterday evening a blog of a first hand account of the rescue was added to the article, which has since been deleted because an admin believed that it contravened. Although articles should not normally be linked to blogs, this blog provided a unique insight into the atmosphere and events of yesterday morning.

    The line of policy that would normally exclude blogs, is line 12 of "Links normally to be avoided" of Wikipedia:External links however the title here is "Links normally to be avoided" rather than "Links to be avoided"; and another line in "Wikipedia:External links" under Links to be considered offers the following "Sites which fail to meet criteria for reliable sources yet still contain information about the subject of the article from knowledgeable sources." I take this to mean that under some circumstances less than reliable sources may be linked to if they offer something unique. Is this one of those cases in which the blog policy could be set aside? KTo288 (talk) 17:47, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I took a look but was not able to find the specific removal. My question is, was it a blog added to an external links section, or was it a blog linked as a source? If the former, nevermind, move on to the next comment. If the latter, WP:EL is not the policy you should be looking at. The issue is whether the blog constitutes a reliable source. See also Wikipedia:Verifiability#Sources and Wikipedia:Reliable source examples.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 18:02, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    It was in the external links section. KTo288 (talk) 18:51, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • If the blog was clearly by a researcher involved in the whole thing, then it really doesn't matter it is a blog. Some people believe blogs are de facto unreliable without taking into account the author's identity. - Mgm|(talk) 10:19, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Account Closure

    How to close account of Wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fznreturns (talk • contribs) 18:14, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm sorry, there is no way to close a Wikipedia account. If you do not want to contribute, scramble your password and remove email, that way, you will be unable to retrieve the password and the account will go stale. Regards, Neranei (talk) 18:19, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    To comply with the terms under which all contribution are licensed, an account cannot be deleted. Just stop using the account is the easiest thing to do. 87.114.135.129 (talk) 18:22, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    See also Wikipedia:Right to vanish. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:19, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Searching categories

    I'd like to do a search of articles that are in multiple categories. For example, Category:Stub-Class Ancient Egypt articles and also in Category:Top-importance Ancient Egypt articles. There should be exactly two articles that are in both categories. How do these kinds of searches? Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 19:19, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Go to WP:EIW#Cat, and scroll down to the "Intersection of two categories:" heading. By "a search of articles" do you mean merely to list the titles of articles that are in multiple categories, or to search the text of those articles for key words? --Teratornis (talk) 19:30, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I entered my previous answer quickly to avoid an edit conflict (common when answering the newest question). The index entry of interest is: m:User:Duesentrieb/CatScan - CatScan is a tool that can do various types of category scans, including intersection (may or may not be using up-to-date version of database). --Teratornis (talk) 19:32, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Yes, that's it. Worked like a charm, thanks. Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 19:42, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Inserting an image

    I uploaded my image, but I cannot figure how to incorporate it in the page i want to? Please advise —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jakekent (talk • contribs) 19:43, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Add to the page [[Image:name|thumb|right|caption text]]. See WP:IMAGE for further information.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 20:35, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    By the way you need to add an image copyright tag to Image:California prison growth.gif, indicating what license the image is released under. Without a tag the image will be deleted. --teb728 (talk) 20:39, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Image:Einstein_Memorial.jpg

    Image:Einstein_Memorial.jpg was uploaded to Commons and later deleted from Wikipedia as a duplicate of Commons. It was just deleted from Commons as derivative; so the Wikipedia copy should be restored. Is this a good place to request that? If not, where? --teb728 (talk) 20:20, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    This must be a good place to make your request as it worked:-)--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 20:32, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Default Signature for anons .. .. ..

    Why did it change? There's no policy against anons having user pages, so logically there's no reason not to link to an anon user's user page in their signature.. .. ..--172.135.106.105 22:03, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Well, it is a pseudo-policy as it is technically impossible for anons to create their userpage due to the software. GDonato (talk) 22:08, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I could for instance slap a {{helpme}} template on my talk page and ask someone to create a user page for me.. .. .. besides, it's not a software limitation, nor is it policy, it's just the decision of a handful of users that anons can't be trusted to create new pages, even though some of wikipedia's oldest and best developed articles were originally created by anons back in 2002, 2003, and 2004.. .. ..--172.168.226.201 22:14, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Oh please, it's not about lack of trust, it's about the fact that most IP addresses don't have user pages, and for the sake of accessibility to the pages needed to be accessed most (i.e. contributions and talk pages), the default signature now links to only the contributions page and the talk page. There is no policy against IP addresses having user pages, and it is completely possible to create for IP addresses to create their own pages. Spebi 22:20, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    The problem is that an IP Address will change periodically, so if you create a page under your IP, in 2 weeks, someone else will be using that IP Address, and that user page will belong to that person. To avoid confusion, we recommend you Create an Account. Lex T/C Guest Book 22:37, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    By the way, notice that your signature DOES link to your (non-)user page. --teb728 (talk) 22:43, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Only if I sign manually, otherwise it looks like this .. .. ..--172.135.100.242 (talk) 23:06, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Are you aware that you used 3 different IP addresses in this section? (Assuming all 3 are you). If your IP changes every few minutes then a user page seems pointless as I just wrote at User talk:172.168.226.201, but you may already be gone from that IP. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:16, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    If I wanted to I could keep it completely static and confine all my posts to one IP. --172.135.135.208 00:50, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    can anyone help me

    i asked about the hard days night movie and no one even helped me! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.253.198.153 (talk) 23:25, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm sory to hear that, please can you explain in further detail what you mean? Thanks! —Qst 23:27, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    If you want to know information about the movie, you may want to ask at the Reference Desk - we're only here to help you use Wikipedia. Hersfold (t/a/c) 23:30, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    (Edit conflict)Well in defence of the people who help here, you did only just ask "hards days night" which is extremely vague putting it bluntly, I suggest if you want to ask a question about the subject in question go to the reference desk, there is a link on the top of the page in red and underlined.--KerotanLeave Me a Message Have a nice day :) 23:31, 24 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    To be precise, the help request [25] at #help me again said "a hard days night" and nothing else. One editor asked what you wanted and another gave a link to A Hard Day's Night. It's hard to be more helpful based on that input. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:08, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    November 25

    how do i make my own article?

    how do i make or type my own article so every one can see it on wiki. this is a really awsome site. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Souljagirl6295 (talk • contribs) 00:13, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    See Wikipedia:Your first article. Happy wiking! NF24(radio me!) 00:39, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    But if you thinking of writing an article about yourself, you can't. --teb728 (talk) 01:47, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Well it's not that you can't create an Autobiography, but doing so is strongly discouraged (see Wikipedia:Autobiography as to why). VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 06:17, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Pages are automatically being added to my watchlist

    I do vandalism reversion and sometimes I notice pages I reverted vandalism on being added to my watchlist automatically. Is their anything I can do to prevent this? Thanks.--Miss Pussy Galore (talk) 00:19, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Well, if you use twinkle, then there is a configuration available that stops this. If you are just doing it manually, then you must set your preferences to where it does not add pages by default. I (talk) 00:21, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Is it desireable to link pages of books and DVDs to Amazon? I look in Wikipedia if I want to know more about a book (customer ratings are not neutral enough in my opinion) and it would be convenient for users and probably profitable for Wikipedia.

    Generally speaking, Wikipedia does not link to commercial sites. Please see WP:EXT for more information. Jeffpw (talk) 00:26, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    See also Wikipedia:ISBN. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:12, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • If ISBNs are properly linked they already link to every possible site imaginable. Linking to Amazon would give them an unfair advantage over all the other booksellers, so that is not desireable. - Mgm|(talk) 10:13, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    User_talk:Aclinton

    SHOCKING!--144.82.106.145 (talk) 00:32, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm not sure what your question is about, could you please clarify? VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 06:18, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I think hes referring the fact that he was editing for a "newspaper" to see how fast that it would get reverted. Peachey88 (Talk Page | Contribs) 07:21, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    In fact, 144.82.106.145 is so shocked he goes on a vandalism spree himself before being blocked. Perhaps this vandalism by journalists is only encouraging other vandals. Astronaut (talk) 20:23, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Editing

    How do you make those table like things on the side of cities with their population... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Write me (talk • contribs) 02:18, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    You can for example use {{Infobox Settlement}}. There are other possibilities like many country specific infoboxes in Category:City infobox templates. You can see what an existing article did by clicking "edit this page" and looking at the source. The bottom of the window will have links to used templates. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:30, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    My user page was deleted

    I took the time to create a user page. There was a lot of content put on it. My user page was DAnglFrd. I saved my last changes and it logged me out, when i logged back in everything was gone. There was nothing in the deletion log. I was just wondering what happened.

    Fred —Preceding unsigned comment added by DAnglFrd (talk • contribs) 02:40, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    That would be the gremlins. Seriously, that is very frustrating but I checked the deletion log and no one deleted the page; it never saved. Always make it a habit of highlighting your text and copying it before clicking save and this will never happen. For really long posts or articles, it's advisable to save it for sure to a document on your computer. As for why you were logged out, that could be many things. I'm no computer expert but I can tell you they do some pretty random things at times. In any case, make sure your computer is accepting cookies, and make sure you click "remember me" when you log in. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:02, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I don’t know why you were logged out. But the fact that you were logged out explains why your page was not saved, for you can’t create a page unless you are logged in.
    I’m sorry you lost your text. In addition to Fuhghettaboutit’s suggestions, you might have been able to recover your text after the logout if you had pressed the Back button of your browser. (If you had previewed your text that is—this doesn’t work for me unless I preview.) --teb728 (talk) 06:16, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    WP Fundraising

    Hi, i just wanted to comment on WP fundraising. Sure the site is great and all but to say that without donations there would be no WP is a bit far fetched in my opinion. At worst if WP didn't have enough funds to operate then it would probably get bought out and be turned into a profit making business through ad revenue. So really you should say "donate to WP today to keep it an ad free zone". That is all. --79.72.5.42 (talk) 02:46, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    • How can someone "buy out" Wikipedia? Not only would it go against all the foundation's principles, it would be a great problem for our non-profit status and could potentially lead to lawsuits from people who donated in the past. Also, there is no company that is "in" in the sense of owning Wikipedia stock or part of the organization, so no company is in the position to buy the foundation out. - Mgm|(talk) 10:10, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    i am done

    sombody please help me with a hard days night! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.253.198.153 (talk) 03:24, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    We have attempted to help. Replied on user talk. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:46, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]


    problems registering as user

    my IP address appears to be blocked. I have a home wireless network protected with a WEP and am sure that no other "casual" users apart from my direct family would be able to access the network. However, I edited two entries on the "House of Sorgo" page because that is my family, what is written on the page covers a minor branch of the family - anyhow please let me know how to register in order to update information, and also please advise how to add pictures so that the modern coat-of-arms, and family portraits to match the historical entries can be added. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.120.68.69 (talk) 03:31, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    If you are able to edit this page, your account is not blocked. For more information on creating an account, see here. I don't see that you've made any edits to the page at House of Sorgo, so perhaps you didn't save the page. For more information there, see Help:Editing. I hope this helps. Hersfold (t/a/c) 05:14, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I notice that the last two edits to House of Sorgo were from IPs 192.169.41.47 and 203.120.68.66, both different from the 203.120.68.69 you used above. So it looks like your ISP (Pacific Internet?) constantly changes your IP. I suspect that may be your problem. Perhaps someone else can confirm and if so tell you how to deal with the situation. --teb728 (talk) 05:43, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Fictional events

    I added "The Great Silence Epidemic" from The Phantom Tollbooth to 1712 in literature under a ===Fictional Events=== heading and had it removed with a comment "real-world events only." I wasn't sure if that was just one editor's opinion or if there was a guideline on this beyond the more general rule not to write in an in-universe style. So I posted a query at WP:BOOKS back in July and got no responses whatsoever.

    Any thoughts on how I could best work to establish a consensus on this? Matchups (talk) 04:28, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I agree with its removal. It is indiscriminate information in my opinion, and trivia. The title, the context, the way encyclopedias work, begs real events; things that actually ocurred in 1712, and not any thing at all which has literature and 1712 in common. It is akin to an almanac entry in which we would never expect to find a random tidbit about a fictional listing. And we would be opening up the doors to every fictional event that can be placed in any particular year. Then there's the larger context of weight. That article starts with the text "The year 1712 in literature involved some significant events" (emphasis added). Anything and everything that ocurred in 1712 is not fair game. Likewise, the Phantom Tollbooth is a wonderful book and very notable. A segment from it is very likely not and shouldn't, by extension, be listed in that article even if fictional events were proper.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:53, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • The editor was indeed correct. You probably misunderstood the page title. If we were to include all sorts of fictional events in such articles they would become impossible to maintain. "in literature" means the page is for events about literature in the real world. - Mgm|(talk) 10:05, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    I agree with the others. Category:Fictional timelines has some timelimes for well-known fictional universes but I don't think an isolated book should get an article for it's timeline. There is no Fictional events in 1712, and Timeline of fictional historical events was deleted at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Timeline of fictional historical events. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:16, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Resolved

    Thanks, all. Although I was hoping for a different answer, I'm glad to get some answer so I can move on and contribute in more permissible ways. Matchups (talk) 13:50, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Sharing a project

    How can Share my project with Wikipedia?

    I have few pages in constuction (I am doing) for Fruit Trees: How to Improve Trees and Grapevines, To Better and Faster grow. How to graft then with different kind of grafting, I have Pictures and Designs. How to Care Trees, Grapvines.Some of these cannot be found in Books, or see in TV.!

    So for me it is inpossible to understand all your Rules.! But if some one want to help me, I think these are impotant to Share for Amateurs and Students, even to be learned in Schools, or Share in Developing Countries.?

    I even can find Wikipedia e-mail to ask them, if they want to put in Web site.

    Thank you

    Koteli

    24 November 2007 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.173.92.183 (talk) 04:58, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    The pages at Help:Starting a new page and Wikipedia:Your first article should have most of the information you need. Before you begin, please carefully read through our policies and guidelines on notability, citing reliable sources for verification, neutrality, and formatting and article layout, where many new users commonly make mistakes. You may also want to consider checking out what Wikipedia is not, the deletion policy and criteria for speedy deletion so you know specifically what to avoid when writing your article. I hope this helps. Hersfold (t/a/c) 05:10, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    In addition to that, also notice that you should not post articles of your original research. Such articles or information will be promptly deleted or reverted and also read WP:V carefully. DSachan (talk) 05:57, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Alumni referencing

    I notice a lot of educational institutions list notable alumni sections and it got me wondering about the technical aspect of referencing each individual alumnus. Is there a commonly accepted way of doing this? If so could you provide an example from WP? Many Thanks --Jamesmh2006 05:13, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

    As a rule, we only list those alumni who are notable and have existing articles on Wikipedia. We do not list all alumni from any given university or other institution, and doing so would not only require a massive technical overhaul but also (most likely) violate a few privacy laws. If there is someone notable who does have an article or is very likely to have a substantial article created about them in the near future, you are welcome to add them to the list by adding the respective page. Hersfold (t/a/c) 05:18, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Articles translated from foreign language versions

    I need a third opinion.

    If an article is translated from the foreign language version, it has to be listed on the bottom of the page, hasn't it? Seven (talk) 06:34, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    It says nothing. Wikipedia talk:Translation has something though.
    Copyrights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Translation#Copyrights Seven (talk) 11:12, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    translation of infromation from French to English

    i would like to translate articles from the French wikipedia section to English. can i do it? i am a French professor living in India. at Present I am doing my Ph.D. in French literature. i also hold a Master's Degree in English. also why there are no wikipedia sites in Indian Languages? could you answer me please —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.11.44.177 (talk) 07:19, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I think you might want to check out this page: Wikipedia:Pages needing translation into English. Of course Wikipedia is glad to accept your offer. VivioFateFan (Talk, Sandbox) 07:37, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    There are Wikipedias in Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, and many other languages. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Orangemike (talk • contribs) 07:57, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Hello, we would be glad if you help us. For your information, there are existing wikipedias in many indian languages like Hindi, Assamese, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, Bengali, Malayalam, Urdu, Telugu, Pali and Kashmiri. The only problem is the lack of contributors in those wikipedias and thus lack of maintenance and lack of good content. If you want to contribute here, you may want to open an account first and then start doing your work. Though you have to remain within the guidelines of wikipedia while developing the articles. Hope it helped. DSachan (talk) 07:58, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Mic Wright

    The article 'Mic Wright' has been flagged with an autobiography warning.

    This is not the case - the article has been written by the subject's father - so is, by definition, a biography and, should not contravene any of Wikipedias's rules. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wmike (talk • contribs) 08:49, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    • That probably happened because the article failed style guidelines. It contained several instances of promotional and flowery language and opinions (like: "After cutting his teeth on... he got the opportunity to move..." and "his witty style".). - Mgm|(talk) 10:00, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    My concern is WP:Note, whether this article follows it. Though I am not sure. DSachan (talk) 10:03, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    See WP:PEACOCK for an explanation of what promotional language is, and why it does not belong in an encyclopedia. Most people write with promotional language most of the time, so learning how to write objectively enough for an encyclopedia takes time. It's easier to write our way about topics one does not have a personal stake in. --Teratornis (talk) 13:48, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    If the article was written by the subject's father, there is a clear conflict of interest. Perhaps if Mic Wright is notable enough, then other people who are aware of his work would contribute to the article. Astronaut (talk) 18:58, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    unfortunate redirect

    admin, i accidently redirected my page created on 2:39 PM 25/11/2007 with user name SAMK SRS on MBCET, CROSSROADS to an older page of Mbcet. can you help me remove the redirection. Its important.Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by SAMK SRS (talk • contribs) 09:09, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I undid your unintended edit.--teb728 (talk) 09:21, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    There probably should not be two articles on the same subject: Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology and M.B.C.E.T. --teb728 (talk) 09:37, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    move article

    Resolved

    Please move BAFTA Award for best editing to BAFTA Award for Best Editing, see British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Thanks --Steve —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.247.116.178 (talk) 09:40, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Done. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:58, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Great! --89.247.116.178 (talk) 14:14, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Mailing address

    I want to contribute information WITH DOCUMENTATION. What is your USPS mailing addrtess? What do I do now? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.65.73.100 (talk) 10:09, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm not entirely sure what you mean, but current contact information for the foundation can be found via the Contact Wikipedia link in your sidebar. – Luna Santin (talk) 10:11, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    If you want to contribute to an article, you don't mail your contributions in. See Wikipedia:Introduction or Wikipedia:How to edit a page for some information on how to make contributions. Raven4x4x (talk) 11:27, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Article content should be verifiable through published reliable sources. Those sources can be cited. If you have unpublished information then it should not be added to Wikipedia and there is no reason to send paper documentation for it to Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:51, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Writing big numbers

    Resolved

    I'm not sure what's the Wikipedia policy here:

    3,000 = three thousand

    6,000,000 = six million

    9,000,000,000 = nine (?)

    12,000,000,000,000 = twelve (?)

    15,000,000,000,000,000 = fifteen (?)

    18,000,000,000,000,000,000 = eighteen (?) Admiral Norton (talk) 10:43, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Page on long and short scales might be helpful. DSachan (talk) 10:53, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Also MOS:NUM, MOS:NUM#Numbers in particular. – Luna Santin (talk) 10:54, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Thanks. Admiral Norton (talk) 13:55, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    General Motors Car factory in Ste Therese/Blainville Quebec?

    Can't find a thing. Anybody? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.18.105.119 (talk) 14:38, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm not suite sure what you are seeking. From our article, Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec: "Until 2002, when General Motors shut its doors, it was also the home of the only Canadian automobile assembly plant outside of Ontario"--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:04, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    And there are sources in a Google search.[26] PrimeHunter (talk) 15:36, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Captain Robert Riddell of Glenriddel, the history of Friars Carse in Scotland and Robrt Burns

    Why is there no proper article on this very important subject?

    Friars Carse started as a monasic cell belonging to Melrose Abbey. In the 15th century it was granted to the Kirkpatricks of neighbouring Ellisland (the property later farmed by Robert Burns). From them it passed to the Maxwells and then, in the 18th century, to the Riddells. The Kirkpatricks built a tower-house on the site in the late 16th century(illustrated by Francis Grose and Adam Cardonnel). This was demolished by Captain Robert Riddell in 1772 and replaced by a modern house, which in turn is now incorporated in a large baronial mansion of the 19th century. It is now a country house hotel (see website).

    Apart from its history, the principal interest is that Robert Burns, the famous Scottish poet, was a close friend of Robert Riddell and a frequent visitor at Friars Carse. He used to sit in The Hermitage, a small hut on the estate, and wrote some of his poetry there. He had a key. It was at the same time that the famous antiquary, Captain Francis Grose, stayed at Friars Carse, and the three spent many an hour together. At the request of Burns, Grose included the old kirk at Alloway in his 'Antiquities of Scotland' (1789-91), on condition that Burns wrote a poem for the volume. The result was 'Tam O'Shanter', one of Burns finest and most famous poems.

    Alastair Maxwell-Irving, FSA, Telford House, Blairlogie, Stirling, FK9 5PX, Scotland —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.29.7.201 (talk) 16:14, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    People without a Wikipedia account can suggest articles at Wikipedia:Articles for creation. If you do then please include evidence that the subject satisifies Wikipedia:Notability (see WP:BIO for biographies), and reliable sources to the given information. Most suggestions are not accepted. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:49, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    not accepted because they lack that information. - Mgm|(talk) 18:04, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    Person of significance add was deleted

    How do I start a page about a person of significance (world champion professional athlete) recognized by the Smithsonian Institution? I linked a new page from his sponsor page and all info was deleted. Please assist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cynergetic (talk • contribs) 19:09, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    I am assuming you are referring to a skateboarder. You need to create an article that sticks to the facts and cites each fact with a reliable resource. For an example on a similar topic, see Nude Bowl. There is almost nothing reliable on the Internet, but it is cited from many different sources and sticks only to the facts. So, the article survived a nomination for deletion. -- kainaw™ 19:35, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    snausages deletion

    to prefix: i didn't write the snausages page, and i don't have any particular affection or nostalgia for snausages. i don't even have a dog.

    however, several months ago i found the page after having a conversation that somehow wound its way to the 1980s dog treats. there was some piece of information (i can't even remember now what it was) that seemed in desperate need of a source. i put a note on the talk page asking for a source for that fact. i just looked at the page again to see if there'd been a source added.

    and the snausages page had been deleted.

    here's the note: 09:28, 24 October 2007 Anthony Appleyard (Talk | contribs) deleted "Talk:Snausages" ‎ (content was: '==Importance (?)==I think the importance is mostly pop-cultural and nostalgic, at least for the generation of Americans exposed to the meme-ic Snocra...')

    now i'm sure Anthony Appleyard is a well-intentioned editor, and i tend to agree with him regarding the importance of snausages. but is it really an editor's place to make a decision about importance? is "importance" an acceptable criterion for deletion? doesn't that fly in the face of the whole notion of the "long tail" and all of the stuff that makes this wikipedia so good?

    when i found that page several months ago, i was heartened to know that the wikipedia had grown so thorough that EVEN SNAUSAGES had a page. if individual wikipedia editors get to be "importance" police, then isn't something lost? doesn't this become some form of elitism? i know that the hierarchical structure of the wikipedia is hardly anarchic at this point, and that there is some degree of power and discretion built in, but wasn't that power and discretion supposed to be used for objective editing? isn't choosing what is important and what is not important thoroughly subjective?

    in the case of snausages, yes, most of us can agree that they are probably not so important. still, i'd like to see that page there. as a longtime wikipedia reader and fan, i would be incredibly disappointed to learn that the mission has evolved to the point where a small percentage of the population is making decisions on what the rest of us should find important. assuming you're not running out of server space, what harm is it having a snausages page? just like with first amendment law (here in the U.S.), we need to protect the speech that we don't think is necessary in order to set a precedent for the speech that we do think is necessary.

    i'm sorry for the rambly comment/question here, and, perhaps, for having missed a larger change in the wikipedia's mission, but i sincerely hope that you will reconsider the "importance" criterion for deletions. the role of editors should be to promote objectivity and the neutral point of view, to prevent vandalism, and to clarify the prose of the articles. it should not be their role to determine what we should and shouldn't be allowed to waste our time with. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Conflationary (talk • contribs)

    Actually, the page has been deleted twice: [27] [28], and so has the alternate title, Snausage. Anthony's reason is clear: "04:28, October 24, 2007 Anthony Appleyard (Talk | contribs) deleted "Snausages" (content was: '{{db-spam}}{{Unreferenced}} Snocrates, mascot for Snausages since 1984.Snausages are ...')" Thus, the reason it was deleted was it cited no references, and was written like an advertisement, rather than an encyclopedia article. It is possible that an article could be created about the subject, if proper sources were found and cited per the manual of style, but ultimately, Wikipedia is a historical project, and the importance of such a thing as a dog food, could be questioned by some. I have no real opinion on the article personally, but Anthony was operating under the guidelines and policies of administrators, by deleting an article that did not conform to Wikipedia's standards with regards to importance. Ariel♥Gold 19:37, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    thanks for the reply. i'm in complete agreement that the article needed sourcing (which is why my only involvement in it was to request sourcing on its talk page). wouldn't a better way to get sourcing be to strip out the unsourced claims and make the article a stub? deleting it discourages further contribution. some articles do get to be stubs while awaiting further contribution; articles deemed "unimportant" apparently do not. that brings us back to my original concern, that this article was deleted because of someone's perception of its importance. i don't want to debate whether snausages specifically are important (nor would this seem the place for that debate), or even whether advertisements themselves are historically and culturally important (i think they are), but i do want to raise the issue of the danger of letting individual editors decide what is important. the notability page you've linked discusses (particularly in footnote 2) issues of importance/unimportance, but the documents that page references as guidelines -- What Wikipedia is not, Five pillars -- do not explicitly talk about the importance/unimportance disctinction or who gets to make that decision. seems like it might be a de facto policy that has started up for practical reasons. while it may seem practical to have editors strip out "unimportant" articles, a select few choosing what is worthy of people's time is worrisome. why not just clear out the text and turn the article into a stub?--Conflationary (talk) 20:31, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    You are welcome to take the issue to deletion review, but rest assured that administrators do not just delete articles because they personally think they are "unimportant", there is a specific set of criteria, (linked in the pages above) involved, and the notability criteria differ from article to article, based on subject matter. I would also like to note, that Anthony's deletion summary does not contain the word "importance", and I'm unsure where your copy/paste is from, but the deletion log I linked above shows the deletion summary and reason. Administrators are chosen in part because of their knowledge of policy and guidelines, and this is not simply "some random editor" choosing to delete an article they don't personally think is important. Editors cannot delete articles (although administrators are also editors, of course). Take a look at requests for adminship to see the discussions involved in becoming an administrator, and you can also ask Anthony directly on his talk page, to discuss the deletion with you. You could also choose to work on the article in your userspace, such as User:Conflationary/sandbox, and once you feel it is ready, ask Anthony, or another administrator to review it to be sure it would not be deleted. Ariel♥Gold 20:41, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    again, i appreciate the reply. but i'm not sure i've made my point clear. i don't care about snausages. i don't want to write the snausages page. i'm sure that anthony is eminently qualified and, as i said above, well-intentioned. i'm sure that every editor and every admin here is great, and i know that keeping vandalism clean and point of view neutral is no small task on a project this huge. but i do have an issue with any editor or administrator -- no matter how qualified, experienced, insightful or well-educated -- choosing what is and isn't notable. yes, there are times when the distinction is easy, as with autobiographies, but as much as you want to think that what distinguishes notable from non-notable is always black and white, it most certainly is not. i very much enjoy the wikipedia, and i was thrilled to see that there was a snausages page, specifically BECAUSE i didn't care about it and it seemed something that wouldn't have an entry in britannica, precisely because of the elitism inherent in having an editorial hierarchy. i'm happy to contribute to the wikipedia when and as i have time (which i've done sporadically without a login since 2003), but this isn't a request to work on a pet page; this is a request for the admins and editors to uphold the five pillars of wikipedia, which do not, to my knowledge, include making judgment calls on what is and isn't important. (incidentally, the note that i pasted into my original message is what regular users see when they click on the deletion log for the snausages page.) one day this will be a better encyclopedia for all of your efforts, especially if you use your power to make user contributions better without discouraging them. deleting pages where the argument for them being non-notable is tenuous at best is not going to encourage anyone.

    unseen cost of illegal immigration i wish to submit a letter

    Recently I have received numerous phone calls regarding the purchasing of local papers. I do not beleive them to be informative when forming an opinion on illegal immigration. To many of us this is the biggest issue facing America today, yet you fail to put fourth any information regarding the cost to communities locally or nationally. How much effect does this have on property taxes in lower income neighborhoods were the illegals reside? How does this effect the wages of local population or the cost to rent an apartment? What effect does this have on the black community who they are in direct competition with. The American labor force feels the impact caused by cheap illegal workers. We only wish to create a balance and control this run away train. Send the trouble makers home, no guest worker program. So no I do not want your papers. Thank you Mike rogersZise (talk)--Zise (talk) 20:15, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    last modified

    Please please please ((helpme)) i really need this now asap!!! when was the wikipedia last modified and who did it? please help me!! I need this in the next 10 minutes or so. ((helpme))!!! 216.158.164.2 (talk) 20:18, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

    • Go to Recent changes page. Try pressing reload key in your browser and you will see that wikipedia is constantly being modified. So, your answer will depend on when you hit the repload key last time. I hope I understood your question correctly. DSachan (talk) 20:26, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    (conflict) :See Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. As for last modified, the date of the last edit is on the bottom of all pages. NF24(radio me!) 20:28, 25 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Help_desk&oldid=173746324"