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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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    May 24

    Logging in to wikipedia

    When I log into wikipedia/wikimedia commons it logs me into all of the other wikimedia wikis. I do not wish for that to happen, as I have Sushiflinger on wikipedia and Goldblattster on all the other wikis. Is it possible to be logged in as different accounts on different wikis? --Sushiflinger (Goldblattster) (talk!) 00:52, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Would this be of any assistance by any chance? It's all I've been able to find so far. — Ched :  ?  01:09, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    That is sort of the way it works. Accounts are global across all the wikis (assuming no conflicting usernames). Prodego talk 05:24, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    capitol of california

    why was sacramento chosen as california's state capitol?" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.229.93.86 (talk) 06:40, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. hmwithτ 07:52, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Legislators always like to be as near as possible to the loot. Deor (talk) 18:48, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    File:Flag of the Kingdom of France (1814-1830).svg

    Why am I unable to see File:Flag of the Kingdom of France (1814-1830).svg? Who then was a gentleman? (talk) 07:11, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    You can: it's white, I believe, which was apparently used at that time in certain situations. Normally had some fleur-de-lis semé on it though. - Jarry1250 (t, c) 07:47, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict) I assumed that someone had uploaded a bad version over over the image, but when I go to its description page on Commons, I see nothing but white when I view any of the three versions of the image, including the original one. Perhaps that's just the flag. hmwithτ 07:49, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    FOTW think that File:Pavillon_royal_de_France.svg is a better version for the national flag (plain white appears to have been a naval ensign), but at least it confirms the original is just white. - Jarry1250 (t, c) 07:55, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Yeah, it's not much of a flag, is it, just plain white? Anyone hanging a sheet out to dry anywhere across Europe could have been thought to have been flying the French flag. And it must have been hopeless in battles: everyone would have thought they were surrendering the moment they showed up! AndyJones (talk) 09:51, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Barbara Hillary (North Pole)

    I originally asked this at the talk page of WP:RM but there haven't been any responses in the six days that it has been there. So, I'm bringing it here...

    I came across the article Barbara Hillary (North Pole) and feel that there should be a better disambiguator for the article. The one it has now seems strange. I'd take this up on the talk page but the article is an orphan and it likely doesn't get too much attention. So, I'm bringing my question here... What would best suit the article? Should it be "Barbara Hillary (explorer)"? "Barbara Hillary (businesswoman)"? Any ideas? Dismas|(talk) 08:25, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    It should definitely be changed. Explorer sounds like a good option. hmwithτ 09:40, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    You're welcome to perform noncontroversial moves yourself, of which I would consider this. hmwithτ 09:44, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    She sounds more like an adventurer than an explorer to me. I think it takes more than travelling to a rarely visited place to be an explorer, and for explorers it seems irrelevant whether they were the first person with that race-nationality-gender combination to travel there. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:28, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    questions

    how or where do i find the answer to a question asked yesterday? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.113.136.61 (talk) 18:53, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Scroll up. It should still be on this page. Xenon54 (talk) 18:54, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    This assumes the question was asked on this page. Wikipedia has a lot of pages where questions can be asked. What was the question about? Your post here is the only Wikipedia edit by that IP address. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:04, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Request deletion of 'lack of references' box

    I significantly updated the Wikipedia entry for "Tracy Stafford," a biographical page for a former member of the Florida House of Representatives. A large text box was placed above the page stating that I did not have enough references. As a result, I've added 17 references, most of them to newspaper articles in the Miami Herald. However, I don't know how to request that the 'not enough references' box now be deleted. Please help. Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ejwii (talk • contribs) 19:24, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    You can simply take it off yourself :D weburiedoursecretsinthegarden 19:29, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Anyone, including you can delete that tag. Just remove the {{BLP sources}} from the top of the article and it'll be gone. - Jarry1250 (t, c) 19:30, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    I Want To Include An Image Of Myself In The Stye Page.

    Resolved

    How can I provide an image of a right eye infection that I have? —Preceding unsigned comment added by WikiPsycho (talk • contribs) 20:27, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    See Help:Images and other uploaded files and Commons:Commons:Patient images. If you upload the image of yourself to Commons, you can categorize it into Commons:Category:Eye diseases. --Teratornis (talk) 01:41, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Referencing question

    I have given this question a header to diferenciate it from the one above. - Jarry1250 (t, c) 21:04, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    I have inserted a couple of paragraphs and provided a reference. When I saved the page, I got an error message saying I need to provide a tag. I cannot find anything about tags in the instructions for referencing. Can you tell me what to do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Drfiddler1 (talk • contribs) 21:01, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    You need to do three things. First, you need to move all the text you added to a new line above the "see also" header. Then, place the reference at the end of the text. Finally, create a new "References" header and place {{reflist}} underneath this header. Xenon54 (talk) 21:06, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Diff

    Pretty basic question, but when im doing a summary in a talk page and i want to rferencea 'diff' how would i do this? ( or a past version of an article) Thanks Ottawa4ever (talk) 23:19, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Take a look at Help:Diff. – ukexpat (talk) 00:22, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    The trick is to think of a link to a diff, or a linki to a prior version of a page, as simply being an external link . The format for an external link is either:
    1. [url], which displays as something like [1], or
    2. [url text], which displays as "text" (without the quotation marks, of course)
    So, to create an external link, the challenge is to obtain the url. You get that by going to the prior version of the page (click the time/date link) or the page that shows the edit/diff (click the "prev" link). Then the url is in your browser window, ready to be copied.
    Finally, as a general rule, format #2 is preferred to #1, as long as you provide a good description. For example, you might say "Editor A [url_of_the_diff removed the entire section], then, when that was reverted, the editor [url_of_the_diff deleted the citations], and now he/she [url_of_the_diff is trying to change the text so that it doesn't match the sources cited]." -- John Broughton (♫♫) 01:04, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Great, thanks for your help :) Ottawa4ever (talk) 14:09, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    May 25

    Pembroke Welsh Corgi

    Pembrokes are a fun loving, poogery animal. I am unable to locate info regarding the word "poogery". If you are able to clarify I suggest it be posted in parenthesis on the page. Thanks, john zunich —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.32.223.139 (talk) 00:27, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    It was added two hours ago in [1] by an IP address with no other edits. I doubt it has any real meaning and it should probably be reverted. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:39, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I've reverted it. A drive-by vandalism by an IP editor without any other edits; I'm not going to even bother to post a user warning. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 00:52, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Content Deletion for Oraganization(why Aptech and NIIT in Wikipedia)?

    I had added my company name(Computer Based Society For Education) in Wikipedia and it came under Speedy deletion.But there are lots of other computer training institutes are there and about that company are there in Wikipedia like Aptech,NIIT.

    I have got the following commets from Wikipedia :-

    'A tag has been placed on Computer Based Society For Education requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section A7 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because the article appears to be about about a person, organization (band, club, company, etc.) or web content, but it does not indicate how or why the subject is important or significant: that is, why an article about that subject should be included in an encyclopedia. Under the criteria for speedy deletion, such articles may be deleted at any time.'

    So my question is Whethet Aptech and NIIT company like is Organization or what? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hforever (talk • contribs) 04:24, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Your article was deleted because it did not assert the notability of the organization. Please read Wikipedia’s notability guideline for organizations). After glancing at the articles I am not sure whether Aptech and NIIT are notable either; perhaps those articles should be deleted too. Please read also Wikipedia:FAQ/Organizations. —teb728 t c 06:24, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Password recovered (from memory), but Wikipedia's password recovery may be broken

    I posted a request for help on this page 20 May (since archived here) regarding recovery of my forgotten password. I have since remembered it, logged in, and checked my preferences, which clearly show the correct email configured. However, an exhaustive search of my email has turned up no account reset/confirmation messages, though Wikipedia insists they have been sent. This email account is quite old, and I get everything else consistently. Again, I submit to you, the password recovery/account confirmation functionality may be broken somehow.

    Until amnesia strikes again, I am good to go, but Wikipedia may yet have a problem.

    Thank you for your previous attempts to help,

    -SM 06:40, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    At Special:EmailUser/Smaines I still get "This user has not specified a valid e-mail address." I don't get that at Special:EmailUser/TEB728. —teb728 t c 07:17, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I thought about that a bit: in my preferences screen, it asks that I confirm the e-mail address to enable EmailUser functionality, which I have not succeeded in doing, as (sigh) Wikipedia's emails seem not to get to me. If I never try to set up EmailUser, though, shouldn't password recovery still work anyway. It does not. -SM 10:06, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I have tested the system many times when users reported not getting the confirmation mail and I always received it within seconds. Have you recently clicked "Confirm your e-mail address" in your preferences? Have you tried changing the email address to see if a mail gets through to another address? If you don't have access to another address for testing then you could create a free webmail with one of the services at Comparison of webmail providers. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:34, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    What if (hypothetically) I change my email address and it works, then change it back, and it still works. This may only mask the underlying problem (perhaps with Login Unification) with a work-around, rather than showing that there is no problem. BTW, is there some characteristic string common to these confirmation/recovery emails? I've tried scanning for obvious patterns like "Wiki*", "password && account", etc. Perhaps it is junk-filtered, and I cannot find it. -SM 19:28, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    The mail comes from wiki@wikimedia.org and is titled "Wikipedia e-mail address confirmation". If you don't receive it at your normal address after several tries then I guess it's being blocked somewhere, maybe as suspected spam by your mail service. I suggest you try another service. It only takes a moment to set up an account in many free webmail services. Your hypothetical situation is currently too hypothetical to speculate about for me. You can post again if it actually happens. I am not aware of a problem on Wikipedia's side and a huge number of users have email confirmation. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:26, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    If mail comes from wiki@wikimedia.org, add this address to your address book because most mail systems will automatically put mail from people in your address book in your inbox even if they suspect it's spam.Etineskid (talk) 20:32, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    By the way, Wikipedia:Signatures#Internal links says your signature should link to your user page, talk page or contributions. Please either add a link, or let the software do it by unchecking "Raw signature" in your preferences. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:44, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    My hypothesis just suggests looking into confirming the message to me (specifically) actually goes out, before the condition is masked. I could imagine that may be too much trouble, I just thought I should point it out. I have wiki@wikimedia.org in my address book, and have reviewed all filter rules. I am reasonably certain the wikimedia.org message is never delivered to the mail server for my domain. I will look to confirm this further then will try switching emails. By the way, I prefer my signature this way. -SM 02:52, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    If I understand correctly, you have not confirmed your email. That by itself explains why you do not receive a password email: It will not send you a password email until you have confirmed. And Wikipedia’s Behavior Guideline for Signatures requires a link in your signature; you get your preference in how you do that not whether. Please conform if you want any further help. —teb728 t c 03:45, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    It's made worse in your case because you are signing with the name of another user SM. You are effectively faking your signature and people may blame SM for posts by you, or post to SM when they are trying to contact you. This is not acceptable. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:00, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    It is useful to know that unconfirmed emails do not work for password recovery, but are you certain that this is the case? If so, perhaps the user should be told this at the point he is trying to recover a password with an unconfirmed email. The fact remains, however, that I do not receive any confirmation emails (yet I do not fail to receive any other emails). I will audit my mailserver configurations at the domain level to be more certain, but I suspect this is a login unification artifact.
    My reading of Wikipedia:Signatures is that such a link is optional, hence my reply in the face of your (inexplicably aggressive) insistence that I do so. As for your concern that my use of "-SM" constitutes "signing the name of another user SM", I do see your point (User:SM has been here awhile). At some point I dropped my user page link, simply because the page was usually blank. As the history is there, the notion of impersonation would have seemed too silly to consider. Nevertheless, I remain, -SM 23:49, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Some people have deliberately falsified signatures of other users, and done other things to impersonate others. I didn't think you did it deliberately, just that it was effectively the result of not linking and using a name already registered to another. Thanks for linking your signature now. I have just tested password recovery with an unconfirmed email address and it worked. The password mail was received within seconds. How can you know you do not fail to receive any other emails? I guess only a few people like developers may have access to information about outgoing mails and email addresses. I don't have such access. Before spending more time investigating your mail server, I really suggest you try another mail service. Suspected spam mails might be intercepted by others before reaching a point you can access. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:41, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    (e/c)Thank you for fixing your signature. It's moot now, but Wikipedia:Signatures says, “It is common practice to include a link to one or more of your user page, user talk page, and contributions page. At least one of those pages must be linked from your signature to allow other editors simple access to your talk page and contributions log.” The word “must” does not seem “optional” to me. Even if your user page and talk page are blank, the links can be used to see who is posting and get your contributions; this is particularly useful on this Help page. —teb728 t c 00:58, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    How to remove an article?

    Hi! I´m representing a person (Musician, Producer) And he´s listed in Wikipedia and wants to be removed. How shall I proceed?

    Thank you for your help!

    Lottahellner (talk) 07:10, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    We don’t generally delete an article at the subject’s request, but sometimes a article is deleted if the subject is not notable. Do you mind saying who the subject is? —teb728 t c 07:22, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I think the page you may be most interested in reading is our page on biographies of living persons. These biographies (or "BLPs") are subject to some of our strictest review, so if there is incorrect or negative unsourced info, please let us know. However, if the article is well-sourced and written neutrally, there may not be much we can do. TNXMan 12:20, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    there may not be much we can do. - Or, to put it differently, it might be a violation of policy to remove the article, and so you won't find any administrator willing to do so (or experienced editor even willing to suggest removal). -- John Broughton (♫♫) 14:24, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    There is a process set out at WP:BIOSELF for individuals to have errors corrected. – ukexpat (talk) 14:41, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    while reading users would like to mark text so that they can pull up the pages and look for the marked text for future reference

    wikipedia is widely used by users to get to know the subjects, while reading users would like to mark text so that they can pull up the pages and look for the marked text for future reference. Is there a provision of saving the pages in the Login and refer them in future. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ic006761 (talk • contribs) 07:18, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    You could do something like that by editing your user page, User:Ic006761, and putting links the pages you are interested in. Another thing you could do is click the “Watch” tab at the top of the page, which will add the page to your Wikipedia:Watchlist. —teb728 t c 07:30, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    You can also watchlist your favorite pages. hmwithτ 21:25, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    List of audio (read aloud) articles?

    Resolved
     –  – ukexpat (talk) 14:38, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Is there any? --AaThinker (talk) 09:47, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Nevermind, I found it, Wikipedia:Spoken_articles. --AaThinker (talk) 10:12, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Is there any way to get Articles for Deletion as an RSS feed?

    Is there any way to subscribe to the AFD list as an RSS feed? Would make it much easier to keep up with the volume of new AFD debates. No luck with the generated AFD "today" page nor the "categorized" pages. Those seem to work by template, and new debates get transcluded without appearing in the revision history. This sort of thing looks like somebody would have written a bot that does this, but I don't know where to look. Squidfryerchef (talk) 12:01, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Ideally, links to every document about Wikipedia's RSS feeds would be under WP:EIW#Monitor. --Teratornis (talk) 20:59, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    How to submit an article for assessment?

    How do I know when my article is B-Class? I looked at the requirements for a B-class article, but do I need any "official" assessment of it?Stormcloud22 (talk) 13:23, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    B-class is something that can be self-assessed. However, third-party reviews are needed for A-, GA-, and FA-class articles. See WP:ASSESS for more info. TNXMan 13:37, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Resetting password for account with no currently registered email address

    I have an account, whose password I have forgotten, that used to have an email address associated with it, then for some reason I deleted the email address from the account. Now that there is no address associated with the account, when I request Wikipedia to email me to reset the account, the error message "Login error Error sending mail: There is no e-mail address recorded for user [username]" appears. Is there no way for Wikipedia to email me, to my previously-registered email address, about resetting the account's password? Also, I have made edits with the account.--Geremia (talk) 15:49, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Sorry, but without a registered e-mail address there is no way to retrieve a lost password. Now that you have a new account you could put a note on your user page to the effect that: This account previously edited as [[User:Username]]. – ukexpat (talk) 16:17, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    How certain are you that you actually deleted the address? See above. -SM -SM 19:14, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

    I'm pretty certain. I don't know why Wikipedia allows that an account not have an email address...--Geremia (talk) 20:43, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Many people are worried about who they give their email address to. Email is not necessary to edit WiIkipedia and there is no reason to scare away cautious users. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:49, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Snakes In Missouri

    are there any blind eyed snakes in missouriDonnafounie (talk) 16:20, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Have you tried the Science 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. TNXMan 16:25, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    UNREGISTER

    HOW DO I UNREGISTER WITH WIKIPEDIA Hickssd (talk) 17:39, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    There is no way to delete your account, if that's what you mean. You can, however, simply abandon the account by not using it any longer. TNXMan 17:41, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    You also have the Right to vanish. --Teratornis (talk) 21:00, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    User name

    Is there a way for a user to change his or her user name or open an account with a new name that officially is linked to the old account? Is the only option to open a new account and mention on the new user page an association with the old user name and vice versa on the old user name page?

    Thanks very much. Likesausages (talk) 18:09, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    If you want to retain credit for contributions made under your old account, you can request a new username or usurp an unused account at this page. However, once your username is changed, your account becomes available again. The recommendation is (if you want a new username) that you re-register your old account and redirect the user/talk pages to your new account. If you don't care about retaining credit, simply register a new account and redirect the old user/talk pages to the new ones. However, it is suggested that you make very clear what you are doing, as this could lead to accusations of sockpuppetry. TNXMan 18:16, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Adding New Content

    How do we add content? I can't seem to find a way ....

    There is limited information on theatrical services and it should be here.

    Where do I find this —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sevan98 (talk • contribs) 20:18, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Which type of content do you want to add where? The following advice assumes you want to create a new article.
    Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
    Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.
    If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:28, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Also see WP:NOT, WP:BFAQ, and WP:WWMPD. "Theatrical services" sounds like a specialized topic, and it might be tough going to write new articles about it on Wikipedia and defend them against deletion. But there are lots of other wikis; see Wikiindex:Category:Theatre for a few. Stagepedia looks like a wiki that needs content; maybe they will accept articles about theatrical services. Often the specialized wikis accept a wider range of content within their specialty than Wikipedia, but wherever you go, the challenge is always to determine who accepts what. --Teratornis (talk) 20:57, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    If you're just trying to edit an existing article, just click the "edit this page" tab at the top of the article, between "discussion" and "history". Then, you enter what you want to have (with references included) & click "Save page" after editing an edit summary. For more information, see Wikipedia:How to edit a page. hmwithτ 21:19, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Accessing Redshift

    Resolved
     –  – ukexpat (talk) 01:04, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Hi help desk helpers,

    Is anyone else having difficulty accessing Redshift today? I am receiving a "File Not Found" error for that article and no others! Flying Jazz (talk) 20:43, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

     Works for me Dendodge T\C 20:44, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Well the problem seems to have repaired itself. Thanks help desk helpers! Flying Jazz (talk) 20:47, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    I removed 2 redlinks from a Disamb. page where the referenced page no longer existed. I could not find a move or rename for the reference either. I was immediately reverted. Am I missing something? I thought it would be an improvment to remove a redlink when it could not be fixed. What is preferred? APYho00 (talk) 21:18, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Red links can be on the page, but each line also needs a blue link. It's a bit complicated. See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages)#Red links for a full explanation. hmwithτ
    If I read your ref. correctly then the edit I made to 'Band' was correct. Could you check and give me your opionion? Thank you. APYho00 (talk) 21:28, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I reverted and explained. I'm sure the user just did not know that those entries were against guidelines and just made a mistake. If you use edit summaries, users can know exactly what you did & why you did it. That way, you're less likely to be reverted, and it's easier for you & everyone else. hmwithτ 21:41, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    How can I log in under different langugaes?

    I don't know wht to do. I registered my account while loged in to the Simple English section but every time I go to the English section I am automaticly loged out. I try to log in but I can't but when I am in the Simple English section it works just fine. Thank You. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.107.64.74 (talk) 22:11, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Have you signed up for single user login? Franamax (talk) 22:13, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Attack on Mers-el-Kébir

    Resolved
     –  – ukexpat (talk) 01:04, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    The person quoted about the attack on the French Fleet was not Harold Nicholson (who was born after WW2) but Harold Nicolson, a British man of letters and minor politician —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.214.171.181 (talk) 22:56, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Thanks. I have changed it.[2] Another time you are welcome to make edits by yourself. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:13, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    DYK hits

    How can one see how many hits (views) have occured on their DYK? --Doug Coldwell talk 23:05, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Is [3] alright? (Replace "Main_Page" with your article name). Dendodge T\C 23:11, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Bad editing

    Resolved
     –  – ukexpat (talk) 01:04, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Hi, I just wanted to say that somebody had badly edited the article Colwyn Philipps, 3rd Viscount St Davids. Looks like they copied an obituary off the internet and stole a picture too.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.47.219.117 (talk) 23:22, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Thanks, the article has now been reverted. -- zzuuzz (talk) 23:38, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    May 26

    correcting footnotes

    How can I correct a footnote in an article? I have tried to correct footnotes for 2 articles and in both cases I could not insert anything in the note, but could only add the citation. Help. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Icjfc (talk • contribs) 02:26, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Numbered footnotes are automatically generated by the <references/> or {{Reflist}} code in the references/footnote section from citations enclosed within <ref></ref> tags. So to amend the footnote, you amend the inline citation and it should automagically be corrected in the numbered list. – ukexpat (talk) 03:10, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Yep, beat me to the post again UK. As Ukexpat mentions, just click on the little arrow beside the footnote " ^ " and it will take you to the section that has the reference. Then follow the directions that Ukexpat describes. — Ched :  ?  03:35, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    What name is it for the words that are spelled the same forward and backward

    What name is it called for say ( bob, mom, dad, pop, sis....) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.10.5.197 (talk) 02:37, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    It's called a palindrome. Dr.K. logos 02:50, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    A man, a plan, a canal—Panama!--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:59, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    And to quote Napoleon: Able was I ere I saw Elba. – ukexpat (talk) 17:35, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    expanding an article

    I just spent a great deal of time logging in, editing an article, previewing it, and then hitting "save" multiple times. When I went to the article, "Leo Mackay Jr." it was unmodified. I am also not able to find my work...and I saved it. Why is my work not saved, and why is the article not updated. You ask for help expanding articles, and then straightforward buttons don't give expected results. Are my updates in some kind of edit cycle or are they lost? Eagle3315 (talk) 03:00, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Unfortunately, in your case, they got lost. It could have been a browser problem. There is no edit cycle of any kind that restricts edits. Dr.K. logos 03:06, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict)The edit history of the article Leo Mackay, Jr. shows no sign of you editing it. This is quite unusual. I'd speculate that you interrupted the transmission of your edit by hitting the button again before the transmission was complete. I would suggest doing the edit again, hitting the save button only once and waiting until you are automatically brought back to the article. Goodraise 03:11, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    You write you hit "save". The save button is below the edit box and is called "Save page". Your account is not autoconfirmed yet so if you tried to add external links then clicking Save page leads to a screen where you have to enter a CAPTCHA before the page is saved. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:40, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    deleted article

    There was an article on Wikipedia regarding my grandfather. Now it is completely gone. How can I find it again, or how would I know if it is deleted? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.100.167.71 (talk) 03:58, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    What is your grandfather's name? —teb728 t c 04:36, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Go to the deletion log and type in field marked "Title:" the exact spelling of your grandfather's name in the form that was used as the article's title. The deletion log is case sensitive so if you don't find it using proper noun capitalization, try it with his surname in lowercase. If you find the deletion entry, it will show show who deleted it, when, and typically the reason. Various reasons include speedy deletion under various criteria (for a biography, most likely criterion A7), an expired proposed deletion (prod) or a decision to delete at articles for deletion (AfD). Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:46, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Merging Articles

    Where do I go to request two pages be merged together? ---Shadow (talk) 06:39, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Just put the {{mergeto}} and {{mergefrom}} tags on top of the articles in question. Discussion takes place on the talk page of the article to be merged to. +Angr 06:53, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Advice on good-faith edit/bad-faith edit summary

    I'm in a quandary concerning this edit. The edit itself is a positive contribution – "developments" is definitely a more appropriate word than "adventures" – but the edit summary is highly offensive. Part of me says "Just leave it alone: the edit itself was positive and that's all that matters." But another part of me wants to delete the diff (I'm an admin) and do the edit over again myself. What do other experienced users think? +Angr 06:51, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    I believe using 'developments' would be appropriate --Notedgrant (talk) 06:55, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    That's not my question. +Angr 06:56, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Then edit the article and protect it (If required )Notedgrant (talk) 07:13, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I'm not an admin or anything, but my thoughts would be leave the edit and then take relevant action against the person who made it (the IP, anyway), FWIW. - Jarry1250 (t, c) 07:54, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Okay, good point. I'm leaving the edit, but putting a {{uw-npa1}} tag on the IP's talk page. +Angr 08:27, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • Since they've contributed something that is helpful, I would resort to deleting it or slapping some punishment on straight away. Just educate and they might remain a constructive Wikipedian without the cusswords. - Mgm|(talk) 11:02, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Offline Wiki updates

    Every 2-3 months I download updated Wikis (the Bzipped XMLs) for offline browsing (I am not on the internet at home). Where do I look to find out what articles have been added (for Wikipedia, Wikisource etc) from one download to the next? Many thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.194.221.231 (talk) 08:42, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    screenplay contest

    Dear Sir,

    How are you? I am interested to participant in screen play short film contest,so if possible pl mail me how i participate in short film screenplay contest.

    Thanks & Regards


    Manjul kapoor —Preceding unsigned comment added by Manjul kapoor (talk • contribs) 09:07, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 2.8 million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If that is not fruitful, we have a reference desk, divided into various subjects areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. Someguy1221 (talk) 09:35, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikipedia:WikiProject Squash

    I am currently collecting information and photos from the women's squash players worldwide. They will provide me with their information, background, number of titles, photos etc. The source must be reliable because it comes directly from the player. They have agreed to provide me with the information via a site. The problem is, can the information that comes from the blogspot.com domain be considered reliable? But the info really comes from the player themselves.

    As for photos, they have agreed to put it under the GNU license and I am the one who's responsible to upload it. And how should I do that? How to upload them? Arteyu ? Blame it on me ! 11:49, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Trough WP:SPS there are several restrictions of self published sources. The first restriction is that an article can not achieve true Notability based upon self published sources only - to establish notability man must provide third party reliable sources that are independent from the person(s) in question. The second restriction applies to the content itself: when using blogs as self published sources the guidelines in WP:SELFPUB come into play.
    They do not self-publish it. I and some other pals (from several squash bodies throughout the globe) have asked them personally about their bio (what is their full name, DOB, place of birth etc.) so that we can put it on wiki and on squash bodies site (yes, at first we will put it in a blog). Some other info is taken from the player directly and the others from various professional squash bodies. Can the info be considered reliable? If it isn't, I want some of you to provide me some suggestion on how to make the sources reliable. Arteyu ? Blame it on me ! 12:59, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    As long as you can Cite sources then i see no problem - the rule on third party sources is made to prevent people from writing an autobiography and then sourcing it with their own material. Par WP:NPOV those article's would likely be quite positive biased. Excirial (Contact me,Contribs) 13:37, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Images themselves can be uploaded trough Wikipedia:Upload - make sure you give the image a new descriptive file name, and make sure you fill in the data requested including liscence and details - this is required for copyright reasons. Excirial (Contact me,Contribs) 12:17, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I know how to upload, but I do not know how to write it down and which template should be used because it is not self made. The pictures is theirs, they gave it to me to upload in on Wikipedia under the GNU license. Arteyu ? Blame it on me ! 12:59, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    An issue with images on Wikipedia is that they should be released into the public domain. Wikipedia cannot accept images that are free for use only on Wikipedia, nor can it use images that are only free for non profit uses. One of the reasons for this is that Wikipedia is also distributed on low cost media such as Cd's; Yet this would not fall under non commercial usage.
    For the liscence there are 4 options:
    • Creative Commons Attribution 3.0: Everyone is allowed to share and adapt the image, as long as the original creator is credited.
    • Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0:Everyone is allowed to share and adapt the image, as long as the original creator is credited, AND the image is distributed under an identical liscence.
    • GNU Free documentation liscence: Image may be shared and adapted as long as changes are logged, the image remains under the same liscence and the original author is attributed.
    • Public Domain: Public domain image, no restrictions on usage.
    As for the liscence summary block i would advice looking at examples from other images: For example the text on this image had been approved Excirial (Contact me,Contribs) 13:37, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Hi, I've found an image that the format and license is similar to those that I wanted to upload, File:Thierry Henry 2008.jpg. The problem is I couldn't provide references (in the Summary section) for the Permission and Source column similar to the file mentioned earlier. I know the source and I have the permission, but the problem is that it is not in the net or in any website. Can I provide them without references? Can you give me any example on how should I write it down? Arteyu ? Blame it on me ! 09:13, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    quoting a different part of a named reference

    Hello, I'm trying to accomplish the following: I've got a book citation, which refers to a particular quote on a particular page. I'd like to reuse this same book citation, but quote a different passage and different page. Is it possible to do so, and if so how? I've tried using <ref name="name-of-other-ref">{{cite book |page=19|quote=The quote...}}</ref> but it doesn't work. In a way, I'm trying to override some properties of the previous ref. Can it be done? Thanks, Laurent (talk) 11:58, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    You can list the book once without being an inline citation, and then make a shortened inline citation each time the book is used. See the second bullet at Wikipedia:Footnotes#Style recommendations, and Wikipedia:Citing sources#Shortened footnotes. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:06, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Don't know if it's listed at one of those ^ links, but you can also use {{rp}}, but as long as you have consisistency within your article few people really mind which system you use. - Jarry1250 (t, c) 12:40, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Reliable Source???

    Is the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) considered a reliable source? I see it frequently on pages, however, some people say it is not reliable. Sweet Pea 1981 (talk) 15:11, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    It depends. There is a proposed guideline on the issue, which can be found here. I would say IMDb can be used for writing credits, actors' names, etc., but the trivial info would need to be sourced elsewhere. TNXMan 15:14, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    passport need

    please tel me if there is any other way i can go india from kathmandu without a passport —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.70.77.35 (talk) 15:31, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. TNXMan 15:35, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    idea

    I am not a science person -- but love to learn.... -- looking up galaxies I realized that it was all very fascinating-- and I actually understood 1/2 of it.... BUT--IDEA!! wouldn't it be nice, on the more complex articles, to have a children's (or just simpler) definition section. It took 4 articles before I realized our sun was THE SUN... and other stars were it's cousins and we are part of the Milky Way Galaxy-- I am sure I have heard that 100 times -- but it never sank in. A simple, quick, down & dirty explanation would have not been so overwhelming for us non-science types. We could go to the simple details and if that doesn't give us what we need -- go to the more complete article. Love Wikipedia and thank you, thank you, thank you for all I have learned!

    Betty Nolan —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.112.17.232 (talk) 15:57, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    There is a Wikipedia that has simpler explanations of topics. It's called Simple Wikipedia and you can find it here. I believe a help desk regular, Teratornis, is a contributor there as well, although I could be mistaken. TNXMan 16:01, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Alas, simple:Special:Contributions/Teratornis indicates otherwise. (I'm a little more active on Commons, perhaps you were thinking of that.) I have, however, responded to some questions on this Help desk that involved the Simple English Wikipedia. When this type of question has come up on the Help desk before, the usual response is to mention Wikipedia:Make technical articles accessible and give the illustrative example:
    I might also suggest to the original poster that if she finds anything confusing in a Wikipedia article, to ask for clarification on the article's Talk page or on the Reference desk. --Teratornis (talk) 21:08, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Also, libraries are full of introductory books on subjects such as Astronomy, with books for all age and grade levels. It will be difficult for Wikipedia to duplicate the depth of introductory material in any library (but maybe in 25 years we will have done that). After you read some introductory books, you will be much better able to read (and improve!) Wikipedia's often-dense articles. Also check out your local Astronomy club and Planetarium; they may have meetings with lectures and viewings. If you are interested in any subject, you should always find other sources in addition to Wikipedia. --Teratornis (talk) 03:51, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Main Page question

    Who edits the main page of Wikipedia? Is there one person, admin or editor, responsible for its content? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.11.36.87 (talk) 16:13, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    It is protected so that only admins can edit (to prevent vandalism on main page) but anyone can suggest content or improvement, at Wikipedia:In the news section on the Main Page/Candidates, Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors,Wikipedia:Did you know and other pages. —Amplitude101 (talk) 16:22, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Suggestions can also be made at Talk:Main Page. +Angr 16:25, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    See also the top of Talk:Main Page. Many administrators make edits to different parts displayed on the main page. Wikipedia does not have a hierarchical structure and there is not one person in charge of the main page. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:28, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    how can I move an article from the sandbox to real wikipedia?

    Where and do I have to do for that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fupazuzi (talk • contribs) 19:13, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    You could either click the move tab on the top of the page, right next to the "edit this page", "history" and "watch", tabs, and move it to the desired title. If you are the only contributor, you could just take the text and copy and paste it to create a new article. Please make sure the article meets WP:V, WP:N and WP:OR before you move it into the mainspace please. Hope this helped, ƒingersonRoids 19:20, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    If you mean User:Fupazuzi/Method y, then don't— it will certainly get deleted. I read it twice and have no idea what concept you are trying to convey. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 19:58, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Blimey, absolutely right. The article is almost 100% jargon an unintelligible to the layman. The creator should also take a look at WP:YFA and WP:MOS and the related manual of style pages for advice on formatting, particularly relating to internal wikilinks and citations. – ukexpat (talk) 20:43, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Young players

    Hey, I have a question about young football players, who will be deleted because they do not play pro football yet. It mainly concerns young Arsenal players who are being hyped a tad and because of that they have wiki pages. But I have noticed others have them as well but they are not up for deletion. That seems a bit unfair to me. Lauri Dallle Valle and Phillipe Coutinho amongst others... What can be done about this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.61.62.157 (talk) 19:45, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    The others likely just have escaped the gaze of the deletionists for now :) weburiedoursecretsinthegarden 19:52, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    See WP:ATHLETE and WP:NOTCRYSTAL. However, of the young athletes getting hyped at any given time, in several more years at least some of them will surely sign pro contracts. Thus it would be a waste of effort even for deletionists to spend too much time attacking articles that might just bounce back shortly. It would be better to wait a few years and then delete the articles of athletes who failed to make good on their early hype. If it were up to me, the only criteria for an athlete would be the availability of reliable sources. If the sports media are hyping a young athlete, who are we to second-guess the professional judgment of sports journalists as to the athlete's notability? The journalists are better-positioned than most of us to identify and evaluate talent. For example, they were correct about LeBron James while he was still in high school. Our WP:ATHLETE notability criteria, applied strictly, would have denied the young LeBron an article at a time when virtually the entire basketball establishment was predicting a bright future for him. --Teratornis (talk) 20:57, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Deletion is without prejudice; there is no deadline we have to meet. This repeated violation of WP:CRYSTAL is encouraging clutter for every hyped "up and coming next big thing" young jock in the sports world, to the detriment of this project. --Orange Mike | Talk 13:59, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    translation

    First time user. How do I translate a phrase from English to French? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.249.201.67 (talk) 20:18, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    You seem to have the wrong website. Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia. You need a website like Google Translate. Xenon54 (talk) 20:28, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Hebrew font

    Resolved
     –  – ukexpat (talk) 22:02, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    I noticed the page 'Elisheva' has the Hebrew but uses a 'sin'[dot on left top] instead of a 'shin' [dot on right top]. I was going to change it, copied the right way to spell 'Elisheva' [אֱלִישֶׁבַע ] {I see the dot on the right top} and tried it in the sandbox. The page changed the dot from right to left. So, how can this be changed? Aroger4that (talk) 20:26, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Would <div style="direction: rtl">אֱלִישֶׁבַע</div> work? (I'm not too familiar with Hebrew). Dendodge T\C 20:31, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    That comes out as
    אֱלִישֶׁבַע
    —is that how it's supposed to look? Dendodge T\C 20:34, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    There are templates that help with that - {{Hebrew}} and the others mentioned on that page. – ukexpat (talk) 20:38, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict) You should used {{Script/Hebrew}} for this. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 20:42, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    I tried that in sandbox and noting happened. All letter Shin's have the dot on the top left, whether they start on right or left. This makes the Hebrew spelling inaccurate on the page. Template:אֱלִישֶׁבַע [I see dot on right, using brackets] Who else might know how to fix this? Aroger4that (talk) 20:53, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    I added {{Script/Hebrew}} in Elisheva; that makes it display better on my computer. —teb728 t c 21:08, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Thank you, it looks right on my computer as well!Aroger4that (talk) 21:55, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    What is the procedure to suggest that an article be moved to Wiktionary?

    Ullu ka patha seems like a dictionary entry. How do we move it to Wiktionary? Who then was a gentleman? (talk) 21:26, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    There is a process, see {{Copy to Wiktionary}}. However, this does not look to me like just a dic def, so it may not meet Wiktionary's inclusion criteria. – ukexpat (talk) 21:39, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    New user question

    Is there any way to easily find articles in need of editing? I'm willing to help, but I am unsure how to help without just accidentally running across a mistake and fixing it. Alucardwolf (talk) 22:15, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    You could take a look at one of the many categories of articles at WP:BACKLOG. This lists articles in need of wikifying, proofreading, reference checking, expanding, categorization, etc, etc, etc. --Floquenbeam (talk) 23:26, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I personally find satisfaction in WP:NPP when time permits. It was how I got started here, and I'd like to think it was a good learning experience. — Ched :  ?  23:33, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    You might be interested in the cleanup campaign, or helping out with peer reviews. You could browse the many projects, look at the newest articles, or maybe just something random. We have a list of requested articles, requests for feedback, and a huge backlog of tasks.
    Hopefully, this will give you some ideas.  Chzz  ►  11:57, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Vandalism on the Phenylalanine page

    I'm sorry, I don't know how to fix it. Robert

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

    In the article, see the Elvis reference...


    Other biological roles

    L-phenylalanine can also be converted into L-tyrosine, another one of the DNA-encoded amino acids. L-tyrosine in turn is converted into L-DOPA, which is further converted into dopamine, norepinephrine (noradrenaline), and epinephrine (adrenaline). The latter three are known as the catecholamines.

    Phenylalanine uses the same active transport channel as Elvis to cross the blood-brain barrier, and, in large quantities, interferes with the production of serotonin.

    Broncazonk (talk) 23:12, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    It was vandalism in the most recent edit in the page history: [4]. I have reverted it. See Wikipedia:Vandalism. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:28, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Skateboard

    skateBOARD,who and where was it invented98.165.97.246 (talk) 23:18, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    See Skateboard#History. Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:24, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    May 27

    How do I stop the [Edit] [Edit] [Edit] [Edit] bug?

    When a page has several images, and several sections, these clash and the "edit" buttons pile up and get displayed all at once, appearing as "[Edit] [Edit] [Edit] [Edit]". Am I breaching style rules by:

    • having too many images?
    • having sections that are too short to fit an image?
    • having too many sections?

    What is best practice here?Nankai (talk) 00:43, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    See Wikipedia:How to fix bunched-up edit links. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:45, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Can be daunting for the uninitiated - let me know if you need help figuring it out. – ukexpat (talk) 01:01, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Often the simplest fix is to put the images into one or more gallery tags, just in case you feel daunted. If you have an enormous number of images in an article, you can put them on a gallery page on Commons and link to it with the {{Commons}} template, thereby enabling the Wikipedia article to display only some of the images without inconveniencing the reader who wants to see more. Also see the {{Commonscat}} template. Commons likes to have huge gallery pages. --Teratornis (talk) 03:42, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Is a Freedom of Information request OR?

    Is information obtained via a freedom of information request (eg, governmental emails, interdepartmental reportes, etc) original research? --Yeti Hunter (talk) 01:23, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Most certainly yes. For two reasons:
    1. In order to be a reliable source, a source should first be published. Unpublished email correspondance or departmental isn't really availible for anyone else to check up on, unless they themselves ALSO go through the convoluted FOI application process. That level of access is probably not up to the bare minimum of an accessable source, and so it is probably not a good source for an article.
    2. Most importantly, it is a primary source, that is it consists of raw information without any analysis. All you could do, without violating WP:OR is to quote the source. You could not provide your own analysis as to the meaning of the quotes, since that analysis would be your own personal original research, and one could not even say that the information was even worthy of noting in the article since even the idea that information from an interdepartmental memo as being worthy of reporting needs to be reported somewhere, else it is a WP:OR violation. To say it another way, even that the memo itself contains information that is worthy of including in the article requires that someone else outside of Wikipedia has published such an idea. Otherwise, its only your opinion that the memo or email contains relevent information.
    The kind of work that you are proposing, whereby you get information directly from primary sources like emails and memoranda, and then decide what information from those emails and memoranda means and how important it is, is called journalism. Wikipedia does not do journalism. If someone else has read the memos and emails, and published an analysis in say, the New York Times, or some other reliable source, you could cite THAT analysis. But without that, any inclusion of such information is WP:OR. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 03:18, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Occasionally government orgs publish FOIA requested materials in a centralized place on the web, presumably bc they don't want to have to process duplicate requests. You could check online to see if such material is available on the agency's website. The usual cautions about using primary source material apply. Calliopejen1 (talk) 13:02, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Is there a way to see a ranking of the most accessed pages on wikipedia for a given time period? I know how to see the ranking statistics for a given page, but I don't know how to get a list of the most accessed pages. Thanks. 124.170.60.74 (talk) 01:39, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    For the record, I do know about this site http://wikistics.falsikon.de/latest/wikipedia/en/ but I am wondering if there was something on wikipedia itself. 124.170.60.74 (talk) 01:42, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I think you're looking for Wikipedia:Popular pages. FingersOnRoids 01:46, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Thank, that's what I am looking for. 124.170.60.74 (talk) 09:47, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    hi sometimes when i hit an internal connection, rather then go to page itself, I get a windows dialog box askong me to save a file. problem exists in both hebrew and english wikipedia i use ie8/vista home answer by email to <blanked> would be most appreciated Rzg (talk) 15:49, 5 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    It sounds like you have a box checked in your preferences that shouldn't be. Go to the "My preferences" tab at the top of the page, then click on the "Editing" tab. Make sure that "Use external editor by default" and "Use external diff by default" are unchecked. Let us know if that fixes it. TNXMan 15:55, 5 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I am not editing. Just browsing through wikipedia and hitting an internal link. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rzg (talk • contribs) 09:05, 6 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    nope. no help!!!Rzg (talk) 04:05, 9 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I get this sometimes— I think it is a connection issue. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 11:10, 9 May 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.134.102.16 (talk) [reply]
    nope.not a connection issue  !!!Rzg (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 14:43, 14 May 2009 (UTC).[reply]
    here is a screenshot of the error msg i got when hitting the link pyongyang File:Pyongyang error.jpg

    (outdent) I notice that that specific article has 2 direct links in the body text to articles on the Korean Wikipedia, and I suspect that this is causing the problem; the foreign characters are being converted into unicode, and it is confusing your browser.

    These links are coded like this: [[:ko:아사달|신시]] and [[:ko:낙랑|낙랑]]

    They appear like this:

    신시 and 낙랑

    As far as I am aware, using interwiki links in this manner is not the norm - but I'm not certain enough to remove them. I will therefore note the issue on the articles discussion page.  Chzz  ►  11:35, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    (outdent)

    I notice that that specific article has 2 direct links in the body text to articles on the Korean Wikipedia, and I suspect that this is causing the problem; the foreign characters are being converted into unicode, and it is confusing your browser.

    These links are coded like this: [[:ko:아사달|신시]] and [[:ko:낙랑|낙랑]]

    They appear like this:

    신시 and 낙랑

    As far as I am aware, using interwiki links in this manner is not the norm - but I'm not certain enough to remove them. I will therefore note the issue on the articles discussion page.  Chzz  ►  11:36, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    How to accelerate the creation of a requested article?

    Hi all. I am an inexperienced user of Wikipedia but through my extensive studies of WP policies and guidelines, I found out that I should NOT create an article myself about Equal Dreams (because I am an intern there) which, in my opinion, really should have an article because it is very notable. Equal Dreams is an online music market and it has been covered by media many times. So what I did was to request an article about Equal Dreams; then I also wrote something about the issue on my user page. Now my question: How can I accelerate the creation of an article about Equal Dreams? The list of requested articles is so long that I don't think anybody will find my entry there for a long time... Maybe somebody reads here what I write and starts the article? Then, once somebody has started the article, I could add all the sources I have about it... Alternatively, please let me know if it would be appropriate to start the article myself if I *really* take care to be neutral and encyclopedic. *Hoping to get a reaction...* --Tilmanb (talk) 07:21, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    You could create the article yourself in your user area - for example, make the page User:Tilmanb/Equal Dreams. You can then list it in Wikipedia:Articles for creation. I strongly recommend that you do not make an article in the main area (due to the conflict of interest) - and in creating the user space article, take care to be neutral and to provide references to verifiable, reliable sources.  Chzz  ►  11:24, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    i need to delete the list of words shown in my articles list that i have typed before---how do i do it........

    08:47, 27 May 2009 (UTC)~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.164.145.250 (talk)

    As you enter text in the search box, it may auto-fill the box. This may be done by Wikipedia or by your browser. By default, Wikipedia will show a list of suggestions based on the entered text. To disable this you must have an account and must be logged in. Go to Special:Preferences, select the Search tab, check the box by 'Disable AJAX suggestions' and click the Save button at the bottom.
    When the search suggestions are disabled, your browser may keep a history of searches or may auto-fill— these may be cleared through a browser option:
    • Internet Explorer 7: Tools → Internet Options → General → Delete → Form Data → Delete Forms → Yes
    • Firefox 3: Tools → Clear Private Data → Saved Form and Search History → Clear Private Data Now
    • Safari: Edit → Preferences → AutoFill → Edit → Other Forms; remove Wikipedia from the list
    ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 09:52, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    An image from Finnish wikipedia

    Hi, I found an image from finnish wikipedia and I want to use it here. How can I do it without reuploading it? Is there any way that I can redirect it here? Arteyu ? Blame it on me ! 09:01, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Depends on the licensing. If it free, then move it to Commons; if not then you will have to upload it here. You can only use images on en.Wikipedia or Commons. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 09:48, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    If it is not on commons, see Wikipedia:Moving images to the Commons  Chzz  ►  11:11, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks (: Arteyu ? Blame it on me ! 11:33, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Does this template exist already?

    Does a template exist already that converts the few-letter wikipedia codes to language names? (E.g. en->English, tpi->Tok Pisin) Not every wikipedia abbreviation is strictly ISO, so an ISO template wouldn't work. If it doesn't exist, I'll make one, but I don't want to be duplicating work. (And any suggestions for where to categorize it if I do make it?) Calliopejen1 (talk) 12:55, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    {{Language}} PrimeHunter (talk) 13:03, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    No, that doesn't work because it only does ISO codes. E.g. be-old.wiki is Belarusian (Tarashkevitsa) wikipedia but be-old isn't an ISO code so that gives an error. Calliopejen1 (talk) 13:08, 27 May 2009 (UTC) oops I'm wrong it's be-x-old and it does work! thanks! Calliopejen1 (talk) 13:10, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    It works for some examples I tested from meta:List of Wikipedias#Languages without ISO 639 language code or duplicated but I didn't try all of them. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:22, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    I tested them all and came up with a couple bugs (Norman, Ripuarian) but I'm using these for requested translation purposes and I think it will be some time before en.wiki needs to be translating content from Norman and Ripuarian wikipedias. Good enough for government work! Calliopejen1 (talk) 13:34, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Discussion

    Is there a place on Wikipedia which discusses Wikipedia itself, I mean where do I go if I would like to discuss Wikipedia and get feedback from some admin's.? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thongthong (talk • contribs) 13:21, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    There are different places. Anybody can give feedback. See for example Wikipedia:Village pump. If you say what specifically you want to discuss then we may be able to help better (for example by pointing out that it has already been discussed). PrimeHunter (talk) 13:24, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    We are currently filming a documentary, I would like to know what drives people to spend so much of their time on here. I have completed 4 interviews with Admins who are remaining anonymous during filming and I would just like to get some general information about some issues that have been brought up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thongthong (talk • contribs) 13:35, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    If it helps I have a list of 10 questions that I would like answered if anybody would like to answer. We are offering money.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thongthong (talk • contribs) 13:42, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    You may get written answers here without paying. I and several other admins watch this page. If you want to see whether an answer is from an admin then you can search the user name at Special:ListUsers. Wikipedia:Administrators are volunteers like other editors and many non-admins contribute more than many admins. More admins hang out at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard but this help desk may be better suited for asking questions. foundation:Press room may also be of interest for somebody making a documentary. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:00, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Need to correct spelling in the TITLE of a page

    Someone wrote up on Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin (my boss), and misspelled the name in the title of the page. I fixed the problems on the page, but I cannot figure out how to make modifications to the page title itself. I need to change Aron to Aaron (spelled correctly in the text).

    Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bamadani (talk • contribs)

    I have moved Aron raskin to Aaron Raskin. Your account is not autoconfirmed yet so you cannot move pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:48, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Subpages

    I am new to Wikipedia and I am creating a new page. I saved it as a subpage so I could learn the ropes first. How do I submit my article once it is fnished? 80.177.104.118 (talk) 15:56, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    I am guessing you are referring to User:Nkannas/Cambridge House and Talbot - please make sure you are logged in as you posted this message and have done some editing of that subpage while logged out! To get it into the mainspace, it has to be moved there, but you can only move pages when your account is autoconfirmed - 4 days old and 10 edits. However, IMHO the draft is not ready to be moved yet as it does not indicate why the organisation is significant or important and would likely be speedily deleted. You also need to cite some reliable sources demonstrating the subject's notability. – ukexpat (talk) 16:20, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Referencing plots

    If you write a plot section to an article about a book or film etc., do you need to reference the book/film itself, or is it just assumed that the information is taken from the book/film? Hello. If anybody's unclear on what I'm on about, tell me and I'll try to explain better. Or don't bother answering and hope someone else will. Spongefrog (talk) 20:22, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    I am pretty sure that it is assumed, all plot sections of articles on books or films that I have seen are unreferenced; see The Giver a featured article, for example. Unless you are quoting something, I would think it would be fine.FingersOnRoids 20:54, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

    Undocumented articles

    I need to find articles that do not have enough sources or citations to back-up its work. How do I go about doing this?

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