Wikipedia:Help desk

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October 22

Editing an article based on magazines

Hi there,

I am a video games collector of all things PlayStation and in my possession I have over 300 magazines with lots of juicy information that I can use to expand stub articles and generally articles that don't have much information. I consider myself a connoisseur of PlayStation and I am very knowledgeable about it and games released on its platform.

But if I was to expand the Alien Trilogy article for example, using information from these magazines, how exactly would I reference the material since it isn't electronic? Equally I written articles before with plenty of information and sources and they've still been deleted, so I would very much like advice and guidance. Would it be similar to referencing something using the Harvard system?

Many thanks all. 81.110.228.229 (talk) 00:32, 22 October 2011 PlayStationConnoisseur (talk) 00:36, 22 October 2011 (UTC)PlayStationConnoisseur— Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.110.228.229 (talk) 00:30, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

I've cited magazines many times. I use {{cite journal}}. A problem that you might run into is using too much trivia and fancruft which may be why your previous efforts were deleted. Dismas|^(talk) 00:48, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Also, to be taken seriously you should register with a username. GeorgeLouis (talk) 01:01, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

There is absolutely no requirement that editors register to be "taken seriously". Please don't suggest otherwise. Chris Cunningham (user:thumperward) - talk 11:37, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Contact Wikipedia

How on earth do you contact wikipedia? There seems to be no way to do that, every time I click on a "contact" button, there is absolutely nothing there about contacting Wikipedia. Put an email address or phone number some where.

Why make it so damn hard? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.0.150.145 (talk) 01:51, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia is a website of the Wikimedia foundation. You could try their contact info at http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Contact_us GB fan 01:55, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

(edit conflict)There is a Contact us link at the foot of this page. Remember that Wikipedia is produced by many editors, so a single email address or phone number would be meaningless. The Contact us page explains what to do in which situation. - David Biddulph (talk) 01:59, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

You found a way to contact Wikipedia: Right here. Wikipedia is the fifth most visited website with billions of monthly pageviews. It is run by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation which has a small staff for running such a large site and many other sites. Many things are handled by volunteers like us here at the help desk. If your issue can be discussed in public then you can post it here. Or you can say what it is about and we may be able to direct you to a better place. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:13, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Error

 Resolved

At Wikipedia talk:Sandbox, the template's “clear this page” link clears Wikipedia:Sandbox, instead of Wikipedia talk:Sandbox. Is there a fix to this? 71.146.20.62 (talk) 03:16, 21 October 2011 (UTC)

What do you mean? The sandbox is located in Wikipedia:Sandbox, not on its talk page. You don't need to clear the talk page...--♫GoP♫_T^C_N 14:12, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Yes, you do. When someone wants to use the Wikipedia talk:Sandbox, they would want to clear it, such as what I had attempted to do the other day. The link on the template on Wikipedia talk:Sandbox leads to Wikipedia:Sandbox. 71.146.20.62 (talk) 18:00, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Talk pages: out of topic discussions - should we archive or simply delete them?

I refer to WP:NOTFORUM and WP:TPG, which I read thoroughly. One of the guidelines regarding talk pages is that out of date discussions should be archived and not deleted. I agree with this, mainly because, even when today a discussion about a subject seems to have ended, tomorrow the same subject may be raised once again. What should we do though with discussions that have nothing to do with the editing of the article? For instance, an article about Paris, and people start a discussion about how beautiful Paris is, or that they think that the authorities of Paris should rather change the traffic direction on a particular street. And then they develop these subjects further. This kind of discussions has nothing to do with the development of an encyclopedic article about Paris. These discussions should not even ever have started, less they should be continued or restarted in the future. I think such discussions should simply be deleted from the talk page, and not archived. Is there a policy in wikipedia about this? I couldn't find anything about it. Garsd (talk) 07:59, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Did you read the note at WP:TPG on "Refactoring for relevance"? I don't know of any additional formal policy or guideline other than this and the note at WP:NOTFORUM that such content is "subject to removal". As indicated at TPG, some users delete them outright, some don't, but we do act to end them and archive them if not deleting. What the page doesn't say as far as I can see is that many time such discussion are closed to forestall continuation with one of a number of templates sets for doing so, e.g. using {{archive top}}/{{archive bottom}}, often with a note that says why, maybe referring directly to WP:NOTFORUM, and many times they are closed and collapsed to hide the discussion from view using a template set like {{Hidden archive top}} ({{Hat}})/{{Hidden archive bottom}} ({{Hab}}). There is a how-to page: Wikipedia:Refactoring talk pages. Also note {{Not a forum}}, for placement on talk page where treating it like a forum is a problem, and the user warning template series starting with {{uw-chat1}}.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 10:58, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Hi Garsd, I've left some comments on your talk page -- Marek.69 ^talk 23:35, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Double-neck guitar player Ian Ethan

Ian Ethan is a musician who plays the double-neck guitar. He has produced a CD in 2008 and will release a new CD in 2012. He obviously is not as well known as Jimmy Page, so does that mean an article about him should not appear in Wikipedia? He is coming to our college shortly to give a concert and we were wondering why there was not anything in Wikipedia about him. Thanks. FYI: The is the link to his website http://ianethan.com/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by ItascaCC (talk • contribs) 11:08, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

I think you want to create the article "Ian Ethan". If so, please first read our notability guideline about musicians. It also must meet WP:GNG in any case; if not, someone might put a CSD tag on the top of the article, and the admin decide whether it is true it doesn't meet the notability guidelines or not. If you are new, try WP:WIZARD. Regards.--♫GoP♫_T^C_N 13:50, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

The relevant question is whether he is notable, as we define that word on Wikipedia, generally meaning whether there are multiple third party reliable sources that have published material about him, and whether there is sufficient information in those sources that can be used and cited to write a verifiable article. When a topic meets these policies, but no article exists, this generally means nothing more than that no one has yet created the article. Wikipedia is a volunteer effort. Our articles are written by people who have the ability and are interested enough in some subject to sit down and start writing.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:59, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Under-edited articles

Hi,
I'm just wondering if there is a list of articles that have no or few editors other than the article's creator and bots, or if there is a tool to generate such a list.
Thank you. ClaretAsh 12:38, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

I don't think that there is a list of pages with low edit counts, but you can see Wikipedia:Pages needing attention

Please reply on my message boards! Larsona 18:59, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Thank you. I'll see what I can find there. I may even wander on over to the Village Pump later, for a chat with the techies. Thanks again. ClaretAsh 03:05, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

miscellaneous

This morning i am attempting to locate information concerning a photo that i located when researching a specific suybject. The subject in question is as follows. while researching military "parachutists badges of the world",i, was shown a picture with the necessary information being searched , I am attempting to locate any information as to were this poster in the picture might be located as it is to be a gift for someone retiring from the military. Are you able to provide me with any assistance or direction?12:54, 22 October 2011 (UTC)68.9.147.58 (talk)

I suspect you're referring to the image in the Wikipedia article Parachutist Badge. If that is the case, you can find further information about that image at its page on Wikimedia Commons, here. Unfortunately, the person who uploaded that iamge no longer appears to be an active user. Nonetheless, you might still be able to contact them via their talk page, located here. Best of luck. Regards, ClaretAsh 13:35, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

why was the reference i added removed

why was the reference i added to rolex sea dweller removed, it was new well researched and detailed information — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikivdb (talk • contribs) 13:30, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Because you were adding links to blogs, which are not regarded as reliable sources for an article. --Orange Mike | Talk 13:40, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Why was the link to the website removed ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikivdb (talk • contribs) 16:36, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Read what Orange Mike said, blogs are not allowed to be linked to for a reference. -- AGWolfpack55 | 17:41, 22 October 2011

Well, blogs can be used in some circumstances, so it isn't quite right to make the blanket statement, but the exceptions did not apply in this case, so the removal was warranted.--SPhilbrickT 12:24, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Creating an article with no references

Is it appropriate to create an article with no references and hope that that will attract people looking at the article to add references and more information, or are you supposed to just put an article request in on the appropriate pages and hoping it gets made by someone else?500Afs (talk) 15:23, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

There are a very few very obviously notable subjects that could be reasonably accepted without references. The vast majority of those subjects already have articles, so chances are your topic is not one of those subjects. It might help if you told us the subject in which you are interested in writing. Powers ^T 15:34, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

It is never appropriate. It will sometimes be effective though, and other times not depending on the subject. Is your question related to Afghan Baseball?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:48, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Yes.500Afs (talk) 16:24, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Capitalization error in the Title

Hello, I entered a biography page for Jens Klok but the last name in the entry was not capitalized. I cannot seem to be able to change the small (k) to a capital (K). Can that be corrected? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Venturawiki (talk • contribs) 16:54, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Looks like User:GB fan corrected it for you. For future reference, you can visit WP:MOVE about moving an article. -- Luke (Talk) 17:01, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Alternative for Reflinks

hello,

I search an alternative tool for Reflinks, which isn't working correctly. Thanks.--♫GoP♫_T^C_N 21:05, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Can you be a little more specific? What are you looking for? A way to cite a outside source? If so, you can just use the template tools for that. For a link, I would put it in one bracket and [(URL) what you want it to say]. It will look like this with the example of wikipedia:

Wikipedia

Thats what I find works. If you can be more specific, maybe I can get a little closer to what you want.

Larsona 22:28, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

No, I am not that stupid. I need a tool which converts bare urls into {{cite web}}, {{cite news}}, {{cite journal}}, etc. For example <ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Help_desk&action=edit&section=43]</ref> into <ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Help_desk&action=edit&section=43...}}</ref>. Of course I know how to put external links. The creator isn't very active, and hasn't answered on the talk page. This tool has just too much errors, some of the issues were pointed out on the talk page, including the error in which the tool put the work into the "publisher=" parameter, which is totally incorrect.--♫GoP♫_T^C_N 10:13, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

User:Citation bot? It's the only one I can find off hand. I can't vouch for how well it works though. Яehevkor ✉ 11:10, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

I just tested out reflinks on Watch and it seems to be working. I do however see some bug reports at User talk:Dispenser/Reflinks. I know of no proper alternative tool. User:AndyZ/peerreviewer.js will convert naked urls, if they are in ref tags, to cite web only and will try to recognize and convert other information into the fields such as title and date if they are provided by the citer but it will not mine the external source for data to fill in.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:01, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for that script. It seems to be working, but you can see that it doesn't correct all bare urls, just a few. On Halloween (1978 film), it didn't do it for all references, just for one, although it has a lot of bare urls.--♫GoP♫_T^C_N 12:21, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Tab:Talk or Discussion

A number of years ago I was part of a group trying to get consensus to change the "Discussion" tab to "Talk" because that's what everyone calls the pages. We were shut down hard. I just noticed today that User pages now have "Talk" tab instead of a "Discussion" tab, though all the other pages, as far as I have checked, are still "Discussion". First, does anybody know when this happened and why now? Second, does this signal a new attitude towards the talk pages of users? Was this discussed somewhere that I just missed? Thanks Bielle (talk) 21:09, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Page top tabs and [1]. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:44, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Thank you, PrimeHunter. Interesting how just the passage of time (and the intervention of the techs) brings about something that I thought would have been argued about forever. Bielle (talk) 00:27, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

article shows old version

According to the version history of Magic: The Gathering, ClueBot reverted some vandalism on Oct 18 (repeated "GAY"); when I visit the page, it is still there. Why is that? --MarioS (talk) 22:23, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Try to bypass your cache or purge the page. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:25, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

How to restrict access to a user subpage

I want to find a way for me to have protection on one of my pages so that only me (the account creator) and I'm open to admins, being able to see the page. Is there such a protection?

Larsona 22:38, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Generally, no. What would be the purpose of such protection? "If you do not want your writing to be edited, used, and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here" applies just as much to a user subpage as to anywhere else. This is not Facebook or LiveJournal; you do not own any of the space here for use only by you. --Orange Mike | Talk 22:42, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

If you want a private page which still uses Wiki markup, you'll need to create your own wiki - see MediaWiki for information about that. Otherwise, you'll have to use off-wiki means to store information which only you can see/edit -- PhantomSteve.alt/talk\^{[alternative account of Phantomsteve]} 05:17, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

It seems user:Larsona is trying to discourage other people from editing their user or talk pages. It is currently a confusing mess of links to other subpages, and each page has a request to "Do not post here" or similar wording; something I, and I suspect most others, will ignore if a message needs to be left. I notice they have also spent some time creating templates for use on these subpages. If someone wants their own templates, shouldn't they be stored in the user or user talk space rather then the main template space? Astronaut (talk) 11:49, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

I've turned down previous requests to protect Larsona's user and talk pages - he gave a very peculiar reason. He claims to offer some facility to check people's edits. If he doesn't like them, he claims he will report them to an admin. He doesn't want IPs to use this facility. Elen of the Roads (talk) 11:56, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

What is the benefit to the project of this confusing morass of sub-pages? It seems the aim is to make conversation with this editor difficult. --Cameron Scott (talk) 11:59, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

October 23

Move page back to original titled page.

Actor is going back to using previous credited name Cal Rein. Move page: Cal Giardina To new previous title: Cal Rein Eyephoto08 (talk) 02:42, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

The best place for requests such as this is at WP:Requested moves. Though, even then you'll need to provide a reliable source for why the article should be moved to the other name. Dismas|^(talk) 02:45, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Adding images

I have uploaded the image "Matched.jpg" and now don't know how to put it into the article Matched. MyKingdom200 (talk) 11:44, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

I've fixed it, but you may need to clarify the copyright status of the uploaded image. - David Biddulph (talk) 12:04, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Are two references enough for a biography article?

I am new to Wikipedia and have recieved the "This article is an orphan complaint". I have added two new references and three external links. Please look over the article and see whether it has become reliable enough to not be deleted or I should add more references. Thanks. My Article : Shamim Haider Tirmazi — Preceding unsigned comment added by Intermediate-Hacker (talk • contribs) 12:42, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

You haven't actually included any references in your article as inline citations; look at WP:CITE. The orphan tag is saying that no other articles have links to your article. - David Biddulph (talk) 12:58, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. I have now added inline references. Though I don't think there is anything I can do about my article being an orphan. Do orphan articles get deleted? 82.178.82.229 (talk) 14:20, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Orphan articles do not get deleted. —Jeremy v^_^v ^{Components:V S M} 16:21, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

No, there's nothing wrong with orphaned articles; but usually it means that there are places which readers might find the article from, but they can't. See WP:ORPH. --ColinFine (talk) 18:02, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Changing article name

Hi, I've written an article about two artists called 'Bonafide', however as other pages exist with the same name I called the article Bonafide (Manchester), but I think Bonafide (Maz and Ziggy) is more relevant. I don't seem to be able to change the name though, help please! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bia-17 (talk • contribs) 16:07, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Where do you think you have saved it? Bonafide (Manchester) doesn't exist, and your contribution record was blank before the question above. - David Biddulph (talk) 17:54, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

It was speedily deleted as an A7 by me. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:05, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

It got speedied. The redlink Bonafide_(Manchester) has a template explaining the deletion. Roger (talk) 18:05, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

• If Orange Mike had bothered to leave a message on the article creator's talk page it might have removed some confusion. Still, such basic courtesy has never been a feature of his use of deletion tools. Likewise, just posting "deleted as an A7" doesn't help anyone who isn't sad enough to have memorised all the speedy codes. DuncanHill (talk) 18:20, 23 October 2011 (UTC)
• I'll add to that - nobody bothered to explain to the original creator what was thought to be wrong with the article, thus denying him the chance to improve it. Very poor show. DuncanHill (talk) 18:21, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Frank Sinatra's song

Hello! What's the name of the Frank Sinatra song, played in the ending of this commercial? Doncsecz^talk 17:25, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Hello, please direct this question to the Entertainment Reference Desk where the users will be more equipped to answer your question. Happy editing, hajatvrc with WikiLove @ 17:35, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Logged out

Why am I loged out — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.71.8.154 (talk) 19:13, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Have you tried logging in? GB fan 20:12, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

See Help:Logging in. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:00, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Tink

I've created a new dab page for Tink at Tink (disambiguation). It should really be named Tink since it is a disambiguation page with no primary topic, according to WP:DABNAME. However, when I try to move it to Tink I get the message "You cannot move a page to this location, because the new title has been protected from creation". Can you move it for me please? Thanks — Hebrides (talk) 21:41, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

I believe WP:RFUP is the correct avenue but someone here may still unprotect for you. Яehevkor ✉ 21:51, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

I have moved it. Moves needing an administratror can be listed at Wikipedia:Requested moves. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:11, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

Thank you :) — Hebrides (talk) 05:28, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Exquisite Scents article deleted

Hello,

I just worked several hours on this article and had it deleted within minutes. I am wondering what I did wrong and is there any way that I can have it placed back on Wikipedia without having to worry about it being deleted again? I see it mentioned something about showing lack of importance, but I've read plenty of articles that did not seem to important to me. I've read an article about my old classmate who use to play college basketball and but did not get drafted. It talked about what he accomplished in college and the NBA teams he had a tryout for. The article about him was much shorter than the article I drafted about my company. My company is up and coming and meanwhile, my old classmate is unemployed and living with his father.

I'm just frustrated and need an explanation on how my article can be placed back on the Wikipedia. If there is no way that it can be place back on there, then please let me know, that way I won't have to waste my time trying to inform people about my company using this site.

Thanks!!!

Anthony Humphrey — Preceding unsigned comment added by Uniquehump (talk • contribs) 23:20, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

The article was deleted as it failed the notability criteria as detailed here. WP:CORP gives more detail on what the Wikipedia guidelines consider as "notable" for a company; in particular note that the company must have "significant coverage in reliable, independent secondary sources." The article as you created it does not mention any coverage at all in any sources. One of the things that Wikipedia is not is a vehicle for promotion of anything, including companies. There are further problems; your username appears to indicate that you are intimately connected with the company (both the "key people" you mention in the article are named "Humphrey") which falls foul of the conflict of interest guidelines at WP:COI. In a nutshell, please don't (as you put it) waste any more of your time trying to use Wikipedia as a vehicle to "inform people about your company" (as an advertising medium, in other words). Best of luck in your venture, but you'll have to get advertising space elsewhere. As for "XYZ has an article, so why don't I?" please see WP:OSE. Tonywalton ^Talk 23:46, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

October 24

Subjects of a Photo I took.

My wife took a photo some years ago of my sister & her husband, and posted it on Flickr, then added it to a Wikipedia article on the RCMP (They are RCMP officers and were posing for family photos). When they discovered their photos were being used in the Wikipedia, they asked me to take it down, stating that they had allowed us to take photos only for personal use.

The Photo in question is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RCMP_with_serge.jpg

How do I request it for deletion? I have already reverted it's rights on Flickr. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kylar (talk • contribs) 00:46, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

We now have a deletion request open at commons:Commons:Deletion requests/File:RCMP with serge.jpg, as this isn't the sort of case that calls for a single administrator to summarily delete the image, which is used in multiple Wikipedia articles. Note that if the photograph was taken in a public place, the request is unlikely to succeed (as Creative Commons licenses are not actually revocable and people generally have no expectation of privacy in public places), so please comment on the request if the photo was taken on private property. For future reference, if you want to nominate an image hosted on Wikimedia Commons for deletion, go to the Commons description page and click on the "Nominate for deletion" link in the Toolbox section of the left sidebar. Thanks for asking your question here. PleaseStand (talk) 02:27, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Chapter URL appears in long, open form while using cite book template

solved

When I try to use the Template:Cite book with chapter and chapter URL parameters, I get a result which both contains the chapter name as a link (which is what expected, just as the title of the book if it has a URL as well) and the URL in its long, openly written (I don't know rhe proper term) form. This is not what I expect. We already have that link via the title of the chapter. No need to give it again. And obviously, no need for that URL to appear in its long, open form (even if its a link as well.)

Here is my example:

Twain, Mark (1872). "Appendix". [[Roughing It]]. Hartford, Connecticut: American Publishing Company. Retrieved 24.10.2011. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)

The result is similar when I use it between ref tags which is what I want to do.

Any idea? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Neophyrigian (talk • contribs)

Template:Cite book#Description says: "url: URL of an online location where text of the book can be found. Cannot be used if you wikilinked title."

The formatting is made worse by additionally having a chapter and chapterurl. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:33, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

@PrimeHunter Thank you very much. Seems that its my bad. I shouldn't wikilink the title. Editing as such, everything is fine:

Twain, Mark (1872). "Appendix". Roughing It. Hartford, Connecticut: American Publishing Company. Retrieved 24.10.2011. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help) Neophyrigian (talk) 01:40, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Replace and Update an Image

I found the following question at Help talk:Files, but don't know the answer. It was asked over a year ago, yet still has not been answered.

How does one delete their own image? or, how does replace to update an image on the same file. I created a image a while ago, and it needs to be updated. --Dmm1169 (talk) 03:45, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Thank you, pluma Ø 02:36, 24 October 2011 (UTC).

Autoconfonfirmed users have a link saying "Upload a new version of this file" on file pages. The user uploaded several new file versions at the time of the question in January 2009 [2] so it appears to have been resolved. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:47, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Theory of relativity

Why theory of relativity is build — Preceding unsigned comment added by Prabhjot singh bhatia (talk • contribs) 07:03, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Is the article Theory of relativity of help? If you have further questions the article doesn't answer, you can ask at the Science reference desk by clicking here and reinstating your question there. The people there are happy to answer knowledge questions. Note however that if your questions is a homework question you should be prepared show them what steps you have already undertaken to solve the problem yourself. Also they will not simply provide with an answer you can copy. Instead they will help you to understand the concept you wish to receive help in understanding. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 10:47, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Bad Link

You show a bad link on the following page:

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

Under the reference section - "City of South San Francisco official website"

It should redirect to: http://www.ssf.net/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1827

Our site gets 3-5 broken links daily because you have the wrong url. Please fix. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.234.100.130 (talk) 09:01, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Fixed. Thanks for pointing it out. - David Biddulph (talk) 09:13, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

text label for external link?

Hi, I am wondering how can I add a text label for an external link? I want to link to an article on the French wikipedia, and the Help document suggests that you use single square brackets and put a space between the link itself and the text label, e.g. [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irlande_%28pays%29 Irlande (pays)].

However, this does not seem to work for me: http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Ireland_Collaboration&diff=457125894&oldid=457124282 What am I missing? Is it to do with the closing bracket afterwards, and if so is there a way around this?

Thanks for any assistance. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ComhairleContaeThirnanOg (talk • contribs) 10:50, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Irlande (pays). Works for me. You need the http bit at the beginning. Dismas|^(talk) 10:55, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

... or alternatively you can use an inter-wiki link fr:Irlande (pays) or Irlande (pays). - David Biddulph (talk) 11:00, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Thanks both. I'm going to blame the current Firefox which strips off the http:// in the browser address bar - something I hadn't particularly noticed until now. Handy to know about the inter-wiki link option too. ComhairleContaeThirnanOg (talk) 11:28, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

whom template giving wrong output

Template:Whom? doesn't show the expected inline text. According to the table at Wikipedia:Template_messages/Sources_of_articles#Requesting_sources and the template page itself it should display the phrase "according to whom". Instead it is showing the phrase "by whom" which the table says should be the result of a different template.

I'd fix this myself if I knew how. Cloveapple (talk) 11:10, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Nothing's broken. {{whom?}} produces but {{whom}} (NB without a question mark) produces , because it redirects to {{by whom}}. Whether it is a good idea to have a template and a redirect to another template with virtually identical names but different outcomes - one links to WP:NPOV, the other to WP:WEASEL - I will leave to others to discuss! Bencherlite^Talk 11:25, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Looks like I messed up. Thanks for the polite explanation. Cloveapple (talk) 15:30, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Policy re Table of Contents of periodicals; use of database

Two part question. Part (1): Please direct me to any Wiki policy concerning creating a summary of the Table of Contents for all articles appearing in a particular periodical. I refer to the article titles only - no content - and basic information such as author, date, and maybe some keywords to assist searching. I do not believe there are any copyright issues with such lists but I am not sure. Part (2): Is it possible to a use a database on Wikipedia (however structured) to store and present information in response to a search query by the reader? This relates to my first question. While a sortable table format may allow a listing of the Table of Contents, a table is not very searchable. Any examples in Wikipedia that you could point me to that use more sophisticated means of organizing and presenting information typically stored in a database? Thanks much. Newwhist (talk) 12:57, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Hearing Loops

I read an article in the NYT about "hearing loops" and wanted to learn more, however, there was not an article by that name in WP. I tried to find a place to suggest the title and decided on "Medical Devices", however, could not find a place where the title belonged and could not find a free-form space in which to enter the suggested title. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.146.95.200 (talk) 13:07, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Audio induction loop - unfortunately not a very good article but it has links and references that may lead to more useful information. Roger (talk) 13:19, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

(edit conflict × 2) When you now enter hearing loop into the search box and press enter or click the magnifying glass, you should be brought to the article Audio induction loop, as I created a redirect for the term which leads you to the article Audio induction loop. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 13:31, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Photo/logo thumbnail

I uploaded a new logo for our college page. It shows properly when you view the Wikipedia page. If you click on the logo on that page it goes to the old logo. Also the Wiki info that translates into a Facebook page shows the old logo as well. Did I do something wrong when I uploaded the new file? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mshockey (talk • contribs) 13:29, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

The logo you uploaded is File:Acm seal.png, which is also the image I see at the top of Allegany College of Maryland. Perhaps you have to bypass your browser cache to see the logo. Does that fix the problem for you? Also, which logo are you taken to when you click on the image? Can you provide a link to that file like this: [[:File:<Insert name of file here>]]? Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 13:41, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Lycoming County incorrect seal

The article regarding Lycoming County, located here: Lycoming County is not accurate in that it uses an incorrect seal. I have attempted to change the seal to the correct one, with no luck. The correct seal can be found on the official county website at www.lyco.org.

I appreciate any suggestions you can help me with to get this inaccuracy corrected.

Thank you,

Marci Hessert Interim Deputy Chief Clerk County of Lycoming — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.55.41.6 (talk) 14:20, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

It is hard to get even a few people who are knowlegeable about the subject to edit these articles correctly. I will try to put it on the list of articles needing expert attition.

Please reply on my message boards! Larsona 14:30, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

international beneficiary funds

Dear Sir or Madam,

Early in 2011 I submitted a question to Wikipedia about international beneficiary funds for art projects. I eventually received a reply mentioning a certain organisation in the USA which gives out free financial loans or grants that do not need to be repaid. I have very recently been looking through the archives for the question and the reply but I cannot find it: there are so many in the archives. It must have been either january,february or march 2011 that I submitted the question and got the reply. Could you please find it for me.212.219.142.118 (talk) 16:30, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

The easiest way to find your question is to look in your contribution record. - David Biddulph (talk) 16:37, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

The questions posted by your IP address are archived at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 February 14#International beneficiary funding schemes and Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 March 1#international beneficiary funding schemes. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:48, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

How can I re-instate a deleted page after userifying it?

A page I created was deleted despite it being approved by a Wikipedia reviewer after I requested the text to be reviewed for neutrality. The deleter made some claims which I felt were un-called for - claiming reference sites not being worthy -- however these were legitimate news sources and used by other Wikipedia editors. In any case, I've simplified the text and would like to know how the page can now be reinstated. It is currently on my userpage. Thank you for your help. Ct28ofs (talk) 18:20, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

User talk:74.114.172.106

Can this I.P. address be blocked, as they seem to continue to be disruptive in spite of being warned several times. Thanks.--Doug Coldwell ^talk 19:33, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Report it to WP:AIAV. -- kainaw™ 19:40, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

So frustrated with password recovery.

I have multiple email addresses, and I do not remember which one I used when I created my wikipedia account. I remember my user name, but not my password. I've requested the password reset, but I don't know where it's going! I've checked every email address I can think of, and there's nothing there. I can't tell if the password reset just isn't working or what because I can't find anywhere or anyone to ask what email address I should be checking. Help! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.233.92.204 (talk) 19:44, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

The password reset uses the email you entered when you registered. If you cannot remember or access that email account, we cannot help you retrieve your password. TNXMan 19:54, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

I've actually remembered my password since I requested the reset. There's no way to cancel that process or retrieve my email address? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.233.92.204 (talk) 20:01, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

If you can log in to your account, you can click on "my preferences" at the top of the page to see which email address we have listed. You can ignore the password email- if the temporary password sent to you is not used, it will expire. TNXMan 20:03, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Rangeblock search

At the bottom of the "contributions" page for an IP address there used to be a link to a tool which showed all blocks affecting that IP address, including range blocks. Recently that link disappeared. Can anyone answer either or both of these questions:

1. Why has it disappeared?
2. Is the tool still available, and if so what is its URL?

JamesBWatson (talk) 19:53, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Is this the page you want? I'm not sure where it was/is on the contribs page. It can be found in the unblock template though. TNXMan 20:05, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Tnxman has the right link. It used to be called "Rangeblock finder" and was renamed to "Current blocks" on October 14 because of this request. Goodvac (talk) 22:49, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

sylvia

if a us soldier payed for a ticket from baghdad to the uk dose he need to show if hes got money to get out of baghdad airport to get on the plain to the uk please let me know thank you sylvia — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sylviahennessy (talk • contribs) 20:14, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

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.Template:Z38 TNXMan 20:16, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

My account has been removed

I requested my user page to be removed and then my user name to be changed. However what has happened is my user page was deleted, my user name was changed but my NEW user name was deleted and called Vanished user 0209349232.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:ILM16 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.6.169.46 (talk) 21:00, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

1. Usernames can't be deleted, both technically and legally.
2. The rename was based on your right to vanish, so if you requested a name someone would reasonably want odds are they changed it to something generic and randomized instead. —Jeremy v^_^v ^{Components:V S M} 21:03, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

The changing username request [3] said "Reason: Right to vanish". In our terminology this means you will no longer edit or be associated with the account so there shouldn't be reason to worry about the new username. See also Wikipedia:Courtesy vanishing. Are you saying you wish to continue editing and simply wanted to do it with a new username? If that is the case then you can post a new request at Wikipedia:Changing username/Simple and explain you didn't know the meaning of "Right to vanish" in the former request. You may be able to log in as Vanished user 0209349232 with your old password so the request can be filed from the account. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:29, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Seraching for EugeneOregon Department of Transportation Office

Hello My name is Nancy LeAnne Stewart Round Rock TX My husband and I are moving to Eugene Oregon and we are going to have change our Driver License's Iam seraching for the Department of Public Transportation/Driver License Division Iam not how to find the connection to that Department Thank you Good Day — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.19.16.117 (talk) 21:57, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

This is Wikipedia, the encyclopaedia anybody can edit, and you are on the Help Desk, which is for asking questions about using Wikipedia. Does http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/DMV/ help you? If not, you might try posting your question at our miscellaneous reference desk. --ColinFine (talk) 22:19, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

How to recover a deleted wiki page?

How do I reactive my existed wiki page instead of making a new one? My page was deleted.

21:57, 24 October 2011 (UTC)21:57, 24 October 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Phillipbloch (talk • contribs)

If you try to open the article you will get to a page mentioning who deleted it and why. Perhaps you can ask the deleting admin to userfy the page. Jarkeld (talk) 22:13, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

The Phillipbloch account has no deleted contributions. If you tell us the name of the deleted article, an admin such as myself or some other admin, could check into why it was deleted. You can also request that the deletion be reviewed at Wikipedia:Deletion review, but this should be a last resort. There may be a simpler way to deal with this issue. --Jayron32 22:21, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Are you here about Phillip Bloch? If so, if you click on the link you will see that it was deleted in 2007 under section A7 of the criteria for speedy deletion and before that as blatant advertising under section G11 of the criteria for speedy deletion. By the way, did you formerly edit under the name BobbiLou or Hcolbyp?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:45, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Archiving a page

I have been following the instructions for automatically archiving my userpage at [to archive your page], but I can't the format parameter does not make sense. Al it says for the format parameter is, "The format parameter should be set to a valid argument to PHP's date() function. You may also include an %%i value. This is for numbered archives instead of dated archives, and is replaced with the archive number. This is the name of the archive page," but it doesn't make any sense. Could someone explain how that works? Thank you and happy editing! pluma Ø 23:14, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

A common choice is format=Y/F to get archive pages with name of form Year/Month, for example as in User talk:A p3rson/Archives/2011/October. If you wish another name format then you can describe it here and we can say what to assign to format. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:39, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

How can you make it be just called archive 1, archive 2, archive 3, et cetera? pluma Ø 01:03, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Upper case and user talk namespace is recommended. archiveprefix= User talk:Fltyingpig/Archive and format= %%i should give User talk:Fltyingpig/Archive 1 and so on. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:56, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Identity theft

re page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Beier This page was accurate until October 18 2011, then revisions by users 65.182.115.220, 108.13.5.76 and DivineAlpha slowly changed the page information to refer to a different person or a scam. I am the person to whom the original page referred, and would like you to restore the original page as it was before October 18. Perhaps, if the editor of the new information wants a page dedicated to a different person of the same name, there is a possibility of him doing so without altering the information that refers to me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Johndanyel (talk • contribs) 23:32, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

The content from before October 18 was restored right at the time of your post. If you don't see the restored version then try to bypass your cache. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:49, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

October 25

How Do I add a title or name of an article in big bold letters?

I just added my dad to the List of NFL Officials and want to add his bio, but have no idea of how to type it in large bold letters like all the others. Thanks, Sweet-tangerine. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sweet-tangerine10 (talk • contribs) 01:03, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Not sure what you're asking for here but articles for people should not have article titles all in caps or bolded unless that is the way their names are usually written as. For a list of the most commonly used wikicode for bold type, italics, etc. see Wikipedia:Cheatsheet. For a discussion on how the lead paragraph should be structured, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section. For tutorials on creating your first article, see WP:Your first article and WP:Tutorial.

New articles can also be created through Wikipedia:Article wizard.

For general guidelines that ensure that your article is accepted and not deleted, make sure the subject fits the criteria for notability outlined in Wikipedia:Notability (sports), make sure you provide references (very important, see WP:Biographies of living persons) per WP:Verifiability (a tutorial for adding references can be found here: WP:Referencing for beginners). And seeing that you have a close relationship with the subject please make sure that the text of the article is objective, non-promotional, and neutral. See WP:Conflict of interest and WP:Neutral point-of-view. Cheers.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 01:38, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

mistake and a correction

Please insert the word 'wife' for me with the posting of Josette Osgood. I loved being at Wikipedia San Francisco with the Consul Wives but someone has called to my attention that it seems I am an Honorary Consul. I am the WIFE. Thank you Internet link is Wikimedia Foundation Report, February 2011 - Meta-Wiki - Wikimedia <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Report,_February_2011> meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Report,_February — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.164.56.25 (talk) 01:34, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Naming conventions and historical spellings

I am curious if it is Wikipedia policy to follow historical English spellings when discussing the period in which they were used. For example, in the past Tokyo was almost always referred to in English as Tokio. When writing about, say, 19th-century Japan should we use the historical spelling that was current at the time and use Tokyo only for modern times? There are many similar instances in which there is a similar choice: Tbilisi/Tiflis, Kurdistan/Koordistan, Beijing/Peking, Muslim/Moslem and so on. This is not the same as a city's name being changed (say Gdansk/Danzig) or a question of a present-day English alternative instead of the local name (say Lyons/Lyon).

The only place that I have seen archaic English spellings used is with names of Turkish place and individuals when referring to the Ottoman period. It was my belief that modern usage should apply when discussing both historical and modern periods, since this seems to be the practice elsewhere in other articles, but I have not been able to definitively show that this is indeed Wikipedia policy.

Thank you Ordtoy (talk) 01:54, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Who is Jasper33

Kindly provide pointer as to contacting Jasper33 regarding her picture showing a garden "Parterre". Was this picture taken by Pierre Sibert? Many thanks, Nicholas Maync-Matsumoto I am on Facebook. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.135.205.238 (talk) 02:12, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

You can leave a message for Jasper33 on their talk page, User talk:Jasper33. Hope this helps, Dismas|^(talk) 02:26, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Thomas Ball

When a Tibetan nun self-immolates, it is world-wide news. When an American dad, Thomas Ball, self-immolates, Wikipedia deletes all mention of him. Can we truly build a just society based on falsehood? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.110.26.59 (talk) 02:40, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

This is a help desk for information on how to use or edit Wikipedia. It is not a soapbox or forum. AndyTheGrump (talk) 02:43, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

This is about Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Thomas James Ball. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, and so by its nature is a tertiary source. It is never the launching point for news but rather synthesizes previously published news (and other reliable source of publication). If the world hasn't taken sufficient notice of a topic, Wikipedia is constrained from doing so by the very fabric of what it is. You complaint is not properly with Wikipedia if you truly understand that it is an encyclopedia and what that in turn means.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:47, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

publishing my page

I wrote my article several weeks ago but, still have not seen option for "move"

I want to change the name of my page from "user:johnny meadows" to "johnny Meadows" (in other words, I need to drop the user: portion of title.

Please help me with this — Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnnymeadows (talk • contribs) 03:16, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Your edit here seems to be your only edit. Can you paste the address of where you think this article is? Dismas|^(talk) 03:55, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

The reason you could not move it was that in order to do so your account needed to be autoconfirmed, which means it must be at least four days old and have been used to make at least ten edits. You had not yet made the requisite number of edits. In any event, the material that was on your talk page was utterly unsuitable as an article as it had extremely promotional content, not meeting our requirement that material be written from a neutral point of view. It was also a cut and paste copyright violation of this website and so has been deleted, though it would also have met our speedy deletion criteria for blatant advertising. If you are the author of that website, you could donate the material by releasing it in a verifiable manner under a free copyright license compatible with Wikipedia's licenses—see Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials—but as I've already said, the material was not in a form we could use anyway.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:00, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Please help with formatting graphics

I am close to the home stretch on an article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorne_Webb_Dreyer but have run in to serious formatting problems with the graphic images. I have used Dreamweaver a WYSIWYG HTML editor in the past but this does not work the same way. Could someone experienced with good layout design take a look and see what can be done -- it's awful the way it is. Thanks, wmhanks (talk) 05:06, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

I have added the "thumb" tag to the images to improve the situation. Perhaps Help:Files would lead you to information on adding images to articles, the image syntax, etc. Regards, —{|Retro00064|☎talk|✍contribs|} 05:27, 25 October 2011 (UTC).

* Thanks, I'll check that out. There is a steep learning curve and this is my first time to go through the whole process. Thanks, wmhanks (talk) 07:13, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

New children's book about Michael Jackson

How do I post something about this Mummmbling Michael e-book that is coming out November 1st 2011? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.168.127.91 (talk) 05:30, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

How to add forms to a wiki?

How does one add a form to a wiki? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.138.34.223 (talk) 05:47, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Add information

How can I post or add information — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.46.30.132 (talk) 06:14, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Would You Be Interested In 3d Representations...

I own a 3d art site and we have access to many 3d mesh creators who can create 3d representations of animals and other items you discuss for which you have no images. Some work for free and others don't but it takes a while to make these creatures and other items. Would Wiki be interested in such things? Armorbeast (talk) 06:45, 25 October 2011 (UTC)