Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 January 28

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January 28

voting in the primary presidential election

If I am registered as an indepenednt party member can I vote democratic or republcan in the presidential primary?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.242.74.141 (talk • contribs)

This desk is for questions about using wikipedia. For general knowledge questions, please utilize the reference desk.--172.168.50.11 (talk) 00:15, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

It depends on state (I assume you mean US), but probably not. Prodego ^talk 00:20, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

See Primary election#Primary systems state-by-state. Your IP address is registered in New Jersey. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:28, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

So How Do I do it?

Step by step on how to make a page like people have. I will have only userboxes. No pics or writing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Olfordtrucks (talk • contribs) 00:19, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Hi, I assume you mean a userpage? Have a quick read through that page and you're set to go; you might also want to see here for some userboxes. Also, please remember to sign your edits! Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 00:23, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Do you want User:Olfordtrucks/Userboxes/GWolf to be deleted? Maybe you intended to add {{User:Xenocidic/UBX/GWolf}} to User:Olfordtrucks to get the box at User:Xenocidic/UBX/GWolf. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:36, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I just click my name, click the edit this page tab, and start typing? I write a sentience, and then write the address for a userbox?Olfordtrucks (talk) 00:33, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Yup, that's all there is to it. If you have any more questions about this, please feel free to visit my talk page. Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 00:37, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedians' attention

What's the most effective way of recruiting more Wikipedians' attention to articles needing improvement? Brianreading (talk) 00:52, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Joining a WikiProject associated with the article (for example, the History WikiProject would be a good WikiProject for WWII). Also, you may stub or categorize the article accordingly, so that if an editor is looking for an article of that subject they may find it. I find WikiProjects to be the most effective, personally, as you're in touch with other editors every step of the way. If an article is in disrepair, templates such as {{unreferenced}} may help attract attention; for example, to get attention for sourcing use a template at Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles, while a pure cleanup request could consist of a template from Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup. Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 00:57, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, I've already created a WikiProject, but it doesn't seem to help much. I need a way to promote that this WikiProject is out there I guess. Thanks for your help! Brianreading (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 01:02, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

There was once a template {{Improve}} which added Category:Pages needing expert attention and this box:

But that could be said for most articles as argued at Wikipedia:Templates for deletion/Log/2006 September 22#Template:Improve. Unless there is something really bad like legal problems, please don't be too aggressive in attempts to get attention for specific articles by notifying others. Template tagging and a relevant WikiProject is usually OK but you asked for the most effective way and that would probably involve an inappropriate number of posts scattered over Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:19, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

session cookies

how do I get session cookies in my browser? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.173.169.108 (talk) 02:00, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

It depends on your browser and what you mean by "get". Does Help:Logging in#Enable cookies solve your problem? PrimeHunter (talk) 02:11, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict) They're created automatically when you log in through Special:Userlogin. For them to work, you'll need to enable cookies in your browser. In Firefox, options for enabling or disabling cookies can be found under Tools -> Options -> Privacy -> Cookies; in Internet Explorer, I think it's somewhere under Tools -> Internet options. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 02:14, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Finding categories and wikiProjects

Where can I find lists of categories (Such as articles in need of copyediting, and stubs). Also, where can I find wikiProjects? Thanks! Viper Shadow (talk) 02:45, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Hello there! Sorry about the wait to answer your question! :( Anyway, a list of WikiProjects may be found here, while a list of categories may be found here (note that there are a few ways to see all the categories; see Wikipedia:Categorization#See also for all of them). In case you'd like it too, a list of stubs may be found here. Cheers, and I hope that helps! Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 03:49, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia 'Home Page' error?

The Home Page describes Wikipedia as a 'Free' Encyclopedia. The description is in many languages and as far as I can tell (English, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish) the English colloquial 'Free' is used in the sense of 'without charge' or 'costless'.

Am I wrong, or are not the words used in the other languages words that mean more in the vein of 'liberated' or 'having been released from prison' than 'costless or gratis'? Do the words freie, libre, vrije, libera, fria, livre translate in this way or do they not have more to do with liberation, release or escape?

For example, in German, the word 'Freiheit' is literally the English 'Freedom' as in 'let freedom ring'. Should not the word 'Kostenlos' be used rather than 'Freie'? In a German pet shop, when birds are on sale 2 for 1, the second bird is not 'frei' unless he escapes out the door.

I am not a native speaker in these languages but as I recall, of the ones I have studied, they do not use the literal translation of the English 'free' to mean 'without monetary cost'.

I know no one is going to try and tell me that the English 'Free Encyclopedia' means that this encyclopedia is more liberated than others. That can well be argued and in all probability is true, but when any American reads 'Free Encyclopedia' he has only one thought: Freebie!!

Any multilingual heavy hitters out there?Tgdf (talk) 04:02, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, excellent point. The Spanish 'libre', as taught to me, can apply to free consumables and the like, but the point you raise about the German form seems valid. However, in the Rammstein song Feuer Frei the article states that the literal translation is "fire free", so I'm not sure. I'll be sure to ask a German editor as soon as I can. Thanks for bringing this up! Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 04:06, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Again, "fire free" would mean 'without fire, or liberated or released from fire' not 'fire, which charges no money'.Tgdf (talk) 04:13, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

This section of the Main Page FAQ might help answer your question. The 'free' does indeed refer to freedom, as this is the free content encyclopedia. Raven4x4x (talk) 04:18, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the Main Page FAQ link. Seems like I'm not the first to ask this question. I don't like the answer they give, but I don't want to get nasty and I don't want to go into the amount of research it would take to refute the claim that the Main Page use of 'free' is correct. I think the Japanese have made their decision by, as was remarked, using the borrowed word to avoid having to make a choice as to what the meaning of the word 'free' is in the Main Page context. Inscrutability must have it's advantages. Sayonara. Tgdf (talk) 18:49, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

It's not really inscrutable. "Free" used on Wikipedia is indeed referring to freedom, as inspired by the Open source software movement. -- Kesh (talk) 20:39, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Which is more important, information or references?

I see that Wikipedia wants references and not original research. This is easy if you want to write about a person or city.

How about Patronymic? This article is very informative. But it's entirely original research.

Which is more important, lack of original research or information? Whoaslow (talk) 04:16, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

You address a number topics, I will address one. In the case of Patronymic you are confusing "original research" with "researched, but citations missing." —Noah 04:31, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, that reduces it to a personal opinion. Or are you aware of an accepted standard to distinguish the two? (Of course, I'm aware of WP:OR, but I have not found it very useful in real life content disputes. I found it much more helpful to go by WP:RS and WP:V. The only parts of WP:OR that I found helpful are the ones discussing differend sources - which doesn't apply when no sources are given.) — Sebastian 04:50, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

It's often hard to tell whether unsourced content is original research. The history of Patronymic shows a lot of contributors so at least some of them were probably working from reliable sources. The article has some external links, and google:Patronym and google:Patronymic easily finds information about the subject. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:55, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Besides, every judgement we make in Wikipedia is based on opinion. "Use common sense"... if it is not referenced, then encourage others to add references. It does not mean that the entire article is "useless" because the references were not provided before. It means the article is still being developed to achieve our Wikipedia goals. As long as the information seems reasonable and can be judged to be written by people who understood the article, there is no problem. If you read a claim in the article that looks dubious or really does need a quotation to avoid looking dubious, then either removing the information or adding a {{fact}} template might be required. More stringent rules apply for biographies of living people, but that is another category of articles. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 13:43, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Image:Karcher Mall.JPG

So something is up with Image:Karcher Mall.JPG. Its somehow listed as being in dozens of pages it doesn't appear it. I'm guessing this is a transclusion error somewhere. How do I hunt it down? MBisanz ^talk 05:09, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Hello there, and welcome to the help desk! Image:Karcher Mall.JPG is included in {{Twin cities shopping malls}}, which is in turn included in the articles. Therefore, the image indirectly is transcluded into them. Hope that helps! Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 05:15, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you MBisanz ^talk 05:47, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I NEED HELP

Hello. I am not sure, if I ever signed in, for a new account or not. My name is Christabel Savalas and I am trying to open an account, so that I can put my writer, mother Helena MacRee Tsavalas in the wikipedia net. I am computer illeterate, so I need help. She is a published writer, and I like to know how to start things here. Can someone email me a phone number so that he/she can 'walk' me through this in the computer? I am so clueless. Thank you. I like to add things in wikipedia. Perhaps, someone can view her website and add it for me? Website: www.christabelsavalas.com/helena

Thank you for your time. My phone number is: <phone number removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.5.67.69 (talk) 06:38, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

You will need to first register an account, which has many benefits, including the ability to create articles. Once you have registered, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

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

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation.

The links above should guide you through the process of creating an account and your first article. However, please make sure that you confirm your mother's notability before creating an article. Thank you, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 06:41, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Populating a Category

I am having problem in populating a category Duplicate articles. Problem is i am trying to populate it using the template {{Duplication}}, I have added the category code in the template but the category page isn't populated still. Can anyone help me out? --SMS ^Talk 09:00, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

You can write {{tl|Duplication}} to link to a template. I have fixed your post which linked to the article Duplication. 1) You added <includeonly>[[Category:Duplicate articles|{{PAGENAME}}]]</includeonly> inside a noinclude part so the category is never added. 2) After a template has added a category, articles which use the template must be edited in order to update the category with the article. A null edit is enough but a purge is not. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:34, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I also fixed your category link. Write [[:Category:Duplicate articles]] with : in front to link a category instead of adding the page to the category. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:45, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you all! SMS ^Talk 12:57, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not search-friendly.

Hi,

I am a huge Wiki fan. The amount of time I spend browsing Wiki is beyond compare. However, I am not too happy about the search friendliness of Wiki. For instance, Wiki is not friendly when it comes to mispelt words. I had trouble searching for Johan Cruyff once. It would be extremely helpful if Wiki could give alternate spelling suggestions or closest entries on searching.

regards, Nikhil Wiki fan —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.95.197.86 (talk) 09:01, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

It would, but unfortunately at the moment that kind of feature is not available in MediaWiki (the developers are kept quite busy). However, there are a few things you might be able to do - first, Google has a spelling suggestion feature like you describe, and it's possible to restrict searches to Wikipedia by including the keyword site:en.wikipedia.org in your search. (Incidentally, the use of the word wiki to refer to Wikipedia is generally discouraged, because if any wiki can be called Wiki, it's the original WikiWiki.) Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 10:36, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Messages

Look, I haven't touched any pages on Wikipedia, but I got a message saying that I'd touched some pages previously changed by other people —Preceding unsigned comment added by Markazzo123 (talk • contribs) 09:06, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

On your talk page I can see two warning messages. One is about an article you wrote that got speedily deleted, the other about an image that had the same fate. It is possible that you were not logged in, and your IP address matched that of someone who was previously warned for vandalism. It happens, unfortunately, but is unlikely to have any negative repercussions for you. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 10:36, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Your IP address is considered confidential by Wikipedia so we cannot check that this is what happened but it sounds likely. If you reach the talk page of the IP address and click "User contributions" in the toolbox to the left then you can see non-deleted edits by that IP address (only administrators can see the deleted edits). PrimeHunter (talk) 11:20, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Inaccurate information cited

I was looking up information regarding Paula Abdul. Please look at her bio you have on your site and you will see that someone has put that she was born a male, etc. Who verifies the information entered on this site? How can something happen like this and how do you think you will be able to maintain a good reputation if items such as these are entered? Just thought I should let you know. THANKS!12.163.97.74 (talk) 10:46, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for letting us know. It was vandalism and somebody reverted it before you posted here. Another time you are welcome to revert vandalism by yourself. It's often easier than reporting it. See Help:Reverting. Criticism of Wikipedia may be of interest to you. Most vandalism is reverted quickly. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:09, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Infobox problem in Chiranjeevi

Resolved

i dont know whats the problem.. but the image isnt proper.. could someone help me? Σαι ( Talk ) 11:27, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I fixed it.[1] See Template:Infobox actor for the template documentation. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:41, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. I thought images must be linked in infoboxes.. Σαι ( Talk ) 12:10, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

It depends on the infobox code so don't rely on this example. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:32, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Two questions

1.Why does white papers turn yellow with passing time? 2.When did first Alien landed on earth and where? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.16.133.91 (talk) 13:14, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. NF24^{(radio me!)} 13:22, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Interesting questions. Since paper is made from wood, it darkens over time for the same reason that wood does. A substance called lignin darkens with exposure to light and air. (howstuffworks.com) Now, for your second question, I assume you are referring to extraterrestrial people. There is no concrete proof that aliens have ever visited Earth. —Travis^talk 16:48, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Edit button disappears

Let's look at User talk:TlatoSMD. There is something wrong with the code so I couldn't find the way to edit each section (the edit button strangely disappears). It probably came from my fault when I sent him a message. Please help. @pple complain 13:50, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, your message contained {{talkarchive}} which adds the magic word __NOEDITSECTION__ (because archives are not meant to be edited). It was resolved by removing the text which contained the template. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:32, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Something wrong with Template:Pakistani Cities

Resolved

 – Fixed template to remove dependence on an old parser “misfeature.”

There appears to be something wrong with the Pakistani Cities template,for instance looking at the Rawalpindi article, it displays the Coordinates as 33|36|00|N|73|02|00|E|region:PK_type:city|display=inline,title. That is, the raw wiki code is visible in the article itself.

Can someone fix this.

ThanksPahari Sahib (talk) 15:08, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Done. It was a new preprocessor issue. Woody (talk) 15:49, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks :-)

Regards Pahari Sahib (talk) 15:57, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

hOW TO OPERATE WIKIPEDIA

PLS I WILL LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO TO SEARCH FOR STUDIES IN WIKIPEDIA SIT MOSRLY VIDEOS IN (AUTOMOBILE MECHANICS,ALLY MECHANICS,PHISICS,MATHEMATICS —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.220.3.73 (talk) 18:14, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps you could be more specific with your question? If you would like to search for a topic, you can use the search box in the left hand toolbar. Hope this helps! --omtay38 18:18, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

San Diego County Fair

I am the Internet Marketing Specialist for the Del Mar Fairgrounds and San Diego County Fair. We want to thank the person(s) who wrote the original article on the San Diego County Fair. We have found it to be accurate and objective.

I have edited portions of the San Diego County Fair article to bring it up to date and to correct the titles of a couple of our exhibits. However, I find that I am unable to edit the opening paragraph, which states that attendance has risen to a "high" of about 1.2 million "in 2004." We set an attendance record in 2007 at 1,265,997, did in fact, beat the record set in 2004. You can verify this on our Web site:

http://www.sdfair.com/fair/index.php?fuseaction=info.attendance

We would like you to change that sentence, or, if you prefer, substitute the sentence "The San Diego County Fair has been among the top ten North American fairs in attendance for the past decade." This will make it a little more timeless. (I inserted a timely attendance comparison in the Features area. That ranking of the top five fairs comes from Venues Today Research.

Thank you! Diane Scholfield Internet Marketing Specialist Del Mar Fairgrounds <e-mail and phone removed by --omtay38> —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dianescho (talk • contribs) 18:18, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Hi there and welcome to wikipedia! You should be able to change the sentence yourself. Try clicking the "edit this page" tab at the top of the window (right above the article title). Might I also suggest the use of Footnotes in this already good article to bring it up to higher quality standards. Best regards! --omtay38 18:22, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Wiener Singakademie

Hi, I wonder if someone could provide me with a quick answer to the following question. I have just created the page Wiener Singakademie following a request at AfC. This is the name of a Vienna choir. I just wondered if it was standard practice to anglicise a name if possible (in this case I'm guessing "Vienna Singing Academy") or to leave it as the original. My guess and preference would probably be the latter, but other people might have other ideas. Thanks. MSGJ (talk) 18:44, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Quick answer: Wikipedia:Naming conventions. Somebody else may have something more specific to add. Cheers! --omtay38 18:46, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Very quick answer! wp:Naming_conventions#Use_English_words says to use English words. But I'm not sure if Vienna Singing Academy would be the best translation, so I've created a redirect from this and I'll leave the article at Wiener Singakademie for now. Any better ideas, please shout. MSGJ (talk) 18:50, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

How to Edit the Title of Page?

Hello, I tried to edit the page for an actor by the name of Bianca Pisciola because the "P" in her surname for some reason in in lower case. How do it edit this in the Title? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cinzano (talk • contribs) 18:55, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

You need to move the page. To do this, you need to use the move feature. Essentially, you need to use the move tab at the top of the page. If you can't see the move tab, then the page might be protected. In that case, you need to ask an administrator to do it for you. I have moved the Bianca Pisciola page for you this time. Hope this clarifies things. Woody (talk) 19:00, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Morton Memorial Schools

I just created this page, but for some reason, cannot get the page to like to the list of High Schools in Indiana. Any adivce? Dustihowe  Talk  19:15, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Do you mean a category? _{WEBURIEDOURSECRETSINTHEGARDEN}^{play it cool.} 19:58, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

List of high schools in Indiana is not a category. It's called "list" but it's edited like any other article. You have no registered edits to it. Have you tried editing it? PrimeHunter (talk) 11:44, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

I have added the article to Category:High schools in Indiana.[2] Is that what you wanted? PrimeHunter (talk) 11:48, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, sorry...I couldnt edit it from the "edit this page" option. I dont know why...Thanks for the help guys!!! Dustihowe  Talk  18:44, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Blocking Tor exit nodes

Currently, users connecting via Tor are completely blocked from editing Wikipedia. If I run a Tor exit node, would I be blocked from editing too? --grawity ^{talk / PGP} 19:34, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

No, simply running one will not get you blocked. However, attempting to edit through your TOR node will be blocked. -- Kesh (talk) 20:44, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

But Wikipedia blocks Tor exits by IP.

example, someone using my PC as exit:

someone's PC -> Tor entry node -> Tor node -> my PC -> Wikipedia

and direct connection from my PC:

my PC -> Wikipedia

so both times Wikipedia only sees my IP (the "my PC" part). How does it know when it is the Tor software making connection to Wikipedia, and when it is my browser?

(okay, that question was a little above my current English skills.) --grawity ^{talk / PGP} 14:47, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Corporate Memberships

Hello!

I was just curious if you offered any sort of corporate memberships,a nd if so, what is the cost? Please contact me at your earliest convenience! :)

Thanks very much!

Lisa Miller Recruiting Coordinator Avanade, Inc.

e-mail: <blanked> phone: <blanked> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.144.130.7 (talk) 20:18, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

To quote the Main Page, Wikipedia is “the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” —Travis^talk 20:25, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

To quote THEIR webpage: "A joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft, Avanade offers enterprise resource consulting and planning...". Why am I not surprised. :D --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 00:04, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

No. No "corporate memberships". Wikipedia is the free encyclopaedia, which prides itself on striving for neutral point of view. See also Wikipedia:Business' FAQ, and Wikipedia:Advertisements. • Anakin ^{(contribs • complaints)} 16:16, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

tranlastion information

How can I help translate documents in Wikipedia from English to Spanish, if the spanish document does not exist at all? I'm a English-Spanish Translator, and wikipedia has become my most powerful tool when trying to get infomration I'm looking for, but i have notice that sometimes some documents are only in enlgish or any other laguage, but not in spanish, is there I way I can help with the translations?

Regards

Fernando Araya —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ferarayac (talk • contribs) 20:22, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes. You can create a page that's a translation of an English Wikipedia page and submit it to the Spanish Wikipedia; to create a page there, do a search on the Spanish Wikipedia (es:Special:Search) for the page, and if it isn't found, there'll be a link to the page, in red, near the top; clicking on that link will allow you to create a page. Make sure you mention that the page is a translation from the English Wikipedia in your edit summary. You can then link the two pages together; put [[en:''name of page in English'']] at the bottom of the Spanish page, and [[es:''name of page in Spanish'']] at the bottom of the English page (using 'edit this page'), to link the pages together. Hope that helps! --ais523 20:34, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Hello. The page Wikipedia:Translation may contain the information you are looking for. Alternatively, please see Artículos solicitados on the Spanish Wikipedia. —Travis^talk 20:36, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Uploading images

I just do not understand with which conditions I can use uploaded images. I read the info about it, but that's just so confusing. I tried a few times to upload and use images, but every single one has been removed. Even one, which had been on for three years has suddenly disappeared, due to something. Maybe it's because English isn't my first language, but I JUST DO NOT UNDERSTAND IT ANYMORE. Can you please explain in simple terms to me, what kind of pictures I can use??? I'm getting a bit annoyed by now to put it mildly and getting at the point of just letting it be and cancelling my account. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rune Thandy (talk • contribs) 20:23, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, it's not simple. There are very specific rules due to Copyright law that Wikipedia requires you adhere to. The best way I can explain it: if you took the photo yourself, you can release it for free use by everyone. Just be sure to apply the correct template to explain this when you upload it. If the image was taken by someone else, there are Fair use issues to consider, and it becomes much more complicated. I would advise against uploading images you did not make yourself because, as you have seen, it can be difficult to do correctly. -- Kesh (talk) 20:47, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Hey, Rune. Sorry things haven't been going well, but let me see if I can break it down for you. You can upload three types of images:

1. Images that you personally created. If the image is 100% your creation, for example, you took a picture, or designed something in a photo editor, you can upload it to Wikipedia under a free license. The ones most commonly used on Wikipedia are the GFDL, which is what all text here is licensed under, and/or a Creative Commons license. You can also release your picture into the public domain, which means you give up all rights of ownership. To do this, choose "My own work" from the first upload menu, then choose one of these options. You'll find these in the "licensing" menu on the upload form.
   • Own work, copyleft: Multi-license under GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-3.0 and older... (This puts the image under both the GFDL and a Creative Commons license)
   • GFDL (self made -for things that are entirely your own work) (This puts the image under the GFDL only)
   • Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 (This puts the image under a Creative Commons license only)
   • If you want to release your image to the public domain, type {{PD-self}} in the "Summary" box. For some reason, there isn't a choice for that, however this will work.
2. Images that you know are under a free license or public domain. If you did not create the image, but you know it is under one of the licenses listed above, you can go ahead and upload it as I described above. The license may not be correct, but it will be enough to keep it from being deleted while you do the next step. After uploading, have the copyright holder send proof of the image's license, along with a link to the image, to permissions AT wikimedia DOT org. If you do not know the copyright holder, you may do this yourself. Someone with access to the email account will fix the license when they confirm the copyright information.
3. Images that are copyrighted, or those you find on the internet These are the most complicated ones, and probably the reason all of your old images got deleted. Since many images are copyrighted, we don't have the ability to use them as we can other images. However, a part of US Copyright Law called "fair use" allows us to use a limited amount of copyrighted images under certain conditions. However, these images have to meet those criteria to the letter. Here's how to do it without getting things deleted:
   1. Save the image onto your computer. If it's really big, you should edit the image to make it smaller.
   2. Go to the upload form and select the link that most applies to your image. For example, if you're uploading a company logo, choose "logo of an organization, brand, product, etc..."
   3. Fill in as much of the summary section as you can. Leave "Permission" blank for now, we'll get that next.
   4. Under "Permission", make sure you state the following information:
      • That the image is of low resolution (that is, it's not very big)
      • The image cannot be used in a way that would harm the owner financially
      • What article the image will be used in (it MUST be used in at least one!!!)
      • How the image is important to the article
      • That there is no way to get a picture of the same thing that could be freely licensed. For example, a company logo cannot be found under a free license. Even if you take a picture of it somewhere, the logo is still copyrighted. However, a copyrighted picture of a person can be obtained in this manner, so we do not allow copyrighted pictures of people or buildings.

If you have any more questions about this, please let us know. Also, the crew at Wikipedia talk:Copyright problems will be happy to assist you, and are a bit more knowledgeable about these procedures. However, as said above, if in doubt, don't upload the image. Have a more experienced editor handle it if you really want to use the picture. I hope this was of some help. Good luck! Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 21:21, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

alice and olivia help

Hi, I have tried to create an alice and olivia page and it keeps getting deleted. I need to put it up as soon as possible; can it please be undeleted or can I please get some help?

Thanks,

Jayme Felson —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jaymefelson (talk • contribs) 20:31, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

What is the title of the page you are trying to create? I looked through the delete log and didn’t see anything with “alice” or “olivia” in the title, except for something from 2005. —Travis^talk 20:42, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict)

It depends. There was a page called "Alice and olivia", which you can see from the deletion log here has been created and deleted three different times for three different reasons. Alternatively there has been a page called "Alice and Olivia", which you can see from this log was deleted on 20 January. Are either of those the page you created? Or did it have a slightly different name - as you can see, differences in capitalisation or punctuation lead to different pages. gb ^{(t, c)} 20:44, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Ahh, and I now realize that searching for “Alice” alone doesn’t return “Alice and olivia.” —Travis^talk 21:00, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Alice and Olivia was deleted at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Alice and Olivia. Alice and olivia has been deleted 3 times. The first time it was a redirect to the deleted Alice and Olivia. The second and third time it contained recreated material from Alice and Olivia with few modifications which didn't address the problems. Note that people associated with Alice and Olivia are strongly discouraged from creating or editing an article about it per Wikipedia:Conflict of interest. See Wikipedia:Business' FAQ and Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted?. You can ask for a private copy of the deleted material but I guess you already have that. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:48, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject and must cite to reliable sources which verify their content. Please see our guidelines for companies. --teb728 t c 22:09, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

You already asked this question here. --Kateshortforbob 23:12, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I restored the non-copyvio version of the article. The article never should have been deleted, but rather just had the copyvio revisions deleted. It's undoubtedly notable, but was deleted apparently because WP:AFD voters didn't try very hard to find sources. Calliopejen1 (talk) 15:42, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Unilateral restoration is rarely a good idea. You should have listed it at WP:DRV with links proving notability. Unilateral restoration often leads to wheel warring. Corvus cornix_talk 19:34, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

I have a user page I'd like moved into article space

Resolved

 – Article looks good so it was moved by User:Omtay38

I believe that my employer, Sierra Sciences, is a notable corporation. About 10 days ago, Arch_dude suggested here that I write an article in userspace and bring it back here to make sure that others agree that it is NPOV and meets all applicable policies.

I've finished my first draft of the article here: User:SierraSciSPA/Sierra Sciences‎. Could someone do me a favor and review it, and if you're satisfied with it, move it into article space? (I probably shouldn't do that myself).

I appreciate it! --SierraSciSPA (talk) 21:13, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I see little wrong with it, but I am going to wait for a second opinion.--Kerotan^{Leave Me a Message} Have a nice day :) 21:17, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I'm a second opinion! :-D I think it looks good enough for article space. If it has any more problems, they'll come up on the new article at Sierra Sciences. Best regards! --omtay38 21:20, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

It looks good to me as well, but I’ve removed a bunch of duplicate internal links, especially for years, per the Manual of Style. —Travis^talk 21:32, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

P.S. Your original page, User:SierraSciSPA/Sierra Sciences, is now a redirect. If you want, you may request that it be deleted by placing {{db-author}} on the page. Cheers! —Travis^talk 21:38, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, everyone! I really do appreciate it. --SierraSciSPA (talk) 21:42, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Style of List of DVD releases

I asked this question a short while ago at Wikipedia talk:Featured lists, but it was removed from the talk page as apparently it wasn't the correct talk page to ask. I don't know where else to go other than here, because Help talk:List is a barren desert:

"Is there a style to be followed with regards to a list of DVD releases for a TV series? I'm looking at Smallville DVD releases and Lost DVD releases. I prefer the Smallville style, but am concerned about the number of fair-use images, in the way that discography lists shouldn't use them. Has a precedent been set anywhere yet? Do other editors have a preferred style of these kind of lists?"

Thanks, -- Matthew Edwards | talk | Contribs 21:49, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I suggest looking at Wikipedia:Manual of Style (lists of works). You could also search for pages with "DVD releases" in the title and see how they did it, (e.g. Doctor Who DVD releases) realizing though that something isn't necessarily correct or ideal just because another page does it -- Wikipedia is a work in progress. Finally, you could post a message on the talk page of the article you want to edit, proposing changes you want to make, and wait to see if there's any response; or just be bold and go ahead and edit it without discussing it on the talk page first. --Coppertwig (talk) 00:55, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Watching tool

I heard about a tool a while ago that allows you to find out if a specific user is watching a specific page. Can someone please help me find it? Thanks, Reywas92^Talk 22:10, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Where did you hear that? It shouldn't be possible, at least not for ordinary users or administrators. See Help:Watching pages#Privacy of watchlists. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:24, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, I suppose you could ask a user whether or not they are watching a certain article, though don't expect them to always divulge that information; information like that is considered private. Cheers, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 23:26, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

You might have been thinking of the "Wikipedia Scanner". It's a tool to see if any organizations are editing their own pages, etc. • Anakin ^{(contribs • complaints)} 16:22, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Manual of Style - International differences

I'm looking at WP:MOS for the rules regarding the presidence of international spelling, grammar, numerical use, etc, but can't find it. I thought somewhere it said something like, "if the article is about an American subject, use American style; if the subject is Australian, use Australian style" but now I need it, I can't find it. Please direct me to where I need to be. Thanks! -- Matthew Edwards | talk | Contribs 22:28, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

That's it, broadly speaking. It's at WP:ENGVAR. Algebraist 22:33, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, I must have missed it! -- Matthew Edwards | talk | Contribs 22:52, 28 January 2008 (UTC)-

A fairly easy place to find things like this is on the Editor's index to Wikipedia. Browse to the index and try a Ctrl-F keyword search in your Web browser. You do have to guess some keywords that appear on the index page, but most entries have pretty reasonable names, and there are "See also" entries that cover some synonyms. --Teratornis (talk) 00:13, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

cannot find my page

I am Captain Thomas J Carter and I put my page in and now I cannot find it. Please help me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.13.16.163 (talk) 22:56, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

It is my guess that your article was deleted by means of speedy deletion due to notability concerns. If you'd like to recreate it, please make sure you satisfy the article's need for reliable, verifiable sources. Thank you, Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 23:11, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Deletion log entries for at least one format of the name are here, showing that it was deleted under section A7 of you criteria for speedy deletion, which means the deleting administrator felt the article did not sufficiently assert the importance of the subject matter. Most people are insufficiently notable for an encyclopedia article. When we say "notable" here, we mean by that: being the subject of significant treatment in reliable, published sources that are independent of the subject. Note that while citation to reliable sources is required for all articles, it is more important and more strictly enforced in articles on living people.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:21, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:Autobiography. I don't know what the rules were in 2005 when you created Thomas J. Carter, but now you are strongly discouraged from creating an article about yourself. You can ask for an email copy of the old text. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:34, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

inserting a picture

how do i insert a picture that i have personally taken, into a discussion or article? if it is any help i have an adell computor (windows)i mostly use adobe software —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.53.223.7 (talk) 22:59, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Hi there! Please see WP:UPLOAD for help uploading your images and media. However, make sure you understand the copyright policies at WP:IMAGE, as if your image is declared under the wrong license it will be removed. Hope that helps and happy editing! Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 23:03, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

In general, you own the copyright in a picture that you take, and you may license your copyright to Wikipedia under the GFDL. However, depending on the subject of the picture and the jurisdiction in which the picture was taken, your picture may be a derivative work, in which someone else owns a copyright. Please see Wikipedia:Image copyright help desk -Arch dude (talk) 04:11, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Category Title Name

Question: How would I go about changing the wrong name of a Category Title? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Teethcourt (talk • contribs) 23:26, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Hello there! What category are you referring to, may I ask? Master of Puppets _{Call me MoP!☺} 23:33, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

It can be suggested at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion but we may be able to give better advice if you say the category name and wanted change. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:37, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

The categories I'm refering to are Sporting Lisbon managers and Sporting Lisbon players in which I believe they should renamed to Sporting Clube de Portugal managers and Sporting Clube de Portugal players seeing as Sporting Clube de Portugal is the correct name of the club. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Teethcourt (talk • contribs) 23:39, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

The club appears to be better known as Sporting Lisbon in English, and Wikipedia tends to prefer common English names. See Wikipedia:Naming conventions. "Sporting Clube de Portugal managers" is long and possibly confusing to English speaking readers who may think it's for all managers of Portuguese sports clubs. You can suggest it at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion but there may be some opposition, especially if you use language like [3] which I have reverted. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:12, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

If it is an issue about how long Sporting Clube de Portugal is, then just go the simple route of "Sporting C.P." or even, Sporting Portugal. The team is not named Sporting Lisbon so therefore it justifiably be changed. Teethcourt (talk) 00:51, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Many things are called something different in English and a native language. A Google search for "Sporting Lisbon" on pages in English gives 322000 hits.[4] Wikipedia often prefers the best known English name, even when some consider the name to simply be wrong. The categories will not be renamed based on a discussion here at the help desk. We can give advice but Wikipedia:Categories for discussion is the place for suggested changes. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:55, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Sortable list

I would like to be able to sort Köchel catalogue#List by all columns. Currently, rows are stored in chronological order. Therefore, it would be perfect if clicking on "Date" just reset the list to how it is stored. Is that possible? If not, is there any other way to sort this table by date? — Sebastian 04:06, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Related question: I just noticed that the same table doesn't sort correctly by the first column. E.g. "Anh. 218" is listed before "Anh. 191", with several empty cells and other other names in between. Is that a bug? The pure numbers seem to get sorted correctly. — Sebastian 04:13, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

You might look into templates such as {{sort}}, {{sortname}}, {{dts2}} (for dates), {{nts}} (for numbers). These are required for entries in sortable tables. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 13:52, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for your reply. This would be very helpful for a smaller table! Unfortunately, these templates all require to be entered in each individual cell, which is quite a task for the over 600 rows of that table! Is there really no way to simply reset the sort order when the sort buttons of column 4 is clicked? Also, I would like to understand what's going on in the first column. Any help, please? — Sebastian 01:12, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

I think i know how to accomplish this. I'll take a stab at it on the page and report back here if it works. --omtay38 02:31, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

There really isn't an easy way to do this. per TheDJ above, {{dts2}} would be what you would use, however this only works with dates formatted in specific ways (28-01-2008, 28-01-08, or 01 Jan 2008). Not only are very few of these cells adequately formatted, some of them (Summer YYYY, or ~YYYY) could not even be formatted to fit this. For these you would have to insert something to the effect of 00 Jan to make them work and, even then, it is sort of inaccurate. So it is possible but would take a lot of time. Perhaps a better solution would be to add a simple caption to the effect of "to re-sort this table by date, refresh the page." Best regards. --omtay38 03:10, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for your effort! So the "resorting" would be a nice feature request. Maybe I'll get around to that in a month or so. The other question: Did you find out what's wrong with the first column - why can't it be sorted correctly? — Sebastian 03:15, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

(Outdenting just for fun) Not quite sure what's wrong with the first column. Again, it probably has something to do with the mixing of data types (letters vs. numbers). If your so inclined, there's a wonderfully convoluted explanation of table sorting available here which you can muddle through for any solution that I may have missed. Best regards! --omtay38 06:15, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, mixing letters and numbers is bad. That is the cause of the issues in row one. Also, for dates there is also {{TBA}}, and specifying months and dates are optional on {{dts2}}. Also, you can still put whatever you want AFTER the sortkey. so you can have "sorteddate ~" for instance if you are not sure about a date. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 11:43, 29 January 2008 (UTC)