Help desk
< March 17	<< Feb \| March \| Apr >>	March 19 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

March 18

Charles-Edmond Duponchel (architect)

Could I get an administrator to change this article to Charles-Edmond Duponchel, which is currently a redirect page? Further research has made it unclear whether he was a practicing architect. Pkeets (talk) 02:53, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Done. January (talk) 13:05, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ads on wikipedia

I don't know what's happening, but on nearly every article I click on has and advertisement at the top of the page (listed as not being from this web site) and there are certain words that link me to another ad or site (example. man or single links to a dating site) instead of another wikipedia article. I don't know if you've been hacked or if this is something on my end. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.3.168.71 (talk) 08:10, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Can you copy paste the exact URL from the Address bar bar in your browser here? Perhaps you are viewing a mirror site. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 09:20, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's something on your end. Several readers have reported this in the last weeks so there may some new malware around. See for example Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2012 March 8#Google ads and Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2012 March 10#Advertising Malware on Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:55, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for those links, one of them had the answer, I use firefox as my main browser and apparently something somehow installed a plug in called Codec-c 1.0. As soon as I disabled it and restarted my browser, the ads stopped appearing, thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.3.168.71 (talk) 01:26, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for telling us. It may help other readers. Based on a Google search Codec-c is pushed by some websites as needed to see videos, but it makes ads. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:05, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Help fix a broken reference

In the article Oscar Pistorius there is a "refname" cite (No. 66) that has been broken for quite a long time, I have been unsuccessful in trying to find when and how it became broken so that I can recover the missing data. Roger (talk) 09:51, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The main reference was renamed with this edit but it seems all following instances where this citation is used were not renamed accordingly. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 10:09, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I unsuccessfully tried to fix it here. I am not sure why it didn't work. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 10:19, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, lets try to figure out what's going on here. Normally, when I click on one of the small numbers, I am taken to the corresponding reference in the 'References' section. This doesn't work when clicking on ref no 66., I guess this is because no reference by the name "2004 Paralympics" has been defined in the markup. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 10:45, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yes this is the cause. I pasted the page markup into a text editor and searched for "2004 Paralympics". I couldn't find it, only the places where the undefined reference is used. One would have to search the page history to find out whether the reference ever existed and then paste it back into the article. I do not have the time to do this right now. I will take a look at it later, if no one else has done so then. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 11:00, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The reference exists for example in this revision. It reads <ref name="2004 Paralympics: 100 m">{{citation|title=Athens 2004 Paralympic Games: Athletics: Men's 100 m T44|url=http://www.paralympic.org/release/Main_Sections_Menu/Sports/Results/paralympics_results.html?sport=athletics&competition=2004PG&gender=m&discipline=&event=100+m&eclass=T44|publisher=[[International Paralympic Committee]]|accessdate=6 March 2008}}.</ref> -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 11:40, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The reference link is dead, but I found a working archive copy at the Wayback Machine here. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 11:42, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I repaired the reference with this edit. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 11:50, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! You're a real WikiWizard! Roger (talk) 12:14, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

SPAM MESSAGE.

I am linking my tropical marine species site to different species on wiki. My site is non commersal and the ID on the different species are given by world known experts.Wiki states that I am spamming. Can I keep on the rest of my 850 species? Ole Johan Brett (talk) 11:02, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, but your links are not really appropriate or necessary. Please see WP:EL#Links normally to be avoided.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 17:37, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Searching for specific text within an article

I have just switched my web browser from Internet Explorer (IE) to Google Chrome. Previously, I was accustomed to searching for short words and phrases within a Wiki article, using a facility provided near the top of every article. However, this facility is not visible through Google Chrome. Also, if I now use IE (which now has the added label 'No Add-ons' in my Start Menu), the facility has now disappeared from there, too. Can you advise? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.100.223.45 (talk) 11:14, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure of your issues but probably the easiest way is to use Google Advance Search and enter en.wikipedia.org in the site or domain box. MilborneOne (talk) 11:30, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There's no way you can search a page for text? Not just here, but anywhere? I'd double-check your browser's capabilities.--Wehwalt (talk) 11:32, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You are referring to a feature in browsers and not a Wikipedia feature. Activate it with Ctrl+F. The position of the search box varies between browsers. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:25, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

OP (David): There used to be a simple menu bar with about 5 headings, such as File, Edit and Help (not sure what else). Under Edit there was Find, and this opened a text-entry box. As soon as any text was entered, every occurrence of the text became highlighted in the Wiki page. Ever since I installed Google Prime, the essential menu bar does not exist, either through Goole Prime or Internet Explorer. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.100.223.45 (talk) 12:48, 18 March 2012 (UTC) Sorry, missed that response by PrimeHunter. That works fine, thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.100.223.45 (talk) 13:01, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can activate the menu bar with the Alt key. There is also a setting to display it permanently. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:38, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Section of page shows in Firefox but not IE

I have a question: Why is it that when I look at a Wiki article, the "Rate this page" section always shows up in Firefox, but never in IE? Thanks. Sollen j (talk) 14:25, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have Javascript disabled? That causes the widget to disappear for me (as well as forces all of Special:Preferences onto one page). - Purplewowies (talk) 16:28, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Works in IE9 with compatibility view off but not on, which probably means it won't work in IE8 and below. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 20:19, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

But I can see it in IE8 (I'm on XP, so I can't get 9). - Purplewowies (talk) 20:31, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Blaise Pascal article/editing

Hello,

I want to add some material to the "Blaise Pascal" article, specifically to the section on his "Pensees".

I want to add at the end of this section a few sentences about Voltaire's response to certain of the "pensees" in the "Pensees".

However, I notice that editing the article is blocked because of vandalism. I have tried to figure out how to submit my info in order to be allowed access to the article, but I cn't.

Can you explain how I can go about this?

5404coolbrook (talk) 19:21, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Three more edits of other articles and you should be able to. See WP:AUTOCONFIRM, you only have seven edits now.--Canoe1967 (talk) 19:42, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) Blaise Pascal‎ is semiprotected so you can edit it when your account becomes autoconfirmed. This only requires three more edits to any page. You can also click the "View source" tab and follow the instructions to suggest changes. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:43, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

But please make sure you cite reliable sources for the information you add. I suppose that you could reference Voltaire directly for the fact that he commented on Pensees, and perhaps quote Voltaire's text; but any conclusions or discussion of Voltaire's response may be included only if it is referenced: to draw your own conclusions would be original research and is not allowed. --ColinFine (talk) 23:16, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Repeated unsourced edits by an unregistered user

At the article for George Groves, an unregistered user with the same IP range has made five or so edits to the infobox stats within the space of a month, without providing a source that contradicts the one already available (BoxRec). They seem to keep doing it every week or so, despite repeated requests in the reversion summary to provide said source. Is there anything that can be done about this? I'm rather unfamiliar with the process. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 19:47, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I think you shouldn't worry about it. The next time you see that happen, you should try to tell the unregistered user to create a account. It's better to create a account. CPGirlAJ (talk) 20:19, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Category intersection

Resolved

Is there a way to tell if any articles in Category:M*A*S*H episodes are listed at WP:GA (Talk pages include either Category:Wikipedia good articles or Category:GA-Class Good articles)?--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 22:22, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Forget it. I just Ctrl-fed all of them.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 22:31, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Categories for WikiProject assessment

I was attempting to create the categories needed for article standard quality and standard importance assessment within WikiProject Cryptography as described at Wikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team/Using_the_bot. Doing this manually is pretty laborious, so I asked an admin to set up the categories for me, but the script he used failed because one category already exists. Does someone know how to proceed? Thanks! Nageh (talk) 22:36, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Do you want to create a category or do you want to add a category to the article? To create a category or add a category go to Wikipedia:Categorization. CPGirlAJ (talk) 20:16, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I wanted to create a set of categories by automated means. However, I eventually realized thanks to User:Redrose64 that I only need to create 11 categories (instead of 55, as I had thought originally), which I can do by hand. Thanks for the reply, though! Nageh (talk) 00:40, 20 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Uncensored SSN

[I'm not sure if this is the right place, let me know if not]

On the page, Social Security number, there is a redacted image of a SSC of someone who is still living. I have inherited an old SSC from a relative who is deceased. Since the Social Security Administration publishes the names and numbers of people who have died, there shouldn't be any privacy problem with scanning and publishing this (in theory). Would a full scan of this card be useful? It seems like it would improve the page... 76.117.247.55 (talk) 23:16, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Can you prove that the person is deceased? Roger (talk) 23:24, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The SSN and name are present (and duplicated exactly) in the Social Security Death Index. 76.117.247.55 (talk) 01:46, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps we could use one of the ones from: http://search.usa.gov/search/images?affiliate=ssa&locale=en&m=false&query=social+security+card+

The old (Woolworths) sample card appears to be from www.socialsecurity.gov already. Rwessel (talk) 04:24, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I thought that having a real one would be more authentic than the ones from the .gov since they are all fakes (000 00 0000 for a number). 76.117.247.55 (talk) 05:53, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]