Help desk
< April 3	<< Mar \| April \| May >>	April 5 >

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.

April 4

Can't print an article

I was trying to print just a paragraph from the article on

St. Helena, Ascension and da Cunha

It is something I do often. I have even done it successful today on other articles. So it seems to be just a problem with this particular article.

I tried selecting a paragraph, but the 'wheel' for options did not get me to the Print Preview.

I tried printing the whole article using the Print (Alt P) option

I created a printable version from the column on the left and then tried to print it.

None of these worked. Definitely something wrong with this particular article technically. And I have no idea how to fix it. M Lee T41 (talk) 00:03, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It was either fixed, or an error on your end. I'm able to print it. CTF83! 10:06, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Deleting subpages

I'm not sure whether this is a Village Pump question or not, but how do I delete my subpages? I've got a couple that I don't really need anymore, but I'm not sure an MfD is the way to go. How do I delete them? Supernerd11 :D Firemind ^_^ Pokedex 00:34, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:CSD#U1. --David Biddulph (talk) 00:41, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Alright, thanks! Supernerd11 :D Firemind ^_^ Pokedex 00:56, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Introduce NBA D-League colors to Basketball bio infobox template?

Hello all. Could anyone please introduce NBA D-League team colors to the template, Template:Infobox basketball biography? Temple of the Mousy (talk) 00:37, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It's pretty easy to do such a thing, but templates are a touchy subject on Wikipedia because if you change one template, the effects occur over a large number of pages. The addition of color to articles also is a bit controversial as it has implications for access, and general aesthetics. So in this case, you'd definitely want to look for consensus before making such a change. The template in question is maintained by two different WikiProjects, and those would be the best place to gain consensus. You should make a post at both talk pages available at: WT:BBALL and WT:NBA. -Thibbs (talk) 20:09, 5 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Referencing errors on Linda Fiorentino

Reference help requested.

Thanks, Justinfleming810 (talk) 03:35, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

can you fix the linda fiorentino page? Justinfleming 810 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Fixed. There is currently only one source for the article; more are needed, especially as this is an article about a living person. Anon126 (talk - contribs) 05:56, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The title displayed on the page

Hi,

I tried changing the page title of International Society on Multi-criteria Decision Making. I found out that it can be done with the template {{DISPLAYTITLE:page name}}, which I did. However, it still does not change the displayed title! It does not matter where I put the template (beginning or end of the text). The title should be changed, because the title of the society is "International Society on Multiple Criteria Decision Making" not "International Society on Multi-criteria Decision Making" that is written on the page title. Could you help me? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Markus Hartikainen (talk • contribs)

I have fixed it by moving the page to International Society on Multiple Criteria Decision Making. DISPLAYTITLE can only make minor changes to how the title is displayed at top of the page. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:34, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have placed <nowiki>...</nowiki> around {{DISPLAYTITLE:page name}} in your post so the code is shown instead of activated. If DISPLAYTITLE could actually make arbitrary changes to the displayed title then your post without nowiki would have changed the title of this help desk to "page name"! PrimeHunter (talk) 10:40, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Tagged for speedy deletion per WP:CSD#A7.--ukexpat (talk) 12:46, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Serif font headers - is this something new?

If this is the place, my question is about the serif font in the article header and sections - is this something new or have I just noticed? Have to say, it doesn't seem to flow as well as say, the combination of serif heads with sans serif body copy as in the Guardian. In the article The Doctor Blake Mysteries it looks doubly "frilly" in the italicised header. If it wasn't a style change, forget it; but if it is, where was the discussion? Thanks, Manytexts (talk) 11:44, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There are already several sections about this above. See mw:Typography refresh and Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive 125#Font size and style. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:48, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) Please see the numerous other topics recently raised on this page regarding the same subject:

#Vector font
#Font
#Help! New Font Choices Make Wikipedia Look Like An Amateurs First Web Page Attempt!
#New fonts on ALL of wiki?
#the new Wikipedia font size hurts my eyes
#Fix annoying font change,
#The new font size is way too big

--David Biddulph (talk) 11:53, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that. Manytexts (talk) 14:56, 7 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

How Can I Help With Spelling Or Grammar?

Hello, I am a user that has been on Wikipedia for a while but still does not understand some of it. I want to help out, but I am not too good at fixing links, or anything else related to Wikipedia besides spelling and grammar. Does anybody know of a place that would list pages that need spelling and grammar fixes? Not prose, I am not too good at that. I checked the Community Portal, but it mostly had bad prose, not spelling or grammar. Jwoodward48wiki (talk) 12:17, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Try the Guild of Copyeditors; they can always use editors who are willing to help with spelling and grammar issues. Yunshui 雲‍水 12:26, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

and Wikipedia:Articles needing copy edit will frequently lead to pages with those types of errors. going to Template:Verify spelling and clicking the "what links here" on the side bar and finding the ones with "(transclusion)" will give you some specifically identified spelling issues.-- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 12:30, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Also Wikipedia:Typo Team may interest you. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:33, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As you asked for a list, Wikipedia:Lists of common misspellings might be what you want? This accesses searches for A>Z lists, homophones, repetitions and grammar lists. Please be aware that not all misspellings should be corrected - Many are in URLs, or quotations, whilst others are correct in one type of English - US, UK, Australian, Canadian, Carribean etc. or in a foreign language. - Arjayay (talk) 13:09, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Article on battle of Shiloh

This was a significant battle with loss of thousands of lives. Yet some adolescent has decided to vandalize your article. In the summary the "sunken road" portion of the battlefield is referred to without citation as being known as the big union penis. This vulgar reference is both childish and demonstrates a complete lack of respect for the hundreds of men that die on that hallowed ground.

Please remove that language and more importantly take whatever actions you can about whomever out it in.

The vandalism at Battle of Shiloh was reverted at 10.06 UTC this morning, about 4 hours ago. I understand that some users without accounts have a delay in updating, but thanks for pointing it out. - Arjayay (talk) 14:02, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

ankush kishor vartak

' — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ankush3535 (talk • contribs) 14:37, 4 April 2014 (UTC) [reply]

Referencing errors on Live in Chicago (Ween album)

Reference help requested. I don't know how to make a refernce list, sorry! Thanks, 108.9.195.226 (talk) 15:23, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It's been fixed by another editor. Dismas|^(talk) 16:04, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

List_of_largest_peaceful_gatherings_in_history

http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=List_of_largest_peaceful_gatherings_in_history&action=history

The last few contributors are engaged in a Hindu vs Muslim battle to determine the largest agglomeration of people. An expert is needed in this regard. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.174.85.33 (talk) 17:34, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The edit history shows that it's a very slow-paced battle... So it wouldn't be appropriate to file an edit warring report or to request page protection. I think your best bet would be to take this to the Neutral point of view noticeboard. The editors there should be able to help defuse any back-and-forth editing problems. -Thibbs (talk) 20:04, 5 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

NY Public Library large map release

Can someone who understand the rules on what Wikipedia needs in Copywrite release take a look at http://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/03/28/open-access-maps to see if these are usable on Wikipedia?Naraht (talk) 17:59, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

For example http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47db-c6bd-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 might be really good in history of VermonthNaraht (talk) 18:02, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

At the link you gave it says those maps have been released under CC0, which is a free license for Wikipedias purposes. All such works can be uploaded to Commons. -- Toshio Yamaguchi 19:30, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Naraht: You'll have an easier time finding information on copyright if you spell it correctly. --Thnidu (talk) 02:40, 5 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Probably.Naraht (talk) 03:06, 5 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

What happened to my History page?

what happened to my History page?! What happened to my saved pages?! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Psalterboy (talk • contribs) 18:28, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Your account was created 14 minutes before your post and has no other saved edits. Have you edited with another account before? PrimeHunter (talk) 19:10, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Prevalence of tobacco consumption

I am more than sure the entry at the bottom of the page quoting UK has about 36% smokers is way off. all the evidence I have read indicate more like 21% now (2012)...I suggest the data is not worth showing because it is so inaccurate.

Phil Evans — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.20.245.84 (talk) 22:38, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The table is explicitly from a 2008 WHO report and is not meant to show up-to-date figures. It can't really be updated on an ad-hoc basis because the lines in the table would no longer be comparable. Up-to-date figures for the UK are given in the prose of the article. Spinning Spark 23:51, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Type of amphibians?

Type of amphibians? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.238.238.186 (talk) 22:53, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Can you clarify your question? If it's about a Wikipedia page then please link to it. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:41, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps the user is looking for List of amphibians. Spinning Spark 23:56, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]